Author: The Metrognome

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Tech

Review: Xiaomi Mi4

What’s new and improved in the Mi4 model that the Mi3 didn’t have? We do a check to find out.
by Manik Kakra | @Manik_K on Twitter

What comes to your mind when you hear the name Xiaomi? Good hardware specifications, reasonable pricing, and flash sale, right? And now, Xiaomi seems to be building further on those thoughts. With the Mi 3 making its India debut, the company made quite a few ripples in the online retail space – flash sale for a mid-range device that has hardware specifications you would associate with higher-end models. Does the Mi 4, with its revamped UI, upgraded camera, new design have what it takes to ship Xiaomi’s ship further in the Indian market? Let’s try and find out.

The looks. Xiaomi’s Mi 4 (MI 4W) follows a different design language than the Mi 3. Having stainless steel frame around with chamfered edges, hard back with no curves and two vertical cuts on the top and bottom, the phone does have some heft to it and feels sturdy to hold. There are no creeks or random loose give to it. Besides the 5-inch full HD panel on the front, you see the silver Mi logo, sensors, ear speaker grill and front-facing camera while below the screen are the three touch keys – Menu/ Options key, Home and Back key, plus the oval-shaped LED notification light. These buttons and light lit up just about the right amount – not dull or too bright. On the left side panel, there’s the micro SIM card slot, while the right side panel houses the volume rockers and Power Lock key, both are made out of metal, requiring you to press a bit firmly.

On the hard white rear, you’ll see the 13 MP camera near the top-middle, surrounded by the LED flash and secondary mic, and the Mi logo towards the bottom. On the top, the infrared port and 3.5mm headset jack are placed; and the bottom sports the microUSB part and loudspeaker. The Mi 4 seems like having better design and feel than its predecessor, and it’s good that Xiaomi didn’t just follow its previous design pattern.

Screen. The device boasts a 5-inch (1920 x 1080) screen that’s manufactured by JDI, which it claims provides a better solution than Gorilla Glass. The display produces good colours, is usable under direct sunlight and seems to have good viewing angles. Watching full HD videos and images, the screen won’t disappoint, provided you haven’t been using a high-end phone panel as the Mi 4 doesn’t quite seem as sharp and vibrant as the most high-end phones, but it does the job pretty well.

Camera. Talking about the 13 MP (f/1.8) camera, the company claims it has been upgraded and vastly improved. Here are a few sample images.

The phone takes detailed, bright images when used under daylight conditions. Its shortcomings come to the fore when taking close-up shots and using it in low-light conditions. I liked the app, which has a lot of options and modes like Refocus, Burst, HDR, Panorama and also the manual mode, and yet the camera app is smooth and simple to operate. The front-facing 8 MP camera is more than capable in handling selfies and making video calls. Thanks to its wide-angle sensor, you can cover more area for group shots.

Network and call quality. The phone handles basics like network reception, call quality and network switches without any trouble. I didn’t notice any network issues or call drops and WiFi, GPS and Bluetooth worked fine. Infrared connectivity, on the other hand, was a bit glitchy as it took me a while to sync and control a Samsung LED TV. On the audio side, the loudspeaker is loud and clear and not bad for games and videos, but it could have been placed ideally at a better place. You don’t get any bundled headsets, but using a basic pair of earphones, the phone delivers above average in-ear output.

Battery. I found the 3,000 mAh battery unit a downside. The phone hardly ever lasted me a full day as it needed to be plugged in within 24 hours of a full charge. At about 30 per cent brightness, using Email, Twitter, Reddit and a bit of music and calls, you may end up with more juice when switching to the power-saving mode.

Software and performance. The Mi 4 runs on Android 4.4.4 with the new MiUI 6.3.9 in place. Under the hood, there is Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 80 SoC (2.5 GHz quad-core processor, Adreno 330 GPU) coupled with 3 GB of RAM. Scrolling, swiping and opening of apps is fairly smooth. One thing worth mentioning is that the launcher often redraws, re-launches and you would have to wait a second or two to tap somewhere on your Home screen after exiting an app. This wasn’t the case with the Mi 3 running MiUi 5, so hopefully there’s a quick fix for this issue. With the 16 GB model, you get about 2.4 GB of storage space, so you might want to spend a bit more to get a 64 GB variant.

The new MiUI 6 seems like a more colourful, refreshing and minimal skin than earlier. With having all your app shortcuts and widgets on the Home screens and no separate app launcher, the setup isn’t very different. What’s different is the icons and widgets, which have been given a cleaner look.

Notifications have been given a major overhaul. You now get a pop-up like notification shade (similar to iOS) on getting an Email, SMS, etc. and can tap to reply no matter what app you’re in. You can choose which app is allowed to show notifications in pop-up, preview its icon in the status bar and Lock screen. Status bar icons are redesigned also a bit more on the monochromatic side of looks. Clock has been shifted to the left side and Lock screen looks simpler now with the only shortcut being the camera app. App icons now show you if there’s any unread message (showing a number), which is handy. Swiping down gives you toggle buttons and swiping left lands you at the notification shade. All in all, the new MiUI seems like a good step towards cleaner and neater UI, while there’s surely shades of iOS at various places, there quite a few useful things and tricks to like in it.

Concluding our review, the Mi 4, which we would have appreciated if Xiaomi had launched sooner than six months of its initial launch, seems like a worth competitor in this mid-range. It has a good screen, average battery life, capable camera, it might not be as compelling as the Mi 3 for its price, but is a worthy competitor to the likes of the HTC Desire 820Q, OnePlus One, Lenovo Vibe X2, giving a bunch of good options to buyers to pick from.

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Listen

Attend: Sarod recital by Ustad Amjad Ali Khan

Tonight, sarod exponent Ustad Amjad Ali Khan performs with Vijay Ghate on the tabla, at Nehru Centre. Do not miss.
by The Editors | editor@themetrognome.in

Today, on the occasion of Mahashivratri, sarod’s most enduring name in India, Ustad Amjad Ali Khan will perform at the Nehru Centre, accompanied by Vijay Ghate on the tabla.

After performing for an august audience at the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony in Oslo recently, the maestro is giving this rare solo performance in Mumbai where he will regale music lovers with traditional ragas and vintage renditions in his inimitable style.

Khan was born into a musical family and has performed internationally since the 1960s. He was awarded India’s second highest civilian honor, the Padma Vibhushan, in 2001. Khan has recently been awarded 21st Rajiv Gandhi National Sadbhavna Award. 20 August is celebrated as harmony day, the birth anniversary of Rajiv Gandhi. Khan received the Padma Shri in 1975, the Padma Bhushan in 1991, and the Padma Vibhushan in 2001, and was awarded the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award for 1989 and the Sangeet Natak Akademi Fellowship for 2011. He was awarded the Fukuoka Asian Culture Prize in 2004. The U.S. state Massachusetts proclaimed 20 April as Amjad Ali Khan Day in 1984. Khan was made an honorary citizen of Houston, Texas, and Nashville, Tennessee, in 1997, and of Tulsa, Oklahoma, in 2007. He received the Banga-Vibhushan in 2011. Sarod maestro Amjad Ali Khan, who has shared his rich experience in Indian classical music in classes across the West, will now teach for a quarter (three months) at Stanford University, this course will have lessons on Sarod as well.

(Picture courtesy www.kavitachhibber.com)

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Bombay, bas

The femininity code: Contrasting Mumbai with Thailand

A recent trip to Thailand opened this Mumbaikar’s eyes as she introspected on the status of women the world over.
Pooja Birwatkarby Dr Pooja Birwatkar

Travelling to foreign places has really become a fashion trend. Thailand, of all such places, seems to be hot favourite among Indian tourists. Almost all my neighbours, family and associates have been to Thailand. Hearing about its popularity, this year we decided to go there as well. The most appealing factor, of course, was that the Indian rupee is not so low in denomination as compared to their currency, so we wouldn’t spend all our time mentally calculating and converting while shopping!

But the trip to Thailand totally shook me up and made me seriously rethink issues that feminists all over the world have been most vocal about. I was cautioned by few people that Thailand was ‘a naughty place’ and so when I travelled there, that adjective ‘naughty’ was firmly stuck in my head.

Actually landing there and experiencing the place made me reinterpret my own ideas of what constitutes ‘naughtiness’.

The first thing our tour manager, Tuk, told us was to keep our eyes, mind and heart open. She said, “This is Thailand, not India…Everything happens here. See the other side of the world.”  I soon understood what she meant. Imagine my shock when I saw young girls moving around with oldies who could pass off as their grandfathers. The night life was rather too bold for me. Not that we Indians are unaware of such acts back home in our country, with numerous stories of bawdy brothels, prostitution and human trafficking doing the rounds in the news and mass media almost every day. But you don’t witness these as openly as you do in Thailand.

I was intrigued by these girls wherever I saw them, on beaches, in hotels, in shopping arcades, on the streets and mostly when travelling in those cute tuk tuks. I shamelessly stared at them and observed them; sometimes I was obvious enough for them to notice and smile cutely at me.

I also noticed that unlike in our country, these girls were not a taboo on their society. They were as much part of the regular local crowd as anyone else. The locals did not treat them differently or Sex workerslook down upon them. I began to wonder if their work was looked upon respectably here. A little discussion with my tour guide on this made me realise that whatever these girls were doing was not disrespectful in the eyes of the people of Thailand. They were merely doing their work, so what if the work happened to be of a ‘different’ type?

Pondering over my own reservations about their choice of profession, I began to feel a deep respect for these girls as I saw them walk with their head held high. I am sure they must be regular wives, daughters and motheres in their houses and their profession may not way affect that ‘normal’ part of their lives in any way. I gathered that women in Thailand did all types of work and millions were were bread earners of the families. Only I wish there were more dignified professions for them.

I also questioned the entity of women. Are we mere objects of sexual desire or are we actually reduced to being such objects? I remember a few days ago, after a visit to a beauty parlour, my six-year-old son asked, “Why do you go to the parlour and endure so much pain?” He then asked if he would have to go to the parlour too, when he grew up. I told him that boys didn’t need beauty treatments.

His next question was simple: “Why?” And even as I fumbled for an answer, I realised that we women groomed ourselves to look attractive, but nobody placed the expectation of looking good all the time on men (though I know of several men who groom themselves a lot). The larger question is: who exempted men from looking their best at all times? And who said women cannot go about with unmanicured nails, hairy armpits and visible moustaches? What is so unattractive about that? And if we have to blame ‘society’ for these expectations, then aren’t we women a part of this society, too? Why, then, do we accept the idea that women must always look attractive and ‘ladylike’ at all times?

We lament the plight of our women but I find that women are exploited all over the world. My experience in Thailand made me introspect about my own status as a woman and I found that thankfully, till date, my gender has never been a hindrance during any of my life stages, be it school, college, career or even as a citizen. I am proud to say that I owe most of this to my city Mumbai which has largely contributed in making me cherish my gender rather than be struck down by it.

Mumbai definitely scores much above all other cities in India as far as gender issues are concerned. Despite incidents of molestation and rape being reported on a regular basis, I still feel safe in Mumbai. The city doesn’t care much about me being a woman, and I get to enjoy my freedom when I walk on the streets late at night or reach home late from work. I have my own compartment and seats reserved in trains and other public transport. I can have coffee at a coffee joint without being stared at. My workplace does not give me any concessions because of my gender. I see hordes of women every morning stepping out of their homes on the way to their jobs, and they don’t look nervous or scared – on the contrary, their confidence rubs off on newcomers in the city. There are dark sides to Mumbai where one can find Thailand-like scenarios, but still the city lets you be what you want to be. This is a city that belongs to me as much as anyone.

And my heart goes to the millions of women all over the world who are sex workers. I feel their outrage at being commodified, but I feel tremendous respect for them for being courageous and dignified despite their situation.

(Pictures courtesy content.time.com, www.zimbio.com. Images used for representational purpose only)

Categories
Watch

Shop and explore art at Kurla this month

Phoenix Marketcity Kurla ties up with the art collective Dolna to present an art installation comprising work by renowned Indian artistes.
by The Editors | editor@themetrognome.in

Art continues to get the patronage it deserves in the country’s financial capital, Mumbai. What is heartening is that contemporary art is stepping out of the confines of art galleries in the city and becoming accessible to the everyday Mumbaikar, in the spaces he or she frequents.

Taking the idea of making art accessible to all, Phoenix Marketcity Kurla has tied up with Dolna to present the ‘Art Horizon Series’ from February 15 to March 31, 2015. The idea behind the initiative is to allow every shopper to have a close encounter with art. This series opens with its first collection titled Eclectic Collection that mirrors the eclectic nature of life itself.Cotton Field by artist Subodh kerkar

Through the Eclectic Collection, Phoenix Marketcity Kurla and Mithu Basu, Founder of Dolna, bring to Mumbai brilliant art curated from the studios of ace artists such as Shaam Pahapalkar (his work is featured above), Subodh Kerkar (his work is featured on right), Dr Sudhir Deshpande and Govind Biswas. “The aim of the exhibition is to take further Phoenix Market City, Kurla and Dolna’s vision of widening the horizon for art, artists and the audience,” says Mithu.

The Eclectic Collection consists of artwork and installations based on concepts such as reincarnation, the divide between rural and urban society, the daily life in a city, and many more contemporary concepts. The installations will be exhibited at the mall from February 15, 2015 to March 31, 2015.

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Uncategorized

Here’s how you can look great this season

Hair and makeup expert Puja Taluja gives some tips on the right colours and looks to nail the spring summer season.

Spring summer has brought back many trends that were passé recently. Follow these tips to prepare yourself for the upcoming season.

Make a statement bare faced. Keep it minimal, real and natural. Emphasise your natural beauty. Highlight only one feature of your face and focus on maintaining natural glow. Look fresh and feel elegant in this look.

The perfect pout. The flawless, matte red pout, rich rosy red lips are always in vogue. Don’t put red all over your mouth. Start off darker in the centre and gradually go lighter as you move out to the corners. You can also use candy pink for summers – the sweeter your colour looks, the better it fits the season. Include coral shades in your make up kit as well. Besides the reds and corals to make a statement, even candy or blush pink will be a perfect shade for a spring summer afternoon. In terms of the skin, it’s needless to say that a sun-kissed look or a perfectly bronzed skin is a must for spring summer 2015.

Sparkle those eyes. The colour purple has made a comeback for eye make-up in shades of deep grape, pretty lilac, and icy lavender on the eyelids. Another look you can don this spring is gold sheen. Applying a small amount of gold on your eyelids will definitely make you look like a goddess of spring. Get this look by applying gold shimmer eye shadow on your eyelids. Line your eyes with eyeliner. Curl your lashes and apply a thick coat of mascara. If you want to try something different, add drama by extending cat’s eye to get lion’s eyes. Spring summer is going to be all about making a statement through your eyes, so don’t be afraid to adorn some bright colours for your eye shadows, from orange to aqua to different hues of blues. You need to add some bright colours of eye pencils in your make up kit. Urban Decay has some very nice and extensive variety of eye pencils and colours to choose from, in creamy textures. You can be innovative and also apply bright shades on your lower lash line and add volumes of mascara.

The concept of darker eye brows are out and more natural eye brows would work well this summer spring. Also, the extreme winged look will still be much in vogue. Eye liner is something you can never get enough of, as it’s the classic make up look and is timeless. But even in terms of applying the liner, you can be experimental and apply it in many different shapes to get a new look.

Blush it up. This summer, compliment your make up with loads of blush in pink, fuchsia or beige. Apply a dash of blush to define your cheekbones better. Perfectly bronzed skin is a must for spring summer 2015. Bobby Brown has a fantastic bronzer called Bronze Glow which can give a perfectly bronzed look. Also, try different shades of pinks on your cheeks to give a soft, girly colour to your face.

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Event

‘Please welcome…Jerry Seinfeld!’

Noted comedian Jerry Seinfeld comes to Mumbai for the first time in March 2015, tickets will be sold tomorrow onward.
by The Editors | editor@themetrognome.in

It’s a great time to be a comedy enthusiast in Mumbai. Entertainment icon Jerry Seinfeld is making his maiden trip to Mumbai in March 2015 with two shows at the NSCI, Worli.

Incidentally, the same venue was where the infamous AIB Roast took place in December last year.

Seinfeld is a name almost synonymous with comedy. Over the last few decades, it is a name that has reached unsurpassed heights of global popularity. And this March, fans in India will have a long-awaited opportunity to experience his work live.

Jerry Seinfeld The Emmy and Golden Globe-winning comedian will perform two live shows next month on March 14 and 15 at the Sardar Vallabhai Patel Stadium, NSCI. These shows mark Jerry Seinfeld’s first ever performances in Asia. Seinfeld said “I have always been fascinated by India and its culture.  I have great respect for its people and their way of life.  It is a great honour for me to be invited to come there and make fun of it in person.”

He joins the line-up of the already underway Stage42 festival, which showcases some of India and the world’s most celebrated artists and experiences in comedy, music, theatre and food. “For many of us, our introduction to comedy was Seinfeld. He’s a comedian whose influence is impossible to understate, and it’s a matter of immense pride that we will be bringing this global icon to India for the first time,” says Arjun Ravi, Co-Founder , NH7.in

The festival will take place in seven cities – Bangalore, Chennai, Delhi, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Mumbai and Pune – between February and March 2015. The comedy lineup of the festival includes the Russell Peters Almost Famous World Tour, a tour by critically-acclaimed comic Bill Burr, and Pretentious Nights featuring the guys behind the popular YouTube series Pretentious Movie Reviews.

Tickets to the Jerry Seinfeld shows go on sale at noon on February 13, and are priced at Rs 7,500. Tickets will be available for sale on Insider.in.

Apart from the multiple award winning TV show Seinfeld, Seinfeld has also starred in, written and produced movies (Comedian, Bee Movie), directed and produced a Broadway hit (Colin Quinn Long Story Short), and even wrote a best-selling book (Seinlanguage) and a children’s book (Halloween). His latest project is the critically-acclaimed web series Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee, seen exclusively on Crackle and comediandsincarsgettingcoffee.com, which has garnered more than 10 million views, and which the New York Times describes as “impressively complex and artful” and Variety calls “a game changer.” He lives in New York City with his wife and three children. He remains active as a stand-up comedy performer, touring the country extensively.

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