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Karigars to krantikaris
A
technology superpower – that’s From conversations I’ve had with Indians
what India’s been touted as, for who live abroad, as well as those who live here,
quite a while now. Before the whole the frustration is quite apparent. Some actually
recession worries came about, eve- feel we’re nothing more than a sweatshop for the
ryone and their uncles were outsourcing to work that no one in the west wants to do – we
India. I’m not talking just about the good old are nothing more than cheap labour. “When,”
call centre, which is what first springs to mind I’ve been asked, “will India outsource mundane
when you hear the word “outsourcing”, but also coding to the west, and choose to do the fun
all the trillions of lines of code that Indians have stuff here?” Honestly, I have no clue when, but
been writing for companies across the globe. I have to believe that it will happen.
Whether as software services, game develop- The timing’s just right. We’ve got a whole
ment, animation, and more, Indians are contrib- generation of technology professionals all set
uting to the world in a huge way. The software to hit the market. Investments are coming in,
services industry has made a lot of money this Indian hardware vendors have started cropping
way, and contributed to our economy, but we’re up (mostly in the mobile segments, but there’s
still not growing the way we should. We’re still hope this will diversify), and the software pro-
not a true tech superpower. fessionals are almost seasoned veterans now. Robert Sovereign-Smith
In our cover story this month, as our way of All we need are ideas, innovations and more Executive Editor
celebrating this year’s Independence Day, we’re attention to detail, and we could have our own
talking about innovations – quite frankly, we success stories – companies that can stand
need some desperately. shoulder to shoulder with the Googles, Micro- “Should I consider
First, let me give you a little insight into softs and Apples of the world. That’s the reason this a step up for
where I’m coming from. For over a decade, for those two little words you saw on the cover.
me? Going from
I’ve been an IRC junkie, and have interacted Tech Kranti is our way of saying that we need
with strangers from all over the world. I’ve seen to revolutionise the way we work, think and live. monkey-trainer to
people’s perceptions about India, and Indians Think of ways in which you can improve lives code-monkey in the
in general, change drastically in this timeframe. here in India, and you will have a successful eyes of the west?”
About 13 years ago, when people found out idea that you can market. Although there’s
I was Indian, I actually had to respond to ques- easy money to be made in the outsourcing
tions like, “Do you own a monkey?”, and “Are world, building something here could be more
there really cows and elephants on the streets?”, rewarding in the long run. Plus, wouldn’t you
and some others I’d rather not discuss. Regard- like your revenue to not be dependent on bad
less, the perceptions were obvious. policy decisions made by a few bankers thou-
Things then transitioned to, “Indian women sands of miles away?
are beautiful!” when some of our women started Perhaps it’s time you started thinking
winning beauty pageants. Today, the reaction is of yourself as a revolutionary, instead of a
more like, “What do you do? Are you a coder?” craftsman. What’s the difference? A craftsman
or “Do you work in a call centre?”. is good at his work, but usually builds someone
Should I consider this a step up for me? else’s idea… a revolutionary, on the other hand,
Going from monkey-trainer to code-monkey would come up with an idea, employ a lot of
in the eyes of the west? craftsmen, and build something memorable…
I have nothing against the software services time to evolve from karigars to a krantikaris…
industry, and I think they’re doing an excellent Click on over to thinkdigit.com/techkranti, and
job. However, we need to create more. We need start giving our country the help it needs.
made in India products that the world wants – Express opinions, share ideas, get inspired,
software, hardware, concepts, anything. That’s and start improving lives today.
where innovation comes in. And it starts in Jai Hind!
India, for Indians.
How many people in the west would under-
stand the problems you face on a daily basis?
How many of them would understand the great
language divide that separates India much like
editor@thinkdigit.com
the state lines on maps?
Digit | August 2010 | www.thinkdigit.com 1
August 2010 • Volume 10 • Issue 08
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2 Digit | August 2010 | www.thinkdigit.com
Contents
VOLUME 10 \ ISSUE 08
AUGUST 2010
QUICK 42
NAVIGATOR
006 ENTER
Inbox
Buzz
016 Mobile Watch
CONNECTIONS
Web Watch
iOS4 vs. Android A i ti ti
An investigative
look at unravelling
026 DIGITAL LIFE
Drool Maal this arcane species
Windows 8 Rumors
iPad killers?
034 COVER STORY
Geeky Women
Ewaste
Carbon nano tubes
078 TOOLBOX
Tips and Tricks
Q&A
How can technology help
34
STREET SMART solve seven basic problems
094 AgentWatch
Price
001
that are holding India back?
Killer Rigs
101 TECH@WORK
DEVELOPER CORNER
INDUSTRY CONNECT
108 ESC
Unwind
56
Community
Digit 101 DSLRs tested
For enthusiasts and professionals who
demand better quality from their cameras
TRIED & 073
TESTED 70
ZOTAC GEFORCE GTX 460 071
1
ASUS RAMPAGE III
EXTREME
NVIDIA’s newest GeForce GTX460 DELL INSPIRON 560S Overclocker’s board for
graphics chip Dell’s value desktop the Core i7 processor
4 Digit | August 2010 | www.thinkdigit.com
ON THE DVD
Mindware SDKs
Tools • DirectX Software Development
Kit
Recovery • Microsoft Windows SDK
• Active NTFS Reader for DOS for Windows 7 and .NET
• AVG Rescue CD Framework 4
• CodySafe Admin Pack
• Crypt4Free 5.3.8
• EASEUS Disk Copy
Developers
• Crimson Editor 3.7
• Kleo Bare Metal Backups
• Codelobster PHP Edition
• MiniTool Partition
FREE
Recovery 5.0
• Free CSS Toolbox 1.2
• MS Word Excel Cracker 2
• Db4o for Java 7.4
026 • Pandora Recovery 2.1.1
• Partition Find and Mount
• Digital Mars C/C++ Compiler
• Free JavaScript Editor 4.7
Drool Maal • R-Linux Free Recovery 4.0
• Smart Fat Recovery 3.9
• Smart Flash Recovery 4.3
• Hex Edit Free 3.0F
Drool over some of the coolest gadgets and gizmos
• Smart Image Recovery 2.3
Playware
Gaming
• Diagnostics and Recovery
028 Windows 8 revealed? Toolset 5.0 Full
• Battle of Immortals
Features we’d like to see in the next version Networking • Prince of Persia: Sands of Time
• AdRem MyNet Toolset 1.0
• AdvancedRemoteInfo 0.7.0.3
042 Musing on the iPad • Anti Netcut 2 Demos
• LEGO Harry Potter 1-4
• EgoNet 2010-06-18
What remains when you’ve run out of lust? • Sniper Ghost Warrior
• Ethereal - Network Protocol
Analyzer 0.99
• Hamachi Network Interface Open Source
• LDAP Browser 2.6 • Aleph One
• Look@LAN Network Monitor • AssaultCube
• ManageEngine • Black Shades
OpManager 8.3 • Bos Wars
• Microsoft Assessment and • Build-a-lot
Planning Toolkit 4.0.2925 • Chromium BSU
• Net Tools 4.5.47 • Free civ
064 062 • Net-SNMP 5.5
• Packetyzer 5.0.0.0
• FreeCol
• Gang Garrison 2
Photo HD • Visone 2.5.1
• WhatsUp Gold Engineer’s
• Liquid War 6
• My Tribe
Printer DTH Toolkit 1.0 • Smash Battle
Test Test • EasyService Help Desk 2.6.2 • Virtual Families
We help you choose the
best HD DTH in the
FREEWARE market
SNIPER GHOST
WARRIOR DEMO
DVD POP: SANDS OF TIME
+40 FREE GAMES
075 075
ASUS VG236 H ALIENWARE M 11X
23-inch 3D gaming LCD A value offering from Alienware
Digit | August 2010 | www.thinkdigit.com 5
Buzz Toshiba factory visit
Inbox 8 A look at one of the world’s
largest computer expos 12 Digit’s tour of the the Toshiba
factory in Hangzhou, China
u I thank you for publishing the screen- July 2010
shot of my desktop in your February 2010
edition. I know it’s quite odd that I am
thanking you after such a long time. The
reason for this lag was that I skipped
purchasing the February and March edition
of Digit due to my ICSE board exams. It
was only yesterday that one of my friends
informed me that my dekstop’s screenshot
was published in the February edition.
On actually seeing such a large portion
written about my desktop modification
(on page 109), I was overwhelmed and
so were my friends who instantly started
appreciating me.
I had sent my desktop in the hope of
winning in the My Desktop competition
which used to be a regular feature of the
magazine some time back. But now you
stopped that competition :-( and I also
never received any prize from your side. I
just wanted to ask you if I stand a chance Thanks for the wonderful technology instilled the love for technology in you via
to receive it. navigation so far. Digit. We will try to cover blogging tips and
Chetan discuss story ideas on your suggestion.
Digit is always there for you, but exams Nash
come first and we always encourage Thank you for being a loyal Digit reader
readers to give importance to their studies. for so long. Congratulations on designing the u I have been a regular reader of the
As for your screenshot when you sent forum. It feels wonderful to know that Digit magazine since September 2009 and this
it in we had not yet commenced the My helped you in learning Photoshop, Linux and is my first letter. Digit has helped me a lot
Desktop competition on Facebook, and PHP over the years. Keep reading. in keeping me up to date with the latest
hence it was published as part of the com- Siddharth technology.
munity page where we feature interesting The product review pages are the ones
things that the Digit community is upto u Digit is the best technology magazine that I eagerly look forward to every month
from reviews, discussions and the odd I have ever read. I am an 11-year old boy, and read them before any other article
tech joke or two. However, since you did studying in 7th standard. Some two years in the magazine. Reviews about mother-
take the trouble to send in the screenshot ago, my elder brother bought an issue boards and processors are my favourite
of your desktop, and it was a pretty good of the magazine. At that time, I wasn’t since I am a hardware engineer and it
mod, we might add, you will get a movie interested in tech and related stuff. But helps me in suggesting the best products
DVD from us. Follow Digit on the Facebook some months ago, when my brother went to my clients. In the July issue the Wi-fi
fan page (www.facebook.com/thinkdigit) to to Delhi for further studies, I saw his col- router test was awesome.
be able to participate in contests like My lection of Digit. I took out some 7-8 issues Hope you have a processor and moth-
Desktop and Logo Design. from that collection and read them. I loved erboard comparison test in the coming
Nimish it so much, that now I am a regular reader issues. You guys rock.
of your magazine. Sandeep Maurya
u I have been reading Digit for nine I have a suggestion, why don’t you have
years now. It’s been a great experience. a section on blogging, where you give tips Yes, we do have a processor and moth-
Have learnt a lot over the years from on blogging. erboard shootout coming up in the next
you guys, especially on the Linux and I would also like to read a piece on few months. Also, we will try and ensure
web development front! Today, with all Blogger vs. Wordpress in Digit as I am a that mails to SOS are replied to sooner.
the knowldge, I have redesigned one of blogger too. I really want to see it in your With hundreds of mails a day, it’s hard to
India’s premier food and drink forums. mag. Digit Rocks! reply to all of them at once, but we’ll try.
I am excited about it especially since I Vinayak Nagri Rossi
learnt all of it including Photoshop tuto-
rial, Linux administration, PHP devel- Your story is very interesting and we u I have been a regular reader of Digit
opment over the years through Digit. would like to thank your brother who for the past couple of years. The maga-
6 Digit | August 2010 | www.thinkdigit.com
Youtube cuts off music Froyo for Milestone
Youtube has launched a seperate section of Motorola official unsure about Froyo update
music in its site, dedicated to music videos only for the Milestone Android phone Inbox
zine satisfies all type of readers, from LETTER OF THE MONTH
beginners to experts. I have to say, you
people are doing well in that regard. u Congratulations on completing yet towards the welfare of consumers by
Keep it up. Now coming to my point. I another year full of achievements and highlighting their issues. I would like to
have a couple of suggestions, simple but bringing out such a wonderful magazine, contribute an article towards consumer
very helpful though. full of enriched content. awareness as to how to buy safe and get
1. The DVD has a lot of goodies in it. But Well, I got my hands on the April and redressal and what steps to take.
please provide a PDF version of list of May issue. I missed the June issue because Anyways, I appreciate the changes in
contents on the DVD every time. It can of its cost :( but was glad to see the changes the magazine. Keep up the good work and
be copied effectively to ones system. This and was quite elated. Congrats Raaabo! congrats on coming out with such won-
saves a lot of time in searching things I would like to mention a few achieve- derful magazines issues in succession. My
from older DVDs. I think this costs ments of mine that wouldn’t have been best wishes are always with you.
nothing more than a few wallpapers. possible without Digit: I secured state rank Kumar Harsh
Now I have to put each and every disc to 2 in ITTSE 2007, which was sponsored Ranchi, Jharkhand
search something. And you can imagine by NIIT and got All India Rank 20 in
how impractical it is to carry all the National Cyber Olympiad 2009 apart from Thank you for the appreciation,
magazines with me all the time. getting state rank 10 in National Cyber and the offer to send across a box of
2. The Digit interface: I feel it is not user Olympiad 2008. Digit has been my secret chocolates. Instead, please plant a
friendly. Now the list comes on top and ammunition for the preparation of all these tree, give something to your favourite
the explanation comes at the bottom, examinations as well as for providing charity, or buy a Digit subscription for
and in the half-sized window, there is that little “extra” edge for cracking these a small school’s computer lab in your
little space for both. Try this instead. examinations. neighbourhood.
First of all make every window full size. I would definitely try to mail you a box We hope you achieve many more lau-
Keep the list to the left half in the full full of sweets or chocolates atleast! Tell me rels in the future. Send us your articles,
sized window and the explanation and how many of you are there in the team? :) and we might carry them. Mail them to
all other things in the right half. Every Next, I was really delighted and happy me at editor@thinkdigit.com.
one will accept that left-right movement to see the movement you have initiated Robert
of eyes is comfortable than top-bottom.
3. Finally please provide PDF version of
the magazine in DVDs, if possible. Do it u I loved the July issue. I bought the like you that propel us to be the best tech
after one or two months later so that it magazine on my birthday and I must say magazine around and we will never let
won’t affect the circulation. I hope you it was a wonderful gift I gave myself. The you down. It is wonderful to know that
will look into these matters. vendor from whom I purchased said, the video lectures in our DVD helped
Paul Sunny “Here’s its competitor ****. But I told him your father. Digit is open to criticism
I’d be happy buying Digit rather than any from its readers and we never shy away
Thanks a lot for the appreciation. We try other “competitor”. from them. It only helps us to serve our
to have articles in the magazine which can The DVD contents this month were readers better.
be followed by experts as well as begin- amazing. Your video lectures proved very As far as the music goes, we had
ners. The entire content list of the DVDs, useful to my Dad as he is not so good at provided four songs by Delhi-based band
is put up on thinkdigit.com/forum under computers. So I made my Dad sit down, Sifar in the July 2010 Mindware DVD.
the Preview & Feedback section. You can pop in your DVD and let him learn from Sambhav
simply click on the link and download the the lectures provided. Thanks. Your arti-
XLS file that has all the details you’d need cles were very interesting too. u July issue was wonderful with
for both DVDs. I have read other readers’ letters who exhaustive tests.Linux Administration
My plans to update the DVD inter- criticise you. But I really find nothing in FT was awesome. Thanks for movies in
face have hit a little speed bump, but your mag worth criticising. I have only DVDs. Congratulations on shifting to a
rest assured it’s number one on my list one small request: if you could provide new office.
of priorities right now. Maybe a MAC some Hindi songs as well in the DVD, Mayur Gaikwad
inspired interface? Send me feedback then I’d be obliged. And when are you Satara
about what you’d like teh interface to going to provide PDFs next? I missed
be. PDFs will are something we save for June’s issue. It’s been a while since we tested so
special issues, so watch out for the next Ayan Sarkar many products in a month. This issue we
one. All Fast Track issues of 2009 were were shifting while testing all those prod-
included in the June 2010 DVDs. We feel really proud that you con- ucts. A hectic month indeed!
Robert tinued reading Digit. It’s loyal readers Rossi
Digit | August 2010 | www.thinkdigit.com 7
USB monitor gets better Microsoft processor
A 10-inch USB touch-screen monitor mimo has been recently Microsoft has recently succeeded in becoming the official
Buzz launched, which can connect to any USB compatible device licensee of ARM processors that are used in cellphones
HDBaseT set to replace Google Music to
give Apple iTunes
HDMI as AV standard some competition
I
n a world where being entertained wherever you are, on the
move or at your neighbourhood coffee shop, is not considered
an unreasonable demand, a paradox exists. Video and audio
content certainly isn’t getting any lighter, and high-definition
is making a big dent in storage capacities across the world. Fortu-
nately for us all, while content size is increasing, so is the speed
and reach of mobile connectivity.
Considering all this, the answer
to your portable storage prob-
A
new AV standard than four times the previous lems is exceedingly obvious –
- HDBaseT - has best (DiiVA), at 328 feet. This cloud storage.
been jo intly advantage is made even more Reports are in that iTunes is
developed by extraordinary by the fact that on its way to becoming a cloud
the surreptitiously formed HDBaseT cables will support service, aiming to excel at wire-
industry group that com- 8 multi hops, effectively mul- less streaming and syncing of
prises: LG Electronics, Sony tiplying it to up to 2624 feet. content between Apple’s servers,
Pictures Entertainment, Sam- The biggest advantage however, your computer and devices.
sung Electronics, and Valens will be much lowered cost of iTunes is the acknowledged
Semiconductor. the HD-capable cables – the (U.S.) market leader for audio content, and millions of users will
Set to replace HDMI, easy affordability of normal be glad when it shifts to the cloud, giving them the new ability to
HDBaseT uses a regular Eth- Ethernet cables. enjoy their content across a range of their devices, content that
ernet cable, called Cat 5e/6 In case you are wondering, will not be limited (or at least as severely) to their device’s storage
network cable, which with the this will also be ideal for Google capacity, and accessible from anywhere.
new technology will be able to TV type internet connected However, Google is certainly not going to let the cloud entertain-
provide HD & 3D video signals services. You might also have ment space go that easily, and spoke about the launch of a new music
apart from data on the Ethernet wondered what solutions service (rumoured to be called Google Music) this American Fall
connection, which still has a mobile devices will get, after at Google I/O 2010, which will offer over the air downloads for the
remarkable 100Mbit band- considering the fact that many Android platform, and remote access of the media.
width. new smartphones/tablets sup- Apple wouldn’t be too worried about retaining its massive iTunes
A major advantage of the port mini-HDMI output. The userbase, simply because so many users have DRM content that’s
HDBaseT sort of cable over odds are, some new sort of tied to the platform, which they will not be willing to leave behind.
previous industry standards mini-USB interfaces will be Google still has an advantage though, with some of the best cloud
is the length of wire through developed to work with it. experience in the industry, and a wide variety of cross-browser,
which it can function, more Chrome-based, and Android applications.
The same reports that partially detail Apple’s cloud initiatives, say
Google takes over ITA that the services (iTunes, Apple TV, and more) will be launched around
the American Fall, which is the same time that Google Music and
B
illion dollar companies exactly does Google intend to do Google TV are expected. This is also around the same time that another
have a penchant for with a $700 million flight infor- phase of competition between Apple and Google will begin – mobile
acquiring technology mation company? Google has not advertising - when iAds will battle AdSense for supremacy.
the easy way, and said how they intend to use ITA,
Google’s takeover of ITA Soft- except by commenting that they’d
ware, a leading flight informa- honour all of ITA’s previous com-
tion company, for $700 million, mitments; most notably service
is a classic example. agreements with Microsoft’s
The industry is certainly Bing, apart from the more
buzzing with questions. What obvious Kayak and Orbitz.
8 Digit | August 2010 | www.thinkdigit.com
Smart ride bike Tablet for India
Panasonic has launched RX-10S, an electric bike, that At the time of going to print, Indian HRD ministry
Buzz can assist you to go 97km on single recharge announced a Tablet PC for Rs. 1500.
ASUS unleashes world’s fastest GPU
I
n an effort to dominate Menawhile, Nvidia has Vision, PhysX, and CUDA tech-
the gaming hardware released the DX 11 capable nologies. The sole advantage
market, Asus has GTX460 that purportedly the HD 5830 presents over the
gone ahead and made runs faster than the expen- GTX 460 is a slight price dif-
the world’s fastest GPU, sive GTX465 and offers you a ference, and ATI Eyefinity. The
by combining two ATI ‘bang for the buck’, something GTX460 is presently available
Radeon HD 5870 graphics quite uncharacteristic from in India in two configurations:
cards into one. It will surely Nvidia. It is apparently more The Nvidia GeForce GTX
make a hole in your pocket, energy efficient, consumes 460 768MB, is Priced at
at $1,200. Named the Asus it as: Limited Edition, Unlim- less power, runs cooler and Rs.13,150 (approx), while the
Ares, it is reportedly 32% faster ited Power. sticks to a budget gamer’s con- Nvidia GeForce GTX 460 1GB,
than the Radeon HD 5970, and The monster card will set straints. Benchmarks peg the is priced at Rs.15,100 (approx).
is available in a Limited Edition you back by Rs. 1,00,000. $230 1GB GTX 460 above the Meanwhile, the elder
Metal Case and a ROG gaming We got our test piece just $200 HD 5830, and just below brother GTX 465 is priced for
mouse bundle. It apparently when this issue was going the HD 5850. The GTX 460 approximately Rs. 18,000
requires a 750W power supply for print. Stay tuned for our however gives consumers the (approx) for the 1GB configu-
to run. Aptly, Asus has tagged review in the next issue. added advantage of Nvidia’s 3D ration.
AADHAR’s API Low energy Bluetooth 4.0 unveiled,
expected to hit market by Q4 2010
T
he Indian government’s plan to implement a unique
identity code for each Indian citizen is finally bearing
W
fruits. The Unique Identification Authority of India hile Blue- energy technology’ feature
(UIDAI) has released an API specification for how tooth 3.0 has of Bluetooth 4.0 promises
identities would be authenticated with different agencies using a been alive to have “new [connectivity]
central database. and kicking applications in [the fields of]
With a unique identity number assigned to each citizen, estab- for more than a year, very few health care, fitness, security
lishing and authenticating the identity of any individual will become devices have found use for it and home entertainment”.
much easier. Currently multiple identity documents are required since its release in April 2009. Complete specifications
for different government services. Each has a basic requirement This hasn’t stopped the Blue- are available at Bluetooth.
needed to authenticate our identity. With a unique ID, and a means tooth Special Interest Group org. The following is the list
to authenticate that ID, this workflow would become much simpler (SIG) from enhancing the of enhancements at a glance,
and convenient. technology further, and now, mirroring the key advantages
The new unique identity system, named AADHAR, is projected to they have announced the of the low energy technology:
work by establishing one’s identity using the AADHAR code, and any arrival of Bluetooth 4.0. • Ultra-low peak, average and
combination of biometric identification, such as fingerprint or retina While developing the Blue- idle mode power consumption
scans. It appears that the creation of user ID could go paperless and tooth 4.0 Core Specification, • Ability to run for years on
validated/verified online. SIG’s primary focus areas standard coin-cell batteries
When talking of a central database containing everyone’s personal were low power consumption •Low cost
details, privacy concerns are sure to arise. The system developed using new ‘low energy tech- • Multi-vendor interoperability
with AADHAR is intended to prevent such abuse. The AADHAR nology’, apart from enhanced • Enhanced range
API does not expose any way to access some one’s personal details range and multi-vendor oper- Interoperability testing
from the UID code; instead it merely allows authenticates the details ability. They seem to have and qualification are pro-
you do provide against the central database to establish an ID. It will achieved what they set out to posed to take place at SIG’s
merely give a “Yes” or “No” response. do, and claim that it will allow 37th testing event, UnPlugFest
How this would work is that one would need to provide their for several years’ worth of (UPF) 37, which is scheduled
AADHAR ID to the agency with which you need to establish your battery life on standard coin- for 4-8th October, 2010, in
ID, this could be a bank where you are opening an account, or a gov- cells. This will allow for very Barcelona, Spain. The first
ernment service you are registering for, such as a driving license. small and low cost devices to devices featuring Bluetooth
Using your UID and biometric data (fingerprint / retina scan etc.) incorporate Bluetooth as a 4.0 are officially expected to
captured on the device installed at such locations, the agency (bank, budget friendly connectivity make their presence felt by the
ration card office etc.) will be able to verify the details you provide. option. This hallmark ‘low end of the year.
10 Digit | August 2010 | www.thinkdigit.com
Storage in woods SSD for cellphones
OOOMS USB sticks are custom made wooden USB drives, Samsung and Toshiba has developed DDR 2.0 NAND flash memory
Buzz which can be made from the wood selected by the artisan for smartphones that gives 400MBps transfer speed
Toshiba’s 25th Anniversary of Laptop
Innovation – from T100 to R700
D
igit had the oppor- utor to their quality, and super- the consumers, Toshiba has set can be opted for.
tunity to visit the low field failure numbers. That its plans in motion, and has set The R700 laptop also comes
Toshiba Informa- and their engineering team, an aggressive target of trebled with some pretty cool software
tion Equipment who we were told are fearless sales and a double digit market pre-installed, including an
(TIH) factory in Hangzhou, in the face of technological hur- share in India, which is cur- HDD Protection technology
China, on 24th June. The event dles - each an eagerly looked rently pegged at 4 per cent by with 3D motion sensor (which
was their 25th anniversary of forward to challenge. IDC India. In order to do this, parks the HDD head if excess
manufacturing notebooks. they’re about to expand their vibration is detected – note,
Toshiba India’s retail outlets as well as their its sensitivity is adjustable),
TIH Factory Visit – Roadmap service centres. From 71 service Toshiba Eco Utility (power
Dedication to Quality Identifying India, China and centres in 45 cities, to plan to management).
Calling it the “25th Anniver- Brazil as the top emerging have 81 centres in 55 cities by
sary of Laptop Innovation and markets, Toshiba aims to get a year end. Next, their 700 or so W100 Libretto
Quality”, Toshiba showed us foothold in each. India has an retail stores will grow to about Called the world’s first Win-
the dedication it has for solid astounding 46 per cent year- 800 by the end of the year. dows 7 dual-touch-screen
engineering with a tour of the on-year growth and to this Toshiba has also successfully laptop, the Toshiba W100
TIH laptop plant, from the fac- end, has started redoubling its formed retail partnerships with Libretto weighs 819 grams,
tory floor to the design and test efforts in marketing, retail, and Reliance Digital and Croma. and has two 7-inch wide aspect
centres. This is no Foxconn, we service coverage. They’ve even According to company offi- capacitive multi-touch screens.
noticed no boredom or depres- got Sachin Tendulkar as their cials, talks are also in advanced The device is hailed by Toshiba
sion or sweat shop atmos- new ambassador, a sure sign stages to partner with another as a mini-notebook that show-
phere here...just whole floors of Toshiba’s desire to progress major retail chain. cases an “unparalleled blend
of assembly lines, made up of in the booming Indian market. of high performance, mobility
both humans and machines. With him, they have launched Innovative new and features”, perfect for ‘pro-
With everybody concentrating an extensive cross-product laptops sumers’ looking
at work, the near silence was media campaign conveying Portege R700 laptop for a combi-
extraordinary, only syncopated the message of “Excellence in The quintessential lightweight nation of
with machine rhythm. The Quality, Technology & Design”, business laptop, the 13.3-inch mobile and
chatter and smiles that broke as ambassador for Toshiba’s R700, weighs just 1.39 kg,
out at lunchtime were rather laptops, LCD TVs, and home and manages to squeeze in
startling, but expected – every- appliances. full powered Core i3 and i5
body likes a break from work. In terms of their laptop port- processors into a 0.88-inch Portege-r700
With top-of-the line folio in the country, Toshiba thick frame, without sacri-
machinery and apparent India had only 11 models in the ficing battery life or suffering state-of-the-art computing. It is
cleanliness in the lines, nothing country before April 2010, but heat dissipation problems. priced at Rs. 75,000.
stood unused – small compo- intends to have a wide portfolio How Toshiba managed to do We got our hands on the
nents flowed on tape to be fused of 30 notebooks by October this is a tribute to their engi- device on our visit to Toshiba’s
to printed circuit boards with end, ranging from Rs. 19,000 neering skills, who managed Hangzhou laptop factory, and
surface mounted technology, to Rs. 70,000. Three of them to build an ultra-lightweight we have to say, the W100
bigger components were were released on June 25th – and super-strong honeycomb Libretto is seriously respon-
carefully installed. We also the Portege R700, Qosmio F60, chassis out of magnesium. sive in all aspects, and it looks
noticed innumerable quality and W100 Libretto – some of Also unprecedented on ultra- great! The device certainly isn’t
check points at every stage the most exciting notebooks of mobile laptops, is the presence conventional, and is something
of production, ranging from 2010, which we’ve covered later of a 9-mm optical disk drive. in between a laptop, a netbook,
Automatic Optical Inspection, in the article, and more exten- The i3 version costs Rs. and a touchscreen tablet. This
Aging Testing, Finer Assembly sively on www.thinkdigit.com. 65,000, while the i5 version is why it can’t be compared
Testing, to the human eye. This, Seeking to offer competi- costs Rs. 75,000. A Portégé directly with an Apple iPad
according to Toshiba, is the tively priced products targeting R700 with an i7 processor or Dell Streak. What really
single most important contrib- institutions, corporations, and can be built to order, an SSD makes it stand apart is its
12 Digit | August 2010 | www.thinkdigit.com
Motorola’s update HTML 5 for mobile
Motorola has confirmed to launch Droid 2 with AOL has rolled out HTML5 mobile site which is specially
Buzz Android 2.2 OS designed for cellphones And 2 new Android apps
2GB DDR3 1066MHz RAM, Nvidia 330M GPU instead. AC100 smart flash memory, 512MB RAM,
LED backlit LCD screen, a 64 Starting at Rs. 61,490, the companion 1.3 megapixel camera, Blue-
GB SSD, USB 2.0 interface, a Qosmio F60-X5310 15.6-inch The 10-inch Android-based tooth 2.1, full 1080p video,
1MP web cam, 729MB shared screen is LED backlit and has and Tegra 2 powered AC100 SD card reader, USB & HDMI
video RAM for the Intel HD a wide 16:9 aspect ratio, at a smart companion offers a port, 802.11 b/g/n Wi-Fi, and
integrated graphics solution, native resolution of 1366x768 smooth transition across the a full size keyboard.
and a 1.2 GHz Pentium U5400 pixels. Users will greatly enjoy difference in visual real estate The AC100 smart com-
processor with 3MB L3 cache. the benefits of the quad-core from a phone to a tablet/clam- panion will operate in
Possibly the best part Cell processor GPU, especially shell (just like iPad does for always-on mode just like the
about the device is the way in hardware video encoding. the iPhone); giving Android iPad, but offers a slightly
Toshiba has managed to split An example of this is Toshiba’s smartphone users the oppor- lesser 8 hours of mixed
Windows 7 OS across two dis- Upconversion Technology tunity to bridge the gap. The browsing-video playback
plays vertically, giving users called Resolution+ (also seen AC100 smart companion and battery life, with a seven day
excellent video real estate, in the Portégé R700), which an Android smartphone cru- standby time. Users will have
while ensuring a large sized uses a proprietary super-res- cially differ in one regard, the access to a variety of appli-
onscreen keyboard which olution algorithm solution to presence of a hardware key- cations and widgets from a
ranges from 3-line, 4-line, and up convert standard definition board. Android 2.1 as a frame- separate source (for now)
split-QWERTY configurations, images/videos to near high work is built for a multitouch than the Android Market-
to a number pad. The dedicated interface, along with four ded- place, apart from the many
keyboard button, is accompa- icated buttons. By choosing pre-installed applications
nied by a home and power/ to go in for the laptop form such as Opera Mobile, Face-
sleep button. The accelerom- factor, engineers at Toshiba book, Twitter, YouTube,
eter works well to switch challenged themselves to Fring, an Office document
from laptop mode to book modify the Android OS to editor, an email client, and
mode, and, you can drag conform to a keyboard, and the Toshiba Media Player.
and drop content from one in the process, have heavily Users will also be able to set
screen to the other. customised it. up to five homescreens that
Unfortunately, the W100 The Toshiba AC100 will can also be made to change
device has some drawbacks Libretto W100 also be one of the Tegra 2 first with work and life profiles,
right from the get-go, namely, devices to hit the market, and and GPS positioning. The
its 4 hour battery backup, and a definition level. Another great the world will look on to see Opera Mobile browser has
mono-speaker which when we multimedia feature is one of the if the SoC can perform to its probably been chosen over
tested it, was not very powerful. three Toshiba Value-Add soft- potential. This also gives the the Android WebKit-browser
We however have great hopes ware available on the laptop, AC100 a one-of-a-kind status simply to avoid touch issues.
for the device, though at its namely Toshiba Face Naviga- of being the only 3G capable- Calling it “building from
price point, it will not become tion, which lets users select Google Android-NVIDIA the ground up”, Toshiba’s
common as the iPad or netbook. any face in a video, after which Tegra-laptop around, and decision to devise a hard-
they can see all the parts of the makes it much more pow- ware keyboard solution for
Qosmio F60 video where the face appears. erful than its (albeit tablet but) the Android platform is cer-
The Toshiba Qosmio F60- Useful if you are looking for a counterpart device, the iPad, tainly still puzzling, perhaps
X5310 is an extraordinary particular part of a movie. in almost all departments. more so, that they have chosen
15.6-inch entertainment laptop However, what is perhaps It features a 10.1-inch LED to do away with the touch-
that has some very powerful the most exciting thing about backlit screen, 8GB NAND screen completely. This, after
features, namely the Toshiba the laptop is the Toshiba Ges- they showed off their touch
Quad-core graphics proc- ture Controller, which using engineering ability with the
essor (you know, the one the the laptop’s integrated 1.3MP dual-touchscreen mini-Win7-
PlayStation 3 has, the famous HD Automacro Webcamera notebook, the Libretto.
Cell processor?) that uses a and the Quad-Core GPU to The Toshiba AC100 smart
Spurs Engine, a Core i5 proc- simultaneously recognise companion will release in Q3
essor, and integrated Harman and interpret a user’s hand of this year, starting with
Kardon stereo speakers. This gestures. This allows Europe, Middle East, and
Cell GPU is the primary differ- the user to control Africa. An Android 2.2 update
ence between this model and media as well as the will be available shortly as
the one released in Europe in mouse pointer with simple well, which will give it full
January, which featured an hand gestures. Qosmio F60 Flash 10.1 support.
14 Digit | August 2010 | www.thinkdigit.com
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Latest from the web What’s new?
Connections 18 All the latest browser wars, HP’s latest
mobile email service, and more 22 A closer look at Apple’s latest iOS4 for the
iPhone, iPad and iPod
MeeGo ready for handsets
T
he successor to both MeeGo and Symbian^3, with
Intel’s Moblin Linux Nokia CEO Anssi Vanjoki telling
and Nokia’s Maemo, the world that he and his com-
and the product of an pany are committed to make
exciting partnership, MeeGo was Nokia “number one for high-
released in developer form two end devices”. He also praised
and half months ago. Soon after, MeeGo as the future of the
they released a Moblin-inspired smartphone era: “The current
netbook version of MeeGo, and phase of MeeGo development is
now, they have made the Maemo- looking awesome. We believe it
inspired handset version avail- end here. With MeeGo Intel All four of these operating will power the computers of the
able to the public, complete with and Nokia plan to increase the systems (Moblin, Maemo, future. And the computers of the
a UI. It is currently compatible scope of their merged Linux MeeGo and Android) are Linux future will not be tied to a desk or
with the Nokia N900 and Intel’s distribution from Netbooks based, and all of them do their even a lap – they will fit in your
own Aava Mobile platform based (for Intel’s Moblin), and smart- own thing UI-wise. While pocket...”
on Moorsetown. phones/internet tablets (for one may feel like declaring a With MeeGo, Nokia might
Symbian has been struggling Nokia’s Maemo) to five cat- winner, and the “death” of the actually succeed and manage
to keep up with the other plat- egories of devices: netbooks, other platform, the best thing to produce Nokia’s new dream
forms, and even Symbain^3 in an handsets, media players, in- for consumers is choice. We of “killer smartphones and
exhaustive review of the OS by vehicle infotainment systems, now have the luxury of choices market-changing mobile com-
Mobile Review only seemed to be and televisions. On the other for PC operating systems, and puters.” Vanjoki also said that
playing catch up. But in MeeGo hand, Android too, is growing as these devices get more pow- Nokia has “no plans to introduce
lies a new hope. If Nokia does and has been demonstrated in erful and more featured, we may an Android device”, and that
drop Symbian from its higher all kinds of devices, from net- see a future where the choice of a they’d be sticking to Symbian
end N-series devices – as they books, numerous handsets, mobile device will be uncoupled and MeeGo.
supposedly are – Nokia might tablets, cars, media players, and from that of a mobile OS. Refer to www.thinkdigit.com/
have better luck with its smart- of course, TVs with Google’s own On a related note, Nokia is latest/MeeGo.html for more
phones with a more capable OS. Google TV. MeeGo has a lot of gearing up fight for a place in images as well as videos of the
The plans for MeeGo don’t competition ahead to face. the smartphone market with interface.
Sony Ericsson Vivaz Pro: Loses 8MP
W
e particularly back panel is a hard plastic with mode. The screen is the same as
loved the a fine dull finish, which gives Vivaz; 640 x 360 with high dpi of
original Vivaz it an appearance of solidity. In 229. The slider is spring-loaded
for one thing: fact, it is not until you remove and is somewhere between the
720p continuous autofocus video the back panel that you realise snappy N97 mini and the manual
recording ability in a slender, sexy that it is actually quite flimsy. Motorola Milestone. We liked the
body. It is still there in the Vivaz The power button (that doubles slider of the Vivaz Pro.
Pro. We particularly hated the as screen-lock toggle) rests in an The 5 MP camera of the phone
original Vivaz for another thing: odd position, on the upper half of still manages to record 720p hardware QWERTY is the saving
Symbian S60 5th edition, which the back panel. The three func- video. This feature needs a little grace here, as it saves us from the
has now been completely run tion buttons (select, call answer clarification though: while the torture that was on-screen typing
over by the newer touch-oriented and call cancel) placed below the camera has been downgraded, it on the Vivaz. We’d give the key-
operating systems. Unfortu- screen, and the volume controls is still more than enough for the board a lot of marks for looks,
nately, this too is still there. on the side, are all thin but easy 720p video recording, 8 meg- as each key has backlit borders
The form factor is the same as on the fingers and tactile. We also apixels are not really needed for that lend a splendid effect. But,
the Vivaz, with Sony Ericsson’s like the two dedicated buttons the 720p recording. ergonomic-wise, the keyboard
Human Curvature design. The on the side, for Video and Photo Although the touch is bad, the just scrapes through.
16 Digit | August 2010 | www.thinkdigit.com
TPB ISP Windows 7 SP1
Those behind The Pirate Bay launches an ISP; Microsoft to release the first service pack
currently 100 subcribers are said to be using it for Windows 7 in early 2011 Mobile watch
Microsoft kills its Kin, just 6
weeks after the launch
A
gainst all expec- project. Microsoft also said
tations, Micro- they will be “incorporating
soft announced valuable ideas and technolo-
the discontinua- gies from the Kin into future
tion of its social networking Windows Phone releases.” A
mobile phone, Kin, just 6 good idea, because some UI
weeks after its release into features of the Kin, such as
the market. Much to the Studio, Spot, and Loop, were
dismay of Windows Phone 7 surely interesting.
and social networking phone Other revelations indicate that
lovers, it has brought down Microsoft encountered several
an appalling gloom of dark- constraints & severe financial
ness shrouded in mystery. setbacks running the Kin project, in the form of Verizon’s exorbitant viding support to existing
The official reason is that including an unexpectedly feeble service charges on the monthly Kin consumers, there is no
the Kin core team would be response in Kin’s opening sales, plan, which mirroring its luxury word regarding the prospects
moved into Windows Phone amounting to just 500 Kin smartphone service plans. of regular software updates &
7 project to allow Microsoft phones. Another major blow that Though Microsoft has bug-fixes they’d highlighted
to concentrate to a promising Microsoft could not sustain, came promised to continue pro- earlier.
Free Facebook Cheap Android
access to Airtel phones aimed
customers at India
A G
irtel has new subscribers who are oogle is looking for application developers,
announced that accessing the mobile internet to expand the allowing them easily accept
it will offer free for the first time need to SMS offering of the payments and sell things
access to mobile FACEBOOK to 54321 to make use Android OS, and like subscriptions. Low-cost
Facebook users (comprising of this offer. Airtel promises to has aggressively taken aim handset makers have already
more than 130 million sub- offer Facebook in six Indian at emerging markets, such started making noises about
scribers) on its network up to languages - Hindi, Punjabi, as India and China, with their upcoming Android
August 31st, 2010. The mobile Bengali, Telugu, Tamil, and cheaper handsets catering devices, such as Huawei, LG,
Facebook version will enable Malayalam, starting with to the untapped masses. and Samsung.
users to post status updates, Hindi and English. Andy Rubin, vice president Lemon Mobiles, a rela-
comment and write on walls, for Engineering at Google, tively recent entrant into the
message others, and also be recently commented about Indian mobile market, has
able to view or upload photos the potential of these mar- also announced a low-cost
(without incurring any data kets: “the down-market Android 1.6 mobile, called
charges on this usage). Existing opportunity is about to the P1, which stands for
mobile internet users on Airtel happen. It’s actually quite a Professional One. In related
can immediately avail of this revolution”. news, Reliance will also be
free service by connecting to Apart from low cost launching the first Android
their friends on the mobile handsets, Google intends to CDMA phone in India - the
Facebook site. However, the provide payment gateways Samsung Galaxy i899.
Digit | August 2010 | www.thinkdigit.com 17
Symbian members
Symbian^3 Prominent telcos such as AT&T, NTT Docomo, Qualcomm, Sony
The Symbian community has released the newest version Ericsson, Samsung and Vodafone, in addition to its known promoter
Web watch of Symbian, version 3 with over 250 new features Nokia are members of the Symbian Foundation
The latest browsers:
Opera 10.6 vs. Firefox 4 Beta 1
Opera 10.60 UI and features which improve it is simply an annoyance, since
With the advent of Opera 10.60, the browser overall, the Opera the whole point of browser tabs
Opera Software is bringing the menu being one of them. Addi- was to not clutter the taskbar.
versions of Opera for all plat- tionally, Opera features such as Those who still want to turn it
forms in sync and thereby offer the download tab, history tab etc. on needn’t worry. The option is
ing better stability and a further now display icons instead of tab still there.
50% boost in terms of perform- previews. Another subtle change Opera 10.60 also brings new
ance. The standard SunSpider is the inclusion of Bing as a search security features in the form of
test has revealed that Opera engine in the browser – although an “AVG-supported anti-fraud
10.60’s performance is at par Google is still the default. Opera systems and phishing protec-
with that of Chrome 6’s latest tion”. This is coupled with live 2. Windows 7 taskbar integra-
dev version. It is also twice as feeds which carry informa- tion.
fast as the latest Firefox 4 build, tion educating users of current 3. Support for jumplists and tab
and almost thrice as fast as scams, and potential malware. previews (which unlike most
Firefox’s latest stable version Although Opera 10.60 fur- other browsers can be turned
3.6.6. While the SunSpider test ther evolves Opera towards a off).
alone isn’t enough to gauge the perfect browser, it misses one 4. Implements tabs-on-top
performance of all aspects of of the key things – the out of approach with the UI. But,
the browser, there seems to be process model for plugins, this could be changed from
a pattern here. now adopted by Chrome and tabs on top to tabs on bottom
Opera 10.60 also comes with Firefox 4. if desired.
better support for upcoming 5. Adds an HTML5 parser and
standards, including Geolocation, 10.60 also supports search sug- Firefox 4 Beta 1 full support for web video,
and it is the first stable browser gestions from websites such as Firefox Beta 1 will be a very early audio, and drag and drop.
to support WebM media. Other Wikipedia. look at Firefox 4, and will feature However, there is precious
standard features include App- Opera 10.60 no longer shows few of the brilliant features that little improvement in web forms
Cache, for offline applications tab previews in the Windows 7 will be found in the final release. support, and the browsers lags
and Web Workers. There are a taskbar. While the feature has They are as follows: significantly behind Opera
few more tweaks to the Opera its utility, for many power users 1. New UI with add-on manager. 10.6 in terms of performance.
Microsoft and Facebook open Docs.com
D
ocs.com, a collabora- as supplements to their content. on to say that the site has a long “growth isn’t the priority; the
tive effort between This feature seems unusual, way to go before it catches up experience is.” Microsoft is also
Facebook and and Microsoft admits that it with Google Docs, which addi- looking for better integration
Microsoft, has been wasn’t initially envisioned as a tionally gives users the ability between mail and document
opened to the general public. function of the service: “When to share and collaborate on non sharing, and Kinsel shared that
Meant to allow users to create we built the service, we didn't Microsoft Office documents. it’s a definite milestone on their
and share Microsoft Office anticipate this as a core scenario. Other Google Docs advantages “roadmap.”
documents over Facebook, We were focused on individuals according to Kinsel include “The big open question is
Microsoft has unveiled a new sharing documents at any point searchable docs, and the tight whether Facebook users can
feature soon after its full release: in time.” integration of Gmail and Google be leveraged and steered to pro-
support for Facebook fan pages. Commenting about Docs. Docs. ductivity scenarios, or is this a
This will allow administra- com as a platform, Pat Kinsel, But, Kinsel pointed out that site where people want to goof
tors of Facebook fan pages to use Product Manager of Docs.com revisions are coming out on a off. I think we're at the forefront
and emplace Office documents, at Microsoft's FUSE Labs, went weekly basis, and that for now, of finding that out.”
18 Digit | August 2010 | www.thinkdigit.com
HTC Wildfire New Google Images
HTC launches the Wildfire, a cheap 240x320 Google launches updated image search which
Web watch display Android phone for the masses shows many more images in a single image
HP Labs’ new service enables
mobile web access without GPRS
of viewing can be accessed via device out there.
SMS, by designing what are Check out www.siteonmobile.
called ‘TaskLets’. com for more information.
These task-based inter- While the services are cur-
actions on the website are rently free, no known sites
H
P Labs India has technology, and will enable chosen by the site owners, have been optimised as yet.
developed a new the masses to access the and will allow users to access The ‘invitation only alpha
technology that internet. only that relevant content/ release-product’ access is lim-
will allow users You are probably won- function, instead of the entire ited to site owners as of now,
of non-GPRS enabled phones dering how this would work, page. This is the basis of the and not for end-users. “We
to browse the internet, via and might be thinking that entire technology, and that’s make your web content reach
SMS and voice services, most pages would overload why the service’s tagline is billions”, is how they are
instead of the traditional a user’s phone with SMSes “packaged web interactions enticing site-owners to create
webpage browsing method. simply to load…Well, if you on mobile.” These TaskLets TaskLets and customize their
Called SiteonMobile, it is were, you’d be right - only can be accessed by PC, as webpages. Expect full-fledged
based on cloud computing sites optimised for this sort well as any internet-enabled services to start soon.
Battle for social networking
supremacy: Google vs. Facebook
J ust when people had
started digesting Face-
book and Google as
the two internet giants, it
reports that Google has
pumped in between $100m
to $200m into Zynga.
Zynga has been doing
Games with Zynga’s exper-
tise will give them a hold on
the social gaming sphere,
and open up another battle
is now working on Google
Profiles. A move like this,
really emphasizes how much
Google wants to dominate
appears that Google will r o u n d s o n Fac e b o o k, front with the social net- the social networking space,
attempt to pull the ground growing in stature and working behemoth - Face- and they certainly do have
from under Facebook’s feet, popularity with such hot book. potential, if Gmail, Docs,
by launching a new social games like Farmville and Meanwhile, speculation Maps, Calendar, Orkut,
networking service of its Mafia Wars. Everybody is has it that the new GoogleMe and even Search are prop-
own called “GoogleMe” and amazed by the company’s service will be an enhanced, erly integrated. Although,
simultaneously rope in the potential, with the current and more integrated version outplaying Facebook in its
famed services of Zynga, the estimates pegging Zynga’s of the current Google Pro- own backyard would be
social gaming developer of 2011 revenue at $1 billion. files. To support this, there’s easier said than done. Not
Facebook fame. This news Google’s interest in Zynga also news that Google Buzz’s to forget the bungled launch
comes after TechCrunch's seems obvious, for Google lead developer, Rick Klau, of Google Buzz!
INTERACT WITH TEAM DIGIT
Forum
thinkdigit.com/twitter thinkdigit.com/facebook thinkdigit.com/youtube SMS Digit to 567678 thinkdigit.com/forum
20 Digit | August 2010 | www.thinkdigit.com
Antennagate
iPhone 4 to hit India soon Apple to give iPhone4 with protective case to
Bharti Airtel is in talks with Apple and plan to prevent signal strength issues caused due to
Feature launch iPhone4 by September end gripping the iPhone with bare hands
i
to get the complete picture of the apps
in background. At the left most we have
nvestigating the music controller and orientation
lock. App-switching is quite snappy. One
annoying aspect of this feature is that if
OS4
you want to get out of an app, you will
So is the iOS4 as great
have to first set it in the background by
as it’s touted to be? We one tap, and then double tap to reveal
decided to give it a spin the app drawer. Then hold down on that
Nimish Sawant app and then close it.
nimish.sawant@thinkdigit.com already present in other mobile operating
systems like Android. Unlike pre-iOS4 Folders
A
pple’s latest iteration when multi-tasking was only allowed The Apple store has reached over
of its mobile oper- with Apple apps, the multitasking func- 200,000 apps and it is safe to assume
ating system was tion is now available for third - party that we download lots of apps. But
launched amidst applications. So you can listen to an before iOS4, the downloaded apps were
much fanfare alongwith the online streaming music app and at the all over the place.
iPhone 4. The operating system same time write your Notes or update To create a folder all you have to do
previously known as iPhone OS your Twitter account. However, multi- is hold down on the app till its starts to
got a slimmer nomenclature in tasking on the iPhone or iPod is different jiggle, and then move it over another app
the form of iOS. Alongwith the from that on a desktop PC or Mac or to create a folder.
new name, Apple has intro- Andriod based phones, in the sense that Now the folder is
duced a lot of features in iOS4. when the app is running in the back- automatically named
Since Apple iPhones and ground, Apple allows only certain func- based on its genre,
iPods span across genera- tionalities so as to save battery life. This but as a user you get
tions, you have to know which means that you cannot the option to rename
device is actually compatible expect the Twitter app the folder according
with iOS4. Apple iOS4 runs to pull in updates unless to your specifica-
smoothly on iPhone 4, iPhone it’s in the foreground. But tions. A single folder
3GS and iPod touch (3rd gen). if you are downloading a can hold upto 12
For iPhone 3G and iPod touch map, you can minimise apps. Having a folder
(2nd gen) users, certains that app and do other makes organisation
features like multi-tasking tasks. Similarly, location of apps very easy Apps within a folder
will not be accessible, as it is polling apps like GPS or ie. you can name
too taxing on the hardware direction apps can do so folders based on
of these devices. iPhone in the background. the apps they contain. Having folders is
2G and iPod touch 1st gen App drawer showing Double tapping on great as it helps you organize your apps
users will have to stick background apps the Home button makes brilliantly, but you will have to remember
with iOS 3.1.3 as it cannot the screen transparent which folder has which app, which can
upgrade to iOS4. Finally, iPad and slides it upwards revealing an App get annoying at times. As of now there
will start getting upgraded Drawer which will show you which apps is no provision to nest one folder into
with iOS4 sometime in are present in the background. You can another.
October-November. see four apps at a time in the drawer
For our testing purpose we and you will have to swipe left or right Simplifying Email
used an iPod touch (3rd gen- The Email app has an innovative addi-
eration). We pretty much got Installing iOS4 tion, not seen in the Android phones yet,
all the iOS4 features except You will need the latest version of iTunes in the form of Unified inbox. It basically
the ones associated with the (9.2 and up) which can be downloaded from gets email from your multiple mail
Apple’s website or can be found on our
phone. So here’s a lowdown of July 2010 Mindware DVD. Once iTunes is accounts in one place. This prevents
our experience with the iOS4. installed, all you have to do is connect your you from jumping in and out of multiple
device (iPhone or iPod) to your system and inboxes. On the other hand, this feature
go to your device. A summary pane will show
Multi-tasking a notification of upgrading to new OS. On
may also be too overwhelming for some
This is one feature that was selecting it you will be guided through the users, if there are many mails flying
sorely missing in an Apple upgrade process. around on each account. You can also
mobile product, which was switch to inboxes of individual accounts.
22 Digit | August 2010 | www.thinkdigit.com
iOS 4.1 Beta released $3.25 billion net profit
Apple has released a beta version of iOS Apple reported a net profit of $3.25 billion
Feature SDK 4.1 for developers on revenue of $15.7 billion this quarter
Another interesting aspect in the of the page when an album has been a particular photo to a place. iOS4 can
email app is threaded emails. You will selected. pull the geo location data attached to
get a small box with a number indicating the photo and show them on a map.
the number of conversations that have iBooks on iPhone and iPod
happened over that mail. Clicking it, will touch Word Editing
open up all the previous mails as well. ‘Who reads books on their mobile phone?’ You can now select text, copy it, paste
Also you have the option of opening up did we hear. Well going by the way it or replace it just like you would on
attachment in third party apps. Kindle is now available across all mobile your desktop. iOS4 has added support
platforms, it is safe to assume that a for Bluetooth keyboards, which can also
Customising Spotlight lot of books are read on mobile screens. replicate the Command + A, + C, + V on
Search With Apple having launched its own the iPhone or iPod. But this feature is
Mobile Safari has added quite a lot of iBook store to compete with Amazon’s ideal only for emergency use, as using
options here. You can customise the Kindle, it was no surprise to find an iBook a keyboard and viewing the output on
Spotlight search (Settings > General > app alongwith the iOS4. iBook has been the small screen just seems foolish and
Spotlight Search) to search the iPhone/ optimised for the mobile screen but in also you cannot carry your Bluetooth
iPod based on your preference. For terms of functionality it is similar to its keyboard the way you carry your iPhone
example, if you want the OS to search iPad counterpart. You can read your PDFs or iPod.
your Contacts first, then your Mail or in iBook or order ebooks online. It allows Instead of auto-correcting spellings
Notes etc., for the search query, you can you to change the background from white to what Apple thinks is the right way to
arrange it accordingly. Also Mobile Safari to sepia; change the font in the iBook spell, you now get a red underline and on
has added Wikipedia and search engine app; add a bookmark and make notes by tapping it, you have the option to select
support to expedite search. tapping on a section of the text. Further the correct spelling or leave it as is.
reading on this feature revealed easy
Improved iPod app syncing with your iPad if you are on the Features that didn’t make it:
The iPod app has undergone some inter- same WiFi network. Flash
esting additions. The iOS4 update allows Apple and Adobe have had huge rows
you to make custom playlists, instead of Camera features over this. According to Jobs, Apple would
just having the legacy On-The-Go play- iOS4 has enabled 5x digital zoom in the be more willing to adopt HTML5, CSS
list in the previous iOS installment. You camera section. This we felt was not and JavaScript which are all open stand-
can edit a current playlist by adding or such a great addition considering, digital ards and bypass the need to download
deleting tracks from zoom is not a feature that will give you third party browser plug-ins (like Flash).
it (playlist_name great results. For the video camera, Jobs also claims that Flash is not suited
> Edit > + (for you can decide your point of focus by for mobile devices as it sucks up battery
adding tracks), - (for tapping the region of the screen you life and has security holes.
deleting them)) want to focus on. Again this feature is
or create a brand not a brand new feature, considering Social media integration
new playlist (Music many other phones already offer this. This is one feature which we felt was the
> Playlist > Add An interesting addition is the ability most obvious one, which iOS4 missed
Playlist...) iPhone OS to decide the resize photos while out on. Integrating social media with
4 now features the attaching them in the mail. Another contacts, is a feature that has existed on
album art, release feature which is interesting but not many phones which definitely reduces
date, number of novel is geo-tagging photographs. This navigation time.
songs and album feature is very similar to Footprints app
length at the top More playlists in the of HTC phones, which helps you to tag Bluetooth media transfer
Music player Apple iOS4 still does not allow Blue-
Features Apple iOS4 Android 2.2 aka FroYo tooth transfer to devices other than
Multi-Tasking Limited Full Apple products – a bit archaic.
Number of apps over 230,000 reaching 100,000
Flash Support None Yes. FroYo supports Flash 10.1 beta On the whole this update has been
Hot-Spot capability None Yes. WiFi can be shared by upto 8 users great. But we feel some features like
Video Chat Natively support on iPhone4 None multi-tasking, geo tagging photographs
Unified Email Yes None. But threading is available in Gmail introduced in iOS4 have come in a bit
Everything from multiple wallpapers, to late and were already present on many
UI customization Only wallpapers
skins, themes and widgets other devices. However, features like
iOS4 vs. FroYo : Feature for feature comparison iBook, unified email, make up for wait.
24 Digit | August 2010 | www.thinkdigit.com
Window 8 iPad killers
Digital life 28 Rumours revealed and what we’d like
to see in the new version 32 A look at the ten most promising
iPad competitors
Intel's new 'remote'
technology
Researchers at Intel have
chruned out a proposal for a
remote control which shows
tailor made content on your TV
the moment it comes in con-
tact with your hand. Working
on the motion sensor platform
the remote takes accelerometer
readings every 100 nanoseconds
and builds a database about your
choice and selections on the TV
so the next time you handle the
remote the TV will start showing
you content which you like. How-
ever the accuracy level is still
between 60-90 percent, not bad
for starters.
Terrafugia
Wish you could travel the
Jetsons way? Well the dream
of owning a car that flies can
soon be a reality by this year
end. A group of MIT alumni
have designed and demon-
strated a wing design that
can fold inside, making the
whole flying car concept more
practical for normal use. The
design was tested over 500
times on the Terrafugia and
has been functioning fine.
Let’s hope this wonder car
takes off soon! Get your’s for
just $194,000.
World's smallest Phone
With a size smaller than your avearge cell-
phone battery or a credit card, the Modu 1
will surely attract loads of eyeballs from
everywhere, as it’s so damn small in size.
Recently launched in the UK, the name
Modu comes from the customisable mod-
ular jackets the phone can fit into. Based
in Israel, the Modu will soon have its next
installment available - the Modu 2 which
will have a touchbased interface.
26 Digit | August 2010 | www.thinkdigit.com
$100M Google lawsuit Starcraft II
Google had spent close to $100M on the lawsuit against Blizzard is said to have spent around $100M on
them by Viacom developing the upcoming Starcraft II game Droolmaal
JBL MS-8
Replace your existing car audio system with the JBL MS-8. As far
as the amount of stuff this system packs the list grows quite big, it
has a digital signal processor which offers digital sound processing
equalization along with DSP time correction, up to eight channels
of sound can be optimised on it including a headset. It houses an
LCD display, wireless RF remote, preamp controls, and a graphic
equalizer with 31 bands. Phew! Now that's entertainment in your car.
Project Modern Times
A fusion of retro classic style and new technology. This digital
music player will make a fine addition to your living room. The
unit consists of three objects: “Pulse” – a docking station for MP3
players, “Ash” – a paraffin lamp and “Instant” – a series of table
clocks. The docking station has two speakers and an amlifier that
are hidden by the glossy structure on the Pulse. To enjoy music on
this over the top design furniture just dock in your iPod and lets
good times roll over.
Tron Legacy
Inspired by the 1983 movie
Tron, the Tron Legacy is a
custom made bike by the
Parker Brothers whose earlier
creation was the batpod that
couldn’t see the light of the
day as it was not street legal.
This however, is a limited edi-
tion bike with just five models
being rolled out for sale. Priced
at $35000, it features a 1000
CC engine and 22x12-inch dual
hubless wheels. Black predomi-
nates the bike along with neon
accent glowing options availble
in red, blue yellow and green
colors. Watch out for this bike
in the upcoming 3D remake of
the movie Tron in December.
Digit | August 2010 | www.thinkdigit.com 27
Win 8 Kinnected
From some of the slides, it seems the next generation motion sensor
Feature video technology for the Xbox 360 is likely to be ported to Windows 8
Windows Ate 7,
Already?
Last month, loads of confidential slides from deep
within the lairs of Microsoft’s Windows client develop-
ment team, found their way onto the internet. They gave
us a glimpse of what’s to come in Windows 8. Here’s
our analysis and what we’d like to see in the next ver-
sion of the world’s most widely used operating system
Siddharth Parwatay such as HP or Dell, as part of Microsoft’s angle that comes out of this revelation is
siddharth.parwatay@thinkdigit.com PC partners programme. On further that Microsoft is most likely going to dictate
inspection of these mystery slides, we real- strict terms to OEMs in terms of specifica-
I
f we were superstitious geeks we’d ised they’re much more than just plans for tions and form.
say that Windows 8, is most likely PC partners. They’re internal
going to be a dud. Why? Well right thought notes covering a whole
from the time of Windows 3.1, every range of things, right from
alternate Windows offering has severely market segmentation, devel-
bombed. So while XP sorta rocked with oper ecosystems to concept
the infusion of numerous service packs, PCs. So without any more
nothing could save the sinking ship that suspense lets find what some
was Vista. Windows 7 on the other hand of the more shocking revela-
was unanimously heralded as Microsoft’s tions from the slides were.
big comeback.
But why are we talking about Win- Apple adoration Windows 8 machine specifications
dows 8 already? Wasn’t 7 just recently Perhaps the most telltale sign that Win-
launched? In fact some of you might’ve not dows pays attention to the Mac world is a Windows Store
even switched to the new OS yet. There’s slide titled ‘How Apple does it a virtuous Microsoft has already tried to mimic
an emphatic ‘yes’ on all counts. And yet cycle’. Funnily enough, it describes how Apple’s App store in the form of Windows
Microsoft has been furiously working on Apple creates value for its customers and Marketplace for Windows Phone devices,
its successor already. If the confidential why people are willing to pay for their without phenomenal results. But would an
slides that leaked on to an Italian site (win- products (as opposed to Windows?). app store for a full fledged operating system
dowsette.com) are to be believed, develop- Another truism mentioned is that Apple be useful? Isn’t the vast wilderness of the
mental work has hit major milestones. One products ‘just work’. Now again comes the internet anyway a free-for-all app store for
of the reasons why the authenticity of these issue of the authenticity of these slides. Windows? That being said a repository
slides is suspect is because the exact source Could this be an elaborate Apple cam- or linux style package manager may not
cannot be pinpointed. Some bloggers have paign? In fact the next two examples we be such a bad idea. This also ties in well
traced the earliest appearance to win7vista. have for you, have a little of Apple written with one of the points we’ve mentioned in
com who were supposedly responsible for all over them. Digit’s Top 8 for Windows 8. If a touch shell
the painstaking removal of watermarks is actually executed for tablets or even for
identifying the OEM to whom the slides Prototype converting a netbook into a tablet, an app
were allegedly released under NDA. A rather strange looking prototype which store will come in handy. App store results
Rumour has it that the Windows 8 beta some in the Digit Team described as an are slated to appear in Bing and there’s also
might ship as early as July 2011. The slides iMac experiment gone bad, was found in a Wakapoo (http://wakoopa.com/wakapoo)
only mention that it will be available “for one of the slides. Yet there is still divided style social app discovery mechanism in
the holiday” so it’s anyone’s guess as to opinion about whether to love or hate store (forgive the pun). An interesting point
which holiday that might be. Apparently, it. Some actually liked this render of the on one of slides states the store as “Revenue
this data was released released to OEMs, prototype machine. Another important Neutral”. Wow, no $$ for Ms?
28 Digit | August 2010 | www.thinkdigit.com
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Facial recognition
Windows 8 reportedly will have an advanced form of facial recognition that will
log in users before they even get a chance to sit down after turning on the PC
Push button reset except your standard GPU-powered other stuff that Windows 7 managed
The idea of this function is to allow the HTML5 graphics capability which quite well. The Superbar for instance
user to reinstall Windows while main- Firefox is already offering. with its applications pinning was a great
taining all personal files, applications step up and a move towards merging
and settings without taking a manual Tighter Web Integration for social functionality that the Mac Dock pro-
backup - something that we all were networking vides.
Interestingly, the latest Ubuntu version has
managed this quite well. Windows on the Starter edition of office bundled
other hand has integration limited to their Lets face it - If there’s one thing Micro-
Live service. What we’re talking about is soft is good at, it’s their Office suite.
simple - you log into the user account for When customers pay for an operating
the OS and you’re automatically logged into system why is it unreasonable to expect
all your social networks and IMs right from it to help you get by in the most common
one panel as part of the OS not as a third use cases? Simple work processing and
party app. Imagine what you could do with spreadsheet creation is a much needed
photos and other stuff on your system and feature any modern day OS should allow.
Windows 8 machine specifications simple contextual menus. Your right-click
send to option could allow you to post stuff Cloud
used to doing some time back with where ever you want anywhere. One of the other interesting possibilities
Norton Ghost. As reported on the Msft- revealed in the slides was user accounts
kitchen blog the slide deck describes Touch shell option for connected to the cloud which would
a scenario where a user notices his transforming it to a tablet OS allow your preferences to be accessed
system starts to perform poorly. Why Even when reviewing HP’s TouchSmart from anywhere. A shift from machine
it should perform poorly over time is line of PCs last year, we came to a forlorn centric to user centric computing. Per-
conclusion - Desktop OSes cannot be made haps mounting Microsoft’s own cloud
to work as touch screen OSes simply by storage would be a good idea considering
adding touch functionality and a touch bandwidth improvements in the future.
screen. Finger input needs a different inter-
face design - big buttons, a minimalist look, Faster start up - hallelujah !
etc are needed. A touch shell or different UI Yea sure some of you might be using
operating over the normal desktop OS is hibernate, in which case your PC wakes
one possible solution. With netbooks with up quicker. But the rest of us mortals go
detachable screens being spotted lately, the through the excruciating wait time asso-
Windows 8 machine specifications possibilities are limitless in terms of using ciated with a windows boot. Yes even
with Windows 7. Three slides dedicated
something Windows should solve but to address this issue is an encouraging
anyway it offers this reset function as a sign. “Windows 8 PCs turn on fast,
solution. nearly instantly in some cases, and are
ready to work without any long or unex-
Digit’s top 8 for Windows 8 pected delays. When customers want to
From what we’ve seen so far, Microsoft check email, sports scores, or play media
certainly has some new tricks up it’s they love to reach for their PCs because
sleeve. But lets forget the ‘brain-melt- they can get what they want quickly.” No
ing-super-secret-mindblowing-leaked- Win 8 plans to focus on 3 form factors kidding Windows.
slides’ for a second and look at what
you and I as common end users would tablets as mobile computing as well as More eyecandy
like from our OS of choice. desktop devices. A touch shell could make Some of the rumours suggest that Win-
a device multi-form. A slide describing dows 8 will natively support 3D. That
Firefox as the default browser three separate form factors (Slate, Laptop, means apart from stereoscopic movies
We’re of course kidding, but it’s an and All-in-One) makes us believe Microsoft and pictures maybe your desktop itself
indicator of how IE is hated by the might just be thinking in that direction. will be three dimensional. The techradar
geekier lot. You can however stop blog talks of as-yet-undetermined 3D
dreaming since a large number of these More Windows 7 less Vista video codecs. A slide showing the reg-
slides talk of IE9. What’s new with IE We’re talking about further tweaks to ular Media Center sporting a 3D movie
9 then you ask? Nothing much really, the UAC (User Account Control) and collection is another indicator.
30 Digit | August 2010 | www.thinkdigit.com
Axiotron Modbook Microsoft Courier
Never heard of it? It’s a custom Not a direct competitor to the iPad,
works company that converts a this foldable tablet offers some unique
Mac Book laptop into a pen-based use case scenarios. But it’s rumoured
Feature Mac tablet. to be cancelled.
iPad Killers?
specifications and in terms of design
too the prototype wowed audiences at
CES 2010. The device features 10 inch
transflective multitouch LCD display
from Pixel Qi, that can quickly switch
to e-ink when in daylight. It’s other
The iPad seems to be the undisputed ruler of the tablet innovations include a 180 degree swivel
kingdom. We take a look at ten of the most promising camera and a reverse side trackpad. An
contenders for this coveted throne Android based device, it will feature
2
16GB or 32GB solid-state drive, Wi-Fi,
Siddharth Parwatay beautifully. The last format of tablet and 3G connectivity. The only problem
siddharth.parwatay@thinkdigit.com computing is Windows based. Manufac- is that Notion Ink is being very cagey
turers try to cram a whole computer into about the price or tentative release
A
number of eminent sources a tablet form factor to give users a more date. Notion Ink, are you listening?
have proclaimed 2010 to complete PC experience, enabling USB
be the year of the tablet. ports, Flash support and access to the Archos 9 PCtablet
When we spoke to Paul Lee, vast already existing Archos traditionally has been
Director, Deloitte International research, software in the wild. one of the companies to come
he was very optimistic about NetTabs These devices usually out with compelling PMPs that
being ‘just right’ for tens of millions run on the Intel x86 gave a sound alternative to the
of consumers in 2010. They’re bigger Atom platform iPod back in the day. The Archos
than a smartphone and much more with Windows 9 seems to be such an offering
portable than netbooks. Yet when we 7. The flagship from the company to try and take
look at the current scenario, the Apple product following this on the iPad. It runs on Windows
iPad overshadows every other tablet format was the HP Slate, which many Archos 9 7 and offers all the advantages, and
offering in the market, selling more felt was a strong contender to be the disadvantages that come with it. There
than 3,00,000 units just on debut. one true iPad killer. Unfortunately HP seems to be no attempt to make the OS
Perhaps there is a need to answer some conceded defeat even before entering the touch friendly. It runs on a 1.2GHz Atom
of the more fundamental questions - what fray with the premature discontinuation processor and features a 8.9-inch LED
makes a good tablet and what kind of plat- of the Slate project. The trouble was that backlight resistive screen, Wi-Fi and an
forms exist in the tablet space? A tablet Windows 7 inherently is not designed ethernet port - an oddity on a tablet. The
is a touch screen device, usually in the for touch input and the underlying 60 GB version is available for £459.77.
3
vicinity of 7 to 11 inches in size, meant for hardware reportedly rendered the Slate
consuming internet and multimedia con- a slow and handicapped version of a PC. Eee Pad
tent. The large screen size offers a unique Does that mean the iPad is the When the company
proposition of viewing video, ebooks and undisputed ruler of the Tablet that essentially cre-
the possibility of handheld gaming. Cur- space? Certainly not. There ated the market for
rently, there seem to be three emerging are a lot of contenders netbooks announces
schools of thought when it comes to tablet entering the fray with that it’s going to launch
environments. One is the Apple way of unique offerings - from a killer product soon,
doing things - excellent hardware and our very own Indian we sit up and take notice.
‘there’s an app for everything’ interface Notion Inc with Adam Accordingly at Computex
design. The other is the Android + Tegra to established biggies like ASUS Eee Pad 2010 it unveiled the Eee
1
2 combination. These devices work on the Dell with the Mini 5 Streak. Here we Pad. It comes in two variants
Android operating system which is also look at the top 10 devices - either already the 12 inch EP 121 and the 10 inch EP
designed for touch, with the added advan- available or soon to be released - that 101. The larger screen variant comes
tage of Flash support are likely to compete with the iPad. with Windows 7 and is powered by
when it comes to a CULV Intel Core 2 Duo processor
online browsing. Notion Ink Adam promising 10 hours of battery life. It
The Tegra 2 chip The most promising contender also has an innovative hybrid keyboard/
from NVIDIA is also so far and one that is close docking station design. The smaller
powerful enough to our hearts owing to its variant comes with Windows Embedded
to run HD video Indian origin. The Adam Compact 7. The estimated price is to be
without any hiccups is leaps and bounds ahead $399 but the bad news is that the Eee
and runs games Notion Ink Adam of others when it comes to Pads will go on sale only next year.
32 Digit | August 2010 | www.thinkdigit.com
Our iPad review Digit Hands on Video
A must read two part review by Digit Watch our hands on video with two Tegra
showcasing the iPad at its best and worst. based tablets - Compal and EAFT Magic Tile.
Feature http://thinkdigit.com/d/ipadreview/ http://thinkdigit.com/d/tegra2vid/
a Atom N450 and has 2 GB of DDR2
RAM. One of the innovations include
4
what the makers call a Stroboscopic
keyboard - it gives an efficient visual
feedback to reduce typing errors, and
Dell Streak the keyboard layouts allows quick input
front it features a 5-inch capacitive multi- with ten fingers or thumbs only, they say.
Aigo N700 touch WVGA (800x480) display, a 5MP To be priced at $599, it was slated (no
Aigo N700 camera at the back with flash, besides a pun intended)
Basically a rebranded Compal NAZ, the front facing VGA camera for video chat. for launch in ExoPc
N700 comes from a Chinese manufac- It’s got 3G, Wi-fi and Bluetooth so accesso- March but the
turer best known for its mobile internet ries such as headsets, external keyboards company wants
devices, USB flash drives, and digital may be a possibility. It has 2 GB of internal to improve the
cameras. Running on a 1GHz ARM storage for apps (not user accessible) product further.
Cortex A9 and Tegra 2 graphics, the 7 and expandable SD slot upto 32GB. The
inch multi touch tablet boasts 512MB device is likely to be launched by the end ICD Ultra
of DDR2 memory and 4/16/32GB of of the month locked to AT&T in the US. The Ultra from Innovative Converged
7
onboard storage. It runs on Android 2.1 Device is a 7 inch tablet that focuses on
9
and supports full HD playback. Pricing Lenovo IdeaPad U1 affordability. It looks
is not announced yet, but since its a This is one imaginative device with a a lot like the indig-
Chinese company that’s one are where split personality disorder. A two-in-one enous EAFT Magic
5
we can be assured of solid undercutting. device in the truest sense of the phrase, Tile which we got our
it functions as a notebook normally and hands on at an Nvidia
Fusion Garage JooJoo becomes a tablet as soon as you pop out event some time back.
This one is a strange piece of work. The the screen. When docked to the laptop, it It is a perfect example
controversy ridden CrunchPad was runs on Windows 7 with 1.3 GHz Core 2 of your typical Tegra
rechristened and released as the Duo chip powering the machine. In tablet 2 and Android based
JooJoo and is one of the few mode it has the 1GHz Qualcomm Snap- tablets. It’s got Wi-Fi, 256MB of RAM
tablets that is in produc- dragon CPU and a 16GB solid-state drive and 512MB of ROM, 4GB of internal
tion as of now. The to keep things going. As for the interface it flash memory. Pretty ordinary except
tablet is really huge has a widget based customised linux OS. the estimated price tag of $250.
with a 12.1 inch capaci- One of the best features
tive touch screen. It is that once you pop out MSI Wind-Pad
runs on a Atom 1.6 Ghz the screen to make it Until its recent christening this
10
CPU with NVIDIA a tablet you can still offering from MSI was known only by
Ion graphics support joojoo continue some its working title - MSI Tegra 2 Tablet.
and a custom version of the tasks that Going by reports the USP of this device
of Ubuntu. The OS works on a format were running - apart from being ultra cheap - is that
similar to Jolicloud, wherein all the apps such as as open it is going to be ultra light. Considering
are web based; in effect rendering the Web pages. Pricing and that weight has been one of the gripes
tablet pretty much useless without a net how good users find the Lenovo people have had
connection. Shipping for $499 many resistive touch screen will IdeaPad U1 with the iPad over
consider it over priced, considering determine the fate of this extended use, MSI
the limited features it offers. Yet there innovative tablet. The product is listed in might just have
might be a niche audience of takers. Lenovo’s new products catalogue website caught a chink
but no details on price or launch date. in its brushed
Dell Streak aluminium
They say good things come in small pack- ExoPC Slate armour. Spotted
ages. Well if priced right, this little bundle The ExoPC Slate is quickly becoming at Computex the
6 8
of gadgety goodness will give serious one of those esoteric devices that only a all plastic Wind Pad is to have a 10-inch
trouble for the bigges. A little smaller select few know about. It’s a Windows capacitive touch screen, running on
than some of the other tablets this one is 7 based tablet device but with a custom a 1.66GHz Atom processor, with 2GB
5 inches and runs on a Snapdragon 1Ghz UI Layer running over the underlying RAM and a 32GB SSD along with
+ Android combination. The UI has been OS. At 11.6 inches its one of the bigger an HDMI-out. It runs on Windows
customised by Dell. On the hardware tablets out there. The device runs on 7 but there is a custom UI layer.
34 Digit | August 2010 | www.thinkdigit.com
Geeky Indian women World view
Cover feature 42 An investigative look at unravelling
this arcane species 44 As promised, we present international content.
Email your comments to editor@thinkdigit.com
so for years, but some things never
change. Why?
Solutions?
We’re all looking for answers, and we
all have friends who will sit around and
wax eloquent about how this or that is to
blame, whilst others will blame govern-
ments, the population, corruption – or
basically as many reasons as problems.
But where are the solutions?
Whatever the problems, we at Digit
feel that the only answers lie in tech-
nology. We’re way beyond the point
where we can hope for things to “work
themselves out”, and the only way we’re
ever going to see a visible change is if we
start building the technology innovations
we need. And it has to be “us” who builds
them. By us, we mean Indians, living in
India, working on Indian problems.
The reason we’re stressing on the
Indian-ness of the solution providers,
How can technology help is that we don’t think too many foreign
solve 7 basic problems that companies care about our problems.
are holding India back? While the same companies will most
certainly try and sell you their latest
Team Digit gadgets, they’re certainly not bothered
editor@thinkdigit.com by our farmers committing suicide. Just
as we aren’t really bothered by the prob-
W
e’ve come a l
’ long way as lems in other countries, unless they start
a country in the 63 years people, and thus do not really benefit the affecting our incomes, or interfering
since we gained inde- masses of our country. What also doesn’t with our lives.
pendence. We’ve become change is the sad fact that there’s no
one of the world’s most influential econo- Indian-made iPhone, or any Indian com- What needs fixing
mies, we’ve launched our own satellites, pany that can hold a candle to Microsoft, Team Digit sat down and thought long
sent probes to the moon, become nuclear Google, Apple, and the likes, or any real and hard about what areas of our lives
capable, and done it against all odds, made-in-India IT success story. Why? most need technology innovations, and
despite enormous problems of over-pop- Indian farmers still commit suicide on where technology can be most effective.
ulation, corruption, hunger and illiteracy. a frighteningly regular basis. Why? The following pages of this article will list
Technology is one specific area where Most of us curse the pothole-laden each of the seven problem areas and our
we’ve grown like crazy, and it plays a rather roads we travel on, and we’ve been doing thoughts on how technology can fix them.
large part towards our GDP. Based on num-
bers released by a Department of Informa- Tech Kranti
tion Technology (DIT) report, IT in India thinkers and implementors to get the job done.
All people really need is a stiff kick in the pants,
has gone from just over $10 billion in 2001-
and a carrot to chase to get movements like
2002 to almost $60 billion in 2008-2009. A this going. In this case, the reality of your daily
rough estimate puts that at just a little over problems ought to be a stiff enough pant-
5 per cent of our GDP. A NASSCOM report What we want from you is to put on that kicker, and understanding that the first people
thinking cap, and come up with solutions to implement these ideas are likely to not only
suggests that India will earn $63 billion in
that build on what we’ve suggested, or even help their country, but also get filthy rich in
2010 from IT software and services. But something we haven’t touched upon at all, the process, ought to be enough of a carrot to
enough with the numbers… and suggest ways in which technology can do make enough gaajar-ka-halwa to feed our poor.
What doesn’t change is the fact that away with those problems. We’re calling this
little project of ours “Tech Kranti”, because Go to www.thinkdigit.com/techkranti
these huge amounts of money are being we believe that India has enough innovative Your country needs you to.
earned by a relatively small number of
34 Digit | August 2010 | www.thinkdigit.com
E-waste perils Naturally inspired
50 Despite rapid development, India needs to
watch over its waste disposal system 54 Nature has inspired several technological developments
through history. We look at some of these marvels Cover feature
A light bulb ride the winds and collect energy as they
moment do so, and then land to deliver it at base
stations. The same applies to hydroelectric
Those of you living in metros probably energy, which is again seasonal, but very
haven’t experienced India’s dearth of electric usable in India’s monsoons, which is also
power, and those of you from smaller towns when solar power is least reliable.
are nodding your heads up and down
vigorously in agreement – so hard, in fact, The extraordinary
that chiropractors will laugh all the way to Sonoluminescense: A strange word
the bank this month. indeed, but with perhaps the most prom- Prof. Yuji Ohya from Kyushu University,
For decades our biggest problem has ising yet. If only we can figure out how to Japan, suggests we use floating windmills
been power, and the fact that India just get it to work. Basically, sonoluminescence
does not generate enough to supply to its is using sound (sono) to heat up a bubble is no different, but instead of sitting around
billion-plus population. Any technology or air in a liquid and produce light (lumi- complaining about the crowds, one Japanese
you want to use needs power to run it. nescence). It might not sound like much, scientist, Kohei Hayamizu, decided to put
but the methods being used could theoret- all those crowds to good use, and started
Solution: CAPP ically solve the cold fusion problem. Going using piezoelectric crystals to harness all
A cheap power source that can be used into detail about this phenomenon is out our wasted energy. To illustrate, think of
off the grid, or even to supply back to the of the scope of this article, but all of you one of Mumbai’s busy stations for instance.
grid... Sounds like sci-fi? All technology physics majors out there might want to With literally lakhs of people walking up
is sci-fi a decade or century before it’s look into it. In a nutshell, if you pass high- and down stairs and platforms every day,
invented. We’re going to call our tech frequency sound waves (between 20 and imagine if we could get a little energy from
CAPP (cheap and portable power). 40 KHz) through a liquid that has an air each one of them? Kohei Hayamizu’s idea
bubble, the sound waves cause the bubble is simple – what if stairs, pavements, roads
How it could work to contract suddenly, and briefly produce and anything else that objects or people
Now if there’s one area where there’s an temperatures hotter than the surface of move over, could generate electricity? You
embarrassment of riches when it comes to the sun at the centre of the bubble. That’s, climb a staircase, and the stairs move ever
theory, that’s power. From anti-matter gen- hot enough to start a “fusion” reaction, and so slightly, absorbing some of your energy.
erators to cold fusion and even everyday is contained in a relatively “cold” liquid Of course it would mean that all of us would
solutions like solar or hydroelectric energy, surrounding. If you’re in the field, do the find such stairs just ever so slightly tougher
there are enough ways mankind knows research, and remember us when you bag to climb, thanks to the law of conservation
how to create power. Drawbacks include that Nobel prize. of energy, but chances are we’d never notice
too much power input and too little power it. Of course the innovation doesn’t stop
output, or basically low efficiency genera- Piezoelectricity: The one thing we do not here. You could use piezoelectric cells to line
tion techniques. Then there’s the whole have a shortage of as a country is people. your shirts, shoes, mobile phone keypad,
field of research that aims at reducing Now consider our large cities, where mil- and absolutely anything that moves. Cell
power consumption to begin with. Either lions reside, sometimes in spaces where phone service providers would kill for this
way, there are tonnes of solutions to the perhaps only a few thousand should. Japan today – imagine if everyone with low phone
problem, and what it really needs is all of batteries started SMSing friends like crazy to
us to start following it. Let’s look at a few build up some charge? On both, the battery
solutions that we feel are promising. and the phone bill, that is…
What the above ideas symbolize is a way
The ordinary to make electricity locally, for local needs.
Conserve: The most obvious way to For India, and the world, any one of these
solve our power problems is to reduce the could be our winning formula. Of course
amount we use, and we’ve told you how to there are a hundred other ideas that could do
do exactly that in previous articles. the same here, such as smarter grids that are
Sun, wind, water: Living in India has more efficient, and thus lose less energy, or
its advantages. The extreme summers more efficient circuits, and even super-con-
can be put to good use, providing we find ductors. The possibilities are endless, and all
even cheaper ways of manufacturing we need is one of them to work.
photovoltaic cells (solar cells). A little less
reliable than solar energy, wind power is A sequence of false colour images of growth Must-clicks
still a viable source. Some innovative ideas and collapse of a single bubble in sulphuric http://bit.ly/bMa7p9 | http://bit.ly/dxYyMH
suggest that we could have gliders that acid irradiated with ultrasound http://bit.ly/c7ABZq | http://bit.ly/cxeUPy
Digit | August 2010 | www.thinkdigit.com 35
Janta Search e-Gujarat
JantaKhoj, an online people search engine has Gujarat is leading the way with a new single e-governance
announced the listing of 500 million people on portal that will allow citizens access to over 50 ervices
Cover feature its database, publicly accessible such as revenue records and public grievance
Across distances when using wireless networks. For instance, the truck driver bringing
distances Plus the weather can play spoilsport
again, affecting signal quality, as do all
in groceries for your neighbourhood
would know better than to turn on
This one’s a bit obvious. But what we those buildings around you. to a traffic jammed road. The same
mean by connectivity is not just hooking Assuming we can come up with a wire- would apply if a truck broke down in
people’s PCs up to a network, but also less standard of our own, or just adopt one the middle of a highway, in the dead of
figuring out how we can do so seamlessly, for usage, the next, and perhaps biggest night, and was able to call the nearest
and not just limited to PCs, but whatever challenge is to connect everything. In an empty truck for help.
device we’re using. It’s also about man- article in Digit a few years ago we looked We could also connect all colleges
aging our data better, and making public at what the future (2020) would look and schools to a grid, enabling content
data easily available to the public. When like. We assumed that every device we sharing, admission statuses and result
you think connectivity in the future, owned would be smart, networked, and announcements. Police stations would
we’re hoping you will be thinking about programmed to communicate the right get information in real time of arrests or
not just getting on a network, but also information at the right time. crimes. In case of a flood, the government
being able to seamlessly use it. would be able to tell everyone to get to
All the things we’ve been making a The ordinary higher ground…
noise about in the past decade in tech- Let’s relook at a popular example here. However, it’s not just a question of
nology require people to be connected. Your fridge notices that it’s running low being connected. Connectivity also
eGovernance, education, information on milk. Now it can just tweet that to the opens up the possibilities of database
flow, planning, disaster management, world, or use a phone service to send you sharing, and access to services. Imagine
and even your local traffic report need to an SMS, that you may or may not read. a farmer in a remote village standing
connect you to the data that happens to be However, imagine the possibilities if the in front of a kiosk in his village, paying
important to you at just that moment. Fig- fridge was able to tell that, since you’re in for the seeds he’s ordered from a distant
uring out a solution to this would not just a meeting, the reminder would be wasted city, booking the required amount of
solve a lot of our problems, but also play on you right now, but another family space on a goods train and also the
a rather large role in enabling some of member who happens to be passing a truck that will carry it all from the
the innovations we’re going to be talking store, at that instant, would be a better nearest station to his farm. Or the
about a little later in this article. This just target for this information. All this may reverse. Imagine farmers sending out
makes it all the more critical for us to try sound like sci-fi, but it’s very program- an alert that they happen to have X
and achieve. mable even today, it’s just the networks amount of grain just lying about, while
that don’t exist between a regular fridge a vendor in another village agreeing on
Solution: Cumulo-Indus and you. a price and paying for the goods.
A wireless country-wide data network Of course this means you would never Perhaps we’d also be able to use
that’s cheap (or free) to access, is truly run out of milk, but what can it do for India? all our “3G” cell phones, and actually
platform independent, is cloud based. start making video calls. We could
The extraordinary also cut down on travel with video
How it could work Now imagine that same connectivity calling if we had a reliable network
If there’s one thing that we’re never happy applied to everything and everyone. that was cheap to use, thus saving
with, it’s bandwidth. There’s always too costs and energy.
little of it, and it’s always too expensive. Of course, if our dream wireless
We’ve heard experts tell us that the innovation were truly inter-operable
reason for this is expensive international across platforms (think Android,
bandwidth, and how local bandwidth is Windows, iOS, Linux and more), this
cheaper. Thankfully, to create a wide area would enable devices to do more than
network (WAN) that spans the country, just “talk” to each other. The most
we actually need no international eagerly awaited innovation would be
bandwidth whatsoever. Since costs are when devices start to share resources.
taken care of, or at least controllable, the Imagine your netbook using the coffee
next step is to figure out how we could maker’s and washing machine’s IC and
network the country. The simple answer memory to speed up displays when
seems to be wireless technologies, since you’re watching an HD video…
going forth, they seem more reliable than
fiber optics or copper. However, we’d also Must-clicks
need to solve for today’s problems of high The net today is complicated enough, http://bit.ly/b1fuMd | http://bit.ly/cweeNs
costs and lower bandwidths over large imagine the future? http://bit.ly/cqx4uO
36 Digit | August 2010 | www.thinkdigit.com
UID gets funding Remote locate
A high powered cabinet committee recently sanctioned Volvo India recently launched the CareTrack
Rs. 3,023 crores to the Unique Identification Authority for navigation system which will allow remote
the implementation of the second phase of the project monitoring of construction equipment Cover feature
Do you understand the words that someone somewhere has reprogrammed
are coming out of my mouth? a buddy’s Phraselator to only spew out
abuses? Adding insult to injury in war-
Like in the movie Rush Hour, we Indians expecting, in real-time, would mean torn countries?
waste a lot of time trying to understand our little mobile device would need a
each other. From frustrating experiences dual Core i7 setup, at least. Not exactly The extraordinary
when talking to customers or companies, the computing power you expect from Google again: Their translations lab is
to trying to explain to the cab driver, in mobiles. Also, the size of database that said to be working on a speech-to-speech
a city you’re visiting, where you want to would be needed, to translate from any translation for the Android platform.
go. Although most of us city and town language to another would be humon- In an interview with The Times (UK)
dwellers will have it easier, we can’t even gous, and not exactly something we earlier this year, Google’s head of all
fathom the thought of villagers from a could fit on a mobile device. But would things translation, Franz Och said he was
northern state trying to communicate we need to? confident of speech-to-speech technology
with those from a southern or eastern working reasonably well within just a
state. Besides, not all of India is comfort- The ordinary few years. He said, “Clearly, for it to work
able in either English or Hindi, and with Text: Google has a very decent transla- smoothly, you need a combination of
so many languages and dialects spoken tion engine for text, and though grammar high-accuracy machine translation and
across India, the only real way to get is not always correct, that’s immaterial high-accuracy voice recognition, and
India as a whole to move forward is to as the point gets across. Google’s service that’s what we’re working on.”
make people understand each other. is a lot better than you could do trying The biggest challenge with speech-to-
to stutter your way through German or speech, as expected, is natural language
Solution: Babel-babble Japanese. But what about the difference parsing. This has been the bane of speech
A mobile-based real-time, two-way between Bengali and Assamese, recognition technology for ages now.
translator, that converts a spoken or Tamil and Malayalam? With thousands of languages,
language to any other language. So basi- That’s where we come in. and hundreds of distinct
cally, all you’d need to do is hold your Although we’re sure Google accents for most languages,
mobile (or another mobile translation loves India, and is very it’s no surprise that our
device) near someone who’s speaking a involved in this, nothing always precise PCs have
language you cannot understand, and stops us from doing the trouble understanding those
it translates and speaks to you telling same. imperfect, stupid beings
you what he or she said. Then when Phraselator: Developed called humans. Still, we’ve
you want to reply, you speak into the by Voxtec (voxtec.com) for seen software solutions that
device, and it translates what you said the US army, the Phraselator work better after a time,
into the person’s language. Let’s call it calls itself the “ultimate learning from their mistakes,
Babel-babble. Of course, the Bb (Babel- mobile translation system”. after you “train” them.
babble, not RIM’s BB) would also be a What it does is basically read This could work well if
cool phone with gesture controls and out pre-defined phrases in two people with early proto-
a holographic display thrown in for whatever output language The Phraselator type versions of the Babel-
good measure, and not just a translation you select. It’s also custom- babble were to talk to each
device – just in case you needed a little isable, so you can add your other. Since the machines would
extra incentive to carry one around! own phrases to it, provided you understand each other, and each
know someone to tell you the equiva- machine would understand its “master”,
How it could work lent translation in the other languages. you could theorize that the conversations
Although we’d like nothing better than Why do we get the funny feeling that would occur smoothly.
the Babel fish from The Hitchhiker’s As for the problems we mentioned ear-
Guide to the Galaxy, the Babel-babble lier, about processing power and storage
would be the next best thing. With a space – well that’s what the cloud would
headphone jack as well as a speaker, provide for us. Our very own Cumulo-
so that you could listen to translations Indus could also provide a basis for the
privately, and also allow the person in required connectivity and processing.
front of you to hear what you’re trying
to tell them, the Bb will be our new Must-clicks
best friend. http://bit.ly/bfini4 | http://bit.ly/bjCG7j |
Challenges here are rather huge. For http://bit.ly/GwIzl | http://bit.ly/d12UJO |
example, the kind of translation we’re The Babel fish knows all http://bit.ly/4CaDxs
Digit | August 2010 | www.thinkdigit.com 37
Invest India
India ranked ninth most attractive investment
destination by a recent UN report. Meanwhile govt.
Cover feature approved FDI proposals worth Rs. 2,245.32 crore
Are you a to make it mandatory for all existing ages according to grades. We need
teacher’s pet? schools to teach as many free students
as those that pay fees. With voice and
to encourage diversity in thinking
and learning, so the current system
While a lot of us have started complaining video not really technology that’s out of grading will have to go. You can’t
about our declining education system, of reach, we could make it manda- categorise kids based on how good or
there are still tens of millions who would tory for all schools to run virtual bad they are at math, science, commerce
kill to go to your run-of-the-mill, everyday classroom programs. However, while and the likes. Instead we will need to
“sub-standard” school. That’s not to say the Cumulo-Indus could solve the encourage them to pursue streams
that the education system couldn’t use a problem of reaching children across that interest them, and not discourage
shot in the arm, and technology has all India and teaching them, this is a interests because they don’t fall into our
the right nutrients for a magical growth solution for the quantity of educa- neatly organised job classifications.
serum. Of course, when we talk about tion provided, not the quality. Although we’re focussed on
education and India, we’re not talking India, it’s not like we’d be averse
about just improving the quality of educa- The ordinary to schools and colleges around the
tion, but also improving the quantity of Here’s where the open source solution world logging in to Cumulo-Indus
students who have access to it. We’d also could kick in. With the Cumulo-Indus and sharing our knowledge, whilst
love to see a law that makes it manda- already providing a way to connect imparting some of their own. Perhaps
tory for kids to (at least) be educated till and store data collectively, what we’d the Cumulo-Indus could expand its
class 10. Get them out of those carpet need next is a central hub for knowl- boundaries, and take over the world,
producing factories and kitchens and into edge – perhaps for each state, in case without the mad scientist laugh track
classrooms – physical, virtual, whatever. we can’t invent the Babel-babble being played in the background.
As for parents who don’t send their kids in time, or centralised if we do. What incentives would the busi-
to free schools, deny them loans of all Think about the amount of knowl- nessmen behind schools and colleges
kinds, the right to vote, and put a few edge sharing that can be achieved. With have left to run them? Well, they wouldn’t
repeat offenders in jail, if need be. As videos of lectures, and sharing of notes, stop making money, they’d just help India
you can tell this is something we feel there’d be no excuse
strongly about, and accept no excuses for. of bad teachers
anymore, because if
Solution: R.O.S.E.S. you didn’t get what
What we need is an open source educa- your teacher was
tion system. In our case, the Required saying, or didn’t like
Open Source Education System. his or her teaching
Short, simple, but oh so sweet. style, you could
You just can’t go wrong with such choose to take that
a system. Much like Wikipedia course virtually
and social networking, it’s just the from a teacher
need of the hour for some transpar- across the country
ency and openness in schools. whose style suited
your own learning
How it could work style. You could
Assuming that the Cumulo-Indus is also just opt for
built, a simple starting point could be virtual extra classes Colleges in Second-life are just so much cooler looking, aren’t they?
in subjects you
find yourself struggling with. more than usual. Plus, there could be
incentive schemes given to those schools
The extraordinary and colleges that have the most used lec-
Although the effort here is to gather tures. Schemes such as compute time on
all knowledge that we can and make the Cumulo-Indus for the school/college
it accessible to students of schools, labs that are researching and trying to
colleges and researchers alike, the build the most needed innovations – give
idea is not to make the same mistakes the Babel-babble more CPU time please!
again. A lot of experts have been
saying that what we need is a way to Must-clicks
The e-lab at the Institute of Lifelong do away with grading systems, and http://bit.ly/l0UvI | http://bit.ly/14LXs |
Learning, Delhi University neatly categorising kids from young http://bit.ly/dCh0c6
38 Digit | August 2010 | www.thinkdigit.com
275 Million by 2015
That’s the number of high speed internet
subscribers India is likely to have by 2015
predicted a report by Frost & Sullivan
Non-greasy Aadhaar, and the plan is to get a mix of
palms, sirjee! PINs and biometrics, and log demographic
data. If you’ve been counted, you’ll get an
If there’s one thing we all know India Aadhaar number (like a social security
needs to reduce, it’s the level of corrup- number in the US), and have your finger-
tion. No one’s really proved the whole print and iris impression stored.
1.5 trillion USD lying in Swiss accounts With fingerprint readers becoming a
theory, but it’s not such a hard to believe common sight, it’s not hard to imagine your
number, given all the corruption you see fingers and eye impressions replacing your CCNA Rs. 5,000/-
on a daily basis. credit cards, if not all cash transactions. CCNP Rs.30,000/-
CCSP Rs.30,000/-
Solution: Me-Mo The extraordinary
We could take a more serious look at Replacing most, if not all, cash transac-
the mobile-payment solutions already tions is where the real attraction to this Congrats to our Latest CCIEs
on offer, and make it easier for them technology lies. Without large amounts Mr. Ashis Kumar J CCIE # 26299 Security (v3.0)
to function. With enough government of cash on people, or the ability to access Mr. Louis Kalliath CCIE # 26271 (v4.0)
support, we could create a system where them, the corruption rate ought to fall Mr. Akram El-Samiri CCIE # 26163 (v4.0)
Mr. Divin Mathew John CCIE # 25905 (v4.0)
we all are easily identified as ourselves, automatically. The amount of black
Mr. Renash Chandran CCIE # 25904 (v4.0)
and can securely pay using a variety of money and fake currency schemes should
techniques, the most common of which also be reduced. However before this
would be a mobile phone. So that’s a tech- happens, we’ll need the right infrastruc-
nology that knows who you are, wher- ture, a secure way of transacting and
ever you are. Or more simply, knows Me Cumulo-Indus access. With basic cameras
when I’m Mobile (Me-Mo). being built into almost every mobile, face
The idea here would be to do away recognition, or iris impressions might not
paper money as much as possible, be that hard to authenticate.
and especially notes above the Rs. 100 Imagine you’re at a local store and
denomination. What would be needed is want to purchase something worth Rs.
Cumulo-Indus, a mandatory registration 412. All you’d have to do was click on
of a biometric identity at census time and “Pay” (in whatever was your preferred
mandatory zero-balance bank accounts language), hold the phone’s camera
for everyone. to the shopkeeper’s eye, until he was
recognised. Then you’d enter the amount
How it could work – Rs. 412 – and hold the phone to your
The technology around today requires you eye when asked to (again in your chosen
to remember six or eight digit passwords, a language), and once authenticated, the
mobile net connection, a smart phone and amount would be transferred. Both you
the ability to read English, no guesses for and the shopkeeper would get a confir-
why the technology’s not really catching on. mation SMS, and you’d walk out with
Apart from being constantly worried your goods.
about our phones getting stolen, people in Why not just SMS payments like in
India just aren’t used to transacting with the popular advertisement, as suggested
anything but paper money. Although it by sirjee? Because it’s not secure.
might take years for a biometric census Of course there could more stringent
to complete, for once we’d like to see a methods for authentication for higher We have Graduated over 62 CCIEs.
government take the lead in planning for amounts, say, above Rs. 1,000. The RBI
future events that could occur beyond its guidelines and rules would have to be
own term of power. This basically means changed though – currently mobile pay-
that we should start now, and make it a ments cannot cross Rs. 5,000 for funds
mandatory affair. transfers and Rs. 10,000 for purchases.
Wide-spread adaptation of Me-Mo could
The ordinary force that though…
The Unique Identification Authority of
India (UIDAI) has started on this path, even Must-clicks
using biometric data! They call their project http://bit.ly/9vwG1u | http://bit.ly/9MThrV
Digit | August 2010 | www.thinkdigit.com 39
Facebook population Nanopillars in solar cells
Every fourth visitor to Facebook comes University of California researchers have devised nano pillars that
Cover feature from Asia, says O’Reilly Research can be used to improve solar cells and displays
Cops ’n’ going to love the idea. After all, in the to occur on a train. A quick search
robbers digital age, where we’re all paranoid
about our “privacy”, who wants to
could release a list of names of people
on the train at the time. If you were
The afore-mentioned biometric unique be catalogued along with 600 mil- on the train, and injured, a quick call
identification could also help reduce lion others? What if they mix-up your to the concerned authorities would
crime, and speed up the time it takes to biometrics with another person with allow them to tell your family exactly
solve cases. Although getting a DNA the same name, who happens to have which hospital you had been taken to,
profile of 1.2 billion people may not be a criminal record? That’s where the and perhaps even the extent of your
very feasible, biometrics can surely help demographics come in. Your Aadhaar injuries, if that were logged by the
reel in the crime rate. Face detection is the will also contain your date of birth, concerned authorities at the time.
place of birth and parent’s names – Even petty crime could be traced a
which is standard fare for any form lot quicker by lifting prints, or using
you fill in these days anyway – so if CCTV footage and face recognition.
you happen to have a doppelganger
with the same name, same date of birth, The extraordinary
lives in the same city, and has par- The biometric aspect would make it a
ents with the same names and yours, lot easier for complaints to be regis-
tough luck, and we’re sorry our system tered. Kiosks outside police stations or
failed you. Hope you like jail food. public places could register even simple
Seriously though, it would be easy complaints about losing your Me-Mo/
to fix such an error if it occurred. Wait! Babel-babble phone, or your wallet. If
Allow us to rephrase that. It would be you were pick-pocketed, you could walk
easy for you to prove that an error has over to a kiosk and report it, quickly
been made, how long it would take to
fix is anybody’s guess. The cynicism of
most promising of all the crowd-spotting that last sentence stems from numerous
techniques, and perhaps Aadhar should visits to government offices for routine
also include a photograph of everyone – paperwork that involved more running-
not too much of an ask in terms of storage, around than we’d normally do in a gym!
but a huge ask when you’re counting and
identifying a modest 600 million people How it could work
(UIDAI’s target is half our population). Thanks to Aadhaar and Cumulo-
Indus, what you do and where you go
Solution: Aadhaar is automatically logged into a system
Well, why mess with the name the UIDAI somewhere. Before you conspiracy
has already come up with? The only theorists jump up and down screaming
difference is that we’re increasing the bloody murder, you need to realise that
scope of the “foundation”, and taking this is not such a big deal. Not until you
it further than the government’s initial commit a crime, that is. For example,
plan of Aadhaar being a foundation if you suddenly decide to go on a mass
for the Public Distribution System. killing spree, murdering people in a
Let’s get this straight out in the open. mad frenzy on a path from Delhi to
You’re either going to hate this idea, Mumbai, a quick Aadhaar search would
or not really care. Very few, if any are be able to narrow down the list of sus-
pects who have travelled from Delhi to give a rough description of the thief,
Mumbai on the exact same path as you and a police control centre could swing
to about, oh, 20,000? We are a popu- into action, checking CCTV feeds, first
lous country after all. But then tracking locating you, then the pick-pocket, and
the victim’s whereabouts and matching then ultimately tracking him down
that to the 20K suspects will probably to the place he is at the moment, or
narrow that right down to just you. when he makes the next transaction.
The ordinary Must-clicks
Of course it’s not all about catching http://bit.ly/dAylHk | http://bit.ly/9Lrl65 |
bad guys. If a terrorist attack were http://bit.ly/crhAXD
40 Digit | August 2010 | www.thinkdigit.com
Flexi-transport Cyclops in India
Exocar is a concept transportation unit that allows A remote surveillance system that offers recording
a user to travel in a more flexible manner using the capabilities called Cyclops was recently launched in
four wheels which adapt to the body of the user India by World Phone Internet Services Cover feature
Illogistics the green cover in areas where this would
Perhaps the largest scale problem not normally be possible. We’re never
we have, and the one which going to run short of sea water either, so it’s
would require the largest investment yet, sustainable forever. We’d need CAPP (our
logistics is the problem that billions are cheap and portable power solution)
spent on to save even more money in the to keep pumping water through
long run. In India, the logistical challenges the pipeline, and reduce the
are nothing short of a nightmare. With no operational costs involved in
guarantee of finding a driveable road where maintaining and running
one existed just a month ago, and where a thousand kilometre
nothing seems to run on schedule, how this (or more) pipeline.
country manages to get things done on a
daily basis is nothing short of a miracle.
Solution: Pipe-o-dreams
A lot of us would have seen the email
forward that contains a PPT or video of
the train that never stops at a station, sup-
posedly conceptualised by a Taiwanese
gentleman named Peng Yu-lun. The
origins of the idea are under debate, but
that’s of little importance to us right this The extraordinary and leave the separation plant at the other
moment. What was obvious from this Transporting water to areas that have end to do the work of extracting the dif-
video is that an innovative idea can really little is desirable, but by no stretch of ferent components of that slurry.
revolutionise technologies we thought imagination will this solve our logistic
we had perfected. For over a century and problems. Now if we were to use this Must-clicks
a half, trains have stopped at stations to same pipeline to also transport goods http://bit.ly/aOsGRO | http://bit.ly/yBIKL |
allow people to get on and off, and until that would normally be sent by road, http://bit.ly/9RAebX
2007 no one really thought about all this you’ve got a logistics solution on your
stopping being unnecessary… hands. As a random example, imagine a
The pipe-o-dreams is an idea that may shipment of wheat that needs to be sent The new India
seem just as ridiculous at first, but feels from Mumbai to Jaipur. The road or rail In a country where people are starving
more and more plausible the more you transport costs would scale up based in some places, while in others a million
think about it, and envision the different on the size of the shipment. However, if tons of grain are rotting because of an
ways it can be implemented, and the stuff we were to pack the wheat into specially excess crop that no one wants to buy, it’s
you can achieve with it afterwards. made rubber balloons that could with- time people like us started dreaming up
stand the water pressure in our Mumbai- and working on some innovations that
How it could work Jaipur arm of the pipe-o-dreams, we’d be can change all of this. We’ve often hear
The pipe-o-dreams could be a pipe, a con- able to pop them into the pipeline and let of German efficiency, Japanese work
veyor belt, or a vacuum tube, with diam- the water we’re already sending to Jaipur ethics, and American grit. Perhaps it’s
eters ranging from a few inches to a few carry the wheat there for us. This would time to show the world that India is
hundred feet – depending on what needs probably be faster than road or rail, and ready to face its problems head on, and
to be transported. This may sound like a we’d be able to just keep sending as much use good old Indian ingenuity to start a
solution for liquids only, such as crude oil as we need, since the water supply would Tech Kranti.
and water – which is what most countries be continuous anyway. A few added Take one pipe-o-dreams, power it
use such pipelines for – but we feel we’re precautions, and better packaging ideas, with the CAPP, add a generous helping
only limited by imagination here. and we could send crude oil through the of Cumulo-Indus, use the Babel-babble
same pipeline. to communicate, a Me-Mo to transact,
The ordinary Heck, when we sat about brain- and you have a solution to most of
Let’s assume we have a trans-India, pipe- storming this, there were even ideas that India’s problems.
o-dreams that carries water across India. suggested all we need for the pipe-o- As an interesting experiment of your
This could be sea-water that’s pumped to a dreams to work was a better extraction own, stand in a public place, read that last
treatment plant in drought affected areas process. Just create a slurry of food grain, sentence out aloud, and write in and tell
in the interiors. Huge initial costs, sure, but water, oil and whatever else we needed to us the reactions you got – if they ever let
we’d get salt, potable water, and increase send, and just pump that along the pipe, you out of the asylum, that is.
Digit | August 2010 | www.thinkdigit.com 41
Coder Barbie
After half a million votes were cast to decide Veronica Belmont
Barbie’s newest career, kids now have Computer A self confessed geeky chick, has 16
Cover feature Engineer Barbie as their newest companion lakh followers on Twitter
Siddharth Parwatay
unravellin not, about 20 percent of those reading
siddharth.parwatay@thinkdigit.com
k at gt
this are female. And of course we spoke
he image of a sweaty loo to a couple of techies. All of our
hardcore interrogations yielded a
T
ive
his
Megan Fox reaching few distinct categories. Take the
case of Gursimran Kaur (www.
An investigat
under the hood of a
arc
Chevy Camaro in gursimrankaur.com), a quirky Web
Transformers is imprinted in Designer from Jalandhar.
ane species
all our geek minds. The reason “My morning doesn’t begin
for this indelible memory until I squint my eyes to
is not just the obvious - it’s check my smses, walk over
Megan Fox - but it’s more to the maze of wires to reach
do with the fact that she’s my PC to check my mail”, she
doing something that is tra- says. Her work involves the
ditionally believed be a man’s computer and “so most of my
domain and at the same time, better day is spent converting it
she’s damn good at it. At the risk of into a money making machine”,
sounding like a chauvinist - what is she adds. “My only earnest wish
it with women who do things that are is to have my dreams wi-fi enabled so
unconventional that’s so err engaging? I don’t have to waste all those sleeping
But before your testosterone fuelled hours without the internet”, she said
mind starts getting any ideas, we and tried to explore the XX world of tongue firmly in cheek. Women have
must say - down boys! What we’re geekdom. That’s chromosomes you guys ! increasingly started living life online.
going to be talking about in this story The female geek is a rather diffi- Kanika Sud, one of our readers we spoke
is women who are busy conquering cult species to identify. Geeky women to said, “I would love to spend the whole
new lands in kingdom of geekdom. in reality are nothing like Gretchen day online if I could”. It turns out loads
The image you’re looking for is more Grundler from Recess - soda glasses, of women in the country are begin-
of Sandra Bullock in The Net. braces et al - if that’s the first image that ning to think the same way. According
came to your mind. They’re more like to comScore data, the total number of
Identifying the geek gene you and I, or just about anybody else. women between the age of 15 to 35 log-
It is generally believed that all things tech This is also a species that gadget makers ging on to the internet was 52,65,000
are for the boys. We as men, are pro- are only recently waking up to. A study in March 2009 and for February 2010
grammed, it seems, to rip apart gadgets, last year found that out of every ten the figure has jumped to 81,01,000 - an
open up PCs and generally tweak gadgets bought in the UK, four are increase of 53 % over the past year.
and tinker with everything. purchased by women. Before But as it turns out, web obsessed
It’s not just hardware but your stereotypical mind geeks are just the tip of the iceberg.
even software; be it thinks of mixers, micro- It seems Indian geeky women come
trouble shooting our waves and toasters, the in many shapes and err sizes. Some
PCs, fiddling around study meant things are coders by profession, some are
with Photoshop, dual like HDTVs, smart- gamer chicks, and some have even
booting Linux, or phones and gaming leveraged technology to invent some
spending hours on consoles. Yes, gaming new hardware! More on that later.
a tech forum. As it consoles. Another Geekism redefined
turns out though, all study noted that in the The fact that Women are taking strides in
of these things, are not 25 to 34 age bracket more the IT industry is well known. A survey
really restricted to men games are being played
these days and perhaps by women than men.
never were. Think about I read up on reviews, So who is our quintes-
it - we don’t ever hear drink YouTube features sential female geek? We
of female hackers. Is it and tweet for wisdom spoke to a lot of women
because there aren’t any, whenever I have to invest to understand this very
or is it because they’re in a new gadget.. question. From those in
just too good to get Gursimran Kaur, Freelance the online world - tweeps
caught? We’ve gone on Webdesigner and photography and bloggers to our very
an expedition of sorts enthusiast from Jalandhar own readers - believe it or T Bhargavi showing off her Cabtop PC
42 Digit | August 2010 | www.thinkdigit.com
Virtual shopping
A recent survey by playspan revealed that women spend Geeky wedding
$55 for purchasing virtual currency on social games A geeky bride to be gave her equally geeky
whereas men spend $30 fiance a USB flash drive wedding ring Cover feature
by the National Association it lighter with an all plastic Pink or no pink?
of Software and Services body and take it retail. One of the age old questions about what
Companies (Nasscom) One of the things women want when it comes to gadgets
conducted in 2007, we wondered about is this - do women care about specifica-
predicted that by during the course tions or is it all like “ooh that’s pretty, I
2010, women will of research for this want.” Product makers have tried to go
make up half of the story was: are these both ways on this one. On one hand you
workforce in the IT women geeky because have Nokia coming out with product
and ITES sectors, their male sibling’s lines such as the Supernova series and
up from a fourth of geekyness rubbed the likes of Dell and Sony with nail
the total employee off on them? From our polish lacquer notebook tops. These
base at the time of the surveys we could not come approaches, some might consider rather
report. Sharvari Atmakuri, to a firm conclusion. We patronising, if the products themselves
22 year old Digit reader and “ I would love to have someone like Sharvari were vacuous or atrociously priced.
Software Engineer from spend the whole day who learnt to play games On the other hand you have Black-
Bangalore reaffirmed this online if I could” and trouble shoot her PC berrys that are probably used by just
“Women are very high on Kanika Sud, Msc IT student from her brother, as many women as men, yet
technology and tech jobs from Simla while 24-year old we haven’t come across a
lately. In fact there are more women in media professional, Joyeeta Pink Blackberry as yet.
my team at Wipro. My TL is a woman Chakravorty is a hardcore We asked the fairer
too.” The proverbial glass ceiling is console gamer but we sex what they felt.
about to be shattered if it hasn’t already. found no male siblings “I can understand
Another example is of Noopur Julka, who to whom we could why there is a
is a Java Developer at Accenture, who attribute this to. “I’ve certain approach
says she likes coding for fun. “Setting enjoyed playing the manufacturers
up new widgets, tweaking codes on my Max Payne Series, Con- use to reach out to
blog definitely feels great,” she says. flict Global Storm, FIFA either genders. It
One of the most unique women we 2010, and God of War on is not about a ‘bias’
came across was T Bhargavi a housewife my PS2”, she told us. “I’ve or a ‘stereotype’,” said
from a remote village of Chittoor district played video games ranging Gursimran. “I do realise
of Andhra Pradesh who retrofitted a from the rowdy Doom days “ I like code” women like gadgets that are
computer cabinet to design her very own to the strategic Sims era. No Noopur Julka, more portable, easier to use
wirefree and portable all-in-one male influence contrib- Java Developer at Accenture and look sleeker than their
computer. The idea for the uted to this sheer cruder counterparts. But if
‘Cabtop’ as she calls it, love for entertainment”, looks was all it had, give me the bulky
was a result of her get- the ever opinionated brick of a gadget anyday,” she adds.
ting fed up with all the Gursimran seconded. This seemed to be seconded by almost
cable clutter that her Well it could simply all the women we spoke to. Sravani
husband’s computer be that women are said, “We like aesthetics and even pink
created. “I wanted to getting comfortable gadgets, yes. In fact I own a pink Dell
pack it all up into one with their geek-iality. Studio laptop. If there was a choice
neat little box”, she But some such as between really good specs and aes-
said. So she drew up Kanika, were reluctant thetics I’d go for the specs. Kanika, who
plans to restructure the to accept the moniker of a herself owns a Supernova series phone
layout for the innards of a geek. Could this reluctance said that specifications are important
computer and verified feasi- be because there is a bias in our in certain product categories. “When
bility with her brother, who society against women who I went for my point & shoot digicam
happened to be a network Having women are tech savvy? “Absolutely specs trumped the looks,” she justified.
engineer. She got the initial specific designs or not,” said Gursimran. “I think
funding from Department gadgets is good, as the society is in awe of women Diamonds or Gadgets?
of Science and Industrial long as they pass who know their tech”. “Come This is the final clincher to settle any
Research under the Techno- the required quality to think of it, there is a certain doubts you might have about women being
preneur Promotion Programme tests for any device. amount of awe and respect geeky. “I’d sell my diamonds for gadgets,
and now she’s looking for Joyeeta Chakravorty, media for a tech savvy girl in the no questions asked” said Gursimran to
further infusion to make professional from New Delhi house,” Kanika also admitted. our quirky question. End of story.
Digit | August 2010 | www.thinkdigit.com 43
World view
Run Android Apps
Copyright © 2010
Ziff Davis Publishing
Holdings Inc.
on Your Windows PC
By Daniel A. Begun
I
f you’re not currently an Android really malware in disguise? Without
phone user, you may be won- having some sort of security software
dering what all the hoopla is installed, it might be hard to tell. We
about. If you are truly intrigued installed the no-cost Lookout Mobile
by what the Android OS is all about, Security FREE (beta) app on several
you can spend some quality time with of my virtual Android devices (and
it, at your leisure, in the comfort of your my real Android phone), and as far
own home—and for free! All you need as we can tell, it does what it is sup-
to do is download and install some posed to: protect against malware.
free software, configure a few settings, In the following pages we show you
and you’ll have a “virtual” Android how to create and use a virtual Android
phone running on your computer. Run Android apps on your Windows PC device on a Windows PC, as well as
First, a few caveats. First and perhaps how to download and install Android
most important, is that you won’t be able malware in the Android Market, the apps from the independent Android
to use your virtual Android phone to mobile phone software security company, apps stores. This is all done with the
actually make phone calls. This project SMobile Systems, recently released a latest iteration of the Android OS: 2.2,
is about getting a feel for the Android OS report that estimates that “one in every which is also known as Froyo (Froyo is
and its user interface, and the opportu- five applications request permissions to shorthand for “frozen yogurt”—all of
nity to explore some Android applica- access private or sensitive information the Android OS codenames are named
tions—without having to buy anything. that an attacker could use for malicious after desserts). And we finish up this
Another limitation is that any app that purposes.” It’s unlikely that every single primer with what you need to know
seeks to utilize a phone’s camera or one of these apps is requesting this to set up an Android 1.6 virtual device
GPS will find that these components information intentionally for the purpose with a working Android Market.
don’t actually exist in the virtual device. of sending it back to cybercrooks. In all
Also, any app that uses location services probability, the majority of these apps are Installing the Android
(which provide relevant information either using this information for legiti- SDK
based on your current physical location) mate purposes (such as Internet banking) All of the examples we pro-
won’t be able to pinpoint where you are. or are just the by-product of developers’ vide here were done on a
(It is possible to get a virtual Android sloppy coding. But at least some of these system running Windows 7; but they
device to work with an attached camera apps may be trying to steal your informa- should be just as applicable for virtu-
or GPS, but that sort of deep-developer- tion and put it in the hands of individuals ally any system running 32-bit Win-
level tweaking is well out of the realm you probably would rather not have it. dows XP or 32- or 64-bit Windows
of what we’re doing here.) You’re also And the Android Market isn’t even Vista. There are even versions of the
going to find that your virtual Android the only source for downloading and Android SDK that run on Intel-based
device runs slow—probably much slower installing Android apps. A number of Macs loaded with Mac OS X 10.5.8 and
than a real Android phone would. independent Android apps stores have later and some versions of Linux, but
But there are still plenty of things a already been doing business for a while the steps to getting this to work on these
virtual Android device can do—espe- now (such as Softonic, Handango, and other operating systems differ some-
cially when you start installing apps. GetJar), and new ones are starting to what from you’ll find in this guide.
pop up (such as AndSpot, SlideMe, and The first thing you need to do is to
A Few Words About AndAppStore) now that the popularity of make sure that Java is installed on your
Android Apps Android phones is increasing.
You’ll want to keep in mind How these independent
a few things about Android sources will mind the cyber-
apps. Unlike the heavily policed iPhone gates still remains to be seen.
App Store, the Android OS version, the The bottom line is that you
Android Market, has much looser guide- need to be careful what you
lines. In fact, some consider the Android install on an Android device—
Market to be the wild west of apps: even a virtual one—especially
Almost anything goes, and malicious if you’ve already entered some
apps are often pulled from the Android personal information, such as
Market only after users complain. As your Google account credentials.
to how widespread the potential is for How do you know if an app is The download components of the Android SDK
44 Digit | August 2010 | www.thinkdigit.com
list: https://dl-ssl. quite yet. You’ll notice that some of the
google.com/android/ listed packages have question marks
repository/repository. next to them. This means that you have
xml. Select this site to accept the license agreement for
and a list of pack- each of these packages before you can
ages should appear install them. Select each package that
below it. If you want to has a question mark next it and click
play around with the the Accept button. Once all the pack-
different versions of ages have check marks next to them go
the Android OS then ahead and click the Install button.
Accept the license aggrement during the installation enable all the packages. If you chose to install all of the
If you only want to available packages, it may take a
system. The documentation for the use Android 2.2, then the only packages few minutes to download them all.
Android SDK suggests that you install you’ll need to download are “Documen- When it is done, you’ll see a window
the JDK (Java Development Kit) version tation for Android SDK, API8, revision that says something like “Done, 12
of Java; but unless you are a developer 1”; “SDK Platform Android 2.2, API8, packages installed.” Click Close.
all you really need is the standard ver- revision 1”; “Samples for SDK API8,
sion of Java, which is officially called revision 1”; and Google APIs by Google Creating an Android
the Java SE Runtime Environment—if Inc., Android API8, revision 1.” Virtual Device
you are downloading it using Internet Once you’ve selected the pack- Now you’re finally ready to
Explorer, it might be listed as “Java ages you want to download, click the create you very first virtual
for Windows Internet Explorer.” “Install Selected” button. This opens the Android device! The Android SDK
Once you confirm that Java is properly “Choose Packages to Install” window, actually refers to this as an Android
installed, the next step is to download with all of the previously selected pack- Virtual Device or AVD—which is
the Android SDK Starter Package— ages listed. (If you didn’t encounter the what we will be calling it from here
you’ll be downloading a zip file. When HTTPS error when you first launched on out. Select the Virtual Devices
you unzip it you should have a folder the SDK then this is the first screen you tab and click on the New button.
called android-sdk-windows. You can should see.) Don’t hit the Install button This opens a Create new Android
put this folder anywhere you want on
your computer—everything runs out
of this folder and there is no software
to install in the traditional sense. Just
remember where you put the folder,
because no shortcuts or desktop icons
get created unless you do so manually.
Navigate to the android-sdk-
windows folder and launch SDK
Setup.exe, which is the Android SDK
and AVD Manager application.
If Java is not properly installed,
an error message will pop up stating
that Java cannot be found.
If this is the first time you’ve run the
Android SDK and AVD Manager, you
might see a Refresh Sources window
that says the repository can’t be found. If Android Virtual Device running
you do, you’ll have to change the SDK’s Virtual Device (AVD) window. There’s
settings to use HTTP, instead of the actually not much to creating an AVD. All
default HTTPS. To do this, click Close. you really need to do are:
Next you’ll see a “Choose Packages Name. Give the AVD a name. Pretty much
to Install” window, but with nothing any name will do that uses alphanumeric
listed. Click Cancel. The next window characters.
you should see is the Android SDK Target: Here is where you pick the ver-
and AVD Manager window. Select the sion of the Android OS that the AVD will
Settings tab and in the Misc section be based on. For this example, choose
enable the “Force https://... Sources to Android 2.2.
be fetched using http://...” setting. SD Card Size: This is where you choose
Now select the Available Packages the size of the AVD’s virtual SD card. The
tab. You should see a single site in the A few apps running on the new AVD SD Card size must be at least 9MB. For
Digit | August 2010 | www.thinkdigit.com 45
World view
Wipe user data option either (though icon that is made up of 4x4 squares),
this example, create a 1GB SD we will be using this option later when you’ll see the apps that come prein-
Card. You can use larger sizes as well. we set up the Android 1.6 AVD that stalled in the AVD. You’re likely going
Skin: You can choose any pre-defined includes the Android Market). Just click to be disappointed—there aren’t many
(built-in) or custom resolution that you the Launch button to start the AVD. apps here at all. But fret not; in the
want—it doesn’t have to match the resolu- It might take a couple of minutes next section we explain how to install
tion or aspect ratio of a real phone screen. for the AVD to launch; so be patient. Android apps onto your AVD.
For this scenario, chosse WVGA800 But soon enough, the AVD will appear But before we discuss installing
(800x480), which is the screen resolu- on your screen. The AVD is also apps, a few words on quitting and
tion of a number of phones, such as the referred to as an emulator because starting an AVD. Quitting an AVD is
HTC Incredible. If you wanted to, you it “emulates” an Android device. as simple as just closing the window.
could set a custom resolution that simu- You’ll see a window on the left that Really. That’s all there is to it.
lated what an Android tablet might look is the device’s display, and a window As to starting an existing AVD, there
like—perhaps with a screen resolution of on the right that houses the device’s are a number of different ways to this.
1024x600. navigation buttons and virtual key- One is to launch the Android SDK and
Hardware: These items will be board. In most cases you seldom have AVD Manager (SDK Setup.exe) appli-
selected automatically. You don’t need to use the onscreen navigation buttons cation, and then start the AVD from
to make any additions or changes or keyboard—your system’s real mouse the Virtual Devices tab. But if you’re
here—unless you are a developer and keyboard should do the trick. going to be using the same AVD on a
and you know what you are doing. Here are some useful mappings regular basis, here’s how you can create
Now click the Create AVD button. to help you navigate in the AVD a shortcut for it, so you can launch the
The AVD will be created lickety- using your system’s keyboard: AVD directly from your desktop:
split, and a window will pop up stating Home Go to the Home Screen 1. Determine the exact name of the
that the AVD has been created. Click F2 Menu Button AVD you want the shortcut to launch.
OK to close the window. Note that once ESC Back Button You can get this info either from the
F6 Toggle Trackball Mode
you create an AVD, its settings can’t be Android SDK and AVD Manager or from
Ctrl+F5 Increase Volume
changed. If want to make any changes, Ctrl+F6 Decrease Volume the physical location where the AVDs are
you’ll need to create a brand new AVD. Ctrl+F11 Switch Between Portrait saved, which is C:\Users\[username]\.
The AVD you just created should now and Landscape Mode android\avd\.
appear in the list of Virtual Devices. Alt+Enter Toggle Full-Screen Mode 2. Create a new desktop shortcut for the
To launch the AVD, select it and Before you start exploring, one of emulator.exe file that resides in the ...\
then click the Start button. A Launch the first things you might want to do is android-sdk-windows/tools folder.
Options window opens, which allows confirm that the AVD has Internet access. 3. Once you’ve created the shortcut, edit
you to Scale the display and Wipe user Look in the status bar (running across its properties and add these options to the
data. You might be tempted to choose the the top of the AVD’s display screen) end of the target text field: -avd [name-of-
Scale display option--but don’t, because and determine if you see an icon that avd]. This isn’t case-sensitive, so you can
if you do, the resulting window will be has four bars with the first two bars lit do it all in lowercase. For my example, the
the physical size of a phone screen (about up. If so, then the AVD at least thinks shortcut’s full target text field reads as
only three inches tall). Don’t select the it has Internet access. You can confirm follows: c:\android-sdk-windows\tools\
that the AVD’s Internet access works by emulator.exe –avd extremetech-froyo
clicking on the Web browser icon in the Now whenever you want to
bottom panel of the home screen—this launch the AVD, all you have to
is the icon that looks like a globe—and do is double-click the shortcut.
seeing if it connects to the Internet.
The AVD is simply piggybacking off Installing Apps From
of your system’s Internet connection. Independent Android
While experimenting with the Android Apps Stores
SDK on a number of different systems, If you’ve followed these
We encountered a few situations where instructions up to this point,
an AVD’s Internet connection did not you’ve got an AVD running Android
work. In all of these instances, the 2.2, with a few barely useful apps and
system was connected to the Internet no Android Market. So how are you
via an Ethernet cable; but the system going to get apps onto your AVD? By
also had a Wi-Fi radio that wasn’t con- downloading them from one of the
nected to an access point. Connecting independent Android apps stores.
the system’s Wi-Fi radio to an access Using your computer’s Web browser,
point and restarting the AVD resolved navigate to one of the Android apps
the Internet access issue for me. stores, such as Softonic, Handango,
caption If you click the Launcher icon (the or GetJar). Find the apps you want to
46 Digit | August 2010 | www.thinkdigit.com
World view
computer’s hard drive? The first thing you to choose from—which would make
download and click the respec- need to do is fire up the AVD and wait for it uninstalling apps a much easier task.
tive download buttons for those apps. to launch. Once the AVD is running, make We didn’t have much luck finding
Android apps exist in files that have the sure that it’s set to permit the installation a working uninstall app from the
APK (Android Package) file extension. An of non-Market applications. Do this by independent Android apps stores.
selecting the Launcher icon, choose the Set-
tings icon, click on Applications, and make Accessing the Android
sure that Unknown sources is enabled. Market in an AVD
With the AVD running, open a Win- If you want to be able to access
dows Command-Prompt window (or what the Android Market in an AVD,
we old-schoolers like to call a DOS-Prompt you can do it; but it will need to be with
window). You’ll be typing a command that an older version of the Android OS. A
executes the adb.exe application that lives software Engineer by the name of Kumar
in the android-sdk-windows/tools folder, Bibek posted instructions on his blog; on
followed by a space, then the word install, how to do this using a file downloaded
another space, and then the Android app’s from the HTC Developer Center Web-
file name. The trick is, you also need to site with an Android 1.6 AVD. While
include the full paths for both the adb.exe some users claimed it worked for them,
Settings for installing non-market apps app and the APK file you are installing we couldn’t get it to work. But luckily,
(unless they both live in the same folder). Mr. Bibek made an alternative custom
APK file is actually a package that contains Here’s an example of how we installed file available for download that worked
a number of bundled components—similar the Word Search app in my AVD: for me. Here’s what you need to do:
to how a zip file works. In fact, when you c:\android-sdk-windows\tools\adb. 1. Create an AVD that uses
download an Android app file, it might exe install c:\temp\wordsearch.apk Android 1.6—but don’t start it yet.
have either an APK or ZIP file extension. It might take a few moments to install. 2. Download the system.img file
If you download an Android app that When the word “Success” appears in the that Mr. Bibek made available here.
has a ZIP extension, don’t try to unzip Command Prompt window, you know 3. Copy the system.img file you just
it—just change the ZIP extension to APK. it has installed. I’ve found that on rare downloaded to the AVD folder for the
So how do you install an Android occasions, installation will fail on the first AVD you just created. You can find this
app that you’ve downloaded onto your try, but succeed on a second attempt. folder in ...\.android\avd in your user
folder. For example, we created an AVD
called “Market” and this is the path
to its folder on my system: C:\Users\
ExtremeTech\.android\avd\Market.avd
4. Start the AVD for the first time;
but when the Launch Options window
opens, enable the Wipe user data
option. Then click the Launch button.
You should only have to do this once—
on subsequent launches of the AVD,
disable the Wipe user data option.
5. Once the AVD loads, you’ll have
to go through a few setup screens;
but you can skip most of them.
Once you’ve entered the Settings, you can download apps from external sources 6. Navigate over to the Applica-
tions page and you should see an icon
Now if you go back to the AVD, for the Android Market, as well as a
you should see an icon for the app few other apps that weren’t present
you just installed appear amongst in the Android 2.2 AVD—such as
the other apps. Launch the app Google Maps and Google Talk.
and it should run as expected. 7. Before you can access the Android
If you want to uninstall an app, do Market you’ll have to either create a
so by going to Settings > Applications Google account or enter the login cre-
> Manage Applications > Downloaded, dentials for an existing Google account.
then select the application you want to 8. Once your Google account
delete, and click the Uninstall button. credentials are entered, you can
If the AVD actually had access to access the Android Market and start
the Android Market, then there would downloading apps into the AVD!
Uninstalling an app is also simple be a bevy of Uninstall applications Have fun exploring Android!
48 Digit | August 2010 | www.thinkdigit.com
Long Drive with Obama Charging station
President Barack Obama took test drive on, Chevrolet First public electric charging station in New
Volt, an electric car, during a visit to the Compact York was installed recently by Coulomb
Cover feature Power battery plant in Holland Technologies
India, the nation
which might result in paralysis or death.
The Centre for Science and Environ-
ment (http://www.cseindia.org), in its May
choked by e-waste
18, 2010 press release, has made the
following observation: “India generated
330,000 tonnes of e-waste in 2007 – equal
to 110 million laptops. About 10 per cent
of the e-waste generated is recycled every
year; the remaining is refurbished, and
the unorganised sector is right behind
almost all of it. Informal dealers refurbish
and make money from e-waste.” In India
the situation is being compounded by
the fact that it is not only the country’s
burgeoning middle class that is discarding
a huge amount of electronic waste,
ranging from personal computers, optical
disc players, mobile phones and other
portable devices, even the rich Western
countries have started shipping their
e-waste to our ports. Kushal P S Yadav
of CSE says, “According to our estimate
illegal import of e-waste in the country
stands at about 50,000 tonnes annu-
ally. Loopholes in laws facilitate this.”
What can be done?
Photographs: Tushar Goyal
A good way of disposing electronic
products, which are in working order,
but are no longer required by you, is
to donate them. These days we have a
number of organisations, which will
accept your old computers and send
The dark reality of e-waste is a gripping one with a thriving industry exploiting cheap labour them to schools where children from
poorer sections of society come to study.
Anoop Verma job of electronic-scavengers; working with An organisation called Donate Your PC
readersletters@thinkdigit.com most medieval tools – they try to eke out a (http://donateyourpc.in/v2), lets you log
living, by extracting some valuable mate- in and register your donation details,
T
he technological zeitgeist of rial from a plethora of discarded devices. and whenever an NGO requires your
modern society is part of a Rag pickers sifting through filthy PC, you will receive intimation.
package, which includes an garbage dumps in search of plastic or You can also dispose off your old PC or
unlikely desideratum – e-waste. paper are a common sight in India, and any other electronic gizmo by selling it off
Sure, the hip iPad, the immaculate so is the visual of young children risking on eBay. After all, eBay is world’s largest
smartphone, the cool air-conditioner, their lives while trying to pick apart old online store for used electronic items
the new digital camera, the hot LCD TV computers, radios and air-conditioners. and its time we took advantage of it for
enhance the quality of your life in all sorts India’s informal e-waste industry is noto- extending the working life of old electronic
of ways, but at some point in the future, rious for working on a shoestring budget. items. Taking cognisance of the mounting
these devices, which seem incredibly As they work without any protection, at e-waste problem around the world, eBay
advanced today, will go obsolete. And times with their bare hands, the labourers, has come up with a unique Rethink
once you let go of them, they will have to employed by the informal e-waste Initiative, whose details you can find out
make their final journey to the myriad industry, often end up suffering from skin by pointing your browser at: (http://pages.
graveyards for obsolete devices that are infections, and from other debilitating ebay.com/rethink). Powered by the tech
mostly located in the heart of dirt-poor diseases of blood systems and kidneys. In behemoth Intel, the Rethink Initiative
slums of India. Ultimately it befalls on the case of severe exposure to toxic material, seeks to coordinate the recycling programs
slum dwellers to perform the dangerous they might also suffer brain swelling, of many major manufactures of electronic
50 Digit | August 2010 | www.thinkdigit.com
Hottest Picture on Earth Solar voyage
A Google Earth layer was launched by the U.K. government, A solar-powered plane designed
that models what Earth might look like when its current to fly day and night has succeeded
temperature rises by 4 degrees with a 24-hour voyage Cover feature
goods. If you are resident of Mumbai, then good to see Wipro making it to the top sible for the collection and appropriate
you can also take advantage of the NGO league. The recent financial meltdown disposal of e-waste generated at the end
called United Way Mumbai (http://www. has not acted as a deterrent for pro- of life of its products. The draft of these
unitedwaymumbai.org), which makes it pos- active environmental management new rules were made public on the web
sible for you to donate computer spares measures at Wipro and we hope this is site of the Ministry of Environment and
parts that are in good working condition. sustained over the long term. We expect Forests in April this year. The proposed
Another good way of tackling e-waste this initiative by Wipro to catalyse rules seek to place a ban on the import of
envisages the manufacturer of any elec- other electronics brands to take similar used electrical and electronic equipment
tronic product making arrangements for measures” Companies like Nokia, Acer, for charity in the country. The truth is
taking the device back once its lifecycle Motorola and LG, also have collection that millions of tonnes e-waste enters the
runs out. But in this case the problem is centres in the country, but the service country on pretext of being reused and
that many of the top brands in the country seems to be working only in the cities. donated to local charities. This is because
don’t have the necessary infrastructure in Samsung electronics currently operates the import of e-waste is restricted.
place to collect their discarded products. a collection point through its authorised The new set of rules will also regu-
According to a Centre for Science and service centre in India, but these centres late the recyclers and intermediaries,
Environment (CSE) report, “Most of the will only accept discarded mobiles. such as operators of collection centres.
top brands have no take-back policy in According to Samsung’s press release, The end-consumer too will come under
India. So if are using a Apple, Microsoft, “by the end of 2010, the company will the ambit of these laws. You won’t be
Panasonic, PCS, Philips, Sharp, Sony, start operating recycling programs in allowed to chuck away your gizmo into
Sony Ericsson or Toshiba device, you Delhi/NCR, Mumbai and in Bangalore.” the nearest garbage dump when you are
can’t depend on the company to help done with it, you will be required by law
you safely discard their device.” Wholly Government initiatives to turn it in for recycling at a properly
Indian owned brands like Wipro and The slow pace with which our govern- managed establishment. If these laws
HCL have come up with very consumer ment works has certainly aggravated the are not implemented properly, then
friendly take-back programs. In fact, the problem of e-waste management in India. instead of helping the country in tackling
‘Guide to Greener Electronics’ initiative Finally in 2010, when lakhs of tonnes of the e-waste problem, they could only
by Greenpeace ranks Wipro amongst e-waste has already vitiated the environ- have the effect of adding another layer
the top five brands in the world as far ment and damaged the health of thou- of bureaucratic red tape to the already
as the take-back policy is concerned. sands of people, the government is finally over-encumbered system of governance.
In an official release from Green- moving in the direction of enacting new The Centre for Science and Environ-
peace, Abhishek Pratap, the Greenpeace laws that will make the producers of elec- ment remains unenthusiastic about the
India Toxics Campaigner, says, “It is trical and electronic equipment respon- new laws that have been proposed.
According to the CSE, the
INTERVIEW WITH B K SONI
proposed rules don’t seem to go
industries to be recycled. While the far enough to be effective in
E
co Recycling Limited (http:// centres such as Ecoreco.
ecoreco.com) manages • Where does the bulk of e-waste that toxic material in the e-waste is sent protecting the environment from
e-waste in an environmen- you recycle come from? to government recognized facilities to e-waste. In its press release, the
tally friendly way. The company has Most of the material that we be safely disposed off. CSE says, “The proposed rules,
developed a complete spectrum of recycle comes from corporate enti- • What is your view of the e-waste laws for the first time in India, bring in
manual and technological procedures ties. If a corporate entity gives us their being proposed by the government? the concept of extended producer
that go into e-waste management. B e-waste for free, we generally use part These laws seem too ambitious for responsibility, making manufac-
K Soni, the main promoter of Ecoreco, of the value of such e-waste to donate a country like India. For instance, it is turers liable for safe disposal of
explains how his company is at the new computer equipment to schools being assumed that people will call electronic goods. However, they
forefront of the war against e-waste. being run in the poorer areas. HP every time they want to get rid of do not detail the business model
• What is the biggest obstacle that • How do you ensure that the material an old printer, manufactured by that for collection of e-waste from
organisations such as yours face in gets recycled properly? company. But that might consumers. Neither do they offer
managing e-waste? Our workers are fully not happen, many people any assistance to help the
The main problem is that cur- trained and they take who are not environmen- informal sector get organised.”
rently much of the e-waste goes to every precaution while tally conscious will prefer There is no doubt that the
junk dealers, who sell their stuff to dismantling the e-waste. to sell it to the junk dealers. environment needs to be
informal recycling centres. We are still The reusable material like What is really needed is not protected and nurtured, but this
in process of convincing individuals and steel, copper, aluminium, a new set of laws, but a has to be done in a cost effective
corporate entities to give their e-waste plastic, etc are separated change in the way people manner, otherwise the purpose
to properly functioning recycling and sent to different think about e-waste. behind these new laws is going to
be defeated.
Digit | August 2010 | www.thinkdigit.com 51
Laser zapping
Need battery? US scientists at Wake Forest University in North Carolina have
Zen Mobile has introduced the M25 phone that demonstrated the concept of laser zapping to treat mice with
Tomorrow’s tech claims to have a battery life of 72 hours breast tumours to heal them
As it passes through the pores, the gas is
The real forced to be in contact with the catalyst, and
carbon nanotubes are formed. A tempera-
Nanos ture gradient between the porous block
and the open end of the furnace supports
the tubes as they grow, absorbing material
from the reaction gas. Eventually, nano-
tubes leave the cylindrical furnace, looking
like a black mass of tube-shaped cotton
candy. A rotating anchor or conveyor belt
captures the nanotubes as they emerge,
turning them into yarns and sheets.
They are also producing sheets of
carbon nanotubes that measure 3 x 6 feet
and have announced plans to produce
slabs with an area of 100 square feet. These
sheets will be used primarily in as electrical
Photos.com
“The Next Big Thing is Really Small” from a hexagonal lattice of carbon atoms. LongYarn Image Courtsey: Stephen Cass
--Jack Uldrich The tubes are in the order of nanometres in
diameter. Their structural strength makes conductors in planes and satellites to
Rahil Banthia them an ideal composite material, while its replace copper wire and save weight, and
readersletters@thinkdigit.com electrical conductivity makes it suitable for hence increase fuel efficiency. The resulting
deployment as a semiconductor alternative. material can be a valuable addition to
N
ano as a prefix implies a scale of such applications such as electromagnetic
10-9 and nanotechnology is the Current application interference (EMI) shielding, electrical
science and study of manipu- Copper Replacement conductors, thermal dissipation solutions,
lating matter at the atomic or lightning protection and advanced struc-
molecular scale and building materials with Long Fibres tural composites. Another interesting use
at least one dimension under 100 nanome- Today nanotubes are commonly produced due to structural strength of the material is
tres. Although the first reference towards in segments about 10,000 nanometres as a substitute for kevlar as body armour.
nanotechnology was given by legendary long, forming a black powder. Nanocomp
Richard Feynman in 1959, carbon nanotubes Technologies of Concord manufacture Agriculture
were only introduced in 1991 and since then lightweight antennas, cables, and elec- Carbon nanotubes are being used to
have become the focal point of the scientific tromagnetic interference shields using accelerate the growth in size, quantity
community. From super computers to space this same material for the military and and speed, of vegetables like tomatoes. In
elevators, their use have been envisioned aerospace markets. September 2009, at the Little Rock Nanote-
in everything, so we will do a reality check The heart of Nanocomp Technologies’ chnology Center, housed at the University
today and discuss their current use, ongoing manufacturing process is a long, cylin- of Arkansas, used carbon nanotubes to
research and future applications. drical furnace. A reaction gas comprising increase the germination rate of tomatoes.
If you peer down with a good microscope carbon-based feedstock which is the raw Exposure to carbon nanotubes caused the
you'll observe, that at the atomic level, carbon material is fed into the furnace. The gas seedlings to become stronger and grow
nanotubes resemble your nylon clothing is swept along the furnace until it meets a more quickly. Carbon nanotubes become a
line. Only instead of nylon, the tube is made heated, porous block coated with a catalyst. part of the seed by penetrating through the
52 Digit | August 2010 | www.thinkdigit.com
Waiting for 3G? Goodbye shopping woes
KeyOn Communications Holdings Inc. and Carbon nanotube-laced ink will soon be used to print RFID tags on goods
Alvarion have deployed a 4G wireless network in shopping malls, enabling you to simply walk out of the mall with your
in Nevada in the last week of July 2010 purchases. Wonder when we’ll get to see the technology at work! Tomorrow’s tech
thick outer shell and bonding with the plant mean that only very small molecules, such of the National Institute of Standards and
structure that enable the plants to take in as water molecules can pass along their Technology (NIST), has demonstrated
more water and also retain it, creating a plant interiors, whereas viruses, bacteria, toxic how they created the new dual-purpose
that could possibly survive longer spells of metal ions, and large noxious organic mol- nano structure by attaching an anti-HER2
drought after long rain fall. ecules cannot. antibody to short carbon nanotubes. The
Smooth and water repellent surfaces of investigators then exploited two unique
Future applications carbon nanotubes means that a filter-based optical properties of carbon nanotubes to
Although current applications may be on this technology would be very efficient, detect and then destroy HER2 breast cancer
limited by the prohibitive cost of $95 per allowing a high flow rate of water through cells. Near-infrared laser light at a wave-
gram (that’s a little under Rs. 4,500) at the filter without fouling. Importantly, the length of 785 nanometres reflects intensely
present. Probably with time, it would power needed to drive water through such off the nanotubes, and this strong signal is
become more affordable. a system will be low compared to conven- easily detected by a technique called Raman
tional membrane technology. Although this spectroscopy (invented by Dr. C V Raman).
Hydrogen storage technology is not with limitations, in order Increase the laser light's wavelength to 808
Carbon nanotubes have, for long, been cham- to be a practical solution, the nanoscale nanometres and it will be absorbed by the
pioned as a strong contender for storing structures need to be engineered to form nanotubes, burning them and anything
hydrogen in fuel cells. well-defined arrangements to allow the to which they're attached, in this case, the
efficient decontamination of water. HER2 tumour cells.
Breast cancer research Battery
Nanotubes bond to an antibody that is pro- The latest iPhone4 has more than half of its
duced by chickens and have been useful in volume occupied by the mammoth battery
lab tests to destroy breast cancer tumors. which is crucial to running the modern
The antibody carrying nanotubes are convergent devices with power hungry
attracted to proteins produced by a type features such as GPS, Wi-fi, powerful CPUs
of breast cancer cell. Then the nanotubes and large screens. Battery is currently the
absorb light from an infrared laser, liter- biggest hurdle in making better and more
ally burning the nanotube and the breast featureful mobile devices (iPhone didn't
cancer cell they are attached to. support multitasking till now to primarily
Accelerating food growth with the aid of Single-walled carbon nanotubes have save on battery). All this is about to change
carbon nanotubes been highly touted for their potential as
novel delivery agents for cancer detection
Improved transistors and therapeutic agents. HER2 is a family
Y-shaped nanotubes behaving as elec- of genes that help regulate the growth and
tronic switches similar to traditional MOS proliferation of human cells. Normal cells
(metal oxide semiconductor) transistors have two copies of HER2, but about 20 to 25
currently used in almost all of microproc- per cent of breast cancer cases consist of cells
essors, memory, and other integrated with multiple copies of the gene, resulting
circuits have been invented by researchers in the overproduction of a HER2-encoded
at UCSD and Clemson University. They protein that is associated with particularly They might power your next cellphone
say that these specially synthesised carbon fast growing tumours.
nanotube structures exhibit electronic The team led by Huixin He, PhD, of with MIT's Laboratory for Electromagnetic
properties that are improved over conven- Rutgers University, and Yan Xiao, PhD, and Electronic Systems (LEES) work on
tional transistors used in computers. technologically possible and economically
viable carbon nanotube based ultra-capac-
Water filter itor alternative.
At our very own Bhabha Atomic Research Capacitors store energy as an electrical
Centre (BARC) in Mumbai new water puri- field, making them more efficient than
fication technologies are constantly being standard batteries, which get their energy
investigated that are simple, inexpensive to from chemical reactions. Ultra-capacitors
install, operate, and maintain. Their recent are capacitor-based storage cells that provide
efforts in the field of nanotechnology has instant, massive bursts of instant energy.
led them to use hollow carbon nanotubes to They have already been used in fuel-cell
do the job of water purification. The unique Hollow Carbon Nanotubes like these can vehicles to provide an extra burst for acceler-
chemical properties of carbon nanotubes be used to filter water ating into traffic and climbing hills.
Digit | August 2010 | www.thinkdigit.com 53
AGE-P Nature-inspired informatics
An Evolutionary Platform for the Self- Technologies are being developed for optimisation of
From the labs Organization of Smart-Appliance Ensembles telecom networks that are inspired from nature
Rahil Banthia chips to interest-router connectivity, and from
readersletters@thinkdigit.com software module interactions to new oper-
ating systems. So, the natural question arises:
P
hilosophers are right when they Are we exploiting insights from biology to
say “Progress often occurs at help understand the complex computational
the boundaries between disci- systems that we’ve produced or are we doing
plines.” Our natural world is full everything ground-up?
There are several striking of complexity - from the organisation of the Throughout history we’ve built artefacts
examples of intelli- nervous system, to molecular genomics whose inspiration derives from biology and
gent design, inspired by and even coral reef ecologies. The same way the natural world. You will naturally argue that
our technology, computer technology in computer science and technology haven’t been
nature. We look at some particular has been manifestly becoming influenced to such a large extent because our
of these technologies more and more complex—from systems on computers implement a binary logic that’s hard
to discern in nature, using a general architecture
that’s remote from anything that has evolved.
Naturally
However, it isn’t hard to recognise the influ-
ence of biological processes and methods on
computer science.
Here are few examples which will tell you
Inspired
how nature has inspired everyday tech:
Velcro — inspired by seeds’ clingy burrs
Low-friction ship hulls — inspired by shark
skin
Morphing aircraft wings — inspired by bird
wings
Temperature-adapting fabric — inspired by
pinecones
Dirt- and water-resistant paint — inspired
by the lotus flower
The Network Paradigm
If we take a deep look at the internet, we
will see a striking similarity with nature
and genes in particular. A gene network is
defined by connections between specific
genes, whose outputs are influenced by
proteins (expressed by other genes), metabo-
lites, and small signaling molecules. Other
networks are layered on top of genes, such
as protein interaction networks, signalling
networks, and metabolic networks, which
themselves underpin arrays of interacting
networks that link cells together.
An organism’s physiology requires the
linking of many gene, protein, metabolic, and
cellular networks, with feedback interactions
between them. In a very similar fashion, our
modern internet is a complex, multilayered,
and modular structure. Physical devices
provide the foundation, and frame formats
determine how packets course through the
physical links. The IP packet protocol lies
above the link layer and enables commu-
nication between various computational
networks, creating the experience of a single
54 Digit | August 2010 | www.thinkdigit.com
From the real ant to the artificial ant Natural algorithms
Applications in combinatorial optimisation, data clustering, Nature-inspired algorithms help forensic
collective robotics and image processing investigators crack complex cases From the labs
virtual network. The TCP transport layer serves as a solar power source for a bacterium. elements. Although mimicking biology with
running over IP ensures that large streams Light at a certain wavelength can change how silicon is very hard. The real niche for bio-
of data traffic are transported reliably, in the the protein behaves; this behaviour is accom- inspired systems is at the interface between
right order. All applications such as FTP and panied by a colour change. This lets us, in prin- the digital and analogue world, particularly
the WWW are layered on top of TCP, and ciple, encode states and then read them off. in the areas of wireless telecommunication
thus we obtain our multilayered interacting This biomolecule and others like it might have and PDAs where power dissipation is critical
network. In this network, the dynamics of for implementing powerful signal processing
decentralized packet transfer can respond applications like speech recognition. Current
to congestion protocols in the higher levels digital trends are toward full integration on
invoked by requirements generated at the a single chip. However, many systems with
application layers. The result is a complex high dimensional input data need the massive
tiered network responding to feedback loops processing of analogue signal arrays.
between the various tiers. New nano-scale electronic interfaces will
Butterfly wings and peacock feathers create offer great improvements in ultra-low-power
color by causing light to interfere with Itself. bionic devices for prosthesis and scientific
These highly developed structures reflect light Qualcomm’s IMOD displays are inspired studies of neural tissue. Future advances in
so that specific wavelengths interfere with each from butterfly wings microelectronics and analogue processing
other to create nature’s purest, most vivid will allow dramatic reductions in cost and size.
colors. This inspired Qualcomm’s next gen- serious applications in high-density memory. Advanced imaging sensors can benefit greatly
eration of display technology, lnterferometrlc Researchers have already used a genetically from new bio-inspired algorithms.
Modulator (IMOD) that achieves substantial engineered version to build devices that can
performance improvement and power-saving perform optical character recognition.
benefits over current technologies. This inno-
vative, highly reflective design enables an IBM increased chip perform-
Always-On” experience with: ance, courtesy shells
Ultra-low power consumption — extended Thanks to the way shells balance heat when
battery life under high pressure, IBM has come out with
Superior viewability — in all lighting condi- its own Airgap Technology.
tions, even bright sunlight Though putting a bigger fan and copper
Enhanced readability — reduced eye fatigue, rods is a good solution, it increases the amount
like reading printed paper of noise, power consumption and energy loss.
Robust functionality — virtually unaffected Lenovo overcame one of these problems with IBM’s chip technology is inspired from shells
by environment and extreme tom peratures an idea inspired by owns to lower the sound.
Mechanical durability — long operational Owls fly swiftly without making any noise to The future
life catch its prey. Similarly, Lenovo fans run faster We envision that within a decade, and in
and without significant increase in noise by a continuously developing fashion, a new
Biomolecular computing changing the shape of the fan blades. industry will emerge thanks to research
There have been various Molecular electronics inspired by nature that will serve unprec-
attempts to mimic solid-state components with Bionic device technologies edented human needs. Its not far before we
molecular structures. Molecular wires, recti- Biological models of the vertebrate, insect have sensory and other prostheses (visual,
fiers, and transistors have all been constructed and mammalian visual systems have led to auditory, tactile, olfactory, gustatory,
on very small scales. Biomolecules such as the several bio-inspired algorithms. Many man- motion based, etc.), as well as self-contained
protein bacteriorhodopsin have shown great made electro-optical materials and devices medication, forecasting and therapeutic
promise for natural computing. This protein have been inspired by biological systems. devices built into the human body or brain-
The motion detection system of the fly is controlled robots and motor prostheses.
a good example of a useful optoelectronic With some effort by scientists world-
system for robot piloting and navigation. wide, we will be living in a world with life-
The rest of the insect world represents like perception/action devices for house-
a huge data base for future bio-inspired hold, industrial, and medical use, and OEM
microsensor-processor-actuator units. bionic parts to be embedded in many other
Naturally, the future growth of VLSI faces a goods and services. It will be a networked
number of limitations. But, you will be pleased world with brain-controlled, neuromorphic
to know that Biology has been employed to or bio-inspired robots. Scary as it may
Some of nature’s creations depict vivid overcome some of them, an example being sound, with nature on our side, the future
colours fault tolerance, by using loosely coupled, faulty beckons with open arms!
Digit | August 2010 | www.thinkdigit.com 55
Higher definitions Memories printed @home
Tried & tested 62 Should you invest in HD DTH
just yet? Find out more 64 We test photo printers to help you preserve
your memories
Olympus were the ones who
Flash of
sent us many of their pop-
ular offerings. Sony politely
declined from participating in
the comparison review. Let’s
start by first looking at all of the
the Titans
features and usability aspect of
the cameras.
Canon EOS 7D
Last year, we tested the EOS
50D. This year, we have the
Point and shoot cameras aren’t the best you can find. Every even better Canon EOS 7D.
enthusiast dreams of owning a good DSLR, and now to add to This larger bodied camera
the confusion, there are newer formats to choose from. It’s has a 18 MP sensor and fits
perfectly in the hand. It is
time to demystify... heavy though. The side of the
camera has all the connects for
the microphone, flash, remote
control and HDMI. There are
no direction buttons on the
back of the camera, but there
is a joystick. It’s used to navi-
gate through the menus. The
dials on this new camera are
pretty tight to rotate. Unlike
most other cameras, the buttons
used to set settings don’t have to
be held while using the jog dial.
They like toggle buttons instead
which makes them a little easier
to use. Most of the controls sur-
round the top display on the
camera. The LCD screen doesn’t
have a border surround it which
makes it almost seamless with
the rest of the frame. The new
menus look great, have smooth
transition effects but there is
no subdivision of the menus
into categories or sections. One
of the unique features on the
camera is the virtual horizon
By Rossi Fernandes & like a fancy watch or cellphone. days playing with. They’re still feature which lets you to level
Nimish Sawant A point-and-shoot makes per- meant for professionals but for the camera evenly.
fect sense if you’re the type who those like us who love spending
A
lmost every single needs to take photos quickly hours playing around with
one of us would at an event. But what if you’re cameras and trying everything
like to own a looking for perfection? you can, point-and-shoots are AUGUST 2010
DSLR sometime DSLRs have a lot going for not cutting it anymore. They’re
or the other. Sure, people tend them – with their bulk comes turning into tame.
to take you more seriously as larger sesnsors, larger senses, We’ve called all the big
a photographer, but that’s not larger better quality screens DSLR names in India asking
what it’s all about! DSLRs are and a whole load of controls them to send across their
not meant to be cool gadgets and features that you can spend cameras. Nikon, Canon and Canon
EOS 550D
56 Digit | August 2010 | www.thinkdigit.com
Bazaar
70 Exciting products
tested and reviewed DSLR Comparison Test
Nikon D3000
The D3000 was brought in to
replace the D60 and the popular
D40 and D40X models. The
D3000 sells with an 18-55mm
lens that you find in most stock
kits on DSLR cameras. The
more expensive the camera, the
less likely you are to get a lens Nikon D5000
kit. Users are then expected to
choose a lens of their preference. camera. The cheaper D3000
The focus motor isn’t on the comes with a 3-inch screen, but
body, so the lens has it inbuilt. no Liveview. The D5000 feels
Make sure that any lens that like a downgrade in that aspect.
you purchase in the future In other aspects, it’s an upgrade
has an inbuilt focus motor or – higher resolution, better ISO
you’ll miss out on the auto- range, burst speed shooting
focus function. rate, etc.
There is no Liveview on All the bay doors are sturdy
the camera. Its competitor, and there’s no chance of the
the Canon EOS 1000D has plastic/rubber straps holding
Liveview. While many profes- them of breaking.
sionals dismiss the Liveview One of the other less impor-
function, for beginners, it’s tant features is GPS that
a simpler way of using the records coordinates of the loca-
camera. tion of the photo. You need to
The 11-point focus system buy an optional GPS unit from
makes auto-focusing a little sim- Nikon for that. The HD 720p
pler and quicker. video recording feature is
For those who are new to unique and possible with the
photography and need some- Liveview function.
thing that can help them find
their way around, the Guide Nikon D300s
mode makes operating the The Nikon D300s is where
camera slightly simpler. The things get a lot more serious. The
controls are simple to use and size and weight of the camera is
unlike the costlier DSLRs, there indicative of that. There’s a big
is no dedicated ISO button or difference going from the D5000
two jogdials on the D3000, so to this. The older D300 had no
you’re forced to use a few more Liveview so there was no video
buttons while shooting. Some of recording functionality either.
the buttons can be customised It’s still no a full-frame sensor
to be used with the jogdial for camera though. The D300s like
other functions. the D5000, records 720p video.
The camera has a high-
Nikon D5000 quality 3-inch non-foldable dis-
The body of the D5000 has some play and many more controls. It
similarities with the D3000. includes a top-view display for
The D5000 includes a foldable the controls, so you don’t have
LCD screen that also makes the to look at the screen at the back
camera slightly bulkier. The while switching controls. Dedi-
base of the camera towards the cated buttons for all the other
LCD has become bulkier. This controls along with the two jog
means Nikon has been only able dials control pretty much every-
to fit a 2.7-inch screen on the thing. You rarely use the direc-
Digit | August 2010 | www.thinkdigit.com 57
DSLR Comparison Test
AUGUST 2010 AUGUST 2010
Brand Canon Canon Canon Nikon Nikon Nikon Nikon Olympus Olympus Olympus Samsung
Model EOS EOS 550D EOS 7D D3000 D300s D3s D5000 PEN E-P1 PEN E-P2 PEN E-PL1 NX10
1000D
Price (`) 25,295 51,995 1,45,995 30,950 94950 2,89,950 31,950 34999 44999 29999 42990
(kit lens (kit lens (with 15- (kit lens (kit lens
incl.) incl.) 85mm IS incl.) incl.)
lens)
Overall (On 100) 46.99 70.49 73.55 49.52 71.77 77.06 56.31 59.31 62.36 59.51 64.48
Features (On 70) 28.84 49.79 53.97 31.22 52.12 55.32 39.36 43.26 46.76 43.61 47.08
Performance (On 30) 18.15 20.70 19.58 18.30 19.65 21.74 16.95 16.05 15.60 15.90 17.40
Specifications
Sensor resolution (MP) 10.1 18 18 10.2 12.3 12.1 12.3 12.3 12.3 12.3 14.6
Sensor size (mm) 22.2 x 14.8 22.3 x 14.9 22.3 x 14.9 23.6 x 15.8 23.6 x 15.8 36.0 x 23.9 15.8 x 23.6 4/3-inch 4/3-inch 4/3-inch 23.4 x 15.6
Sensor type CMOS CMOS CMOS CCD CMOS CMOS CMOS Live CMOS Live CMOS Live CMOS CMOS
ISO range 100 - 1600 100 - 6400 100 - 6400 100 - 1600 200 - 3200 200 - 200 - 3200 100 - 6400 100 - 6400 100 - 3200 100 -
12800 3200
Shutter speed range 1/4000 - 30 1/4000 - 30 1/8000 - 30 1/4000 - 30 1/8000 - 30 1/8000 - 30 1/4000 - 30 1/4000 - 60 1/4000 - 60 1/2000 - 60 1/4000
- 30
Burst shutter speed 3 3.7 8 3 7 9 4 3 3 3 3
Display size 2.5-inch 3.0-inch 3.0-inch 3.0-inch 3.0-inch 3.0-inch 2.7-inch 3.0-inch 3.0-inch 2.7-inch 3.0-inch
LCD Resolution (pixels) 230000 1040000 920000 230000 921000 921000 230000 230000 230000 230000 614000
Formats - RAW / JPEG Y / Y / N Y/Y/N Y/Y/N Y/Y/N Y/Y/Y Y/Y/Y Y/Y/N Y/Y/N Y/Y/N Y/Y/N Y/Y/N
/ TIFF
Mic / HDMI-out N/N Y/Y Y/Y N/N Y/Y Y/Y N/Y N/Y Y/Y Y/Y N/Y
Max video resolution N/A 1920 x 1920 x 1080 N/A 1280 x 720 1280 x 720 1280 x 720 1280 x 720 1280 x 720 1280 x 720 1280 x
1080 720
Battery capacity (mAh) 1080 1200 1800 1080 1500 2000 1200 NA NA NA 1300
Memory cards support SD / SDHC SD / SDCH CF SD / SDHC SD / SDHC CF SD card SDHC SDHC SDHC SD / SDHC
/ SDXC /CF
Weight (g) 450 475 820 485 840 1240 560 335 335 296 353
Performance
Light scene 6 6.5 7.5 6.5 6.5 8 5 4 4.5 5.5 5.5
Flash test 7.5 7.5 5.5 5.5 6.5 NA 5 NA NA 4 4
Macro 4.5 6.5 5 5.5 7 7.5 5 5.5 4.5 4 6.5
Video Quality NA 6.5 6 NA 5.5 7.5 5.5 6.5 6 6 6
Quality (So10)
Body 6 7.5 8 7 8 8 7 7 7 6.5 7
Buttons and dials 6.5 7 7 7 7 7 7 6 6 6 6.5
Ease of use 7 7 7 7 6 5 7 6.5 6.5 6.5 6.5
Interface 7 7.5 8 7 7 7 7 4.5 4.5 4.5 6
Bays 6 7 7 6.5 7 7 6.5 6.5 6.5 6.5 6.5
Screen 6.5 8 8 6.5 7.5 7.5 6.5 6 6 6 6
tion keys to adjust settings. and high-end cameras, Sam- the ones found on ultrazoom feather weight with that lens.
The direction button set has sung is the one of the new (pseudo-SLRs) can be found The refresh rate on the dis-
a thicker feel to it and you no players. The camera doesn’t on the camera. The body isn’t play is top notch and there’s
longer get the easy-to-under- exactly fall into the single lens too deep and the lens feels very hardly any detail visible. The
stand photo shooting mode reflex digital cameras category. slim as compared to DSLRs. viewfinder is another LCD,
dial. The ISO, image quality, The Samsung NX10 like The body feels tightly packed which isn’t very good.
white balance and even the most other four thirds has no together although the lens
shoot mode settings can be optical viewfinder due to the could have been a little stur- Olympus PEN E-P1
found on a separate dial which missing mirror and prism. dier. The focus ring feels loose Olympus’s PEN E-P1 was one
works in collaboration. In the Instead, a LCD screen like and flimsy, and it has no dead of the first cameras to start
interface, it’s very similar to the zone either. The zoom lens feels the four third system craze.
D5000 and the D90 camera of hard to move while reaching The body of the camera feels
yesteryear. the extreme ends. In the hand, like a block of metal. It feels
it feels alright. Since it’s a pretty sturdy and its compact design
Samsung NX10 compact body, it’s difficult to fit is due to the micro four third
Samsung’s NX10 is the unex- the camera in the palm of your systems like the Samsung
pected entry into the DSLR hand. So you end up holding it NX10. While the Samsung
crowd. Where as all the other like a point and shoot camera. had a small hand grip, the EP1
brands has a history of DSLRs Samsung NX10 At the same time, it’s not exactly is designed like a box, but a
58 Digit | August 2010 | www.thinkdigit.com
Apple has a magazine
Flipboard is one of the Apple apps for iPad that grabs
contents from your social networks and build you a
digital personalized magazine, as it feels like one. DSLR Comparison Test
you try zooming into the display while trying
to focussing on distant objects.
Olympus E-P2
The Olympus E-P2 isn’t much different from
the E-P1 and E-PL1. The body has the similar
build and we used the standard 14-42mm lens
Olympus PEN E-P1 with the camera. The frame rate of the screen
is decent while focussing, but the frame rates
sturdy metal box at that. Here, there is no drop drastically when you switch to the HD
digital or optical viewfinder so you are left video recording mode. The interface hasn’t
to focus only using the 3-inch LCD. The front changed a bit either – it’s very dull, boring
has a textured pad which makes the camera and very much like a point and shoot camera.
a little comfortable to hold. The lens doesn’t Focussing isn’t as fast we’d like it to be. The
feel great either – it’s made of plastic ISO, autofocus, and white balance settings
The interface looks dated and is nowhere have to be be changed using the buttons and
close to the Nikon and Canon cameras. Being then selecting the right option on screen.
somewhat of a lifestyle product, we expected There is no concept of using the buttons along
better. The controls can be a little confusing the jog dial like on a DSLR.
and operating it is closer to using a point and
shoot camera than using a DSLR. The body Nikon D3S
gives out some heat near the controls at the A first glance at this beauty from Nikon will
back. The controls aren’t very easy to use. leave any photography enthusiast gasping for
In the dedicated manual mode, there are breath. The full-frame Nikon D3S is the high
two dials you can use – one which is nor- end professional camera having ISO that can
mally used to zoom while previewing images, scale to ISO 12,800.
and the other ring that doubles as the direc- D3S has a solid grip, and the body is quite
tional buttons. We received two lenses from heavy at around 1.5 kg. The body is made
Olympus – one 17mm and the other 14-42 for the Nikon FX series lenses, but it can
mm.
One of the biggest drawbacks of the
camera is the flash. Due to its compact size,
there’s no inbuilt flash, so you are forced
to buy one. AUGUST 2010
Olympus PEN E-PL1
The Olympus PEN E-PL1 has many simi-
larities to the E-P1. The E-PL1 has a smaller
2.7-inch screen which is similar in quality to
the E-P1. The E-P1 came with no flash but
Olympus managed to squeeze in a really
tiny flash on the E-PL1.
The buttons are smoother and softer than Nikon D3S
the ones on the E-P1. The data cable connection
is positioned right under the flash mount. The also house the DX series lens but with some
lack of the jog dials on this camera means you expected compatibility issues. A vertical grip
are forced to use buttons a lot. Focussing on both is integrated that adds to the solid feel. Even
these cameras isn’t fast. the command dials have a rubberised finish.
One of the settings the camera has, is the A second control display is located on the
Art mode that allows you to special features top right hand side of the camera. There is a
that allows you to get a pinhole effect or tilt provision to put in two CF cards at a time in
photography-like results. It does this at the the two slots.
cost of the processing performance. The frame The battery can allow shooting up to 1000
rate of the LCD screen drops drastically when shots in one charge.
you enable the mode. This also happens when This camera is meant for professionals.
Digit | August 2010 | www.thinkdigit.com 59
Facebook’s half billionaire PC control
Facebook announced past week that it has reached Gmote is an application that converts your Android cell
DSLR Comparison Test 500 million active users around the world phone into a Remote control to control your desktop PC
Used with a compatible FX picture, and colour saturation on HOW WE TESTED
series of lens, it can be a joy for it seems a tad better. The D5000 All the test photos were taken Three test shots were taken.
wildlife and sports photogra- on auto settings is a little better using the automatic mode where The first one was the wideangle
pher among others. than the D3000 and Canon EOS the camera would set the best shot with no zoom used, the next
1000D. The 550D shares char- settings for the scenario and with the zoom set to maximum
Canon EOS 1000D acteristics when it comes to col- hopefully, take the best photos and the third with the flash on.
The Canon 1000D has a strong ours and image sharpness with possible. Each of these photos were com-
body, but it lacks a rubberised the costlier Canon EOS 7D. The test scene would contain pared with each other so we could
grip. There is very little gap When it was time to play a wide variety of objects and items rate the quality. We were looking
between the hand grip and with the Nikon D3s, it deliv- that would be illuminated by pure for crisp images with properly
the lens mount, such that your ered what we expected it to. The white light to eliminate any possi- focused objects and natural col-
highlight was its excellent bilities of colouration. We ensured ours. We also rated the camera for
performance in low light. It that the room was made pitch their usability. Points were given
performs great till ISO 6400 dark by covering all windows. All for easy-to-use menus, quality of
sensitivity. At ISO 12,800, lights were turned off. the body, dedicated controls, etc.
you need a tripod to get a
sharp image. Noise is visible
only at maximum zoom in play around with it with the Best Buy winner. It maybe
most ISO’s up to 6400. The rain pouring down on us but a little inferior in build and
test images we shot gave anyone looking for a good image quality, but at the price
good colours and detail at lens for wildlife shoots, with a it’s available at these days, it
100 per cent zoom. reasonable good camera such makes very good sense indeed.
When we compared as the EOS 550D or EOS 7D If you want video on your
Canon EOS 1000D some of the shots of the should go for this lens. The DSLR, then the slightly more
Canon EOS 7D with the other lens was the `61,995 expensive D5000 is an option
fingers will lock against each Nikon D300s, we found the EFS 15-85mm f/3.5-5.6 IS to consider.
other while adjusting the lens colour saturation to better USM which makes for good We weren’t very impressed
at times. The layout of buttons with the D300s. Image seemed wideangle shots but also can with the four third cameras. For
around the screen is very neat. softer on the Canon EOS 7D be used for some basic zoom one, the body may be compact
Navigating through the menus though. The cameras adjusted similar to the 18-55mm kit lens. but like most cameras, they
isn’t overwhelming. It has a to the lightning and set very We would highly recom- come with zoom lenses which
Liveview mode, but it doesn’t low ISO levels. Sensor noise mend the D3S to anyone who can’t be compacted anymore.
have support for video shooting. was not an issue here. is a serious full-time photog- There’s no way you can put one
All in all this is a great camera With the four third system rapher. Our only concern is of these in your pocket unless
for DSLR newbies to work cameras, even the slight drop the pricing of `2,89,950 just you detach the lens. These
around with, till they decide in sensor size results in a small for the body. You’ll need to get cameras offer much improved
to graduate to the professional drop in quality. Some grain is compatible lenses to work on image quality over point and
level. At a sweet price point of visible on the Olympus PEN the camera though. It’s our best shoots but not enough to match
`25,295, it is highly economical. series across all shots even performer with the EOS 550D DSLRs. If we had to choose one
when compared to the entry- getting the Best Buy award. As from this format, it would be
Performance and level DSLRs. an all rounder, the EOS 550D the Olympus PEN E-PL1. It’s
final words Canon also arranged two is a great camera. cheaper, but it shares a lot of
The Canon EOS 1000D and the additional lenses to play For enthusiasts like you and characters with the E-P1. If
Nikon D3000 lie at the bottom around with. One, the EF70- me, the Nikon D3000 will do you’re looking for ultimate
of the pyramid. They both come 200mm f/4L USM zoom lens just fine. You get the controls quality from this format, then
very close to each other in image priced at `68,295. We used it you always to play around the Samsung NX10 wins. It’s
quality. The colours on the EOS with the EOS 7D and we found with photography and you priced high at `42,990 though.
1000D seem a little more satu- extremely handy at outdoor also get the improved quality. It would be great if they were
rated. Throw the D5000 into the shoots. We weren’t able to The Canon EOS 1000D is our priced like ultrazoom cameras
but they’re not. They’re often
Contact Sheet
priced as much or higher than
Brand Contact Phone E-mail Web site
Canon Canon India Pvt. Ltd. 1800-345-33-66 info@canon.co.in www.canon.co.in
the basic DSLRs which people
Nikon Nikon India Pvt Ltd. +91-124-468 8514 nindsupport@nikonoa.net www.nikon.co.in seem to going in for these days.
Olympus Olympus Imaging Corporation +91-22-2285 4495 amit_sharma@ot.olympus.co.jp www.olympus-imaging.co.in Until we see those big drops
Samsung Sharad Agarwal +91-124-488 1246 Sharad.a@samsung.com www.samsung.com/in in prices, things look bleak.
60 Digit | August 2010 | www.thinkdigit.com
Timeline X BlackBerry tablet?
Acer, the world’s second largest PC brand launched their latest line of BlackBerry is expected to launch a tablet powered
HD DTH test notebooks powered by CULV Core i processors with an 8 hr battery life by a 1GHz processor by the end of this year
Michael Browne Airtel and Reliance were
michael.browne@thinkdigit.com clearly not interested in com-
parison tests for their TV HIGHER
H
igh-Definition broadcasting services. So this
is a buzzword
that should have
buzzed by your
comparison consisted of Dish
TV HD and Tata Sky HD – two
popular services available all
DEFINITIONS
ears over the past two years over the country. Earlier, we After testing various DTH and DVR
with increasing regularity. And covered the features on offer offerings, we take a closer look at some
for good reason – HD content is by these two service providers, of the latest HD variants available
here to stay, and for those who so we won’t be covering a lot of
haven’t gotten their fix yet, it features here. We also won’t be is mediocre. Buttons are well to conduct these tests. The dis-
has to be said – you’re missing covering the quality of regular laid out and the menu system play supported multiple HDMI
something. HD content is all (read non-HD) channels. For is pretty intuitive and simple. inputs – just what we needed
around and the experience of making the most out of the HD The Dish TV remote unit is for quickly swapping between
watching a movie with every service, you will require an HD larger, while their set top box both services. We used two
detail standing out is an expe- display, preferably one capable is smaller. The remote is much HDMI cables to be able to swap
rience. Ask anyone who has of 1080p which is called “full better laid out, with a separate between the Tata Sky and Dish
seen a Blu-ray version of Iron HD”. The maximum resolu- button for games and a good TV for testing HD quality. While
Man. A simple exercise for the tion offered by both Tata and dose of shortcut keys. The we could set a channel on Tata
non-believer – watch an HD Dish TV is 1080i, 1080p is not main TV menu has a much Sky and switch to it from Dish
1080p resolution of the movie possible as it requires signifi- more intuitive and convenient TV using the select source on the
and then rent and watch the cantly more bandwidth. Dish division of channels. Instead TV, we couldn’t switch back to
DVD version. When television TVs HD service is called “Dish of listing all channels like the the Dish TV channel, the Dish
service providers jumped on truHD”, while Tata Sky calls Tata Sky interface does, Dish TV box requires a restart before
TVs setup divides channels it works. This was annoying
under various headings, like because every time we had to
Hindi movies, English movies, restart the Dish TV box and re-
kids’ entertainment, business select the channel. It also spoiled
news etc. An alphabetic listing the continuity of viewing that is
is provided, but sadly, this isn’t important to discern finer dif-
as useful as it sounds. When ferences. With the same set-
browsing through channels on tings for colour and contrast,
the programme guide, the Tata the colour on the Dish TV setup
to the HD bandwagon we were theirs “Tata Sky HD”. These Sky was faster at displaying seems a little more saturated.
curious – after all, HD is an oft- are premium services, and the schedule of upcoming pro- There is slightly more noise vis-
abused term. HD also requires you can monitor the charges grammes, whereas on Dish TV, ible especially in faster moving
a lot of bandwidth, and airing for Tata Sky HD here: http:// the schedule has a delay of 2-3 scenes, and also a little less detail
TV channels in HD is no easy www.tatasky.com/hd/what-will- seconds. The volume on Dish in fast action scenes. Pixellation
task, especially for a bandwidth cost.html and Dish truHD here:
deprived/restricted (take your http://www.dishtv.in/HD_MICRO-
pick!) nation as ours. Only a few SITE/price.html. Existing cus-
select channels like National tomers get a waiver, and at the
Geographic and Discovery are moment Tata Sky is waiving
being aired in high-definition the installation charges, and
by providers; and we were offering existing users who TV is slightly louder than the on non-HD content seems to be
curious to see how good the upgrade a free subscription to default volume on Tata Sky, more apparent when compared
services really are. Remember their HD Gold Pack for a year. and this was noticed mostly to Tata Sky, and the noise level
that reception is a subjective Let’s take a look at both with the non-HD channels, with HD content is definitely
thing that differs from region to the options now. The Tata although there is a slight dif- higher. There also seems to be
region, so exceptions cannot be Sky set top box is bigger than ference in the volume of HD some minor tearing happening
ruled out, but our testing hap- the Dish TV one. The remote content as well. in fast scenes, although this vis-
pened in Chembur, Mumbai, provided is compact, but it fits We used a VU 42-inch ible with 24p content (movies)
out of our new office. the hand nicely. Build quality LED-backlit, full HD display and not 30p (television) content.
62 Digit | August 2010 | www.thinkdigit.com
Egg vs. chicken Fair and handsome
Supercomputer HECToR has helped British scientists in their research Vaseline launched a controversial Facebook app in
and provided the result that the chicken came before the egg India that makes men’s profile pictures look fair HD DTH test
And that wasn’t the end of the channels are being shot in lower ally more detail in some of the Box connects
weird occurrences on Dish TV – resolutions and upscaled. Nat moving scenes, but the colours Tata Sky
we couldn’t get the 1080i content Geo HD works perfectly with were more neutral on Tata Sky; RF in, RF out, USB – 2, HDMI – 1,
Coaxial (audio) – 1, Component – 1,
to natively fit the screen for any the 16:9 aspect ratio and we got Tata Sky also had less of an issue Composite - 1
of the Zee channels. When the a good chance to compare this with noise in the colour black.
base resolution is the same i.e. with Nat Geo HD on the Tata Both providers will be Dish TV
(Zenega D-6000 HD): IF in, IF out,
1920 x 1080 pixels, the content Sky – in our opinion, the Nat adding additional channels to USB – 1, HDMI – 1, optical (audio)
should occupy the entire screen Geo on Dish TV looks slightly their repository in the coming – 1, Component – 1, Composite - 1
without the ugly black bars to better – there is good colour that months. Tata Sky openly
maintain the aspect ratio. The is tonally accurate, and pretty announces plans for Star Plus standard definition content. If
quality of Zee Cinema HD looks good detail. Discovery HD also and Star Movies to be broadcast you’re looking to take the plunge,
decent, at a distance, but from looks very nice, and is about at in HD on their website, while you might want to wait a few
10-feet away there is noticeable par with Tata Sky’s broadcasting Dish TV is a little more secretive months, till a few more channels
noise, and also a surprising of the same. For Tata Sky there with their plans. At the present, hop aboard the HD bandwagon.
loss in finer detail, that should were only two channels avail- two and three HD channels And services will become
not be present in native 1080p able in HD – Discovery HD and might not seem much to brag cheaper as the adoption goes up,
content. Zee TV looks a little Nat Geo HD, there was another about, but channels like Dis- and competition gets tougher.
better, but there is a marked loss channel that was an on demand covery and National Geographic For now, we’d stick with the Tata
of detail in finer textures, and movie channel that we didn’t are ones where the extra detail Sky HD, simply because their
darker colours lose detail. For have access to. Tata Sky gives is really required – watch a cha- HD quality is at par with Dish
example, human hair appears as very good quality on both the meleon change colour, or a TV on the whole, they have
a black mass, with a lot of noise, channels, what we liked was the leopard bring down its prey in better deals, and their SD chan-
unlike typical 1080p/i content neutral colour, and great detail. high-definition, and, trust us, nels are better looking. However,
where the texture and detail is Nat Geo HD looked slightly you won’t want to go back to they’re also the ones with bigger
evident. It’s almost as if the Zee better on Dish TV with margin- blurry, detail-less, silly old promises to live up to.
Digit | August 2010 | www.thinkdigit.com 63
Dye Sublimation
Google Cloud Print A printing process that uses heat to transfer dye onto a
Google’s Cloud Print plans to enable any application on any medium such as photographic paper or fabric using cyan,
Photo printer test device (desktop or mobile) to print to any printer via the cloud magenta, yellow colours and an overcoating layer
cartridge for high contrast
text on a plain white paper.
The build quality of the printer
is quite decent. Tray quality is
a bit poor as the hinges around
it tend to shake a lot. It only has
two connections viz : power con-
nection and the USB interface.
PHOTOS.COM
After powering on the
printer, the first task involves
installing the five ink cartridges.
Before installing the cartridges,
you have to attach the print-
head in the correct manner.
While installing the drivers
you get a prompt to test
a print page for align-
ment of the printer head.
As this is a photo inkjet printer,
the glossy photo paper should
be inserted from the rear side
whereas the normal A4 paper
should be fed via the cassette
located at the base of the printer
Ever since we have replaced film cameras with digital ones, on the front side.
physical photo albums have become a rarity. We present some Opening the front panel
photo printers that will help you rekindle that old tradition. opens up the output tray.
The cassette has a capacity of
around 150 pages. The output
Nimish Sawant (yeah we know that is not a Canon PIXMA collector tray is located just
nimish.sawant@thinkdigit.com great number). We contacted iP3680 above the base cassette and
the respective brands well Canon PIXMA iP3680 is an comes out in the form of a ramp.
P
hotography has in advance, but with poor inkjet colour photo printer. Its The iP3680 has support for
become accessible response as well as some dam- design is similar to other Canon PictBridge. It comes bun-
to everyone around aged products dropped num- PIXMA models like iP2680, dled in with its regular set of
us. We click more bers. We managed to test one iP1980 etc, coming in a rec- softwares like Canon Solu-
photographs now than we did compact photo printer. tangular box having rounded tions, Easy PhotoPrint EX.
say ten years back. But one These printers are ideal to edges with a black glossy finish The user interace of the
common complaint we come be used at homes or in small throughout. It’s a practical printer is quite user friendly.
across is that the photographs office setups. Not only do they design with just two buttons on Printer is ideally suited
can only be viewed on a screen. print photographs, but can the right hand rounded edge for for home and SoHo users.
That romanticism of actually also be used for other work like power and cancelling printing.
touching real photo prints has printing documents or CD and The iP3680 uses CMYK Performance
definitely reduced since we DVD covers in some cases. The dye cartridge The iP3680 prints at a decent
decided to replace the camera printers that we got for testing ink and a pig- speed, neither too fast, nor
roll with an SD card. How cool are quite different from each ment black ink too slow as compared to the
would it be to have the photo other in various AUGUST 2010 other printers. It took around
developing studio come to you aspects, where some 30.9 seconds for a quality
than the other way round? can do WiFi, others mixed document print where
Photo printers are slowly come in wonderful as an economy print took 22
but surely catching on. form factors; some seconds. Quality of the print
Every major printer manu- come with a modest was quite satisfactory. In
facturer has some printer to two ink cartridges the photo tests it performed
address this growing need. whereas some as decently, specially in Photo 3
We tested around 7 printers many as eight. Canon Pixma iP3680 which was a portrait shot of
64 Digit | August 2010 | www.thinkdigit.com
Pencil Printer Bronzing
XPencil printer designed by Hoyoung Lee An effect which imparts a metallic bronze-colored
of Yanko Design uses lead shavings as ink sheen to areas of the print based on the amount of
when printing, which can later be erased ink in the printed area Photo printer test
two sisters. The colours do The top panel opens up and TX700W does not dissapoint button, a CD tray indicator
not over saturate at any point. acts as the feeder tray, whereas on that count. Coming in the and a four-way home button
Price: `5,595 a front panel acts as the output traditional black plastic body which allows you to directly
collector tray. Due to the small with a glossy finish with a switch modes from copying
Canon iP100 height of the front panel, you matte finished top panel. The to printing to scanning. In
A lot of the ultra compact photo will have to either collect each top portion of the all-in-one the centre we have a 2.5-inch
printers in the market are outputted paper manually or is the scanner section having colour LCD screen. Navi-
capable of doing only 4x6 inch keep the printer with some a flatbed type of scanner. gating through the various
print. Imagine carrying a port- desk space in front of it so that It uses as many as menus on the screen
able printer that can do A4 prints the output is manageable. six ink cartridges is quite simple with
just as good as it does 4x6 inch On opening the the help of the navi-
prints. Canon iP100 is the port- top panel, one comes gation buttons beside
AUGUST 2010
able inkjet printer whose form across the two but- the LCD screen. The
factor is such that it can allow tons viz: power and operational panel can
easy mobility. It’s an upgraded paper clearing button. go from a front facing
version of the Canon iP90v. The cartridges can be orientation to a top
The simple design phi- inserted by opening facing orientation by
losophy of the other Canon iP the panel alongside pressing the unlock
series of printers is followed the buttons. Setting button on its corner.
in the iP100 too. The printer up the ink tanks There is a blue light
that we got has a smooth silver should be done care- which is on when
matte finish all through out fully as it is slightly different Epson Stylus PHOTO TX700W the printer is working.
with glossy black side panels. from the standard cartidge. The all-in-one has lots of
A single black line on the top PictBridge is the only con- namely CMYK,light connectivity options like
panel has the Canon logo and the nectivity option present on magenta and light cyan. network printing, blue-
model number. On the outer sur- the printer. It does not sup- The front panel can be broadly tooth, WiFi, memory cards
face, there are no buttons or any port printing from a memory divided into three sections viz: and PictBridge. Setting
kind of operational panel. Power card and also it does not have the feeder trays, the opera- up the WiFi functionality
connector port is present on the any network printing support. tional panel and the memory throws up many issues.
left hand side where as the USB card and PictBridge slots.
port is on the right hand side Performance The design is quite inter- Performance
of the printer. This printer can Do not go by the size of the printer, esting with the feeder as well The TX700W is blazing fast
run on batteries. It comes with as its performance is up there. It as the output tray located on as compared to the other
an external battery which fits performed well in all the photo the front facing panel. Tray printers. But one annoying
into a plastic slot. This slot has tests, coming out tops in most of quality of the cassette is quite aspect we discovered while
to be screwed on the rear side them in terms of quality. How- impressive and it has an addi- printing was that when the
such that the battery ports are ever, one thing that was upset- tional tray on top to print CD photo prints were nearing
properly inserted in the space ting was the time it took to print covers. The trays have grey the end, the glossy paper
provided on the rear side. a mixed document - 101 seconds. coloured movable locks for used to get stuck to the
Build quality of the Specially when you compare this various size of papers ranging rollers and move sideways
printer is quite sturdy with how quickly it prints from 4x6 inches to A4 size. thus ruining the base of each
despite the small form the photographs. Memory card slots are photo print. Now whether
factor. The same It took 171 sec- present on the right hand this was the problem with
cannot be said for onds for Photo corner. There is a slot for this particular piece, we
the tray quality 1 and 221 seconds SD/MSPro/xD card and can’t be sure. This affected
though. for Photo 3, which another one for CF cards. A its performance scores. It took
was 20 to 30 seconds PictBridge port is present 120, 126 and 140 seconds for
faster than the Canon just beside the card slots, Photo 1, Photo 2 and Photo
iP3680. Price: allowing you to print off a 3 respectively. Photo 3 gave
`15,695 camera directly without then a good output giving crisp col-
need of a computer. ours. Printing off a memory
Epson Stylus The operational panel card also too under 75 sec-
PHOTO TX700W on the printer occupies the onds which was the fastest
Epson printers are impressive place of pride. The left hand amongst all the printers.
Canon iP100
to look at and Stylus Photo portion comprises the power Price: `13,999
Digit | August 2010 | www.thinkdigit.com 65
Droid X sells out HP Designjet 3D
Motorola’s Droid X sold out HP’s Designjet 3D printer is capable of turning 3D CAD
online on the first day and is drawings to tangible prototypes using molten plastic
Photo printer test running short on supply layers on top of one another to give 3D models
HP Photosmart Contact Sheet
C4688 and C4788 Brand Contact Phone E-mail Website
Canon Canon India Pvt Ltd 1800 345 3366 info@canon.co.in www.canon.co.in
HP sent us two printers from
Epson Epson India +91-80-3051 5000 think@eid.epson.co.in www.epson.co.in
the Photosmart series namely HP HP India 99535 99212 bharat.kharbanda@hp.com www.hp.com
C4688 and C4788. Both these
printers are completely iden- from falling off. Tray quality fully so in some cases. Photo greater dimensions to acco-
is quite sturdy in 2 and Photo 3 took over 5 min- modate the A3 paper. Both the
both the printers. utes for C4788 and around 7 input feeder tray and output
Apart from the minutes for C4688. The quality collector tray extend outwards
power button, was not the best among all the from the plane of the printer,
there is no other printers. It fared well in the so you need sufficient space
button on either sample photo tests (photo 1 on your desk to accomodate
of the all-in-ones. and photo 2) but in the portrait the R1900.
A 1.45-inch colour photo (photo 3) it was not that It comes in a black and
HP Photosmart C4688 LCD screen is located on the great. C4688 tended to oversat- silver body. There is no opera-
left hand top edge. We felt that urate the colours giving. Also, tional panel, only four buttons
tical except for the fact that the screen size is quite small the skin tones looked some- on the top. It has very limited
C4788 has the WiFi connec- and the fonts used even smaller. what overtly bright in C4688. connectivity options. There is
tivity option whereas the C4688 However, the touch sensitive Printing off a memory card also a PictBridge slot on the lower
does not. Both the models are controls located around the took 249 seconds and left hand corner. R1900 does
all-in-ones having function- screen are a welcomed addi- 302 seconds for C4788 not have network connectivity,
ality of scanning and copying tion. There are three con- and C4688 respectively. instead it has two USB inter-
apart from the regular printing. trols like OK, back and don’t Price: `7,570 (C4688) and faces to connect to two systems
The all-in-ones come in an all select (denoted by an X) on `6,267 (C4688) at a time.
the left hand side This printer has as many
whereas three Epson Stylus Photo as eight cartridges. There are
selection slits on R1900 two black cartridges namely
the right hand side. An upgrade from the older Glossy black (GBK) for glossy
R1800, the Epson Stylus Photo paper prints and matte black
Performance printer R1900 was the only A3 (MBK) for matte photo papers.
HP Photosmart photo printer that we tested. In addition to the regular cyan,
printers are slow This printer occupies a lot of magenta and yellow cartridges
HP Photosmart C4788 operators. Pain- space thanks to its relatively there are red and orange car-
black glossy body with the HOW WE TESTED
HP logo emblazoned on the
top panel. The front panel is For the photo printer we used the printers, as you would also card support, wifi, network etc
somewhat unconventional in the same rig as we have used for use the photo printer to print had an edge over others. Ease
terms of aesthetics as it isnt all the printers in the past ie. an documents. of installation, build quality and
smooth one body front panel. Intel Pentium 4 with 2 GB of RAM. We identified 6-7 regions in printer setup was also evaluated
It is covered by the input feeder As this was a photo printer test, each of the photograph and gave for each printer.
tray which reveals the printer we had tested the printers using a score out of 10 to each region Although we had given clear
paper rollers on opening. To three test photographs. Photo 1 as compared to other printers. instructions to all the participating
insert the tri-channel colour was the photo we use for all our An average of this score was brands that we were testing only
and black cartridge, one has printer tests, which covers a wide assigned as th Quality score in the the photo printing prowess of the
to open the front panel after gamut of objects, patterns, faces log sheet. This was done so as to printer, we got a couple of printers
lowering the input feeder tray. etc. Photo 2 was another sample cover all aspects of the printout with a scanner and copier func-
There is no paper collection or photo which had only objects shot rather than be biased by one par- tionality. So to prevent an unfair
output tray. The paper comes against a black backdrop. This ticular aspect of the printout. advantage to the pure photo
out from the front portion. A helped us assess the quality of Apart from the printer per- printers, we did not allot any
grey plastic extender tray is black colour printed. Photo 3 was formance, we also gave points to weightage to copiers and scan-
located under the input tray a human portait showing two sis- the features offered by the printer. ners. But just to give you an idea
which when ejected out lies ters. We also included one mixed Those having extra connectivity of their importance, we recorded
perpendicular to the input tray document print test to check all options like PictBridge, memory the timings.
and prevents the output paper
66 Digit | August 2010 | www.thinkdigit.com
XX Photo printer test
AUGUST 2010 AUGUST 2010
Brand Canon HP HP Canon Epson Epson Canon
Photosmart Photosmart Stylus Office Stylus Photo
Model PIXMA iP 3680 PIXMA iP100 Selphy CP780
C4788 C4688 TX700W R1900
Price (`) 5,595 7,570 6,267 15,695 13,999 39,999 5,995
Grand Total (Out of 100) 47.55 50.18 42.51 47.48 76.52 49.79 NA*
Features (Out of 40) 9.20 17.30 13.30 8.70 31.30 9.18 NA*
Performance (Out of 60) 38.35 32.88 29.21 38.78 45.22 40.61 NA*
Features
Maximum print resolution (dpi) 9600 x 2400 4800 x 1200 4800 x 1200 9600 x 2400 5760 x 1440 5760 x 1440 300 x 300
Power Saving Mode (Y/N) N N N N N N N
Duplex printing (Y/N) N N N N N N N
Ink Saving Mode (Y/N) N N N N N N N
Zoom / Fit to Page (Y/N) N Y Y N Y N N
Colour Correction on printer (Y/N) N N N N Y N N
Size of display on printer (inch) NA 1.45 1.45 NA 2.5 NA 2.5
Number of Cartridges Used 5 2 2 2 6 8 1
Photo Black,
Matte Black,
CMYK, Light cyan,
Cartridge Colours CMYK Black Colour,Black Colour,Black Colour, Black CMY, red, CMYO
light magenta
Orange, Gloss
optimizer
Scanner (Y/N) N Y Y N Y N N
Print Memory NA 64 MB 64 MB NA NA NA NA
Connectivity
PictBridge Support (Y/N) Y N N Y Y Y Y
USB Flash Drive Support (Y/N) N N N N N N N
Network printing support (Y/N) N N N N Y N N
WiFi support (Y/N) N Y N N Y N N
Bluetooth Printing (Y/N) N N N N Y N N
Memory Card support (Y/N) N Y Y N Y N Y
Fax (Y/N) N N N N N N N
Performance
Photo 1 (Quality) 5.83 6.16 5.58 6.25 5.75 4.17 6
Photo 1 (Time) 191 277 348 171 120 46.5 58.3
Photo 2 (Quality) 5.5 6.08 5.83 6.25 5.08 5 5.6
Photo 2 (Time) 183 326 414 196 126 165 58.2
Photo 3 (Quality) 6.7 5 4.1 6.6 6 5.8 5.8
Photo 3 (Time) 253 358 451 221 140 177 58.5
Mixed Document (Quality) 4.35 4.71 4.71 5.42 5 4.29 NA
Mixed Document (Time) 30.9 74 71 101 54.2 37.4 NA
Mixed Document (Economy) 5.5 3.5 3 5 2 2 NA
Mixed Doxument (Time) 22.1 14.5 16 25 12.3 21.1 NA
Printing Photo 3 off USB/PictBridge/ 69 (pictbridge),
330 249 302 259 74 150
Memory card (Time) 74 (SD card)
Scanning (Time) NA 40 37 NA 25 NA NA
Copying (Time) NA 38 41 NA 36 NA NA
Miscellaneous
Power cable, Power cable, Power cable, Power cable, Power cable, USB Power cable, Power cable,
Bundled Cables
USB cable USB cable USB cable USB cable cable, LAN cable USB cable USB cable
HP Solution HP Solution Epson Easy Photo Epson Print
Software Supplied Canon Utilities Canon Utilities Canon Utilities
Centre Centre EX CD software
Dimensions (W x D x H)(mm) 431 x 296 x 153 442 x 421 x 169 442 x 421 x 169 322 x 185 x 62 446 x 385 x 150 617.2x322.5x213.6 176 x 132.6 x 75.6
Weight (Kg) 5.6 4.6 4.6 2 9 12.2 0.94
Build Quality
Body 6 6.5 6.5 6.5 8 6 7
Folding / Hinges 6 7 7 5 7 6.5 7
Tray Quality 7 6.5 6.5 4 7.5 7.5 4
Buttons 6.5 7 7 7 6.5 6 6.5
Ease of Use
Hardware Connections 7 7 7 7 7 7 7
Cartridge Installation 6.5 6.5 6.5 5.5 6 6 6
Paper loading 6.5 7 7 6.5 6 6.5 6.5
Software User Interface 6.5 6 6 6.5 6.5 6 6
* No score was given to Canon Selphy CP780 as it’s a 4x6 inch printer while all others were scored for A4 prints
Digit | August 2010 | www.thinkdigit.com 67
Facebook at a theatre near you
‘The Social network’, a movie on popular social networking site
Photo printer test Facebook is to be released on October 01, 2010
tridges. Apart from the seven you to minimise this problem see if the bundled cartridges TX700W comes with myriad
colour cartridges there is a by spraying the entire print were inserted in the correct features like WiFi, Bluetooth
gloss optimizer (GO) cartridge. with a gloss optimiser spray. slots. Inspite of that, we noticed and also functions like copier
GO helps in reducing the effect Installing the cartridges is quite a slightly dull printout. All the and scanner (no points were
of bronzing - a phenomenon straightforward. Setting up the printer settings were at default. awarded for these functionali-
where if you look at a glossy printer is easy. The R1900 also Photo 1 lacked contrast. Photo ties though).
print from an angle, light will has a provision to print CD and 3 which had human subjects Best Buy was awarded to
reflect differently on areas DVD covers. there is a separate appeared really nice though, Canon iP 3680 for its sweet
with little ink than from areas tray to insert the cover paper. with skin tones that werent too price point of `5,595. Its per-
having lot of ink. R1900 allows bright, a problem we noted with formance outscored both the
Performance many previous printers. Mixed HP printers.
R1900 performed well in most document printing also strictly Apart from these printers,
of the tests when it came to OK, nothing great to talk about we felt that the pricing of Canon
speed, but its quality was not in the quality of the print. iP100 is way off the mark. It is
as good as we expected Price: `39,999 ideal for someone who is con-
from a printer stantly travelling and wants
having eight Conclusion instant printouts. The addi-
cartridges. We Epson Stylus Photo TX700W tional battery provided with
rechecked the was awarded as the Best the printer can be a boon in
cartridges to Performer for its fast, good places where there is no pro-
quality print speeds. HP vision of direct power.
Photosmart printers gave Epson R1900 is strictly
good quality prints as well, meant for office use. It’s not fea-
but they took insane amount sible for home use as it will
of time because of which need a large desk space plus it
they lost out in the per- does not make economic sense
formance scores. Moreover, to print A3 prints at home.
Epson Stylus Photo R1900
Canon Selphy CP780
U
ltra compact portable printer extremely portable. It also card slots populate the left hand each to print the three test
printers are flooding has a provision to add an external corner on the front panel. It has photos. The glossy paper that
the market, thanks battery, thus reducing the need support for SD/mini SD/MMC+/ Canon bundled along with the
to digital cameras for a power source. However, the RS-MMC/CF/MS/MS Duo cards. ink cassette has perforations on
becoming a necessity in our lives. model we tested was done using a Due to the compact size, this either side. It is advisable to not
The joy of physically flipping power source. Canon Selphy CP780 printer makes use of printing get rid of the perforations till the
through photo albums cannot be comes in a white plastic body with a by dye sublimation technique. photograph is printed. One thing
matched. Canon Selphy CP780 silver top portion. There is a 2.5 inch These print the photograph by that dissappointed us, in this
is one photo printer that can be LCD screen which is surrounded passing the photo paper through otherwise fast printer, was that
used to quickly take 4x6 inch by the operational panel buttons. the rollers four times, once each while printing borderless, some
prints of your photographs either The top portion has a wavy design for each of the C,M,Y and the portion of the image leaked into
from the PictBridge port or the making it quite attractive to look overcoat layer. It is fascinating the perforated sides. The colours
variety of memory card slots. at. All the buttons like power, to see the photograph being are quite vibrant. But we noticed
The compact size makes this photo menu, back, print and navigation developed as it passes through a prominent layer of dust or some
buttons are rubberised. The printer the rollers and superimposing sort of noise on the darker portions
comes with two trays, one for a the individual colours to get the of the photograph. This may be
postcard size paper and the other final output. The overcoat layer due to microscopic dust being
for a visiting card size. These trays forms a thin laminative protective deposited on the photo before the
have a two way plastic panel covering over the photo to prevent overcoating. We tried our best to
acting as a lock. There is no output discolouration from UV light and air. print it in a clean enviornment,
collection tray. On the right hand side but the noise never reduced. We
is the slot to insert the ink rollers. Performance couldn’t compare this printer to the
It has PictBridge port on the left This printer is quick to print 4x6 others in this for the sake of fairness.
hand side whereas the memory prints. It took around 58 seconds Price: `5,995
68 Digit | August 2010 | www.thinkdigit.com
NSN eats Motorola Help wanted
As part of a planned breakup, Motorola Inc is selling its wireless Mozilla has upped the ante by now offering $3000 to security
Bazaar network division to Nokia Siemens Networks for a sum of $1.2 billion researches for reports on security bugs in its applications
ZOTAC GeForce GTX 460
NVIDIA GTX460 arrives Specifications
GeForce GTX460 675MHz
Z
OTACs GeForce likes to put it) and 56 texture GPU, 1 GB GDDR5 256-bit
GTX460 reaches the units. These cards like memory interface, Con-
test centre. With the the other in their nects: HDMI , 2 DVI,
highly anticipated and series are DirectX DisplayPort, DirectX 11 and
delayed launch of their GTX400 11 and OpenGL OpenGL 4.0 compliant
series cards, NVIDIA’s next in 4.0 compliant.
line is the GTX460. AMD already The ZOTAC Contact
has a head start with most of their GeForce GTX460 uses Aditya Infotech Ltd
cards. the stock cooler that keeps the cards don’t quite match up to Phone: +91-11-4666 5666
The GTX460 goes head-on card adequately cool. There are the Radeon 5850 as expected. E-mail: sales@adi-
against the Radeon 5850, their two DVI ports, an HDMI and a However, the GTX460 cards tyagroup.com
somewhat affordable cards. DisplayPort connector. The per- are priced quite lower than the Web site: www.zotac.com
Straight on to the specs, the formance of the card through Radeon 5850. At `14,999, the Price: `14,999
40nm GTX460 comes in two the benchmarks shows that the ZOTAC GTX460 is close to
variants –768MB memory with ZOTAC 1GB card with its supe- `3,500 cheaper than the ASUS
the 192-bit memory interface and rior memory bandwidth has an overclocked GTX460. With the 7.5
the other with 1 GB with the 256- advantage of around 3 per cent superior bandwidth, there’s little 10
bit interface. The ZOTAC card in most games, which it loses out difference in performance, so
Features ...........................7.5
we’ve tested is the 1GB version. with games such as Company of there’s really no confusion. The Performance ..................7.5
The core speed of the GTX460 Heroes. 3D Mark Vantage only ZOTAC is the better of the two Build Quality.......................7
is 675MHz, and the GPU houses shows a difference of 0.5 per cent cards as far as value-for-money Value for money............7.5
336 CUDA cores (as NVIDIA between them. Both the GTX460 is concerned.
ASUS ENGTX460 TOP
Already an overclocked GTX460
Specifications
T
GeForce GTX460 700MHz he second of the two card, then the ASUS would get
GPU, 768 MB GDDR5 192-bit meteors to land was more points.
memory interface, Connects: the still scorching The overclocked
2 DVI, 1 HDMI port, DirectX ASUS ENGTX460 card should be able
11 and OpenGL 4.0 complaint TOP. The card is a 768MB, 192- to make up for the
bit version of the GTX460 with lower memory band-
Contact the other feature set constant. width. Across all the tests,
Vinay Shetty The first thing to notice is it stayed slightly behind the
Phone: +91-22-6766 8800 the custom cooler with 2 heat ZOTAC GeForce GTX460, but At `18,450, the option of
E-mail: reachus@asus.com pipes. We later noticed that the nothing that would be visible overclocking it a little more
Web site: www.asus.in temperatures weren’t too dif- while gaming. It managed to is the only incentive you have.
Price: `18,450 ferent from the ZOTAC card keep up with the other 1GB 256- If that’s not on your mind, then
– on idle or load. If you were bit card. Scores for the card are the ZOTAC GeForce GTX460
7 looking for a pretty looking given in the table below. is the way to go.
10 Brand ASUS ZOTAC
Model ENGTX460 TOP 768MB GeForce GTX460 1GB
Features ...........................7.5 3D Mark Vantage (Overall) 14692 14766
Performance ..................7.5 3D Mark Vantage GPU 12025 12111
Crysis Warhead (1680 x 1050, DX 10, Enthusiast) 25 26
Build quality........................7 STALKER Clear Sky (Day, 1680 x 1050, 4xAA, DX10, Extreme) 28.9 29.8
Value for money............... 6 Far Cry 2 (1680 x 1050, Ultra High, 4x AA) 76.67 80.09
Company Of Heroes: ToV (1680 x 1050, 4x AA, Max Detail) 101.4 97.6
70 Digit | August 2010 | www.thinkdigit.com
Firefox on iPhone & iPad Linux to dominate
Firefox Home is now available as a free app According to market survey, Linux will have a bigger chunk of the pie by
to browse content on the iPhone & iPad having a market share of 62 per cent in the non-smartphone category Bazaar
Dell Inspiron 560s
Small (cheap) wonder
S
Specifications
T
he new Dell Inspiron well as to play some
560s comes in a slim, basic games. Intel Core 2 Duo E7500,
In
attractive package Performance is 3 GB RAM, ATI Radeon
and at `25,400, it’s modest in all aspects. 4350 Graphics card
43
very affordable too. The cabinet PC Mark Vantage
has been designed in a way that churns out 5225 points, C
Contact
it can be placed horizontally while video encoding D
Dell India Pvt. Ltd.
or even vertically. The DVD of a 100 MB file took Phone: +91-80-2506 8026
P
drive eject buttons are hidden 47 seconds. Doom 3 a slow fan on top that helps in E-mail: Suhas_j@dell.com
away and the bright glossy demo run ended up with an expelling some heat. Web site: www.dell.co.in
front only has buttons for the average frame rate of 97.8 fps As a customer, you get five Price: `25,400
power switch, USB ports and at medium detail at a resolu- different colours to choose
audio connectors. tion of 800x600. This is very from for the case. We like the
As far as system configura- decent for a system priced at fact that you get essential 6.5
tion’s go, it’s very basic but the this price. gaming performance from a PC 10
Core 2 Duo E7500 along with We didn’t notice any heating this cheap. Those looking for Features ...............................7
3 GB of memory has enough up issues, neither was there assembled systems can safely Performance ......................7
punch to do most tasks. The any vibration or noise from go in for one of the Inspiron Build.......................................7
ATI Radeon 4350 has enough the cabinet. A simple heatsink 560s that come with a discrete Value......................................5
power to play HD movies as cools the processor, but there’s graphics solution and rest easy.
Vu LED-40T28R
‘Vu’ing has a price
Specifications
V
u LED-40T28R USB data is decent, can
40-inch screen, 1920x1080 is a 40-inch LED play HD content which is
resolution, composite/ TV with a black surprising. We wouldn’t
USB/coaxial/D-SUB/com- glossy finish and recommend depending
ponents ports, 2X10W with just 10 watts per channel on it for all your HD
internal speakers for sound. It’s one of the first playback, because there
LED backlit TVs from Vu. are quite a few popular
Contact The stand looks good formats it won’t play.
VU Technologies and is sturdy. It provides the When it comes to the
Phone: +91-22-2837 7300 facility of horizontal swivel display quality, this tel-
E-mail: info@technologies.vu to the television. However, it evision doesn’t impress.
Web site: www.tech- doesn’t come with any clear Most of the images
nologies.vu wall mounting provisions and movies show clear
Price: `70,000 although the manual says it the right bottom, are easy to banding.
does. The bezel is thicker than handle, even at night. The menu At `70,000, it’s costlier than
6 we’d like. is simple to use, but Vu could a standard LCD TV. In perform-
10 The ports at the back are
smartly arranged to save space.
have worked a bit on the aes-
thetics and design a little more.
ance, it’s certainly not bad, but
we would still recommend
Features ...........................6.5 The horizontal swivel is good The TV is very thin at just 3.5 going in for a regular LCD TV
Performance ..................6.5 but we’ve seen better swivel cm in depth, but it goes to 26cm for a lot less. We’ve seen Vu
Build Quality.......................7 with some of the brands we’ve if you’re using the stand. coming out with better prod-
Value for Money ................5 tested. The touch-sensitive Viewing angles are also ucts and this is just one more
buttons on the TV placed on good. The internal player for of those.
Digit | August 2010 | www.thinkdigit.com 71
Modern Kitchen Pole dance by bike
Oasis is a interactive countertop technology from Kevin Scott, a young U.K. industrial designer,has invented a bicycle with a
Bazaar Intel that will teach you how to cook flexible frame that allows it to be locked to a pole without using a separate lock
BenQ V920
Slim and Sturdy
B
enQ V920 is a slim
18.5-inch LED mon- Specifications
itor. It has a sturdy screen size: 18.5 inch;
build, with no hori- interface: DVI / D-Sub;
zontal or vertical swivel. The 1366×768 resolution;
build quality is poor as the thickness:14mm; response
components used for height time: 5ms; power:17W
adjustment are not impres-
sive. The metal clip at the back Contact
panel for height adjustment BenQ India Pvt Ltd.
looks odd. The key feature of Phone: 1800-419-9979
this monitor is low power con- E-mail: sales.enquiryin@
sumption. BenQ.com
Unlike the width of this Web site: www.BenQ.co.in
monitor, we were not quite Price: `8,999
impressed with its perform-
ance. We could see banding not find any other impressive energy efficiency, you may go
in the Displaymate tests. features for this monitor. We for this monitor. But at `8,999, 5
Also while watching high missed the swivel and height we don’t recommend this mon- 10
definition videos, we could adjustment feature as well. itor to our readers. You may
Features ...........................6.5
see shaded bands in the Also, the OSD keys are diffi- get a better performing and Performance ......................5
outdoor scenes. Crysis did cult to use. bigger monitors for this price Build Quality...................5.5
not look very immersive. If you want to save space like 20-inch LG 2043T, 22-inch Value for money............5.5
Apart from being slim we could and you want to have better AOC 2236VW.
Specifications
Capacity : 500 GB;
Verbatim Mobile Hard Drive
Weight : 140g; Dimensions Affordable drive with performance
(WxDxH in mm) : 115x12x76;
V
Interface : USB 2.0; erbatim’s 500 GB
mobile hard drive is
Contact quite portable and
Verbatim Marketing has a sleek black
India Pvt ltd. glossy body. The build quality
Phone: +91-11-4652 5661 is quite strong, but the glossy
Email: customerservice@ body is a dust magnet. It is one
verbatim.co.in of those portable drives that
Website: www.verbatim.com have an option of operating in
Price: `3,500 the Turbo mode which claims
to enhance the speed of the drive.
6.5 We tested the drive on an
Intel X58 motherboard with 33 and 28 Mbps (for 32 MB (single file) and 22.14 MB/s
10 an Intel Core i7 965 processor, file). Si Soft Sandra 2010 gave a (assorted file), whereas reding
Features: ............................. 6 Corsair 4 GB DDR3 RAM and R/W scores of 33 and 29 MB/s the same 4 GB file gave higher
Performance: .................6.5 a Corsair 620 W power supply. respectively. The real life tests speeds of 32.25 Mbps (single file)
Build Quality:......................7 The drive gave decent scores. gave scores that were a bit on and 41 Mbps (assorted file).
Value for money:...........6.5 In the HD Tach test we got an the lower side. Writing a 4 GB At `3,500, it’s decent and gets
average read/write speeds of file gave speeds of 28.44 MB/s a thumbs up from us.
72 Digit | August 2010 | www.thinkdigit.com
Microbes in your cell Nokia’s magical Kinetic concept
Exxon Mobil said Wednesday it opened a greenhouse facility to grow Kinetic from Nokia responds to notifications through
and test algae, the next step for its nascent bio-fuels program movements e.g. By standing up Bazaar
Siemens Gigaset S880
Cordless comes with a price
S
iemens Gigaset S880 at the back is good for fixing
is a cordless phone the handset.
with some improved This phone has features Specifications
features over previous like contact list, free internal Frequency : 2.4 Ghz; 150
versions. Siemens Gigaset calls between two handsets entries phone directory
S880 acts as a base station and registration of multiple
that can register up to 4 Gigaset handsets within single base Contact
S88H handsets. station and directory transfer Gigaset Communi-
It is lighter when compared between two handsets. Fea- cations India
to the previous generation of tures like alarm clock and Phone: +91-22- 4003 6435
cordless phones. The charger multiple language support E-mail: arvind.prasad.
provided is also light, but are also present. ext@gigaset.com
doesn’t stick to the base and For calls, voice clarity on Web site: www.gigaset.com
has a propensity to fall off. We the receiver side is good, but Price: `6,400
found that the handset could the ear phone sound quality
easily fall off if not taken care is poor. Calls drop when you
of. The keypad is similar to the change floors. Also the net- is also poor. At Rs.6,400 this 5
basic cellphone keypad, but work reception is poor. This set is really not a value-for- 10
keys don’t give a better grip phone should have provided money product. There are no
Features: ............................. 6
and the keypad often wobbles. more features such as mes- impressive features bundled Performance: .....................7
The screen is good for small saging, and also provision for with this phone. One can get Build quality:...................5.5
utilities. The black finish adds games. Sound quality needs a better cordless phone at this Value for money:...........4.5
to the looks. The clip provided to be improved. Build quality price with more features.
ASUS ROG Rampage III
Specifications
Chipset : Intel X58 (NB)
– ICH10R (SB); 2 USB 3.0
Extreme
ports; dual BIOS chips; 6 An enthusiast’s object of pride
Gbps x 2 SATA ports; 4 PCIe
A
x16 slots; LGA 1366 socket sus’s ROG series with certain features
motherboards like ROG Connect,
Contact are choc-a-bloc Bluetooth remote con-
ASUS Technology Pvt Ltd. with features and trol and TurboV. ROG
Phone: 1800 209 0365 Rampage III Extreme does connect allows you to
Email: reachus@asus.com not dissapoint. Rampage III connect your board
Website: www.asus.in Extreme is an Intel X58 board. to another system via
Price: `30,650 One has to be very careful USB for overclocking and mon- ferring a 4 GB file took around
around the intricate heatsink itoring. We tested the system 90 seconds. STALKER : Clear
6.5 as it tends to heat a lot and using a Core i7 965 processor, Sky gave a frame rate of 94 fps
the design has lots of sharp Corsair 4 GB DDR3 RAM and a (1280x1024, low) and Crysis
10 edges. It supports USB 3.0. Sparkle GTX 285 graphics card. scored 54 fps (1280x1024,
Features: ..............................8 An interesting addition is the It gave impressive PC Mark High).
Performance: .....................7 four switches placed adjacent Vantage score of 9234 marks. A steep pricing of `30,650
Build Quality:......................7 to the Start and Reset buttons, In video encoding it took a ensures that this motherboard
Value for money:.............. 4 for the disabling/enabling the mere 24 secs to convert a 100 is meant for enthusiast gamers
PCI express x16 slots. It comes MB VOB file to DivX. Trans- and overclockers.
Digit | August 2010 | www.thinkdigit.com 73
Wheelchair to disappear Apple’s Antenna
A new pair of robotic legs out of New Zealand lets wheelchair users During a ress conference, Steve jobs announced free iPhone
Bazaar do the improbable-stand, walk, and even go up and down stairs 4 cases for all to overcome iPhone’s weak signal problem
Seagate FreeAgent GoFlex &
Upgrade cable Specifications
Interface : GoFlex (upgrade-
An upgradable portable hard drive able to USB 3.0); Weight :
150 g; Dimesions (WxLxH
W
e know that This 500 GB drive comes in mm): 83 x 14 x 111
portable hard in an all red body with a glossy
drives come front and a matte rear finish. The Contact
with the interface adapter attaches on the Fortune Marketing
standard mini USB interface via lower edge of the drive which is Phone: +91-11-2641 4468
which its connected to the system. connected to the USB wire con- Email: sales@fortune-it.com
But Seagate’s FreeAgent series’ necting it to the port. There are Website: www.seagate.com
latest GoFlex series portable two slits of white light which act Price: `6,500 (HDD) and
hard drive comes with a interface as status indicators. as well as USB 3.0 interfaces. The `3,000 (upgrade cable)
adapter which allows it to be used We got a GoFlex USB 3.0 test system comprised a USB3.0
as a USB2.0 drive and also allows upgrade cable separately. The compatible Crosshair IV Formula
upgradation to USB 3.0. drive was tested for both USB2.0 motherboard. The real life test 6
Interface USB 2.0 USB3.0
scores for both the interfaces are 10
Real World Tests given alongside.
Features: ..........................6.5
File Write 4 GB Single File (MBps) 32.51 75.85 At `6,500 we feel the drive Performance: .................6.5
File Write Test Assorted 4 GB File (MBps) 23.95 44.04
Read Test Single 4 GB File (MBps) 32.77 77.28 is a bit overly priced. Also the Build Quality:..................7.5
Read Test Assorted 4 GB File (MBps) 31.27 73.14 upgrade cable comes at a grand Value for money:.............. 4
PhotoShop CS2 (1 GB File, in MBps) 14.63 17.96 price of `3,000.
Cowon J3
Ridiculous pricing
Specifications
C
OWON’s next flash The key feature, of this
Audio formats: MP3/2, based PMPs is the player like many other
WMA, FLAC, OGG, WAV, new J3.This portable Cowon players, is that it
ID3, APE; Video formats: player sports a sleek can play lots of popular
DivX 3/4/5, Xvid SP/ design, a 3.2-inch AMOLED audio formats such as
ASP, wmv 7/8/9; 3.3-inch touchscreen and also an MP3 and WMA and even
AMOLED touchscreen internal speaker. We’re quite lossless formats such as
surprised by its light weight. FLAC. It plays most of
Contact It comes in two colours - black the video formats other
Lipap Systems Pvt. Ltd. and white; we received the than MP4, 3GP and MKV.
Phone: +91-22-4003 2653 black one. There are plenty of equal-
Web site: www.cowonindia.in There are basic controls izer and effects present to
Price: `9,750 lined along the edges of the try and enhance the audio. be heard but there are cer-
player. The dedicated keys for The touch response is tain ranges of frequencies it
music makes changing tracks impressive and the player also doesn’t play. In all, the sound
6 easy. The internal speaker
sounds good although there is
has an accelerometer. TV-out
is also available which is a
quality is average.
The price of `9,750 is exor-
10 some distortion at high volumes neat little feature. bitant for a 4GB player. For
Features ...............................7 even though it isn’t very loud. Audio quality of the ear- a little more, an Apple iPod
Performance ..................... 6 FM radio is supported and the plugs is average. There is Touch for example can let you
Build Quality.......................7 reception is decent. However we some bass but nothing like browse the web and use apps
Value for Money ............3.5 could not find a USB adapter the ones you find on decent in addition to good audio and
for charging with the package. in-ear phones. Highs also can video playback performance.
74 Digit | August 2010 | www.thinkdigit.com
Pen is mightier Unmanned weapon
Livescribe has recently launched a next generation digital Britain’s Ministry of Defense recently unveiled an unmanned stealth
pen echo that can record sound in sync with the words attack aircraft, that chooses its own targets without human intervention Bazaar
ASUS VG236H But as this is the first genera-
tion of 3D monitors, effects
are not smooth and visually
A new dimension in monitors appealing.
This monitor gave a rather Specifications
A
SUS presents the Perhaps the biggest feature impressive 734:1 contrast ratio screen : 23-inch (58.4cm);
next generation and the reason for its `41,000 when we tested it with out resolution : 1920 x 1080;
of 3D LCD moni- price tag is the NVIDIA Spyder3 Elite. However with video input: Dual-link DVI-D
tors with their 3D Vision support for 3D Displaymate colour tests, a (support NVIDIA 3D Vision)
new VG236H model, which is display. The monitor goes up different story came in light. / Component(YPbPr) /
a 23-inch HD1080 LCD mon- to 120Hz for that very reason. We noticed that there was HDMI ; response time : 2 ms
itor. In terms of style, it’s neat However, it was very diffi- some banding across all colors
looking with its glossy black cult to get that working. The especially in black, which had Contact
finish. 3D effect works well in dark a little bit of red and greens Vinay Shetty
Along with the standard but is not very impressive. being rendered with the some Phone: +91-22-6766 8800
DVI, it also has an shades of Grey. We E-mail: reachus@asus.com
HDMI input as well as noticed no lag in games. Web site: www.asus.in
component connectors. This is a monitor Price: `41,000
Speakers aren’t part of destined for gamers. (excluding taxes)
the package. But at `41,000, you can
One of the key fea- opt for a good quality
tures is the height panel such as the 6.5
adjustment and front 27-inch Dell U2711 with 10
swivel. The OSD con- a resolution of 2560 x
Features: ..........................7.5
trols are present on the 1440, that is much more Performance: .....................7
right bottom of the dis- than that provided by Build Quality:..................... 6
play and the interface of this monitor. Value for Money: ...............5
the OSD is simple to use.
Specifications
Alienware M11x benchmarks. PC Mark Van-
tage churns out 2,826 points
whereas the video encoding
Processor:Intel Core 2 U7300; Not ridiculously good test took 162 seconds to encode
RAM: 4 GB; Graphics card: a 100 MB file. Doom 3 scores
T
NVIDIA GeForce GT335M; he new Alienware comes with Intel Core 2 U7300 aren’t very impressive either.
HDD capacity: 500GB; M11x is here to thrill processor and a NVIDIA In short, the performance is
11-inch 1366x768 display you. Weighing in at GeForce GT 335M graphics decent but nothing that will
around 2 kg, it’s not card. match a decent gaming desktop.
very heavy and it’s 11.6-inch Performance is decent The display renders decent
Contact widescreen format ensures that when it comes to application colours but the viewing angles
Dell India Pvt. Ltd. you don’t have a aren’t great.
Phone: +91-80-2506 8026 bulky laptop Unlike most Alienware
E-mail: Suhas_j@dell.com either. The down- gaming PCs and laptops, it’s
Web site: www.dell.co.in side is the lack of not extremely expensive, but
Price: `70,000 an optical drive. it’s not very cheap either. It’s
The front panel a basic gaming laptop that
is good, but the doesn’t come with the over-
7 keys on the keypad the-top graphics performance
10 are kind of cramped. that we’ve seen in the past from
Features: ..............................7 It also has some extra laptops with two graphics
Performance: .....................7 features like changing cards, espe-
Build quality:.......................7 keypad display colour cially from
Value for money:...........4.5 like that in Dell Aurora. brands such
The Alienware M11x as Alienware.
Digit | August 2010 | www.thinkdigit.com 75
Transformers rising MS Kinect
China has developed a Giant robot named Optimus Prime Kinect,motion gaming technology from Microsoft, will soon
Bazaar using recycled car parts, to counter the giant Gundum be available at Macy’s store in US nationwide
AXIS M1031-W Specifications
STOP! Who goes there! Max video resolution: 640
x 480; Video compres-
It is compact and connects software or even using a sion: H.264, Motion JPEG;
to both wired and wireless net- browser. You get a choice of built-in microphone;
works. The camera does a max- which codecs or formats to speaker and PIR sensor
imum resolution of 640x480 use while viewing the video
which we find to be pretty stream in the browser itself. Contact
adequate for a security camera. Motion detection along with Axis Video Systems India Pvt
There’s also a built-in micro- an alarm system is a feature Ltd
phone to hear conversations, a which is handy in scaring Phone: +91-80-4111 9331
speaker to send messages and away those who venture closer E-mail: vishwas.shetty@axis.
also a light that can be used to than they are supposed to. com
illuminate dark areas. The M1031-W is a feature- Web site: www.axis.com
There is no built-in battery, rich camera that sells for a Price: `18,500
which means that the camera price of `18,500 excluding
must be constantly powered taxes. It’s certainly not cheap
6.5
A
xis Communica- using a power connector. enough for everyone to buy
tions, a company There’s no motorised motion one. If you own a small shop 10
that specialises in either. or office, and need something
Features: ..............................7
video security has Audio quality on the to guard the entrance, this Performance: .....................7
launched the AXIS M1031-W, camera is good and so is the one should do just fine. Home Build quality:...................... 6
an IP based security camera video frame rate. The camera users might find it hard to jus- Value for money:...........5.5
made for small businesses. can be monitored using the tify the cost.
ADATA S596
Expensive drive, average performer
Specifications
A
DATA S596 is a than the average scores we got
storage capacity : 32 GB; 2.5-inch SATA II in January SSD tests. Similar
128MB cache ; trim support SSD drive with situation is with all the other
capacity of 32GB. synthetic tests. However it’s
It belongs to the ADATA 500 the real life tests where the
Contact series of SSDs. It is light and situation goes real bad. It
ADATA Technology Co., Ltd. handy to carry. One of the key gave poor read / write scores
Phone:+886 28228 0886 features of this SSD drive is of 112.15 MB/s and 26.73
E-mail: jerry_lu@ that it comes with a USB port, MB/s respectively for an 8
adata.com.tw so You can connect to a PC GB sequential file.
Web site: www. without opening the cabinet, This drive looks like just
adata-group.com but at the cost of speed. another SSD drive on the
Price: `6,140 ADATA claims it to have block. One may give it a shot
outstanding speed, but our as the average reading speed performance.
5.5 tests did not agree with that. We and writing speed is better The cost of this drive is
`6,140. For a little more price
10 used this drive as SATA drive
so as to see a burst in perform-
than the magnetic hard drives.
The performance of operating you may get a better performing
Features: ..........................5.5 ance but we were disappointed system will be better when it is SSD drive with more storage.
Performance: .....................5 with this drive in our tests. In located on this SSD drive. But For the same price, you can get
Build Quality:..................... 6 HD Tach tests this drive gave when compared to the other regular desktop drives that also
Value for Money: ...........5.5 us the score of 174.6 MB/s of SSD dives in the market this offer similar perfomance but
average reading which is lower drive doesn’t give a satisfactory with way more capacity.
76 Digit | August 2010 | www.thinkdigit.com
Camcorder from future TV-TV on the wall
Sony has launched NEX-VG10, the next generation Scientists have made Media Decor Mirror TV which are mirrors that
Handycam with interchangeable-lens, 18-200mm feature an embedded 19-inch LCD panel so you can watch TV while
kit E-mount lens, for less than $2,000 dressing up yourself Bazaar
Adobe eLearning Suite 2 Requirements
Learning it is not easy! Intel Pentium 4 / AMD
Athlon 64 processor or
A
dobe’s acquisi- Captivate is the program higher, 1 GB RAM, Windows
tion of companies at the heart of the suite that XP / Vista / Windows 7,
has helped them helps in bringing together 9.3GB disk space, 1280x800
create a much all the media that you work resolution display
larger product lineup. The on separately. There is tight
eLearning Suite 2 is a compi- integration between the soft- Contact
lation of many of their soft- ware, so you are never lost Adobe Systems
wares to create a suite that’s wondering how to export and Phone: 1800-102 5567
best suited to creating educa- import content. The suite as E-mail: iisadobe@adobe.com
tion course material. a whole allows you to work, Web site: www.adobe.com
The eLearning suite comes modify, and then present, Price: `1,02,200 ($2,187
with pretty much everything most of the popular media th
themselves. It’ price
l It’s i excluding taxes)
you can think of - Photoshop, types with ease. There are tag also suggests that it would
Flash, Dreamweaver amongst options for quiz, together be something that larger con-
many others. Each software with easy features to record tent development companies 6
looks the same, so there aren’t on-screen tutorials in the case with trained staff, would go 10
too many tweaks when you of software. for. At little over a lakh, it’s
Features: ..........................7.5
look at the interface. There’s The main drawback of simply unaffordable for most Performance: .....................7
no sign of video editing tools the suite is that it’s not easy of the schools and colleges to Ease of use:.........................5
such as Premiere or After to use, for someone who has purchase for their staff in Value for money:...............5
Effects. never used each of software by India.
Specifications
processor: Intel Core i7
Dell Alienware Aurora
CPU 975 @3.33 GHz; RAM: Extreme PC for the extreme gamer
12 GB DIMM DDR3, Intel
W
X58 mother board; graphics ow! is the The Aurora is a sturdy, heavy ised to your taste.
card: nVIDIA Geforce first word (literally) full black PC with the The performance as
GTX 260x2; HDD storage: that comes classic Alienware trademark expected is staggering. PC
1024GB; operating system: in your mind design. One of the cool features Mark vantage gave an impres-
Windows 7 Ultimate at a first glance of Aurora. It’s is the front panel where the face sive score of 8,148 marks. It
a n extreme high-end gaming slides down into the chassis took only 20 seconds to con-
Contact PC with an unmatched con- exposing the Blu-ray drive and vert a 100 MB VOB file to DivX
Dell india Pvt. Ltd. figuration. the memory card reader. whereas it took 47 seconds for
Phone: +91-80-2506 8026 The two hard drives are a 4 GB sequential files transfer
E-mail: Suhas_j@dell.com configured in RAID. Cooling which we thought was quite
Web site: www.dell.co.in for the processor is handled fast. Company of Heroes –
Price: `2,00,000 by the compact water cooling Tales of Valor gives 96.3 fps at
unit. The keyboard comes Ultra settings. It’s excellent for
with additional macro and gaming at extremely high set-
7.5 game profile keys. The mouse tings. The GTX260 might seem
is ergonomic and is very reac- a little outdated though.
10 tive. It has the gaming profile At `2,00,000 this custom-
Features: ............................. 9 selection button and allows ised system is for those who are
Performance: .....................8 setting sensor sensitivity. big fans of Alienware brand.
Build quality:.......................8 The lights on each and However we wouldn’t refer this
Value for money:.............. 4 every panel, the keyboard, system those who want an eco-
the mouse can be custom- nomic gaming PC.
Digit | August 2010 | www.thinkdigit.com 77
Tips & Tricks QnA
Toolbox 81 Learn interesting tricks through your favourite
software and get things done faster 89 All your questions answered. Write to us
and have your doubts clarified as well
do. But before you proceed any further,
note your experience/frame rates while
rotating resizing the photographs in that
link, you would need to know this to
confirm if you have enabled Direct2D.
• Open Firefox 4 Beta and in a new tab,
type about:config in the address bar
and press [Enter].
• Taste the humour of Firefox developers
and approve of the warning.
• Enter render in the Filter box.
• Double-click on gfx.font_
rendering.directwrite.enabled to
set it to True.
• Double-click on mozilla.widget.
render-mode, and set the value to 6.
• Restart Firefox. You don't need to restart
the system.
Now again, go back to the link above
Digging into Firefox 4 after restarting the browser. If you notice
an improvement, things are great and you
will slowly start noticing an improvement
Nishith Rastogi en-US/firefox/all-beta.html. If you install in your browser experience especially on
readersletters@thinkdigit.com the beta, it will not remove your existing graphics heavy sites.
installation, but will use your settings so In case you don't, here is a small list of
S
ix years ago, Firefox 1.0 was your bookmarks and extensions will be things that could have gone wrong:
released by Mozilla Corporation automatically accessible in Firefox Beta If you have Windows XP, then it
and that started the browser 4. You can launch your current version doesn't support Direct2D, so you need
war. Today, Firefox commands or the Beta 4 by selecting it from the to upgrade to Windows 7 / Vista. If you
approximately 25 per cent market share Start Menu, albeit only one at a time. As have an extension that is interfering with
and the love of every single geek in the a friendly reminder, we would like to tell Direct2D, try disabling it. It’s likely that
world. With the launch of Firefox4, you that a lot of your add-ons might not your system/graphics card/driver doesn't
they are challenging the limits of what a work. support hardware acceleration. You can
browser can do and further erasing the check this using Aero/Compiz.
boundaries between a web app and a Enabling hardware By setting webgl.software_render
Desktop app. Let us see what are some of acceleration to True for Linux installation will help a
these features are and how you can enable Direct2D (only for Windows) bit in your browsing experience.
and use them. Direct2D is a 2D and vector graphics
API designed by, and for, Microsoft. WebGL
Installing Firefox 4 It improves performance and quality Why stop at 2D hardware acceleration
Though the final release is supposed to by taking advantage of hardware when you can have 3D. Now we will
be released in November 2010, the beta acceleration if you have a graphics card/ enable WebGL in our browsers. If you
is already out and you can give it a spin drivers that support it. don't know what WebGL is, don't panic.
by downloading it from www.mozilla.com/ Unfortunately, it is not switched on This is a method of accessing OpenGL
by default in the Firefox 4 Beta since the from within the browser via HTML5.
developers didn't want to regress any Mozilla has been working on this for quite
functionality in the browser for majority a while now via experiments under the
of their users, so by default, DirectWrite hood of Canvas3D. Currently, the effort is
would have been selected. spearheaded by the Khronos Group. To
A handytip at this point is that if you’re enable it:
running the aero interface in Windows 7/ 1. Open Firefox4 Beta. In a new tab, type
Vista or the Compiz Windows Manager about:config in the address bar and
in Linux, you have hardware acceleration press [Enter].
enabled on your system. To enable it in 2. Enter webgl in the Filter box.
Download Firefox 4 Beta, OS is auto selected your browser, here is what you have to 3. Double-click on webgl.enabled_for_
78 Digit | August 2010 | www.thinkdigit.com
Linux on the move Green filling station
92 We show you how you could work uninterrupted with
your own Linux-powered Flash drive
First public electric charging station was recently
installed in New York by Coloumb Technologies Workshop
http://html5test.com/ and see your score bring down the whole Firefox window
for yourself. In our test runs, Firefox4 but only close the respective tab.
beta1 scored 199. Remember if you enable
hardware acceleration as explained above, Other features
you should gain around 15 points, while Layout
The new layout of Firefox, with the aim of
maximising screen estate, especially on
widescreen monitors with lower vertical
resolution, has strong supporters as well
as critics. First, it brings the tabs on top
A game of 3D playable virtual pool being of the navigation (address) bar. This is
rendered inside your browser in Real Time
present by default only in the Windows
all_sites and set it to True. version of Firefox 4. Mac and Linux users
Unlike Direct2D, confirming if will need to go to the View menu, select
WebGL is working is a far more tangible Toolbars from there and then Click on
experience. Go to http://o3d.googlecode. Tabs on Top to switch this UI feature.
com/svn/trunk/samples_webgl/o3d-webgl- HTML5 Video in YouTube Then comes the removal of the menu
samples/pool.html. If you get to see a bar and merging it into one big button.
beautiful pool table as shown in the Firefox 3.6 gave 139 and the webkit-based This isn't available in the Linux flavour.
screenshot above then it works, else you’ll browser on our Symbian phone gave Finally, you have the removal of the
get a mean looking error of the form around 30. bookmarks menu into a tiny button right
saying No WebGL context found. Even next to your address bar. Love it or hate it,
in Firefox 3.x, you will find the options in Plugins and extensions this is what you get in the deafult bundle,
about:config, but setting them won't For most Firefox users, a primary reason though thankfully you can tweak it to
matter and you will still not be able to run to use the browser has always been the your satisfaction.
WebGl content. We leave you with a few power to customise it with a choice of
more links to play with. This also includes their favourite extensions by installing Error console
one that runs Quake within your browser: them from a vast repository. Developers Go to the Tools menu in and Click on
http://www.nihilogic.dk/labs/worlds_of_webgl/ have enhanced this part of the browser Heads Up Display or Press [Ctrl] +
http://www.khronos.org/webgl/wiki/Demo_ in two ways. One is an enhanced and Shift + [K] and you will presented
Repository. more featureful new Add-on Manager. with tabbed interface enhanced error
http://code.google.com/p/quake2-gwt-port/ The Add-On Manager now opens in a console aimed especially towards helping
import. tab instead of a Window and has been developers in debugging and improving
designed to make finding plug-ins practi- compatibility. Entries are time stamped
Experiencing HTML cally effortless. Beta users can also grab and categorised into DOM (for AJAX
A quick search on Google for HTML5 an Add-On Compatibility Reporter to test especially), Network, CSS, Exceptions,
videos will give you examples in plenty. their favourite add-ons for compatibility. Errors, Info, Warnings and Log.
Go to www.youtube.com/html5 and you will In addition to above, starting with
be prompted to join the HTML5 program. Firefox 3.6.4 (partially) and with Firefox Awesomness bar
If you’re not already a part of it, you might 4 Beta1 (almost completely), Firefox Introduced in Firefox 3, in the Firefox 4
need to sign in with your Google account brings in a feature known as “Out-of- verson it also allows you to switch to an
for this. Process-Plugins” or OOPP that implies open URL by typing in the URL or the
Once done above, it will ensure that Flash, Java, QuickTime and similar title of the page. This is immensely useful
if any video can be presented in HTML5 platforms run their own separate if you have several open tabs and want to
format, it will be offered to you. Especially process. So if they crash, they don't switch to it without navigating through all
the higher definition videos. Search for the tabs. Whenever you feel like switching
a video using keywords. For example, to an open tab, just type in the first few
trailers. In the browser's address letters of the URL or the title of the page
bar, add &webm=1 at the end of the URL. and you will be shown an option to switch
For example, http://www.youtube.com/ to that open tab.
results?search_query=trailers&aq=f&webm=1. There are many more improvements
Select your favourite video and it will like geo awareness, privacy fixes,
display HTML5 webm in the toolbar of the JavaScript speed enhancements and like,
video player. so do remember to give the shiny new
Finally, we would like you to go to Firefox4 score on Linux Firefox a spin.
Digit | August 2010 | www.thinkdigit.com 79
Tips & Tricks
Linux Mint select the drive, the USB drive
It’s becoming difficult these menu and you are good to go.
days to come across a discus- It will automatically download
sion on any forum about a the distribution and create a
good Linux distribution for bootable Live USB driver out
beginners and not encounter of it. If you already have the
the name ‘Mint’. Mint is a dis- image on your computer then
tribution heavily derived from you can just point to the path
Ubuntu, so much so that it is in the Diskimage radio option,
completely binary compat- instead of selecting the Distri-
ible with it and uses the exact bution radio option and click
same Ubuntu repositories for OK. Short of bringing world
package downloads. peace, this should do the trick.
The major difference
between Mint and Ubuntu Installing a package
is based on philosophy and Linux Mint ...........................................................................................................57
Mint started primarily as
converts to ease of use and just Ubuntu with integrated
functionality out-of-the-box Safari 5 .................................................................................................................59 media codecs. Since then, it has
for the end user. Primarily, Viewer 2 ...............................................................................................................61 included many improvements
Mint is Ubuntu packaged Sync.in ..................................................................................................................62
for usability enhancement – one
with restricted drivers and of the primary being the inclu-
codecs. So as an end user, your Windows Live Photo Manager....................................................................63 sion of new menu. The new
MP3s and DVDs play out-of- menu lists your favourite appli-
the-box and your
graphics card
works much
better too. These
slight usability
enhancements
has already made
Mint a top three
distribution on
distrowatch.com.
Here are few tips
to make your
experience even
better. Custom Menu makes package installation a breeze
Install on a pen drive cations, commonly used applica-
An elegent distribution with a sense of humor If your computer doesn’t have tions, a Windows 7-like search
a working disk drive, or you’re bar, and common file locations
just too lazy to burn a buggy in one go.
CD-ROM to install and try A hidden and less commonly
Mint, then fret not. Just go to used feature, though immensely
unetbootin.sourceforge.net/ and useful feature of this menu, is
download UnetBootIN, a uni- its ability to search and install a
versal and cross-platform tool software straightaway. Let us take
for creating Live USB drives for the example of installing Htop,
various Linux distributions. a brilliant command prompt
Once downloaded, just clone of your system monitor.
execute. The process is pretty When you will type htop in the
simple. As you can see, just “filter” bar of the menu and if it
select ‘Linux Mint’ in the isn’t already installed on your
distribution menu and then system, mint will give you three
select the version you want. further options, one of them will
In our case, we are going be install package ‘htop’.
with 9_Live. Then, insert a This will initiate a ‘I am feeling
UNetbootin: Your go-to tool for Linux on a flash drive pen drive of size 1 GB or more, lucky’ type search and will begin
| www.thinkdigit.com | vol 10: 57 Digit | August 2010
Tips & Tricks
Enabling the GetDeb repositories in Linux Mint
Mint repositories. Sometimes AptonCD
it includes a new version than If you have ever wondered
the one available in the in about losing all your favourite
Bringing back the old, conven-tional and familiar menu repositories. packages in a reinstall after
Mint allows one click addi- you downloaded them so
the installation for htop after one and Synaptic Package Manger. tion of the GetDeb Repositories laboriously, then Mint brings
more confirmation. Simple eh? Think of Software Manager as a (supported since GetDeb v2) you a solution for this. Go to
proper subset of Synaptic Package so that you can download all Menu > All Applications
The Gnome menu Manager. While the former lists the packages either from the > Administration AptonCD.
If for some reason you find only complete applications (more Ubuntu default repositories or Now from the AptonCD
the above mentioned menu often then not with a GUI), the the GetDeb archive in the one application, select Create
slightly unfamiliar to use and latter lists them along side with single, unified and familiar to open a menu from where
want your old conventional all individual libraries and docu- interface of Synaptics Package you can select your desired
Gnome menu back, then all mentation files. So say you will Manager. packages (or all of them) to
you need to do is right-click on find ‘VLC’ or ‘Totem Media Player’ To do this, open Package backup and store them as an
the bottom panel. In the add to in the software manager, but in Manager found under the ISO file. You can later restore
panel window, select the Main the Package manager alongside systems tab in the start menu. them easily using AptonCD
Menu that will give you back finding them you will also have Go to Settings > Repos- to the default cache location.
your Gnome menu, and obvi- the option of installing underlying itories and then check Remember this won’t install all
ously since you are in a free libraries for them individually GetDeb repositories. Click of them, but only restore them
world, you can retain both if as well like gstreamer-bad or Close to continue and when on your hard disk, you can
you choose. libXYZ-dev. asked, select reload package install them from the package-
information. The above manager, but this time the
Ubuntu packages get-deb repositories process can also be accom- package-manager won’t down-
A common confusion novices Get-Deb is an independent plished manually by uncom- load from the internet, but use
have is between the utility and project that aims to bringing menting (removing the ‘#’ the package on your hard disk
functionality of the Software easy installation of many great symbol) in the /etc/apt/ if a new version isn’t there.
Manager. In Ubuntu’s case it is applications that are not by sources.list file.
called Ubuntu Software Center default found in the Ubuntu/ Ndiswrapper
Desktop Cube Linux in the last 5 years has
Assuming you have the cor- come a long long way in sup-
rect drivers, go to All appli- porting hardware out-of-the-
cations > Preferences > box, with more than 90 per
Appearance from the Mint cent of all hardware never
Menu. In the Visual Effects requiring another click from
tab, select Custom. Once the the user to work. Even then,
Desktop effects are enabled, wireless remains a weak-
you can click on Prefer- spot in hardware support.
ences to enable the Desktop To counter this, the ‘Ndis-
Cube and tweak many more wrapper’ project has done
features. Open Synaptics an excellent job of making
Package Manager and install your wireless driver written
CompizConfig-Settings- for Windows work flawlessly
Easily back up and restore your downloaded packages Manager. with Linux, and Mint includes
Digit | August 2010 | vol 10: 58 | www.thinkdigit.com
Tips & Tricks
your screen isn’t clogged with at the extreme right of your
pop-ups and an insanely fast browser window. Then open
peer discovery (10x faster than the Advanced tab and select
the Windows client). the Show Develop Menu in
the Menu bar checkbox.
Wallpapers After this, open the Develop
Although this may seem like Menu from the Menu bar and
redundant information, but click on Enable Extensions.
seriously, everyone should Now you should have a
for once checkout the default new tab in your Preferences
wallpapers pack in Mint. Mint window called Extensions
makes elegance one of its which will let you manage
motto and this fact is clearly your installed extensions.
Easy solution to all wireless problems reflected in the quality of wall- There is also a slider to disable
papers included by default. all of them together – a feature
an Ndiswrapper utility in the Giver /IPtux The theme based wallpapers which we would want other
default installation. Giver is the file transfer utility are better than the ones we’ve browsers to adopt as well.
Just launch it from the Main for computers running Linux seen anywhere including on There is no official exten-
Menu by typing Ndiswrapper on the same local network. Windows, Ubuntu and even sion library, so you need to dig
in the Filter bar. All you have You can transfer a single file Sabayon Linux. They can the internet and find useful
or folder with ease be found and changed from ones. However, we’ve com-
at the maximum Menu > All Applications > piled a list of them for you to
available speed of Preferences > Appearance. try out to ease your journey
your network via into the world of extensions:
Giver. Think of this Safari 5
as an IP messenger Firefox and Chrome always Extension manager
for Linux. A piece provided nice install exten- AdBlock for Safari - http://safa-
of advice though, sions that enhance the riadblock.com/
Giver doesn’t play browsing experience. And YouTubeDownloader - http://
well with Windows now finally, Apple has given code.google.com/p/safari-exten-
users. On IP mes- Safari the long-awaited fea- sions/downloads/list
senger, if you want ture. But in the present ver- Beautifier- http://jgn.heroku.
IP messenger for Linux Desktop that functionality sion Safari 5.0, it’s still a com/2010/06/11/beautifier-my-
install I P - T u x development feature and safari-extension/
to do is click on Install New from the repositories. Not not enabled by default, since GReader - http://rafeed.me/
Driver. Select the INF file of only does it work with users Apple has not yet officially safari-extensions/#GReader
your Windows driver in the on IP-Messenger for Win- opened the extension library. View Style Sheets - http://www.
Location bar. Click on install. dows, it also has some neat To enable it, you need to pimpmysafari.com/extensions/
A reboot following this should functionality like Gtalk style access the Develop Menu view-style-sheets
do the trick. conversation window so that in the toolbar. Open Prefer- Facebook Photo Zoom - http://
ences by pressing [Ctrl] + github.com/lleger/Facebook-
[,] or by going to Settings Photo-Zoom-for-Safari
Open the Develop Menu from the Menu bar and click on “Enable
Breathtaking collection of wallpapers Extensions”
| www.thinkdigit.com | vol 10: 59 Digit | August 2010
Tips & Tricks
Safari Restore - http://www. But being Apple, with their window. Just set the “Open If Reader supports the
sweetpproductions.com/exten- developer program and a pages on tabs instead of win- website you are on, you will
sions/extensions.htm tightly integrated and moni- dows” to always from the drop see a “reader” badge on the
Save your tabs in between tored Extension library, they down menu and all the new right end of the Address bar.
Safari sessions - http://ani- have the potential to pull off windows will open up in tabs, Click on it or press [command]
nnovativeweb.tumblr.com/ a miracle. regardless of size and layout + Shift + [R] to engage the
post/685175177/savetabs-safari- variations. The same Tabs Reader. A transparent black
extension Customise settings window in Preference also Control Bar is present at the
GoMBoX - http://gombox.rnm. Safari did not allow you to cus- shows some keyboard short- bottom on the reader when
me/GoMBoX.html tomise any tab settings until 5.0. cuts to handle tabs in Safari. you hover your mouse over
Snapper (Take a screenshot of But now, you can head over to the the window, which contains
the current webpage) - http:// Tab Preferences (Preferences Enhance your the X to close the reader and
tinyurl.com/stpsnapper > Tabs) and set a number of reading experience buttons to Zoom In/Zoom
Tweetbar - http://juliankussman. very helpful options for tabbed Reading online articles is Out/Email/Print.
com/blog/2010/06/08/tweetbar- browsing aficionados. outright painful with all the You can increase or
safari-5-extension/ No need to get annoyed random Flash content, deco- decrease the size of the
Safari’s support for exten- every time you click on a link rations, and advertisements Reader text either click on
sions is a little too late and from other programs where strewn across web pages the zoom button in the con-
is nothing compared to the in previous versions each of these days. But Safari comes trol bar at the bottom of the
Add-ons that Firefox offers. those would open in a new to your rescue with a new fea- Reader or press [command] +
ture called “Safari Reader”. A [+] to increase the text size,
small button appears in the and [command] + [-] to
Address bar while browsing decrease the text size.
certain web pages with long We checked the email/
blocks of text or blog-style print links with several web
posts, clicking on which the sites and just like it’s meant
article appears in a distrac- to, it only selected the text
tion free space. The back- and graphics related to the
ground dims out and you are article and not ads or any
left with simple black text on other useless information
a white background; center for that matter. It won’t be
aligned, text-focused with long before advertisers find
its own scroll/zoom bars and a work-round and fill your
email/print buttons. It is very sacred reading space with
similar to services like Read- their fluff, but till that hap-
ability and Instapaper; but pens; Happy reading online!
the fact that it’s built into a
browser is remarkable. And, Edit Top Sites
we are talking about a good Safari has a very nifty fea-
The Reader on ThinkDigit.com’s article. It almost looks like layout, fonts and UI, because ture called “Top Sites”, which
reading it on paper it’s Apple! gives you quick access to your
favourite web sites by the way
of live thumbnail previews.
But did you know it was cus-
tomizable too? You can change
the size of the thumbnail pre-
views, remove and add sites,
and even pin some of them so
they’re always present.
To change the size of each
thumbnail (either to improve
visibility or increase the
number of sites that can fit),
click on Edit on the bottom
left corner on the “Top Sites”
page. Now, the bottom right
corner will allow you to
Modified ‘Top Sites’ window choose the thumbnail sizes in
Digit | August 2010 | vol 10: 60 | www.thinkdigit.com
Tips & Tricks
to the Bookmarks tab in Pref- Inspector pane and make
erence and unchecking the the changes.
“include Top Sites on the They will be reflected
bookmark bar”. immediately on the main
window. In case you prefer
Use Bing as default to have the Web Inspector
Search Manager on a separate window, rather
This should come as a surprise than just a pane in the main
to you, but Apple promotes window, you can click on
the addition of Bing Search the Undock into separate
along with the already avail- window icon at bottom
able Google and
Yahoo as one
The Reader on ThinkDigit.com’s article. It almost looks like of the major
reading it on a hard-copy new features
in Safari, even
order of Small, Medium and To remove pages from with its con-
Large. Small will fit 24 pages; Top Sites window, just click stant jibber-
Medium will fit 12; and Large on the X icon for that certain jabber with
will fit 6 pages. You can pin page in the Edit Mode. This Microsoft.
certain websites permanently will result in that thumbnail For those of
to a particular position, by disappearing and a new one you who have
clicking on the thumbtack popping from your History migrated from
icon at the top left corner of to fill the gap. Google to Bing, You can set Bing as the default search engine
individual thumbnails in Edit Make sure you click on you can go to
Mode. The icon will glow blue Done to save your changes Preferences > General left of the window. It even
if it’s active. and exit the Edit mode. If and select Bing from the drop shows you the list of errors
To add a new page to however for any reason you down menu against “Default and warnings, accessible
the “Top Sites” page, open do not want to display the Search Engine”. by clicking on the Console
the website in a new Safari “Top Sites” page (privacy
window and drag the concerns, bandwidth limi- Analyse and
favicon form the left end of tations etc), you can go to troubleshoot
the Address Bar to replace a the General tab of the Pref- Anyone into web develop-
thumbnail in the “Top Sites” erences window and choose ment would be familiar with
window. Similarly, you can something else such as Home the Firefox extension called
also drag any other link from Page, Empty Page, Same Firebug. You would be happy
a text document or an email Page or a Bookmark instead to know that Safari now comes
message onto the thumbnail of Top Sites in the “New with a similar feature built in-
to replace it. Make sure the tab opens with” and “New called Web Inspector to extend
thumbnail you are trying to window opens with” drop- debugging and development.
replace is not pinned, as no down menus. You can even Make sure the Develop Menu
changes will take place on hide the Top Sites page from is turned on by using the steps
doing so. the Bookmarks bar by going we detailed previously. Now
you can select any element
on the webpage and [Ctrl] Search, or Inspect with a right-click
+ right-click on it. A contex-
tual menu will pop up, where button (beside the Undock
you have to click on “Inspect button) which divides the
element” to open two addi- Web Inspector pane so the
tional window panes with the lower part can display all
HTML code for that element the errors.
and the CSS rules that have
been applied. Viewer2
You can then hover over Viewer2 is an image viewer
the HTML to see that part with a searchable image data-
highlighted in the main base for those who know what
window. To edit an item, they are doing. It is relatively
Analyse web pages with Safari 5 just click on it in the Web lightweight, works only on
| www.thinkdigit.com | vol 10: 61 Digit | August 2010
Tips & Tricks
it gets confused along the way you to a deep search. [Ctrl]
to resolve the conflict. Pretty + [I] inverts the selection.
neat we’d say. Similarly, [Ctrl] + [O]
dbtool -fuzzy -prompt arranges theselected images
extract in one group. [Ctrl] + Shift
+ [O] arranges the images in
Searching for images groups.
Every self-respecting devel- [Ctrl] + [T]: Tag
oper making a tool for power selected files, separate tags
users includes powerful with commas
search functionality. The case
of Viewer2 is thankfully no Correcting Messed
exception. Viewer2 supports up Layout:
searching by date, time, size If the layout of your images
and with logical operators, is all messed up (images keep
quotes and wildcards (both loading in the wrong position
Increase this if you can afford it * and ?) etc.), then to fix that you can
Here are some examples: rename or delete the database
Windows and is currently Viewer2 folder might be name:digit – will search file. It is located for Windows
free. It also brings in nice 3d located in the Program Files for images with the word XP in C:\Documents and
accelerated effect for visual x86) folder. One neat trick digit Settings\\
pleasure. You can download here is to simply drag and path:2007 digit – Application Data\Viewer2\
it from http://kometbomb.net/ drop the folder you want to matches all images with the viewer2.db
projects/viewer2/. We present add to the command prompt word digit in the tags or the If you delete the above
a few tips to improve your window after typing c:\ filename in any directory file all data including tags
experience. Program Files\Viewer2\ whose name has the word will be lost, in the scenario
dbtool add to automati- 2007 where you only want to reset
Configurator utility callty insert the folder path. -tag:* digit – matches the layout scheme (which is
You can access the con- You can add tags in go by all images with no tags and the the more probably scean-
figurator utility from the using the following syntax word digit in the filename ario), you need to issue the
‘Viewer2’ folder under pro- while adding direcotries c:\ date:lastweek – matches updatedb command as fol-
grams in Start Menu. We Program Files\Viewer2\ all images whose date is ear- lows. Open Command Prompt.
would recommend that if dbtool add “Your_ lier than last monday but Switch tothe directory where
you have plentiful RAM, Folder_Location” tag1 newer than the monday before your Viewer2 is installed.
then to increase this limit for tag2 tag3 ... that. You can use thse words Finally issue c:\\updatedb.exe
before the first run. Automated tagging yesterday, thisweek, lastweek, delete_links.
Tagging makes finding thismonth, lastmonth, this-
Adding files to the images easier especially year and lastyear. Sync.in
database if you don’t have a strong size:small – shows Sync.in is an online collaboration
This has to be done via the directory structure. So images that are small. Valid tool with basic word processing
command line tool called after adding the directories words for size: tiny, small, capabilities. Think of it as a word
dbtool. Yes, it may seem with dbtool or simply while medium, large, huge, ultra. processor in the form of a white
archaic to you that in this age browsing, you can issue the board. It supports multiple
of GUIs why fire up the com- command below to check Important Keyboard people working on the same doc-
mand line, but then this tool every filename in the data- Shortcuts ument with updates appearing in
is for power users. base for known tags and Beside your usual copy/paste real time. It works on all the three
The following command is associate it with the picture. shortcuts, Viewer2 supports major platforms i.e. Linux, Apple
pretty self explainatory. an array of speed enhancing and Windows.
c:\Program Files\ dbtool extractiptc shortcuts. We’ll mention a few
Viewer2\dbtool add “Your_ Use the command below to and their brief explaination Use the in-built chat
Folder_Location” peek into the IPTC metadata here. [Alt] + [P] sorts by It has nice retro-styled chat that
A few things to note that as well path. Press [Alt] + [R] to does exactly what it should. It
your Viewer2 shouldn’t dbtool extractiptc sort by resolution. [Ctrl] + is more like a chat room where
be running while you are Your_Folder_Location [E] takes you to the directory everyone who is currently
adding the files. Secondly if While finally the command of the selected image. [Ctrl] editing the note is added and
you are running the 64-bit below also looks in file paths + [F] for Fast Search files. the messages typed is broadcast
version of Windows7, your for suitable tags and prompts if [Ctrl] + Shift + [F] takes to the rest. It doesn’t support
Digit | August 2010 | vol 10: 62 | www.thinkdigit.com
Tips & Tricks
view how your note has
progressed over time, how
the edits were made and in
what order and by whom.
It nicely displays it as if it
motion captured your note Basic inbuilt version control
while it was being created the note. Now not only does combination of those. If you’ve
by multiple people and you sync.in has that, It has it in people that are tagged already,
can play it back. Not only is style “Share This Note” from you can click the user and all
it time-stamped you can also the main menu and then you the images of that person will
play it back by ‘Save’ history can spread the word about automatically get pulled up.
by clicking on the star icons your collaborative creation via
on top right. email, Twitter, Facebook, Digg, Create a new photo
LinkedIn or even Del.icio.us. from the best parts
Version control Sync.in redirects to relevant of similar photos
Sync.in is a programmer- pages for 3rd party services This new version comes
friendly editor with colour and it plays nice and doesn’t with a new feature called
store any of your passwords. Photo Fuse which is present
under Create menu along
Sharing only a read with another feature worth
only version checking out, i.e., Panorama
There are plenty of occasion which has been there since
where you only want to share Wave 3. Photo Fuse is prima-
a read only version of the notes rily aimed at getting the best
and we couldn’t find an option shot possible by combining
to that on the main interface. multiple photos, which in
There is a simple solution particular will be of good use
to that, the ‘Read Only’ link for all you Facebook addicts
is hidden under the “Time who like posting that ‘one
Slider” tab. All you need to do group photograph’ for every
is go that tab and select ‘Link outing which is very difficult
Sync.in lets you launch a new note from your desktop to read-only page’ from the to come by because someone
right hand side context menu. moved, or someone sneezed
fancy emotions or voice/video coding for different users and or someone’s not looking in
yet but it does the job well, it line numbers on the side. One Windows Live the right direction. Just take a
performed even across connec- awesome feature it introduces Photo Gallery lot of shots, and head to Photo
tion breaks and high latency. is the in-built ‘Version Con- Gallery and it will take care
trol’. Click on “Saved Revi- Quickly search for a of the rest. deleting unwanted
Launch new notes sions” from the main inter- specific photo objects, people passing by in
quickly from your face and from there you can Cannot locate that ‘one in a the background, and let you
desktop ‘Save’ your current work or million’ photo inside your choose what part to keep for
You will need Adobe Air go back to any saved version. large collection? No need to each detected variation.
to run the desktop client, it So no need to maintain dif- fret; just click on the Find tab Select a series of photos
allows you to launch your ferent draft copies as in case in the ribbon to quickly find with the same background/
notes (public or private of desktop files, you can revert any photo using different cri- taken at the same place, and
via signing in) in a simple back to the last saved or before teria such as by face, names, simply click on the “Photo
manner without first visiting that version if you don’t like date, geo-location, descrip- Fuse” button under “Create”
the web site from your web your current work. It is like a tive tags, folder titles or any tab on the ribbon, and you’ll
browser. It nicely tucks away baby git/SVN built in.
in the notification area when
not in use. A definite recom- Sharing your notes
mendation if you plan to use with friends
Sync.in regularly. In the current scenario of eve-
ryone being connected 24x7
Review progress with each other, it would have
Not very functional but been a sorely missed feature
very cool indeed. You can had there been no option to
go the ‘Time Slider’ tab and invite your friends to view The Find tab
| www.thinkdigit.com | vol 10: 63 Digit | August 2010
Tips & Tricks
fine-tuning. Sometimes your your family and friends?
photos are not straight and Windows Live Photo Gal-
are tilted because of wrongly lery comes to your rescue.
holding the camera. So for such Just highlight the photos
photos there’s a ‘Straighten you want or [Ctrl] + Select,
photo’ option provided. Also click on Slideshow from the
there’s a new option of giving ribbon, choose your Slide-
your Photos ‘Black and White show theme choose from six
effects’ so that you can give an themes, including pan and
antique look to your photos. zoom, contemporary, sepia,
and cinematic and then click
Retouch Photos on Share Slideshow which lets
You vacation photos don’t look you upload it to either your
Choose a number of photos to fuse as good as they should because SkyDrive, Facebook, YouTube
of that spot or blemish on your or Windows Live Groups to
be presented with the selec- exposure, color correction, face? Windows Live Photo share with family and friends.
tion window where you can and even noise
highlight the portions you’re reduction. But-
not satisfied with (example tons let you apply
applications include a person fixes automati-
with eyes blinking, or pow- cally, but a “Fine
erlines across your photo), tune” button offers
and select from the pop-up deeper control The edit toolbar
window the portion that you (such as an adjust-
prefer. You can do this to as able histogram, highlights, Gallery lets you retouch your You can even chose to Photo
many areas as you like, and shadows, sharpness, and images and make them disap- e-mail which will use your
Photo Gallery will automati- color temperature). This ver- pear. Select the photo you want default mail client to create a
cally “fuse” that portion into sion adds a new tool: Blemish to retouch, click on the View tab message that doesn’t attach
the composite image you’re removal, which worked well and select Zoom in so that you the photos, but instead links
can view the blemish or mark to an online gallery hosted on
close up. Then click on the Edit Window Live SkyDrive, which is
followed by Retouch. Now great for saving your recipient’s
simply drag the cursor around inbox from large attachment
the spot or blemish and it will clutter. Plain old attachments
magically disappear, so that are still an option, too, though,
all of your photos and those of and the choice between this and
The create toolbar your nearest and dearest will photo mail is clearly labeled.
look perfect.
working on. Once you’re satis- in my test, as did the red-eye Integrate with
fied with the result, just click fix. An Auto-adjust option will Make Slideshows Photosynth and
on “Save” and you’ve that let you configure what you and Movies other software
perfect shot! Pretty impres- want fixed—any combination Need to quickly create a fan- You can now integrate Win-
sive, eh? A word of warning of exposure, color, NR, and tastic looking slideshow of dows Live Photo Gallery
though: Its comparable to straightening. The editing is selected photos to share with with other Microsoft Labs
what you find in Adobe Pho- non-destructive, so, softwares like Photo-
toshop Elements, and the at any point, you can Synth, AutoCollage
results were intriguing but revert to the original. 2008, Pro Photo Tools,
not perfect—some people You can even use the Image Composite
ended up with big hair, or new batch edit tool Editor (ICE) and a
worse, two ears on one side that lets you apply few others. Just install
of the head. fixes to a bunch of them and they will
selected images at automatically appear
Jazz up your photos once, but it only in the Extras Menu of
Windows Live Photo Gallery works with the auto- Photo Gallery. It is not
Wave 4 lets you jazz up your fixes—color, expo- yet tightly integrated,
photos with a lot of photo sure, straightening, but nevertheless, it’s a
adjustments like cropping, and noise reduc- step forward towards
red-eye fixing, straightening, tion—not with the Uploading an image to facebook total integration.
Digit | August 2010 | vol 10: 64 | www.thinkdigit.com
Blogs, kidnapped
Unmanned weapon A WordPress platform, less-known, Blogetery.com, used by
Britain’s Ministry of Defence recently unveiled an unmanned stealth more than 70,000 blog was recently shutdown by its hosting
attack aircraft that chooses its own targets without human intervention company, without any notification Q&A
Slow connections, disappearing drives?
...Digit to the rescue
Computer network going You need to be very sure on which port • AMD Athlon X2 240 processor, 2800 MHz
haywire you connect the microphone. Your drivers • ASUS M2N68-AM SE2 motherboard
I am a regular reader of Digit since should alert you if the microphone is • NVIDIA GeForce 8400 GS, 512 MB
June 2005. My friend’s PC has been facing plugged into the wrong slot. Often, you’ll graphics card
broadcasting problems on this network. In need to specify the microphone input in • ST3250318AS SCSI HDD
about 26 minutes of surfing the net, the your drivers or the Windows volume con- I feel my graphics card is not perform-
total amount of sent data reaches about 2 trol panel. If you are using the front panel, ing at its optimum level. When I run Prince
lakh bytes and the data received reaches of Persia: Warrior Within and the Two
about 9 lakh. What kind of problem is this? thrones. It shows the system configuration
Tarun Goswami initially and the game shows the processor
as “unknown AMD processor”. The game
It depends a lot on whether it is 9 lakh runs, but is just not smooth. It runs well
bytes or bits. Either way, PCs send and for a few seconds and then it starts stut-
receive data all the time when connected tering. I need a remedy.
to a network. If there are viruses on the Prateek
network, your PC is bound to receive and
send a lot of random data. There is nothing The GeForce 8400GS is an
unusual about this. If you feel that the extremely basic HTPC card and isn’t
system is using up a lot of bandwidth, then designed for gaming as such. Upgrading
install a firewall to try and figure which to a card such as the GeForce 9800GT
services and programs are using that or the Radeon 5670 is recommended
bandwidth. Also, run an antivirus scan on as they are better suited for the games
your system to check for any threats. you’re trying to play.
Window ahowing the proper connectivity
Headphone microphone not with microphone Game trouble
working 1. I have recently purchased a copy of
I recently bought an Intex Mega try the rear panels on your PC as well. The Assassin’s Creed II, but it doesn’t run after
headphone with mic (model no. HS-301B). microphone volume might be set too or installation. It shows an error saying that
I connected it to my PC and opened up microphone boost disabled. Enable those an internet connection is required. Is there
Sound Recorder on Windows but the mic settings and try again. no way to run that game without internet
doesn’t work. Then, I checked the head- connection? Please help me out to run the
phones and they seemed to work fine. I Prince of Persia framing game?
went to the shop to exchange the piece I bought this machine about a couple of 2. I also have another game called Crysis
with another one. months ago with the following configuration. Warhead. When I try to install this game, I
While giving me the new piece, the shop see another error - “Cannot copy data2.cab:
keeper said that if this piece doesn’t work Data error(cyclic redundancy check)”.
either, then my computer has a problem. Surya Prakash Singh
I tried it but again, it didn’t work. Then I
tried it on another computer and to my Assassin’s Creed II uses a DRM system
surprise, it worked. Here are the configura- that requires you to be connected to the
tions of the computer on which the mic internet while playing the game. As of
doesn’t work: now, there is no way of running it without
• Intel Pentium 4 CPU 2.66 GHz the connection. The error while installing
• 504MB RAM Crysis Warhead is due to a bad disc. You
• Windows XP SP2 might have to get in touch with the game
• Frontech Brisk CPU vendor to get you a replacement. There’s
I want to know why the microphone also a chance your DVD drive maybe
doesn’t work and how to make it work. Selecting ‘Microphone boost’ to check the giving trouble. Check with some other
Vinayak Nagri sound through speakers discs to confirm this.
Digit | August 2010 | www.thinkdigit.com 89
TV for 99 cents Valve releases free games
Apple is developing a new Apple TV that will Valve recently released an updated version of the old Unreal
Q&A feature TV shows at just 99 cents Tournament mod, Alien Swarm, for free along with source code
Hard drive queries rupted software, bad drivers or even a Linux. But when I tried to rename them or
My PC configuration is as follows worm or virus. It’s difficult to pinpoint copy them, I was unable to do so. I could
• Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 3.0 GHz what the problem might be. somehow rename the folder containing
• Asus P5QC Mobo If you are running several applications those files. A popup error message appears
• Corsair 2x2Gb DDR3 1333 RAM in the background while shutting down saying that the system was unable to find
• Sapphire 4670HD 1GB DDR3 graphics the PC, it’s common to see the error where the files. When I go to properties of those
card Windows asks you to force shut. Ide- files, it shows the size of those files to be
• Seagate ST3500418AS 500GB ally, turn off all background applications 0 bytes.
HDD (16 MB cache) + Western Digital before starting the shutdown process. Raj Chahal
WD3200AAJS HDD 320GB HDD
• OS: Vista Ultimate x64 BSODs while gaming We’ve seen similar problems while
1. My doubt is which HDD should I install I am Akshansh Vatsa, a regular copying files using a Linux distribution
my OS? Is there any performance varia- reader of yours you are truly great. I have from one drive to an external USB flash or
tion by doing this? a Compaq Presario SG3350IL with the hard drive. In your case, there is no way to
2. How much space should I allocate for following configuration access the data because it wasn’t written
installing Vista? Will there be any perfor- • Compaq 7540 plug and play CRT 17-inch properly in the first place. You should go
mance variations by allocating 200 GB monitor back to the PC and copy the data again.
for all my software and OS? • Intel Core 2 Duo processor
I have already replaced my Seagate • 1GB DDR2 RAM Both CD and DVD writers not
HDD twice (S.M.A.R.T test failed - I read My problem is whenever I play working
that it’s because of power problems. Do I Counter Strike: Condition Zero or Half- I am a computer shop owner for the
need to check my SMPS and motherboard?) Life, my system hangs completely and past ten years and a reader of Digit for
Vipin after 2 to 3 seconds it shows a BLUE the past seven years. It helps me a lot to
SCREEN OF DEATH. Please give me a troubleshoot several hardware and soft-
Both the drives have more or less the solution to my problem. ware related problems. But now, I’m facing
same performance. It shouldn’t matter. Akshansh Vatsa a problem with my CD/DVD drives. They
I would keep at least 40 - 50 GB for the don’t work at all.
OS drive, at least, along with installed The game probably crashes due Details:
essential applications (browsers, instant to a faulty card or display drivers. • Motherboard: Intel 810 Frontech
messengers, download managers, email Download and install the latest ver- • CPU Intel 600 MHz Celeron
clients, office suites, etc.). Games and other sion of display drivers for your card. • 512MB SD RAM
media can go on other partitions. SMART That should fix the problem. Also, try • Hard Disk 40 GB PATA Seagate Barracuda
errors are mainly due to drive problems. using Speedfan to check if your card • LG CD-R / LG DVD-RW
or processor is overheating. • OS Windows XP Home Edition
New laptop and its errors • Antivirus Quick Heal Plus 2009 which is
I bought a Sony VAIO laptop last Files not copied updated regularly
month. It’s configuration is as follows: A few days back, I copied some files to My system was working very well in the
• Intel core i3-330M processor 2.13 GHz my 500 GB WD portable hard drive using beginning. I use it only for office purpose
• Windows 7 home premium (64 bit) and net surfing. Recently, my CD and DVD
• Hard Disk Drive 500 GB drive had faced problems and they don’t
• 4 GB RAM work. They are detected though the BIOS,
• ATI Radeon 5650 1 GB but in My Computer, there is no sign of a
The problem is that it pops up a dialog disk drive. I have formatted the C partition
box. Another problem is that whenever I and reinstalled the OS, and the system
shut down my laptop, it shows an error shows the disk drives.
“Background programs is running, do you Please help me solving the problem so
want to force shut down or cancel”. How that I can use CD/DVD Drives again. While
do I solve this problem? scanning with Quick Heal the following
I have been regular reader of Digit, it message comes C:\windows\system32\
helps me a lot in learning tech activities, gff6.exe detected and quaran-
all my friends call me tech guru. I am tined. Please reply as early as possible.
really thankful to ThinkDigit. Asit Sarkar
Chandrashekhar Sirimala
DVD and CD drives are very unreli-
The dialog box could be due to cor- Graph showing BSOD’s during games able and we’ve seen many of them failing
90 Digit | August 2010 | www.thinkdigit.com
Droid X sells out Google gets Metaweb
iPhone’s look alike, the Motorola’s Droid X sold out Google has recently acquired Metaweb, which maintains a huge
online on the first day and is running short on supply database of almost all sorts of things and their relationships
within months of purchase. It’s most the character which appears
definitely the reason your drives aren’t on the screen is ‘”’. I have tried
working. You can try testing them on a changing the language and re-
different PC to be very sure. Even though gion options but it’s been of no
a drive isn’t working properly, they still use. So please help me solve
appear as working devices in the BIOS the problem.
and Device Manager. There seems to be Praveen
a worm or virus on your system which is
being detected by Quickheal. Try booting into a dif-
ferent operating system such
Slow internet download as a Linux LiveCD using a
speeds bootable disc. If you see the
My PC configuration is as follows: same problem in a text editor
Intel Pentium 4 (@ 3.6GHz) Repairing the bootloader using recovery on it, it’s most probably an
1 GB RAM console issue with the keyboard. You need to
My problem is that my broadband con- replace or have it repaired. If not, it’s
nection only downloads files at 20kbps Gigabyte GA945GCM-S2L motherboard something do with the keyboard layout
and my speed while streaming goes up to Hytech 450W SMPS in Windows.
1Mbps. Can you help me out? Seagate 160 GB HDD
Dharamdass Mahan 1 GB RAM Dynite DVD drive disappeared
ASUS EAH3870 DDR4 512 MB Yesterday, I came across a serious
The odd speeds might be due to a I have bought a second hand card from a problem. I’m unable to find the DVD
number of reasons. If you’re file down- dealer. The first day, the card ran properly writer in the Device Manager window
loads are through a P2P service such as but the very next day, the screen suddenly on My Computer. I contacted HP and
Bittorrent, then it depends on the number went blank, and restored to normal show- they suggested me to format my system
of peers you have available to download ing a VPU recovery error! It displays an and reattach the drive by removing and
from. For HTTP and FTP downloads, use error that say that Catalyst drivers reset reinserting it. I did what they said but
a download manager and your speeds the graphics processor to prevent system the problem still persists. I am using a
should increase substantially. crashing. Also the graphics card was dis- Compaq Presario V3702AU laptop.
abled until the next restart. Since then, this Avick Kumar Dey
Bootloader gone missing happens often (2-3 times a day). The PC
I had Windows XP SP2 previously also has become very slow. Is this a prob- DVD drives malfunction from time
installed and I installed Ubuntu. But after lem with the SMPS or is it a driver issue? to time and it’s one of those queries
sometime, I found it to be slow, so i re- Worse, is the card damaged? I’m planning that we see very often. You will need to
moved the partition in which Ubuntu was to format my PC and increase my RAM to 3 replace the drive. Make sure there are
installed using Windows. GB. Will this help? no loose connections on the drive or
After restarting, the GRUB loader gives Manish Mauta motherboard end before you do.
an error saying that such a drive doesn’t
exist. I want to have my Windows boot If you haven’t had these problems in PC restarts very often
loader to be my default boot loader. What the past, then it’s something to do with the My PC runs on an Intel Core i7
should I do? card. There’s a good chance it’s due to an processor, Intel WX58BP motherboard,
Abhishek Kumar insufficient power supply. The easiest way 4GB DDR3 Trancend RAM, Cooler Master
of knowing whether the card is spoiled 600W PSU, and an ASUS 512 MB VGA
To reinstall the Windows bootloader, or the power supply is insufficient is to card. The PC restarts when I load any
boot into installation disc after setting try the card on a friend’s PC with a decent application such as Photoshop. Some
your optical drive as the boot drive. PSU. If you see the same VPU errors, then programs run well, but the PC restarts
Then, choose the Recovery Console or it is a spoiled card. Otherwise, you need randomly. Please give me a solution.
Repair option in the installation menu. to upgrade your power supply to a better Jitendra Shelake
Use the commands FIXBOOT C:, then make and capacity – a Corsair VX450 will
type FIXMBR. Your Windows bootloader do well. The power supply is the cause of the
should be reinstalled. problem. Your system requires a good
Can’t use the @ character quality power supply with at least a
VPU recovery errors I’m using a Toshiba laptop with Win- 500W power supply. Look for a Corsair
My system configuration is : dows 7 Ultimate. I have a problem with HX520 or a Cooler Master Real Power
Intel E4500 2.2 GHz processor my keyboard. When I press the key ‘@’, series supply in the 500 – 600W range.
Digit | August 2010 | www.thinkdigit.com 91
Super Computers! Still no “year of Desktop Linux”?
Linux dominates super computing. It occupies 470 of the top 500 spots. Windows 7 took 4 days to have more market share than all
DIY The remaining: 25 with Unix, mainly AIX, and Windows with only 5 distributions of Linux combined
and you’re done.
First, you need to check
Get your own Linux distro on a flash under which device node it is
drive and use it on PCs as you travel associated. Type the following
around. We show you how could stay up command:
$ sudo fdisk -l
and running with your data no matter On our test system, the
where you are device appeared as /dev/
sdba, we will therefore use /
Linux on a dev/sdba as a reference for
this tutorial; you just need to
replace it accordingly for your
system. Now comes the part
Flash Drive
menting a variable amount the same directory the ISO is
where we will make a sepa-
rate partition for this install.
You need to ensure that the
already mounted partition
is unmounted with $sudo
Rahil Banthia of persistence. This means in, the app will find it and use it umount /dev/sdb1 and then
readersletters@thinkdigit.com when you install new software, for the installation, rather than launch fdisk, a command
change keyboard shortcuts, download another copy. line software to edit partitions
W
e k n ow store files in your home direc- Make sure you select per- under Linux sudo fdisk /
you’ve always tory, or make other changes to sistence from the drop-
wanted a full your portable Linux, they stick down box, else it will
Linux oper- from boot-up to boot-up — be just another Live CD
ating system on a USB thumb which isn't the case with most type installation.
drive. But the problem was portable Linux distributions. UNetbootin is yet
that most of the tools only Another useful feature that you another Live USB crea-
made a non-persistent instal- wish for: your USB drive can tion tool that can be
lation that worked like a Live still be read by Windows when used to create a Live
CD and all the changes were you're done formatting, so your Linux flash drive from
wiped out with a reboot. Well, pen drive is not wasted and you an ISO. Most of the
now we will show you how to can still use it the old-fashioned Linux distributions are
get a portable Linux operating way: for storing data! supported out of the Choose the USB drive and click ‘Create’
system and run it from any Download the Universal box with custom install
computer that can boot from a USB Installer from http://tinyurl. options available for Linux dis- dev/sdb1. The first partition
USB flash device, allowing you com/digit0810linux and 'Run' the tributions. One bad thing about we will make on our pen drive
to bring your entire operating executable. Click 'Browse' and Unetbootin as compared to will be formated as a FAT file-
system, desktop, applications, open the downloaded ISO file. Universal USB installer is that system of size 16 and this will
files, email, personal settings, If you've already downloaded a the pen drive created using this contain the CD image:
and more with you. It’s like car- Linux installation ISO and run software is not persistent and $ sudo mkfs.vfat -F 16
rying your own personal oper- Universal USB Installer from all your changes are lost upon -n liveusb /dev/sdb1
ating system in your pocket; reboot. It is just like a Live The second partition should
fully customised, with your CD, but works nonetheless. be of type ext2 with a blocksize
own favourite apps and all Download UNetBootin from of 4096 bytes, and labelled as
your settings intact. http://tinyurl.com/digit0810u- casper-rw. Make sure that it
No magic trick. We will netbootin and double-click on is labeled as casper-rw oth-
use this Windows tool called the executable file to start it. erwise this tutorial might not
“Universal USB Creator” Select the DiskImage radio work:
that makes all this possible. box and browse using the … on $ sudo mkfs.ext2 -b
It’s a stand alone application the right side to select your 4096 -L casper-rw /dev/
that automates the process ISO file on the hard disk. Next, sdb2
of downloading, formatting, set the target USB drive in the At this stage, your usb pen-
and installing a Linux OS to Select Ubuntu 10.4 Desktop amd64 drop down box labelled 3 in drive is ready to host the liveCD
a USB drive, as well as imple- from the dropdown list our image. Next, click on Ok image. You just need to copy the
92 Digit | August 2010 | www.thinkdigit.com
Want to host your website? Windows Software on Linux?
Linux is the cornerstone of the LAMP server-software The Wine project provides a Windows compatibility layer
combination the most common platform for web site hosting to run unmodified Windows applications on Linux DIY
ubuntu.ico as well as append
files casper/vmlinuz, file=preseed/ubuntu.
casper/initrd. seed boot=casper
g z and i n s t a l l / initrd=initrd.gz
mt86plus. ramdisk_size=1048576
$ cd /tmp/ubuntu- root=/dev/ram rw
livecd quiet splash --
$ sudo cp -rf LABEL xforcevesa
casper disctree menu label Click on ‘Other’ to choose the ISO file
dists install pics Start Ubuntu in safe
Using UNetbootin to create a Live USB pool preseed .disk ^graphics mode
Linux isolinux/* md5sum. kernel vmlinuz
txt README.diskde- append
files to the USB drive. And you fines ubuntu.ico casper/ file=preseed/ubuntu.
need to do this in a specific way vmlinuz casper/initrd.gz seed boot=casper
detailed below: install/mt86plus /tmp/ xforcevesa Select the file and click on ‘Open’
First mount the Ubuntu liveusb/ initrd=initrd.gz
ISO: Also go to the first partition ramdisk_size=1048576
If you have the CD, you can of your USB disk and rename root=/dev/ram rw quiet
do so by $ sudo mount / isolinux.cfg to syslinux. splash --
cfg: LABEL check
$ cd /tmp/liveusb menu label ^Check CD
$ sudo mv isolinux. for defects
cfg syslinux.cfg kernel vmlinuz
change /tmp/liveusb append boot=casper
according to your settings integrity-check Select the USB stick in the
Next, you need to edit initrd=initrd.gz ram- bottom box and click on ‘Make
syslinux.cfg so that it disk_size=1048576 Startup Disk’
looks like: root=/dev/ram rw quiet
DEFAULT persistent splash --
Installing Ubuntu on a pendrive from GFXBOOT bootlogo LABEL memtest
an existing Ubuntu installationLinux GFXBOOT-BACKGROUND menu label ^Memory
0xB6875A test
media/cdrom. If you have an APPEND file=preseed/ kernel mt86plus
image file, you can do so by ubuntu.seed boot=casper append -
$ mkdir /tmp/ubuntu- initrd=initrd.gz ram- LABEL hd
livecd. disk_size=1048576 root=/ menu label ^Boot
$ sudo mount -o loop dev/ram rw quiet splash from first hard disk
/path/to/feisty-desktop- -- localboot 0x80
i386.iso /tmp/ubuntu- LABEL persistent append -
livecd (Replace the ISO name menu label ^Start DISPLAY isolinux.txt No commands, no unmounting
with your Linux variant). Ubuntu in persistent TIMEOUT 300 drives, creating partitions,
Next, mount the partitions mode PROMPT 1 installing additional software
of your pen drive: kernel vmlinuz F1 f1.txt done is: making the usb bootable.
$ mkdir /tmp/liveusb append F2 f2.txt For this, you need to install sys-
$ sudo mount /dev/sdb1 file=preseed/ubuntu. F3 f3.txt linux and mtools by:
/tmp/liveusb seed boot=casper per- F4 f4.txt $ sudo apt-get install
Copy at the root of your USB sistent initrd=initrd. F5 f5.txt syslinux mtools
drive’s first partition: gz ramdisk_size=1048576 F6 f6.txt Then unmount /dev/sdb1
The directories: casper, root=/dev/ram rw quiet F7 f7.txt and make it bootable:
disctree, dists, install, splash -- F8 f8.txt $ cd
pics, pool, preseed, LABEL live F9 f9.txt $ sudo umount /tmp/
.disk,the content of directory menu label ^Start or F0 f10.txt liveusb
isolinux and files md5sum. install Ubuntu We are almost done. Now, $ sudo syslinux -f /
txt, README.diskdefines, kernel vmlinuz the last thing that needs to be dev/sdb1. And, you are done!
Digit | August 2010 | www.thinkdigit.com 93
Price watch Consumer Protection
Street smart 96 Verified prices to ensure you’re not taken
for a ride 98 Know your rights as a consumer and be
protected
Lappy look out...
For products such as
laptops, street shopping
isn’t the best way and so
I decided to explore the
options we have...
Intel processor running at 2.2GHz,
3GB of RAM, and a 320GB hard drive,
it’s perfect for any student looking for
a laptop to carry along for college.
There were also those who wanted
a portable computing device instead of
building an assembled PC for a little
more than `20,000. Laptops priced at
`35,000 were out of the question although
that’s what I normally recommend. The
Compaq CQ-139TU was one model priced
Agent 001 more that includes an entry-level Radeon at just `24,400. While the old Dual Core
agent001@thinkdigit.com 5145 graphics solution that would be 2.3GHz isn’t going to match the perform-
useful for HD content playback. Win- ance of the Dell Studios or any of the Macs,
I
get emailed every single day by dows 7 Home edition is the operating it’s one of those complete laptops with
readers asking for advice on all kinds system bundled with these laptops. a DVD drive, a decent sized screen and
of gadgets. Sometimes, their require- I found Dell too matches these Sony something that will fulfil all of your office
ments aren’t clear and they just have laptops with some models from their applications and internet browsing needs.
a budget in mind. Lamington isn’t the Inspiron series of laptops. I was on their For absolute lifestyle products, it was
best place for laptops, so you’re better off site which allows you to customise some back to brands such as Apple and Sony.
dropping into your local technology store of the models. The most basic configura- Apple’s Macbooks have been updated to
at a mall. I decided to go down to some tion on the 14-inch display was priced the new Intel Core i5s and i7s. One of the
malls and also visit some sites as well, to at `34,300 and if you opt out of the cheapest models is priced at around
look at what people were buying. With so operating system, you can save around `1,05,000. It comes with a 2.4GHz
many product releases, I wanted to refresh `1,500 less – great if you’re using Linux. processor, 4GB RAM, 320GB HDD and a
my own database of models and prices. The configurations were similar to the Radeon GT330M. Similarly, the Sony
As expected, there were salesmen ones by Sony. When I started looking VPCF127HG from the F series of VAIO
swarming me from the moment I started at the larger Studio 15 range, I found netbooks was also available I was told.
looking at some of the Sony models, with that the configurations didn’t change a The price tag was a ridiculous `1,29,900
each of them asking me what I wanted. I lot except for the screen of course. The for a Core i7 740QM, and a great 16.4-inch
told them I was just looking and con- somewhat high-end model priced at full HD display. The same GeForce
tinued my usual stroll. Students seemed `51,400 has a Core i5 processor, a 500GB GT330M GPU found on the Macbook was
to be getting interested in laptops in the drive and 4GB of RAM. I was pleased to be found in this as well. Yet another
`30,000 to `40,000 bracket. I noticed to see the very basic Vostro laptops new model was the Sony Z series
that there were some Sony EA and EB from Dell as well. Prices start from only VPCZ128GG pried `1,59,900. With a
series models priced under `40,000. `28,000 and go up to around `35,000 small 13.1-inch HD1080 display, it runs
Sony is a brand best known for selling depending on the configuration. one of the fastest mobile Core i7 proces-
products priced over `45,000 – `50,000, Acer also had a few models in this sors. While the salesman went on forever
so a product this cheap should be news range. Acer has been considered a about the product, it was pretty obvious
to many. The entry-level models used brand to look out for while searching that the price was for the two SSDs in
Intel Core i3 350M processors with Intel for a budget laptop. The Aspire 4735z RAID configuration. If you’re looking for
integrated graphics. However, there are in particular is one of the cheapest an over-the-top performing stylish
a few models priced at `3,000 – `4,000 value laptops around. With a Dual Core notebook, then this should be it.
94 Digit | August 2010 | www.thinkdigit.com
Open source storage
Killer rigs Rackspace, a data center and cloud infrastructure
service will provide a new open source offering to build
100 Choose the configuration that
fits your pocket and launch your own internal and hosted clouds Agent 001
I have got a PC with 1 GB RAM, one would be better; a Nokia C6 or Nokia much superior performance in compar-
D865GB Intel original motherboard having 5800 Xpress Music? It would also be ison to the very basic HTPC graphics
an AGP 8X graphics card slot. I am using a helpful if you could provide a comparison cards which are normally priced under
Ge-Force 6200 graphics card. I want to between the newly released Nokia N900 `3,000. It’s only a 512 MB card and 1 GB
upgrade my graphics card to one GB or and the latest iPhone available considering memory wouldn’t really to the perform-
more. I live in Siliguri in West Bengal and the points mentioned above. ance.
could not find any AGP Graphics card here. Medhatithi Guha
Do the companies has stopped manufactur- Could you suggest me a good CPU +
ing AGP graphics cards? Do I have to I would recommend the C6 simply motherboard + RAM combo for approxi-
upgrade my complete machine? because more is more – it has a QWERTY mately `11,000 – `12,000. The mobo
Indranil keypad, and while the touch interface of should be of the microATX form factor with
the 5800 XpressMusic was its weak a good onboard graphics solution. I will be
AGP cards are indeed defunct. Thus, point, add a full keypad to it, and you glad if it has a PCI express slot for a
the few remaining cards are priced essentially have a Nokia N97, with a discreet GPU. Will the GPU on it be any
exorbitantly as sellers know that smaller screen. better than an onboard GPU?
consumers who want one have no choice. Niranjan Ramanan
I highly recommend upgrading your I want to buy a graphics card, give It would be somewhat difficult to get an
entire system. You could opt for a basic suggestion. Intel Core i3 setup with RAM for that
Core 2 Duo system, or go the AMD Sellam Kumar budget. For that budget, you won’t even
Athlon II X2 way. In any case, your get a motherboard with onboard graphics.
processor would also be a bottleneck for You haven’t given me a budget to work It makes sense to go with an AMD setup.
most of the graphic cards available today. with. Still based on your query, I
recommend an ATI Radeon HD 5450 – Here’s a configuration that should fit your
I am assembling new PC sans monitor. it’s a DX11 complaint card. budget
I have decided upon following specs AMD AMD Phenom II X2 555 BE
Phenom X4 955 BE, ASUS M4A78-Pro, I want to buy a decent 500 GB porta- Gigabyte MA785GM-US2H
Sapphire HD 5850, 2x2 GB DDR2 (800 ble HDD. Please help with all details 2 GB Kingston Value RAM
MHz) Kingston RAM, Seagate 1 TB 7200.12. including specifications and prices of vari-
Please tell me about power supply and ous model available and which would be The AMD785G chipset has pretty decent
cabinet which one to buy. Is my graph- better suited? graphics performance that’s plenty for
ics card ok for playing games in Samsung Tarundeep Singh HD playback and also for some basic
2233SW? My budget is `45000. I am gaming needs. A discrete graphics solu-
hoping to run Crysis 2 on this system. I recommend Western Digital’s Passport tion would be better than the onboard
Leejat Kumar Pradhan Essential 500 GB. Expect to pay around graphics performance.
`4,200 for this drive – a good price. The
I think you’ll be able to run Crysis 2, warranty is three years, which is about at I want to purchase a good touchscreen
but I’m not sure how well it would run, par at what is offered for these products. phone, with good value for money, reliable. I
and would you be able to enable all the need 3G, Wi-Fi, a good camera, rich music qual-
eye-candy or not. It’s a good choice I have the following configuration ity and I want to try various applications on it as
though; especially given the new 6xxx (Dell Optiplex 755) i have a Nokia N72 smartphone. I prefer
series will probably be looking at an end CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo Windows Mobile or Android as the OS. My
of year release. At least you won’t invest RAM: 2GB DDR2 667MHz budget is around ` 15,000. Some phones I like
as much as you would on a GTX 480 or Graphic Card: ATI Radeon HD 2400 XT are the HTC Touch 2, Samsung Jet, Sony Xperia
HD 5870. The rest of the configuration is 256MB (PCIe x16) Mini and Nokia x6. Please send me more
good. LCD: Dell 1907FP 19-Inch suggestions and also, the best among these.
OS: Windows 7 Ultimate Kalash Sharma
Could you please suggest a good mobile I want to buy a new graphics card (1
set with the following features? GB) to play GTA IV. Please suggest a By recent trends, Android seems to be the
• TouchScreen new graphics card which connects at most popular of the lot. The Sony Xperia
• Ergonomic Soft QWERTY PCIe x16 and must be 1 GB. My budget Mini seems like the only decent option if
• High Resolution Camera is ` 3,000. you’re looking for a platform with loads of
• Advanced Multimedia Features apps. The Samsung Wave S8500 costs a
• Good Connectivity For decent performance, your best little more, runs the Bada OS and is a much
• Stylish Looks option is the Sapphire Radeon HD4670. better phone. It’s a new platform and there is
The range should be around 13K. Which It costs around `3,900. It would provide a community that is developing apps for it.
Digit | August 2010 | www.thinkdigit.com 95
Facebook in theatres
'The Social network', a movie on social networking sites,
Price watch is about to be released on October 01, 2010
The latest peripheral prices
SPEND SMART updated every month. Go ahead,
plan your configuration today
Processors
Model Brand Market Price Socket/Interface Brief Specs Tested in
Sempron 140 AMD `1,750 AM3 2.7 GHz / single core September 2009
Athlon II X2 240 AMD `2,950 AM3 2.8 GHz / dual core September 2009
Athlon II X2 245 AMD `3,175 AM3 2.9 GHz/ dual core -
Phenom II 550 AMD `4,550 AM3 3.1 GHz/ dual core September 2009
Phenom II 555 BE AMD `5,175 AM3 3.2 GHz/ dual core -
Athlon II X3 425 AMD `3,550 AM3 2.7 GHz / 3 cores -
Athlon II X3 440 AMD `3,875 AM3 3 GHz / 3 cores -
Athlon II X4 630 AMD `4,925 AM3 2.8 GHz / 4 cores -
Phenom II X3 720 BE AMD `6,450 AM3 2.8 GHz / 3 cores September 2009
Phenom II X4 945 AMD `7,225 AM3 3 GHz / 4 cores September 2009
Phenom II X4 955 BE AMD `8,200 AM3 3.2 GHz / 4 cores September 2009
Phenom II X4 965 BE AMD `9,275 AM3 3.4 GHz / 4 cores September 2009
Phenom II X6 1090T AMD `14,800 AMD 3.2 GHz / 6 cores June 2010
Celeron 430 Intel `1,890 LGA 775 1.8 GHz / single core -
Pentium Dual Core E5400 Intel `2,900 LGA 775 2.6 GHz / dual core September 2009
Core 2 Duo E7500 Intel `5,150 LGA 775 2.93 GHz / dual core -
Core 2 Quad Q8400 Intel `8,100 LGA 775 2.66 GHz / 4 cores September 2009
Core i7 920 Intel `14,100 LGA 1366 2.66 GHz / 4 cores September 2009
Core i7 930 Intel `14,650 LGA 1366 2.8 GHz / 4 cores -
Core i7 980 Extreme Intel `54,000 LGA 1366 3.33 GHz / 6 cores April 2010
Core i3 530 Intel `5,600 LGA 1156 2.93 GHz / dual core -
Core i5 661 Intel `9,950 LGA 1156 3.33 GHz / dual core May 2010
Core i5 750 Intel `10,400 LGA 1156 2.66 GHz / 4 cores -
Core i7 860 Intel `14,350 LGA 1156 2.8 GHz / 4 cores -
Core i7 870 Intel `27,400 LGA 1156 2.93 GHz / 4 cores -
Get Best Deals on
Motherboards
Model Market Price Socket/Interface Brief Specs Tested in
ASUS P6T Deluxe `20,450 LGA 1366 2x PCIe x16, 8-channel audio, 8 x SATA ports September 2009
ASUS Rampage 2 Extreme `24,500 LGA 1366 2x PCIe x16, 8-channel audio, 8 x SATA ports September 2009
ASUS Rampage 2 Gene `16,400 LGA 1366 2 x PCIe x8, 8 channel audio, 6x SATA ports -
Gigabyte X58 Extreme `21,200 LGA 1366 2 x PCIe x16, 8 channel audio, 6x SATA ports September 2009
Gigabyte X58 UD5 `17,100 LGA 1366 2 x PCIe x16, 8 channel audio, 6x SATA ports September 2009
MSI X58 Pro-E `11,300 LGA 1366 2 x PCIe x8, 8 channel audio, 6x SATA ports September 2009
Gigabyte P55 UD6 `17,100 LGA 1156 1x PCIe x16, 1 x PCIe x8, 8 channel audio, 8x SATA ports October 2009
ASUS P5P55-D `9,750 LGA 1156 1x PCIe x16, 1 x PCIe x8, 8 channel audio, 6x SATA ports October 2009
Gigabyte P55 UD7 `19,400 LGA 1156 1x PCIe x16, 3x PCIe x8, 8 channel audio, 8x SATA ports June 2010
MSI P55 GD65 `8,290 LGA 1156 1x PCIe x16, 1 x PCIe x8, 8 channel audio, 6x SATA ports October 2009
ECS P55-HA Black `8,900 LGA 1156 1x PCIe x16, 1 x PCIe x8, 8 channel audio, 6x SATA ports April 2010
MSI P45 Platinum `9,100 LGA 775 1x PCIe x16, 1 x PCIe x8, 8 channel audio, 6x SATA ports September 2009
ASUS P5Q `8,500 LGA 775 1x PCIe x16, 1 x PCIe x8, 8 channel audio, 6x SATA ports
ASUS P5Q3 Deluxe `13,500 LGA 775 1x PCIe x16, 1 x PCIe x8, 8 channel audio, 6x SATA ports September 2009
ECS AB 890GXM-A `7,100 AM3 2 x PCIe x16, 8-channel audio, 6x SATA ports April 2010
Gigabyte 890GPA-UD3H `7,900 AM3 2 x PCIe x16, 8-channel audio, 8x SATA ports April 2010
ASUS M4A785TD-V-EVO `5,900 AM3 1 x PCIe x16, 8-channel audio, 6x SATA ports -
ASUS M4A78T-E `8,800 AM3 2 x PCIe x16, 8-channel audio, 6x SATA ports -
ASUS M4A79T-DELUX `13,100 AM3 2 x PCIe x16, 8-channel audio, 8x SATA ports September 2009
Gigabyte MA78GMT-USB3 `5,850 AM3 1 x PCIe x16, 8-channel audio, 6x SATA ports -
96 Digit | August 2010 | www.thinkdigit.com
Red Alert!
A malware named 'Spy rootkit' is suspected to infect most Price watch
of the critical infrastructure systems in India and Iran
Power supplies
Model Price Tested in Capacity Modular
Cooler Master Real Power Pro 460W `3,600 - 460W N
Cooler Master eXtreme Power 650W `4,200 - 650W N
Cooler Master GX 550W `4,300 March 2010 550W N
Cooler Master GX 650W `5,300 - 650W N
Cooler Master GX 750W `6,500 - 750W N
Corsair HX 750 `8,800 - 750W Y
Corsair HX 850 `10,100 January 2010 850W Y
Corsair HX 1000 `13,500 - 1000W Y
Corsair CX400W `3,200 September 2009 400W N
Cooler Master UCP 1100W `15,650 - 1100W N
Corsair HX620W `7,650 - 620W Y
Corsair TX650W `6,700 - 650W N
Corsair VX450W `3,950 - 450W N
Corsair VX550W `5,700 - 550W N
FSP Blue Storm Pro 500 `3,650 - 500W N
Seasonic PS S12II-430 `3,850 - 430W N
Silverstone 400W `3,100 - 400W N
VIP 600W `2,880 - 600W N
Zebronics Pro 600W `4,000 - 600W N
Get Best Deals on
Cabinets
Model Price Tested in 5.25-inch bays 3.5-inch bays Bundled fans Expansion slots
Antec Nine Hundred `7,100 6 3 4 7
Antec NSK4400 `1,700 May 2008 3 5 1 7
Antec Three Hundred `3,900 October 2008 3 6 2 7
Cooler Master 690 `4,500 - 5 5 3 7
Cooler Master ATCS 840 `14,650 November 2009 6 7 4 7
Cooler Master Cosmos `15,000 - 5 6 1 7
Cooler Master Elite 100 `3,100 - 1 1 0 0
Cooler Master Elite 310 `1,600 - 4 7 1 7
Cooler Master HAF 932 `10,000 6 6 4 7
iBall Baby 306 `2,000 - 1 3 2 0
Thermaltake Armor+ `13,700 - 7 7 3 10
Thermaltake Armor+MX `7,800 - 5 5 3 7
Thermaltake M9 `4,800 - 6 3 2 7
Cell Phones
Model Price Tested in Screen size Camera resolution Platform
HTC Hero `22,200 February 2010 3.2-inch 5 MP Android 1.5
HTC Touch HD 2 `26,400 - 4.3-inch 5 MP Windows Mobile 6.5
LG KP500 `7,300 June 2009 3.0-inch 3.15 MP -
Nokia E55 `17,000 - 2.4-inch 3.2 MP Symbian S60
Nokia E63 `8,845 November 2009 2.36-inch 2 MP Symbian S60
Apple iPhone 3G 16 GB `33,130 June 2009 3.5-inch 2.0 MP iPhone OS
Nokia E72 `17,200 - 2.36-inch 5 MP Symbian S60
Nokia N97 `22,400 August 2009 3.5-inch 5 MP Symbian S60
Nokia XpressMusic 5330 `9,000 - 2.4-inch 3.15 MP -
Nokia XpressMusic 5800 `13,000 3.2-inch 3.15 MP -
Samsung Omnia HD i8910 `27,690 December 2009 3.7-inch 8 MP Symbian S60
Sony Ericsson Satio `24,999 March 2010 3.5-inch 12 MP Symbian S60
Sony Ericsson Yari `11,150 February 2010 2.4-inch 5 MP -
Blackberry Bold 9000 `21,150 June 2009 2.4-inch 2 MP Blackberry OS
Digit | August 2010 | www.thinkdigit.com 97
Vibrate to save accidents
A former Segway engineer has created a system that warns
Consumer protection drivers of dangers by using vibrations in their seats
“Who All Can complain in
a Consumer Court?”
A
nu, a Delhi based software goods or devices
professional received a and shy or hesitate
latest high end cellphone to ask the person If you’re facing a problem with
(of a reputed brand) as a (purchaser) to tell your purchase, write to us at
help@consumermate.com
birthday gift from her parents based about the problems
in Mumbai. Three months later, the or go ahead with any
device started having software and legal recourse. At the same time, we the buyer of goods uses them himself,
functional problems. The problem fail to appreciate that there is no need i.e., by self-employment, for earning
persisted even after being repaired at to bother the person who purchased his livelihood, it would not be treated
the service centre. Finally, the service the product for you .The Consumer as a “commercial purpose” and he
centre indicated that the mobile set Protection Act, 1986 secures the does not cease to be a consumer for
had some inherent manufacturing rights of people who are users and the purposes of the Act. Suppose
defect. Understandably, she felt beneficiaries. For the purpose of a person purchases computers to
cheated and disappointed as it was of the Consumer Protection Act the run an internet café for earning his
emotional value being a gift from her word “consumer” has been defined livelihood would be a consumer with
parents. She wanted to take action, separately for “goods” (for example a in the meaning envisaged under
but had no idea how to go about it. mobile hand set of NOKIA, LG etc.) the Consumer Protection Act.
She did not want to bother her and “services” (for example of Voda- Conclusively, when business
parents and at the same time wanted fone, Airtel, etc. ). people and legalists talk of consumers
to take action against the erring com- For the purpose of “goods”, a they are talking about person as
pany. She thought it wasn’t possible consumer means a person who buys consumer, an aggregated commodity
for her to file a complaint with the or agrees to buy goods for a considera- item with little individuality other
consumer forum as the device was tion that has been paid or promised than that expressed in the buy/
billed in her mother’s name. When or partly paid and partly promised or not-buy decision. There is increasing
she posted her query on an online under any system of deferred pay- backlash from the public over use of
forum, she realised she could file a ment (where things are taken on EMI). the label “consumer” rather than
complaint with the Consumer Forum It includes any user of such goods “customer”. The National Commission
although she’s not direct buyer of the other than the person who actually for Consumer Redressal and various
said product. purchases goods and such use is made State Consumer Commissions have
The “word ‘consumer’ is a compre- with the approval of the purchaser. held that the expressions ‘consumer’
hensive expression. It extends from If Anu was also gifted a SIM card and ‘complainant’ gather within them-
a person who buys any commodity to along with the mobile device, she selves and includes the legal repre-
consume either as eatable or other- could have taken action against the sentatives of the deceased consumer.
wise from a shop, business house, cor- service provider as well being a con- Do not feel cheated and there is no
poration, store, fair price shop to use sumer. The Consumer Protection Act need to bother the person who got the
of private or public services.” The first is aimed at protecting the interests of goods and availed services for you.
part of the definition of ‘consumer’ a consumer as understood in commer- You are a consumer and you can be
deals with goods, while the second cial sense of the term as ‘purchaser the complainant to raise your rights
part pertains to services. For instance, of goods’ and in larger sense ‘user of and file consumer complainant with
it’s not only buyer, but even those who services. the consumer forums.
use the goods who are beneficiaries of In India, the Consumer Protec-
services with approval of the person tion Act, 1986 also differentiates
who purchased the goods or who a consumer as consuming a goods
Expert buying advice
hired the services is included in it. or service either for his personal Visit Consumermate.com
There are occasions when many domestic use or to earn his livelihood. for expert buying advice and
of us receive, as well as gift others Any person, entity or organization comprehensive information on
products that are purchased. We come purchasing a commodity for com- Laptops, Mobiles, TVs, Cameras
across problems and service deficien- mercial reasons is exempted from and Camcorders
cies, but feel cheated to have defective any benefits of this act. However, if
98 Digit | August 2010 | www.thinkdigit.com
Solar gardening
Australian inventors Brendan Corry and Peter Sargent have invented Wunda Weeder, a
solar-powered contraption that lets gardeners take their back-breaking work lying down Consumer protection
COMPLAINTS RECEIVED
Mention a claim amount in your letter. sure all the correspondences you’ve
Laptops
They should respond. had with the company are via registered
mode or emails. In your letters to the
Case File #216
company, call upon them to rectify all
I can’t go for HP products - poor Case File #332
your problems failing which you will be
customer after-sales service Hard Drive Problems with my
restrained to take legal action. For filing
I thank Digit magazine for offering this Compaq CQ model
the complaint, you will always have the
forum. I wish to report bad service I recently bought a Compaq CQ 42-
assistance of Consumer Mate.
offered to me by HP (after-sales 116TU notebook on May 01, 2010 and
support). I purchased a Presario cq a month later, my computer doesn’t
62-105TU two months back and was restart. It doesn’t detect the hard Case File #463
offered Norton Internet Security 2010 drive. I’ve lodged a complaint with No IMEI number on Sony Ericsson
as part of the HP redemption scheme. Compaq (no 4615430329), but they W205 mobile
I sent a draft worth `499 as demanded say parts are unavailable. I had purchased a Sony Ericsson
by HP for this package. HP instead Frankie W205 mobile on July 14, 2009. Within
of sending Norton Internet Security three months, I realised that there
2010, sent Norton Antivirus. The anti- Answer by Consumermate: was no IMEI number so I received
virus was actually offered in another It’s a sad situation where you’re facing a replacement; the W205 phone is
scheme at just `300 along with music/ problems with your new purchase. giving me high trouble now. 1) The
game. I was not interested in games It is understandable that if a part is messaging application is very slow, 2)
and hence opted for Norton Internet not available, the customer can be The phone software gets corrupted
Security 2010. I reported to HP too. asked to wait for a reasonable time. By every two months, 3) The phone
HP redemption cell didn’t bother to reasonable we definitely don’t mean suddenly becomes non responsive, 4)
reply to my email. HP usually replies to beyond a week’s time. We’d advise the phone arbitrarily at its own wish
pre-sales query within a day. But they you to keep a track of all the emails begins to restart at its own whim and
didn’t reply to my redemption issue and communications exchanged with fancy, 5) phone memory decreases
even after a week. I’ve not opened the the company. You may write a letter by 100kb a week, 6) Master resets
anti-virus 2010 pack sent to me by to them via speed post, and call the prove worthless and these problems
HP. Hence, I request HP to send me company to rectify the problems within are really frustrating me, my phone
what has been offered to me. I can a week, failing which they have to pay software was reloaded on May 4th
return the anti-virus to the nearest HP you compensation for the loss of work and it is already giving problems again
office once I receive Norton Internet and harassment caused to you. if we try to access file manager the
Security 2010. I’ve already sent phone restarts the above mentioned 5
redemption details to HP via email. Mobile Phones problems are also present. I request
My redemption code is 7VDSO13CCW, you to let me know how to try and get
ref no 71010379 on the parcel, at par Case File #411 a replacement for my phone because
cheque from ICICI bank from Bhavin Touch Screen is not working it is still in warranty period now.
Ashar was sent to HP Redemption properly Boss I Phone After the warranty period, I can only
Cell. I must say HP laptop is nice with I had purchased a Boss I Phone Model imagine what i will be doing with the
preloaded software. But I can’t go for 3300. Within a month of using it, its phone because Sony will say warranty
HP products in future due to its poor touch screen isn’t working properly. I is over so now you have to pay for the
customer after-sales service. had already lodged a complaint at the software reload.
Ashar Bhavesh email address given in its user manual,
but haven’t received any response from Answer by Consumermate:
Answer by Consumermate: the company. I’m thinking of filing a To claim replacement, you have to
Considering the stakes involved we case in the consumer court for this. prove that the product was inherently
can’t advise you to go to the consumer Arup Das defective. At this stage, you can
court. But you must take action for serve a legal notice upon them asking
the money you’ve spent. At this stage, Answer by Consumermate: for a change of the product and
you send them a letter asking them to It is a fit case for the consumer court. compensation for the defective product
take immediate action regarding your But before moving to court, you should and harassment. Keep a record of all
grievance, failing which you will be give one final chance to the company the communications and send all the
taking action in the consumer court. to rectify your problems. Just make letters through emails or speed post.
Digit | August 2010 | www.thinkdigit.com 99
Basic rig = `22,650
Multimedia cum gaming rig = `31,825
KILLER RIGS
everything you will ever need to build your own PC. whatever your budget.
High-end Multimedia / Gaming rig = `49,625
High-end gaming PC = `66,850
Ultra high-end PC / Gaming rig = `1,83,910
PRIMARY SECONDARY COMPONENTS
COMPONENTS
CABINET POWER SUPPLY MOUSE
PROCESSOR
AMD Athlon II X2 240 / `2,950
AMD Athlon II X4 630 / `4,925
Phenom X4 945 / `7,225 VIP 350 Watts / `850 Logitech 3 button scroll / `300
Intel Core i5 750 / `10,100 VIP 400W Gold / `850 Logitech 3 button scroll / `300
Intel Core i7 960 / `31,100 Corsair VX450 / `3,800 Logitech MX518 / `1,300
Corsair VX450 / `3,800 Logitech MX518 / `1,300
Corsair HX850W / `10,100 Logitech G500 / `3,700
Zebronics Antibiotic / `2,100
Zebronics Antibiotic / `2,100
CoolerMaster 690 / `4,400
CoolerMaster 690 / `4,400
Antec 900 / `6,500
SOUND CARD
MOTHERBOARD None
ASUS NVIDIA 7025 M2N68-AM / None
`2,250 None OPTICAL DRIVE
Gigabyte MA78GM-US2H / None LG H55N / `1,100
`4,200 ASUS Xonar DX / `3,700 SPEAKER LG H55N / `1,100
ASUS M4A78-PRO / `5,850 None LG H55N / `1,100
Biostar Tpower P55 / `8,500 None LG H55N / `1,100
ASUS P6T Deluxe V2 / `19,300 Altec Lansing VS2421 / `2,200 101/ `11,010
Altec Lansing VS2421 / `2,200
Altec Lansing MX 5021 / `6,500
KEYBOARD
Logitech Multimedia / `400
RAM Logitech Multimedia / `400
2 x 1 GB DDR2 800 MHz (Kingston) / `2,000 Logitech Multimedia / `500
2 x 1 GB DDR2 800 MHz (Kingston) / `2,000 Logitech Multimedia / `500
2 x 2 GB DDR2 800 MHz (Corsair) / `4,000 Logitech G15 / `4,400
2 x 2 GB DDR3 1333 MHz (Kingston) / `5,100
3 x 2 GB Kingston HyperX T1 2,000 MHz /
`17,600
MISCELLANEOUS
GRAPHICS CARD
None
ZOTAC GeForce 9600GT TABLET
/ `4,750
Sapphire Radeon HD 4850
/ `6,900
Sapphire Radeon HD 5850 / `17,500
ZOTAC GeForce GTX 470 x 2 (SLI) / `46,000
None HEADPHONES
iBall Design Tablet PF1209 / `8,900 None
Wacom Intuos4 Medium (PTK-640) `21,280 Sennheiser HD 201 / `1,500 PRINTING SOLUTIONS
HARD DRIVE Sennheiser HD 280 Pro / `5,500 Canon PIXMA iP1980 / `2,695
Seagate 500 GB 7200.11 / `2,800 Canon iP3680 / `5,595
Seagate 500 GB 7200.11 / `2,800 Epson B-500DN / `22,999
Seagate 1 TB 7200.12 / `3,950
Seagate 1 TB 7200.12 / `3,950
WD Black Edition 1 TB x2 / `11,500
MONITOR
ViewSonic VA1928wm / `7,900
AOC 2236Vw / `8,400
AOC 2236Vw / `8,400
AOC 2236Vw / `8,400 MOUSEPAD
BenQ G2420HD / `12,500 None
Razer Goliathus Speed (Oversized) / GAMING CONTROLLERS POWER PROTECTION
`1,400 MS Xbox 360 Controller / `1,350 None
Everglide Titan / `1,650 Logitech Momo / `5,500 APC 550W / `2,400
Steel Series QCK Heavy / `2,000 Logitech G27 / `15,520 Numeric 1 KVA / `4,200
100 Digit | August 2010 | www.thinkdigit.com
Picasa gallery layouts Industry connect
104 Learn how to design your own layout for the
Picasa Gallery using Flash Builder 4 106 We try and find out if anti-viruses are
here to stay Developer corner
tonEventArgs.Handled property is set
to true, the default Silverlight configura-
tion menu will not be displayed. The
MouseButtonEventArgs.StylusDevice.
DeviceType property will report the
source device type for the event such as
mouse, stylus, or touch. The following
code is required to implement the right
click functionality and display a custom
menu control:
public MainPage()
{
InitializeComponent();
mediaElement.MouseRightButton-
Down +=
new MouseButtonEventHandler(Mo
useRightButtonDownHandler);
mediaElement.MouseRightBut-
tonUp +=
new MouseButtonEventHandler(Mo
The silver line
useRightButtonUpHandler);
}
private void MouseRightButtonD
ownHandler(object sender, Mouse-
ButtonEventArgs e)
Microsoft’s web application framework has transformed {
into a full-fledged application framework with its new e.Handled = true;
avatar and is slowly gaining ground in a world nearly }
private void MouseRightButton
dominated by Flash UpHandler(object sender, Mouse-
Rahil Banthia data binding features, modular develop- ButtonEventArgs e)
readersletters@thinkdigit.com ment with MEF, and support for several {
new languages. All of this, if rightly var menu = new MyCustomMenuCon
S
ilverlight, although not techni- implemented will enhance the building trol(mediaElement);
cally a part of the .Net Frame- of business and media applications using menu.Show(e.
work, was updated with the this framework, even applications that GetPosition(LayoutRoot));
recent release of .Net 4. It has reach beyond the browser. }
come far from being a small subset of
the Framework’s core features run- Right-click event handling
ning as a plugin for web browsers to a What this essentially translates into,
full-fledged cross-platform application is that right-mouse-click events can
framework like Adobe Flash. The WPF now display a custom context menu
graphics model of Silverlight, leveraging instead of the default Silverlight menu,
existing .Net developers bundled with or invoke direct commands that could
out-of browser capabilities and plugins be used in games. The events are routed
for nearly every web browser including to a particular element and use the
mobile platforms pose an ever increasing same MouseButtonEventArgs that the
threat to the dominant Flash. Let us delve MouseLeftButtonUp and MouseLeft-
deeper into Silverlight 4 and see what ButtonDown events use so you can
new features it brings to the table and determine which element was affected
if they are really worth all the hype. and where on that element a right
Silverlight 4 includes many new mouse button event occurred in order to
features such as web camera and show a context menu at that location.
microphone support, right-click event When the MouseRightButtonDown This is how the right-click contextual
handling, improved rich text boxes and event is handled and the MouseBut- menu will look
Digit | August 2010 | www.thinkdigit.com 101
The political connection The Olympic connection
President Obama’s inauguration was NBC used Silverlight to broadcast the 2008 Summer Olympic
Developer corner broadcast using Silverlight games and the 2010 Winter Olympic games
Support for mouse wheel Pretty neat, right? Of course the user
In previous versions of Silverlight, you first needs to set the default video and
had to rely on some helper classes from audio devices for the Silverlight applica-
either DeepZoom or other sample sites tion by right-clicking on the Silverlight
to implement handling the mouse’s application and going to the web cam/
scroll wheel functionality on things Grant it permission by clicking on Yes Mic tab as shown below.
like ListBox, etc. But with Silverlight Like good old Flash, you can even
4, your applications can respond to leverage their capture devices and then view and edit the permissions granted
mouse wheel events on controls where capture both the audio and video. for the webcam and microphone access
scrolling is appropriate. The Silverlight We request for permission with: from the configurations window.
ScrollViewer automatically handles if (CaptureDeviceConfigura-
the MouseWheel event so the ListBox, tion.AllowedDeviceAccess || Cap- Elevated trust applications
ComboBox, TextBox, and ScrollViewers tureDeviceConfiguration.Request- Silverlight 3’s out-of-browser (OOB)
automatically scroll. The best part about DeviceAccess()) applications had very limited privi-
the MouseWheel event is that it exists on { leges. But with Silverlight 4, you can now
all UIElements. This event fires when- _captureSource.Start();
ever the mouse wheel is turned while the }
mouse pointer is over a UIElement. You Then capture the video using:
can code the MouseWheel event in your if (_captureSource != null)
application with a code that looks like: {
private void _captureSource.Stop(); // stop
OnMouseWheel(object sender, whatever device may be capturing
MouseWheelEventArgs e) _captureSource.VideoCaptureDe-
{ vice = (VideoCaptureDevice)Vide-
if (e.Delta > 0) oSources.SelectedItem;
slider_X.Value += slider_X. _captureSource.AudioCapture- Make the necessary changes in your
LargeChange; Device = (AudioCaptureDevice) default devices
else AudioSources.SelectedItem;
slider_X.Value -= slider_X. VideoBrush vidBrush = new alter the OOB manifest to request more
LargeChange; VideoBrush(); elevated permissions for your applica-
} vidBrush.SetSource(_capture- tion. These applications then require the
Source); user to grant consent at install time and
Support for web cams and if (CaptureDeviceConfigura- run outside the browser with elevated
microphones tion.AllowedDeviceAccess || Cap- trust. To enable a trusted application,
Flash had it for ages. But finally, Silver- tureDeviceConfiguration.Request-
light 4 comes with web cam and micro- DeviceAccess())
phone support. It uses the device capture {
API to determine which video and audio _captureSource.Start();
devices are connected to the computer. }
The same API is then used to retrieve }
the devices, prompt the user for permis- In case you just want to take a snap-
sion to access the devices, and use to the shot from the webcam, you need to use: Click on the highlighted check box
devices to capture audio and/or video. private void TakeSnapshot_
Now once the user has granted Click(object sender, RoutedE- Open the project in Visual Studio and
permission, you can use the Capture- ventArgs e) check the “Require elevated trust when
DeviceConfiguration class’ GetDefault- { running outside the browser” permis-
VideoCaptureDevice method to get the if (_captureSource != null) sions checkbox in the Out-of-Browser
default video device and the GetDefaul- { settings for the Silverlight project. The
tAudioCaptureDevice method to get the _captureSource. result will be that the OOB install dialog
default audio device. This video can be AsyncCaptureImage((snapImage) => now looks a little different and warns
captured by creating a new instance of { the user of these elevated privileges.
the CaptureSource class and setting its _images.Add(snapImage);
VideoCaptureDevice property to the }); Local File System Access
video device. Let’s see the code necessary } In order to read/write data to the user’s
to request permission to your users to } machine, you normally had to do it
102 Digit | August 2010 | www.thinkdigit.com
Users of Silverlight Silverlight mobile?
16 million subscribers to the largest 25 US daily newspapers. 8.8 million - global iPhone sales in Q1 2010. 21.5
Compare that to 14 million Netflix subscribers and 23 million million - Nokia smartphone sales in Q1 2010. Nokia
Xbox live subscribers S60v5 already has a working Silverlight port Developer corner
through a mechanism of OpenFileDialog temporarily display some information NavigateToString method accepts a string
(read) and SaveFileDialog (write). But provided by the application on the user’s that represents content (HTML and
come Silverlight 4, you have direct local screen. But one thing to remember is JavaScript). The content is passed to this
file access to the users’ “My” folders that Notifications can only be done in method is rendered in the WebBrowser
in their profile. These are things like Silverlight out-of-browser applications. control.
Documents, Videos, Pictures, and Music It is very simple to implement, however; The Navigate method - The Navigate
folders under the user’s profile. It lets Use the NotificationWindow method to method accepts a URI that points to the
you specify which folder you want to provide a simple or customized notifica- HTML content that you want to render.
open by passing one of the Environment. tion mechanism for your application: The URI does not need to be in the same
SpecialFolder enumerator values to the private void CustomNotifica-
Environment.GetFolderPath method. tionButton_Click(object sender,
This method returns the path of the RoutedEventArgs e)
folder which can then be used to perform {
file operations, as shown in the code: NotificationWindow notify =
var sampleFile = @”\sample. new NotificationWindow();
txt”; notify.Width = 330;
var path = Environment. notify.Height = 75;
GetFolderPath(Environment.Spe- TextBlock tb = new Text- Different ways of notifying the user
cialFolder.MyPictures)); Block();
if (System.IO.File.Exists(path tb.Text = “Sample notifica-
Note
+ sampleFile)) tion”; Silverlight cannot run on Linux (the
{ tb.FontSize = 24; Mono project has already ported Silver-
System.IO.File.Delete(path notify.Content = tb; light 3 for Linux and is on its way to
+ sampleFile); notify.Show(3000); release a beta build for Silverlight 4);
} } but there is no doubt that the future
StreamWriter sw = File. of Silverlight rests in Windows and
CreateText(path + sampleFile); Using Silverlight application Windows alone. Also, we wish for an
sw.WriteLine(“some as a drop target from your Android port soon!
data”); desktop
sw.Close(); For a lot of scenarios, you may have
wanted to be able to drag a file from domain as the Silverlight application.
your desktop or file explorer on to your The Source property - The Source
Silverlight 3 or previous applications. property is another way to set the content
You will be happy to know that Sil- to a URI.
verlight 4 now supports being a drop- The following code loads the www.
target for the common drag-and-drop microsoft.com Web page in the Web-
practice of clicking on a virtual object Browser control when run Out-of-
and dragging it to a different location Browser.
or onto another virtual object. For this, wb.Navigate(new Uri(“http://
the AllowDrop property of the UIEle- www.microsoft.com”));
Click on install ment must be set to true and its Visibility You can even have a Silverlight
property must be set to Visibility.Visible 4 application hosting an embedded
Notification (aka “toast”) API for the UIElement to be a drop target. YouTube Flash video for that matter:
One major flaw in these out-of-browser So that is Silverlight 4 for you guys.
applications, in both Adobe Air and Hosting Web Content within It sure has some nifty features and new
Silverlight was that there was no inte- Silverlight Applications toys to play around with. What matters
grated support for Notifications; leave Enabling hosting HTML content in is how you use them and create fantastic
alone the ability to use the Windows’s Silverlight is now possible by pro- new applications with fresh UI’s and
default notification tray to show mes- viding a simple WebBrowser con- tablet-specific features for the future,
sages like your IM client shows when trol that will enable you to provide because the way we see it, Silverlight is
you receive anything new. But Silverlight string-based HTML contents or destined to shine once Windows Phone 7
4 tries to bring an end to that misery navigate to a fully interactive URL or Windows 7 tablets start rolling out in
with a new API with the Notification- There are three ways to load web con- the market. Did we mention it has multi-
Window method which acts like a subtle tent inside of the WebBrowser control: touch support and full screen keyboard
notification system with the ability to The NavigateToString method - The access on out-of-browser applications?
Digit | August 2010 | www.thinkdigit.com 103
Sony celebrates
Its Mini line of games have been downloaded a
million times since its launch 9 months ago
CORNER
Exploring layouts for the Picasa
Gallery app using Flash Builder 4
I
n our last tutorial we created an appli- they can use the same layout. tag in your code, but you can also change
cation using the Flex SDK in Flash You can write your own layout mecha- the layout of containers in your project at
Builder 4 for browsing an image gal- nisms if you want to control the placement. runtime!
lery exported from Picasa. Here, we’ll For example, you could take a list and create
explore the concept of layouts in Flex 4, and an iTunes-like coverflow, or a 3D carousel. Extending our Picasa
how we can take advantage of them. Let us take our list of images from the last Gallery app
tutorial: We’ll add a drop-down list to the UI that
Flex “spark” layouts This entails the following things:
Flex SDK, you could use containers such 1. We need to add a DropDownList compo-
as VBox for vertical layouts, and HBox for nent to our application
horizontal layouts. These both derived from 2. We need to create an array of layouts to
the Box component. Flex 3 also supported display in the DropDownList
a Canvas component that used absolute 3. We need to associate each entry in the
positioning, where instead of laying out 4. We need change the layout with the
layout, each component would be given a selection
fixed position.
In the new component architecture STEP 1: Add a DropDownList component
called “spark” which has been adopted in Here we’ve added the TileLayout to our application
Flex 4, the layout mechanism of containers component that manages the layout for the This is simple, we just add the following
is kept separate. So while the Group objects in our List within ‘layout’ property. after the list code in our previous applica-
container, TitleWindow container, List The TileLayout component manages the tion:
container all have different features, and arrangement of the images we load from
looks they can be assigned any layout, and the Picasa gallery. We can very easily swap
the way they place components will be this out and put in instead, and lay out items in a vertical you will see the drop down list we have
orientation. We can configure our layouts added will overlay the earlier list. Since we
as well, the TileLayout class, for example, have not specified a layout for our applica-
allows you to configure horizontal and tion, it defaults to using BasicLayout, which
vertical gaps and alignments, the number of uses absolute positioning and layout, where
columns or rows, and you can select a row you need to specify the position and size of
or column oriented layout. every component added to the application.
Another interesting concept is that of This is quickly and simply remedied
virtual layouts. With a virtual layout you by adding a VerticalLayout component as
can have a list display hundreds or even the layout for the applications. We can do
thousands of elements, and the client this by adding the following code inside the
Containers within containers, each with its runtime, Flash player will render only as application tag:
own layout many items as required. This will allow you
to display a very large amount of data in
derived from that. So while the Group and Flex containers.
Panel components are simply for displaying Due to this flexible architecture, it is not To make the width of this drop-down list
components, and the List component is for only possibly for you to experiment with 100% and give it an id, add the following
displaying and navigating through data, different layouts by changing just a single code:
104 Digit | August 2010 | www.thinkdigit.com
iPad/netbook? 439 million
7.1 million projected iPad sales in 2010. Projected global smartphone sales in 2014. Windows
58 million projected netbook sales in 2010 Phone 7 with Silverlight has ample potential to dominate Developer corner
source for the DropDownList
To add this as a data source for our list,
we just need to bind it to the dataPro-
STEP 2: Create an array of layouts to vider property. We could have also
display in the DropDownList chosen to place this entire list inside the
To display the layouts in a list, we need to tag, which would have
have a name for the layout to display in the had the same effect.
list, and an instance of that layout object. To have it pick up the names from the
For this we will create an array of Object objects and display them in the list, we use
instances, with each having two proper- the labelField property. This property can Left: Vertical layout, and right: the
ties, a name to display in the list, and a be used to tell the List component which horizontal layout
layout that has a layout object instance. property of the list items is to be displayed
Here is a sample object: in as a label. selectedItem.layout}”
We will also initialize it with a However just to be safe will we have
selectedIndex of “0” so that the first layout the layout default to the “TileLayout” in
comes selected by default. Here is the final case no item is selected. The final code for
code: that is:
selectedItem?layoutSelector.
array with multiple of these objects and add If you run the application now, it will be selectedItem.layout: new Tile-
it as the data source for our list. display the drop-down list with the listed Layout()}” >
Let us add VerticalLayout and Horizon- names, however changing it will have no
talLayout. Note that you can configure the effect. That we save for the final step.
objects in these instances as you like. Here is
these three layouts: selection
This step is quite easy. First we remove
the layout we have set to prepare to have
it set dynamically. You may notice that the layout
Next all we need to do is bind the attribute now reads:
layout of the List to the ‘layout’ property layout=”{layoutSelector.
of the currently selected object in the selectedItem?layoutSelector.
DropDownList. So in the end we need to selectedItem.layout: new Tile-
add the following inside the tag:: Layout()}”
layout=”{layoutSelector. Please check to ensure that we always
have a valid layout. So if no item is
selected (layoutSelector.selectedItem
List will be a “new TileLayout()” object,
while in other cases it will be the ‘layout’
dItem”. Run the application and you
will see that the application will change
layouts as you change the selection.
Check out the extended tutorial
Note that this needs to be added online at http://www.thinkdigit.com/d/fb4_tut1_3
inside the tag which will show you how to use some
in your applications code as it is not a more exotic layouts such as a wheel /
visual component. We have given it an carousel layout, a flowing layout, cover-
id of ‘layouts’ so that it can be used as a The DropDownList now lists all the layouts flow etc.
Digit | August 2010 | www.thinkdigit.com 105
Radeon 6000 30nm DDR3
AMD to launch the upcoming Radeon Samsung said to start manufacturing
Industry connect HD6000 series of cards in 2010 30nm DDR3 modules soon
Are antiviruses going to die?
With the widespread adoption of open source operating systems that are inherently less vulnerable to virus attacks
and Microsoft offering its own brand of security in the form of Microsoft Security Essentials, one wonders whether
anti-viruses are really necessary. This month, we set out to answer this very question by featuring opinions from a
wide cross section of the industry – from OS makers to anti-virus companies themselves
Amit Nath PC and personal data.
Country Manager, India & SAARC, Apart from this, consumers need to
Trend Micro keep their antiviruses and even OS up to
date with service packs. However, the fact
remains that as long as we have cyber crime,
antiviruses will remain relevant in pro-
tecting consumers against cyber-threats.
Prakash Advani
Partner Manager - Central Asia,
Canonical
Linux is less effected by viruses than other
operating systems for two reasons. The first
are integrated with McAfee Global Threat is popularity - the virus makers of the world
Intelligence which offers our customers know that they can affect more systems
real-time protection and peace of mind more quickly by creating viruses for the
The answer is no. I have few questions most popular operating system, namely
before someone agrees to my thought. Rajiv Popli windows. The second is technical. There are
Has the threat landscape changed? Has it Director, Windows Client, Consumer inherent strengths in how Linux is built that
become more complex? Are the customers & Online Business Microsoft India makes it less vulnerable to those viruses
still being attacked? Have we solved the According to a recent CERT-In report,
customer problem? If the answer to all the 1900 web sites have been defaced in the
above questions is yes, then how can pos- first three months of 2010 – a growth of
sibly AV die. over 500 percent, when compared to last
The roll out of a new technology means year. Stats like these reinforce the need for
more complex needs of customers. Vir- consumers to protect themselves when
tualisation is the new standard and with surfing online. Also, socially engineered
that, a new paradigm will be needed for online security threats today are no longer
security. As cyber crime is all about money, limited to malware, phishing or Trojans you
new social engineering malware attacks have newer threats / viruses evolving with
will bring in more challenges for security every passing day. So, having an antivirus is
vendors. They will have to continuously imperative in ensuring the security of your
come out with carefully crafted solutions to
stay ahead of the curve.
Venkatasubrahmanyam
Krishnapur that are created to target Linux users.
Senior Director – Engineering, McAfee For example, in a Linux system, user
The threats to the cyber world have only data and applications are separate, user can
been growing in nature and sophistication read and execute the applications but not
over the years. We expect to see AV co-exist, write to them. For a virus to be successful, it
though likely on a diminishing scale, with needs to go and attach itself to all the execut-
increasing emphasis on pro-active anti- ables. In Ubuntu we have an additional level
malware technology resulting in superior of security by having sudo, whereby the
and faster protection to customers against root (admin) user is disabled by default.
a wider range of threats. McAfee has a head I have been using Linux for the last 14
start in this area given that our solutions years and have never been affected by any
106 Digit | August 2010 | www.thinkdigit.com
Lightspark 0.42 Movies anywhere, any format
Latest release of free and open source UltraViolet is the open standard system which lets you watch movies you
Flash alternative released online buy regardless of place or format being tested by media companies
technologies are no longer using signatures programs, a 100 percent increase over
but detect a malware by its behavior (in 2008.
simple words, by what it does rather than The growing sophistication of malware
by how it looks like). means online threats are no longer limited
To summarize, today’s security products to viruses, but also include spyware,
such as AVG are actually security suites spam and phishing, among others. The
and not just traditional anti-virus as many industry is therefore quickly realizing that
people still consider them. So the days of traditional approaches to antivirus, both
antivirus are not over at all, there are just file signatures and heuristic/behavioral
additional security layer that were intro- capabilities, are not enough to protect
duced to provide the needed protection. against today’s threats. We have reached
an inflection point where new malicious
programs are actually being created at a
viruses nor have I had to use any anti-virus higher rate than good programs. As such,
software on Linux. However the software we have also reached a point where it no
does exist and it is not going to die, but it is longer makes sense to focus solely on
going to evolve, especially for Linux systems. analyzing malware. Instead, approaches
to security that look to ways to include all
Yuval Ben-Itzhak software files, such as reputation-based
Senior VP Engineering, AVG security will become key.
Technologies As Indians increasingly go online to work,
The term Antivirus is still interpreted by David Hall play and stay in touch, they need more
many people as a software that tries to Regional Consumer Product protection, not less. Consumers need to
match known signatures of virus/malware Marketing Manager, Symantec, Asia invest in a comprehensive and up-to-date
with a given file. In simple words, tradi- Pacific paid security software featuring reputa-
tional signature based anti-virus tries to Malicious activity is more rampant than tion-based technology, and that is the
identify a virus based on what it looks like. ever. In 2009, Symantec identified more direction in which the security industry is
This was true until 8 years ago. The new than 240 million distinct new malicious heading too.”
Sentinel HASP SRM Industry’s First Fully-Integrated Hardware
and Software-based Software Rights Management Solution
Digit | August 2010 | www.thinkdigit.com 107
Musing on the iPad Community
Esc 110 What remains when you’ve run out
of lust? 114 Connect with us. Check to see if you’re
the winner of our bumper prizes
Time Machine
Travelling in time has always fascinated the human mind. Be it things that could be undone, saving precious lives from a disaster or a
war or stopping a potential crime before it is committed, time travel can open new boundaries and horizons for mankind.
Terminator 2 Judgement Day: Who
isn’t familiar with the T101 and his quest
to save Jack from the evil T 1000. In the
first and second parts, Arnold travels
back in time as a villian first and then
the ultimate hero.
MOVIES
Back to the Future: One of the major
motion pictures based on time travel. Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure: Bill &
Micheal J. Fox-Marty goes back in time Ted go on a joy ride as they travel back in
in 1955 to prevent the death of his scientist time collecting important historical fig-
friend ‘Doc’. ures in order to pass thier college project.
The Time Machine: Replay: Jeff Win- The Time Travel-
Written by HG Wells, ston dies of a heart ler’s Wife: Debut
this classic novel attack and goes novel of Audrey
tells the story of a back in time when Niffenegger. One
time traveller who he was a 18 year of the protagonists
BOOKS
goes back and forth old kid, inspite suffers from a rare
in time, concluding of his repeated disorder Chrono-
his understandings attempts and sev- displacement where
on now degenerated eral ‘replays’ later he travels through
humans and finally as a spectator to the he still cannot alter the future to prevent time having no control over the time or
end of the earth. his death. Written by Ken Grimwood. duration travelled.
Tourism in Time The Grandfather Paradox
A ccording to Stephen Hawking,
the very absence of time travellers
from the future puts a question mark
F irst described by René Barjavel in 1943, it states that if you travel back
in time and cause the death of your grandfather before he meets the
prospective grandmother then as a result the traveller’s own existence is
on whether at all travelling in time is at stake as he would have never been concieved. Hence creating a para-
achieved by humans, he goes on fur- doxical situation.
ther explaining that this does not mean that time travel
is immpossible but may be its never been
developed fully or used cautiously.
A nother similar paradox by Stephen Hawking states that if a scientist
has built a time machine and he goes back in time by one minute
and takes a gun along with him and kills his past self with it who was still
A nother take on this given by Carl Sagan
goes something like this, that time trav-
ellers could be amidst us but are in disguise
loading the gun before travelling into the past, now the question arises as
to who killed whom, the traveller or the scientist. According to Hawking
the man who gets killed in this situation would not negate the existance
and are not recognised as time travellers. of the other as the person from the future is just a copy of the past man.
DIARY
This is the first issue that we’ve done from the new office after shifting here this June end. Things are settling in slowly. There is
a convenience store at the ground floor of the building making occasional munching on packed food items now an ease, especially
during our late night ventures. Products in the test centre are still searching for their perfect placement and positioning. Maybe
this month they would find their humble abode. We have a new member added on – Kareena, a friendly kitten that is being pam-
pered by everyone around. She’s also getting used to the set-up here and is actively exploring all corners of the office despite her
busy schedule. She usually spends her day eating, sleeping, eating, sleeping...and then finally, eating and sleeping!
108 Digit | August 2010 | www.thinkdigit.com
Pure football International Cricket 2010
116 Pure football magic on your console 117 Play with your favourite players in the
comfort of your home Unwind
Computers from the Future
T he design of a standard desktop PC
hasn’t undergone a major facelift for a
long time. The basic setup remains more or
design idea saving space and
energy. Capturing the gestures
and movements of the user T here was a time when a 20 GB hard
drive on a Windows 95 system cre-
less the same – monitor, CPU, keyboard and the Power Flower PC uses ated buzz among people. Now the size of
mouse with the exclusion of wires in some motion detection to operate what’s considered today a good amount of
new PCs, but these machines from the future and projects the screen on a HD space to have, goes up a notch almost
are bound to give a new look and feel to the wall. Can you imagine making every month. A 1 TB hard drive today
way we percieve PCs today. your big business presentation means a good PC configuration and fits
The E-Ball: from a sunflower? in easliy in a standard CPU unit, so how
Future computers Dell O Project PC: This green design PC much space does a PB or EB take to store?
wont be just rectan- houses a small plant inside its circular hollow PETABYTE: 2 datacentre cabinets
gular plastic. The CPU. However the idea would have made a lot EXABYTE: 2,000 cabinets, datacenters
E-Ball concept PC more sense if the plant would have produced will consume the size of a 4 storey building
is a sphere which more Oxygen than the amount of CO2 gener- ZETTABYTE: 1000 datacenters, will con-
has pop out legs, ated during its compu- sume an area of about 90 square Kms
measuring 6 inches in diameter this orb ter’s production, but YOTTABYTE: A million datacenters, will
projects a virtual keyboard and display and due to its small size it consume a mind boggling area of 6500
also houses a detachable mouse. does not do its bit. Its square kilometres.
Power Flower: Who needs electricity to still a good reminder Finally, for the last mind numbing
power their machines when Fuel Cell tech- for cutting down gas number trivia,
nology is in? Based on clean energy plat- emissions and the World GDP – $61 trillion
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Digit | August 2010 | www.thinkdigit.com 109
Must-have App: Beatwave
Beatwave is a synthesizer that lets you create music Must-have App: Google Earth
loops easily. Best part: no matter what you do, it still Really? You need a reason beyond “Google Earth
Feature sounds like music in the end (Free) iPad exists” to get Google Earth on the iPad? (Free)
Musing on the iPad What remains when you've run out of lust?
(And other magical stories)
the iPad was announced, I "Have you seen the close button on win-
was astonished at my own dows on the Mac? They're really hard to
optimism. Could this be the hit with a mouse cursor, much less with
first thing launched in recent your flabby fingers. And don't interrupt
memory that doesn't suck? me." No – putting an OS designed for key-
Would I have bought one if boards and mice on a device for fingers is
someone else hadn't already a recipe for, well, hot sewage pizza, and
paid for the one I have? The if you can say otherwise with a straight
answers to those questions, face, you are deluded. Or Steve Ballmer.
it turns out, are yes and no, Right then; where was I?
respectively.
Let me first point out that The fit
the iPad is exactly what a Here's an interesting strategy to save
portable computer should be. yourself from misery – instead of
Does a few things, does them emptying your bank account every time
really, really well, ARM- a pretty gadget hits the market, try to
based, and with a battery that visualise where it fits into your life. For
requires a conscious effort to example, I see a Nokia N900 fitting into
drain. It's also what a tablet mine quite neatly – it runs Linux, so
user interface should be – I can use vi to write my articles any-
fully aware that users will where; it's got a TV out and will pair to a
Anonymous Writer #4492 be using their fingers, not a mouse, and bluetooth keyboard, so I can actually do
readersletters@thinkdigit.com designed to reflect that. that writing with a proper keyboard and
I read plenty of early criticism that the a proper display. It is, in fact, the mobile
W
hy, I must ask myself, iPad isn't "magical and revolutionary" computer I'd much rather be writing
am I writing about the because it doesn't run a "bonafide" OS about right now, if I could afford the
iPad now, when it's like Windows or Mac OS X. "I won't buy damned thing.
been out for yonks (in a tablet that doesn't run Windows", to Coming back to the iPad – I could
tech terms, at least), and everyone from paraphrase one particular forum (not picture that fitting into my life too. iBooks
professional reviewer to unprofessional ThinkDigit) commenter person. If you is a big, fat reason right there – I love
pillock has taken great liberties with the identify with this statement, read on. books, e or otherwise. So is the fact that
thesaurus in describing it's wondrous- First, take that bucket off your head now that it's got Pages, it becomes a much
ness? I'll tell you why, children. It's – it makes you look silly and miss stuff. lighter portable workstation than my cur-
because only after time passes and the Like the fact that Windows-based tablets rent laptop. Of course, there's the whole
halo and hype have faded away – leaving have been around for ages. Like in all user experience thing, but it's really the
room for the Next Big Thing™ – do we see those years, they've never found much of reading and writing that takes the iPad
the true nature of the shiny things we fell a following. Because they were rubbish. beyond just "big iPod Touch".
for. Will we chalk it down to a moment of And expensive. But mostly rubbish – Unfortunately, the reading part gets
weakness and deny we ever bought this think boiling hot sewage served on a kicked in the groin when you realise that
horrible thing, or will we settle into what platter of mouldy bread. the iPad weighs 650 grams, is top-heavy,
promises to be a long, healthy and loving "But surely Mac OS X is worthy of the and doesn't lend itself well to gripping.
relationship, at least until the next one tablet treatment," you might reply, "I've To address those in order – 650 grams
arrives? tried Ink with a graphics tablet, and it's is more than your average paperback,
I suppose I must mention that when really good." To which I would point out, and perhaps more than a hard-bound
110 Digit | August 2010 | www.thinkdigit.com
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Must-have App: Gravilux
Use your finger to create gravitational fields, and move the stars around your screen.
Feature You’re supposed to create art, but it’s really just an excellent time-killer (Free)
book, even. Take a tablet that size and and the tip of your nose), making it the trouble you, Apple, for a Finder-like
that weight to read in bed, and watch it closest you'll come to that Surface thing utility to browse the iPad's file system,
tip over in your hand and bonk you on that Microsoft promised and then threw but surely you could just make a common
the nose. Not the type to read in bed, are down a black hole. Fire up Game Table pool of files that every app could dip into,
you? Well, how about this: the shiny front (free in the App Store), lay the iPad on couldn't you? Transferring files to apps
bezel will ensure that no matter how you your table, and have a game of Chess (or through iTunes is groovy and all, but
try to grip it, your thumb will slowly slip Checkers, or Reversi) with a friend. Play how about letting the apps share those
towards the edge, forcing you to hold the Harbor Master HD (also free) for endless files properly? Consider what I'm dealing
iPad in both hands. If you can picture hours, and have your friends help you with: I'm reading a PDF in GoodReader,
yourself doing this – i.e. in a chair, wor- dock those boats without crashing. Join when I realise I want to make a couple of
rying that it may fall if you aren't ever- a friend in the tower defense extrava- annotations in iAnnotate. In GoodReader,
vigilant – you might see that it's a rather ganza that is Plants and Zombies. See I can choose to open that file in iAnno-
stupid position for reading; something, I the common thread here? The iPad'sPad s tate (also groovy). But here's the catch
(al
must remind you, that people do to relax. screen is a compelling reason to – iAnnotate gets a copy of the PDF,
i
What about writing then? With the get back in touch with all those iPAD not the original. This repeats every
n
keyboard dock, perhaps. But since I REVIEWED time I try to use this "open with"
IN DIGIT
couldn't be arsed to spend any money on feature. So when I'm done anno-
MAY 2010
that, I was stuck with the on-screen key- tating and want to send it back to
board. I should point out that I'm biased GoodReader, I now have my original
G
here: I've always maintained that anyone PDF and an annotated copy, and an
who trades in a physical keyboard for annotated copy still in iAnnotate. You
a touchscreen travesty should be tied could argue that I should do everything
naked to a nest of angry hornets, so it's in one app and stop whining, but there's
no surprise how much I dislike the iPad's a reason I use two. GoodReader, for
keyboard. But I can't imagine anyone instance, doesn't die when I throw huge
liking it – just tolerating it in various PDFs at it. And now with iBooks sup-
degrees. In portrait mode, it's too big to porting PDFs as well, I may end up with
use with thumbs, but too small for both another copy for that, too. And before
hands. In landscape, it's big enough to you know it, the apps are spawning more
use with both hands. I can use it without copies than a collection of bunnies during
cursing by now, but it's still horrible, and mating season.
I'm getting a keyboard dock as soon as I I understand that apps need to run
can convince someone to buy me one. in their own sandboxes and not mess
Okay, so maybe it is a really big iPod with other apps' toys, but don't sell it as
Touch. But can that be a good thing? a device for (potential) productivity if
people you've alienated since you found you're going to get in the way of me get-
The good thing the Internet. Or alternatively, get yourself ting productive.
It's the screen. It's bright, beautiful, a gimp. But maybe that's been my mistake all
responsive (although that has to do with But beneath the starry veneer, there along.
the processor as well), and is perfect are still things that smell.
when viewed from every angle. And The point
big. And the bigness is good. Good for The gripes The iPad, as the tech pundits will tell
browsing the Web, reading PDFs, and Someone needs to tell Steve Jobs that I'm you, is a great device "for consuming
when turned off, checking for bits of food a big boy now. That means I get to take media". You know, like your TV. You're
in your moustache before that important responsibility for my decisions, even if supposed to stare gormlessly into its
presentation. they seem like the actions of a whim- magical screen, drooling onto your
But where the screen truly excels is sical monkey on LSD. I should be able to shirt, watching YouTube and surfing
games. Not the little iPhone/iPod Touch install apps that "ruin my experience", the Internet looking for bandwagons to
games, where you're tilting and shaking as long as I acknowledge that I only have jump on. Productivity? What kind of
the device, of course – you don't tilt and myself to blame when my iPad crashes. Is square are you, daddy-o? This is a thing
shake a $500, 650-gram device that that so hard? Anyway, let's not beat this for the cool kids, who don't need to work,
threatens to fall out of your hands every dead horse any more. because mommy told them that the world
time you lift it up. I'm talking good, old- What's really getting on my nerves will bow before them anyway.
fashioned tabletop games. The screen lately is the lack of a common file storage. On the other hand, revision 2 might
supports up to 11 fingers (or 10 fingers It would be presumptuous of me to turn out to be rather nice.
112 Digit | August 2010 | www.thinkdigit.com
Facebook update Google images update
The social network recently hit the 500 million user Google claims their images search category gets
base milestone. The last 100 million got added in the one billion page views a day. A picture is indeed
Community last six months worth a thousand words.
Digit anniversary issue lucky draw winners
CONGRATULATIONS!!!
Here are the bumper prize winners from June’s lucky draw
S.No. First Name Prize City
1 Yugal Kishore LG LED TV New Delhi
2 Muhammed Rafeek P.h BenQ Camera Thrissur
3 Eby Varghese George MSI Netbook Bangalore
4 Sagar Kotadiya Verbatim Hard-disk Surat
5 Ganesh Jaiswal Verbatim Hard-disk Lucknow
6 Ashish Rakheja BenQ Monitor Palwal
7 Shashank Kamble Verbatim Hard-disk Bhopal
INTERACT WITH TEAM DIGIT
Forum
thinkdigit.com/twitter thinkdigit.com/facebook thinkdigit.com/youtube SMS Digit to 567678 thinkdigit.com/forum
August 2010 Digit is taking interactivity to a new level, and will be organising events every month. You get
to meet and interact with people that you wouldn’t in the normal course of your life — industry
experts, Team Digit, and other readers with similar interests. Stay updated and stay ahead of
the curve by looking for this page in every month’s magazine.
Webinar Basics of Photography
Is a high mega-pixel count the real deciding factor? What is better - Optical zoom or digital zoom? DSLR
or Prosumer? What is aperture priority, shutter priority? To get answers to all of the above questions, and
some more dope on photography, log in to the Webinar on ‘Basics of Photography’. We will try to cover the
basic doubts regarding cameras and what to look for in what type of camera. Learn about settings such as
ISO, white balance, and some basic techniques to click great photographs.
AUGUST 21 Bonus feature: Learn how to take the best possible shots with you cell phone camera.
TIME: 1700 HRS
For details on upcoming webinars and to view past webinars, visit thinkdigit.com/webinars
114 Digit | August 2010 | www.thinkdigit.com
HP slate
Despite being stricken off from active development,
the HP slate re-appeared on the company’s website
towards the end of last month Community
Download the ‘Green Guide’ -
a free e-book from Digit !
100 pages of life tips that all of us can use towards a better life, richer
pockets, a greener Earth and a healthier future. Explore the grand
compilation of Green themed articles from Digit and loads of tips from
the iThinkGreen community (facebook.com/ithinkgreen).
Head over to www.thinkdigit.com/greenguide for free download.
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Post your sapling photos
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Digit distributed seeds along with the Anniversary issue. Those little
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Digit | August 2010 | www.thinkdigit.com 115
Crysis 2 AI Starcraft II pre-loaded
Crytek claims their new game Crysis 2 will Blizzard has enabled pre-loading of the
Game review have the best AI in any game upcoming strategy game Starcraft II
International Cricket 2010 THE SKOAR
8
Genre: Sports
Studio: Trickstar Games
Publishers: Codemasters
*Platforms: PlayStation 3, Xbox 360
Price: Rs. 1,999
*Reviewed on Xbox 360
and techniques available. A bowler can
choose the length of the balling pitch, type
and amount of swing or spin to the ball and
also choose to aim the ball at the stumps or
outside its range. The variety of options avail-
able depends on the bowlers’ skills and how
much the ball is worn.
Fielding is largely automated with the
exception of catching and throwing. When
This game is a little rough around the edges; however a fielder has an opportunity to catch a ball,
it is quite solid where it really matters the game slows down to bullet time, with a
coloured circle around the ball. During this
time, the player needs to press a key at the
C
odemasters has followed up categories and its star rating. exact moment the circle turns green, in order
Cricket Ashes 2009 with release This game also has good variety of options to successfully make the catch.
of the next game in the series when it comes to match types. It features 20
called International Cricket 2010. over matches, one day international (ODI) Dumpy pitch
While in most part, the game is the same as and Test matches. The ODI can be further This game starts taking a hit on quality
the last release, in some areas it is a step up. customised to setup 5, 10, 25 or 50 over when it comes to things like presentation and
When it comes to sheen and presentation, matches. Then there are four types of preset animation. While the commentary is dry and
this game is far from sport games by the tournaments – World 20 overs, Champions dreary— like it generally is even in real-life—
likes of EA Sports. However, considering Cup (ODI), 20 overs Super League and World the commentary lines are quite limited and
the dearth of Cricket video games in general, Trophy (ODI). In addition to this, the game they repeat more often than it usually does
International Cricket 2010 is perhaps as good also has the option to create custom tourna- in a sports video game. There are also com-
as it gets in its space. ments. monly occurring animation glitches, espe-
cially outside of the pitch area. There is also a
Meat of the game On the field major problem with appeals to the umpire. It
For the unlicensed teams, the players are Players’ performance is dependent on their is quite common for the players to appeal for
given names that are just different enough not skills in the three key areas (balling, batting ,
an LBW even when the batsman is cleaned
to violate any rights, but at the same time they and fielding), coupled with their current bowled. Additionally, the developers could
are obvious enough to hint at their real-life level of confidence. In turn, players’ confi- have done a lot better with the menu and
equivalent. For instance, Virender Sehwag dence is built up by good performance on navigation system. Editing a player’s skills,
goes by the name of V Sevak in the game.
. the field. What this boils down to is that gear and appearance is a tedious process that
The skills of players in the game closely typically one would start with safe simple could have been easily avoided by a better
match those of their real-life counterparts. In stuff before trying high-risk, high-payout designed system.
addition to this however, each time a player moves. Bowling and batting techniques All things considered, International
reaches a certain milestone in the game (like are masterfully mapped to the gamepad Cricket 2010 culminates into a fairly solid
a certain number of boundaries) the game without making things too complicated. product. The variety of option available in
rewards a skills point to that player. This Batsmen have three stroke types available: single-player modes is complemented by an
skill point can then be used to upgrade that defensive, attacking and loft and the power equally decent number of multiplayer
player’s skill. The various skills of a cricketer and direction of the stroke is controlled by options. The game supports two to four
are distributed under three main categories of the analogue stick. In addition, a batsman player offline multiplayer and two-player
batting, bowling and fielding. The cumulative can choose to play the stroke on the back-foot, online matches. We must say that we actually
skills of all the players in a team determine front-foot or step-up ahead of the crease. For find this sport to be extremely mind-numbing
the overall ability of a team in these three the bowler, there is a wider variety of options in real life.
116 SKOAR! | August 2010 | www.skoar.com
THE SKOAR
7
Xxx Xxx Xxx
XX Xxxxxxxxx XX Xxxxxxxxx XX Genre: Section opener name
Xxxxxxxxx (Third Person) Shooter, Stealth
Studio: Ubisoft Montreal
Publisher: Ubisoft
*Platforms: Xbox 360, PC
(Microsoft Windows)
Publisher: `999
*Reviewed on PC
Action-packed
rollercoaster ride
A nice bit about this new art direction would not have essentially culminated
T
he hallmark of Splinter Cell
games has always been mis- is the way in which the game’s environ- into just another mission for the country.
sions that emphasised on quiet ment has been used to communicate with Missions are relatively short and as a
and stealthy infiltrations; some the player. Mission objectives and grainy result the game feels a bit short. The
of which required players to complete videos of flashbacks are projected on the good news is that besides the main
an entire mission without killing a single surrounding walls to dramatic effect. campaign, there is a decent amount of
enemy. For me, patiently lingering in the bonus content. For instance, in online
shadows, watching and eavesdropping on Bang-bang! co-op mode, players assume the role
oblivious guards was the real kick in those Sam Fisher starts off rather ill-equipped, of Archer and Kestrel in a joint effort to
games. Compared to these past releases using stolen piece of a rear-view mirror to recover stolen warheads. Hunter game
in the series, Splinter Cell: Conviction peek under doors. However, as the game mode is about progressively clearing
feels more like a cover-shooter than a progresses, he has access to enthusias- the area of enemies, and Last Stand
spy game. Stealth is still an element in tically stocked weapon crates that are is about surviving waves of enemies,
the game; however, it no longer rules curiously placed at fixed checkpoints. while simultaneously defending an EMP
the design of the game like it once had. Weapons include customary weapon generator. Our online experience with the
classes of most shooter games—there are game was not one of the best. The DRM
Artistic conviction pistols, SMG, Rifles and Shotguns. The software for the PC version of the game
The most significant change in the selection of weapons in each class grows appears to incessantly ping the Ubisoft
series is in the art department. All other as the game progresses and all of them servers even during ‘offline’ play. On a
changes in the game’s design are appar- are upgradable using achievement points. really bad day for the internet connection,
ently centred on this new art direction. Just like weapons, the game also has it made the game virtually unplayable
Starting with the game’s protagonist, Sam a decent collection of gadgets that are since every three or four seconds the
Fisher has ditched his trademark night- fully upgradable. However, unlike previous game would lose connection with the
vision goggles and tactical stealth armour, Splinter Cell games, you will rarely feel servers and lock the game up. This may
in favour of urban casual wear. And while the need to reach into the pockets and use be a deal breaker for some. On the plus
there are well-lit and dark areas in equal a gadget. Conviction is a relatively fast- side, most of the additional game modes
measure, hiding in shadows has been paced game with little room, or even the do not require another human player.
stylized to meet the new art-style. In need for much planning or strategising. Splinter Cell: Conviction has its fair
Conviction, lurking in shadows bathes the share of virtues and vices, and on the
world into shades of gray and Fisher can Vengeance and beyond balance of things this is a fairly solid
see in the dark without the need for night- Splinter Cell: Conviction has a fairly game from a neutral perspective. More
vision goggles. This is because enemies decent storyline which is delivered significantly however, it is the shift of
are almost always placed in well-lit areas. through often engaging voice-acting. emphasis from stealth to action that is
The way forward in the missions is mostly The plot of Sam Fisher’s personal quest most likely to hurt the fans of series. For
about leaving behind a sea of dead bodies. to track his daughter’s killers is inter- those who really want to get this game,
Stealth kills now includes effortlessly twined with another plot which inevitably it’s a hard choice between paying more for
taking out enemies while hanging from includes saving the world. We feel that the Xbox 360 version or getting the far
a ledge or a window pane and a highly new direction with game-play would have cheaper PC version and risk having to
effective addition - the Execute move. been better justified if the main storyline endure the DRM.
SKOAR! | August 2010 | www.skoar.com
Digit | August 2010 | www.thinkdigit.com 117
Game review
PURE Pure Football is a
display of stifled
P
ure football presents
itself as a mixture of potential
professional football
and its street version—
a game that is as much about
street-credit as it is about
FOOTBALL certain match against Italy
unlocks centre-back Canna-
varo for team transfers. Locked
winning a serious champion- venues can only be unlocked by
ship. It appears that the game winning a set number of events
is trying to earn its distinction in other venues. At end of an
among the ranks by being a concoc- of deciding the team’s name, emblem event—irrespective of the result—the
tion of all other football games. and kit. This is followed by creation of a game calendar moves to the next day.
new player who will serve as the cap-
Playing Field tain of the team, whose starting stats Not much else
This game has 17 national teams and three will depend on the playing position you Besides the campaign mode, there is
“Legends” teams featuring the old gods choose. Finally, the team creation process little else to do in Pure Football as the
of the sport. The matches are played with will let you pick the starting line-up and only other single-player game mode
five players a side in a small football arena reserves from an initial pool of players. is the customary exhibition matches.
and the control scheme is pretty much like Campaign mode is a 28 day contest The game supports offline multiplayer
FIFA or PES. Understandably, the offside against 17 national teams to climb up between two to four players and online
rule has been eliminated and players do the team leader board ranking. Towards multiplayer supports only two players.
not get booked or sent off. Instead, the the end of this contest, you get to have a Restricting the campaign mode to
game has a penalty meter that fills up crack at the championship if your team just 28 days hurts the game more than
each time a player commits a foul. When is somewhere in the top eight. Journey it helps. This is nearly not enough time
this foul meter is completely filled up, the to unlock all the venues and players,
opposing team gets a crack at your goal and beat all the challenges. At the end
through a penalty kick. Each team has a of 28 days, the game locks you out of
goalkeeper and four outfield players that that particular campaign and there is
can either be all strikers, midfielders or nothing you can do to further strengthen
defenders; or any combination of the three. your team. This leaves the only option
There are no half-time breaks or of restarting the campaign with new
substitution opportunities and the rules team and hope to do better than last.
of winning the game can different each to the championship spans the globe, Game-play is heavily dependent on
time. For starters, there are traditional playing single matches and tournaments timing with the shot and cross meters,
timed-matches where the team leading against increasingly skilful teams. Good rather than strategy or tactics. Opposing
on the scoreboard at the end of time wins results means you move up the team AI becomes too predictable, too soon
the match. If the scores are still tied ranking, recruit new players for your team and as the entire campaign can be played
by the final whistle, the game goes into and upgrade team captain’s abilities. on a single strategy. The developers
penalty shootout to decide the winner. There is a whole lot you can poten- have used motion-blur and dynamic
Besides this, matches can also be played tially do on those 28 days—starting with cameras to give emphasize the feel of
with different parameters for victory. For achieving weekly objectives and earning close-up action and the art-style lends
instance, the first team to score three the right to go up against a legendary itself well to the game’s intent. How-
goals wins the match or the team to reach team. Playing the match within cer- ever, with very little in actual game-play
a goal difference of two is the winner. To tain parameters unlocks new players to support the art, it all comes out as
its credit, this is one thing in the game for transfer to your club. For instance, little more than unwarranted drama.
which makes it feel like street-football, executing 15 successful tackles in a There are a few good ideas and fea-
and invariably it also keeps tures in Pure Football and then
things fresh and interesting. there are overbearing shortcom-
ings. There are plenty of teams
Pure Campaign THE SKOAR and players on the disc, but
A huge chunk of the game is the considering the dearth of game-
single-player campaign mode Genre: Sports, Arcade, Studio: Ubisoft Vancouver modes and limited nature of
which is mixture of “Be a Pro” Publisher: Ubisoft, *Platforms: PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, campaign mode, there is very little
and “Manager Mode” of FIFA Price: `1,999/- you can do with it. Pure Football
games. The campaign starts off may still have its uses as it can be
with a team creation process *Reviewed on Xbox 360 a half-decent football quick-fix.
118 SKOAR! | August 2010 | www.skoar.com
Digit 101
Connecting the world
140 characters at a time
Ever since its launch in 2006 Twitter has been growing at an alarming rate.
What was originally called as twttr (inspired by Flickr) later developed into
twitter. The first tweet was posted in March 2006 by Jack Dorsey who is now the
chaiman of the company, it was “just setting up my twttr.” The twitter universe
has grown by leaps and bounds since then and now has a whole list of terms and Tips to increase your
lingos associated with it Twitter followers
• Start #tag’s- create a loop which other twit-
terers find interesting and they’ll add on to it
The Essential Twitter Lexicon • Follow famous twitterers- this will add
• tweet- the 140 character message that you post more value to your tweets and replies
• twittering/tweeting- the act of sending your tweet • Retweet your links and encourage your
• followers- people who recieve tweets from you followers to do the same. This will give
• following- people from whom you reieve tweets your @username an international push
• retweet- forwarding a tweet to your followers • Complete your bio- Its always better to give a
• @- appears before the name of the person whom you are replying to brief idea about who you are as your tweets
• tweep- is a person whom you know on twitter and replies dont mean much to your fol-
• twoops- when a direct message appears in public lowers unless they know more about you
• twitpic- posting a picture to all your followers • Tweet pictures-
• twitterfeeds- news feeds which you recieve straight in your account pics taken from
• tweet-up- when two twitter users meet face to face cellphones are
• twestival- annual meet of twitterers in major cities around the world heavily retweeted,
• twitterverse- the twitter universe use twitpic for
• twittercize- criticizing someone’s tweets it. This one has
• trending- any popular subject which users tweet about been retweeted
• #tags- appears before a tweet making trending topics easier to locate more than
• twemes- breaks up as twitter memes which are global tags for twitter 400,000+ times
New Inventions & Upcoming Products
Vscan
2 Touted as the stethoscope of the 21st
century the Vscan designed by GE is a hand-
held ultrasound which gives a clear view
of the insides of a patient’s body on its cell
phone sized screen. With mobility as one of
its main advantages the Vscan is as powerful
as any standard ultrasound machine.
Yike Bike Sikorsky’s X2
1 Designed in New Zealand, the Yike 3 For the high speed traveller helicop-
bike is a new innovation in biking, inspired by ters have never been an option as they touch
the retro penny-farthing style of bicycle and a max speed of just 297km/ph. Things might
touches a top. The best part about riding this change with the Sirkorsky entering the pic-
bike is that the rider has to bend towards ture with its twin rotors spinning in opposite
left or right to steer it in the desired position directions and a propeller attached to its tail
making it a joy ride. It will be available for the X2 does a 500km/ph matching the speed
sale by mid 2010. of a small size plane.
Digit | August 2010 | www.thinkdigit.com 119
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