Rodent spoiled my Ford EcoSport

As stated in my earlier articles, my Ford EcoSport had sudden error message in the infotainment screen and had contacted authorized service center for resolution. The authorized service center had arranged for towing service and the car was dropped to the nearest service center for resolution. The car was picked up by the service center for identification and resolution of the issue:

• Issue identification: Post car drop at Ford’s authorized service center, there was delay in identification of the issue due to high number of cars waiting for regular service and identification of the issue might be complicated. After a delay, the service technician identified that the issue was due to rodent bit on the wire and doesn’t require any high service costs or parts change.
• Resolution for the issue: Post identification of the issue in my Ford EcoSport car that rodent had bite the wire and confirmation that no major service or part replacement might be required, the service technician initiated the repair process. To my surprise, the work was completed earlier than my expectation and the car was delivered the very next day with minimal dent on my pocket.

From the above article it might be evident that how rodent can spoil your car and how it had created panic for me about my car’s performance. To read more such articles, please feel free to check out the “G R Team Sites”

 

Concerns in my IT life and things bothering me in my company

I have been in IT life for more than 10 years and have been in MNC for past few years. However, with recent job switch market where people were getting hefty packages with a smaller number of experience and were given promotions/hike if they put down their papers. This kind of news were impacting my mental health and wanted to identify the concerns in my current company. Following are my concerns in my current IT MNC company that was bothering me for a long time.

• Irritating manager with no managerial skills: My manager was one of the worst managers in my IT life and often complicates the simple work with unnecessary action items. He doesn’t possess any managerial skills, where if there is hectic work schedule or escalations, he does not possess any managerial skills to tackle those and does not protect his teammates when the concern arises.
• Low package and designation: Other than the irritating manager, one another factor concerning in my current IT life was the low package and designation. Even though I have been in the company for past few years, I have not been able to get my desired designation, or the hike based on my experience.
  

Above listed are my concerns related to my current IT life and experience of working in the same company for past few years. To read more such articles, please feel free to visit or check out the “G R Team Sites”

Successfully replaced my AirPods Pro for manufacturing defect

After coming to conclusion that my AirPods Pro has manufacturing defect and may be eligible for FREE replacement, I have scheduled my visit to Apple Service Center. Before visiting Apple service center, I was little bit anxious about whether my AirPods Pro would be rejected due to increased scratches and few dents. However, to my surprise the AirPods Pro was accepted with just mention of usable scratches and they would call me for further updates. Following is the list of updates throughout the replacement process

• Day 1 - No update: After accepting my AirPods Pro to validate whether the product is eligible for FREE replacement, I was notified that they would call me about the status of the repair and would be notified if the claim were rejected. Post this communication, I was little bit nervous and was anxiously waiting for the updates. However, there was no update from the service center and after follow-up call late in the evening, I was notified that the update would be communicated in the day.
• Day 2 & 3 – Product sent to Apple for Validation: Again, on the second day, there was no communication or update from the service center and I anxiously skipped the entire day hoping for a call from the service center. Post no update from the service center on the second day, I called up directly to service center to check on the update and was notified that the product has been sent to Apple technical center for validation and would take 5-6 days for acknowledgment.
• Day 5 – Status update in 2 days and Apple has registered shipment: I was anxiously waiting for past 5 days to get a status update for my AirPods Pro replacement and there was not a single communication from service center. I was not able to wait for another couple more days and I called up service center directly to check on the update. The response from service center was that Apple has made shipment regarding my service case and they would know only after it reaches the service center in next few days, and I would be notified about it at the earliest.
• Day 6 – Product replaced and can be collected: After knowing that there was a shipment from Apple, I was even more anxious to know more about the status of my service case and called up service center for the update. To my surprise I was notified that my both AirPods Pro headphones are replaced for FREE, and I can collect the product at my convenience.

I was completely out of the world after knowing that my AirPods Pro was replaced for FREE, even after using it for past 18 months (about 1 and a half years) and completely new headphones would extend the life of the product by 3 more years. To read more such articles please visit “G R Team Sites”

What was the reason behind the price hike of M2 MacBook Air in India?

With the recent announcement of M2 MacBook Air and Pro models, Apple has also made a shocking revelation for users in India with drastic increase in prices for both the models. While most users may have felt that the price increase is due to the tax implications, then they are wrong about the predictions and there are several factors which Apple might have considered for this price change. Following is some of my predictions about why Apple might have increased their pricing for users in India

• Rising inflation and future tax rate hikes: Now that inflations are sky high in US and there are high fears of recessions returning to the market in short time, these fears have also forced FED to raise their interest rates and these in-turn might also force Indian counterparts to increase the interest rates. If the inflation and interest rates continue to haunt the market, there are high chances of increase in price for the components across the product lifecycle. So, it is always safe bet for Apple to increase their price now and have cushion in their maximum retail price while the actual product price increases.
• Prediction on Rupee performance against dollar: In recent years, there have been considerable traction in Rupees performance against the dollar and the experts are predicting that the rupee might fall further against dollar due to global economic conditions such as war, inflation, and recession fears. With such prediction of rupee’s fall against the dollar, it is always safe bet for Apple to increase their product prices and have safe bet on their margins and helps in increasing their profits.

While the above reasons might be few reasons for increase in prices, the price increase have also ensured that there might not be any further price change for the next months or years and might also depends on some external economic factors. For more such articles, please feel free to check out the articles published in “G R Team Sites”

iCloud and OneDrive folders & files integration

With evolution of cloud storage solutions across devices, it has now become easier to store your important and regular files over cloud. However, the integration of OneDrive in MacBook or MAC operating system is much lower compared to the native windows operating system. I use MAC as my primary device and have OneDrive subscription for my files back-up. However, there are few restrictions while integrating OneDrive into my MAC system and wanted to detail the following features to be included in the upcoming updates. 

• Folder backups integration between OneDrive & iCloud: In addition to OneDrive as my primary cloud storage option, I also use iCloud basic tier subscription plan as my secondary back-up storage option and store my important files in iCloud. However, the folders stored in iCloud cannot be directly synchronized with OneDrive and the specific OneDrive folders cannot be synchronized directly into iCloud.

• iPhone backup to OneDrive Folder: In MAC operating system there is no option to enable all backups to be directly stored in OneDrive and there are few alternative options to enable back-ups to OneDrive. However, all those options are not reliable and there are no system preferences to change the backup location to Cloud by default. 

Apple should allow its users to enable them to back-up their critical and preferred files to other trusted cloud storage service providers like OneDrive. Read more such articles from “G R Team Sites”

Introduction of Airplay feature in set-top boxes and TV's

Recent times, the OTT platforms and online sports streaming applications available in TV's have changed the way we watch entertainment. However, most applications and TVs now have in-built Chromecast support enabling Android phones to have slight edge over iPhones, as iPhone supports only Airplay feature. With technology advancements and increase in usage of iPhone users across the country, I feel puzzled at unavailability of Airplay as standard feature in set-top boxes and in-built in most TV's. Apart from Samsung, most major leading TV brands have boycotted airplay feature in their ecosystem and Apple should have enabled those brands to include Airplay feature in addition to Chromecast support. With lack of Airplay feature in most TV's and set-top boxes, Apple is losing its user base for the following reasons

• Moving towards Android: Most mobile phone users will not be ready to switch their TVs in short-term and with those TV's having in-built Chromecast support, users will prefer mobile phones supporting Chromecast and gives Android phones an edge over iPhones. 
• Users unaware of Airplay: Chromecast has been widely popular among all mobile phone users including iPhone users, that most users were still unaware of the Airplay feature available in iOS and are still hesitant to use these features in their phones. 
• Application support for Airplay: Most Entertainment applications are now built-in with Chromecast support and even in iOS, the streaming and OTT apps support Chromecast support by default. Even if Airplay support is enabled within these applications for FREE by Apple, it would take another year or so, for the feature to be completely utilized by those developers. Only post successful utilization of Airplay in the entertainment apps, the users will find differentiating features and quality between Chromecast and Airplay.

To read more such articles, please feel free to check out the articles published in G R Team Sites.