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 If you are a mobile user in India, chances are very high that you are troubled by the ever increasing spam SMS. Irrespective of whether you are registered with NDNC or not, you undergo the pain of reading those pesky text messages offering you anything from talk time deals to discount sale in town. When you receive a spam asking you to hurry up to buy ‘One of the few remaining flats in a new scheme, for Rs. 2 Crore’, you really wonder what is cheap, the SMS or the flat?

India already has 617 Million mobile user base and adding over 15 Million subscribers every month. With this massive and fast growing market and decreasing SMS cost, the problem of spam is going to grow manifold. A simple calculation on time wasted reading spam SMS will give some idea on what we are losing as country.Here is how I came up with this number of $795 Million

Average time to read spam SMS= 10 seconds

(Note that actual time can be much more if we consider time required to take mobile from pocket or other location + reading the SMS + keeping mobile back + distraction in work because of this + irritation etc. But let’s assume it 10 seconds)

Average number of spam SMS received per subscriber per day= 3

Time wasted (in hours) in a year reading spam SMS= 10 x 3 x 365 / 3600 = 3.04 Hrs

Our current mobile user base= 617 Million. It is being added with average 15 Million more subscribers every month.

So in the next one year, our mobile user base will be nearly 800 Million users, i.e. average 715 Million constant throughout the year.

So, 715 Million people wasting around 3.04 Hrs of their time reading spam SMS in a year= 715 x 3.04 / (24 x 365) = 0.248 Million years of time wasted.

India’s per capita income is $ 3200. I.e. An Indian earns $ 3200 in a year. In other words, his one year’s time is worth $ 3200.

Thus, value of time wasted reading SMS spam =

0.248 x 3200 = $795 Million.


So, next time you receive a spam SMS, do not mistake it to be cheap!

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How often I have received SMS’es on my cell phone that starts with ‘Height of Stupidity’ or ‘Height of PJ’ (Pakau/Poor Jokes) and than starts the actual humorous portion of the text message. On a lighter side, while writing this post it struck me that this post is something related to the ‘Height of Laziness’ :)

Yes, technology is indeed moving at a faster pace. Speaking about the mobile phone handsets, we have seen it all from tiresome numeric keypads to less cumbersome QWERTY keypads and now even touch screen mobiles doing away with physical keypads.

Well, so what’s the height of laziness? Now, it can be said that we’re approaching an era where one can as well do away with those gentle taps on the screen.Mobile handset manufacturer Nokia is said to be working on a gizmo that would allow you to provide wide range of commands including reading your text messages or watching a video clip only by looking at your spectacles intently.This mobile phone works on eye gaze of the user where one has to look intently at the message that they would like to be opened up in front of them on the screen.

For this, user simply has to wear the Gaze Tracker, put on an arm band and place the ear piece in the ear to read the message and view the videos. The mobile phone needs to be calibrated to your eye so that it reads your eye movements.

Though, it might sound exciting, I’ve my own apprehensions as to what extent would this product work? Firstly, one needs to carry-over with them the gaze tracker, the arm band and those ear pieces too. All these accessories only for the comforts related to avoiding touch? I would rather prefer a simple touch screen mobile with an ear piece.

Personally, I would not like hassles of too many accessories in the crowded trains of Mumbai.

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Finally, it is here – A Solar powered Mobile phone – It is surprising that Mobile sector has seen a lot of innovation, but not much has happened when it came to powering / charging mobile through this abundantly available source of Energy.

Samsung has now announced launch of its first solar chargeable phone – Samsung E1107, which allows charging of Mobile battery through Solar power. The newly launched phone can give you between 5 to 10 minutes of talk time on 1 hr of solar charge. Samsung claims that the battery can attain full power with about 40 hours of solar charging.
This can be a boon especially in rural areas where there is no access to electricity or even when you are outdoors and your battery is drained. You will have to just keep you phone in Sun-light, and you are ready to go !

Offcourse, there are challenges, like time-taken to charge due to limited sized solar panel or the phone heat when kept in sun-light for charging etc. etc. But its utility far exceeds these challenges.

Samsung E1107 Features:

This is a pretty basic phone, having usual features along with FM Radio, Torch light and enhanced security.

I think the best part about this phone is its pricing – It is expected to price around INR 2800 and will be very appealing to rural Indian Mobile users.

What is your take on this Solar powered phone ? Do you expect to see market flood with similar solar mobiles phones from other manufacturers as well ?

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