Chevrolet Sail Vs. Maruti Swift

When you think about hatchbacks in India, you just can’t take off your head from Maruti Suzuki Swift. Swift was launched in the year 2005 while Chevrolet has launched Aveo U-VA which couldn’t perform as per expectations in front of Swift. Now Chevrolet came with another competitor for Swift in the form of Chevrolet Sail. Will this new car dethrone the hatchback king Swift? As far as the design is concerned Maruti Swift looks good in front of Chevrolet Sail any day. Swift’s bonnet stands in an aggressive poise which is complimented by dual colored tail lamps in the back while Chevrolet Sail’s front grille creates an impact.

	Chevrolet Sail	Maruti Suzuki Swift
Engine Size	1.2L  , 1199cc	1.2L, 1197cc
Price Range	4.44L – 6.62L	4.5L- Rs 6.77L
Power	84.8bhp	87bhp
Gear box	5 speed	5 speed
Ground Clearance	174 mm	170mm
Mileage	22kmpl	17 kmpl
Transmission	Manual	Manual
Top Speed	150KMPH	160KMPH
Variants	4Petrol/4Diesel	3Petrol/3Diesel

The Verdict: Maruti Swift may cost you little more but if you see the performance and design, Swift is ahead of Chevrolet Sail any day. The price range of both the car is almost equal however if you are looking for a better mileage, Chevrolet can be an equally better option.

Mahindra electric car e2o Test Drive & Review

Mahindra’s e2o is the first electric car in India, which makes it different from the rest. It’s a 4 seater, automatic vehicle that runs on clean energy. The e2o is a clever cost effective car. This two door hatchback features 10 on-board computers, infotainment system, real-time drive information and there are diagnostics that sends alerts for safety. Mahindra e2o can be charged from your regular electricity ports that will consequently keep you away from fuel pumps. You can charge this car from home and office just like a mobile phone. You can activate things like locking, unlocking and cool from your smartphone app. Currently the application is available only on Blackberry, Apple and Android smartphones. Some of the other interesting features that you can track and operate are Remote AC, Lock-Unlock, car charge status, locating nearest charge ports. The automatic transmission available in this car keeps you away from the hassles of changing gear and pressing the clutch hence it’s less tiring even in the worst traffic jams. There’s a unique Hill Hold feature available in this car that keeps you free from anxiety on inclines.

Advanced Features Available in e2o

• iPod Connectivity
• GPS navigation
• Driver information system
• Keyless Entry & Start/Stop
• Rear Defogger
• Scissor Wipers
• Courtesy Lights
• Follow-me-home Headlamps
• Personal webpage of your car
• Smallest 3.9m turning Radius
• Dual Damping Glove Box
• LED Tail lamps
• 4 JBL Speakers & 2 Tweeters

And more

One of the interesting features available in this car is its Regenerative Braking System. This system actually helps transferring energy back to your battery whenever you use the brakes. Mahindra e2o is an engine less car without any vibration or noise.

Mahindra’s e2o is a small car without much legroom, shoulder room for passengers in the rear. It can actually accommodate 2 adults and 2 children comfortably. The ground clearance and kerb weight of this vehicle is 180 mm and 830 kg respectively. Mahindra e2o is available in six colours such as Arctic Silver, Coral Blue, Eco Green, Oceanic White, Spanish Red and Sunfire Yellow. 81 kmph is the top speed of this vehicle hence this car is definitely not for the highways. The car can travel 100 km in one full charge and takes 5 hours to full charge. The Delhi Govt subsidy @15% Pre vat is available for this car but the point is the target audience doesn’t need a subsidy as they already have 2-3 cars at home. Mahindra e2o is available in two variants T0 and T2. The price of this vehicle is Rs.5,56,592 (ex showroom Delhi) after Vat refund and Delhi Govt Subsidy.

With every purchase, Mahindra Reva offers Future of Mobilty Services (FOMS) for free that includes Breakdown services, charge point installation, Software upgrades, Remote diagnostics, Battery Health report, 24*7 Help line, Data Charges and more.

The exterior of this car is dent resistant because it has ABS body panel where the color is impregnated during molding not painted. Even the chances of getting scratches are minimum. The steel frame of e2o ensures the safety of you and your family. Some of the main safety facilities available in this car are:

• Mountable ISOFIX Child seat
• Side impact dual beams
• Immobilizers
• Adjustable Headrest on all seats
• Gear Shifts and Charge interlocks

Mahindra’s e2o has inbuilt heartbeat checker that helps indicating the owner whenever his/her car needs servicing. 

Verdict: This is a low maintenance car that operates on electricity without clutch, gear and engine. The main target audience of this car is obviously people already having 2-3 cars and females. This is definitely not your first car. This car claims to be using clean energy whereas it’s consuming electricity that’s generated from water and coal and don’t you think it’s a vague idea to consume electricity in a country which is already having shortage of power. Mahindra e2o is a great car for the people who wants to flaunt eco-friendliness but not for the guy who travels more than 100 kms everyday. Most people will buy this car because of the technology however the performance of this car may not delight the whims and fancies of people with a penchant to drive fast cars. It’s a small family car that can be used for various day to day activities. It’s not a long distance travel vehicle.

Honda Amaze Diesel Vs Maruti Swift Dzire Diesel

Honda Amaze Diesel is the first diesel car to be launched by Japanese car maker, Honda. With the Honda Amaze, the company hopes to launch a diesel counterattack in the entry level sedan segment. The Maruti Swift Dzire, one of the best selling sedans, may prove to be a casualty, once the Amaze is launched. With good looks, the Jap car has upward flowing lines and sporty looks. But looks aren’t a deal breaker, as the new Dzire has proven. Performance matters, and with a powerful diesel engine and competitive price tag, the Amaze may well, amaze Indians.

	Honda Amaze Diesel           Maruti Swift Dzire
Engine Size	1.5-litre i-DTEC, 2 cylinder	1248cc,1.3-litre, 4 cylinder
Price Range	Rs 6-8 lakh (approx)	Rs 5,99,176 (approx.)
Power	N/A	75PS@4000rpm
Gear box	5-Speed	5-Speed
Ground Clearance	N/A	170mm
Mileage	14 – 20 kmpl (Approx)	18 - 23 kmpl (Approx)
Transmission	Manual	Manual
Top Speed	170-180kmph	169 kmph
Variants	3 petrol and 1 diesel	4 petrol and 3 diesel

The Verdict: Honda Amaze, a 1.5litre diesel car, seems to be more powerful than the Maruti Swift, though with price and after sales support network, this entry level sedan is a good combination of affordability and economy.

Amen Malayalam movie review

Visual display at its best, director Lijo Jose Pellissery proved that he is the true cinephile, you could feel when you watch his directorial Malayalam movie "Amen". Serendipity lands up in the screenplay with utmost favour, here scenarist P S Rafeeque needs the special mention. Kudos to the everyone involved with "Amen". If you have missed the brilliant film making in the past, then this is your chance to redeem it....

 Story takes you to the ancient times, where a village Kumarankkary and its people unknowingly convince viewers to step into this fairy tale. Kumarankarry village have this ancient Syrian church, where everyone is aware of the blessings of St.Gee Varghese saint. Chief vicar Fr. Ottaplakkan (Joy Mathew) plays the demon, who believe in his own conventional belief and doesn't want to 
move over the basic practices. Another instance is Church's band troop is on the verge of closure because of its several defeats in the competition with Martha Mariam troop. In between there blossom's a love story of Solomon (Fahadh Faasil) and Soshanna (Swati Reddy).

 Solomon is the heart of "Amen" and it all began, When his father Esthappan Aashan (Rajesh Hebbar),who was the main clarinetist in church's band group, while after his death in a boat accident, which turns attention to Solomon works as the assistant to church's assembly and well versed with clarinet, but when it comes to public show he fails to deliver, meanwhile he loves Soshanna, daughter of contractor Philipose (Nandhu). Philipose oppose the relation between the two.

 As we know about the church band troop is in danger, Fr.Ottaplakkan decides to offer the vote system on troop's fate, but with the arrival of young priest Fr.Vincent Vattolli (Indrajith) as deputy to the chief priest, which gives a setback to the plans of Fr.Ottaplakkan. Now young priest Vattolli takes on the job for the revival of church's band troop and in this process he also helps out his hand in Solomon and Soshanna's love tale, which forms the rest of this plot.

 Power packed performances from the cast, everyone deserves their character pretty well. Fahadh Faasil is the name, which adapts the senses of the characters in advance to make it an engaging one on the silver screen. Indrajith excels in enacting the young priest with distinct quality, while Swati Reddy has given her best shot on her debut in Malayalam films. Rachna Narayanankutty, Joy Mathew, Kalabhavan Mani, Sunil Sukhadha, Anil Murali, Rajesh Hebbar, Anil Murali, Chemban Vinod, Kulapulli Leela, Chalipala and others have made their presence felt with their characters. Music has its place in this divine theme and no doubt Prasanth Pillai has scored the fresh songs.

 Lijo Jose Pellissery really deserves the round of applause for the freshness in the story telling, while P S Rafeeque coats the script in fine manner which sails down smoothly to the appreciable level. All over the cinematic experience was enjoyable, where the thanks goes to cinematographer Abhinandhan Ramanujan and his camera, which brought the life in "Amen". Manoj's editing also deserves the special mention. For the banner of Whitesands Media House productions, Fareed Khan is the producer of this malayalam movie "Amen".

 If you have felt the charm of Solomon in malayalam film "Amen", then do share with us......

Micromax A116 Canvas HD vs Samsung Galaxy Grand Duos

 You'll find every other company launching a smartphone in this genre in a desperate need to gain the consumer's attention. Samsung, which is balances its high end device portfolio featuring devices such as the Galaxy S III or the Galaxy Note (now Note II) with budget offerings like the Galaxy Ace Plus or Galaxy S Advance, has now taken the middle way and launched the Galaxy Grand Duos in the country priced at Rs. 21,500. Not only does the device offer a good performance but has a popular nationwide brand acceptance. 

Micromax, a homegrown manufacturer of budget devices has surprised Indian audiences by challenging the Samsung behemoth and taking the 5-inch category to a whole new level with the A116 Canvas HD and offering the smartphone at a lucrative price of Rs. 13,990. So much so, that 9,000 units of the device were sold out in just 24 hours.  

Though we separately reviewed both the Micromax A116 Canvas HD and the Samsung Galaxy Grand Duos  we pitted the two devices against each other in a head-on comparison to see which of the two emerged triumphant in the ultimate battle of the 5-inch budget smartphone.

Build/ Design
While the Samsung Galaxy Grand Duos draws inspiration from the Note II and the Galaxy S III to a great extent, the Micromax Canvas HD looks more like the Galaxy Nexus and not the Canvas 2 on first impressions. 

Design wise, the Galaxy Grand Duos looks like other Samsung devices keeping it plain and simple with a plastic back panel and a glossy finish with a chrome strip running along the perimeter of the device. The Micromax Canvas HD, however, sports dual-colour schemes, the front being white and the back in black that may put a user in the 'like it' or 'leave it' sort of a situation. 

Coming to the build quality, the Galaxy Grand Duos is pretty solid and sturdy and in no way feels cheap. However, the same cannot be said for the A116 Canvas HD that overall feels plasticky and could have been better in terms of build quality.

Both 5-inch devices have ports and slots in the right places. While the bottom of the A116 Canvas HD has just the microphone, the Galaxy Grand Duos accommodates an additional Micro-USB port as well.

The former has the notification light, front camera and earpiece above the screen and three capacitive touch keys at the bottom. The latter has the sensors, earpiece and the front camera finding place on the top alongside the Samsung branding and the physical home and capacitive menu and back buttons at the bottom of screen. The back cover of both devices is removable and features the rear camera with LED flash, only differing in the placement.

The Galaxy Grand Duos has an added advantage of a free flip cover the company is offering to protect the screen, apart from a spare back cover as well.

Of the two devices, the A116 Canvas HD is thicker at 10.7mm, though the Galaxy Grand Duos is heavier at 162 grams. It's pretty close between the two when it comes to design. But we'd root forSamsung for offering a more sophisticated look and feel. 

Display
This is one of the key strength areas of the A116 Canvas HD. The device wins this round hands down for its IPS screen sporting a resolution of 720x1280 pixels as opposed to the Grand Duos' measly 480x800 pixels on a TFT LCD display. No doubt, the A116 Canvas HD boasts sharper images, text and videos, but contrast issues seem to exist making the images appear washed out.

It's noteworthy that despite a reflective screen, the under sun visibility for the A116 Canvas HD was better than the Galaxy Grand Duos. Micromax also scores here for better and wide viewing angles, but the Galaxy Grand was also decent enough and did not disappoint much. Samsung offered a pleasant experience in reading text, playing games or watching videos for that matter.

Camera
A large number of people are now considering the camera on a smartphone as an important feature. With companies like HTC setting benchmarks, other manufacturers are now beginning to offer anywhere between 5-megapixel to 8-megapixel cameras in decent budget offerings. 

Our two contenders feature an 8-megapixel rear camera with LED flash and autofocus capabilities, though the results achieved are quite different. The Galaxy Grand Duos has a similar sensor as seen on the Galaxy S II that produces detailed and crisp images with almost accurate colour reproduction, including macro shots. Also, you'd experience next to zero shutter lag while clicking stills. Indoor shots are however, only average.

On the other hand, the A116 Canvas HD tends to overexpose images with greater whites and also making them appear dull. The device offers burst mode, but again, there is a lag between two consecutive shots. Both these devices feature a 2-megapixel front camera as well. While the Canvas HD offers 720p recording, the Galaxy Grand Duos is restricted to 480p.

Both have their own set of software features, though Panorama is a miss on the A116 Canvas HD. In the end, the Galaxy Grand Duos claims this section for overall better image quality.

Software/ UI
Both devices ship with Android 4.1.2 Jelly Bean. The Galaxy Grand, however, is layered with a polished TouchWiz UI offering a fluid interface and a smooth experience. A combination of both offers deeper social integration and various options compared to the stock Android apps.

Samsung exclusive features such as Smart Stay, S Planner, S Memo, S Voice, S Suggest, Chat On, Games Hub and myServices along with an array of motion based gestures make the experience worthwhile.

The device also comes with certain Premium Suite features like Multi Window, Facebook Lock Ticker, Contextual Menu and Tag, Page Buddy and Sound Balance amongst others. In addition to the Google Play Store, the device also features Samsung's Apps Store offering additional assortment of apps.

Micromax has a different UI layering the stock Android Jelly Bean, noticeable in some elements like the app icons and the notification tray. But the experience is closer to raw Android.

The company has also included some of its own apps such as content stores - M! Store and M! Live and services store - M! Zone, in addition to its messaging app, HookUp, and friends locator app, M! Buddy and a few 'try and buy' games (Fruit Devil, Cricket Fever). It also has FM Radio and recording. Users can always head over to the Google Play Store for more.

User Interface depends from person-to-person. But amongst the two, the Galaxy Grand Duos wins for the sheer variety and exclusivity of Samsung features that offer a premium user experience in better-packaged software.
 
Performance
If you're shelling out a decent amount of money for a smartphone, the least you'd expect is that it deliver when it comes to gaming, watching videos or multitasking. So how do the two opponents fair in this section? Let's take a look.

The A116 Micromax Canvas HD is powered by a 1.2GHz MediaTek MT6589 quad-core processor with 1GB RAM onboard and a PowerVR SGX544MP GPU. It's needless to say that it's snappier and currently the best in its category for the price tag it carries. Multitasking is handled pretty well by the device. 

The Galaxy Grand Duos is powered by a 1.2GHz dual core processor coupled with 1GB RAM. There are no lags whatsoever when playing games, watching games, browsing the web or simply switching apps.

Micromax Canvas HD comes with 4GB of internal storage, which is expandable up to 32GB via a microSD card, while the Galaxy Grand Duos claims 8GB, with only 4GB of user accessible storage that is expandable by an additional 64GB and 50GB of free Dropbox storage as well. The company is also offering Rs. 8,000 worth of movies and music from the myServices app.

Certain users reported frequent reboots on the A116 Canvas HD, but we didn't experience any such issues with our unit. When it comes to the Grand Duos, the place where it hurts most apart from the display (which is still acceptable) is the battery life. The 2,100mAh battery of the device maxes out in about 6 hours with various activities especially watching videos. 

The Canvas HD allows you to squeeze enough juice from the 2,000mAh battery lasting an entire day with heavy device usage. Of course, better productivity can be achieved on customising various settings like brightness etc on both devices.

The video watching experience on the Canvas HD is better than the Grand Duos courtesy the sharper HD display. But the Grand Duos doesn't completely disappoint. It's just about average. The audio quality on both devices is better with the bundled earphones than on the loudspeaker.

In a holistic sense, the performance of both devices are almost at par but by the narrowest of margins, we'd give this one to the Micromax A116 Canvas HD.

Verdict
After having gone through the comparison, you'd figure that the devices are head strong in their own set of domains. While the Galaxy Grand Duos scores in the design, camera and software features, the A116 Canvas HD outperforms its opponent in the performance and display sections, that are the vital aspects of a smartphone buying decision. The biggest disappointments for the Galaxy Grand Duos are the battery and display.

Coming to the price points, the A116 Canvas HD is being offered at Rs. 13,990 as opposed to an expensive Galaxy Grand Duos at Rs. 21,500. The former is a power performer in a budget, while the latter banks upon the Samsung branding. Both devices are good performers in their own sense. 

So if you're a budget conscious user looking for high-end specs in a device, the A116 Canvas HD is the best choice for now. But if you're willing to forego battery life and display, not to forget spending close to 8 grand more, then you could consider the Samsung Galaxy Grand Duos.