How to Check Your Smartphone is NavIC-supported?

I have a brand new Mi 11x Pro and yes it supports dual band GPS - that means it comes with NavIC or Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS) support. 

For the uninitiated, GPS - the American satnav (satellite navigation) system was de facto in many devices, and initially it connects over L1 band (single band SatNav) - as a result most Satnav support L1 Band only. Later L2 band was also introduced. L1 band means signals are transmitted over 1575.42 MHz band, while L2 band uses 1227.60 MHz. L2 band was exclusively for the Army. 

Later L5 band (1176.45 MHz) came into consideration to use it as a Satnav carrier. The L5 band has a high bandwidth and transmission capability, which results in greatly improved anti-interference capabilities and noise management. GPS can take you within 20 meters of your target, while NaVIC is more precise — it will take you within five meters of the target.

Indian Telecom - End of 2021 Update

T​​hough Indian telecom sector is having a lackluster show for last few years, but some zeal hopefully returning to the tel-tech sector in next 12-18 months. More excitement comes with government's new plans with telecom including 100% FDI in telecom and relief packages for telecom service providers. 

Broadband Scene to be Changed: Wired vs Wireless (4G/5G) vs Satellite Internet, Airtel's OneWeb vs Jio 5G, OneWeb vs Starlink

Though India's broadband scenario is not comparable with global counterpart, the scene can see lots of improvement. Wired vs Wireless debate is going to over soon, as satnet is coming to India at affordable (not cheap) price.

Grofers Bug - Money Deducted but Order Not Placed

I am a regular buyer from Grofers. I heard about a bug on Grofers system - that users complete the order by payment but payment failed or not authorized on Grofers' server, resulting in order is not placed. 

I had a similar experience recently. I first talked with @GrofersCare on Twitter. They sent me a screenshot which clearly shows payment against my order was not authorized. Then I talked with my third party UPI app (these are for eg: GPay, AmazonPay, WhatsappPay etc. ) - they are just the middle man, hence their reply was payment was successful from their side and you have to talk with your bank. In short my money was in limbo. 

List of Camera Sensors Used in Different Smartphones

For future reference purpose post it is. You can also track the evolution of the camera sensors. However I doubt how long I would be updating this post. 

This list is made for my future works for easy find. 

   === 

As mobile photography is improving, smartphone makers are partnering with lens makers. For eg, Huawei-Leica, OnePlus-Hasselblad, Vivo-Zeiss. But before Android or iPhone hits the market, Nokia did some excellent job during the beginning of mobile photography - Nokia had used Zeiss lens in some of its Symbian phones. 

These days most camera sensors are either from Sony (IMX series) or Samsung (Isocell).

OnePlus-Oppo Merger: Impacts

I bought OnePlus 6 way back in 2018, and still using it as my primary phone. I didn't buy another second smartphone til 2020, or didn't upgrade OnePlus 6 as my mobile photography goes pretty fine with OP6. Yes I bought few lens as add-on and they just enlarge the vision of two cameras of OP6. 

As days go by, I must say OnePlus has been able promote themselves as a global company with a market in US - thanks to their Android fork, OxygenOS. 

In the  of June '21 we got the news of merger between OnePlus & Oppo. This is a kind of shock to many OnePlus fanboys - kind of insecurity feeling was propelled among them. Soon after the merger, it's been announced that OnePlus will be a subsidiary of Oppo but will act independently. And we also came to know that the source codes of the OxygenOS and ColorOS will be merged. 

Jio vs Airtel vs Vi - LTE/4G Speed Comparison !

After the amalgamation of Vodafone India and Idea Telecom, a new brand identity emerged in the Indian telecom scenario - Vi (pronounced as we). However analysts believe the new company, though incumbent in terms of operation is way far behind the top two - Jio and Airtel. 

But that does not mean Vi is not offering good services, they are changing their core strategy as per the market needs. Well the change is inevitable, and in the COVID situation it demands more innovation. Moreover globally big telecom players are repositioning them as a digital platform along with good digital services as backbone. 

Vi is not an exception. They are promoting their 4G services as GIGAnet, and many circles they are promoting their 4G services as 'India's fastest 4G'. Well that's not a completely wrong, as Vi 4G network is quite underutilized compared to Jio and Airtel, as Vi lost huge number of subscribers. 

WiFi Adapters for Older Laptops - Whom to Choose?

I am using an old lappy since 2011, and frankly speaking I am quite happy with it. However some stuffs just got faulty - like the speakers and the WiFi-Bluetooth module shits often. So I use an external WiFi USB adapter for some time. TP-Link TL-WN725N is quite great and serves my purpose til date. But as my routers got 5GHz signals I felt the need of 5GHz supported WiFi adapters. But I am tight on my budget - Rs 1200-1300 would be maximum I would spent on it. 

TP-LINK adapter does not support 5GHz WiFi

So after a good time spent over Google searches, I found these 3 WiFi adapter could be my choice.