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A style with substance

Sharp Shooter | David Stott — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 16:36:00 GMT

A few weeks ago, a friend of mine spotted a guidebook for sale at an airport somewhere in Europe. Deciding that the picture on the cover looked like “a David Stott photo” (his words), he went in for a closer look, and sure enough, there was my name on the cover. He proudly snapped a picture and posted it on his blog. I barely had the heart to tell him that I’d written the book, but the picture belonged to someone else.

It’s hugely flattering when someone credits you in this way, even if their radar turns out to be a little off. The very fact that they identify a picture as looking like yours means they’re actually thinking about your work: You’ve made a strong enough impression on their mind’s eye, and when they see a picture with a certain look and feel, it reminds them of you. This is the rock on which photographic brands can be built.

Also Read Earlier columns by David Stott

Building what graphic designers term a “visual identity” is one of the most powerful ways to set yourself apart from the camera-carrying hordes. Study any famous photographer, from Ansel Adams to Anne Geddes, and each of them has a tangible personal style: a photographic fingerprint that marks any picture they take. Whether or not you can stomach Geddes’ cutesy kiddy portraits is besides the point. What matters is that her fans and admirers can spot one of her pictures at a single glance.

First steps

Style is something that can be expressed at every stage of the photographic process. It’s there in the way you go about your business on a shoot, in the subjects you choose to photograph and how you portray them, and in the finishing touches you apply in the digital darkroom.

Lens eye: Style can be defined at all stages of the photography process. David Stott

Developing these habits, thinking about them and refining them is what elevates photography from a technical pursuit into an art form. But you don’t have to start wearing black pullovers and cultivating a goatee to begin thinking in terms of your own style.

The first step is as simple as establishing what you like to shoot. Maybe you’re a nature lover and instinctively prefer to shoot landscapes. Great. Now ask yourself how you like to see and shoot them. In a pure, observational way that seeks to elicit every drop of beauty from the scene through natural light, like Charlie Waite? In a borderline kitsch, colour-pushed-to-the-edge-of-its-logical-limits way like Ken Duncan? Or do you prefer to go for an edgier look, using shallow depth of field and heavily darkened corners?

Or let’s say you’re a people person. Do you aspire to confront environmental portraiture in the Sebastiao Salgado mould? Glammed up and highly produced fashion imagery like Mario Testino? Or the slice-of-life artistry practised by William Eggleston?

Answer these questions and you can go on to build the camera set-up you need, and cultivate the habits that suit your subject. If it’s outdoor photography, you’ll need a reliable alarm clock, vast reserves of patience, and a willingness to return to the same spot again, and again, and again, in pursuit of that one magic moment of light. If it’s people, be ready to throw a heap of compassion, chutzpah and management skills in the bag along with your portrait lenses.

Know others, know yourself

Finally, don’t be afraid to borrow ideas from other people. Most photographers’ fingerprints, mine included, are a blend of influences stolen from the pictures we love and admire. Incorporate enough of them, stir in your own personality, and you’ll create a magic brew that no other photographer will ever replicate.

David Stott is a photographer based in Australia.

Write to him at sharpshooter@livemint.com

Three of a kind

Ashish Bhatia — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 16:34:00 GMT

A few years ago, most of us thought that a Nokia E90, an N95 running on the Symbian 60 platform, or perhaps an O2 Atom with Windows Mobile 5.0, were the smartest “function-rich” smartphones money could buy. Then, along came the game changers: Apple with its iPhone and iPhone operating system (a pocket edition of Mac OS X), followed by Google with its open Android platform. And the whole paradigm of smartphones changed.
Heftily specced hardware that worked well, though hugely important, no longer remained the all-important ingredient.
Efficient, evolved, slick software that exuded more intuitive, user-friendly interfaces that you could personalize without any fuss improved Web integration and browsing, and the availability of easily downloadable third-party applications began to gain the competitive advantage. This gave us so much more to do on—and with—our cellphones, while making everything much easier to do.
In fact, for all practical purposes, the silly cellphone had metamorphosed into a mini-computer that also made calls.
We take a look at the strengths and weaknesses of the three latest operating systems — Apple iPhone OS 3.0, Google Android and Windows Mobile 6.5—vis-à-vis the latest phones in the market today. It’s no coincidence that all three phones that run these operating systems happen to be touch-screen phones—just an emphatic indicator of the future of cellphones.
Apple phone OS 3.0
It is not for nothing that iPhone fanboys dub it the Godphone. Now in its third major incarnation, the already good operating system (OS) has improved further over time—not so visibly on hardware as on software. Its much lauded, easy-to-use, intuitive multi-touch abilities exploit the iPhone’s capacitive screen to the fullest, making it a most enjoyable and effortless touch-screen to use. The iPhone OS remains the one to beat on the user-interface front.
What works: Of course, the expansive canvas of around 100,000 apps. Even if you discount more than half of these as “craplets” (crappy applications), you’re left with an awesome number of useful ones—for virtually every imaginable purpose and pursuit—to which no one in the competition is even close. For example, where else can diabetics plug their glucose meters into their phones and download readings? Add to that the no-fuss updation process of both OS and app versions. Its prowess for the enterprise and acceptance in businesses has also been growing steadily.
Compatibility with Microsoft Exchange Server 2003 and 2007 allows you to wirelessly “push” email, contacts and information on events to the iPhone.
What doesn’t work: The chief sore points with the iPhone are its inability to multitask (run several applications at the same time). While Web browsing is fast, simple and efficient, you are compelled to use Safari and must make do without in-browser Flash. Battery life, though improved substantially, can still leave the phone gasping for life at the end of the day. A closed OS intended to run only on Apple hardware means it offers zero-tolerance in terms of platform adaptability and is, hence, monopolistic.
Google Android
With 47 technology and mobile companies in tow, Android is fast becoming the mobile platform of the future. Since it is a completely customizable, fully stacked (replete with OS, middleware and key mobile applications) open-source mobile platform, Android offers phone and application developers vast scope in implementation. The best example of the Google Android platform to cross our path yet has been the HTC Hero.
What works: Running HTC’s Sense interface atop Android, Hero is capable of seven customized home screens to which you can add widgets, application short cuts and certain Android-specific programs. Multi-touch works extremely well on its capacitive screen, making it the only handset that comes close to matching the iPhone in the pinch-flick experience.
As Android is built for multitasking, five-seven apps can be opened simultaneously. Other than supporting Flash in its Web browser, it also formats Web pages better than the iPhone. Even with multitasking, the Hero boasts a decent battery life.
What doesn’t work: On the downside, Android Market, the applications store, offers limited apps in India. So far, you’re restricted to free offerings. Shockingly, the implementation of Google Maps on the Hero is way poorer than on the iPhone.
You can’t download mail attachments without an additional plug-in. There’s no default video player and the pre-loaded audio player is quite basic. Android’s openness is also its foible and could substantially increase the risks of phone hacking.
Forthcoming phones with this OS: Motorola Milestone, Acer Liquid, Sony Ericsson Xperia X10, LG GW620, Samsung Spica.
Windows Mobile 6.5
So frenetic has been the pace of the mobile OS race that by the time Windows Mobile 6.5 launched, around a month ago, it was called “too little, too late” by all and sundry. And if none other than Microsoft’s head honcho, Steve Ballmer, admits that 6.5 needs a revamp, need we say more? No matter how you look at it, this version is more of a cosmetic facelift to the previous one.
What works: To be fair, the multitasking WinMo 6.5 feels nice, responsive and zippy on good hardware such as the Acer neoTouch S200 with its fast Qualcomm Snapdragon processor. Though much more stable and faster than 6.1, WinMo 6.5’s prime improvement is its interface, which adds to the user experience. The rejigged Internet Explorer is more finger-friendly and includes a nifty zoom slider. A useful My Phone feature now easily backs up all data—including contacts, SMSs, calendar and photos, among others—to a password-protected site. So switching or misplacing a Windows phone doesn’t mean losing personal data. Also, Exchange integration with the enterprise continues to be superb and the Windows trump card.
What doesn’t work: No under-the-hood changes aside, there’s a gross lack of customization abilities—you can’t add, remove or juggle icons at will. Sadly, Windows Marketplace, the WinMo app store, stocks around 400 apps, of which around 30% are free. That’s against about 15,000 unvetted (for security and compatibility) apps out in the wild on the Web. All this is bound to prevent the OS from taking centre stage in the mobile OS wars—at least until WinMo 7 debuts next year.
Forthcoming phones with this OS: Sony Ericsson Xperia X2, Samsung B7610, HTC HD2.
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Send live photos
PhotoWALL, a live mobile social network service that allows you to send live photos along with many types of geo-tags and voice tags to a searchable website for public, network or private viewing, was launched last week. It is available free to all iPhone users on the App Store and many Sony Ericsson and Nokia users at www.photowall.com . PhotoWALL also enables simultaneous live uploading of mobile media to Facebook, Flickr and Twitter. In India, photoWALL is available as a co-branded site. Staff Writer
Online cricket tournament
Zapak.com has launched India’s first online multi-player cricket tournament to capitalize on the passion for the game in the country. In partnership with Hewlett-Packard, the ‘MP2 Online Multiplayer Cricket Tournament’ is free for you to challenge friends to win goodies such as laptops, bags and sippers. The contest is open till 22 November. For more information, log on to http://hpcricket.zapak.com . Varuni Khosla
Nokia N97 Mini
Nokia has unveiled the latest addition to its Nseries range, the Nokia N97 Mini. The N97 Mini is a smaller mobile computer with stylish stainless steel cues, featuring a tilting 3.2-inch touch display, Qwerty keyboard and fully customizable home screen. Available in three stylish colours —cherry black, garnet and white—the Nokia N97 Mini launched in India this week, with a price tag of Rs30,939. Staff Writer
Website builder
Airtel has launched the Airtel Website Builder , a site that lets users and small businesses create their own website with no need for coding expertise. A value-add for anyone who has an Airtel Broadband account, it offers a choice of of around 1,000 templates spread across 24 categories, from Retail Shops to personal portfolios. Packages, including your own domain name and hosting, start at Rs250 a month. Krish Raghav
Write to us at businessoflife@livemint.com

The big picture

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 15:11:00 GMT

Walk into an electronics megastore, and you are likely to see high-definition television sets (HDTVs) along the walls. It’s tough to resist them. However, just as you start getting the hang of all the 720 and 1080 talk, and begin minding your Ps and Is, manufacturers start advertising more HDMI ports, and terms such as IPS and LED add to the muddle.
It’s time to reclaim your sanity. And perhaps, for a change, instead of being intimidated by all that jargon the salesmen throw at you, start asking them questions that will make them squirm and consult their manuals.
Here, we’re going to quickly cover a few things you should know before you buy an HDTV of any brand or size, to make sure you spend your money wisely, and don’t fall for all the misleading and perhaps confusing drivel.
Size actually does matter
Buy something that is suitable for your room size and viewing distance. A 32-inch HDTV is good enough for a viewing distance of up to 10ft. At 12ft or more, this display feels small; ideally a display should be large enough to capture a major part of your viewing area.
Previously, a large display viewed from too close appeared pixelated; but this is no longer an issue, thanks to higher resolutions. If your viewing distance is going to be greater than 10ft, consider a 42-inch HDTV. For anything more than 16ft, look at a 46-inch display. Obviously, your budget also matters, as larger displays are costlier, but these are the sizes you should look at for an optimal viewing experience.
High contrast ratio is nonsense
We are talking about the measured contrast ratio. We’ve tested such displays and noted that their “actual” contrast ratio is not more than 1,300:1.
For the record, anything more than 1,000:1 is good, and anything more than 1,500:1 is superb. Such specifications are overstated and the term “dynamic contrast ratio” is misleading because different methods, such as varying the backlight intensity or even measuring the contrast over a period of time (and not instantaneously, as is the proper procedure), are used.
Displays with a “static” contrast ratio of 1,000:1 are more than enough for a great viewing experience.
Generic statements are misleading
Avoid getting confused between “HD support”, “HD Ready”, “1080p supported” and other such statements. If you’re buying a display today, 1,080 pixels is the resolution you should look at. Every display with a screen size of 32 inches and above should support this resolution. Look for the phrase “native resolution”—this should be 1080p (1,920x1,080 progressively scanned pixels) and not lower.
Progressive scanning is a method wherein all the lines of each frame on a TV screen are drawn in sequence. This is in contrast to traditional television systems which show either the odd or even lines of each frame (each image now called a field).
Smaller TVs are no good
Many vendors are rushing to offer 19- and 22-inch HDTVs—these are not HDTVs in the truest sense and such displays typically use substandard LCDs. A true HDTV starts from at least 26 inches, so do not be caught shopping for anything smaller—save up a bit more if you have to, but resist buying these, even at rock-bottom prices.
‘In-plane switching’ (IPS) panels
Although brilliant, such panels are meant for image professionals owing to their colour accuracy. They don’t have the best contrast ratios for movies and games where absolute colour accuracy and a 100% colour gamut aren’t necessary.
PVA (patterned vertical alignment) panels are better for movies and games since their contrast ratio is superior, that is, the panel is capable of purer blacks and more variations in shade intensity.
How many ports do you need?
HDMI, or high-definition multimedia interface, connectivity is important, but all you need are one or two HDMI ports.
The latter in case you want to hook up two devices (such as a Blu-ray player and an Xbox 360) simultaneously. Do not spend lots more money on four or five HDMI ports—ask yourself if you’ll use all of them at the same time. Besides, you can get an HDMI switcher, which will allow you to connect many more HDMI devices, and just switch to the desired one when needed.
LCD or LED?
There is a common myth that “LCD TVs” and “LED TVs” are two different things.
This misnomer is generating a lot of hype. The fact is, LEDs are just the backlighting used; the display is still very much an LCD panel. Traditionally, CCFL (cold cathode fluorescent lamp) tubes were used for backlighting, but LEDs are more compact, brighter and consume less power, making it a win-win situation.
Obviously, this technique is pricier but better. Therefore, what is referred to as an “LED TV” is actually an “LED-backlit LCD display”. Technically, there is no such thing as an LED TV.
The Range
SAMSUNG SERIES 6 UA46B6000VR
Samsung has brought to the market the all new Series 6 46inch LED backlit TV. This gives the conventional LCD TV a much slimmer and appealing form. That’s not the only thing—the TV boasts of a 200Hz refresh rate—though that’s not of much use these days. Although the specifications and figures might sound overrated, it’s also a good performer. The image is crisp and the colours are natural. Colour is also neutral and the contrast is pretty good. The slim design, coupled with the sleek glass stand, exudes raw sex appeal, a head turner in any company. We noticed that it gets pretty warm at
the back with some use, so that can be a little bit of a concern. The speakers aren’t as powerful as we’d like, though given the slimness, that is expected. At around Rs1.5 lakh, it’s well beyond the reach of many, but for an LED for which you don’t have to make too many compromises, it’s sure worth it.
PHILIPS 42PFL7409/98
Philips’ 42PFL7409/98 is one of those rare products that commands a hefty price tag of close to Rs1 lakh, but brings utter contentment to the buyer. The 42inch, 1080p HDTV features an elegant glass stand and an amazing glossy black finish. Overall, the build quality is exemplary. And the good features don’t stop here. How does a 3 millisecond response time sound? Add to that the goodness of a 100Hz LCD panel for crystal clear
output, even with fast motion scenes.
The high colour, high brightness (500 cd/m2), IPS (inplane switching) panel ensures you get the real picture, while Philips’ own Pixel Plus 3 HD engine offers advanced algorithms to ensure every possible type of picture, from cable TV to Bluray content, from text to games, looks as natural as possible. With four HDMI (high definition multimedia interface) ports, DSub, component and a built in TV Tuner, the 42PFL7409/98 is something that a buyer craving a good mix of performance and features should not miss. It’s priced at Rs94,990.
LG JAZZ 42LG80FR
This LG Jazz comes finished in a glossy black fibre that has embedded red highlights
that give certain parts of the bezel an almost red wine like colour. All in all, the Jazz 42LG80FR looks a classy product and the retractable speakers provide a nice,
gimmicky touch.
Unfortunately, the stand of this huge TV is not very stable and we could actually tilt
the display 10 degrees forward and backward with the stand affixed. However, when it comes to performance, the 42LG80FR is a scorcher. It did well across the board with DisplayMate and excellently with 1080p content. The text rendition of this TV is clear and crisp—the detail makes reading even long documents a pleasure. Hook this up to your Xbox 360 or PlayStation 3 and you are sure to keep raving about the experience. It’s a superb all rounder and is reasonably affordable at Rs60,000.
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Must buy-Acer’s neo Touch phone
Acer has launched the neoTouch phone that sports the 1 GHz Snapdragon processor which powers its Windows Mobile 6.5 operating system. The large 3.8-inch resistive touch screen (65K colours, 480x800 pixels) comes with an accelerometer for autorotation, proximity sensor and ambient light sensor. Multimedia is a breeze with this one, as the neoTouch packs a 3.5mm headphone jack and stereo FM radio support to keep music aficionados happy, while pleasing the shutterbugs with a 5-megapixel camera (with auto focus, LED flash, geo-tagging and VGA video recording). It is priced at Rs35,000.
Go shooting with Sanyo camcorders
These simple-to-use camcorders from Sanyo come in a range of eye-catching colours, and can shoot 720p-resolution HD videos. The best little feature is the ability to directly upload videos on YouTube as long as there is Wi-Fi connectivity. The default storage is a little disappointing though—you will have only 40MB to play around with. You can pick a camcorder for Rs14,660.
HI-Tech—BenQ’s ULV notebook
BenQ has launched two new devices in the emerging ULV (ultra-low voltage) notebook market: the 1.5kg Joybook S35 (Rs37,199) and 2.1kg Joybook S43 (Rs40,399). While the S35 has a 13.3-inch screen, the S43 sports a larger 14-inch display. The larger display on the S43 is accompanied by a dedicated Nvidia GeForce 9600GT graphics card. Both the Joybooks feature superfast Wi-Fi, eSATA high-speed data transfer, and extra-long battery life. They run on Intel’s Pentium Dual Core SU4100 processors, and are pre-loaded with Windows 7.
Hybrid computers
Atom processors on Ion platforms make for too-tiny-to-believe computers. This new breed of computers is a hybrid between netbooks and desktops, called nettops. The specs are a modest 160GB hard drive, 2 GB RAM and a CPU that runs at 1.6 GHz. The Onkyo P3 can get even smaller if you just slide out the DVD-ROM. It costs Rs35,500.
Write to us at businessoflife@livemint.com
Content provided by Digit

Hands on

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 15:09:00 GMT

Replacement shooter
Intended as a replacement for the D60, Nikon’s new D3000 comes with the same standard 18-55mm VR, 3x optical zoom lens found on other entry-level models. There’s no lens motor in the body—typical for its price range. The sensor is the same 10MP CCD unit in the D60.
RATINGS* Features: 7; Performance: 7.5; Build quality: 7.5; Value for money: 7; Overall:7
The body is a bit bulkier than the D60, with a larger 3-inch screen. Live view is still missing. In contrast, Canon has this feature on the cheaper EOS 1000D. The move to an 11-focus point system, up from the 3-point system, is good—a welcome feature. Image quality is good with the default lens, although it’s a bit inadequate for various shooting conditions.
Nikon’s Guide mode simplifies things for newbies with a colourful main menu for basic operations. The controls are simple to use, and unlike the costlier DSLRs, there is no dedicated ISO button—the D3000 makes do with a single jog dial. So you’re forced to use a few more buttons while shooting—good for newbies but not hard-core DSLR users.
The D3000 is a good camera—the body has the right build, the controls are pretty simple and it gives very good results. It has a great aperture range and shutter speed. At Rs37,950, it’s a worthy replacement for the D60. But if you already have a D60 or any other cheap DSLR in this range, this isn’t for you.
Also Read Hands On earlier columns
The third dimension
Nvidia has just given gamers a serious shot in the arm, and we’re not talking about the yet unreleased GT300 chip that is causing quite a stir. At first glance, you’ll be forgiven for mistaking the 3D Vision to be a really goofy green and black pair of sunglasses, which they’re not.
RATINGS* Features: 8; Performance: 8.5; Build quality: 7.5; Value for money: 6.5; Overall:7.5
They’re well-built and there’s a mini-USB port on one of the temple arms for charging the tiny built-in Li-Ion battery. There’s a small IR transmitter-cum-USB controller, two extra nose-pieces for fit and a rather long DVI-to-HDMI cable bundled. Each lens is actually a monochrome LCD and it works by alternatively blocking the light to either eye. Therefore, only certain frames are visible by each eye, while others are blocked, and alternating frames are slightly offset.
Obviously games need to support this and we had two titles that did—Crysis Warhead and Batman Arkham Asylum. Warhead looks decent but is full of glitches, especially issues with seeing two aiming reticules are unforgivable. Batman works flawlessly with a little tuning, however, and the game characters and environs seem to reach out and grab you—super immersive, and this was, we have to admit, something that frankly adds a whole new layer to the gaming experience.
At Rs11,490, it’s expensive, but hard-core gamers will not mind.
* Ratings out of 10
Content provided by Digit

Virus attack? Shield your PC for free

Krish Raghav — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 17:03:00 GMT

Anti-virus has always been the bane of the PC user—constant updates, continuous surveillance for threats, and often intrusive, expensive programs that happily take over your PC in the name of security. If computers were nation states, the average Windows PC would be a dictatorship.
But for those looking for a hassle-free solution, look no further than these suites of anti-virus software being offered at a very competitive price: free.
Also See Comparison chart of free anti-virus softwares
Free here, though, does not mean a compromise. Once downloaded and installed, these freebies can scan for threats, clean up viruses, malware (uninvited programs, usually from the Internet, that take root in your computer) and shield your computer just as well as any paid product can. Some of them, such as AVG, are tried and trusted names, and have honed their skills at virus-busting for years. Others, such as the open-source Clamwin or the cloud-based Panda, offer interesting alternatives to traditional scanning techniques. Avira and Avast are frequently updated and tweaked to deal with new threats. New entrant Microsoft has the promise of cutting-edge technology powering its own suite.
We compared the six anti-virus software suites across four categories: virus detection and removal, malware detection and removal, scan speed and the footprint it leaves on your system (this means the amount of system resources the software consumes).
Frugal PC users, rejoice.
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CONNECT
Listen | Music player by Transcend
Transcend, known for its storage and multimedia products, has launched a digital music player, MP330. Weighing a mere 25g, the compact device supports a wide variety of formats, including FLAC, MP3, WMA, WAV and even WMA-DRM10 protected music files. It sports an extra bright, easy-to-read OLED display and doubles up as a portable storage device with a built-in USB connector. Music from external sources can also be recorded, including FM radio and sing-along synchronized lyrics in 14 languages. Two colours (black and white) are available in 2GB, 4GB and 8GB; the player is priced at Rs2,500-4,000. Varuni Khosla
Navigate | New look for Orkut
Google is rolling out a new-look interface for its social networking site Orkut. With an estimated 13 million users, Orkut is the most populous social networking website in India. The new iteration is built on the Google Web Toolkit (GWT) platform, which powers Google’s futuristic sequel to email: Wave. The changeover will be rolled out through select invites and communities, a strategy familiar to users of Gmail and Wave. Krish Raghav
For more on Orkut’s new design, listen to Playcast
Download here
Play | Multimedia player by Amkette
Digital lifestyle brand Amkette has introduced an ultra-portable Flash TV multimedia player in India. You can playback your downloaded movies, pictures and music from the USB hard drives, flash drives or memory cards, in high-resolution output of 720 pixels, directly on your high-definition television. It connects to your TV or home theatre and plays digital movies, music and photos, and even the text files stored in the USB portable drives. It is priced at Rs2,995. Staff Writer
Illustration by Jayachandran / Mint

Shifting gears

Road Runner | Siddharth Vinayak Patankar — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 16:08:00 GMT

The Tokyo Motor Show has always been the one place to go to if you want to see futuristic concepts and unusual technologies in the automobile world. But at its 41st edition this year, which ends today, the show was reduced to nothing more than a local showing, thanks to the global economic crisis. None of the world’s big car makers showed up: The Germans and Americans skipped it, and after initially confirming its participation, even Hyundai pulled out. Luckily, the Japanese brigade made up by exhibiting some wild concepts and interesting production cars and bikes. Here’s my pick of the takeaways from Tokyo which I think would interest our Indian audience.
Also Read Previous RoadRunner columns
Prius coming to India soon
The Toyota Prius, the third generation of the world’s best-selling hybrid car, is definitely coming to India. While the Tokyo Motor Show served as a platform for the plug-in hybrid concept version of the Prius, we will get the regular version that went on sale globally a few months ago. The car has a 1.8-litre petrol engine mated to an electric motor, which produces a combined
134 bhp. The Prius will be imported from Japan, so expect a steep price tag of approximately Rs25 lakh.
Lexus LFA, a winner all the way
Toyota also showed off its all-new and exclusive sports offering under the Lexus umbrella. The Lexus LFA is a significant car not because it is any less expensive than its contemporaries, but because it shows the world that the Japanese giant is right up there with the rest when it comes to super cars. Work began on this car nine years ago and Toyota wanted this car to be able to compete with others such as the Audi R8 and Lamborghini Gallardo, as well as Nissan’s GT-R. It is lightweight, thanks to the extensive use of carbon fibre. Its 4.8-litre V10 engine has been co-developed with Yamaha, and produces a massive 552 bhp. Lexus LFA touches a top speed of a cool
325 kmph. Only 500 of these will be made and the LFA will go on sale in late 2010 at between $350,000 (around Rs1.65 crore now) and $400,000 in Europe, Japan and the US.
Kizashi for India
New direction:The Suzuki Kizashi
A much humbler offering but one we can expect soon is the 2.4-litre Suzuki Kizashi. This is the largest sedan that Suzuki has ever developed. The Indian Kizashi will arrive by mid-2010 and will compete with the Corolla, Civic, et al. It has all-wheel drive, a start-stop button, and plenty of other high-end luxury and safety features. Expect it in India at approximately Rs9-11 lakh, but not the all-wheel drive, or the V6 variants.
Honda CR-Z, the real thing
The CR-Z is Honda’s promise of a sports hybrid, and is expected to hit production next year—the car you see is very close to the real thing. It will share some parts with Honda’s current hybrid model—the Insight, and even though the Insight will not make it to India in a hurry, cars such as the CR-Z are already being considered for emerging markets.
Most manufacturers maintained the theme of showing off the electric vehicles that they are considering for series production in the near future. That includes some innovative e-bikes and even fuel-cell scooters from Honda, Yamaha and Suzuki.
The author is editor, auto, NDTV.
Write to us at businessoflife@livemint.com

Groove on the move

Michael Browne — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 19:45:00 GMT

Most people still look at feature-rich portable multimedia players (PMPs) with suspicion. After all, they argue, what’s the point in spending Rs15,000 on a PMP when you can get a truly converged, all-in-one cellphone for the same price? It’s a fair question. But then, why do people still buy camcorders when digital cameras can capture videos too? Because all converged devices need not necessarily replace the devices they were designed to supersede.
PMPs fall in this category. No matter how you look at it, if you’re serious about your music quality, you would still opt for a dedicated player rather than a jack of all trades. Don’t get us wrong. We love our N97s and iPhones as much as anybody else, but we still reach for our PMPs when we want to chill to our favourite music or watch a video.
So we’ve drawn up a collection of portable media players to suit every budget. We used a mixture of music from different genres and AVI video files to judge the sound and video quality of these devices. For music, we used a reference Grado SR225 headphone coupled with a headphone amplifier. Using a high quality third-party headphone is important since it eliminates the impact of substandard earphones, which is what most PMPs ship with.
Apacer AU824
A neat looking PMP with a garish and overdone mock chrome finish on the rear that made me go “ugh”! The front is neat though with the buttons resembling a cellphone layout, albeit much larger. There is a centre button for play/pause and four directional keys around it. A tiny menu button is also provided to the right of these buttons. The centre button is finished in matte-silver and this along with the chrome rim around the buttons adds some colour to an already colourful black and navy blue body. The centre button has a rubbery feedback. Build quality is good but it looks like everything was put together in a hurry especially considering the misalignment of the USB port. There’s a switch on the player that selects between playback and USB mode.
Also Read Groove on the move | Cowon D2+, Cowon iAudio 7, Cowon S9, iPod Touch 32 GB
Groove on the move | Philips GoGear Aria, GoGear Opus, Samsung YP-P3 , Samsung YP-Q2
How we tested
Surprisingly, for such a small screen, the video format support is extensive, especially compared to the Philips Aria. Quality of the display is so-so; brightness level is good. Music performance is a little better although we found the bass unfocussed and tending towards looseness, the SR 225 is known for clean bass and the fact that the bass seemed muddy is testament to this players’ performance, or rather the lack of it. Mid-range is also weak – definitely not its forte. The treble extends rather cleanly although is sharply rolled off and certain instruments and sounds that extend into the higher frequencies beyond the 8 KHz range. In fact some piano accompaniments around the 4 KHz mark also seemed to be missing – this is really part of the lower-range of treble and this is pretty unacceptable for a PMP of any sort, irrespective the price. At Rs2,400 the Apacer AU824 is a little too light on performance and features to warrant approval, though it is the cheapest player we tested and many who want affordability will want to check it out.
Pros:
Good video format support
Compact
Cons:
Mediocre screen
Looks hurriedly put together
Mediocre audio quality
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iPod Classic 120 GB
This is the 6th generation of the venerable hard drive-based iPod that Apple never fails to include. Although a generation old as we speak, (since the new iPod Classic is already available but not for review at this moment), this series offers unmatched storage. Although the Classic is a decent video player it is aimed at the audiophile who wants to carry his entire collection of music with him. The 1.8-inch hard drive offers 120 GB of storage; more than any other PMP in the market. This means you can carry not just lossy MP3 files, but Apple Lossless (ALAC) files as well, giving audiophiles one less lament about the loss of finer detail that occurs with compression. The Classic is very well built though the scratch-prone chromed rear is still a killjoy. The screen has seen some revamping and its 2.5-inch display looks pretty crisp and clear with great colours – just what the doctor ordered for video playback. Fonts are clear and ultra legible and video playback is sweet, the only two cons being the smaller (compared to the iPod Touch) screen and of course the fact that videos need to be synced through iTunes.
This is a superb PMP for discerning music lovers – the overall aural representation remains very tonally neutral and if anything the Classic is actually a little more focussed on the highs than most other PMPs. But that’s not to say the mid-range and bass lacks in any way. Bass is detailed and punchy without any sort of bloat and individual bass notes have the necessary impact. The mid-range is detailed and clear, leaning slightly to the lush side of things. I say it focuses on the highs because it does so well with the higher frequencies which are detailed, and extends without any audible cut-off but there’s also no sibilance – the Classic exerts total control over the sonic spectrum. Especially noticeable on the U2 track ~Where The Streets Have No Name~ Bono’s vocals can sound sibilant and uncontrolled at times but not on the Classic. The opening drum scores on this track also had noticeable weight and there was a textural richness to the bass. It also has noticeably more power than the Nano and will drive around 10% higher volume levels.
At Rs15,400, the Classic is a steal of a deal, especially considering the performance and unmatched storage space. When you consider that Apple has just announced a new 160 GB version at the same price things get sweeter. It’s certainly not for someone who wants something really compact and pocket able but for the road-warrior audiophile it can’t get much better.
Pros:
Great screen
Possibly the best sounding PMP
Well built
Unmatched storage
Cons:
Heavy and bulky
Larger screen would have made it better at movies
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iPod Nano
The new Nano is very sleek and much lighter than the previous gen widescreen Nano. Of course there is a newer version than the one we tested that also features a video camera but we’ll be testing that next month in the magazine, since it reached us late for this test. But on to this Nano – it’s cute with a nice curved profile. It’s long but very slim – perfect for those who want something feature-rich and with a screen while working out or jogging, since it won’t weight down your pocket. Its screen is good, although the text font doesn’t look as crisp as the iPod Classic or the iPod Touch. The clickwheel is still going strong and although it’s not the best for menu navigation it works quite well and is pretty accurate.
The Nano’s 2-inch display is not the best suited for videos although it does a fairly decent job, but really speaking we’d like more contrast and of course, something larger. The clickwheel is still going strong but I found it not as responsive as the clickwheel on the Classic. For music it hits the spot – clean sound, with nary a hint of distortion and quite neutral – a welcome relief from all the bass-heavy PMPs we’ve seen in the past. The treble does get a little out of hand and some of the instrument scores can get to the point where they’re grating on the ears but this niggle aside, I was pretty satisfied.
Priced at Rs9,700 for the 8 GB version and Rs12,500 for the 16 GB version, the Nano is a little on the expensive side, but Apple remedies this with the new range of Nanos with cheaper prices. However, if you’re in search of something really light, well-built (read metal) and compact offering great audio performance and the added functionality of video when you need it, the Nano is hard to beat.
8 GB version
Pros:
Amazingly compact and light
Rugged metal body
Great sound quality
Cons:
Screen could have been better, not up to the Classic or the Touch
Clickwheel isn’t as responsive as the Touch
16 GB version
Pros:
Amazingly compact and light
Rugged metal body
Great sound quality
Better VFM than the 8 GB variant
Cons:
Screen could have been better, not up to the Classic or the Touch
Clickwheel isn’t as responsive as the Touch
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Groove on the move | Part 3

Michael Browne — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 17:16:00 GMT

Philips GoGear Aria 4 GB
The smaller brother to the Opus, the Aria is compact. It’s built well and except for the rather garish looking chrome centre button the player looks nice. Piano-finished black is a failsafe option though we’re getting tired of seeing this combination on HDTVs, DVD players, speakers and so on. Its screen is small and too devoid of contrast and colour to be any good at movies. Moreover a single SMV video format is supported that few will want to use.
The music performance was strictly mediocre, as expected – in fact its bass sounded woolly and unfocussed lacking bottom-end grunt that makes certain segments of some tracks memorable. The mid-range is recessed and vocals seem somehow suppressed – not as loud as the other sonic components – this makes any sort of vocal-based music like Blues, Jazz and Pop an incomplete experience. The guitar echoes – as if it were being strummed in an empty room with poor acoustics. There is a clipping that occurs in the 3.6 – 4 KHz range of the sonic spectrum that coincides with higher piano notes – although not very noticeable – once you realise the clipping, it’s a killjoy to the rest of the music that you are hearing.
The highs are lacking in finer detail but for the most there is no issue with tonal accuracy or sibilance. At Rs. 4,999 the Aria doesn’t inflame my senses enough for me to recommend it at even half the price – if you’re looking for a budget PMP, you can do much better for a lot less.
Also Read Groove on the move | Apacer AU824, iPod Classic 120 GB, iPod Nano
Groove on the move | Cowon D2+, Cowon iAudio 7, Cowon S9, iPod Touch 32 GB
Pros:
Built well
Really compact
Cons:
Tiny screen, with poor colours
Basic features
Poor music quality
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Philips GoGear Opus 8 GB
The Opus consists of a brushed metal rear and glossy black front. The sides have a silver trim and this adds some much need contrast to all that black, all in all an attractive looking player. The controls look clunky and the buttons are a little hard to press but other than that they’re well laid out and for the most work decently. The screen is not very bright and the contrast ratio is horrible, for lack of a better word. When using the arrow keys between menus or tracks there is a slight lag between a button press and the desired action – a bit annoying. A useful little bookmark feature does the job of the point A to B repeat within a soundtrack.
This player definitely isn’t for the movie buff regardless of what Philips says – the Cowon S9, iPod Touch, iPod Classic, Samsung P3 and D2+ all have much better screens. With music, the player needs more juice and this was the only player where the amp volume was nearly 12 o’clock before we got the same volume level out of the Grados. The slight background hiss audible in ~Trampled Rose~ was less prominent – this is something I didn’t notice with the Apple players – kudos to Philips here; though to be honest some are of the opinion that the album recording has a barely noticeable (but audible with high-end equipment) hiss. Rock music sounds decent but with blues and such it isn’t as emotive, perhaps this could be perceived as being more neutral but we found a couple of instances where some of the finer details during vocal pieces were missing so we as disinclined to say this. Treble is pretty detailed with good nuances as well as good extension, sans sibilance. The price would be the decider and at Rs. 7,999 the GoGear Opus is a little pricey for the features and performance. Moreover, it’s not exactly compact.
Pros:
Built well
Simple controls
Cons:
Mediocre music quality
Poor screen quality
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Samsung YP-P3
The P3 has an amazing interface – a very rich multimedia look, icons and background animations all in a device that is zippy. The rear is brushed aluminium although the look on the front is too plain to be termed as attractive. The styling is understated. The widget based home screen has lots going on, and can get crowded at times. Most people are going to go “WOW! – Widgets”, but I’m not a fan; matter of personal choice since it detracts from the actual purpose of a device, IMO. The touch-based controls work well, in fact, exceedingly well and the P3 comes closer to the interface of the iPod Touch than any other player we’ve tested to date. However, we feel Apple does it better as the menus and the touch system just somehow work well. Movies are a convenient drag-and-drop away and the screen is a joy to watch videos on, although it still trails the iPod Touch in terms of sheer quality.
Layla sounds very emotive and the guitar notes have textural warmth to them giving the entire track a very musical feel. There is also a noticeable mid-bass note that follows just after every drum beat, barely discernable but present and quite pleasing; though purists will yell ‘bass bloat’ while others (read bassheads) will rejoice. The same excess bass ruins No More Tears where even the opening guitar sounds overdone. The drum bass is tight but also overdone and one gets the feeling this player is aimed at the unashamed basshead. Some of the bass is enjoyable, some is not, but people liking neutrality this is not your PMP. The extra bass hits the spot with the track Where The Streets Have No Name, simply because the sibilance with Bono’s higher notes is less evident than with other PMPs – a classic example of different sound signatures suiting different genres of music. At Rs14,900 for the 16 GB version and the 8 GB version costing Rs. 11,900 the P3 is not as expensive as the iPod Touch, but then it’s not as good either.
Pros:
Superb interface
Good sound quality
Great display
Feature rich
Cons:
Looks too plain
Slightly costly
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Samsung YP-Q2
A very well built player and one that exudes sex appeal in spades. We applaud Samsung’s decision to stick to white – this player has a beautiful satin finish and the touch controls below the display have neat blue and light red backlighting that are just unobtrusive enough to be termed tasteful. The design is full of contours and tapered edges – no sharp corners. The footprint is really compact and the Q2 will sit unobtrusively in your pocket. Menu navigation is good. The screen is pretty clear and crisp with good colours.
The Q2 isn’t very powerful and the Grado SR 225 wasn’t driven beyond a medium volume and there was noticeable sibilance. Once amped, the headphones were more civil. There is a noticeable hollow ring to the bass in No More Tears and this was disappointing to be sure. We found this deep sounding, but hollow bass to be present in nearly every track, and quite honestly, the guitar also sounds disappointing, especially when listening to the Samsung P3 – there’s a world of difference between the siblings in terms of their sound quality. As expected there’s a world of difference in their pricing as well, at Rs. 5,800 the YP-Q2 is much cheaper than its touch-based sibling, understandably so. It’s a lovely looking player and one that we wished was better at music – it’s definitely a good deal, but purists will keep their distance.
Pros:
Sexy looks
Built well
Neat controls
Cons:
Screen quality should be better
Audio quality not as good as the P3
Issue with hollow, ringing bass
Conclusion
Even though we expected flash-based players to dominate we were surprised at seeing just one hard drive based offering. Apacer’s AU824 was the sole entry-level PMP in the comparison and for the price, we had to admit this is a decent option – it even plays videos. It won our Best Buy award after slugging it out with some heavy hitters like the Cowon iAudio 7 and as an interesting comparison offers the best value for money from amongst all the players. In the second category i.e. players more than 3,000 and up to Rs. 5000 the Cowon iAudio 7 is a sure-shot winner. It’s very suitable for someone looking at good sound on a shoestring budget.
When one talks of video PMPs the iPod Touch cannot trail far behind – a superb device, highly converged and a great performer but it’s costly – our joint Best Performer, along with the equally nice Samsung YP-P3, which isn’t as good for audiophiles who will prefer Apple’s superior sonic characteristics. The iPod Classic also wins our Best Performer award for being the best sounding PMP in-test. If your ears deserve the best, you must acquire one; just throw out the earbuds...
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CONNECT
Samsung’s new netbook N140
The six-cell battery of Samsung’s new ultra-portable netbook, the N140 (Rs24,990), boasts of up to 11 hours of continuous computing. This is possible because the 10-inch, non-gloss screen (1024x600 pixels) is LED backlit. A 1.6 GHz Intel Atom N270 processor powers the whole system. The N140 boasts dual 1.5-watt stereo speakers and the SRS 3D Sound Effect algorithms. For connectivity, it has Ethernet LAN, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 2.1, three USB ports, 3-in-1 memory card reader, VGA port and a microphone port. Its 1.3MP camera also enables easy video conferencing, especially because the device comes with a built-in mike.
Low-cost phones by Intex
Intex Technologies has launched four new low-cost phones, both GSM and CDMA.
• Intex IN 20 (Rs1,600): Along with the FM radio support, you get a 1.5-inch screen, mobile tracker and phonebook with 500 contacts. This CDMA phone has a 3.2-hour talktime.
• Intex IN 4410 (Rs3,400): This dual-SIM (GSM+GSM) model has a 2-inch TFT display, VGA camera, FM radio, multimedia player, inbuilt memory of 63MB, Bluetooth and a torchlight.
• Intex IN 4495 (Rs4,200): With a 2.4-inch QVGA touch-screen TFT, this dual-SIM (GSM+GSM) phone has dual speakers, microSD support of up to 8GB, camera, FM radio and Bluetooth.
• Intex IN 80 (Rs5,000): This CDMA phone comes with a large 2.4-inch QVGA screen, 2MP camera, FM radio, Bluetooth, 3.5mm audio jack and a motion sensor. It has a talktime of 7 hours.
New design for Apple’s ‘plastic’ MacBook
Apple has renovated its lowest-end “plastic” MacBook with a new unibody design that includes the built-in battery offering up to 7 hours of battery life—all for $999 (around Rs46,500). The durable polycarbonate material uses the same techniques as the higher-end aluminium MacBook Pros. Along with a glass multi-touch trackpad, it features a 13-inch LED-backlit display, 2.2GHz Intel Core2Duo processor, 2GB RAM, Nvidia GeForce 9400GM onboard graphics, 250GB hard drive and 8x SuperDrive.
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Write to us at businessoflife@livemint.com
All content on this page provided by digit

Groove on the move | Part 2

Michael Browne — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 17:14:00 GMT

Cowon D2+
I remember reviewing Cowons D2 a couple of years back and this PMP created quite a ripple among the enthusiasts, especially those tired of Apples’ love for silver and proprietary connectivity/software. The D2 sounded good, if memory serves well, but there were a couple of areas where it was a little unrefined. The D2+ is very similar – the same body that although compact is thick and obtrusive in one’s pocket. Although it’s built entirely of plastic the D2+ is very solid and quality of material used in construction is good. The screen has received much praise and is touch-based, though it’s a resistive touch display and definitely not in the class of the iPod Touch’s display. At 2.5-inches the display is a little small to provide one with a great movie experience, but the colour and contrast of the display is good for movies. Available in a capacity of up to 16 GB with SDHC card expansion the D2+ can hold quite a bit. We had problems with the D2+’s stability and the player would hang inside the music menu. Firmware version in the shipped unit was 2.02 and updating this to 2.11 also didn’t help. Finally after switching back to the previous firmware version everything worked fine but the player would still mysteriously hang at times, although very rarely.
Also ReadGroove on the move | Apacer AU824, iPod Classic 120 GB, iPod Nano
Groove on the move | Philips GoGear Aria, GoGear Opus, Samsung YP-P3 , Samsung YP-Q2
The D2+ is powerful enough to drive the SR 225 well but without an amp the loss of control over the treble is noticeable. Once amped things tighten up and the D2+ begins to exert control over the music as the amp reigns in the uncontrolled-at-times highs Grado is known for. The bass is heavy but not as clean as the iPod Classic and Touch – there is some bass bloat audible and the bass loses its tight, impactful feel. The mid-range loses its immediacy and begins to sound like it’s a few rows down from the rest of the music. Although everything is done reasonably well, the passion goes out of the experience and after listening to the iPod Touch you will inexorably miss something here. And it is this 10% more performance that people shell out disproportionately extra amounts for, given that audio gear strongly follows the law of diminishing returns. Priced at Rs. 12,499 the D2+ is pricey, especially considering it doesn’t perform as well as an iPod Touch that you can buy with a similar capacity for a little more.
Pros:
Feature rich
Built well
Good sound quality
Great audio formats support
Cons:
Not in audiophile territory
Bulky
Touch interface could be better
*********
Cowon iAudio 7
A really small PMP and one that’s exceedingly well built though admittedly a lot of the rugged feel is on account of its compactness. The iAudio 7 is livered in glossy black and has a nice translucent look to it. The player is really small and the touch-based controls are nicely laid out. Although minimal, these controls are sufficient and they’re ultra-usable thanks to the intuitive indents in the body which means your fingers never goof up. The silver strip running around the body is a welcome relief from the black and this gives the player a nice look. Video playback is very basic; videos need to be resized, and the display is inadequate for any sort of photos. On to the audio component then; we noticed that the bass on Where The streets Have No Name low was less detailed than the iPod Touch and Classic – sounds loose and lacks that extra impact. Treble is harsher with noticeable sibilance – this is slightly worse than the iPod Classic and Touch where the harshness is kept at bay by a hairsbreadth. Cymbals have very good detail to them. Guitar and piano accompaniments in Layla are nice although drum bass is boomy; good impact but not as punchy as we’d like. Ozzy’s No More Tears has some heavy bass in the beginning and this sounds slightly weak on the iAudio 7, not to mention the bass sounds loose and kind of woolly. All in all a performance that seems lack lustre but then nitpicking is my job and many will be happy with this grade of sound quality if they know no better.
Priced at Rs4,999 the iAudio 7 hits the sweet spot for someone looking for a really affordable PMP with good music quality. It also fits the bill when it comes to compactness. It’s a winner – as long as your ears aren’t too discerning.
Pros:
Superb build quality
Compact
Good music quality
Neat touch controls
Good value for money
Cons:
Useless screen for videos
Not audiophile-grade
*********
Cowon S9
The S9 gives the look of an evolved D2+ geared to take on the iPod Touch. It’s got a nice curved rear and the smooth (not glossy) finish oozes class as does the rich brown colour. The S9 feels solid in hand, but not as solid as the iPod Touch. It has a capacitive touch display and to be honest this doesn’t work as well Apple’s display; furthermore, Cowon’s menu looks a little dated. It’s a slightly smaller display at 3.3-inches. The menu system is way ahead of the D2+ in terms usability. Unfortunately the S9 is as unstable as the D2+. I even tried a firmware upgrade but the PMP still hung a couple of times – as I said earlier I don’t recall the first crop of Cowon players available in India having these issues.
The S9 is a capable music player; its ace-up-the-sleeve being support for various audio formats including common lossless formats like FLAC and APE that are popular with the audiophile crowd. Drag-n-drop is a convenience I missed with the iPods and the S9 brings freedom of choice back to the equation. Music quality is good with bass having a slightly over-pronounced representation that bass heads will like but we like a little extra control over the bottom end of the sonic spectrum. The problem persists in the mid-range as well, and with metal music having a lot of drum and complex guitar pieces the music tends to get muddled and lose the extra bit of detail that separates decent players from great players. The bass also gets unfocussed and loses its punch with some tracks. The Cowon D2+ is better in this regard. The highs are slightly rolled off but this won’t be of consequence to any but the most demanding of users. The mid-range is also not as forward as we’d like and the sense of being involved to the music is missed.
At Rs14,999, the S9 is a mixed bunch – it is a good video player without the strict resolution demands on content like iPods have. But the audio performance is acceptable though not for purists. It could be a good buy or a bad one – depends on what you’re looking at.
Pros:
Very good interface
Good video quality
Built well
Great audio formats support
Cons:
Music quality should have been better
Firmware isn’t stable
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iPod Touch 32 GB
Apple’s intent behind the iPod Touch was simple – take the much praised (and admittedly brilliant) interface on the iPhone and design a PMP around it. Thus was born the iPod Touch. It’s built exceedingly well and feels very solid in-hand. The screen is a glorious 3.5-inches and everything from the menu and usability, to its interface and the screen clarity, is top class. We noticed the first generation of iPod Touch had a screen with a noticeable blue tinge, the newer models have a noticeable yellow tinge that is not as bad, but the colours are not neutral and there’s nothing you can do about it. Being based on flash memory, transfers are slower than the Classic – a shame. The latest firmware (3.1.1) slows things down a bit and the once snappy Touch’s menus have gotten slower after this upgrade. The new firmware also brings a lot of nifty little additions to the device and we’re happy to report most of the additions, while minor go a long way in enhancing the experience of using the Touch. The screen is excellent for movies although the trauma associated with using iTunes leaves lasting mental scars. Colour and crispness is very good and this is highly suitable as a video PMP.
The Touch also rocks (literally!) when it comes to music. Where the Classic has detailed treble, the Touch introduces a hint of sibilance to certain instruments, although we must say the detailing is good and at no point does the sibilance really detract from things, in fact if you knew no different you’d think the sibilance was part of the track. There is no rounding off at the high-end and the treble sounds crisp and clear. The mid-range is detailed and revealed, in fact so much so that a difference in vocals and certain instruments is immediately noticed when moving from any of the Samsung and Philips players to the Touch. It also trounces all the Cowon models in the highs and mid-range where the Cowon’s have a roll off in the highs and the mid-range doesn’t sound as immediate, but rather recessed – that is to say the impression of playing a little further away from the rest of the music. A revealing mid-range is essential for any sort of music – be it Rock, Pop, Blues or Metal – the Touch works its wonder everywhere. In Where The Streets Have No Name the treble remains controlled and the bass is really palatable especially in the opening drum score. Cymbals still end up being a bit crisp – there was a hint of extra control on the iPod Classic in this regard. The mids in Trampled Rose are surreal with Alison Krauss’ voice sounding rich and seductive – the way it was intended. The vocals flow like honey, but there is a note of underlying urgency – no unnecessary tonal warmth here. Her higher notes are detailed and any tenor is clearly reproduced without any sort of harshness or sibilance. There is however a slight graininess to some sections of the vocals. The bass in No More Tears is clean and sounds fantastically quick and detailed, unlike some of the other PMPs that sounded muddy. In fact the instrument score had me lamenting the lack of a point A to B repeat function. But it’s an amazing musical experience, obviously with the right headphone/amplifier setup. In Layla the vocals are full-bodied and abetted by fantastic guitar plucks and instrument detail the listen is memorable.
Apple has just released a new family of the Touch including a 64 GB version that takes care of those with bigger space requirements. The 32 GB one featured here is the second generation as we’re yet to get our hands on the just launched, third generation. But the news is the new 64 GB version will cost no more than the older 32 GB version – meaning great value. It does have one limitation – at Rs25,000 the iPod Touch 32 GB cannot be classified as cheap. It’s a premium PMP, with an interface that is unparalleled, superlative music and video quality; the best demands the most money.
Pros:
Amazing screen
Great for movies
Brilliant Interface
Superb audio quality
Cons:
Slightly heavy
Bulky
Expensive
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Power Protected

Tue, 27 Oct 2009 16:13:00 GMT

The importance of protecting your desktop computer can never be emphasized enough. Irrespective of how much you spend on your components, danger lurks in the wires that supply electricity to your home and PC. A UPS (uninterruptible power supply) is a device that provides uninterrupted and regulated power to sensitive devices such as computers. It will allow your PC to run for a few extra minutes after a power cut, allowing you to save your work and shut the computer down properly.
If the power supply to your PC suddenly gets cut, several things can happen—such as possible damage to your hard drive and RAM (usually in that order), and putting your motherboard at risk. A UPS eliminates that risk.
Types of UPS
Stand by: This type of UPS simply switches the load to the battery—in case of power on the AC power line. The response time of the switchover (called switching time) is 2-10 minutes. Since most SMPSs (switching-mode power supply) have a hold-up time of no less than 16 minutes, i.e., greater than the switching time of the UPS, there is no problem of shutdown between the transition from mains power to the DC-to-AC inverter on the UPS. The most prevalent type of UPS today is the “line interactive UPS”. These can regulate the input AC power to some extent and the battery is charged by AC power. When the AC power cuts, AC input is disconnected and the battery provides power. Such UPSs are also compact and this is what you will find with most vendors. These provide adequate protection from surges and spikes and, of course, blackouts.
Online UPS:
These are costlier. In this design, the AC mains charges only the battery via the inverter, and therefore, the output runs off only the battery. Since the AC line is never directly powering the connected equipment, there is no chance of damage through faults in the line. Also, there is no switching time involved.
Capacity matters
Save and shut down: For most PCs, a UPS rated at 600 VA will suffice.
When deciding on the capacity of the UPS, remember to use a conversion factor of 0.7. Therefore, a UPS with a rating of 1,000 VA (volt amperes) equates to a maximum output of 700 watts. You could either be clever and match this to the approximate power consumption of your PC or be really smart and match it to the output of your SMPS unit—either way works. Though the latter may be a bit costlier, it involves minimal calculations.
Most people will sell you a UPS on the basis of its backup time—this is wrong as the battery backup depends totally on the amount of power your system draws. The more powerful the system, the quicker the battery will drain. Backup time should be used wisely to save and shut down all running programmes and your PC, not to continue your work and hope the battery lasts.
For most PCs, a UPS rated at 600 VA will suffice. If you are running a powerful PC with a quad-core CPU and a fast graphics card, you may want to look at something a little higher—800 VA should be good enough.
Brand power
When it comes to UPSs, be choosy about brands. APC, Numeric, Powersafe, Datex, Microtek and Powercom are some reputed brands. For most systems, APC Back-UPS ES 650VA (Rs3,100) should suffice. If you want a beefier system, try the Numeric Digital 800 VA (Rs3,200). This model is a little older but offers stability. Alternatively, you could go for the APC BR800-IN (Rs4,700). The APC Back-UPS RS 1500VA (Rs8,900) can support up to two PCs. Unfortunately, it only has three 6-ampere output for the battery backup, which means you will need to invest in a power strip (spike guard).
Write to us at businessoflife@livemint.com
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How we tested

Tue, 27 Oct 2009 16:09:00 GMT

Tracks were carefully chosen to represent a wide listing of genres – subject, of course, to the reviewers listening preferences to ensure familiarity with the nuances. We tested all PMPs with tracks encoded using dBpoweramp Music Converter V11.5. This is one of the best audio transcoding software available mainly because of its accurate, error-free encoding. The source files were FLAC and these were encoded to MP3 using 320 KBps and the preset setting ‘very high’. We used a reference system and noted nuances of the tracks that were then listened to on each PMP. The reference system was thus:
Source: ASUS Xonar Essence ST
Amplifier: Little Dot Micro Tube
Headphone: Grado SR 225
We rated each PMP using the Grado SR 225 headphones to give every PMP a level playing field. First we rated each track based on the sound reproduction, and after that rated each player on their abilities at different aspects of sound i.e. bass, treble and midrange. We also rated the respective soundstage effect. After this each player was tested with its earphones and the quality was rated against the quality of sound on the Grados. For the video component we used AVI files and encoded these using MediaCoder at the two resolutions. The first was 320 x 240 pixels to give each player a level playing field since this was the minimum resolution that all video PMPs supported. The second encode was at the maximum resolution that the respective PMP supported.
Besides rating the players on their performance we also gave points to the menu system and layout, usability and interface of the device, features such as the presence of document readers, alarm clock, stopwatch, contacts – basically PDA-like functions. We also noted the PMPs support for various image, video and audio formats as well as player features like custom playlists and number of preset modes. Additional features like Bluetooth, built-in speakers and use as a portable drive were also noted

Back in black (and white)

Sharp Shooter | David Stott — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 14:10:00 GMT

Deep beneath my house lurks a dark secret. Box after box weighs down the sagging shelves, packed to the brim with rectangular black plastic envelopes, measuring jugs, clamps and sinister lengths of rubber hose. The stopwatches and red light bulbs give the game away: This must be the house of an extremely fastidious brothel owner, or someone who, in the dim and distant past, printed black and white pictures in a darkroom.
Back before most of us were born, the darkroom was where art and science collided to turn strips of plastic and sheets of paper into the magic of a photographic image. Old-timers such as me become all misty eyed talking about images appearing like ghosts on virgin sheets of paper. How conveniently they forget the hours spent lumbering around in the gloom, inhaling violent chemicals, trying not to destroy the film by exposing it to the tiniest chink of light and finally emerging into daylight squinting like a newborn piglet and stinking from head to toe of toxic gunk.
Tones and zones
The ease with which you can produce great black and white images in the “digital darkroom” has given the art form a new lease of life. Turning a colour photo into a moody monochrome is now a matter of a few clicks: Simply hit the “desaturate” command in your photo editing software and voila!
Also See Earlier Sharp Shooter columns
However, easy doesn’t necessarily mean great. Many photographers dipping their toes into black and white for the first time are disappointed when the results turn out flat and, well, colourless.
Without bright hues to make the picture leap out and grab the viewer, texture, lines and tones have to become the tools of choice. The choices you make at the time of composition and exposure become critical and to make the right ones involves learning to see the world in tones of grey.
The key to this new language is one that photographers have been using for years: the “zone system” invented by Ansel Adams way back in 1939. This divides the world into 10 zones of brightness, with absolute black at zone zero, middle grey on zone four and absolute white at zone nine. Instead of exhausting my remaining column explaining something you’ll probably grasp in 5 minutes, I highly recommend you get online and seek Kim Balsman’s succinct and jargon-free explanation of the zone system available at hyper-focal.
Once you grasp the theory, you’ll find yourself instinctively composing with tone values in mind, and I guarantee your pictures will be the better for it.
A quick fix in the digital darkroom
However, all is not lost for your existing images. If a simple desaturation doesn’t give you enough punch, you can quickly make more powerful adjustments using the channels palette in Photoshop. Select the red, green or blue channels of your picture individually and you’ll see three strikingly different combinations of brightness and contrast. Choosing red will darken anything in the blue and green channels, making those white fluffy clouds float out from a thunderously black sky.
Instant Ansel? Not quite. But the extra pop in your images should be enough to keep you going while you grapple with the finer points of the language of black and white.
David Stott is a photographer based in Australia.
Write to us at sharpshooter@livemint.com

Bold, beautiful and a bike to boot

Sundeep Gajjar — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 14:07:00 GMT

For a bike enthusiast in India, the unveiling of this motorcycle is among the biggest bike launches in the country. Bajaj Auto’s Kawasaki Ninja 250R, launched in Pune earlier this month, is a killer machine: The 250cc four-stroke bike with six-speed transmission comes with a double overhead camshaft (DOHC), liquid cooled parallel twin engine that churns out 32bhp@11,000 RPM, Kawasaki’s trademark UNI-trak rear suspension, 17-inch wheels, full fairing (a shell placed over the frame of bikes, especially racing models) and 290mm front and 220mm rear disc brakes.
The Ninja touches 0-60 kmph in 3.42 seconds and can do a 0-100 kmph in 8.1 seconds with a top speed of 169.1 kmph. Yes, at Rs2.69 lakh, it doesn’t come cheap. But such power-packed machines aren’t usually light on the pocket.
The big deal about the Ninja 250R is that it’s the closest you can get to a superbike in India. It is big, has enough power to outrun most four- and two-wheelers on Indian roads and is a value-for-money proposition.
Looks matter
Designed after the ZX10R, the 2009 Ninja 250R is dimensionally on a par with most modern litre class bikes. Its meaty rear, with a monoshock, completes the Ninja’s international standard fit and finish. Available in Kawasaki’s standard green and black colours, the console is analogue retro that matches the bike and leaves room for significant upgrades. Its curves flow seamlessly into one another, complementing the quality plastic covering the beautifully researched machinery inside.
And if you want to add a personal touch to the bike, you could buy after-sales accessories online, including exhausts, blinkers and under-tail covers, among other things. Such customization options are readily available because of Ninja’s presence in the international market.
Unmatched performance
Sticking to its stereotype, the Ninja 250R, although less in capacity compared with its bigger brothers—the ZX6R and ZX10R—still packs a serious punch with its 32bhp, pulling the machine using two cylinders in-line. India has the fuel-injected version of the bike (Euro model), which makes it crispier and more fuel-efficient than its carburetted counterpart. Bajaj Auto claims the Ninja 250R offers a fuel efficiency of 42 kmpl.
The power delivery is linear, ensuring you have ample pulling power in almost any gear: The low- and mid-range torque are good enough to carry you even in typical Indian traffic situations.
Handling and ergonomics
The riding posture of the Ninja is not extreme, but is sportier than any current Indian-bred motorcycle. This, despite the bike’s clip-on handles. It is big enough to accommodate bigger-framed riders, and the pillion rider has enough space for a comfortable ride with a handy pillion grab strip.
The bike is a dream for both track junkies and mountain nomads. It leans beautifully into the corners with sharp handling and agility, making it worthy of the “R” suffix (which signifies that the motorcycle has the characteristics of a racing bike). The IRC tyres lend enough sticking power too. The fairing protects the rider sufficiently from wind and the riding position is reasonably comfortable for long trips.
So if you have cash and a passion for bikes, look no further. The Ninja 250R is one of the best motorcycles you can get for its price. It may not give you the punch of a superbike, but packs enough super force to make you happy.
Two-wheel Brutes
•2010 Hyosung GT250R: The Comet GT250 (Naked Version) was launched by Kinetic in India in 2005 with a price tag of around Rs1.8 lakh. The new version, 2010 Hyosung GT250R, has EFi, projector lamps, full fairing and everything a superbike comes with. If relaunched in India, it could be the only real threat to the Ninja and is expected to have a price tag of Rs2.25-3 lakh.
• Bajaj Pulsar 220: The fastest Indian bike with 20bhp, this is the closest indigenous motorcycle available, but comes nowhere close to the power, style and aura of the Ninja. Bajaj Pulsar 220 is available for approximately Rs80,000.
• Honda VTR250: This motorcycle looks rugged owing to its street-fighter appearance. And it has the power to boot. It could come at a significantly lower price, considering it has a lot less plastic. This bike could carve its own niche in the Indian market. It should cost around Rs2-2.5 lakh.
CONNECT
Use your old hard drive as an external drive for back-up
You can use your computer’s old hard drive as an external drive for back-up or extra storage. All you need is an enclosure kit. An enclosure is basically a new outer shell that protects the drive, since it is no longer tucked inside the computer. The enclosure also supplies the drive with ports for power and cables, so it can be connected externally to the computer with a USB. The eHow.com site gives a rundown of the process at bit.ly/3wvNdp. Enclosures are available in all shapes and styles, and come in models for the 3.5-inch hard drives usually found in desktop computers or the 2.5-inch drives used in laptops. Make sure you get one that is compatible with your old hard drive. Most kits usually include cables and installation instructions. You can find enclosures at computer parts sites such as Ultraproducts.com, Tigerdirect.com and Newegg.com.
©2009/THE NEW YORK TIMES
Powermat
You can charge your cellphones and hand-held game machines by placing them on a wireless magnetic induction charging pad from Powermat. You can lay up to three devices on the pad. When they’re in the right position, a pleasing tone sounds and you feel a slight magnetic tug. Each device needs a special sensor, though. It eliminates the tangle of cords and even saves energy because plugged-in charging cords draw power when not connected to a device. Powermat draws less power than standard cords.
©2009/THE NEW YORK TIMES
Convert audio
While popular players, such as Apple iPod and Microsoft Zune HD, don’t play files in the open-source Free Lossless Audio Codec (Flac) format, many companies such as Samsung and SanDisk make players that support Flac and other less common audio formats. Thanks to compression technology meant specifically for audio, Flac is gaining fans for its higher-quality sound compared with other digital formats. The “lossless” part of the acronym means that audio is encoded with no loss of data. Other formats such as MP3, Windows Media Audio (WMA) and Advanced Audio Coding (AAC) discard bits of data to compress the original audio track into a smaller file size. It is also possible to tinker with certain MP3 players to get them to play Flac files. For example, the open-source Rockbox firmware (Rockbox.org) brings Flac support to a variety of portables.
©2009/THE NEW YORK TIMES
Cleaning cameras
Most camera stores sell kits with brushes, microfibre cloth and liquid solutions designed for cleaning digital camera lenses. Don’t use cheap and unreliable products as these can damage the anti-glare coating on some camera lenses. You can use a microfibre cloth to wipe smudges and fingerprints from the LCD screen on the back of the camera. For stubborn smears, lightly dampen the cloth with little water. You could also add a thin plastic screen protector to the LCD screen after cleaning it.
©2009/THE NEW YORK TIMES
Sundeep Gajjar is an avid motorcyclist and the founder of xBhp.com, a popular motorcycling community.
Photographs by Sandeep Gajjar and Aryan / xBhp.com
Write to us at businessoflife@livemint.com

Charge of the battery brigade

Prasanto K. Roy — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 19:06:00 GMT

You surely wouldn’t have seen any of these yet: A slim “007” Swiss watch with a built-in phone, GPS, push email and video. Or a 3G smartphone with GPS, camera, push email, instant messaging and video, which runs a week on a single charge. There’s more. A luxury electric roadster that does 0-100 kmph in 4 seconds, recharges in 15 minutes and runs 500km on a single charge. Or a 100-seater airliner that uses no fossil fuel, is electric, recharges on the ground and flies 5 hours on a single charge.
All these are still in the realms of fiction for now. So why are we talking about them? Well, because the technology exists. We have super smartphones, watches with cellphones, electric cars, solar power and even electric aeroplanes.
BMW’s Mini E does 150 kmph and runs 240km on a single charge. But it needs a 23-hour charge for its 5,088-cell battery. The right battery could take a car 500km on an hour’s charge.
The missing link is the battery. The batteries you’d need for all this technology don’t yet exist. A slim wristwatch-phone’s battery would last 10 minutes on a call. The Reva electric car takes hours to charge, drives sedately and runs 100km on a charge. Electric planes, so far, are only limited to toys or light National Aeronautics and Space Administration (Nasa) test aircraft. The batteries needed to power commercial planes would be too heavy for the aircraft to lift.
In Europe, you can buy BMW’s Mini E electric car. It does 0-100 kmph in 8 seconds and crosses 150 kmph. It goes 240km on a charge and packs an amazing 204bhp in its 150kW electric motors. But to power all this, its huge 5,088-cell lithium-ion battery replaces the rear seats, making the car a two-seater. It can charge in 4 hours through a high-voltage charger, but as buyers discovered, topping up through household electric outlets meant a 23-hour charge time.
Battery technology is advancing, but not as quickly as other electronics. Five years ago, my Nokia 6310 ran a week on a charge. But then came the always-on 3G data, push email and GPS.
So all the tech news here belongs to the future—waiting for the batteries to be invented. I’d put the one-week smartphone at 2011, the watch-phone at 2013, the 15-minute/24-hour car at 2015 and the electric plane at 2025.
All charged up
(Left) Low-power technology can stretch battery life. The Amazon Kindle’s (Rs20,000, ships 19 October to India) zero-power e-paper display helps it run for days on a charge. A regular battery could last a year of moderate use in an LED flashlight. (Right) Sanyo’s Supercell. Launched this month, Sanyo’s new Eneloop (which comes pre-charged) is the first NiMH battery that lets you recharge it 1,500 times.
The popular lead-acid battery leaks acid, needs topping up with water, spews toxic fumes and is heavy. But it’s cheap and gives high currents—up to 450 amps per second is great for starting cars. And today’s sealed versions are safer and cleaner. Variants such as tubular batteries are great for sustained use at lower currents such as for household inverters.
Your electronics use other batteries. Zinc-carbon dry cells are cheap for flashlights, but die fast and leak. Alkalines such as Duracell or Energizer last much longer. Lithium-iodide has a long life and powers pacemakers and hearing aids. It’s the same for zinc mercury oxide, also found in hearing aids. Silver-zinc is ultralight, so it’s used in aeronautics.
Then there are the rechargeables. Nickel-cadmium was popular, but it has a “memory effect”: Its capacity declines if you don’t discharge it fully. It’s been largely replaced by nickel metal hydride (NiMH). Even better is lithium ion: It’s light and packs in lots of power. This is one reason it is used in most mobile phones and laptops.
Promising currents
A really promising one is lithium polymer. This is actually lithium ion, but the lithium is embedded in a solid polymer (plastic). This makes it flexible and adaptable to any shape: A battery could be designed as the rear cover of a mobile phone. There are also fast-charge versions. A Toshiba model can reach 90% charge in 5 minutes. Earlier versions degraded rapidly, but new ones can do 500 charge cycles before dropping to 80% capacity. So they’re great for phones and electric vehicles.
Different fuel
The fuel cell is the likely future of the battery. It’s a power source that is inexhaustible as long as you replace the “fuel”.
All batteries use chemicals that react to create electricity. In an alkaline cell, once the chemicals are used up, you throw away the battery. In a lithium ion, charging reverses the reaction and recreates most of the original chemicals. In a fuel cell, when the chemicals are used up, you simply replace them.
A fuel cell could use hydrogen or methanol or other fuels, making it react with oxygen in the air.
The zinc-air battery can make a neat fuel cell. The plain zinc-air battery is single-use—not even rechargeable. But build it so that the zinc is replaceable and you get a fuel cell. Zinc makes a nice fuel. It’s solid and easier to transport than hydrogen. Zinc-air batteries are getting efficient and are good enough to power vehicles. Pure zinc is non-toxic. The solid waste is zinc oxide, which can be reprocessed into zinc.
The aluminium-air battery packs even more energy, but has a low shelf life and high price. It’s used in some military products and it has potential in power-starved countries which have a lot of aluminium scrap.
Is there life beyond a battery?
(left) The Reva goes 80km on an 8-hour charge and the batteries make up at least 40% of its 665kg weight. A new lithium-ion version drops weight by 100kg and charge time to 6 hours, and extends range to 120km. (right) Nasa’s fuel cell is the next-generation battery. When it’s discharged, you replace the fuel. It’s good for electric cars or heavy-use electronics.
Not in this century. Someday in the future, we’ll see a planet-wide smart grid-tapping solar power round the clock. But even with wireless charging, we’d need batteries to store the power, especially in mobile devices.
Some call solar power an alternative. They’re wrong. Solar power needs a battery. My Citizen watch is solar-powered, but it has a capacitor-battery to store the power. We could power whole cities with solar panels, but how do we store the energy for nights or cloudy days? Such mega batteries don’t exist.
So wherever you go, down every road, there’s always one more battery. These are getting better, but it’s a long, slow, uphill road. And the battery keeps slowing us down, overtaken by the demands of electronics and electric vehicles.
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CONNECT
Listen | Music on high-fidelity
The Bowers & Wilkins Mini Zeppelin and Bose SoundDock 10 are fairly expensive systems for playing music from an iPod, iPhone or computer ($400 for Mini Zeppelin and $600 for Bose, available now). Both companies say the technology makes it worth it. The Mini Zeppelin streams digital data directly from a device using what it says is an audiophile-grade digital-to-analogue (DAC) converter, bypassing the DACs in music players. The Bose SoundDock 10 has a few tricks of its own, including a pair of proprietary Twiddler transducers (or speakers). Bose says it will offer an optional $150 Bluetooth dock to stream music from a phone. ©2009/The New York Times
Save | Clickfree HDD
ConJoin Technology Partners has launched Clickfree, an automated back-up device, in India. Easy to install, Clickfree allows you to back up your data by simply plugging it into the USB port of the computer. The hard disk drive (HDD) recognizes around 400 file formats, including Office files (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, among others), as well as music, videos, photos, email and Internet bookmarks. Clickfree HDDs are available in 2.5- and 3.5-inch sizes and the storage capacity ranges from 160GB to 2TB. Another device, Clickfree Traveler, is so small it fits into your wallet and is available in capacities of 16GB, 32GB and 64GB. By a Staff Writer
Scan | Set a higher dpi
If you have small photographs that you want to significantly enlarge when you print them, you should increase the scanner’s dpi setting. For example, if you have a 4x6-inch photograph that you want to blow up to 8 1/2x11 or 8x10, set the scanner to capture the image at 600 dpi, so that the photo doesn’t look as distorted or blurry when you print it at twice the original size. Scanning images at higher dpi settings means that all additional information being captured takes up more space and you end up with bigger photo files. If you are new to photo scanning, go to the ScanTips.com website. ©2009/The New York Times
Wear | Power jacket
Mountain Hardwear’s jacket has heating elements to keep you warm and a power adapter in the pocket that enables you to charge your iPod, digital camera, GPS device or cellphone. With the $240 jackets, you can adjust the temperature up to 100 degrees Fahrenheit with a toggle switch on the left front. The heating elements can be fully charged in less than 3 hours and a charge should last up to 8 hours on the lowest heat setting, according to Paige Boucher, a Mountain Hardwear spokeswoman. The jackets are designed as a mid-layer coat to be worn under a ski jacket or alone in warmer climes. ©2009/The New York Times
Prasanto K. Roy is chief editor at CyberMedia.
Write to us at businessoflife@livemint.com

A piece of the small car pie

Road Runner | Siddharth Vinayak Patankar — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 16:55:00 GMT

There will be two major additions to the growing small car pie in India soon. It is significant since both these cars will join a long list of other recent and imminent launches in the upper end of the small car segment. We’re talking of cars priced above Rs3.5 lakh here.
Nissan’s Micra
The first is the Nissan Micra. The current version of the car, which is in the process of being phased out globally, never did sell in India. The fourth-generation Micra (or March, as it is called in Japan) will be made and sold here. Its production has been stopped in Sunderland, UK, and this further means that the new car will be made in India for our market and also exported to Europe. Nissan has production plans in China and Thailand also.
Also Read Previous Road Runner columns
The car is expected to be compact, efficient and powered by a 1.2-litre petrol engine. There would be more powerful engines for the export Micra, but in India, Nissan wants to stay with the excise-benefit-related definition of a small car. It will have a three-door hatch variant for exports, too, though we will get the five-door car. The car’s initial sketches have been released and these indicate a modern, well-finished, yet very Japanese design form. So the car is likely to stand out among the hatch brigade —something its predecessor also did smartly. I also expect Nissan to play it smart and offer a fully-loaded version with automatic transmission for the upwardly mobile urbanite looking for an upmarket and convenient hatch. This means the Micra’s expected price range is Rs3.75–6.75 lakh. The car will debut by mid-2010, though it may be launched (read revealed) prior to that.
Ford’s Figo
Coming soon: Ford’s Figo is expected to cruise into India on a high value-for-money quotient.
The second car that will get as much, if not more, will be the Ford Figo. Also expected in 2010, it will hit the roads in India by about March at the very latest. The Figo is Ford’s next big thing for India. Built on a platform derived from the current Fiesta in India, the Figo will, therefore, share some parts with the sedan and carry a high localization level. I was a bit surprised that Ford chose to reveal the car to us so soon, given it is still some months away from debuting. However, seeing that it was the company’s global CEO who unveiled it, I guess that had more to do with his schedule and availability than the car’s readiness. The Figo is likely to debut with petrol and diesel options. Expect spacious and well-finished interiors and a high value-for-money quotient. The price range can be Rs3.5–5.5 lakh.
Joining the Figo and Micra will be the Volkswagen Polo and Toyota’s small car in 2010. In fact, you may have noticed how I have given a fair amount of importance to a number of small cars heading our way in this column. The reason I am getting so excited about this is that not only does the launch of every new model put more choice in the hands of the consumer, it also raises the benchmarks and expectations in the country’s largest selling car segment. So the quintessential “small” car is getting roomier, better looking, fun to drive and, most importantly, safer too.
Siddharth Vinayak Patankar is editor (auto), NDTV.Write to us at businessoflife@livemint.com

No small claims

Rohan Naravane — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 19:00:00 GMT

The era of netbooks dawned upon us two years ago when Asus gave the world the first Eee PC. Its physical attributes suggested that such devices would mostly be intended for kids; as their first cheap-but-real portable computers. But they appealed to an older audience as well; serving the purpose of a secondary machine that could be back-packed anywhere. The “flaws” of the first generation were fixed in the second; screens became bigger, keyboards more comfortable to use, large-sized spinning hard-disks replaced measly-sized SSDs, Windows XP replaced Linux. The result is that the netbook has become acceptable to a wider variety of people. Those looking for a cheap portable PC to use their internet and productivity apps prefer to buy these over clunky cheap laptops.
Download comparison spreadsheet (20KB) for all models here
There are three selling factors that tempt the audience; the size, the price and battery life. Also, netbooks can now pretty much do the same basic tasks as your desktop computer or laptop (although somewhat slower). We are now looking at the third generation of netbooks; they are growing out of their 10-inch screen size, becoming slicker and slimmer than before, and performing even better; especially in the graphics department. NVIDIA’s upcoming Ion platform is the testament to that. The Ion platform is basically an Intel Atom processor paired with an NVIDIA chipset that has a powerful GeForce 9400 GPU onboard.
Every major manufacturer has jumped on the netbook bandwagon. Thus, in this article we bring you an extensive comparison of netbooks currently in the market, to help you pick the best one for your needs.
For the ones that did not make it - before starting with the test, we had contacted most of the manufacturers currently selling netbooks in India to send us a unit for review. A few manufacturers, namely Acer, HP, Dell and Lenovo apparently did not want their machines compared to those from other vendors and did not send us samples. These brands are therefore not a part of this test.
Samsung NC-310
A curvy netbook for Generation Y.
•Hip-design, easy to carry around, bright screen, good keyboard.
•Build quality not up to the mark, status LEDs not visible when lid closed, web cam didn’t function in our test model, expensive.
This is Samsung’s attempt at catching the hip-crowd’s attention. The NC-310 has a curvy build throughout which make it easy to hold and carry around. It also makes the netbook look different. The uni-coloured exterior and black interior also add to the coolness. Some people might find the colours a bit tacky, but it’s a personal choice; either you like it or you don’t. The materials used to build it don’t give it a feeling of solidity. Not to say that it’s poorly built, but we wouldn’t dare to manhandle this one too much. We also wished the neck hinge was a bit stronger.
At 1.23 kg, it can be easily carried around. The glossy screen is adequately bright. Below it is the pebble-style keyboard. This offers an isolated key design; that is slight spacing between each square-shaped key. For typists used to standard keyboards, these could take some time to get used to. But it is worth persevering, and once familiarised, they are quite easy to type on. The only sore point is that the Page Up, Page Down and arrow keys are a bit too closely packed. This makes it too easy to hit the wrong key. The touch-pad also offers good accuracy.
Unfortunately, all the status LEDs are on the inside of the body, next to the touch-pad. Thus you can’t see them when the lid is closed. For example, with a closed lid you wouldn’t know if your netbook is running or not. The web cam on our unit simply refused to work despite repeated attempts. We therefore weren’t able to gauge its quality. Also, it wasn’t able to compute a graphics score in the PCMark05 test, thus not giving us a final PCMark score.
The speaker strip is placed above the keyboard on the lower body. It puts out pleasingly clear and unmuffled audio. Although the maximum volume isn’t very high.
Its 4-cell battery survived for two-and-a-half hours in our battery drain test. Thus it should give 3 to 3.5 hours of up-time under normal usage. The battery life can be termed as quite decent. It also faired reasonably well in our Wi-Fi test. For almost Rs28,000, the NC-310 is fairly expensive. It would be a pretty decent netbook to recommend, had the price been a few thousand rupees lower.
Samsung NP-N120
A netbook that means business
•Bright screen, good Wi-fi performance, decent battery life.
•Pointy edges, the chrome sidings may not appeal to a few, slightly overpriced.
If the NC-310 was the netbook for the “young and the free”, the N120 offers a rather cut-throat “ meant for business” philosophy in terms of looks. It has a smooth black finish which is fortunately finger-print proof. The edges are quite pointy and the chrome sidings may be a turn-off for some people. This netbook is quite thin. Even with a slightly bulging 6-cell battery, it weighs an acceptable 1.28 kilos. The build quality is a little better than the NC-310, and the same goes for the screen hinge.
On the inside we have a bright screen. The keyboard is of typical design (not like the NC-310’s isolated keys). The keys are quite large and convenient to type on. However, like the NC-310 the direction keys and the Page up and down keys are small and squished together. This can be inconvenient from time to time. Unlike most netbooks that have speakers under their belly, here they are placed on either side of the screen. Thus they produce an unmuffled sound compared to most netbooks, which is adequately audible. Like the NC-310, it failed on the graphics part of the PCMark05 test, thus failing to give us a final score.
In the battery test, it survived a good 4 hours and 30 minutes. It also shined in our Wi-Fi tests, where it logged in faster data transfer rates even over longer distances from the router. The web cam delivered an average quality with a decent frame rate. The Samsung N120 is priced at Rs25,000. That’s slightly overpriced; as competitive models with very similar specifications are usually around Rs3,500 bucks cheaper. We wouldn’t mind recommending this netbook if it were competitively priced.
Asus Eee PC 1008HA
Slim wonder
•Ultra-thin and light, fabulous appeal, good keyboard, good battery life for a slim device, Wi-Fi 802.11n support.
•Screen brightness a bit low, non-removable battery, overpriced.
The 1008HA is part of Asus’s “Seashell” line of cosmetically-enhanced netbooks, that have the same guts as the older versions. This Eee PC has an ultra-sleek design. It is just 18 mm slim at its thinnest point. The beautifully-contoured body has a shell-like appearance and is covered in a piano black shade. The glossy body, as expected, is victim to fingerprints. At an ultra-light 1.1 kg, this is one of the lightest netbooks in this test. It can easily be slid away into the side-pocket of an overnighter bag. This is probably the first netbook that comes with a non-removable lithium-polymer battery; just like the Macbook Air or the newer Macbook Pros. This could prove to be a limitation for those who like to carry spare batteries along with their portables. To achieve the streamlined design, Asus has neatly covered all the ports, thus protecting them from dust.
Opening this baby reveals the typical 10-inch screen with a web cam atop. We felt that the screen lacked the brightness that most of the other brands gave. We wouldn’t really call this a deal-breaker though. The keyboard has large QWERTY keys that are good to type on. While trying to fit such large keys, the Up-Down, arrow and top-row function keys are shrunk considerably. We would have appreciated if at least the Up-Down keys were a little bigger. The touch-pad also receives the much-needed improvement over earlier models in terms of accuracy. Its dotted-texture also provides a better feel and grip while navigating. The real kill-joy for us was that the multi-touch scrolling option, available on many previous Eee PC models, has been replaced with the traditional side-scrolling mechanism.
On the inside, we find Intel’s new Atom N280 processor that has a 60 MHz speed bump over the N270s fitted in most of the models. We concluded from our tests that the N280 boosts performance by a slight margin. The speed-up is not really noticeable when using typical apps. Also, all the Eee PCs, including this one, support the latest Wi-Fi 802.11n standard, which is much appreciated.
The built-in battery raked out a nearly three-and-a-half hour battery life - this is good for such a slim device. Thus, under normal usage, it should give you more than four hours of juice. The web cam belted out decent quality but not exactly with a smooth frame-rate. The Rs27,000 price tag is the premium you’ll have to pay for this sleek beauty. We think its somewhat overpriced, but if the price were to drop to Rs25k or less, that would make it a worthwhile buy.
Asus Eee PC 1005HA
Well-priced workhorse
•Good keyboard, Very good battery life, Wi-Fi 802.11n support, Well priced.
•Screen brightness a bit low.
On the heels of the slim ‘n’ sexy 1008HA is its slightly chubby sibling, the 1005HA. Its top shares the same shell-like look of its thinner cousin. It may not be very thin, but it is certainly sleeker and attractive compared to earlier iterations of the Eee PC. The 1005HA has a non-glossy base, unlike the fully-glossy body of the 1008HA. Other than that, both the models are the same internally.
Citing one of the few differences between the two, the 1005HA has a removable 6-cell battery that delivers a really good battery life; close to six hours in our stress-test. Thus, this model can survive close to an eight-hour working-day without a charge - if you’re not going to do resource-intensive work. Amongst the bundle of apps that Asus packed with this model, we liked the Parental Control and the Font Resizer.
Other than the non-removable battery, the 1005HA also shares the cons that we’ve mentioned in the 1008HA write-up above. The web cam performs similarly to the 1008HA model. The Wi-Fi performance in general on all Eee PC models was average using 802.11g mode. When testing with the 802.11n mode using a compatible router, we saw that the performance jump was about 15-20% over 802.11g. The Eee PC 1005HA is priced quite reasonably at Rs21,500. This model will give you pretty much everything from the 1008HA model for Rs6,500 less. So, if you want a decent netbook and can sacrifice the ultra-thin measurement of the 1008HA, this is the model you should consider.
Zenith Premium Z-book
Cheap, in every sense of the term
•Good quality bright screen, sturdy build, cheap price.
•Average keyboard and touchpad usability, measly battery life.
The Zenith Z-book has a slightly small footprint and isn’t really eye-candy compared to the others in our test. The device feels quite compact to hold and has quite a solid feel to it. The screen hinge offered more-than-adequate resistance.
Opening this netbook reveals a very bright screen. We tried watching a few 720p hi-def videos on it and realised that the screen delivered quite admirably. The contrast-ratio, as seen by our tests, was also very high. But this is where praise for the Z-book ends. The keyboard is cramped compared to the well spaced ones on other models. The only good thing about it is that it has media playback shortcuts on its function keys. Even the touch-pad left-and-right click buttons are flimsy. The Z-book does not impress as such in the performance figures. The battery died out after 1.5 hours. It should give approximately 2-2.5 hours of time under normal usage; this is quite a measly performance for a netbook. The web camera’s output was quite grainy and dark and the frame-rate was also pretty average.
Other than the surprisingly-good screen and a decent build, there is nothing about the Z-book that we would write home about. It is by far the cheapest netbook we’ve seen at just Rs16,500. That’s almost 20% cheaper than the next cheapest netbook. For the price, you compromise a bit on the usability and performance but it’s still a very usable piece of hardware.
Asus Eee PC 1101HA
Breaking the 10-inch barrier
•11.1-inch screen size, excellent battery life, comparatively sleek, comfortable keyboard.
•Screen brightness a bit low, under-powered processor.
The first Eee PC to break the 10-inch screen barrier, the 1101HA has a slightly larger footprint in order to accommodate the 11.6-inch, 1366x768 pixel screen. It has kept its thickness under check, and the overall machine is quite portable. Sharing the Seashell-branded appearance of the family, the cool-looking white model that we received reminded us of the older Macbooks.
The “HD” resolution display has a 16:9 aspect ratio; great for watching movies without those black borders. A short-length 720p test video looked pretty good and ran quite smoothly. Although we felt that the screen brightness was not up to the mark. The display wasn’t vibrant enough compared to some others in our test. But for typical work such as internet surfing and document editing, it’s quite sufficient. The keyboard is well spaced and easy to type on. The touch-pad is similar to the 1005HA and 1008HA model. This model comes with a low-power Atom Z520 processor running at 1.33 GHz. From the synthetic tests, it is clear that the 1101HA’s performance is even lower than the low-scoring Zenith Z-book, but in real-life, we didn’t notice a lag when running basic applications. But a two-hour long 720p Hi-def movie file lagged a lot during playback. Even though Asus advertises its “HD” display so profusely, we consider that this machine is not suitable for watching HD videos.
A low-powered processor is bound to have a positive impact on the battery life, and we measured an astounding figure of close to seven hours in our battery drain test. Thus, if used under light-load, it could very well last you more than eight hours. The web cam quality is again similar to previous Asus Eee PC models; i.e. decent. Quake 3 refused to run on this machine. Thus we couldn’t measure its fps score.
At Rs26,000, the pricing for this model is quite appropriate. For somebody who wants a netbook but feels that 10-inch screens are a bit too small, this model is a good option to consider. We would recommend it for people who just want to use the Internet, office suites, standard-res videos and other non-resource-heavy apps. Just remember that you are paying close to Rs5,000 extra for 1.5 inches of extra screen size and one hour more battery life (compared to the 1005HA).
Sony Vaio W
Overpriced, but a good netbook
•Sleek and attractive design, high-resolution screen, comfortable keyboard, fast Wi-Fi 802.11n performance.
•Expensive, only 2 USB ports.
After its daring attempt with the Vaio P “Lifestyle PC”, Sony is using the tried-and-tested netbook formula with this model. The Vaio W is a typical 10-inch netbook. It does maintain Sony’s signature style-statement all over; with the Vaio logo atop its glossy covering and the wireless and power switch on the edges. The top fortunately does not attract fingerprints. Overall, look-and-feel wise, Sony does make a mark. This baby will be noticed wherever you carry it. The build quality is also quite decent. It’s fairly light at 1.2 kg and thin enough to be carried around easily.
Opening the lid reveals a 10.1-inch screen bearing a higher-than-usual 1366x768 “HD” resolution. In our opinion, this resolution makes any text content appear a bit too small for convenience. We found it necessary to use a quick fix (a higher font dpi setting) to take care of that. However, we liked watching hi-res 720p videos on this machine. A pebble or segregated-style keyboard, typical of most Sony laptops we see nowadays, is fitted in this one. All keys are sized well and are really soft to type on, once you get the hang of them. The touch-pad is also adequately large. The machine comes with the new Atom N280 processor that offers a minor speed-up compared to the N270. In our battery drain test it touched almost two hours. Thus, one should get roughly three hours of normal usage; this is quite fair for a three-cell battery. We were also impressed by its transfer speeds using the Wi-Fi 802.11n mode. The Vaio W’s only two USB ports might be too few for people who attach a lot of peripherals to their PCs at a time.
Its web cam is accompanied by a nifty app which allows for face detection. This zooms into your face and tracks it even if you change your position. It can also do other cool effects such as face-blurring, eye-mask, warp, etc. Overall, the Sony Vaio W is a good netbook to consider, but it’s going to cost you Rs30,000. This high-margin price difference between the Vaio W and the others is what we could perhaps call the “Sony tax”. We would have gladly recommended this model, had the price been even a rupee below Rs25,000.
MSI Wind
Ultra-light netbook with few shortcomings
•Light-weight, bright screen with great contrast.
•No bluetooth, no OS pre-installed, only 80 GB hard disk, low battery life.
The MSI Wind U100 is the first netbook from the MSI stable. The white colour with a minimally-designed top makes it look neat. The build quality is quite decent. It may not be as ultra-thin as the Eee PC 1008HA, but at 1kg, this is certainly the lightest netbook we have in this test. The keyboard is also quite easy to type on, except for one anomaly. The Fn and Control key on the left corner have interchanged places.
In the days when 160 GB has become quite common for netbooks, the MSI Wind’s 80 GB hard drive space feels rather cramped. Also, the model that we received came with SuSe Linux Enterprise Desktop 10 pre-installed instead of Windows XP. Lastly, the battery life did not fare so well, clocking in at 1.5 hours. At Rs20,000, the MSI Wind’s pricing is fair. But other than the great screen, it does not have anything special that would inspire us to recommend it. At just Rs1,500 more, you can get the Eee PC 1005HA that trumps this model on many counts.
Intex N101W-C1100
Tacky-designed, nothing extraordinary
•Decent web cam and battery life.
•Tacky design, no OS preinstalled.
Intex has taken a different approach in terms of design with its N101W netbook. It is designed to resemble a book; suggesting that it is targeted at the youth. Also, due to its design, the screen cannot be tilted beyond roughly 120 degrees. The build quality is quite acceptable, but this device is not very thin. On the inside, we have a 1024x576 pixel display; just four vertical pixels shy of the typical 1024x600 resolution. The keyboard is good in terms of typing comfort and the direction keys are a wee bit smaller than usual. The touch-pad sensitivity is about average, although the odd button placement might not be convenient for some.
Many of us are aware that installing Windows XP (especially using a USB flash drive) is a lengthy and difficult procedure. The least Intex could do is sell the N101W with a Linux OS. After installing XP ourselves, we ran it through our battery of tests. Of them, we couldn’t get Quake3 to run on this one. The same was the case with our test to judge screen brightness and contrast ratio. The battery lasted an acceptable two hours and twenty minutes. Thus we should expect around three hours of normal play-time with this model. The web cam delivered a clear image with a decent frame-rate.
At Rs19,000, the price seems to be quite fair. But its design philosophy and average usability does not help us recommend this model.
Connoi Tablet PC
A good companion for kids
The Connoi Tablet PC is based on the Intel Classmate PC concept. As we will see further in this review, this model is specifically targeted at school-going kids. For one, this netbook looks a bit kiddish, but its plastic body is built decently. The manufacturers claim that it is sturdy enough to survive drops and water spills. It has a (removable) handle for carrying it around like a mini-briefcase. At 1.35 kg, it’s not overly heavy and shouldn’t add substantial weight to a kid’s already-heavy school- enabled model amongst all those in this test. The screen has a 180-degree tilting mechanism that converts this typical netbook into a stylus-operated tablet. You can even use it in vertical mode like an e-book reader.
The screen is slightly small at 8.9 inches, but bears a standard 1024x600 pixel resolution. Although the screen accepts stylus input fairly well, the underlying software (and Windows XP) is not finger-optimised. Thus, kids will need to whip out the stylus or try to use their fingernails to operate this device. The keyboard under the screen is somewhat cramped for adults with large fingers. But, since this machine is intended for kids, this shouldn’t really be a problem. The touch-pad sensivity is also good. Spec-wise there are a few differences from the rest of the herd. For one, this netbook has a 1.8-inch 60 GB hard disk; which might prove to be insufficient in today’s world.
Performance-wise, it worked at a decent pace. The performance bottle-neck in this machine proved to be its slower 1.8-inch hard drive. We also hoped for a little more than 2.5 hours from its 6-cell battery. In terms of software, it comes with a number of usable apps. The best had to be ArtRage2, a touch-friendly version of a Paint app. Even the handwriting recognition tool is quite accurate, after a brief training session. At. Rs24,500, it is priced appropriately considering that it is a netbook-cum-tablet PC. This makes it quite a sweet deal and would be a good choice as a first PC for kids. It will help them jump onto the electronic revolution at an early age.
Conclusion
After our exhaustive testing, we come to the conclusion that the Eee PC 1005HA bags the prize as the best performer. It has the right mix of components coupled with an elegant design and a perfect price; given its functionality. Coming in close at second place is the other ASUS Eee PC 1101HA. The Sony Vaio W follows. Other than the ultra-high price tag, we found nothing to complain about this model. If Sony slashes the price by at least Rs5,000, we’ll be glad to recommend it.
Going by sheer numbers, the Zenith Premium Z-book takes the Best Buy Award thanks to its ultra-low Rs16,500 price tag. Although it has the same internals as most of the models out there, it somewhat lacks in terms of usability. We feel you should spend a few thousand rupees more to get the Eee PC 1005HA.
Another model we would like to highlight is the Connoi Classmate PC. This netbook is designed with the idea that computers are going to be a big part of children’s education, and not just another subject in the curriculum. Its touch-screen abilities bring out many unique features that children can use. Also, this is a real PC, with a familiar operating system that provides a plethora of usability options. If you are willing to invest Rs25,000, this could very well be a great gift for your child.
How we tested
•Most netbooks came with Windows XP Home Edition SP3 pre-installed. On those that came with Linux or no OS, XP was installed along with drivers for running the Windows-based benchmark tools.
•All pre-installed software (except for drivers) were un-installed. Automatic updates, remote desktop and system restore were turned off.
•The system was set to “Best appearance” mode. Screensavers were turned off, all power-saving settings were disabled and the screen was bumped to maximum brightness.
•The tests and assessments that we used:
•Synthetic benchmarks including PCMark05, 3DMark05 and SiSoft Sandra 2008. Other than that, we included a battery of real-world tests to determine the performance of the various components and features of the netbooks.
•Build quality was assessed, included the type of materials used and the sturdiness of the screen hinge.
•Ergonomics, included the usability of the keyboard and touch-pad, also the accessibility of ports.
•The battery life test, using the looped-playback of our test video file with the volume turned to maximum
•The wireless test was performed by directly connecting a Wi-Fi Router to our test PC. We then paired the netbooks to our router, thus enabling them to access the contents of our Test PC. A 100 MB test file was copied back-and-forth between the netbook and the test PC at two different distances. For the “Short Distance” the netbook was kept next to the router. With “Long Distance”, the netbook was at a point outside the test PC’s closed room, around 20 metres away.
•The display was tested for brightness and contrast ratio using a Spyder3Elite calibration tool.
•We used DivX Pro v.7.0 to encode our 100 MB test VOB format video file into the DivX format.
CONNECT
Fujifilm takes camera to a new 3D plane
Fujifilm recently launched its new FinePix REAL 3D W1 (Rs42,999), the first camera which can capture and display images in 3D. It features two lenses that mimic the distance between human eyes. The best part is that the LCD panel at the back of the camera can display 3D images, so you can actually live-preview the image you are taking in 3D without requiring any special glasses. The camera offers point-and-shoot functionality for capturing 2D or 3D images, or videos, and manages almost everything automatically.
Samsung touch-screen costs below 10K
Samsung has launched an under-Rs10,000 touch-screen handset, the S3650 Corby (for Rs9,600). The 2.8-inch TFT displays 256k colours at a resolution of 240x320 pixels, and comes with a smart lock feature. However, the lack of an accelerometer to auto-rotate the screen won’t go down well with most people. While it does have a 2-megapixel fixed-focus camera, there is no LED flash. The phone supports all popular multimedia formats for both audio and video files, and comes with a player for this, but the lack of a 3.5mm audio jack puts a question mark over its music capabilities. Corby is available in five colours.
Touch-screen furniture
The Surface Tension Arcade Table is an innovative approach to furniture. Surface Tension manufactures tables with a large touch-screen interface and a computer built into the table. The Arcade edition of this coffee table (Rs2,39,690) has two sets of full-arcade controls and comes with at least 60 retro games. You can install any game that is compatible with Mame (multiple arcade machine emulator). Windows XP is used on the machine, so you can install any software and use it as a regular computer. For details, visit www.surfacetension.net
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Hands on

Tue, 06 Oct 2009 19:00:00 GMT

Where are the colours?
Sony Bravia KDL ZX1
The KDL ZX1 is a 40-inch panel, and when you lift it out of the box, you can feel the benefits of an LED backlighting system—it weighs about as much as a 22-inch LCD
monitor. Sony also thought it prudent to provide just one HDMI port on the display, with the remaining connects on a “media receiver” box. This box connects to the display wirelessly—a unique feature because it eliminates any sort of cable clutter.
When using DisplayMate, there was a lag (delay) while dimming or brightening the screen. Although not noticeable when gaming or watching movies, displaying a static screen will cause the display to take a couple of seconds to adjust its backlight. To keep it slim, Sony couldn’t put the backlight LEDs directly behind the LCD screen, and this prevents local dimming of LEDs around precise areas, which, in turn, hurts the display’s contrast ratio. The colours don’t look as bright as you get in some of the best panels, thus making everything look softer. This is good for static images, which show no noise whatsoever. Even motion pictures lack any sort of banding or noise. However, everything tends to look a little sterile and we miss the crispness of better displays. The backlight delay issue is annoying after a bit.
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All said and done, we’d rather live with a fatter display that has a full LED array behind the LCD panel. At Rs2 lakh, you’d be better off skipping this and waiting for better panels—more are on the way.
Mouse Play
Gigabyte GM-M6880
The GM-M6880 is a gaming mouse from the Gigabyte stable. The overall ergonomic design of this mouse in a glossy black exterior is well-suited for those with
larger hands. The weight of the mouse (145g, including the wire) is a drawback. It just felt like the mouse was moving faster than normal.
Also, if you click hard (when wrapped up in a game) the mouse seems off-balance and tilts forward slightly. The glossy plastic material used is not the best either, and if you have sweaty palms, this mouse is going to be harder to grip.
So is there anything good at all? For starters, the price (Rs945) means that budget gamers will like this mouse. Then there’s the look, which definitely says g4|\/|3r (“gamer”, in their language). For beginners and budget gamers, this is a decent buy. For seasoned gamers, we have two words, “Stay away!”
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Full throttle: From Frankfurt

Siddharth Vinayak Patankar — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 17:06:00 GMT

Mercedes Blue Zero
Daimler has taken the wrap off three cars under its Blue Zero project. The first is the Blue Zero E-Cell, a fully electric motor that can travel up to 200km on a single charge. The Blue Zero E-Cell Plus is a hybrid, which couples the electric motor with a small, efficient petrol engine designed by Daimler’s other brand, Smart. And finally, the Blue Zero F-Cell. It’s the same electric motor, but has a hydrogen fuel cell for company. While the F-Cell seems a bit far away, the E-Cell and E-Cell Plus are being worked on for markets across Europe, North America and India too.
Porsche Panamera
The Panamera will be here in just two weeks. It is Porsche’s first and only series-production four-door car. Unlike the Cayenne, the Panamera is every bit a Porsche sports car. The thumping 400 bhp V8 motor allows you to cruise along at high speeds. But expect the prices to go through the roof, with a wide range from Rs1.5–2 crore across variants. India will get all the variants, which include the 4S and 500 bhp Turbo. It’s great that India is getting this car on schedule with many other world markets.
BMW X1
BMW is experimenting one segment lower than the XC60 and making the compact SUV even smaller. The result is a dynamic, attractive, performance-oriented sub-compact SUV. The X1 is all of that and more. It has all-wheel drive standard and comes with a choice of two petrols or a 2-litre diesel heart with varying output of 140-200 bhp. The X1 is well appointed inside, with great visibility, reasonable ride height and plenty of on-board electronics. It will debut in 2010 in the Rs25-30 lakh bracket and is expected to hijack some premium sedan buyers.
Volkswagen E-Up!
This one is a wonder car. While we did see e-cars in all shapes and sizes, the E-Up! is a bold experiment from Volkswagen since the company says it will also be made for emerging markets. The E-Up! is based on its Up! concept that debuted here in the last edition.
The Up! is Volkswagen’s next-generation small car that will spawn not just a city hatch, but also a small multi-utility vehicle and yes, now the electric car too. It runs on rechargeable lithium-ion batteries and a full charge takes 5 hours. The car can do 0-100kmph in 11.3 seconds and has decent torque at 210nm. The power output of the electric motor is 40-60kW, or about 50-80 bhp, depending on the mode you drive in.
Volkswagen will introduce it in India too. After all, for this car to be commercially viable, it needs large-scale production. This can happen globally only if there is a sales plan in emerging markets. It also means that these cars can’t be too expensive, because let’s face it, in markets such as India, price matters, especially in the hatch space. The Up! small car will begin to roll in late next year and the E-Up! will debut by 2012-13.
It is difficult to predict a price range, but Volkswagen says it will have to be competitive to do well.
Volvo XC60
Get ready to welcome another compact SUV, the Volvo XC60. Though no date has been set yet, it is certain that the XC60 will be the company’s next offering in India in 2010. It has a host of engine options in petrol and diesel, but Volvo will push the diesels in India. The XC60 is expected to be in the Rs30-35 lakh price band. It shares technology with the recently launched Land Rover Freelander, but it also has its own highlights, such as the City Safety System. This allows the car to use its brakes, or decelerate in slow city driving conditions, to avoid accidents.
City Safety may be too sensitive for our chaotic city traffic, but the ride quality, interiors and good engine options should help the XC60 in the Indian market. I drove the XC60 on the out skirts of Frankfurt, and its ease of use and excellent highway handling—plus manoeuvrability in city traffic—impressed me.
The XC60 went on sale earlier this year in most of the markets Volvo operates in, but you’ll still have to wait till 2010. Let’s hope Volvo keeps the pricing competitive.
The author is editor, auto, NDTV.
Write to us at businessoflife@livemint.com

Reading a closed book

Krish Raghav — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 16:10:00 GMT

Perhaps, no other word has undergone as much shape-shifting in the last few years as “privacy”. The concept, especially with the mainstreaming of social networking sites such as Facebook and Orkut, has metamorphosed into a fuzzy mess, with borders increasingly blurry and confines increasingly limited.
The story of Anoushka Shankar’s Facebook stalker may make the Internet look like a dangerous place for the unprepared, but with the right amount of prudence, you can maintain your privacy without having to give up on your online vices. While Facebook has faced enormous criticism for its lax privacy policies in the past, it’s wisened up now and features a detailed master control panel of privacy features, and the right combination of toggles and switches can help you put the personal back in your personal life. Here are five simple ways to help you define privacy online:
Learn the Privacy Settings
Privacy Settings is the second menu option under “Settings” in the big blue bar on top of every Facebook page. An important first step is defining who gets to see your contact information. Not all “friends” on Facebook need to be privy to your telephone number, for example. Proceed to the “Info” tab on your profile and click “Edit” under Contact information. Each item in that list can be customized to be viewable only to specific people.
It’s also best to be careful with what you put up in this section. “Don’t upload material that contains hints to your passwords,” says Sunil Abraham, executive director of the Bangalore-based non-profit civil society group, The Centre for Internet and Society. “Often, the answers to the secret question used to remind users of their password on sensitive online services can be determined by examining social networking content.” The name of your pet, birth date and names of schools are the usual secret questions and common information on profiles. “This is increasingly being targeted by hackers who use social engineering as their method of choice,” he says.
Organize your online social life
“Group your friends and fine-tune access-control over your social network content,” says Abraham. “Facebook allows you to granularly control who sees what. Configure this and then test your configuration before uploading sensitive content.”
Click on “Friends” on the top blue bar and select “Create new list” to begin organizing your friends. A useful distinction to start with is “Family” and “Friends”. While the latter might like to see photos of parties you attended last week, the former may not necessarily need to. It’s also important, says Abraham, to test your groupings to see if everything works. “Testing can be done by sitting with close friends who you can shift from group to group,” he says.
Be discreet
“Don’t upload material that might embarrass your future self: Text, images and video content that might be perfectly acceptable to your teen peers may not be acceptable to a future employer,” says Abraham. Rants against bosses or co-workers are highly unadvised and it’s best to stay away from anything inflammatory or potentially damaging. “Social networks have policies regarding data retention that change according to their commercial ambition and performance. Thus, in future, you may find it impossible to delete embarrassing content.”
Hide yourself from Google
To hide your profile from Google searches, go to “Privacy Settings”, click on “Search Privacy Settings” and deselect the box that says “create a public search listing for me and submit it for search engine indexing”. While that will hide your profile from showing up in search engines, the same can’t be said for content that you post there. “Don’t upload material that you would not want featured in mass media: Security compromises in social network services are usually systemic,” says Abraham. “Last year, 17GB of private photos were stolen from MySpace and were publicly available for download through torrent trackers such as Thepiratebay.org.”
Be careful of applications
Sure, Mafia Wars and FarmVille are great fun, but always read the fine print before using an application. Many are harmless, but some ask you for contact information and others that integrate external online services may make private information on these sites accessible. As an example, don’t give away your geographic location, warns Abraham. “If knowledge about your geographic location can be useful to business competitors, please be judicious when integrating services like Dopplr with your social network.” Dopplr is a site that allows travellers to plan itineraries and arrange meetings with people who might be at the same place at the same time.
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Myths about Open Source

Tue, 22 Sep 2009 16:02:00 GMT

Agent 001
I recently met an old school friend over a cup of coffee and we spoke about life, movies and music. Then the topic moved on to technology, the best graphic card and I suggested what motherboard he should buy. Giving such advice just never gets me tired. Anyway, the conversation moved to open source and how he really didn’t get the concept of it and he was just against it. This friend of mine was a loyal one operating-system man and didn’t want to move away from his comfort zone. He also had a few doubts about open source in general – but these were just myths and random rumours heard from others that I’m sure many people have come across. So I decided to go through them and be a myth buster of sorts. Maybe he won’t use open source, but at least he won’t be against it, is what I thought.
It’s not that I don’t use open source, I do use many free programs, so you could say I’m not against it.
Ah, that’s where you are mistaken. You see, everything free is not open source and everything open source is not necessarily free. An open source project is first started off with an idea from somebody. Of course nobody will just jump on the bandwagon immediately, as first that person will have to create the application or operating system he is making. From then on, an announcement can be made where in people will form a community around that project and help develop it. There is a licence called the GPL (GNU General Public Licence) under which there is something known as copyleft, which lets the creator have rights over the software, but at the same time it can be used, modified and distributed freely.
So where does money come into play?
Open source has licences that can be beneficial to the creators. Some companies have dual licences, which allows them to charge for their product or services. So their trademark is in place and they can sell their product. If there are individuals who are doing the same for their distributions or software, then it is basically the cost of the media that you will be paying for. (Eg. CDs, DVDs, etc.)
Sounds fair, but what about support for all this? I’ve heard so many complaints from friends that they keep getting stuck while using Linux either at work or at home. Not everybody went to engineering college and studied programming, you know.
You don’t really need to have an engineering degree to use Linux for day-to-day computing. The desktop environment has evolved considerably and is now very usable. Some might even say distributions such as Linux Mint resemble the Microsoft Windows desktop environment. The fact here is that your basic tasks really don’t need any support as they are quite simple, but when you do need support for anything, you just need to look to the internet. Each open source project usually has a community built around it that helps develop that particular application. So whenever you are stuck, you can always go back to them and they are normally quite friendly. The best thing about open source is that there will be multiple communities for the same thing. So there is support, although it is scattered.
Thinking from a corporate point of view, I really don’t think companies would advise their staff to go and look for a solution to a problem themselves. What would the IT department be doing in this case?
If you look at things from that perspective then there is a solution, but cost comes into the picture here. When shifting to an open source infrastructure, the IT staff will have to undergo training for open source. But if you are starting from scratch, then you just need to pick up those who already have knowledge in that field. Also some enterprise level solutions such as Red Hat provide support, according to the subscription you opt for.
But, how can I just trust any version of Linux to download, I mean since the source code is open to all, how do I know someone has not modified it to put in a trojan or something?
Well there have been many arguments about the risks of open source and how by distributing the source code itself, you give the evil-minded people a chance to create havoc. At the same time, a closed source project is prone to a similar case, but in this case the evil-minded person could be, for example, a disgruntled and frustrated employee.
So what about the viruses and worms running around in cyber space? Won’t I get attacked if I’m using Linux?
Actually you won’t. Permissions work differently in Linux, you are not always logged in as the Administrator, or in Linux – Root, so there is a smaller chance to install any malicious software on your PC. On top of that, the viruses being created are more Windows-oriented and even with the current anti-virus applications available for Linux, they all mostly scan for Windows-based viruses which don’t even affect Linux users.
I guess I am seeing the bigger picture about open source here, but seriously, the one major problem I see with open source is gaming. I need some time to play games, and I’m sure many others also want some games in their life, and I’m not talking about something like Minesweeper or Solitaire or even those web sites with flash-based games. How am I supposed to play Counter Strike, for instance, if I am running a Linux distribution?
That is a tough one, but can I offer you Quake 3 Arena instead? You’re right about one thing, that not all games are able to run on Linux systems. But at the same time, there are a few good Linux titles out there. As mentioned earlier, Quake 3 is one of them. There are MMORPGs such as Second Life and Vendetta Online that one could try out too, and don’t forget America’s Army, that works well on Linux too.
Yes, fine, there are alternatives, but what about Counter Strike or even Crysis?
Fine, you got me stumped on that for now. But it won’t be too long before these games will be working on any PC in the world, be it Mac, Windows or Linux. This is all thanks to the upcoming virtual gaming concept such as On Live, where all the hardware is taken care of. Think of it as cloud gaming. I’m sure you’ve already heard of Quake Live, that’s a good example of what I’m talking about. So there, it’s not going to be too long before everybody can game on an equal level, no matter what hardware is present.
There’s still time for that. But you have changed the view I had about open source in general though, maybe I’ll try it out.
Don’t rush into it though, you could always start off with something small, like say Open Office which is the open source equivalent to MS Office. You will see changes, but I’m sure it’s nothing you can’t handle. Maybe from there you could move on to Ubuntu or Linux Mint.
BOX
The bad side of open source
We aren’t talking about the drawbacks of open source here, but instead we are talking about how the whole concept of open source can be used for evil. The way open source works is that the source code of an application or project is distributed freely in such a way that others can modify and reuse it. But what happens when this is done by the villains, in this case hackers or script-kiddies? Hackers have not only been spreading viruses and other malicious threats, but in fact have been also spreading the whole recipe of how to create them. It all comes down to programming, and once the code is freely distributed, along with instructions on how to use it, there’s no stopping them. There are even communities based around this sort of open source activities where people discuss building new internet threats together. These communities are still present on various IRC channels, but don’t expect to join such groups in an instant, as they aren’t as easy as joining a community on Facebook.