All posts by Udit Malhotra

Udit Malhotra is fond of Technology, Music, Event Management and Social Media. He has studied in-depth about Mobile & Desktop Platforms and Software Applications thereof. A keen Learner, he draws inspiration from his work experience from a few small businesses and leading global organizations including DELL where he has worked directly at the front-end with Consumers of Technology Products. He enjoys sharing his knowledge by helping other Users. You can also find him on Google+ ! +Udit Malhotra

Flipkart, HomeShop 18

Homeshop18 beating Flipkart at its own game

May 12, 2012 Udit Malhotra 72 Comments

Consumer Alert

Do you know that India’s leading online Retailer, Flipkart is charging up to 126% more than its online and on-air competitor, HomeShop18 for Books.

Please refer to the following Table to see a Comparison of Prices of Books offered by Flipkart and HomeShop18 after Discount and Shipping. In a random survey of 20 Books on Cooking, I found that Flipkart is More Expensive than HomeShop18 by up to 126% !!!

Before you order your next Book on any subject online, compare its price on the websites of Flipkart, HomeShop18, IndiaPlaza, Infibeam, IndiaTimes Shopping, Uread and Junglee (a price comparison service by Amazon). Check-it out for yourself and in just a few minutes, you will be able to get the Best Price of your desired Book and More Value for your Money.

(Click on Table for Enlarged View)

What’s more… Homeshop18 is delighting Book Lovers by offering an Additional Discount of 20% on purchase of Books worth Rs. 500/- using a Gift Coupon Code upon check-out. I shall be posting the Gift Coupon Code and its related details shortly on this site.

A quick comparison of the Quality of Packaging of books ordered to Flipkart and Homeshop18 reveals that Flipkart is far behind Homeshop18 on this front too.

Each and every Book shipped by Homeshop18 (including those costing below Rs 100/-) came in an EXCELLENT Triple Layer Packaging, viz. an outer Tamper-proof, well taped Plastic Cover for Weather Protection, a Cardboard Box and a Corrugated Covering over the Book. Each Book itself was shrink wrapped and accompanied a complimentary Ball Pen (can be a short-term offering), a Coaster and 2 decent Bookmarks.

Most Books shipped by Flipkart came only in a Plastic Envelope. Each Book was shrink wrapped, although I found a book to be full of dust in spite of the shrink wrapping. Apparently, the shrink wrapping of the book was done, after it had become dusty. Each Book accompanied a decent Bookmark.

To my utmost surprise and in clear violation of the Legal Metrology, Packaged Commodity Rules of India, Two Books purchased and received from Flipkart were advertised and sold above the stipulated Maximum Retail Price (MRP) printed on the Books.

Upon contacting Flipkart about the aforesaid issues, leave alone refunding the excess amount charged, disgustingly Flipkart’s Customer Service did not even bother to apologize for advertising and selling the aforesaid Books above their stipulated Maximum Retail Price (MRP). It seems Flipkart is abusing its market dominance and considers itself above the Laws of our Country.

The aforesaid has forced me to check the MRP of all Books and other Products purchased by me and my family members from Flipkart.

Before buying from Flipkart, I suggest you to cross-check the Pre-Discount Prices and Accessories being advertised by Flipkart with the Product Manufacturer’s website. You may get some Unpleasant Surprises.

To make sure that you are not cheated by Flipkart or any other Seller, prior to your purchase of any Product online, confirm the ‘Prices’ and ‘Standard Accessories’ included with the Product from the Product Manufacturer’s website.

For example, Manufacturers of most Laptops include and supply Carry Cases/Backpacks for Laptops as ‘Standard/Included Accessories’ and not as ‘Optional/Paid Accessories’. Likewise, Many models of Mobile Phones come with Memory Cards and at times even Carry Cases and Bluetooth Hands-free Kits as ‘Included Accessories’.

To make extra Illegal Profits, Sellers resort to Unfair Trade Practices by not informing the Customer about all the Accessories being supplied by the Manufacturer. They make extra Illegal Profits by selling the Included Accessories ‘Separately‘ or offer the Included Accessories as a ‘Special Offer‘ at an Extra Cost. By not including the supplied Accessories with Products like Laptops and Mobile Phones, the Sellers advertise the Products ‘Without Accessories‘ at slightly lower prices, make the customers wrongly believe that their prices are lower than others and also create unfair competition in the market.

If a Seller has not provided you with all the ‘Supplied/Included Accessories’ specified on the Product Manufacturer’s website, please post and share your experience here.

The above mentioned Price Comparison was also mailed to Flipkart. An extract of the reply received from Flipkart on 11 May 2012 is as under:

“Greetings from Flipkart! We regret to inform you that we are unable to offer you further discount on the books. This is the best price we are offering and please accept our apologies for disappointing you. Please write back to us should you have any other questions or need further assistance. Regards. Flipkart Customer Support”

To be concluded.

Coming Soon…

The truth about Flipkart’s Unfair Trade Practices viz.

Non-Delivery of Ordered Products: Payments and Orders for which have been duly Accepted by Flipkart.
Misleading Advertising and Sales of Multiple Products above their stipulated Maximum Retail Prices(MRP).
Misleading Advertising and Sales of select Laptop Computers, without supplying the Accessories included by the Manufacturer.
The facts about the ‘Terms of Use’ of ‘flipkart.com’.

Note for Readers: Other than being a Customer, I, my family members, or talkabouttech.com are NOT associated/ affiliated with any online or on-air Retailer. This post has been written only for the benefit of Consumers at large. Please share this Post if you like it.

Android Mobiles, Samsung

Samsung Galaxy Note finally gets the taste of Android Ice Cream Sandwich

May 10, 2012 Udit Malhotra Leave a comment

(Image Credits : Engadget)

Samsung has started rolling out the updates to Android ICS 4.0 for the Samsung Galaxy Note to users across Germany and Europe. The update would be pushed via OTA (over-the-air) or Samsung’s PC Suite Kies. The install package weighs 319MB in total, adds the ‘Premium Suite’ of apps as promised, Touch Wiz remains the core for ICS with minimal changes to the design and the New S Memo widget. The best way to start the upgrade is via PC, make sure you’ve taken a backup as well to avoid any issues.

Also Read : The Samsung Galaxy S3 is finally unpacked !

On the software enhancement front the Note has now much more to offer with apps specially tailored for the S-Pen that include S Note, Shape Match and My Story. The visual appearance remains almost the same, if you are well versed with the Gingerbread UI then you won’t feel much of a change, as Touch Whiz is the driving force even on the ICS front. I know that each one of is desperately waiting for update, if luck is on the go you might see the update notification to soon pop-up on your devices. Most of the folks across the European and German belt are already a part of the ICS marathon while others wait eagerly.

Information on carrier specific or region specific release date for the update is yet to be out, will keep you guys posted on the same. Lets hope for a speedy worldwide roll-out.

Android Mobiles, Samsung

The Samsung Galaxy S3 is finally unpacked !

May 4, 2012 Udit Malhotra Leave a comment

The big day was finally in and the much anticipated and awaited Samsung Galaxy S3 is here to surprise us all with its delightful touch of nature. The first thing to start over is the event being live streamed that has allowed millions of enthusiastic Galaxy Fans and Bloggers to be a part of the grand event.

Samsung has given an ear to assimilate feedback from its existing users for the Galaxy S2 and Galaxy S to design a smartphone that is intelligent enough to welcome the sense of being human. The device flaunts an amazing 4.8-inch Super AMOLED Display (1280×720 pixels) with an astonishing image density of 306 PPI (pixels-per-inch), relatively as good as Apple’s Retina Display. Samsung’s Exynos 1.4 GHz Quad-Core Processor would showcase multitasking experience to be overwhelming with 1GB RAM to supplement its needs.

For all you peeps who love to shoot, capturing images would be even more fun with an 8MP that comes with zero shutter lag and a response time of less than 1 second, it supports Full HD Video at 1080p, while the 1.9MP front camera supports HD Video at 720p. The front camera also supports human face recognition that prevents the display to dim while you are using it. Samsung has also introduced loads of social sharing features including NFC with Wi-Fi direct, Wi-Fi Boost, Video Streaming with its proprietary All Share Dongle allowing support for devices equipped with DLNA, and Best Photo that automatically captures several shots for your images and chooses the best one automatically.

An incorporated natural voice recognition client called ‘S Voice’ helps perform voice actions and human gesture recognition in 8 different languages including British/American English, French, Italian, German, Japanese, Korean and more. It seems Apple’s Siri might have some competition to meet in the months to come. You can also use voice commands to wake up or unlock your phone, the examples include statements like ‘ Hi Buddy’ and more.

(Samsung Galaxy S3 1st Video Commercial via Youtube)

On the design front the gizmo still maintains an easy to carry layout despite the fact of the increase in its screen size. It weighs 133gms and 8.66mm in width, now that is slim for a full touch form factor. Considering battery as a major concern for all users on the Android platform, we get a high-capacity 2100 mAh battery with support for multiple accessories including Wireless Sharing kits introduced by Samsung, a technology to be innovated for the first time in the smartphone segment.

Android Ice Cream Sandwich 4.0 is what that comes loaded, topped up with Samsung’s Nature Touch Wiz UI. The secret behind the word ‘Nature’ is unveiled by the overall representation including animations, sounds, photos and the physical build, which have been inspired by keeping the environment in mind.

The Samsung Galaxy S3 is planned to release across Europe and 10 other regions including Delhi (India) starting 29^th May 2012. It would be available in two colors i.e. ‘Pebble Blue’ and ‘Marble White’. We would witness both the 3G and the LTE variants for the S3, the LTE variant would be available across the U.S. with more details about the same would to be revealed at the U.S. launch event. As Android and the Google Play Store evolve as thrilling hub for free and paid apps, the future for the Samsung Galaxy S3 is filled with smoothing charisma and glamor.

Samsung Galaxy S3 Photos

(Source : Samsung Mobile Facebook Page)

Blackberry, Blackberry Mobiles

Blackberry 10 is going to be the next big thing ! Watch out Android !

May 3, 2012 Udit Malhotra Leave a comment

It has been a while for rumors in the air for the Blackberry 10 OS that is still in its development cycle. For past few months we only used to hear criticism for RIM as a business proposition, considering the continued revenue loss the company had gone through.

The Blackberry World 2012 was a thrill of change and opinions with much more in store for both RIM and Blackberry 10. Thorsten Heins (President and CEO, Research In Motivation) was enthusiastic and positive to showcase the new technologies the spurring behind the scenes. The session keynote emphasized on how Blackberry will change the future with more to come for professionals, general users and the enterprise segment.

Blackberry 10 has amazing stuff to offer including a clutter-free Flow UI, a self learning and fast touch screen keyboard, and a camera app that would help you capture that ‘Best Moment’ of yours.

Video Source : CrackBerry

The newly introduced Flow UI is a key driver that focuses on making a touch-based smartphone a single-handed device while using it with complete ease. The underlying technology would help professionals and individual users to increase productivity, with access to live apps just a flip away. The keyboard is just ‘Wow’ is what all I can say, it intelligently remembers what you type and predicts the next word based on actions that have been previously been recorded. The feature is really magnificent. Android doesn’t have anything of this kind to even compete with RIM. The QWERTY keyboard evolution has been an integral part of RIM’s development since the early days and with this upcoming new technology it all says that Blackberry is still alive. Lastly it’s the camera that we are talking about, capture photos that you never want to miss with the revolutionary time warp feature in place, allowing you to go back, fit that perfect frame and save what you wanted to see.