One in ten ideas here, will be useful somewhere; The rest may be useful elsewhere!

Sachin Tendulkar (Career x 0) if we do not win this World Cup?
And if we win it, it will be (Career x 1)?

1. If that is what you think, there is a simple advice- do not put your kids into cricket or any team sport. You will only create nuisance for others. 2. If you see India in World Cups since ’92, we have never topped a league phase. We were typically 4th/5th overall. So Saurav Ganguly’s team was a success (2nd in 2003). Even if do win this WC, we have a long way to go to be a #1 ODI team. These knockouts are not extensive tests. (poor format to find a World Champion).

3. If you think the World Cup matches are the only few which matter then were we so stupid to critiicize or watch other 400-500 odd matches India played in two decades. Sure, these are important, but Tendulkar’s frquency of 50s (abt 50%) is about twice that of Ponting or Richards (25-33%), not any more unfortunately. ya, ya, matters and all that… wait for my book!

For quiz and my new book, visit http://www.shotzx.com

@saumilzx

The iTwiverse is abuzz with rumors about Apple launching an iPhone nano- a compact version of the iPhone at a cheaper price. Technically, it does sound achievable, because the Retina display can pack twice as many pixels as the original iPhone. That in itself does not make it easy to build a smaller touch device, as the contact areas for buttons, keys etc., are reduced as well. But if a squarer aspect ratio is chosen, the keyboard can remain the same size as the present iPhone, with few lines of text visible above it. Besides, you can trust Apple to come up with UI adjustments to pull off a nifty smaller touch device (voice navigation?). The iPod-nano is already a good example but with limited apps only. 

But skeptics argue that a smaller iPhone would perhaps be needless, offering no real value over the present iPhone- which is already small enough to carry. But so is the iPod Classic small enough to carry. But Apple has created an attractive range of colorful iPod variants- shuffles, nanos which allow users to step-in at an attractive price range from $50+. The Classic at $249 for 160Gb is still the best value for money, though.

So if Apple plans nano variants of an iPhone, pricing needs to be spot on. A contract free iPhone is about $599 in most countries. Now here is a reason,-a very big reason- why a smaller or cheaper phone will be critical in India and many other Asian countries.

From my personal experience creating travel guides and programs in South East Asia, I can say that the mobile phone has done wonders in keeping the travel industry connected to providers at all levels- cab drivers, souvenir shops to exclusive remote island resorts, irrespective of level of education, salaries, and language barriers. The typical salaries at grassroots start from Rs 7500 (about $150+) per month, to about twice or thrice that amount for fresh graduates.

The three entry level mobile categories in Asia: 

So here is how an average Asian buyer goes about buying a mobile phone: 

1. I *need* a phone, even if I use it more for incoming calls from potential customers or emergencies. An FM radio never hurts as an added feature. $50 Nokias are damn popular in this category of semi-educated masses, and the not-tech-savvy senior citizens.

2. If I can get a phone, with a decent camera, so that it takes pictures of family & kids (maybe in a village where neither many have a landline phone nor own a camera). Each time I talk too my old cab-mates in Thailand, and ask about their family, the first thing they do is pull out their cell phones and prove that they are keeping their kids happy. So a $100-150 mobile, is the next level, which a lot of folks have to plan and save up for. 

3. The third level- you perhaps guessed it- is a phone for the new generation of Facebook teens, Twitter centric graduates. It must be understood that the average student in Asia, may not own a laptop or a desktop, and if they do, it will usually be a shared machine at home. So FB and Twitter on a phone become a pre-requisite in this trendy but ever expanding category, looking for their own personal space. Perhaps upto $200 is what they can justify, with help from their parents. 

Above $200, becomes expensive to justify as a need. Other worries begin to creep in- that it can get wet in the rains (4-6 months in India, Indo-China) etc., and what if you forget it somewhere. Of course, if you have an IT job or are a graduate working for few years, you start looking north, but the range of smartphones from $300-400, the Blackberries, etc., are usually still the first choices. $600 can be a month’s salary. 

How Apple can address these three categories, with one model or more, is anybody’s guess. 

If they can build a cheaper phone at the same size as the present iPhone- minus many features that would be fine. But if a smaller form factor is needed to cut costs, that is the next best option, but will work as well. Even just the built-in apps to begin with, plus a social media client, would do fine. 

Go for it Apple, size does not matter, if the price is right, so long as you proivde space for 140 characters* 

Happy Valentine’s day to the nano generation! 

@saumilzx 

Mumbai

*Just follow that up in Asia with aggresive mobile-me offers 

A 3cmx3cm Apple touchscreen is spotted.
http://bit.ly/9orDyF

Sounds perfectly plausible.

Ever since a 326ppi retina display doubled the touchscreen resolution, it makes sense that a device about half the area is on the cards, since the apps which addressed 480×320 pixels of an iPhone can run unchanged, since those pixels would now occupy half the real area in inches.

But it is not as easy as that, though. If you shrink the iPhone size half, there is no room for a keyboard when held in portrait mode, at least. So the smallest touchscreen (which works iOS style), would need more width on the thin side, making it squarish- as a smaller keyboard is perhaps not practical.

Perhaps bundle Bento or special apps for special communication type tasks, and make an iPhone which is essentially a phone. Perhaps only wifi? Perhaps not even that?

Just a phone with useful contact apps+Photo/Music…

$99? Apple will rule Asia overnight I can bet.

saumilzx
Mumbai, India