Apps – Tech Raman

FedBook Selfie – Your new bank a/c is just a selfie away

Lakshmi Rajan — Fri, 11 Sep 2015 10:23:40 +0000

For all my bank account openings earlier, I had walked into the bank branch, took the form, filled it, waited in queue and had opened the account. Most of us would have done it that way. Then, the technology invaded us and our phones got ‘smarter’. Our banking is now in our fingertips on the mobile display and it doesn’t stop just in the bank transaction, now you can even open a bank a/c from an app and submitting your picture by simply taking a selfie. Yes, our selfie obsession has a good justification now. Federal bank has introduced an unique way to open a SB account via their mobile app, a first of its kind initiative in India. It’s a novel idea that is sure to find traction with the younger selfie-generation. So when my niece wanted to open a bank account, I told her about this Fed bank Selfie and she was excited to try it out. So how do open a Federal bank a/c from your mobile? If you have an iPhone or any android Smartphone, download the FedBook, its e-Passbook App. The app was launched two years back and has seen good adoption rate by Federal bank customers. This app has now been updated for opening a new account too. Once you download, the app it is just 6 simple steps away from opening your Federal bank account. The steps are very simple and anyone with a Smartphone and the supporting document could easily open the account. Even the documents just needs to be clicked by your phone camera to upload. [gallery link="file" ids="9635,9636,9637,9638,9639,9640"] In a matter few minutes, my niece was able to finish the account opening process. Then the app takes over the back-end processing of verifying your Aadhar and will open an account for you at the click of a button. Once you open an account, the app will turn into a digital passbook. Pretty neat, isn’t it? Federal bank has leveraged the best of the technology and putting to good use the Aadhaar system and its a commendable achievement. Such initiative will definitely give a big momentum to the banking industry in a country like India where more people have Smartphones than bank accounts. ]]>

FreeCharge App Review – Recharge on the move swiftly

Lakshmi Rajan — Mon, 02 Jun 2014 15:11:25 +0000

When the prepaid plan came into mobile scene in India, it was a boon. It freed the users from the fixed tariff plans every month and gave more control on the mobile spending on calls and data. But it also meant running to the neighborhood stores for quick recharge when you ran out ‘currency’. It became problematic when traveling, initially during the early days of mobile we have to call back a friend or relative back home to ‘recharge’ your number. The advent of online recharge sites eased things. It was convenient and easy. Soon many websites offering online recharge of mobile appeared. Personally I been using FreeCharge.in website for for quiet a long time for my prepaid recharges. Still when I was on a move or not able to access desktop, I have to call back someone in a hurry to top up my phone number. Accessing the desktop version for e-payment still doesn’t entice me for couple of reason. First at times the desktop versions are slow on mobile platform, secondly due to screen size, the desktop versions are cramped and I am not psychologically comfortable making e-payment transaction on a cramped screen. There were already few apps for online recharge but the familiarity with FreeCharge refrained me from trying them out. Then FreeCharge App appeared on Play Store but it took some time for me to actually download it and use it. So how good and convenient the app? Read on. To begin with, at 2.2MB, the app is a light-weight and would be easy on your phone storage. If you are already a FreeCharge user like me using their desktop version, you can use the same login else you can use your existing play store gmail id you use in your phone to login or alternatively you can sign-in with your Facebook login too. Again, if you want to use a different email id to register, simple tap on the create new account and fill in the details. From the app, you can recharge prepaid mobile number, pay postpaid bill for your mobile as well as recharge DTH and Datacard. When you type your mobile number, the app automatically detects the operator. Making payment is easy. I already had Rs 500 balance in ‘My Credits’. We will see the payment options a little later. So to recharge my number, all I have to do is add the amount, if you have balance in my credits it will automatically show the ‘FreeCharge’ credits and you can proceed with the payment. Done, within a minute. When you are making the payment. On the field where you key the amount, there is an option to select the ‘Tariff plans’. Clicking on the option, gives you various plans the operator offers including full talktime, 3G,2G and other special top up plans available from the operator for your telecom circle. As an add-on, FreeCharge also lists various discount coupons to choose upon spread across various categories while making a transaction. Now let’s see the available mode of payment. The most convenient way of course is keep a buffer credit in your FreeCharge account that will enable you to swiftly make payment without having to go to your bank/credit card payment gateway each time. Once your credit is dry, you can replenish to your convenient amount. If you don’t want to keep your money idle on ‘My Credits’, there are other options payment via debit card, net banking and credit card supported by many leading banks. The app also gives an option to save your card details for faster future transactions. You can also check your past recharges by clicking the My Recharges tab, which lists your previous recharges with the details. I found FreeCharge a swifter mode to recharge. With a neat and straight forward interface, the app is now my mainstay for my recharge needs.]]>

Diablo 3 – review: A sequel worth the long wait!

Guest Raman — Sun, 03 Jun 2012 21:48:57 +0000

Guest post by Joseph Eapen, an avid gamer since 1991 and a professional CG artist. Diablo III, the game that fans have been waiting for since the release of Diablo II about 12 years ago finally hits market. It’s one of the trump cards in a list of epic franchises owned by Blizzard Entertainment. Personally I had never played Diablo 2 until I heard about Diablo 3 and the sheer number of my friends who ordered it. As I work in the CG industry and travel a bit around, I have friends from around the world. At least 80% of these people pre-ordered the game before its release and 5% bought it out of the sheer peer pressure of all t he friends who were playing it. I would be part of the 5% and I am happy that I was. So to say the least the review is going to be quite unbiased. One thing that you have to keep in mind is that even though Diablo can be played a single player game to start the game internet connectivity is a must. So if you are living in a cave and do not have access to the internet please don’t get this one. But I am sure if you were living in a cave you wouldn’t be reading this review either. I bought the game the day it was released. And the first message I saw was that servers were full. It took me 2 hours of waiting to get in. most of my friends and colleagues took a 2 days off on the day it was released to get through the game once which I guess must have brought the productivity of the world down by a tiny fraction .

As far as the story goes, it picks up on the story twenty years after the events of Diablo II. Mephisto, Diablo, and Baal have been defeated, but the Worldstone (a magical stone that apparently stopped the power of some humans who are called the nefelheim as humans are a mix of angels and demons and are not restricted), which once shielded the inhabitants of the world which they call sanctuary from the forces of both Heaven and Hell, has been destroyed, and evil once again stirs in Tristram. And yes I read up on the lore… and I would recommend that you read it first if you are jumping into Diablo 3 without playing any of its prequels. You get to play from a choice of 5 distinct character classes.

Barbarian- brute strength and vitality kind of like a tank in MMOS.
Witch Doctor- kind of like a summoner, who summons different creatures to do his bidding
Demon Hunter- is like an archer thief class in MMOS. High agility low defence and fast attacks
Wizard- who has a range of attack and defensive spells that bring chaos into the battlefield
Monk- is kind of like a hybrid of an assassin and a healer and a tank.

Players get to loot powerful items and get spells and abilities on level up as they explore new and familiar areas of Sanctuary and battle shitloads of demons and monsters to save the world from the horrors that are rising. And yes the story is kind of cliché. I being one of those gamers who obsess about a good story still enjoyed the cliché good and evil story due to the occasional breath taking blizzard cinematics. Even when the story failed to grab me, the loot system kept me hooked as it was like gambling in a casino. Each time u blasted an enemy with a skill that rips the flesh from their bones the physics is just breathtaking, but the loot that spurs into the air excites you more as the items are graded and are so random. Some items are so rare that out of all the friends of mine who have been playing countless hours didn’t get it yet. No matter how many times it happens I still find it exiting every time. Some items have their stats revealed immediately, but when a yellow item (a bit rare) drops and you have to wait to identify it which gives u the thrill of a lottery. Besides you also get to sell these items in town in the game. You can sell it for gold in the gold auction house. Soon they will be also adding real money auction houses were when you get a super rare drop u can sell it for real cash. All these make it more exiting. I went through Diablo 3 with my friends and totally enjoyed the ride. But the ride is not over when you finish it once. As your characters can still run through multiple difficulties to level up before they release a PvP (Player Versus Player) patch. The more you play the more chances you have to get a rare drop and be strong enough to fight in PvP. It’s kind of like an addiction. So you better not get it if you are preparing for an exam. But that being said since there is no subscription fee for battlenet (online gaming service for Diablo), the initial 60 US$ is totally worth it. Another good thing about Diablo is the fast learning curve whether you are an expert or a beginner it’s an easy game to pick up. Me being an excessive MMO gamer have a good gaming rig with a razor naga elite mouse and a projector to play the game in 110 inch HD glory. But whether played in a big screen or small the games requirements are not that high. If you are one of the rich kids (everyone I think are kids at heart) in town I would suggest you get the collector’s edition which comes with some great loot! Though the price scared me off. All in all Diablo 3 is a fun game to play all yourselves but a totally double fun game to play with friends with a visual beauty of its own and physics like none other, the balanced character system and the nonstop action will keep u at the edge of your seat every time you play it. Altogether it’s a fun game to play and explore and I think it lives up to its name.

Diablo 3 – Rating

Learning curve- really easy. Graphics -8/10 Sound -9/10 Game play – 10/10 Story -6/10

System requirements for Diablo 3

WINDOWS MAC Windows® XP/Vis/ ta/7 (latest service packs) with DX 9.0c Mac® OS X 10.6.8, 10.7.x or newer Intel Pentium® D 2.8 GHz or AMD Athlon™ 64 X2 4400+ Intel® Core 2 Duo NVIDIA® GeForce® 7800 GT or ATI Radeon™ X1950 Pro or better NVIDIA® GeForce® 8600M GT or ATI Radeon™ HD 2600 or better 1 GB RAM (XP), 1.5 GB (Vista/7) 2 GB RAM 12 GB available HD space 12 GB available HD space DVD-ROM (required for retail disc versions only) DVD-ROM (required for retail disc versions only) Broadband** Internet connection Broadband** Internet connection 1024×768 minimum resolution 1024×768 minimum resolution Note: Be advised that some wireless connections do not meet the minimums required to be a true Broadband internet connection. Wireless results may vary. Recommended System Requirements WINDOWS MAC Windows® Vista/7 (latest service packs) Mac® OS X 10.7.x or newer Intel® Core 2 Duo 2.4 GHz or AMD Athlon™ 64 X2 5600+ 2.8 GHz Intel® Core 2 Duo 2 GB RAM 2 GB RAM NVIDIA® GeForce® 260 or ATI Radeon™ HD 4870 or better NVIDIA® GeForce® GT 330M or ATI Radeon™ HD 4670 or better]]>