For a TV channel that’s supposed to have a major presence in India, NDTV’s application for the iPhone 4 has turned out to be a mighty big disappointment.
We downloaded the application sometime back and have been playing with it on and off for the last few days.
The version we’re running on our iPhone 4 is NDTV 1.1 released on July 21, 2010.
Major Complaint
Our biggest grouse with the NDTV iPhone app is with the videos – They suck and suck big time.
We tried several videos and all of them just don’t play.
For instance, a short while ago we tried to play the ‘Salman Khan is Bigg Boss’ video twice. The first time it took 33 seconds for the video to appear on the screen, then the video played for just a couple of seconds before it completely stalled. The second time, it took about 13 seconds for us to see anything at all on the iPhone screen. This time too, the video played for barely a few seconds before it stalled. We waited for some time and tried again. The video played for about 30-seconds and stalled again.
We gave up in frustration this time too, just as on earlier occasions.
By the way, we’re trying to watch it on the faster WiFi network, not on AT&T’s 3G connection.
The text news part of the NDTV application works fine although it’d be nice to have a Regional category under the More tab to get states-specific news.
Comparison with ABC News & AP News
Just to see if there were any problems with our iPhone and/or the WiFi connection, we tried two other news applications for the iPhone: ABC News and AP.
You know what, both the ABC News Update: Latest Headlines from ABC News (3.40 minutes) and the AP video of an Audition in New Jersey for the 10th season of American Idol (2.01 minutes) loaded instantly and played smoothly. No issues at all.
Big NDTV Lie
Here’s what we found in the description of the NDTV application on the Apple iTunes page:
Daily video updates from the world of news, entertainment, sports, lifestyle, business, gadgets and health
• Top videos from all categories, most popular and the best of NDTV
Ha ha ha, Daily video updates? Of what use, if you can’t play them.
Whatever weed Prannoy Roy and his cohorts at NDTV are smoking, can we have some of that please.
Other users on the Apple iTunes page for NDTV have also been complaining that the videos don’t play.
The NDTV on iPhone application seems to have been built by a company called Robosoft Technologies, based in the South Indian state of Karnataka. Robosoft boasts of being a “Mobile application development company with over 10 years of experience” and “the largest Mac development house” in India.
If the NDTV application is anything to go by, the Robosoft people are a bunch of clueless buffoons.
Bottom Line – Junk
Folks, do not even consider downloading NDTV on to your iPhone if you are looking to play video.
The NDTV application for the iPhone is plain junk.
Related Stories:
NDTV 2.0 Live TV on iPhone 4 Review – Costs 99-cents a Month, Not Worth Even 49-Cents
NDTV on iPhone 4 Review – A Crappy Application added by SearchIndia.com on
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you hated twilight movies then check out its spoof http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vHkPJ1ACLrg
SearchIndia.com Responds:
Yes, vampires suck.
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Hey, have your reception problems with the iphone 4 been solved?
And when is your iphone 4 review coming, if it is coming at all?
off-topic:
Check this out.
The man of the moment lies forgotten while Aishwarya Rai goes on blah-blah-blah….
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s6lOCRWdMEc&feature=related
SearchIndia.com Responds:
1. iPhone 4 review will come one of these days. Maybe, closer to the India launch.
As we said earlier, reception was never a serious issue for us since we use the Bluetooth earpiece most of the time.
We still haven’t purchased a case yet since the best one i.e. Ballistic is not easily available.
2. Just watched Ash’s video (from your above link).
The woman is effortlessly articulate (suggesting perhaps a fondness for reading), her face still defies the aging process (thanks no doubt to her good genes and the marvels of modern cosmetics) and seemingly possesses a sharp intellect. Alas, if only some acting talent had gone into the amalgam! 🙁 Indian moviegoers have been repeatedly shortchanged by this woman but the dolts are too fixated on her face to notice.
Our hypothesis (hope all ye schmucks know what a hypothesis is) is that Enthiran in its current form would never have happened without Amitabh Bachchan. We won’t say any more.
As for her (almost) forgetting Rajini at the end, that could be part of a well-scripted act. Remember, this is showbiz.
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@SI: As for her (almost) forgetting Rajini at the end, that could be part of a well-scripted act. Remember, this is showbiz.
That was my first thought too.. may be we are being too skeptical.
SearchIndia.com Responds:
Aye, it’s better to possess a skeptical mind than to be lulled into an illusion by the green-eyed witch.
“Indian moviegoers have been repeatedly shortchanged by this woman but the dolts are too fixated on her face to notice.”
Oh, don’t say that. Yes. Aishwarya Rai Bachchan acting talent is pitifully limited. But, in a world filled with ugly people, a pristine beauty like Aishwarya is alone worth the price of admission to all but the most terrible films. In Raavanan, of course, she appeared a good deal less beautiful, but think of films like Jeans, Devdas and Taal. People went to see these films because of her. Not because they wanted to see her act, but just to watch her being her beautiful self. Can you fault them for that?
I’m not saying this is false for lesser beauties. Just that with actresses like Shalini, Preity Zinta, Vidya Balan et al, you also go in hoping that they act well. With Aishwarya, it suffices that she enthrall us with her sheer on-screen persona.
This certainly is the case with much of the paying audience.
Hell, even Will Smith agrees. Remember what he said some time back:
“Aishwarya has this powerful energy and doesn’t have to say anything, or do anything, she can just stand there. Anything she’s making, I’ll be there.”
Is Smith a dolt, too? 😉
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/bollywood/news-interviews/Ash-turns-down-Will-Smith-again/articleshow/2898143.cms
Not just Smith, even Ebert said she was “not only the first but also the second most beautiful woman in the world.”
http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050210/REVIEWS/502100302/1023
Bottomline, the value attached to beauty will always be greater than the value attached to acting skills. Whether for good or for bad.
“Enthiran in its current form would never have happened without Amitabh Bachchan. We won’t say any more.”
What’s so darn secret about it? Do you mean that Amitabh convinced her to take up the part on behalf of his friend Rajini? Cut out the smokescreen and clear the air, will ya?
SearchIndia.com Responds:
1. You write: even Ebert said she was “not only the first but also the second most beautiful woman in the world.”
Hell, we thought it was only Roger Ebert’s body that had gone downhill. Now we know his mind too had gone down that same irreversible path earlier.
Read the Bride and Prejudice review (above). Ebert’s cloyingly effusive remarks vis-a-vis Ash make him seem like a lecherous old creep with an overactive libido. We for one won’t miss him when he fades away from the constellation of reviewers.
2. Ash’s beauty is Fool’s Gold, the meretricious allure of shining plastic unlike the enduring ethereal beauty of, say, Ingrid Bergman, Audrey Hepburn or even a later-day actress like Julia Roberts.
3. If ever that expression Beauty is Skin-deep seemed apt, it’s when applied to Ash. 🙁
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“Read the Bride and Prejudice review (above). Ebert’s cloyingly effusive remarks vis-a-vis Ash make him seem like a lecherous old creep with an overactive libido.”
Of course not. You just say that because he doesn’t share your views.
Filled with awe, admiration and fascination, yes. Lecherous, most definitely not.
You really are getting more and more viciously bigoted as you get older. 🙁
Anyone who disagrees with you automatically becomes a pariah in your eyes, and one upon whom you will throw all sorts of filth and cast aspersions regarding his/her mental health. Your reason and sanity go for a toss even as you launch into a vitriolic rant against the object of your scorn.
“Ash’s beauty is Fool’s Gold, the meretricious allure of shining plastic unlike the enduring ethereal beauty of, say, Ingrid Bergman, Audrey Hepburn or even a later-day actress like Julia Roberts.”
Beauty is in the eyes of the beholder. To each his own. To me, Aishwarya Rai, as she was in the budding days of her film career, towers head and shoulders above the rest of the field. Bergman, Hepburn and others pale in comparison. To give you a rough idea, if Bergman and Hepburn were like pretty barbie dolls, Aishwarya is platinum. If your views are different, so be it. I sure won’t go around calling you a “lecherous old creep with an overactive libido” for it. 😉
As for Julia Roberts, pray tell me what you are smoking. 😉
P.S. Finally saw inception. Half-formed hazy ideas lead to a script chock-full of plot-holes and contradictions and a hell a lot of “arbitrary”ness.
But still, the overall story wasn’t all that greek and latin. Makes sense on a macroscopic scale. It is the nitty-gritties that let the film down. Overall, middling film.
SearchIndia.com Responds:
1. If our films are so wonderful and our women so beautiful, why, pray, is it that other than desis no one gives a flying f*ck for both.
Now, don’t go scrounging for an answer because there ain’t none.
2. You write: Filled with awe, admiration and fascination…one upon whom you will throw all sorts of filth and cast aspersions regarding his/her mental health.,
When a decrepit creature like Ebert is filled with awe, admiration and fascination for unworthy objects like Ash, to not question his sanity would be insane.
3. You write: Beauty is in the eyes of the beholder.
Cliches, cliches. If that’s all you can come up with, take an axe to your fingers.
4. You write: To each his own.
More cliches, more cliches.
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Do you mean to say that it is the friendship/familiarity between Amitabh and Rajni (which dates back to a few decades), that made Ms.Rai act opposite to Rajni in Enthiran ?
One thing is for sure.
It is on Rajni shoulders (charisma) that the movie is riding, regardless of how important Ms.Rai feels.
SearchIndia.com Responds:
You write: Do you mean to say that it is the friendship/familiarity between Amitabh and Rajni
It’s strange that all evidence to the contrary/little evidence to support it, most people still cling to a romanticized ideal of friendship as a defining force in life.
Vengeance, Power, Lust, Treachery, Debt, Alliances, Gratitude, Helplessness, Fear, Foolishness et al leave Friendship in the dust when it comes to explaining the roots of a lot of strange human actions.
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@SI: “Our hypothesis (hope all ye schmucks know what a hypothesis is) is that Enthiran in its current form would never have happened without Amitabh Bachchan. We won’t say any more.”
Although this matter is certainly not of global importance, or even of intellectual curiosity, your statement has the effect that is usually associated with undigested food: Uneasiness.
This statement of yours has a tone of intrigue as well, and you suggest that there is more to it than meets the eye.
Dr.SI, you are now required to cure the readers (assuming I am not the only one) of the uneasiness.
SearchIndia.com Responds:
You write: Dr.SI, you are now required to cure the readers (assuming I am not the only one) of the uneasiness.
Swalpa, Kashaya kudire swami (Please have some ginger-pepper-turmeric-milk concoction). 😉
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