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Flipboard is the killer application of iOS. It was the iPad App of the year in 2010. It is truly the next generation reading   experience and used to be the single biggest software reason for owning an iOS device.

They decide to support Android and get screwed.

Flipboard had plans to release their software for select Android phones (http://flipboard.com/android/). It was a key item in demo of recently announced Samsung Galaxy S3.

Then someone stole it and made it available for any android phone.

Flipboard is a free app. However, if they don’t want to release it for all Android versions, they have the right to do so. Someone stole their product and made it available for everyone without their permission.

Flipboard is doubly screwed if Samsung had an exclusive contract with them.

Why would anyone create apps for Android if it is so easy to steal their software and give it away for free without their permission?

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Terms of Service for Skydrive, Google Drive and Dropbox all say that your data is owned by you. Things are not so Black & White though.

SkyDrive ToS: However, by posting, uploading, inputting, providing or submitting (“Posting”) your Submission you are granting Microsoft, its affiliated companies and necessary sublicensees permission to use your Submission in connection with the operation of their Internet businesses (including, without limitation, all Microsoft Services), including, without limitation, the license rights to: copy, distribute, transmit, publicly display, publicly perform, reproduce, edit, translate and reformat your Submission;

Google Drive ToS: When you upload or otherwise submit content to our Services, you give Google (and those we work with) a worldwide license to use, host, store, reproduce, modify, create derivative works (such as those resulting from translations, adaptations or other changes we make so that your content works better with our Services), communicate, publish, publicly perform, publicly display and distribute such content. The rights you grant in this license are for the limited purpose of operating, promoting, and improving our Services, and to develop new ones. This license continues even if you stop using our Services (for example, for a business listing you have added to Google Maps).

Dropbox ToS: By using our Services you provide us with information, files, and folders that you submit to Dropbox (together, “your stuff”). You retain full ownership to your stuff. We don’t claim any ownership to any of it. These Terms do not grant us any rights to your stuff or intellectual property except for the limited rights that are needed to run the Services. To be clear, aside from the rare exceptions we identify in our Privacy Policy, no matter how the Services change, we won’t share your content with others, including law enforcement, for any purpose unless you direct us to.

I am fully aware that Google is already indexing all my chats, emails etc. However, allowing Google to index my personal documents is a very different issue and something I am not ready for.

The difference in ToS arises from the motivations behind the products.

Google Drive and SkyDrive is one more step for Google and Microsoft to better their ad platforms. Hence, they need access to your content.

Dropbox has no interest in content of your documents. Their motivation is to solve a long existing problem.

Also, Dropbox is the best bet to remain platform agnostic in the long run. Google Drive on Android will always be better than on iOS (if they release it for iOS). SkyDrive will be better on Windows than Mac.

Lastly, any product which was wanted by Steve Jobs and got away is worth rooting for (http://www.forbes.com/sites/victoriabarret/2011/10/18/dropbox-the-inside-story-of-techs-hottest-startup/).

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Spoilers Alert: Ranting and cribbing follow.

Keyboard Dilemma: QWERTY layout was created in 1874. The reason for the QWERTY layout was to avoid jamming by putting most common letters in hard to reach spots and thus, slowing down the typists (http://computer.howstuffworks.com/question458.htm). This is no longer the problem. So should companies recreate the keyboard layout to a more scientific one?

The first company to do that will die.

Gmail has moved to a new look which for want of a better word, sucks.

Gmail was more than an email service. it was a one-stop communication platform. Outlook wanted to be Gmail but couldn’t even come close. Gmail had inbuilt chat, labels, brilliant keyboard shortcuts, single page scroll, integrated calendar, cool apps like Rapportive, RTM on top of a fast, clean email panel. Not anymore. Its like they got bored of being the best web-based email out there and decided to let Hotmail & Yahoo catch up just for fun.

Labels

E-Gmail treats your labels as a step-child.  Current interface has space for system labels + 4 user labels in “Compact” mode. Want to see more labels? Move cursor to the labels panel, wait for it to open up and show you 5-6 more. If you have more labels, click on More and scroll down.

Earlier, all labels defined as Show would show up on the left hand side. No scroll, no wait.

I love labels. I have labels for everything- pending bills, bank statements, annoying friends, FB updates, holiday plans, important chats etc. I could mark relevant labels as show and they will be on the UI. I could see if I had any bank statement or pending bill by the number of unread emails in corresponding label. Now I tend to miss those emails unless I go looking for them or clutter my inbox with them. And credit card companies do not accept this as an excuse for late payment.

Gchat

Gchat was the USP of Gmail. Mark a contact as “Always Show” and you can ping them anytime. Not so much anymore.

I have about 20 contacts marked as “Always Show”. Earlier it was simple. Use the scroll on your mouse to scroll down, find the contact and click to ping. 

Now, if you have friends whose names don’t start with “A”,  go to the chat panel, activate the independent scroll, scroll down and find the person. Unnecessary, additional work.

Yes, chat can be moved to the right. Just like people might get used to using a different keyboard. After 5 years of having chat on the left, I have to move it to right to use it effectively for no reason. And then what about Rapportive or other apps which use the right hand side?

Gadgets?

Remember Gadgets? You could have calendar, Remember the Milk under your chat window accessible through a single scroll. Now, gadgets can be accessed by a miniscule icon at the bottom. Again, unnecessary change.

What’s with the Themes?

The new default theme looks better with sunglasses on. Go ahead, try it. None of the new themes are worthy of trimming the toe-nails of earlier Gmail. If I wanted pebbles or sunsets or mountains as background, I would using Bing.

The interface is cluttered with icons and scroll bars. Has Google ditched the minimalistic design philosophy?

The Eye of Sauron?

This is less a grudge and more an observation. The black bar order is: +You, Search, Images, Maps, Play, Youtube, News, Gmail, Documents, Calendar, Orkut, Translate, Books, Blogger, Reader, Photos. It reminds me that Google wants all my data.

I have never ever searched from my mailbox. With both Firefox and Chrome supporting search from address bar, I don’t open Google.com except to check out the doodles. Out of the 16 options on the address bar, the only relevant one is Documents.

None of the links is relevant to the way Gmail is supposed to be used. Gmail was a communication platform. E-Gmail is a wannabe portal.

If you want to push a header bar at users, at least let them re-arrange them the way they want to.

Conclusion

Yes, none of the changes adds minutes to the Gmail experience just like a stray cow crossing the road doesn’t actually add hours to your drive, it just feels like it. It adds to the annoyance and makes the user experience worse.

Why can’t I revert back to the old look if I don’t like the new look. Isn’t Google supposed to be an Open company? Where is my choice?

Google pioneered the minimalistic look. They made it cool to have one text box and nothing else on the website landing page. Where does that design philosophy reflect in the new interface?

So why is Google doing this to itself? Answer is one word: Plus.

The E-Gmail has 4 hooks in Google+. +Name in the black bar. +Share next to your profile pic. Notifications update next to your profile pic. Circles icon to filter your mail based on your Google+ circles. This is like having more bathtubs than taps in a bathroom.

Dear Google, it is Gmail. It is your 2nd biggest hit of all time. Why would you screw it up to push a social product on people? Didn’t you do this with Buzz? Didn’t Microsoft get sued for doing something similar?

I never thought I would say it but as of now, Yahoo has a better interface than Gmail.

Outlook plus Gtalk is better value than E-Gmail. Gmail > (Outlook + Gtalk) > E-Gmail. Don’t believe me. Try doing that for a week. I have.

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Bane is another one of those sane madmen that Batman specializes in antagonizing. Bane is also known as the guy who "Broke the Bat"

Bane possesses genius level intellect  (Ra’s Al Ghul says "Bane has a mind equal to the best he has known" & Ra’s Al Ghul is over 500 years old) with a eidetic memory. He is one of the few villains to have deduced Batman’s identity on their own.

Bane draws his strength from Venom, an addictive steroid that grants superhuman strength to the user. Physically, Bane is an unstoppable juggernaut.

Intelligence, strength coupled with tactical, strategic thinking and oodles of patience make Bane one of the most fearsome villains around. Think of him as an "Evil Will Hunting" with physique of Arnold Schwarzenegger from Predator or Hannibal Lecter with 25" biceps.

Finest Hour: Upon deducing that Bruce Wayne is Batman, Bane realized that full on frontal assault against Batman is at best, a coin flip. So, he broke into Arkham and frees all the inmates including Joker, Scarecrow, Mad Hatter, Penguin etc. Batman spends 3 months capturing all of the escaped convicts. At the end of 3 months, an exhausted Batman returns to his home, batcave, and finds Bane waiting for him. In the epic fight that follows, Bane breaks the back of Batman rendering him a paraplegic. With Batman out of the way, Bane becomes the king of the underworld (Knightfall story arc)Tom Hardy put on 30 lbs to play the role of Bane and the result makes me fear for Batman. I was skeptical about Hardy being able to do justice to an iconic role like Bane but seems Christopher Nolan has once again pulled off a casting coup.The Dark Knight Rises releases July 20, 2012. Countdown begins

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If wishes were horses, India would canter to the throne and become world champions. Everyone wants India to win the World Cup. Indians want it for Sachin. Advertisers want an Indian victory as it will maximize their revenues. ICC would love an Indian victory as it will fill their coffers and make cricket’s popularity go through the roof in its biggest market. Politicians want India to win as it will take the spotlight away from the scams. Lets face it: scam of 1,00,000 crore vs India winning the World Cup.  What will make the front page?

Just one minor issue. It will not happen.

In many ways, India is to cricket what England is to football. Most glamorous and cash rich league. Check. Great team on paper. Check. Crazy, passionate fans. Check. Insane media coverage. Check. Unrealistic expectations of winning everytime. Check. 1 World Cup win in history. Check.

It is no coincidence that the best moments in India’s cricket history have come when nobody gave them a chance. WC 1983 was supposed to be a walkover for West Indies. Twenty20 WC 2007 had India as one of the underdogs with a young, inexperienced team. India performs to its best when there is no expectation and no pressure to win.

But this time, pressure is unbelievable. 15 cricketers carry a nation’s hopes which comes with a fine print. If you fail, there is going to be payback in the form of burning effigies, pelting stones and media assassination. How many batsmen will be able to take this pressure when the asking rate climbs above 7 or 8 in a knockout match? Who are the bowlers who can run through a batting line up or even contain the batsmen when going gets tough? Indian bowlers barely defended 338 on a home pitch against an English batting lineup which is one of the weakest when it comes to power hitting.

So if not India then who?

Spin is Australia’s Achilles’ heel and the 4 teams from subcontinent have enough spin power to take advantage of this fact. Also, batting is too dependent on the top 3 with Michael Clark no longer the force he was.

The first team that comes to the mind of a cricket fan on hearing “chokers” is South Africa. They have always had a star studded lineup but have not made it to the finals even once. Their run depends upon their ability to hold their nerves and reading the Duckworth Lewis table right. Historical evidence says this is quite unlikely.

Sri Lanka are strong favourites being the co-hosts and have a balanced attack. The middle order does not seem like it is suited for late order hitting. Their fortune might depend on performances of Matthews.

That brings me to my prediction for this world cup- Pakistan to win their second world cup. A bitter pill to swallow for Indian fans but all evidence points to it. Last world cup for the likes of Shoaib Akhtar, Younis Khan, Misbah-ul-Haq, Abdul Razzaq and possibly Shahid Afridi. Good batting lineup, complete bowling attack. Power hitters like Afridi, Umar Akmal and Abdul Razzaq.

Pakistan stunned the world in 2009 ICC World Twenty20 and gave Pakistani fans something to cheer about at home. The situation is worse as their best bowlers have been banned and there are no matches of a subcontinental World Cup in their country. Once they get a feeling of “Us against the world”, Pakistan become unstoppable. The “cornered tigers” as they are aptly called.

Cricket World Cup is an oddity in many ways. The format changes in every edition. This edition practically requires that the winner wins 3 matches on a trot as qualification to the Quarter Finals is virtually guaranteed to 7 test playing nations (The toss up for 8th place is between Bangladesh and West Indies). 3 matches to win with the biggest prize at the end of it? Pakistan might surprise us all again. Although on second thought, is it a surprise when a team surprises you again and again?

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The review is based on spending 3 weeks with the new Kindle (Wi Fi only) and reading 15 books.

Ebook readers have been around for quite some time and have been scorned by bibliophiles. The argument being that ebook readers cannot replicate the experience of reading a real book. Amazon took on the challenge in 2007 with their first Kindle. It has taken 3 iterations and 3 years but Amazon has finally cracked it. The new 3rd edition Kindle (6 inch display) is almost the perfect ebook reader.

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Reality can be beautiful. Sometimes reality is so wonderful that we cannot let go of it. It seeps into our sub-conscious and our dreams. We keep seeing the same reality in our dreams again and again and again because we cannot let go. We become prisoners of our own past in our own dreams. This is the reality syndrome.

Dreams, reality and ideas are the major plot elements of Inception. An idea is the seed which can create great empires. A dream is the fertile ground where many ideas are born. Dreams are when our sub-conscious is completely vulnerable, where reality does not matter, where laws of Physics can be bent. Dreams are where an idea can be planted or from which an idea can be stolen.

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 "The Scoundrel Christ". Many authors have made a living out of fictionalizing the dark side of Christianity but most have steered clear of taking any pot shots at the son of God. Philip Pullman is clearly not pulling any punches but as the back side states, "This is a Story" or more accurately his fictionalized version of the bible.

Undoubtedly, Jesus Christ is the most influential man ever. He is the central figure of Christianity, the most powerful religion in the world. Wars have been and are still being fought over his teachings. However, as the book states "There is time, and there is what is beyond time. History belongs to time, but truth belongs to what is beyond time". History is the chronicled text which survives the test of time but is history always the same as the truth? Bible is the chronicled story of Jesus Christ but is it the true story of Jesus Christ?

Christ is not a name but a title. Christ is Hebrew for Messiah believed to be the savior of humanity. Jesus of Nazareth was bestowed the title of Christ and over centuries became Jesus Christ. The book separates the man from the messiah by literally creating two different identities. It is an ingenious way to look at the son of God.

"The Good Man Jesus" is an influential, charismatic, extrovert preacher teaching men to take care of fellow men, to follow the commandments, to be good, to be modest, to practice abstinence etc. In the story, Jesus is not all white and his his human flaws. He gets angry with his followers, his family, priests and even with God. He has the power to perform miracles but is reluctant to use them all the time. Above all, he does not give a damn about creating and propogating a religion in the name of God and believes that Kingdom of God will come by itself.

"The Scoundrel Christ" is the shy, introspective side kick who thinks like a messiah while staying in shadow of Jesus. Christ has big ideas about creating a church of God, with majestic temples, huge palaces, a body of believers who act under the authority of one supreme director, a regent of God on earth. Christ fervently believes that this is the way to bring Kingdom of God to earth and tries to convince Jesus. This leads to tensions and issues between brothers with both doing things in their different ways.

The Good Man Jesus and The Scoundrel Christ is a short rewriting of the story of Jesus Christ and a contribution to Cannongate Myth Series. The author, Philip Pullman (Dark Trilogy), a staunch atheist, has dissected the myth of Jesus Christ and come up with a masterpiece. Thinly veiled insults at the Church like Jesus himself saying I can imagine some philosphical smartarse of a priest in years to come pulling the wool over his poor followers’ eyes: "God’s great absence is, of course, the very sign of his presence", Jesus having doubts over what God wants, the dilemma faced by Christ are the highlights of this thought provoking read.

The book is also a showcase for the power of story telling. History is chronicled text which gets embellished over time and gets further away from the truth without becoming a lie. Hence, Christ the chronicler defines Christianity and not Jesus the preacher. Time has merged the two into a single entity and Philip Pullman tries to separate the two. It is a tragic story of two brothers with one becoming a God even if he doesnt want to because his chronicler brother wanted him to be with a deeply disturbing, poignant end. A must read on religion, God and history.

Pages: 245

Price: Rs 499/- at Landmark

          Rs 389/- at Flipkart.com

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Smartphones are the fastest growing segment of mobile phone market with Nokia, Research in Motion (i.e. RIM, makers of Blackberry), Apple, HTC and Android-based smartphones being the major players. Currently, Nokia has the highest market share in smartphones but is fast losing ground to RIM, Apple and Android.

Smartphone users can be roughly divided into two categories:

1. Business Users:  Smartphones for this category of users are an extension of the office laptop. Hence, the key functionality for a business user is email support and fast typing. This segment is dominated by RIM’s Blackberry and Nokia business phones.

2. Casual Users: Social networking, browsing, chatting and gaming are the primary uses of a smartphone for this class of users. A casual user looks for ease of use and the wow factor. This segment is dominated by Apple, HTC and Android.

The growth of the smartphone market is being fueled by the casual users. N97 Mini is the second attempt by Nokia to capture casual users and keep pace with its competitors. The importance of smartphone market to Nokia is clear by the fact that N97 Mini was pushed out of door in November 2009 merely 5 months after N97 which received largely mixed reviews and was considered a flop. So is Nokia N97 Mini worth your while? Read on to find out

Review

Looks and Build Quality

Nokia N97 Mini is the typical touchscreen phone with a candy bar looks and with only 3 keys in front for calling, disconnecting a call and for accessing Menu. At first glance, it seems too thick for a smartphone but the thickness is because of the slide-out tray with the QWERTY keyboard. N97 Mini build quality is pure Nokia with a sturdy feel and decent weight (138 grams). N97 Mini radiates the "A fall will not break me" aura that all Nokia phones have.

Rating: ****

User Interface

Post iPhone, the success of a smartphone is determined by its user interface as much as its technical specifications. Nokia N97 Mini has Symbian S60 5th edition as its Operating System which is an adapted version of Symbian OS for touchscreens. Symbian OS was not built for touchscreens and hence, its capabilities are limited when compared to other touchscreen optimized OS like the iPhone OS or Android.  The User Interface is decently fluid and reasonably fast. Nokia N97 Mini can mimic the most used multi touch functions like swipes and drags which will be enough for most users. A major plus for existing Nokia users is the familiar menus, icons and controls.

The home screen allows the user to install widgets which makes it easier for the user to get quick information without opening the application e.g. Facebook widget updates the facebook status on the screen directly without the need to open the application.

Rating: ***

User Input

Touchscreen

Nokia N97 Mini has a resistive touchscreen compared to capacitative touchscreen of iPhone. This limits the responsiveness and multi touch capabilities of N97 Mini but Nokia has done a commendable job of providing a decently fluid user interface. Resistive touchscreen allows the use of stylus which keeps away the annoying finger prints so prominent on used iPhones.

Rating: ***

QWERTY

Touchscreen is one half of the user input mechanism of Nokia N97 Mini. The slide out QWERTY keyboard makes up the other half. The slide out motion of keyboard locks with a reassuring click and the screen automatically tilts at a fixed angle to allow for typing. The keyboard is a 38 key QWERTY including direction keys with decent spacing between the keys. It takes approximately one to two days of typing on the QWERTY keyboard to reach speeds close to laptop keyboard

Rating: ****

Camera

N97 Mini has a 5 MP camera with Carl Zeiss optics and LED flash. There is no lens cover to protect the camera lens. There is a dedicated camera button to activate the camera and camera operations are pretty straight forward. The phone is capable of taking good pictures in well lit conditions and  decent ones in low light conditions. User also has the option to shoot videos at 30 fps. N97 Mini has in-built geo tagging of photos. Also, there is a low-resolution, front facing camera for making video calls over 3G networks.

Rating: ***

Media

N97 Mini has a screen resolution of 360 x 640 pixels and 16:9 aspect ratio which provides a good viewing experience. The angled screen position with the keyboard out provides a good handsfree position for watching videos. N97 comes bundled with the RealPlayer App but does not support DivX and Xvid video formats.

The music player is same as the Nokia N series and supports MP3, AAC, eAAC and WMA formats. There is support for cover art and the interface is intuitive with a draggable timeline. The audio performance is quite good and the bundled earphones are better than most mobiles and even iPod earphones. N97 has a 3.5 mm headphone jack for trying out personal earphones although unless you have a Bose or Sanheiser, it would be better to stick with the bundled earphones.

Rating: ****

Internet and email

N97 Mini is primed for internet usage with onboard Wi-Fi and 3G support. WiFi networks are easy to detect and once set as an access point can be accessed without having to re-enter the password.

Nokia browser is part of the standard package. Standard touch buttons can be used for zooming in and out, scrolling etc. N97 Mini comes preloaded with Facebook, MySpace, Hi5 etc for social networking needs.

N97 Mini includes the basic Nokia email client. However, installing Nokia Messaging is a better option if you plan to use N97 Mini for all your web based email. It supports POP3/IMAP and setting up email account involves just entering the user ID and password. The email client takes care of the rest of the settings. N97 Mini has mail for exchange for corporate email support and hence, business users can use N97 Mini to get their work emails too.

Rating: ****

Calls and SMS

The call quality on N97 Mini is beyond compare. N97 Mini provides excellent call quality with great clarity and brilliant network handling. Calls can be made without using the slide-out QWERTY by using the on-screen touch keypad.

The QWERTY keyboard makes typing SMS a breeze. However, one can type SMS without the keyboard also by using the on-screen keypad or using the decent handwriting recognition.

Rating: *****

Miscellaneous

Battery

N97 Mini includes a 1200 mAh which can provide upto 310 hours of standby and 4 hours of talktime.

Rating: ****

Business Software

N97 Mini comes preloaded with Organizer, Quickoffice document viewing software, Adobe PDF viewer, Active Notes, Calculator and Dictionary. The bundled Quickoffice provides read only capabilities and needs to be updated for document creation capabilities.

Rating: ****

GPS

N97 Mini includes GPS and A-GPS. This combined with Nokia Maps/Google Maps can be used for turn by turn navigation. Also, N97 Mini has an inbuilt compass which modifies the map view to reflect the direction you are moving in.

Rating: *****

Other features include Bluetooth, 8 GB Inbuilt memory, Micro SD Slot supporting upto 16 GB memory, proximity sensor, light meter, accelerometer for auto rotate, compass and micro-USB 2.0.

In a Nutshell

Nokia N97 Mini is a feature packed device and a brilliant smartphone for both business and casual users. It has a decent touchscreen, great QWERTY keyboard, lots of goodies and the most complete set of features in any smartphone. It combines the famed Nokia build quality with a performance to match.  The only limitation is the Symbian S60 5th edition and the resistive touch screen which curtails the user experience a little. However, these will be minor irritants for first time smartphone users. The power-packed features, Nokia durability and the attractive price tag make it the perfect choice for any user looking to purchase a smartphone. Nokia N97 Mini is available for INR 20,300 at Univercell outlets which is less than its major competitors: iPhone (INR 35,500) and Blackberry Storm 2 (INR 30,288).

Rating: ****

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Mar 2008: The dream comes true. I get my first Macbook Pro and name him Marvin after my favourite fictional android. (Yeah, I name my gadgets. I am geeky. Live with it).

July 2008: NVIDIA acknowledges a packaging defect on 8600M GT graphics processor which affects Macbooks and Macbook Pros manufactured between May 2007 and September 2008.  Apple increases warranty of Motherboards with NVIDIA 8600 M GT (including Marvin) to 3 years from date of manufacture. Check out the details on http://support.apple.com/kb/TS2377

1700 hrs, Jan 3, 2010, Day Zero: Marvin refuses to boot kicking off one of the worst starts to a new year till date. HDD is working, fans are whirring but no video on the screen. I panic and rush Marvin to nearest iMagine store at Forum, Koramangala.  1700/- to take a look at Marvin and 2 days to report back. Anything you want my friend but please get him back to life

Day 2: iMagine- We need 2 more days

Day 4: iMagine- Operating System is corrupt. We need the Operating System DVDs which we said are not required when you gave us Marvin

Day 5: I submit Operating System DVDs to iMagine.

iMagine- Sir, give us 2 hours to install

Me- Going and coming back in Bangalore traffic !! I think I will just loiter around.

2 hours later

iMagine- Sir, we need 2 more hours to install

Me- Screw you, I will collect it tomorrow

Day 6: iMagine- We installed OS, formatted your HDD for the issue and realized that issue is not with OS but with Motherboard. We need 2 more days for analysis

Day 8: iMagine- The Motherboard is screwed up. We need to replace it. It is out of warranty and will cost you Rs 70,000 only. Yeah, we sell a new Macbook for 85,000 and want you to pay Rs 70,000 to replace just MB of your Mac. We are not joking around or anything.

Day 9: I find out about the issue with NVIDIA chipset, do some research, discover that the issues mentioned on Apple’s site are exactly the same as the ones I am facing.

Day 10: I call up iMagine and tell them about the Nvidia issue and also that it is covered under warranty.

Day 12: iMagine- We checked your Motherboard again and guess what, the issue is with whole, complete motherboard and not just the graphics chipset. We can see that your HDD is working, the fans are whirring, the OS is booting as we can hear the Apple startup chime but all these things happen even if the motherboard has gone kaboom. We need to replace your MB and it will cost you Rs 70,000.

Me- What do I look like? A Manager? I am a Computer Engineer and you are trying to take me for a ride on a computer related issue.

Tech Info: If the MB has gone kaboom, the computer will refuse to perform any action. ZERO. There will be no HDD sounds, no OS startup, nothing.

Day 13: I pick up Marvin back. Curse the iMagine staff. Try to educate their engineers and cough up 1700/- for them doing absolutely nothing.

Day 14: I find out about BCT. Another Apple authorized service provider situated in MG Road. I ship Marvin to them and inform them about the suspected issue.

Day 15: BCT- The issue is with NVIDIA chipset. Your MB will be replaced for free. However, the HDD is not working and is damaged. We need to replace the HDD which will cost 5k and will take 2 weeks to change as HDD is not in stock.

Note: HDD was working and booting when Marvin was given to iMagine

Day 30: BCT- We have replaced the HDD, Motherboard and reinstalled the OS. You can come and pick it up. Total charges: 6700/-

It has been almost 20 days since I got back Marvin and I have not faced any issue so far (fingers crossed).

Moral of the Story: iMagine is jazzy and cool looking. Under the hood, they suck when it comes to customer service or technical support. If you own an Apple gadget and face an issue, do not, do not go to iMagine. You will save a lot of dough, avoid unnecessary headache and the feeling of wanting to hurt their staff that comes from listening to their inane arguments. Search around on the internet, find out the exact issue and go to some other authorized service provider (I recommend BCT)  but not iMagine

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