Venkatarangan (வெங்கடரங்கன்) blog
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Android TV is still not a good experience

6 Mins Read
SEC Android 9.0 TV Box

As Steve Jobs is reported to have said in 2011 to Walter Isaacson, [para-phrasing] “no company has managed to create an integrated television set that is completely easy to use”. Recent versions of Apple TV box are good but it works well within the Apple ecosystem only. From the time it was called Google TV (which I had bought in 2010), Google’s strategy for Television has been a mess. Over the years I have tried: Google Chromecast – v1, v2, which are good to cast something from the phone to TV, not for playing audio or video. Smart TV from…

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In Gadgets

Make and receive phone calls from your PC

1 Min Read
Windows 10 Your Phone

I didn’t imagine it to be so convenient. I am talking (pun intended) about the Call feature in Windows 10, called the “Your Phone” App that allows you to make & receive telephone calls from your PC. The PC has to be connected via Bluetooth to an Android phone. Once I got it working, it was super cool. Thanks, Microsoft. Already “Your Phone” app allowed you to send and receive text (SMS) messages, access photos from your smartphones. The calling feature is a recent addition to the list. Apple fanboys can save their energy-I am aware that this feature has been…

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In Gadgets

The podcasts I listen to, and the best app for playing them is now free!

3 Mins Read
The podcasts I listen to, and the best app for playing them is now free!

What’s a Podcast? A podcast is an episodic series of audio or video files which a user can download in order to listen. Next, to messaging & listening to music, I use my Smartphone for listening to Podcasts. For nearly a decade now, they are my companion during my evening walks and commute – helping me to relax, learn and catch up on the happenings effortlessly. Earlier I have written about the podcast episodes I have listened: Listening to the (late) Sci-Fi author Jerry Pournelle, and reading his classic “The Mote in God’s Eye” Listening to Rob Reid and then reading…

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In Gadgets

The Broadband connection at home and Hathway Play Box

4 Mins Read
Hathway Broadband Play Box - Android TV

For many years, I have been having a broadband connection at my home from ACT India, as they were the only high-speed providers using fibre in my area in Chennai. A little over two years ago, Hathway started offering their services, with the promise of much lower tariffs, higher speeds (100 Mbps at that time) and large bandwidth allowance (100 GB or more) every month and true F2H (Fibre till the compound wall of your House). Other than a few hiccups once in a while which they generally fix fast, I have been satisfied with their service. Currently, I have…

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In Gadgets

On a PC, how to Voice type in Tamil?

6 Mins Read
Google Tamil Voice Typing

For more than two decades, having computer translation, voice recognition and handwriting recognition in their mother tongue(s) have been a dream for many of the Indian language speakers including Tamilians. Partnering with institutions around the world, INFITT members have been working on this and had presented many technical papers on the subject in its annual conferences like with TI2010, when Unicode got Tamil Nadu Governnment’s approval. [This year’s conference is happening at the Anna University, Chennai from September 20-22, 2019] Even when the support for local languages are in the devices, how effectively are they being used? That’s a discussion…

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