Friday, 6 July 2012
By Kiran Choudhary, Kotak Securities
I surely don't agree with the above statement. Even though most of us use mobile phones for making/taking calls and sending SMSes, there is a whole lot more that you can do with it.
Instant Messaging: This is one feature that I use a lot. Using BlackBerry messenger and WhatsApp really helps me keep in touch with my friends and at absolutely no cost!
Internet: For me this is as important as making calls from my phone if not more. I use my old-fashioned blackberry to access the internet from wherever I might be (provided the mobile operator is generous enough to give me the data coverage in that area). But yes, it's now an inseparable part of my daily routine.
Social presence: Society expects me to have a virtual presence (who am I to argue), so to keep up my virtual façade, my mobile phone comes in very handy as I can use Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn to be in touch with friends or foes alike. And I do all this during a 1-hour ride back home from work!! Brilliant isn't it??
Games: It is difficult to find anyone, in any age group, who hasn't played or heard of 'Angry Birds'. The best-selling game ever on mobile phones is just another example of one of the many uses of this device. Unfortunately I can't play it on my blackberry but then I do have a go at it on my friend's super sleek iPhone 4S whenever I can.
Apps: The main reason that I feel that I should buy an iPhone ASAP!! There are billions of apps available for all kinds of phones. These apps make smartphones smart enough for us to like them. These range from utility apps, finance, healthcare etc. Today, there's an app for everything that you could possibly think of. Hell, you even have an app to charge your phone by merely shaking it!!
I am a stock market enthusiast and I even have an app that helps me be in touch with my trading account at alltimes - Kotak Securities' Mobile Stock Trader. This app is compatible with Java, BlackBerry, Android, iOS, Symbian and Bada OS handsets and covers about 95% of the handsets available in the country. One can download the app from
http://m.kotaksecurities.com and be in touch with stock markets anywhere, anytime.
Bluetooth: Ok I admit it, I still use Bluetooth!! For many other cool people like me, it's the best possible way to quickly transfer data without having to incur data charges. But the only problem is I have to be in close proximity to the other person to transfer whatever I want to.
Camera: Nokia has launched a new phone with a whopping 41 mega-pixel camera!! Well that's more mega-pixels than my DSLR.Camera has a lot of uses for someone like me, I can take a picture and upload it instantly on Facebook or twitter...not only that I can use my camera as a scanner to scan my face andit lets me unlock my phone! Pretty cool huh?
E-mail: One of the not so cool features of a mobile phone but trust me, it's very critical for people like me who want to access their mails from anywhere. This basically means that I'm carrying my office in my pocket but then nothing says "hard worker"more than sending a mail at midnight from your phone (make sure your boss is marked in the mail for full effect).
Location based Services: Today if I want to go to a restaurant, I don't have to ask people for it. All I have to do is go to my magic phone and it will give me the various restaurant options available for me near my location. This is location based service and it's not just limited to restaurants. I can use it to locate ATMs, hospitals among other things.
Maps: This feature uses the phone's inbuilt GPS and is a great travel companion. All I have to do is enter my destination and it'll give me the shortest possible route to get there.
Mobile Commerce: This is the more serious stuff. I use my phone regularly to purchase stuff from it. Yes, that's right! I can sit in a taxi and book movie tickets from my phone. The best part is that it as safe as doing it over the internet. Now I don't have to stand in a long queue to purchase tickets.
Voice Recognition: If any of you have used the latest iPhone, you would know what I talking about. I can use the voice recognition functionality to make calls without having to dial the number, search for anything that I want, get recommendations for nearby hotels/restaurants. It's like having your own virtual assistant!
Search: No brainer really. I can search for anything in the world by using the Google search app on my phone.
These are just some of the basic things that you can do from your phone apart from making calls. Mobile phones are making our lives simpler and faster than ever. What we have seen is just the tip of the iceberg.
Epicresearch3 on
14 September 2012 at 12:02 said
