Reliance JIO Jiofi2 - Review

Today, I got a Jiofi with the help of my friend Uday. It is the new version of the device with OLED display.

My devices - Desktop, Windows 10 laptop, Meizu M2 Note, Samsung tab P3100

24-Sep-2016 update (Final):

• JIOFI speeds are pathetic even when it shows 4 bars in the JIOFI device
• Jio TV app very frequently fails to connect on my phone. Sometimes, I have to open app, connect to my JIOFI and then connect to my home wifi to see the channel. I guess JIOFI is not able to provide require bandwidth. But once connection is made, the app is not checking whether i am using JIO network or home wifi on a continuous basis.

I decided not to use it anymore, far from my initial thoughts of using it as my primary internet source. May be i will give it to one of my enthusiastic friends who wants to try the JIO experience.

19-Sep-2016: First impression:

• Device is sleek and good looking.
• Initially, speed on my phone is ~50 Kbps but improved after placing it another room
• Connection seems to be dropping but reconnecting quickly. Need to check while I am working on remote desktop as it will be easily confirmed if connection is erratic or not
• What caught my eye is "Designed in India" at the back. Usability could be better. To press POWER button to see the display is not convenient. Instead, the JIO logo could have been a capacitive button to light up the screen.
• I am getting 6 - 11 Mbps on my laptop and 2-3 Mbps on my phone (Tests done using speedtest.net, You have to note that the server used during testing was hosted by JIO. I am not sure whether it has any relevance to speedtest). Note: In my area (Aarambh township, Lingampally, Hyderabad, India - 500 019), network connectivity is very bad (I have Airtel which is very poor, despite reaching out to their open network initiative there is no response or action taken)
• http://www.speedtest.net/my-result/5644676280

Conclusion: 

• Low speeds on phone but decent on laptop. Will check phone settings and update later
• Not yet ready to replace my wired internet with this, need more testing

http://indianexpress.com --> Redirection to shopping sites - Irritating factor

http://indianexpress.com --> Redirection to shopping sites - Irritating factor

Few weeks for now, i have been observing that when I try to open a news article from news.google.com, I am redirected to shopping sites(www.flipkart.com) :( I am not sure if this is an issue with google news OR the website of the news item.

This usually happens with http://indianexpress.com and I guess that this could be intentional or un intentional on the website part (in this is case http://indianexpress.com). This is very irritating and i stopped visiting their news. I hope this is just an isolated experience.

Insurance policy - Safeguards

The Married Woman Property (MWP) Act can protect the life insurance death claim benefit from creditors and ensure that your wife and children are secured. Lack of awareness and loss of control prevents insured from going for this option. Find out how you can benefit from it

Source link 1: http://www.moneylife.in/article/use-the-married-woman-property-act-to-safeguard-your-life-insurance-policy/29728.html

Source Link 2: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/insure-your-health/Power-to-women-and-children-Life-Insurance-and-Married-Womens-Property-Act/starhealthshow/18166650.cms

[Updated] SlimBrowser - Slim and Fast

[Updated on 29-Jun-15]: This uses IE rendering engine and is sometimes fast and sometimes slow. Hence, i have uninstalled it. I have IE9 and hence this behaves like IE9 but not a consistent performer especially with script intensive sites like eCommerce e.g. shopclues.com, flipkart.com, paytm.com snapdeal.com, infibeam.com etc


I use my office laptop at home and my Organization doesn't allow us installing any browser other than IE. I am stuck in IE 9 which is pathetic on new age ecommerce sites.

So, I was looking for a small browser which can be installed and and unistalled easily. I came across SlimBrowser (v7) which is just 3+ mb in size. http://www.slimbrowser.net/en/
It got

• installed fast
• No bundled software
• browsing is blazing fast
• Automatically imported all my IE9 favorites into it
• Integration with Facebook - sharing status, current page and selected text,
• Reviews were also good
• Shrinking images during uploads etc (infact you have choice of multiple sizes)

It got good features like IE9 mode, download mgr, ad blocker, popup blocker, privacy, backup and restore etc. So far it looks good, lets see how it fares in the long term :)

Re-evaluate your insurance and improve returns in the process!

I am one of those millions who have taken ULIP Life insurance and other traditional life insurance policies. We are lured by the amount we receive at the maturity.

Rule: With times, we have to re-evaluate our options and choose wisely. I know you all are ready to ask me what has changed...Its the Govt with development as their core agenda. Next 10 years will be roller-coaster ride for all of us. Dont miss the fun (of course take enough precautions)

So, here it goes:

1. According to experts, term insurance is the best option. 
2. For health conscious people, add health insurance.
3. For people with returns in mind, spend the surplus in mutual funds (direct investment to save some more money)
4. For active investors, invest remaining amount in good stocks..
5. Investing in realty is a good option provided you can take enough care (especially open plots...)
6. If your assets (excluding your investments planned for future expenses) is more than your insurance needs, better not take any insurance. Instead invest that amount to increase your net worth.

Note: Review performance of your stocks/Mutual funds periodically to avoid losses (remember above rule)

I have already taken health insurance and in the process of taking term insurance. My wife wont allow me to surrender my LIC and Birla sunLife policies without taking term and health insurance policies :)

Update on 20-Jun-15: I took term insurance from Aegon Religaire and planning to increase the coverage by taking another policy from the same company OR thinking of MAXLIFE insurance. General suggestion is to NOT to take policies from multiple companies to avoid the hassle of running around multiple companies during claim processing.