Sunday, August 21, 2011

HTC Wildfire S

With the Android rage spreading like wildfire, I decided to buy a smart phone with an Android OS. I owned a Nokia N70 for 4 years and had no issues with it. After thorough search for reviews on Android phones of Samsung, LG and HTC, I purchased the HTC Wildfire S. It is supposedly a low end smart phone (and the only HTC phone I could afford, i did not want to buy the original Wildfire as the resolution is supposedly low).
I am really happy I purchased it. It is a good companion on the move, always keeping me occupied with the music, camera and internet connectivity.
The only minor issues I find with it are:
1. One feature that I loved with my Nokia was that plenty of themes were available, which I would change once every couple of days. This seems impossible on the HTC. Only wallpapers are available. Scenes and skins in HTC have not impressed me
2. The socket for connecting the handsfree seems to be crude, and after I plug the ear plugs in and insert the jack into the socket, I hear a discomforting noise till the jack comfortably sticks inside the socket.
3. The memory is 150 MB, which I feel is a insufficient if the number of apps grows.

Other than that, I feel I have made a wise decision in buying the Wildfire S.

Trip to Yelagiri hills

Yelagiri is a hill station in the Jolarpet district of Tamil Nadu in India. It is about 240 kms from Chennai and about 160 kms from Bangalore. Its not a hill station in the true sense that, the temperature is not below 20 degree Celsius, you dont find yourself surrounded by fog, or do you get to see some breathtaking view points. Its a town on a hill, its altitude is about 1400 metres from sea level.
When we had been there, it was sunny, but due the winds we felt the weather was pleasant.
I had booked accommodation in a hotel, Golden nest, a week in advance. It was a very clean and calm place with a friendly manager in charge of it. You could try it out too in case you plan to visit Yelagiri (http://hotelgoldennestyelagiri.com/).

On the way up the hill, you would have to negotiate 14 hairpin bends (each named after a Tamil poet/poetess).
The popular places to visit would be the Punganur lake, the park (you could skip the musical fountain which happens at 7 PM as the fountains don't dance in sync with the music :) ), Swami malai hills (which is a 2km trek from a place called Mangalam), Lord Murugan temple.
One place which we visited, though it isnt popular is the Andal temple (the access is through a mud road, once you take the right turn close to the Periyar statue).

Overall it was a calm trip away from the noise of the city. It helped us to calm our nerves and refresh ourselves for the hectic week ahead.