Technology is breaking cuffs

Recently I started using my mobile for most of my social networking, browsing and casual game needs. Earlier I was not using mobile so often (lol...). Since then, this thought has been running in mind for quite sometime. And here is the result, a  new post. :)

Corporations block external emails and social networks (Agreed, they block because they don't want to loose productivity). During those days, we use to wait until we hit home to check our personal emails or social networks (This was the case for me too, until I got my iPhone). Nowadays 1 in 3 of us own a smartphone with data plan. This gives us the freedom to check social networks or personal emails anytime/anywhere. We are also using our data plan to check / reply official emails immediately after waking up, during lunch, before sleep and configuring calendars to keep track of our meetings.

 My point here is, the gap between professional life and personal life is shrinking day-by-day. I used to visit few tech sites whenever I feel like taking a quick break from work. But nowadays I'm checking my social networks and news feeds in my mobile - don't have to worry about the blocked sites by corporate network.

So I'm thinking that corporations are indirectly loosing their restrictions enforced on employees. This is just a thought for discussion, not to convey that I'm using social networks all my productive hours in office. lol...

Share your thoughts or views about how technology changes your day-to-day activities in the comments.

Use Bing to book cheap tickets

Bing has a built-in price predictor powered by expedia which can be used to decide and buy your flight tickets cheap.

Whenever we want to check for cheap airfare, we use the Internet travel websites like Orbitz, Expedia etc., But we don't know when the prices go up or down. Making decision on buying or waiting for cheap ticket price is the tricky part.

The Price Predictor in Bing helps in resolving this issue, not 100% but to some extent.
Enter your From and To destination in Bing's flight search. In the results page look at the Price Predictor Tip. The predictor is so simple and more details can be found under the Details & Fare history.

You can set up your fare alert to get emails about the change in airfare.
 Nowadays I am using this to book my flight tickets for cheap price. It’s really helpful, try and feel the difference.

iOS 5 features you want to know - Part 1

After updating to iOS 5, I am slowly exploring the different features and changes they made. I am trying to cover those from an end user perspective, skipping the most advertised or already known features.

1) Zoom:

Zooming has been changed to pinch action in iOS 5, just like when you zoom a photo or a web page. Double tap / single tap on the screen is used to focus an object on the screen.

i) Open camera app

ii) Use pinch action (zoom inward or zoom outward)

iii) Adjust your zoom level and take the picture :)

2) Maps
    Route suggestions are added in iOS 5. Three suggested routes appear when we search for directions. Double tap the Route number to select that particular route.
    i) Open maps app
    ii) Search for direction (Start & End)

    iii) Double tap Route number to select

3) Reader
    Reader feature has been added to Safari browser. The reader mode is really good / nice to read the contents of a web page. It skips the unnecessary ads and makes the fonts little bigger for easy reading. You can add web pages to reading list using “Add to reading list”, just like how you add URL’s to book mark any website
    i) Open Safari app
    ii) Load any web page
    iii) Click the Reader button (in Safari address bar)
    iv) Read the contents quickly and easily

4) Purchased Apps
    Now app store has ‘Purchased’ link under updates. All your downloaded / purchased apps are available there (including deleted apps, so you can re-install later). If you run into a problem of losing all / few of your apps, this helps to recover your purchased apps. But you have to install apps one by one, there is no bulk install. You can hide some app from showing in that list by swiping your finger (right to left or left to right).
    i) Open App store
    ii) Select updates tab
    iii) Purchased link displays on the top

5) Snooze
    Yeah, its not a new feature but the changes made to the snooze button during alarm is nice. Alarm now has the “Snooze” button displaying in red, which is easy to see when you look at the phone from sleep :)
    i) No different steps guys, just the same old steps... :)

Google unifying their product UI's

A few months back, google changed the login UI for their products. Recently they started pushing the new - look and feel inside their products (docs, calendar, blogger) and still a lot more to come. The new UI is based on HTML5, it has a nice, clean look and navigation.

If you want to enable the new look, click "Try the new look" option on the top right corner and "Switch back to old interface" to change back.

Google docs:

Image source: Servicethisblog

Blogger:

Image source: Google Operating System

Google Calendar:

Image source: GoogleTutor

Upcoming Gmail UI:

Image source: Google Operating System

Quick tip about Google Chrome's UI (from version 15 - in beta now)

Image source: Chrome Blog

If you are interested in more details:
YouTube Video's: Gmail and Blogger