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iPhone 5- You Like it, But Should You Buy it?

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Low and behold! The iphone 5 is finally here, a device that’s thinner, lighter, faster and taller than its predecessor.
“This is the biggest thing to happen to iPhone since the iPhone,” said Apple marketing chief Phil Schiller. But is it really worth a buy? Let’s find out.

Firstly here are some significant and interesting features worth noting:

  1. Taller, thinner, and a metal back

The iPhone 5 features a 4-inch display (i.e. it’s larger than the iPhone 4S) and an aluminum and glass body that weighs 112 g and is 7.6 mm thick, making it 20 percent lighter and 18 percent thinner than the iPhone 4S. Touch sensors are now built into the display itself, which makes it 30 percent thinner as a result and less prone to glare.

The phones will be two toned, coming in either black and slate or white and silver. Apple iPhone 4S was given a glass back which got cracked by accidental falls frequently. Fortunately Apple has learnt their lesson from iPhone 4S and has provided a metal back this time, which is sure to play in their favor as far as durability of the body is concerned.

You won’t have to scroll that much because the larger screen will allow a fifth row of icons .On the down side most of the applications you have will not utilize all the space on the screen and will show black borders on the top and bottom of the application. The fate of this extra space will be decided by the application developers, whether to provide the customers with a better application experience or exploit the space by advertisements.

     2.     LTE (Long Term Evolution) and carriers

The iPhone 5 will run on 4G LTE networks. That’s in addition to the current support for GPRS, EDGE, EV-DO, and HSPA data networks. iPhone 5 has an inbuilt dynamic antenna which allows you to switch among these networks smoothly. The 4G connection will double the speed internet browsing and downloading content.

Taking in account the Indian disputes over 3G, it might take some time before the 4G internet service is started in India. In the absence of a suitable 4G connection the network will run on 3G connection and HSPA data network

      3.     A faster chip (A6 Chip)

The iPhone 5 is also powered by a faster A6 processor. According to Apple’s specialists, users will see Web pages load 2.1 times faster, and the Music app with songs will load 1.9 times faster. Combining both the 4G LTE and A6 chip the entire iPhone’s operating speed and internet speed is bound to impress many iphone4S users.

     4.     Battery life and Audio

Phone calls (the reason we bought phones for once upon a time) will be better and have three microphones and a noise-canceling earpiece, in addition to Apple’s new “wideband” audio that promises to deliver more natural sounding voice. Apple claims a longer batter backup with 8 hours of 3G talk time, 8 hours of 3G browsing, 8 hours of LTE browsing, 10 hours of Wi-Fi browsing, 10 hours of video playback, 40 hours of music playback, and 225 hours of standby time.

      5.      Camera

It comes with a spiffier camera, front and back facing cameras have each been upgraded (they’ll be 720p and 1080p, respectively) and users will be able to take much larger photos thanks to the new Panorama feature. There also a new image signaling mechanism within the A6 chip, which will bring spatial noise reduction and a “smart filter” that, produces better low-light performance and captures photos faster. Finally, there’s a built-in panorama mode that stitches shots together for one large 28-megapixel photo.

      6.     Lightning Power connector

The traditional 30-pin power connector has been replaced with much smaller one called Lightning is in. According to Apple, lightning is only 20 percent the size of the previous one. That means your iPod and iPad chargers won’t be charging your phone anymore. The various audio partners of apple which include BOSE will be coming up with new devices which will be compatible with the new connector.

Pricing for the different configurations is as follows: $199 for 16GB, $299 for 32GB, $399 for 64GB. It will be launched in India at sometime in early November this year. Also, note that the price of the iPhone 5 16 GB is same as the price of iPhone 4S 16 GB .For those who were hoping to buy a buy an iPhone 4S should definitely wait for the launch of iPhone 5 in India .

The Verdict: Should you buy it ?

Yes, the iPhone5 is definitely worth buying but unfortunately without a decent 4G connection it will not be performing at its maximum potential. The new design will adversely affect the view of the old applications and upcoming applications which should be solved in a few months. But the increase in battery life and the A6 chip alone make this iPhone a must buy.

 

Pinakita Gupta & Arjun Khosla
[email protected] ; [email protected] 

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Campus Central

Celebrations Result in Lathi Charge

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Congress’ student wing NSUI (National Students’ Union of India) made a clean sweep at the DUSU polls on Saturday 15th September by winning all three top posts of President, Vice-President and Secretary. After the results were announced, the losing side (ABVP activists) started pelting stones at the ABVP office, broke through the tight security and barricades. Subsequently, Delhi Police had to lathi charge the gathered ABVP activists while they shouted anti-Congress slogans and demanded the recounting of votes. ABVP suspects something fishy behind the counting of votes.

ABVP isn’t satisfied behind the counting process as they alleged rigging in the elections and staged protest at the DUSU Office breaking the windows and destroying the DUSU Office property. “Everything was done with calculated planning and even the DUSU officials made sure that NSUI wins. Congress MPs Depender and Bhupender Singh Hooda were seen at 6 am on campus. We were even given a deaf ear and thrown out of the DUSU Office when we demanded recounting” said Rohit Chahal, regional leader, ABVP.

Some students who were injured were taken to Hindu Rao hospital while some students who were critically injured were taken to AIIMS Trauma Centre. “It’s not about winning or losing the polls. It’s about the way Delhi Police reacted when our students demanded recounting of votes. I hope DUSU officials look into the matter and do the needful.” said a disappointed Vijay Goyal, BJP Leader.

The ABVP has also called for a bandh across the University to protest against these alleged malpractices during  counting of votes.

 

Picture credits: Sawdha Singh and Aishwarya Chaurasia

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Campus Central

DUSU Elections 2012- NSUI beats ABVP

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Saturday, September 15, 2012 Congress’ student wing NSUI swept the Delhi University Students Union polls, winning all three top posts of president, vice president and secretary. NSUI’s Arun Hooda defeated, a margin of 5,465 votes. As against Arun who got 17,621 votes Choudhry secured just 12,156 votes.

For the post of vice president NSUI’s Varun Khari defeated ABVP’s Gaurav Chaudhary, and Varun Choudhry won the post of secretary by defeating ABVP’s Ritu Rana. There was a tie between NSUI’s Raveena Choudhary and ABVP’s Vishu Basoya for the position of Joint Secretary.

“I am extremely happy, it was indeed a well deserved victory” says a supporter of the winning president Arun Hooda.

The DUSU elections were held yesterday in which 40% polling was reported. The ABVP is obviously not satisfied with the results and alleged rigging in the elections and staged protest at the Delhi Universitycampus, to control which the police had to resort to lathi charge. Since the morning, the area near the University Plaza and Dean Student welfare where the counting was taking place was cordoned off by the police and nobody, not even the media was allowed in.

 

Aishwarya
[email protected]

Picture credits: Swadha Singh

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Campus Central

Venky Elections: Results and Agendas

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Amidst a great deal of anxiety and excitement, Venky’s elections took place on Friday, the 14th of September. Leading up from the intense campaigning of the previous weeks, which included showers of pamphlets being thrown on the students, vote appeals between classes and allegations of bribing voters; it would be sufficient to say that this voting season was full of surprises.

The results were declared soon after the booths were closed and were as follows – Mandeep, a third student of Physics Honours was declared President, Sachin Mann a first year student of B.A Programme the Vice President, Sagar Gupta the General Secretary, Manisha Thakran a second year student of Physics Honours the Joint Secretary and Sanjay Rawal a third year student of Chemistry Honours the Central Coordinator.

All four were exhausted from campaigning but ecstatic at their victory. Said Mandeep, newly elected President, “The credit goes to my friends who supported me at every step of the way, I wouldn’t have been able to do it without them. It was my goodwill and that of my friends that ensured my victory.” In response to a question about work to be undertaken he replied, “I want to start a forum wherein CR’s of the classes can talk to the cabinet regarding their problems and in this way we can be in touch with all courses. Moreover, renovation in the canteen, better administrative practices and arranging for a special hostel for sportspersons is on the agenda.”

A jubilant Sanjay Rawal

Vice President Sachin felt that recognition and help from the authorities would be vital for the success of the cabinet. Joint Secretary Manisha agreed with the administrative problems and added, “There are a lot of problems with respect to infrastructure in college that we want to address. The base of which is to ensure working fans and lights which are sometimes ignored and not maintained. Also, we want to start a department library in the Arts Block (a library which caters to specific courses and books can be issued for the whole semester). Apart from that I want to see a bigger and better Nexus 2013.” Joint Secretary Sanjay has a two point agenda. He said, “As of now, there are two things we want to do. First to try and get a lift constructed for differently abled students, who face problems if their classes are held on the upper floors and secondly, get the library hours extended as those courses where the classes end late are not able to avail of the services.”

It remains to be seen how many of these promises the new cabinet can deliver, as of now however they all seem optimistic and ready to face any obstacles that bar Venky from becoming truly world class.

 

Riddhi Dayal
[email protected]

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Campus Central

SRCC Elections- Who and What Won

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After the spirited build-up on the speech day that took place on Thursday, students, unaffected by the rains that lashed the city, turned up to vote for their favoured candidates on Friday at SRCC. The candidates standing for various posts, were representing three respective panels, namely, the Hosteliers Panel, led by Rajan Chhabra, the Day Scholars’ Panel, captained by Prateek Handa, and the “V” Panel led by Vivek Jain.

The EVM results of posts for College President, General Secretary, and DU Central Councillors came out at around 2 in the afternoon, which saw Rajan Chhabra’s panel winning with a hands-down 4-0. The students winning the posts were Rajan Chhabra for College President, Ajay Kiraan for General Secretary and Amitabh Paul and Hari for DUSU CCs.

The results for the respective societies came later, and the Hosteliers’ Panel couldn’t have been happier as they won all the possible posts, bringing the statistics to 16-0.

The winning candidates were Bhanu Pratap and Priyamvad Yadav for President and Secretary respectively, Economics Society, Abhishek Vyas and Chandan Dhand for President and Secretary, English Literary Society, Satrajeet Mukherjee and Ankana Ghatak for President and Secretary, Fine Arts Society, Prajwal Bimali and Rahul Kothari for President and Secretary, Commerce Society, Ashish Mohanka and Kanika Gupta for President and Secretary respectively, Hindi Sahitya Sabha and Vardhman Jain and Lalit Chopra for President and Secretary, History and Political Science Society.

While Prajwal Bimali received the highest number of votes polled, a whopping 1112, Kanika Gupta won her post with the highest margin.

A visibly jubilant Rajan Chhabra mentioned in his speech, “We have worked hard in the past, and promise to work even harder in the future. Also, we have no hard feelings for anyone from the opposite panel, and we appreciate their efforts.”

An emotional Bhanu Pratap quoted, “It was a roller coaster ride, full of twists and turns, but those who were truthful to themselves, emerged as winners. We are looking forward to taking Ecosoc. and Srcc to greater heights.”

“What followed the announcement of the results was pure hysteria. The campus resonated with cheers of “Kunde hoye!” a South Indian victory song of sorts adopted by the hosteliers. The winning team was seen showering each other chips, supporters of the winning panel were dancing on the tables in the canteen,  it was crazy!”, informed Priyansha Saxena a student.

There were also a few verbal spats here and there, but no serious aggression was seen.

While the running helter-skelter convincing people to vote, almost spamming our inbox with vote appeals and general sweat and toil paid off for some, others had to face dejection, but what was noteworthy was the spirit with which the elections were contested.

Vatsala Gaur
[email protected]

Picture credits: Swadha SIngh 

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Arts & Culture

A Visit to the Delhi Book Fair, 2012

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For true bibliophiles, Delhi book fair could surely be called as a paradise on Earth. The aura inside the fair was mesmerising for whereever you might look you would find only books. The Fair was organized from the 4th -9th September at Pragati Maidan and was a grand success. Every day thousands of book lovers poured in and bought dozens of books.

While walking across the hall, one would be tempted to stop several times at the various stalls where books were being sold at the most amazing prices. At most of the stalls one could easily pick up their favourite novel priced of only 99 rupees. The crimson smell of old and new books filled the air, tantalizing the visitors to stay longer. New popular trends in reading were clearly evident. Books by authors like James Patterson, Jeffrey Archer, Dan Brown and John Grisham were being sold like hot pancakes. Though books of high literary value were difficult to find, but one could try their luck at a few places and get hold of some old classics. Chetan Bhagat was definitely the favourite book seller among all age groups. Fifty Shades of Grey by E L James, popularly known as “mommy porn” was in huge demand.

A large part of the crowd also comprised of children accompanied by their parents and the book fair had lots to offer them. Story books, colouring books, encyclopedias, books based on school curriculum were in abundance. The stationary mart was another major attraction. Most of the big stationery companies like Reynolds, Luxor, Uniball and many others had set up their stalls and were peddling their goods at highly discounted rates. The sale at the Archie’s arcade was a steal were most of the goodies were being wholesaled at a discount of 50 %.

Another major section of the fair had huge galleries set up by some popular names like Rupa, Om Book Shop, S.Chand etc. Foreign publishers like Cambridge had also put up their booth where the research papers and manuscripts written by reputed teachers and students were made available to the public. Spiritual organizations like ISCKON and the Art of Living had also set up their arcades where books, CDs and posters that propagated their teachings were being sold. The major attraction however was the e-book stall. The audience, especially the young were appreciative of the inevitable change in the style of reading that has taken place over time. Since, this book fair also celebrated 100 years of Indian cinema, classics of different genres and languages were also screened in the evenings.

Visiting the book fair can prove to be an enlightening experience- it helps us to realise how much knowledge and wisdom can actually be gained by reading books- as if in a time machine, you are transported to a different world altogether where the absurdities of daily life don’t hinder your thought process. Hence if you couldn’t make it to the fair this year, do try not missing it the next year for it is worth a visit.

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Bazinga

Bazinga

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DUSU elections have a new game-changer. A real threat to the existing band of boys and girls chock-full of braggadocio who have dominated elections in the Varsity till date, Ranbir Kapoor, alias Janardhan riding on the tall crest of success following his musical accomplishments has filed his nominations for the post of President today. He has always shown his ambitious attitude since voicing his wish to replicate the success of his idol, Jim Morrison. The already established stalwarts of the DU elections scenario have each expressed their surprise and also a strange fear regarding this new behemoth of a contestant which has seemingly weakened their bladders. Popular among his wannabe-fans as Jordan, Janardhan has issued a statement saying that his decision to file his candidature came after his peers and seniors began to mock his whacked-out sense of dressing and consequently he would want to try and implement a uniform in the University that would be identical to his daily wear. However in a shockingly honest and true declaration he further stated that the final and strongest spurt of determination for him came when he realised that his acting career had nothing more to offer him and he is better off as a typeset DU student.

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Sex Amma

Sex Amma

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Hi, I am fourteen years old and yesterday I was rubbing my thing down there while watching American Pie. Suddenly, white viscous liquid spurted out. I am very scared. Does this mean I have lost my virginity? It did feel really good. Can you hook me up with someone who can help me in the future? It took and aweful long time this time, approximately three hours. I was hoping to clock it under ten minutes.

 

Now this is one of our good kiddos, gave Amma exactly the kind of imagery that’ll give her sleepless nights! Eeeeeekh! So now that Amma is done going through the setting, the activity, the ‘climax’ and well, anti- climax, let’s get to the yissue.

My sweetest, you are at the doorstep of teenage so many and most of these sudden changes are normal. Your hormones are doing overtime, that is causing the physical set of changes like the one you got all graphic about above. And the same hormones can be held responsible for the emotional changes, anxiety is one.

A good person to talk to would be a counsellor; you might have access to one at school. Talking to your parents if you are this open with them is a very good idea too.

And three hours you say, that is probably because you were watching AMERICAN PIE 1, Amma suggests watching American Pie Beta House, yuuumm never mind. So do talk to a trusted elder and next time when you are planning to take matters into your own hand, try not going all Usain Bolt and clocking the thing down!

 

You could mail Amma your queries on the ‘hush hush’ topic at [email protected].

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Arts & Culture

Must-Have Apps For Y’All

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1. Evernote – Free Available for Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X, Android, iOS, Windows Mobile, WebOS, Maemo,BlackBerry and Google Wave, it’s considered the ultimate note-taking tool that keeps your notes in sync between devices. You can also record audio notes, store images, and keep all of this info well-organized with the help of notebooks and tags. 2. Grades: Student Organizer – $0.99 This Android app promises to help you get better grades! Based on a person’s ‘goal grade,’ the app tells you to required grade needed in the next test to bump up your score. It is yet another powerful organizational tool for students, featuring options like attendance monitoring, teacher and professor contact information storage, an advanced calendar and others. 3. My Student Budget Planner – Free It helps you to establish what you can spend each week, tracks your spending, stores your progress, re-calculates week-on-week so that you stay within budget. Thus, download My Student Budget Planner for Android to start keeping track of your spending. 4. Trackclass – Free  This app (available on iPhone, iPad and Android) is useful as it allows you to add classes and events for each class, attach files, receive reminders for upcoming events, take notes and view all the information at a glance on a Dashboard. One can even attach files to each class and assignment to keep things organized. It is a great way for students to stay organized. 5. Alarm Clock Xtreme – Free This Android app is for all those people who simply can’t get up in the morning. You can set it to wake up gently and gradually, set a variable snooze duration, and even set it to so you have to solve math problems before it will turn off the alarm. The app also features a countdown timer and allows you to set reminder alarms for events throughout the day. 6. Textalazyer – $0.99 Alcohol and texting are a potent combination. This interesting little app (available on the iPhone) is a boon for those nursing broken hearts. If helps people by not enabling them to drunk dial their ex. First, one has to enter contacts in the ‘forbidden contacts’ list and to later access this list, one has to go through a series of tough memory and concentration questions. Hence, saved from embarrassment. Problem solved.   Riddhi Dayal [email protected]]]>

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