First look at Toyota Etios Liva

The Indian automobile market is expanding in a fast pace and the world's top automobile manufacturers are trying to find a place in India. Right from Aston Martin to Tata, every automobile manufacturer is targeting India as a potential automobile market. And, now the leading Japanese automobile manufacturer Toyota has targeted the Indian middle class people. I once read in a magazine from an Toyota executive that Toyota will not manufacture or sell small segment cars in India. However, the scenario has changed and Toyota is facing tough competition from other players.

Inorder to compete in the small segment car market, Toyota yesterday has launched the all new Etios Liva. It is a “Q class” hatch back car with the following specifications.

Specifications and Features of Toyota Etios Liva

• 1.2L 80PS DOHC Gasoline Engine
• ABS with EBD
• Flat type rear floor
• 251L boot space
• Dual front SRS Airbags
• Sporty Aero package
• 2 DIN DVD Audio with remote
• Best in Class Cabin space

First look of Toyota Etios Liva

Exterior looks

On the very first look, Toyota Etios Liva captures every one's attention. It looks very cute. The front side of the Liva remembered me the new Honda City with its slight bump on the bonnet. However I like that design and this suits the car very well. The rear side of the car is also great with the spoiler on the top. The curvy looks on the sides of the car gives it an elegant look. Overall, when someone looks from the outside, they are sure to fall in love with the car. 

Interiors

There are few cars in the market in which the manufacturer concentrates a lot in the exterior looks but not in the interiors. Toyota did not make that mistake with the interiors of the Etios Liva. The interiors of the Liva looks stunning with the red and black color combination. And I would say that the dashboard is awesome with all the controls in the central console. Even the speedometer is located in the central console of the dashboard. And looking at the images of the Liva interiors, I feel that the leg space in the front would be comfortable whereas the rear side leg space would be little less. However, this statement of mine cannot be taken for granted until a test drive of Liva comes out. And also the quality of the interiors also cannot be commented up on until a hand on review of the Liva is out.

 

Available variants of the Toyota Etios Liva

Toyota has announced that the Toyota Etios Liva will be available only in Petrol. And the price ranges from Rs. 3.99 lakhs to Rs. 5.99 lakhs. Right now there are two variants of Liva are available.

J variant Liva – Starting at Rs. 3.99 Lakhs

G variant Liva – Starting at Rs 4.59 Lakhs

Comparison of Toyota Etios Liva with other hatch back cars

With already so many hatch back cars available in the Indian market, Toyota has to do something different to attract customers to stay alive in the small car segment market. I feel the Rs. 3.99 lakhs starting price is the trump card for a quality car maker like Toyota. Let us compare the price of various small segment cars in the market. 

Model	Petrol(in Lakh Rs)	Diesel (in Lakh Rs)
Chevy Beat	3.55	N/A
Ford Figo	3.59	4.58
Skoda Fabia	3.99	5.61
Toyota Liva	3.99	N/A
Maruti Ritz	4.02	4.84
Maruti swift	4.09	4.99
Hyundai i10	4.19	N/A
VW Polo	4.57	5.59

Courtesy : TOI 

So, there you go. The first look at the Toyota Etios Liva “Q Class” Hatch. I hope this information was useful about the car and I will try to post a full test drive review of Toyota Etios Liva as soon as possible.

Image courtesy : Yahoo

Alternative laptops to Mac Book Air

An Apple a day, keeps the doctor away ! But, in the tech world, few of the repute brands are trying to keep the Apple away. Yes ! The leading laptop manufacturers are coming up innovative designs to compete with Apple.

With the introduction of Mac Book Air, Apple took lead in the ultra thin laptop market. However, other laptop manufacturers are trying to compete with Apple in the ultra thin laptop range. Some of the ultra thin laptops that can give Mac Book Air a run for its money are listed here.

Samsung Series 9

At the very first look of this laptop, you will fall in love with it. The brushed metallic look of the laptop definitely gathers everyone's attention. This 13.3 inch ultra slim laptop comes with 4GB memory, backlit keyboard, USB 3.0 ports and the latest Intel sandy bridge processors evidently showing that its main goal is to take over Mac Book Air. The only con of this super sexy laptop is its price. Costing at $1599, it is $300 more than the lower configuration Mac Book Air. However, if you are a PC lover, this is the best you could get in the ultra thin laptop range. 

Lenovo Thinkpad X1

The Lenovo Thinkpad X1 is not as thin as Mac Book Air or Samsung Series 9, the difference is hardly noticeable. The Thinkpad X1 has Intel's second generation “Sandy Bridge” processors, solid state drives, rapid charging battery, battery back up time upto 10 hours etc. Thinkpad X1 may weigh a pound more than Mac Book Air.

Toshiba Portege R830

The Toshiba Portege R series are one of my favorites. These beauties come with power and performance. And with the Toshiba Portege R830, the form factor becomes much thinner than its predecessors. With 13.3 Inch screen and weight around just 0.3 pounds more than the Mac Book Air, the Toshiba Portege R830 starts at $890. It is nearly $700 less than Mac Book Air and also has a rated battery life more than 2 hours as that of Mac Book Air. The presence of the DVD drive ( which is never found in Mac Book Air) the Portege R830 is only one third of an inch thicker than Mac Book Air.

MSI-Slim X370

When you compare the price vs thickness, the MSI-Slim X370 is the best. This 13.4 inch PC costs $599 only with an amazing battery back up time of 10 hours compared to 7 hours of Mac Book Air. Unlike the other three Mac Book Air competitors, this ultra slim laptop uses AMD Fusion processor with 4GB RAM and HDMI port. 

Also with Intel's announcement of Ultrabook at Computex, it is evident that the big players in the laptop market are eying on the ultra thin market and Mac Book Air is going to have a tough competition in the coming years.

- As read in PC World

Top 10 reasons why Google Chrome is best?

In my personal experience, I have not seen a browser taking over others this quick. Yes, you would have guessed it right. I am talking about the browser Google Chrome. The browser was so revolutionary that Google has taken it one step ahead with Google Chrome OS. When I first tried out Google Chrome, I was very much disappointed with its performance. You can find my experience with Google Chrome when it was first launched. But then, Google has added new features,tweaked the browser with each and every release of Chrome and currently it is in version 12. The Google Chrome version 13 is in Beta stage and Google Chrome 14 is in development stage.

At the same period Google released Chrome 12, Microsoft released its Internet Explorer 9 and Mozilla released Firefox 4. However, I have compared these browsers and I have got 10 reasons to prefer Google Chrome 12 over Internet Explorer 9 and Firefox 4.

1. Speech to text conversion

Google has introduced its speech to text conversion feature in select websites. Websites that support this feature will have a microphone icon. You have to click on the mic icon and speak in you mic to get it converted into text. You can test this feature at translate.google.com

2. Protection from malicious downloads

Chrome already has a feature to detect malicious websites. Using the same algorithm, it can now detect malicious files and ask user confirmation for downloading the such malicious files.

3. Quick browser settings

The Google Chrome 12's Preferences are displayed in a New Tab and with the search functionality embedded, it is very much easy to search and set up your browser settings. 

4. Protection from Flash based security risks

Google chrome automatically runs flash contents in a sandbox, thus avoiding flash blocking applications like FlashBlock and protect from flash based security risks.

5. Easy control over Chrome apps and extensions

Just like windows task manager, Chrome lets you to manage your apps and extensions. To explore this feature you can click Spanner icon next to the address bar and click 'View Background Pages' or press Shift+Esc .

6. No restarts after app/extension install

Unlike Firefox, Chrome does not need to be restarted after installing an app or extension from the webstore.

7. Block unwanted search results

Although, Google is working hard to identify and remove content farms from its search results, Chrome users can make use of the extension Personal Blocklist to add the sites and domains that you do not want to see in search results.

8. Delete Flash cookies

Nowadays, sites save flash cookies in the form of local shared objects in your computer. Google Chrome 12 lets you delete these flash cookies. To perform this action, click on the Spanner icon → Tools → Clear Browsing Data and select the option ' Delete cookies and other site and plug-in data'

9. Google Instant for faster loading

With Google Instant enabled in Google chrome, your web pages load as you type the URL in the omni box.

10.Maximum browsing space

The sleek design of Google chrome ensures that you get the maximum browsing space. Well, if you think that space is not enough, wait for Chrome 13 where you have the feature called Compact Navigation in which there is no address bar and navigation bar. Click on a tab to have the navigation bar drop down and disappear after you perform your action. The Back and Forward buttons are also moved up to be in line with the tab bar.

So, people there you go. You have 10 reasons to switch to Google's Chrome browser. And I definitely hope that Google will give us more reasons to switch to Chrome browser in the future releases.

PS : As read in Webuser magazine

Unbelievable life insurance quotes

Life is full of uncertainties. Anything can happen to us or to our properties at any time. It all takes only a matter of seconds to turn upside down. That is why, it is always recommended to insure all your valuables. There is one more invaluable aspect of your life which you should consider insuring at the first place. It is YOU. Yes, it is your LIFE. Life insurance is a mandatory one for each and every one of us. However, people are ignorant about the life insurance. They do not know where to get a life insurance for themselves or at the least get life insurance quotes for them.

I was also one of those people who did not have any idea about life insurance. I wanted to know about life insurance and searched over the internet. In my search, I found that there are various insurance companies providing different term life  insurance quotes. I wanted to choose the best term life insurance for myself. I found a site freelifetermquote.com which gave me instant rate quotes. All I had to do is to fill up a simple form and submit it and before I realize, the quote was delivered to me. If any one of you like to get life insurance quotes, I recommend to check the site.

Unknown features of iOS 5 - Hidden keyboard options in iPad 2

With the iOS 5 released for Apple devices in WWDC 2011, there are many features yet to be brought to the spotlight. The iOS 5 has brought many features to the iPad 2 and one of the feature is the keyboard shortcuts.

If you hold on to some of the keys in the iPad 2 keyboard, the hidden features are revealed.

• Hold on any alphabet key – The corresponding alphabet in various other languages are displayed

• Hold on to symbols key - The various symbols key such as single quotes, dollar sign displays various other options such as double quotes, other currencies etc

• Hold on to .com key – The other TLDs such as .info, .edu, .net are displayed

This feature makes it easy to type faster in iPad 2. If you own an iPad 2, check out this tip.

Best water purifiers - Top 3 Water purifiers

Although the earth is covered three fourth with water, we are not getting hygienic drinking water. Hence, most of us opt for packaged drinking water for our daily drinking purposes. But, if we calculate the amount of money we spend on this packaged drinking water, it would be nearly 5% of our earning.

A wise person would not do this mistake rather he would go for a water purifier. But, choosing the water purifier is a tricky task as there are different types of purifiers and each one is designed to work with different water nature.

The two major types of water purifiers are Reverse Osmosis (RO) purifier and Ultra-Violet (UV) purifier.

RO Purifier – Suitable for purifying water with high salt content

UV Purifier – Suitable for water with less/no salt content

Here, I will give you a list of the top 3 water purifiers available in the market. 

1. AquaSure Crystal (UV Type)

 
Pros : Easy to use. It has got buttons to know the status of power supply, drinking water’s readiness and current status of filter process.

Cons : Works only in power supply.

2. PureIt Marvella (UV Type)

 


Pros : It does not need power supply for filtering water. The water container holds 1 liter water and it automatically fills up. Indicator to know the quality of the filter.

Cons : Need to replace the batter on an average of 6 months. 





  
3. Whirlpool Purafresh (RO Type)

Pros : Usually, purifiers filter out all the minerals along with the germs. But, the sixth sense technology in Whirlpool Purafresh will not filter out the minerals. Hence, the natural taste of the water is intact.

Cons : As stated earlier, water wastage is more as it is RO type purifier.

4. AquaSure Elegant Deluxe (RO type)

 
 Pros : Usually the RO type filers cannot be changed to UV type. But, in this model, the filter can be changed to UV type.

Cons : Since this is a RO type purifier, the water wasted in purifying is more.

Land rates at Thoraipakkam

I have been looking for good areas in the city for buying a home and some of the areas which caught my attention were the OMR road, GST road, Oragadam area, Chitlapakkam area etc. But, considering the other areas other than OMR road, they are little far from my workplace. So, searched for flats/builders in the Thoraipakkam area. As per the information I collected, Thoraipakkam area will be a hot place with the OMR road developing very fast with new malls, multiplexes coming up in the near areas. Adding to it, Velachery is very near to Thoraipakkam area where all the facilities have come up. When I heard the land rates in this area, I was shell shocked at the rates were over Rs.4000/Square Feet. I thought of dropping my plan to buy a flat in this area. But, a friend of mine suggested me a builder. I talked with the builder and I would say I was happy with the talk. The site is just behind the AKDR Golf course and close to the coconut farm. And the rate per square feet, he mentioned around Rs.3500. I felt that I can talk with the builder and reduce a few more bucks. In my opinion, I felt that this rate is fine and having thoughts of going for it. If any one of you feel, that this rate is high, please comment.

PayPal Alternative !!!!

I have been doing blogging for the past 4 years and the amount I earn from blogging are paid via the well known Paypal. Although, I have been using this Paypal for the past 4 year, I would say that I was not quite happy about some of its limitations. For instance, the credit card processing rule for unlimited payout from my account. Lately, I tried to lookout for Paypal alternative services and found that there seem to be a lot of companies similar services such as merchant accounts. However, I was unsure on the quality of service they provide and wanted a review about those companies. In my quest of searching the reviews of these services, I found a very useful site, FreeMerchantAccountAdvisor.com.

The instant I logged on this site, my first impression was “WOW !!! “. It is a simple looking website with easy navigation and no unwanted advertisements. The reviews provided in this of the merchant accounts are based on the most reliable sources. Another feature I liked about this site is the quick and easy 3 minute interview to know yourselves what type of merchant account is suitable for you. If you are looking for a merchant account or online credit card processing, check out FreeMerchantAccountAdvisor.com.

New theme for the blogger blog

It has been four years since I started this blog. Till then, have only changed the theme only twice. The last theme the blog had was over two years and I myself was bored with the old one. So, I thought I should change the theme to give the blog a new look. I looked out for several third party themes for my blog, but I was satisfied with none. Then, I tried the template designer provided by blogger. It had lot of options to customize the template. I tried various permutations and combinations and finally satisfied with the one that you currently view. Hope, the new theme is good looking and makes the blog neat and tidy.

How to sign out of Gmail ?

Google has been constantly adding new features and changing the user interface of Gmail. Today, I found another change to my Gmail. It is at the top right corner of the Gmail box where you email id is displayed. Wait a second! Where is the Sign Out option gone? I could not see the sign-out link next to my email id. So, how do I log out of my Gmail? Well the answer to this question is hidden in the email id displayed in the top right corner of the Gmail.


Click on the Gmail id of yours in your Gmail box and you would have a drop down with various options and as the last option, you have Sign Out.

Hope this helps some of you who did not know where the Gmail Sign Out option go?

Best investment options - How to invest in Gold coins?

You cannot predict future. You should be someone of Nostradamus type to do so. With the world nations recovering from the recent economic depression, the investments and savings for the future have become much more important. There are many ways to invest or save your money for the future. For example, investments in bourses, mutual funds, real estate etc. One cannot always rely on the bourses and mutual funds as the market may fluctuate from time to time. And with the recent Japanese Tsunami, the fear over the investments in real estate has increased many folds. 

There is another medium of investment which is safe and also will yield good returns is investment in GOLD. Yes, the yellow metal never loses its value and it’s a good investment medium. When I say investment in gold, I do not mean buying gold ornaments. I prefer buying gold coins as they are free from making charges and wastage. Of late, investors have been looking at 401k gold transfers as investment alternatives. You might think how I have got much knowledge on investments in gold coins. I should thank the site goldcoinsgain.com for giving me free gold guide. The site suggests how well you can invest in gold and also gets tax relief from gold IRA accounts. The tax payer relief act made it possible IRA gold transfer. This IRA gold gets tax reliefs. So, if you are planning to invest in gold 401k or gold IRA, check out the site for a better perspective and options on gold investments.

Aston Martin cars in India - What models will be available?

Most of us would have watched James Bond movies for its action. Only few of us would have watched it for the amazing Aston Martin cars. Speaking of Aston Martin cars, they are one of the best car makers in the world. And this super car maker has now stepped into the Indian car market. India, the second most populated country and developing in economic power, was very happy to welcome the Aston Martin.

Little known are the model of Aston Martin which will be sold in India. Well no more. Here are the details of the cars that Aston Martin will sell in India.

 

The models that will be on sale in India are

 

V8 Vantage Coupe

 Roadster

V12 Vantage

DB-9 Coupe

DB-9 Volante

Rapide

DBS

Virage

One-77

Of the above cars, One-77 the costliest car on the planet is set to cost Rs. 20 crores. The showroom of Aston Martin is located in Mumbai. 

The concept of Sports Betting

The other day I was watching the news and one incident caught my attention. It was the arrest of a person who had involved in sports betting. I did not know what Sports Betting means. So, I searched the internet for any information on sports betting and found that it is one good business going around the globe, which most of us weren’t aware of. It is just a simple guessing game on betting on the winner of a game. With the advancements in technology, this betting game has gone to the next level. With the online sports betting, one can earn a lot of money sitting right in front of the computer. Basketball, baseball, football are few of the games where betting happens on a large scale. There are many movies produced in the Hollywood based on sports betting. One such movie is the Two for the Money starring Al Pacino, Rene Russo and Mathew McConaughey. Check out that movie if you want to know more about Sports Betting.

a sprocket found in the backseat

You might feel why I have posted something irrelevant over here. Well, its actually for a site which wanted me to add the title sentence "a sprocket found in the backseat" to my blog to check whether I am the actual owner of the blog. Let me show them that I am the real owner of this blog.

Am Back

All these days, I have been busy with my office work and I could hardly find time to blog. But, with my assignment in office over by now, am all set to blog again. So, what am I going to blog about? Well, as in my previous posts, it is going to be a mixed bag; posts ranging from personal experiences to tips, tricks, information, reviews etc. Am also planning to update my other blog Rare Reviews of Everything parallely. So, check out that blog too.