I was told that India’s President was Pranab Mukherjee and, no, I didn’t ask Alia Bhatt. I was quizzing Amazon’s assistant Alexa on current affairs, after my wife received an Echo Dot as a gift from her US-based aunt. A quick Google search and I had Alexa up and running in no time. But there were a few compromises: I had to sign up for Amazon Prime Music using my US account and had to specify every time that I wanted the weather update for New Delhi, India. But Alexa knows Narendra Modi and...

Apple’s iPhone X (Rs 1.02 lakh for 256 GB) dazzled in the sunlight. The silver review unit looked all chrome and glass. The power/lock switch seemed bigger and placed lower than it is on the iPhone 8/8 Plus, while the most significant change was the absence of the home button. Also, the rear dual camera setup is vertical. The all-screen phone is a little bigger and heavier than my iPhone 6s, but the 5.8-inch screen is the biggest seen on any iPhone. ALSO READ: Flipkart, Amazon help Apple...

The television used to be called the idiot box earlier (some still call it that). Today, we keep talking about smart TVs (and various contraptions that could make the “dumb” ones smart). With Samsung’s Frame TV (Rs 2.74 lakh for the 55-inch one), it seems televisions could get a brand new moniker. The Frame TV impressed me at first glance. While it might look boxy and bulky compared to the sleek lines of its cousins, think of it as a mounted canvas, and you’ll understand what the inspiration...

A small flat makes for a cosy home. But put a few smart speakers in the mix and it could lead to some confusion. For example, while entering my bedroom, I asked Alexa to play songs by The Beatles (on the Amazon Echo in the bedroom). But I said this while leaving the hall where I was parallel to the Echo Plus. Thus, while the hall was filled with sound of “Help!, the speaker in the bedroom was silent. To be fair, it wasn’t the fault of the devices. Working in close proximity, they did what...

Sony A9: Made for speed The Sony Alpha 9 (Rs3,29,990 for ILCE-9 body) looks like any other mirror-less camera. But I did a double take when I heard it was a full-frame 24-megapixel shooter. Paired with the 85-mm, F1.4 lens SEL85F14GM (Rs1.29 lakh) it was ready to roll. Early morning one day, I woke up early, I took a few pictures of a leisurely game of cricket. The autofocus was impressive, as was the feature that detects your eye moving away from the viewfinder and displays the image on the...