Amazon now ships special edition video games to India

One of the strange things about Alexa ranking for India is the presence of Amazon on the top 100 list for India. Number 47 as of today. Weird right? One of the most popular ecommerce sites in India, when it doesn't have operations in India.

Now, Amazon for many years has been shipping to India, but only books, music and movies. For several years they used to use DeutschePost which used India Post for the last mile. About a couple of years ago, they switched to a local courier company to finish the last mile. Even while books, music and movies were available. Electronics and Video Games and tons of other things were not.

Last November, with the Kindle, Amazon started direct shipping of electronics to India. Sure it was an Amazon subsidiary which was doing it and and sure you could have some trouble getting things.But you got it.

Some time then (or maybe before). Amazon added India to the list of countries which were covered under the Amazon Global program. A big step, but it had all sorts of crap that was never affordable after you paid shipping and customs duty.

The program still didn't cover most video games. which isn't too much of an issue, since games are at about the same price in India. But things like the special editions were rarely available here.

So what has changed?

Amazon is now shipping them to India. What am I getting? It's going to be expensive, and it is this one.

Prices in India of New Kindles 3G+WiFi and WiFi editions

Amazon has release two new Kindles, one with 3G and WiFi (3G is free for use everywhere in the world) for $189 and one model with only WiFi for $139.

3G + WiFi model is available in Graphite and White and the Wifi Model is available only in White Graphite.

The landed cost of 3G+Wifi version is ~$284 which is approximately Rs. 13,300
The landed cost of just the Wifi version is ~$216 which is approximately Rs. 10,100

The New Kindle  has better contrast (50% better than the previous models)
21% smaller size (while keeping the same size screen)
15% lighter
20% faster page turns
Storage has doubled
one MONTH battery life

As always the Kindle DX model is available in Graphite for $379, (landed cost $540 which is approximately Rs. 25,200)

Kindle Price drop - prices in India also fall

Please Note: Prices have fallen further and new variants are not available. Please see this post. http://chirag.patnaiks.in/2010/07/prices-in-india-of-new-kindles-3gwifi.html

See below for links to some other posts on how to buy the Kindle in India

Original Post: Just eight months after the launch of Kindle International version, the price of the regular sized Kindle has been dropped by a whopping $70 (Primarily because of the drop in price of the Nook reader). The total cost of importing the Kindle is now down to $283. Which is approximately Rs. 13,000 including shipping and taxes. This is about $100 less than before. Quite cool. Makes the device much more attractive than before. If you have been waiting on the sidelines, this is a great time to buy it. Go here and get it.

PS: You may get a 2-3K customs deposit refund. In which case the price drops to a range of Rs. 10,000, bang in the price range of the Infibeam Pi.

See other posts on the subject below
http://chirag.patnaiks.in/2009/12/how-to-buy-amazon-kindle-in-india.html
http://chirag.patnaiks.in/2009/11/kindle-in-india.html

Is Lalit Modi even eligible to be IPL Commissioner?

So Mr. Modi claims "I am still chairman of IPL. Just suspended. Wait - we have just begun."

He is Chairman because he is a member of the BCCI. He is a member of the BCCI because he is representing Rajasthan Cricket Association. He got to be a member of the Rajasthan Cricket Association allegedly through some skullduggery (but let's let that pass for now). His eiligibility was established under THE RAJASTHAN SPORTS (REGISTRATION, RECOGNITION AND REGULATION OF ASSOCIATIONS) ORDINANCE, 2004. This ordinance was later passed by the state assembly in 2005.

Now if you look up the text of the ordinance here: http://www.rajasthan.gov.in/rajgovresources/others/RajSports2004Eng.pdf

Chapter III of the ordinance talks about elections and clause 15 specifies Schedule C as the eligibility criteria.
Schedule C Point 3 states as part of qualifications "He/She has not been convicted in any criminal case."

Which brings us back to Lalit Modi's indiscretions of his youth. Refer to this piece by the Daily Telegraph http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/cricket/international/england/2303250/Drugs-and-kidnap-charges-could-bring-down-Indian-Premier-League-chief-Lalit-Modi.html

(Also see: http://chirag.patnaiks.in/2010/04/curious-case-of-missing-toi-article-on.html) This piece says that Mr. Modi was convicted of false imprisonment and assault. Definitely Criminal acts.


So, Mr. Modi has been convicted in a criminal case. hence he is not eligible to contest RCA elections. hence he has not right to be in BCCI. Ergo he cannot be IPL Commissioner.

So, why so much debate. He should be chucked straight out, he doesn't even have a leg to stand on.

The curious case of the missing TOI article on Lalit Modi

Folks, some of you may remember an article that ran in TOI some days ago at the height of the Twiteroor fiasco. It was titled "When Modi was booked for robbery" filed on 16th April. It was available on the TOI website at this url http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/When-Modi-was-booked-for-robbery/articleshow/5814316.cms.

The article talked about how Modi was indicted for trafficking more than 400 grams of cocaine, second degree kidnapping, assault and conspiracy to kidnap. (In fact there is a Daily Telegraph article that says that Lalit Modi was convicted of these charges). (See related item: Is Lalit Modi even eligible to be IPL Commissioner?)

Guess what? the article is not available anymore at the above URL on the TOI website. If you search for the article on TOI you get a Google search result pointing to the article.

When you reach this URL it says "Page not found".This is the error that shows up when you delete a page from the TOI system.

Well on the internet nothing ever really goes away: So from the Google cache we have the link...
http://74.125.155.132/search?q=cache:ZkjBJRhzW-IJ:timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/When-Modi-was-booked-for-robbery/articleshow/5814316.cms+indicted+for+robbery+lalit+modi+duke+university&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&

There was yet another URL which carried the story: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/ipl/News/iplarticlelist/iplarticleshow/India/When-Modi-was-booked-for-robbery/iplarticleshow/5814316.cms You can't see it here either. Same message.

Sure enough the Google cache has it:
http://74.125.155.132/search?q=cache:_OJuTJ1FqXoJ:http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/ipl/News/iplarticlelist/iplarticleshow/India/When-Modi-was-booked-for-robbery/iplarticleshow/5814316.cms

Here is the article on the TOI epaper http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Default/Scripting/ArchiveView.asp?Daily=CAP&AppName=1&login=default&pub=TOI&Skin=TOINEW&Enter=true&GZ=T&BaseHref=CAP%2F2010%2F04%2F16&AW=1272349830500&Page=14

Weird!

Folks, something is rotten in Denmark.

Uncharted: Drake's Fortune

I finally finished my first PS3 game a full one year after owning the PS3. So you would have guessed from the title of the post, the game was Uncharted. An old game no doubt and on loan from my Co-brother who is an avid gamer with a surround sound and flat screen rig.

This is not to say that I haven't played other games. I hace played Motorstorm: Pacific Rift, Unreal Tournament 3 and the Orange Box. I played quite a bit of Motorstorm. Till the game just got too tough. So midway through the game I gave up on it. Unreal and Orange box I guess will just have to wait till I finish inFamous.

PS3 is my first stab at console gaming after the good old Atari 2600. I have been  gaming on the PC for well over a decade. FPS, Strategy, City building, Empire building. You name it, I've played it. So when Sony came out with it's Supercomputer masquerading as a Blu-Ray player and a gaming console, we finally got it.

For some reason (perhaps because of gaming on PC's for years) I alsways have to invert the vertical axis. Old school Fighter sims and joystick controls. Up is down and down is up.


Considering that I plan to be gaming almost exclusively on the PS3, I may have to unlearn this bit.

Anyway, back to Uncharted: Drake's Fortune. It is a great game to get yourself familiar with playing on the PS3.Since I was not too familiar with the controls I played it on Easy first and finished it. Then just to get a sense of what the game would be on normal difficulty, I went back to the start and played it on Normal. I have gotten to be quite good at it. So good that when I started playing inFamous, the game auto-detected my skill as hard. Not bad.

Unlike most Action adventure games, this game is bright and colourful as opposed to the dark, grey, brown look of most games. Makes playing this game a rather pleasant experience. It took me about a week to finish on Easy and another 3 days on Normal, playing about 3-4 hours a day on the weekdays and 6 hours on the weekend. Considering that this game is now a platinum release (which means that this is now at a bargain basement price of Rs. 1500). It is a worthwhile buy.

Speaking of platinum releases Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots and Grand Theft Auto IV are also Platinum releases. If I have the time after playing inFamous, I may well pick up these games as well.

Watching the IPL at home? Get ready for Domestic Display Tax

In an unnoticed announcement and what will probably be his last executive decision before being asked to leave IPL over the Twitteroor controversy, Lalit Modi has decreed that anyone watching IPL matches at home on a TV screen size of more than 21” or with a crowd of 4 or more will have to pay “Domestic Display Tax” aka DDT. Modeled after Music industry’s similar fees for playing music in public, this seeks to boost the revenues for IPL and the franchisees.

This move came after IPL Franchise owners complained of declining attendance at stadiums and consequently reduced incomes from ticket and allied sales. A Liquor baron who owns a team complained “I have spent crores of rupees and hundreds of hours to personally select cheerleaders, so that I can draw in more people to the stadium and fleece them with overpriced lousy seats, lousier food and fizzless fizzy drinks”.

Sick of this fleecing, some people have decided to take matters in to their own hands and throw IPL parties at home. Reasoned Ramesh Kalra who throws and attends 3-4 IPL parties a week “I get to watch the match in the air-conditioned comfort of my or a friend’s home on a 52” flatscreen TV.” He also complained about the price of food “I can get a plate of Chilli Chicken for 70 bucks from my neighbourhood thela wala and a 2L bottle of Coke for 50 bucks while the prices at a IPL match are 4 times this.’

A member of the hoi polloi (of Jessica Lal murder venue fame), said "For the outrageous price of the box seats filled with bureaucrats and politicians I can buy a 42in flatscreen TV. And if I were to go with Family, I could through in a 3D TV along with a Bose home theater and it would still be cheaper to watch it at home"

To halt this loss of revenue DDT has been imposed. DDT mandates that anyone with a qualifying TV size or gathering size will have to pay a DDT of Rs. 100 per person per match. There is a discounted rate of Rs. 90 for Senior Citizens over the age of 85 and children below the age to 2. Justifying the DDT, IPL commissioner said “We have been very generous with the exemptions. Everyone knows that you can enjoy a match on a 15in TV screen. So we have been generous and exempted screen sizes upto 21in”. Added his assistant (step-daughter of the aforementioned liquor baron), “In India the family size in cities is around 3. Any more number of people than this means that people are enjoying the match in too large a number than that is permitted.”

Keeping up with emerging technology trends DDT is also applicable on the estimated 36 HD projectors that people have installed at their home at a site license of Rs. 5,000 per match.

On being questioned on how will DDT be enforced. Mr. Modi said he expects people to be honest and pay up on their own. But he also boasted of political connections in the agriculture and civil aviation ministries along with a chief minister, and claimed that the state law and order machinery will be pressed into service. “We will have informers around liquor vends and food joints that do home delivery who will tell us about people who are ordering large quantities of food and liquor. We will follow these people home and listen for noises of the match.” he added gleefully.

We will also have incentives for people to rat on their friends and colleagues and IPL will pay such people a bounty of 20% of all recoveries.

On reading this news, people like Ramesh Athavale from Mumbai were found grumbling at some news and blog sites and vowed not to watch the IPL finals this year.

With inputs from Agencies

PS: In case you folks didn't get it. This is a piece of satire.

Youtube front end is down. Here's proof

MP3 player > Noida - Rohini - Noida + Taxes?

Just came back from the E4M Quiz competition just now. I won a MP3 player and a t-shirt. The question was what are DVB-H, OneSeg etc. The answer. They are all Mobile TV protocols.


Anyway, that's not the last of it. I didn't actually get an MP3 player. I got a letter which says I can collect the MP3 player from Rohini (imagine driving from Noida to Rohini) and after I pay the applicable taxes.

So will the cost of travel + the taxes be less than the cheapo MP3 player they are going to give?

Kindle Nirvana

I have been getting a lot of traffic on Kindle related topics on this Blog. I have now consolidated those posts in another site called Kindle Nirvana. Have a look see. http://www.kindlenirvana.com/