The RSS Feed
The flip side
T
he web has made it a billion times series these days, and realise the utter manure
easier to find specific information that’s being dished out in the form of “reality
(which is mostly correct), and shows”, you understand my concern for the way
completely changed our lives the web is headed. Yes there’s probably more
by allowing us to connect to trash online, and yes there are people who gobble
pretty much anyone with a net it all up, but I’d hate to see the trash become the
connection. However, having the ability to get majority of content out there. In its defence, there
to anything with a few clicks and clacks of a is still some excellent material on TV – the usage
keyboard is not necessarily a good thing. of the masses has not changed that – and there are
The fact is that technology has made us lazy. No, I still brilliant TV producers.
don’t mean just physically, I mean mentally as well. Although the Web 2.0 phenomenon has
First with television and now the web, we’ve supposedly given all of us a voice of our own,
been overloaded with information and content. effectively giving us the opportunity to be brilliant
Those of us who spend hours a day online are producers in our own right, the majority is more
probably digesting more information per day than likely to parrot (if not plagiarise) a single original
people did in a month, as little as a decades or two source or idea. Understanding comes from
Robert Sovereign-Smith, Editor
ago. On the surface it looks like the web is making challenges, not the ease offered by “information at
us all smarter, and is raising IQs. The reality is that your fingertips”.
we now know a lot less about a great deal more. No matter how flashy and expensive your car,
So why am cautioning you about the web in you still need to be a good driver, and the faster
an issue that carries our own Web Awards 2009? the car, the greater the danger of crashing. We are
Because part of true understanding stems from developing ever more powerful technologies, but
looking at everything from all angles — the flip is our understanding of these systems keeping
side of popular perception, in a way. pace with developments? As I’ve said before,
I’ve been very close to people in the education when it comes to technology, most problems exist
sector my whole life — both my parents were between keyboard and chair (PEBKAC).
teachers — and the one common complaint I hear All technologies are developed by a select few
often from experienced educators across the globe inspired and intelligent individuals. But these
is that education has been dumbed down too much. technologies are used by or affect us all. We need
It’s very much the same for the knowledge we the general population to be educated much
gain from the web these days. If we want to know better in order to use these technologies effectively
something, we do a quick Google search, hit the and skilfully. All technologies can be used to
first few links, read a few paragraphs and think we good or ill, and the more widespread the usage
know everything there is to know about the topic of the technology, the greater the need for skill
at hand. The discipline and rigour that in the past and understanding. One way to achieve this is to
On the surface it looks drove science, technology and other developments, understand those that develop the modern world,
like the web is making has been eroded by the ease of access to everything and the first step is to recognise these individuals
us all smarter, and is — whether it’s quickie microwave meals that prevent and companies and the innovations they’ve made.
us from learning how to cook and appreciating Digit is playing its part in this aspect, and is
raising IQs. The reality good food, or plagiarising online content to do our looking to felicitate both companies and individuals
is that we now know a educational/work projects, and thus preventing us who contribute to improving the technology around
lot less about a great from truly learning and understanding. us. Our Young Indian Innovator initiative aims to
deal more The three most popular uses of the web these spread awareness and identify individuals who
days are networking, communicating and sharing have made significant contributions to technology
opinions and content. Sure we have a ton of friends from our country. Our yearly Icons of Trust initiative
on social networking sites, but we rarely meet any of rewards brands for listening to the needs of the
them, let alone have any meaningful conversations. users, and providing excellent products and
We’re basically still social animals, succumbing to service. We’ve also started a category called Reader
peer pressure, and striving for popularity online, of Trust, to felicitate those of you who have spread
just as in the real world. There are millions of people awareness, helped and educated your peers. You
who have hundreds of “friends” online, who still will find details inside this issue, so make sure to
find themselves sitting alone in front of their screens participate and ensure that all of us put technology
longing for some ‘real’ interaction. to the best use possible.
We communicate several orders of magnitude
more than we used to, but it’s mostly forwards
and jokes and spam. We’re basically making the
same mistakes we’ve always made, but just on a
larger scale. If you look at the most watched TV editor@thinkdigit.com
1 Digit | September 2009 | www.thinkdigit.com
September 2009 • Volume 9 • Issue 9
Managing Director Sales and Marketing To advertise
Dr Pramath Raj Sinha VP Sales and Marketing
Printer and Publisher Naveen Chand Singh South East
Kanak Ghosh Product Manager Navneet Miglani Sanjay Bhan Jayanta Bhattacharyya
Publishing Director Assistant Brand Manager Arpita Ganguli Email: sanjay.bhan@9dot9.in Email: jayanta.bhattacharyya@9dot9.in
Asheesh Gupta Marketing Communication Mobile: +91-93418 29285 Phone: +91-93318 29284
Thomas Varghese Phone: +91-80-2554 6370/73 +91-33-2231 7344/46
Co-ordinator, Scheduling, Fax: +91-80-4151 8330
Editorial MIS and Ad-sales Aatish Mohite Phone: +91-44-2823 5186/88 North
Editor-in-chief
Edward Henning Fax: +91-44-2823 0731 Pranav Saran
Production and Logistics Phone: +91-40-2789 4167 Email: pranav.saran@9dot9.in
Editor Senior GM - Operations +91-40-5522 1051 Phone: +91-93126 85289,
Robert Sovereign-Smith
Shivshankar Hiremath Fax: +91-40-2772 0205 +91-11-4160 8655/56/57/58
Editor-at-large and Online Architect Production Executive Vilas Mhatre
Ahmed Shaikh Logistics M P Singh, Mohd. Ansari, West International
Head - Copy Desk Shashi Shekhar Singh Ganesh Lakshmanan Navin Chand Singh
Nash David Email: ganesh.lakshmanan@9dot9.in Email: nc.singh@9dot9.in
Writers Circulation and Subscription — Sales Mobile: +91-98196 18498 Mobile: +91-99013 00772
Aditya Madanapalle, GM Circulation Milind Prabhughate Phone: +91-22-2437 2214/19
Siddharth Parwatay, Co-ordinator Vijay Mhatre Fax: +91-22-2448 2059/1123
Kshitij Sobti
Customer Service Prerana Panchal,
Test Centre Vrushali Londhe, Pushpa Mahar, Advertisers' index
Manager - Test Development and Shabana Shariff
Sourcing Michael Browne Client Page No Client Page No
Manager - Testing and Processes Customer Service: Abacus 15 LG 109
Rossi Fernandes +91-22-4078 9612/13/14
Reviewer Kumar Jhuremalani Bank of Baroda 13 Map my India 19
Trainee Reviewer Rohan Naravane Chip Tech IT 17 Micromax 35
Head Office: Editorial, Marketing
Design and Customer Service
Dell 9 Microworld 37
Creative Head Kabir Malkani Nine Dot Nine Interactive Pvt. Ltd Ebay 40,41 Mitashi 45
Art Director Rohit A Chandwaskar
Lead Designer Vijay Padaya C/o KPT House, Plot 41/13, Sector 30, Epson 3 MSI 11
Senior Designer MV Sajeev Vashi (Near Sanpada Railway Station), Fortune 119 Seasonic 21
Illustrators Shrikrishna Patkar, Navi Mumbai 400 703
Chaitanya Surpur Phone: +91-22-4078 9666
Garmin 33 Seagate Inside front cover
Sr. Photographer Jiten Gandhi Fax: +91-22-4078 9540, +91-22-4078 9640 Gigabyte 25 Spicejet Inside back cover
Multimedia HP Back cover Topgun 29
Project Head Robert Sovereign-Smith Cover Design Rohit Chandwaskar K G Hosting 111,117 Transcend 27
Content Head Aditya Madanapalle Cover Photographs Jiten Gandhi
Products reviewed this month
Tell us what you feel about Digit Bazaar...........................66 Netbook test...................74 AMD Phenom II 965BE
Each month, Digit walks through the technology maze to
bring you the most relevant, and the most researched ASUS RS700-EP6/RS4 Netbook Comparison Test AMD Phenom II X2 550BE
stories. If you have an opinion about anything published
in Digit, or about technology in general, please write to
Belkin N150 Enhanced Asus Eee PC 1101HA AMD Phenom II X3 720
editor@thinkdigit.com
Product testing Wireless Router Asus Eee PC 1005HA AMD Phenom II X4 810
Want your product reviewed by Digit?
Contact our Test Center at Blackberry Curve 8520 Asus Eee PC 1008HA AMD Phenom II X4 905E
testcenter@thinkdigit.com
CM Storm Scout Connoi Classmate Tablet PC AMD Sempron 140
Software on DVD
To submit and suggest software for
inclusion in Digit DVDs, write to Corsair CX400W Intex N101W-C1100 Intel Core 2 Duo E7200
cdcontent@thinkdigit.com
Cowon D2+ MSI Wind U100 Intel Core 2 Duo E7400
Help!
For subscription or copy-related issues, Gigabyte 3D Aurora 570 Samsung N120 Intel Core 2 Duo E8400
send an e-mail to help@thinkdigit.com
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Interested in ordering article reprints,
or using our logos? Contact Mercury iXa 240 Sony Vaio W Intel Core 2 Extreme QX9650
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Business enquiries Nokia N86 8MP Zenith Z-book Intel Core 2 Quad Q8200
For any business-related enquiries, contact
business@thinkdigit.com Razer Moray Processor test.........81 Intel Core 2 Quad Q8400
News and new product launches Seagate Momentus 7200.4 AMD Athlon 7850BE Intel Core 2 Quad Q9650
To announce new product launches, and press releases,
email us at pressrelease@thinkdigit.com Sony Bravia KDL ZX1 AMD Athlon II X2 240 Intel Core i7 920
Disclaimer: For every Digit contest, there will be only one winner, unless
specified otherwise. In the event of a dispute, the Editor’s decision shall be final. Western Digital My Book AMD Athlon II X2 250 Intel Core i7 Extreme 975
Printed and Published by Kanak Ghosh, for Nine Dot Nine Interactive Pvt. Ltd. C/o KPT House, Plot
41/13, Sector 30, Vashi (Near Sanpada Railway Station), Navi Mumbai 400 703 World Edition II 2 TB AMD Phenom II 945 Intel Pentium E5200
Editor: Sujay Nair, C/o KPT House, Plot 41/13, Sector 30, Vashi (Near Sanpada Railway Station),
Navi Mumbai 400 703
AMD Phenom II 955BE Intel Pentium E2200
Printed at Printed at Silverpoint Press Pvt. Ltd, Plot No. A, 403, MIDC, TTC Industrial Area,
Mahape, Navi Mumbai 400709
2 Digit | September 2009 | www.thinkdigit.com
Contents
22 12 16 Enter
8 Inbox
12 Industry Connect
Rajiv Popli – Microsoft windows
client director
16 Buzz
Catch up with exciting
developments from the world of
personal technology
Connections
20 Mobile watch
22 Alternative
Browsers
Browser options other than Big
28 4. We’ve taken a look at all the
browsers out there and have
found out some interesting
browsers that will catch your
fancy
28 Web 2.0 beneath
12 the surface
What’s new in HTML5 + CSS3,
what can you use today, and
53 30 how?
30 Web Awards
DIGITAL LIFE
53 Drool Maal
58 Machinima
Machinima – The art of
animation using game engines
SCI-TECH
60 Tomorrow’s Tech
How face recognition
technologies work, and where
they can be implemented
58 64 How Stuff Works
Browser engines - how they
28 handle HTML and JavaScript,
how WebKit is different from
Gecko, Presto and trident and
browser engines of the future
Tried and tested
66 Bazaar
74 Netbooks
Netbooks – A detailed
comparison of currently
available Netbooks in the
market with a buying decision
matrix.
28
4 Digit | September 2009 | www.thinkdigit.com
82 CPUs
The latest and greatest CPUs 82
available today are tested. For
every performance bracket,
every budget – there’s
something for everyone
Toolbox
90 Open Source
We check out Open source ERPs
92 Workshop 66
Optimizing GNOME for your
netbooks
90
94 Workshop
Bblean – set up and configure
a lightweight alternative to the
96
windows shell
96 DIY
A step-by-step pictorial guide to
crimping LAN cables.
97 Tips and Tricks 94
Mozilla Firefox, Google Chrome,
Opera, Safari, Atlantis Nova and
Moblin, with a 30 minute expert
on DVDFlick
105 Q&A
107 Workshop
Transport your registry entries
from a Windows system to a
Linux machine 97
Street smart
108 Agent 001 116
Agent 001 on all your power
backup needs
110 Price watch
The latest prices for your
reference
Esc
112 Unwind
114 Community
112
116 Game Review:
Wolfenstein 118
118 Game Review:
Ashes 2009
120 Last Word
108
Digit | September 2009 | www.thinkdigit.com 5
DVD Contents
Internet • MyDefrag 4.1.2
• Core FTP LE 2.1 build 1612 • PC Wizard 2009 1.88
• eMule Plus 1.2e • PeaZip Portable 2.6.3
• FileDrama 1.1.60 • PureRa 1.4
• FileZilla Portable 3.2.6.1 • Seeker 3.10.0.1
• GigaTribe 2.52 • TreeSize Free 2.3.3
• Home Ftp Server 1.9 • DTweak Pro 4.7.1
• Orbit Downloader 2.8.14 • Easy Tweak 1.7.3
• Tixati 1.13 • EnhanceMyVista Pro 2.6
• TubeMaster++ 1.1 • Magellan Explorer 3.33
• URL Gather 1.5.6 • Registry Repair Wizard 2009
• Vuze 4.2 • Second Copy 7.1.0.36
• Weather Watcher Live 6.0.34 • UltimateZip 5.0
• WhoDeletedYou 0.5
• Xcelerator 1.3 Entertainment
• Zultrax P2P 4.36 Music
• Archivarius 3000 4.22 • Between two worlds
• BestSync FTP 2009 4.2 • Dinner for One
• BrowserStar 2.8 • Oh My
• DownloadStudio 5.1.5 • Reworked
• FindinSite-CD 6.07 • The Dark Symphony
• FTP Voyager 15.1.0.4 • The Teatime Sessions
• GrabJPG 2.11
• InstantGet 2.10 HD Trailers
• LeapFTP 3.0.1.46 • Alice In Wonderland
• Pixeur 3.2 • RaidenFTPD 2.4.3720 • Ninja Assassin
Tools • PowerShape-e 8214 • RipTiger 2.7.4 • Sherlock Holmes
Multimedia • Screen2Exe 2.6 • Serv-U 8.1.0.3 • Taxidermia
Nero 9 Free Version 9.4.12.3 • Seaside Book Manager 2.1.32 • SmartFTP Client 3.0 • The Book of Eli
• SopCast 3.2.4 • SoftLAN 2.6 • The Box
• StylePix 1.0.0.776 • TestMailer 1.4.4 • Tron Legacy
• TuneWiki for Windows
• Type light 2.2.021 System Videos
• Universal Converter 0.9.8 VirtualBox 3.0.2 • Airheads
• VSO Image Resizer 2.2.2.1 • Apoptosis
• WatermarkLib 1.0 • Blip
• Winamp 5.56 • Egg
• Wings 3D 1.0.1 • Enemy at the gates
Enjoy basic data burning • WinX DVD Ripper 4.1 compositing
and copying capabilities for • X-Blender 2.49a • Evolved Virtual Creatures
your CDs and DVDs from the • XnView 1.96.2 • Introducing the DSLR
world’s most trusted digital • 123 Flash Menu 4.15 Gunstock Shooters
media brand, Nero for free. • AlbumMe 1.4.1 • Pipe Dream
Nero 9 Free allows you to Burn • Badaboom 1.2.1.7 Innotek VirtualBox is a family • Sorry I’m Late
and copy CD/DVD data free • BB FlashBack 2.6.3 of powerful x86 virtualization • Talin
without any time limitations. • Color Style Studio 2.48 products for enterprise as • The Way of the Mantis
• Apple iTunes 8.2.1.6 • CookExif 1.02 well as home use. Not only is • Toybox
• Arclab Thumb Studio 2.03 • Easy Flyer Creator 2.0 VirtualBox an extremely feature
• AV Video Morpher 3.0.25 • Flash Album Creator 2.16 rich, high performance product Gaming
• Burn4Free CD and DVD 4.7 • FontCreator 6.0.1 for enterprise customers, it is also Games
• CDBurnerXP 4.2 • Fox Movie Manager 1.41 the only professional solution Demigod
• DarkWave Studio 2.8 • GIF to Flash Converter 2.6 that is freely available as Open
• DAZ Studio 3.0.1.135 • Graphics-Toolbox 1.19 Source Software
• Free FLV Converter 6.6.1 • GrowFX 1.2.2
• Free Video To Audio • Halftone 2.2 • 3DP Chip 9.07
• Converter 2009 3.5.1 • i Screen Recorder 7.0 • Allway Sync 9.2.21
• Fresh View 7.76 • MapBuilder 2.20 • Baku 4.1.3500
• ImgBurn 2.5 • iQImageStudio 2006.6.2 • BatteryCare 0.9.6.3
• iSpring Free 4.2 • Photo Snap 3.1 • CZ Print Job Report 2.0
• JetPhoto Studio 4.5 • PhotoChances Lab 3.8.108 • Defraggler 1.12.152
• Kantaris Media Player 0.5.8 • Power Video Converter 2.2.12 • DriverMax 5.1 Demigod is a real-time, tactical
• Livestation 2.7.0 • Replay Video Capture 4.0 • Duplicate Cleaner 1.3.2 strategy game that includes
• MediaInfo 0.7.20 • RoboGEO 5.6.11 • Fast Clean 1.0 extensive role- playing
• Mixxx 1.5.0.2 • Springboard 0.91 • FileMenu Tools 5.7 elements.
• Nexus Radio 4.0 • Stereogram Magician 3.30 • Fresh Diagnose 8.14 • Fuel
• Photo Pos Pro 1.71 • Toon Boom Studio 5.0 • Fresh UI 8.37 • Osmos
• Photo Rotator 1.1.1.4 • TwistedBrush Pro Studio 16 • InSight Desktop Search 2.0
6 Digit | September 2009 | www.thinkdigit.com
DVD Contents
Wallpaper Series Pack 1.5
Tools • Yahoo Widgets 4.5.2
By Demand • ZMatrix 1.4.8
Autodesk 3D studio Max • 3DNA Desktop 1.1
Autodesk 3ds Max is a • AltDesk 1.9
comprehensive 3D modeling • Aston2 Menu 1.4.2
and 3D animation. Create • CursorFX 2.01
stunning 3D models in less time • DesktopX 3.5
with Autodesk 3ds Max 2010 • Entbloess 2.7.2
software. • LaunchOnFly 1.52
• Microangelo Toolset 6.10.10
• DirectX End-User Runtimes • TopDesk 1.5.4.1
• Microsoft SQL Server 2008 • WindowBlinds 6.4
Express with Tools
• Dreamweaver CS4 Browsers
Customization
RocketDock 1.3.5
Safari 4
Introducing Safari 4, the world’s
fastest and most innovative web building a windmill
RocketDock is a smoothly browser for Mac and PC. gOS • Ze Frank’s nerdcore comedy
animated, alpha blended • Arora 0.8.0 gOS has been praised for being
application launcher. It provides • Bolt the most beautiful and easiest to Astronomy 160
a nice clean interface to drop • Chrome use Linux operating system on • Lecture 16 - Hubble’s Law
shortcuts on for easy access and • Epiphany 2.22.3 the market. and the Big Bang
organization. Now with added • Fennec alpha1 • Android Live CD • Lecture 17 - Hubble’s Law
Taskbar support your minimized • Firefox 3.5.2 • Moblin and the Big Bang (cont.)
windows can appear as icons on • Flock 2.5 • Lecture 18 - Hubble’s Law
the dock. This allows for better • Galeon 2.0.7 Videos and the Big Bang (cont.)
productivity and accessibility. • K-Meleon 1.5.3 TED
• Midori 1.09 • Anand Agarawala demos Introduction to Computer
• 360desktop public beta • Opera BumpTop Science
• BBLean • Opera Mobile 9.7 beta • Arthur Ganson makes Lecture 1
• BumpTop 1.0 build 3038 • Skyfire moving sculpture How computers work, and a
• ClickOff 1.77 • Teashark beta • Blaise Aguera y Arcas demos discourse on Binary.
• Desktop Sidebar 1.1.3 Photosynth • Lecture 2
• Distant Suns 6.0 Updates And Add-ons • Burt Rutan sees the future of • Lecture 3
• FlyakiteOSX 2 • 2007 Microsoft Office Suite space
• Ghost-It 1.03 Service Pack 2 • George Dyson at the birth of Linux Journals
• IcoFX 1.6.4 • Avast Update the computer • “Mee” PC
• IconRestorer 1.0.5.2 • Kaspersky Anti-Virus • Golan Levin makes art that • GoGrid on Cloud
• IconTweaker 1.1 Definition Complete Update looks back at you Computing, Interview
• JetToolBar 3.8.1.5021 • McAfee VirusScan Definition • Golan Levin on software (as) • Install Ubuntu in Windows
• Liquid Clock ScreenSaver 2.8 • Microsoft Office art With Wubi
• LogonStudio Vista 1 Compatibility Pack • Hans Rosling shows the best • Neuros OSD Review
• MobyDock 0.87b • Symantec Norton AntiVirus stats you’ve ever seen • Product Spotlight: ScaleMP
• ObjectDock 1.90 Build 536 Virus Definition • Janine Benyus: Biomimicry • Rockbox Review
• PixelToolbox 1.1 • Windows Internet Explorer 8 in action • SCOTTEVEST Review
• PowerToys Fun Pack 1 for Windows XP • Jeff Han demos his • The Battle for Wesnoth
• Send To Toys 2.5 breakthrough touchscreen Review
• SETI@home 5.2.1 OS • Jonathan Harris: the Web’s • Tux Droid Review
• SideSlide 3.0.00b Operating Systems secret stories • Zipit Z2 Wireless Messenger
• SmartBarXP 0.98 beta 4.8 • Niels Diffrient rethinks the Review
• Sneaky Virtual Desktop 1.2 way we sit down
build 41 • Philippe Starck thinks deep
We will be accepting user
• Start Menu Organizer 1.1 on design made content for the
• Sticky Notes 2.2 • Rives tells a story of mixed DVDs. Send in animations,
• Tweak UI 2.10 emoticons artwork, videos or any kind of
• VersaTimer 1.02 • Theo Jansen creates new content to
• Vista Start Menu 3.2 creatures cdcontent@thinkdigit.com
• Windows Vista Ultimate • William Kamkwamba on
Digit | September 2009 | www.thinkdigit.com 7
Enter Inbox
)I have been reading 1. Provide more games. Games
Digit since December that you provided in last month
Digit has decided to compile a list of Young Indian 2001. You guys really issue was rubbish. Please don’t
Innovators who are changing our world through tech. have no competitor who provide small games.
Send your nominations to yii@thinkdigit.com. Visit comes close. But I still 2. Give some new and popular
www.thinkdigit.com/yii for more information have some complaints software. You have provided
and suggestions for you. some same software that you
1. Please increase your provided in previous issues.
font size if you can 3. Please provide some videos
without increasing cost and E-books of programming,
of the mag. web designing for beginners.
2. Revisit topics like Diptanshu Kakwani
all Operating Systems,
Networking and Gaming We have a lot of demand for
in FastTrack since this casual games, and in fact, we
sector is developing had flamers coming our way for
very rapidly. Also give discontinuing the practice. Head
a FastTrack on Java out to the “By Demand” section
Programming. on the forums if you feel like
You are best tech mag in discussing this with the team
India and we want you to and other readers. If you look
) I’m an avid reader of Digit Please provide Flash 8 in your be better than the best. carefully, the software in our
for the last four years. The upcoming DVDs as I am its Sarang Bokil Tools section are all at most a
content is also satisfying in user but not find it till now. month old when the magazine
case of software on DVD and Please provide Windows XP Thanks for the constructive goes to the stands. Some of
the published content in the msstyles and various other criticism and suggestions. We the sections in the DVDs are
magazine. But I’ve noticed only themes as they are my favorites. are always working towards regulars, and we provide the
a small mention of ISPs and Also, tell me how I can make an improving our quality and latest updates of popular
the connectivity plans across autorun CD/DVD with rich and readability. We are still in the software whenever they are
the nation. I’ve never seen a graphical content as your all process of ironing out the released. Because of the release
single article dedicated to the DVDs. It will be helpful for me redesign. We’re planning a Fast cycle of some projects, these
different CPEs distributed to as i am doing many of my own Track on a gaming topic that you show up in the DVDs quite often.
the ISP clients and their data projects. will like. As for the other topics We will work on the DVD content
rates. I do agree that it is very Vyomesh you’ve suggested, we taken geared towards developers.
difficult to fix the data rates at a Gandhidham-Kutch them under consideration. Aditya
given point and the location of Robert
connectivity. But it can be done Thanks for writing in to ) I have few questions and
at a standard level. Please try to us, but direct your e-mails to suggestions.
test the devices by Reliance Net cdcontent@thinkdigit.com for ) I want to buy a graphic card 1. If I buy a PCI express 2.0
Connect & Broadband+, Tata reaching the people responsible for playing games like Devil slotted mother board, will my
Indicom Plug2Surf, Plug2Surf for the DVDs directly. Better still, May Cry (3,4), God Of War(1,2), PCIe 1.0 graphics card work
Whiz, Photon, Idea Netsetter & head over to the “By Demand” Ninja Black, Prototype, etc. My with that board?
Bsnl USB Datacard. Thanks. section of the thinkdigit.com configuration is Intel dual core 2. Please review AMD’s
Prasanna Khakre forums to interact with us and 1.8, 2GB DDR2 RAM, Intel new “Phenom II X4 965”
ask for software you want. Check 945GC MICRO Motherboard, processor, may be the fastest
Thanks for suggestion. We’ve out the “Customize” section of 160 HDD. I want a graphic card processor yet!
been planning to do a detailed this month’s DVD for a whole for a budget of Rs. 4,500. Please 3. We will very glad if you
comparison feature on ISPs bunch desktop eye-candy. There help me. provide some more full
and their data plans for some are many programs available Ajay Verma “Coffeecup” Software.
time now. Similarly, for Direct for making an autorun DVD, but 4. Please provide information
To Home TV. But as you rightly here is a very simple approach. The Palit GeForce 9600GT is on the “Google wave”, ”Google
pointed out there are a lot of Make the interface linking to the best option you have. It will voice” and “Goggle Caffeine”.
geographical considerations and files in Powerpoint, and save the be able to run the games you 5. You should give another
differences, especially when it file as a Powerpoint show. Then, mentioned just fine on a 20 or tutorial CD (like the ones from
comes to wireless plans that are create an autorun.ini file in 22-inch monitor. from Bainware or Indus net).
dependent on signal strength. notepad, with the following text: Rossi Ritam Das
However we’re working towards Kolkata
finding a possible solution. [autorun] ) I am a regular reader of
Michael OPEN=filename.pps Digit. Your August issue was PCI-E 2.0 is backward complaint,
ICON=icon.ico awesome but you could have so there shouldn’t be any
done better. Your magazine & problems using a PCIe 1.0 card
) First of all congrats on The .ico file will create an icon Fast Track were outstanding on it. To know how the Phenom
completing eight years. I am for your DVD. The target machine but the content of DVDs II X4 965 fared, check out the
reading your magazine since has to have Powerpoint for this to was not up to the mark. You processor comparison test on
last one year and I am proud to work though. should improve following page number 81 in this issue. We
say that it is marvelous. Aditya things in DVDs: covered a bit of Google Voice in
8 Digit | September 2009 | www.thinkdigit.com
Inbox How stuff works CPUs tested Inbox
We peek beneath the surface of We benchmark the newest CPUs
64 web browsers, and tell you the
underlying mechanism 82 and find out how they match up
against each other
the August issue and we’ve also
looked at Google Wave in the
Letter of the month
issue prior to it. Google Wave ) Hello, Team Digit. Congrats on being ATM-cum-Debit card option. I choose
will be made available as a beta India’s No. 1 Tech Magazine. Your August the State Bank ATM option. I fill the card
at the end of next month. We’ll issue was great. The articles on Myths No. as well as the PIN passcode. In the
try and do a more thorough about open source, Memory Madness were end Firefox turns off and when I check
review of it then. For Caffeine awesome. I have a Nokia 3230 with a 1.3 my mailbox, there is a message from
news check out Buzz. Thank you MP camera. Capturing some images on a stating the order is canceled
for sharing the links with us, we rainy day, I observed that the image file for insufficient balance even when I have
will look into including tutorials size was about 50 to 60 KB per image. But sufficient balance in my SBI account.
in our DVDs. Watch out for lots in sunny conditions I was surprised to see Please tell me what to do. But I can assure
of it in the next month! that their image file size was about 500 to you that you guys are the best and no
Siddharth 600 KB per image. I changed no settings. I one can take your place. I am waiting for
want to know that why this happened. Also an awesome September issue. Best of
) The August issue is a good in the April DVD1 I found a great software luck! Keep up the good work!
gift to all Digit readers. The named Format Factory. It has a wide range Mohit Sharma
‘Open Source’ Special was of format conversion categories and
indeed very special. Many also it converts whole videos. I was quite
of my misconceptions about impressed by it. Thanks for including the Thanks for writing in Mohit. All the praise
open source were cracked by software. The new avatar of the Digit web is appreciated. The variation in the size of
‘Myths about Open Source’. site is awesome. Your unboxing videos are image is exceptionally high. Usually you won’t
‘Living On Open Source’ just also quite good. find so much of a difference in the sizes.
busted another myth of mine I have an assembled antique PC with So the only possible explanation is that the
that ‘open source is limited Pentium 4, 256 MB DDR RAM, an 80 GB settings must have changed. The problem with
to software field’. Thanks for Samsung Hard Drive with Windows XP Windows could be because of faulty memory.
various LCD monitors and Service Pack 2 installed. On switching it on Creating a bootable disc for Memtest 86+ is
graphics cards you tested, many I get the following error message: ‘Failed recommended. If errors show up in the test,
of them are really affordable. to load Kernel Library!’ accompanied with you’ll have to get the RAM sticks replaced.
A long wait for Flash Drives an error sound. The PC restarts repeatedly About your payment issue, it may be because
was over. ‘Bazaar’ section was when I play any game like Need for Speed- you’re selecting another account in the
awesome due to article on N97. Hot Pursuit 2 or when even I open two or process. So if you have a savings account as
Thanks for article onWikipedia. more programs simultaneously. Could it be well as a current account (which by default
Thanks for Open Suse, and a virus or does it happens due to less RAM? does not have any balance) it could cause the
Fedora 11. One more problem, whenever I try problem. Also you could try calling your bank.
It was good to have Fast shop online for Digit issues, I fill every As for Firefox, try installing a newer version.
track on Open source. Please information required and I select the Rossi
test UPS as I face frequent
power failure here. Can you test
writable CDs and DVDs which Life’s real hard without it for will be used in these engines, student of Mayo College, Ajmer,
will be helpful for storing our us ever growing Digitians. The like Autodesk, etc. Also, I am aged 13. I am a techno-freak
data, please? Eagerly awaiting whole community will agree, not able to understand the and also publish a weekly
the next issue. the supplied archive is just not concept of what a game engine newsletter in my school which
Mayur Gaikwad. enough. Please do something is. Is it a bundle of software I make on Adobe InDesign. I
Satara, Maharashtra about it and quick asap. And for environment design (like have an idea for Digit. Please
yes I am very impressed with Autodesk 3D Max), character start a column in which
Thank you for your vote of your new avatar. Thanks again designing software? etc. It will children/teenagers would give
confidence, Mayur. As for your for everything. The whole be nice if you review game their views on a particular
suggestion on UPS, check out community owes you big time engines in the future issues software or game. I’m willing
my column on page 108. It’ll :-) of the magazine, such as to contribute wholeheartedly if
give you a good idea about the Prakash Chettri, Shillong Capcom’s game engine - MT you do start it! Waiting for your
various solutions available. Framework, which was used for reply with lots of hopes.
Agent 001 Thanks for the vote of Resident Evil 5, and Scimitar,
confidence. We are working on a game engine by Ubisoft used Mridul Godha
) Thanks a lot for bringing a Digit Archive, but there is an for Assassin’s Creed and Prince
us such a great mag. I’ve been updated version in this month’s of Persia. That’s a good suggestion. We
on your side since October DVD. Deepan Murugan invite all our younger readers to
2005. And since then I’ve been Aditya Chennai write in to us and tell us some
referring all my friends and of the topics that interest them.
relatives to you. Currently I ) I’m a huge fan of Digit We will look into carrying We’ll try and feature as many
am pursuing BCA and would Magazine. I am an avid gamer more beneath the surface articles as possible. Those of
like to hear your advice for me. and I have huge interest in articles for the gaming you who want to try your hand
And why don’t you bring out game design. I want to know community, great to know of at writing for Digit are welcome
a Fast Track on IT careers, and about the game engines that your interest, and make sure to to send your articles to me
enlightening people against game production companies keep writing in to us. at editor@thinkdigit.com for
Piracy. And PLEASE BRING such as Capcom or Ubisoft use. Robert consideration.
BACK THE DIGIT ARCHIVE. I want to know what software ) I am Mridul Godha, a Robert
10 Digit | September 2009 | www.thinkdigit.com 10
Industry Connect August 20 RC expiration
The last day you could download Microsoft says you’ll get two weeks’ notice,
Windows 7 RC from Microsoft’s and then beginning on March 1, 2010, your
web site PC will start shutting down every two hours
Windows 7
In a freewheeling interview-cum-demo, the Digit team had a chat with
Mr.Popli, Director - Windows Client, while the operating system was being
showcased.
Siddharth Parwatay & Rohan Naravane
kumar.j@thinkdigit.com Will it have a three-
rohan.naravane@thinkdigit.com application limit that XP
had?
For those who came in late, can you tell us what No, there won’t be any three application limits this time with
Windows 7 is all about? Windows 7.
The key theme around which Windows 7 was based was how it
should work for the consumer and corporates. The thought that What about anti-piracy measures? Does Windows 7
went into it was based on around 4,000 IT companies’ feedback. It offer any sophisticated form of anti-piracy technique,
meant resolving all the expectations of consumers such as “I want compared to previous versions that sported the online
it to be faster”, “I want it to be smarter”, and of course “it should validation tool?
be lighter on resources”. Windows 7 will come with the Genuine Advantage Program with
It is widely acknowledged that Vista less prone to malware, automatic update. Those are the ones that will be a driving tool,
but the security came with a whole lot of notifications. So the so that consumers will see that having legitimate software will
question that consumers had was “do I need to be interrupted be of value to them. to them. Partners loose out since there’s
each time”? So with Windows 7 we left the choice up to the not much value coming through in terms of overall business
consumer. proposition. Lastly, the economy’s obviously a loser since the
With all its features, Windows 7 lets you make your life simple, government gets nothing back in the form of tax behind every
lets you do exactly what you want to do and lets you do new product sale.
things.
In the commercial environment direct access is one of the very What is the Windows 7 pricing going to be? We’ve
big features offered by Windows 7. It’s actually a replacement to seen that the pricing for consumers has been slashed
a VPN. What direct access does, is let you directly access your compared to Windows Vista in the US. Will this be
corporate resources remotely, while giving you certain amount reflected here in India as well?
of savings. Branch cache and bit locker are also new features At a broad level, the prices will be cheaper. I can’t really give you
that are worth mentioning. All these features go to making the an exact figure, but approximately it would be in the range of 10-
PC experience simplified, while taking care of security and risk 15 per cent lower.
management. IE8, which is also an integral part of Windows 7,
has superior security and protection features. We’ve seen a trend of software moving towards the
cloud. Google is coming up with its browser-centred
Speaking of browsers, Google has announced the Chrome OS. Already, there are many cloud-based OSes
Chrome OS, which is to be based on a browser. What are out there. What are Microsoft’s plans to take on the
your views? ‘cloud’?
We’ve not seen it yet, so it’s very difficult to comment on it. All Our view of the cloud is very clear; it’s going to be a
said and done even for the netbook phenomenon consumers have combination. It’s going to be a combination of a platform-like
favoured or shown their preference for the Windows platform for PC which has its own abilities to run applications. Because
reasons of its compatibility, eco-system experience and familiarity; there’s no comparison to the user-experience across the board
even its interoperability with other devices. to have every thing on the cloud. There are certain services that
will be on the cloud. There’s value for certain applications to be
Windows is giving upgrade options for Vista Premium on the cloud. Does it mean that what you need on an everyday
and Ultimate users. Do you have similar options for basis has to be only on the cloud? Unlikely. And why would you
netbook users? Especially since they don’t come with an do that? Can you imagine one billion users today to be on the
optical drive. Any options for USB boot? cloud, all the time? Potentially not. Let’s talk of our own country,
I’ll get back to you on that. However, in the new scheme of how many people are really going to be on the cloud, all the
things, once the product is launched in October, netbook buyers time? The speeds currently are not worthy of giving us a real-life
will have the option of having Windows 7 preinstalled on their experience.
devices. Once that happens it will be a transparent experience. As a trend, increasingly, more and more services are going
Windows Anytime Upgrade options are also available on to be on the cloud. Today, you have IM and mail on the cloud.
Windows 7 for field upgrade using a key. To upgrade from, say, a This is recognition that more people are spending more time
Starter Edition to Ultimate. on the cloud. But does it mean its going to be black and white,
all cloud and no client? I think that’s a very unlikely scenario.
Will Windows 7 also come with a Starter Edition, like Which is why Microsoft has stated that our direction is to
Windows XP? continue to work and enhance the services on the cloud. But the
Yes, Windows 7 Starter Edition will be available for small-form versatility of the PC platform, the richness of what it can offer, in
factors including netbooks. a combination with the cloud is the direction to move forward.
12 Digit | September 2009 | www.thinkdigit.com
Vote now
Industry Connect Vote for the young Indian innovators who are changing the world through
their contributions. For more details go to www.thinkdigit.com/yii
Cisco TelePresence
Eskild Hansen - Head, European Design Center,
Cisco Consumer Business Group speakes on
design and user interface
Kumar Jhuremalani and Rohan Naravane
kumar.j@thinkdigit.com and rohan.naravane@thinkdigit.com
How do you see India’s growth in terms of internet and
Wi-Fi usage?
In countries like India and China, there is massive growth in the
internet. Currently, China has the most internet users and India has
close to one billion people, so there is a huge number of people who
can use the internet.
Is Cisco planning to create the TelePresence experience for
home users?
We are planning to bring it to the consumer market, but we do
not have a concrete plan yet for consumers. It’s the same human
network, if you think about it. If you want to connect with your about Cisco is, we have what you call Cisco 3.0, like the web 2.0
friends and family, it’s not about looking at a computer, but it’s collaboration technologies, we’re doing that inside of our company.
something you want to do in your living room. So it’s a natural We have blogs and video blogs and all kinds of internally linked
movement process. It will be really interesting to see how we develop things and we use these to collaborate. So, even though we didn’t
as a company within the next one, two to five years. execute the product, it’s really about how we are
moving towards the same mission. Very interesting
How does Cisco see itself in way of working.
comparison to the other companies
out there? Does the user interface support multiple
We have the vision to be the leading languages, and is Hindi a part of that?
company in our category. When we go into The routers come with software called Easy
categories, we want to be the leader, number Link Advisor, which is easy for anybody
two is not good enough. Even with our to use. You just have to follow the simple
products, if you look at the reviews they get, it step by step procedures. The software CD
shows that we are moving towards that. comes with every router and you just have to
drop in the CD and the step-by-step instructions
Other than the external design changes, was are displayed on the screen – which makes it very easy to
the design team responsible for the software understand. We already have support for 33 different languages
interface design? like Japanese, English and Chinese. Currently there is no support
What we do is, we have a collaboration model. So the whole idea for Hindi, but we are trying to localise it as much as possible
Ashok Tripathi, General Manager, Systems and Technology Division for Wipro Infotech,
on eGO – Wipro’s range of networks
Wipro has had a good year as far as sales are concerned. While overall share of desktops in the
computer market has come down, Wipro has held its position.
How did you manage to sustain your sales when most companies have seen a decline?
We try and differentiate ourselves in terms of design, which is specially done for local needs with
service, a promise of trust and wide reach. Offering on-site warranty in more than 50 cities is part of this
value proposition.
Tell us more about the eGO line of laptops.
The idea was to appeal to the confident buyer, address the latent need to own a good looking product.
Hence, we focussed on styling, aesthetics and functionality.
How has the product been received?
eGo now accounts for 33 per cent of all notebooks sold by Wipro. In fact, in the enterprise market,
Wipro is the fourth largest brand of notebooks.
We believe nettops are more suitable for office users than consumers. All-in-ones are not likely to
become very common and popular in the near term.
14 Digit | September 2009 | www.thinkdigit.com
Vote for the young Indian innovators who are
Nominate your favourite Indian innovator who you
think has made a significant contribution to tech. Mail
Buzz
changing the world through their contributions. your nomination(s) to yii@thinkdigit.com. Head to
Head to www.thinkdigit.com/yii www.thinkdigit.com/yii for more
PlayStation goes slim
S
o now that the new Slim some time in November,” and English) portal, Rozgar
PlayStation 3 Slim he said. Duniya, to cater specifically to
has been unveiled, “We realise the rural job seekers in India. Job
the question for every disappointment during the categories include textiles and
Indian is “When can we get our festive season and have hence weaving, teaching, mechanics
hands on it?” Well, Digit’s got released the 80 GB PS3 bundle and auto repair, data entry and
the exclusive details, straight with two free titles for gaming industrial jobs such as motor
from the horse’s mouth! enthusiasts,” he added. binding, steel fabrication, glass
You can expect the PS3 Slim And what’s more, Bose blowing and administration.
to hit retail shelves in India revealed that the Fat PS3 will The biggest obstacle,
in November, for around the be phased out once current obviously, is in getting the
same price as the current 80 stocks are sold out. technologically backward and
GB ‘Fat PS3’, which received a “Once the current lot of often illiterate farmers and
other villagers to participate.
This is where e-Choupal
comes in.
These e-Choupals are
internet kiosks in villages that
offer farmers crop, weather Microsoft’s Big Blunder?
and market information.
PlayStation 3 on a diet!
Overall, there are 6,500 such
kiosks in ten states so far, 56.1 per cent for Nintendo,”
reaching four million villagers. reported The Consumerist.
For more information, read The most shocking
an interesting article at http:// number from the survey
www.thinkdigit.com/d/96904/. – and frightening from a
consumer perspective – is
Xbox 360 failure over that only 3.8 percent of Xbox
50 per cent! 360 owners said they’d never
A consumer survey by Game buy another Xbox because of
Informer magazine has revealed hardware failure.
some astounding facts, the
prime among them being that Sony’s fast Li-ions
one out of every two Xbox 360 Sony has announced a new
units sold is malfunctional; yet, line of rechargeable lithium
owners will be undeterred by ion cells. These batteries
the hardware failure and still use olivine-type lithium ion
buy the console in the future! phospate cathodes and give a
price cut to retail at Rs. 19,990. 80 GB PS3 units are sold, we The Xbox 360 has been much desired combination of
However, while the Fat PS3 will be making only the 120 notorious for a string of long life, fast recharging and
also comes bundled with two GB PS3 Slim available in the technical failures, the most good power density.
games (Uncharted: Drake’s Indian market,” he said. widely renowned being the These marvels are capable
Fortune and GT5 Prologue), the So, will you wait out until dreaded Red Ring Of Death. of as many as 2,000 charge-
PS3 Slim will carry no such November for the PS3 Slim or The survey found that the discharge cycles, and if that
packaged titles. grab the 80 GB PS3 bundle Xbox 360 has a 54.2 per cent wasn’t impressive enough, they
Atindriya Bose, Country with the two free games? failure rate, compared to 10.6 manage to retain more than 80
Manager, Sony Computer per cent for the PS3 and the per cent of their capacity even
Entertainment, told Think ‘Rozgar Duniya’ – a Wii’s 6.8 per cent. after that!
Digit: “As you know, the new job portal for “Microsoft also seized the The batteries will be capable
worldwide launch for the rural India gold medal for unhelpful of being charged up to 99 per
PS3 Slim is scheduled for The idea of an online customer service, taking cent of their full capacity in as
September 1, and since we employment portal for Indian nearly a month to repair little as 30 minutes – this is half
normally get our shipments villagers does not seem quite or replace a console, while that of their current batteries.
from the European market, plausible at first. But, if there Nintendo and Sony stuck Imagine the consequences this
that usually means a delay of are two organisations that can closer to a week. Only can have for mobile devices,
about a month and half.” make it successful, they have 37.7 per cent of Microsoft where battery life and recharge
“However, with Diwali to be Monster.com and ITC’s customers found the time are especially important
coming up, logistics becomes e-Choupal initiative. company’s customer service For those seeking more specific
a little difficult. So we are Together, they have now was “very helpful,” compared details, check out http://www.
targetting a launch for the PS3 launched a bi-lingual (Hindi to 51.1 per cent for Sony and thinkdigit.com/d/31392/.
Facebook recently crossed one billion views for its video service The 802.11n Wi-Fi standard is nearing final ratification Yahoo! to buy Xoopit, to add new photo sharing
16 Digit | September 2009 | www.thinkdigit.com
Buzz
Blizzard confirms Sony might develop a phone
no LAN support for component to their successful
Starcraft II Playstation Portable handheld
Google BINGes on origami” may provide a cheap The research might help
Caffeine framework on which to build manufacturers such as IBM,
Is Google beginning to feel the tiny microchips, according Intel and AMD keep up with
competition from Bing already? to a paper published on Moore’s Law, which states
In a blog post at the end of Sunday in the journal Nature that the number of transistors
August, Google announced Nanotechnology. This means on a circuit roughly double
its “next-generation” that such DNA molecules can every two years. The biggest
infrastructure, dubbed Caffeine. be used as scaffolds (mini circuit obstacle to keeping up with
Competition brings out boards) for carbon nanotubes, Moore’s Law is developing
the best in products, and this nanowires and nanoparticles smaller and smaller chipsets.
is clearly an example of the to assemble themselves into To read up about this, just
benefits of competition. Like precise patterns. type http://www.thinkdigit.
all things Google though, the “This is the first com/d/36684/.
Caffeine-based engine is as demonstration of using
simple as the standard Google biological molecules to ISRO launches
search. The changes made have help with processing ‘Bhuvan’
been entirely “under the hood” in the semiconductor The Indian Space Research
and the only effect (and not industry,” IBM research Organisation (ISRO) unveiled India’s answer to Google Earth
even much at that) will be in its most ambitious people-
the search results and speed. oriented project yet. Bhuvan, feature is that Bhuvan uses
Google is now looking for meaning ‘Earth’ in Sanskrit seven satellites (including
people to give feedback on its is a remote-sensing 3D image ISRO’s Resourcesat-1,
new venture, especially the portal that promises to take Cartosat-1 and Cartosat-2)
power searchers who might on the likes of popular virtual to provide images, as well as
actually notice a difference globe-mapping applications time-stamping for multiple
in the results they get. Those such as Google Earth and views from the same satellite.
interested can head over to Wikimapia. What’s more, it is This provides images from
http://www2.sandbox.google. technically superior on paper! different angles apart
com/ to try it out. The most interesting from the default top-down
feature for users will be the perpendicular view, thus
IBM to develop DNA ability of Bhuvan to zoom far enriching the user experience.
microchips closer than the aerial view ISRO will update images
Researchers at IBM’s US-based from a chopper. While Google for the program once every
laboratories and the California Microchips of the future? Earth restricts zooming to year, compared to Google’s
Institute of Technology manager Spike Narayan told 200 metres and Wikimapia four-year updates. As it keeps
(Caltech) have developed a Reuters. “Basically, this is goes up to 50 metres, ISRO’s updating its database with
new method to use DNA to telling us that biological new technology will be able to more recent and higher
create next-gen microchips structures like DNA actually render images from up to 10 resolution images, Bhuvan
that are faster, cheaper and offer some very reproducible, metres, which means you can eventually promises to offer
more energy efficient. repetitive kinds of patterns easily see details up to a three- real-time data and images.
Artificial DNA that we can actually leverage floor high building and also For the full story, visit
nanostructures, or “DNA in semiconductor processes.” add information. http://www.thinkdigit.
The other important com/d/90766/.
vote for Young Indian Innovators who are Changing the
Your World
chance to In celebration of our independence this year, Digit has decided to
make a compile a list of Young Indian Innovators who are Changing our World
through tech. Whether a young Indian has designed a microchip, written
difference an all-important algorithm for a search engine, or has contributed to
rural enterprise, we would like to identify and felicitate the individual
for his contribution to our society.
To help in the endeavour, we would like to enlist your help.
Contribute to this cause by sending in your nominations to yii@
thinkdigit.com, and by voting for those whose work you think has truly
made an impact on India and the world. Take a moment of your time to
show your appreciation for the great minds of contemporary India.
Visit www.thinkdigit.com/yii for more information.
features to its services The deviant toilet on the ISS was fixed, after a spacewalk mission Microsoft pulls down Soapbox, YouTube’s rival
18 Digit | September 2009 | www.thinkdigit.com
Browser alternatives Cooking with HTML5
Connection Mobile Watch 22 A look at some interesting browsers
that will catch your fancy 28 A closer look at HTML5 – what’s new
and what you can do with it
Nokia N900 tablet customers to pay for their
Dubbed as the RX-51, the mobile in 25 equal weekly
internet was full of leaked shots installments of Rs. 100 each.
of the upcoming Nokia N900, This service is sure to be a
the successor to the N810. This boon to many of the customers
is interesting news because in the rural market, as now
there has been little happening with a small bill of Rs. 400
in the tablet space. Secondly, above their monthly bill,
this bulky beast will be one they can get a Nokia mobile.
of the first devices to sport Other schemes, such as Nokia
the Maemo 5 OS, codenamed Life Tools, are also targeted
Fremantle – Tux fanboys towards this market. With the
will clap their hands in glee Nokia Life Tools Agriculture
since the platform is based on services, Nokia intends to
Linux. Nokia has been working provide its rural audience
with members of the Maemo with information relevant to
community and Linux mobile them. Connectivity is always a
developers for some time now. good thing, and more services
In fact, Maemo 5 represents a packet access (HSPA) and the has become a Nokia de facto geared for farmers and other
lot of push from Nokia’s side Wi-Fi driver for tablets to the now. The N900 should make a rural audiences is surely a
to bring about architectural development community in the splash later this year, probably good sign. Just don’t expect
changes. pursuit of getting these into the at Nokia World 2009 scheduled to get an N97 in this scheme
We’re saving the spoilers on Linux kernel. Then there is the for September. Rumours have anytime soon!
the hardware for last and now “Clutter” graphics framework, it’s pricing at around the $599
a little more dope on Maemo which brings richer and more mark, which seems about When giants meet
5. A unique hardware and boot Nokia, the worldwide
management system called leader in smart-phones and
“Upstart” is being used. Being
Tux fanboys will clap their hands in glee since Microsoft, the largest software
event driven and asynchronous, the platform is based on Linux manufacturer in the world,
it can perform multiple have combined forces and
tasks simultaneously and is entered into an alliance that is
much better than the current interactive and attractive menu right for the features and set to deliver a groundbreaking,
iterative system that performs systems, visual effects, and of performance on offer. enterprise-grade solution for
operations in a predetermined course, usability. mobile productivity. In mid-
order. So Maemo starts up And now for the N900; Nokia’s rural love – August, Microsoft Business
faster. The open hardware how does a massive 3.5- new micro-payment Division President Stephen
manager (OHM) is next. This inch resistive-touch based scheme Elop and Nokia’s Executive
hardware abstraction layer touchscreen with a hefty Amid pandemic scares and Vice President for Devices,
(HAL) provides a standardised resolution of 800 x 480 pixels global recession, as fortunes Kai Oistamo, announced the
interface for managing the sound? The 32 GB built-in continue to dwindle it seems agreement and outlined a
device’s internal functionality, memory, 5 MP camera, Wi-Fi, Nokia is the one shining star shared vision for the future of
such as reducing back lighting Bluetooth, GPS, micro USB and that threatens to emerge from mobile productivity.
automatically in case of low TV-out are fresh out of the N97 all this even stronger than it The two giants have already
battery or under-clocking the oven. Did we mention a full, was a year ago. Nokia’s Indian begun collaborating on the
processor in case of excessive slide-out QWERTY keypad? market continues to grow even design, development and
heat dissipation. Disabling Processing grunt comes from as pockets shrink and kudos marketing of productivity
the power button during a an ARM Cortex-A8 CPU that is to their marketing division for solutions for the mobile
firmware flash is one other clocked at anywhere 550 and coming up with innovative professional, bringing Microsoft
such example. It is completely 650 MHz (Nokia is keeping this ways to reel in even more Office Mobile and Microsoft
user configurable and features hush for now). No news on the customers. business communications,
rule-based policies. battery, but we expect nothing India is already Nokia’s collaboration and device
The most excitement is less than a colossal 1,500 mAh second biggest market management software to
generated by the connectivity unit, perhaps something even with 430 million users – a Nokia’s Symbian devices. These
options that Maemo 5 larger given that this will be whopping 60 per cent of solutions will be available
supports. Nokia has opened used for heavy connectivity. India’s cellphones are Nokias. for a broad range of Nokia
its source code for high speed Reviewers who have got a While the demand for high-end smart-phones, starting with
sneak peek say the phones remains the domain the E-series. Both Microsoft
Maemo 5 interface of urban India, Nokia has a and Nokia possess a rare
is fun, rich and new lucrative micro-financing combination of enterprise
very usable, not to scheme that should reign in experience and consumer
So the shiny new iPhone 3GS can play 1080p
content despite Apples claims to the contrary. mention an excellent more of the rural audience as understanding and, in addition
But is it any good? Read more – http://www. performer and better well. The new scheme, which to the collaboration on existing
thinkdigit.com/d/90376/ than the Symbian has already been tested in software and services, will use
S60 platform that Maharashtra, will enable rural these assets to jointly design a
More space than you’ll ever need? Toshiba annouces a 64GB SDHC card The soon to be launched Lenovo D400 Home Server is going to be priced at approximately Rs. 22,000
20 Digit | September 2009 | www.thinkdigit.com
VoIP apps blocked Mobile Watch
NVIDIA Tegra in action AT&T admits to having struck a deal with Apple
NVIDIA’s new low-power Tegra chip is that doesn’t allow iPhone applications to use
the one driving the new Zune HD PMP VoIP services under its network
range of new user experiences its sluggishness and of course
for future Nokia devices. Next the plain-jane looks. Some
year, Nokia intends to start also found it to be little more
shipping Microsoft Office than a cosmetic addition, not
Communicator Mobile on its adding any usefulness to the
smart-phones, followed by interface. Enter TouchFLO 3D
other Office applications and 2.6 with the promise of more
related software and services in colour, usefulness and user
the future. These will include: friendliness.
the ability to view, edit, create The most noticeable changes
and share Office documents on (at first sight) are of the menu
more devices in more places system and the icons used
with mobile-optimised versions to change tabs, as well as
of Microsoft Word, Microsoft improved browsing of image
PowerPoint, Microsoft Excel and audio galleries with an all
and Microsoft OneNote. new landscape view for album
art browsing. The calendar
Touch and flo section has also seen a lot of
With Windows Mobile 6.5 sprucing up with many new
approaching launch readiness view options. There are also
there is a leaked preview of large, easy to thumb, onscreen
TouchFLO 3D from HTC that buttons for home, internet are attractive and add a dash HTC handsets such as the HTC
of much needed pizzazz to Touch Diamond 2, although
Give us your feedback at the interface, although some these are cases of TouchFLO
http://www.thinkdigit.com/d/47773/ claim they bear a striking 2.6 being run on certain
resemblance to the icons on non-WM 6.5 based devices;
has been doing the rounds and people tabs; this will Android-based handsets. undoubtedly optimisations
on the internet. One of the undoubtedly save time as every Reports also mention the will be made so that the final
biggest complaints against the function is virtually a click or sluggishness of videos when product should hopefully be a
TouchFLO interface has been two away. The colourful icons demonstrating this on certain lot smoother.
Nokia to make netbooks based on the Intel Atom processor and run Windows Motorola plans to start trial services of the 4G technology called Long-Term Evolution in India
Digit | September 2009 | www.thinkdigit.com 21
Feature Beta time Android creates Magic
The third beta version of Opera 10 is now The HTC Magic running Android OS has sold over a
available online – this focuses on a more million units, according to a statement made by HTC
stable and faster performing solution CEO Peter Chou
Kumar Jhuremalani and Rossi popular browsers Firefox and Safari. They
Fernandes are therefore perfect for browsing, but each
kumar.j@thinkdigit.com has been developed for different kinds of
rossi.fernandes@thinkdigit.com users, some of whom may want a large
T
number of features, others, something as
he internet has developed to the light as possible. Here, we introduce you to
point where many web sites are some of the alternatives, both for desktops
thought of more as applications, and mobiles.
with browsers designed such that
you launch applications from your desktop K-Meleon
that are actually services running in a If you need a lightweight Firefox-like
window. browser
One persistent problem with browsers Web site: http://kmeleon.sourceforge.net
has been that many have been plagued Latest version: 1.5.3
Renderer: Gecko K-Meleon is a hearty competitor as an alternative
by bugs and security vulnerabilities. It
Download size: Approx 5 MB browser
seems that the more popular a browser
gets, the more holes are discovered, often The open source browser K-Meleon has plug-ins and add-ons to get it up to speed.
causing users to move from one browser had a small, but loyal following since it The K-Meleon browser is more like Opera,
to another. On the other hand, browser was launched back in 2000. At that time, it in that it comes most goodies built-in. It
developers compete with each other by lacked many important features, but nine is feature-packed, but also has support for
adding more and more features into their years down the line and it has caught up add-ons.
browser, turning some of them almost into with the competition. Today, it’s a robust A built-in ad blocker, mouse gestures
bloatware, stuffed with features simply not and usable all-purpose browser, suitable for and a news feed reader are just some of the
Imaging: Chaitanya Surpur
needed by most users. most users. It is also light on resources and features that come with K-Meleon, so clearly
But if you have had enough of the consumes only around 12 MB of RAM while you won’t be missing out on anything
bloatware and security vulnerabilities in running with one tab open. major. One feature that speeds
your browser, you might not be aware of the One of the better-known browsers, up the load time of K-Meleon
scope available to you for change – there are Opera, is liked by many simply because fact is a loader application that sits
more browsers out there than you think. you get the complete package all in one go. in your system tray. Double-
Each of these browsers uses the rendering Firefox, on the other hand, does require clicking it opens the browser
backend, or engine, that is used by the some degree of customisation in terms of within a second on almost any
Browser
Alternatives
We’ve taken a look at the other browsers out there
and have found out some interesting browsers that
will catch your fancy
22 Digit | September 2009 | www.thinkdigit.com
Feature Dell playing smart Entourage fades
Dell’s new Chinese handset called the Mini 3i Outlook for Mac is going to replace the
has now surfaced; it is a 2G phone that runs previous email client Entourage for Mac, in
Android OS the next release of Microsoft Office for Mac
system. The only minor downside is that extensions/. You can also add more toolbars Bitty
this uses a small amount of memory. for entertainment purposes. However, it Many will have had the experience of
Moving to K-Meleon is trouble free. It does not have separate themes. wanting to search for something while
might be a little confusing at first but you As Flock is powered by the same surfing the web, but without having to
can easily import bookmarks from Opera, technology that is used by the Mozilla switch to another tab or open a new
Internet Explorer and Firefox. K-Meleon Firefox 3 browser, it can use most of the window. With Bitty, this is now possible,
offers high levels of customisations but extensions that are available for Firefox. as it works like a small browser within the
much of this has to be done by editing browser you are currently using. Think of
text files rather than through menus and Midori it as equivalent to picture-in-picture for
dialogue boxes. Those who like to dabble Tiny and Speedy TVs, but with browsers. Some examples of
Web site: www.twotoastes.de where you can use Bitty: iGoogle, Netvibes,
with customisation will no doubt enjoy this
Latest version: 0.1.8 PageFlake, etc. So you can continue reading
part of K-Meleon.
Renderer: WebKit the information, while browsing at the
same time. Bitty is nothing fancy, it’s just
Flock Download size: Approx 7.2 MB
a plain browser with an address bar and a
The complete package for social Midori is an open source browser that few navigation buttons, and that’s it.
networking works on the WebKit renderer. WebKit is
Web site: www.flock.com
Latest version: 2.5.2 unique in its own way. It is intended to be
Renderer: Gecko an all-in-one solution that is to be used as
Download size: Approx 12.7 MB an integrated desktop sharing environment.
Flock basically a complete entertainment Currently, it is still in the works, but this
package aimed at those who are addicted to browser tries to accomplish a lot, with users
social networking. Resource usage is a bit can sharing their desktops online for a more
on the higher side – with services such as interactive experience, with different modes
the media bar and a tab open, it uses about The simplistic charms of Midori of communications (IMs, Emails, voice chat,
etc.) and various mouse gestures.
the same engine that is used by Mac OS X’s At this point in time Arora still needs a
Safari, and is also being used to develop considerable amount of work, but it does
mobile phone browsers.
The Midori browser is also
a part of the Xfce desktop
environment.
Midori does not come as an
installation file, but instead in
a .7z file containing the directly
executable file. It is not impressive
to look at, but is intended to be fast
Flock gives you complete control of social
and light. Similarly to K-Meleon,
networking and entertainment sites
Midori uses only about 12 MB of
70 MB of RAM. RAM with one tab open.
Overall, Flock has a rather retro look to The progress bar of Midori is
it and once installed, you are immediately directly displayed on the address
greeted with options to log into the social bar with a rather old-fashioned
networking sites, Facebook, MySpace and look. To get the best out of Futuristic, but still needs work. As just a browser, Arora is a great
Twitter. It also has an integrated media bar this browser you will need to Webkit powered alternative to Safari and Chrome.
that allows users to search through Youtube, customise it, but this might not
Flickr or Truveo without interfering with suit everybody. It allows you to add styles, have the basic necessities of a browser.
the rest of the browser. Netscape plugins and extensions, but you The current build includes the following
Other sidebars also help you sort will have to do these manually, unlike other features: session manager, privacy mode,
between your feeds, social networking popular browsers. good search engine management, a
accounts, and other services such as Midori is a work in progress, but the ClickToFlash plugin, a download manager
maintaining blogs and media sharing. developers are pretty enthusiastic about this and it also comes in 30 different languages.
Once you are logged into a social open source browser and update it regularly.
networking site, your information is saved xB Browser
and any updates can be viewed on the Arora For when you want to be anonymous
people sidebar, even when you are not The browser of the future? Web site: www.xerobank.com
actually on that particular page or tab. Web site: http://code.google.com/p/arora/ Latest version: 2.0.0.20c
The Web Clipboard is another useful Latest version: 0.8.0 Renderer: Gecko
feature of Flock, which allows you to Renderer: WebKit Download size: Approx 10.2 MB
highlight and drag random text to the Download size: Approx 9.7 MB xB stands for XeroBank, which was formerly
sidebar which is then stored there for later The Arora web browser is another open known as Torpark, and is an open source
use. Image uploading is equally easy with source project that was started by Adaptive anonymous browser. The xB Browser is
Flock. Path in collaboration with the guys at secure in the sense that it erases everything,
Flock can be customised similarly to Mozilla Labs. Together, they have come up and doesn’t store unwanted elements such as
Firefox, using extensions; you can check with a concept browser that is meant to be cache or browser history, and hence makes
them out at https://extensions.flock.com/ the browser of the future. Arora is certainly the entire browsing session anonymous.
24 Digit | September 2009 | www.thinkdigit.com
Goa-IDC goes wireless
Feature Official office State owned BSNL telecommunications is partnering with
Microsoft and Nokia have struck a deal and are the Goa Industrial Development Corporation to provide
now going to introduce the official versions of MS a wireless broadband network to connect all the 19
Office for Nokia smartphones such as the E-Series industrial estates that are under Goa-IDC
Epiphany is a descendant of Galeon, Skweezer
another web browser which is quite old Skweezer is a service available for free on
now (last updated in 2006), and has the internet that gives you a stripped down
been created by the same person who version of any web site. This is especially
started Galeon – Marco Pesenti Gritti. beneficial to those using mobile devices to
The general layout and user interface surf the web as Skweezer eliminates all the
of Epiphany is different, but overall this images, tables, etc. and you are presented
browser is similar to Firefox, with the same with a straightforward simple page with
customisation options through extensions just text links. Check out Skweezer at www.
and plug-ins. Instead of themes, Epiphany skweezer.com
allows users to customise their user the option to install a search bar on the
interface. Bookmarks are arranged home screen. When browsing, Skyfire gives
according to topics rather than folders a full browser experience and the entire
- you can assign multiple topics to any page is visible in a shrunken version. You
The anonymous checker from xB that uses the tor network bookmark, rather than saving it in a can tap on the screen to zoom in to sections
particular folder. S, with Epiphany, gone of a page.
Other features of xB include no saved are the days where you forget which folder Cookies and bookmarks can also be stored
passwords or forms, download history which bookmark was saved in. Privacy and with Skyfire. Currently, this is one of the best
automatically wiped after the download, security features are also present and easily alternative mobile browsers out there and we
and cookies are accepted from sites, but are configurable. recommend that you give it a try.
immediately erased once xB is closed. When we started Epiphany, we felt that it
xB is not a new browser that has been has a strong resemblance to Firefox as well Fennec
built from scratch, and once installed, as Internet Explorer, but at the same time A revamped mobile browser from
you’ll see similarities to Firefox. The reason the fonts used are smooth and give a soft Mozilla
is that this browser has been built on and comfortable overall appeal. Web site: http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/
Firefox and is secure and anonymous by Epiphany is definitely something mobile/
means of changing the standard Firefox GNOME users should give a try if they Latest version: 1.0
configurations. haven’t already, as this browser can give Renderer: Gecko
Once you fire up xB, your anonymous Firefox a good run for its money. Download size: Approx 8.7 MB
status is displayed on the screen, you also Fennec is currently in the test stages,
see how your browser’s data packets are Mobile browsers but we felt this deserves a mention as the
being routed through the Tor network. Skyfire developers seem to have done quite a good
A small drawback here is that a site such The real mobile browser alternative job so far. Fennec is being developed by the
as Google will open in accordance to the Web site: www.skyfire.com
region your IP is in. Latest version: 1.0
Renderer: Gecko
Liked this article? Post comments at Download size: Approx
www.thinkdigit.com/d/con0909 2.1 MB
Skyfire is a mobile web
Additional useful features of this browser browser that really comes with all important
are that it utilises approximately only 5 MB features and has good cross-platform support:
of RAM even with a second tab open and Windows Mobile 5, 6, 6.1, Symbian OS S60
you also have the option to disable images. v9.x and even HTC Touch Diamond.
Thanks to xB, you can bypass firewalls and With this browser you can freely browse
other security features and at the same time and watch videos on sites such as YouTube, Fennec browser showing the different tabs
remain secure yourself when it comes to Hulu, etc., as it comes with full support for
browsing through cyberspace. Adobe Flash , Silverlight 2.0 and QuickTime. team over at Mozilla and is based on Firefox.
No need to install additional plug-ins. Though it is intended for hand-held and
Epiphany We tested the Skyfire browser on a mobile devices, it can currently be used on
GNOME gets some game mobile phone running Windows Mobile Windows, Linux or Mac OS X. When we tried
Web site: http://projects.gnome.org/epiphany/ 6.0. It was easy to install and you also get it out, the changes to the interface came as
Latest version: 2.22.3 a pleasant surprise. Firefox has been given a
Renderer: Gecko complete revamp for Fennec and we feel it
Download size: Approx looks very good. It looks really simple, but
Epiphany is an open source browser at the same time will give the mobile device
intended mainly for Linux, but also with a very PC-like feel. Fennec just has a simple
versions for BSD and Mac OS X. address bar and refresh button next to it
with instructions and arrow keys. These are
meant to be used either by touch controls
(for devices that support them) or by using
the arrow keys on the device. The browser
slides out to reveal settings and other features
on one side and the other shows tabs, giving
navigation a totally new approach.
Once Fennec is ready, we’re sure it will be
The customisable browser meant for GNOME one of the best mobile browsers out there.
Skyfire feels like a desktop browser
26 Digit | September 2009 | www.thinkdigit.com
Bespin
Feature (bespin.mozilla.com) is Mozilla’s Geolocation API
HTML5-based text editor “in HTML5 adds a Geolocation API,
the cloud”; it works in the latest so your browser can tell websites
Firefox and Safari your current location
Cooking With HTML 5
What's new, and what can you do with it?
Nimish Chandiramani actually tell us what's inside:
readersletters@thinkdigit.com The element to put all This is a very WordPress-like sidebar,
A
introductory information, like your logo, with widgets in an unordered list. You can
s users, it doesn't really matter a brief description of the page, and so on. use divs too, if you like.
to us how the sites we visit are You can also use these as content headers,
built. Overused divs, tables for which can contain the title. There's also the sections:
layout — who cares, as long as The element, to put your primary
the sites look and work fine? navigation links in.
As developers, though, it all matters. And The element, to segregate
as the web becomes increasingly aware of your content into chapters, categories, or
semantics — the context of content — it also anything similar.
matters that we build pages that the search The element, where you can ...and so on. If you use the HTML 5
engines understand. And that's why there's stick your primary content. elements the way you would divs, you're on
HTML 5. The element, where you can the right track.
HTML 5 gets a lot of press for one put stuff that's tangentially related to the
feature alone: the tag, which lets content around the aside element, and Articles of interest
you embed Ogg video into pages, without which could be considered separate from Apart from the obvious element,
needing plugins like Flash or Silverlight. that content, according to the W3C. This HTML 5 gives us several other elements
That tag, however, is just part of a much means sidebars, pull-quotes, and other such to add richness to content. The first is
bigger design — to make the tags indicative content that isn't part of the main flow. , which lets us group headings (for
of what the pages contain. Finally, the element, where the benefit of search engines, which would
you can put copyright notices, contact see ungrouped headings as separate content
Tagged right details, and so on. Like , you items):
Most web pages you'll visit have a layout can also use this for article footers — date
that looks something like this: published, number of comments, and so on.
As you can see, the new tags make much
more sense — both when you're creating a This is the main heading
This is the subheading
here--> else created. Author
Putting it together
Now that we've got new tags to work with,
we can set about rebuilding our page,
starting with the easiest bits. The header is If you have images within the content,
simple enough: you can use the element to show it
This is a heading — adding more significance to its purpose:
This is some text. This is the page header
This becomes the figure's
caption
This is another heading This is some more text. htm">Navigation 1 that ALT text is now mandatory"/>
htm">Navigation 2 This doesn't have to be limited to images
with or
Navigation 3 , and you've got yourself captioned
here--> audio or video.
There are a bunch of little additions for
your content, too — use the tag (or
; the spec is still undecided on which)
information goes here--> navigation links within the header, but since to highlight text that you think is significant
they are an "introduction" to what's on your (you can use CSS to decide how that looks):
site, it makes sense to put them there. This was a triumph. I'm making
-------- a note here: HUGE SUCCESS.
however, is that divs don't really ~mean~ You can also mark off time (), or
anything. They tell the browser that they're other units ():
distinct areas of the document with "stuff" I made Rs. 300 at
inside them, but that's it. With HTML 5, 10:15 AM on August 5.
however, we get structural elements that But this is just the boring, utilitarian part.
28 Digit | September 2009 | www.thinkdigit.com
Google Wave
Google Wave will be based heavily
on HTML5, and will showcase most
Developer corner
of its features, including the ability
to store data on your hard disk
HTML 5 enables much coolness, as well. //get the canvas
var canvas = document.
Mr Fancy Pants getElementById('test');
Another one of HTML 5's talked-about //now get it for drawing
features is the element. It var board = canvas.
conjures up images of a large, editable getContext('2d');
area that users can draw on, but that's //create a filled rectangle
hardly the case. By itself, the board.fillRect(40,25,50,30);
element is not much — it needs JavaScript //draw a random shape
to really get it to do something. And that board.beginPath();
something could potentially be a Flash- board.moveTo(10,10);
killer, if this demo combination of Twitter, board.lineTo(30,15);
and is anything to go board.lineTo(20,50);
by: http://9elements.com/io/projects/html5/ board.lineTo(100,150);
canvas/. board.lineTo(30,150);
Let's try a basic canvas demo for board.fill(); //closes the shape
ourselves. It's simple enough to create a }
blank 200x200 canvas to start scribbling And here's the result:
on:
Canvas Demo
The drawing part comes from JavaScript. The resulting scribbles
The only shape you can draw directly on a
canvas is the rectangle; everything else must
be drawn using paths, lines or curves. We This is just to give you an idea of what
won't go into all the possible functions here, you can do with canvas; if you're up to it,
but here are some of the basics: you can go over to Mozilla's excellent canvas
fillRect(x-position,y- tutorial for more: https://developer.mozilla.
position,width,height): for a solid org/en/Canvas_tutorial.
rectangle There are several other neat features, too,
strokeRect(x-position,y- including support for drag-and-drop. You
position,width,height): for just the can make any element draggable by simply
outline adding the draggable="true" attribute,
clearRect(x-position,y- and then use JavaScript to handle the result
position,width,height): to delete the of someone actually dragging the element.
area under the rectangle
beginPath(): start drawing a path Now, make it work
closePath(): stop drawing There's a lot more HTML 5 than our page
stroke(): closes the path, and draws count will permit, but a good question arises
the outline at this point: "Will it work in all browsers?"
fill(): closes the path, and turns it into A large portion of the HTML 5 spec is
a solid shape supported by the latest browsers — Firefox
Once you've begun a path, you've 3.5, Safari 4, and Opera 10 beta — so you
essentially enabled a pencil (or pen, can actually create a complete HTML 5 site
or marker, if you want), which you can and have it work normally for any visitors
command to do what you want: who don't use IE. For IE users, you'll have to
moveTo(x,y): move to this point include the HTML 5 Enabling Script thus:
without drawing
lineTo(x,y): draw a line from the
other JavaScript, you can put the code
within the tags. Here's what the Or, you could just tell them to stop using
drawSomething() function looks like: IE, and we'll all be happy in our HTML
function drawSomething() 5-enabled world.
{
Digit | September 2009 | www.thinkdigit.com 29
Bespin
Feature (bespin.mozilla.com) is Mozilla’s Geolocation API
HTML5-based text editor “in HTML5 adds a Geolocation API,
the cloud”; it works in the latest so your browser can tell websites
Firefox and Safari your current location
Cooking With HTML 5
What's new, and what can you do with it?
Nimish Chandiramani actually tell us what's inside:
readersletters@thinkdigit.com The element to put all This is a very WordPress-like sidebar,
A
introductory information, like your logo, with widgets in an unordered list. You can
s users, it doesn't really matter a brief description of the page, and so on. use divs too, if you like.
to us how the sites we visit are You can also use these as content headers,
built. Overused divs, tables for which can contain the title. There's also the sections:
layout — who cares, as long as The element, to put your primary
the sites look and work fine? navigation links in.
As developers, though, it all matters. And The element, to segregate
as the web becomes increasingly aware of your content into chapters, categories, or
semantics — the context of content — it also anything similar.
matters that we build pages that the search The element, where you can ...and so on. If you use the HTML 5
engines understand. And that's why there's stick your primary content. elements the way you would divs, you're on
HTML 5. The element, where you can the right track.
HTML 5 gets a lot of press for one put stuff that's tangentially related to the
feature alone: the tag, which lets content around the aside element, and Articles of interest
you embed Ogg video into pages, without which could be considered separate from Apart from the obvious element,
needing plugins like Flash or Silverlight. that content, according to the W3C. This HTML 5 gives us several other elements
That tag, however, is just part of a much means sidebars, pull-quotes, and other such to add richness to content. The first is
bigger design — to make the tags indicative content that isn't part of the main flow. , which lets us group headings (for
of what the pages contain. Finally, the element, where the benefit of search engines, which would
you can put copyright notices, contact see ungrouped headings as separate content
Tagged right details, and so on. Like , you items):
Most web pages you'll visit have a layout can also use this for article footers — date
that looks something like this: published, number of comments, and so on.
As you can see, the new tags make much
more sense — both when you're creating a This is the main heading
This is the subheading
here--> else created. Author
Putting it together
Now that we've got new tags to work with,
we can set about rebuilding our page,
starting with the easiest bits. The header is If you have images within the content,
simple enough: you can use the element to show it
This is a heading — adding more significance to its purpose:
This is some text. This is the page header
This becomes the figure's
caption
This is another heading This is some more text. htm">Navigation 1 that ALT text is now mandatory"/>
htm">Navigation 2 This doesn't have to be limited to images
with or
Navigation 3 , and you've got yourself captioned
here--> audio or video.
There are a bunch of little additions for
your content, too — use the tag (or
; the spec is still undecided on which)
information goes here--> navigation links within the header, but since to highlight text that you think is significant
they are an "introduction" to what's on your (you can use CSS to decide how that looks):
site, it makes sense to put them there. This was a triumph. I'm making
-------- a note here: HUGE SUCCESS.
however, is that divs don't really ~mean~ You can also mark off time (), or
anything. They tell the browser that they're other units ():
distinct areas of the document with "stuff" I made Rs. 300 at
inside them, but that's it. With HTML 5, 10:15 AM on August 5.
however, we get structural elements that But this is just the boring, utilitarian part.
28 Digit | September 2009 | www.thinkdigit.com
Google Wave
Google Wave will be based heavily
on HTML5, and will showcase most
Developer corner
of its features, including the ability
to store data on your hard disk
HTML 5 enables much coolness, as well. //get the canvas
var canvas = document.
Mr Fancy Pants getElementById('test');
Another one of HTML 5's talked-about //now get it for drawing
features is the element. It var board = canvas.
conjures up images of a large, editable getContext('2d');
area that users can draw on, but that's //create a filled rectangle
hardly the case. By itself, the board.fillRect(40,25,50,30);
element is not much — it needs JavaScript //draw a random shape
to really get it to do something. And that board.beginPath();
something could potentially be a Flash- board.moveTo(10,10);
killer, if this demo combination of Twitter, board.lineTo(30,15);
and is anything to go board.lineTo(20,50);
by: http://9elements.com/io/projects/html5/ board.lineTo(100,150);
canvas/. board.lineTo(30,150);
Let's try a basic canvas demo for board.fill(); //closes the shape
ourselves. It's simple enough to create a }
blank 200x200 canvas to start scribbling And here's the result:
on:
Canvas Demo
The drawing part comes from JavaScript. The resulting scribbles
The only shape you can draw directly on a
canvas is the rectangle; everything else must
be drawn using paths, lines or curves. We This is just to give you an idea of what
won't go into all the possible functions here, you can do with canvas; if you're up to it,
but here are some of the basics: you can go over to Mozilla's excellent canvas
fillRect(x-position,y- tutorial for more: https://developer.mozilla.
position,width,height): for a solid org/en/Canvas_tutorial.
rectangle There are several other neat features, too,
strokeRect(x-position,y- including support for drag-and-drop. You
position,width,height): for just the can make any element draggable by simply
outline adding the draggable="true" attribute,
clearRect(x-position,y- and then use JavaScript to handle the result
position,width,height): to delete the of someone actually dragging the element.
area under the rectangle
beginPath(): start drawing a path Now, make it work
closePath(): stop drawing There's a lot more HTML 5 than our page
stroke(): closes the path, and draws count will permit, but a good question arises
the outline at this point: "Will it work in all browsers?"
fill(): closes the path, and turns it into A large portion of the HTML 5 spec is
a solid shape supported by the latest browsers — Firefox
Once you've begun a path, you've 3.5, Safari 4, and Opera 10 beta — so you
essentially enabled a pencil (or pen, can actually create a complete HTML 5 site
or marker, if you want), which you can and have it work normally for any visitors
command to do what you want: who don't use IE. For IE users, you'll have to
moveTo(x,y): move to this point include the HTML 5 Enabling Script thus:
without drawing
lineTo(x,y): draw a line from the
other JavaScript, you can put the code
within the tags. Here's what the Or, you could just tell them to stop using
drawSomething() function looks like: IE, and we'll all be happy in our HTML
function drawSomething() 5-enabled world.
{
Digit | September 2009 | www.thinkdigit.com 29
Job satisfaction Make resumes error free
A Korn/Ferry institute study of respondents Recent research done by TeamLease Services, found
from 70 countries revealed that 50 per cent that 90 per cent of the randomly selected 500 CVs had
Cover story Web awards
of executives are dissatisfied with their
current position in the work place
some or the other form of error. Such resumes are just
not considered
S
Using web services is no longer earch engines still don’t make as lives, and users have a need to trust these sites
much sense of the web as they should as much as a jeweller, doctor or a mechanic.
a one time activity, it is now a have when they were first introduced. This is where we come in.
part of our lives, and a serious Any search will give you a staggering Our categories range from basic services
investment of time, energy and number of hits for services you are looking including search, social networking and
money. Users now have a need for, but the best of the lot still spread through email, to more real world services such
word of mouth. For a lay user, figuring out as travel, real estate and tech shopping,
to trust these sites as much as which web service is safe, reliable and accurate as well as cloud based services such as
a jeweler, doctor or a mechanic. is still as difficult as it was ten or twenty years online office suites and image editors.
This is where we come in... ago. Many users are forced to use a particular The test procedure itself was an elaborate
service merely because they were not aware affair. We checked the usability of the sites
of a better alternative, by force of habit, on different platforms, and compatibility
Team Digit or because everyone they know uses that with different browsers. We looked below
particular service only. the superficial stuff, into the technologies
The internet is no longer a resource for driving the sites; how fast and secure they
research, entertainment purposes or just a were, how well the search functions worked,
casual pass time. There are many services how thorough the help or FAQ sections
available, and while these are convenient, they were, and how comprehensive the services
are also a serious investment. Time, energy offered were. Throughout the tests, we
and money pass on to internet services, and it kept in mind different usage scenarios, and
is disappointing when these are not reflected deeply considered how the services were
in the benefits to the user. Users now have a most likely to be used, and what kinds of
basic need to be online and connected all the needs they fulfilled. Some of the winners
time, and stay updated on any platform they come as no surprise, but some are hidden
have access to: a desktop computer, a netbook gems that don’t show up in the first few hits
in a coffee shop or on their mobile phones. of major search engines. We present to you
Using web services is no longer a one time the Web Awards, an effort in making sense
activity, it is now a part of our of the internet.
The
Web Awards 2009
30 Digit | September 2009 | www.thinkdigit.com
Web awards
Learn how Microsoft planned to take on Google
http://www.thinkdigit.com/d/thinkdigit/mvsg/
Search
engines
Search engines organise for you the vast
streams of information on the internet
and even help you make sense of it all.
Consequently, which search engine to use
has always been a matter of contention for
web users, especially with Bing entering the
fray.
To drill down to the short-listed
candidates, we ran a few exploratory
searches on the most popular as well as
many obscure engines, including ask.
com, cuil.com, exalead and alltheweb. We
keep changing randomly with each term. search is one of the most used features, we
Each relevant result appearing closest to settled on a few image terms as well.
the top was awarded a point. We created In the blind test, Google and Bing ran
The purse strings are loosening, and it a mixed bag of search terms in different neck and neck. While Yahoo! didn’t garner
appears as much as $80 to $100 million categories. Some terms were general, such many points. That put Google and Bing
is likely to fall out, as Microsoft decides as Indian economic policy, while in the lead for the rest of the categories
to boldly enter what is clearly Google’s
a whole category was devoted to terms of search. As far as calculations were
domain; Search. It intends to create a new
of local relevance such as sweet shop concerned, both Bing and Google were
search engine which it believes will show
people what they’ve always been missing in mumbai, thermocol balls near fairly similar so we decided to raise the
search results. Although a casual observer vashi, Bandra-worli sea link map, bar, and queried speed of light in
might ask “based on what experience”? To ganesh chathurthi, and roti. The furlongs per fortnight. Google
read more, go to http://www.thinkdigit. most fun category of search terms was the calculator displayed the result correctly,
com/d/thinkdigit/mvsg/ set of terms used to determine the indexing while Bing pointed to the result. Bonus
capabilities of the points for Google on
search engines. Here In the blind test, Google and Bing that one.
found that most of them could not deliver we had to come ran neck and neck. While Yahoo For local search,
consistently relevant results, especially up with random, didn’t garner many points let’s take the case
when it came to local search terms. obscure strings of of mumbai sweet
Since at the time of testing Yahoo and sentences such as shop. Google
Bing still haven’t consolidated their back- evolution of “samurai crabs”. returned literally hundreds of results with
ends, we’ve considered them separately. These would determine if the search engine direct maps and direction support that
To eliminate user bias, on certain search is capable of crawling for obscure bits of worked quite well. There were even reviews
terms, we decided to use the BlindSearch information. Then a whole set of terms available for some of the listings. Bing on
(blindsearch.fejus.com) tool. The results are were tried that were time sensitive, such as the other hand returned only a handful of
displayed in three separate columns which swine flu and Leno show. Since image local results; six to be precise. It had map
direction and the capability of reviews, but
Search engineS for your every need none were available for our search. Also,
driving directions didn’t work. For Roti,
For realtime search name of a song and start listening! It’s almost Bing, Google and Yahoo! offered similar
If you want to know what’s happening on the too good to be true. (Yes it even searches for, results. However, Bing showed a few videos
internet at any point in time, head over to and plays, Bollywood songs). right at the top. Other than these, as far
icerocket.com to search for blogs and blog as the index size or number of results go,
trends. It’s even got a nifty RSS builder tool. For the altruist Google was ahead. For images, Google and
Another one is collecta.com; this displays Goodsearch.com is a search engine powered Bing were almost the same, while Yahoo!
your search results as a continous flow that’s by Yahoo! with a small difference. It donates certainly lagged behind for difficult searches
refreshed every few seconds. Head over to 50 per cent of its revenue to the charities such as “Naneghat map”.
oneriot.com or scoopler.com for the latest and schools designated by its users. So Going by overall scores and relevance of
trending topics in the web 2.0 world from with every search about one cent goes to a
results, Google was the winner. But certainly
sources such as twitter.com. The trending charity.
not by a mile, and Bing is close on its heels.
topics are all neatly sorted into categories:
With the imminent integration of the two
business, technology and music. For the best of both worlds
Use scour.com to get results from different
runners up, Bing may just have some tricks
search engines displayed together. This up its sleeve in the near future to overthrow
For your audio-visual needs
web site also offers the possibility of writing the reigning champion. But Google has also
Head over to blinkx.com to search through
over 35 million hours of video. Music is more comments. Try searching for digit. The revamped itself with Caffeine, so we’re in for
your taste? Go to fizy.com, simply type the only problem is that the site is slow. a lot of action in the months to come.
Digit | September 2009 | www.thinkdigit.com 31
A deal in the offing OneLlama.com
MySpace is slated to buy the music
Web awards recommendation service iLike in an effort An online radio station that aims to
predict human behaviour so as to serve
to help drive stickier traffic and ultimately
improve revenue generation from the you with the perfect music even before
MySpace user base you crave it
Email With just two simple sentences at the end
of an email, you can now eliminate the
‘Sponsored Links’ that show up on the side of
an email in your inbox.
The sentences were based on the logic
laid forth by blogger Joe McKay, who
wrote in a blog post on his site that all
you need to do is mention catastrophes or
tragedies in your mail for Gmail to not put
up ads. To read more, go to http://www.
thinkdigit.com/d/48628/
Word, Excel or PowerPoint document can
be instantly opened for reading or editing,
straight from the email. Transliteration is
another feature of Gmail.
Also important is Gmail Labs – this
allows users to customise their email
experience even further. Mouse gestures,
offline mode, keyboard shortcuts, interface
tweaks – these are some of the Labs features
that can be activated in Gmail. Recently,
Gmail has added the feature of allowing
users to import their emails and contacts
from other email services such as Hotmail,
Yahoo!, or any others that use POP3. With
this you won’t really need to log into any
No doubt, many of you already have multi- above SSL. Along with POP3 support, it has other email service other than Gmail.
ple email accounts registered with different IMAP support, so that you can remotely The few drawbacks of Gmail – yes there
email services. Services have changed much access your email from anywhere without are some – include the distracting Ad
in recent years with even email protocols downloading it to your PC. The IMAP line: some might like this, while many of
changed from the evergreen POP3 to the feature is not found in other email services. us don’t. Another thing is that you can’t
new standards of IMAP. Here we assess how Gmail allows users to manage their send .exe files as attachments, even if it
these email services have evolved with the emails more efficiently with filters, colour is wrapped in a zipped file. According to
times and which one is the best optimised
to suit the needs of everybody. Things your mommy never told you about Gmail
http://www.thinkdigit.com/d/48628/
With the calendar, your events
are sent as email notifications,
co-ordinated labels, a search feature that Gmail, this is a security issue – a fair point,
so you don’t forget anything works brilliantly (thanks to Google of but we feel there should be a better way to
course). Along with just email functions, handle this. Also, no images can be added to
We looked through a number of email you can chat at the same time as checking the signature with BB codes or html codes.
services such as Gmail, Yahoo!, Rediffmail, your emails, and with Google Docs, any Yahoo! and Rediffmail were also in the
Indiatimes, Windows Live and even In.com. running to win the Digit Web
We looked for ease of registration, how easy Award for email services, but
it was to organise emails, storage options, Digit has decided to compile they simply lack the number
email protocols, security options and any a list of Young Indian of features of Gmail. Though
other features these services could provide. Innovators who are changing Yahoo!’s storage is unlimited,
After going through all the features and our world through tech. Send the attachment size is limited
assessing usability, the best email service your nominations to yii@ to 10 MB, it does not support
according to us is Gmail. We came to a thinkdigit.com. Visit www. IMAP – but it does allow users to
unanimous decision and feel you all will thinkdigit.com/yii for more chat. One thing we noticed with
agree, it’s simple and one of the most used information Yahoo! was that you also have
services on the internet. Gmail gives you the option to create a @ymail.
ample customisation options along with com id – it seems somebody was
the possibility to be just used for emails trying to copy the successful
alone. With a Gmail account, your inbox category winner. Rediffmail also
has 7.5 GB of available storage space has unlimited storage, but a 20
for both emails and attachments. The MB attachment limit and does
attachment size provided by Gmail is also deserve a mention for being
the largest at 25 MB. The security features extremely plain and simple to
in Gmail also push it above the others: not use. Rediffmail also has great
only does it have SSL, it also provides TLS transliteration features when
(Transport Layer Security) which is a step sending emails.
32 Digit | September 2009 | www.thinkdigit.com
Web awards They’re watching
45 per cent of employers in the US say they use social Twitter for businesses
networking sites such as Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and Read our June 2009 anniversary
MySpace, to research a candidate before recruitment special for more if you missed it
Social networking network with digit
The Digit community is active on many social
networking sites, apart from the forums over
at www.thinkdigit.com/forum. Look up the
“Digitindia” group on Orkut, which is the
official Orkut Digit community. We can be
found on Facebook at www.facebook.com/
digitindia. We asnwer questions and interact
with our readers on these platforms. Follow
us on www.twitter.com/digitindia for real time
updates.
To compare the multitude of options
available, we looked at the overall usability
and drew up extensive lists of features
such as application support availability,
community interaction, search proficiency,
ability to import contacts from other
sources and privacy options. When we look
at statistics, Orkut and Facebook clearly
emerge as a class apart. What ensued
next was a long drawn jury debate over
which one should be crowned the winner.
Facebook offers the best modular privacy
features that let you choose to a great extent
what part of your profile can be viewed by
whom. It allows you to create specific lists
for friends and give access rights to content
on your profile. Orkut, on the other hand,
According to a recent study by Tata
Consultancy Services on the web 2.0
generation, across 14,000 high school Improved search feature and FriendFeed on Facebook
children in 12 Indian cities, aged between12 http://www.thinkdigit.com/d/43939/
and 18, over 63 per cent of urban students
spent over an hour online daily and as for strong contenders. had the first mover advantage in terms
many as 93 per cent were hooked on social We found the Indian web scape crowded of user base with its simplicity; although
networking. It comes as no surprise then, with numerous me too alternatives. Sifting Facebook is not far behind. Orkut scored
that social networking web sites are among through the hoards we came to some of the high on community interaction too - with
the most visited web sites today, sometimes better ones. There was bharatstudent.com, more real world offline activities such as
even surpassing search engines. which is more popular in terms of page treks and concerts being promoted there
Most of us like to reconnect with our views than most Indian networks. Among rather than on Facebook. But we all know
past friends, discover new people, browse the Indian networking web sites are ibibo, Orkut has a dark underbelly too; shadowy
and comment on photos and generally Yaari, BigAdda and Minglebox. Each has characters are always lurking at the fringes
while away time playing games or engaging its own small USP and focus. For instance, of your profile. Facebook has more real
in a host of other activities on social ibibo was more of a talent showcase, while people. It allows you to interact with them
networking web sites. These are some of Bharatstudent has a lot of resources on in many more different ways – thanks in
the features that are offered by today’s education, and Bigadda hosts celebrity part to its superior applications and games
social networking web sites. Now let’s get blogs including that of Amitabh Bachchan. base. Although both Orkut and Facebook
on to the process of finding out which is However, some web sites can be described support applications, people on Facebook
the best social networking web site out as nothing more than shady hangouts actually use these applications much more
there? To come to a conclusion we decided where fake profiles and objectionable than the same features on Orkut. The
to first leave out the usual suspects - Orkut content abound. Others just lie abandoned. status message feature in Facebook allows
and Facebook - and look at some other What good is a social networking web site friends to stay connected in real time, and
alternatives (of both desi and other origin) without people, right? is a great mechanism to encourage users to
interact more with each other. People can
also “Like” or add comments to the different
Special Mention
activities of friends, which is not as static
MySpace has been involved in several user friendly web site. It’s a good place to as the comment feature on Orkut albums.
initiatives lately to increase its market find new music from emerging artists from Facebook is thus a much more dynamic
share in India. It hosted a series of ‘secret all over the world and especially India. The environment for social networking, when
shows’ and events in the metro cities. To reason for this is that the web site is very compared to Orkut, and we’ve noticed
attend these concerts, you needed to have artist friendly and allows them to have that communities, events and the profile
a MySpace profile. Thousands of people embedded players on their profile pages. pages move a lot faster than the Orkut
made profiles and queued up outside these Several artists choose this medium to equivalents. For all of these reasons and
events with printouts of their profiles in showcase never heard before music, and many others, Facebook won; albeit with a
hand. Gimmicks aside, MySpace is a pretty this makes for interesting browsing. small margin.
34 Digit | September 2009 | www.thinkdigit.com
MyTradeBook.com Linkedin Traffic
The web site is supposed to be a fusion of a With the down turn in the economy, the
Web awards networking and a trading site. 40 per cent of its business networking web site’s traffic has
registered users are from India, and gaining access shown a sharp increase. ComScore reported
to potential global customers the rise to be an increase of 22 per cent
Business networking
to be the only web site that has a user base
of a significant size. At the last count, it
had approximately 3.2 million registered
users, more importantly from the Indian
subcontinent.
So, for the contender of our professional
networking award, SiliconIndia.com does
well as our runner up. Coming to our
winner, LinkedIn.com takes privacy very
seriously. Firstly, it encourages you to add
contacts only if you know them. LinkedIn
prompts you to mention how you know
the contact or supply their email address.
Further, it needs the approval of the other
person (referred to as a connection in
LinkedIn) for the connection to be complete.
The best part is that, if over a period of time
several people say they don’t know you,
LinkedIn automatically keeps tabs on you
and you will not be able to add contacts
directly until you commit not to add contacts
without knowing them. As far as the number
of registered users go, there are 45 million
users on LinkedIn.com.
The likelihood that you will meet more
people from your professional circle is higher
on LinkedIn than any other professional
networking site. Also, going by the number
of prominent users on LinkedIn, the site’s
credibility is indisputable. Barrack Obama,
Sarah Palin, Bill Gates and Steve Jobs are just
some of the personalities you will find on
LinkedIn.com.
There’s more to networking than just final comparison were SiliconIndia.com and LinkedIn has a large number of groups
catching up with old and long lost school LinkedIn.com, in addition to a few other and associations. If you are a technologist
friends or wasting time doing nothing web sites that fell below our expectations. and plan to launch your venture, you will find
constructive. And this is where business There is a significant difference between a vast pool of venture capitalists registered
networking comes in. In addition to posting SiliconIndia.com and LinkedIn.com, and so with LinkedIn. Even college students and
your profiles on job portals, signing up with there is a clear winner here. LinkedIn has professionals across sectors are active here.
business or professional networking sites a very intuitive interface that takes you LinkedIn.com also has a very useful tool
will boost the probability of connecting straight to where you need to go, with a called LinkedIn Answers that lets you ask
with strategic people and could land you a vast storehouse of users. The reason we any question that you may have relevant to
job. Not just that, professional networking even included SiliconIndia is that, from an your profession or business and the vast pool
also increases your circle of professional Indian perspective, SiliconIndia.com seems of LinkedIn users will answer it for you.
contacts, thereby assisting you in decision
making, come an emergency. networking feature picks
Although the idea is more or less the brijj.com - A business networking web site launched by the people behind naukri.com. It’s an
same as social networking, the underlying extension of their job search service, and the network has received quite a sizable amount of
sentiments are more serious and need registrations since its launch. An interesting feature is the way interaction takes place within
greater privacy and integrity. Hence, groups. Members can share files such as documents and presentations in the group apart from
filtering out spammers becomes all the the possibility of having discussions on topics. Events are also organised within each group.
more important. When you’re out there Wapr.com - A newer kid on the block; this web site was started by young entrepreneurs from
looking out for something serious, the Hyderabad. We found the site to be extremely customisable. It has strong privacy features and an
last thing you want is to be linked to by easy navigation scheme. Since the site is new, understandably it has fewer members. The web site
is not only a professional network but also a tool for companies to attract talent. What we found
unknown people for no reason.
strange though was the lack of straight forward groups or communities.
Essentially, the first thing you look for toostep.com - This web site is based on a slightly different philosophy. Rather than just simple
in a professional networking site is privacy, networking, the web site puts a lot of stress on the sharing of knowledge and open collaboration
credibility, integrity and appropriate users to generate innovative ideas. The community has a reward system in the form of badges and
to interact with. These will certainly differ points for contributors. The three ways to participate on the web site are through “Debate”,
from user to user, but we can assess the “Ideate”, “Insight” and “Q&A” modules. Ideate allows you to ask for ideas from the community,
sites according to their functionality and through Insight you can publish articles, and Q&A lets you ask and answer questions.
operability. We looked into the options peerpower.com - Peer power is an exclusive, invitation only, network launched by the Times of
we had and came across several web sites India group. The site seems to be too niche in its current form. It allows you to register only with
your corporate email id but only after you get an invitation. An interesting feature we found on
that claimed to be the one answer to your
the site was the make your own newspaper feature. It allows you to use RSS feeds to aggregate
business networking needs. news from different sources. The feeds are placed in an attractive newspaper format. You can
The sites that we closed in on in our then publish this newspaper and others on the network can subscribe to it.
36 Digit | September 2009 | www.thinkdigit.com
Participate - When will we melt?
Web awards in the first of its kind Digit
Open Source Project. For more
Keep track of the Sun: www.
solarcycle24.com
information visit www.thinkdigit.
com/digitosp
Job sites terms and scrutinised each of these portals
to judge where they stand and whether or
not they have reason to give hope. While
job portals may not guarantee you a job,
they are pivotal in presenting you with
the opportunity to face the interview. You
must remember, although a portal may
get you to face an interview, performing in
the interview and convincing the interview
panel is totally up to you as the candidate.
After analysing as many available options
as possible, we reduced the number of
web sites in the final analysis based on the
number of job postings across categories
and technologies. Eventually, we had
two sites that impressed us – Naukri and
Monster – this was the unanimous view of
our panel, but the decision to pick a winner
needed deeper scrutiny and debate. The
average job applicant that we considered is
an Indian national, seeking a job preferably
within India, with qualifications in the
software/hardware sector. We had a long
debate on which it should be between the
two, but in the end, the figures speak.
Not everyone is a global citizen, not
everyone continuously seeks a job abroad.
For the sheer volume of jobs here in India,
the numbers are in favour of one site, and
so our award goes to Naukri. Nevertheless,
we did notice that there are certain domains,
especially ERP and SAP in particular, where
Not long ago, the world was reeling under growth weighs more than all the hype. The Monster has a clear lead over Naukri. We
the weight of a global pandemic – we’re not same holds true when we look out for a job must say that Monster, with its global
talking about swine flu, but rather the recent – more so in difficult times such as these. footprint, gives access to a wider pool of jobs
economic recession. While some of us may be We have looked at the available options, and and is a familiar portal to employers abroad.
taken aback at the fact that it figures on global
trends of most internet search engines, what’s
even more shocking is the sheer number of Rozgar duniya, a job portal for daily wage workers
jobs lost during the past year. But, all those http://www.thinkdigit.com/d/87124/
unemployed people are not going to stay
jobless for the rest of their lives. How and given our technology focus, we have assessed Usability is intuitive in both these web
what gets them to their new job is vital. them from the perspective of a job applicant sites. While both sites have a WAP site
Even Barack Obama’ s popularity sinks in the IT industry. whereby you can access your profile from your
deeper and deeper with every day he Terms such as software developer, mobile, Monster.com gives you the option for
completes in office, highlighting the fact that database administrator, test analyst, SAP SMS resume forwarding. With this service,
eventually it is service that counts and not the and ERP are part of this industry, and so you no longer need even a GPRS connection
hype! Undoubtedly, security and professional we prepared an exhaustive list of such on your handset. However, you need to
know the code for the company to which
Start creating reSuMeS online you wish to forward your resume. Monster is
buzzword.acrobat.com shutterb.org rated as the largest job search engine in the
If you want a powerful word processor that If you want a nice just start typing text editor world, and is understandably so in the global
can help you make rich resumes online, try (and not a word processor), this site is meant perspective. However, in our analysis we have
buzzword. It offers a spectacular interface, for you. used the figures derived from analysing it
good collaboration with fantastic comments from the point of view of the average Indian
support. darkcopy.com - If you wish to compose text job applicant.
without distractions such as auto corrections, Additionally, we looked at Jobstreet.com,
Editgrid.com spelling checks, tool bar, that clutter up fancy Timesjobs.com and Shine.com in our final
If you want a quick, easy, clean looking, word processors, here is the application for list of sites, after eliminating some platforms
multifeatured spreadsheet application this is you. due to all-out clutter. Despite being
it. It is light (Flash based) and includes easy associated with industry heavyweights,
to use data lookup features from external writer.bighugelabs.com - If a highly tweakable these sites somewhat lacked lustre.
sources. The application also supports easy geeky text editor is needed to get your Either the results were not convincing,
collaboration with decent templates. creative juices flowing, you should try this web the interface was unpleasant or services
site. provided were not up to the mark.
38 Digit | September 2009 | www.thinkdigit.com
Web awards
Check out our in-depth review of Buzzword
http://www.thinkdigit.com/d/thinkdigit/buzz/
Online office suites version, you even get to insert slide
transitions and custom animation using
a very familiar interface. Putting all this
together, ThinkFree scores high in terms of
familiarity. However, the productivity tools
are heavy on system resources. As a result,
you’ll find the response on slower systems
or connections to be lagging, compared
to another option such as Google Docs.
Loading time goes against this otherwise
very powerful office suite.
With Google Docs, it’s all about
simplicity. It lets you quickly take notes
or make a simple presentation on the go.
Playing with numbers in a spreadsheet is
fine but not hardcore manipulation. Google
Docs even offers the best community
developed templates for documents.
However, since Google Docs has not tried
to ape the interface of offline suites, there
is some learning to do. We found it next
to impossible to sort one column without
affecting the others - something which both
Zoho and ThinkFree do very smoothly. The
word processor is good for simple text while
the presentation tool is very basic and may
not be what you would use for a typical
marketing or student-level presentation,
needing a certain level of formatting.
Zoho Office sits in the perfect
middle ground between the other two
Online office suites have been around connection and decent browser. And the contenders. It offers power features,
for quite a while, but for a long time best part? Most of them are free! as well as a light and zippy interface.
they were looked at in wonderment, not The top three contenders we’ve chosen It scores high on collaboration, too, as
because they did what they’re supposed were ThinkFree Office Online, Google the version history and sharing options
to do well, but because they could do Docs, and Zoho Office. Let’s look at some are slightly more comprehensive than
them at all. Before proceeding further, let’s of the similarities in the three contenders, the others. It supports the DOCX file
define what exactly online office suites first. They’re all free, work in a web browser format – something Google Docs is yet
are. They’re web based services that offer and are cross platform. All three have to do. Issues to gripe about - there is very
word processor, spreadsheet, presentation communities associated with them wherein limited shortcut support, and on default
and other applications, or rather online users create sample documents such as settings the shortcuts conflict with the
alternatives to desktop office suites such resumes or presentation templates, and browser’s shortcuts. Still, a minor irritant
as MS Office or OpenOffice. Additionally, share them with the community. Through in the grander scheme of things. Zoho also
they’re also required to leverage the cloud this comparison, the question we’re features the greatest number of supporting
to bring to the user the added advantage answering is not whether these office suites services such as CRM, Wiki, Projects,
of collaboration. With collaboration, it can give a blow to a heavy weight such as Planner and a whole lot of other power
is possible for many users to work on a MS Office, but whether they’re good as tools for productivity.
single document and not be restricted standalone solutions, and furthermore To come to a conclusion, we envisaged
by geography. Another advantage of which is the overall solution of choice in different situations under which people
using online office suites is that all your terms of what is offered - productivity and might use online office suites. Most users
documents reside in the cloud. They can collaboration. will use online office suites for some quick
be accessed from any PC with an internet Let’s start with ThinkFree.com. The fixes before submitting documents for
suite runs as a Java App and uses the JVM some important evaluation. They would
Buzzword (Java Virtual Machine) environment. This use them through netbooks or cybercafes.
Buzzword is a beautiful, full featured, word is why it is different from the other two In such as scenario, ThinkFree looses
processor with some spectacular visual contenders. After a painfully long wait, the out as it is resource intensive and we all
effects created by Virtual Ubiquity, an Adobe suite loads to reveal very rich productivity know the plight of computers and net
company. The processor has almost every applications that almost mimic MS Office connections in cyber cafes. At the same
feature possible, including collaboration and 2003. The word processor offers standard time the user would want the greatest
keyboard shortcuts. The commenting and
features such as spellcheck, word count, number of features. Considering the needs
version history options are excellent. The
fonts look like they are heavily smoothed and and even short cut keys. The Excel clone, of students, professionals and even casual
are very pleasing. It is perhaps the only word offers all spreadsheet tools needed to sort users Zoho offers the best platform and
processor online that can handle text flowing data. As for formula functions, there is full is our office suite winner. ThinkFree gets
around images flawlessly. It is also supposed support. However, pivot tables were not our vote for the best features and a power
to go beyond just WYSIWYG and deliver offered. Since, the presentation tool is made solution, while Google Docs earns the
WYSIWYP (What you see is what you print). to look exactly like the 2003 PowerPoint distinction of a quick, zippy solution.
Digit | September 2009 | www.thinkdigit.com 39
Trekking Official Indian tourist sites
Web awards If you want to make it to the mountains
over the weekend, check out www.
Indian states have their own tourism pages,
these include mptourism.org, keralatourism.
thegarhwalhimalayas.com for the Himalayas org, gujarattourism.com, up-tourism.com,
and trekshitiz.com for the Sahiyadiris. jktourism.org and maharashtratourism.gov.in.
Travel holidays abroad. Also, the entire web site is
available in Hindi. Signing up is necessary
before any bookings can be made, though.
The search options in the site are not very
flexible, and although you can, say, search
for cars on rent in Kodaikanal on particular
days, this is very much a hit and miss affair,
as you have to select the type of car before
searching. This means that most searches
that you make will give you no results
whatsoever. This is rather silly.
Travelocity is the Indian version of an
international site, and also has a clean
and clear interface. There usually is just
one distinct offer available on the front
page, but this is a very attractive one
(Flat Rs. 1,000 on return ticket for two
on any airline, for example). Travelocity’s
claim to fame is the lowest prices for
over 450 airlines. This web site is also
geared towards air travel, but packages,
car bookings, hotels and cruises are also
available. There is a short break section,
which is for weekend getaways, but is
focused on just six major cities. These are
not local destinations however, and display
pricings for places such as Phuket and
Bangkok, along with Goa and Jaipur. Rail
bookings are not available, but Travelocity
has a same day cancellation policy, along
with a promise of processing all refunds
The Indian travel web sites that we by the airlines available. Cleartrip lets within five days.
considered were Makemytrip, Yatra, you jump right in, and you can evaluate Makemytrip.com has many options and
Cleartrip, Ezeego1 and Travelocity, among prices for return and one way journeys for interesting features on offer. The site caters
others. a number of airports in India and abroad. to both individual travellers going to a
Yatra looks like a comprehensive travel The return flight booking procedure for particular destination, as well as those out
web site, but is a little misleading in that Indian cities is very easy, and requires a for a holiday or adventure trip. There is
respect. A fair few links from the main minimum number of clicks before all the an interesting video section, and listings
site direct you to a sister travel forum web flight options, along with the lowest price of fairs and festivals in India. Makemytrip
site, called Raahi.com. These are littered all the site offers, are presented in front of offers live chat during business hours, and
around the site, and even a main tab “City you in a tabular form. There is also a neat the search for international holidays is
Guides” on the site interface redirects to graph feature that plots flight pricing by very fast, and can be refined according to
Raahi. Yatra.com, however, has a number different airlines over any date range that price and duration. There are 12 holiday
of promotional aspects which “themes” available, which
make it very appealing. To discuss online travel booking go to include “wildlife” and “spa”
Yatra’s “fair price” promotion http://www.thinkdigit.com/d/24354/ among other themes, – this is
promises to match the lowest a great way to plan a holiday.
price that you get on any international you specify. When packages are searched for,
flight, if you find one outside the web Unfortunately, because of the minimal the list of options available includes a
site. Yatra also claims to have the lowest interface, many things the web site has comprehensive set of details, including
hotel pricings around, and will pay users to offer are rather hidden. The big tables whether or not the package is escorted,
double the difference if they find cheaper used for most of the flight schedules and the kind of accommodation and travel
rates. Registered users can collect “Yatra look horrible on a netbook. There is a options included.
miles” that gives them further discounts “Small world” section that details travel Users can submit travel stories and
and access to special offers from time to destinations. However, the site has special travel videos, and the web site has an active
time. Another interesting feature of Yatra offers for flights only, and does not chalk community of travellers. Customising and
is videos of some hotels, so you can have up as an all-round travel booking web site. planning tours is easy, and is encouraged
a look around before you book. There is a Ezeego1, at first glance, appears to be by the design of the site. The flight tables
range of different holiday options available, the most comprehensive travel web site look as good on netbooks as on desktops,
and these can be searched, based on the around. Foreign exchange options, travel and the site is also available on mobile
“theme” of the kind of vacation you want; insurance, and cruises are prominently platforms. Makemytrip is comprehensive
this is a handy and innovative approach. displayed on the front page; these options in the options it has to offer, usabilility,
Cleartrip.com has a clean interface are also available on the other sites. In and works well for those who know exactly
without any ads. Meant primarily for addition, there are interesting rail and what they want. Makemytrip is clearly
booking flights, it has a well laid out flight holiday discounts available for locations miles ahead, and therefore wins our Web
calendar for any date, which can be sorted within India, and “knockout offers” for Award.
42 Digit | September 2009 | www.thinkdigit.com
Warp Speed HD Content
Web awards Did you know that the testing site for
YouTube developers has a great visual
Vimeo was the first site to offer full HD
streaming from a web site, and has a reputation
method for navigating YouTube? Head out of having a large number of artistic original
to http://www.youtube.com/warp_speed. content and an active video community
Video streaming Stay updated with digit
Subscribe to the Digit newsletter to get a
daily dose of tech delivered to your inbox.
Head over to www.thinkdigit.com/newsletter.
php and sign up.
Blip.tv and Vimeo allow you, and even
encourage you, to download videos for
viewing offline and on other platforms.
Veoh lets you download as long as you
have a client, but the videos are not
portable and take up disk space. YouTube
and Dailymotion, however, do not allow
you to easily download videos from the
web interface itself. A download option
for carrying videos you like on a mobile
phone or a PMP would be a very convenient
feature if it were implemented in the more
popular sites, YouTube and Vimeo.
YouTube has a number of unique
features that really lets it stand out. The
embed option available while watching
any video is convenient when it comes to
posting the video on social networking
sites, third-party sites and on blogs. This
directs a lot of traffic to YouTube, even
if the viewer is not on the main site.
The ability to create playlists is another
interesting feature here. The staggering
number of videos on YouTube is far
Watching video online has become a it in subsequent episodes. Metacafe has greater than the nearest competitor.
passtime activity on a par with using channels, but these are different from the The benefits of quickly being able to
webmail services and social networking. channels on YouTube. These channels upload videos, and having a large number
There are two aspects to video streaming also offer very focussed content, but with of videos also make it a hassle for people on
web sites, one from the perspective of the a broader scope. A popular channel, for the lookout for content. Finding something
person who is watching the videos, and example, is Movie Trailers. The web site refreshing, new and innovative without
another from the perspective of the person is simply organised into “Most Viewed”, knowing it is already there is difficult. The
who is sharing content that he/she has “Highest Rated” and “Rising Stars”, but the policing of YouTube is at times not able
created. The first web site that comes to videos don’t really stand out unless you are to catch up to many uploads at once. The
mind at the mention of video streaming is looking for something specific. Vimeo has other sites are much better at censorship,
YouTube, which takes up the lion’s share
of hits among video streaming sites, as well
as the total bandwidth of the internet itself. YouTube goes Hindi www.thinkdigit.com/d/25867/
However, there are a number of other video
streaming web sites out there, many of them
a lot of user-generated content, ranging on simply because the staff has much less
video streaming reckoner a broad range of topics, and focuses on HD content to monitor. Though Dailymotion
Sharing HD content: Vimeo content. Videos are organised into Groups, has less content, the chances of getting
Downloading HD content: Vimeo Channels and Albums. rickrolled is also proportionally lower.
Downloading Vidcasts: Blip.tv Vimeo is very friendly when it comes YouTube also has many spam channels,
If not YouTube: Dailymotion to both uploading content, and streaming ad channels, and users desperately trying to
video, but the focus on HD means that you add a number of followers to their channels.
with a lot of quality content to offer. The will need to have a pretty good internet This often means that a sucessful video
web sites shortlisted were Blip.tv, Metacafe, connection. Veoh also offers HD content, on YouTube will be replicated on many
Vimeo, Veoh, Dailymotion and YouTube. but requires you to download an offline channels. Although there is much repeated
Blip.tv stands out as having a slightly client for watching videos longer than five content on YouTube, if there is anything
different format for uploading videos, and minutes, which is a negative point to Veoh. that you are specifically looking for, chances
is a web site intended for vidcasts. There are Veoh has channels, full length and short are that you will find it there. There are
a number of quality options available for movies, and groups. many official video channels maintained on
streaming the videos hosted on Blip.tv. The Dailymotion has comprehensive YouTube. Of late, YouTube has also started
site has a “shows” and “episodes” format, categories; these make it really easy to get offering HD content, where available.
with items searchable by tags or categories. to the kind of content you want to watch, if The web award goes to YouTube, for the
The content from one uploader, that is you are not looking for something specific. sheer number of videos available, and the
analogous to a channel on YouTube, is Dailymotion has the greatest number of hits convenience of uploading and sharing
focused on a particular topic, and explores for a video streaming web site after YouTube. content.
44 Digit | September 2009 | www.thinkdigit.com
Answer www.coolquiz.this so high
Upnews from Everest: www.
Web awards The home of trivia:
com/trivia/
Latest
everestnews.com/
Real estate
simple interface and easy navigation.
An interesting web site we came across
and deserves a mention in terms of
usability was propertywala.com. This
web site has video walkthroughs on
many topics and even a live chat with
tech support that actually works. Among
features, we looked at the ability to include
photos in listings, EMI calculators, easy
finance support, alerts and review options.
Two web sites stood out in this regard –
magicbricks.com and 99acres.com.
Magicbricks.com shows listings in
nearby locations. It has a separate section
known as Rent Zone. It has Maps support
and an auto suggest. On the other hand,
99acres.com has a convenient ‘view similar
Find real estate classifieds
It turns out that free classified-ad web
sites are among the most visited sites in
India. In this domain Vizisense, an audience
measurement platform, recently ranked
clickindia.com as the top site. Classifieds
web sites follow a similar navigation
style. You can browse by category such
as property, services, auto, etc., or by
There is a sizeable number of real estate such as electricians. All this activity is even geographic location. The other sites in
web sites in the Indian webscape. You more surprising considering the real estate this space are olx.in, quikr.com, locanto.in,
have everything from full-fledged and sector was one of the most affected in the and click.in. A quick look at these sites will
heavily advertised portals such as 99acres. recent downturn. reveal the number of things you can find on
com, to small listing services such as When we got down to dissecting them. You will find ads for sale, purchase,
anandproperties.com. Even eBay has a real property web sites, we first narrowed rentals and services related to homes, cars,
estate microsite, while there are specialised down to a short list of five. All the web two-wheelers. You’ll find jobs, electronics,
local services such as realestate-chennai. sites follow a similar format for searching. home appliances, education resources,
apartments for rent, vacation cottages for
com. There is even a real estate off-shoot web “to buy” and “to rent” radio buttons are rent and ads related to travel, dating, pets,
site, 100nests.com, that “helps you look at common with relevant fields that let and probably even a kitchen sink!
your home and associated real estate services
in a more holistic manner”. Essentially, it
offers valuations, neighbourhood networking Give us your feedback at www.thinkdigit.com/d/wa09
and service providers
you specify either type (residential or properties’ button. It lets users contact
commercial) and its location. From this multiple listings/advertisers at once. It also
point on, the web sites differ in terms of has a separate paying guest (PG) search
refining search results, number of listings on the main page and also offers a toll free
and added features. For instance, though support number.
Indiaproperties.com may have quite a But, aside of the usability fluff, what we
decent number of listings, it lost out must remember is that a good real estate
because the search refine function was very web site is only as good as the number
s payback time
It’ tacky. While others provided check boxes of property listings it brings to you. To
Every year Digit conducts the for refining by locality, advanced search evaluate listings we chose five locations
nationwide ICONS OF TRUST survery, in indiaproperties.com made you select spread across the country and within each
localities manually. In terms of features, location two or three popular and obscure
naming the most trusted tech brands.
some have maps and photo support for localities. We fixed on a realistic price
After imparting knowledge, it’s time listings, free SMS to contact sellers, while range, both for lease and buy. The greatest
for them to pay you back kind. Let others let you chat live for more help. number of listings came from magicbricks.
them vote for you While evaluating, we gave relevant com and 99acres.com, but the former was
as their Digit Reader of Trust. weight to each of the attributes mentioned, ahead by a considerable margin in most
as well as to the usability and navigation cases. Overall, Magicbricks.com emerged
For details turn to page 56
structure. Of the shortlisted candidates, the winner thanks to its usability, number
makaan.com was the easiest to use with a of listings and special features.
46 Digit | September 2009 | www.thinkdigit.com
Web awards Digital Camera statistics dSLRs driving sales
Quickly jump to any digital camera usage statistics and In Asia and East Europe, dSLR
the associated photostream using this template: cameras are driving digital
http://www.flickr.com/cameras// camera sales
Image hosting service, it has become a habit to create as
many accounts as necessary. If you are
willing to pay for the services though, Flickr
outshines Picasa with a $24 unlimited
scheme per year. You get 10 GB on Picasa
for $20, and 40 GB for $75. While Picasa
imposes limits on the number of collections
you can make (250), and the number of
photos in each collection (500), Flickr has
no such constraints.
Privacy is important when it comes to
photo sharing. Picasa allows you to create
unlisted albums, and the images are not
searchable. You can, however, send a link
to the album, and it can be viewed without
signing in or registration. Optionally, Picasa
also allows you to make private albums
that need the uploader’s approval before
the images can be viewed. Flickr also has a
privacy setting, and you need to
sign in to Yahoo! before private
albums can be viewed. Flickr
also allows you to group access
according to “friends” and
“family”, which makes sure
that one group does not snoop
around the photos intended
for another. While Picasa’s
approach may be convenient,
Flickr’s approach is more secure, so
this is a trade-off that the user has to weigh.
If photography is a hobby and a user has
enthusiast or semi-professional equipment,
Image hosting web sites are a natural Megaupload.com then the chances are that they will have a
consequence of the advent of digital If you want to share a large number more serious approach to photography than
photography. Digital cameras and mobile of images with a few people, but want the casual user of image hosting services. It
phones are everywhere, and some them to save the files on their hard drives is for these people that Flickr really shines
enthusiasts are likely to own a dSLR. The instead of viewing them on a web page, a through. The Flickr Organizr is a great tool
next step is to share these photos, over the better solution to image hosting web sites to handle the EXIF data of images, sort
internet, with a wide audience. Although would be a web site for sending large files. them, change them, and tag photos. Picasa
there are quite a few image hosting web Megaupload.com is one such service which has no equivalent tool. Flickr also has a
sites, the competition quickly boils down lets you email and then share large files that robust search option based not just on tags,
to Picasa and Flickr, the image hosting cannot simply be emailed. Just compress but also on EXIF data. This means that
solutions from Google and Yahoo!, all the files into a .zip or .rar archive, then when you use Flickr with your equipment, it
respectively. These are the market leaders, upload to Megaupload.com. A link can then gets added to the knowledge database of all
be mailed to your friends or family.
and the social networking aspect of image the enthusiast and prosumer photographers
hosting is one of the main reasons such tools for touching up images. Picasa 3 falls out there, which kicks back as an advantage
services are around at all, and these two short when it comes to serious touching up, to the user. For example, before buying a
sites have the biggest share. So, when you though. When uploading a large number new camera, you can look at all the images
host your images on one of these sites, the of images, Picasa’s client is much better shot with that camera in different settings.
chances are that you can share them and get than Flickr, but this advantage is offset by For these reasons, Flickr has grown to
feedback as most users are likely to have a the amount of space that Picasa offers to have a very active and helpful photography
Google or Yahoo! username registered. users. One GB of space for image hosting is community, that comments, gives advice
Despite generally fulfilling the same rather unbecoming of Google, a company and suggests improvements on techniques
and approach. Flickr also has an open
API, which allows third party developers
Tutorial on editing and sharing web site, Picnik to create applications using the images
http://www.thinkdigit.com/d/60430/
on Flickr as a resource. There are ways to
jerry-rig such applications for photos hosted
function, Picasa and Flickr are very different that allocates over 7 GB for email. Flickr on Picasaweb as well, but this approach
in the way they are used, and what they do has an upload limit of 100 MB per month, is not the same as the Flickr API which
best. Picasa has a good uploading client, which expands every month. Picasa allows encourages third party applications. Flickr
with some features for adjusting images, for any single image to be around 20 MB, simply has a lot more to offer to those who
clearing blemishes and basic touch-up. while Flickr allows a maximum of 10 MB want to take digital photography to the next
Flickr also has a client for uploading per photo. level, and for this reason, Flickr gets our
photos, but this one does not have any For people who actively use either Web Award.
48 Digit | September 2009 | www.thinkdigit.com
Twitpic.com Geotagging
Have a Twitter feed and want to include
images in it? Head over to twitpic.com.
Twitpic, Picasa and Flickr all allow users to
geotag images. This adds the location where the
Web awards
While you are at it, Agent 001 tweets pics image was taken, which can then be shown on a
at http://twitpic.com/photos/digitindia world map. Explore this option if you travel a lot
Image editing Flickr, Picasa and Facebook.
Both Pixlr and Splashup allow you to
move the layer, history and associated
windows around the workspace. Splashup
also allows you to resize the windows
horizontally, but not vertically. Sumopaint
uses a drop-down approach, where
windows can be shown or hidden at the
click of a button – this is a convenient
and easy approach. Aviary Phoenix has
a very static window, which you can
neither move nor resize. When it comes
to selecting brushes, Splashup has the
smallest number of brushes, as well as
the smallest number of customisation
options. Pixlr has an impressive brush
editor that let’s you tweak and change
various aspects of the brushes. Aviary has
a fair few options, better than Splashup,
but not as good as Pixlr. Sumopaint,
however, stands out here with a very
comprehensive brush editor, a large
number of presets, and a large number
of brushes, too. Sumopaint really stands
out when it comes to the tools. Splashup
has 20 tools, Pixlr has 25, Aviary Phoenix,
27, and Sumopaint has 32. A really
innovative control option for some of
the tools on Sumopaint is the ability to
move the cursor around the focus point
Online image editing has really taken off right away. Creating a new image quickly, or when drawing a shape. This changes the
recently, making this a difficult category to opening an image from your hard drive is just shape in a number of ways, and lets you
judge because of the number of exemplary a few clicks away. Aviary Phoenix, Sumo Paint draw a wide range of stars and polygons
image editing web applications available. and Splashup all allow you to sign up for an after selecting a single tool. There is also
There are a few web sites that allow basic account, and create an online space where you a symmetrical paint option that lets you
image editing: these include Fotoflexer, can save and share your creations. Pixlr does paint on the image using a number of
Lunapic, Picnic and Adobe Photoshop’s not have this option, and you cannot sign up paintbrushes that move in an identical
online version, the disappointingly very even if you want to. Pixlr let’s you save images manner with respect to the edge of the
basic, Photoshop Express. You can add only on your hard drive. image from which the cursor is moved.
layers and text to the photos, as well as When it comes to opening images We used each image editor in an actual
choose from a large number of preset though, each image editing tool has its design scenario, and pushed them all till
shapes, frames and objects. Fotoflexer and own set of unique advantages. Sumopaint they broke. Aviary Phoenix does not let
Lunapic also allow users to add animated can open only the basic JPG, PNG and GIF you open two files at once, so gets out
overlays to their images. images, and open from a hotlink on the of the running right there. Sumopaint
Then, there is another class of image web. Splashup can open JPG, BMP, TIF and buckles because of the selection options
editor which allows much more control PNG, but has an amazing open dialogue being rather buggy, and the shortcut keys
and a range of drawing and image editing box that interfaces with Picasa, Facebook, not working properly. Splashup struggles
tools. The shortlist consisted of Pixlr, Flickr, Smugmug and Photobucket. You can when large files are loaded, and suffers from
Aviary Phoenix, Splashup and Sumo Paint.
These are all web applications with a lot of
functionality, including multi-layer support, For a more thorough comparison, go to
filters, image-adjustment and in some cases, http://www.thinkdigit.com/d/57382/
even plugins. All these image editors run on
the Flash platform. retrieve any image you have hosted on any a very limited zooming mechanism. Pixlr
All the short-listed sites have the same of these sites using Splashup, or use a link allows you to zoom in and out intuitively,
basic layout. Along the right, the tools are to an image. Pixlr is a little strange as it does with a slider option to aid you. Opening
located. Along the top edge of the screen not load BMP files, but has support for PSD a number of large images is a breeze, and
is the menu bar. Below the menu bar is a files. Make sure you save the Photoshop many Photoshop shortcut keys work. Some
parameter bar for tweaking various aspects .psd file with the “Maximum Compatibility” bugs appear after extensive work (over an
of the tools being used at any point in time. option checked, though. hour), but Pixlr is the only service that let’s
All these sites are designed following the Aviary Phoenix has a misleading window you meaningfully get till there. You can
layout of Adobe Photoshop, so those who that let’s you open up any kind of file on always save files in a Pixlr format (PXD)
have used Photoshop should have a very your machine, but choosing heavy files that retains the layers. If you want to get
short learning curve on any of these image tends to hang the browser you are using. some serious photo editing done online,
editors. Aviary also supports PSD files. Aviary Pixlr is the service that truly delivers and so
All of them let you start editing images Phoenix also lets you import files from gets our web award.
Digit | September 2009 | www.thinkdigit.com 49
Yammer network Old school printing
Web awards Try out this new social
for companies that act like private
The traditional way of photo printing was the process
of producing the image on paper using chemically
communication tools for your organisation. sensitised paper
It’s like twitter for corporates
passport Sized photos at home
Photo printing The Indian passport size photo is notorious
for being in strange dimensions. Find out
how to print passport sized photos at
home, follow the steps on the tutorial at
http://www.thinkdigit.com/forum/archive/
index.php/t-12896.html. This is a link to the
ThinkDigit forum archives.
stands out as our clear winner.
With a web 2.0 feel to it, Zoomin.com
is very easy to navigate. You are at work
in a jiffy, with no hassles whatsoever.
In fact, there are no distractions at all.
The only button you’ll see at each stage
just takes you straight to printing. It’s
straightforward: 1, 2... print. Sign in,
upload, and print! One thing you’ll miss
on this site is flashy ads and banners and
pop-ups. Even a novice at photo printing
will be able to find his or her way about
effortlessly. Although the gifting options
are not as exhaustive as on some other
sites, the options available are sufficient to
cater to most needs.
You can also upload images from your
mobile by emailing a customised email
address from your WAP-enabled phone.
Besides, you can link images you uploaded
earlier on your image hosting web site,
such as Picasa.google.com and Flickr.
com. Another point worth highlighting
here is that estudios.in was the only site
that passed the W3C compatibility test,
With advancements in technology, all other sites such as Zoomin.com. There are ensuring you won’t have any problems
that we had has gone digital – our books, also Indianised sites such as itasveer.com accessing it from any browser without any
notes and documents are archived online and even popular photo studios such as errors. This site missed out otherwise only
and even novels and textbooks are GK Vale in Bangalore that send printed because of the absence of customisable
accessible as PDF files. We store e-books. copies and customised gifts anywhere gifting options. If all you need is postcard,
Even our albums are online. Photo hosting in India. Eventually, we have rated the photo card or passport size photos then
sites and online albums have done away service as a whole – the web site and this is the site for you, because that
with those dusty albums we would take its function as a one-stop shop for your is its area of focus; the prices are also
out after a sumptuous meal to share printing needs. competitive. Again, there is no support for
with our nearest and dearest. We do Also, compatibility with online image photo hosting platforms, so you will need
occasionally hear there is no alternative to hosting platforms is vital. It makes it to upload your images separately.
paper! You need to feel it to truly feel it. so much easier if you can just link your
Similarly, you can’t substitute the feel of online albums to any of these sites and
a printed copy in your hand with flipping you can receive quality prints from them.
through the pages or photos of a digitised After analysing these sites, we came across
version on a screen. a couple that stood out for a variety of
There are sites that offer all kinds of reasons. One of them was estudios.in,
printing services with a wide range of then itasveer.com, gkvale.com and finally
gifting options. These options go from zoomin.com.
plain printing on photo paper to mouse Depending on various factors such
Give us your feedback at www.thinkdigit.com/d/wa09
trust
–noun
1. reliance on the integrity, strength,
ability, surety, etc., of a person or thing;
pads, t-shirts and even teddy bears. as your needs, you could select any one confidence
Pricing is important, and so is the overall of them. We rated the interface, ease of 2. confidence in the certainty of future
payment for property or goods received;
quality of service. Customer satisfaction upload and monitoring your files and
credit: to sell merchandise on trust
also was ranked very highly. There are images on their web site highly. Also,
several options if you need to print your the clarity in design and available gifting We all know what trust means. Now is the time to
digital images and photos. options were closely watched. Price is vital know who to trust. Presenting Digit’s nationwide
On the one hand, there are sites such too. After considering all these factors and ICONS OF TRUST survey, for more details turn
to page 56
as Snapfish.com backed by HP, and on the comparing with each other, Zoomin.com
50 Digit | September 2009 | www.thinkdigit.com
India Business Network
Audiolizer.com A network hosted on ning.com calls itself a premier Web awards
Try out this service to upload network of professionals who connect, collaborate
your iTunes library and and do business with Indian professionals, worldwide.
access it from anywhere Check out indiabiznet.in
Tech shopping for people who want to build computers.
The IT Depot is somewhat like a Newegg.
com for Indian customers. You
can pretty much buy anything
you need to build a computer
from this single store. They
claim to ship to pretty much any
location in the country.
The range of products
available on the site is also pretty
vast, which makes it even more
ideal for those not in the vicinity of
major cities. Products can be sorted
by category and price range. There are
also electronics that can be bought here.
Cameras, DVD players, software and even
Apple products can be purchased. The
pricing isn’t very reliable though. In some
cases, the pricing is almost identical to
market price but in some others, they can
custom gifting
So we now know where to buy tech products,
but what about shopping for other items
online? We’re talking about custom gifts here,
where you can customise products such as
T-shirts, mugs, mousepads, and lighters and
gift them to your friends and family. Though
you could just buy them for yourself too.
www.myntra.com is a custom gifts site that
When we talk about search results had has a whole lot of categories of gifts that
you can customise other than just t-shirts or
tech shopping, we’re Special mention many options too, and mugs. They even have a category for custom
not limiting ourselves Here’s an interesting site to visit – www. it doesn’t get too hard mouse pads. Tshirts.in, formerly known as
to just computer naaptol.com. When you either search or to find the product Xtees.com, is a similar site, but has a bigger
hardware, but we’re browse through products here, you will be you are looking for. range of premade t-shirts that you could opt
looking for a web given a store list and redirected to where the As most of you for.
site that provides product is actually available. This service is already know, not The last web site that deserves a mention
helpful in a way that you don’t need to go only can you purchase here is www.inkfruit.com. Even though the
us with an overall
scouting to all the web sites to look for the number of categories is only limited to four
solution for all kind particular product. Most of product searches
products from Ebay,
of products, such as but you can also sell – posters, t-shirts, hoodies and mugs, the
came back with relevant results and this site community that this web site has created
cell phones, digital also has good filtering options. products, either new is really worth a mention. Not only can you
cameras, and also or opened. When create custom t-shirts, but you can also put
computer hardware it comes to selling forth your design in a regular contest and win
such as power supplies and graphic cards. new products, Ebay.in also allows users to prizes. This contest takes place quite often
The search and categorisation features on create stores. These stores are also used by and the winners design becomes a part of the
the web sites were important criteria, along companies, so Ebay.in allows them to have shop as well.
Give us your feedback at www.thinkdigit.com/d/wa09 be heavily bloated.
One of the smaller hardware sites is
TheiTWares (www.theitwares.com). It’s a
with ease of navigation to these pages. a virtual store to sell their products as well. shop based in Mumbai, also willing to ship
Most of the web sites that we looked at Images of the product and descriptions are computer hardware to any place outside
had at least one important search feature also present, plus the feedback from people Mumbai. It’s a crude system but being a
not working up to the mark and did not who have already purchased products from computer store, pricing is good. They’re
return us relevant results. the same seller or store. also willing to assemble your system for
After browsing through many of our Though the number of products on sale you for a fee.
search criteria, Ebay.in impressed us the is pretty large, this also creates a problem Another such store in Mumbai is
most and is the winner for the Digit Web for users, as the products are repeated, until PrimeABGB (www.primeabgb.com). The
Awards for the Tech Shopping category. the search is correctly filtered out. prices on the site are inflated but a quick
One of the main factors Ebay.in wins is the phone call to their office can get you
number of available products on the web For those who want computer reasonable prices. One of the biggest
site. We got a huge number of hits for our peripherals advantages is the choice of products. A
product searches. Also, the categorisation The IT Depot (www.theitdepot.com) has a lot of brands and products that aren’t
of products was done very well. Filtering collection of products that is better suited available easily can be found on this site.
Digit | September 2009 | www.thinkdigit.com 51
browserlab.adobe.com MMOG
BrowserLab is a powerful solution for cross-
Web awards browser compatibility testing, featuring
Stands for massively multiplayer online
game. It is a game that is played by
multiple viewing and comparison tools, as well
hundreds or thousands of players
as customisable preferences
simultaneously
Swine flu flash game
Games And now, a Swine Flu Flash game from Zapak.
Sneeze to spread the flu to a number of
people in your surroundings, who in turn,
spread it to other people. Scoring is based
on the percentage of the population that you
manage to infect. For more such updates,
head over to twitter.com/digitindia.
where users can win loads of prizes,
including cash prizes.
Currently, it is hosting its ATM2 contest,
where all you have to do is play games to
win prizes.
Other than the list of multiplayer games,
Zapak.com also offers browser-based
MMOGs (massively multiplayer online
games); these include Wanted and Power
Soccer. The community features present on
Zapak.com were not seen with the other
sites. Once you register, you can add friends,
send messages and chat with other gamers.
One thing missing from Zapak.com is that
Casual gaming has turned a new page in com and Zapak.com. no game description is given when you view
India, where games are not only restricted The features that we first looked for were a list from a category; only the name of the
to kids. Now people of all ages are the sheer game content and how easy it game and a thumbnail image are displayed.
going online to play games – maybe not was to just start playing. None of the sites Another problem, we feel, is that a complete
everybody plays games such as Counter gave us any problem with starting a game newcomer might get lost and not know
Strike, but something more relaxed and quickly. Then we also looked for how the what to do at Zapak.com as there are too
just for fun. Game portals have also been games were categorised on the site and how many options, but we can’t say that this is
created to support specific audiences such easy it was to navigate, and find something really such a bad thing.
as women, with games related to clothes of interest. Additional features such as Indiaarcade.com, one of our runners-up,
and children, and others revolving around loyalty programs, competitions and rewards has a huge collections of games, though the
educational puzzles. Certainly, there are received a big thumbs up from us. By now, whole multi-player element is missing. It
some evils associated with gaming such as you must be wondering who the winner deserves a mention because anybody and
being everybody can just go to the site and start
too For more on QuakeCon 2009, visit playing a game with ease – we found it the
addictive http://www.thinkdigit.com/d/38779/ simplest, as the layout is very pleasant and
and straightforward. Also, the games had small
time- descriptions along with thumbnails so
wasting, but if computer games are played is; so let’s not keep you guys waiting any people can get a better idea of what they are
in a more controlled environment, then longer – Zapak.com wins this round of the about to play.
they can even prove beneficial. There have Digit Web Awards.
been studies that show how games have Zapak.com does not have all the features Sutragames
improved the overall concentration levels of a game web site could have, but it makes Although it lacks in features present on
individuals, for example. up for this with other features that keep the other web sites, it did have some
In this category of the Digit Web drawing people towards it. It has a very interesting games that weren’t present
Awards, we have taken into consideration good category system and a search option on the other sites. There is an entire
only those sites that offer browser-based that also works accurately. Zapak.com could category dedicated to cartoon and
games. There were a few sites such as be considered the main site, but it has anime, so people could play games
Indiagames.com, quite popular with gamers, other gaming sites which cater for specific based on popular TV shows. Zapak.com
but do not provide instant gaming action, audiences, such as girls.zapak.com, cricket. also has a category of Cartoon Network,
needing a client to be downloaded, so these zapak.com, world.zapak.com. All these are but that is limited to that channel alone.
did not make the cut. listed clearly on the left side of the page. A must game to try out at Sutragames.
The sites that made our short-list for this Another good thing about Zapak.com is that com is Doom 1, it brought back some
category are Indiaarcade.com, Games2Win. it frequently hold contests and tournaments really awesome memories for us.
52 Digit | September 2009 | www.thinkdigit.com
Xxx
xxxxx
Machinima
Digital life Drool maal 58 The art of animation
using game engines
Sayn Design iPhone 3G
Most of us long for luxury, but for some it’s a habit. Obviously, a plain
iPhone 3G wouldn’t do. To address this problem, a company by the
name of Sayn Design has made an in-Sayn version of the iPhone. It’s
made of 18 carat gold garnished with 53 diamonds. The price you
might ask? Never mind, it’s not like you could afford one.
Nikon
Coolpix
S1000pj
Nikon releases many cameras but
this particular one is rather special.
Other than being an everyday 12
MP camera, it can also act like a
projector. The size of the output
can be as large as 40-inches.
Obviously, don’t expect to be using
this to watch movies or putting up
presentations for a large crowd. A
stand and a remote are provided
along with the camera. The camera
will available on sale by the end of
September.
Digit | September 2009 | www.thinkdigit.com 53
Drool maal
Give us your feedback at
www.thinkdigit.com/d/dl0909
Wisdom
Audio
L150i
Each of the cabinets of the
Miro eX1
Wisdom Audio L150i tower at Miro’s a company that
about 2 metres in height and specialises in making high speed
are some eight inches in width. motion cameras. The latest
The first speaker handles the model eX1 is an entry-level
bass and has six of the 6-inch camera in comparison and will
woofers. The second monster only go up to 500 fps at 640 x
handles the mids and the highs 480. That’s still more than 15
of the range. As awesome as times better than most cameras
they look, they aren’t meant in the market. The network
to be placed in the open, but connection allows you to dump
within walls. The price of each videos directly to a computer.
set is around Rs. 7,20,000 The cost of the camera is
($15,000). Rs. 4,75,000 ($9,900). With
equipment like this, even you
can start your own version of
Discovery Channel’s Time Warp.
How cool is that?
Sony
BDP-CX960
Sony are big fans of Blu-ray for
obvious reasons and no number
of Blu-ray discs is ever enough for
them. It shows in their new Blu-
ray player – the BDP-CX960 can
load 400 Blu-ray discs. It handles
pretty much every high definition
audio and video standard. It also
supports network connectivity so
it’ll update itself using the internet
connection and also trailers
and games assuming you have
an external USB storage device
connected to the player. The
player will priced at Rs. 38,000
($800) when it is released.
54 Digit | September 2009 | www.thinkdigit.com
Geek life Second Life Speedruns
Second Life is a very popular free Intrigued by the concept of
environment for making machinima. speedruns? Check out some of
Head over to www.secondlife.com the best over at speedruns.net
Aditya Madanapalle sharing their achievements. Now, speedruns well, as games with a particular patch could
aditya.madanapalle@thinkdigit.com were accomplished on a variety of platforms, not play back demos of versions that did
E
and even if saving demos was an option not have the particular patch. The increase
ver since computers became personal, on these platforms, sharing them over the in bandwidth, and developments in video
a strange kind of ethic has evolved internet was not an option as those who compression technology, considerably reduced
in those who push the limits of what wished to play back the speedruns had to the advantage that demos had over video
their machines and applications have the same platform. This was a problem recordings of gameplay.
ation
can do. A number of sub-cultures have with some demos as At this crucial juncture in 1996, the
evolved around computers, where hardware Rangers clan created waves in the Quake
Anim me
and software are used for community with a new kind of demo.
purposes that they Demos usually had players jumping
were not designed around and rocketing the guts out of
for. The scope of such other players, the Diary of a Camper had
experimentation is the same things – but with a storyline
ng ga
wide, ranging from to it. This was the first film to embrace
usi
bending pins on a Machinima techniques, but back then
circuit board for creating there were not too many game engines
music to writing haiku that allowed people to modify the
in languages meant for game environments with the same
ines
coding. The internet degree of control as the Quake engine,
eng
allowed for such efforts so most early machnima works were
to spread, eventually on the Quake engine only. These were
allowing a wide range called Quake movies, and grew so
of technology related art much that there were even Quake
forms to emerge. Most of movie Oscar awards. Tools were
these communities require written for recording and non-linear
extensive knowledge editing of these films, paving the
and experience in one, or way for Machinima.
more fields of computing. By the year 2000, the
Consequently, it is difficult community had started
for outsiders to appreciate experimenting with other game
the brilliance of the engines and machinima.com
community's efforts. It takes was launched. Machinima is
a lot of time and effort before a portmanteau of “Machine”
newcomers are accepted. The and “Cinema”, which means
community around Machinima machine generated cinema.
is one notable exception. The word sounds a lot like
Machinima is easy to grasp, animation too, and those who
but tough to master. However, practice Machinima are called
anyone with a computer and Machinimators. At the heart
a decent graphics solution can of Machinima is a brilliant
jump right in. idea that fundamentally
Some of the early games that changed the approach for
were released had an option animation production.
to record gameplay. This was a Computer generated
feature in the game engine itself, images were in themselves
that tracked the movement of a difficult operation.
the player through the game, and Lights, environments
recorded sequence of movements. and characters had to be
Such a recording was called a rendered, which was a time
“demo”. A demo file consisted consuming process. Game
basically of a sequence of keypresses environments on the other
with a time map, that could be hand, rendered all these
played back on the same engine used in real time, drastically
to create it. Demo files were shared reducing the amount of
around to display extra ordinary skill, system resources used
show secret areas or as walkthroughs in creating animated
for particular games and levels. Such sequences.
demos are still shared around the A traditional
internet, particularly for Warcraft 3 animation production
and games derived from the Quake process involved a
Imaging: Chaitanya Surpur
series. Parallel to this development, lot of steps. First,
was the emergence of speedruns. characters had to
This was a community that thrived be designed, with
on completing games and particular internal and external
levels in the lowest time possible, and touches added.
58 Digit | September 2009 | www.thinkdigit.com
Moviestorm.com News at Seven Geek life
Download machinima software, News at Seven is a project that picks up RSS feeds, reads
create, share and even sell machinima them out using an animated character, and generates
at www.moviestorm.co.uk. videos. Check them out at newsatseven.com
This ranged from creating skeletons for the popular songs, and a memorable South Park screen, for the viewing pleasure of an attending
characters, and cosmetic touches such as episode called Make Love not Warcraft which audience.
costume, hair and skin texture. After this, an had a huge Machinima section. Skeptical about how all of this matches up
environment had to be modelled. Then, the Rooster Teeth Production's deadpan to something that rolls out of major animation
characters would be keyframed, which meant humour series Red Vs Blue is the most famous studios? Most of the machinima community
that actions had to be programmed in, keeping Machinima work so far. The series used the agrees that there is a lot of ground left to
in mind realistic movement and the physics Halo: Combat Evolved engine, to tell the story cover. Hardware and gaming engines will have
of the animated universe. Then the lighting of two factions stuck in a desolate canyon that to improve considerably before the current
specialists would add in sources of light to no one really cared about, including the Red quality standards of animation studios can
illuminate the scene. All of this was handed on and Blue factions fighting over it. This Spartan be matched. However, this does not mean
a platter to animators who used game engines Life is another machinima worth mentioning that you haven't seen machinima techniques
for animation. Machinimators now only had – for combining machinima techniques on the large screen, or broadcast over your
to control the characters, co-ordinate their with the traditional talk show format. This television. The Chronicles of Narnia, The Dark
movements, and record the entire sequence Spartan Life was hosted in the multiplayer Knight, Speed Racer and the upcoming 2012
using any one of the various video capturing environments of Halo 2, by a character called have all used machinima techniques in their
options available. production.
Some game engines allowed In traditional animation
Machinimators to program the techniques, it was difficult to visualise
key events for multiple characters, or create a large number of entities
animate the camera in whatever together, behaving in different ways,
way they chose, and then record and reacting to the environment
the sequence. Another, more around them. When Peter Jackson
popular approach was simply to was filming the Lord of the Rings
connect a Machinimating clan over trilogy, he wanted some kind of
LAN, then play-act the storyline, software that could visualise incredibly
while recording it. Of course, such large armies at once, and make it look
approaches had their limitations. realistic with individual characters
In game engines that did not have a in the hoards behaving like unique
spectator view, the biggest limitation specimens. The breakthrough came
was the flexibility of the movement with a software known as MASSIVE
of the camera. But machinimators (Multiple Agent Simulation System
had come this far with the punk In Virtual Environment), which
philosophy of working wonders combined artificial intelligence and a
with what you have, and that gave virtual environment with programmed
them the impetus over such puny physics to animate a large number of
A screenshot of Diary of a Camper, one of the first machinima films made
hurdles. The players simply moved thinking entities at once. The engine
their characters in innovative has since then been used for many
ways, say one player driving a jeep, television commercials, movies and
acting as a mobile platform for the even some architechture and design
“camera”, and another standing on applications where simulations of
the top of the jeep looking around large crowds are necessary – such
and zooming in where necessary, as stadiums and public transport
and recording the sequence of systems.
events being played out. The Since a majority of machinima is
community developed camera tools, made by small, independent clans,
specific to different engines, which torrents are the best way to get and
allowed unprecedented control over distribute machinima. A great site to
animations. download good quality machinima
Another major limitation was is www.machinima.com. The Red Vs
the amount of expression the game Blue series is available at redvsblue.
engine allowed to the characters. com and on this month's *Skoar!
Some of the characters in popular MASSIVE was used to animate the many robots in I, Robot. DVD. Rooster Teeth Production's
Machinima engines such as the homepage, roosterteeth.com has
Halo series had faces that were a lot of their other works, including
covered by helmets, with no faces showing Damian Lacedaemion, who had a guest in Strangerhood, a Sims 2 based situational
at all. To compensate for such a lack of every episode. A unique talk show where the comedy machinima. The Spartan Life is
expression, Machinimators focused heavily attendees could fire at the host for asking a available at www.thisspartanlife.com. The ILL
on characterisation, making sure that all the stupid question, but then the host could point clan's web site www.illclan.com hosts their
dialogues were carefully crafted, had some his gun at any attendee too. The recordings movies, and hunt around on YouTube for
consistency across episodes, and grew with were then vidcast, and received considerable “Video Mods” for the MTV machinima music
the number of episodes. Innovative devices acclaim. Another unique approach was by the videos. MASSIVE is available for purchase at
of engaging the audience included adding machinimating clan known as ILL. The ILL www.massivesoftware.com, animation studios
voices to weapons, vehicles and other objects clan played out humorous skits in front of a should have a look at the MASSIVE Jet version.
in the gameplay environment. The movement live audience, often interacting with them. A Archive.org has both a machinima section and
grew with MTV airing a section called “Video video stream from the server that hosted the speedrun section, that allows you to download
Mods”, essentially Machinima music videos for gameplay was projected in real time on a large the videos.
Digit | September 2009 | www.thinkdigit.com 59
What drives the browser
Section Opener Tomorrow’s tech 64 Get to know how browsers render the web
pages as you surf online
Face
Value
Madhusudan Mukerjee
madhusudan.mukerjee@thinkdigit.com
L
ately, India and several other
countries in the world have been
the targets of terrorist attacks
– kamikaze conspiracies that
have destroyed innocent lives and public
property. People and governments all
over the world are gearing up to fight this
menace and protect the innocent, and the
answer lies in technology – and biometrics
in particular, which is universally accepted
as the one sure-fire way to ensure the
protection and security of vulnerable
populations and hopefully, someday, the
elimination of terrorism altogether.
From fingerprints to
faceprints
Biometrics, or the measurement and
analysis of biological data, is that arm of
technology that could ensure a safer world,
if scientists are to be believed. Biometrics
refers to the technologies of identifying,
recording and correlating characteristics
of the human body such as fingerprints,
eye retinas and irises, voice patterns, palm
geometry and DNA. Fingerprints, one
of the oldest forms of biometric analysis,
were used in 14th century China and
Imaging: Chaitanya Surpur
subsequently by 20th century police, and
are still an unavoidable ingredient in pulp-
detective fiction and TV shows.
For more than a decade now,
technologists, researchers and startups
all over the world seem convinced that
the unique features of the face can be
constructively used by artificial intelligence
– computers could create more foolproof
security systems. Facial structures, when
translated into mathematical descriptions,
could help security agencies to face up to
the post-9/11 threats of infiltration into
public spaces by suspected criminals. Face
detection and face-tagging are already
familiar to us as the wow-features of our
digital cameras, photo-sharing sites such as
iPhoto, Flickr and Picasa and the not-so-
foolproof VeriFace facial recognition login
function of Lenovo’s notebooks.
Your face is your destiny
60 Digit | September 2009 | www.thinkdigit.com
60 Digit | Month 2009 | www.thinkdigit.com
Point and Search
Digit newsletter Open Source for the blind GetFugu from Japan is researching Tomorrow’s tech
Get your daily dose of tech delivered to The HFOSS (Humanitarian Free, Open Face recognition software on mobile
your inbox at Source Software) initiative is developling phones that allow people to network by
www.thinkdigit.com/newsletter.php face recognition software for blind people pointing their cameraphone at people
The first and most well-known, large-scale technology was patented at MIT and it Neural network mapping
application of facial recognition software makes use of 2-D greyscale images that Artificial neuron networks are programmes
was in the June 2001 Super Bowl in Tampa, represent distinguishing features of a that imitate the interconnected, unified
Florida, in which video security cameras facial image. Values are assigned to these responsive behaviour of biological neurons
recorded the facial features of thousands of features and an average set is prepared. and are often combined with Eigenface
fans entering the stadium and compared Using statistical calculations, a covariance systems to bring out better results in
them with mug shots in the Tampa Police matrix of eigenvectors is arrived at, each facial recognition. An algorithm is used to
database. The cameras were installed with eigenvector representing an ‘eigenface’. Each determine the similarity of a live person’s
a face-recognition application called Face- new face that the system now encounters face with an enrolled or a reference face.
IT, created by Visionics Corporation, New is evaluated on the basis of how it differs The system automatically re-adjusts the
Jersey. Famously, the system made several from the ‘mean face’. When a face is weight it assigns to individual features in
‘false positives’ (matched faces that were not ‘enrolled’, the subject’s eigenface is mapped the event of a false match.
really matching) and led to the arrest of not a to a series of numbers. Understandably,
single wanted criminal. Civil liberty activists it’s all to do with numbers in the end, Automatic face processing
raised the alarm about big brother tactics and not really visuals. These are then A simplistic, but sometimes quicker
and infringements on privacy. Since then, compared to a ‘template’ in the database. technology, automatic face processing
there have been several advances in facial For verification, a subject’s live template is (AFP) uses the distance between prominent
recognition technologies and in October compared against the enrolled template for facial features such as the eyes, the end of
2008, Interpol proposed an automated identification, the comparison set increases the nose and the corner of the mouth to
face-recognition system for international but the process stays the same. The most create its template. This is, however, not so
borders. Again, voices were raised against the significant drawbacks of eigenfaces lie in the efficient as the above systems.
proposal as it could lead to an infringement preconditions – the images must always be
of privacy, abuse by officials, and, like most frontal, full-face and the surroundings well 3D Facial Recognition
facial recognition systems in the past, fall prey lit for optimal results. In the quest for greater accuracy, the
to inaccuracies. Yet, these systems are highly trend of the last decade is towards the
attractive to the powers-that-be as they can be Feature analysis development of a facial recognition software
used to prevent voter fraud, thwart the misuse Local feature analysis, used by Visionics in that uses a 3D model. the image of a
of ATM machines, and, basically, provide an Tampa, is based on dividing the features person’s face is captured in 3D, allowing the
easy means to control large groups of people of the faces into building blocks while system to note the curves of the eye sockets,
– the masses. But this is only possible if the simultaneously incorporating the relative for example, or the contours of the chin
error margins decrease. Perhaps the reason position of each feature. or forehead. Even a face in profile would
for the high error frequency lies in how the The interesting aspect of this software is suffice because the system uses depth, and
system works. that it even expects small movements of a an axis of measurement, which gives it
feature and the resultant and simultaneous enough information to construct a full face.
How facial recognition shifting of adjacent features that inevitably The 3-D system usually proceeds thus:
systems work occurs. Unlike Eigenfaces, it can accept
Some of us never forget a face. Humans have angles of 25 degrees (horizontal) and 15 Detection
an intrinsic ability to remember hundreds degrees (vertical). Each human face has Capturing a face either by scanning a
of faces and, more often than not, connect about 80 ‘nodal points’ – distinguishing photograph or photographing a person’s
each one of these faces with a name. The peaks and valleys and the software face in real time.
challenge for a face-recognition system is to measures aspects such as the distance
be able to mimic this ability with at least an between the eyes, the width of the nose, Position
equivalent measure of accuracy, if not better, the shape of the cheekbones, the depth of Determining the location, size and angle of
with minimal intervention. the eye sockets and the length of the jaw the head.
Facial recognition technologies are usually line to create a ‘faceprint’. However, lighting
used for verification (confirming whether and the angle to which the face was tilted Measurement
a person is who he / she claims to be) and towards the camera could adversely affect Assigning measurements to each curve of
identification (matching unknown faces taken the results. the face to make a template with specific
from surveillance footage with images in a focus on the outside of the eye, the inside of
database, e.g. criminal records). The the eye and the tip of the nose.
techniques used for facial recognition
can be geometrical (feature-based) Representation
or photometric (template-based). Converting the template into a
Traditionally, there have been four code – a numerical representation
basic methods employed by facial of the face, and,
recognition systems:
Matching
Eigenfaces Comparing the received data with
The famous mathematician David faces in the existing database.
Hilbert was the first to use the In case the 3D image is to be
term eigen (meaning ‘own’ or compared with an existing 3D
‘peculiar to’) for a non-zero vector image, it needs to undergo no
on which, when a particular alterations. Typically, however,
linear transformation is applied, photos that are stored are in 2D,
may change in length, but not and in that case, the 3D image
in direction. The Eigenfaces needs a few changes. This is tricky,
Minority Report had showcased high tech human identification technologies
DigitDigit | Month 2009 | www.thinkdigit.com 61
| September
Face recognition login Trace your family
Tomorrow’s tech Brillertek has developed a Face
Recognition software for Windows
Automated face recognition
technology can potentially be used to
platforms that allows users to login research your genealogy by crawling
using just biometric recognition the web for similiar faces
and is one of the biggest challenges in the field attendance. The students only just need to is set off and then it’s up to the humans to
today. walk over to a scanner, and enter a PIN for commence investigation.
In the Face Recognition Grand Challenge their identity to be verified.The scanner is
held in 2006 at Arlington, Virginia, the new basically a system that takes an image using Faucet facets
algorithms proved to be ten times more infrared light, invisible to the human eye, iHome, a company based in China has
precise than those of 2002. The advances even reinforcing the belief that face recognition come out with the ultimate luxury device
permitted the system to accurately identify is the most non-intrusive and time-saving – a super-intelligent tap! The Smartfaucet
and differentiate between identical twins. biometric technology today. Poor ambient activates itself once it detects motion and
lighting does not hamper the system uses face recognition technology to identify
Skin texture because the infrared flash lights up the face who exactly has stepped into the tub. The
Skin biometrics is another supportive sufficiently, without the subject perceiving device then sets the temperature of the bath
technology being developed by companies it. The system measures features such as according to your prior preferences. It even
such as Identix, which merged with identity distance between the pupils of the eyes, has an LCD touch screen that can connect
solutions provider, Viisage in 2006 – using and, in less than 2 seconds, makes a match you to the world wide web.
the uniqueness of skin texture for more with the templates in the existing database.
precise results. The software takes a picture Face-savvy facades
of a patch of skin – a skinprint, which is Korean forays Yahoo! Japan plans to install billboards
broken into smaller portions and converted San Francisco-based 3VR Security Inc. that scan passers-by, identify their gender
into a mathematical space by an algorithm, recently released the results of its facial and age group, using facial recognition
picking the lines, pores and patterns recognition technology tests, conducted in technology, and in true Minority Report
that constitute the skin. Systems such as collaboration with Korea’s SK Networks. style flash advertisements based on this
FaceIt have been developed to incorporate The report claims 85 to 92 per cent assessment. Yahoo! has teamed up with
Eigenvectors, local feature analysis and accuracy with very few false positives, in the Comel – a Tokyo based company – for the
surface texture analysis to optimise results. most uncontrolled and highly populated hardware, and NEC Soft (Japan) for the
However, long hair, dim lights or sunglasses environments viz. the subway stations in facial analysis technology. The boards will
could hinder the system’s performance. Seoul. 3VR’s special software is geared also display weather updates and news
The commitment of resources by towards overcoming the challenges of content apart from advertisements. Yahoo
governments and venture capitalists and the video-based biometrics, specifically, the plans to set up about 500 such billboards
labour of scientists and research students task of recognising and tracking faces in in malls and railway stations of Fukoka,
indicate face recognition is developing in crowds of hundreds in real time, in spite to begin with and later expand to Tokyo
the most unanticipated directions and face
biometrics has already become an integral Give us your feedback at
part of our daily life. www.thinkdigit.com/d/st0909
Tomorrow is today of poor lighting and imperfect camera and Osaka. And you don’t need to wake
It is the distinctive feature of our times that angles. If 3VR’s re-modelled still-image face up when September ends for this one – it’s
we shall live to see many science fiction recognition algorithms find their way into already happening.
predictions come true in our own lifetimes. CCTV cameras all over the world, who
A lot of people were impressed by the sci-fi knows, in a few years, you might just be Lip Reads
gadgetry in Steven Spielberg’s Minority Report. picked off the street for that age-old parking Ever since the London bombings and the
If you were one of them, you’d probably ticket you didn’t bother to pay. hours and hours of CCTV footage that had
be even more impressed, and pleasantly to be examined, law enforcers in the U.K.
surprised to know that something quite Smarter licences have decided to take the bull of terrorism by
similar is already happening around you. Here The transport authorities in Queensland, the horns. Earlier this year, groundbreaking
are a few examples to shock and awe you: Australia have decided to replace almost three research has begun, in an attempt to rectify
million drivers’ licenses with ‘smartcards’ the aberrations of suspect identification on
Infrared facials using facial recognition technology provided CCTV records, by adding lip movement
A new innovative project in the UK has led by Unisys Australia. The project is huge, and speech pattern recognition to existing
to a breakthrough in eSecurity services by involving several other partner companies face recognition software. Face recognition
using infrared light. St. Neots Community such as Leigh Mardon Australia that will experts, Omniperception and BAE Systems,
College, in Camridgeshire has given its design the customer interface devices, and a defence and security company, have tied
support to the project and allowed the Daon, which will provide the biometric up to try and hone the system to such
system to be installed in order to record enrolment technology and middleware a degree that a subject’s face could be
software. Starting in accurately recognised from distances as
April 2009, and over large as a hundred metres.
the period of the next It looks like the entire world seems
five years, Unisys will to be working to create that perfect face
help prevent identity recognition solution. But what lies in store
theft by embedding a for face-based software in the near future?
biometric facial image In order to remedy the inaccuracies of the
into the smartcard chip. systems we’ve developed so far, scientists
Typically, if someone’s all over the world have realised that the
photo does not match solution lies not just in ‘face-recognition’
the one on the card or but in other branches of science entirely,
matches the picture on namely, neurophysiology, ornithology,
Minority Report had showcased high tech human identification technologies another card – an alarm entomology and the human visual system.
62 Digit | September 2009 | www.thinkdigit.com
Shorter Checkouts iWant porn
The US Department for homeland security
is working on a system where fingerprinting
There is a flip side to face recognition
as well, the iWant Porn application
Tomorrow’s tech
and face recognition can be used to process substitutes a user’s face on porn clips
frequent overseas travellers faster and distributes them
How Humans See we humans do, it stands to
The whole point of artificial intelligence is reason that if a machine can Digit has decided to compile a
to try and create computing systems that successfully emote, it can list of Young Indian Innovators
operate more and more like humans and surely be made to identify who are changing our world
don’t appear artificial at all. New research into human emotions as displayed through tech. Send your
the perception patterns of human beings has on a human face before it. nominations to yii@thinkdigit.
revealed certain strange and useful facts that com. Visit www.thinkdigit.com/
are sure to have a significant impact on face Expressions in binary code yii for more information
recognition technologies. Jessica Dennis and Michael
Cues from the Face-blind: recent Ulrich, engineering students
research into face blindness in humans at the Rowan University
has shown that the presence of emotional College of Engineering, have
information in the face increases neural spent 2008 working on
activity in the area of the brain called the developing a software program
FFA (Fusiform Face Area). that has the capacity to read
This proves that body and face-sensitive facial expressions. Using
perceptions are dependent on emotional the JAFFE (Japanese Female
content and that neutral faces are more Facial Expression) database,
difficult to differentiate between. The they arrived at four key
FFA displays lower activation for neutral measurements: the height and This has now been taken forward by
faces. Perhaps, then, our systems need to the width of the mouth and the height Mary Frank, a former student of Ekman’s,
identify emotions in faces to make accurate and width of the eyebrows. How wide the presently teaching at the University of
assessments, just as humans do. eyes were open and the jaw line were also Buffalo, New York, with the help of computer
Remote control faces: a computer scientist considered as secondary measurements. scientists from the University of California.
in San Diego seems to have done just that. The computer was then made to They have succeeded in automating Ekman’s
Jacob Whitehill, a computer science Ph.D. understand the expressions by translating Facial Action Coding System (FACS), turning
student from UC San Diego’s Jacobs School them into binary code. After testing it into a technology called the Computer
of engineering has developed a technology hundreds of photos, the duo determined Expression Recognition Toolbox (CERT).
for detecting facial expressions (part of an that their software program had a 94.2 per This has tremendous potential for use in
ongoing project at the school). Early last year, cent accuracy for the emotions of surprise, forensics, and if proved to be faultless, can
Whitehill successfully showed how his facial fear and anger and an average of 76.5 per be used not just on video footage of court
expressions could be turned into a remote cent for all expressions. trials but also in interviews, weddings and
control that speeds or slows video playback. business contracts. The only point that
ought to be perhaps considered here is the
Robotic Eyes that now the machines are going to be better
Facial Expressions fall under the broad at reading faces than most of us humans are.
head of ‘non-verbal communication’. At What that portents for the human race, we
the Tokyo Institute of Technology, a team leave you to contemplate.
led by Yoichi Yamazaki have built and
eye-robot which is nothing but a pair of Facing facts
‘eyeballs’ which can convey a whole range To cut a long story short, research into
of emotions. While the attempt is to make facial recognition technologies is digging
a robot more expressive, using eyes as channels into territories that were deemed
unconnected until a few years ago. The
fact remains, however, that just as retina
and fingerprint scanners can be fooled,
faces can be altered (vide Michael Jackson)
The Fusiform face area of the brain
to outwit the most accurate algorithms.
Even if Picasa’s face-tagging software can
distinguish between identical twins, there’s
Liar, Liar a hacker born every minute and, in the long
Paul Ekman, a veteran in the field of study run, relying only on facial biometrics would
of human facial expressions, in studying be, well, myopic. It seems inevitable then,
people with mental disorders has successfully that a combination of several biometric
identified what he calls “microexpressions” technologies holds the key to a more secure
– split second facial expressions – that betray identification system in the future. The
the subject’s emotional state. According latest in a list of biometric topics of interest
to him, no one can fake a microexpression are palm geometry and tracing the pattern
because they are inadvertent and slip out in of veins under the palm; the way a person
spite of the subject’s conscious attempt to walks (gait), the way a person bangs
repression. The web site www.mettonline. out text from his keyboard (keystroke
com was then set up by Ekman and his dynamics), DNA and voice prints could
colleagues – a facility that anyone can log be some possible combinations that could
onto and train oneself in the art of picking make face recognition more infallible. The
out microexpressions that can show that right combination might just wipe that
Digital billboards from Yahoo! someone is lying. smile of the terrorist’s face for good.
Digit | September 2009 | www.thinkdigit.com 63
How stuff works KHTML to WebKit Vote now
This is still what drives Vote for the young Indian innovators who are
Konqueror, KDE’s multi-purpose changing the world through their contributions.
web and file browser Head to www.thinkdigit.com/yii
Nimish Chandiramani browsers as OmniWeb and iCab. read-and-spew approach wouldn't do at
readersletters@thinkdigit.com all. JavaScript needs to take web pages and
T
The simplest engine manipulate them, and the only way to do
he browser wars aren't just Let us consider a hypothetical browser that is to turn an HTML document into a
about the feature-rich against engine whose only purpose is to take HTML collection of objects. The document itself, in
the featureless, nor about open and convert it into a displayed web page fact, is an object.
source software butting heads — none of these fancy JavaScript or CSS Now, instead of HTML turning into a
with Big Evil Corporation designs for this one. As it receives HTML stream of text, the browser turns an HTML
#22935. It's really the underlying code, it finds an opening tag — , for page into a Document object, with all
technology — the browser engines — at example — and recognises that it needs to HTML elements within becoming child
war here: the way these browsers take the start spewing out bold text until it reaches objects — paragraphs, forms, links and so
mess that is HTML code, and turn it into the closing tag. on — creating a hierarchical tree of objects.
something pretty for us to see. That, then, is what browser engines This object-like representation is called the
Why, though, does the browser engine are supposed to do — whatever the HTML document object model (DOM), and it opens
suddenly matter? We're happy to compare tag tells them to. If you're old enough to up a host of possibilities.
programs on their features, because it's remember WordStar, it's the same concept In object-oriented programming (OOP),
really the features we're using. Right? — tell the program to start bolding text here, objects are wonderful things. They are
But there's more to the browser than the and stop there. balls of programmatic clay, which can
features. With a great browser engine comes But if you do want that fancy JavaScript be moulded and manipulated as the
the ability to take that engine everywhere: and CSS stuff, this approach doesn't work, programmer sees fit. If, for example,
from Windows to Linux to the Mac to the because you want your document all ready and browser developers decide that all forms
mobile phone to the game console to the rendered first, so that you can use JavaScript should have a green halo around them, they
Magic Intertube-surfing Shoe. A classic programming to add some interactivity. And so can do that — the HTML code itself doesn't
example is WebKit, which started out as came the Document Object Model. need to change. And now, pages can become
the wind beneath Safari's wings, but now less boring, too.
powers Google Chrome, the Android web Treat them like objects By implementing a DOM, browser
browser, the web browser for Symbian, Once JavaScript was born, the simple developers gave web designers their greatest
browser?
What drives the
Safari Mobile, and such
obscure but well-loved
What is this browser engine thingy,
really, and why must we care?
Imaging Chaitanya Surpur
64 Digit | September 2009 | www.thinkdigit.com
Dreamweaver’s engine
While Dreamweaver CS3 used How stuff works
Opera’s Presto engine, CS4 uses Give us your feedback at
WebKit www.thinkdigit.com/d/st0909
gift yet: the ability to separate design from the foundation for the AJAX we all know now race to implement features from the latest
content. Browsers could support CSS, which and love. Besides that, though, the web W3C standards.
could manipulate all the non-interactive essentially went to pot. This, however, doesn't mean that browser
properties of the HTML elements — colour, But you've lived through this first engines are becoming homogenous.
size, font, borders — all the stuff it would be browser war, and you've seen browsers
pointless to have JavaScript do. approach more standard DOM Behind the best
And so, the foundation for the browser implementations. Perhaps the most important rivalry between
engine is complete. Simple, really. browser engines is that of WebKit — which
The importance of objects powers Safari, Chrome, and others — and
The muddy pool In Object-oriented Programming (OOP), objects
Gecko, which powers Firefox.
In an ideal world, Netscape and Microsoft have two key characteristics: properties, which WebKit is a fork of KHTML, which was
would have implemented the DOM and describe the object, and behaviours, which designed to be a simple, light HTML engine
JavaScript in the same way in both their describe what the object does. These objects that was standards compliant, and easy
browsers. The browser wars would have are built on blueprints, called classes. An object to maintain. It's been praised for its clean
then centred around only features, and we from the “button” class, for example, has a code and small memory footprint, both
wouldn't suffer the agony of sites that don't property called “value”, which tells the browser of which played key roles in what WebKit
used web standards. Ah, well. engine what text to use on the button; and the has become today — the browsing engine
It all probably started with JScript, click() behaviour, which simulates the effect of that can hop platforms really, really easily.
IE's JavaScript me-too. While it could being clicked. WebKit is now the engine behind Safari on
understand some of Netscape's JavaScript, Browser developers get to make their the iPhone, the S60 web browser on Nokia
no other browser could understand JScript. own blueprints for these objects (though mobile phones, Android's web browser, and
Both companies came up with their own it’s a better idea to stick to the DOM Google's Chrome. Developers are also using
custom additions to the DOM standard — standard specified by the W3C), giving WebKit with the GTK (GIMP Toolkit) to
Netscape came up with "layers", much like them the ability to assign whatever develop rich internet applications in Linux.
Photoshop's layers, which could be turned properties and behaviours to HTML Gecko, on the other hand, is so much
on and off using JavaScript; Microsoft, on elements that they choose. more than just a simple HTML engine. It
the other hand, added the document. gives us the XML User Interface Language
all object, which let JavaScript (or JScript) So why bother? (XUL), which gives developers a way to
select any object in the document with a With all the recent emphasis on web write full-featured applications using simple
simple document.all["id"], rather standards, we've (somewhat) come XML, CSS and JavaScript. It makes Firefox
than navigating through the object tree, beyond the days when different DOM extensions possible, and we all know how
which was what the W3C would have implementations caused sites to run fine appealing those extensions are to Firefox
wanted it to do. Other, more frivolous in one browser, and users. XUL also
things came, too. Netscape, likely playing completely crash in JScript gave Web developers became the base for
a nasty practical joke on the world,
introduced the tag, which made
another. As a user,
there's little likelihood
many more features to play applications suchas Thunderbird,
text, well, blink annoyingly. Microsoft threw that you'll run into with, including the ability to Songbird, and the
the tag at us, resulting in the major problems. store data Komodo IDE. To
less annoying side-scrolling text. Today's browser wars Gecko's disadvantage,
Perhaps the only good thing to come out still centre around which features the engines these features made the code bulky and
of this rush to implement new features was can offer, but rather than coming up with their complex, making it difficult for it to make
IE's XMLHttpRequest object, which lay own non-standard features, the developers the transition into the mobile world. After
much toil, Mozilla's Gecko-based mobile
browser — Fennec — is in beta (as of this
writing), and has been well-received.
Keeping the engine running
It's simple economics, really: as customers,
the ideal number of competitors we need
is two, so that we can pit one against the
other, and force them to offer us something
better. WebKit may include better support for
extensions, for example. We've already seen
Gecko get speedier and lighter in response
to competition from WebKit. If one browser
engine were to dominate all our platforms,
we'd just go back to the days of IE6 —
innovation would stop, and every flaw in the
engine would become painfully apparent on
every platform, with no alternative in sight
until the developers fixed it.
WebKit gives us rich internet
applications as an added bonus, and
Gecko gives us the ability to build desktop
applications. Soon, we'll see more from both
camps. This is good. This will do.
Converting simple HTML code into a DOM
Digit | September 2009 | www.thinkdigit.com 65
thinner, Lighter,
better new Horizons
tried & tested Bazaar 74 10 netbooks compared and
reviewed for you 82 23 processors from AMD and Intel
tested and compared
directly behind the LCD screen
(as is done traditionally) and
enclose everything in so slim
a package. This prevents any
sort of local dimming of LEDs
around a particular area and
this hurts the displays contrast
ratio figure – our Spyder 3 Elite
lists it at 664:1 – not bad, but
we expected a figure closer to
1500:1. Luminance is also low
– 162.5 cd/m^2. Owing to this
and the decentralised LEDs the
Image courtesy: Sony
colours look a little dim and not
as bright as we’re used to seeing
on the best panels. The reds and
greens should be more vivid and
lifelike but the KDL ZX1 cannot
manage this.
Sony Bravia KDL ZX1 Overall everything looks a
little soft, thankfully even static
images have no noise whatsoever
Better backlighting techniques next time please and motion pictures lack any sort
K
of banding. Movies have great
udos to Sony, since of the receiver a USB input and contrast with good detailing and
they managed not an express card slot is also given. minimal noise in darker areas.
only to get their This receiver box connects to Photos are clear and crisp – you
LED LCDs to India the display wirelessly - a unique may want tune the display
but they also gave us a sneak feature because it eliminates any properly to get slightly more
peak by sending one to our sort of cable clutter. Not only this vivid images. Blacks are deep
test labs. Naturally we were it supports up to 1080i signals and true and this monitor has
excited when we unboxed this wirelessly. Wireless HD anyone? a good black level. Even while
beauty. Starting off we have one The frequency of the wireless gaming we had no issues except
grouse – she’s got ugly feet! The signal is 5 GHz. We tested the with F.E.A.R where the screen
ZX1 has got a round, fat and integrity of the wireless data on the whole looks a little too
ugly looking stand that is a far signal and are pleased to report dark at times. It’s hard to imagine
cry from the sleek, slim stands that there is no lag and walking in why Sony went with this weird
used by LG and Samsung. between the receiver and display design with the LEDs around the
The bezel is a little wide but doesn’t affect the transmission – corners and sides.
finished in brushed metal tones super. Unfortunately 1080p isn’t For us, this display was a
Contact that gives a classy look. The supported, if you wish to use mixed bundle. The backlight
Sony India entire body is black. Looking at this resolution you will need to delay issue is annoying as is the
Phone: 1800-11-11-88 (Toll Free) her sideways we were surprised hook the receiver up to the single rather soft, sterile output. We can’t
Email: to see how slim she was. Sony HDMI port on the display. comment historically because this
sonyindia.care@ap.sony.com claims 9.9mm at the slimmest When using DisplayMate one is the first LED-based LCD display
Web site: www.sony.co.in point – pure swimsuit stuff, if of the issues we noticed was of we’ve tested, but something tells
Price: Rs. 1,99,900 only she had prettier feet. a delay (lag) when dimming or us there are better models out
The KDL ZX1 is a 40-inch brightening the screen. This is there. Personally we wouldn’t
Specifications panel and when you heft it probably due to the backlight mind the display being a little
Size: 40-inches, one of the benefits of an LED LEDs mounting on the ends thicker and heavier, but having a
Resolution: 1080p, backlighting system become of the display along the sides. full LED-array behind the LCD
Connects: apparent – it weighs no more than The light from these LEDs is panel, after all what’s half an inch
4 x HDMI, Component, a 22-inch LCD monitor. Sony also channelled using some sort of of thickness in comparison to
Composite, D-Sub, thought it prudent to provide just reflective sheet, meaning the pristine quality?
Optical audio, one HDMI port on the display centre of the display is actually However, it has very good
USB and Express Card slot and the remaining connects a few feet away from the actual image quality with great contrast
on a “media receiver” box. In light source. Although not but we expected more for its
RatIngS case you are wall mounting noticeable when gaming or price. It has got innovation
Features ..................8 this makes sense. In terms of watching movies when a static is spades – with the unique
connectivity it’s got Composite, screen is used the display will backlighting technique and the
Performance ...........7 Component with discrete RCA take a couple of seconds to wireless receiver unit, but priced
Build quality ............7.5 audio connects, a D-Sub connect adjust its backlight. Of course at Rs. 2,00,000 we recommend
Value for money......3.5 and 3 HDMI ports. One Optical this is also the key to its slimness skipping buying this and
Overall .....................6.5 audio out is also provided as is a – there is no way Sony could waiting for better panels –
cable TV connect. On the front shoehorn in backlight LEDs they’re sure to be on the way.
Cannon has launched six new digital cameras to its PowerShot range — G11, S90, SX20IS, SX120IS, SD980 IS and SD940 IS The soon to be launched Lenovo D400 Home
66 Digit | September 2009 | www.thinkdigit.com
Dell Inspiron Z series Zune HD Bazaar
Follow me Dell axes the Inspiron 12 netbook, launches Zune HD to start selling on September 15th
Twitter is working on a feature that lets the Inspiron Z series sporting 11.6-inch in the US, starting at $220 (approximately
users share locations displays and CULV processors Rs. 10,560)
Razer Moray
Gimme Mo...
Contact
T
he Moray represents and is not netplace technologies
Razer’s first effort at impactful. Pvt. Ltd
earplugs. Although Sound-staging Phone: +91-22-42253901
it’s meant for gamers is totally Email: enquiry@
there is no microphone unit absent – all sound scary and will have you netplacetechnologies.com
though an airplane adapter sounds seem to emanate from whipping around. The shorter Web site: www.razerzone.com
is present as well as three the left and right. Instrument cord may spell trouble for a lot Price: Rs. 2,235
sizes of earbuds. The soft congestion is noticeable and of gamers - pity and extension
carry case is large enough for intrudes on the experience wasn’t provided as this was Specifications
your earphones as well as a with complex tracks. That expected. Frequency response: 20 Hz to
generous sized PMP. Build being said the mid-range is a For the price of Rs. 11,000 KHz;
quality of everything is good. little more pleasing than the 2,235 we must say these are Impedance: 17 ohms;
When it comes to music the Creative EP630. overpriced, but then that’s Cord length: 1.3 metres;
Moray does reasonably well The Moray does better all Razer gear for you – Connector: 3.5mm plug
with blues and jazz – female when gaming. Thanks to overpriced though the legions
vocals have a pleasant richness its closed nature it allows of chanting fanboys will RatIngS
to them although male hearing even minute sounds disagree. If you are looking Features ..................6.5
vocals seem slightly hollow. as we discovered in Warcraft 3, for a set of gaming earphones
you could just as easily go
Performance ...........6
Instruments like the guitar and although to be honest accurate
piano are done well although positioning isn’t possible. with the Creative EP630 or
Build quality ............7
cymbals do not sound as Quake 3 is much better and EP830 both of which offer Value for money......5
crisp as they should. Bass can the boomy bass makes rocket comparable sound at less than Overall .....................6
get boomy and uncontrolled whooshes and railgun pings half the price.
Mercury iXa 240 and there is a lot of muddiness
to the sound when playing any
music that is even distantly
Sound in style? Not really... complex, metal and rock tracks
sound congested.
Photographs: Manas Parekh & Jiten Gandhi
T
So who would buy these
he usual 2.1 speakers via RCA ports on the woofer. given our list of complaints that
are common enough We hooked these up to could span a page if we tried?
and there is nothing our test system and turned Well for one they’re cheap
Contact that stands out about the volume up to around 75 (Rs. 1,100) - something nearly
Kobian Pte Ltd these. A neat looking set of percent. It’s safe to say these everyone looks for. They’re also
Phone: +91-98100 85042 stereo speakers with a dedicated speakers weren’t meant for high decent at lower volumes where
Email: woofer. The satellites are very volumes and the distortion you get a little more detail.
ravi_dhyani@kobian.com light and constructed of plastic. that occurred was enough to
Web site: www.kobian.com The driver units are exposed, deter us from venturing higher.
Price : Rs. 1,100 we’re normally used to seeing Once the volume has been set
some sort of mesh shroud. The to 40 percent the sound doesn’t
Specifications woofer unit is small and light distort. Mind you, they’re still
total RMS: 28 watts (Woofer and doesn’t feel that sturdy. The reasonably loud for a desktop
– 4-inches, Satellites – woofer is down firing therefore set of speakers, but those who
2.75-inches); Frequency range: Mercury provided this unit with like their music loud or people
– 35 Hz ~ 18 KHz; one and a half inch long rubber who want to watch movies
Controls: volume, bass feet to allow for some distance from a bit of a distance will
between the units’ driver and be disappointed. The bass is
the floor. Incidentally the woofer seriously lacking, especially
RatIngS driver is a mere four inches – noticeable in movies and
not impressive, we figured even games but also with music. The
Features ..................6 for an entry level setup at least mid-range is decent and vocals
Performance ...........3.5 a 5.25-inch woofer should have are clear, unfortunately the
Build quality ............5 been provided. The satellites music isn’t involving – vocals
Value for money......7.5 have a single 2.75-inch driver don’t have weight to them and
Overall .....................5.5 each – no horns or tweeters neither do the guitar notes. The
here. Connectivity is provided highs are seriously rolled off
server is going to be priced at approximately Rs. 22,000 Strontium Technology has launched 4 GB DDR3 1333 MHz memory as well as new 4 GB DDR2 800 MHz memory
Digit | September 2009 | www.thinkdigit.com 67
Bazaar Sony minis Mobile Office
Small downloadable games Microsoft is working on a version of
for the PSP Office for Nokia phones
Nokia N86
Nokia catches up in the mega-pixel race with its 8 MP shooter
T
he N86 is a premium- there’s a microSD card slot loaded with the N-gage
segment phone from for further expansion. But for application. It has a couple of
Nokia’s N series. This a phone with a nifty kick- games like Fifa 09, Prince of
slider borrows many stand, we wished the media Persia etc. for trial. The media
aspects of its predecessor, the player support popular video buttons can also be used as the
N85. Dimensionally, its not formats like DivX or XviD. A-B control buttons. Thus, you
exactly pocket-friendly -- and The FM transmitter feature can play games like you would
weighing 149 grams, it feels worked pretty well, as long on your PSP. Although thanks
a bit on the heavier side. The as the phone was kept quite to the average tactility of the
phone’s build is quite decent. close to the receiver. There buttons, it isn’t an entirely
The sliding mechanism’s are a plethora of connectivity convenient experience.
smooth as well. Looks-wise, its options: Wi-Fi, HSDPA The N86’s got good
probably not eye-candy, but it (3.5G), A-GPS, Bluetooth network reception and call
does look like its worth high and microUSB. We were quality. With regards to music,
moolah. The metallic frame disappointed with the data- the provided in-earphones
around the front-face and transfer rates over USB -- the deliver a decent audio quality.
the anti-scratch front surface speeds averaged at around The music player app arranges
bring in sturdiness to the 1.5 MB/s. The web-browser is your songs according to artists,
phone. The 3.5mm headphone supports full HTML pages and albums, genres, etc. The
jack’s placement at the top is gives you an overview of the phone comes pre-loaded with
convenient. The buttons on the page and you can zoom into a trial version of their turn-
phone overall are fairly tactile. individual sections easily. by-turn navigation software.
People with large fingers may Let’s talk about the star It currently has preinstalled
Image courtesy: Nokia
find the numpad and the feature of the phone; the maps of 8 major cities in India.
media buttons to be somewhat camera. The day-shots turned Alternatively, one can use the
small. We found the keypad- out to be quite good. The freely-available Google Maps. It
lock switch on the side to be noise was quite low. Photos doesn’t take long for the phone
quite nifty. looked very clear on a PC. to get a fix thanks to A-GPS.
The 2.6-inch AMOLED The color reproduction was But the unit on the N86 had
screen displays content quite natural. Instead of a Xenon difficulty in maintaining a
nicely; colors appear richer flash, Nokia decided to stick GPS fix. We’d rate the GPS
and the size is big enough to to the traditional dual-LED performance above average.
act as a viewfinder for the 8 flash. But it does the job The app navigates pretty well
mega-pixel fairly well as it illuminated and one could have used this
camera on- phone as a dedicated GPS
board. The device; had the GPS fix been
Contact sunlight more consistent.
nokia India legibility TV-out is supported
Phone: +91-11-30303838 of the Wirelessly to compatible uPnP/
Web site: www.nokia.com display isn’t dlna devices and via cable.
Price: Rs. 27,359 great when sun But unfortunately the cable
rays are directly isn’t provided in the package.
Specifications incident on it. An Battery life is quite average. On
Display type: 2.6 inch AMOLED; easy fix - slightly tilting heavy usage of the phone
Memory: 8 GB internal, microSD the screen makes the content (GPS, FM Transmitter,
upto 16 GB; Camera: 8 MP, 28mm readable. Music etc.) the phone
Carl Zeiss lens; Dimensions: The UI auto-rotate barely lasted a day.
103.4 x 51.4 x 16.5 mm; feature changes the screen pitch-black environments to At over Rs. 27,000, the
Weight: 149 g orientation quickly; but it is a decently viewable level. It phone is priced a little above
not accurate all the time. It records video quite smoothly 8MP camera-phones from
runs the Symbian OS 9.3 quite at VGA resolution. Features competitors. The phone does
smoothly. There’s almost no like face detection and image deliver when it comes to its
RatIngS lag except for the photo viewer stabilization were not available main feature -- the camera.
Features ..................7.5 app or when you’re using more on this phone. The wide- But you’re paying quite a few
than three apps at a time. The angle lens makes its use only thousand rupees for that jump
Performance ...........7.5
UI is quite easy-to-use, the in the panorama mode. It from 5 MP to 8 MP. If the price
Build Quality ...........7 help menus give out useful automatically takes sequential does not scare you, and you’re
Value for Money......6 info about every function. The photos and stitches them into looking for a good multimedia
Overall .....................7 N86 8GB internal memory a wide-screened image. phone from Nokia, then the
is adequately-large; plus The phone comes pre- N86 just might deliver.
for desktops and laptops iBall is launching a cabinet specially designed to hold the Intel Atom called the NeTop 009 Intel to launch next generation solid state
68 Digit | September 2009 | www.thinkdigit.com
Firefox 3.6 479 million
Bazaar
Early alpha builds of Firefox According to the TRAI, India had 479 million
3.6 are already available telecom subscribers by the end of July
Gigabyte 3D Aurora 570
The aluminium wonder
T
he 3D Aurora 570 for the 3.5 inch drives; you first some advantages, being light
is a gaming cabinet need to clip on plastic rails and and stylish, but if you are willing
from Gigabyte that’s then slide the drives in. The rear to spend so much we would
completely made of expansion slots can be taken out suggest you get the CM Storm
aluminium with black exteriors with ease, once the holding clip Sniper instead.
and a faint brushed aluminium is unlocked.
finish. The three 120 mm Contact
The front of the cabinet has fans in the cabinet Priya Ltd.
a door within which the power have blue LED lights. Phone: +91-22-42203100
and reset buttons are located. They are connected Email: sales@priyagroup.com
There is a locking mechanism together, and are Web site: www.gigabyte.in
present, so if you don’t want powered by a single Price: Rs. 12,945
anybody using your PC while 3-pin connector from
you’re out, just lock the front the motherboard. Specifications
and leave. The same lock is The drawbacks about type: Full Tower;
also present on the side panel, this cabinet include Dimensions: 571.5 x 542.9 x
which means an added security no provision for 206.3 mm;
measure. The side-panel can extra fans to increase Weight: 6.8 kg
be removed by a simple clip- airflow, no removable
mechanism. motherboard tray and
The optical drive bays (5.25 no support to attach a RatIngS
inch), in the 3D Aurora 570, CPU cooler’s backplate Features ..................7.5
have a screwless mounting without removing the
mechanism, where you just need motherboard.
Performance ...........7
to slide the drive in and lock it The Gigabyte 3D Aurora Build Quality ...........6.5
with the plastic locking system. 570 costs Rs. 12,945, which Value for Money......5
A different type of screwless is just too much for a cabinet Overall .....................6.5
mounting mechanism is used with such features. It does have
Seagate Momentus 7200.4
9.5 mm with 7200 rpm
P
Contact reviously we’ve reviewed the file transfer test Momentus 7200.4 did
Fortune Marketing the Seagate Momentus results show the better than the 5400.6
Phone: +91-11-26414468, 5400.6 notebook Momentus 5400.6 was with the internal file
26472491; hard drive, this month being faster, even copy test.
Email: sales@fortune-it.com around, we got the Seagate though the synthetic graph
Web site: www.fortune-it.com Momentus 7200.4 which is also benchmarks HD Tach The thing about
Price: Rs. 6,850 a notebook hard drive, but the and SiSoft Sandra the Seagate Momentus
difference here is that, the first show the results that 7200.4 is that with its
Specifications has a spindle speed of 5400 rpm the 7200.4 has better spindle speed, you will
Capacity: 500 GB and an 8 MB cache, whereas read speeds than the 5400.6. tend to feel the vibration than
Cache: 16 MB the second has a spindle speed The only benchmarks where the what you would with a 5400
areal Density: 394 Gbits/inch2 of 7200 rpm and 16 MB rpm hard drive if fitted into a
Dimensions (HxWxL): cache. laptop with a compact chassis.
9.5 x 69.85 x 100.35 mm The capacity of this But if you were to use this on
Weight: 110 grams particular Momentus something like an Dell Studio
7200.4 is 500 GB and has XPS, then these vibrations
RatIngS a two platter design. wouldn’t be that noticeable.
Features ..................8 The thing that really If you do need to upgrade
grabbed our attention your storage solution on your
Performance ...........7
here was the fact that laptop then we would suggest
Build quality ............8 Momentus 5400.6 you buy the Seagate Momentus
Value for money......6 outperformed the 5400.6 at Rs. 5,250, rather
Overall .....................7 7200.4 in most of our than the Seagate Momentus
tests. As you can see, 7200.4 at Rs. 6,850.
drives Toshiba to start manufacturing Blu-ray drives soon Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 to be sold with night-vision goggles; to be out later this year Samsung
Digit | September 2009 | www.thinkdigit.com 69
Bazaar iLike MySpace Bing gets popular
MySpace has agreed to buy iLike, a Microsoft’s Bing search engine has captured
music recommendation service 8.9 per cent market share in July
our processor tests rendered
in 28 seconds. To give you a
better idea of what this means,
a really fast Intel Core 2 Duo
E8600 takes 76 seconds for the
same render. In more realistic
situations, a render that would
take 20 to 25 minutes took just
4:43 minutes.
The server is intended for
multi-threaded applications
which include rendering
or database hosting or web
hosting. The processors used
on this server the Xeon X5570
is priced at Rs. 67,500 ($1386).
The server cost itself depends
on how you customize it.
Contact
ASUS RS700-EP6/RS4 Web site: www.intel.com (Intel
Xeon) / www.asus.com (ASUS
RS700);
Excessive power! Price: Rs. 67,500 ($1386) for
I
Xeon X5570
t’s not very often that we the processor but two giant is meant to be controlled
review servers but Intel heatsinks densely packed with remotely almost all of the time, Specifications
gladly arranged an ASUS fins. Tiny high CFM fans line the graphics solution is very Intel Xeon X5570 2.93 GHz,
RS700 1U rack server the entire width of the server basic. This server has 8 cores 4-cores, 8 MB cache, 6.4 GT/s
to showcase their latest Xeon and blow air through the and with HT, that’s 16 threads. QPI, TDP 95W
processor range based on the heatsinks and out the back. The performance is nothing
Nehalem architecture or the The specifications on this short of astonishing in every RatIngS
Core i7 as it’s better know as. thing are mind boggling. Two benchmark.
The ASUS RS700 is 1U Xeon X5570 processors each We ran 3ds max, Maya
Features ..................8
a rack server. It’s the kind running at 2.93 GHz each. It and Cinebench on the server Performance ...........9
typically found in large web has six 4 GB sticks of DDR3 with the default settings left Build quality ............8
hosting and server installations memory – that’s 24 GB and on. Each one of them used all Value for money......4
under controlled environments. there’s space for another 24 of the cores. The Maya global Overall .....................7
There are no fans on GB! Being a server which illumination test scene used in
Contact
Cooler Master Co.Ltd.
Phone: +91-98338 70302 /
Cooler Master Storm Scout
94225 01592 Search and destroy
A
Email:
Tanmay_L@Coolermaster.com few months back we of the cabinet, but with
Web site: coolermaster.com had reviewed the CM that there is also a filter
Price: Rs. 6,500 Storm Sniper which and mesh provided, but
was more on the facing the bottom.
Specifications high-end series, but this time Though the outer body
Dimensions: (D)22.3 x (W)10 x around the Scout is aimed of the CM Storm Scout is
(H)21.7 inch towards the budget gamers. sturdy, that is not the case
net Weight: 10.6 kg The Scout has a slightly with the internals. The
tinted acrylic sheet on one space given for the optical
side. The top portion is made drives (5.25 inch drives) is
RatIngS of plastic and is shaped not sufficient and makes
somewhat like a handle. It has for a very tight squeeze
Features ..................7 a button which you to switch within the cabinet.
Performance ...........6 off all the LED lights present The cost of the CM
Build quality ............6 on the fans when they are not Storm Scout is Rs. 6,500.
Value for money......6 needed. Perhaps, the cheaper CM
Overall .....................6 Space for the power supply 690 would be a better
has been given at the bottom option.
to launch Ion based netbooks Intel to retire the QX9775 Skulltrail CPUs later this year Flash 10 to support all mobile platforms other than the Apple iPhone
70 Digit | September 2009 | www.thinkdigit.com
PS3 Slim announced First Lynnfield CPU out Bazaar
Sony finally announced the PS3 Slim, Although not officially launched, the 2.66 GHz Core i5
going on sale on September 1st 750 has already made it’s way into a few hands
Cowon D2+
She shook me all night long
A
t first look it doesn’t but not as deep as some may
impress with a credit like. The min-range is a lot of
card sized body fun and very involving; there
that’s 0.65-inches is a lot of emotion and weight
thick and minimalistic frills to female voices in particular
but everything about the build and guitar tracks are very
bespeaks quality from the finish involving. Our only complaint
to the slightly recessed, 2.5-inch though one hardly noticeable
touchscreen that is crisp with by non-discerning users is the
good colour although the on- lack of control in the top-end
screen icons could do with a and at times the D2+ drove our
makeover. Support for multiple reference cans to sibilance and
audio formats including .FLAC extra sparkle in the treble that
and .APE and a load of video loses detail. In really complex
formats, SD expansion along passages the instruments do get bit of everything and quite well. Contact
with a proprietary AV out and a little congested. Purist audiophiles will find Lipap Systems Private Ltd
a bundled notepad and flash Video playback is good, with something to nitpick, but it’s Email: iaudio@lipap.com
player tells of a serious feature crisp output, but really for a good value. Don’t buy it for it’s Web site: www.cowonindia.in
set. The touchscreen works video PMP a bigger screen is video component. Phone: +91-98199 17440
well although at times a mishit mandatory and anything with Price: Rs. 9,500
occurred; the menu is well laid a resolution of above 320 x RatIngS
out but appears dull; could be 240 pixels will not play. The Features.........................8 Specifications
better. bundled earphones are pretty Screen: 2.5-inch touch, 16M
In terms of sound quality decent. Battery life is excellent
Build Quality .................8 colours; audio: built-in voice
the D2+ scores big and is easily with well over a day of MP3 Performance.................8 recorder, FM radio, 74 mW output
a cut above most run-of-the- playback. At Rs. 9,500 for the Value ............................7.5 power, multiple audio and video
mill PMPs. Music is involving 8 GB version the D2+ is a high- Overall ...........................8 formats supported;
– bass is crisp with a nice hit, end PMP but one that does a Weight: 91 grams
Gigabyte GM-M6880
Large ‘n light
Contact
G
Priya Ltd. igabyte is normally was really not a problem and
Phone: +91-22-42203100 known for their the pads provided were very
Email: sales@priyagroup.com computer hardware smooth. But the drawback we
Web site: www.gigabyte.in such as motherboards see here is the weight of this
Price: Rs. 945 and graphic cards. But this time mouse (145 grams including
around we are checking out the the wire), as it just felt that the
Specifications GM-M6880 which is a gaming mouse was moving faster than
Resolution: 800 / 1600 dpi mouse from Gigabyte. normal. Also when you click
switchable The GM-M6880 has a glossy hard, which will be a scenario
Cable length: 1.5m black exterior with a total of six with intense moments while
Dimensions: (L)127 x (W)75 x buttons on it; the regular three gaming, the mouse seems to
(H)42 mm buttons, a single dpi button and move off balance and slightly
Weight: 145 g two customizable buttons on the tilt forward, which is something very competitively at Rs. 945,
left side which can be reached gamers do not want. as far as gaming peripherals
RatIngS by the thumb. The overall The glossy plastic material are concerned. The Gigabyte
Features ..................6 ergonomic design of this mouse used is not the best either, as GM-M6880 will attract those of
is well suited for those with when and if you start to sweat, you who are just starting gaming
Performance ...........6
larger hands. You can adjust the precision of clicking will and don’t want to spend a lot of
Build quality ............6 the dpi settings on this mouse reduce and you will tend to slip. money on their peripherals, yet.
Value for money......7 with a click of a button, but only Overall, this mouse does If you are a veteran or pro gamer,
Overall .....................6 between 800 and 1600. have the gaming appeal to it then this is not something that
Moving the GM-M6880 with its design, and is priced you would enjoy.
PocketSurfer 3, the latest model of the portable GPRS internet device to be out soon HTC to shift to 3.5mm audio jacks in future phones OCZ launches the
Digit | September 2009 | www.thinkdigit.com 71
aSUS and F1!
ASUS debuts their Formula
Bazaar Kingston DDR3 series of graphics cards
Kingston launches dual channel with dust proof fans and an
HyperX DDR3 memory aerodynamic design
Belkin N150
The right route
T
he Belkin N150 is Mac address
Contact a wireless router filtering, IP filter,
Belkin that is 802.11b and connection to a
Phone: +91-124-6688800 802.11g certified and VPN, DDNS, DMZ
Email: rengithn@belkin.com is based on the draft 802.11n which allows users
Web site: www.belkin.com technology. The router is black to connect to the
Price: Rs. 2,899 in colour and is mounted internet outside of
vertically on a stand. Even a firewall.
Specifications though there was no wall In Zone 1,
ISP Protocols Supported: mounting option, the Belkin which is just next
Dynamic, Static, PPPoE, PPTP, N150 is small, and stylish to the router,
Telstra Bigpond, L2TP enough, with it’s rounded it hardly took
Compliant Standard: IEEE edges, to suit any area in the 13 seconds to
802.11b, 802.11g house or even a small office. transfer 100
OS Support: Windows 2000, XP, The reset button on this MB of a single
Vista, Mac OS X 10.5 device is well hid within the file, but it took
side design of the router. The about 43 seconds
router lights present on the to transfer the 101.3 and 107.8 seconds to
RatIngS front are well distinguished, assorted 100 MB file. In Zone transfer the files.
Features ..................8 having separate LED icons each 2, located one room away, This router is priced
for Power, Wired, Wireless, with a closed door as an competitively at Rs. 2,899, and if
Performance ...........7
Modem, Security and Internet. obstacle, the transfer times you are looking to buy an N150
Build Quality ...........6 This router has some good were decent as it took 26.6 router, that is under Rs. 4,000,
Value for money......5 security features such as WPA seconds and 35.4 seconds then we would recommend you
Overall .....................6.5 / WPA2, 128-bit and 64-bit respectively. Zone 3, located get this as for its price, it’s giving
WEP. Other features include a floor below the router, took you bang for the buck.
Corsair CX400W
A little less power but still plentiful!
E
verybody wants huge also has a larger fan and thus your SLI/CrossFire needs.
power supplies but runs a lot quieter. The cooling For someone who’s buying
the fact remains that is sufficient and there are no an mid-entry level graphics
most 450 to 500W stability issues whatsoever. card, the CX400 is excellent.
power supplies can handle A power supply like this It’s priced at Rs. 3,491 which Contact
most of today’s hardware. Good can easily handle a GeForce is also more expensive than Corsair
power supplies from reputed 8800GT class graphic card with the cheaper PSUs we keep Phone: 1-800-425-5464
brands are usually over 450W. a couple of hard drives on an talking about. However, it’s Email: indiaservice@corsair.com
Corsair’s new CX400W power Intel Core 2 Duo system. a much better one but we Price: Rs. 3,491
supply comes in to fill the void. For this kind of capacity, wish it were priced a little Web site: www.corsair.com
The power supply looks you can’t expect a PSU for cheaper.
similar to their hot selling Specifications
VX450 model. It has the total power: 400W,
similar sized fan and the same Power connectors: 24/20 pin
finish. This isn’t a modular power connector, 4/8-pin ATX,
power supply. The cables on 6 SATA, 6 molex and 2 floppy
the CX400W are long and will connectors
cover entire length of cabinets.
The sheathing on the cables RatIngS
isn’t as tough as the VX450 but
definitely better than what most
Features ..................7
of the 450W power supplies in Performance ...........8
the market offer. Build quality ............7
There is a difference in the Value for money......6.5
weight of this PSU and other Overall .....................7
cheaper PSUs in the market. It
Sabre gaming keyboard with OLED keys Microsoft’s Natal technology, control free gaming for the Xbox360, was recently previewed by the public Yahoo! being
72 Digit | September 2009 | www.thinkdigit.com
Belkin brings you Skype Blackberry Storm 2 Bazaar
Belkin announces their new Wi-Fi Skype Blackberry Storm 2 is expected to
phones support Wi-Fi
Blackberry Curve 8520
Finally affordable
R
IM, the company of the phone is a little squishy for Rs. 15,990. It’s currently
behind Blackberry and you can feel the quality available through Airtel.
phones plan to do when you punch in keys which Contact
away with the whole isn’t so nice. airtel / RIM
phone for the businessman The sides of the body have Phone: SMS 543210 (Airtel) for
image. Their new Blackberry a layer of rubber and this information
Curve 8520 is a much cheaper covers the controls available Price: Rs. 15,990
phone at just Rs. 15,990 on the sides for the volume Web-site: www.blackberry.com
but what do you not get as level, the camera and voice
compared to the costlier command buttons. This phone Specifications
models? was meant to be for the every Screen: 2.46-inch, 320x240;
Firstly, there isn’t the day Joe, so for ease, dedicated Camera: 2.0 MP;
sandy-feel scroll ball. It’s multimedia buttons are Connectivity: WiFi b/g and
replaced by a slightly tacky present on the body. The voice Bluetooth;
but effective trackpad which quality was average. Battery: 1150mAH;
doubles as a button. It makes The interface is still fast Dimensions: 109 x 60 x 13.9 mm;
usage a little more easier and all the usual software Weight: 106 g
and effortless. There are a bundle is still present. The
few glitches while using in battery is a 1150mAh one RatIngS
bright daylight though. The and we didn’t face any Features ..................7.5
QWERTY keypad still has the instances of the phone Performance ...........7
slightly banked and chopped running out of juice. Build quality ............6.5
design to it. Even though the Some of the other options in
keys seem tiny, using your this price range are the cheaper
Value for money......7
fingers isn’t a problem with Nokia E63 and the sturdier
Overall .....................7
this kind of design. The back E71. All in all, it’s a good phone
Western Digital My Book World II
A cool looking external storage solution with features to boot
W
Contact estern Digital’s somewhat disappointing that the the drive is somewhat expensive.
Western Digital Corporation My Book World drive can’t be directly connected It would make sense to buy
Phone: +91-93210 29204 Edition II series to a PC via USB. this only if you are looking for a
Email: amarjeet.singh@wdc.com is a networked The Dual hard-disks support NAS solution that has some of
Web site: wdc.com external storage device that RAID 0 (Mirroring) and RAID 1 the unique features mentioned
Price: Rs. 24,000 tries to make all your data (Stripe) that makes the two hard- above. .
centrally accessible and safe too. drives behave like one large 2TB
Specifications It sports a cool vanilla-colored drive. It includes automatic
Capacity: 2 TB RAID 0/1, casing that bears two 1TB WD backup software and a service
Connectivity: 10/100/1000 hard disks packed side-by-side. that lets you access the drive
Mbps Ethernet, USB (expansion) The casing is probably not from the internet. It can
Dimensions: 166 x 160 x 99 mm the toughest when it comes to also be used as a media and
Weight: 2.5 kg external desktop drives. On the iTunes server. All the settings
positive side, the hard disks are can be tweaked using an easy-
easily swappable. It connects to-use web interface; although
RatIngS to a router via the Ethernet we wish it was not as laggy.
port. Along with the Ethernet With respect to performance,
Features ..................8 port, a USB port is provided for we can say that it is on par
Performance ...........7 expansion, as well as making with other network drives.
Build Quality ...........6 any USB-based memory device The performance is almost
Value for Money......6 accessible to the network. a third of an USB external
Overall .....................7 While the network connectivity drive.
is a great thing to have, it is For roughly Rs. 25,000,
sued over accepting advertisements from pharmacy companies selling drugs without prescriptions Game developers from Iran showcase their talents at Gamescon
Digit | September 2009 | www.thinkdigit.com 73
Netbook test
Post your feedback at Android netbook
www.thinkdigit.com/d/tt0909 Acer will launch the world’s first Google
Android-based netbook in the 3rd quarter
of this year
Thinner, lighter, ofbetter
From the somewhat-
painful-to-use first
generation models
that many people
disapproved of,
A look at the current generation Netbooks
netbooks have come
a long way. Here,
we take a look at
T
he era of netbooks fixed in the second; screens the size, the price and battery
the latest breed of
dawned upon us two became bigger, keyboards more life. Also, netbooks can now netbooks available in
years ago when Asus comfortable to use, large-sized pretty much do the same the market today
gave the world the first spinning hard-disks replaced basic tasks as your desktop
Eee PC. Its physical attributes measly-sized SSDs, Windows computer or laptop (although
suggested that such devices XP replaced Linux. The result somewhat slower). We are now
would mostly be intended is that the netbook has become looking at the third generation Rohan Naravane
for kids; as their first cheap- acceptable to a wider variety of netbooks; they are growing rohan.naravane@thinkdigit.com
but-real portable computers. of people. Those looking for a out of their 10-inch screen size,
But they appealed to an older cheap portable PC to use their becoming slicker and slimmer
audience as well; serving internet and productivity apps than before, and performing
the purpose of a secondary prefer to buy these over clunky even better; especially in the
machine that could be back- cheap laptops. graphics department. NVIDIA’s
packed anywhere. The “flaws” There are three selling upcoming Ion platform is the
of the first generation were factors that tempt the audience; testament to that. The Ion
74 Digit | September 2009 | www.thinkdigit.com
Lenovo IdeaPad S12 Apple to release tablet Netbook test
Lenovo’s IdeaPad S12 with NVIDIA ION on Apple is rumoured to have been working on a
hold pending Windows 7 debut tablet PC concept which they plan to release
in 2010
platform is basically an Intel it’s a personal choice; either the NC-310 is fairly expensive. us a final score.
Atom processor paired with you like it or you don’t. The It would be a pretty decent In the battery test, it
an NVIDIA chipset that has a materials used to build it don’t netbook to recommend, had survived a good 4 hours and 30
powerful GeForce 9400 GPU give it a feeling of solidity. Not the price been a few thousand minutes. It also shined in our
onboard. to say that it’s poorly built, but rupees lower. Wi-Fi tests, where it logged in
Every major manufacturer we wouldn’t dare to manhandle faster data transfer rates even
has jumped on the netbook this one too much. We also Samsung NP-N120 over longer distances from the
bandwagon. Thus, in this wished the neck hinge was a bit A netbook that means router. The web cam delivered
article we bring you an stronger. business an average quality with a decent
extensive comparison of At 1.23 kg, it can be easily frame rate. The Samsung
netbooks currently in the carried around. The glossy Bright screen, good Wi-fi N120 is priced at Rs. 25,000.
market, to help you pick the screen is adequately bright. performance, decent battery life. That’s slightly overpriced;
best one for your needs. Below it is the pebble-style Pointy edges, the chrome as competitive models with
For the ones that did not keyboard. This offers an sidings may not appeal to a few, very similar specifications are
make it - before starting with isolated key design; that is slightly overpriced. usually around Rs. 3,500 bucks
the test, we had contacted most slight spacing between each If the NC-310 was the netbook cheaper. We wouldn’t mind
of the manufacturers currently square-shaped key. For typists for the “young and the free”, recommending this netbook if
selling netbooks in India to used to standard keyboards, the N120 offers a rather cut- it were competitively priced
send us a unit for review. A few these could take some throat “ meant for business”
manufacturers, namely Acer, time to get used to. But it is philosophy in terms of looks. Asus Eee PC 1008HA
HP, Dell and Lenovo apparently worth persevering, and once It has a smooth black finish Slim wonder
did not want their machines familiarised, they are quite easy which is fortunately finger-
compared to those from other to type on. The only sore point print proof. The edges are Ultra-thin and light, fabulous
vendors and did not send us is that the Page Up, Page Down quite pointy and the chrome appeal, good keyboard, good
samples. These brands are and arrow keys are a bit too sidings may be a turn-off for battery life for a slim device, Wi-
therefore not a part of this test. closely packed. This makes it some people. This netbook is Fi 802.11n support.
too easy to hit the wrong key. quite thin. Even with a slightly Screen brightness a bit low, non-
Samsung NC-310 The touch-pad also offers good bulging 6-cell battery, it weighs removable battery, overpriced.
A curvy netbook for accuracy. an acceptable 1.28 kilos. The The 1008HA is part of Asus’s
Generation Y. Unfortunately, all the status build quality is a little better “Seashell” line of cosmetically-
Hip-design, easy to carry LEDs are on the inside of the than the NC-310, and the same enhanced netbooks, that have
around, bright screen, good body, next to the touch-pad. goes for the screen hinge. the same guts as the older
keyboard. Thus you can’t see them when On the inside we have a versions. This Eee PC has an
Build quality not up to the mark, the lid is closed. For example, bright screen. The keyboard is ultra-sleek design. It is just 18
status LEDs not visible when lid with a closed lid you wouldn’t of typical design (not like
closed, web cam didn’t function know if your netbook is the NC-310’s isolated keys).
in our test model, expensive. running or not. The web cam The keys are quite large
This is Samsung’s attempt on our unit simply refused to and convenient to type on.
at catching the hip-crowd’s work despite repeated attempts. However, like the NC-310
attention. The NC-310 has a We therefore weren’t able to the direction keys and the
curvy build throughout which gauge its quality. Also, it wasn’t Page up and down keys
make it easy to hold and carry able to compute a graphics are small and squished
around. It also makes the score in the PCMark05 test, together. This can be
netbook look different. The thus not giving us a final inconvenient from time to
uni-coloured exterior and PCMark score. time. Unlike most netbooks
black interior also add to the The speaker strip is placed that have speakers under
coolness. Some people might above the keyboard on their belly, here they are
find the colours a bit tacky, but the lower body. It puts out placed on either side of the
pleasingly clear and unmuffled screen. Thus they produce
audio. Although the maximum an unmuffled sound
volume isn’t very high. compared to most
Its 4-cell battery survived netbooks, which is
for two-and-a-half adequately audible. Asus Eee PC 1008HA
hours in our battery Like the NC-310, it mm slim at its thinnest point.
drain test. Thus it failed on the graphics The beautifully-contoured body
should give 3 to 3.5 part of the PCMark05 has a shell-like appearance
hours of up-time under test, thus failing to give and is covered in a piano
normal usage. The battery black shade. The glossy body,
life can be termed as quite as expected, is victim to
decent. It also faired fingerprints. At an ultra-light
reasonably well 1.1 kg, this is one of the lightest
in our Wi-Fi netbooks in this test. It can
test. For easily be slid away into the
almost Rs. side-pocket of an overnighter
28,000, bag. This is probably the first
Samsung NC-310 Samsung NP-N120
Digit | September 2009 | www.thinkdigit.com 75
Netbook test Netbook or notebook? Nokia netbooks
According to the NPD Group, 60 per cent of consumers Intel and Nokia have announced
who purchased a netbook instead of a notebook did a partnership and are supposedly
not know the difference between the two working on a netbook
netbook that comes with a rate. The Rs. 27,000 price tag is that we’ve mentioned in the approximately 2-2.5 hours of
non-removable lithium-polymer the premium you’ll have to pay 1008HA write-up above. The time under normal usage; this
battery; just like the Macbook for this sleek beauty. We think web cam performs similarly to is quite a measly performance
Air or the newer Macbook its somewhat overpriced, but the 1008HA model. The Wi-Fi for a netbook. The web camera’s
Pros. This could prove to be a if the price were to drop to Rs. performance in general on all output was quite grainy and
limitation for those who like 25k or less, that would make it Eee PC models was average dark and the frame-rate was also
to carry spare batteries along a worthwhile buy. using 802.11g mode. When pretty average.
with their portables. To achieve testing with the 802.11n mode Other than the surprisingly-
the streamlined design, Asus Asus Eee PC 1005HA using a compatible router, we good screen and a decent
has neatly covered all the ports, Well-priced workhorse saw that the performance jump build, there is nothing about
thus protecting them from dust. Good keyboard, Very good was about 15-20 per cent over the Z-book that we would write
Opening this baby reveals battery life, Wi-Fi 802.11n 802.11g. The Eee PC 1005HA home about. It is by far the
the typical 10-inch screen with support, Well priced. is priced quite reasonably cheapest netbook we’ve seen at
a web cam atop. We felt that the Screen brightness a bit low. at Rs. 21,500. This model just Rs. 16,500. That’s almost
screen lacked the brightness On the heels of the slim ‘n’ will give you pretty much 20 per cent cheaper than the
that most of the other brands sexy 1008HA is its slightly everything from the 1008HA next cheapest netbook. For the
gave. We wouldn’t really call chubby sibling, the 1005HA. Its model for Rs. 6500 less. So, price, you compromise a bit on
this a deal-breaker though. The top shares the same shell-like if you want a decent netbook the usability and performance
keyboard has large QWERTY look of its thinner cousin. It and can sacrifice the ultra-thin but it’s still a very usable piece
keys that are good to type on. may not be very thin, but it is measurement of the 1008HA, of hardware.
While trying to fit such large certainly sleeker and attractive this is the model you should
keys, the Up-Down, arrow compared to earlier iterations consider. Asus Eee PC 1101HA
and top-row function keys of the Eee PC. The 1005HA Breaking the 10-inch
are shrunk considerably. We has a non-glossy base, unlike Zenith Premium barrier
would have appreciated if at the fully-glossy body of the Z-book 11.1-inch screen size, excellent
least the Up-Down keys were 1008HA. Other than that, Cheap, in every sense of battery life, comparatively sleek,
a little bigger. The touch-pad both the models are the same the term comfortable keyboard.
also receives the much-needed internally. Good quality bright screen, Screen brightness a bit low,
improvement over earlier Citing one of the few sturdy build, cheap price. under-powered processor.
models in terms of accuracy. Its differences between the two, the Average keyboard and touchpad The first Eee PC to break
dotted-texture also usability, measly battery life. the 10-inch screen barrier,
provides a better The Zenith Z-book has a the 1101HA has a slightly
feel and grip while slightly small footprint and larger footprint in order to
navigating. The real isn’t really eye-candy compared accommodate the 11.6-inch,
kill-joy for us was to the others in our test. The 1366x768 pixel screen. It has
that the multi- device feels quite compact to kept its thickness under check,
touch scrolling SEPTEMBER 2009 hold and has quite a solid feel and the overall machine is
option, available to it. The screen hinge offered quite portable. Sharing the
on many previous more-than-adequate resistance Seashell-branded appearance
Eee PC models, Opening this netbook reveals of the family, the cool-looking
has been replaced a very bright screen. We tried white model that we received
with the traditional watching a few 720p hi-def reminded us of the older
side-scrolling videos on it and realised that the Macbooks.
Asus Eee PC 1005HA
mechanism. screen delivered quite admirably. The “HD” resolution display
On the inside, The contrast-ratio, as seen by our has a 16:9 aspect ratio; great
we find Intel’s new tests, was also very high. But this for watching movies without
Atom N280 processor that has 1005HA has a removable 6-cell is where praise for the Z-book those black borders. A short-
a 60 MHz speed bump over battery that delivers a really ends. The keyboard is cramped length 720p test video looked
the N270s fitted in most of the good battery life; close to six compared to the well spaced pretty good and ran quite
models. We concluded from hours in our stress-test. Thus, ones on other models. The smoothly. Although we felt
our tests that the N280 boosts this model can survive close to only good thing about it is that that the screen brightness
performance by a slight margin. an eight-hour working- it has media playback was not up to the mark. The
The speed-up is not really day without a charge shortcuts on its function display wasn’t vibrant enough
noticeable when using typical - if you’re not going to keys. Even the touch- compared to some others in
apps. Also, all the Eee PCs, do resource-intensive pad left-and-right click our test. But for typical work
including this one, support the work. Amongst SEPTEMBER 2009
buttons are flimsy. such as internet surfing and
latest Wi-Fi 802.11n standard, the bundle of apps The Z-book doesn’t document editing, it’s quite
which is much appreciated. that Asus packed impress as such in the sufficient. The keyboard is well
The built-in battery raked with this model, we performance figures. spaced and easy to type on.
out a nearly three-and-a-half liked the Parental The battery died The touch-pad is similar to the
hour battery life - this is good Control and the out after 1.5 hours. 1005HA and 1008HA model.
for such a slim device. Thus, Font Resizer. It should give This model comes with a low-
under normal usage, it should Other than the power Atom Z520 processor
give you more than four hours non-removable running at 1.33 GHz. From the
of juice. The web cam belted battery, the synthetic tests, it is clear that
out decent quality but not 1005HA also the 1101HA’s performance is
exactly with a smooth frame- shares the cons even lower than the low-scoring
Zenith Premium Z-book
76 Digit | September 2009 | www.thinkdigit.com
Eee keyboard Jolicloud
The Eee Keyboard is a PC-in-a-keyboard with an Cloud-based OS in the making Netbook test
Atom processor, an SSD, 5-inch, 800 x 480 pixel for netbooks
touchscreen display, and wireless HDMI
For somebody who wants well and are really
a netbook but feels that soft to type on,
10-inch screens are a bit once you get the
too small, this model is a hang of them.
good option to consider. The touch-pad is
We would recommend it also adequately
for people who just large. The machine
want to use the comes with the new
internet, Atom N280 processor
office suites, that offers a minor speed-
standard- up compared to the N270.
res videos In our battery drain test
and other non- it touched almost two
Asus Eee PC 1101HA resource-heavy apps. hours. Thus, one should
Just remember that you’re get roughly three hours of
Zenith Z-book, but paying close to Rs. 5,000 Sony Vaio W normal usage; this is quite
in real-life, we didn’t extra for 1.5 inches of extra fair for a three-cell battery.
notice a lag when running basic screen size and one hour We were also impressed by
applications. But a two-hour more battery life (compared to feel wise, Sony does make a its transfer speeds using the Wi-
long 720p Hi-def movie file the 1005HA). mark. This baby will be noticed Fi 802.11n mode. The Vaio W’s
lagged a lot during playback. wherever you carry it. The build only two USB ports might be
Even though Asus advertises Sony Vaio W quality is also quite decent. It’s too few for people who attach
its “HD” display so profusely, Overpriced, but a good fairly light at 1.2 kg and thin a lot of peripherals to their PCs
we consider that this machine netbook enough to be carried around at a time.
is not suitable for watching HD Sleek and attractive design, easily. I’ts web cam is accompanied
videos. high-resolution screen, Opening the lid reveals by a nifty app which allows for
A low-powered processor is comfortable keyboard, fast Wi-Fi a 10.1-inch screen bearing a face detection. This zooms into
bound to have a positive impact 802.11n performance. higher-than-usual 1366x768 your face and tracks it even if
on the battery life, and we Expensive, only 2 USB ports. “HD” resolution. In our you change your position. It
measured an astounding figure After its daring attempt with opinion, this resolution makes can also do other cool effects
of close to seven hours in our the Vaio P “Lifestyle PC”, any text content appear a bit such as face-blurring, eye-mask,
battery drain test. Thus, if used Sony is using the tried-and- too small for convenience. warp, etc. Overall, the Sony
under light-load, it could very tested netbook formula with We found it necessary to Vaio W is a good netbook to
well last you more than eight this model. The Vaio W is a use a quick fix (a higher consider, but it’s going to cost
hours. The web cam quality is typical 10-inch netbook. It font dpi setting) to take care you Rs. 30,000. This high-
again similar to previous Asus does maintain Sony’s signature of that. However, we liked margin price difference between
Eee PC models; i.e. decent. style-statement all over; with watching hi-res 720p videos the Vaio W and the others is
Quake 3 refused to run on this the Vaio logo atop its glossy on this machine. A pebble or what we could perhaps call
machine. Thus we couldn’t covering and the wireless and segregated-style keyboard, the “Sony tax”. We would
measure its fps score. power switch on the edges. The typical of most Sony laptops have gladly recommended this
At Rs. 26,000, the pricing for top fortunately does not attract we see nowadays, is fitted in model, had the price been even
this model is quite appropriate. fingerprints. Overall, look-and- this one. All keys are sized a rupee below Rs. 25,000.
how we tested MSI Wind
• Most netbooks came with 3DMark05 and SiSoft Sandra our test PC. We then paired Ultra-light netbook with
Windows XP Home Edition SP3 2008. Other than that, we the netbooks to our router, few shortcomings
pre-installed. On those that included a battery of real- thus enabling them to access Light-weight, bright screen with
came with Linux or no OS, XP world tests to determine the the contents of our Test PC. A great contrast.
was installed along with drivers performance of the various 100 MB test file was copied No bluetooth, no OS pre-
for running the Windows-based components and features of back-and-forth between the installed, only 80 GB hard disk,
benchmark tools. the netbooks. netbook and the test PC at low battery life.
• All pre-installed software (except - Build quality was assessed, two different distances. For The MSI Wind U100 is the
for drivers) were un-installed. included the type of materials the “Short Distance” the first netbook from the MSI
Automatic updates, remote used and the sturdiness of the netbook was kept next to the stable. The white colour with
desktop and system restore were screen hinge. router. With “Long Distance”, a minimally-designed top
turned off. - Ergonomics, included the the netbook was at a point makes it look neat. The build
• The system was set to “Best usability of the keyboard outside the test PC’s closed quality is quite decent. It may
appearance” mode. Screensavers and touch-pad, also the room, around 20 metres away. not be as ultra-thin as the
were turned off, all power- accessibility of ports. • The display was tested for Eee PC 1008HA, but at 1 kg,
saving settings were disabled - The battery life test, using the brightness and contrast ratio this is certainly the lightest
and the screen was bumped to looped-playback of our test using a Spyder3Elite calibration
netbook we have in this test.
maximum brightness. video file with the volume tool.
The keyboard is also quite
• The tests and assessments that turned to maximum • We used DivX Pro v.7.0 to
easy to type on, except for one
we used: - The wireless test was encode our 100 MB test VOB
- Synthetic benchmarks performed by directly format video file into the DivX anomaly. The Fn and Control
including PCMark05, connecting a Wi-Fi Router to format. key on the left corner have
interchanged places.
Digit | September 2009 | www.thinkdigit.com 77
Netbook test
SEPTEMBER 2009 SEPTEMBER 2009
Brand Zenith Intex MSI Asus
Model Z-book N101W-C1100 Wind U100 Eee PC 1005HA
Price (Rupees) Rs. 16,500 Rs. 19,400 Rs. 19,800 Rs. 21490
Features (Out of 75) 53.09 42.94 46.88 54.85
Performance (Out of 25) 14.95 13.99 14.62 20.22
Grand Total (Out of 100) 68.04 56.92 61.50 75.07
Features
Component Specifications
Processor Model Intel Atom N270 Intel Atom N270 Intel Atom N270 Intel Atom N280
Processor Speed (Ghz) 1.6 1.6 1.6 1.66
Memory (GB) / RAM Type / Memory Speed 1 / DDR2 1 / DDR2 1 / DDR2 1 / DDR2
Chipset Intel 945GSE + ICH7M Intel 945GSE + ICH7M Intel 945GSE + ICH7M Intel 945GSE + ICH7M
Graphics Solution Intel GMA 950 Intel GMA 950 Intel GMA 950 Intel GMA 950
HDD Size (GB) 160GB 160GB 80GB 160GB
Bundled OS Windows XP Home No OS Linux Windows XP Home
Battery Capacity (mAh) 2200 3550 2200 5600
Characteristics
Dimensions (WxDxH) (mm) 263 x 184 x 35 272 x 186 x 26 260 x 180 x 19 (~31.5) 262 x 178 x 25.9 (~36.5)
Screen Size (Inches) 10.2 10.1 10.1 10.1
Screen Resolution (Pixels) 1024 x 600 1024 x 576 1024 x 600 1024 x 600
Weight (kg) ~1.35 1.2 1 1.27
No of Ports (USB) 3 2 3 3
Wireless Connectivity
Bluetooth Y N N Y
WiFi b/g b/g b/g b/g/n
Type of Memory Cards Supported MMC/SD/MS/MS-Pro MMC/SD/MS MMC/SD(HC)/MS/MS-Pro MMC/SD(HC)
Performance
Synthetic Scores
PC Mark 2005
CPU Score 1457 1495 1503 1561
Memory Score 2240 2401 2415 2540
Graphics Score N/A N/A 515 616
HDD 4645 4647 4252 4661
Overall N/A N/A 1509 1688
SiSoft Sandra 2008 Lite
CPU Arithmetic (Dhrystone/Whetstone) 4034 / 3338 4035 / 3338 4045 / 3237 4204 / 3474
CPU Multimedia (Integer/Floating) 29471 / 19910 29318 / 19928 29566 / 19950 30752 / 20858
HDD (Index/Random Access Time) 51 / 9 51 / 8 52 / 9 56 / 12
Memory bandwidth (Integer/Floating) 2926 / 2555 2884 / 2479 2991 / 2594 3069 / 2635
3D Mark 2005
CPU Score 1552 1596 N/A 1691
Overall Score 229 240 N/A 261
Real World Tests
Build Quality (Out of 10) 7.5 6 6.5 7
Ergonomics (Out of 10) 5 6 6.5 6.5
Audio Test Speakers (Out of 10)
Volume 5.5 5.5 6.5 7
Clarity 5.5 5.5 5.5 6
WinRAR 3.8 (Compression / Decompression) 368 370 244 380
Quake 3 47.9 N/A 47.6 49.4
Webcam Quality 4 6.5 5.5 6
Screen Quality (Spyder3 Elite)
Luminance 248.6 N/A 217 147.3
Contrast Ratio 358.5:1 N/A 558.1:1 70.4:1
Partition-to-partition Copy (1GB file) (secs) 57.7 63 55 37.9
100 MB File Conversion (VOB-to-DivX) (secs) 1025 1021 1024 1000
Battery Life (hrs:mins:sec) 1:26:05 2:19:50 1:27:26 5:47:28
Wi-Fi Test (100MB file over 802.11g) (secs)
Short Distance
Netbook-to-Test PC 65 38 45 37
Test PC-to-Netbook 44 37 39 32
Long Distance
Netbook-to-Test PC 106 132 103 104
Test PC-to-Netbook 60 175 90 64
78 Digit | September 2009 | www.thinkdigit.com
Netbook test
Samsung Connoi Asus Asus Samsung Sony
N120 Classmate tablet PC Eee PC 1101HA Eee PC 1008HA NC-310 Vaio W
Rs. 24,177 Rs. 24,500 Rs. 25,990 Rs. 26990 Rs. 27,939 29990
52.91 43.13 57.21 54.58 53.23 56.13
18.48 14.79 17.97 18.05 15.84 17.36
71.39 57.92 75.18 72.63 69.07 73.49
Intel Atom N270 Intel Atom N270 Intel Atom Z520 Intel Atom N280 Intel Atom N270 Intel Atom N280
1.6 1.6 1.33 1.66 1.6 1.66
1 / DDR2 1 / DDR2 1 / DDR2 1 / DDR2 1 / DDR2 1 / DDR2
Intel 945GSE + ICH7M Intel 945GSE + ICH7M Intel 945GSE + ICH7M Intel 945GSE + ICH7M Intel 945GSE + ICH7M Intel 945GSE Express
Intel GMA 950 Intel GMA 950 Intel GMA 500 Intel GMA 950 Intel GMA 950 Intel GMA 950
160GB 60GB 160GB 160GB 160GB 160GB
Windows XP Home Windows XP Home Windows XP Home Windows XP Home Windows XP Home Windows XP Home
5200 4800 5600 N/A 4000 2100
272.0 x 188.5 x 29.8 241 x 191 x 38.1 286 x 196 x 21.8 (~36.2) 262 x 178 x 18 (~25.7) 262 x 184.5 x 28 267 x 179 x 27 (~32.4)
10.1 8.9 11.6 10.1 10.1 10.1
1024 x 600 1024 x 600 1366 x 768 1024 x 600 1024 x 600 1366 x 768
1.28 1.35 1.38 1.1 1.23 1.19
3 2 3 2 3 2
Y N Y Y Y Y
b/g b/g/n b/g/n b/g/n b/g b/g/n
MMC/SD(HC) MMC/SD MMC/SD(HC) MMC/SD(HC) MMC/SD(HC) MMC/SD(HC)/MS-Pro
1498 1460 1249 1560 1488 1552
2411 2317 1993 2528 2397 2462
N/A N/A 276 586 N/A 536
4289 2704 4186 4780 4257 4179
N/A N/A 1155 1683 N/A 1555
4028 / 3335 3923 / 3300 3345 / 2766 4195 / 3484 4016 / 3329 4204 / 3486
29348 / 19891 29107 / 19630 24475 / 16480 30674 / 20796 29468 / 19943 30622 / 20676
53 / 10 28 / 12 53 / 10 53 / 12 54 / 10 51 / 9
2905 / 2528 2803 / 2441 2434 / 2112 3073 / 2641 2969 / 2582 2738 / 2332
1645 1545 1129 1696 1627 1632
249 242 147 248 247 240
7 6.5 7 7 6 7
6.5 6.5 7 6.5 7 7.5
6 5.5 7 6 6 6.5
6.5 5.5 6.5 6.5 7 6
390 357 289 380 385 372
49.7 N/A N/A 50.7 49.2 47.9
5 6 6 6 N/A 7
213.4 160.8 127.2 131.2 223.9 207
70.4:1 61.5:1 82.2:1 70.8:1 68.5:1 87.1:1
51.9 84 50 41.3 51.6 64
1014 1071 1229 976 1026 1004
4:31:51 2:37:52 6:51:00 3:21:30 2:30:54 1:58:36
38 28 40 42 38 38
33 28 34 33 34 33
55 157 162 156 81 125
48 256 82 87 86 74
Digit | September 2009 | www.thinkdigit.com 79
Netbook test MSI Wind U210
MSI plans to launch the Wind U210 with a 1.6 GHz Samsung N510
AMD Athlon Neo processor, a 12.1 inch HD display Samsung’s N510 featuring NVIDIA’s Ion chipset expected
and ATI Mobility Radeon X1250 graphics to be launched next month
In the days is not very thin. On the inside,
when 160 GB has we have a 1024x576 pixel Connoi tablet PC
become quite display; just four vertical
common for pixels shy of the typical A good companion for kids since this
netbooks, the 1024x600 resolution. The The Connoi Tablet PC is based on machine is
MSI Wind’s 80 keyboard is good in terms the Intel Classmate PC concept. As intended
GB hard drive of typing comfort we will see further in this review, for kids,
space feels and the direction this model is specifically targeted this shouldn’t
rather cramped. keys are a wee at school-going kids. For one, this really be a
Also, the model that bit smaller netbook looks a bit kiddish, but problem. The
we received came with than usual. its plastic body is built decently. touch-pad sensivity is
SuSe Linux Enterprise The touch-pad The manufacturers claim that also good. Spec-wise there are a
Desktop 10 pre-installed sensitivity is about it is sturdy enough to survive few differences from the rest of
instead of Windows XP. MSI Wind U100 average, although the odd drops and water spills. It has a the herd. For one, this netbook
Lastly, the battery life button placement might not (removable) handle for carrying has a 1.8-inch 60 GB hard
did not fare so well, clocking be convenient for some. it around like a mini-briefcase. At disk; which might prove to be
in at 1.5 hours. At Rs. 20,000, Many of us are aware 1.35 kg, it’s not overly heavy and insufficient in today’s world.
the MSI Wind’s pricing is fair. that installing Windows XP shouldn’t add substantial weight Performance-wise, it
But other than the great screen, (especially using a USB flash to a kid’s already-heavy school- worked at a decent pace. The
it does not have anything drive) is a lengthy and difficult enabled model amongst all those performance bottle-neck in
special that would inspire us to procedure. The least Intex could in this test. The screen has a this machine proved to be its
recommend it. At just Rs. 1,500 do is sell the N101W with a 180-degree tilting mechanism that slower 1.8-inch hard drive. We
more, you can get the Eee PC Linux OS. After installing XP converts this typical netbook into also hoped for a little more than
1005HA that trumps this model ourselves, we ran it through our a stylus-operated tablet. You can 2.5 hours from its 6-cell battery.
on many counts. battery of tests. Of them, we even use it in vertical mode like an In terms of software, it comes
couldn’t get Quake3 to run on e-book reader. with a number of usable apps.
Intex N101W-C1100 this one. The same was the case The screen is slightly small The best had to be ArtRage2,
Tacky-designed, nothing with our test to judge screen at 8.9 inches, but bears a a touch-friendly version of a
extraordinary brightness and contrast ratio. standard 1024x600 pixel Paint app. Even the handwriting
Decent web cam and battery The battery lasted an acceptable resolution. Although the screen recognition tool is quite
life. two hours and twenty minutes. accepts stylus input fairly well, accurate, after a brief training
Tacky design, no OS Thus we should expect around the underlying software (and session. At. Rs. 24,500, it is priced
preinstalled. three hours of normal play-time Windows XP) is not finger- appropriately considering that
Intex has taken a different with this model. The web cam optimised. Thus, kids will need it is a netbook-cum-tablet PC.
approach in terms of design delivered a clear image with a to whip out the stylus or try to This makes it quite a sweet deal
with its N101W netbook. It is decent frame-rate. use their fingernails to operate and would be a good choice
designed to resemble a book; At Rs. 19,000, the price this device. The keyboard under as a first PC for kids. It will help
suggesting that it is targeted seems to be quite fair. But its the screen is somewhat cramped them jump onto the electronic
at the youth. Also, due to its design philosophy and average for adults with large fingers. But, revolution at an early age.
design, the screen cannot be usability does not help us
tilted beyond roughly 120 recommend this model.
degrees. The build model. If Sony slashes the price highlight is the Connoi Classmate
quality is quite Conclusion by at least Rs. 5,000 rupees, we’ll PC. This netbook is designed
acceptable, After our exhaustive testing, we be glad to recommend it. with the idea that computers are
but this come to the conclusion that the Going by sheer numbers, the going to be a big part of children’s
Eee PC 1005HA bags the prize Zenith Premium Z-book takes education, and not just another
as the best performer. It has the Best Buy Award thanks to subject in the curriculum. Its
the right mix of components its ultra-low Rs. 16,500 price touch-screen abilities bring
coupled with an elegant tag. Although it has the same out many unique features that
design and a perfect price; internals as most of the models children can use. Also, this is a
given its functionality. Coming in out there, it somewhat lacks in real PC, with a familiar operating
close at second place is the other terms of usability. We feel you system that provides a plethora
ASUS Eee PC 1101HA. The Sony should spend a few thousand of usability options. If you are
Vaio W follows. Other than the rupees more to get the Eee PC willing to invest Rs. 25,000, this
ultra-high price tag, we found 1005HA. could very well be a great gift for
Intex N10W-C1100 device nothing to complain about this Another model we’d like to your child.
Contact Sheet
Brand Contact Phone Email address Web site
Connoi Connoiseur Electronics Private limited +91-80-4115 2203 harish@connoiseur.com www.connoiseur.com
MSI MSI India +91-11-4175 8808 marketing@msi-in.com http://in.msi.com
Intex Intex Technologies (India) Ltd 1-800-116 789 info@intextechnologies.com www.intextechnologies.com
Zenith Zenith Computers Limited 1-800-222 004 info@zenith-india.com www.zenithpc.com
ASUS ASUS Technology Pvt. Ltd. 1-800-209 0365 media_india@asus.com www.asus.in
Sony Sony India 1-800-111 188 sonyindia.care@ap.sony.com www.sony.co.in
Samsung Samsung India +91-11-4151 1234 ravi.gulati@samsung.com samsung.co.in
80 Digit | September 2009 | www.thinkdigit.com
With Core i5 release pending EVGA, Intel Clarkdale
CPU test
an NVIDIA only vendor surprises by Intel’s 32-nm plans become a little clearer as it announces
announcing their P55 platform three sets of parts: Core i9, Core i5 and Core i3
Michael Browne (fanboys aside) buy an Intel. got the painful pleasure of a Rs. 2,160 to a stupendous Rs.
michael.browne@thinkdigit.com Those with a lower budget choice. 56,000, our test candidates
would get an AMD. Intel has Our CPU test coincides strut their stuff.
A
been on an undoubted roll with an important launch.
couple of years ago, since the Core architecture Intel’s Core i5 CPUs – the Processors up to
choosing a CPU was and its fabrication plants have mid-range derivative of Rs. 5,000 -
a simple as buying a been shipping out newer, faster the Core i7 (Nehalem) Basic(ally) Sensible
loaf of bread. Those revisions quicker than we can architecture are soon to be Let’s face it – you pay for what
that wanted performance buy them. AMD’s Phenom out. Unfortunately, Intel you get. Another fact – Rs.
bought a Core 2 Duo, while CPUs bombed badly, and the slated this launch for the first 5,000 will buy you a lot of
the value segment bought an strong-on-paper architecture week of September meaning processing power, much more
Athlon 64. The only decision scored no benchmark love. these CPUs would be under than you could have bought a
that needed to be made was Fast-forward to around embargo till after this issue of year ago. Our CPU test comes
the extent of expenditure. In nine months back and the Digit hits stands. Despite some at a time when both Intel and
fact, up to a year ago, there was introduction of the Phenom motherboard vendors such AMD have recently announced
very little competition between II. We’ve seen AMD’s CPUs as ASUS, Gigabyte and MSI price cuts – in fact, the price
Intel and AMD, and before get faster; in fact their happily shipping us Intel P55 cuts were announced just as
you scoff at our dementia for quickest CPUs are as quick chipset-based motherboards, we finished testing. As things
conjuring such a statement as the fastest Core 2 Quads we couldn’t test these CPUs stand today processor prices
hear us out. Intel ruled the around – a fact easily verified thanks to these awkward dates. are pretty much rock bottom,
high-end and upper-mid- by our tests. So the mid- Till October then... meanwhile at least in this category.
range of the market. If anyone range segment has become we have a very wide range of When spending not more
wanted to spend upward competitive again. And you, processors on show – from than Rs. 5,000 you should
of Rs. 8,000 on a processor our readers and adopters of single cores to hyper-threading expect something that can
they would almost certainly such technology, have finally quad cores. From a humble get you through all everyday
Photography: Jiten Gandhi
Imaging: Shrikrishna Patkar
New We’ve seen AMD’s CPUs get faster; in fact their quickest CPUs are as quick
as the fastest Core 2 Quads around
Horizons
Digit | September 2009 | www.thinkdigit.com 81
CPU test Corsair unveiled a 128
GB version of their Intel Pinetrail
ultra fast Voyager GT The next generation Atom successor will have both
flash drives memory controller and graphics core on-die
how we tested
The CPUs were divided into represents both buyers who We used Windows Vista thermal throttling down, halt
three categories: want sterling performance for Ultimate 32-bit with SP1. states, temperature monitoring
1. Up to Rs. 5,000 a solid price and those who We carefully chose the best, and variable multipliers. We
2. Rs. 5,001 to Rs. 12,500 demand the best, regardless of most stable and high-end thereby eliminate any chances
3. Rs. 12,501 and above cost. motherboards to ensure no of performance being affected
The first category represents Since CPU features or CPU was bottlenecked. ASUS’ due to the time lag between
entry-level processors. The specifications are of very little GeForce GTX 285 was the speeding up and down,
second category also represents consequence and performance graphics card of choice. We used irrespective of either company’s
value, especially the lower rungs. and price are the only two Corsair Dominator memory claim to the effectiveness of their
The top end of this middle things that matter, we have all round and the timings variable clocking mechanisms.
category has good value for ignored features and gave were carefully kept constant For the Core i7 CPUs we kept
money as most of these CPUs a full weighting (i.e. 100) to throughout the test. hyper-threading enabled,
are pretty powerful and should performance. Therefore the When testing CPUs we although we did disable it on a
suffice for even power users. performance score is the same ensure they run at their default subsequent run of the Intel Core
The top category consists of as the grand total score in our stated clock speeds at all times. i7 975 EE just to see how this
the fastest processors and tables. For this we disable any sort of affected the scores.
Test Configurations used:
Intel Core 2 duo Intel Core i7 AMd AM3 AMd AM2
Motherboard ASUS P5Q3 Deluxe ASUS P6T Deluxe v2 Gigabyte 790FX-UD5 ASUS 780G
RAM 2 x 2 GB DDR3 @ 1333 MHz 3 x 1 GB DDR3 @ 1333 MHz 2 x 2 GB DDR3 @ 1333 MHz 2 x 2 GB DDR2 @ 1066 MHz
(8-8-8-20) (8-8-8-20) (8-8-8-20) (5-5-5-15)
Graphics Card ASUS GeForce GTX 285 ASUS GeForce GTX 285 ASUS GeForce GTX 285 ASUS GeForce GTX 285
Hard Drive Seagate 7200.11 500 GB Seagate 7200.11 500 GB Seagate 7200.11 500 GB Seagate 7200.11 500 GB
A brief description of the benchmarks used:
synthetic description Real world description
3D Mark We only ran the CPU tests. The CPUs FP unit is stressed Maya 2008 Multi-core3D rendering benchmark. Can be set to
Vantage with a number of physics intensive scenes. Since Vantage utilise a single or more cores. Doesn’t scale beyond 8
scales with multi-core CPUs as well as clock speed it is logical cores. We set it to render a scene at 1024 x 1024
sensitive to minute changes - a good benchmark pixels, at production quality. Multi-core and single core
performance were tested
Wprime 2.0 We recorded the time taken to calculate the square WinRAR 3.9 Test compression/decompression capability
roots of the first 32-million integers. Pure FP stress Beta
benchmark and one used commonly in number crunching
comparative tests. Scales excellently with multiple cores
CineBench Developed by Maxxon, a 3D scene is used to render DivX 7 Encoding .VOB to DivX. Supports SSE 4.1
R10 a photo-realistic image. Stresses CPU capabilities for encoding
features including reflection, ambient occlusion, area
lighting and procedural shaders. Uses up to 16 cores. Tests
SSE capabilities and has support for SSE 4.2
Valve Uses the half life 2 engine and simulates particle physics. Handbrake Encoding a .VOB file to x264. Supports SSE 4 and supports
Multicore CPU A good benchmark for judging physics and rendering up to 8 processor cores. Has better multicore support than
benchmark capabilities of a CPU DivX 7 but is slower
POV Ray 3.62 Raytracing benchmark supports most features like Company Of An RTS game that utilises multiple threads, therefore
multiple and different light sources, radiosity, surface Heroes Tales suitable for multi-core CPUs
patterns. Doesn’t support SMP and multiple cores at the Of Valor
moment, therefore is a good test of per core performance
and therefore CPU architectural performance
ScienceMark Membench tests overall processor to memory bandwidth Crysis CPU benchmark was run. This benchmark has heavy
2.0 and also the L1 and L2 cache speed and latency. emphasis on physics and a lot of destructive environments.
Cryptography uses the AES encryption algorithym to A good measure of a processors ability at running modern
assess the performance of FP math co-processor games. We ran it at 1024 x 768 pixels and low quality to
prevent our graphics solution from bottlenecking scores
Doom 3 The in-game timedemo was run three times and an
average of the 2nd and 3rd score were taken. The Doom
3 engine is old but because of its ultra sensitivity to
any change in physical hardware is a good indicator of
performance. It scales with clock speed primarily, but also
scales with the number of cores
82 Digit | September 2009 | www.thinkdigit.com
OCZ has launched their new “Z” New chip foundry CPU test
series of power supplies which are GlobalFoundries, the chip fabrication spin-off from AMD,
80 plus Gold certified – most efficient gears up as it gets its first customer for 22nm; and it’s not
rating possible AMD, but ST Micro
tasks with ease – surfing, 3D Mark Vantage and MemBench
watching movies (including
HD playback), basic gaming,
office work. Single core
processors are largely Jurassic
and you shouldn’t be buying
one – more applications are
slowly getting multithreaded
and in order to run them
optimally you need a multi-
core CPU. CPUs in this price
bracket are not meant for
high-end gamers or rendering
workstations. There are very
few specifications we can
recommend and we also
suggest you stay away from
the typical vendor jargon such
as “you need at least a 2.0
GHz dual core” – processor
clock speeds and the number
of cores alone are not always
a yardstick of their generic
performance. Some CPUs are
naturally better suited to some
applications just as surely as Rs. 2,160. Shockingly, it bares out on an integrated memory happens. Shame on Intel for
most application developers its teeth quite successfully controller (IMC hereon). not offering a faster FSB speed
design their software with against Intel’s two costlier dual This is a double whammy such as is present on its Core 2
optimisations for a particular core offerings – no doubt on for AMD, since we know that Duo processors, but AMD isn’t
CPU vendor. account of its higher core clock for any dual core sans IMC going to cry about this.
AMD’s Sempron 140 was and the higher FSB speed. to perform, the FSB speed Just take a look at the
the sole single core in the Remember that Intel’s basic should be suitably high to ScienceMark 2.0 memory
entire comparison and it’s dual cores run off an 800 MHz prevent data bottlenecking in bandwidth scores – AMD gets
also the cheapest processor, at bus and these CPUs also miss the FSB. Evidently, this is what an advantage owing to the
minimal latency between the
CPU and IMC which are on
Video encoding, Rendering and Wprime the same die. For Intel the
(less is better) memory controller resides
on the Northbridge chip
connected via its super slow
800 MHz FSB, which is why
its scores dip, despite using
fast DDR3 RAM. In fact, all
four AMD processors are faster
on the whole than their Intel
counterparts. Three of the
costlier AMD CPUs are faster
at games – one application
considered during the last four
years to be Intel’s forte. AMD’s
newer Athlon II processors
are codenamed Regor, and are
based on a 45-nm fabrication
process and have relatively
large caches of 256 kB
(L1) and 2 MB (L2). These
processors are the fastest in
terms of clock speed in this
group, the Athlon II X2 240
and X2 250 being 2.8 GHz
and 3.0 GHz. The fact that the
single core Sempron 140 can
get a performance edge over
Intel’s dual-core offerings just
Seconds
demonstrates how important
Digit | September 2009 | www.thinkdigit.com 83
CPU test The new 34nm MLC flash based SSD Electronics gets Bio shot!
drives from Intel get a firmware Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory scientists are
upgrade to resolve data corruption claiming that Bionanoelectronic devices can speed up
issues face by some customers electronics and even processing
the memory and bus in this category are certainly for each extra core added. 905E, the suffix E denotes an
subsystem is to a processor’s a diverse bunch and a simple Most racing simulations and energy efficient design and
performance. It also underlines price to price comparison fps games tend to favour clock this CPU’s TDP (Thermal
the importance of avoiding won’t bring out every aspect speeds – although this is Design Power) is only 65
a bottleneck. AMD’s Athlon of their abilities. Some are not a hard and fast rule and watts, compared to the higher
7850BE was the only “black better suited to a particular set exceptions exist. clocked Phenom II 810 with
edition” chip in this group, of tasks while others excel at After AMD’s dominance a TDP of 95 watts. Note that
meaning its multiplier is others. in the previous category, this all these AMD CPUs bear the
‘upward unlocked’. Faster clock category was a little more Phenom 2 moniker, meaning
Most processors have speeds used to be even between processors from they have L3 caches, whereas
multipliers that can the order of the day both brands. The cheapest any CPU with the Athlon
scale down, but never for gamers, but tread CPUs are Intel’s Core 2 Duo nomenclature doesn’t have an
scale above their with caution here, E7200 and E7400. It’s also L3 cache.
SEPTEMBER 2009 because the newer interesting to find the Doom 3 shows
crop of games are Core 2 Duo E8400 its age in terms of
slowly becoming and the quad-core multi-core support
multi-threaded. duo (Intel Q8200 and – the highest AMD
However, that’s not Q8400) very close to
to say clock speed is each other in terms SEPTEMBER 2009
not important. In fact, of price. Although
from the many games the former is a high
we tried and discarded clocked dual core at 3
we found that GHz, the latter offers
S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Clear two extra cores at lower
Sky, Crysis Warhead clock speeds, i.e. 2.33
and Far Cry 2 all GHz and 2.66 GHz,
respond with greater respectively. These
fervour to clock speeds processors are all priced
than number of cores. within Rs. 200 of each
AMD Athlon X2 250 In general, RTS and other. AMD squeezes
RPG games, because in one dual core, one
maximum value. These black of their complex AI and AI tri-core and two quad
edition CPUs are intended for pathfinding routines, tend to cores. Of special interest
overclockers. Our Best Buy offer improved performance is the Phenom II X4 Intel Core 2 Quad Q8400
award goes to the Athlon II
X2 250 from AMD, a solid
performer that makes an Games
excellent buy at a price point
of Rs. 4,150.
Processors between
Rs. 5,001 and
Rs. 12,500 - Shooting
from the hip
For many people, this wide
range represents the sweet
spot – this is where processors
start getting interesting and the
term future proofing starts to
emerge. Entry-level quad and
tri-cores make their presence
felt and while some still feel
anything more than two cores
is overkill, not to mention
underutilised, these processors
are most certainly the future.
In fact, both companies have
announced their intentions
to make six-core processors
available by next year.
Parallelism is the shape of
things to come, graphics cards
have already gone massively
parallel and processors aren’t
FPS
lagging far behind. The CPUs
84 Digit | September 2009 | www.thinkdigit.com
Cheaper Graphene?
Three professors from Northwestern’s McCormick School
of Engineering and Applied Science have created a IE8 a tortoise?
CPU test
cheaper technique of manufacturing graphene, which is FutureMark Corp. said IE8 was the slowest browser
touted as a possible silicon replacement around and even Safari from Apple was much faster
Phenom II X2 550BE and the
Intel E8400 best this test.
If anything, the E8400 is
the faster of the two despite
having a 100 MHz clock
disadvantage. Tales of Valor
also favours the fast E8400.
However, the video encoding
benchmarks, WinRAR 3.9 and
Maya 2008, all of which are
heavily multithreaded, favour
the quad-core processors. In
fact, in the HandBrake x264
encoding test the Q8400 was
nearly twice as fast as the
E8400. Encoding applications
are SSE-based and generally
make better use of multiple
cores. Intel’s quad cores are
cheaper than AMD’s, a fact
that we immediately pounced
on. The Q8400 was our
Best Buy winner as a result
of this and it’s superb all
round performance. If you Seconds
range of Rs. 6,500, you can’t Extreme series of processors. AMD has already announced
go wrong with the Phenom Traditionally, Intel has always the Phenom II 975BE rated
II X2 550BE – at Rs. charged a pretty premium for at 3.6 GHz – whoever said
SEPTEMBER 2009
6,150, it’s great value. anything it deems as Extreme the gigahertz wars have
As excellent as the Edition. These processors are ended must have been on
Phenom II X4 810 and little more than the highest weed – the fact is that the
X4 905E CPUs are, we clocked parts with upward battleground just changed.
cannot recommend unlocked multipliers. Intel Another worthwhile point
them on account of the also claims that these CPUs is the temperature of these
Core 2 Quad Q8400 – are made of the best binned processors. Throughout
if you are considering components and the highest this test we monitored CPU
spending anything like yield silicon – which is why temperatures but found little
Rs. 9,000 for a CPU, they are better suited to concern – all of today’s CPUs
you’d have to be daft to stand the rigours of over- behave themselves and do
look elsewhere. clocking. To some not overheat if installed
benchmark gurus, properly. However,
Processors these CPUs are a AMD’s new Phenom II
above Rs. godsend allowing 965BE does get a little
12,500 – Taking no them to break SEPTEMBER 2009
AMD Athlon X2 550 prisoners all sorts of world
Shopping for a records. To the more
processor in excess of mundane person
are interested in building a Rs. 12,500 is a fun experience. spending upward of
powerful PC, this processor Well, shopping with deep Rs. 50,000 on a CPU,
is very suitable. If all you pockets anywhere is fun isn’t then over-clocking it,
are interested in doing is it? When spending this much, and thereby risking
gaming then we recommend be prepared to pair your CPU its functionality, may
the E8400. However, at just with a feature rich, high-end seem plumb crazy –
a couple of hundred rupees chipset-based motherboard. however, that is the
less, it doesn’t offer much Also be prepared to invest way it stands.
more. We think all the CPUs in at least 4 GB of RAM, It’s interesting to
in this comparison are more otherwise you’ll end up with note that AMD has
than suitable for reasonably a hungry, sporadically fed been hard at work
powerful all-purpose beast. Some of the processors ramping up clock
computers. For a rendering in this category are extremely speeds for its CPUs.
workstation, give preference expensive, and to be fair the The AMD Phenom
to quad core processors. If reason warrants mention. II 965BE clocks at a
you have a lower budget in the We’re talking about Intel’s mighty 3.4 GHz, and Intel Core i7 920
Digit | September 2009 | www.thinkdigit.com 85
CPU test
SEPTEMBER 2009
CPU Test
Up To Rs. 5,000
Brand AMD Intel Intel AMD AMD AMD
Model Sempron 140 Pentium E2200 Pentium Dual Athlon II X2 240 Athlon 7850BE Athlon II X2 250
Core E5200
Price (Rs) * 2160 3500 3550 3570 4110 4150
Performance (Out of 100) 37.71 28.55 34.77 40.86 38.50 42.92
Features
Socket Interface AM3/AM2+ LGA 775 LGA 775 AM3/AM2+ AM2 AM3/AM2+
CPU Codename Sargas Allendale Wolfdale Regor Kuma Regor
Core Frequency 2700 MHz 2200 MHz 2500 MHz 2800 MHz 2800 MHz 3000 MHz
Number Of Cores / Hyperthreaded (Y/N) 1/N 2/N 2/N 2/N 2/N 2/N
External Bus Frequency 2000 800 800 MHz 2000 2000 2000
Fabrication Process (in Nanometers) 45nm 65 nm 45nm 45nm 65nm 45nm
L1 Cache / L2 Cache 128 KB / 1 MB 128 KB / 1 MB 128 KB / 2 MB 256 KB / 2 MB 256 KB / 2 MB 256 KB / 2 MB
L3 Cache (if any) - - - - - -
Performance
Synthetic benchmarks
3D Mark Vantage (CPU Score) 27442 26638 29749 32762 31107 32980
Wprime 2.00 (32 million, in sec) # 54.537 36.77 30.624 27.02 27.405 24.351
ScienceMark 2.0 Cryptography (AES, Rijndael) in sec # 9.707 14.079 12.279 9.147 9.845 8.561
ScienceMark 2.0 Membench (Memory bandwidth) MBps 9797.41 3891.86 4402.43 9576.31 8057.53 9679.49
Maxxon CineBench R10 rendering (all cores / one core) NA / 2426 3971 / 2093 5118 / 2665 4909 / 2513 4878 / 2442 5237 / 2687
PovRay 3.62 (Chess2 scene) (in sec) # 182 256 218 178 181 165
Valve Multicore CPU Particle benchmark 23 37 49 43 42 47
Real World Applications
Maya 2008 Rendering all cores / one core (in sec) # NA / 192 132 / 239 104 / 191 101 / 183 105 / 190 95 / 171
WinRAR 3.9 (all cores / single core) 673 / 666 843 / 466 978 / 530 1223 / 675 1094 / 597 1257 / 694
DivX 7.0 Encoding (sec) # 374.7 306.7 257.4 233.3 248.2 221.7
HandBrake x264 encoding (sec) # 676.9 514.6 421.5 385.7 392 358.6
Doom 3 (FPS) 125.9 122.3 165.3 207.8 190.4 222.6
Crysis (CPU benchmark, FPS) 74 67 79 87 82 88
COH: Tales of Valor (FPS) 194.8 186.4 240.3 295.4 288.2 311.6
* Exclusive of all taxes # for these scores lower is better
hotter than the rest – we
reckon AMD could squeeze
another 200 MHz out of the
Deneb (codename for Phenom
II) architecture but that’s
about it.
Our first surprise came in
the Wprime 2.00 test where
both the Phenom II 955BE
and 965BE are faster than the
mighty Q9650 and QX9650
chips – both potent 3.0 GHz,
quad core parts; evidently
AMD’s higher clock speed
coupled with the increase in
its L3 cache from 2 MB on the
first Phenom processors to 6
MB on these CPUs is enough
to zoom ahead. Thanks to their
slower, latency plagued, FSB,
the Core 2 CPUs also have
lower memory bandwidth
scores in ScienceMark 2.0.
Seconds
The Phenom II 965BE is also
faster than all Core 2 CPUs
86 Digit | September 2009 | www.thinkdigit.com
CPU test
SEPTEMBER 2009 SEPTEMBER 2009
Rs. 5,001 to Rs. 12,500
Intel Intel AMD Intel Intel AMD Intel AMD AMD
Core 2 Duo E7200 Core 2 Duo E7400 Phenom II X2 Core 2 Duo Core 2 Quad Phenom II X3 Core 2 Quad Phenom II X4 810 Phenom II X4
550BE E8400 Q8200 720 Q8400 905E
5500 5750 6150 8600 8650 8700 8750 9300 10900
40.14 41.31 46.78 48.06 47.34 49.26 52.41 51.45 50.94
LGA 775 LGA 775 AM3/AM2+ LGA 775 LGA 775 AM3/AM2+ LGA 775 AM3/AM2+ AM3/AM2+
Wolfdale Wolfdale Callisto Wolfdale Yorkfield Deneb Yorkfield Deneb Deneb
2533 MHz 2800 MHz 3100 MHz 3000 MHz 2333 MHz 2800 MHz 2667 MHz 2600 MHz 2500 MHz
2/N 2/N 2/N 2/N 4/N 3/N 4/N 4/N 4/N
1066 MHz 1066 MHz 2000 1333 MHz 1333 MHz 2000 1333 MHz 2000 MHz 2000 MHz
45 nm 45 nm 45nm 45 nm 45 nm 45nm 45 nm 45nm 45nm
128 KB / 3 MB 128 KB / 3 MB 256 KB / 1 MB 128 KB / 6 MB 256 KB / 4 MB 384 KB / 1536 KB 256 KB / 4 MB 512 KB / 2 MB 256 KB / 2 MB
- - 6 MB - - 6 MB - 4 MB 6 MB
32529 32971 34163 35662 35725 35528 37210 36895 36751
30.232 27.413 23.231 25.491 16.474 17.472 14.292 14.291 14.882
12.092 11.231 8.304 10.202 13.05 9.495 11.457 9.818 10.053
5385.75 5701.46 9560.51 6706.08 6989.26 9342.17 7122.27 9197.77 9114.53
5266 / 2772 5840 / 3066 5550 / 2845 6401 / 3323 8796 / 2536 7156 / 2569 9940 / 2890 8559 / 2386 8170 / 2296
221 194 160 182 233 176 202 180 185
51 55 48 61 81 62 94 76 75
101 / 187 91 / 170 91 / 165 85 / 158 62 / 204 70 / 182 55 / 178 59 / 196 61 / 203
1251 / 673 1281 / 692 1439 / 801 1751 / 944 1949 / 730 1848 / 766 2019 / 760 2044 / 706 2083 / 729
235.6 214.6 198.4 188.5 186.5 178.7 167.5 172.2 173.1
404.3 368.7 345.3 346.9 208.2 234.9 181.8 187.7 184.5
202.2 215.4 258 273.7 201.7 235.1 223.3 218.4 225.1
89 94 96 103 87 89 95 85 84
482 327.7 438.7 512.8 302.8 412.6 330.9 369.1 372.7
Video encoding (less is better)
when it comes to Maya,
although by the smallest
of margins. However,
none of AMD’s CPUs
can withstand the stellar
performance put up by
Intel’s Core i7 CPUs – even
the nearly 1 GHz slower
Core i7 920 manages to
crack the sub-10 second
barrier for Wprime 2.00
and it’s nearly one and a
half seconds faster than
the fastest AMD CPU.
Thanks to their IMC, the
Nehalem CPUs can fight
on even terms with the
Phenom II CPUs and
rather favourably – the
Core i7 975 EE crosses
14,000 MBps and this
using DDR3 RAM
at 1,333 MHz. Once
faster DDR3 memory Seconds
becomes widespread we
Digit | September 2009 | www.thinkdigit.com 87
CPU test
SEPTEMBER 2009 SEPTEMBER 2009
CPU Test
Rs 12,501 and above
Brand Intel AMD AMD Intel AMD Intel Intel Intel
Model Core 2 Duo Phenom 2 Phenom 2 Core i7 920 Phenom 2 Core 2 Quad Core 2 Core i7
E8600 945 955BE 965BE Q9650 Extreme Extreme 975
QX9650
Price (Rs) * 13800 13920 14499 14600 14999 16500 52000 56000
Performance (Out of 100) 52.34 58.00 60.72 71.90 63.57 61.67 61.00 90.01
Features
Socket Interface LGA 775 AM3/AM2+ AM3/AM2+ LGA 1366 AM3/AM2+ LGA 775 LGA 775 LGA 1366
CPU Codename Wolfdale Deneb Deneb Nehalem Deneb Yorkfield Yorkfield Nehalem
Core Frequency 3333 MHz 3000 MHz 3200 MHz 2667 MHz 3400 MHz 3000 MHz 3000 MHz 3333 MHz
Number Of Cores / Hyperthreaded (Y/N) 2/N 4/N 4/N 4/Y 4/N 4/N 4/N 4/Y
External Bus Frequency 1333 MHz 2000 MHz 2000 MHz 4800 2000 MHz 1333 MHz 1333 MHz 6400
Fabrication Process (in Nanometers) 45 nm 45nm 45nm 45 nm 45nm 45 nm 45 nm 45 nm
L1 Cache / L2 Cache 128 KB / 6 MB 512 KB / 2 MB 512 KB / 2 MB 256 KB / 2 MB 512 KB / 2 MB 256 KB / 12 256 KB / 12 256 KB / 2 MB
MB MB
L3 Cache (if any) - 6 MB 6 MB 8 MB 6 MB - - 8 MB
Performance
Synthetic benchmarks
3D Mark Vantage (CPU Score) 36497 39520 40515 42445 41150 41319 41564 49816
Wprime 2.00 (32 million, in sec) # 22.907 12.167 11.544 9.435 10.81 12.747 12.794 7.273
ScienceMark 2.0 Cryptography (AES, Rijndael) in sec # 9.119 8.56 8.045 10.815 7.601 10.145 10.224 8.513
ScienceMark 2.0 Membench (Memory bandwidth) MBps 6779.02 9507.85 9622.24 11403.95 9717.15 6635.05 6656.65 14054.98
Maxxon CineBench R10 rendering (all cores / one core) 7107 / 3672 9847 / 2748 10492 / 2924 12527 / 3081 11138 / 3106 11848 / 3321 11797 / 3322 16027 / 3871
PovRay 3.62 (Chess2 scene) (in sec) # 161 166 155 171 145 183 183 133
Valve Multicore CPU Particle benchmark 67 87 92 135 97 108 107 170
Real World Applications
Maya 2008 Rendering all cores / one core (in sec) # 76 / 142 52 / 170 49 / 160 36 / 162 46 / 150 48 / 158 49 / 158 29 / 128
WinRAR 3.9 (all cores / single core) 1802 / 974 2280 / 790 2357 / 812 3980 / 1006 2420 / 833 2548 / 938 2505 / 916 4805 / 1201
DivX 7.0 Encoding (sec) # 170.1 151.7 144.2 113.8 138.5 143.7 144 90
HandBrake x264 encoding (sec) # 319.5 164.6 154.4 118.5 146.3 159.7 161 104.1
Doom 3 (FPS) 296 251.5 265.7 289.8 271.4 290 287.4 361.6
Crysis (CPU benchmark, FPS) 113 93 97 110 98 106 101 130
COH: Tales of Valor (FPS) 568.7 439.3 435.9 502.8 481.2 525.9 518.4 760.2
* Exclusive of all taxes # for these scores lower is better
reckon this figure will scale the Core i7 975 once again Impressive, but it costs Rs. giga-transfers for all other
upwards. Do note, however, registers the quickest score 56,000 – a small fortune to Core i7 chips. Of course you
that the Core i7 is the only and is the only CPU to blow on a processor alone. could wait a bit until early
CPU with support for tri- encode a 378-MB VOB file in Surprisingly, it’s the cheaper next year for the Core i9
channel memory giving it under 100 seconds. sibling, the i7 920 that steals processors – these will be
a strong advantage when The high-end tests were an the limelight – it’s cheaper based on a 32-nm process
it comes to bandwidth- eye opener. Gone is AMD’s than AMD’s fastest CPU and may scale very close
intensive computation. As for image of a picker of scraps, and outperforms it by a big to 4 GHz. But then this is
rendering, Nehalem’s four it is still the underdog, but margin, and on account of all totally pointless to the
cores are hyper-threaded has come out fighting with this is our Digit Best Buy. common man. You have
and Maya 2008 makes use some really competitive The icing on the cake is that plenty of processing grunt
of all eight (four physical, options. Gone is the Core the Core i7 920 with the with the current batch of
eight logical) cores rather 2’s dominance as AMD’s new D0 stepping is a highly CPUs.
efficiently and the i7 975 Phenom IIs finally surpass overclockable chip; if the Earlier, AMD had a slight
renders our test scene in Intel’s Core 2-based dual and rumours are to be believed price advantage when it
a mere 29 seconds – the quad cores. However, AMD it can handle 3.8 GHz on air came to its platforms which
fastest we’ve ever seen. In has an uphill fight when it cooling – impressive indeed. were DDR2 based. Now
fact, any application that comes to matching toes with Of course if you want to set with the 790FX and 785G
supports four cores runs the new 1,366 pin-based records, the i7 975 Extreme chipsets supporting DDR3
much faster on the Core heavyweight. So the Core i7 with its unlocked multiplier it has lost that. If you desire
i7s than on any other CPU. 975 Extreme is the fastest and higher QPI rating – 6.4 a powerful system today
In the DivX encoding test, desktop CPU in the world. giga-transfers versus 4.8 that can handle the best and
88 Digit | September 2009 | www.thinkdigit.com
A texas judge has banned the sale of MS Word Intel new 34 nm SSD CPU test
in the US because of a patent infringement The new 34 nm MLC flash-based SSD drives from Intel get
owing to the embedding of XML into Word and a firmware upgrade to resolve data corruption issues face
Microsoft’s DOCX format by some customers
most taxing applications from the Core i7s. The to announce a new 32-nm
thrown at it, opt for a Core i7 architecture is the flagship that we know as the
SEPTEMBER 2009
920 CPU. There’s little sense same, although a Core i9, although details are
in investing in anything else, few of the goodies sketchy. AMD has no further
as by late next year most have been stripped announcements other than
other processors will start to off. Needless to the Phenom II 975BE. It
run out of steam. say, the platform does have a six core Opteron
(called P55) will be processor in the server
What’s next? cheaper than the space. Obviously one would
This is no spoiler but it’s X58. Intel has also expect something on the
plain that Intel plans to announced a Core desktop front next year, but
phase out the Core 2 range i3 range of CPUs, for the moment it is keeping
of CPUs. They have had but we won’t see mum. Sometimes this is the
a decorated tenure and these until next better approach – certainly
it’s time to make way for year. These will it’ll be interesting to see if it
something better. A week or bring Nehalem to has anything that can match
so after you read this we’ll the masses, with the Core i7. It’ll be an epic
be testing Intel’s latest toy entry-level pricings. battle when it happens and
– the Core i5 CPU. These As mentioned one you, courtesy of us, will
are a lower-end option earlier, Intel plans not miss.
Intel Core i7 975 Extreme
Game Performance
FPS
Digit | September 2009 | www.thinkdigit.com 89
Gnome themes BBlean
ToolBox Open source 92 Customise your netbook with
Gnome themes 94 A lightweight alternative to the
Windows shell
Open Source ERPs
Got an enterprise to spare?
Kshitij Sobti
kshitij.sobti@thinkdigit.com
Enterprise
Straight off the bat, the term enterprise
resource planning (ERP) seems like a
complicated domain, only to be meddled
with by people actually running companies.
Knowing how different aspects of an ERP
program work can be of considerable value
to your future employers. If you know how
to work some of the open-source ERPs and
can customise them, even better.
Also, it is important to understand
what such suites have to offer, and how ERP software offer an integration of an enterprises common concerns
they can be used by you, rather than be
distracted by the connotations of the label better insights into an enterprise’s Software for accomplishing the individual
ERP. The millions of people who use Adobe functioning, it can expose further areas functions are always there, but the reason
Photoshop for occasionally cropping images for optimisation, in both cost and time. By ERPs are preferred is mainly because they
are a testament how little the connotations opting for open source software, there can offer an integrated solution. Besides the fact
of a program matter. be further savings in cost. that ERPs offer an integrated solution for an
organisation’s many domains of functionality,
Function Resource they have little identity of their own.
An Enterprise Resource Planning system For a program to be considered as ERP The main aim of an ERP is to
is a software (and maybe even hardware) software, it needs to cater to as many of the consolidate all the data, and services into
solution that facilitates the sharing and enterprise’s needs as possible. Bills, costs, one integrated workflow.
processing of an organisation’s data. It inventory, sales, attendance... the list is
can significantly help mesh the different endless, and data streams in constantly. It is Accessibility
resources at the company’s disposal, and hard to imagine now, just how these tasks Anyone with even a cursory experience with
make managing the different functions of were accomplished before computers came the internet will realise that hyperlinks are
the company better. on the scene! perhaps the coolest things around. The way
Some of the processes that ERPs can they allow for cross-linking of information is
handle are: something for which is hard to find a parallel.
l Human Resources ERP software stands ERP software in a similar manner allows for
l Accounting to change the business the cross connection of data which belongs
l Inventory in completely different streams, and allows
l Material Requirements Planning
process for the better, them to be compared, compounded and
l Sales Order Entry making it more efficient, manipulated. It then becomes quite easy to
l Purchase Order Processing providing insights and see the relationships between the different
l Supply Chain Management organisational resources.
l Cash Management
exposing areas While the more data collected, the
l Warehouse Management for optimisation better, with increasing amounts of data
l Bills of Material there is increasing need for better ways
l Capacity Requirements Planning These different streams of data have to utilise and manipulate this data, and
While there are software solutions typical associations to particular resources that is something that ERP programs
available which deal with the individual of an organisation. Depending on the provide. By making it easier to record
aspects, ERM software is an integration software solution used, an ERP can help an and utilise this data, they also enable
of information and function. Besides organisation in managing sales, marketing, and encourage the collection of more
integrating the different organisational billing and inventory management. The data, and from more diverse aspects of
resources, ERPs can also offer a degree of best thing though is that the environment an enterprise’s functioning.
automation, increasing the efficiency of an is integrated, and an overview of all the An important thing to note is that in
organisation. enterprises resources can easily be obtained. today’s connected internet-driven world,
ERP software stands to change the this data is essentially available in real-time,
business process for the better, making it Integration the benefits of which are obvious. Real-time
more efficient. Furthermore, by providing Integration is what ERPs are all about. data means real-time control, where negative
90 Digit | September 2009 | www.thinkdigit.com
Learn to crimp Tips and Tricks Digit OSP Open source
96 97
An easy to follow workshop on Get useful tips on Atlantis Nova, Come participate in Digit’s first Open
crimping your own LAN cable Safari, Opera and more Source Project - thinkdigit.com/digitosp/
trends can be immediately recognised, Another possible advantage with open- proprietary software that comes with a
quashed, and positive trends can similarly source software solutions is that you could support contract (although some open
be analysed, attributed and improved upon. possibly integrate the best functions of source ERPs are also offered with support
different open source solutions into a or even commercial licences). The open
Open Source ERP single package (although with the different source aspect is endearing, but if the
Before open source ERPs began to appear, architectures of such software it is difficult to organisation lacks in-house IT skills,
companies could either purchase / rent imagine this case). For companies that plan the flexibility, and customisability of the
ERP solutions for high prices, or they could to shift from a proprietary solution to an open software is lost to them.
implement their own solution, which took source one, the company can chose to mimic When you have your own customised
time and money, and itself needed to be the old interface, to make it easier to transition. and home-developed solution for ERP, you
maintained. Open source ERPs provide a are bound to find that you are dependent
perfect middle ground. on the original developers for continued
Open source software is touted with With OSS enterprises can upgrades. With changes in the development
its many benefits in almost every field of develop additional modules team due to any reason, there could be
computing, but where it can really shine is in case some functionality is significant problems – to alleviate these,
when people can actually utilise the code. make sure throughout development that the
For most people who are not developers,
missing, or remove features code is well documented and commented.
software being open source does not help to improve performance and
much. The code is out there but there is ease of use Conclusion
little chance you will ever be able to use Open source is creeping into the most
it, all you can comfort yourself with is unusual places, and it is best that you
the fact that it being open source means In the end, for companies that have take advantage of this. The open source
development on the software should always the capacity, going open source can community is teeming with brilliant
continue in some form. not only save money, but also give the products that can help optimise your
Enterprises can surely benefit from the company a more powerful and integrated organisation to the best and fullest, and
community support and a wide developer organisational framework catered directly open source ERPs represent a brilliant
base, however companies can gain even to its needs. No longer will they have to consolidation of some of the best open
further benefit as they have the capacity to pay huge sums of money for software that source technologies out there.
hire developers to customise and optimise might not end up meeting their needs, You need not look at open source ERPs
the software to their exact needs. They or purchasing software that the company as an endpoint for your needs, but more as
can develop additional modules in case might abandon later on. With the source starting points upon which you can build
some functionality is missing, or remove code in their hands, they can lead the your organisation’s infrastructure. This
functionality to improve performance and development even if no one else is there. might seem like a lot of unnecessary work,
ease of use. when so many commercial implementations
That is not all, since the software is The open source disadvantage exist, however once you are done with
open-source they don’t have to wait for While many people appreciate the power the effort, you will have a much more
the software company (or in this case of open source, when it comes right streamlined and optimised solution that is
community) to fix bugs. down to it, many companies prefer to use best suited for your needs.
Open SOurce erp SOlutiOnS
There is no shortage of open source ERPs compiere open source ERP under the GPL. Similar to
today, which just goes on to show how Compiere is a professional ERM solution that Compiere it too is available in a paid version as
diverse the open source community really has a commercial backing. Unlike opentaps, it ERP5 Express which comes a SaaS.
is. While commercial ERPs can cost the espouses a Model driven architecture, in which The 5 in ERP5 is not based on a version
company millions to implement, open the model of the data is used to generate no, but the five principles of Resource, Node,
source solutions are essentially free! the procedures that define a process. This Path, Movement, Item which are employed
means that as the company’s requirements in ERP5. Where resources are as their name
Opentaps change, and the more, and different kinds suggests, the resources available to the
Open taps is a flexible ERP software of information need to be collected, the company such as products in an inventory,
package built on open source structure of the database can be changed with machines in factories etc. Nodes represent
technologies such as Apache Geronimo, ease. Compiere’s use of the MVC paradigm, points which deal in resources, such as bank
Tomcat, and OFBiz, and can run on a allows this information to be presented using accounts which deal in the resource of money,
variety of open source and commercial multiple views, which can be modified to or a manufacturing plant which deals in
databases. The software itself is available accommodate each companies special needs. raw resources and finished resourced. Paths
in a modified version of the GPL. The company behind Compiere also define the procedure of exchanging resources
It is built on a Service Oriented provides professional versions which come between nodes. Movements represent the
Architecture, which means that the at a subscription price, and support more actual utilization of paths to move resources
functionality of the software is provided features. While long criticized for only between nodes. Finally, Items are instances of
by loosely coupled services. In such running on propriety Oracle database resources, such as a printing press is an item
architecture, each service provides servers, it is well on its way to develop that represents a resource.
functionality for one task, and by support for open source datable servers ERP5 utilises these concepts in creating
combining these services in the required such as MySQL, PostgreSQL etc. “business templates” which define the
pattern, you can accomplish complicated core functionality. It has been awarded
tasks. This also makes the system very erp5 the Best ERP Implementation by “Decision
flexible. Based on the Zope server this ERP5 is another Informatique Professional Magazine”.
Digit | September 2009 | www.thinkdigit.com 91
Workshop Bling bling Miracle for Oracle
Linux soon to get 64-bit version of Google Oracle finally gets the US antitrust approval to
Chrome Browser. Version for Mac OS X soon buy Sun Microsystems. The deal has been on
to follow hold since June
Kumar Jhuremalani GTK is because it is highly flexible GtkButton::default_outside_
kumar.j@thinkdigit.com and this is what is going to be playing a border={0,0,0,0}
major part in customising your GNOME GtkButtonBox::child_min_
So you have a fancy new compact netbook theme for your netbook. We are going width=0
and want to run Linux on it. Well there to show you the basics of creating and GtkButtonBox::child_min_
are many distros for netbooks available modifying a GNOME theme by editing heigth=0
such as the popular Ubuntu Netbook the .gtkrc-2.0 file. GtkButtonBox::child_
Remix, Cruncheee, SLAX, etc. But even We’ve simplified the procedure for you internal_pad_x=0
though these distros are custom made guys so you don’t have to spend too much GtkButtonBox::child_
for netbooks, they lack the element to time figuring out what to adjust. internal_pad_y=0
further customise them, and well, some First off, we need to create a text file, GtkMenu::vertical-padding=1
might even say, Linux is all about doing that will contain the codes to modify the GtkMenuBar::internal_
it yourself. When you are considering theme, in the Home folder and name it padding=0
netbooks, you have to realise that .gtkrc-2.0. If the file already exists, GtkMenuItem::horizontal_
the most common resolution on the then you need to modify the values in the padding=2
displays is 1024 x 600, which will make lines we are going to discuss. GtkToolbar::internal-
the desktop of a Linux distro, such Another way to create this file is padding=0
as Ubuntu, pretty cluttered, as at that through the terminal, just type $ touch GtkToolbar::space-size=0
resolution, the horizontal space is more ~/.gtkrc-2.0 GtkOptionMenu::indicator_
than the vertical space. Next you can just type out what’s given size=0
So is there something that can below into that file and save it. After that GtkOptionMenu::indicator_
solve this problem in a regular Linux you can either restart your PC or just hit spacing=0
distribution. GTK is the word you are GtkPaned::handle_size=4
looking for here, GTK is a library that’s [Ctrl]+[Alt]+[Backspace]. GtkRange::trough_border=0
part and parcel of GNOME or any Linux But if you are going to use the second GtkRange::stepper_spacing=0
distribution for that matter. So what method then you better save what you GtkScale::value_spacing=0
does GTK actually do? Well GTK is what are currently working on as it will close GtkScrolledWindow::scrollbar_
programmers use to create graphical all programs are bring you to the login spacing=0
user interfaces (GUI) and is what is screen. GtkExpander::expander_
responsible for most of the features such style “gtkcompact” { size=10
as the dimensions of buttons, various font_name=”Sans 8” GtkExpander::expander_
colours of menu dropdowns, etc. The GtkButton::default_ spacing=0
reason why we are talking so much about border={0,0,0,0} GtkTreeView::vertical-
GNOME
Optimisation for Netbooks
Imaging: Chaitanya Surpur
92 Digit | September 2009 | www.thinkdigit.com
Goal
Nokia netbooks soon Electronic Arts and U.S. Soccer Workshop
Nokia, the leader in mobile phones, is considering have together formed a new plan to
to brisge the gap between mobiles and PCs, by give free online virtual training to
joining the netbook market budding soccer enthusiasts
separator=0
GtkTreeView::horizontal- GtkScale::value_spacing=0
separator=0 With GNOME, the buttons don’t
GtkTreeView::expander-size=4 contain labels, they have what is called
GtkTreeView::fixed-height- a child menu, which mostly is a label or
mode=TRUE could even be an image or a pixmap. We
GtkWidget::focus_padding=0 have kept the dimensions of the child
} widget to a minimum for netbooks, but
class “GtkWidget” style you can change them by adjust the values
“gtkcompact” in the lines:
No need to cluster the panel with windows
GtkButtonBox::child_min_
style “gtkcompactextra” { width=0
xthickness=0 GtkButtonBox::child_min_ location from the drop-down menu. This
ythickness=0 heigth=0 is optional as some of you might prefer a
} GtkButtonBox::child_ top or bottom orientation.
class “GtkButton” style internal_pad_x=0 To change the opacity, navigate to
“gtkcompactextra” GtkButtonBox::child_ the Background tab and select Solid
class “GtkToolbar” style internal_pad_y=0 color. Change the opacity by using the
“gtkcompactextra” Similarly, the height and width of all slider.
class “GtkPaned” style the menus, menubars, scrollbars and You can also uncheck the Expand
“gtkcompactextra” toolbars have been kept to a minimum option in the Properties window, which
The first thing we changed here is the value. The GtkExpander option is will give the panel a smaller size that
font, well the font is the same, but we connected to the GtkTreeView which is may not take up the entire height of the
have reduced the font size to 8 instead the list navigation style in GNOME. screen.
of the default 10. You could also try We’d advise you to use the TreeView
Bitstream Vera Sans Roman 8 to with your netbook, which is basically list Looks aren’t everything
see if you prefer that font. view, so it’s easier to navigate between If you don’t mind simplistic looks, then
We have reduced the sizes of the boxes files. You can optimise the size of the list you can also directly just disable the
and borders to it’s bare minimal with the format by adjusting the TreeView values. icons that are displayed in the menu
settings provided. The button borders, GtkTreeView::vertical- bar. For this you need to go to System
internal and external have been pulled separator=0 > Preferences > Appearance ,
down. To change these values you can GtkTreeView::horizontal- navigate to the Interface tab and
separator=0 uncheck the option Show icons
After these changes there are a few in menus . You will instantly see a
more things you can change to optimize reduction in the size of icons on the
GNOME further for your netbook. panel and if you open any menus from
the menu bar you will also notice that
A single panel is all that’s you don’t have any icons left.
needed Another little thing you could change
By default Ubuntu comes with two is the text below the icons. By default, all
panels located at the top and bottom of the programs in Ubuntu have text below
the screen. You don’t really want this as icons. If you disable the text and keep
it takes up too much desktop space. So only the icons it would free a bit more
start off by right-clicking the lower panel of vertical space. To do this, revisit the
and click on Delete This Panel. Interface tab of Appearance settings. Here,
Don’t get too afraid as you won’t really select Icons only from the drop down
lose anything by deleting the panel. The options under the Toolbar buttons
folders or items that were present on that label option. Again nothing to get too
panel can be easily added to the other worried about, most of the icons are self
panel by just right-clicking on that panel explanatory and if you do come across
and selecting the option Add To Panel. something that you don’t understand
Now you are left with a single top then you can always just mouse over for
panel. Let’s tweak this a bit more, the tooltip.
Adjust the panel setting with the Panel
right-click the top panel and go to
Properties Properties. Here you should reduce Stack up those windows
the size of the Panel to the least possible The last thing that we will be discussing
mess with the values which correspond to number so as to increase the vertical here is to reduce the clutter created by
the four sides of the button. space on the desktop. open programs on the Panel. We will be
GtkButton::default_ Next thing to do is change the using the tool Windows Selector for this
border={0,0,0,0} orientation of this panel to the right or task and it’s very easy to implement. All
GtkButton::default_outside_ left, which ever you prefer. And to add a you have to do is right-click on the Panel
border={0,0,0,0} bit of style factor we have changed the and select ‘Add To Panel’. Next type in
To change the spaces between opacity of the panel as well. To do that, ‘Windows Selector’ in the search field
alphabets and numbers you can adjust go to Panel Properties by right-clicking and click on Add. Once it’s done all your
the value in the following line, 0 being the on the panel and selecting properties. windows will be stacked into a single
minimum we have selected: To change the orientation, select the button on the Panel.
Digit | September 2009 | www.thinkdigit.com 93
Aston 2 Shell Extend Explorer
Workshop If you have the required system resources
to support a shell with great eye-candy,
Using extensions for the default Windows shell adds
control and functions to Explorer.exe, in a similar way
check out Aston 2 Shell in this month’s to plug-ins. Head over to http://shellcity.net for a long
DVD list of Explorer extensions
BBLean:
A lightweight Explorer alternative
Aditya Madanapalle it comes to using plugins on plugins. Once the contents
aditya.madanapalle@thinkdigit.com Windows 7 and Vista. are unpacked to the right
A
directory, right click on the
n operating system has Installing BBLean desktop, go to BlackBox
two main components, BBLean is a 404 kB download > Configuration >
the kernel, which from bb4win.sourceforge.net/ Plugins>Load/Unload
contains all the basic bblean. The software is also and check the plugins that
mechanisms of the operating on this month's DVD. Double you have downloaded. Use the
system, such as the input-output click on the .exe file, and same procedure to de-activate
routines, disk access, etc., and choose an install location. Replacing Explorer with BBLean as the default shell plugins at any time.
the shell, which is the interface Using the default allows you to default shell for the computer.
between the user and the kernel. edit and configure the shell. In If you want to switch back to Editing skins
In Windows, the default shell the default installation, there Explorer.exe as the default shell BBLean uses a simple text editor
is explorer.exe, which is located will be a few INI, RC and EXE for any reason, click on bsetshell. with multiple parameters to set
in the Windows system folder. files. The RC files are used for exe and select Explorer, before the skin. There are a number
Explorer.exe starts automatically configuring BBLean. First, test clicking on OK. of skins available, so head over
every time Windows starts, and drive the shell by clicking on to Customize.org and search
other applications are launched blackbox.exe. This will replace Using plugins for items tagged with BBLean.
through explorer.exe. Over the default Windows shell Plugins are the lifeblood of BB4Win skins will also work
prolonged use, a change in the temporarily, and run it as an BBLean. Although the basic as well with BBLean. Just unzip
shell is a refreshing option, but application. By default, the shell is very usable, plugins the files to /bblean/skins. Then
most users are not aware that taskbar is on top, and another add a lot of functionality, which right-click on the desktop, go to
this is possible. There are many option of minimising windows is not included in the default Styles and select the style that
commercial shell replacements appears. You will notice the package. A comprehensive list you just downloaded. If you
available, which may be more lack of a start button, and all of plugins is available at www. download a large number of
secure or offer more eye candy. the icons will have disappeared. thinkdigit.com/d/bbplugins. skins, sort them into directories.
However, most of these are Right-click anywhere on the Note that any plugin for Say the directories are named
heavy on system resources, and screen, and a menu should pop BB4Win will also work for set1, set2 and so on. Now, when
not everyone would be willing up. The Start menu will have BBLean. Some of the more you right-click on the desktop,
to invest their system resources the programs, and the Desktop important plugins include you can go to Styles >
in just looks, especially if the menu will have the shortcuts on bbiconbox, which adds icons Set1or Styles > Set2
machines struggle under Aero your desktop. Select the styles to the desktop, bbtrans which and so on. It is that simple.
functionality. menu, and have a look at the allows menus and windows to You can edit any style by just
For some time now, Linux three default skins available. be transparent, and bbkeyhook double clicking on the file, and
users have had much more These might not be very which adds functionality changing the parameters in the
freedom to tweak around impressive, but there are a lot of for multimedia keyboards. text file. These parameters are
with the look and feel of community-made BBLean skins These plugins are all less well commented, and precise
their desktops, with many available on the internet. than 50 kB, and are usually directions are given. You can
desktop environments and distributed as .zip packages. also review the changes by re-
window managers available, Setting BBLean as Unzip the contents to /bblean/ loading the skin.
along with an active skinning default shell
community. Some of these In the BBLean directory, double
desktop environments have been click on bsetshell.exe. The “Set
designed keeping in mind the shell for this user individually”
need for individuals to modify sets BBLean as the default shell
the shell they use. Blackbox was for the current user only. Check
one such desktop environment this box if you are using multiple
for Linux, which was forked accounts on a computer. You
to Windows as BB4Win. can use this setting to create
BBLean is a modification of an account with the default
BB4Win, that stripped BB4Win Windows shell, and one
to its essentials, reduced account for the BBLean shell.
the system signature, and Uncheck this box if you want
added functionality for easy to use BBLean as the default
modification. BBLean is a simple, shell across all the accounts
lightweight shell replacement, on the computer. There are
with a minimalist approach to three shell options available,
design. BBLean works well on Blackbox Explorer and Other.
older machines with Windows Select BBLean and click on
XP. There are a few bugs when OK. BBLean is now set as the
A typical BBLean desktop
94 Digit | September 2009 | www.thinkdigit.com
How much is too much?
DIY The Heavensfield Retreat Center,
located near Seattle in the US, is the
Tweet your location
A new application is in development for Twitter, the
place to visit to detox yourself from microblogging web site, which will allow users to
Internet Addiction optionally put geolocation data into their tweets
Crimping your own LAN cable
These days, if you go out and buy a network cable it would cost you around Rs. 100 per metre. But
when the connector breaks, or you realise that the cable you have is shorter, you need an extension of
sorts. Follow the steps below to crimp your own straight or crossover cable.
Kumar Jhuremalani
kumar.j@thinkdigit.com
Next you need
to cut the outer 1
cable jacket.
Make sure not to
cut it too much
or you might
just damage the
internal wires.
You can also use
a knife or blade
to cut through
the outer jacket.
This is all you need to start crimping your own network cables.
4
3
2
Once cut, you will see eight wires
twirled around each other in pairs,
one solid colour and the other Once you confirm the wire sequence, cut the wires in equal length. Then slide the
striped. For a straight cable, arrange wires into the RJ45 connector.
For a crossover cable, follow the
the wires in the following sequence: same sequence for one end. For
White Orange, Orange, White Green, the other end, arrange the wires as Requirements
Blue, White Blue, Green, White follows: White Green, Green, White One metre regular network cable
Brown and Brown. This is the same Orange, Blue, White Blue, Orange, @ Rs. 50
sequence to follow on both ends for a White Brown and Brown. RJ45 connectors
straight cable.
@ Rs. 3 per piece
A crimping tool
@ Rs. 250
5
Insert the RJ45 connector (with the cable still attached to it) into the crimping
tool. Ensure the eight wires are pushed all the way into the connector. Now just
squeeze the tool until you hear a click. That’s it, you are done. Digit has decided to compile a list of Young Indian Innovators who are
changing our world through tech. Send your nominations to yii@thinkdigit.
com. Visit www.thinkdigit.com/yii for more information
96 Digit | September 2009 | www.thinkdigit.com
Multi-disc Windows 1 TB for laptops
Q&A
Windows 7 to have separate discs Western Digital launches 1 TB
for different flavours of the OS drive in the 2.5-inch form factor
Your questions, our answers
All your computer niggles and nags are dealt with here!
Error loading The next thing to check is the
operating system motherboard. Try using it with
I built a new PC using an ASUS a different processor to see if
M2N68-AM-SE2 motherboard it works. If the motherboard is
running an AMD Sempron new, it might be worth sending
processor, 1 GB Kingston it back to get checked by the
memory and a 160 GB Western service centre.
Digital hard drive.
When I install both 32-bit
and 64-bit Windows operating Virus attack!
system, it gives me an error Viruses with filenames regsvr.
saying exe and mediacontrol.exe have
“Error loading operating creeped into my laptop. My anti
system”. The system boots with The simple-to-use interface of DVDFlick virus has been disabled by the
the installation disk, it copies viruses. I had installed Norton
the files to HDD but when it the partition you are trying to a software called DVDFlick anti virus, but I’m not even able
reboots, it says “error loading install the OS on. (www.dvdflick.net). Look out to remove it or install a new
operating system”. for the detailed workshop in anti virus. All my video files are
I tried finding solutions the Tips and Tricks section in getting corrupted and turning
online, people suggest enabling DVD burning this issue. into IMG files. Also, I’m unable
LBA mode but it is already software to access my guest account and
enabled. Is there any disc burning soft- the registry editor has been
Yugal Kishore ware that can burn AVI files to a Frustrating disabled.
DVD playable on a DVD player? booting problem! Anand P
It could be some problem I have a Sony DVD player and I A few weeks back, my machine
with the BIOS or the drive. tried burning just the AVI files started having booting prob- First, try updating the
Enter the BIOS before boot on a DVD using Nero. It works lems. The power LED (blue) virus definitions for your
up and check whether the fine on my friend’s player, but stayed on, but the hard disk current anti virus. Try a
drive shows up in the list. Try not on mine. LED remained off. My monitor different anti virus program
using some other hard drives Prajkt Yeole says that it’s turning off to save that comes with a backup CD
and see if they work or not. power every time. A hardware or DVD disc that you can boot
Try replacing the cable as AVI files burnt onto a engineer said that my SMPS had into and scan the drive without
well and also scan the hard DVD will play on players that gone kaput and I had it replaced Windows running. Some others
drive for problems using a support different file formats immediately. Even after that, the will let you create a rescue
drive diagnostics tool. It could and codecs. A traditional DVD machine booted fine sometimes, disc. Try using these to fix the
also be some issues with the will only read movie DVDs. but just got stuck again. problem.
partitions on the drive. Format To burn movie DVDs, use After that, I did a fresh BIOS
update, after which for several
days I did not face any prob- Missing system
lems. Now again, I am facing files
the same booting problems as My problem is that when I start
before. Nine out of ten times, my system, it gives an error
the machine hangs during boot. “System file missing” “Windows\
The power LED stays on and System32\Config\System”.
the hard drive LED stays off. Please insert XP CD and press r
Pressing and holding the power
button for 5-6 seconds used to
Get Help Now!
correct it, till now. E-mail us your computing
Amitava Das problems along with your contact
details and complete system
configuration to sos@thinkdigit.
If you have a UPS set up for
com, and we might answer them
the computer, try disconnecting
here! Since we get many more
it. There’s no single clear way
mails per day than we can handle,
to know what the problem it may take some time for your
may be. Start by disconnecting query to be answered. Rest
the drives and see if it starts assured, we are listening!
Ensuring that the hard drives are displayed in BIOS up without any problems.
Digit | September 2009 | www.thinkdigit.com 105
Q&A AMD driver interface Cheaper HTPCs
AMD introduced a new user interface in NVIDIA launches a lower end Ion–LE;
the Catalyst 9.7 drivers it’s no longer a DirectX 10 graphics solution
to repair. that my Yahoo! account is full are being targeted and being from 1 GB DDR2 667 to 3 GB
After I repair it by using the of unwanted mails. I also report spammmed on purpose, then DDR2 667. I got a warning
CD, it restarts after the Windows some of the addresses and mails you can visit the Mumbai message that said for max
XP logo screen. After many to the spam filter but even then, Cybercrime department’s site performance there should be
restarts, it comes to the logon the new mails of lottery and – www.cybercellmumbai.com. identical memory sets in both
screen and after I log on to any others offers continue coming. I You can find some information slots, so my question is whether
user account, it logs off imme- have a questions regarding this. there. I wasted money buying 2 GB
diately. I tried to format the 1. Like we change the pass- RAM or will there will be an
drives but when the Windows XP word in an account, why can improvement in performance.
My motherboard is an Intel
Problems with D945GCCR and the processor
Digit has decided to drivers on Windows is an Intel Core 2 Duo 2 GHz
compile a list of Young Vista E4400.
Indian Innovators who are I am trying to move from I have two hard drives in my
changing our world through Windows Vista to Windows XP on PC, one used for regular use and
tech. Send your nominations my Sony VGN-CS series laptop, other for backing up data both
to yii@thinkdigit.com. Visit but it can’t load XP on it. It fails are internal disk. The backup
www.thinkdigit.com/yii for to load the video and sound disk is used twice in a month so
more information drivers. Kindly give me a solu- I only disconnect the SATA data
tion for it. cable. After use, the power cable
Amol left connected so I learnt that it
consumes power when it is idle.
If Sony doesn’t give Since then, I’ve been discon-
support for a laptop running necting the power cable each
Windows XP, then drivers and every time but it is tricky
might not be available for that and dangerous. Can you suggest
laptop. Check for discs that other means to do the same?
came along with the laptop Arun Hasan
for drivers for your laptop. If
you know what graphics and There will definitely be
sound solutions are used on some performance boost
installer copies files, the blue we not change the user ID of an the laptop, you can download with 3 GB of memory. You’ll
screen shows up. It tells me to email account?
disable any new hardware and 2. Please tell me the best
then restart. I am using Windows and safe email service provider
XP with SP2. I also tried SP3, but 3. Is there any web site or
the problem doesn’t go away. government body where I can
I have used different XP CDs, report such cases?
but the same error continues to Mandeep Sandhu
show up.
Devendra Singh Negi Users accounts are made
to identify different individuals.
There are many files that Almost no email provider gives
might have been corrupted. you the option to change the
Repairing and replacing these username or email address.
files is possible using the With the pace at which
Windows installation disc. If accounts are made, it’s difficult
you are getting blue screens as it is to get new user ids and
during the copying process, it changing them would mean
could because of a spoilt hard wasting ones created already.
drive. It’s a good idea to run a There is no clear best
disc scanning tool to look for email provider. Gmail is by
bad sectors or failures. If you far the most popular mail Everest displays detailed information on your computer’s hardware
have multiple sticks of RAM, provider there is. It’s free
try using only one in case the and yet they provide a huge drivers from the manufacturer’s be able to run many larger
blue screens are caused due to capacity mailbox. Users are sites directly. Use a hardware programs simultaneously. If
faulty memory. also given free POP3 and IMAP identification tool such as you use Windows Vista, that
connectivity. Gmail has a pretty Everest (www.lavalys.com) to requires a minimum of 1 GB.
good spam filter as well. Many find out what hardware your The upcoming Windows 7
Worried about other mail providers have spam laptop has. will comfortably run on your
email account filters that work equally well system with the amount of
I had Yahoo mail account for these days. RAM you have now. Besides,
the past few years but rarely Spam is a common problem Performance by DDR2 memory is at an all-time
use it now. I use it every four all over the world and across memory increase low, so you haven’t really
to six months. The problem is all countries. If you feel you I recently upgraded my memory wasted your money!
106 Digit | September 2009 | www.thinkdigit.com
Workshop Clean your registry
Over prolonged use, your Windows registry database may be full of entries that are no longer used. Use
CCleaner which is given on the DVD to clean the registry database before proceeding with this tutorial
Registry migration
An easy-to-follow
guide to get
your Windows
applications working
on a Linux system machine. Transferring registry machine, using WINE. Make will take some time, and the
entries across operating systems sure that the software license machine will appear to hang.
is a simple trick to make some you have allows you to do this. Wait for regedit to export the
Windows based applications This procedure will work for the file. Now, transfer the .reg file to
work on a Linux machine. This same machine in a dual-boot an external storage device, and
Aditya Madanapalle is not a sure-fire trick to make setup, or multiple machines. start up the Linux machine, or
aditya .madanapalle@thinkdigit.com every Windows application Now you are ready to boot up the Linux operating
R
work on a Linux system, but transfer the registry entries system if you are using a dual-
egistry files are is usually a good idea when from one machine to another. boot setup.
databases of applications don’t seem to Note that the same procedure Go to the location of your
configurations run well on WINE. What we can essentially be used on two WINE installation. In Ubuntu,
for applications will be doing is to export the Windows machines as well, go to Applications >
using the Windows kernel. registry entries from a Windows or for that matter, between Wine > Browse C:/
The centralised approach to machine, saving the file, then
registry databases makes it importing the registry entries
difficult for users to hunt down on a Linux machine. There are
individual registry entries of some pre-requisites for this
applications, and then back operation though.
them up or transfer them to You will need a Linux
another machine. The particular machine set up, and have
locations of the registry entries installed WINE on it. WINE is
of applications can be found a backronym for Wine Is Not
in the documentation of the an Emulator and emulates a
applications, where available, Windows environment. WINE is
or on FAQs or troubleshooting different from a Virtual Machine,
websites that involve modifying and the applications run in the
the registry values. The Find same desktop environment as
tool in Regedit, an application other Linux applications. WINE
in Windows for editing registry creates a virtual C drive, and a
entries, also works for hunting rudimentary Windows directory
down the registry entries of structure, without partitioning Exporting registry entries from a Windows installation
particular programs. However, the hard drive on which WINE
these registry entries tend to is installed. All Windows
be scattered around different applications run from a virtual
locations of the database, and C:\Program Files location.
there may be a number of Before starting the procedure,
registry entries, making it a you will have to install the
troublesome process to find and Windows version on a Windows
use individual registry entries. machine. Continue with any
An easier, but wasteful, post-installation procedures
approach is to transfer all that the software might have,
the registry values; the entire including activation and
registry database from a verification. After this, you will
Windows installation to the have to install the same version
WINE platform on a Linux of the software on the Linux
Transferring application data files between machines
This should be the last resort when installing applications intended Importing registry files on a Linux installation
for Windows machines on a Linux system. If the application is
located in C:\Program Files\Applications, transfer it to the identical two Linux machines, on Drive. On a fresh installation
location in the virtual C: drive created by WINE on your Linux one of which this operation of WINE, there should be only
machine. The application will be in the correct location as long as has been carried out. Go to two folders, Program Files
it is installed on the C: drive on the Windows machine. Make sure Start>Run>regedit. and Windows. Navigate to
that the paths are also the same. Windows applications use .dll files The registry editor window Windows, and run regedit.exe.
which are not always saved in the same location as the application. will open up. Select the If you have other applications
The most common directory for these .dll files are C:\Windows\ topmost segment in the installed through WINE,
System32 and C:\Windows\System. Copy the .dll files from these
registry directory, and go to backup the existing registry
directories to the same location on the virtual C drive on WINE. If
File>Export. Give any file entries in case anything goes
there is no lack of hard disk space on the Linux machine, you can
transfer the entire C: drive from the Windows machine to the virtual
name to the file, and save the wrong. Now, go to File
C: drive on the Linux machine. file as a .reg file. If you have a > Import, and select the
lot of applications installed, this exported registry entries.
Digit | September 2009 | www.thinkdigit.com 107
Tip
Pricewatch Do not clutter the area around UPS.
Section Opener Agent 001 110 The latest prices of components
for you
Ventilation is essential to prevent
internal heating
PC protection
If you face constant voltage fluctuation and load shedding, read on
for a better understanding of UPS sytems
Agent001 also at risk. At the very least, if nothing gets Datex, Microtek and Powercom that are also
agent001@thinkdigit.com damaged you lose all unsaved data. A UPS reliable but the first three should get a first
eliminates these risks. look when purchasing. Personally I have
I’ve always emphasised the importance The first type of UPS is the “Stand owned a Numeric UPS for the last five years
of protection for desktop computers. By” type. This UPS simply switches the and am a very satisfied customer – not a
Irrespective of how much you spend on load to battery in case of power loss on single hiccup despite some gruelling use.
your components, danger lurks in the wires the AC power line. The response time of When deciding on the capacity of the UPS
that supply electricity to your home and the switchover (called switching time) is remember to use a conversion factor of 0.7.
your PC. A UPS is a device that provides between 2-10 ms. Since most SMPSs have Therefore a UPS with a rating of 1000 VA
uninterrupted and regulated power to a hold-up time of no less than 16 ms, i.e. (volt amperes) equates to a maximum output
sensitive devices such as a computer. All greater than the switching time of the UPS, of 700 watts. You could either be clever
UPSs will allow your PC to run for a few there is no problem of shutdown between and match this to the approximate power
extra minutes after a power cut allowing you the transition from mains power to the DC consumption of your PC or be really smart
to save your work to AC inverter on the UPS. and match it to the output of your SMPS unit
and shut it down The most prevalent type – either way works. Though the latter may be
properly. of UPS today is the “line a bit costlier, it involves minimal calculations.
I’ve come across interactive UPS”. These Most people will sell you a UPS on the basis
people with dead can regulate the input AC of it’s backup time – this is totally wrong as
components all power to some extent and the battery backup totally depends on the
because of a failure the battery is charged amount of power your system draws – the
to install a UPS. via AC power. When the more powerful the system, the quicker the
If the power AC power cuts, AC input battery will drain. Backup time should be
supply to your is disconnected and the used wisely to save and shut down all running
PC suddenly gets battery provides power. Such programs and your PC, not to continue your
cut, several things work and hope the battery lasts. For most
can happen. Nine I’ve come across people PCs, a UPS rated at 600 VA will suffice. If you
times out of ten with dead components are running a powerful PC with a quad core
nothing happens, all because of a failure CPU and a fast graphics card you may want
but there is a to install a UPS to look at something a little higher – 800VA
possibility of should be good enough.
damage to your For most systems, APC’s Back-UPS ES
hard drive and UPSs are also compact and as such this is 650VA priced at Rs. 3,100 should suffice.
RAM – usually what you will find available with most PC If you want something a little beefier I
in that order. The vendors. 99 per cent of PC users will want swear by the Numeric Digital 800VA – this
motherboard is to purchase one of these and they provide model is a little older, priced at Rs. 3,200
adequate protection from surges and spikes but offers sterling stability – this is the one
and of course blackouts. I’ve been using for the last five years with
There is another type of UPS called the no problems whatsoever. Alternatively, you
“online UPS”. These are much costlier. could go for APC’s BR800-IN priced at Rs.
In this design the AC mains charges only 4,700. If you want something beefier to
Chaitanya Surpur
the battery via the inverter and therefore protect up to two PCs, then the APC Back-
the output runs off only the battery. Since UPS RS 1500VA is available for Rs. 8,900
the AC line is never directly powering the although unfortunately it has only three 6
connected equipment there is virtually no amp outputs for the battery backup which
chance of damage through faults in the line, means you will need to invest in a power
also there is no switching time involved. strip (spike guard).
In my opinion when it comes to UPSs, A select few people will be looking for
do be choosy about brands. Remember an online UPS, particularly those that
the number of service centres and support have invested a lot in their PCs and wish
available is secondary; the idea is to to leave nothing to chance. I recommend
protect other components, meaning your the PowerSafe 1000ONL – an online UPS
UPS should not fail at any cost. I trust rated at 1000 VA and I was surprised to see
the following brands – APC, Numeric and it priced at just Rs. 10,000 – cheap for an
PowerSafe. There are other brands such as online UPS.
108 Digit | September 2009 | www.thinkdigit.com
Seasonic entry Wireless power Agent 001
Seasonic enters the Indian Nagano Power Radio demonstrates
power supply market and is 95 per cent efficiency wireless power
gaining popularity transfer across a distance of 40 cm
I’m a computer science student and I play games like NFS undercover, Far Cry 2, motherboard for Rs. 2,250 coupled with
need to buy a laptop within a budget of Rs. Fifa 2009 at maximum resolution and the AMD Athlon XP X2 6000+ for Rs.
40,000. I’m also interested in a little gaming; details? 2,850 is a sweet combo that will be
please suggest a good performance laptop. Sanjib Das affordable yet powerful enough. It’s also
well within your budget.
Abhinav Kumar You have not mentioned whether your
processor is a Core 2 Duo or a Pentium D. I have a few issues on buying:
I recommend a Dell Inspiron 14 based Either way your PC is not suited for 1) A friend said that desktops deterio-
notebook if you want something remotely playing the latest games, especially Far Cry rate when there is moisture in the air (rainy
portable; otherwise look at the Inspiron 15 2. You will need to upgrade your memory season). Is it true?
that has the larger 15.6-inch display. The and graphics card first. For Rs. 3500 you 2) My father wants to buy a laptop and I
15.6-inch Inspiron 15 can be had for as little can pick up 4 GB of DDR2 RAM in a 2 x 2 will use it only for gaming; which are good
as Rs. 35,000 while the Inspiron 14 will GB kit. Your graphics card should be the gaming laptops near the 30 to 44 thou-
come close to your Rs. 40,000. next component you upgrade. If you want sand bracket?
to go crazy you can spend around Rs. 3) What would be better – a gaming laptop
I would like to purchase a branded iPod 6,500 and pick up a GeForce 9800GT – or desktop?
ranging from Rs. 500 to Rs. 1,500. Kindly which is superb for that price. Later on Prajwal K
recommend me which iPod I should you might want to buy a Core 2 Duo
purchase, and please mention the key E8400 (3.0 GHz), priced at Rs. 8,400, this Moisture does gradually corrode the
features. I don’t know any more about iPod will ensure your GPU doesn’t get surface of cabinets, power supplies, etc., if
except that it is used to play music. bottlenecked. For a monitor, refer to our they are not properly coated, and moisture
Vishnu Thakor August issue where we tested LCD can cause short circuits inside your
monitors. In case you missed it, for Rs. cabinet, but generally this does not
Firstly I’d like to clear one 8,700 you can pick up an AOC 2236Vw, a happen if your PC is used regularly. It’s a
misconception – the word “iPod” is an 22-inch monitor. For Rs. 7,500 Acer’s good idea to plug out and pack stuff up if
Apple patent and iPods are made by Apple P205H is another good pick, it’s a 20-inch you will not be using it for some time, say,
Inc. Every other player in the market is not LCD with good performance. more than a couple of weeks. You can
called an iPod; you should refer to them as alternatively stick sachets of silica gel to
PMPs, i.e. portable multimedia players. For I would like to buy a new mobile. My the inside of your cabinet as this absorbs
Rs. 1,500 you can pick up the Yes YMP-17 1 budget is Rs. 10,000. The features I the moisture and helps delay its ill effects.
GB. It’s a decent PMP and has a two-colour expect are 3G enabled, Wi-Fi (optional), 3.2 Gaming laptops are costlier than that. You
OLED display and is microSD expandable. MP (2 MP is also ok), Good music, good can get a general-purpose notebook for
Transferring MP3 files is as easy a drag ‘n’ battery back up and it should look good. that price but if you want to play games
drop. Prabhu V the Dell Studio XPS 16 is the bare
minimum you should look at. I
I have the following system – processor: I believe Sony Ericsson’s K810i is still recommend buying a desktop PC – you
dual core @ 2.0 GHz, motherboard: Jetway available. Although an older model it has will get a more powerful configuration.
946, RAM: Zion 1 GB DDR2, graphic card: ATI many features for the price, and the street
Radeon HD 3450 512 MB, SMPS: Iball 500W, price should be in the range of Rs. 9,000 Please suggest the best half-height
cabinet: Iball. I use Windows 7 RC1 received graphics for my 250-watt PSU
with Digit June issue. I am currently using an I have a shoe string budget of Rs. 6,500 Satish S
Acer AC713 CRT monitor. I need to buy a for motherboard and processor. I will be
17-inch LCD monitor within a budget of Rs. highly obliged if you let me know the best A GeForce 8400GS should be
6,000-6,500 for general purposes. Is the Dell combination sufficiently inexpensive. Do check last
S1709W or the Samsung 740NW a good Saurav Chowdhury months’ issue where we tested a lot of
option, or should I look for other brands? entry level cards. You’re sure to find
Also, does my rig need to be upgraded to The ASUS NVIDIA 7025 M2N68-AM something suitable.
Digit | September 2009 | www.thinkdigit.com 109
Price watch
Processors
Model Market Price Tested In Socket Speed FSB L2 Cache
AMD Sempron 140 Rs. 1,950 September 2009 AM2+ 2.7 GHz 2000 MHz HyperTransport 1 MB
AMD Athlon X2 5200+ Rs. 3,200 November 2008 AM2+ 2.7 GHz 2000 MHz HyperTransport 1 MB
AMD Athlon X2 7850 BE Rs. 3,350 September 2009 AM2 2.8 GHz 2000 MHz HyperTransport 2 MB
AMD Athlon II X2 250 Rs. 4,100 September 2009 AM2+ 3 GHz 2000 MHz HyperTransport 2 MB
AMD Athlon II X2 550 Rs. 5,450 September 2009 AM2+ 3.1 GHz 2000 MHz HyperTransport 1 MB
AMD Phenom X4 9650 Rs. 6,025 November 2008 AM2+ 2.3 GHz 3600 MHz HyperTransport 2 MB
AMD Phenom II X3 720 BE Rs. 7,500 September 2009 AM3 2.8 GHz 2000 MHz HyperTransport 1.5 MB
AMD Phenom II X4 810 Rs. 8,350 September 2009 AM2+ 2.6 GHz 2000 MHz HyperTransport 2 MB
AMD Phenom II X4 920 BE Rs. 9,650 AM3 2.8 GHz 3600 MHz HyperTransport 2 MB
AMD Phenom II X4 945 Rs. 12,075 September 2009 AM2+ 3G Hz 2000 MHz HyperTransport 2 MB
AMD Phenom II X4 955BE Rs. 13,100 September 2009 AM3 3.2 GHz 2000 MHz HyperTransport 2 MB
Intel Dual Core E2200 Rs. 3,000 September 2009 LGA775 2.2 GHz 800 MHz 1 MB
Intel Dual Core E5200 Rs. 3,375 September 2009 LGA775 2.5 GHz 800 MHz 2 MB
Intel Core 2 Duo E7400 Rs. 5,900 September 2009 LGA775 2.8 GHz 1066 MHz 3 MB
Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 Rs. 8,850 September 2009 LGA775 3 GHz 1333 MHz 6 MB
Intel Core 2 Quad Q8200 Rs. 8,650 September 2009 LGA775 2.33 GHz 1333 MHz 4 MB
Intel Core 2 Quad Q8400 Rs. 8,750 September 2009 LGA775 2.4 GHz 1066 MHz 8 MB
Intel Core 2 Quad Q9400 Rs. 12,100 LGA775 2.66 GHz 1333 MHz 6 MB
Intel Core 2 Quad Q9550 Rs. 12,601 LGA775 2.83 GHz 1333 MHz 12 MB
Intel Core i7 920 Rs. 14,900 September 2009 LGA1366 2.66 GHz 4.8 GT/s QPI NA
CPU Coolers
Model Market Price No. and Size of Fans Dimensions Weight (grams)
Cooler Master Hyper TX2 Rs. 1,800 1 x 120 mm 108.3 x 123.7 x 136.5 mm 482
Cooler Master Hyper N520 Rs. 2,700 2 x 92 mm 122.35 x 102.5 x 141 mm 688
Thermalright Ultima 90 – 775 Rs. 1,480 0 115 x 55 x 139 mm 460
Thermalright Ultima 120 Extreme Rs. 2,870 0 132 x 63.44 x 160.5 mm 790
Sunbeam Core Contact Freezer Rs. 2,150 1 x 92 mm 95 x 80 x 155 mm 272
Glacialtech Igloo 5750 Rs. 1,795 2 x 92 mm 96 x 120 x 121 mm 507
OCZ Vendetta 2 Rs. 2,550 1 x 120 mm 120 x 50 x 159 mm 746
Hard Drives
Model Market Price Tested in Speed Cache Interface
Seagate 1.5TB Rs. 7,000 March 2009 7200 RPM 32 SATA 2
Seagate 1TB Rs. 4,350 April 2009 7200 RPM 32 SATA 2
Seagate 7200.12 500 GB Rs. 2,600 7200 RPM 16 SATA 2
Seagate 750GB Rs. 4,100 April 2009 7200 RPM 32 SATA 2
Western Digital Caviar Blue 640GB Rs. 3,350 7200 RPM 16 SATA 2
Western Digital Caviar Black 1TB Rs. 7,000 April 2009 7200 RPM 32 SATA 2
Western Digital VelociRaptor 150 GB Rs. 9,150 April 2009 10000 RPM 32 SATA 2
Graphic Cards
Model Market Price Tested in Core Speed Type of memory Memory
EVGA 9600GT Knock-out Rs. 6,650 November 2008 700 MHz GDDR3 512 MB
Power Color HD4850 Rs. 6,600 August 2009 625 MHz GDDR3 512 MB
Power Color HD4670 Rs. 4,650 August 2009 750 MHz DDR3 1024 MB
Palit GeForce 9400 GT Super Rs. 2,525 August 2009 550 MHz GDDR2 1024 MB
Palit Radeon HD 4870 SONIC Rs. 13,500 October 2008 750 MHz GDDR5 512 MB
Palit GeForce GTX 275 Rs. 13,900 633 MHz GDDR3 896 MB
XFX GeForce 8600 GT Rs. 3,150 540 MHz GDDR3 256 MB
ZOTAC GeForce GTS 250 Rs. 9,250 738 MHz GDDR3 1024 MB
Palit GeForce GTX 260 Rs. 10,750 650 MHz GDDR3 896 MB
ZOTAC GeForce GTX 285 Rs. 26,000 Feb 2009 648 MHz GDDR3 1024 MB
110 Digit | September 2009 | www.thinkdigit.com
Escape Community
114 An insight into the Digit
community 116 Game review
Wolfstein
==Digit Diary==
Geek culture : Hackers
You don’t need to be able to count in hexadecimal or hang out at dubious Ahmed decided to conduct some particle collision experi-
IRC channels to be a hacker. On the other hand, if you can break the ments of his own, and managed to bump into an autorick-
encryption on your daddy’s WEP wireless security, you are still not a hacker. shaw. Witnesses claim that a small cluster of higg’s bosons
It’s about the eagerness to learn everything your machine can do, rather than were released, but were unfortunately not recorded, so the
knowing just enough to serve your immideate purposes. information cannot be confirmed.
Rohan Naravane joined the test centre this month, and
jumped right in with the netbook tests. He has as yet not been
Books
tested against the team in a Quake 3 tournament, but we will
keep you posted on the developments.
There seems to be a strange poltergeist loose in our office.
The Caps Lock, Num Lock, and Insert keys seem to be the
primary targets, causing a lot of frustration. Edward was
particulaly irked, when he sat down on Robert’s machine and
found that he had been Num Locked. If any of you have ghost-
busting skills, or are haunted by a similiar spirit, do write in
Neuromancer: Stealing the Zero-Day Exploit: to editor@thinkdigit.com.
This 1984 book is Network: Fiction Lessons in safety
the source of AI with screenshots for network
and Virtual Reality
awareness in
of hacks, sci-fi
cannot get better
admins, using
technical fictional
Mirror’s Edge in Flash
popular culture. than this. Couldn’t get your hands on the first person parkour adventure?
scenarios.
No problem, all you need is a browser to play an official Flash
version of this innovative game. Just because it is all in Flash does not
mean that it is easy. There are also leaderboards for that multiplayer
Movies
element. It’s a lengthy game, but your progress is automatically saved,
so you can revisit. Head over to http://www.mirrorsedge2d.com.
Hackers: A classic Ghost in the Tron: A hacker
black hat - white Machine: A dead is abducted into
hat struggle, epit- body comes alive cyberspace where
omising the crash in a network, one he has to fight to
and burn attitude. of the cheesiest survive. A sequel
A must watch. tech films made. is in the offing.
Gear
1337sp33k
Stay up to date with internet lingo, so you don’t wt? the next
time you are chatting with someone
KTHXBAI!: Typically used to haul butt in a hurry, when you
Black hat - A black The apparel Tokyoflash sells want to get out of an unpromising conversation. It is a word that
hat that says section of the a range of geeky combines Ok, thank you, and bye into one powerful expression.
“black hat” from thinkgeek store watches, the
hackerstickers. has this AYB Tibida requires gg no re: Used when you have been totally owned in an online
com. Even a n00b T-shirt. Take off you to know multiplayer scenario. Stands for Good Game, No Re-match,
will get the point. every Zig! binary to tell time. which means you are chickening out.
How we unwind
Movies Music Game
City of Ember: A great 2008 Pigs and Pyramids: A Pink KOTOR II: The team re-visited
sci-fi flick where kids from Floyd tribute album which had this old roleplaying game
an underground buried city some refreshing covers, and a because of the unending variety
discover a world outside. few horrible ones. of ways the game can be played.
112 Digit | September 2009 | www.thinkdigit.com
Fast and cool Escape
Ashes AMD’s Phenom 2 processors are powerful as well
118 An exciting cricket game reviewed for
you
as cool running. We tested a 3.2 GHz part that
registered only 36 degrees at the core
Piracy is Green NeWS
The First “Virus” HiStory
Researchers in Carnegie Mellon University, in a study sponsored The earliest viruses to infect thousands of personal computers
by Microsoft and Intel have concluded that downloading MP3s was the © Brain virus, a program that was not meant to be a
from the internet has a considerably reduced carbon footprint virus at all. Three brothers in Pakistan, Amjad, Shahid and Basit
over traditional approaches of music distribution. They considered Alvi had started up a computer firm in Pakistan in the early
purchasing CDs from stores, ordering music CDs online, after which
they are delivered to homes, downloading files before burning
eighties. They first started by offering support to those who had
them on CDs and just using the downloaded files and playing purchased computers, as there was no such official mechanism
them on computers and PMPs without burning them on CDs. in Pakistan at that time. Later on, they began to make software
The cost of packaging, transportation, commutation and energy for some of their customers. They wrote a program for Doctors,
taken up to listen to the music were all factored in. While the study and used an early form of DRM in the disks of their software. If
does not explicitly state that downloading illegal MP3s is more the floppy was illegally replicated, the boot sector got corrupted,
environmentally friendly than purchasing CDs from a retail outlet, it and a message flashed on the screen of the users. The message
is a pretty safe assumption to make. was a jovial call to contact the brothers (the phone numbers was
There are some other interesting conclusions of the study included), to get a “vaccination” because of an “infection” (their
though. If you start feeling guilty about purchasing music from retail customers were doctors remember?). Someone implemented the
outlets because of the harm it causes to mother nature, you can 3.5 KB file on a DOS disk, and the “virus” spread like wildfire,
compensate by walking to the retail store instead of driving. This every time someone copied or traded an illegal version of a
puts the footprints of downloads and purchases at par. The original software. The Alvi brothers were bombarded by calls from all
research paper can be downloaded at http://snipurl.com/qtsji. around the world, asking them to clear up the problem. Just
when authorities were about to raise a fuss about the issue, they
realised that the virus actually showed the scale of the rampant
tech art: ANSI art piracy - even in the early days of computing, and the fuss died
down. However, this was not before Time magazine branded
the virus as “Pakistani Flu” and published a none too flattering
article about these “malicious hackers”.
For those who came in late
Muddled by so many terms used in the mag? Here’s your short
guide to the tech lingo
Image Credit: Shaggy (of ICE)
RAID: RAID - Stands for redundant array of independent disks,
is a system where hard disks are used in different configura-
tions for a range of data saving approaches, optimised for speed,
secure storage and backup.
Cloud: A central online location of data (documents, images,
ANSI art uses the same basic principles as ASCII art, but using the multimedia files etc), as well as any application or engine that
charachter set of IBM’s Code Set 437. ANSI art had a huge advantage allows users to interface with the data.
over ASCII art because of the inclusion of certain dingbats, glyphs
and block characters and the ability to colour them. ANSI art was Beta: Early trial versions of games, operating systems, applica-
really popular in the first few years of the 1990s, and there were tions or hardware, given to a select group of testers, our given to
clans that created ANSI art for public distribution. Each block on an the public for testing.
ANSI artwork was similiar to a pixel, and this image is by Ice, one of
the most popular ANSI groups on bulletin boards in the early days API: Application Programming Interfaces are layers of protocols
of the internet. A lot of ANSI artwork still flies around today, often between an application and an operating system, or a set of
unnoticed. Just open up those .nso files using an .nso viewer when libraries. Usually released to coders for software development.
you find one.
Digit | September 2009 | www.thinkdigit.com 113
Community Interface shift Snow Leopard Sinking ship
OpenSUSE to make KDE its default The next release of OS X - Snow The Pirate Bay goes down following a
interface in upcoming releases Leopard is ready for release court order or face hefty fines
For more, visit
ZOTAC GTX295 - a short review
www.thinkdigit.com/d/38888/
Tom Clancy’s HAWX
amitash Al right, here’s a short review of ZOTAC’s GTX295 that I
Intel Ocer purchased. Tom Clancy’s HAWX is the latest edition in the acclaimed
Tom Clancy series, this time you fly as ace pilot through
Join Date: Feb 2008 Packaging and contents: an intriguing story line and the effects of modern warfare.
Location: Bangalore The GTX295 comes in a neat and tightly packed box Although the game settings were maxed out, I think there
Posts: 894 showing off all its specifications and the card itself through is an fps cap on the game at 60 fps so it was stuck at that
a window. You also get a free copy of Race Driver GRID. I through the entire run. The readings were taken in the Rio
would prefer ZOTAC including newer games like Far Cry De Janeiro map.
2 which they include with their GTX260 cards. Inside
the box, the card comes packed in an antistatic
and very firm padding so there’s no chance of
damage during shipping:
As for accessories, you get a molex to 6-pin
and 8-pin connector if your PSU doesn’t happen
to have one. Also included is a HDMI to DVI
connector, a free 3DMark Vantage, Drivers CD
and surprisingly a free HDMI cable!
Test Setup:
For this review I shall be using the following system:
Intel Core i7 920 @ 3.2Ghz
, GSkill 6 GB 3 x 2GB DDR3-1600 MHz RAM, eVGA x58
SLI motherboard, 4. Zotac GTX295, Tagan BZ700 PSU, 6.
Dell SP2008WFP
20-inch LCD Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare
monitor Call of Duty 4 : Modern Warfare was one of the biggest
games of 2007 taking away most of the awards. It
Lets get features very good graphics with an amazing multiplayer
cracking! experience. The benchmark was done at the highest
Benchmarks: possible settings with maximum AA.
3D Mark
Vantage
3D Mark Vantage
is the latest
benchmarking
tool for PCs by
Futuremark. This
latest version
makes use of Directx 10 and NVIDIA’s
PhysX technology and returns a mean score
based on CPU and GPU performance.
A very good vantage score for the king
here.
Race Driver GRID
GRID is a racing game by Codemasters, to For the complete review and more pictures of the product, visit
date it is classified as the racing game with
the best graphics for the PC. The game was the forum thread at www.thinkdigit.com/d/38888/
played at the highest possible settings with
the highest possible AA and AF settings
through 3 races through the Nurburgring.
114 Digit | September 2009 | www.thinkdigit.com
Unusual pricing No more Windows 7 RC1 Google on Blackberry Community
Windows 7 to be sold cheaper in the August 20 was the last day to download Blackberry phones to get Google Apps
UK than in the US Windows 7 RC1 synchronising features
For more, visit
www.thinkdigit.com/forum/
Readers’ Meet
Coimbatore Gwalior
The meet went really great, We had 9 of them attending the meet (more than Digit Readers’ meet held on 26th July in Mcdonald gwalior, we were 7 persons
what I expected) and all of them were interested in technology and and everyone was eager to meet with other passionate Digit readers. We
digit (tough both are synonyms!). We had a really big ice breaking session for introduced ourselves and then we talked about Digit, skoar, IT awareness in
almost a little more than half an hour. We shared a lot of things there, Then we gwalior and some personal skills. After that we filled our forms and then we took
started with the discussions of how can we proceed further etc. refreshment and then discussed a little more and picked up some goodies and
-Rajaram S, Coimbatore then we met with new friends and great memories - Gwalior
Now get Rs.1,000 off on MapMyIndia GPS devices
Navigator Lx 130 (Rs. 10,990**)
Digit Reader price!
Navigator Vx 140 (Rs. 13,990**)
TO AVAIL THIS OFFER:
SMS DIGIT MMI to 567678
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Purchase online at www.thinkdigit.com/store
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Send this coupon along with a cheque/DD payable to
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*Product will be delivered to your shipping address directly by MapmyIndia.
** Prices include taxes and shipping fees.
Digit | September 2009 | www.thinkdigit.com 115
Game review
Then and now
Courtesy SKOAR! objectives along the way. Choose the applies for every other weapon in the game.
sewers or rooftops to avoid the encounters Normal weapons include your usual assault
W
with Nazi patrols or choose to use the veil rifles like MF40/43, Kar98 but weapons
olfenstein makes a comeback to expose hidden ladders or doors which that stand out are the particle cannon, tesla
after eight long years and can provides a strategic advantage in battle. gun and flamethrower and they each offer a
we still play ‘BJ’ Blazkowicz. Missions will make you traverse the different Nazi-killing experience.
This time a supernatural same paths over and over again because While compared to its competition, it
theme clouds the game giving it a very sci-fi, objectives are generally scattered at edges of does not really live up to their standards
fantasy look which may not strike a chord the map. The missions involve investigating but it undoubtedly spares no effort in
with gamers today. Initially Wolfenstein different areas throughout the city and delivering an all-round mindless fun ride
seems like a linear World War II shooter but outside it for hints and cues that lead up to which involves lots of shooting, lots of
within few minutes the whole perspective the finale. The levels vary from top-secret blowing stuff up and lots of dead Nazis and
changes. underground bases to highly fortified something about an alternate dimension
We start off on a Nazi warship where BJ zeppelins floating high up in the air. Game thing that you practically stop caring about
discovers the ‘Thule Medallion’ that gives offers multiple paths to a destination and towards the end because you are having so
him special abilities. He discovers that the there will always be a way to flank the much fun destroying everything around
Nazi’s Paranormal Division is up to no unsuspecting enemy. you. So, Wolfenstein can take time to get
good (again) in a German-occupied city of The medallion affects gameplay heavily into but once you get into it, there is no
Isenstadt where they have discovered the as it wields four different powers that are turning back. It is definitely worth a try.
path to an alternate dimension called ‘The acquired during the course of the game.
Veil’ which has the power of the Black Sun. With the click of a button, the entire look of For the detailed review check SKOAR! Issue
If this power is harnessed properly, it can the game transforms into a post apocalyptic XXI, Sept-Oct 2009
provide unprecedented source of energy to environment with a heavy green tint to it.
the Third Reich. BJ’s gotta stop them, yet The four powers offer abilities like a shield
again, and all by himself. from enemy fire; slowing down time; power
The approach is fairly non-linear because to increase the damage of weapons and the PROs & Cons
of open-world characteristics of the game. last power which can increase your speed. Pros
We have the option to visit various regions These are acquired during the course of + Some freaky weaponry and special abilities
of Isenstadt which has many enemy the game and can be upgraded to make at the players disposal.
way for additional functionality and same + Gorgeous visuals which make the city of
checkpoints, sewers, black-markets and
Isenstadt look believable.
Ratings + Haven for destruction, since Nazis liked to
keep a lot of exploding barrels and wooden
boxes.
Platforms ......Xbox 360,Playstation 3, + Cheats unlocked after finishing the game
giving all upgrades present in the game.
Windows PC Cons
Publisher ..............................Activision - At 8 hours long, the campaign leaves a lot
Developer ..................Raven Software, to be desired.
- AI could use some fine tuning.
id Software, Pi Studios, - Upgrading options solely dependent
Endrant Studios on Gold collection. New players might
completely ignore the option affecting the
Score.............................................. 7/10 end result and end up missing out on what
really Wolfenstein has to offer.
116 Digit | September 2009 | www.thinkdigit.com
Game review
Courtesy SKOAR! in both batting and bowling. A confident
batsman is more likely to time his strokes as
A
you quit matches once you’re done batting, intended, while a hesitant batsman would
shes Cricket 2009, as the title because bowling and doing it well is just as edge and miscue his strokes. A confident
suggests, isn’t a game that’s fun as piling up the runs. batsman is more capable of negotiating
targeted directly at the Indian subtle variations in pace and movement,
audience, but more towards Taking guard which a batsman new to the crease may be
England and Australia, who are currently You have complete control over your susceptible to. In bowling, besides adding
doing battle in the Ashes series in England. batsman. You can play off the front or back special deliveries to the bowler’s repertoire,
But this is cricket, so whether or not it foot, you can move around the crease, confidence helps in better placement, and
targets us, Indian gamers will definitely sit come down the wicket, and play defensive, makes it easier to hit the sweet spot on the
up and take notice, because, you know - offensive and lofted strokes. That means delivery meter. It’s a neat system, although
cricket is a religion in India. that you can pretty much negotiate anything confidence feels more important while
And sit up and take notice we should, the bowler dishes out, and the challenge batting than bowling, and the difference
because for all its faults, this is probably the comes in picking the right stroke and timing between a high and low confidence player
most balanced and enjoyable cricket game it just right. How well you’re able to time a are far more apparent when batting.
ever made. Most cricket games in the past delivery depends on your batsman’s skill There is a fairly comprehensive tutorial
have got batting right, and Ashes does too, as well as confidence level (more on the and you also have modes like Test
by making shot-selecting easy and intuitive, confidence bit a little later). matches, ODIs and Twenty 20s. There’s
but still giving the player enough control You also have the ability to play all no doubt that Ashes Cricket 2009 is the
over strokeplay. But where Ashes excels around the wicket, but you can also be most complete cricket game yet. It’s well
over past games is by nailing the bowling dismissed in every way conceivable. balanced, and it’s the first game to finally
side of the game, meaning that no more will Running between the wickets works well for get bowling right. The terrible running
most part but there are way too many bugs between the wickets in the PC version ruins
that plague the running system. the experience a bit, but against human
Bowling can feel a little punishing at first, opposition, many of the game’s faults
but you will soon realise that it’s all about disappear. This is a great platform to build
consistency and perseverance, particularly future games on because the core mechanics
in the longer formats. You will need to take are solid, but there are too many little bugs
care of four factors to get each delivery and niggles here that keep it from being
right – delivery selection, placement, power, the great game it very well could have been.
and amount of movement. Just choosing There’s still a long, long way to go before
between in and out swing isn’t enough. cricket games can compete with the likes
Pitching the ball in the right area and of FIFA and NHL, but with Ashes Cricket
deciding exactly how much the ball should 2009, we’re certainly moving in the right
Watch your favourite cricket stars in action swing is the key to picking up wickets. direction.
Fielding is perhaps the least impressive
areas of the game. For the detailed review check SKOAR! Issue
The confidence meter plays a vital role XXI, Sept-Oct 2009
RaTings PROs & Cons
What we like
Platforms .......... Xbox 360, PS 3, PC + Balanced gameplay
+ Finally gets bowling right
Publisher ....................Codemasters
Studio .............Transmission games What we hate
Score....................................... 7.5/10 - Poor running between the wickets (PC
version)
Catch the excitement right from the toss - Sloppy fielding
118 Digit | September 2009 | www.thinkdigit.com
The last word
Forget robots -
programmable cells are coming
Y
ou may have caught recent news One scientist recently stated that until a few
stories about some rather over-the-top years ago, improvements in gene sequencing had
statements at a conference to the effect developed at a similar pace to silicon technology -
that robots would in the future pose rather like Moore’s Law. However, recently, things
serious risks to humanity. There seems to have have speeded up very dramatically - improvements
developed something of a pattern here, with multiplying by a factor of ten every year. Just a few
some scientists - if they still deserve the title - years ago, the cost of (almost completely) reading
drumming up fear, presumably to attract more the human genome was around $3 billion. Today it
grants for research. You can probably tell that is $5,000, and falling fast.
I don’t think these stories need be taken too So, we are not far away from cheaply being
seriously. able to read entire genomes into a computer,
Another contender often cited as representing manipulate them, and then write them back out
a threat to humanity is the grey goo that could into new DNA. Where might we put that DNA?
result from self-replicating nano-bots getting out Certainly into the virus package that should go
of hand and smothering us all. This all seems to and find cancer cells and kill them, and leave
Edward Henning, Editor-in-Chief assume that the creators of these devices will have everything else alone. Enhancing a human egg
the level of intelligence of a motor manufacturer will be the next step, and then somebody will
that builds a car with a powerful accelerator, and also want to put it into an Ebola or HIV virus so
completely forgets to install a brake. Not very that it will only target specific racial groups and
likely. leave everybody else unharmed. Any powerful
But there is one trend in technology that I technology can be used for both good and evil,
think could well pose dangers - this lies with what from simple axes and knives to nuclear power
we might call digital molecular biology. and digital biology. But, I am more concerned
An old colleague once summed up the about the possible mistakes that might arise from
progress of modern technology quite neatly: this technology.
“Once you can digitise something, you then have I have long been opposed to genetic
control over it.” I have often found this a useful modification, mainly because it is such a hit and
way of describing the progress of computing. miss affair. New genes are crudely shoved inside
First, we managed to gain control over text, first a cell nucleus, and another gene put in there to
in word processors, and a little later, databases. start it up. The methods are very much blunt
Simple numbers were next, with the rise of instruments. A living cell is such an incredibly
spreadsheets and the like. Next came simple complex system, as is the biosphere into which,
graphics, sound, and more recently video. We say, a GM version of cotton might be introduced,
“I have long been have not yet fully mastered video - it is still often that we cannot possibly predict all the effects that
opposed to genetic a very expensive procedure in terms of processing might follow. At least, we cannot be certain that ill
modification, mainly power, but we are well on the way to being able to effects will not occur.
because it is such a hit edit and manipulate video as easily as we now can Life is tenacious and powerful, and bad effects
and miss affair” text and audio. can cause enormous problems and suffering.
Next will be 3D and virtual worlds, and it If we introduce something into the biosphere
appears, biology. There are two sides to this. that turns out to cause harm, it might prove
One is the development of biomolecular impossible to contain. If we are approaching the
computers - computing devices made of DNA. stage where we can directly and easily manipulate
The most impressive feat that I have read of the very coding, the DNA, that controls life, then
for one of these devices was this: it was able to the possibilities are enormous. The benefits could
detect the presence of cancer in a test tube and clearly be considerable, but are they worth the
dispatch suitable molecules to kill it. Imagine risks that would accompany them? Accelerating
that mechanism packed in a virus-like shell and our own evolution might seem exciting, but how
injected into the bloodstream of a patient. We are will we handle the risks of accelerated extinction?
certainly moving in that direction, and quickly.
The other side of this development concerns
what we might call the reading and writing of
DNA information. Remember the huge fuss -
and cost - just a few years ago when the human
genome was first mapped? edward.henning@9dot9.in
120 Digit | September 2009 | www.thinkdigit.com