Friday 27 December 2013

Product Review - Sennheiser HD 280 Pro - Over the ear Headphones

Hi Guys, 

Headphones being my first love and what best can when I can go in pursuit of perfect sound with Sennheiser headphones. May be my search will end once I have listened to Momentum by Sennheiser. But for the moment the topic of review is their HD 280 Pro which my brother was using since a year. I tested the same against my other headphones and found this one to be simply wiping all the competition in it's category.


The audio output of these headphones is really amazing in the price range they fit in. These are available in India at around Rs 6500 at flipkart and amazon. The sound quality is superb and you will fall in love all over again with all the music played on these headphones.


The headphones can be rotated for usage of DJ's if using a single earphone and the cable is telephone cable like wired for elongated operation. 


The padding over the ear is soft and really fits the ears completely. The weight of the headphones is on a bit heavy and will not be comfortable for long period of use. But you can use these ones as a noise cancellation earphones too during long flights and train journeys as these headphones are made for high-noise environment conditions. It will be a cheaper alternative considering the noise cancellations headphones prices.

HD 280 is a professional version of headphones which will give you value for money and makes your journey with these full of great music. I love Sennheiser and being using the ones I have and the list is adding continuously as I get more and more of these in my life. 

Looking forward to gain some Momentum in the Sennheiser style...

Cheers!!!

More info can be checked from - http://en-in.sennheiser.com/headphones-headsets

Pictures taken using Panasonic FZ5 

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An Android App a day - 29. PvZ 2 - Plants vs Zombies 2

Hi Guys, 

Electronic Arts Inc has done it again and this time they have made the sequel much more fantastic than the earlier one. After having fun playing the first version of Plants vs Zombies, the game Plants vs Zombies 2- It's about time - has went further into three worlds - Ancient Egypt, Pirates Seas, Wild West. Other worlds are in the making and will come may be in the new year.

The different worlds are made nicely and offers a lot of graphics and new powers suiting the game. The background music also suits the worlds. I have not been able to control myself and been playing the games from the time I have the same in my HTC One. The game is somewhat heavy to download on 3G as it takes 250 MB game data. 

The whole game has a mystery feeling to it and it gives you a feeling to carry on playing ON and ON. Killing zombies across various background settings requires a lot of strategy in place. A new powerful plants have also been launched along with some of the manual intervention powers enabled for the player to kill the zombies.

The game can be downloaded from Google Play Store from -

Overall the game is really awesome and install it asap to enjoy the uninterrupted fun.

App rating - 4.5/5 
More info can be found at - eamobile.com/

Cheers!!!

Contact me for your product's review on twitter @araijain or @thelifesway or email - thelifesway@gmail.com

Thursday 26 December 2013

Product Review - LG HBS-700 Wireless Bluetooth Stereo Headset

Hi Guys, 

A lot and lot of bluetooth headsets are continuously coming in the market with better designs and features that really makes us go buy them. LG Electronics has also launched HBS-700 in two colors - Black and White for listening to music and calls on the go. The design of the device makes it really unique and can be easily kept hanging around the neck. It's really lightweight with many unique features like magnetic earbuds which attaches themselves with the device easily.

The headsets are rechargeable and gives you more than 8 hours of uninterrupted music and calling. The music and call controls are on both ends of the headsets and are really easy to operate. 

The sound quality via earbuds is great with it's noise isolation. At full volumes also the earphones sound doesn't distort. This is really a must buy for those who wants to take music on their jogging or gym. I really loved the device a lot and with a lot of features in such a small price it's true value for money device to go for. Bluetooth pairing is easy and can be done almost instantly.

The device can be bought from Amazon  for around US$ 50. It can be recharges using the same mini usb cable you get for your android devices.

Though there is no mute button on the device for calling but that's not there in any bluetooth device as such. I tried the device by borrowing it from my brother who has been using it since an year or so. LG made the headsets easy to carry around the neck the whole day forgetting that you are actually having one.

Cheers!!!
Contact me for your product's review on twitter @araijain or @thelifesway or email - thelifesway@gmail.com

Wednesday 25 December 2013

Product Review - Harman Kardon CL Headphones

Hi Guys, 

Headphones is one thing that I love a lot and always in search to try a lot of them till the time I find my perfect partner. I am not a loyal to any one company in terms of headphones but I do have Sennheiser, Bose, Sony, HP, Philips and many more. I will keep looking for the best one till I get one for my personal use and not just to review :-)

Harman Kardon CLassic is a niche brand of headphones and comes in a big box with metallic body and a cable with built in audio controls and voice. This cable can be used with iPhones for voice calling too. It also comes with extra large sized metallic headband so that the user can use the headphones as per your head size. 

These headphones are priced at around Rs 9000 in India on flipkart ( amazon) and produces a rich and awesome sound. They ear cushions are soft and the headphones are heavy with it's metallic console and headband. They fit nicely over the ears and gives you a kind of noise isolation too.

But due to their metallic design and heavy weight you may feel tired to listen to these ones for longer period of time. It happens in day to day use that you want something light to carry around the ears. 

These Harman Kardon headphones comes with a nice leather cover to pack your heaphones and they fit into the pouch horizontally due to the amazing flat design. They really look great and fits into that price bracket perfectly well. 

These headphones came to me only for review and I had to return the model within a day as I ordered them on behalf of my friend who was looking for some nice deal on headphones and I told him to buy these and got it for 50% discount on Cyber Monday deal from DionWired (@DionWired). At that price these are the best he can get. Happy Listening! 

Cheers!!!
Contact me for your product's review on twitter @araijain or @thelifesway or email - thelifesway@gmail.com

Monday 23 December 2013

Product Review - Logitech Mini Boombox

Hi Guys,

After I got the Sony NFC Bluetooth speakers, Indiblogger came with the last meet of the year in New Delhi for Dance India Dance Season 4 and I too became a part of it. I didn't win anything in the meet for the first time ever in my meet experience but the after meet blog post contained several prizes and I was able to win Sennheiser HD202 headphones. This post is not about the prize I won but about the prize my wife won for her post on the same topic. The product she got as her first ever win from Indiblogger.in is Logitech Mini Boombox.
It is a small bluetooth speaker but loud in it's sound output. The panel has touch buttons which are easy to operate. The device connects immediately with your mobile/tablet etc via bluetooth connection.

 The Logitech Boombox is really a bluetooth speaker to go for as it's clear and loud voice really brings room alive with your fav songs.
The device can also be used as a speaker connected via the aux connection. The device has inbuilt rechargeable battery giving out good amount of battery life. I have not charged it since I got it last week with four five hours of play till today.
The device has button to switch on/off the device which helps to save battery. The device too comes with a usb cable to recharge the device.

Overall experience of the device is great as it really is very good at producing sound at higher volumes though the distortion starts as soon as you are on full volume. The device is available at Rs. 3000 - 4500 on www.flipkart.com and www.amazon.in

These are good one if you don't want to spend much and wants a loud sound output for outside barbeque parties too. 

Thanks to www.zeetv.com  for sending across the product and organizing DID4 Delhi  Meet with Indiblogger.

Cheers!!!

Contact me for your product's review on twitter @araijain or @thelifesway or email - thelifesway@gmail.com

Product Review - Sony Wireless Speaker SRS-BTV5 with NFC & Bluetooth

Hi Guys,

I really wanted to have a rechargeable bluetooth speaker since the time I realized the use for the same and kept on checking www.flipkart.com for any deals on the same. I am thankful to Sony Pix twitter handle for making my dream come true to have an awesome bluetooth speaker system with NFC from the house of Sony.
 This is a great addition to my Sony collection and this one is really awesome product.


SRS-BTV5 has built in rechargeable battery giving sound output at 1.2W for around four hours of continuous usage.
 Setting up is really easy and with NFC almost instantly pairs with my HTC One. The sound quality is clear and loud with all the various genre of music. I really loved listening to my fav singers like Kailash Kher, Shreya Ghoshal and Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan.
The best part is that you can even attend your calls without picking up your mobile phone and music plays once your call is over. The overall experience of using this just 130grams of speakers with great sound quality is awesome. More information can be taken from http://www.sonymobile.com/global-en/products/accessories/wireless-speaker-srs-btv5/#white

This will be really useful for my small room in Johannesburg, South Africa rather than carrying my Sony iPOD dock. Thanks a lot to @SonyPix for the #Skyfall contest.

Cheers!!!
 www.thelifesway.com 

Contact me for your product's review on twitter @araijain or @thelifesway or email - thelifesway@gmail.com 

Product Review - Amazon Kindle 3G Keyboard

Hi Guys, 

I bought this amazing Kindle 3G Keyboard from USA via one of my friends there for US$139 way back in Nov 2011. At that time Kindle Fire was yet to be launched and I made this investment to read a lot of books easily. The Kindle device is really lightweight and helps you to carry it easily around in your backpack.



This one has 3G free for life and 4gb internal memory. It can play music using experimental setting that are built into it. The experimental tab has Web Browser, Play MP3 and Text-to-Speech.
 The audio through the speaker openings on both sides of the device is of good quality.

The keyboard feature helps in taking notes and mark the content of the various books. It also helps on experimental browsing. 
 The book content is displayed just like the actual book and the content seems to be easily readable in direct sunlight too.

The first book that I read on it was of Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson and really enjoyed the same very very much. It also has an built in book reader which is really helpful if you wants to rest your eyes or if you are driving.

I really love my Kindle 3G and it's really a great device for those who loves to read books on the go!

Cheers!!!

Contact me for your product's review at twitter @araijain or @thelifesway or email - thelifesway@gmail.com

Friday 13 December 2013

Indiblogger - #CatchTheFlavour - CRANBERRY



#CatchTheFlavour - #Cranberry is my favourite one because of it’s nice sweet taste along with a hint of citrus. It’s healthy as well as nutritious fruit. I really like the dried version of the same and thanks to Breezer for coming out in this amazing flavour.

The dark red colour of the fruit represents a lot of blood that runs in our veins and makes our life worth living. I am really looking forward to making a place in the winning team of Cranberry. Cranberry is the best as all others flavours are general and easily available in soft drinks format also. This is going to be a niche drink in the kitty of Breezer India. Taste it and live a healthy and great life! Even if you don't like the drink (Won't happen though) , do eat cranberries!

Cheers!!!

More info is available at www.breezerIndia.com

Wednesday 30 October 2013

Indiblogger DID4 Meet - #DanceItOut for Women Security

It was the time to #DanceItOut as Dance India Dance Season 4 has to start in another three days and the new judges and ZEE TV chose Indibloggers as their partners. I was very excited to meet all the blogger friends after a lot of time and also as it might be my last meet this year as I am travelling to other country for sometime. Just like everytime, the event location was awesome and this time it was The Oberoi, Delhi. With the amazing food, snacks & drinks being served everyone was sure to follow their passion to dance and to blog. Again it finally came down to the moments of truth which again became the meet theme. The social issues we are facing today was the theme to #danceitOut and finally blog it out after the meet. 



The safety of Women- a topic that called for heated discussions and massive protests throughout the country. India has witnessed a huge uproar, a revolution against lecherous members of the society who have caused immense shame to the entire country through their heinous acts.

The question on everyone's lips… the question that has been echoing around the globe, which has been blaring out of televisions and radio stations worldwide – “What is wrong with Indian men”?  Why is it that there are incessant incidences reported almost every day and even after numerous claims and promises by the government, police and judiciary nothing seems to have improved? Infact, the situation has worsened over time. Who is responsible for the safety of women in a country of 1 billion people?

The answer lies within each one of us, the only problem is we do not realize it. It needs a lot of brainstorming to identify that WE are responsible for all that is happening around us. Eve teasing, molestation and rape are the draconian forms of everyday petty incidences at our homes that we ignore. Each time a couple repents the birth of a girl child, however secretly, a shameful sin transpires. Each time a family favors their son over their daughter, the seed of superiority is sown in the mind of the little boy. The family gives fuel to this fire of superiority everyday by showing preferences towards the boy. It can be as trivial as letting him to go out and play while refraining his sister from doing so or dividing the responsibilities of household work among siblings in such a way that the girl gets to be holed up in the kitchen while the boy can go out to the market. As Mahatma Gandhi has said, for the first seven years of their lives, children are like clay. They will mold into respectful, responsible and honest citizens if you teach them to. This is the time children need to be taught equality and respect towards the opposite gender. We have to nip the mere thought of gender inequality in its bud.

The momentum gathered by the fight for a woman’s safety reveals a sad and bitter truth about our society. I believe that this issue cannot be solved superficially by shouting slogans or amending a few laws. After all, it is upto us to either follow the laws effectively or to flaunt them. If every father stops feeling the burden of his daughter’s marriage, if every mother seeks pride in letting her daughter make important decisions of her life herself, I bet the problem is solved there itself.

The situation we face today is not because of a man’s libido. Nor does it depend on the clothes of the girl or how late she chooses to come back home. The problem lies in the eyes of the beholder. The problem is the lack of respect given to women in this patriarchal society, by men and women alike. If every individual recognizes that a girl is not an object, that her place is not reserved in the kitchen, that she is not merely meant to cook and make life easier for her husband, that she is someone who has her own priorities, ambitions and dreams, we will triumph over this problem.

A major lesson that we all need to learn is that the Indian man is not solely responsible. At a time when everyone is ready to jump down the throat of every man they see, we must not forget the brave men who stood up to protect their friends, girlfriends, sisters or even complete strangers. Many men, like Keenan and Reuben have lost their lives fighting to stand up for the equality they believe in. Let us not forget that women are equally responsible. A few days after the Delhi gang rape, a woman sensitization program was being conducted by a senior woman scientist. In front of a large audience comprising of policemen, the public and senior government officials she lambasted the victim .In her opinion the gang rape victim should not have fought back while being raped since that may have ‘saved’ her intestines. She also wondered what she was doing at 9 PM alone with a boy. When powerful women are actively participating in victim blaming, how do we expect to change the mindset of boys who are brought up by these women?

Let us not forget that the responsibility of keeping a woman ‘safe’ is not merely restricted to protecting her from rape. It encompasses protecting her dignity and self esteem even after she has been raped. It means to never, ever blame the victim or make any excuses for the crime. It implies never questioning her intentions of staying out at night or wearing what she wants to. Would we question our sons if they wanted to wear shorts and go out for ice cream at midnight? Protecting her safety signifies protecting her from discrimination at every single step of her life.

Today, when the entire nation is clamoring over the problem, cribbing over the rules, criticizing the judiciary, the police and the government, I appeal to the people of India, dig deep into your family, because you have the capacity to bring about a change in your family and your neighborhood. Feel proud to be the father of a girl, don’t curb her freedom. Instead teach your son to respect his sister. Teach your daughter to be fearless and independent. Teach your children equality. Do not let their genders guide what you teach them. 


Irrespective of their sex, teach your children to cook and to play cricket. Teach them to sew buttons and to plan for their future. If your son is interested in fashion, send him to an art class. If your daughter is an athlete, coach her for the Olympics. While many have labeled this period in India as a fight for woman empowerment, I believe this is a fight for equality.And whatever medium we choose to communicate this feeling we need to stop this degradation of the society. Dance is the best medium to bring out your inner emotions and I feel that I could make a change in the society by changing myself and others with whom I come in contact with. We are all humans and should behave like one. 


Thanks to Indiblogger and ZeeTV for bringing out this theme of #DanceItOut and giving us a chance to meet all the judges Mudassar Khan and Feroz Khan to share our feelings with them. They are the true carrier of these feelings when they express the same on TV, more and more audience will listen and will take a stand on women security. 

Cheers!!! 


Get connected to #DanceItOut on https://www.facebook.com/ZeeTvIndia

Saturday 26 October 2013

An Android App a day - 28. SwiftKey Keyboard

Hi Guys,

It's been long that I wrote about the Android Apps as I was busy attending many product launches. I was introduced to this app by a friend and using the trail version just for two three days made me fall in love with this amazing keyboard app for my HTC One. I was missing Swype earlier after it's trial version expired but now this app really made me invest some money in purchasing the full version of the app. I got this app for Rs. 99 and loving all the features of this intuitive app. 

The best thing I like about this app was the colors when you flow your fingers across your tablet or smartphone screen. Hues of purple always motivates me to flow more and more.

Secondly, SwiftKey predicts the next word automatically based on the first word I have written. Happy birthday messages are so easy to type now. All the hashtags on twitter comes easy now based on the earlier tweets you have done for the brand. I am really amazed at this feature which made my buying this app immediately.





More information about the developers and app can be checked at - http://www.swiftkey.net/en/

Thanks Guys for making this great app. 

App rating - 4.5/5

Cheers!!!

Contact me for your product's review on twitter @araijain or @thelifesway or email - thelifesway@gmail.com

Monday 21 October 2013

NIKON #ThroughTheLens Blogger Meet Delhi 19 Oct 2013

Hi Guys,

@NikonIndia is a very active handle on twitter and is always rich in contests and great photography tips. Saturday morning after my breakfast and tea, I saw a tweet mentioning various famous people inviting for something happening in Delhi. No idea about what that was all about but I too took my chances of promoting my blog and asking about the invite for myself. Soon after three tweets, I got the follow back and the invite to the event which was about to start in another one and half hour at b-bar Saket. I took Delhi metro from Iffco Chowk and reached Malviya Nagar and finally the destination by 145pm. Finally took the desired lift and this is what was there to welcome me.

b-bar is an awesome place and the location has zen like quality and perfection in everything from decor to placement of tables, chairs etc. I got welcomed by the Nikon team and handed over a goodies bag. While walking towards the stage set, I recognised a person whom I have never seen in live but always respected and loved his work. Mr. Raghu Rai was there and chatting with Nikon team. I felt inspired and thanked Nikon team instantly for the invite. I surely knew that this is going to be a knowledge of lifetime by listening to an ace photographer. Meanwhile, we waited for some time and met other fellow bloggers and photographers. Finally, the program started with Raghav Mandava taking the stage and doing his standup comdedy act. Everyone enjoyed his comic timing and jokes through out the event.

It was time to listen to the legend Mr. Raghu Rai, and I was all ears. He started with telling us about how photography has become a religion for him and he feels himself in meditation whenever he is out there in the streets with his well planned gear capturing people and moments. He loves Street photography much more than any other because it's an extended reflection of his own life. He feels that he is a common man himself and then captures the beauty of everyday changing streets across India and world. He said, if you want to take good snaps, empty your mind first and then set your foot on the street. It took him a lifetime to reach a place where he is now. 

I felt, he really had this Zen like calmness and humbleness imbibed into his personality and the perfect place chosen by Nikon India really made all the difference. I really learned a lot listening to him for ten minutes what I could have not learned reading thousand of books.

After this we were welcomed by Mr. Hiroshi Takashina, MD Nikon India to the event. He presented some unknown facts about the Nikon and his personal stint of traveling 92 cities across India. He is one of the most humble guys I have ever met. My love for Nikon brand became much more positive after this meet and meeting with the team behind Nikon India. 


Finally, it was time to take the stage by Nikon India technical team as they took us through various facts and aspects of DSLR photography and breaking myths every minute. 


 The team started presenting by taking us through DX vs FX cameras and the fact that F mount has not being changed ever since the inception of DSLR camera by Nikon. 80mn NIKKOR lenses have been manufactured by Nikon in 80 years of their opening the shop. Every lens is made with precision it demands and to the best of quality possible.
The difference between ED lenses and normal lenses. Some more diffraction differences between Nikkor lenses and those who are not using that technology.
They took us through various small presentations about DSLR cameras, range, types of photography, the events and Nikon School and some video's shot using DSLR cameras.

The team took us through various genre of photgraphy and I took these images of the slides for one of my friend Kuldeep Singh whose D600 camera got me invited to this event in the first place because I blogged about that camera and various shots I clicked using that camera on our Khajuraho trip.

Wildlife Photography - 1. Get the Range

Wildlife Photography - 2. Get the Sharpness

Wildlife Photography - 3. Get Closer to the Wild

Wildlife Photography - 4. Get the Speed

 I received some awesome goodies from the team as NIKON DSLR strap and a 4gb Lexar SD Card along with a tshirt. My DSLR has started coming to me in parts though but I felt very happy that finally it started it's journey towards my hands! :-)



Thanks a lot to Nikon India for the invite and looking forward to more such events happening in Delhi NCR. Oh forgot to tell you all that this event marked the launch of D5300 and D610 DSLR cameras in India. D5300 has some features added into the D5200 like GPS and Wifi built in capabilties.
More info on http://www.nikon.co.in/en_IN/products/categories/dslr.page?


A twitter competition to win a book by Mr. Raghu Rai was won by our @ArvindPassey with a perfect Street photograph he took in the recent @SoDelhi Tweasure hunt we participated last week. Heartiest Congratulations!

I really felt jealous as I too has that kind of snap but couldn't apply logic that Raghu Sir will like street snap much more than others showcased by everyone else. Meanwhile, I was able to click a snap of his signature on his book on Delhi.

Thanks once again and really felt great to be a part of this event. Looking forward to having Nikon DSLR camera in my hands sooner than ever!!!

Universe....Are you listening? I am sure, you are!

Cheers!!!

Contact me for your product's review on twitter @araijain or @thelifesway or email - thelifesway@gmail.com