February 2006

cover_Feb 06.ai

1/28/2006

8:57:16 PM

Ten super gaming mods

www.chip-india.com

at the heart of technology February 2006

Volume 3

Ventilating your system

Issue 3

Rs 100

The coolest multimedia, security, office, Internet, graphics and system utilities: all full versions, all free! 34 C

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MY

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CMY

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WORKSHOP

122

GeeXboX Build a home theater. No hard disk needed! FEATURE

82

Graphics tweaking Expert tips on juicing graphics speed

Also available in Bangladesh Nepal, Bhutan, Sri Lanka, U A E

35 graphics cards

60 Novice, veteran or frag-God; here’s your next gaming card

MS Office secrets

96

Hot tips to become an MS Office guru

Lockdown your PC

115 Set up a Firewall and save your PC from Internet threats

ATI Radeon X1900XT: Gaming power redefined

LG.indd 1

12/27/2005 1:14:02 PM

EDITORIAL

7

Tectonic shifts

G

People rarely have identical tastes. But they do have identical needs

eography bears a striking similarity to the ebb and flow of our lives. Like the passage of seasons that drives us indoors and pulls us outdoors, or the impending onslaught of natural phenomena that causes us to brace ourselves, our lives are tremendously affected by the movements of the world around us—both subtle and obvious. Perhaps more than any other sector, technology is what has been most responsible for these changes across the recent past. From cellular communication enabling us to achieve more during our waking hours to the Google phenomenon putting a universe of information literally at people’s fingertips, one often wonders how we lived in the days before all of this. If these changes are to continue for the better, there are several aspects that need to be taken into cognizance: Content: There was a time when hardware and software products were the prime factor in a given technology equation. That was the era when brands like Intel, Microsoft and Nokia ruled the roost with their successful technology products. The scene is markedly different today. Consumers, especially here in India, have matured enormously and in a surprisingly short amount of time too. No longer can a technology company pawn off a second-grade hardware or software product to today’s Indian buyer. With information freely available to the connected consumer, they know what products are out there and have a fair idea about their efficacy. Today, the gloss of a new hardware or software fades surprisingly quickly and leaves behind a void that can only be filled by one thing—sustained content and services. Be it broadband Internet access, cellular telephony or desktop applications, the ones that are top dog today are those that are backed up by solid streams of relevant and enticing content. Standardization: People rarely have identical tastes. But they do have identical needs. It’s time that technology companies begin putting their differences behind them and look to standardizing their services across each other’s platforms. Doing so will probably result in lower margins with a dip in mindshare initially, but it will spur on greater acceptance among their consumers. When systems are able talk to one another, information can be exchanged no matter what the platform or individual choice of hardware and software. This directly translates into numbers. After that, economy of scale kicks in and at the end of the day, everyone’s happy. Easy availability: When it comes to availing content services, consumers do not want to be inundated by jargon and formalities. The more it is a point-and-click solution, the better. This obviously translates into more thought and implementation on the provider’s part, but the results, if executed well, are sure shot. Take Apple’s iTunes for, example—a brilliant case study of launching a cool product and following it up with a rock-solid, easyto-use content stream. With intelligent research and planning, product-service pairings based on such a model would work excellently across any number of categories. Indeed, this is the age where the content, consumer and convenience is king.

| Marco Angelo D’Souza [email protected] FEBRUARY 2006 | INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP

Contents FEBRUARY 2006 77 Power

60

Packed Portability

Activate Afterburners!

32 Tune into

Mobile TV NEWSWIRE

22 Breaking even on Downloads Find out about how SoundBuzz has revolutionized the move to pay for songs and ring tones

32 Tune into Mobile TV Efforts are on to make this new and sweeping trend for the mobile popular

COVER STORY 34 What Money can’t Buy! Make best use of the free software here. Edit audio, videos, create professional presentations and compress them, at no cost.

HARDWARE 44 Top Gear More products from newer brands. The Sahara T2300 tablet PC is to watch out for...

77 Power Packed Portability Portable music players are fast catching the fancy of most music enthusiasts

82 Full Throttle A detailed guide that tells you how to bring out the maximum in your graphic cards and their performance

APPLICATIONS 86 Software Center Applications that will protect your PC from attacks; edit videos and more…

92 Gung-ho about Gaming One amazing phenomenon is how Indian gaming studios are increasingly getting noticed for their quality work, and of late with the development of local content, gaming could take the nation by storm

96 Don’t Miss Them! Discover hidden tools within oft used MS Office applications. Working with these will help you to save a lot of your time and energy

HANDS ON 110 Make your Phone Sing Wish you had the latest released single as your mobile tune ? Fret no more! This detailed workshop teaches you how to create your own tones straight from audio CDs and MP3s

112 Case Logic An important but oft ignored aspect of hardware is casings. Here we learn how adequate case ventilation can keep the components of your PC cool and make it work better, and last longer

115 Keep ‘em Out!

60 Activate Afterburners!

Find out how a software firewall can help you defend your system against infected network intrusions

35 graphics cards battle it out to top the list of gaming powerhouses

74 NAPA has landed

120 Stop Watching it! Believable! You can actually install Windows without having to be at its beck and call. Learn here how...

Look out as Intel’s NAPA makes its grand entry into computing, promising to give it a new meaning

34 INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP | FEBRUARY 2006

s!

96 Don’t Miss them!

115

Keep ‘em Out! 86

122 The Geek’s Box No need to install codecs and get into a long winding installing procedure. With GeeXBoX, find out how you can play your favorite movie straight off a CD!

UNWIND 132 MODmania Alter, switch or shift existing games in your kitty the way you want through modifications, popularly known as MODs

134 Indigo Prophecy One helluva amazing ride of action from varied roles, decisions and strategies. And no matter what you opt for, there is always an exciting and intriguing steer leading to another. Play it to know more

Software Center | Products Tested

135 FIFA 2006 With the World Cup around the corner, what better way to build up the steam than to get the action rolling with this brand new football experience

136 The Movies Fulfill your long cherished dream of creating a movie from scratch. This captivating game shows you how

137 King Kong: The Official Game of the Movie Just as the visually appealing movie by Peter Jackson, the game too retains the magic

138 More on Yahoo Take hold of this latest book on a motley of tips, facets and contours that will help you get more out of Yahoo

Hardware

44

Sahara Tablet PC , PixelView PlayTV Box 3 Desktop, Microsoft Wireless Laser Desktop6000, Kodak EasyShare V550, Motorola L6, Biostar TForce 610-939, Zebronics Antibiotic, Asus A8N32-SLI Deluxe, Vantec Nexstar NST-250U2, Altec Lansing 121i, Powercolor HeatBuster, Corsair Flash Voyager 4 GB

Graphics Card

60

ATI Radeon X1900XT, PowerColor X1800XT, Asus Extreme N7800GTX Top, GeCube GC-X1800XTD, Gainward 3500PCX Ultra, MSI NX7800GTX, XFX 7800 GT, ATI Radeon X850XT, XFX GeForce 6800 GS, Gainward 2300PCX Ultra, MSI NX6800GS, PowerColor X1600XT, GeCube GC-RX1600XTG3, PowerColor X800GTO, Asus Extreme N6600GT Silencer, Leadtek PX6600GT TDH Extreme, Big GeForce 6600GT, XFX 6600GT, MSI NX6600GT, Gainward 1980PCX Ultra, Gigabyte GV-NX66T128D-SP, XFX 6600GT, Big GeForce 6600GT AGP, ASUS EAX1300PRO, MSI RX1300 Pro, GeCube GC-RX1300PG2, Zebronics NE-6600L, GeCube GC-RX550GU2, PowerColor X550, Leadtek A6600 LE, Leadtek PX6200TC TDH, XFX GeForce 6200, Gigabyte GV-RX30S128D, PowerColor 9550SE, XFX GeForce 6200TC

Regulars Town Square

16

Letters

18

Technology Landscape

81

Dr. CHIP

Sahara Tanlet PC 82 FEBRUARY 2006 | INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP

(Tablet PC)

…45

96

Tips and Tricks

124

Game Reviews

134

Last Word

148

Disk Contents FEBRUARY 2006 | VOLUME 3 | ISSUE 3

Developer: Visual Setup 4, Aesthetic Visual Modeler Freeware: Audacity, Blender , GIMP, OpenOffice.org 2, ThunderBird 1.0.7, PHP 5.1.1 Linux: aMSN, VLC media player Internet: Avant Browser 10, Portable Firefox 1.5 Utilities: Nero 7, AOL Desktop Search, FastStone Image Viewer Red Hot: Power Director 5 Multimedia: Saga CD Ripper, Foobar 2000, K-Lite Mega Codecs System and Security: Latest ATI Catalyst and NVIDIA Forceware Drivers, NAV Definitions Update

Full Games: BallTris, Icy Tower, Motocross The Force, TuxRacer, Transfusion, Virtual RC Racing Game Demo: The Stalin Subway Game Addons: Call of Duty 2 1.01 Patch Game Trailers: Ground Control 2, Combat Elite: WW II Paratroopers, Age of Pirates Movie Trailers: Mission Impossible III, Over the Hedge, Silent Hill Incredible India

$)*1%7% Videos: Date Movie, LOTR: Battle for Middle Earth II Full Game: S.W.I.N.E Linux: OpenSUSE Linux 10 Game Addons: Civilization IV 1.52 Patch Must-haves: AutoPatcher XP December 2005, AVG 7 Free Edition, Elecard MPEG Player, iTunes, MedalFolders, ReaConverter 4.0 Pro, VirusBuster Professional

Quick Quote FEBRUARY 2006 | VOLUME 3 | ISSUE 3 GENERAL MANAGER - PUBLISHING

Krishna Tewari EDITOR

Chennai O K Gurumurthy Phone: (044) 28295050-54 Fax: (044) 28295060 [email protected]

Marco Angelo D’Souza ASSOCIATE FEATURES EDITOR

CHIP effectively captures the excitement of this industry Rajesh Khurana, Country Manager for Seagate in India & SAARC

Carol D’Costa SENIOR COPY EDITOR

Sharmistha Dey

Hyderabad Vasudevan Iyer Phone: (040)55622211 Fax: (040) 23393488 Kolkata A. K. Roy Phone: (033) 2468637, 2468638 Fax: (033) 2462964

WRITERS

Ashutosh Desai Jamshed Avari, Pradosh Mitra TEST CENTER

Soham Raninga Anand Tuliani, Gaurav Seth MULTIMEDIA COORDINATOR

Anup Pillai DESIGN

Medha Modak Vishwanath Vanjire, Pramod Jadhav, Dinesh Desai Rushikesh Masurkar, Manoj Tandel, Umesh Dahiwalkar

New Delhi Pranav Saran [email protected] (D) (011) 55303287 401-409, Prakashdeep Building, 7 Tolstoy Marg, New Delhi – 110 001. Phone: (011)55303278,79,80,82 Fax: (011)23327884 CIRCULATION

National Circulation Manager Kumar Mohanani ([email protected]) CHIP INTERNATIONAL

Editorial Management International Ludwig Blaha, Poccistrabe 11,80336 Munchen

PHOTO EDITOR

Shirish Karale

Editorial Consultant International Wolfgang Su, Poccistrabe 11,80336 Munchen

MULTIMEDIA & WEB

Hemant Charya SPECIAL PROJECTS EDITOR-PROJECTS

Brian Pereira WRITERS

Gagan Gupta, Arunabh Arora Rahul Athalye, Olivia Yardi HEAD MARKETING

Ganesh Lakshmanan EDITORIAL OFFICE

Intelligent Computing Chip, TBW Publishing & Media Pvt. Ltd. `A’ Wing, Ruby House, 2nd Floor, J.K. Sawant Marg, Dadar(W). Mumbai - 400 028. INDIA Phone: (91 22) 24232323, Fax: (91 22) 2430 2707 E-mail: [email protected] BUSINESS OFFICES

Mumbai (Head Office) Martin Wilson, [email protected] Sagar Salunkhe TBW Publishing & Media Pvt. Ltd. `A’ Wing, Ruby House, 2nd Floor, J.K. Sawant Marg, Dadar(W). Mumbai - 400 028. INDIA Phone: (91 22) 24232323, Fax: (91 22) 24302707 E-mail: [email protected] Bangalore Mohammed Asif [email protected] 12th Floor, ‘C’ Wing, Mittal Tower No.6, M.G.Road, Bangalore – 560 001. Phone: (080)559 7282,83,84 Fax: (080)559 7285

CHIP is also published in the following countries China Czech Republic Germany Greece Hungary Indonesia Italy Malaysia Netherlands Poland Romania Russia Singapore Thailand Turkey Ukraine TBW Publishing & Media Pvt. Ltd. does not take the responsibility for returning unsolicited material sent without due postal stamps for return postage. No part of this magazine can be reproduced without the prior written permission of the publisher. TBW Publishing & Media Pvt. Ltd. reserves the right to use the information published herein in any manner whatsoever. Copyright 2004 INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP For all international subscription enquiries, contact the subscription department, Intelligent Computing CHIP ([email protected]). Intelligent Computing CHIP is printed by A. S. Vadiwala and published by K. V. Rao on behalf of TBW Publishing and Media Pvt. Ltd. and printed at Infomedia India Ltd, Plot No.3, Sector 7, Off Sion-Panvel Road, Nerul, Navi Mumbai – 400 706 and published at TBW Publishing and Media Pvt. Ltd., `A’ Wing, Ruby House, 2nd Floor, J.K. Sawant Marg, Dadar(W). Mumbai - 400 028. INDIA is an internationally protected trademark owned by Vogel Burda Communication GmbH Cover Design: Pramod Jadhav

www.chip-india.com INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP | FEBRUARY 2006

16

TOWN SQUARE

THIS MONTH ON chip-india.com

Town Square T

he past month has been quite exciting with a lot of activity happening on the web site. And I’m pleased to inform you that the number of registered users on our web site has now grown to 19,360. With our user base expanding rapidly, we are gearing up towards improving the web site as well as adding more and more interesting features to it. This month the Tips and Tricks section has included some really good tips as well as tricks posted by our users. A cool tip has been posted by ‘chandan.singh123’ where he tells you how to optimize your hard disk when it’s idle and increase your system performance. It can be done very easily by following these steps. Click on Start>>Run Type regedit and press enter Navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\ SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\ CurrentVersion\OptimalLayout Create a new DWORD value here or modify the existing one, ‘EnableAutoLayout’ and set its value to 1 to enable it. This is a very useful tip and is definitely worth a try. Then ‘sensational boy’ posted something that’s very interesting. He tells us that by adding ‘[email protected]’ to our contacts list in MSN messenger, we can ask whatever queries we have to this address. It will also help you solve math equations. This information, says ‘sensational boy’, was available on other forums and he wanted to share this with other users. The tip from ‘keith’ is also noteworthy. He explains how we can disable items in the Control Panel. The procedure for this is as follows: Click Start>>Run Type gpedit.msc Under the ‘User Configuration’ expand ‘Administrative Templates’ Click on Control Panel and on the right panel, open ‘Hide specified Control Panel applets’ Set it to enabled and click on the ‘Show’ button.

Next click on ‘Add’ and enter the name of the applet that you want to hide from the Control Panel. For example, if you want to hide User Accounts then type the same here and click OK. The next time when you open the Control Panel, you will find the applet hidden. So keep posting the tips and tricks guys. These are indeed very helpful. Apart from these, there are ample suggestions given by some of our readers to improve the web site as well as urging us to have moderators. Rest assured, in due course of time these suggestions will be reviewed with utmost priority and we will do our best to incorporate most of them. Also, the complaints regarding the late delivery of the issue has reduced significantly, which means we have tried to address the problem. However, subscribers who are still receiving the issues late, don’t worry, we will see to it that you get them on time. We appreciate that have our attempt at reducing the game content on our DVD. This month, for the first time, we have included a separate folder dedicated to software called ‘Musthaves’ on the DVD. In addition to this, you will also find a full game S.W.I.N.E as well as OpenSUSE Linux 10—one of the most popular Linux distros. Do let us know how you liked the content on this month’s cover CDs and DVD. We are also keeping a close watch on the requests made by our readers with regards to the software that they would like to see on the Cover CDs and DVD. We will definitely try to include most of them when collate the contents for the next issue. And please don’t forget to send us your response because it is your feedback that tells us whether we are on the right track or not. It also gives us an insight into what you would like to see in our magazine, on the web site and on the cover CDs as well as DVD. So keep writing in to us. See you guys next month. ■ | Anup Pillai

INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP | FEBRUARY 2006

18

LETTERS

Letters Dear CHIP, I am an avid reader of your magazine. I have been buying CHIP from the newsstand every month ever since the first issue was launched. I have never missed a single issue up to October 2005 and have them stacked safely. The same is the case with the cover disks. After I started subscribing for IC CHIP, I didn’t receive the issue for the month of November although I did receive the issue after that (December 2005). It’s sad because this is the first time that I have missed an issue. Your issues are very informative. I love your hardware and software reviews, the ‘Hands On’ which included Tips and Tricks, etc. You guys have me hooked to your magazine every month! I give IC CHIP a huge share of credit for what I know today. Good job on the December issue and wishing your team all the very best for the future. Shailesh Dear Shailesh Thanks for the kind words. It’s good to know that you’re a collector of our magazines and just to make sure that you’re not missing any of them, we’re replenishing you with your November 2005 copy! Team CHIP Dear CHIP, Congratulations for completing two successful and glorious years of publishing one of the best and most affordable computer magazines available in the market today. I have been a regular subscriber of CHIP since May 2004. Being a computer professional, I am very impressed with the content provided in your magazine. The ‘Hardware’ and ‘Hands On’ sections are particularly interesting and utilitarian. All of my decisions regarding the purchase of computer parts and peripherals are highly influenced by the articles in the magazine. The infographic on how a laser printer functions (November issue) and the workshop on assembling an external hard disk drive (December issue) were fabulous. The cover story of the December issue was also very impressive. I also particularly liked the articles ‘Internet Mafia’ and ‘The Memory Effect’—impressive amount of research done there. Could you please include some more articles

on networking in the magazine? I would also like to learn about career opportunities in the field of networking. Last, but not the least, I’d like to mention that the content of your CDs and DVDs for the last few months have been very disappointing— a major portion of the DVD is occupied with games which I think is not required. Please allot more space to software and utilities. I’m eagerly waiting for the electronic version of the magazines as it has become very difficult for me to handle the increasing pile of magazines in my house! Pankaj Garg Dear Mr D’Souza, I’m a subscriber of CHIP. I have a couple of comments on the article “Dual Duel” (Page 96, December issue). The article mentioned that special drivers are not needed to get the card running. However, I read on www.extremetech.com that special drivers are required to get a card up and running. The second point that was noted in your article is that the board is supported by almost all Nforce 4 SLI boards from well-known manufacturers. Again, extremetech.com stated that the listing of supported motherboards is, in fact, very short, with just a few boards from each of the top manufacturers. I’m perplexed because of the variation in details about motherboard support and drivers. The reviewer should have been more specific—I expected more comprehensive information in the review. Finally, while your reviewer gave a rating of 6/10, ExtremeTech awarded it 4.5/10, stating that there was no particular advantage of having two GPUs on a single board over having two separate cards operating in SLI mode. My intention here is not to prove the reviewer in question wrong. All I’m saying is he should have been more specific in his review while comprehensively covering the points highlighted above. Regards, Prasanna Kumar Hi Prasanna, Thanks for writing to us and raising the points in our dual GPU card review. Let’s clarify these one by one. The driver version we used for the board was “Forceware 81.94” which was released much later than the 78.01. The earlier Forceware versions, INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP | FEBRUARY 2006

20

LETTERS

Letters which were released immediately after the launch of the 7800 series had issues which were rectified in subsequent releases. The latest Forceware driver (81.94 and above) does not have any issues with the card running as a normal 7800GT SLI setup. As you rightly pointed out, ExtremeTech had done this review earlier when the Dual GPU board didn’t have stable supported drivers. Besides, we did have a small issue when the second GPU was recognized as “7800GTX”—we’ve mentioned this in the review. The dual 7800GT worked fine after a reboot and during the course of the test. Again, as far as the support goes, we clarified from other motherboard manufacturers that with the latest driver versions for the chipsets and the video cards, the 7800GT Dual is supported by all the SLI-certified boards. This includes manufacturers such as ASUS, MSI, DFI and Gigabyte. About the rating, we don’t agree with Extreme Tech’s view of using dual 7800GTX chips. The 7800GT is a better choice as it gives best bang for the buck while keeping temperatures in check. Also, another strong factor in favor of the card is its pricing in India—the price of this card at the time of testing was Rs 54,000 which is almost equal to the cost of two 7800GTs in our markets. With comparable price and performance of two 7800GTs in SLI, there isn’t much to complain on the price/performance ratio. Also, by using an external power supply, the card saves a good five to seven thousand rupees that you’d spend on a high quality 550W SMPS which would have been otherwise required for running two 7800GTs. Factoring all these segments of performance, price and innovation, we believe the card deserved the rating we gave it. Therefore, with more polished drivers on the card and chipset front, the units we tested were stable and performing at their maximum potential. Team CHIP Dear Sir, I am one of your readers and I suffer from Muscular Dystrophy (I have limb weakness because of which I need to use a wheelchair to move around). In your January 2006 issue, the article titled ‘Building Independence’ talked about the subject of technology for the physically handicapped (page 87/88). It was an interesting read and I think a few of the products described would be very

useful to me. Would it be possible for you to please provide me with contact details for the mentioned institutes/organizations so that I could get in touch with them? Thanks and regards, Priyavrat Goyenka Dear Mr Goenka, We’re so glad that you found our article useful. Regarding your query, we would like to state that many of the products we referenced in the article are unfortunately difficult to procure here in India. Our feature primarily tried to project the effort that has been taken so far, to facilitate a better lifestyle for the differently-abled. However, here are the contact details of the training institutes and learning centers where research is in progress. R Kalyana Krishnan (Professor of Computer Science and Engineering, IIT Madras) Tel: 044-257-8333, Email: [email protected] Dr M V Ananthakrishnan (Media Lab Asia, IIT Mumbai) Tel: 9820217151, Email: [email protected] Ability Net Web: www.abilitynet.org.uk Tel: 0800 269 545, Email: [email protected] We hope you find these contacts fruitful. Warm regards, Team CHIP Dear CHIP, I simply loved your January issue. Your article portraying of what our lives will be like in the future was very impressive and gave an insight into the exciting times ahead. Another thing that I must mention here is that I had lost hope on my ageing and stubborn CD-ROM drive. But the workshop on cleaning the optical drive proved to be of great help to me and wound up saving me money. Your step-by-step treatment of how to clean the drive made the job very easy. You make difficult things seem very simple for people like me. Thank you very much and keep up the good job! Rahul Thosar INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP | FEBRUARY 2006

Umesh Dahiwalkar

© 2006 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved. Microsoft, Visual Studio, the Visual Studio logo, and “Your potential. Our passion.” are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and/or other countries.

New Visual Studio 2005. The difference is obvious. Spot the difference? Once you start coding, you’ll see it immediately. The new Visual Studio® 2005 has over 400 new features, such as Web and Windows® controls, that reduce tedious tasks and repetition. So you can focus on creating great code. Spot the 10 differences above and log on to microsoft.com/india/msdn/vs2005 McCann/MSFT/1269/05/PCQ

22

Breaking even on Downloads We have come a long way from the days of illegal downloads and P2P file sharing. The success of SoundBuzz proves it

Newswire

I

t’s quirky how the entire business of downloading free music better known as ‘piracy’ has helped spawn an entire industry based on legal transfers. Not so long ago Napster ruled the roost and free downloads were the order of the day but today we are witnesses to an amazing transformation as major record labels have changed from being hostile spectators to more than willing partners in releasing their content. And consumers have moved on from rampant proliferation of peer-to-peer file-sharing to paying for music downloads. And cashing on this idea—whose time has come—is none other than SoundBuzz, a digital music service provider with a focus on the Asia-Pacific markets. Headed by Sudhanshu Sarronwala, the network spans across Southeast Asia and boasts a digital library of over 300,000 songs. Backed by EMI and Warner Music, SoundBuzz has music stores in English, Chinese, Korean and Japanese and serves a long list of Asian markets, including Singapore, India, Brunei, Malaysia,

Thailand, Philippines, Cambodia, Laos, Indonesia, Vietnam, Hong Kong and Australia. The future of music is digital. Mandar Thakur, General Manager for SoundBuzz in India, relates how the organization (or rather the team of music enthusiasts) apart from just digital music downloads is also intricately involved in the publicity and distribution of international and local digital music content through online, wireless and OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturers) partners. Compiling and gathering digital music content from local and international music labels, SoundBuzz distributes this content through various distribution channels—Internet, wireless devices, mobile phones and PDAs. Better known as a ‘one-stop-shop’, SoundBuzz offers technology, creative, and most importantly, legal services such as IP laws, music copyrights, etc to progress the growth of digital music. As the boost in digital listening and storage for music continues, digital music (in all forms) is increasingly moving into the mainstream of an

| Dynamics of the Music Industry

Pramod Jadhav

The music industry is extraordinarily complex and obtaining the requisite licenses to distribute digital music is not a simple task, with a number of parties involved. The songwriter writes the lyrics/melody for a song. The publisher works with songwriters to promote a song. Since publishers represent ownership of a song and pitch the song to users, for example record labels or TV/movie producers, they also have the license rights to use a song and charge fees. Performer—anyone who licenses the song

in order to perform publicly. The performer doesn’t have control of the song (controlled by the songwriter or publisher) or the recording (controlled by the recording company). Recording company (record label)— Creates, markets and distributes the recordings. Record labels don’t provide licenses on a global or regional basis, and each licensing agreement must be negotiated on a country-by-country basis. Performing rights organization (PRO) licenses the public performance of musical works on behalf of the copyright owners. INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP | NOVEMBER 2005

NEWSWIRE

individual’s life. From playback ring tones to true tones and singles being released, music is being eagerly lapped up by users and players alike. And further boosting this revolution are companies offering powerful music-enabled PCs, portable music players and mobile phones. With SoundBuzz making headway in India, licensing music to services for as many consumers, on possibly every format and device in as many places and countries is fast catching on. The cardinal factor for the boom in India has been the rise of mobile users and the number of ways music can be sold, through ring tones, true tones, singles, albums, etc. Dig this: In India alone, about 300,000 ring tones are downloaded every day, with annual sales of approximately $500M derived each year from ring tone downloads. One fifth of the world’s mobile phone owners have downloaded content to their handsets, and this is expected to rise to 60 per cent in the coming months. While the entire mobile content business in Asia is currently worth $5 bn, mobile music is predicted to contribute almost $12 bn to music industry coffers by 2010. All mobile-related music content is forecast to be worth almost $36 bn. As for true tones (edited versions of artists’ performances), these are predicted to account for almost $7 bn by 2010 while ring tones currently comprise more than $4 bn. Apart from being the sole player with no competition from anyone so far, India looks promising but Thakur is also quite kicked about SoundBuzz expanding into the overseas market such as the US, Australia, and the Philippines. One of the huge features of SoundBuzz is the exposure that is offered to unsigned or commercially unknown artists. SoundBuzz can be used as a platform to promote and distribute music of unknown and independent artists. Moreover, with the advantage of having major label artists partnered with SoundBuzz, what better opportunity can there be than to introduce music lovers to music they would never otherwise find in a music store. With a licensing system firmly set in place, SoundBuzz now owns NOVEMBER 2005 | INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP

| India Scenario India has the fastest growing mobile population in Asia, doubling to 100M from 48M in 2004. (Projected to reach 200M by 2007/08). Mobile music downloads in the Indian market are currently valued at Rs 160180 crore. (Approximately Rs 50-60 crore in royalties were paid to the music industry in the past 18 months). Value added services—of which music forms the bulk—are estimated to contribute 15-20 percent to overall telecommunication company revenues. The biggest shift in the Indian marketplace is the growing number of GPRS mobile users, who can now purchase monotones and also richer content. (In 2006, telecommunications companies are expected to drop GPRS access charges to make it freely available to consumers to encourage mobile music purchases). About 400,000-500,000 ring tones are downloaded daily. (Mono and polyphonic ring tones currently sell at a 75/25 ratio, while the fastest growing ring tone genre is ring back tones with about 3.5 million users). the entire value chain: sourcing music, encoding (digitizing), meta-tagging (data on the music and artiste), encrypting (using the Windows DRM system), hosting, integrating with partners (like MSN and HP), and clearing and controlling the licensing (for promotions and commercial transactions). SoundBuzz’s contention does not really come from Apple’s popular iPod and iTunes but in helping mature an industry sabotaged by illegal and unlicensed web sites. Around 2 billion songs are traded illegally each month worldwide and this figure overshadows the legitimate industry, which trades only 60 million songs per month. Nevertheless, the rapid acceptance of paying for downloads is an encouraging and growing phenomenon. Come to think of it, till about a couple of years ago, it was 2 billion versus zero.

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Thakur believes that shutdown of illegal digital music web sites does not solve the purpose, there will always be new ones popping up and it would be near to impossible to stop or put an end to them. On the contrary, he is of the opinion that because of Napster, Kazaa and Morpheus, SoundBuzz has been able to make such a strong impact. “Piracy started our business,” he says strongly. Also, the success of iTunes is an indication of the flourishing strength of the entire industry. Thakur is hoping 2006 to be the landmark year for online music downloads. Creative Technology, one of SoundBuzz’s investors since 2000, recently increased its stake in the company from 20 per cent to 30 per cent, and an integral partner in integrating the online music store into the Creative Media Source application bundled with all Creative portable music devices. SoundBuzz also signed an agreement with iRiver under which iRiver devices will come packaged with software designed to download and transfer SoundBuzz tracks. The firm has also ventured into strategic alliances with consumer brands like Levi’s (in Singapore) and banks to promote the brand. Currently, half the turnover comes from the music and ring tone download business, while the other half comes from IT services. SoundBuzz offers turnkey solutions for its partners to start an online music or ring tone download store, e.g. Indiatimes. com. Its services in India with TATA Indicom, Hutch, VSNL, Bharti, Airtel, etc allow mobile customers to browse and purchase songs via their WAP-enabled phones while the purchases are billed to their phone bills. Consumers are reluctant to use credit cards for small ticket items and in Asia credit card usage over the Internet is rarer still. Many consumers may also be too young to even own credit cards. Instead, an agreement with IP servers sees charges tagged onto the monthly bill by the IP server in the same way mobile download fees are tagged on to monthly bills. This has been an essential step in SoundBuzz’s success, divided about 50 percent each between mobile and online. ■ | Carol D’ Costa

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NEWSWIRE

Consumer Electronics Show 2006

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ike every time, gadget lovers witnessed the glitz in the tech show eagerly awaited by one and all. Here’s a run down on some of the gadgets that were showcased at CES, held at Las Vegas.

Camcorder The Xacti HD1 from Sanyo is a camcorder with features like HD video, flash media recording, 10X zoom lens and an OLED display. It’s capable of recording 720p MPEG-4 video on an SD card; it also functions as a camera capable of taking 5-megapixel shots. The Xacti HD1 is priced at $800 and is expected to ship in by the end of March 2006.

of your home would be the ultimate entertainment with dream projectors. A set of three sleek DLP (Digital Light Processor) projectors—the IN72, IN74 and the IN76 were part of the InFocus stall. All three have the same curvaceous, black appearance but differ in resolution. The first one offers wide-screen DVD resolution of 480p, while the second one supports ‘Wide PAL’ for countries where it’s available. The IN76 tops the list delivering HD resolution of 720p. All three have HDMI (High Definition Multimedia Interface) and DVI (Digital Video Interface) connectivity along with standard component video connection. The IN72 is priced $1,299; the IN74 is for $1999 while the IN76 costs $2,999.

Handheld

experience without the disturbance caused by constant flickering, otherwise the case with most polarized gogs. A specialized software developed by this start-up company allows continuously updated images to be sent to each eye. Significantly, TDVision has a technology that enables streaming of 3D data to a standard video signal. So you can view 3D video on 2D video standard monitors as 2D images without any degradation in quality. TDVision claims that their technology can be used in fields like military planning and medical imagery as well. The goggles are likely to be released towards the end of 2006 and will cost $100.

Battery Recharger

New toys for the boys it is—the SkyScout from Celestron is a new-age handheld allowing you to view the sky and even identify the celestial objects. A cool GPS application built into the device makes this possible. Just point the handheld unit towards a star and the application displays the name of the star, the planet, and other astronomical features like history and mythology on the screen. The device has a host of other features to offer all of which can be found at www.celestron. com/skyscout. The site has a database of information, which can be downloaded on to an SD card. Celestron is planning to ship the product in March. Iit’s priced at $399.

Car Stereo Sony very conspicuously stayed away from displaying any new Playstation pleasures much to the disappointment of many. Instead, what it showcased was a unique anti-theft removable car stereo faceplate christened MEX 1GP. Like any other modern car stereo, the MEX 1GP plays MP3 and WMA from CD-R/RWs, however it has an additional feature—storage capacity for 1 GB MP3 files. The removable storage faceplate has an USB connector allowing you to connect it to your PC for transfer of your favorite music. Carry your favorite 500 MP3 files to your car. And enjoy the joyride!

3D Goggles Projectors An FPS or RPG experience couldn’t have been better. Same with cinema—enjoying a multiplex experience sitting in the comfort

Power Pack from Medis Technologies is a fuel cell-based battery recharger for mobile products such as cell phones, MP3 players as well as for gaming gadgets. Power Pak has a container of liquid fuel (sodium borohydrate, glycerol and alcohol) packaged with a disposable fuel cell. A separate adapter to recharge a device is bundled along. It’s lightweight and therefore can be easily carried along everywhere. Since it’s a little too bulky for the pocket, a belt pouch is provided lest you feel the need for quick fuel access. Battery life is good with 60 hours of listening for an iPod and 30 hours for a cell phone. Medis Technologies has priced the product at $19.99.

TDVision’s 3D goggles come with a difference. When you wear them, you enjoy a smooth viewing

TD Vision’s 3D Goggles

MEX1 GP Car Stereo Xacti HD Camcorder

Power Pack Battery Recharger SkyScout Handheld

IN76 DLP Projector INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP | FEBRUARY 2006

NEWSWIRE

Send ‘talking avatars’ with your message

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here possibly couldn’t be an end to things that you can experience with your mobile. The latest buzz in the cell phone market is about characters that can talk. Imagine the fun of sending a birthday or anniversary message with your own ‘talking’ image. Taking note of the importance of voice-based messages, 3Dmsg, the new division of Sensory, has planned to create and launch talking characters for your cell phones. 3Dmsg specializes in embedded speech technology; the characters, using the company’s homegrown animation and voice-recognition technologies, move their lips exactly like real persons do while pronouncing various words. The technology used is a combination of a hybrid neural Dinesh Desai network (representing the nervous network structure of the human brain) and the hidden Markov modeling speech technology (used to break spoken data into components that can be represented visually). The sound is analyzed and a visual representation form is created. These visual representations known as ‘visemes’ are arranged together to project a person is speaking. 3Dmsg’s technology not only creates visemes from live speech, it can also create them from text and from a combination of text and speech as well. 3Dmsg’s greeting card service lets you choose a fully developed avatar and assign a voice message apart from creating one of your own. The deliverable will be an avatar either singing an entire song or speaking out the message. You can send 3Dmsg’s video-like messages by a talking avatar either by SMS, MMS or IMs.

Remote Lie Detector

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he lie-detector tests currently in use are not enough. The US Department of Defense is planning to deploy a new method to find out if a person is lying or not, without his or her knowledge. The Remote Personnel Assistance (RPA), the device to detect if one is lying is not, will be used by the defense forces to detect enemy soldiers hiding in the combat zone. These RPAs will use laser or microwave beams reflected off a person’s skin to assess various psychological parameters wirelessly, without skin contacts. The remotely placed device will be able to read information from the beams reflected from a suspect’s body, whether he is idle or moving. As the parameters that will be used by the RPA are the same as those assessed by a polygraph lie detector, it’s likely that the RPA will also indicate the subject’s psychological state—for instance, the agitation or stress showing on their faces when they are lying. So it serves the purpose of being a “remote or concealed lie detector during prisoner interrogation”.

FEBRUARY 2006 | INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP

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NEWSWIRE

Time Out for Malaria

Dual-lens Cam

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erhaps one of the things you would never expect your wristwatch to do is tackle diseases. Surprisingly for you, the wristwatch is now capable of detecting the dangerous and sometimes fatal malaria. Gervan Lubbe, a South African inventor, has designed a wristwatch equipped to detect the malaria parasite hiding in blood. The watch pricks the wrist of the bearer four times in a day with a very small needle. With each and every prick, it counts the number of parasite cells present. When the count tops 50, it sounds an alarm and flashes a brightly colored mosquito on the face of the watch. The warning implies that the bearer is affected by the parasite and therefore needs to be on medication within the next 48 hours. Lubbe claims that the watch detects and destroys the parasite so quickly that the patient does not feel the early cold symptoms and the possibility of a fatal attack becomes nil. Since the detection happens at a very early stage, it prevents the victim from taking heavy dosage of quinine, which comes with additional side effects. Besides, the victim will not be bedridden for six months, the period normally taken by any malaria patient to get completely cured. Lubbe says he developed the watch after being approached by a major mining company, which found that several workers in Africa were affected with malaria. The watch has been designed in a way that when miners walk through a scanner, the watch’s radio frequency transmits the wearer’s information to a central PC. This way, mining companies can scan which of their workers have been already attacked by the disease, and the health departments can make sure that the people at risk are put on medication. The watch will hit the South African market this month and will cost $280. Lubbe stated that the cost of the watch is lesser in comparison to the cost of treatment for severe malaria. Lubbe’s company, Gervan’s Trading, has already received 1.5 million orders for the wristwatch from government organizations, private companies and aid organizations fighting against malaria.

ll you photography buffs can now forget about the hassle of replacing the lens of your camera every time you want to switch between zoom and wide angle. The 5-megapixel Kodak V570 solves this problem for you. A sleek, black body of the V570 holds two lenses placed vertically on a silver panel at the center. While one is a 5x optical zoom lens, the other is a 23-mm wide-angle lens. Kodak claims that the V570 is the world’s first dual-lens still camera. The panorama feature of the camera lets you create 180-degree images from just three shots. Tired of taking stills? Shift

to the video mode (packed with most digital cameras today) to capture videos at 30 frames per second with MPEG-4 compression. Viewing images is easy on the 2.5-inch LCD screen. The camera offers 32 MB memory with an SD card slot for expansion of memory when the need arises. The other features of the camera include an in-built flash, 22 scene modes, red-eye correction. Priced at $330, the Kodak V570 was recently showcased at CES held in Las Vegas and is already available in the global market.

Tackling Global Warming with Algae

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hile assessing the state of the earth’s eco system, and the impact it’s having on the lives of humans, it has been found that the growth of algae can help clean the environment. A research spearheaded by Dr Isaac Berzin, a rocket scientist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, revealed Dinesh Desai that algae can be harvested to reap biodiesel—algae filters the power plants’ exhaust stack off CO2. The cleansed exhaust bubbles skyward, but with 40 percent less CO2 and 86 percent less nitrous oxide. The vegetable oil extracted from the harvested algae is highly combustible and can be used as biodiesel for automobiles. Even the dried green flakes that remain from the extracts can be reprocessed to create ethanol used for transportation.

Berzin estimates that using his system a 1,000-megawatt power plant can yield more than 40 million gallons of biodiesel and 50 million gallons of ethanol per year. And producing the above would require to grow the algae. Organic reap does not come without financial reap, at least, that’s what has been illustrated by the success of GreenFuel, a venture capital funding and conducting a field trial at a 1000 MW power plant. GreenFuel has already garnered $11 million. Such extensive research on the growth of algae as an earthsaving mechanism as also an opportunity to reap huge business profits has resulted in several firms taking keen interest in it. Algae-farming will also reduce the dependence on foreign oil. INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP | FEBRUARY 2006

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NEWSWIRE

Google Packs in More this Year

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he latest to come from the Google camp this year is Google Pack, a software package comprising an interesting combination of programs like Adobe Reader, Ad-Aware, Google Desktop, Google Talk, Trillian and Mozilla Firefox. Looks like Google is following Microsoft’s strategy of integrating commonly used applications together. Apart from the ones mentioned above, a special program called Google Updater does the job of downloading, installing and maintaining all the software in the Google Pack. So if you have some particular software already installed, the Google Updater checks to see if it is the latest version. If it isn’t, the updater will automatically begin to install the latest version. The Google Pack beta is available in English and runs on Windows XP. Symantec, Adobe and RealNetworks have joined hands with Google to make this software available to users. And if that was not all, Google is offering another new video download service to its users. The video store allows users to search videos of programs played on CBS and basketball games presented by the National Basketball Association. All the die-hard Star Trek fans or sport freaks will simply love this service—Google provides low-cost rentals as well as outright purchase of the NBA and CBS programs. In its partnership with CBS, for instance, Google makes available the CBS’ lead series ‘Crime Scene Investigation’ for $1.99 per episode just after the day it’s aired. NBA games will be available for $3.75 per game. A long list of 300 CBS classics is included in the list including ‘I love Lucy’, ‘The Brady Bunch’ and ‘Star Trek’. Apart from CBS and NBA, Google has also tied up with Britain’s ITN for their archive of historical videos as well as with Sony BMG for some of their selected video titles. Times Warner is also expected to join the league to contribute their share of titles. With such a wide array of services already available right at the beginning of this year, and most of it free, Google surely will make users hungry for more.

‘Chipmen’ Make News

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ooking for the apartment key to open the door is a thing of past for many. Technology has made it possible for people to simply wave the hand for the door to open or log on to a computer. Also, there’s no need to worry if you forget the numerous passwords that you have. A computer chip implant in the body can do all the above chores making life so much easier for you. The tiny Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) chip implanted in the body interacts with the computer and other electronic devices, which read the information on the chip with the help of a reader installed in them. The chip is activated as soon as it comes closer (within a range of three inches) to the reader. The reader captures the information and behaves like the obedient housekeeper by either switching on a television, or drawing the curtains or opening the refrigerator or any other task

that it’s asked to perform. And if you’re wondering about how the implant process is like, it’s so simple and easy that it can even be performed by veterinarians and tattoo artists. Smaller than a grain of rice, the implant process doesn’t hurt as claimed by people who are promoting it in the West. Users currently with chip implants prefer the chip EM4102 because it interacts with a wide range of readers. However, users of EM4102 also warn about the security problems associated with this chip as any compatible reader can read from the chip within the specified range of three inches. Tracking a user from long distance is difficult because the chip can neither produce strong signals nor does it activate from a distance. However, to tighten the security, HiTagS chips can be used supporting multiple kinds of information or tags.

Jeanpod and More…

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nother iPod accessory is out in the market. And this time, it’s from the fashion house of jeans, Levi’s. Levi’s’ RedWire DLX’s iPod-compatible jeans, which will soon be available in the market, has a docking station in the pocket where you can plug the device. The docking station is wired to the coin pocket where the control panel is located. This helps in controlling the volume without the need to take the iPod out of the pocket. However, this jeans doesn’t come for cheap. But if you’re iPod-crazy, you probably wouldn’t mind shelling out another $200 for a pair of jeans capable of housing your favorite music player. And in case you don’t like the idea of tagging the iPod to your jeans, you can use Tunebuckle’s iPod Nanobelt. Just dock your

iPod at the buckle of the belt, it displays as well as protects your device while still making the controls available. This is available for $49.95. And what’s more, ski-apparel maker, Spyder has come up with a $2,000 leather jacket, which lets you tag your iPod to it and adjust the volume using the control pad built into the sleeve.

Tunebuckle’s iPod Nanobelt INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP | FEBRUARY 2006

Tune into Mobile TV

Vishwanath Vanjire

Mobile handset manufacturers and service providers are out to keep you glued to your phone

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fter all the jazz added to the ubiquitous cell phone starting from gaming to downloading Internet content to using them for taking pictures and videos, the latest buzz to do the rounds is broadcasting TV programs live on handsets. Taking steps to largely make the mobile an entertainment device, handset makers, cell phone service providers and broadcasters have come together to form one single team to make the service available on the device for users. And the ecosystem comprising a consortium of the above and the available technology, which till some time ago was not built, is now ready to roll out the service. Let’s find out more. The announcements made by several companies at the Consumer Electronics Show 2006, held at Las Vegas, triggered off the fever spreading fast to enable streaming TV content on the mobile. At CES, Crown Castle Mobile Media (wireless tower operator), which has just changed its identity to Modeo, announced its plans to launch mobile TV service in the top 30 markets in the United States between 2006 and 2007. The possibilities in turning

the mobile into an all-in-one device seem endless now as global giants like Nokia, Texas Instruments and Modeo have teamed up. In fact, their concerted efforts have culminated in the formation of Mobile DTV Alliance, working towards making mobile TV popular.

Competing Standards In several countries such as the UK, Italy, Australia, and Finland, mobile operators enable viewing of selected TV programs live via 3G (third generation) networks. But the quality in terms of audio and video is way too poor because the ‘broadcast’ signals, which are one-way in nature get lost in the clogged voice network. As a result what happens is that the broadcast time taken is long with quality dropping to reception of choppy audio and video. To do away with this problem, some broadcasting standards working on a single dedicated channel have been developed. Having taking note of the immense business prospects thrown up by the burgeoning mobile entertainment services, several tech companies are promoting these standards.

While DVB-H (Digital Video Broadcasting - Handheld) is gaining popularity in Europe, in South Korea trials are underway for an alternative standard called DMB (Digital Multimedia Broadcast). Apart from these, another standard is being developed— Qualcomm’s Media Flo—that is going to be embraced by companies worldwide. Crown Castle (using DVB-H) claims to have the required bandwidth for mobile video content generation. And while Italian operator 3 is working on providing services via the DVB-H standard, Verizon Wireless is planning to unveil its services in late 2006 or early 2007 on Qualcomm’s Media Flo network. One of the first operators to deliver mobile TV over a 3G cellular network, Sprint Nextel, recently announced its plans to launch a high-powered network for wireless media services like television and music by the year 2008. And since the cellular network will eventually choke because of the rising demand for live media devices, Sprint has plans to launch an alternate network by 2008. This network, which is basically a ‘fourth generation network’, INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP | FEBRUARY 2006

NEWSWIRE

Mobile Broadcasting Network

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on demand. Though the first of its kind, Reliance has warned that as the 3G network in India is not yet in place, the video quality received may not be good and users might experience breaks in service.

Next-gen mobile TV

An encoder receives the data from an uploading device (Feed) and sends the data to the distribution network, where the data is assigned an IP address. An IP manager reads the address to find out the destination and sends the data to an IP Address Reader. The Reader, with the help of the address, sends the data to the right handset through a transmitter.

will be launched over BRS (Broadcast Radio Spectrum). Although Sprint is trialing several technologies, as of now, it has no plans to upgrade mobile TV using the two most talked about networks about to be launched by Qualcomm and Modeo.

How it works The standards that are being developed make it possible for cell phone users to view TV on their mobiles in a way similar to digital broadcasting of programs on your TV. The single difference between the two is mobile broadcasting would combine satellite broadcasting and IP (Internet Protocol) based data transfer. As the signal flows through an entirely dedicated channel, it retains the audio/ video quality as that of your living room television. But when a number of handsets engage in streaming of data in one area, the multiple streaming might result in data collision in that area and eventually lead to loss of data. Therefore, in such a case, to avoid data loss, the FEC (Forward Error Correction) technology ensures that all sets of data are sent twice to every single handset. This is done keeping in mind that if a particular data-packet gets lost or damaged, there is a replacement of information

Available handsets As of now there are very few broadcastcapable handsets available in the global market. Nokia’s upcoming model, the N92, likely to be released some time during the FEBRUARY 2006 | INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP

middle of 2006, is one such handset. The phone’s DVB-H antenna and software will enable reception of signals and thereby allow the streaming. The handset is built in a way to allow a user to select, purchase and store TV programs. The N92 will have up to four hours of TV watch time attached with stereo speakers and memory card support of up to 2 GB. At the Consumer Electronic Show, rival companies, Samsung and LG also announced their plans to launch handsets supporting the DVB-H and Media Flo standards. Ericsson too is not lagging behind with plans to launch a handset capable of showing TV programs very soon.

Action in India In India, so far, mobile operators like Hutch have been offering the service of downloading TV content from news and entertainment channels from their site on WAP enabled phones. But now we have what we can call the first mobile TV channel. Coming close on the heels of the announcement made by Sprint Nextel, telecom major, Reliance Infocomm has introduced an English TV news channel on mobile phones through its wireless carrier Reliance IndiaMobile. The channel named Times Now is a joint venture of Times Group and Reuters. Reliance IndiaMobile’s R World will enable streaming of content live from the channel via 3G network. Users will be able to view TV on handsets like the Nokia 6255 or 6235. Users with other R world models can access the news clips

Handset manufacturers, service providers around the world are very excited with the way the market is developing, and are very optimistic about the future. Already, wireless carriers like Sprint and Cingular in partnership with MobiTV (global television and digital radio service provider), are offering the next version of their service, MobiTV2, on their cell phones. The new service will include an improved MobiTV user interface, with a programming guide that displays 2 hours of show information and better audio and video quality as compared to the older one. This service is available on over 60 different cell phone models and MobiTV is aiming to increase the subscriber base to more than 500,000. The company also announced its plans to make its service available to the Palm TX (it’s already available for the Palm Treo 650 smartphone); the PDA’s Wi-Fi wireless connection capability will enable this service. Palm TX users will be able to watch TV at 24 frames per second and view channels such as ABC News Now, MAXX Sports, Fashion TV, Fox News, C-SPAN, ESPN 3GTV, etc. All these are indicative of the fact that more and more people are hooking up to TV on the go. A UK-based technology consultancy, Strategy Analytics predicts that mobile firms in the UK alone will have about 50 million users of mobile TV by 2009, generating an estimated £3.5 bn (Rs 273 crores) as revenue. Broadcasters as well as TV producers around the world are positive about the increased availability of mobile TV services in the next one to two years. With several mobile marketing strategies being used by mobile operators in the UK, Italy, Australia and now India (with a huge mobile subscriber base), the scope for tremendous profits in this domain galore. Now that the action has already begun, millions of mobile subscribers hungry for entertainment cravings will get a lot on their plate. Watch this space... ■ | Pradosh Mitra

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What MONEY Can’t BUY

Coverstory

There is no dearth of open source applications today. Here is a bagful of open source software to whet your appetite and crave for more!

Pramod Jadhav

OPEN SOURCE FREEWARE

OFFICE OpenOffice.org 2.0.1

Complete Office Suite

jGnash 1.10.3

Personal Account Manager

INTERNET Firefox 1.5

Web Browser

Mozilla ThunderBird 1.0.7

E-mail Client

GAIM 1.5

Instant Messenger

PHP 5.1.1

Web Development Tool

SECURITY ClamWin Antivirus Anti-virus 0.87 Winpooch Watchdog Anti-spyware 0.5.9 Ethereal 0.10.14

Network Monitor

MULTIMEDIA MediaPortal 0.1.3

Media Center solution for PCs

VirtualDub 1.6.11

Video Editing Tool

Audacity 1.2.4

Audio Editing Tool

GRAPHICS The GIMP 2

Photo Editing

Blender3D 2.40

3D Modeling Tool

Inkscape 0.43.2

Vector Graphics Application

UTILITIES 7-Zip 4.32

File Compression Tool

TightVNC 1.2.9

Remote PC Control

A Note 4.2.1

Desktop ‘Sticky’ Notes Tool

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| COVERSTORY

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ll of us like to save money, right? Especially if it is on software since that is an area a user invests in constantly after buying a computer. A majority opts for a cheaper alternative —bootleg CDs bought off the road or cracked versions downloaded from the Internet. No, this is not going to turn into a righteous speech on how one should not promote piracy. Rather, in this space, we offer you substitutes for the paid software available today at no cost. In case you’re finding it hard to believe, take a look at the list on this page—all the software mentioned here are open source and free. (There is a lot of confusion associated with the terms “open source” and “freeware”. Open Source software can be distributed at a price or for free.) Alternative solutions have been provided across various categories—office, Internet, security, multimedia, graphics and basic utilities. Each category offers applications that try to answer your needs, be it Internet browsing or 3D modeling. The software listed here are covered by the GNU General Public License (GPL). Due to space restrictions, the source code has not been provided on the CD. Instead, links have been included along the way for you to download if you want. Apart from the software being free, they all provide some sort of support in terms of bug reporting and updates. You will also find a lot of documentation, tutorials—either with the software or on the developer’s web page. Now go ahead and try these alternatives. We guarantee that you will not be disappointed.

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COVERSTORY

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OPEN SOURCE FREEWARE

Office ne of the first applications a first time user gets acquainted with on his or her computer is the office suite that is installed on it by default. But cost buying an office suite software will s buck sand thou a nd arou ng you somethi ng willi not is yone Ever e. and even mor that to invest more money on software In . yday ever might not even be used ure-rich such a scenario, the new and feat ething som OpenOf fice.org office suite is

O

ets, professional documents, workshe draw , ulas form presentations, calculate that ats diagrams and save them in form ce are either supported by other offi at. suites or in the OpenDocument form format, OpenDocument is an XML-based that on icati appl any that which means file. the open to able be supports OD will be to d gure confi be Documents can also , (.doc ats form saved in Microsof t Office open can s user .xls., .ppt) so that non-OOo

that you could check out. unts Another useful application is acco used management software that can be ure. ndit expe me/ inco your on to keep a tab

OFFICE SUITE Name: OpenOf fice Operating Systems: Windows 98\ ME\2000 (SP 2 or higher)\XP\2003

Website: www.openoffice.org The new and improved OpenOf fice. suite org 2.0.1 (OOo) is a popular office . free for lable avai not just because it is te crea can It is popular because you

Internet

E

quip yourself with the latest set of applications that will let you surf the Net and download your e-mail safe ly and for free. If you’re an aspiring web site developer, there is another plea sant surprise in store for you.

WEB BROWSER Name: Firefox 1.5 Operating Systems: Windows 98/M E/NT 4.0/2000/ XP/Server 2003

Website: www.mozilla.com Mozilla Foundation’s Firefox really does not need an introduction. (Mo zilla Foundation is a non-profit organiza tion that has created this web browser as part of an open source project.) Firef ox is just a 5 MB download and lets you

PERSONAL FINANCE MANAGEMENT Name: jGnash Operating Systems: Supports any platform using Java 1.4 Run Time Environment

Website: http://sourceforge.net/ projects/jgnash/

tool jGnash is a simple accounts manager ing keep ble trou have who e meant for thos iple bank track of different incomes and mult them too. a range les hand tool accounts. This one-stop The suite consists of Writer, Calc, and se) cour of er, Calc of currencies (including INR, Impress, Draw, Base and Math. Writ , (QIF) at form also supports the Quicken file osof t’s and Impress are equivalent to Micr orts which is feature intensive and supp Word, Excel and PowerPoint. rt different formatting styles and repo s, Base is a tool for creating database create you help can sh jGna ns. optio creating ss, which also supports Microsof t Acce tion, income/expense accounts, reconcilia tool ADO and MySQL. OOo’s Draw is a ing view ts, char pie monthly reports, rams used to create simple visuals or diag les in printable statements, etc. It saves fi for your OpenOf fice documents or ted crea les fi orts XML format and also supp ons presentations. Its formatting opti ng unti in GNUCash—a powerful acco rt allow you to create objects, add clipa s. software created for Linux/Unix user your and manipulate them according to efore jGnash is written with Java and ther preferences. Java it will run on any platform that has like OOo Math is another ‘component’ ter than grea ions (vers it on lled runtime insta l tool. Draw and is basically a mathematica form -plat cross this of e 1.4). The downsid to It can be used to compute answers ance compatibility is a noticeable perform a to d formulae/equations or can be adde s. hine mac sed hit on older Windows-ba text document.

work with a clear taskbar because of its tabbed interface. There are othe r browsers available that also supp ort this feature but Firefox’s intuitive inte rface with an unending list of ‘extensio ns’ on the website, has managed to mak e its way onto many a Windows desk top. The new version now allows you to rear range tabs opened in a window, somethi ng that was found wanting in the earli er versions (even Max thon and Opera had that feature). Firefox uses its own caching techniques to increase the speed with which it can browse “For ward” and “Back” web pages. It comes with a very effi cient pop up blocker and additional opti ons to maintain privacy just like other com peting web browsers. Scalable Vector Grap hics support has finally been added into the latest version. Initially an Adobe plug -in was required to view SVG images but now support for this format has been built into the browser. Extensions like

saving all the tabs in a Firefox as a session, automatically copying selected text , linking the browser to your downloa d manager and many more are avai lable for download. The Mozilla Extensions makes browsing the Net fun and simple. What more can you ask for?

E-MAIL CLIENT Name: Thunderbird Operating Systems: Windows 98/M E/

NT 4.0/2000/ XP

Website: www.mozilla.com Thunderbird, another Mozilla offe ring, is an e-mail client that supports IMA P, POP mail protocols, HTML formattin g and at the same time provides security to the user. Security is ensured with the help of its anti-phishing facility and a built -in spam filter. Thunderbird also supp orts RSS feeds so that you can get your daily dose of news and mail under the same

INTERNET MESSENGER Name: Gaim Operating Systems: Windows 98/M NT/2000/ XP

WEB DEVELOPMENT e/

Website: http://gaim.sourceforge.n

Import your mail from Eudora, Outlook or Outlook Express into Thunderbird. roof. It also allows you to import XML files that contain RSS feed informa tion. You can create multiple profiles (like Outlook Express) within Thunderb ird and color code mails to make tracking easier. Thunderbird spell check tries to ensu re that the mails you compose are free of typos. Though this is a very handy feature, it has its limitations. In addition to all of these, users can also download Extensions for Thun derbird — just like Firefox. There are exte nsions to configure your download manager to the links in e-mails, add a Contact s pane in the Thunderbird window, set mou se gestures or switch between Prox y Servers to download your mail. This e-mail client makes for an excellent solution to desk top users. If you are looking for a chan ge, Thunderbird is the way to go.

Security pyware, malware, Trojans, worms, ’s virus—you name it and the Internet id afra got it. There is reason enough to be bring of these programs because they can you your system to its knees. Here is how d ante unw e thes from self can shield your pests.

S

ANTI-VIRUS Name: ClamWin Operating Systems: Windows 98/ ME/2000/XP/2003

Website: www.clamwin.com ClamWin is a GUI-based anti-virus application. It is not a real-time virus if it scanner; it will scan for a virus only d soun not is explicitly made to. This may allow like a very good feature but it does virus for free virus definition updates. The and definition database is maintained

NT/2000/ XP/2003

et

Gaim is an open source instant messenger (IM) client that supports multiple protocols used by popular IMs like Yaho o, AIM, ICQ, MSN, IRC, Jabber, etc. Gaim requires the GTK+ Runtime Environm ent to be installed prior to its own installatio n. Your GTK+ runtime will need to be upda ted if you have installed an older version. Gaim is very simple to configure and since it supp orts so many messengers, you don’t need to install them individually. It can also be confi gured to work in a HTTP/SOCKS4/SOCKS5 Proxy environment. It has a range of notifi cation features—for example, if you’ve crea ted an MSN account in Gaim, it will noti fy you whenever an MSN contact closes his/h er window. The messenger also supports a range of ‘emoticons’ that can be insta lled. If you’re a formatting freak then you can switch spell check on while messagin g. Additional plug-ins available on the web site allow you to encrypt messages and change Gaim themes too.

team. regularly updated by the ClamAV osof t ClamWin can be integrated with Micr ook Outl (not lled, Outlook, if it is insta . Express) to scan for virus in real time ation, limit ning Inspite of its real-time scan the to d it’s a simple tool, which is adde be used right click context menu and can ers and to verif y the integrity of files, fold is its compressed data. A very useful tool or CD a from s -viru anti the ability to run it have not does that USB on a system able! installed—making it free and port how to on tion (You can get more informa do this from its F.A.Q. page.)

Name: PHP Operating Systems: Windows 98/M

e/

Website: www.php.net For those who are conversant with C, Java or Perl will not feel out of plac e working with PHP—a scripting lang uage. This is simply because much of its syntax is similar to the languages mention ed earlier. It is an object-oriented lang uage and web developers use it to writ e ‘dynamic’ pages. You can also crea te Windows-based applications (whi ch also requires the PHP-GTK extensio n). PHP is also used to create server-b ased applications and interact with data base systems (like MySQL, Oracle). To use this version of the PHP, you need a web server (which could be Apache or Window s’ very own IIS) and a web browser. A very well known product of this language is the phpBB, available for free for anyone who wants to star t a forum of his or her own. Since the version provided here is not a simple installer, users will need to read the install notes first.

Winpooch alerts you whenever a program tries to access the registry s an by monitoring the registry and issue hing anyt e writ to tries ram alert if any prog and n whe know to to it. This allows you try whilst what is being writ ten to the regis s you allow rol installing software. This cont the ssing to forbid the program from acce with Internet. The alert is quite graphic— ANTI-SPYWARE Poochy Poochy, the watchdog popping up. Name: Winpooch Watchdog ges /XP can also inform you of all the chan Operating Systems: Windows 2000 sneaky a have you if try— made to the regis Website: http://winpooch.sf.net/ ram prog en hidd a is e suspicion that ther t to wan you and running on your system Winpooch Watchdog is an antiies entr any s know whether it has made spyware tool that prevents maliciou es it lled insta g in the registry. Winpooch also mak programs and Trojans from bein r this simpler to navigate the Registry Edito on your computer. It basically does

if you need to access a particular key. ng This is similar to other star tup editi emely programs available today. It is extr sing helpful for those who do not like brow in e ctur stru r folde ess through the endl are the Windows Registry. This nifty spyw be can it and sniffer works in real time g it as made to work with ClamWin—makin tool! s -viru good as any other real-time anti

NETWORK MONITOR Name: Ethereal Operating Systems: Windows 98/ ME/2000/XP

Website: www.ethereal.com If you are into networking and is interested in knowing what exac tly

Multimedia ia center ter into a med urn your compu new ing in a whole without invest e videos m ho em; edit your st sy g in at er op forever with LP records last or make your ions. these applicat

T

R MULTIMEDIA CENTE

Portal Name: Media s XP ems: Window st Sy g Operatin am .te ://w w w Website: http om/ .c al mediaport

traversing through all the cables in your LAN, Ethereal is the software to star t with. It can be installed on for Unix systems too and is intended network professionals. The tool is extensive since it s supports different network topologie less, (Ethernet, Bluetooth, Infrared, Wire of 750 ately roxim (app etc), protocols them), virtual LANs and the regular real dial-up connection (PPP) too. Ethe ware also supports different hard manufac tured by reputed network to technology companies. It can be used rface monitor traffic on your network inte ork you (or dial-up connection) or the netw ous iscu Prom as wn (kno to are connected ss acro ted smit tran g mode). Packets bein

the network can be viewed in Ethereal in real time and differentiated with the help of color-coding. If you are not interested in all the filter’ information being listed, a ‘capture ocol prot r icula can be set to assess a part ple). exam only (just UDP packets, for These sort of settings can then be represented as a graph too. These are just some of the options— ured you can also customize the way capt d save and dled han information is ets can automatically. Captured data pack to as so ed tiniz be monitored and scru ice avoid virus or denial of serv attacks.

encode deo file or even or append a vi ip Cl the help of RAM and formats with have enough it to different want to. If you e to adjust us en n ev can be added sk space you ca is tool. Filters th n, etc. ample hard di en tio ev u can , color, satura ing” option. Yo e aspect ratio th d from the “time shift de a ad k with can also be ia Portal to wor ditional filters Ad that nd s fi configure Med w e Windo is if you ever l. It suppor ts th eb site—that w e th t ge no remote contro t are l a Hauppau ided by defaul remote as wel the ones prov Media Center e audio th so al rip n st ca . You can even on the remote gh y ke ou g en ch Ea e. on Batch processin fferent to perform a di file, if required. e ed th m m om ra fr d og be pr be utilize suppor ts FM tion that can TV tuner card is another func ac tion. If your to need to u at yo th w lo ultiple files rtal will also al if there are m radio, Media Po gs—this . in re tt he from e same se eset channels edited with th be an control the pr handle sc n a ca , it runs achine that g Media Portal ill require a m w Af ter installin ding on u en yo s so that rtably. Dep the media file e tasks comfo es th the to catalog all fi usic, movie you can de ne rough your m ocessor used, pr e th ub e. lD can browse th ua ck interfac d set what Virt within this sli instructions an collection from l or 3D Now! on te e In r ov fo pr e—SSE/SSE2 is, you can im us th ld to n ou sh tio di In ad plug-ins downloading for AMD CPUs. the features by site. from the web

puter turn your com If you want to t to an but do not w into a media PC ay w then Center Edition go the Media It provides an is wor th a tr y. Media Portal nter PC. r to a Media Ce interface simila es, listen to movies, pictur You can watch ings. The dule TV record music and sche you can even changed and theme can be skin if you n Media Portal ow ur yo te ea cr

AUDIO EDITOR

VIDEO EDITOR

lDub Name: Virtua s 98/ ems: Window st Sy Operating ME/2000/XP

w.v Website: w w

irtualdub.org

er ful n is a very pow This applicatio Th ol. e cum capture to video editing t give the terface does no VirtualDub in application a very friendly impression of atures and th lies in its fe but its streng well. It can of doing a job its capabilit y a capture ure video from pt ca to ed us be frame. ia o files frame by ic through Med rd or edit vide us ca m ay pl s, ie Watch mov ative Center’s altern Portal - Media

ty Name: Audaci s 98/ ems: Window Operating Syst ME/2000/XP

rceforge.net/ ://audacity.sou Website: http

can be audio editor. It Audacity is an d encode it audio, edit it an e used to record is just a simpl formats. This into different e . If you ar what it can do explanation of ith it a w aying around interested in pl d and add ea you can go ah en th e or m lit tle dub tracks existing ones, more tracks to ther. O ther tempo altoge or change the

INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP | FEBRUARY 2006

aser, which ho, reverse, ph ef fects like ec plications, are dio mixing ap are found in au u can record in Audacity. Yo e bl la ai av so al ayers too for and casset te pl LP om fr o di au nt solution is is an excelle digitization. Th lose their don’t want to for those who us. classics to fung ed to ‘splice’ itor can be us ed o di The au formats er t them into files and conv It also rning to CDs. suitable for bu /3 audio, G2 ats like MPE suppor ts form

is is a very Ogg Vorbis. Th WAV, AIFF and used to record , which can be intensive tool ce ambient g bit rates, redu audio at varyin ain audio ic file or just pl noise in a mus m). the spec trogra analysis (with available ito r audio ed rs There are othe y price. come at a heft out there that (with its nd rs a lot of grou Audacity cove ra sc tch on does not put a features) and your wallet. e and edit Record, analys with Audacity

audio tracks

Graphics

E

veryone hasat least some pictures with that annoying red eye or ones that need the brightness to be redu ced. The GIMP is what you need if you don’t want to use shareware tools or spen d money on an image-editing tool. Exte nd your creativit y to drawing and 3D modeling with Inkscape and Blen der3D.

PHOTO EDITOR Name: The GIMP Operating Systems: Windows NT/2 000/XP Website: www.gimp.org GIMP is the acronym for GNU Imag e Manipulation Program. This imag e editing software had been reviewed in a workshop last year. GIMP can be used as an alternative to Adobe’s Photosho p for photo touch ups (like removin g red eye) and creating visuals for greeting cards, letters, etc. Just like in Adobe, you can adjust color levels, create laye rs, support multiple image formats (like TGA , JPEG, BMP, TIFF, PNG, etc) and a rang e of effects to liven up a picture. Tool s are provided that can make photographs look better, older or grainier. Like Adobe, it supports batch file processing—a whole set of images can be made to go thro ugh the same routine of resizing and colo r correction automatically. It is also a great alternative to MS Paint—take scre enshots, edit them and save them in the form at you like. As you get acquainted with GIMP, you learn how to use the tools to create simple animations with the help of layers,

The GIMP is a popular image editing tool - an alternative to Adobe Photosho p frames and the render tool. The GTK + runtime environment is required prior to its installation (it has been included on the CHIP Tools CD).

3D MODELING Name: Blender3D Operating Systems: Windows 98/ ME/2000/XP

Website: www.blender3d.org Blender is a multi-platform 3D modeling software for Windows who se minimum system requirements are quite modest—128 MB RAM, a graphics card with 8 MB RAM. However, once you get addicted to this application, you will be rendering even more complex obje cts, which might put a strain on your system. This modeling software has a pow erful interface filled with multiple wind ows and highly configurable layouts. It lets you create 3D objects of different types (polygon meshes, metaballs, vect or fonts) and varying textures. Create char acters, automobiles, etc with mesh modeling . There are tools like ‘skin weightin g’ to provide realism to object surfaces . Along with that comes provision for anim ation with its capabilit y to use a bit of phys ics to

illustrate colliding objects. It even has the ability to playback audio in animatio n and facilitates editing. Another advanced use of this software is in real time rend ering of 3D objects, maps, etc. In addition to saving images in all the popular imag e formats, you can also save your wor k as an MOV or AVI file. Blender3D also boas ts of a very active forum where you will get all the help you need.

SCALABLE VECTOR GRAPHICS EDITOR

Name: Inkscape Operating Systems: Windows XP/2 000 Website: www.inkscape.org

Inkscape is a very popular vector graphics tool. Vector graphics are basically used in illustrations, creating font s and calligraphy, the advantage being that the quality of vector art is maintain ed irrespective of its resolution. Thes e images are saved in SVG format. It has a very neat calligraphy tool, which can be configured in many ways (nib thick ness, drag, mass, width, etc) to create diffe rent styles and fonts. Combine it with the free styling pencil tool and you can make some truly striking illustrations. Con nect a ‘tablet’ to it and it will make for an even better drawing experience. Inkscape is an adequate substitute to the Illustrato r or CorelDraw. You can create tracings from pictures of solid objects with the help of the built-in ‘trace’ tool. Play around with layers, gradients, and effects to mak e eye-catching visuals. There is also a very nice collection of tutorials for those who need a help ing hand in this field.

PF5

.. .. .

Intel 945P + ICH7R

FSB 1066 MHz Dual DDR2 667 / 4G Gigabit + 10/100 LAN 8 channel 2 PCI-Ex16, 1 PCI-Ex1, 3 PCI

945G-M3 Intel 945G + ICH7

865-M7 Intel 865GV + ICH5

PF22

.. .. .

Intel 955X + ICH7R

FSB 1066 MHz Dual DDR2 667 / 8G Dual Gigabit LAN 8 channel 2 PCI-Ex16, 1 PCI-Ex1, 3 PCI

Crossfire ready

ECS authorized distributors:

Ingram Micro India Pvt. Limited Cyberstar Infocom Limited (022) 5596 0101 in.ingrammicro.com

(080) 3096 1192 www.cyberstarindia.com

Simply Smart

42

COVERSTORY

|

OPEN SOURCE FREEWARE

Utilities hile being light, some of the t utilities that we have talked abou them lling here are very func tional. Insta of the is a breeze and the nifty features . So utilities make them indispensable r if you want to control your compute in are you if or y, otel rem her from anot s ook’ Outl MS to lar simi ty search of a utili e. plac Notes—this is the

W

COMPRESSION UTILITY Name: 7-Zip E/ Operating Systems: Windows 98/M NT/2000/ XP

Website: www.7-zip.org it Available for 32-bit as well as 64-b 7-Zip , ems Windows operating syst It is an efficient compression utility. les fi ive recognizes and is able to arch , in various formats like RAR, CAB, CHM sing RPM, etc. However, while compres (its 7z in it do only will it er a file or fold or 2 BZIP , GZIP ZIP, at), proprietary form d man com orts supp TAR format. It also for -in plug A x. line control within Linu rface the FAR Manager (a text mode inte orm perf used to view files, folders and ided. basic editing func tions) is also prov can Its proprietary compression format 30 over is that size a to n dow pack a file with ived arch le fi a than ller percent sma ort the Zip format. This format can supp r hype orts supp it large file sizes and since it ing, read ti-th threading as well as mul

Compress files using 7-Zip using its proprietary compression format

r. will be able to complete its tasks faste you s allow it 7-Zip’s interface is simple and f itsel to create archives easily by adding like to the right click context menu (just selfopen even or Zip) Win WinRAR or sure extractable files. A tiny utility, 7-Zip g udin (incl ures feat ul packs in some usef n). 256-bit AES encr yptio

REMOTE CONTROL Name: TightVNC E/ Operating Systems: Windows 98/M NT/2000/ XP

Website: www.tightvnc.com puters If you need to manage many com ’s eone som itor at a time or need to mon t wha is C machine on a network, TightVN the you should use. Install it on both and machines, set an access password hine mac the rol cont to able you will be be set can s tion func al ition remotely. Add ple, exam For ss. acce of to varying levels then ive mot if monitoring is the only rol the you can disable the power to cont also can remote desk top. Bandwidth of the be used judiciously with the help in different connection modes offered ). It even TightVNC (fast, best compression out with top desk ote rem displays the h widt band er noth the wallpaper—a the lling insta of ad saving feature. Inste s, hine mac the complete software on all the on ” ener you can install only the “List ired to controlling machine which is requ connect to another machine. The TightVNC connection will also

or Edit TightVNC’s options to monitor tely remo r pute control your com

Paste your chores on to your desktop with A Note’s stickies ts from register the local keyboard as inpu which e, the remote keyboard while activ k from means your shor tcuts will still wor le lag far. All this is done without any visib a in response—unless you try this over n. ectio really poor conn

DESKTOP STICKY NOTES Name: A Note E/ Operating Systems: Windows 98/M NT/2000/ XP

et/ Website: http://a-note.sourceforge.n

This utility is a bit old but its use is paper priceless. If you are sick of sticking doing of you g on your monitor remindin just then do, all the things you need to ll sma ly install A Note. It is an extreme the in application and needs to be present isn’t e system tray for the times when ther na dow jot to need you and t a pen in sigh s note y stick The ess. addr or phone number the on t wan you ever can be arranged how text you desk top. You can even format the levels ency spar enter or play with the tran you s allow of the note. An alarm feature ful help y to set a reminder too. That is reall on s when there is a whole bunch of note you. act distr to the desk top A Note has provided a way you can s that reduce this clut ter—dockable note If you top! desk the adhere to the sides of you , eone need to e-mail a note to som ork can do that too. If you are on a netw ize hron and part of a team then the Sync to up feature is going to keep all of you ■ nts. nme assig date on all Ashutosh Desai

INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP | FEBRUARY 2006

44

Vishwanath Vanjire

Hardware

T

his month we reviewed products from some of the newer brands which are trying to establish themselves in the local market. One common thread with all the new brands is the aggressive pricing and consistent quality. The Biostar TForce 6100-939 is a fine example of a well-balanced motherboard offering impressive performance at honest price. The board is perfect for the Indian market which thrives on an all-in-one solution with onboard graphics and sound. The PC case segment dominated by a select high-end brand gets a shot in the arm with the Antibiotic from

Top Gear Zerbronics offering some unique features which will excite the enthusiasts. The biggest surprise of the month comes in the form an affordable tablet PC from Sahara. The T2300 is probably the cheapest tablet PC money can buy without compromising on core performance. The Corsair 4GB memory stick and the Asus A8N32-SLI Deluxe belong to the other end of the spectrum offering pure features and quality at a premium. Gadget freaks will enjoy the Motorola L6 which is an affordable version of the Razor V3, while the Kodak V550 will lure you with its 2.5inch LCD screen and slick styling.

| The Ratings Explained The products in the individual and comparison tests share exactly the same test procedures. Each product in Top Gear is rated on a scale of 5 for different key parameters: Performance, Build Quality, Features, Ergonomics and Warranty. These vary according to the characteristics of the hardware. For instance, ergonomics (ease of use) is not important in a graphics card and therefore, it will not be evaluated for this. A product’s Overall Rating is calculated by assigning weightages to each evaluation

parameter—the more important a parameter, the higher is the weightage allotted to it. In addition, there is a Value for Money rating, which is calculated from the performance and the features of the product, in relation to the price. High performance and lots of features at a low price translates into a better Value for Money rating. This rating is calculated using current prices. Note: The prices mentioned here do not include taxes. Hence, they will vary according to the taxes applicable in the city or state where you buy the product from. INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP | FEBRUARY 2006

TESTED

| HARDWARE

45

Input Device

Sahara Tablet PC Specifications: Dimensions: 296x245x37 mm, Weight: 2.4 kg, Microsoft Windows XP Tablet PC Edition 2005, 12.1-inch display, Intel Pentium M 735 (1.7 GHz), 512 MB RAM, 80 GB HDD, DVD Writer

Price Contact Phone E-mail website

Rs 66,999 Sahara Computers and Electronics Ltd

012-5397777 [email protected] www.saharacomputers.co.in

RATINGS Build Quality Ergonomics Performance Features Warranty Overall Rating Value for money

Scribble in style!

I

nclude the versatility of a scribble pad to a laptop and what you get is a Tablet PC. The SlateVision T2300 is Sahara’s Tablet PC for all those who hate carrying notepads, binders to take down notes along with a 2.5 kg laptop slung over the shoulder. Like all Tablet PCs, the SlateVision’s screen can be swivelled around and placed flush on to the keypad allowing you to hold the device like a slate. The 12.1-inch LCD display is touch sensitive to the stylus pen and Microsoft’s Windows XP Tablet PC Edition (operating system) provides the GUI functionality. The SlateVision package consists of the Tablet PC Edition Recovery CDs, driver CDs and a USB optical mouse. An additional stylus pen, however, is not included with the tablet. Four USB ports are placed in a line, along with the VGA port on the rear panel. The TV-Out, LAN, power, modem and a single PCMCIA slot are placed on the side panel. Volume control, audio connections are placed alongside the DVD writer tray. When used extensively, the six-cell, 4400mAh battery keeps the tablet going for almost 4 hours. The SlateVision came prepped with 512 MB of RAM—a comfortable amount for a basic user and expandable up to 1 GB. The Dothan processor, wireless capability FEBRUARY 2006 | INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP

and the integrated graphics on the tablet are good enough for a person who is constantly on the move and needs to stay connected all the time. The display has buttons to change the orientation from normal to widescreen as and when required. An additional scroll button, with a slightly tacky feel to it is also provided to aid reading long documents. While using the device as a tablet you can make use of Microsoft’s Journal to scribble on and make notes. Cursive writing and sketching in Journal with the pen is responsive (and fun) as you can change the color, ‘ink’ thickness and the nib style used. The handwriting recognition is also accurate—it tries to preempt your scribble based on the pen strokes. For example, it will be activated

The Sahara in its ‘Tablet’ mode along with the stylus. The pen is removed from the LCD frame itself

when you try to launch programs from the Run dialog box with the stylus. You have to make sure the pen’s nib does not get dirty as in that case it begins squeaking on the screen. When we tested it, there were times when the pointer on the screen would just freeze at the bottom while the stylus was in a completely different position trying to select a file. This was the only problem faced whilst using the device in the tablet mode. Stylus sensitivity, accuracy and behavior can be fine tuned from the Control Panel. The Journal coupled with Microsoft’s Sticky Notes, display orientation and the stylus are an excellent solution for those looking to switch over to a paperless desktop. Although tablets are ideally meant for use as scribble pads, they are still not made as light as the latter (this one weighs over 2 kgs). For: Good build quality, it has a strong LCD frame. The response of the pen on the touchscreen is very good while writing or sketching. A small optical mouse is provided with the Tablet PC. Against: A memory card reader is not provided. All the USB ports are placed on the rear panel—at least two should have been placed on the side for easier access. Lack of infrared or bluetooth connectivity.

46

HARDWARE

| TESTED

External TV Tuner

PixelView PlayTV Box 3 Desktop Specifications: External TV tuner, PAL B/G, adjustable resolution, wide-screen support, picture-in-picture mode, favourites, S-Video in, composite video I/O

Price Contact Phone E-mail

Rs 5,000 Rashi Peripherals Pvt Ltd

022-28221013 [email protected]

RATINGS Build Quality Ergonomics Performance Features Warranty Overall Rating Value for money

Get the TV to your PC now

C

onnecting your monitor to a tuner gives you the convenience of watching TV on your PC, when you don’t want to move away from it. Tuners come in various form factors such as internal TV tuner cards or external USB devices, using which you can capture your favorite TV shows or FM broadcasts. But if you only wish to add the functionality of a TV to your existing CRT or TFT monitor without caring much for capturing video, an external TV tuner box works out to be the best out of the lot. The PixelView PlayTV Box3 is one such device packed with loads of features and high performance unmatched by most of the variants we have tested so far. Features: At first glance, the Play TV Box3 looks like a silver network hub. But looking at the rear panel you can easily figure out it’s a TV tuner. It sports RF input to connect your TV cable, 3.5 mm jacks for audio input/output and 2 D-Sub ports. One D-Sub port connects to the monitor and the other connects to the display card via the bundled VGA extension cable. The reason for having 2 D-Sub ports is to enable switching between PC and TV. An interesting feature is the presence of a multi-cable in the package having composite video, RCA audio and S-VHS outputs. It connects to a proprietary port

on the rear panel. So if you have a TV with a worn out tuner, this one can add life to it. Most TVs have audio/video inputs for connecting video players and gaming consoles. The Play TV Box3 doesn’t lack this feature. Apart from composite video and RCA audio inputs, there’s also a provision for S-Video input for better video quality especially while watching a DVD or gaming on a console. The front panel has an IR receiver and buttons to surf channels, adjust volume levels and switch modes. The bundled IR remote with rubber buttons has all the functions necessary to configure and control the TV. Controls and menu navigation are so easy that even newbies will find using it a cakewalk. Performance: In terms of picture quality and color reproduction, the PlayTV Box3

The rear and side panels of PlayTV Box3 sports various video I/O

is an ace performer and beats all its counterparts by a significant margin. The color and picture quality can be fine tuned using adjustments for brightness, contrast, sharpness, hue and saturation. This of course is common to all external TV tuners, but this tuner has support to adjust gamma and tweak individual RGB channels. The picture-in-picture mode lets you watch TV while working on the PC. Big screen lovers rejoice! The PlayTV Box3 supports resolution upto 1280x1024 at a refresh rate of 75 Hz, including a 16:9 display mode with a resolution of 1280x768. It takes less than a minute to autoscan and save the available channels. For channels which aren’t clear, they can be fine tuned manually. With an excellent user interface, it’s easy assigning numbers to channels and adding up to 10 of your favorite channels to ‘Favorites’. If you want to make a one-time investment in the best external TV tuner device without the need to capture video, the PixelView PlayTV Box3 is the ultimate choice hands down! For: Excellent picture and color reproduction; stereo audio I/O; S-video in; composite video I/O; picture-in-picture mode; 16:9 display mode. Against: No built-in speakers; heats up. INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP | FEBRUARY 2006

48

HARDWARE

| TESTED

Input Device

Microsoft Wireless Laser Desktop6000 Specifications: RF Wireless keyboard, zoom slider, RF wireless 1000 dpi laser mouse, USB/PS2 interface, range - 6 feet, requires 2 AA sized batteries each.

Price Contact Phone E-mail

Rs 7,166 Microsoft Entertainment & Devices Division 1600111100 [email protected]

RATINGS Build Quality Ergonomics Performance Features Warranty Overall Rating Value for money

High-precision combo

A

ll of us ask for a clutter free desktop oozing style and class. With wireless desktops available now, that’s no longer a dream. The Wireless Laser Desktop 6000 from Microsoft is a wireless keyboard-mouse combo, adding style and functionality to your desktop while keeping it absolutely neat. The Microsoft Wireless Laser Desktop 6000 comes in an attractive and stylish black box. The silver keyboard has translucent white keys, and though seemingly it gives the impression of being backlit, that’s not the case. The keyboard supports a cushioned hand rest, permanently fixed to its lower end. If you intend to keep this keyboard in a conventional keyboard drawer, you may be short of space. But stacking it up just about anywhere within six feet of the receiver is a breeze. The keys are laid out on a six-degree horizontal curve allowing you to type comfortably. The convenience of keeping the keyboard on your lap, the cushioned hand rest and the ergonomically designed key layout is something you will love getting used to. The mouse is designed to enable maximum comfort and it looks cool too! The long and responsive buttons ensure ease of use for all. On the flip side, the thumb buttons on the left are a little

inconvenient to reach for users with small hands. The mouse is specifically designed for right-handed use. Features and performance: Multimedia keyboards have been around for a while now. So what’s new with this one? For starters it has a zoom slider allowing you to zoom into pictures, maps and documents. But the zoom slider zooms only at the center of a picture, and not at the corners even if you would want it to. The most interesting feature is the ‘My Favorites’ keyset. You can customize these five keys on the fly to launch or open files and applications that you use the most. It can be used to open any file or folder or web page. Incidentally, it doesn’t open Firebox browser. The laser mouse is built on Microsoft’s high definition laser technology. It delivers

Ergonomically designed Key Layout

highest level of precision for hardcore gamers, graphics designers and enthusiasts. The laser sensor is far advanced than a conventional optical sensor in terms of response time and resolution. The smaller thumb button is pre-configured to enable the magnifier feature. Just point and press the magnifier button to enlarge any area on the screen. Overall, the keyboard is comfortable to use and comes with some neat features. The laser mouse performs well in terms of accuracy but is limited to right-handed users, which is a downer. At Rs 7,166, it’s a pure luxury and is only meant for a select few. For: Wireless keyboard; laser mouse; customizable keys; good ergonomics. Against: Translucent keys make the keyboard look ordinary; expensive; no caps lock; scroll lock and FLock key indicator on

Wireless Keyboard/Mouse Receiver INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP | FEBRUARY 2006

50

HARDWARE

| TESTED

Digital Camera

Kodak EasyShare V550 Specifications: 5.3 MP CCD resolution, 3x optical zoom, 4x digital zoom, 32 MB internal memory, 2.5: LCD, SD card slot, 720mAh lithium ion battery, Photo Frame Dock 2, measures 3.7x2.2x0.9 (WxHxD) inches.

Price Contact Phone E-mail website

Rs 18,999 Kodak India Pvt Ltd

9820332479 [email protected] www.kodak.com

RATINGS Build Quality Ergonomics Performance Features Warranty Overall Rating Value for money

Flaunt this black beauty

T

he Kodak V550 is Kodak’s latest ultra compact point-and-shoot digital camera with a healthy mix of features and style. The camera sports a 5.3 MP CCD sensor combined with a SchneiderKreuznach C-Variogon 3x optical zoom lens. The build quality is excellent and the brushed metal finish lends a solid look to the camera. Measuring a mere 3.7x2.2x0.9 (WxHxD) inches, the camera weighs 150 gms without batteries. The camera features an impressive 2.5-inch LCD 230K pixel high-resolution indoor/outdoor color screen boasting of a wide viewing angle of 170 degrees. The camera captures images in almost any condition, thanks to the 19 preset modes, which ensure you have the exact settings ready for the occasion without having to play around with the white balance and exposure settings. These preset scene modes along with a live histogram offered by the V550 helps a newbie who is not familiar with the intricacies of digital imaging. As with most digital cameras, this one too does the dual job of taking stills as well as shooting video; it supports 30 fps video recording at VGA (640x480) resolution. The cam comes with “Photo Frame Dock 2”, which is used to charge the

720mAh lithium ion battery. In-built memory amounts to 32 MB but memory is expandable thanks to the option of the SD card slot that lets you increase the storage capacity. The V550 offers some very unique features for the ultra compact segment, namely the digital image stabilizer and the ISO 800 setting. The ISO 800 only applies when the images are captured at the lowest offered resolution of 1.8 MP. Performance: From the interface, usability and operation point of view, the V550 is a mixed bag. It’s fast and the menus are easy to understand and master. The placement of buttons is decent but operating them gets a bit difficult with the large 2.5-inch LCD screen dominating the small size of

The excellent 2.5-inch LCD screen dominates the back side of the camera

the camera. The small buttons along with a tiny four-way navigator is not particularly comfortable for users with large hands. The LCD is brilliant with good performance in varied light conditions and a wide view angle. Coming to image quality, the camera captures good details with accurate color saturation in good light conditions. In lowlight conditions, the camera can’t match the crispness of a Canon Powershot. The speed and response of the camera is above average in most situations except when you enter the review mode. The V550 takes noticeably long to switch to review mode. The movie mode works well and the ability to zoom while recording the movie is a nice feature as long as you can adjust with slight graininess. The dock compliments the camera and is a nice addition to the package. The battery pack gave us about 150 shots with extensive use of the LCD and some movie recording as well. Overall, the camera is a very good option for a point-and-shoot user looking for a stylish and feature-rich digital camera. For: Loaded with features; good movie mode; excellent 2.5-inch LCD; stylish and well built. Against: Noise in low light conditions; can be sluggish at times; slightly weak flash range. INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP | FEBRUARY 2006

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52

HARDWARE

| TESTED

Cell Phone

Motorola L6 Specifications: GSM 900/GSM 1800/GSM 1900, 110x49x10 mm, VGA camera, speakerphone, Bluetooth, GPRS, WAP 2.0, 80gms, Display: 128x160 pixels, 10 MB internal non-expandable shared memory.

Price Contact Phone E-mail

Rs 8,905 Everest International

022-55704646 [email protected]

RATINGS Build Quality Ergonomics Performance Features Warranty Overall Rating Value for money

Your fashion statement

G

one are the days of bulky brick-like cell phones. Today, everyone likes to flaunt a sleek, sexy phone. After all, it’s not just a gadget you’re carrying, you’re also making a fashion statement. Therefore, a seamless integration of ergonomics and functionality is what people mostly look out for in cell phones. Let’s check out where the Motorola L6 gets this right successfully. The phone at first glance will remind you of the Razr V3 because of its ultra slim body. A neat looking candy bar phone, the Moto L6 is just 1.1 cm thick. The keypad design is similar to that of the V3, the only difference is it’s made of plastic while the Razr has a steel one. The four-way directional pad is made of steel though. The tactile response of the keys is above average; the phone has narrow key spacing (especially between No 2 key and down key of the directional keypad), so people with big hands might end up pressing the wrong key. The build quality is excellent with a metal body and the LCD screen is well protected beneath the front cover. While being slim, the L6 is also light—it weighs only 80 gms. Features and Performance: A trendy phone can’t miss out on a camera. Keeping this in mind, the L6 packs along a VGA (0.3 MP) camera with 4x digital zoom. It doesn’t come with an integrated flash

though. After you have shot a couple of pictures, the capture screen lets you know how many shots are left to go—a very nifty feature indeed. The video capture quality is above average. Phone navigation is very intelligently laid out with options at the right places. Memory at 10 MB is measly; there’s no provision for expansion. It has a healthy talk time of 5.8 hours. The display at 120x168 pixels with a screen diagonal size of 4.4 cm is not all that sharp and supports 65k colors. One interesting feature is that the AC adapter, the interface cable and the hands-free connect through the same mini USB port. No wonder they managed to cut on the size so much. The retail package doesn’t include the USB interface cable. You can either buy a

The USB port is used for charging, PC sync and also as a headset

USB cable or get a Bluetooth dongle for PC connectivity—the L6 has Bluetooth support. Connecting to a PC with Windows XP requires a one-time software installation. Using a USB interface cable that we had at our Test Center, we headed straight to Motorola India’s official web site only to find that the software is not available. Regrettably, the manual states that the software comes with the data kit. Motorola needs to take note of this and upload the software on its web site. To sum it up, the L6 is a smart looking phone packing a host of features and above-average performance. For: Slim and sexy; good build quality; excellent phone navigation; speaker phone. Against: Low screen resolution; PC connectivity software not provided; no FM.

The slim body of the Motorola L6

INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP | FEBRUARY 2006

TESTED

| HARDWARE

53

Motherboard

Biostar TForce 610-939 Specifications: Micro ATX form factor, AMD Socket939, Nvidia NForce 410 chipset with GeForce 6100 IGP, dual-channel DDR400 up to 4GB, 2 PCI slots, 2 SATA-II connetors, 6-channel audio, optical and SPDIF outputs, CMOS reloading program.

Price Contact Phone E-mail

Rs 3,975 Supertron Electronics Ltd

033-22131221 [email protected]

RATINGS Build Quality Ergonomics Performance Features Warranty Overall Rating Value for money

Value for gamers

I

f you’re an average gamer wanting to game on a shoestring budget, an SLI setup would be way beyond your budget. A better option would be investing in a board with a built-in graphics processor and a PCIE slot to upgrade the graphics later. So, you are not compelled to shell out money for a display card. The TForce 6100-939, recently released by Biostar, is one such board with an integrated graphics processor (IGP). Features: As the name suggests, the TForce 6100-939 is an AMD Socket-939 motherboard featuring Nvidia’s new Nforce 410 chipset with a GeForce 6100 IGP. Like any other motherboard based on the similar chipset, this one too has a micro ATX form factor. The board looks jazzy with fluorescent colored slots and ports—a treat for gamers with a UV tube in their cases! Apart from only 2 PCI slots, the board has almost all the features found in an ATX board. It sports four DIMM slots supporting a maximum memory of 4 GB, 2 IDE connectors, 2 USB headers, 2 SATA 2.0 connectors with support for RAID and a 16x PCIE slot. The rear panel sports most of the components commonly found including a 10/100 Ethernet port, 4 USB ports and a 6-channel audio panel. Surprisingly, the board also has support

FEBRUARY 2006 | INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP

for optical and SPDIF out through a rear panel which connects to a header on the motherboard. Packed with such features the board is suitable for basic users as well as for gamers and power users thirsting for performance. Offering a host of features doesn’t mean compromising on a good layout. The area surrounded by the PCIE slot is spacious allowing quick deployment of a graphics card and more importantly better air flow. Both the northbridge and the southbridge chips are equipped with aluminium heatsinks which do a decent job in dissipating heat. The TForce 6100-939 is clearly targeted towards gamers. Apart from a mention on the package, it offers an excellent interface in the BIOS called ‘Overclocking Navigator Engine’ meant for tweaking voltage, frequency and memory timings. We noticed that for the first time a motherboard included what’s called ‘CMOS reloading program’, allowing the user to save up to 50 different CMOS settings into the BIOS-ROM, which can be recalled later. It comes handy when you need to save various overclocked settings and recall them later. Performance: It’s quite evident from the scores that the TForce 6100-939 is an

ace performer. Couple it with high-end components and you’ll definitely get a big boost in performance. IGP will suffice for casual gamers, but if you crave for eye candy, you’ll need a good graphics card. If you are looking out for a budget motherboard with an IGP and good overclocking features, the Biostar 6100-939 is worth considering. TEST RIG Processor: AMD Athlon64 FX53 Memory: 2 x 512 MB Zion DDR400 Hard Disk: Maxtor MaxLine III 250 GB Graphics card: Nvidia GeForce 6800GS SCORES SiSoft Sandra 2005 Dhrystones: 10,028 Whetstones: 3,757 Memory bandwidth: 4,808 MB/s 3D Mark 2003 Nvidia GeForce 6100 IGP: 1,216 Nvidia GeForce 6800GS: 11,503 PC Mark 2004 4,037 For: Good overclocking options; CMOS reloading program; optical out.

54

HARDWARE

| TESTED

Case

Zebronics Antibiotic Specifications: 3 LED fans, transparent side panel, front USB and audio ports, LCD display, 400 Watts PSU.

Price Contact Phone E-mail website

Rs 2,150 Zebronics

022-26616202 [email protected] www.zebronics.net

RATINGS Build Quality Performance Features Warranty Overall Rating Value for money

Cool and fancy

T

he Zebronics Antibiotic cabinet with its glossy finish attracted quite a few onlookers when we opened the box; it’s available in both black and white. The plastic front bezel with a meshed air intake grill houses the LCD display. It has 2 front USB ports and 2 audio ports. It’s an ATX case, and therefore should ideally have three drive bays, but the LCD takes up the space for one, so you are left with two. The drive bays have a white lid hiding the front face of your optical drive, so don’t worry in case there’s a mismatch between the black drive and the white case. The white lid with a silver elliptical design looks overdone. A plain white lid would be more suitable. The case has a neatly cut transparent side panel with a green LED fan and thumb screws. It has a blowhole with blue LED fan on the top. The blowhole has a spring loaded sliding cover and the fan is only operational when the cover is open, a very nifty addition indeed. There’s a third (blue) LED fan at the back, all the fans are 80 mm in diameter, and are protected by grills. Taking a look inside, the frame is made of brushed aluminum facilitating better heat dissipation and has no sharp edges. There are no drive cages, so you have to align the drives with the holes and screw them. There is a provision to mount an 80

mm fan on the front (not bundled along with this). The case comes with a 400 W power supply. With 9.0 A on the +12V rail, there’s not enough power supply for gaming with mid to high-end graphics cards. The default back plate is cut into the same metal as in the back of the case and you will need a pair of pliers to remove it. This back plate is redundant as motherboards come with their own back plates. Functionality: The three LED case fans are strategically positioned to facilitate excellent case air ventilation. Besides, the LED fans throw green and blue lights inside the case—a visual treat indeed. The LCD display has four sections—first, to get the temperature on the LCD, you can position the temperature probe anywhere in the case. There is an alarm feature wherein

Top blowhole fan

you can set a threshold value for the temperature, exceeding which it gives out an alarm. The alarm is not very audible though, you hear only tiny beeps. Then there’s a clock, an HDD activity indicator having parallel leads with the HDD activity LED, so it’s pretty much the same thing with more visual appeal. All in all, it’s a good looking feature-rich product. And for the price it comes for, Rs 2,150, it’s definitely a worthy option. For: Three strategically placed LED fans; the top blowhole fan works only when cover is open. LCD temperature display with clock and HDD activity indicator; thumb screws for side panel. Against: Optical drive lid overdone; power supply not suitable for mid to high-end graphic cards; difficult to remove the default back plate.

Transparent side panel INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP | FEBRUARY 2006

56

HARDWARE

| TESTED

Motherboard

Asus A8N32-SLI Deluxe Specifications: AMD socket-939, NForce4 SLI x16 chipset, 2 full 16x PCIE slots, 3 PCI slots, 8-phase power design, heatpipe cooling, dual gigabit LAN, 2 IEEE 1394a ports, SPDIF and optical outputs.

Price Contact Phone E-mail website

Rs 18,700 Asustek Computer Inc

022-40058908 [email protected] www.asus.com.tw

RATINGS Build Quality Ergonomics Performance Features Warranty Overall Rating Value for money

Mother of all boards

T

he Asus A8232-SLI Deluxe features Nvidia’s latest NForce 4 SLI x16 chipset boasting two full-bandwidth x16 PCIE lanes unlike two x8 PCIE lanes in the present NForce 4 SLI chipset. This makes it the ultimate gaming motherboard—there will be no bottlenecks when two high-end 16x PCIE or dual GPU graphics cards are coupled in SLI, thereby resulting in topnotch performance. Features and performance: The A8N32SLI Deluxe is an AMD Socket-939 board and draws power from a 24-pin power connector. The motherboard is dominated by a copper heatpipe passing through major thermal sources. The fanless design guarantees quieter operation. However, if you plan to use either a water block for cooling or heavily overclock the system, a fan is provided which clips to the heatsink next to the processor socket. The A8N32 sports some of the best features cleverly incorporated by Asus with great ease and precision to make it the cream of the lot. It features an eight-phase power design, which results in less heat, greater reliability and better overclocking. It also features two gigabit Ethernet port, two IEEE1394a ports, SPDIF and optical out and dual RAID solution supported by the chipset and the Silicon Image 3132

controller both supporting 300 MB/s SATA 2.0. The board also leverages SATA on-thego supported by SATA 2. The external port on the rear panel connects to a SATA port multiplier using which you can hot-plug SATA devices. Four USB ports are provided on the rear panel and three USB headers on the board make up for a total of 10 ports, which are more than sufficient. The BIOS has excellent overclocking options to tweak the CPU/memory voltage and FSB and PCIE frequency using gradual increments. Even after overclocking, the system can survive without a fan, thanks to the heatpipe and the eight-phase power design. The layout of the motherboard is very good. There’s a good amount of space between the two PCIE slots so that cards

occupying two slots each in SLI can breathe comfortably. A notable feature is the inclusion of a flexible SLI connector in the package. It can be used with this board as well as with any other SLI motherboard. The A8N-SLI Deluxe rocks when it comes to performance! Couple it with the highestend components and it’ll cruise. The scores clearly indicate this. So if you have the money, get this one and get set for next generation gaming! TEST RIG Processor: AMD Athlon64 X2 4400+ Memory: 1 GB Kingston HyperX 3200ULK2 Graphics card: Asus Extreme 7800GTX Top Hard Disk: Western Digital Raptor 74 GB SCORES 3D Mark 2003: 8,384 3D Mark 2005: 17,329 PC Mark 2004: 6,533 SiSoft Sandra 2005 CPU Arithmetic: 19,881 Dhrystones Memory Bandwidth: 5,623 MB/s

Eight-phase power design and copper heatpipe cooling render high stability while overclocking

For: NForce4 SLI x16 chipset; eight-phase power design; heatpipe cooling; dual gigabit LAN; flexible SLI link. Against: None. INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP | FEBRUARY 2006

TESTED

Rugged Portability

O

f the various 2.5-inch hard drive enclosures available, this one from Nexstar is a step ahead in terms of looks and class—it has got a dark silver matt finish exuding style. Installation is very simple—just align the USB-to-IDE interface with the HDD IDE pins and push it in, then slide the assembly into the case and fit it with the screws. The screws are very small and in case you lose them you might have a hard time finding similar ones. Vantec has thoughtfully provided two extra screws. You need an equally small Philips screwdriver, surprisingly not provided in the package. A USB cable bundled along attaches to the drive enclosure. The other end of the cable splits into two USB connectors, both of which can be plugged into USB ports when the HDD requires more power, specifically in the case of USB 1.1 ports. One distinct feature is the provision of a 5V DC jack to power the drive with an external source.

I

FEBRUARY 2006 | INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP

57

Hard Disk Performance: To test the transfer speed, we used the Seagate Momentus 4011, 5400 rpm HDD with 2 MB as buffer. SiSoft Sandra reported sequential read and write speeds of 24 MB/s and 23 MB/s respectively resulting in a drive index of 20 MB/s. To test the real world transfer speeds, we transferred a single file and a folder with multiple files to and from the HDD. The 505 MB single file resulted in read and write speeds of 20.5 MB/s and 19.5 MB/s respectively whereas the 405 MB multiple files folder resulted in read and write speeds of 19.3 MB/s and 18.5 MB/s respectively. Performance is good and at par with the top players but leaves you asking for more. With other 2.5 inch enclosures starting at Rs 350, the Nexstar at Rs 1,200 is a little expensive. For: Tough and stylish aluminum body; good read/write speeds; two extra screws. Against: No Philips screwdriver provided; slightly expensive.

Budget speaker f you are looking for moderately priced stereo speakers which don’t take much of your desk space and also give you the luxury of a sub woofer, here’s something that would interest you. Design: The Altec Lansing 2.1 speaker system is clearly aimed at those looking for a budget speaker and not for the serious audiophile. The satellites each are about the size of a coffee mug and don’t take much desk space while the sub woofer is just about or a little bigger than a toaster. The satellites have a smart mix of matt silver and black color. The woofer is black in color with a blue LED light. Setting up the speaker is very simple and well illustrated in the manual. One thing noteworthy in this speaker is that the power adapter is housed inside the woofer, thereby reducing wire clutter. The volume, base and treble controls are on the woofer. A woofer is generally bulky and large and produces vibrations, therefore it should never be placed on the desktop. Ideally, the subwoofer should be placed on the ground. Now since the volume,

| HARDWARE

Vantec Nexstar NST-250U2

Specifications: Interface- IDE to USB 2.0, Dimensions- 130x75x12 mm, weight- 65 grams, aluminum body, supports Windows 98SE/ME/ 2000/XP/Mac OS 8.6 and above

Price Contact Phone E-mail

Rs 1,200 Apical Impex Pvt Ltd

+91-9821349177 [email protected]

RATINGS Build Quality Performance Features Warranty Overall Rating Value for money

Speaker bass and treble controls are on the woofer, reaching them will be a problem, and more so the volume knob which you would use more frequently. This is where you feel the pinch of not having an in-line remote. Performance: To test the performance of the speakers, we paired them up with a motherboard having onboard Realtek AL850 audio chipset (most of the recent motherboards have it). Results reflected tight bass and decent highs but the mids were average. Gaming and movie watching experiences were good with the sound quality it offers. The Creative SBS 370 in the same category is ahead of this speaker with better mids and the provision of an in-line remote. The Altec, however, rules the roost when it comes to the woofer with tight bass, whereas the SBS 370 lags behind here. For: Good tight bass; power adapter built in the subwoofer. Against: No in-line remote; volume, bass and treble control on the subwoofer; average mids.

Altec Lansing 121i

Specifications: Speakers-5.5 Watts/channel @ 8 ohms @ 10 percent THD @ 40 Hz-20000 Hz, 2 channels loaded, subwoofer- 9 Watts @ 4ohms @ 10 percent THD @ 20-140 Hz single channel loaded. Dimensions: speakers- 86 mm (W) x 90 mm (D) x 120 mm (H), subwoofer- 150 mm (W) x275 mm (D) x220 mm (H).

Price Contact Phone E-mail website

Rs 1,399 Rashi Peripherals Pvt Ltd

022-28221013 [email protected] www.rptechindia.com

RATINGS Build Quality Performance Features Warranty Overall Rating Value for money

58

HARDWARE

| TESTED

Chill pill!

VGA Cooler

Powercolor HeatBuster

Specifications: Dimension (mm) Fan-70x70x15 / Blower-70x70x15, Speed (RPM) Fan-1600 to 4000 / Blower-1,200 to 3,500, Airflow (CFM) Fan-10.96 to 29.66 / Blower-1.02 to 6.04, Weight (gram) 170.

Price Contact Phone E-mail

Rs 1,500 Mediatech India

022-26361111 [email protected]

RATINGS Build Quality Performance Features Warranty Overall Rating Value for money

USB Flash Drive

Corsair Flash Voyager 4 GB

Specifications: 4 GB flash memory, Hi-speed USB 2.0, rubber chassis, water resistant, USB cable and neck strap included in package

Price Contact Phone E-mail

Rs 17,000 Tirupati Enterprises

0250-3950947 [email protected]

RATINGS Build Quality Ergonomics Performance Features Warranty Overall Rating Value for money

T

his unique product is a long awaited one for enthusiasts and overclockers. The HeatBuster from Powercolor is a dual fan cooler made for cooling VGA cards as well as the overall system. The cooler sits in the PCI slot and is powered by a single molex connector. The transparent blue body is made out of light but good quality plastic and the cooler also houses a tiny red LED. The cooler has two fans—one is a blower that sucks all the hot air and lets it out through the vent at the back and the other which throws air and swivels 180 degrees allowing you to direct the air flow to any particular component inside the casing. The fan speed is controlled by a switch, which is positioned right next to the vent at the back of the card. Performance: The card effectively requires three PCI slots, one to ensure that there is enough room for the blower to suck the hot air out, second to occupy the cooler and the third to leave enough room for the fan to swivel. We put a fairly

stiff target of cooling an overclocked rig consisting of a 2600 Athlon XP@ 2.2 GHz and 6600GT running at 550/1150. The installation of the cooler was very simple and straightforward, we kept the fan speed at max to check for pure effectiveness. And we must say that at full speed the cooler is pretty noisy. The system temperature dropped from 420C to 400C. Hard drive temperature came down from 430C to 41oC but surprisingly, the GPU temperature dropped by a mere 1oC. At full load, temperature was almost constant at 62oC with or without the cooler. To make full use of the cooler, you should ideally have all the PCI slots free for directing the fan to throw air at the desired component and experiment with it till you get the best results. For: Unique 180-degree swivel fan; simple and quick installation; adjustable fan speed. Against: Noisy at full speed; requires ideal conditions which are rare.

4 gig stick

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f your storage needs are going through the roof, the Corsair Flash Voyager is just what you need. With a mammoth storage space of 4 GB, it is capable of holding data worth almost seven CDs. The drive is useful especially when it comes to carrying large files and taking huge backups. The drive’s flash memory module is housed in a stylish rubber chassis. This not only gives a cool look but also makes it extremely durable. Corsair claims this drive to be resistant to water and shock. So even if you drop it by mistake, it won’t crack or break. The tip of the drive bears a small elliptical hole to lug it around in a keychain or a neck strap. The package includes a USB cable for cases, which don’t have a front USB port. The installation CD includes a utility for creating password-protected partitions on the drive. Not only does it hide the partition in Windows, but it’s also effective in Linux. Windows 98 users relax! The CD includes drivers for Windows 98. The flash voyager cruised through all the synthetic and real world tests. The

test rig consisted of AMD Athlon64 2800+ on NForce 4-based motherboard with 1 GB memory. SiSoft Sandra 2005 reported a speed of 19 MB/s and sequential write speed of 10 MB/s. For our real-world test, we copied a 1 GB file as well as multiple files amounting to the same to and from the drive. It took 1 minute and 50 seconds to transfer the single file and just 53 seconds to read it. For multiple files, it took 2 minutes and 23 seconds to write, and 1 minute and 4 seconds to read. The test results were very close to speeds advertised on the package (13 MB/s read and 19 MB/s write). If high-performance coupled with great looks and ruggedness is your style, the Corsair Flash Voyager will keep you satisfied for years. With a warranty period spanning a decade, you need not worry about its lifetime. For: Mammoth storage space; excellent build quality; fast read/write; rugged; USB cable and neck strap. Against: Darned expensive! INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP | FEBRUARY 2006

Activate Afterburners! 35 graphics cards put to the grind. Check out which of these rockets fly highest

Vishwanath Vanjire

Shirish Karale

VGA CARD COMPARISON

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ow many times have you faced the frustration of firing up that new game, only to find out that your graphics card doesn’t have the juice to deliver a good playing experience? With the recent development in game engines and special effects used in games, the demand for powerful graphics cards has really taken off. Graphics chipset manufacturers have met the demand with an impressive range of graphics cards for every segment. The selection of the right graphics card is the key to an enjoyable gaming experience. Gamers come from different segments and their needs also depend on the type of games and detail levels demanded. With heavy usage of ShaderModel 3.0 by all the game developers, the newer games deliver life-like environments and physics to make the experience as real as possible. The effects are heavy on the computer and specifically heavy on the graphics card and hence there is a constant need to upgrade to a better graphics card that supports all the new technologies and has the muscle power to provide a smooth gaming experience. Our VGA comparison test will not only help you decide about the right graphics card but also give an overview of the performance delivered by all the popular graphics cards across the latest and most demanding games at varied detail levels. Out of 80 VGA cards that we received for the comparison test, we short listed 35 of the most recent ones spread over three categories and covering all the latest graphics chipsets.

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Test process Before putting the graphics cards to test, we segmented them into three categories based on their affordability. Accordingly, we had three broad categories—entry level (below Rs 6,000), mid-range (below Rs 12,000) and high-end (more than Rs 12,000). In each of the cards, we looked at the features, performance, warranty and support. It made no sense in evaluating the build quality and ergonomics since graphics cards are internal hardware residing inside the case. Let’s take a close look at what went into each parameter to know how we awarded points to each card.

Features Before moving to performance tests, we logged the features which included the physical characteristics and technical specifications of each card. First, we noted the name of the chipset, manufacturing process used, type and amount of memory and core and memory speeds. Scores were in favour of cards which featured higher clock speeds and amount of memory. It’s the Shader Model 3.0 support which enables the card to render High Dynamic Range (HDR) lighting, bloom effect and soft shadows which enhances the visual treat in games. Thus cards whose chipsets featured SM 3.0 support were awarded more points. The overall 3D performance of the card depends on the amount of shader units present. We logged the number of pixel and shader units present and accordingly assigned points to each card. Next, we moved on to the physical characteristics of the card such as the cooling system, back panel ports.

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Test rigs used for performance tests PCI Express cards

AGP cards

Processor

AMD Athlon 64 X2 4400+

Intel Pentium 4 3.4 GHz

Motherboard

Asus A8N32-SLI Deluxe

Asus P4C800-E

Memory

1 GB Kingston HyperX 3200ULK2 in dual-channel mode

1 GB Zion PC3200 in dual-channel mode

Hard disk

Western Digital Raptor 740GD

Western Digital Raptor 740GD

The cooling system indirectly influences the performance of the card. Better GPU and memory cooling not only results in stable performance but also has a direct influence on the life of the card. Active cooling system coupled with a copper heatsink results in quicker heat dissipation and lower temperatures at peak performance as compared to a passive cooling system. We also noted the back-panel ports available. Cards sporting D-sub and S-video ports inched a level ahead. Finally, we logged the package contents. Presence of power cable, manual, games, applications, DVI-to-D-sub adapter and video cable was taken into consideration and points were allotted to each card accordingly.

Performance: Strength of a graphics card lies solely in its performance. Hence we allotted 75 percent of the overall weightage to this section. Since we had PCIE as well as AGP-based cards, we set up two separate rigs. We installed a fresh copy of Windows XP, the most recent versions of Microsoft DirectX, Nvidia Forceware (81.98) and ATI Catalyst drivers (6.1) prior to evaluating the cards. All tests were run with vertical sync off and drivers’ quality settings set to the highest quality. The reason for using such Warranty & Support 5% Features 20%

Performance 75%

Weightage distribution for evaluation parameters

Interpreting the tables We designed different sets of tests for cards belonging to each category, the reason being the difference in strengths of the cards belonging to each category. For instance, it would be impossible for an entry-level card to perform at a 1600x1200 resolution at high quality. Hence, compare the overall performance scores of the cards only within the category and not across categories. However, if you wish to compare cards across categories, only look at the highlighted test scores which are common to all categories—‘1024x768 at high quality’. high-end rigs was to eliminate bottlenecks and allow the cards to perform their best. We ran synthetic tests as well as real world tests to assess the performance of the cards. Both 3DMark 2003 and 2005 were used to evaluate high-end cards and mid-range. But we used only 3DMark 2003 in case of entry-level cards since they don’t have enough power to run a stressful 3DMark 2005 test. To assess the real-world performance of the cards we used the most demanding games spanning across various genres. For each game, we created our own custom demo of actual game play and noted the frame rate (FPS) after playing back the

demo using console commands. We ran the tests at different resolutions and different anti-aliasing and anisotropic-filtering settings depending on the type of the card. The following table explains the characteristics of the graphics engine of the games used to assess the cards’

Warranty and support: It’s important for the card to carry a good warranty period to protect your precious investment in case of failure. Higher the warranty period, better the score in this section. We concluded the test by computing the value for money ratings. The value for money index is calculated by stacking up features and performance against the price. Higher the features and performance with respect to price, greater the VFM index. We had 2 awards in each category —best performance and best value (highest VFM).

Some cards featured component, composite as well as S-Video outputs

Actively cooled copper heatsink is the best cooling system

Games used for evaluating the performance of graphics cards Name

Engine characteristics

F.E.A.R.

Extreme particle effects, bump mapping, soft shadows, highly detailed models

Half Life 2: Lost Coast

Intensive application of HDR, real-time shadow and water reflections, high quality textures and lighting

Doom 3

OpenGL-based engine, heavy bump mapping and lighting, real time shadows

Quake 4

Tweaked version of the Doom 3 engine

Age of Empires 3

Intensive application of bloom, high quality textures and models, real time shadows and water reflection INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP | FEBRUARY 2006

VGA CARD COMPARISON

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Specifications: Chipset: ATI Radeon X1900XT, Memory

Specifications: Chipset: ATI Radeon X1600XT, Memory

Specifications: Chipset: ATI Radeon X800GTO,

interface: 256-bit, Core/Memory speed: 500/1,200

interface: 128-bit, Core/Memory speed: 587/1,380

Memory interface: 256-bit, Core/Memory speed:

MHz, Memory size: 512 MB GDDR3, Pixel Shader

MHz, Memory size: 256 MB GDDR3, Pixel Shader

400/700 MHz, Memory size: 128 MB DDR, Pixel

units: 48, Interface: PCI Express

units: 12, Interface: PCI Express

Shader units: 12, Interface: PCI Express

Price Contact Phone E-mail

Price Contact Phone E-mail

Price Contact Phone E-mail

Not available at present Werner Fernandes 98212 36784 [email protected]

RATINGS

Rs 13,360 Mediatech India 022-26361111 [email protected]

RATINGS Features

Features

Perfomance

Perfomance

Perfomance

Warranty

Warranty

Warranty

Overall Rating

Overall Rating

Overall Rating

Value for money N/A

Value for money

Value for money

FEBRUARY 2006 | INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP

The X1600XT from PowerColor sports the latest X1600XT chipset from ATI. Based on 90nm fabrication process, the chipset supports all the latest features including Shader Model 3.0 support. The PowerColor card is CrossFire ready and offers VIVO as well. The 256 MB GDDR3 memory is clocked at 1.38 GHz, which is one of the highest memory clocks by any card in the entire roundup. With 12 pixel shader units and 5 vertex shader units, it’s almost at par with its closest competitor, the Gainward 6800GS, which has similar specifications but is priced above the X1600XT. The PowerColor X1600XT is superior to the 6800GS in the power consumption department. The card does not need extra power supply, and it’s considerably smaller in form factor as well. The card is a perfect fit for gamers who do not want to game at extreme resolutions but want to turn on the effects and detail levels to max. For: ShaderModel 3.0 support, 1.38 GHz memory clock speed, does not require extra power, VIVO capable, excellent pricing. Against: 128-bit memory bandwidth, no cooling for memory chips.

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Rs 9,000 Mediatech India 022-26361111 [email protected]

RATINGS

Features

Meet the beast! The ATI Radeon X1900XT sports 16 pipes each having 3 pixel shader units which make up for a total of 48 shader units—the highest till date. Coupled with a powerful R580 core clocked at 500 MHz and 512 MB of GDDR3 memory clocked at 1.2 GHz, the X1900XT is easily the mother of all graphics cards. The card looks identical to the X1800XT—it is a mammoth red color card occupying two slots with an active copper heatsink over the core cooled by a powerful fan. After gaming at maximum settings and high resolution, the fan whirrs spewing voluminous amount of heat. Coming to performance, the X1900XT rules the roost with an overall frame rate of 100 FPS. In a game like F.E.A.R., which is the most demanding FPS game till date, the beast cruised at a staggering 75 frames per second at a resolution of 1600x1200, with maximum settings. If you plan to buy this card make sure you have a high-end PC armed with a juicy power supply and a good bank balance! For: Four dozen shader units, good cooling system, extreme performance. Against: New card or a new laptop?

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The strength of the X800GTO lies in its 256-bit memory interface (the only card in the mid-range category to have it). It’s based on the R430 core clocked at 400 MHz and features 128 MB memory clocked at 700 MHz. Even though this card uses DDR memory unlike GDDR3 memory used by the 6600GT series of cards, it leads the pack with superior performance, thanks to its 12 pixel pipelines and 6 vertex pipelines. The core of the X800GTO is actively cooled by a standard heatsink. The memory chips don’t require additional cooling as the fins of the heatsink are directed towards them. The rear panel of the card sports DVI as well as D-Sub ports and S-Video output. The X800GTO has support for ShaderModel 2.0. However, ShaderModel 3.0 support would have been ideal for playing the latest games offering loads of eyecandy with features like high dynamic range lighting and soft shadows as seen in Half Life 2: Lost Coast. For: 256-bit memory interface, 12 pixel pipes and 6 vertex pipes, best frame rates in its category. Against: No ShaderModel 3 support.

| VGA CARD COMPARISON

Mid Range

Entry Level B

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Specifications: Chipset: Nvidia GeForce 6600GT,

Specifications: Chipset: ATI Radeon X550, Memory

Memory interface: 128-bit, Core/Memory speed:

interface: 128-bit, Core/Memory speed: 446/554

500/1000 MHz, Memory size: 128 MB GDDR3, Pixel

MHz, Memory size: 256 MB GDDR2, Pixel Shader

Shader units: 8, Interface: PCI Express

units: 4, Interface: PCI Express

Price Contact Phone E-mail

Price Contact Phone E-mail

Rs 8,325 Big Byte Corporation 022-23894800 [email protected]

RATINGS

0250-3950947 [email protected]

RATINGS

Features

Features

Perfomance

Perfomance

Warranty

Warranty

Overall Rating

Overall Rating

Value for money

Value for money

Mid range card buyers don’t want to spend a bomb on a graphics card but at the same time dont mind stretching their budget for a decent level of gaming experience. The BIG 6600 GT is the best fit for a midrange card with agressive pricing. With ShaderModel 3 support, 128 MB of GDDR3 memory, 8 pixel and 3 vertex shader units, it’s got all the fire power in its arsenal. The clock speeds for core and memory are in accordance with the refrence cards. It’s got a chunky and well designed copper cooler which ensures good cooling. It’s a good over clocker and we could easily push the core to 550MHz and the memory to 1140 MHz. And to top it all, it’s got blue LED’s on the fan, a pleasing addition for the case modders. Performance-wise, the card is not far behind the X800GTO in most of the games. The card delivers playable frame rates at 1024x768 with high detail. It comes loaded with all accessories ranging from S-Video and composite cables to the driver CD and DVI adapter. To sum it up, its an absolute steal for its price. For: Good cooling, excellent overall package. Against: None.

Rs 4,500 Tirupati Enterprises

The value segment is for the gamer on a budget. Being on budget does not call for compromise on the frame rates. The GeCube GC-RX550GU2 is based on ATI’s Radeon X550 11o nm RV370 core. It straight away distinguishes itself from the rest of X550 cards, thanks to the factoryoverclocked memory and core speeds of 446 MHz and 554 MHz respectively. The ATI reference clock speeds are 400/500 MHz. The X550 uses DDR2 memory, making it superior to the other budget cards. The memory interface is also 128 bit. The RX5500GU2 has the most impressive cooling in the entry level segment. Using a single large aluminum cooler it provides dedicated cooling for memory chips. Though the Leadtek PX2600TC TDH has a slightly better VFM rating over the GeCube GC-RX550GU2, the latter has a clear advantage in performance. It is pointlss recommending a card which cannot render playable frame rates. Hence the GeCube X550 is the logical choice for the best value and performance segment. For: Factory overclocked, beefed up cooling, 256MB DDR2 memory. Against: No support for ShaderModel 3.0

Pipeline: In relation to graphics processing unit, a pipeline is an arithmetic unit which renders the output on a display. Greater the number of pipelines, higher the overall 3D performance of the GPU.

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S-Video: ‘Separate Video’ or S-Video as we know it, is a type of analog video interface that produces a higher quality video signal as compared to composite video. The signal is split into two separate channels, luminance and chrominance. The S-video connector typically has 4 pins and are commonly found in most DVD players, gaming consoles, laptops and other devices which have video output.

Vertex Shader: 3D objects are rendered using polygons which are made up of intersecting triangles. A vertex is a corner of a triangle which connects to another triangle. Each vertex has a considerable amount of information such as coordinates, weight, color, texture and fog. Vertex Shaders analyse these values and produce realistic lighting effects, complex textures such as hair and fur, and life-like deformations such as waves rippling in a pool, flexing of muscle or stretching and wrinkling of clothes while the character is in motion. Pixel Shader: They create complex and realistic textures and surfaces on objects, thus making them look life-like. Realistic refraction and reflection of light in water, smoke and fire effects, real-time shadows, glows and a myriad of unique lighting, and surface effects are all possible, thanks to Pixel Shaders. During game play, millions of pixels are required to be rendered, lit, colored and shaded for each frame. This task is seamlessly handled by Pixel Shaders to deliver cinematic quality effects. Since Shaders are programmable, game developers can determine the light, color and shade of individual pixels per frame. INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP | FEBRUARY 2006

VGA CARD COMPARISON

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| VGA card Buying guide We have divided the buying guide into three categories and given options depending on our comparison test results. The overall system configuration in terms of processor, memory and motherboard also influence the gaming experience. Thus before you go for a graphics card upgrade or prepare to build a gaming PC, you must ensure that the computer is well balanced. On an unbalanced system, the performance of the graphics card is restricted by other elements like processor and memory. To ensure that the performance of your graphics card is not bottlenecked, make sure your system meets the minimum requirement as specified in the table at the bottom of this page.

Entry level (under Rs 6,000) This category of cards, being affordable, is the most dominant in the market. Most users hunt for graphics cards priced around Rs 5,000 to enjoy games with smooth frame rates. Following are the key factors that you should consider before buying an entry-level graphics card. Memory bandwidth: One of the key factors determining the performance of the graphics cards is the memory bandwidth. Almost 50 percent of the video cards in the market are crippled due to 64-bit memory bandwidth. Make sure the memory bandwidth is 128-bit, ensuring that graphics chipset or GPU performs at its full potential. Graphics card with “Turbo Cache” or “Hyper Memory” might sound like they are faster or better variants but in reality they are not. These cards share the main system memory (RAM), thus compromising on overall system as well on a gaming performance. These cards are slightly cheaper but they mar the performance by a considerable margin and hence should be avoided unless you are on a very tight budget.

Processor:

Features vs Performance: The latest features in the form of HDR and smoke effects look nice but they deliver a serious performance hit to the entry level graphics cards. Hence when buying an entry level graphics card, you need to look at the pure performance capacity of the card rather than at the features. Cooling and overclocking: Budget cards are known to cut corners. Many of the budget cards come with passive cooling, which is not the ideal method of cooling graphics chipsets. Active cooling in form of a heatsink and fan combination allows better heat dissipation and helps to keep the chipset as well as the overall system temperature under control. Look for a card with active cooling to avoid heating issues.

Memory: Mid-range cards come in 128 MB and 256 MB variants. Given the capability of mid-range graphics cards, the 256 MB cards give a very limited advantage over the 128 MB variants and in most cases the added 128 MB of video memory makes negligible difference. The memory clock speeds, on the other hand, make a substantial difference. Many of the mid-range cards come with higher clocked memory which directly translates into better performance. Hence the preference should be towards higher clocked memory than capacity.

Best buy

Best buy

PowerColor X800GTO, Leadtek 6600GT Extreme, BIG 6600GT 128 MB

GeCube X550 Extreme Edition, Leadtek 6600LE AGP, Zebronics 6600LE

High-end (above Rs 12,000)

Mid-range (Rs 6,000-Rs12,000) The most exciting and sought after category—mid-range cards are a favorite amongst gamers. These cards are expected to deliver smooth game play with high detail levels and visual effects. The only real restriction comes in the form of resolution. Mid-range cards are a perfect match for gaming at 1024x768 resolution or lower. Following are the key factors to consider when buying a mid-range graphics card. Clock speeds: Mid-range cards usually offer reference clock speeds for the chipset as well as the memory. In fact, there are quite a few brands and models that offer factory overclocked graphics cards. These cards offer high chipset and memory clock speeds by default and hence come in the “Factory overclocked category”. These cards have distinct naming schemes, for example, the Gainward Golden Sample or the Leadtek Extreme Edition cards are

High-end cards are obscenely priced in our country; hence even though you have a bag full of green to spend on them, you better pick the right card and ensure you get all your money’s worth. One of the most important factors for a high-end card is to check whether its future proof. When you spend 20K on a card, it has to serve you for at least 2 years. To ensure that, make sure the card is on the cutting edge of technology with support for all the current and upcoming features in games. Memory configuration is also important, a high-end card with 512 MB of buffer memory is always a safe bet. Warranty is important for all cards but it’s crucial in case of high-end cards. Cooling for high-end cards is always the best when compared to the mid-range and low-end categories. Well cooled cards offer extra mileage when overclocked.

Best buy options for high end ATI X1900XT, Asus N7800GTX TOP, Gainward 6800GS, Powercolor X1600XT

Entry level video card

Midrange video card

HighEnd video card

At least a 2 GHz or equivalent

At least a 2.4GHz or equivalent with minimum of 512 KB L2 cache

At least a 3.2 GHz or equivalent with 512 KB-1 MB L2 cache

At least 400W branded

At least 550W branded

Power Supply Unit At least 350W Memory:

factory overclocked and offer performance advantage over the regular cards.

256 MB-512 MB DDR333/400 or above

FEBRUARY 2006 | INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP

At least 512 MB-1GB of dual-channel DDR400 1 GB-2 GB of dual-channel DDR400 or above

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SpecScan 1 Soham Raninga [email protected]

After going through 35 video cards I am feelin a little dizzy in the head, wondering which one impressed me the most. Personally, I favor the mid-range cards. They offer best bang for the buck and don’t leave a big hole in your wallet as well. If I have to pick a video card, it would be the X800GTO. Though the X800GTO does not support ShaderModel 3.0, it is superior to other mid-range cards in terms of pure performance, thanks to the 12 PixelShader units and 256-bit memory bandwidth. Looking at the performance, the card almost scored 50 frames per second in all the games at 1024x768 with high settings. At the given price, the X800GTO is an excellent mid-range card whichever way you look at it. My second choice would be a tie between Leadtek 6600GT Extreme and the Gigabyte 6600GT with Silent-Pipe II cooling. Both the cards are unique in their own ways.

Game Index demystified To make the process simpler we have added a nifty feature to the tables called the “game index”. The game index is a simpler representation of the performance of a video card in terms of frames rendered per second with respect to a particular game. The scores in bold against each of the games denote the game index. The following table explains the game index scores in detail. Index range

Gaming experience

0-3

Barely playable at 20-30 FPS

3-5 5-8 8-10

Category Name

2 HIGH END

ATI Radeon X1900XT

PowerColor X1800XT

Werner Fernandes 98212 36784

Mediatech India 022-26361111

[email protected]

[email protected]

N/A

Rs 34,500

18.33 73.17 5.00

18.38 59.02 5.00

Overall (out of 100)

Total: 96.50

Total: 82.40

Value for money (out of 5)

N/A

Contact Phone E-mail Price*

Overall Features (out of 20) Performance (out of 75) Warranty and support (out of 5)

Features Chipset Manufacturing process Core speed (MHz) Memory Amount (MB) / Speed (MHz) Type / Bandwidth Interface Shader Version(Pixel / Vertex) Shader Units (Pixel / Vertex) Backpanel (D-Sub / DVI / S-Vid / Composite) Cooling System GPU (Type / Copper heatsink) Memory (Cooling present / Copper heatsink) Slots occupied Factory overclocked

ATI Radeon X1900XT 90 nm 500

ATI Radeon X1800XT 90 nm 594

512 / 1200 GDDR3 / 256-bit PCI-E 3.0 / 3.0 48 / 8 ✕|✓| ✕|✕

512 / 1390 GDDR3 / 256-bit PCI-E 3.0 / 3.0 16 / 8 ✕|✓|✓|✕

Active | ✓ ✓|✕ 2 

Active | ✓ | 2 

9.9 ✕|✕|✕|✕ ✕ | 118 | 87 | 50 ✕|✕|✕|✕ ✕ | 91 | 65 | 75 9.0 ✕ | 121 | 111 | 101 ✕|✕|✕|✕ ✕ | 106 | 109 | 87 ✕ | 104 | ✕ | ✕ 9.9 ✕ | 125 | 113 | 93 ✕|✕|✕|✕ ✕ | 111 | 87 | 70 ✕ | 111 | ✕ | ✕ 10.0 ✕ | 106 | 93 | 79 ✕|✕|✕|✕ ✕ | 86 | 72 | 60 ✕ | 84 | ✕ | ✕ 10.0 ✕ | 99 | 96 | 83 ✕ | 71 | ✕ | ✕ 17,782 10,856

8.0 ✕|✕|✕|✕ ✕ | 94 | 71 | 52 ✕|✕|✕|✕ ✕ | 75 | 57 | 40 8.4 ✕ | 101 | 102 | 95 ✕|✕|✕|✕ ✕ | 100 | 98 | 91 ✕ | 98 | ✕ | ✕ 7.8 ✕ | 109 | 91 | 70 ✕|✕|✕|✕ ✕ | 97 | 73 | 52 ✕ | 91 | ✕ | ✕ 8.1 ✕ | 87 | 71 | 56 ✕|✕|✕|✕ ✕ | 81 | 56 | 48 ✕ | 77 | ✕ | ✕ 4.8 ✕ | 59 | 49 | 38 ✕ | 33 | ✕ | ✕ 16,727 8,937

3

3

Performance F.E.A.R Low (No AA, No AF) High (No AA, 4x AF) High (No AA, 8x AF) Max (4x AA, 16x AF) Quake 4 (High Quality) no AA / no AF no AA / 8x AF 4x AA / 8x AF 8x AA / 16x AF Doom 3 (High Quality) no AA / no AF no AA / 8x AF 4x AA / 8x AF 8x AA / 16x AF Half Life 2: Lost Coast (High Quality) no AA / no AF no AA / 8x AF 4x AA / 8x AF 8x AA / 16x AF Age of Empires 3 High (Low AA, High Shader/Shadow quality)

Playable with average of 30-40 FPS Smooth game play with an average of 60FPS

3DMark 2003 (Default settings) 3DMark 2005 (Default settings)

God like!

Warranty & Support

Max (High AA, V. High Shader/Shadow quality)

Period of warranty (years)

* Prices are indicative and are subject to change, taxes extra, + Each game index out of 10 Note: All performance scores are in FPS at four resolutions: 800 x 600 / 1024 x 768 / 1280 x 1024 / 1600 x 1200

VGA CARD COMPARISON

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Asus Extreme N7800GTX Top

GeCube GC-X1800XTD

Gainward 3500PCX Ultra

MSI NX7800GTX

XFX 7800 GT

Asustek Computer Inc 022-40058894

Tirupati Enterprises 0250-3950947

Mediatech India 022-26361111

Micro-Star International 011-41758809

Rashi Peripherals Pvt. Ltd. 022-28221013

[email protected]

[email protected]

[email protected]

[email protected]

[email protected]

Rs 41,600

Rs 26,500

Rs 32,925

Rs 29,500

Rs 27,000

15.55 55.59 5.00

15.73 54.29 5.00

14.81 49.54 5.00

17.48 57.77 5.00

17.58 58.76 3.33

Total: 80.25

Total: 79.68

Total: 76.14

Total: 75.02

Total: 69.34

Nvidia GeForce 7800GTX 110 nm 486

ATI Radeon X1800XT 90 nm 594

Nvidia GeForce 7800GTX 110 nm 470

Nvidia GeForce 7800GTX 110 nm 430

Nvidia GeForce 7800GT 110 nm 450

256 / 1350 GDDR3 / 256-bit PCI-E 3.0 / 3.0 24 / 8 ✕|✓|✓|✕

512 / 1390 GDDR3 / 256-bit PCI-E 3.0 / 3.0 16 / 8 ✕|✓|✓|✕

256 / 1300 DDR / 256-bit PCI-E 3.0 / 3.0 24 / 8 ✕|✓|✓|✕

256 / 1200 GDDR3 / 256-bit PCI-E 3.0 / 3.0 24 / 8 ✕|✓|✓|✕

256 / 1050 GDDR3 / 256-bit PCI-E 3.0 / 3.0 20 / 7 ✕|✓|✓|✕

Active | ✓ | 2 

Active | ✕ | 2 ✕

Active | ✕ |✕ 1 

Active | ✕ |✕ 1 ✕

Active | ✕ |✕ 1 

6.9 ✕|✕|✕|✕ ✕ | 97 | 73 | 53 ✕|✕|✕|✕ ✕ | 53 | 37 | 26 8.7 ✕ | 129 | 120 | 117 ✕|✕|✕|✕ ✕ | 114 | 106 | 74 ✕ | 68 | ✕ | ✕ 8.1 ✕ | 141 | 121 | 91 ✕|✕|✕|✕ ✕ | 107 | 70 | 57 ✕ | 53 | ✕ | ✕ 7.8 ✕ | 85 | 72 | 58 ✕|✕|✕|✕ ✕ | 73 | 47 | 39 ✕ | 75 | ✕ | ✕ 5.8 ✕ | 73 | 62 | 51 ✕ | 36 | ✕ | ✕ 17,329 8,384

8.0 ✕|✕|✕|✕ ✕ | 94 | 72 | 52 ✕|✕|✕|✕ ✕ | 74 | 56 | 39 8.4 ✕ | 101 | 100 | 96 ✕|✕|✕|✕ ✕ | 100 | 98 | 90 ✕ | 96 | ✕ | ✕ 7.9 ✕ | 109 | 91 | 70 ✕|✕|✕|✕ ✕ | 96 | 72 | 52 ✕ | 96 | ✕ | ✕ 8.1 ✕ | 88 | 70 | 55 ✕|✕|✕|✕ ✕ | 81 | 56 | 48 ✕ | 78 | ✕ | ✕ 4.7 ✕ | 58 | 48 | 38 ✕ | 32 | ✕ | ✕ 16,619 8,903

6.9 ✕|✕|✕|✕ ✕ | 96 | 74 | 53 ✕|✕|✕|✕ ✕ | 53 | 37 | 26 7.8 ✕ | 114 | 108 | 96 ✕|✕|✕|✕ ✕ | 104 | 92 | 72 ✕ | 65 | ✕ | ✕ 7.7 ✕ | 122 | 110 | 93 ✕|✕|✕|✕ ✕ | 100 | 74 | 55 ✕ | 51 | ✕ | ✕ 7.8 ✕ | 91 | 70 | 56 ✕|✕|✕|✕ ✕ | 75 | 49 | 38 ✕ | 76 | ✕ | ✕ 5.1 ✕ | 72 | 57 | 33 ✕ | 37 | ✕ | ✕ 17,266 8,270

6.5 ✕|✕|✕|✕ ✕ | 93 | 69 | 49 ✕|✕|✕|✕ ✕ | 49 | 34 | 24 7.9 ✕ | 114 | 104 | 94 ✕|✕|✕|✕ ✕ | 111 | 96 | 78 ✕ | 66 | ✕ | ✕ 7.3 ✕ | 122 | 107 | 89 ✕|✕|✕|✕ ✕ | 95 | 69 | 51 ✕ | 47 | ✕ | ✕ 7.8 ✕ | 84 | 66 | 52 ✕|✕|✕|✕ ✕ | 75 | 50 | 39 ✕ | 78 | ✕ | ✕ 5.7 ✕ | 75 | 62 | 50 ✕ | 35 | ✕ | ✕ 15,821 7,598

6.0 ✕|✕|✕|✕ ✕ | 87 | 63 | 45 ✕|✕|✕|✕ ✕ | 47 | 32 | 22 6.6 ✕ | 105 | 102 | 90 ✕|✕|✕|✕ ✕ | 90 | 67 | 50 ✕ | 56 | ✕ | ✕ 6.2 ✕ | 104 | 93 | 77 ✕|✕|✕|✕ ✕ | 81 | 55 | 39 ✕ | 44 | ✕ | ✕ 7.5 ✕ | 85 | 60 | 47 ✕|✕|✕|✕ ✕ | 70 | 47 | 36 ✕ | 74 | ✕ | ✕ 5.2 ✕ | 71 | 58 | 46 ✕ | 32 | ✕ | ✕ 15,515 7,277

3

2

3

3

3

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| VGA CARD COMPARISON

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SpecScan 8 Category Name Contact Phone E-mail Price*

10

9 HIGH END

ATI Radeon X850XT

XFX GeForce 6800 GS

PowerColor X1600XT

Werner Fernandes 98212 36784

Rashi Peripherals Pvt. Ltd. 022-28221013

Mediatech India 022-26361111

[email protected]

[email protected]

[email protected]

Rs 22,000

Rs 19,000

Rs 13,360

Overall Features (out of 20) Performance (out of 75) Warranty and support (out of 5)

Overall (out of 100)

15.10 38.39 5.00

15.02 33.45 5.00

14.74 26.92 5.00

Total: 58.49

Total: 53.47

Total: 46.66

ATI Radeon X850XT 130 nm 520

Nvidia GeForce 6800GS 110 nm 485

ATI Radeon X1600XT 90 nm 587

256 / 1000 GDDR3 / 256-bit PCI-E 2.0 / 2.0 16 / 6 ✕|✓|✓|✕

256 / 1100 GDDR3 / 256-bit PCI-E 3.0 / 3.0 12 / 5 ✓|✓|✓|✕

256 / 1380 GDDR3 / 128-bit PCI-E 3.0 / 3.0 12 / 5 ✕|✓|✓|✕

Active | ✓ | 2 ✕

Active | ✓ | 1 

Active | ✕ | 1 ✕

5.5 ✕|✕|✕|✕ ✕ | 72 | 53 | 37 ✕|✕|✕|✕ ✕ | 52 | 37 | 20 4.3 ✕ | 84 | 63 | 50 ✕|✕|✕|✕ ✕ | 59 | 42 | 30 ✕ | 46 | ✕ | ✕ 4.9 ✕ | 96 | 71 | 51 ✕|✕|✕|✕ ✕ | 59 | 42 | 30 ✕ | 46 | ✕ | ✕ 5.0 ✕ | 75 | 57 | 43 ✕|✕|✕|✕ ✕ | 56 | 38 | 30 ✕ | 47 | ✕ | ✕ 4.6 ✕ | 50 | 38 | 30 ✕ | 37 | ✕ | ✕ 12,743 6,236

3.0 ✕|✕|✕|✕ ✕ | 33 | 30 | 22 ✕|✕|✕|✕ ✕ | 24 | 18 | 14 4.8 ✕ | 94 | 77 | 60 ✕|✕|✕|✕ ✕ | 69 | 51 | 38 ✕ | 29 | ✕ | ✕ 5.0 ✕ | 100 | 81 | 62 ✕|✕|✕|✕ ✕ | 64 | 43 | 31 ✕ | 24 | ✕ | ✕ 4.4 ✕ | 61 | 40 | 31 ✕|✕|✕|✕ ✕ | 40 | 28 | 23 ✕ | 40 | ✕ | ✕ 3.8 ✕ | 58 | 45 | 36 ✕ | 21 | ✕ | ✕ 12,731 5,657

3.8 ✕|✕|✕|✕ ✕ | 50 | 36 | 25 ✕|✕|✕|✕ ✕ | 35 | 25 | 15 3.4 ✕ | 70 | 48 | 38 ✕|✕|✕|✕ ✕ | 42 | 30 | 22 ✕ | 40 | ✕ | ✕ 3.3 ✕ | 62 | 42 | 30 ✕|✕|✕|✕ ✕ | 43 | 30 | 20 ✕ | 37 | ✕ | ✕ 3.1 ✕ | 50 | 36 | 26 ✕|✕|✕|✕ ✕ | 33 | 23 | 17 ✕ | 29 | ✕ | ✕ 2.2 ✕ | 30 | 22 | 17 ✕ | 15 | ✕ | ✕ 9,495 5,235

3

3

3

Value for money (out of 5)

Features Chipset Manufacturing process Core speed (MHz) Memory Amount (MB) / Speed (MHz) Type / Bandwidth Interface Shader Version(Pixel / Vertex) Shader Units (Pixel / Vertex) Backpanel (D-Sub / DVI / S-Vid / Composite) Cooling System GPU (Type / Copper heatsink) Memory (Cooling present / Copper heatsink) Slots occupied Factory overclocked

Performance F.E.A.R Low (No AA, No AF) High (No AA, 4x AF) High (No AA, 8x AF) Max (4x AA, 16x AF) Quake 4 (High Quality) no AA / no AF no AA / 8x AF 4x AA / 8x AF 8x AA / 16x AF Doom 3 (High Quality) no AA / no AF no AA / 8x AF 4x AA / 8x AF 8x AA / 16x AF Half Life 2: Lost Coast (High Quality) no AA / no AF no AA / 8x AF 4x AA / 8x AF 8x AA / 16x AF Age of Empires 3 High (Low AA, High Shader/Shadow quality) Max (High AA, V. High Shader/Shadow quality)

3DMark 2003 (Default settings) 3DMark 2005 (Default settings)

Warranty & Support Period of warranty (years)

* Prices are indicative and are subject to change, taxes extra, + Each game index out of 10 Note: All performance scores are in FPS at four resolutions: 800 x 600 / 1024 x 768 / 1280 x 1024 / 1600 x 1200

INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP | FEBRUARY 2006

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11

12

13

ST

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14

15

MID RANGE

PowerColor X800GTO

Asus Extreme N6600GT Silencer

Leadtek PX6600GT TDH Extreme

Big GeForce 6600GT

XFX 6600GT

Mediatech India 022-26361111

Asustek Computer Inc 022-40058894

Topnotch Infotronix 022-26616202

Bit Byte Corporation 022-23894800

Rashi Peripherals Pvt. Ltd. 022-28221013

[email protected]

[email protected]

[email protected]

[email protected]

[email protected]

Rs 9,000

Rs 14,600

Rs 10,400

Rs 8,325

Rs 13,000

10.56 33.16 5.00

13.37 30.18 5.00

11.87 30.51 5.00

12.87 29.17 5.00

11.67 29.87 5.00

Total: 48.72

Total: 48.56

Total: 47.38

Total: 47.05

Total: 46.54

ATI Radeon X800GTO 130 nm 400

Nvidia GeForce 6600GT 110 nm 500

Nvidia GeForce 6600GT 110 nm 550

Nvidia GeForce 6600GT 110 nm 500

Nvidia GeForce 6600GT 110 nm 500

128 / 700 DDR / 256-bit PCI-E 2.0 / 2.0 12 / 6 ✓|✓|✓|✕

256 / 1000 GDDR3 / 128-bit PCI-E 3.0 / 3.0 8/3 ✓|✓|✓|✕

128 / 1200 GDDR3 / 128-bit PCI-E 3.0 / 3.0 8/3 ✓|✓|✓|✕

128 / 1000 GDDR3 / 128-bit PCI-E 3.0 / 3.0 8/3 ✕|✓|✓|✕

256 / 1000 GDDR3 / 128-bit PCI-E 3.0 / 3.0 8/3 ✕|✓|✓|✕

Active | ✕ ✕|✕ 1 ✕

Passive | ✓ | 1 ✕

Active | ✕ ✕|✕ 1 

Active | ✓ | 1 ✕

Active | ✕ ✕|✕ 1 ✕

3.88 ✕|✕|✕|✕ ✕ | 48 | 34 | ✕ ✕ | 47 | 34 | ✕ ✕|✕|✕|✕ 6.48 ✕ | 88 | 65 | ✕ ✕ | 85 | 62 | ✕ ✕|✕|✕|✕ ✕|✕|✕|✕ 4.21 ✕ | 68 | 44 | ✕ ✕ | 67 | 44 | ✕ ✕|✕|✕|✕ ✕|✕|✕|✕ 3.90 ✕ | 55 | 36 | ✕ ✕ | 40 | 27 | ✕ ✕|✕|✕|✕ ✕|✕|✕|✕ 3.18 ✕ | 37 | 27 | ✕ ✕|✕|✕|✕ 9,236 4,031

3.01 ✕|✕|✕|✕ ✕ | 36 | 27 | ✕ ✕ | 37 | 26 | ✕ ✕|✕|✕|✕ 6.25 ✕ | 90 | 64 | ✕ ✕ | 82 | 57 | ✕ ✕|✕|✕|✕ ✕|✕|✕|✕ 4.50 ✕ | 74 | 48 | ✕ ✕ | 63 | 48 | ✕ ✕|✕|✕|✕ ✕|✕|✕|✕ 3.00 ✕ | 43 | 29 | ✕ ✕ | 30 | 21 | ✕ ✕|✕|✕|✕ ✕|✕|✕|✕ 3.55 ✕ | 40 | 31 | ✕ ✕|✕|✕|✕ 8,534 3,739

3.26 ✕|✕|✕|✕ ✕ | 40 | 29 | ✕ ✕ | 40 | 28 | ✕ ✕|✕|✕|✕ 5.53 ✕ | 96 | 69 | ✕ ✕ | 61 | 44 | ✕ ✕|✕|✕|✕ ✕|✕|✕|✕ 5.33 ✕ | 88 | 62 | ✕ ✕ | 75 | 53 | ✕ ✕|✕|✕|✕ ✕|✕|✕|✕ 3.20 ✕ | 46 | 29 | ✕ ✕ | 33 | 22 | ✕ ✕|✕|✕|✕ ✕|✕|✕|✕ 3.73 ✕ | 43 | 32 | ✕ ✕|✕|✕|✕ 8,741 3,724

3.06 ✕|✕|✕|✕ ✕ | 37 | 27 | ✕ ✕ | 37 | 27 | ✕ ✕|✕|✕|✕ 5.24 ✕ | 92 | 65 | ✕ ✕ | 57 | 42 | ✕ ✕|✕|✕|✕ ✕|✕|✕|✕ 5.04 ✕ | 84 | 58 | ✕ ✕ | 71 | 50 | ✕ ✕|✕|✕|✕ ✕|✕|✕|✕ 3.03 ✕ | 43 | 28 | ✕ ✕ | 31 | 21 | ✕ ✕|✕|✕|✕ ✕|✕|✕|✕ 3.49 ✕ | 40 | 30 | ✕ ✕|✕|✕|✕ 8,674 3,790

3.11 ✕|✕|✕|✕ ✕ | 41 | 29 | ✕ ✕ | 36 | 26 | ✕ ✕|✕|✕|✕ 5.87 ✕ | 89 | 62 | ✕ ✕ | 75 | 52 | ✕ ✕|✕|✕|✕ ✕|✕|✕|✕ 5.11 ✕ | 82 | 55 | ✕ ✕ | 76 | 52 | ✕ ✕|✕|✕|✕ ✕|✕|✕|✕ 2.92 ✕ | 42 | 27 | ✕ ✕ | 30 | 20 | ✕ ✕|✕|✕|✕ ✕|✕|✕|✕ 3.20 ✕ | 37 | 29 | ✕ ✕|✕|✕|✕ 8,416 3,759

3

3

3

3

3

FEBRUARY 2006 | INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP

70

HARDWARE

| VGA CARD COMPARISON

SpecScan 16 Category Name

17

18

MID RANGE

MSI NX6600GT

Gainward 1980PCX Ultra

Gigabyte GV-NX66T128D-SP

Micro-Star International 011-41758809

Mediatech India 022-26361111

Gigabyte Technology (India) Ltd 022-26526696

[email protected]

[email protected]

[email protected]

Rs 9,600

Rs 10,350

Rs 8,900

Features (out of 20) Performance (out of 75) Warranty and support (out of 5)

13.27 28.05 5.00

12.27 28.89 5.00

Overall (out of 100)

Total: 46.32

Total: 46.17

Total: 44.64

Nvidia GeForce 6600GT 110 nm 500

Nvidia GeForce 6600GT 110 nm 500

Nvidia GeForce 6600GT 110 nm 500

128 / 1000 GDDR3 / 128-bit PCI-E 3.0 / 3.0 8/3 ✓|✓|✓|✕

256 / 1000 GDDR3 / 128-bit PCI-E 3.0 / 3.0 8/3 ✓|✓|✓|✕

128 / 1000 GDDR3 / 128-bit PCI-E 3.0 / 3.0 8/3 ✓|✓|✓|✕

Active | ✓ | 1 ✕

Active | ✕ |✕ 1 ✕

Passive | ✓ ✕|✕ 2 ✕

2.96 ✕|✕|✕|✕ ✕ | 36 | 26 | ✕ ✕ | 36 | 26 | ✕ ✕|✕|✕|✕ 5.05 ✕ | 89 | 63 | ✕ ✕ | 55 | 40 | ✕ ✕|✕|✕|✕ ✕|✕|✕|✕ 5.85 ✕ | 82 | 56 | ✕ ✕ | 68 | 48 | ✕ ✕|✕|✕|✕ ✕|✕|✕|✕ 2.92 ✕ | 42 | 27 | ✕ ✕ | 30 | 20 | ✕ ✕|✕|✕|✕ ✕|✕|✕|✕ 3.38 ✕ | 39 | 29 | ✕ ✕|✕|✕|✕ 8,388 3,551

2.82 ✕|✕|✕|✕ ✕ | 38 | 27 | ✕ ✕ | 27 | 26 | ✕ ✕|✕|✕|✕ 5.10 ✕ | 90 | 64 | ✕ ✕ | 56 | 40 | ✕ ✕|✕|✕|✕ ✕|✕|✕|✕ 4.95 ✕ | 84 | 57 | ✕ ✕ | 69 | 49 | ✕ ✕|✕|✕|✕ ✕|✕|✕|✕ 3.00 ✕ | 42 | 27 | ✕ ✕ | 31 | 21 | ✕ ✕|✕|✕|✕ ✕|✕|✕|✕ 3.99 ✕ | 46 | 34 | ✕ ✕|✕|✕|✕ 8,580 3,847

2.89 ✕|✕|✕|✕ ✕ | 35 | 26 | ✕ ✕ | 35 | 25 | ✕ ✕|✕|✕|✕ 4.99 ✕ | 88 | 62 | ✕ ✕ | 54 | 40 | ✕ ✕|✕|✕|✕ ✕|✕|✕|✕ 4.82 ✕ | 81 | 55 | ✕ ✕ | 68 | 48 | ✕ ✕|✕|✕|✕ ✕|✕|✕|✕ 2.91 ✕ | 41 | 27 | ✕ ✕ | 30 | 20 | ✕ ✕|✕|✕|✕ ✕|✕|✕|✕ 2.10 ✕ | 35 | 27 | ✕ ✕|✕|✕|✕ 8,286 3,444

3

3

3

Contact Phone E-mail Price*

Overall 12.17 27.46 5.00

Value for money (out of 5)

Features Chipset Manufacturing process Core speed (MHz) Memory Amount (MB) / Speed (MHz) Type / Bandwidth Interface Shader Version(Pixel / Vertex) Shader Units (Pixel / Vertex) Backpanel (D-Sub / DVI / S-Vid / Composite) Cooling System GPU (Type / Copper heatsink) Memory (Cooling present / Copper heatsink) Slots occupied Factory overclocked

Performance F.E.A.R Low (No AA, No AF) High (No AA, 4x AF) High (No AA, 8x AF) Max (4x AA, 16x AF) Quake 4 (High Quality) no AA / no AF no AA / 8x AF 4x AA / 8x AF 8x AA / 16x AF Doom 3 (High Quality) no AA / no AF no AA / 8x AF 4x AA / 8x AF 8x AA / 16x AF Half Life 2: Lost Coast (High Quality) no AA / no AF no AA / 8x AF 4x AA / 8x AF 8x AA / 16x AF Age of Empires 3 High (Low AA, High Shader/Shadow quality) Max (High AA, V. High Shader/Shadow quality)

3DMark 2003 (Default settings) 3DMark 2005 (Default settings)

Warranty & Support Period of warranty (years)

* Prices are indicative and are subject to change, taxes extra, + Each game index out of 10 Note: All performance scores are in FPS at four resolutions: 800 x 600 / 1024 x 768 / 1280 x 1024 / 1600 x 1200

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ENTRY LEVEL

XFX 6600GT

Big GeForce 6600GT

Zebronics NE-6600L

GeCube GC-RX550GU2

PowerColor X550

Rashi Peripherals Pvt. Ltd. 022-28221013

Bit Byte Corporation 022-23894800

Topnotch Infotronix 022-26616202

Tirupati Enterprises 0250-3950947

Mediatech India 022-26361111

[email protected]

[email protected]

[email protected]

[email protected]

[email protected]

Rs 9,600

Rs 11,000

Rs 5,600

Rs 4,500

Rs 4,350

11.37 27.41 5.00

11.24 27.39 5.00

10.10 17.17 5.00

9.88 18.32 3.33

9.71 16.66 5.00

Total: 43.79

Total: 43.63

Total: 32.27

Total: 31.53

Total: 31.37

Nvidia GeForce 6600GT 110 nm 500

Nvidia GeForce 6600GT 110 nm 500

Nvidia GeForce 6600LE 110 nm 300

ATI Radeon X550 110 nm 446

ATI Radeon X550 110 nm 398

128 / 1000 GDDR3 / 128-bit AGP 3.0 / 3.0 8/3 ✕|✓|✓|✕

256 / 900 GDDR3 / 128-bit AGP 3.0 / 3.0 8/3 ✓|✓|✓|✕

256 / 400 DDR / 128-bit PCI-E 3.0 / 3.0 8/4 ✓|✓|✓|✕

256 / 554 DDR2 / 128-bit PCI-E 2.0 / 2.0 4/2 ✓|✓|✓|✕

256 / 526 DDR2 / 128-bit PCI-E 2.0 / 2.0 4/2 ✓|✓|✓|✕

Active | ✕ ✕|✕ 1 

Active | ✕ |✕ 1 ✕

Active | ✕ ✕|✕ 1 ✕

Active | ✕ ✕|✕ 1 

Active | ✕ ✕|✕ 1 

2.90 ✕|✕|✕|✕ ✕ | 36 | 26 | ✕ ✕ | 35 | 25 | ✕ ✕|✕|✕|✕ 5.03 ✕ | 74 | 62 | ✕ ✕ | 64 | 40 | ✕ ✕|✕|✕|✕ ✕|✕|✕|✕ 4.62 ✕ | 71 | 54 | ✕ ✕ | 64 | 48 | ✕ ✕|✕|✕|✕ ✕|✕|✕|✕ 2.88 ✕ | 41 | 26 | ✕ ✕ | 30 | 20 | ✕ ✕|✕|✕|✕ ✕|✕|✕|✕ 3.38 ✕ | 39 | 29 | ✕ ✕|✕|✕|✕ 8,251 3,302

2.96 ✕|✕|✕|✕ ✕ | 36 | 26 | ✕ ✕ | 36 | 26 | ✕ ✕|✕|✕|✕ 4.76 ✕ | 74 | 61 | ✕ ✕ | 53 | 40 | ✕ ✕|✕|✕|✕ ✕|✕|✕|✕ 4.61 ✕ | 70 | 55 | ✕ ✕ | 63 | 48 | ✕ ✕|✕|✕|✕ ✕|✕|✕|✕ 2.91 ✕ | 41 | 27 | ✕ ✕ | 30 | 20 | ✕ ✕|✕|✕|✕ ✕|✕|✕|✕ 3.24 ✕ | 37 | 28 | ✕ ✕|✕|✕|✕ 8,183 3,678

1.43 ✕ | 37 | ✕ | ✕ 22 | 15 | ✕ | ✕ ✕|✕|✕|✕ ✕|✕|✕|✕ 2.89 41 | 30 | ✕ | ✕ ✕|✕|✕|✕ ✕|✕|✕|✕ ✕|✕|✕|✕ 2.72 45 | 32 | ✕ | ✕ ✕|✕|✕|✕ ✕|✕|✕|✕ ✕|✕|✕|✕ 1.72 22 | 14 | ✕ | ✕ ✕|✕|✕|✕ ✕|✕|✕|✕ ✕|✕|✕|✕ 3.08 22 | 16 | ✕ | ✕ ✕|✕|✕|✕ 3,690 ✕

1.65 ✕ | 51 | ✕ | ✕ 23 | 14 | ✕ | ✕ ✕|✕|✕|✕ ✕|✕|✕|✕ 3.23 47 | 33 | ✕ | ✕ ✕|✕|✕|✕ ✕|✕|✕|✕ ✕|✕|✕|✕ 1.96 34 | 23 | ✕ | ✕ ✕|✕|✕|✕ ✕|✕|✕|✕ ✕|✕|✕|✕ 2.70 33 | 23 | ✕ | ✕ ✕|✕|✕|✕ ✕|✕|✕|✕ ✕|✕|✕|✕ 2.81 21 | 15 | ✕ | ✕ ✕|✕|✕|✕ 3,674 ✕

1.25 ✕ | 46 | ✕ | ✕ 21 | 13 | ✕ | ✕ ✕|✕|✕|✕ ✕|✕|✕|✕ 2.85 47 | 29 | ✕ | ✕ ✕|✕|✕|✕ ✕|✕|✕|✕ ✕|✕|✕|✕ 1.78 31 | 21 | ✕ | ✕ ✕|✕|✕|✕ ✕|✕|✕|✕ ✕|✕|✕|✕ 2.51 33 | 21 | ✕ | ✕ ✕|✕|✕|✕ ✕|✕|✕|✕ ✕|✕|✕|✕ 2.59 19 | 13 | ✕ | ✕ ✕|✕|✕|✕ 3,345 ✕

3

3

3

2

3

FEBRUARY 2006 | INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP

5

72

HARDWARE

| VGA CARD COMPARISON

SpecScan 24 Category Name Contact Phone E-mail Price*

25

26

ENTRY LEVEL

Leadtek A6600 LE

Leadtek PX6200TC TDH

XFX GeForce 6200

Topnotch Infotronix 022-26616202

Topnotch Infotronix 022-26616202

Rashi Peripherals Pvt. Ltd. 022-28221013

[email protected]

[email protected]

[email protected]

Rs 5,900

Rs 2,950

Rs 4,500

10.22 16.01 5.00

8.87 12.81 5.00

8.93 11.87 5.00

Overall Features (out of 20) Performance (out of 75) Warranty and support (out of 5)

Overall (out of 100)

Total: 31.23

Total: 26.68

Total: 25.80

Nvidia GeForce 6600LE 110 300

Nvidia GeForce 6200 110 350

Nvidia GeForce 6200 110 350

256 / 1000 DDR / 128-bit AGP 3.0 / 3.0 8/3 ✓|✓|✓|✕

128 / 500 DDR / 64-bit PCI-E 3.0 / 3.0 4/3 ✓|✓|✓|✕

256 / 400 DDR / 64-bit AGP 3.0 / 3.0 4/3 ✓|✓|✓|✕

Active | ✕ ✕|✕ 1 

Passive | ✕ ✕|✕ 1 

Active |  ✕|✕ 1 ✕

1.47 ✕ | 39 | ✕ | ✕ 22 | 15 | ✕ | ✕ ✕|✕|✕|✕ ✕|✕|✕|✕ 2.20 31 | 23 | ✕ | ✕ ✕|✕|✕|✕ ✕|✕|✕|✕ ✕|✕|✕|✕ 2.58 39 | 29 | ✕ | ✕ ✕|✕|✕|✕ ✕|✕|✕|✕ ✕|✕|✕|✕ 1.28 22 | 15 | ✕ | ✕ ✕|✕|✕|✕ ✕|✕|✕|✕ ✕|✕|✕|✕ 2.84 21 | 16 | ✕ | ✕ ✕|✕|✕|✕ 4,032 ✕

0.96 ✕ | 32 | ✕ | ✕ 12 | 8 | ✕ | ✕ ✕|✕|✕|✕ ✕|✕|✕|✕ 2.74 40 | 28 | ✕ | ✕ ✕|✕|✕|✕ ✕|✕|✕|✕ ✕|✕|✕|✕ 1.34 22 | 15 | ✕ | ✕ ✕|✕|✕|✕ ✕|✕|✕|✕ ✕|✕|✕|✕ 1.66 21 | 13 | ✕ | ✕ ✕|✕|✕|✕ ✕|✕|✕|✕ ✕|✕|✕|✕ 1.96 14 | 11 | ✕ | ✕ ✕|✕|✕|✕ 2,431 ✕

0.82 ✕ | 29 | ✕ | ✕ 10 | 6 | ✕ | ✕ ✕|✕|✕|✕ ✕|✕|✕|✕ 2.56 38 | 26 | ✕ | ✕ ✕|✕|✕|✕ ✕|✕|✕|✕ ✕|✕|✕|✕ 1.14 19 | 13 | ✕ | ✕ ✕|✕|✕|✕ ✕|✕|✕|✕ ✕|✕|✕|✕ 1.90 21 | 14 | ✕ | ✕ ✕|✕|✕|✕ ✕|✕|✕|✕ ✕|✕|✕|✕ 1.48 11 | 8 | ✕ | ✕ ✕|✕|✕|✕ 2,256 ✕

3

3

3

Value for money (out of 5)

Features Chipset Manufacturing process Core speed (MHz) Memory Amount (MB) / Speed (MHz) Type / Bandwidth Interface Shader Version(Pixel / Vertex) Shader Units (Pixel / Vertex) Backpanel (D-Sub / DVI / S-Vid / Composite) Cooling System GPU (Type / Copper heatsink) Memory (Cooling present / Copper heatsink) Slots occupied Factory overclocked

Performance F.E.A.R Low (No AA, No AF) High (No AA, 4x AF) High (No AA, 8x AF) Max (4x AA, 16x AF) Quake 4 (High Quality) no AA / no AF no AA / 8x AF 4x AA / 8x AF 8x AA / 16x AF Doom 3 (High Quality) no AA / no AF no AA / 8x AF 4x AA / 8x AF 8x AA / 16x AF Half Life 2: Lost Coast (High Quality) no AA / no AF no AA / 8x AF 4x AA / 8x AF 8x AA / 16x AF Age of Empires 3 High (Low AA, High Shader/Shadow quality) Max (High AA, V. High Shader/Shadow quality)

3DMark 2003 (Default settings) 3DMark 2005 (Default settings)

Warranty & Support Period of warranty (years)

* Prices are indicative and are subject to change, taxes extra, + Each game index out of 10 Note: All performance scores are in FPS at four resolutions: 800 x 600 / 1024 x 768 / 1280 x 1024 / 1600 x 1200

INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP | FEBRUARY 2006

VGA CARD COMPARISON

| HARDWARE

SpecScan 26 Category Name Contact Phone E-mail Price*

27

29

HIGH END

Gainward 2300PCX Ultra

MSI NX6800GS

GeCube GC-RX1600XTG3

Mediatech India 022-26361111

Micro-Star International 011-41758809

Tirupati Enterprises 0250-3950947

[email protected]

[email protected]

[email protected]

Rs 14,925

Rs 25,000

Rs 15,000

Overall Features (out of 20) Performance (out of 75) Warranty and support (out of 5)

Overall (out of 100)

15.12 30.75 5.00

Total: 50.87

15.12 30.45 5.00

Total: 50.57

14.74 27.49 3.33

Total: 45.56

Value for money (out of 5)

SpecScan 30 Category Name Contact Phone E-mail Price*

31

32

MID RANGE

ASUS EAX1300PRO

MSI RX1300 Pro

GeCube GC-RX1300PG2

Asustek Computer Inc 022-40058894

Micro-Star International 011-41758809

Tirupati Enterprises 0250-3950947

[email protected]

[email protected]

[email protected]

Rs 7,500

Rs 7,000

Rs 10,800

12.94 19.43 5.00

11.74 19.43 5.00

Overall Features (out of 20) Performance (out of 75) Warranty and support (out of 5)

Overall (out of 100)

Total: 37.37

Total: 36.17

10.94 19.81 3.33

Total: 34.08

Value for money (out of 5)

SpecScan 33 Category Name Contact Phone E-mail Price*

34

35

ENTRY LEVEL

Gigabyte GV-RX30S128D

PowerColor 9550SE

XFX GeForce 6200TC

Gigabyte Technology (India) Ltd Mediatech India 022-26526696 022-26361111

Rashi Peripherals Pvt. Ltd. 022-28221013

[email protected]

[email protected]

[email protected]

Rs 3,500

Rs 3,150

Rs 3,400

8.38 11.31 5.00

7.98 11.60 5.00

8.73 6.46 5.00

Overall Features (out of 20) Performance (out of 75) Warranty and support (out of 5)

Overall (out of 100) Value for money (out of 5)

FEBRUARY 2006 | INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP

Total: 24.69

Total: 24.58

Total: 20.20

73

Pramod Jadhav

NAPA has landed Intel’s next-generation mobile computing platform promises to deliver extreme performance backed by ample battery life. Let’s take a closer look....

O

n January 10 2006, Intel India launched the much expected new Centrino Duo Mobile technology platform. Code named NAPA, the Centrino Duo is the next-generation mobile platform from Intel. The technology behind NAPA has been developed and conceptualized by the Intel India team at the Intel’s India Development Centre Labs in Bangalore. Although the chips have not been manufactured in India, the ‘Made in India’ label certainly made the launch special as well as made us proud. While discussing the NAPA platform at IDF held at Bangalore on October 15 2005, Intel gave an insight into more performance and features with a smaller form factor and reduced power

consumption. From the mobility point of view, the NAPA platform seems to be right on the button, aiming to boost the mobile platform to a new level. Intel has been aggressively pushing the Centrino platform in mobile computing. Now with the Centrino Duo, Intel expects a significant increase—about 70 percent laptops are expected to run on the Centrino platform in the next three years. The laptop market has been growing at a phenomenal rate and with the Centrino duo, Intel is surely gunning for a clear domination. At the Centrino Duo launch, Intel also hinted at the next revision to the platform with processors on two or more cores and a possible implementation of hyper threading to mobile processors as well. The

focus is to offer desktop level performance on mobile platforms without any hit to the mobility aspect. While the Centrino Duo is at its first stage, it surely looks very impressive and promising. Let’s take a closer look at NAPA and find out how it proposes to revolutionize the mobile computing platform.

Centrino Duo Mobile platform The Centrino Duo Mobile platform comprises three parts: Intel Core Duo Processor Mobile Intel 945 Express Chipset Family Intel PRO/Wireless 3945ABG Network Connection

INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP | FEBRUARY 2006

FEATURE

| HARDWARE

75

Core Duo The core element of the new Centrino platform is the Intel Core Duo processor also known as Yonah. Yonah is Intel’s first mobile dual-core processor and is built on the 65-nanometer process technology. The dual core mobile processor has an on-die primary 32 KB instruction cache and 32 KB write-back data cache. A 2 MB level2 cache is shared by the two cores using the Intel Smart Cache technology that allows dynamic allocation of cache to the cores as per the processing load on the cores. Therefore, even if one core is idle, the other core can use the whole of 2 MB capacity. But many a time one core is not idle, so it’s important to dynamically allocate the cache in an intelligent way. Dynamic cache allocation efficiently allocates the cache memory according to what is needed by each core. Core Duo processor also efficiently shares data needed by both execution cores. Data can be modified by one execution core and be subsequently

utilized by the other execution core without the need to first write the data to DRAM. Furthermore, with Intel Smart Cache L2, data is shared by both the execution cores which means data is stored in only one cache location rather than in multiple locations as with separate L2 caches. This minimizes front side bus traffic, reducing the latencies related to data transfer. To maximize cache utilization for both cores, the processor is supported with enhanced Data Pre-fetch Logic, which is basically speculatively fetching data to the L2 cache even before cache requests for the data stream. Apart from sharing the FEBRUARY 2006 | INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP

The 2MB L2 cache is dynamically shared between the two cores using the Intel Smart Cache technology. L2 cache, the multi-core CPUs also share a single front side bus that operates at 667 MHz higher than the earlier Dothan’s 533 MHz FSB. The increased memory bandwidth will benefit the dual core architecture. Under the Intel Digital Media Boost banner, the Yonah core incorporates SSE3 (Streaming SIMD Extentions 3). SSE3 supported by all the latest desktop processors finally makes it to the mobile platform with the Yonah core and will benefit specific applications having the provision to take advantage of SSE3. On the power consumption front, Yonah offers Enhanced Intel SpeedStep technology and Intel Dynamic Power coordination. The Enhanced Intel SpeedStep Technology allows efficient management of voltage and frequency. This enables the two cores to independently and dynamically enter into Halt, Stop Clock, and Deep Sleep low-power modes. This means that if only one core is being utilized, the second core can still enter an idle state to help save power. The Intel Core Duo processor is able to transfer power only to those areas of the processor that need it. The Dynamic Power Coordination enables coordinated transition to Deeper Sleep and an Enhanced Deeper Sleep mode. With the Enhanced Deeper Sleep mode, the processor can enter the ultra low power consumption mode. The feature is supported with

| The Core Duo processors and thier clock speeds Processor

Cache

Clock Speed

Front Side Bus

T2600

2 MB L2

2.16 GHz

667 MHz

T2500

2 MB L2

2 GHz

667 MHz

T2400

2 MB L2

1.83 GHz

667 MHz

T2300

2 MB L2

1.66 GHz

667 MHz

dynamic cache sizing. The Smart Cache can dynamically flush the cache to system memory based on demand or during periods of inactivity. When the cache is completely flushed, the processor enters the Enhanced Deeper Sleep mode. The system can dynamically move from this Enhanced Deeper Sleep state to an active state in no time. Intel Core Duo processor also features Dynamic Bus Parking. This enables platform power saving by allowing the chipset to power down with the processor when in low-frequency modes. So in addition to the processor specific optimizations, the processor and chipset also work in harmony to extend the battery life. Yonah also comes in single core variants and is sold under the ‘Intel Core solo’ naming scheme. Budget laptops under the new Centrino platform will be sold with the Intel Core solo processors. These processors are much better in every sense when compared to the current Celeron M processors for the budget mobile platform.

Intel i945 Express Chipset The Core Duo runs on the Intel i945 Express chipset offering dual-channel DDR2667 support. The chipset comes in two variants—the Intel 945GM and the Intel 945PM. The 945PM is a pure performance chipset boasting 28 percent lesser power consumption as compared to the older generation of mobile chipsets. The 945GM offers the Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 950 expected to deliver improved graphics performance when compared to the previous generation chipset. With a 256-bit graphics core running at 400 MHz, the

76

HARDWARE

| FEATURE

3192 Asus W5

PentiumM [email protected]

3302 Asus W5 PentiumM [email protected] 15099 Samsung SENS X60

Intel Core Duo T2300

5759 Asus V6J 6597 AMD Athlon 64 X2 4400@ 2.2G 0

7913 Asus W5

PentiumM [email protected]

4419 Samsung SENS X60

Si-Soft Sandra 2005 CPU Whetstone iSSE2/SSE3 MFLOPS

Si-Soft Sandra 2005 CPU Dhrystone ALU MIPS

PC-Mark 2004 system test

6062 Samsung SENS X60

18181 Asus V6J

Intel Core Duo T2500

0

5000

7299 Asus V6J

10000

15000

As I said earlier, the real benefits of the Centrino Duo platform will depend on how soon the operating systems and the applications can take advantage of the Yonah architecture. We got two notebooks based on the NAPA platform and the preliminary round of tests on the notebooks look very promising.

Specifications The ASUS V6J Centrino Duo notebook came with 2GB DDR-II memory operating at 667 MHz and gives 100 GB of chipset supports up to 10.6 GB/sec memory bandwidth with DDR2 667 system memory. The chipset allows the user to dedicate up to 224 MB of system memory for video. As far as the pixel per clock rendering goes, the 945GM supports 4 pixels per clock rendering, at par with the entry level dedicated video cards today. The rest of the feature set is standard with provision for PCI Express x16 graphics port and PCI Express x1 I/O ports, next generation Serial ATA, and high-speed USB 2.0 connectivity.

Intel PRO/Wireless 3945ABG The Intel PRO/Wireless 3945ABG is basically a sleeker, smarter and smaller wireless solution. It’s packaged in an ultra compact form factor known as ‘Minicard’ occupying almost one third of the space occupied by the older Wi-Fi solutions.

Intel Core Duo T2500

Desktop

9195 AMD Athlon 64 X2 4400@ 2.2G

Desktop

20000 0

NAPA performance preview

Intel Core Duo T2300

Intel Core Duo T2500

19879 AMD Athlon 64 X2 4400@ 2.2G

Desktop

1000 2000 3000 4000 5000 6000 7000 8000

Intel Core Duo T2300

storage space. The Samsung SENS X60 holds 1 GB memory and provides 80 GB of storage space.

Performance Analysis We compared the Core Duo based notebooks with the earlier Pentium-M 750 based notebook operating at 1.86 GHz and an Athlon 64 X2 4400+ based desktop computer. The scores in PC Mark and SiSoft Sandra clearly indicate a near two-fold performance increase in the CPU scores as well as the overall system performance over the older platform. As far as the It’s compatible with the latest 802.11e standard and offers a string of tweaks in the form of Quality of Service (QoS) features such as transmission prioritization that lets you tune the connectivity as per the application. Another nifty feature is the Optimal Access Point selection that allows you to lock the connectivity to a particular network irrespective of the strength and range of the preferred network. In line with the NAPA platform,

2000

4000

6000

8000

10000

battery performance is concerned, the dual core processors did not take a toll on the battery life, the ASUS V6J gave a total time of 167 minutes in mobile mark which is close to the 180 minutes rated battery life. Both the notebooks we received were reference products for the Mobile Centrino Duo platform and hence the pricing and exact configuration with respect to memory and storage is not fixed yet. The indicative pricing is in the range of 1-1.5 lakh rupees, the final price will vary as per the configuration of various models. the Wireless 3945ABG is also optimized for power saving modes and intelligent power utilization tweaks for a longer battery life.

What to expect Overall, the Intel Centrino Duo is a powerful and intelligent mobile platform with lot of promise. Tangible benefits in terms of improved performance largely depends on the applications and support for dual core processing. Windows Vista has native support for dual core processors; similarly there are some applications and games that take advantage of dual core processing. Once majority of the applications are ready for the dual core, the performance benefit over the older Centrino platform will actually reach near the 70 percent mark as touted by Intel. As of now, what you can visibly expect from Core Duo is improved performance without any compromise on the battery life. We are currently testing notebooks based on the Centrino Duo platform. Watch out for detailed standalone reviews of NAPA notebooks in the next issue. ■ | Soham Raninga INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP | FEBRUARY 2006

FEATURE

| HARDWARE

77

Pramod Jadhav

Power Packed Portability After MP3 players, it’s the personal media players taking the portable entertainment world by storm

T

he Walkman marked the birth of portable audio. In fact, the concept of personal music was born with the Walkman. Then came the wave of the Discman and again audio portability was re-defined. And then thanks to the promotion of portable digital music, MP3 players became a part of life for every music freak. Now meet the new kid on the block—the PMP or Personal Media Player is the swiss knife of portable entertainment. It seamlessly integrates the best in one single device, while retaining the portability. Within the size of a Walkman, the PMP integrates a mini hard drive, a LCD screen covering the front face of the player and a removable rechargeable battery. A closer look at what this multi-feature portable player can do.

Portable Storage Most of the PMPs house at least a 20 gig hard drive. They are straightaway detected as a portable storage device in Windows XP FEBRUARY 2006 | INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP

and you can transfer data to and from your PC’s hard drive to the PMP as soon as you plug in the USB connector. Can replace: Portable hard drives, thumb drives, pen drives. Constraints: Its much bigger in size as compared to a pen drive, but then again its big on storage also.

Audio/Video Playback PMPs play almost all kinds of digital audio and video formats depending upon the device capability; you can view video files on the LCD screen. With a 20 gig hard drive you can carry about 15 divx movies along with 500 songs. You can carry it around to watch movies during a long flight or watch your favorite TV shows or just listen to your favorite audio tracks while traveling in your car. They can easily replace LCD screens in the car. For public viewing, install a mounting kit or for personal use just strap it to the back of the seat and it’s ready to be viewed. You can even playback the audio

on the car stereo. Just connect it to the auxiliary jack of the car stereo or use a FM transmitter. And the best part, you don’t have to worry about leaving behind your expensive gadgetry in the car. Worried about battery life? Don’t. Most PMPs come with removable batteries; you can also carry a spare one around, but these aren’t your regular pencil batteries but Li-ion batteries, which are expensive. And you can charge the battery even while listening to the player. Can replace: MP3 players, Car LCD screens. Constraints: Hard drive-based players are not suitable for jogging and sporting activities. If that’s your\ requirement then flash memory-based MP3 player is what you should get.

Picture/Document Viewer 20 gig storage means being able to carry almost all your photographs. And the screen lets you view not just your favorite pictures but also text files—so you can read

78

HARDWARE

| FEATURE

your morning newspaper or your favorite novel on the go. You no longer have to carry those bulky novels or your daily newspaper. Almost all popular books and newspapers are available for download online. And with anytime, anywhere Internet connectivity and more and more devices

play your CDs or DVDs. So in case you want to watch a movie stored on a DVD disc, you will have to transfer it from the disc to the PMP using the PC having a DVD optical drive. (It takes about 5 minutes to transfer a single divx movie of say 700 MB.)

Some unique features offered by individual devices Phone: The Gizmondo is one such device which offers phone functionality along with the ability to play games. Camera: Built-in camera to record video and click snaps, which are directly stored on the hard drive. With a 20 gig hard drive you can record hours of video. Thought it certainly cannot replace a camcorder, it’s pretty decent for casual use. OTG: Stands for USB On the Go, this allows the PMP to connect to another portable device with a mini USB connector to transfer data. For example, it can connect to a digital camera to transfer the photos onto its hard drive without the need for a computer. GPRS: Some of them offer road navigation. With a big screen and a thin frame it can be easily mounted on the dash board. Games: Along with multimedia, it has the ability to run games. The Sony PSP is the pioneer here. FM: You can listen to and record FM. Wi-Fi: Has an in-built Wi-Fi adapter to wirelessly access the internet and play movies, music. access and surf the internet and stream music and video’s. With Wi-Fi spots springing up almost everywhere, this is one feature to look out for. Microphone: For voice recording.

offering Wi-Fi functionality it wouldn’t be long before your paper boy stops delivering the newspaper in the morning. Can replace: Books, novels, magazines, photographs. Constraints: No hard copies.

Video playback on TV Almost all PMPs include the TV Out feature, which means these players can playback video on TV. Can replace: DVD players. Constraints: No optical drive to directly

Personal Video Recorder

What sets it back

You can record anything off your TV, even schedule your recordings. The recorded material is stored on the hard drive. Presently, there are only a few PMPs that offer this feature. Can replace: VCRs, DVD Recorders. Constraints: Since it doesn’t have an optical drive, you can’t directly record to DVD discs though you can always sync the PMP to a PC with a DVD writer and then record onto a DVD disc.

Price! With PMPs priced at above Rs 18,000, not anyone and everyone can afford it. It’s almost the cost of an entry-level desktop computer. Also, as far as battery life is concerned, the best of the best run out within 6 to 9 hours. Most of them have removable batteries but again they are expensive. Looks like PMPs are here to stay and with market prices dropping these should become a part of every gadget enthusiast’s digital lifestyle. INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP | FEBRUARY 2006

FEATURE

| HARDWARE

79

Archos AV 500 The Archos AV 500 is certainly the king of all the PMPs available in the market. This monster has rugged steel looks and comes in 30 and 100 GB hard drive capacities. The dazzling wide screen LCD has good viewing angles and is compact enough to fit into your pocket. Features like TV Out and the ability to record audio and video from external sources, including TV at scheduled times, have been integrated into this neat little device. Battery life is good and as it’s removable you use an alternate battery to extend your usage time. The accessory list includes a gold plated audio/video cable, docking cradle and remote control.

Creative Zen Vision Small and elegant, this player packs a whopping 30 GB hard drive and a longer list of features including a VGA screen and support for content recorded on TiVo DVRs. It boasts a high-resolution screen, excellent interface, FM radio; it syncs with Outlook and comes with a removable battery and a CompactFlash slot. Keeping users’ demand for portability on the move, a wireless remote and docking cradle have been bundled along. So all of you not wanting to miss out on your music, video, photos, and recorded TV wherever you go, now know what you need to get home.

Apple Ipod Video The new apple iPod Video packs in more storage and a bigger screen into a thinner package. Higher capacity in terms of figures means accommodating 15,000 songs, full-color album art, up to 25,000 photos, over 150 hours of video. Choose between the 30 GB and 60 GB models. While a bigger TFT display entices your eyes, you can count on 20 hours of battery life. You will notice that this one has a smaller scroll wheel when compared to the last iPod. While keeping up the iPod’s tradition of excellent music playing and organizing capabilities, this one adds the video capability feature as well. And like the iPod photo, you can view your digital pictures from your computer or digital camera. All in all, this is certainly a sexy own-me-please personal media player.

Sony PSP A device to go gaga about—that would be the right way to describe the Sony PlayStation Portable. A combination of a brilliant high-resolution screen, cutting-edge wireless connectivity and Internet browser offers you a rich multimedia experience to live for. Apart from gaming, there are a zillion other things you could do. The Memory Stick Duo lets you store digital photos, custom wallpapers and sharing of these is enabled with the help of the image transfer feature. The player epitomizes the concept of ‘entertainment in your palm’—you can watch full-length movies on a pre-recorded UMD. The dazzling LCD screen makes viewing your favorite movies much more enjoyable. ■ | Gaurav Seth

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HARDWARE

| PERSONAL TECHNOLOGY

Media Center, the sequel M

y PC hibernates in a dusty corner of the living room. It wakes up on weekends and becomes a media hub for editing and emailing digital photos or for listening to MP3 songs. Evidently, the PC has evolved. It’s no longer used only for running business applications or for surfing the Net. Functionally, it’s metamorphosing into an entertainment hub. Yet it has miles to go before it can catch up with standard audio/ video equipment. Those who’ve just started using the PC will at once notice its imperfections. You have to wait a full minute or two for it to boot. And if you want high-fidelity sound or video you need to invest in add-ons: surround sound speakers and soundcards, graphics cards, and wide-screen LCD monitors. This is an expensive proposition. When you add it all up, the cost approaches that of a high-end home entertainment system. And even with these additions, there’s still a lot to be desired in terms of sound or video quality. That’s because you are simply adding a layer of (expensive) add-ons over ageing 32-bit architecture. If the PC has to level off with standalone entertainment components, it’s got to be redesigned inside out, from the grassroots. I’m talking about a new architecture, consumerfriendly features like instant-on, simple interface, remote control, tighter security, low maintenance, superior sound, video, storage, the same pricing as standard home entertainment systems. And of course, we need on-demand digital content and online services. The industry has long taken note and there were some attempts to make the PC an entertainment hub. Microsoft has been promoting Windows XP Media Center Edition software and Intel created the Entertainment PC platform. PC manufacturers like HP, HCL and others sell Media Center PCs. But first generation products have received lukewarm acceptance worldwide. Yet the industry is giving it another shot. Sometime in 2006, the computer industry will launch a brand new digital home entertainment platform. In early January 2006, Intel announced its ViiV (as in “five”) technology for a new breed of home

entertainment PCs. According to Intel, ViiV PCs will have a dual-core processor and advanced graphics and sound capabilities (7.1 surround sound). You’ll be able to control these PCs with a remote, switch them on/off instantly, and pause or record TV shows from across the room, and access content wirelessly from any room in the home. And ViiV PCs will resemble standard audio/video components like DVD players. AMD’s answer to that is LIVE! These will have Athlon 64 X2 dual-core processors for desktop PCs as well as AMD dual-core mobile processors for | Brian Pereira notebooks. AMD LIVE! PCs will also have built-in [email protected] 7.1 surround sound. Microsoft’s operating system (Media Center Edition) will power these new PCs. Already, there are some 110 applications (programs) for this platform and these can be manipulated by remote control. The industry will embrace either ViiV or LIVE! technology, and build components on these platforms. But you’ll have to wait a bit for these new PCs because it’s not just a platform but an ecosystem that will be evolving. And this time the bundle will include broadband Internet access, on-demand content, and online services. The second generation of Media Center PCs (ViiV and LIVE!) will need fast broadband connections, useful online services, and localized digital on-demand content (movies, music, games, contests). Local broadband infrastructure needs to improve. But we are getting there pretty fast. The number of broadband connections has scaled upto 835,000 (as on January 6, 2005). And coming to content, companies like Eros International are already preparing on-demand digital content. Eros offers ‘B on demand” (‘B’ denotes Bollywood) through its digital content portal. This is a future digital video service available on demand over the Internet via Intel’s ViiV technology. As more Indians get hooked on to content and services, Media Center PCs are likely to be the center of attraction in the living room within the next five years. ■ The writer has been covering personal technology issues for the past 12 years

With the PC, there’s still a lot to be desired in terms of sound or video quality. That’s because you are simply adding a layer of (expensive) add-ons over ageing 32-bit architecture

INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP | FEBRUARY 2006

TECHNOLOGY LANDSCAPE

| HARDWARE

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Sound abound A guide to buying the right type of multi-channel speaker Mid range

High end

Models: Creative Inspire 4400, AltecLansing 151i, Creative SBS560

Models: Creative Inspire 5200, AltecLansing 251, AltecLansing V3151R,

Models: Creative Inspire T7700, Logitech Z5300, Logitech Z5500

Budget: Rs 2,500-4,000

Budget: Rs 4,000-8,000

Budget: Rs 8,000 and above

M

ulti-channel speakers are no longer a distant dream for budget buyers; you can buy a true 5.1 speaker setup for your computer under the 4K mark. But choosing entry level multi-channel speakers is tough. The market is full of variants sporting “4000 W” labels which make you wonder what you can expect from them. The power rating should always be taken on the RMS value of the satellites and woofer. A value 5.1 or 4.1 speaker setup will never sound anywhere close to what a high-end speaker system will sound like. Therefore, you will have to compromise on the quality and loudness. It’s highly recommended that you see a demo before you make the buying decision. Sound quality is very subjective to individual tastes and preferences and hence a demo is a must. These value speakers tend to distort at high volumes and hence it’s recommended to check that. Go for the speaker set which distorts the least and maintains the sound quality at varied volume levels.

FEBRUARY 2006 | INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP

T

he mid-range segment offers a lot of choice and variety to the user. These speaker systems offer good sound quality at reasonably high volumes, letting you enjoy positional sound in games and movies. The target user for the mid-range segment is someone who enjoys games and movies on his computer. The speaker systems in this category won’t really suffice for a large room but they will surely rock in an enclosed gaming environment. The placement of satellites and woofer is very important, the woofer should be placed on the ground for optimum results while the satellites should be ideally at the ear level for maximum impact and response. Most of these systems come with a remote for controlling the volume and switching between 2.1 and 5.1 modes. The V3151R from Altec Lansing offers great package in terms of a separate control unit and good sound quality for gaming. The Creative Inspire 5200 offers excellent value and well balanced sound for movies as well as games.

T

hese isn’t too much choice in this segment due to a very few brands and limited models. The high-end multichannel speakers use dedicated drivers for the high, mid and low frequency sounds and hence are well balanced for all types of applications. The Creative offers 7.1 speaker setups which give two extra channels for side surround (the latest games make use of the side surround). For the high-end category, a soundcard makes a huge difference, so it’s recommended that you pair these speakers with a high- end soundcard. Try the Audigy-2 series from Creative—a good match for the high-end speakers. For ultimate sound quality, the THX certified Logitech Z5300 and Z5500 are simply the best speaker systems in the market. While the Z5300 gives great value in this segment, the Z5500 is the ultimate solution with a 500W RMS rating, and a separate “control pod” offering on-the-fly DTS decoding. | Soham Raninga

Vishwanath Vanjire

Entry level

Full throttle Applying the right settings and tweaks for your graphics card can go a long way in improving performance

O

ut of all the components inside a computer, the graphics engine is the most sought after for tweaking. There are various driver tweaks for VGA cards that deliver better performance, quality and features. This guide will take you through a step-by-step process of tweaking your VGA card for better performance and quality. The guide is spread over two steps. Starting with basic driver tweaking, we move on to tweaking in-game settings for better performance. The basic driver tweaking using the default control panel can be done by anyone wanting to finetune graphics performance. The in-game tweaks are for gamers who want to extract some extra frames for smoother game play.

Tweaking driver settings through the control panel Nvidia and ATI both have their own VGA driver control panels offering all the driver settings. Instead of sticking to a specific chipset manufacturer, we chose to discuss the settings and features of the VGA chipsets in general. Since most of the key settings are common to both the VGA chipsets and their driver control panel, a generic approach has been taken. Also keep in mind that the guide primarily deals with performance tweaking and hence the elements related to performance are specifically discussed.

Image settings/Mipmap detail: The image settings tab normally gives you four options—High performance/Performance/ Quality/High quality. By default, the tab is locked to “Quality”. While the quality mode is the safest of all the modes, it might not be the best one. For entry-level cards, the high performance mode will help to up the frame count by compromising slightly on the performance. Similarly, the upper end of the mid-range segment and the highend cards rarely take a hit when pushed from “Quality” to “High Quality” mode.

VSync: Vertical Synchronization or VSync is the synchronization of your monitor and graphics card’s abilities to draw a certain number of frames per second on the screen. In case of monitors, it is referred to as “Refresh Rate”, and is measured in Hertz (Hz). Monitors can provide multiple refresh rates at various resolutions and hence the

refresh rate is not constant for everyone. If your monitor is set to 75 Hz, it basically corresponds to the screen redrawing itself 75 times per second at the given resolution. If Vertical Sync is enabled, your maximum FPS cannot exceed your monitor’s refresh rate at your chosen resolution, and hence the performance of your VGA card might be restricted by the refresh rate. Disabling VSync will allow you to exceed the FPS above the refresh rate. Some games like Doom 3 causes some screen “tearing” with the VSync but it’s not always noticeable. Hence, it is strongly recommended that Vertical Sync be disabled in all games to allow your VGA card to perform at its optimal levels. By default, the VSync is always set to “enabled” or “application preference”. Ensure that VSync is disabled all the time unless you experience severe tearing and issues with particular games or resolutions.

Anisotropic Filtering: Anisotropic filtering (AF) is primarily applicable to textures. The higher the level of anisotropic filtering, sharper is the texture. Usually, there are 4 modes of filtering ranging between 2x-16x. The overall frame rate does take a hit when using higher levels of anisotropic filtering and the extent of hit depends on the resolution and the potential of the VGA chipset. Since most of the new games allow you to change anisotropic filtering settings within the game settings, it is recommended to arrive at a setting depending on the VGA card and the resolution. Low-end cards generally are the worst hit by anisotropic filtering while the

mid-range and high-end cards suffer the least. It’s advisable to leave the anisotropic filtering settings to “Application preference” unless you wish to force filtering on all games and applications.

Anti-aliasing: Anti-aliasing (also known as AA) is a technique used to minimize the jaggies or the “stair step” effect sometimes seen along the edges of 3D objects. Your selection can range from turning antialiasing completely off to selecting the maximum amount possible for a particular application. Anti-aliasing is heavy on the graphics chipset and hence is not recommended for low-end VGA cards. Even the weaker mid-range cards can’t deliver playable frame rates with anti-aliasing turned on. Usually, there are 4 modes of anti-aliasing ranging between Off-8x. Some of the high-end cards do offer 16x anti-aliasing but the performance benefit as well as implementation is not consistent with 16x AA. For mid-range cards, the recommended range of AA is 2x-4x, while the high-end cards can take 6x, 8x and 16x AA as well. All of course depends upon the rest of the settings and resolution. A combination of 8x AF and 4x AA works well with high-end cards, offering the right mix of quality and frame rates.

In-game performance tweaking The newer chipsets support a lot of complex rendering and special effects, which add to the realism and eye-candy factor in games. These effects take a heavy toll on the performance. Some of the INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP | FEBRUARY 2006

FEATURE

features are almost inconspicuous and can be traded for better performance. Let’s discuss all the common features and settings that can be tweaked for better performance.

Model and Effects Details: The level of detailing on the human models, vehicles and other elements can be adjusted using these settings. Higher detail levels not only require a powerful graphics chip but it also eats up on the video memory. If your VGA card has low memory and doesn’t provide enough horsepower for these effects, you can set them to medium or low for playable frame rates.

Texture and Shader details: Shader details decide on the complexity of shader intensive tasks. Rendering of realistic water or smoke effects is handled by shader units. The higher the detail level, more lifelike and real they appear. These settings also offer varied levels and stepping down from high to low or medium can improve performance significantly. If a particular game makes intense use of shaders, the performance impact can be huge and hence it’s highly recommended to play around with the settings to arrive at a favorable equation. Lights and water reflections: Games like F.E.A.R, Doom 3 make heavy use of lighting effects. Volumetric lighting which basically FEBRUARY 2006 | INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP

| HARDWARE

83

HDR and Bloom: refers to realistic lighting play a key role in providing realistic graphics. The way in which light falls on an object and the details of the effect of light on the object depends on the level of volumetric lighting applied in a particular scene. If you are not too keen on observing the effect of light on the environment inside the game, you can set the level to low or even turn it off for a significant boost. Water reflections again require keen observation to make the difference between intensity and accuracy of reflections and hence can be tweaked for better performance. High-end card owners should crank these settings up and do full justice to the capabilities of the graphics chipset.

Shadow details: These are one of the key culprits when it comes to sudden drop in performance. Rendering shadows is complex and most of the games struggle to deliver precise and realistic shadows. Soft shadows implemented in all the latest games turn out to be very taxing on the graphics chipset and hence are only recommended for high-end cards. Mid-range as well as low-end card owners are better placed disabling the shadows completely and enjoying the higher frame rates instead.

High Dynamic Range (HDR) in gaming is a technology that attempts to emulate real life lighting in games. Dynamic Range is the normal range of lighting while High Dynamic Range extends the overall range, giving brightness and contrast values that are higher than the normal dynamic range. In simpler terms, HDR allows you to make the objects brighter by allowing them to use the full brightness capabilities of the monitor and not just the brightness level at which they have been shot or rendered with. The Bloom effect used more frequently is a step-down version of HDR or you can even call it a step behind HDR. Bloom is basically an effect to simulate the shine and glow that is normally experienced around the light sources. HDR is very heavy on the system and especially the graphics chipset. Even the mid-range cards struggle to deliver playable frame rates with HDR enabled. We strongly recommend disabling of HDR for entry-level systems and VGA cards. Users with mid-range cards should experiment with Bloom and HDR to find out the exact difference in frames and choose the best settings. Bloom is almost 50 percent less demanding than HDR and hence is a nice balance for mid-range cards. High-end cards will let you apply full HDR and still deliver playable frame rates. ■ | Soham Raninga

Full throttle Applying the right settings and tweaks for your graphics card can go a long way in improving performance

O

ut of all the components inside a computer, the graphics engine is the most sought after for tweaking. There are various driver tweaks for VGA cards that deliver better performance, quality and features. This guide will take you through a step-by-step process of tweaking your VGA card for better performance and quality. The guide is spread over two steps. Starting with basic driver tweaking, we move on to tweaking in-game settings for better performance. The basic driver tweaking using the default control panel can be done by anyone wanting to finetune graphics performance. The in-game tweaks are for gamers who want to extract some extra frames for smoother game play.

Tweaking driver settings through the control panel Nvidia and ATI both have their own VGA driver control panels offering all the driver settings. Instead of sticking to a specific chipset manufacturer, we chose to discuss the settings and features of the VGA chipsets in general. Since most of the key settings are common to both the VGA chipsets and their driver control panel, a generic approach has been taken. Also keep in mind that the guide primarily deals with performance tweaking and hence the elements related to performance are specifically discussed.

Image settings/Mipmap detail: The image settings tab normally gives you four options—High performance/Performance/ Quality/High quality. By default, the tab is locked to “Quality”. While the quality mode is the safest of all the modes, it might not be the best one. For entry-level cards, the high performance mode will help to up the frame count by compromising slightly on the performance. Similarly, the upper end of the mid-range segment and the highend cards rarely take a hit when pushed from “Quality” to “High Quality” mode.

VSync: Vertical Synchronization or VSync is the synchronization of your monitor and graphics card’s abilities to draw a certain number of frames per second on the screen. In case of monitors, it is referred to as “Refresh Rate”, and is measured in Hertz (Hz). Monitors can provide multiple refresh rates at various resolutions and hence the

refresh rate is not constant for everyone. If your monitor is set to 75 Hz, it basically corresponds to the screen redrawing itself 75 times per second at the given resolution. If Vertical Sync is enabled, your maximum FPS cannot exceed your monitor’s refresh rate at your chosen resolution, and hence the performance of your VGA card might be restricted by the refresh rate. Disabling VSync will allow you to exceed the FPS above the refresh rate. Some games like Doom 3 causes some screen “tearing” with the VSync but it’s not always noticeable. Hence, it is strongly recommended that Vertical Sync be disabled in all games to allow your VGA card to perform at its optimal levels. By default, the VSync is always set to “enabled” or “application preference”. Ensure that VSync is disabled all the time unless you experience severe tearing and issues with particular games or resolutions.

Anisotropic Filtering: Anisotropic filtering (AF) is primarily applicable to textures. The higher the level of anisotropic filtering, sharper is the texture. Usually, there are 4 modes of filtering ranging between 2x-16x. The overall frame rate does take a hit when using higher levels of anisotropic filtering and the extent of hit depends on the resolution and the potential of the VGA chipset. Since most of the new games allow you to change anisotropic filtering settings within the game settings, it is recommended to arrive at a setting depending on the VGA card and the resolution. Low-end cards generally are the worst hit by anisotropic filtering while the

mid-range and high-end cards suffer the least. It’s advisable to leave the anisotropic filtering settings to “Application preference” unless you wish to force filtering on all games and applications.

Anti-aliasing: Anti-aliasing (also known as AA) is a technique used to minimize the jaggies or the “stair step” effect sometimes seen along the edges of 3D objects. Your selection can range from turning antialiasing completely off to selecting the maximum amount possible for a particular application. Anti-aliasing is heavy on the graphics chipset and hence is not recommended for low-end VGA cards. Even the weaker mid-range cards can’t deliver playable frame rates with anti-aliasing turned on. Usually, there are 4 modes of anti-aliasing ranging between Off-8x. Some of the high-end cards do offer 16x anti-aliasing but the performance benefit as well as implementation is not consistent with 16x AA. For mid-range cards, the recommended range of AA is 2x-4x, while the high-end cards can take 6x, 8x and 16x AA as well. All of course depends upon the rest of the settings and resolution. A combination of 8x AF and 4x AA works well with high-end cards, offering the right mix of quality and frame rates.

In-game performance tweaking The newer chipsets support a lot of complex rendering and special effects, which add to the realism and eye-candy factor in games. These effects take a heavy toll on the performance. Some of the INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP | FEBRUARY 2006

FEATURE

| HARDWARE

83

Dinesh Desai

features are almost inconspicuous and can be traded for better performance. Let’s discuss all the common features and settings that can be tweaked for better performance.

Model and Effects Details: The level of detailing on the human models, vehicles and other elements can be adjusted using these settings. Higher detail levels not only require a powerful graphics chip but it also eats up on the video memory. If your VGA card has low memory and doesn’t provide enough horsepower for these effects, you can set them to medium or low for playable frame rates.

Texture and Shader details: Shader details decide on the complexity of shader intensive tasks. Rendering of realistic water or smoke effects is handled by shader units. The higher the detail level, more lifelike and real they appear. These settings also offer varied levels and stepping down from high to low or medium can improve performance significantly. If a particular game makes intense use of shaders, the performance impact can be huge and hence it’s highly recommended to play around with the settings to arrive at a favorable equation. Lights and water reflections: Games like F.E.A.R, Doom 3 make heavy use of lighting effects. Volumetric lighting which basically FEBRUARY 2006 | INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP

HDR and Bloom: refers to realistic lighting play a key role in providing realistic graphics. The way in which light falls on an object and the details of the effect of light on the object depends on the level of volumetric lighting applied in a particular scene. If you are not too keen on observing the effect of light on the environment inside the game, you can set the level to low or even turn it off for a significant boost. Water reflections again require keen observation to make the difference between intensity and accuracy of reflections and hence can be tweaked for better performance. High-end card owners should crank these settings up and do full justice to the capabilities of the graphics chipset.

Shadow details: These are one of the key culprits when it comes to sudden drop in performance. Rendering shadows is complex and most of the games struggle to deliver precise and realistic shadows. Soft shadows implemented in all the latest games turn out to be very taxing on the graphics chipset and hence are only recommended for high-end cards. Mid-range as well as low-end card owners are better placed disabling the shadows completely and enjoying the higher frame rates instead.

High Dynamic Range (HDR) in gaming is a technology that attempts to emulate real life lighting in games. Dynamic Range is the normal range of lighting while High Dynamic Range extends the overall range, giving brightness and contrast values that are higher than the normal dynamic range. In simpler terms, HDR allows you to make the objects brighter by allowing them to use the full brightness capabilities of the monitor and not just the brightness level at which they have been shot or rendered with. The Bloom effect used more frequently is a step-down version of HDR or you can even call it a step behind HDR. Bloom is basically an effect to simulate the shine and glow that is normally experienced around the light sources. HDR is very heavy on the system and especially the graphics chipset. Even the mid-range cards struggle to deliver playable frame rates with HDR enabled. We strongly recommend disabling of HDR for entry-level systems and VGA cards. Users with mid-range cards should experiment with Bloom and HDR to find out the exact difference in frames and choose the best settings. Bloom is almost 50 percent less demanding than HDR and hence is a nice balance for mid-range cards. High-end cards will let you apply full HDR and still deliver playable frame rates. ■ | Soham Raninga

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HARDWARE INFOGRAPHIC

OLED Displays Thinner, lighter, flexible and power savers— OLED displays have a lot going for them What’s an OLED?

thin—foldable, even.

OLED is the acronym for Organic Light Emitting Diode. OLEDs emit light just like Light Emitting Diodes (LED) with the main difference being in their fabrication and application areas. OLED displays are used today in many devices like cell phones, digital cameras, flexible displays, car displays, large overhead displays and now even televisions.

OLED over conventional displays Displays built using OLEDs are well suited for all the products mentioned above because of their capability to produce brighter light and consume less power. In that sense, they are better than conventional displays. Best of all, they can be made to be very

What is an OLED device made of? An OLED is a solid-state device made up of semi-conductor materials, just like an LED. It is made up of a couple of layers of organic material and yet just 200 to 500 nanometers thick. Human hair is approximately 120,000 nanometers thick—making the OLED device over 200 times thinner! As mentioned earlier, layers of organic material are placed between terminals of a power source. Each layer has a certain function and the way they are arranged also makes a difference (as you read on). In an OLED device with two layers of organic material, the components are as follows:

Cathode: This is the negative terminal. When current flows from an external power source, electrons move from the cathode towards the anode. Emissive Layer: It is made up of plastic molecules but different from the material used for the Conducting Layer. The Emissive Layer is one that emits light.

Conducting Layer: This is the first organic layer made up of plastic molecules. As the name suggests, this layer attracts the flow of electrons from the layer above it (the emissive layer) to fill ‘holes’.

Anode: This is the positive terminal. When current flows through the device, it attracts electrons (negatively charged particles) towards it. This creates vacancies (known as ‘holes’) in the layers above. Due the loss of an electron the hole is considered as a positive charge, attracting an electron to fill the vacancy.

Substrate: This layer supports the OLED and is made of glass, foil or plastic. This layer can be made to be transparent.

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How does an OLED device emit light? Conductive Layer to Anode: Opposites attract—the positive terminal (anode) attracts electrons (negative charges) from the Conductive Layer towards it. This migration of electrons causes vacancies to be formed in the layer. The loss of an electron—a negatively charged particle—creates a “positive hole” in the Conductive Layer.

Cathode to Emissive Layer: When terminals of an OLED device receive power from an external source (a battery), current flows from the cathode to the anode (negative to positive terminal). Passage of current through the device is because of the movement of electrons; therefore electrons are injected into the layer below the Cathode—the Emissive Layer.

Emissive Layer to Conductive Layer: As the positive terminal attracts more and more electrons from the conductive layer, the ‘holes’ created are perfect home grounds for the electrons that are pumped into the Emissive Layer. Whenever an electron moves into a ‘hole’, energy is released. This energy is in the form of visible light. The color of light depends on the type of organic molecule used and the intensity depends on the amount of current applied (directly proportional to the number of electrons flowing through the device) by the battery source.

Different types of OLEDs OLED devices are differently based on the application requirements. Each type has its layers arranged differently, consumes different amounts of power or allows light to travel in a particular direction only. A passive-matrix OLED has Anode and Cathode strips arranged perpendicular to each other. Each strip is connected to an external power source. This sort of a display consumes more power and suits smaller screens like that of cell phones and MP3 players. In an active-matrix OLED, the Anode and Cathode layers are complete and includes a Thin Film Transistor (TFT) matrix as part of the circuitry that decides which pixel is turned on. The active-matrix type uses less power and has a better refresh rate, making it suitable for larger displays like signboards and televisions. Then there are transparent OLEDs, top-emitting OLEDs, foldable OLEDs, white OLEDs, which consist of layers that either allow light to emit in a particular direction, allowing one to fold it or just produce bright white light.

How good are OLEDs OLEDs are better than liquid crystal displays and LEDs because they are thinner, they use even less power to emit brighter and more coherent light. They even have a terrific viewing angle of up to 170 degrees as they don’t work on the LCD’s principle of blocking light. The foldable type of OLEDs is especially useful as these displays are wearable. But In spite of all these advantages, OLEDs are expensive to manufacture and have a shorter life span. ■ | Ashutosh Desai

Pramod Jadhav

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APPLICATIONS

| TESTED

Pramod Jadhav

Software Center

Applications

A

wide bunch of applications again brought to you from the software center, each with a good set of features. The first of the lot—the Cyberlink PowerDirector 5 is a video editing tool that aims to speed up the entire process of video editing while making it a lot simpler. And if you want to make your own good quality home video, you will be pleased with this one. Trend Micro’s security suite called the PC-cillin Internet Security 2006 has features that sets it apart from the rest in its category available today. Tired of using the numerous IE front ends available today, lacking in good features? Check out Avant Browser in that case as it’s very feature-rich. We also have for you the latest avatar of Norton

Personal Firewall that allows you to safely browse the Internet. While keeping a close eye on entertainment applications, we decided to bring for you the free and very easy-to-use audio player, the Foobar2000. It’s a good alternative to Winamp and Windows Media Player. If you’re in search of a system utility that can diagnose as well as perform benchmarking tests and give you a complete picture about the hardware and software installed on your system, then do check out the review of Fresh Diagnose. Also, we have reviewed the ‘Create Ringtone’ app and just as the name suggests, it allows you to create ring tones from your favorite MP3 files, either from your hard disk or from an audio CD.

| The Ratings Explained The parameters used for evaluating software are assigned a graphical rating out of a scale of 5. These parameters include performance, features and ease of use. The overall rating shown in the reviews is based on all these factors. In addition, there is a value for money rating for each application. This rating is obtained

by stacking the features and the utility of the application against its price. In the case of freeware and shareware tools that are available for download from the Internet, we replace the price with the download size (and therefore the time taken to download the application) for arriving at the value for money rating.

INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP | FEBRUARY 2006

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| APPLICATIONS

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Video Editor

PowerDirector 5 System requirements: Windows XP/2000, Pentium 4 2.4 GHz or AMD Athlon XP 2400+, 512 MB of RAM, minimum of 1 GB of free hard disk space, CD or DVD Burner for burning VCD/DVD/SVCD titles.

Price website

$89.95 (Approx Rs 4140) www.cyberlink.com

RATINGS Ease of use Features Performance Overall Rating Value for money

Movie buffs will love this! If you are in search of a video editing application that features editing tools, that automatically speeds up the entire editing process as well give you more time to explore your creativity, then CyberLink PowerDirector should be in the reckoning. The main interface is user friendly and all the video editing options are present right on the interface itself. This application features six powerful video editing tools namely Magic Style, Magic Fix, Magic Clean, Magic Motion, Magic Music, and Magic Cut. Each tool provides you with a variety of options and ensures hassle-free editing. The Magic Style tool provides you 12 different styles of creating a wide range of video titles. And if you feel these styles are not enough, you can log on to the CyberLink web site and download additional styles. Each style consists of a preset combination of video effects, transition, frames and titles. Even though these effects are preset, they can be later edited on the timeline interface. The next tool, Magic Fix, allows you to refurbish your video clips as well as your photos. You can stabilize shaky video by enabling the video stabilizer feature. You can also sharpen images of photos that are out of focus. Interestingly, you don’t have FEBRUARY 2006 | INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP

to do anything manually in case of red eye; it automatically detects the face, locates the eyes and corrects the red eyes. Many a time the pictures or videos that you shoot in low light conditions result in poor quality. The Magic Clean tool, using the CyberLink Eagle Vision technology, allows you to easily boost the insufficient colors of your photos as well as that of your videos. The Magic Cut tool automatically cuts your video clips to match the music length or allows you to specify the length of the video clip. It also performs an intelligent video analysis and then decides which shots to keep and remove. The analysis is done by giving a score to each shot based on various parameters like camera movement, good colors, length of

The main interface which allows you to use the six magic tools

the clip, etc. Magic Cut summarizes these scores and then decides the final selection of video cuts. The Magic Motion tool allows you to add zoom and pan effects to your still images and you can specify which effect you want to use. You can even combine the two effects and then add it to your images. The last of the six, Magic Music, adjusts the duration of the background music to the length of your video clips. It helps you create a single and non-repetitive music composition. This application also supports a wide range of formats for video files including HD MPEG-2, DivX, SVCD, etc. Cyberlink PowerDirector is a useful software that helps you edit as well create your own videos without compromising on the quality. It even allows you to burn them onto a disc allowing you to show off your creative skills to your friends and relatives. It’s suited for the novice as well as for the advanced users. On the downside, this software is quite resource hungry, so you will need to be quite patient if you have a slow system. For: Very good video editing features; simple and fast video editing process. Against: Resource hungry.

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System Security

PC-cillin Internet Security 2006 System requirements: Windows All, Pentium 300 MHz or above, 128 MB of RAM, 120 MB of free hard disk space.

Price Contact Phone E-mail

Rs 2500 Trend Micro

011-42699000 [email protected]

RATINGS Ease of use Features Performance Overall Rating Value for money

Get multi-protection for your system

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roviding you with a personal firewall, the PC-cillin Internet Security 2006 from Trend Micro prepares you to block all types of viruses, worms, Trojans and hackers while providing protection against phishing scams. It also guards your wireless network by alerting you when an intruder tries to use your Wi-Fi connection. If you have any other anti-virus software installed on your system then you will have to first uninstall them before the installation of this application can begin. Before installing this software you can install Anti-Spam for both Microsoft Outlook and Outlook Express directly from the CD. The main interface will provide you with a variety of options, the simplicity of the design making it easy to use. If you are using this software for the first time then you can use the quick walk-through wizard. From the various options provided on the main interface, you will come to know about the security levels of your system. Unlike other Internet security suites that look for programs remotely resembling a malware, PC-cillin Internet Security actually looks for viruses, Trojans, etc. It also features a powerful anti-virus security that detects and removes virus from your e-mail, files downloaded from the Internet,

your hard disks and removable media. We all know of the serious threats posed by spyware. This application detects and removes most of the spyware already present on your system. The new ‘AntiFraud Toolbar’ points out the risk levels of a web site that you’re currently viewing. It provides you with improved Wi-Fi wireless protection. So as soon as an unauthorized user gains access to your wireless network, this application immediately alerts you. The personal firewall is much more enhanced as compared to the previous versions and provides you with greater level of security. This application performs regular scans of your system and gives you constant updates regarding your operating system or browser loopholes that

Find information about the security levels of your system here

could be exploited. Today most of us are troubled by spam mail. These unwanted mails not only occupy a lot of inbox space but you also end up wasting a lot of time as you have to manually keep deleting them. So get respite from spam mails with the software’s advanced spam filtering technology that blocks spam from flooding your inbox. And parents worried about what content their kids are surfing over the Internet, PC-cillin comes to the rescue. It allows you to manage your children’s web activity by blocking web sites with adult content. The PC-cillin Internet Security is a good security application that offers you a good protection package for your system. Features like Wi-Fi wireless protection and advanced parental controls help to increase the overall utility of the product. But even though the anti-spyware protection is good, it needs much improvement in order to match that of the other Internet security suites available today. For: Easy to use; provides Wi-Fi wireless protection; advanced parental controls. Against: The anti-spyware feature needs to be improved. INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP | FEBRUARY 2006

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PC watch dog

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our search to find a firewall program to secure your system and the freedom to do what you want on the Internet ends with the Norton Personal Firewall software. The installation utilizes a lot of your system resources, so it’s important that you don’t have any programs running in the background till the installation process gets over. A simple interface retaining the look of the previous versions is what you notice first. The interface gives you all information about your system’s security; it also tells you whether the Personal Firewall is enabled or not. Customization of each filter category is also allowed. The program explains all the choices very clearly making it simple for all and sundry to use it. You can add new rules to allow or block connections to your PC. A web assistant to your browser allowing you to change the settings for a web site that you are currently viewing is also part of the package. You can instantly turn off ads,

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System Security pop ups and cookies. It even allows you to configure your security settings in a jiffy. Scared of making any monetary transactions online? Relax! The Norton Personal Firewall lets you hide your private financial data in a file so that it remains safe and secure. One of the top firewall programs available, Norton Personal Firewall provides enough features to keep your PC safe from hackers, viruses, unwanted pop ups. The web assistant feature that enables you to change the settings for a particular website is noteworthy. However, no anti-spyware programs are bundled along with it. This sure would have increased the overall utility of the software. For: Good features to keep your system protected from hackers and viruses; scope to add new rules to allow or block connections to your PC. Against: No anti-spyware program bundled along.

Norton Personal Firewall 2006

System requirements: Windows 2000/XP, 300 MHz or higher processor, 256 MB RAM, 125 MB of free hard disk space, CD/DVD drive, Internet Explorer 5.5 or higher.

Price Contact Phone E-mail

Rs 2080 Ingram Micro India (P) Ltd

09324604427 [email protected]

RATINGS Ease of use Features Performance Overall Rating Value for money

Internet Browser

Fast and stable browser f you are searching for a fast and stable web browser then Avant Browser should fit the bill perfectly. It is basically a multi-window browser with lots of useful features like Flash animation filter, integrated cleaner, etc. The interface is user friendly and you can quickly start surfing the web soon after the installation is over. It’s very elegantly designed while staying put on stability. Often you must have experienced web sites taking long to load because most of the bandwidth is used up by the flash-based ads on the web site. Thankfully, this issue has been taken care of by this browser—it allows you to save bandwidth by blocking the download of these flash files. There are options to block downloads of pictures, videos, sounds, and ActiveX components also resulting in fast loading of pages. Avant also gives you the liberty to specifically set what you want it to handle. For example, if you want this browser only to handle .html files and the remaining to be handled by IE, it can be

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done very easily. Interestingly, unlike in IE, here when you drag toolbars or columns, you can see a transparent copy of the same making it very convenient to drop it wherever you want. In addition to these features, it also has features common to other IE front ends like advanced cache cleaning, toolbar customization, anti-phishing tool, pop-up blocker, etc. Additional features make Avant Bowser stand out from the other available IE front ends. The only drawback, though, is that few of the pages don’t load properly with this browser. So you will need to use some of the other browsers available to view these sites. For: Stable browser; user friendly interface; allows you to save bandwidth by blocking the download of flash-based ads; you can specifically set this browser to handle a particular file; scope to easily drag toolbars and drop them wherever you want Against: Some of the web sites don’t load properly with this browser.

Avant Browser 10

System requirements: Windows All Price website

Free www.avantbrowser.com

RATINGS Ease of use Features Performance Overall Rating

Find it on CHIP

CD

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Multimedia

Sound of music

Foobar2000 0.9

oming from the experienced hands of the developer of Winamp 3, the Foobar2000 audio player surely makes you expect a lot from it. Foobar2000 is an advanced audio player for Windows. Once the installation gets over, you’re asked to select the audio file formats that you would like to associate with Foobar2000. It supports almost all of the audio formats available today. But playing your own choice of the files is a breeze. The interface is simple and easy to comprehend but is quite ugly when compared to that of the other media players. The silver lining here is the option allowing you to customize the look of the interface. All the options are present on the interface itself. If you’re used to Winamp, you will miss the skins in this. But fortunately, it doesn’t eat into your memory much while it’s running as compared to the other media players. The open component architecture allows third party developers to extend

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System requirements: Windows All Price Website

Free www.foobar2000.org

RATINGS Ease of use Features Performance Overall Rating

Find it on CHIP

CD

System Utility

Fresh indeed!

Fresh Diagnose

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System requirements: Windows All Price Website

Free www.freshdevices.com

RATINGS Ease of use Features Performance Overall Rating

Find it on CHIP

the functionality of this player. By downloading add-ons, you can easily enable the application to support more audio formats. It can also handle large playlists very effectively. It allows you to customize the playlist display as well as keyboard shortcuts so that you are at ease while using this application. Make the most of features like a good set of processing plug-ins, advanced playback settings, etc. Foobar2000 is a worthy alternative to other popular media players like Winamp and Windows Media Player. Most of the standard components of this player are opensourced under the BSD license. Although it’s ugly, you can manually modify it if you want to make it look more attractive. For: Allows third party developers to extend its functionality as its standard components are opensourced; simple interface; ease of use. Against: Ugly interface.

CD

resh Diagnose is a comprehensive tool for both diagnosing as well as benchmarking your system. It provides you with lots of information about the hardware and software of your system, devices installed into it and its resources. The size of the installation file is very small and the installation process wraps up very quickly. All the options are provided on the interface itself, which is quite informative. It tells you which of your system files are protected, also giving you information about which programs and services are loaded during system startup. It includes several benchmark tests to test the reliability of your hardware. It even allows you to print the results directly or save it as a text, html or Word document. The most significant feature of this application is that all the information about your computer’s hardware as well as software is divided into sub modules. For example, if you want information regarding your computer’s hardware, all you do is

select the ‘Hardware System’ module. The memory module contains all the information about the operating system memory and the memory manger. A comprehensive scan is carried out by this application giving you a complete report about your motherboard, buses, peripherals, networks, etc. There’s a benchmark to test your system performance so that the result can be compared with other systems. You can also schedule these tests at your own convenience. A useful system utility, Fresh Diagnose provides you complete information about your system’s hardware as well as software. The only glitch though is you need to register this software if you want to continue using it for more than 11 days. Worry not, the registration is free! For: Simple and informative interface; providing complete information about the hardware and software installed on your system. Against: Registration is required for using it for more than 11 days. INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP | FEBRUARY 2006

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Quick and free!

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f you’re searching for a free software that would be a good alternative to WinZip then you don’t need to look beyond Quick Zip. Quick Zip is a neat little archiver that can open and extract 14 kinds of archive including zip without using any external programs. It can also create tiny setup programs. The interface is simple and all the options are present on the interface itself. This application allows you to turn zip files into self-extractable files with program bars, list the archive in html or text format. An important feature is the advanced context menu that shows you how to zip contents and different icons for each type of archive. The archive loads up very fast even if it contains thousands of files. Choosing the ‘Settings’ tab from the interface will present you with a variety of options. It allows you to configure default font and toolbar skins, toolbar buttons and also the multimedia viewer settings. When

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Compression Utility you open archives and select a directory to extract, Quick Zip automatically saves these settings for you and also allows you to save your password when extracting so that you don’t have to retype it. The Clam anti-virus plug-in automatically scans your files when an archive is opened. If you feel that you don’t want to use this anti-virus, you can use your default anti-virus to scan the files simply by changing the settings. Other new features in this version include a completely new archive finder, compiler update, etc. Thankfully, it doesn’t use much of your system resources. Overall, Quick Zip is a good compression utility that has very good features. The best part is that it’s free. The Clam anti-virus plug-in is a noteworthy feature. It also handles archives with large files very effectively. For: Free; managing of archives with large files easily; Clam anti-virus plug-in feature. Against: None.

Quick Zip 4.6

System requirements: Windows All Price website

Free www.quickzip.org

RATINGS Ease of use Features Performance Overall Rating

Find it on CHIP

CD

Multimedia

Ring tone maker ery often you want to use your favorite song as the ring tone on your phone but fail to do so because of the lack of good software. So what you end up doing is spend money to get these songs as ring tones for your phones. But you can forget about spending now because Create Ringtone gets you your desired ring tone easily, without too much effort and spending no extra buck. The main interface is simple, so a novice can use it without much difficulty. The action begins with you selecting a file either from your hard disk or an audio CD. Then decide whether the entire audio file is to be converted into a ring tone or just a part of it. Do remember that if you choose to convert the entire audio file into a ring tone then the memory required will also increase. Next, you need to select the sample rate, bits per sample and the channels. Don’t fret if you don’t know what the ideal combination for a good quality ring tone is because adjacent to these options you are provided the information as to

| APPLICATIONS

what settings you need for an optimum quality ring tone. You can use these recommended settings so that the ring tone that you create is of good quality. Once this is done just save your ring tones to a folder and then transfer them to your mobile phone via Bluetooth, Infrared or a data cable. Want to identify a caller with a ring tone? This app lets you create customized ring tones for everyone in your address book. Ease of use is what makes this software appealing. You don’t need to spend for downloading ring tones on your mobile phone, you can simply create your own. However, if you set the sample rate to the maximum then the memory required by the ring tone on your mobile phone will swell significantly. For: Creation of ring tones with ease, Not resource hungry; creation of customixed ring tones for every contact in your address book possible. Against: Setting the sample rate to maximum will result in ring tones eating up a lot of your mobile phone’s memory.

Create Ringtone

System requirements: Windows 2000/XP, Pentium II or higher, 128 MB RAM, 40 MB of free hard disk space, sound card.

Price Contact Phone E-mail

Rs 199 Aladdin Multimedia Pvt Ltd

022-56936795 [email protected]

RATINGS Ease of use Features Performance Overall Rating Value for money

Gung-ho about Gaming Game development is seeing a new wave with the creation of more and more localized content wooing the West

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uiz outlanders about their knowledge of India and you would in all likelihood hear ‘snake charmers’ or in these modern times perhaps ‘outsourcing’. And if it’s the latter, it’s not exactly wrong because (the snake charming spiel is done to death with) outsourcing is bang on target and this time around not just in the business processing domain, but as a rising new phenomenon—game development. And why not? Game development studios are slowly mushrooming across the metros taking advantage of India’s prime skills and efficient labor not just in outsourcing gaming content for well known names (Sony, Codemasters, Atari, Microsoft and EA are just some of the companies involved) but also creating original content for the country and the world. With the golden fusion of technological and creative power (think Bangalore and Hyderabad programming interbred with Bollywood potboilers) as well as the predomination of English as a second language, a new generation is on the rise, passionate about games and wanting to make their mark. Nascent as it may seem, the seeds of a future revolution is subtly underway as the West eyes India for gaming outsourcing and the spotlight gets brighter. Not so much as in video gaming but mobile gaming is certainly big in India what with industrious and valued labor hard at work churning out games and foreign firms outsourcing animated content to India for the global market. Apart from having wooed the West, the mass market within the country has also taken up mobile gaming in a big way, thanks to the burgeoning mobile industry. The growth of this market sector has attracted publishers, developers, animators, musicians and content providers, and is also stimulating the development of innovative business models. The business of gaming constitutes PC,

video and mobile games. In the international scenario, the development of games is approximated to be a $30 billion industry and India is quickly rising as a central terminus for game development. The production of a regular game nowadays would be around $4 to $10 million while futuristic games would be anywhere between $5 and $20 million. Not content, taking possession of the BPO and KPO, gaming outsourcing is destined to be the next big thing by 2009, where In-Stat/MDR expects that the Indian mobile gaming market will generate $336 million annual revenue by 2009. According to the NASSCOM report on Animation and Gaming industry in India, the market for gaming is expected to witness a CAGR of 78 percent and reach USD 300 million by 2009 from USD 30 million in 2005. India is known to have fine programmers, thrifty production costs and a speedily developing market, and this is exactly why we can hope that the gaming bastion will seemingly be within our grasp in a few years’ time, as global giants outsource gaming development work to the country. At present, Indian developers are in a take-off mode. A vast number of animation and gaming professionals are stepping into global assemblies as outsourcing gains ground. The blink on the radar is poised to grow exponentially in the days to come as gung-ho game developers and animation firms in India excitedly discuss the future of the gaming industry in the country. Take for example, Dhruva Interactive, which has churned out international favorites such as Pat Cash and Slyder (award winner in February 2005) and Maria Sharapova titles for the mobile platform. The firm has also bagged the license for Charlie Chaplin and has recently partnered with Cricinfo for games on cricket. Hot off the oven is India’s first 3D multiplayer PC game known as Pool on the Net. Rajesh Rao of Dhruva Interactive feels that this is a sign of times yet to come. Way back in 1997 when it was first formed, INTELLIGENT INTELLIGENTCOMPUTING COMPUTINGCHIP CHIP | FEBRUARY 2006 2005

FEATURE

Dhruva Interactive concentrated on developing programs for the global market and was actively involved with Microsoft Game Studios’ Xbox, and some time in the past with Infogrames Entertainment in making a portion of the then famous game, Mission: Impossible. After more than nine years in that field, Rao believes Dhruva has come of age and has finally managed to make a stand in the global market and earn the expertise of creating localized content. Dhruva was introduced in the European market with the induction of the Maria Sharapova Tennis, launched by British game company I-Play. The game figured in the top downloads list of mobile service provider Vodafone Group PLC during the Wimbledon championship. Mumbai-based Indiagames has also hewed out a place for itself in game development with games such as The Day After Tomorrow, Bruce Lee, Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Spiderman. Interestingly, TOM Online Inc, a leading wireless Internet company in China, recently acquired approximately 76.29 percent of Indiagames for US$17.7. Indiagames today is a non wholly-owned subsidiary of TOM Online. Cisco Systems Inc and Macromedia have together invested $4 million in Indiagames for 18.2 percent ownership. Indiagames recently signed an exclusive licensing agreement with Electronic Arts, the world’s leading interactive entertainment company that will bring EA’s roster of mobile games to consumers across multiple mobile carriers in India. The games initially released through Indiagames would include Need for Speed Underground 2, Need for Speed Most Wanted, NBA Live 06, Tiger Woods PGA Tour 06, EA Sports FIFA 06, FIFA Street 2, Madden NFL 06, SimCity and The Sims 2. In the BREW 2005 Developers Conference held at Mumbai in October 2005 , Indiagames announced that it’s currently in the developing stage of creating 3D mobile games for QUALCOMM’S BREW solution. The BREW 3D games Indiagames plans to develop are Bruce Lee - Iron Fist 3D and Ashoka intended to be a cross-platform, current-generation, third-person, action/adventure game. The mobile version of Ashoka will be released in FEBRUARY 2006 | INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP

June 2006, followed by a console game in late 2006. Indiagames will focus primarily on porting the demo level of Ashoka onto QUALCOMM’s enhanced platform chipsets. The various factors in play for the increasing popularity of local games, says Rao, are the rising levels of consumerism, prosperity, evolution of middle class, wider acceptance of entertainment and more indulgent consumers. The other factors are growing exposure and availability of gaming platform, like PC, console and mobile phones. Another interesting statistic Rao observes is that in the field of mobile phones, about 20 percent of the devices that consumers own are gaming enabled. Also, in comparison to the growth of PCs, mobile growth has been simply fantastic. V C Bhalotia of Dawsen Infotech shares the same buoyant sentiment, “Gaming is becoming a passion in India, and the industry is growing up at a phenomenal pace.” While A K Madhavan of Crest Animation Studios says that with the demand for Indian developers growing phenomenally, it’s not surprising that international gaming companies are approaching him, Munjal Shroff of Graphiti adds that it is the right time to hitch onto the bandwagon as the going is good and the potential is rising higher. However, he does admit there is a need to infuse more local flavor and with fresh ideation and content, India can be set apart as a distinctive notch from the rest. So much so, Shroff and his animation team at Graphiti have now decided to take the plunge into developing gaming content for the local market after having watched the scene evolve over the years. Simply put, in a gaming chain, game publishers assign a developer the task of developing a game around their content. Once the game is ready, the developer is paid his development fees and the publisher then releases the game to its partners, which are carriers and portals, who offer the game to the consumer via downloads or consoles. Dhruva is now keenly looking at setting up an internal training division with the rising business potential , and as the growing need for talented people especially

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in the mobile gaming space has been felt. Mobiles are leading the gaming market in India. With around 65 million mobile users and 30 per cent of them having gameenabled phones, India certainly seems a lucrative market to all those watching the sub-continent. In a few years from now, the country will be a complex gaming market with mobiles, PCs, multi-players PC and consoles. Mauj Telecom, a leading wireless solutions provider has launched mobile games in eight Indian languages—Hindi, Marathi, Gujarati, Bengali, Tamil, Malayalam, Telugu and Urdu and developed three games, titled Mastibhari Udaan, Saahas ka Yudh, and Jaanbaaz for mobile users in B and C towns. While creating the game, keeping in mind the user in the smaller towns and cities, Mauj maintains that right from the introductory menu to the help section and technical detailing, care has been taken to sustain a local flavor and ease of use. Moreover, Mauj employed approximately 30 translators and over 20 technicians in http://www.postmaster.co.in

Flexible Add-on modules to provide single point protection from viruses, spam, malicious and objectionable content and for a regulated Web-access environment. Truly Next Generation

For a free trial call QuantumLink Communications Pvt. Ltd. Mumbai - 26820004. Bangalore - 51152792. New Delhi - 26691152 / 927. Pune - 9373307992 Or write to - [email protected]

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developing the games. Mauj games in Indian languages are now live and available by logging on to www.wap.mauj.com or by sending an SMS to 7007 on Idea, Hutch, Spice, BSNL and MTNL. Games in these languages are available on all Nokia, Samsung, Sony Ericsson, and Motorola handsets. Mauj has entered into tie-ups with Ram Gopal Verma’s K Sera Sera-Verma Corp, Nitin Manmohan’s Neha Arts, Fourth Wall Productions, Harry Baweja, Anil Sharma’s Movieworld, Rajshri Films, Fish Eye Network, Bubby Kent, EMI Music India and Planman among others. The company has created games of all genres including arcade, board games, strategy, role-playing, etc to address the vast spectrum of consumers using mobile phones. It also holds marketing rights for over 800 international mobile games.

Mobile game development is a viable option for most development studios aiming to enter the field of PC and console gaming. Even though the price of developing a mobile game title is way lesser as compared to PC or console games, the game developer still has a global audience to cater to. These days, it takes not less than two-and-a-half years to develop a full-fledged game. Backed by Reliance Infocomm, another well–known game developer Mumbai-based Paradox Studios has done several ‘mobile advergaming’ projects for companies such as Coca-Cola India and has partnered with mobile operators, handset manufacturers, and technology providers like Intel, Sun, Sony Ericsson, LG, and Qualcomm for its gaming initiatives. The development studio recently won the Special Jury Award at FICCI FRAMES 2005 for BomberBabe, an arcade game and also won the Conitec’s Spring 2003 Award for BattleDust: The Championship, India’s first 3D fighting game. Currently involved in developing 3D wireless, Session Initiation Protocol (SIP)-based and Location Based Services (LBS)-based games for nextgeneration handsets, Paradox is all set to establish new standards in the gaming industry. In the Indian scenario, there is no dearth of storyline. The nation is blessed with a rich and varied mythology. However, the crux lies in the way the story is presented by writers and developers that will eventually rope in players and also appeal to the global market, as even if the content is local, the presentation style has to be global. Bhalotia points out that Indian mythology and folk tales are filled with war and magical sequences, thereby leaving ample scope for the game makers to plan a game and then exploit it to the fullest extent possible. And Rao reiterates that to reach the masses, it’s important to generate regional content and subject matter based around Bollywood, cricket or social cultural events that are of pertinence to the Indian public. Delhi-Based Lakshya Digital focuses on 3rd party game development and develops game content for PC, console (Xbox, Playstation and Gamecube) and Massively

Multiplayer Online Games (MMOGs) with its dedicated team for mobile games. INFECTED, a fast paced over-the-top third person shooter for the PSP was developed by Planet Moon Studios and published by Majesco Entertainment while Lakshya Digital is known to have created graphics for the game. The game casts the player as a lone cop fighting against a tidal wave of infectious zombies intent on ripping New York to shreds. As a game outsourcing contractor, Lakshya has recently secured a contract from Seattle-based Sandlot Games to conceptualize graphics for a game called Tradewinds. In the next few months, Lakshya will conceptualize 1,000 characters and objects and visualize 7,000 original battlefield scenes and graphic interfaces for Tradewinds Part II. With an amazing spurt of gaming activities to take place in the months to come, a host of players have set shop in the country. From Los Angeles-based Jamdat Mobile Inc that opened a 25-person office in Hyderabad in December to MFORMA Group Inc, a Bellevue (Wash.) maker of a game based on X-Men 2 has emerged with a team of 35 developers in Bangalore. Britain’s Babel Media Ltd has lined up 20 staffers in a testing facility near Delhi. Commenting on the growing popularity of game development at the recent Animation and Gaming exhibition 2006 in Hyderabad, Kiran Karnik, President of Nasscom emphasized on the rapid growth of mobile telephony, increase in PCs and greater use of animation content to fuel the further growth of the domestic market. “If India continues to focus on developing the talent pool and leveraging the cost competitiveness, animation and gaming will surely be the next promising fields,” he added. ■ | Carol D’ Costa INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP | FEBRUARY 2006

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Digital Brand Management How to manage a brand portfolio in the new media

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nline marketing and development strategies as a rule stretch brand management ability. The proliferation of dedicated portals addressing everything from alliances to training poses a huge challenge for companies that want to ensure consistent brand representation on the web. Organizing brand standards on the web is an accessible tool for internal and external parties, it helps to accelerate marketing processes, and your chances of delivering a consistent user experience are improved. The net effect is improved brand value and greater revenue.

Digital brand management tools: Sound brand management involves human interaction, training, and common sense. Some off-the-shelf tools can make the task a little easier. Digital asset management systems enable companies to repurpose digital media, including page templates, logos, images, photographs, and video for marketing purposes.

Brand protection and trademarks: The strongest form of brand protection is a registered trademark. The letters ‘TM’ marked on a business’s products or services denotes a non-registered trademark. The symbol ® after a business’s products or services denotes a registered trademark. If a trademark is registered, special rules apply which make it easier to protect. Businesses should hence consider obtaining registered trademarks to protect their brands. National protection: To obtain a registered trademark, you must apply to the national trademarks registry; in India this is the Office of the Registrar of Trademarks. To qualify for trademark protection, a mark must be capable of (i) being represented graphically, and (ii) distinguishing the goods and services of one business from FEBRUARY 2006 | INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP

| Rodney D Ryder [email protected] those of another. Once registered, a trademark grants its owner a statutory monopoly to use it. In India, under the present system, trademark registrations are valid for seven years and are renewable for another seven-year period thereafter.

Management of trademark: Protection and maintenance of trademarks is best achieved through periodic audits of the portfolio, keeping thorough records, prompt renewal of registrations, using the trademarks, advertising to strengthen brand awareness and promoting a tough policy towards infringers. Trademarks are valuable assets and may be exploited through assignment or sale. When a trademark is to be licensed, the licensor should ensure that the value of the trademark is preserved by controlling the manner and circumstances in which the mark is used. A periodic trademark audit will confirm what marks the company owns and ensure that the appropriate policies are in place to protect their value. Such a review might also include valuation of the marks.

License provisions: There must be a checklist on the license provisions. The following must be considered in a trademark license: Grant: Inclusive, non-exclusive or sole license. Territory: The extent of the territory should be certain and unambiguous. Royalties: Rate set for royalties, when

the royalty year should end, whether it’s necessary to include calculation provisions for currency conversion, where the payment needs to be made, what accounting records will be required from the license, etc. Termination: It’s important to know whether there is a provision for remedy of breaches; how the notice of termination is to be given and to who it’s to be given, and what the consequences of termination could be; provisions to survive the termination if any. Sub licensing and assignment: The possibility to sub-license or assign. Indemnities and warranties: Warranties regarding ownership of relevant registered and unregistered rights, whether the rights are in the name of the licensor. Insurance and product liability: Addressing any specific product liability or labelling issues, whether the licensee needs governmental or other administrative or regulatory approvals, etc. Competition: Are any provisions of the license agreement and restrictions on the licensee likely to raise questions over their anti-competitive nature? Jurisdiction: Which national courts should have jurisdiction? Whether a provision for arbitration or alternate dispute resolution exists, and whether any specific arbitrator or arbitral tribunal is to be identified. Registration: Provision for registering the license and at whose expense must be clear. Administration: Who will have the mandate to negotiate the license? Full registered address and company registration number for each party, who will sign the license on behalf of the licensee and licensor. ■ Rodney D Ryder heads Preconcept (www. preconcept.com), a service law firm with cutting edge specialization in Intellectual Property, Media and Technology Law [email protected]

Don’t miss them! Many features offered by the Microsoft Office Suite remain unused because we are unaware about them. Let’s take a look at some of the hidden features here that can not only save time but also improve your efficiency

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Vishwanath Vanjire

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ith each new version, Microsoft Office, just keeps getting better. And every new Office release is easier to use and comes with a host of features. But it also gets bloated with all those additions and enhancements; in fact there are too many features in MS Office. Studies show that most people use just six to 10 percent of these features. Did you ever spare a thought for those features hidden away in dialog boxes and deep level menus? Do a bit of digging and you’ll discover some uncut diamonds and nuggets— features you were unaware of, but are actually useful. We’ll begin the ‘mining expedition’ with some general Office tips and then examine the popular programs in the MS Office 2003 suite.

Which version? It’s a good idea to be aware of which version of Office is installed on your computer. And if you plan to get an upgrade, then do evaluate all the different editions that Microsoft offers (See table). Start any Microsoft program (Word, Excel, or PowerPoint) by clicking “Start | Programs | Microsoft Office”. Then click on the program name. You should see a ‘splash screen’ —a box that appears briefly, shows the name and version of the program. If that happens too fast for you to notice, then click “Help | About…”. The version (year of release) is displayed. You will probably have one of these versions: Office 2000, Office XP/2002, Office 2003. If you have Office 95 or Office 97 then your computer is really old; consider replacing it. Don’t even think

Standard Edition

Student & Teacher edition

about using your old computer with Office 2000 or later! Its memory capacity would be insufficient to handle recent versions of Office. The other important thing to note is that Microsoft offers different ‘flavors’ or editions of Office. Do you want to pay more for an edition whose features you will never use? Each edition has various modules (see table). Choose your edition accordingly.

Many ways, choose yours In many cases, Office provides several ways to access the same feature. For instance, take text formatting. One option is to use the buttons/commands on the Format toolbar, or shortcut keys (described later in this article), or the menus and dialog boxes. To make a selected piece of text bold, click the bold button on the format toolbar, or click [Ctrl] + B, or click “Format | Font” and then click “bold” under Font Style. You will learn about these alternatives as you use the program. Choose the method that you are most comfortable with, then use it often to remember it. Use the Help menu and type the function in the search box. Help also shows you the different ways of applying a particular command.

Learn the shortcut keys The term ‘shortcut keys’ means a combination of two or more keys pressed in sequence. The keys are held down together while the last key is pressed. For instance, holding down the [Ctrl] key and pressing the letter key B (denoted as [Ctrl] + B in this article).

Small Business Edition

Small Business Management Edition

Word

✓

✓

✓

✓

✓

✓

✓

✓

✓

✓

✓

✓

PowerPoint

✓

✓

✓

✓

✓

Outlook

✓

✓

✓ (*)

✓ (*)

✓ (*)

✓

✓

✓

Publisher Small Business Accounting (*) – means Outlook with Business Contact Manager update.

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You can work really fast by using shortcut keys for the most used commands/features in Office.

Made a mistake? Just undo Did you delete a piece of text by mistake? Perhaps you applied the wrong formatting? Slip of the finger? Don’t worry, you can revert to the original form. Just use the Undo feature that’s included in all Office programs. Pressing [Ctrl] + Z is the fastest way to undo an operation. But you can also click the Undo button on the toolbar, or click “Edit | Undo”.

Customization Office lets you add or remove commands from its program menus and toolbars. This is a very useful feature; it is more relevant if you frequently use certain commands. You can add or remove buttons for specific commands or features. On the “Tools” menu click “Customize”. The customize dialog box is shown. Under the “Toolbars” tab you can specify which toolbars are to be displayed, by clicking in the check boxes. We suggest that you uncheck toolbars whose commands you do not frequently use. This will free up some space at the top of the screen, and display more of the document area on the screen. When you click the “Commands” tab in the customize dialog box, you’ll see the various command categories on the left. Click on a particular category and on the right you’ll see all the commands under that category. Right click on a particular command, then drag it out of the dialog box, to the top of the screen, and drop it on a toolbar (to add a button).

Professional Edition

Excel Access

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To remove a button from the toolbar just right click on it and drag it into the document area (not into the dialog box). But to do this you’ll have to follow the above steps and display the customize dialog box. In this manner, you can also add or remove commands from specific menus or make your own menu.

Using Help The Help system in any program is rarely used. In fact, one uses it as the last resort to seek a solution to a problem. But the help system in Microsoft Office is actually a great source of knowledge. Explore it and you will learn a lot about a particular feature. The help system provides help on related topics too. Press the [F1] key or click the “Help” menu and an option. Alternatively click the Help icon (a blue question mark) on the toolbar. In Office 2003, the Help system appears in a task pane on the right side. The Help system is linked to a support web site, so you will need to be online (connect to the Internet). There are different forms of help. The easiest way is to type the topic name in the search text box; then click the green arrow (“Go”) button. This will reference the Microsoft support web site. Alternatively, download and go through the Table of Contents and look for your topic. You will first have to download the Table of Contents from the Microsoft web site, by clicking the relevant in the help task pane. The help task pane has links to other support web sites like Assistance, Training, Communities, and Downloads. Those who yearn for more knowledge can explore these sites and participate in discussions on forums.

The easiest way to get help is to type the topic name in the search box

A tip a day Another nice way to learn more about the features in MS Office, is to read the tip that appears when you start a program. For instance, when you start MS Word, the Office Assistant animated character (a paper clip, dog, cat, robot, or wizard) appears with a tip. To activate the “tip on startup” feature, do the following: On the “Tools” menu, click “Customize”. Click the “Options” tab. Under “Other”, select or clear the “Show ScreenTips on toolbars” and “Show shortcut keys in ScreenTips” check boxes. The next time you start Word, Excel, or another Office program, you’ll see a tip. The Office Assistant shows all kinds of tips, some of which may not be so relevant. Here’s a way to set it up so that it shows only the important tips or the type of tips that interest you. If the Office Assistant is not displayed, then click “Help | Show the Office Assistant”. Right click on the Office Assistant and choose “Options”. Under “Show tips about” click in the checkbox for “Only show high priority tips”. Select or unselect any other options, and then click “OK”.

Status bars and indicators It’s easy to miss the Status bar and its indicators, because this bar is at the bottom of the screen, and the text on this bar is quite small. The Status bar is like the dash board behind the steering wheel in a car. Both give important information in real time. And if you understand the various indicators on the Status bar, it becomes easier to use the program. Open a new document in MS Word or MS Excel and look at the bottom of the screen. The Status bar will be displayed by default. In MS Word the Status bar indicates the current page number (the page on which you are entering text), the position of the cursor from the top of the page, and the position of the cursor on the page (line number and column number). It also

indicates the chosen language. But what’s really useful is the indicators for Tracking & Reviewing (TRK), the Insert mode (OVR), and macro recording (REC). Keep your eye on these indicators when using the respective functions. In MS Excel the status bar indicates the status of the Caps Lock and num Lock keys of the keyboard. When recording a macro, the word ‘Recording’ is shown on the status bar.

Task pane The Task pane feature was introduced from Office XP/2002 onwards, and it has been well received by users. The task pane groups together all the commands and options required for a particular task. The advantage is that you get it all in one place. Before Office 2002, you had to reach into various menus and dialog boxes to get a task done. Because dialog boxes are big and occupy screen space, they tend to hide the text area in the document---which is what you need to see while applying a command. The task pane is conveniently located to the right of the screen. To display the task pane, press the [F1] key. Click the drop arrow at the top of the task pane to see other types of task panes named Getting Started, Search Results, Research, Clipboard etc. The more useful task panes are: Help, Styles and formatting, Clipboard, and Getting Started.

Click the drop arrow at the top of the task pane to see other types of task panes

Document protection Is your document confidential and meant for a few privileged people? Then why not “password protect” it. In MS Word click “Tools | Options” and then click the INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP | FEBRUARY 2006

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“Security” tab. You have the option of using a password to open a document, or for making a document “read only”.

Word tips There are plenty of tips for using Microsoft Word 2003. Here are some useful tips and features that you may have forgotten, or may be unaware about.

Templates Every document that you create is based on a ‘template’. A template is like a checklist that states all the current settings for the document. This includes the page size, margin measurements, the text font and font size, text indents, paragraph and line spacing, etc. In short, templates determine the overall look of the document. A fax document has a unique appearance. Examine a fax message and you’ll see lots of “white space”. Lines are double-spaced. The text font is clearly readable, even if it’s a small size. And the recipient’s name and fax number at the top, are in large, bold font. MS Word offers a ready template for fax documents. Just open this template, replace the text with your own text and print it out. You may not need to format the text at all, since formatting is already present in the template. As you can see, templates are very useful and can save much time.

Select a readymade template for a fax document and just type the text. It is already formatted

To access a template Start MS Word. Click “File | New”. In MS Word 2003, you’ll see a Templates section in the task pane. Click the link “On my computer…” The templates dialog box will appear. FEBRUARY 2006 | INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP

The templates are organized under various categories like Letters & Faxes, Memos, Reports, Legal Pleadings, etc. Click on a tab (template category) of your choice. Various templates will be seen under that category. Click on a template and see how it appears in the preview box. Then click “OK” to select it. You can also create your own templates for future use. First prepare a document and format it using the Format menu. Then click “File | Save as”. Type a name for the file. Click the drop arrow near Save as type and select Document Template. Then click the “Save” button. The next time you open a new document (“File | New”) you should see your template. Also in MS Excel.

Format Painter and Styles Want to apply the same formatting to other pieces of text? There’s no need to repeat the steps. Just use the Format Painter tool or use Styles. To use the format painter tool: Select the text whose formatting you want to copy. Click the Format Painter button on the toolbar (it is a paint brush). Alternatively, click [Ctrl] + [Shift] + C. Now select some other text on which you want to apply this formatting. If you need to use a particular set of formatting settings often, why not create a “Style” and save it permanently. A Style is a collection of formatting settings that are collected together and are given a name. To create a style in Word XP/2003 do the following: Open a document. On the “Format” menu click “Styles & formatting”. The Styles task pane appears on the right. Click “New Style” within it. Type a name for the new style. Click the “Format” button at the bottom of the dialog box. Select an option accordingly and define your style. Also in MS Excel.

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AutoCorrect, AutoFormat This is one of the most useful features in MS Word. Although you don’t see it, Autocorrect quietly monitors what you type and then quickly corrects common typing errors (misspelled words). For instance, if you type “yuo” and press the [Space] bar, Ms Word automatically changes it to “you”. AutoCorrect also corrects punctuation and usage of symbols/characters. Type (c) and it is changed to © (copyright symbol). AutoCorrect maintains a table of common mistakes and the corresponding corrections. If you want to view this table or add some entries to it then click the “Tools” menu and click “AutoCorrect Options”. Within the AutoCorrect dialog box explore the tabs “AutoFormat” and “AutoFormat as you Type”. Also in MS Excel.

Change case Sometimes you may type a couple of words, and then realize that the [Caps Lock] key was mistakenly switched on. So everything is in capital letters or in upper case. No problem! Just select the text and press [Shift] + [F3] once to convert it to lower case (small letters). This can also be done by selecting “Format | Change Case”.

Save in RTF format There are different versions of MS Word. If you prepare a document in a newer version of MS Word and send it to someone who uses an older version, chances are he my not be able to open the document. This problem may occur if you save in the DOC format. To be on the safe side, save your document in the RTF format. Here’s how to do this: With the document open, choose “File | Save as”. Type the name for the file. Click the drop arrow in the “Save as type” box and select Rich Text Format. The second part of the file name will be .rtf

Spell check and grammar The Word and Excel programs have built-in

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spell check and grammar check options. You will see misspelled words underlined in red ink. Phrases with incorrect grammar are underlined in green. You can right click on misspelled words and choose the correct word from the context menu. If you think a word is spelled correctly, but Word thinks it is wrong (and underlines it) then simply right click on the word and choose “Ignore”. If you want to change the way Word checks your spellings and grammar, then select “Tools | Options” then click the “Spellings & Grammar” tab. Choose any of the options. Also in MS Excel.

Track revisions If you share documents with colleagues, and allow them to make changes, then you’ll want to keep track of what changes they make. This can be done if you enable the “Tracking and Reviewing” feature in MS Word before sharing the Word document. Click “Tools | Track Changes” and save the file. There are certain indicators that show that the tracking feature is enabled. The Status bar at the bottom of the screen shows “TRK” to confirm that tracking is On. Also notice that the Tracking toolbar appears near the formatting toolbar at the top of the screen. Hence forth, any modifications made to the text will appear in a different color “ink” (there’s a separate color for each user). To see which color corresponds to which user, click “Show” on the tracking toolbar and select “Reviewers”. With tracking enabled, inserted text will be underlined and deleted text is struck out (has a line running through it). After everyone has made their modifications, you can choose which ones to keep and the changes to be rejected. Click the “Accept Change” and “Reject Change” buttons on the tracking toolbar. Finally switch off the tracking feature by selecting “Tools | Track Changes”. Also in MS Excel.

Use Macros Macros are small programs (a series of steps or instructions) for automating routine tasks (for example, printing with specific settings). There are two ways of

| Shortcut keys in MS Word [Ctrl] + F6

If more than one document is open, then you can quickly change between documents with this key combination. [Ctrl] + [Home] Puts the insertion point at the top of the document, so that you can view the top of the document or edit it. [Ctrl] + [End] Puts the insertion point at the end of the document, so that you can view the end of the document or edit it. [Shift] + [F3] With some text selected, you can press this key combination once, twice, or thrice to change the casing to all capitals, small letters, or title case (first alphabet in capitals). [Ctrl] + B Applies the bold style to selected text. [Ctrl] + I Applies the Italics style to selected text [Esc] Cancel current operation. [Ctrl] + [Z] undo the most recent operation. You can print a list of shortcut keys in the following way: On the “Tools” menu, point to “Macro”, and then click “Macros”. In the Macros in box, click Word commands. In the Macro name box, click “ListCommands”. Click “Run”. In the List Commands dialog box, click Current menu and keyboard settings. Click “OK”. On the “File” menu, click “Print”. creating macros in Word and Excel—one is to use the menu system (the corresponding instructions are automatically generated). The other (more challenging) option is to learn a scripting language called VBA (Visual Basic for Applications) and write the instructions line by line, yourself. Before you start recording a macro, we suggest that you rehearse the steps for a particular task. Make notes if needed.

Then start the Macro Recorder (click “Tools | Macro | Record New Macro”. Type a name for the macro. The macro toolbar will appear with “Stop” and “Pause” buttons. Perform the menu operations (that you may have rehearsed earlier) in the normal manner. Click the “Stop” button when you have finished. To run a macro click “Tools | Macro | Macros” and select the name of the macro. Then click the “Run” button. Also in MS Excel.

Excel tips Help with functions Most Excel users are familiar with the SUM, AVERAGE, MIN, MAX, and COUNT functions. But there are other sets of functions. Here’s how to learn and discover a new function. Place the cell pointer in the cell where the result should appear. Now locate the AutoSum button on the standard toolbar. Click the drop arrow on this tool. Select “More Functions…” In the search box, you can type what type of calculation you want to perform. Excel will then suggest the appropriate function. Click “Go”. Excel will list the possible functions. Double click on the appropriate one. Type the parameters for that function (range, etc). Read the help notes at the bottom of the dialog box.

In the search box, you can type what type of calculation you want to perform. Excel will then suggest the appropriate function INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP | FEBRUARY 2006

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Click “OK” to perform the calculation. In step 4, you have another option. If you have a good idea of what kind of calculation needs to be performed then click the drop arrow and select the category of the function. Then locate the desired function in the list.

Name your ranges A Range is a set of contiguous cells. For instance, if there is data between the cells A1 to A9, that set of data qualifies as a range and in Excel’s terms it is written as A1:A9. As you can see, we use the first and last cell in the range to denote it. Obviously, it is difficult to remember something like A1:A9. So Excel allows you to name ranges with a word. To name a range, do the following: First select the range of cells (by clicking on the first cell and dragging across to the last cell). Click “Insert | Name | Define…”. Type a word for the name. Click “OK”. Once you name the range, you can use it in formulas and functions. For instance, if you want to add up all numbers in the range A1:A9 and you have named this range as “Numbers” then the SUM function becomes =SUM (Numbers). Range names are not case sensitive, meaning you can write the word “Numbers” (in this case) as “NUMBERS” or “numbers” too in the function or formula.

Select multiple ranges A range is a group of consecutive cells. To select a range, you click on the first cell in the range, and then drag the mouse either downwards or to the right, adding cells to the range as you do this. But can you select more than one range at a time, even for non-adjacent cells? Yes, it is possible. Select the first range of cells (as described above). Hold down the [Ctrl] key and select the next range of cells in the same manner. You can next apply formatting or copy the ranges (“Edit | Copy”) or perform any other operation. Press the [Esc] key to unselect the ranges when done.

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Adjust column width Lengthy text entries in a column may be partially displayed, especially if the column on the immediate right is filled with data. Excel can choose the best width for the column according to the widest entry. Point to the column border on the right of the column letter. The cell pointer changes shape to a double headed arrow. Click twice on the column border. The column width will be adjusted and all entries in the column are displayed.

AutoSum function There is a really fast way to add numbers in an Excel spreadsheet. If the numbers are in consecutive cells and these need to be added, use Excel’s AutoSum function. Place the cell pointer in the cell after the last number in the series. Click once on the AutoSum button in the Standard toolbar above. Excel will highlight the range of numbers in the series to be added. Press the [Enter] key to confirm. The total will appear in the cell.

AutoFill a series If you need to enter a series of consecutive numbers then Excel offers a time-saving feature. Type the first two numbers in consecutive cells (odd, even or consecutive numbers). Select the two cells with numbers, just as you normally select a range of cells. You will see the fill handle, a small square, at the bottom right corner of the selection. Place the cell pointer on the fill handle so that it changes its shape to a thin “+” sign. Now drag the fill handle down or across to as many cells as required to extend the series. This can also be done for week days (Sunday, Monday…), months, or quarters (QTR-1, QTR-2…). Select the first two cells in the series, then point at the Fill handle and drag it down to the remaining cells to form the series

Take a Picture We bet you didn’t know that Excel has a nifty little tool that allows you to create a picture from a range of cells, from a chart,

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or from another object in your worksheet. But what use might that be? Well, if you want to send someone details (by e-mail) about how a certain part of a worksheet or a graph looks, then capture a picture of it You can take a snapshot of a selected range in the Worksheet. This can later be pasted in any other document in Excel and paste it in the e-mail or even a Word document. Here’s how to do it. Select the cells or some other object (like a graph) that you want a picture of. (If you select cells, they must be contiguous.) Hold down the [Shift] key as you click the Edit menu. Click the “Copy Picture” option. Excel displays the Copy Picture dialog box. In the top part of the dialog box, specify if you want the picture shown as it would look on the screen or on the printout. In the bottom part of the dialog box, specify how you want the graphic saved (bitmap or picture format). A bitmap can be edited, pixel by pixel in the MS Paint program. Click “OK”. The result is that you now have a graphic in the Clipboard (memory) and you can paste it (“Edit | Paste”) anywhere. Paste it in another spreadsheet if you like, paste it in an e-mail, or paste it in a Word document. You can paste it just about anywhere because it is no longer an Excel object, but an actual graphic.

Transpose rows and columns When creating a table, you may find that the headings in the columns would be more suitable if they were arranged row wise. That is, you may feel the need to interchange the positioning of row and column data. The table and all its data is already prepared, so typing the whole thing again would be time consuming. Don’t worry. Excel offers a way to interchange the positioning of row and column data. This is called Transposing. Here’s how it’s done. Select the entire table including the row

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In the Paste Special dialog box, click on the Transpose box to put a check mark in it and column headings. Choose “Edit | Copy”. Click on a blank cell to the right of the table (or below it). Select “Edit | Paste Special”. In the Paste Special dialog box click on the Transpose box in the lower right corner. Click “OK”. Excel transposes the table in the new location that you selected. But the original table is still left behind. You may delete the original table and move the new transposed table to the original location. Select the original table. Choose “Edit | Clear | All”. Now select the new transposed table. Choose “Edit | Cut”. Click on the first cell where the original table was located. Select “Edit | Paste”. Save the file again.

Recover workbooks You are working on an all-important worksheet with intense concentration. And you haven’t bothered to save it even once. Then the power fails, the lights go out and your computer screen goes blank… When the power is restored you search for your Excel workbook. Naturally it isn’t there (because you didn’t save it even once). To avoid this situation, use the AutoRecover feature. With the worksheet open, select “Tools | Options”. Click on the “Save” tab.

Select the option “Save AutoRecover info every:” Change the time interval (default 10 minutes) if needed. Click “OK”. Excel will now save your workbook every 10 minutes. Of course you can change this interval (depending on how frequently you make changes) using the above steps. If your computer fails while you are working on a spreadsheet, then the next time you start Excel, the recovered file (up to the last backup) will be shown. So you won’t lose too much information, just the changes made between the last backup and the power failure. You can save the recovered file in the My Documents folder using the “File | Save As” command. Then re-open it and continue working on it.

Fit it all on the page Ever tried printing a worksheet with several columns? If you’re inexperienced you could end up with some unwanted surprises. Columns may print on separate pages, so you could have a page with just the last two columns (from the right). This results in paper wastage and frustration. Fitting it all on the same page takes some skill and experience. Here are some tips that are sure to help. Preview before you print. Use the Print Preview feature to see exactly what is about to print on the various pages. Click “File | Print Preview”. Then click the “Next” and “Previous” buttons to check out other pages. Finally click on the “Close” button. You can then make the necessary adjustments (discussed below) if some columns are overshooting the paper width. This is sure to save paper. Too many columns? Try printing in the Landscape mode. This usually solves the problem and fits everything on the sheet of paper. Click “File | Page Setup”. If necessary click the Page tab. Then under Orientation, click on the Landscape option. Then click “OK”. Reduce the margins and you can fit more within a page. This will work only if there are just a few columns (or rows) overshooting the page. You can do this

| Shortcut keys in MS Excel [Ctrl] + F6

If more than one workbook is open, then you can quickly change between workbooks with this key combination. [Ctrl] + [Home] Puts the cell selector in the very first cell (A1) at the top of the document. [Ctrl] + [End] Puts the insertion point at the end of the document (after the last filled cell). [Page Up] Move one screen up at a time. [Page Down] Move one screen down at a time. [Esc] Cancel current operation. [Ctrl] + [Z] Undo the most recent operation. [F2] Edit mode for the currently selected cell. [F5] Go to a cell whose address you specify. [Ctrl] + [Page Up] If you work with multiple sheets (within the same workbook) then this key combination can be pressed (more than once) to switch to the next sheet. [Ctrl] + [Page Down] Use this key combination to switch to the previous sheet. directly in Print Preview mode. Click “File | Print Preview”. Then click the “Margins” button. The margin lines will appear. Drag the left margin to the left and the right margin to the right so as to create more space for the column that is outside the page. Once all columns fit within the page click the “Close” button. Is it necessary to print all columns? Hide columns that you do not want to print. Click on the column letter to select the column. From the “Format” menu select “Column | Hide”. Hide other columns if required. Hidden columns are not printed. You can now preview and then print. To unhide the columns select the whole worksheet by pressing [Ctrl]+A. Then select “Format | Column | Unhide”. Click anywhere to unselect the worksheet.

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Adjust page breaks

Enter data simultaneously

When printing large worksheets you may observe that Excel prints data of the first few columns on the first page, and later prints the remaining columns on the last page. In between, Excel prints data from rows and columns on pages in an order that seems to create much confusion. You can solve this mystery doing two things. Excel splits a large worksheet into multiple pages by inserting page breaks. So first understand where the page breaks have been inserted. Click “File | Page setup” and then click “OK”. Reduce the zoom factor to 50 percent from the toolbar above. You will now see the page breaks. If you want to manually adjust the page breaks to accommodate columns on a page, then click “View | Page Break Preview”. The page breaks are shown as blue lines. You can drag these lines and make the necessary adjustments. Click “View | Normal” to get out of page break view.

Let’s say that there is a lot of data to be entered into a worksheet and you don’t have much time. So round up a few helpers and get them to enter data into the same worksheet simultaneously. Yes, Excel allows you to do that, but all the computers used to work on this worksheet must be connected over a network. Copy the worksheet file into a folder that is accessible to everyone on the network. You can make the folder containing the worksheet sharable on a temporary basis. Right click on the folder and click “Sharing and Security”. Select the option “Share this folder…”. Also select “Allow network users to change my files”. Next share the worksheet itself. Open it and select “Tools | Share Workbook”. Click to put a check mark near “Allow changes by more than one user…” Then click “OK”.

Rounding Powers

Don’t send e-mail immediately

We normally use the ROUND function to round numbers to the right of the decimal point. If you use a negative rounding value with the ROUND function, you can also use it to round to different powers of ten. If you want to round a number to the nearest 10, 100, or 1000, you can use the ROUND function with negative values for the second parameter. This approach works fine. For instance, if you have a value in cell D6 and you want to round it to the nearest 100, you could use the following formula: =ROUND(D6,-2) This rounds to second digit to the left of the current decimal place. For instance, if D6 contains the value 12345, then the formula returns 12300. Similarly, if D7 contains 12351, then the formula returns 12400. You can use the same technique to round to the nearest 10 by using -1 as the second parameter, or to the nearest 1000 by using -3.

It’s a good idea not to send messages as soon as the “Send” button is pressed. Queue up all your messages in the “Outbox” folder and then send them together as a batch. To switch off the immediate send option do the following. Select “Tools | Options”. Click the “Send” tab. Remove the check mark near the box “Send messages immediately”. Click on “Apply” or “OK”. This also prevents accidents! In a hurry you might reply to all recipients by mistake and then regret it later. But if the message is queued in the Outbox folder, you can open it from there and still have a chance to change things before sending it out.

FEBRUARY 2006 | INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP

Outlook Express tips

Trim excess quoted text By default, e-mail programs include the original message in the reply. This can lead to unwanted information being sent to various recipients and even breach of privacy. Adding the original message bloats the reply, so avoid doing this. You not only

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help your recipients save mailbox storage space, but also help to transmit it through the Internet faster. Here is a simple way to disable the feature. Go to the menu and choose “Tools | Options”. Click on the “Send” tab. Un-check the box next to “Include message in reply”. Click on “Apply” or “OK” and you are done.

Don’t CC everyone, blind-copy them If you need to forward or send information to more than one person, send blind carbon copies (BCC). It is definitely a better way of forwarding an e-mail message when you don’t want to disclose the identity of all the recipients. Here’s how you can use the BCC feature: Click on “To”, next to the e-mail address box in the e-mail. This opens your address book window. To the right you will see three boxes into which you can insert addresses. “To” and “CC” (carbon copy) will include each person’s e-mail address in the outgoing e-mail. “BCC” will not include the recipients’ e-mail addresses in the outgoing e-mail, protecting their privacy. Simply type the principal recipient’s address in the “To” column and the rest in the “BCC” column.

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Outlook can download new messages automatically after a specific interval of time the day. If you find the process of launching Outlook Express and connecting to the server every time you need to download e-mail a tedious and repetitive job, you can automate the whole process and the mail client will automatically check for new e-mail at specified intervals. Here’s how you can check for e-mail and download them automatically. In the menu go to “Tools | Options”. Click on the “General” tab. Under the “Send/Receive Messages” section, select the third option: “Check for new e-mail message every … minutes”. Specify the interval at which Outlook Express should check for new e-mail, by selecting the time in the drop-down menu. Further down, below the “Send/Receive messages”, you can also instruct Outlook Express to connect to the Internet in case you happen to be offline. Click on “Apply” or “OK”.

Request a Read Receipt If you find yourself waiting for someone to reply to your mail, or wonder whether it’s reached the person at all, there’s a way to confirm whether the recipient has opened the message. Request a Read Receipt. From the menu choose “Tools | Options”. Click on the “Receipts” tab. Under the “Requesting Read Receipts” section, enable the option “Request a read receipt for all sent messages”. Click on “Apply” or “OK”.

Import an address book Manually filling up an address book can be quite a cumbersome task. It’s a good thing Outlook Express provides many easy ways to keep your address book updated. One of them is by importing an address from the mails you have received in your inbox.

If you wish to add a sender of an e-mail in your Inbox to your address book, simply right click on the message who’s sender you wish to add and select the option “Add Sender to Address Book”. And If you get a mail with multiple recipients from which you wish to add email addresses in your address book, here’s how to do this. Open the e-mail containing the required addresses. Go to “Tools | Add to Address Book | Everyone on To List”. Click “OK” for each new contact. If you want just a few addresses from the recipient list, you can just click on the names of the contacts in the “Tools | Add to Address Book” menu.

Security for lethal attachments As an attempt to boost Internet security, Outlook Express has a feature that prevents you from opening some e-mail attachments. This could be a problem for many users as often some important attachments are suspected to be dangerous and blocked without the user’s consent. This tip will show you how to disable this feature in Outlook Express. Please try it only if you have a capable anti-virus software installed and if you’re sure you won’t end up opening a harmful attachment by mistake! Go to “Tools | Options… | Security”. Un-check the option “Do not allow attachments to be saved or opened that could potentially be a virus”. Click “OK”.

Forward a group of messages Forwarding messages in Outlook Express is as easy as clicking the forward button, but what if you wish to forward 10 messages to the same recipient? Forwarding every message separately is not only tedious but also congests the receiver’s mailbox. Here’s how you can forward multiple mail messages as attachments in a single message. Go to your Inbox in Outlook Express. Hold down the “Ctrl” key and individually click on the messages you wish to forward. Let go of the “Ctrl” key

| Shortcut keys in Outlook Express [F5] or [Ctrl] + M [Ctrl] + M [Ctrl] + N [Ctrl] + R [Ctrl] + [Shift] + R [Ctrl] + [F] [Ctrl] + I [Ctrl] + [Shift] + F [Ctrl] + D

Check for New Mail. Send and receive mail. Compose a new mail. Reply to mail sender. Reply to all. Forward the mail. Go to Inbox. Find text inside the message. Delete an e-mail message, contact, calendar item, or task.

once all the messages are selected. Right click on any of the selected messages and select “Forward” from the pop-up menu. A new message window will open up with all the selected messages attached. And that’s it—now you can send all your messages in one shot!

Embed pictures in e-mail Generally we tend to upload pictures as e-mail attachments. Instead, what you could do is put pictures into the main body of the e-mail itself. This way the image will not have to be opened separately; it will be part of the e-mail message. However, you need to make sure that the recipient can receive HTML messages, or set the e-mail client to do so. If the receiver does not have HTML messages enabled, he’ll still receive your mail, but as an attachment in HTML format. To embed an image into a mail message, do the following while composing your message—just click “Insert | Picture”, and navigate to an image you wish to insert. The image will now be received as part of the message instead of an attachment.

Drag-and-drop attachments Here’s a quick way to add attachments to your e-mail. Instead of going through the menus to add e-mail attachments, simply drag and drop the file into the text area of your mail. Outlook Express automatically inserts it as a file attachment. You can also drag and drop file attachments from received e-mail directly to a folder. ■ | Brian Pereira INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP | FEBRUARY 2006

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Dr. CHIP because of an invalid or missing entry in your registry (related to MAPIMAIL, which is used to send mail to specific recipients). Another reason could be because a mail client might not be set as default yet. So first you should define a mail client as the default one. Click on Start | Settings | Control Panel | Internet Options (if you are using Windows XP and the Control Panel is in Category View then click on ‘Network and Internet Connections | Internet Options’.) Click on the ‘Programs’ tab and from the drop down list against ‘E-mail’ select Outlook Express. Now, type these commands in the Run dialog box (Start | Run).

msimn.exe /reg Click on Ok and now type another command,

regsvr32 “%ProgramFiles%\ Outlook Express\msoe.dll”

Right Click Problem

Hands on

Dinesh Desai

Q> I have a strange problem in which when I right click on a file and choose ‘Mail Recipient’ from the ‘Send To’ option, nothing happens. I have no clue as to how I can get this to work. It’s a very helpful shortcut. -Gopal There are a few reasons as to why you are facing this sort of a fix. It could be

If these options do not work then click on Start | Run and type “regedit” and click on Ok. The Registry Editor will open; navigate to the following key, [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\. MAPIMail] Make sure the value for this key (in the right hand side pane of the Registry Editor) is, “CLSID\\{9E56BE60-C50F-11CF-9A2C00A0C90A90CE}” Enter the above value if it’s different by double clicking on the ‘Name’ and entering

| How to Read the Code All code lines and commands are written in the following manner: netsh•int•ip•reset•tcpreset.txt where the • symbol denotes a space. Hence, the above code line should be typed as netsh<space>int<space>ip<space >reset<space>tcpreset<dot>txt

Set the default mail client from the Internet Options dialog box so that the “Mail to Recipient” starts working INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP | FEBRUARY 2006

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the default value. If there is none then right click antd select “New | String Value”. Also navigate to the following key and delete it, [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\ Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\ Explorer\FileExts\.MAPIMail] Close the Registry Editor. Restart the computer. If doing all this also does not help, click on Start | Run and type,

regsvr32 sendmail Click Ok.

File Recovery Q> I have Windows XP installed on my computer. Recently, I lost an entire folder full of downloaded programs and files totaling about 400 MB. This happened when the system converted the entire folder into a single file of just 8 kilobytes during its subsequent bootup. I haven’t made any backups of this file and I’ve even tried using Windows System Restore to recover that file, but to no avail. Unfortunately, I also uninstalled Norton Anti-virus a week ago (I’m assuming that might have helped me recover my lost folder). The converted file is still there and I’ve also retained my temporary Internet files. Please tell me if there’s any hope of me recovering my lost files using a third party utility. -Sreedhar It looks like you lost your folder to a ‘cross linking’ error. This could be due to several reasons—a virus attack, a hard disk error resulting from a power failure or incorrect restart, a rogue program, etc. When this happens, the reference to the folder on your hard disk gets corrupted (its entry in the File Allocation Table) due to which the address information of the folder is lost. When this happens, Windows tries to recover this addressing information the next time it starts, during the scandisk process. However, this doesn’t always work well and if you choose to convert these lost files, the problem could get worse than when you started off. You cannot use your anti-virus program to recover from this error but your antivirus program would have safeguarded your system against malicious programs, viruses and Internet threats—all of which FEBRUARY 2006 | INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP

could have caused this error in the first place. However, you could try using a program such as ‘Restoration’. This is a tiny free utility that attempts to restore deleted or lost files and directories. You can download it from http://www. snapfiles.com/get/restoration.html. It would have been best to use this program immediately after you found the error in order to reduce the chances of your files being overwritten. But try it out anyway. And remember to install an anti-virus program and immediately scan your hard disk. Remember to always create backups of your critical files.

Non-functioning USB Q> I’m facing two problems with my system. The first is with my AGP driver. Several of my games give me a notification of an AGP card/video problem and as a result they either hang or return an error before crashing. According to the crash notifications, it mentions to check my DirectX version. I do have the latest version of DirectX installed but yet this problem occurs. The second is the USB problem—no matter which USB device I plug into my computer, it reports it to be non-functioning or disconnected. As a result, I’ve had to add a separate PCI-based USB hub for plugging my peripherals into my computer. Can you tell me what’s happening to my computer? -Abhinav First of all, make sure that the temperatures in your system are within check. Overheating due to faulty or failed system fans is the root cause of instability in systems. Next, check to see that your motherboard’s drivers are up to date—since both of your problems point to integrated components on your motherboard, a motherboard chipset driver update could solve your problem. (Visit your motherboard/VGA manufacturer’s web site for the same.) You can find out your chipset noted at the base of your screen during the system bootup while the splash screen appears with your processor and RAM listing. Hit the ‘Pause’ button on your keyboard to freeze this screen in case it goes by too quickly. In the case of your USB problem,

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make sure that it’s enabled in the system BIOS—very often it isn’t by default. If you are using the USB ports on the front panel of your system, make sure that the wires from the USB headers on the motherboard are correctly connected. Refer to your motherboard manual for more information. Finally, for added stability in your system, search for new BIOS updates for your motherboard to ensure it’s working at its full potential.

Writing Multi-session CDs Q> I would like to know if I could burn two different sessions on the same blank CD using different writing speeds. Will this cause any problems? -Suansh Sure, Suansh, you can create two CD sessions at different speeds. The CD will be readable on virtually every newer optical drive. However, older drives could give reading problems since they are known to be unreliable with multi-session CDs. In this case, the problem could be either the multi-session itself (that it can’t read—it might just read only one session) while the higher speed used to burn the data could be the second reason for the failure to read correctly. If you are going to use the CD on older optical drives, stick to the same speed to rule out such issues.

Hidden Network Card Q> I had installed some monitoring software but it has been uninstalled a long time ago. Then once I tried to change some TCP/IP properties from the Local Area

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Connection Properties box. Unfortunately, whenever I click on Ok to save the changes I get a very strange message saying, “The IP address 192.168.20.31 you have entered for this network adapter is already assigned to another adapter”. I have only one network adapter! I cannot make any changes to the TCP/IP properties. How do I get rid of this error? -Mahesh This may sound strange but this error is because of the existence of a network adapter in the Device Manager, which is hidden. It could be because of the network monitoring software you installed or it could also be because of moving the network card to another slot. There is a way to view the hidden devices in the Device Manager but this information will not be helpful since you will not be able to distinguish between the real network adapter and the ‘ghost’. This will require a registry edit. Here is what you need to do to identify the ghost adapter and uninstall it. Click on Start | Run, type “cmd” and click on Ok. This will bring up the MS-DOS console window. Enter the following command press [Enter].

set devmgr_show_nonpresent_ devices=1 Now, type

Start DEVMGMT.MSC Press [Enter]. This is basically another way to bring up the Device Manager from the command prompt. In the Device Manager, click on ‘View’ and then ‘Show Hidden Devices’. Now, expand the Network Adapters tree (click on the ‘+’ sign against this category).

CHIP-INDIA KNOW HOW | (www.chip-india.com/knowhow) Virtual Memory in Windows XP more hard disk access. This could result in Whenever I play any game, a window pops up saying that Windows is increasing the virtual memory. How do I increase virtual memory in Windows XP once and for all? - hassan

a few hiccups while you game. So you will have to draw a line as to how much space you want to assign Windows to function as the Virtual Memory. - Tirumarai & htnakirs

Solution Right click on ‘My Computer’ and select Properties. Click on the ‘Advanced’ tab and then under the ‘Performance’ section click on the ‘Settings’ button. In the ‘Performance Options’ dialog box, click on the ‘Advanced’ tab. In the ‘Virtual Memory’ section, the system shows the total paging file size. You can increase this size with the ‘Change’ button. After setting this new value, you will be asked to restart the computer for the change to take effect. You can manually set the RAM to a higher value. It is normally recommended to be 1.5 times the RAM you have. Setting aside more space for Virtual Memory means You will notice that all the ‘hidden’ (ghost) adapters appear dim—similar to those hidden folders in Windows Explorer. Right click the dimmed network adapter from the list and select ‘Uninstall’. Close the Device Manager. Now you will be able to make changes to your LAN Connection’s TCP/IP Properties.

Windows Vulnerability Q> I have heard there is a new Windows vulnerability that makes use of a ‘vulnerability in the Graphics Rendering Engine’. I have a Windows XP machine, which means it can also be affected. Is the

The ‘set’ command displays the hidden devices as dim objects in the Device Manager. Left: Before the command, Right: After using the command

Increase the virtual memory to approximately 1.5 times the amount of RAM on the system threat great? There does not seem to be a patch out yet. -Sindhu Yes, you heard right. There is a new vulnerability that has been reported and if exploited then it can affect many operating systems including systems installed with Windows XP (Service Pack 1 and 2) as well as Windows 2000/2003. It all started with a link that was displayed on a web site. Clicking on it will make the Windows Picture and Fax Viewer open while a Trojan is executed in the background. Basically, a Windows Meta File loads, which contains the Trojan. A Windows Meta File usually contains additional information of a media file. The browser will also prompt to download an anti-spyware, which apparently is a fake one. This Trojan has also been sent via MSN and e-mail, as an attachment. This exploit allows for what Microsoft calls “remote code execution”—plainly said, it results in your computer becoming a zombie (controlled by the Trojan). As of now, McAfee and Symantec are providing solutions for this exploit and Windows has put up a patch for download. You can download it from here: http://www. INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP | FEBRUARY 2006

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microsoft.com/technet/security/bulletin/ MS06-001.mspx. It is just a 711 KB file. Make sure you download the one meant for your operating system.

Disable Auto Log On Q> I use Windows XP and there is only one user that has been created on it. The problem is that Windows XP logs in automatically and reaches the Desktop. I have enabled the Guest account in case someone else wants to use the computer but I don’t get that option since XP logs in directly. How do I get the welcome screen again? -Rajshree There are a few methods you can try to get the welcome screen back so that you can log in manually each time. Click on Start | Run and type “control userpasswords2” and click on Ok. In the ‘User Accounts’ dialog box that will appear, check the option ‘Users must enter a user name and password to use this computer’ and click Ok. Restart to see the changes take effect.

Prevent XP from logging in automatically by forcing it to ask the user for a password Alternatively, you can also edit the registry to disable XP from automatically logging in for you.

Root Certificate Error Q> I had installed ZoneAlarm on my computer a long time ago. Now when I try to run the firewall it gives me errors saying that some ‘root certificates are missing with VSINIT.DLL’. Another file that is also mentioned is VSDATA.DLL. I cannot understand what could have caused this ‘root certificate’ to disappear. I tried uninstalling ZoneAlarm but even then I got the same error. What do I do? -Rohan DLL files need to be registered— FEBRUARY 2006 | INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP

some are registered via the Windows “REGSVR32” command or with the help of ‘certificates’ for authentication. In this case, the root certificate is missing either because of a rogue program or by accident. This certificate can be re-instated by uninstalling the software, installing a new root certificate and then installing ZoneAlarm once again. Here is how one goes about uninstalling ZoneAlarm. Restart the computer and tap the F8 key after the initial memory test screen. The ‘Advanced Startup Options’ appears. Select ‘Safe Mode’ with the arrow keys and press Enter. It will take a few minutes for Windows to boot in Safe Mode. Click on “Yes” to proceed to the desktop. Open Windows Explorer, click on Tools | Folder Options and click on the ‘View’ tab. Select the radio button “Show Hidden Files and Folders” and uncheck “Hide Protected Operating System files (Recommended)”. Click ‘Yes’ when you get a warning and click on Ok to save the changes made. Now go to the ‘Program Files’ folder within the “C:”

Install the missing Root Certificate from the Verisign web site and get ZoneAlarm to work again Drive. Double click on it and delete the ZoneAlarm folder within it. Now go to the ‘Internet Logs’ folder—you will find this under “C:\Windows\” folder. Delete this folder. (In Windows 2000, the Windows folder is labeled as WinNT.) Now go to “C:\Windows\System32” and delete the following files: vsdatant. sys, vsutil.dll, vsinit.dll, vsdata.dll. Close Windows Explorer and restart the computer. Now to reset the root certificate on your computer go to the following web site: https://getca.verisign.com/ On this Verisign page, click on the link to update your browser. Click on “Yes” if you are prompted to install any component (in Internet Explorer). You will reach a page

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Need a hand with your PC travails? Log on to www.chip-india.com/ knowhow and post your query. Voila! You’re on your way to a glitch-free future.

Info | For Accurate Diagnosis… 1. Mention system specifications. 2. Mention new hardware or software installed recently. 3. Note the error message, including the action or event that triggers the error. For instance, the error message comes up only during startup or shutdown, or when starting a particular application and so on. 4. Mention any changes you’ve made just before you started getting the error. For instance, have you deleted some files recently or uninstalled some application? where you will be asked to click on “Accept” to install a new root certificate. Click on it and save the certificate to the desktop or just run it directly. Follow the instructions to install the certificate—use the default recommendations to do so. Restart your computer and install ZoneAlarm again. The installation should begin and the firewall should work again. If you still get any DLL errors related to missing root certificates, check to see if the time has been set correctly. There seems to be an issue with the time and the recognizing of the root certificate as well. ■

Make your phone sing Dinesh Desai

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ay back when cell phones were launched, they used to produce a pattern of beeps to alert the user of an incoming call or a message. There was nothing such as ‘ring tones’. The best you could get was what the fanciest phones offered—a wide selection of monophonic ring tones ranging from a couple of standard tones to a few classical tunes. There was no way a user could create a ring tone. The ring tone buzz started with phones packing in built-in ring tone composer using which it became possible to create personalized tones and share them through SMS. But using the composer wasn’t easy for the users as they needed to

Create your own ring tones from audio CDs and MP3s know how to read music notes. So what we had in hand were monophonic ring tones with only one note playing at a time through the phone’s beeper. Today, with phones having support for polyphonic, Wav and MP3 ring tones, it’s possible to make them sing any tune or even a song. Even though phones have a good bank of ring tones, it tends to get a bit boring after a few days. It’s much more fun turning clips of your favorite songs into ring tones. You can download these ring tones from many web sites for free. But hunting for these ring tones is another tedious job. Another way of getting these ring tones is by downloading them from your service provider or WAP sites by shelling out a few bucks. But here, the problem lies in ending up with something you weren’t looking out for. Besides, it eats

up a lot of your time. So how about creating your own ring tones then? I’m not talking about creating ring tones using the phone’s built-in recorder, but grabbing them from your favorite audio CDs and MP3s. Just imagine… the possibilities are limitless! You don’t need to spend time and money downloading your favorite tones. And the best thing is that you can never go wrong! This workshop is a step-by-step guide on grabbing ring tones from audio CDs and MP3s and also optimizing them so that they sound loud and clear on your phone. Of course, you need to have a smart, semi-smart or a multimedia phone running Symbian, Linux, Windows Mobile or Palm OS. Now gear up with your favorite songs, grab your mouse and get set to make your phone sing! | Anand Tuliani

Ring tones from Audio CDs

STEP 1. To get started, you just need two

STEP 2. Start Audiograbber and insert an

STEP 3. Since most phones have support

applications—an audio CD ripper to grab clips from audio CDs and a sound editing tool to edit and optimize the clips. Go to www.audiograbber.net and download ‘Audiograbber’, an audio CD ripping utility. Also download ‘Audacity’, a sound editing tool from audacity.sourceforge.net. Both are freeware!

audio CD from which you would like to grab ring tones. After the tracks are listed, select the desired tracks using checkboxes and type their song titles. Alternatively, you can perform a CDDB search to get the song titles from the Internet to minimize the effort of typing.

for ring tones in the Wav format, it’s recommended to change the output format of Audiograbber from MP3 to Wav. To do this, click the MP3 button on the toolbar which brings up the MP3 settings. Under the ‘Grab to’ section, select the option ‘Wav file’ and click ‘OK’ to apply the settings. INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP | FEBRUARY 2006

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Ring tones from Audio CDs

STEP 4. Using the checkboxes, select the songs from which you would like to extract the ring tones. After having selected the songs, you need to select and extract your favorite clip from each song to be used as ring tones or message tones. Proceed to the next step to learn how.

STEP 5. Bring up the ‘Properties’ dialog box by double clicking on the track name. Click ‘Play’ and use the ‘Set start’ and ‘Set end’ buttons to mark the desired section of the song. Drag the progress bar to forward or rewind the song. Apply the settings, and click ‘play’ again to preview your selection. Click the ‘Grab!’ button to rip the ring tones off the CD!

STEP 6. Since most phones have a single speaker, it’s pointless having stereo ring tones. To convert a file to mono, load the file in Audacity, and select ‘split stereo track’ from the drop down list in the track control panel to the left of the waveform. Delete the rightchannel by closing the right waveform. From the left-channel’s dropdown list, select ‘mono’.

STEP 9. The ring tone is ready! Now all you have to do is save it and upload it to your

STEP 7. It is recommended to normalize your

STEP 8. If you export the ring tone to the

phone. Select the option ‘Export to Wav’ and

ring tone collection so that they all have a uniform volume level. Select the entire wave form by pressing ‘Ctrl + a’ and select ‘Normalize’ from the ‘Effect’ menu. Click ‘OK’ to apply the normalization after previewing.

phone at this point, it may not sound loud enough even though the phone’s ring volume is set to full. To ensure that the ring tone plays loud and clear, it’s recommended to raise the gain. Drag the gain slider in the track control panel to right till it reaches the 9 dB mark.

save the file. If your phone supports MP3 ring tones, you can choose the option ‘Export to MP3’. However, you’ll need ‘lame_enc.dll’ from the Lame MP3 encoder pack which is freely available on http://lame.sourceforge.net. Finally, upload the ring tone to your phone.

Ring tones from MP3s | Tips

STEP 10. If you have a massive MP3 collection, you’ll be thrilled to know that you can even grab ring tones from MP3s. First, play a song using any MP3 player and note the start and end positions (mins:secs) of the selection to be used for the ring tone. Next, load the MP3 file in Audacity from ‘File | Open’.

STEP 11. Refer to the noted positions and select the required section from the waveform by clicking and dragging over it. You can verify the selection looking at the status bar. Now, copy the selection (ctrl + c) and paste (ctrl + v) it into a new window (ctrl + n). Steps 6 to 9 remain the same to complete the process.

Since the phone doesn’t ring for more than 30 seconds during an incoming call, it’s no point keeping ring tones longer than 30 seconds. And if you are grabbing a SMS tone, keep it short and sweet, or else it may be quite irritating when you get a message. Apart from using ring tones only for incoming calls and messages, they can also be used as caller tunes to amuse callers while your phone is ringing. If you have a memory card, use a card reader rather than a Bluetooth dongle to transfer files quickly.

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Case Logic It’s important to ventilate your case adequately to bring down the component temperatures and to keep your system cool, and thereby make it last longer

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hen you work on your PC, components like the processor, graphics card and hard drive generate heat. And when you engage in intensive tasks like gaming, the heat generated is much more. The PC components have a certain temperature operating range exceeding which they either shut down or get damaged. In the case of graphic cards and processors, for instance, the core slows down and eventually shuts down. The excessive heat generated also decreases the life span of the component. To prevent this, processors and graphic cards have heat sinks and fans to keep them cool. In case of hard drives, when the temperature shoots beyond 55 to 60 degrees, they eventually crash leading to the loss of important data. To

tackle this problem, special hard drive coolers are available in the market. But despite the availability of these, we still need to ensure that the case is properly ventilated. This is because the ambient case temperature has a direct influence on the temperatures of the components. If hot air generated from the components is not exhausted, it circulates inside the case thereby increasing the component temperatures. For example, an overheated hard drive may run just fine in a adequately ventilated case, but poor ventilation may reduce the life span of the hard drive. Lower case temperature allows overclockers to push the clock speeds, thereby letting them extract more performance from the hardware. This workshop tells you how to keep your PC cool by following the right case cooling technique.

STEP 1. 80mm Top Exhaust Fan (Blowhole)

120mm Rear Exhaust Fan

80mm Side Intake Fan

Ideal fan Orientations

120mm Front Intake Fan

Case Selection

Cases are usually made of steel or aluminum. In addition to being light, aluminum is also better than steel in terms of heat dissipation. So if you haven’t purchased a case yet, an aluminium one would be the ideal one to go for. The case should ideally have two 120 mm fan slots, one for intake and the other for exhaust. In addition to this, there should also be a 80 mm side intake fan and a 80 mm top blowhole fan. The slots are basically empty grills where fans can be fitted. In case there is no provision for 120 mm fan slots, it should at least have 80 mm fan slots, (almost all cases have provisions to mount 80 mm front and rear fans). But although generic 80 mm fans are available for as less as 50 bucks, it’s important to keep in mind that 120 mm fans (these are costlier than the 80 mm ones) can move a higher volume of air and are less noisy. A power supply unit with two fans is an added bonus—it further helps in cooling as one fan takes in hot air from the case while the other exhausts it. The intake fan can either be 120 mm or 80 mm but the exhaust is always 80 mm in accordance with the power supply dimensions. INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP | FEBRUARY 2006

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(negative pressure). Both the setups have their advantages and drawbacks.

Positive Pressure

20 CFM

| HANDS ON

20 CFM

Negative Pressure Setup 25 CFM

25 CFM 30 CFM

In: 60CFM, Out: 20 + 25= 45 CFM

In: 30CFM, Out: 20 + 25= 45 CFM

STEP 2.

60 CFM

Setup

All same sized fans don’t move the same amount of air. The amount of air a fan can move is measured in terms of CFM (Cubic Feet per Minute). Higher the CFM, more volume of air the fan is capable of moving. You have to look at the CFM ratings of the fan to find out how capable it is. The generic 80 mm fans mostly don’t have CFM mentioned. Therefore, it’s recommend you invest a little more and go for the branded

ones which have specifications mentioned. The prices range between Rs 100-200 for 80 mm fans and about Rs 200-300 for 120 mm fans. Some of the popular brands Antec, Coolermaster and Vantec but they come at a premium. After you select a case, the next step is to decide about the air pessure technique—whether you want to allow more airflow into the system (positive pressure) or more airflow out of the system

1

3

2

4

In a negative pressure setup, the volume of air forced out of the system is higher than the volume of air taken in. Thus the CFM-out (CFM sum of all the fans blowing air out of the system) should be more than the total CFM-in ( CFM sum of all the fans blowing air into the system). This creates a vacuum and produces a steady stream of cool air coming into the case from all the air vents and gaps. However, the drawback of a negative pressure setup is that along with the air, there are chances of dust getting sucked into the case through the vents and gaps leading to dust accumulation and higher temperatures inside the case.

Positive Pressure Setup In a positive pressure setup, the idea is to have more air forced into the system, which means the total sum of CFM-in should be more than the total CFM-out. This setup is good if you want to cut down on the amount of dust coming inside the case as the air coming into the case would only be through the fans blowing air into the case. Also, note that case fans tend to blow dust and dirt into the case. Therefore, it’s recommended that filters are used for fans that blow air into the case. In case your local computer store doesn’t have them, you can use the air filters used for air conditioners and cut them according to your fan size. http://www.postmaster.co.in

Reliable Tried and trusted components and architecture based on the ongoing dialogue with over 4000-installations Truly Next Generation

Cable Management diagram Labeling 1 PSU cables tied with insulating tape. 2 Sleeved Power cable. 3 Optical drive is placed in the third drive bay so that the tied PSU cables can be tucked above it. 4 The IDE cable tucked inside the empty floppy drive bay.

FEBRUARY 2006 | INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP

For a free trial call QuantumLink Communications Pvt. Ltd. Mumbai - 26820004. Bangalore - 51152792. New Delhi - 26691152 / 927. Pune - 9373307992 Or write to - [email protected]

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WORKSHOP

No Fans

80 mm rear exhaust

80 mm front intake & 120 mm rear exhaust

sensor. We logged the temperatures using Everest diagnostics utility. (Refer to the table for recorded temperatures).

idle

load

idle

load

idle

load

Case

39

44

37

42

33

37

CPU

40

52

38

50

34

46

Silent Systems

GPU

59

82

56

77

51

73

HDD

40

47

39

46

37

43

The fans produce noise. With cases having as many as 4-5 fans (including the processor and GPU fan) the whirring noise is surely going to irritate you. This is where silent fans come to rescue. Every fan manufacturer generally mentions the decibel (dB) rating of the fan in the specifications. The decibel (dB) is a measure of

All temperatures are in Celcius

120mm & 80mm Fans

Meshed Fan Filter

STEP 3.

Cable Management

For proper case ventilation, you need unrestricted flow of air into the case. Flat IDE and floppy cables act as a major hindrance to the smooth air flow into the case. You can tuck the cables inside empty drive bays or you could use a rounded cable. In case you don’t want to spend on a rounded cable, you can refer to the tutorials available on the Internet showing you how to make a rounded cable from a flat IDE cable. Next comes the messy PSU wires. Use cable ties to tie them up. Insulating tape can also be used to tie them up. Arrange the cables in a manner so that they don’t restrict smooth air flow. Now let’s look at some real world results. Test Rig AMD 3200+ socket 939 Winchester Asus A8V Deluxe Gigabyte 6600 GT AGP Seagate 160 GB SATA HDD Corsair 512x2 Value RAM

Rounded IDE Cable

We conducted the tests after operating the PC for 30 minutes. And to create ideal load conditions, we recorded temperatures after a rigorous session of NFS Underground 2.

sound intensity. Higher the decibel rating, more noisy the fan is. Silent fans have a low decibel rating. Anything below a decibel rating of 30 is relatively silent. Generally fans at higher rpm make more noise, especially 80 mm fans. But then with a higher rpm they move more air. So you have to select a fan with a low decibel level but with a good or above average CFM rating. The Vantec STEALTH fan series are silent fans with a nice mix of low decibel level and a good CFM rating. The 80 mm variant gives out 21 dB of noise@27 CFM and comes for Rs 499. The 120 mm fan gives out 28 dB of noise@53 CFM and is for Rs 811.

Results Recording & Reading the temperature

Insulating Tape

Cable Tie

For measuring the case temperature, we placed the temperature probe inside the second empty drive bay. This is because the case temperature is generally higher in the upper region of the case, this is also the reason why we orient the blowhole fan to blow air out of the case. The temperature probe gives out the reading on the LCD display (similar to the one used in the Zebronics Antibiotic case, check the review in our ‘Hardware Standalones’ section). The processor, graphics card and the hard drive have an onboard temperature

The real world tests clearly show a drop in case temperature by 6 degrees, temperature drops in the processor by 7 degrees and in the graphics card by ten degrees. While deciding on the fan size, always use a 120 mm fan if mounting holes are available. They are more efficient and less noisy. You will have to play around a little for getting the best settings. Results depend on a variety of factors so you will have to arrive at the settings that work best for you. A well ventilated case gives you a cooler system; a cooler system will have a longer life span. ■ | Gaurav Seth INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP | FEBRUARY 2006

Keep ‘em Out!

Dinesh Desai

Stop intrusions from infected networks and the Internet dead in their tracks before they wreak havoc on your machine. Do it with a software firewall

H

ow well is your PC protected from the Internet and other machines on your local network? Most of you might have an anti-virus solution installed that you religiously update but at times even this precaution fails to live up to expectations. This is because an anti-virus detects an anomaly (an infected file or executable) on the PC only after it has made its way into the system folder or wedged its way into the Temporary Internet Files folder (that’s good enough to set off all the alarms). Advanced users usually know what to look out for and how to prevent unwanted attacks on their computer—either with the right software or with smart surfing habits. If you plan to host a web site, play games online, connect to a local network then you need to protect yourself against intrusions even before they try to enter your computer. This is the role of a firewall—to monitor and alert you of information entering as well as leaving the PC (known as incoming and outgoing). Even if you don’t intend to do anything other than surfing the Internet, checking mail and chatting, you need to have some sort of defense against computers trying to access your machine

FEBRUARY 2006 | INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP

without your knowledge. Other than rogue machines or zombies (infected computers sending broadcasts to infect more) accessing your machine’s ‘open ports’, there might be programs that connect to the Net to send information. Did you know even MS Word tries to connect to the Internet? A firewall will alert you of any such activity. Specific programs that periodically access the Net can be restricted in more than one way (it will become clearer as we proceed through the workshop). Options available within the software firewall allow it to work alongside the anti-virus installed on the system too. At times even e-mail protection is integrated into the software. A firewall also has the ability to ‘mask’ the IP address of the machine it is installed on, making it invisible to external (infected) computers or hackers. This workshop throws some light on the options available across three different software firewalls—ZoneLabs’ ZoneAlarm 6.1, Norton Personal Firewall 2006 and McAfee’s Personal Firewall Plus (Build 7). ZoneAlarm 6.1 is free and is ideal for a standalone PC or for a small home network. For larger networks or greater configurability, there are other versions of ZoneAlarm

available (other than Norton and McAfee). If you’re always on the move then a software firewall should be installed since you will need to connect to different networks. Norton provides a simple “Location” feature that allows you to switch access restrictions based on your location (just like a profile). With the help of these screenshots of the various options in a software firewall you will gain a better idea on how you can avoid unwanted intrusions and restrict programs from gaining access to the Internet. There are some precautions you must take before installing a firewall. Even though they keep our PCs safe, some users might face problems when the application itself crashes or certain files get corrupted. Problems might arise from too many settings blocking the Internet traffic altogether. So the best thing to do is to create a System Restore point before an install and after you have configured the software firewall correctly (i.e. you have confirmed access to your network and the Internet). If there ever is a problem you will be able to revert back to earlier settings without giving yourself a headache. ■ | Ashutosh Desai

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Configuring ZoneAlarm

STEP 1. This is the main ZoneAlarm window with the ‘Overview’ section (left hand side of the panel) selected. As the name suggests, it gives a summary of the number of blocked intrusions. A count of programs that have been given access to the Internet is also mentioned here. The top panel of this section allows you to stop network usage.

STEP 2. In the same section click on the ‘Preferences’ tab. This tab has settings that affect the entire application. Configure the updates section to manual if you want to conserve bandwidth. Make sure ZoneAlarm loads at startup for an ‘always on’ connection. Check “Hide my IP address...”. Click on ‘Options’ to enter a Proxy address if needed.

STEP 3. If you want to view the list of applications that have tried to establish a connection (in search of authentication or updates), click on ‘Program’ tab in Program Control. Here, one can explicitly allow or block a program from accessing the Internet. If you are not sure what the program does, right click on it and set it to ‘Ask’.

STEP 4. If you encounter some problems with a program that requires an Internet connection, click on ‘Add’ and give it persmission to access the Internet. Here, MSN Messenger has been added to the list of programs that access the Internet. Remember that an application that’s given access does not necessarily have to be a ‘Trusted’ one.

STEP 5. This is the ‘Main’ tab in the Program Control section. It is very basic and consists of the overall control you want to give to the applications on your system. Set this to ‘Medium’—each time a program tries to access the Net and is not present in the application list then ZoneAlarm will alert you asking you to make a decision.

STEP 6. If you tend you leave your computer idle and connected to the network/Internet then you should leave the Automatic Lock ‘On’. All incoming and outgoing traffic can be blocked during this period of inactivity. Only programs that have been allowed access stay connected. For example, MSN will stay signed in while all other activities will stop.

STEP 7. If your computer is part of a network or you want to specify a friend’s IP address as a trusted one then click on ‘Firewall’ and then on the ‘Zones’ tab. In addition to your network and loopback adapter, add a range (for a network) or a single IP (for a specific PC) and give it explicit access.

STEP 8. The ‘Alerts & Logs’ lists all the programs and connections made—both incoming as well as outgoing. This will be of use when you notice a drop in bandwidth. This could be because of a device accessing a free port or shared folder. IP details and port number are the most important details in these logs.

STEP 9. Click on ‘Firewall’ in the left hand side panel. The Internet Zone Security has to be set at a level equal to or higher than the Trusted Zone Security. Set TZS to Medium if you want to share folders on a network. Else leave it at High. Click on ‘Advanced’ to lock the host file—this will prevent spyware from making changes to it. INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP | FEBRUARY 2006

Configuring Norton Personal Firewall 2006

STEP 1. In the main Personal Firewall window, click on Options. Select ‘Firewall Options’. These configuration options are very basic and are related to updates, the way alerts are displayed and the integration provided with e-mail. The Firewall tab is the most important. Make sure “Stealth blocked ports” is checked.

STEP 2. Click on Norton Personal Firewall (NPF) | Status & Settings | Personal Firewall. Make sure it is on and click on ‘Configure’ and then on the ‘Networking’ tab. The ‘Location’ option includes different profiles for different connections. Add a Trusted Zone—a network range, a network address for a subnet or a specific IP—for each Location, if necessary.

STEP 3. Click on the ‘Programs’ tab. This is similar to Program Control in Zone Alarm. Once again, the Locations will help you block certain programs from accessing the Internet or computers on the network from accessing your shares. This is extremely configurable. If you select ‘Custom’ Internet Access, you can disable specific aspects of the application.

STEP 4. Click on the Advanced tab to create “rules” for specific kind of network activity. Ping requests should be disabled from the firewall. Therefore Incoming ICMP (Ping) Requests should be denied access. Click on ‘General’ to create rules. Windows File Sharing is blocked by default—external computers will not be able to access shares.

STEP 5. The Windows File Sharing setting can be changed by clicking on ‘Modify’ and changing the “Action” to Permit, Block or Monitor. Numerous settings on the connection, location, tracking can be changed from here. You can even decide on the direction of connection—inbound or outbound.

STEP 6. Select ‘Privacy Control’ and then ‘Configure’, check “Turn on...” and move the slider to High. This will prevent private information from being sent at all. There is no need to fill in any ‘Private Information’ either. This will also block cookies from being created. Browser information also will not be sent.

STEP 8. Editing the ad/pop up blocker setting further here can either be ‘Global’ or ‘User’ specific. If you want your changes to reflect across all users then you must do so under the Global Settings tab. For the web site you add you can add the ad server address or under the Ad Blocking tab you can add addresses of the pop ups you want to block.

STEP 9. Finally the Log Viewer. You can access this from ‘Statistics | Logs’ in the main window. This is an extremely detailed listing of the result of your settings. All the connections attempted, allowed or denied, suspected intrusions, history, etc are mentioned. The history of all settings changes is of great help.

STEP 7. Click on ‘Ad Blocking’ from the main window and select ‘Configure’. Enable all the pop up and ad blocking, click on ‘Advanced’ to add any web site that is not listed. Once again, you can further customize the amount of information you want your browser to divulge, block flash pop ups, etc. FEBRUARY 2006 | INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP

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Configuring McAfee Personal Firewall Plus

STEP 1. The McAfee Security Center console is very simple. All the settings listed within this console leads you to a particular section in another Personal Firewall window. In the main window you can view a summary of everything that is going on within your firewall, block your computer from the Internet, track a web site or test your firewall.

STEP 2. Clicking on Summary will give a brief on all the services that were blocked and the ones that are currently still active on the system—each of them being clickable for further information. Viewing the network traffic is also possible from here. It will also state the number of rules that have been changed. Regularly check these details.

STEP 3. View the Internet Traffic to get a brief on all incoming and outgoing information. This is spread across two tabs—Statistics and Applications. You can view your bandwidth usage over the month too. The Application tab will just list all the programs and services that are active at that given point of time.

STEP 4. The Internet Applications section is where all the applications that need access to the Net are listed. This where you can right click and give full access or completely block it from communicating over the Internet. The “more information” option will also connect to the Internet but will tell you more about the service.

STEP 5. The Options section consists of three parts. Click on Security Settings to set the level of security. Keep it at ‘Tight’—you will be alerted each time a program tries to access the network/Internet. Uncheck “Accept ICMP Ping requests” and “Allow restricted users to change Personal Firewall settings”.

STEP 6. Change the way McAfee informs you of incoming/outgoing connections in Alert Settings. Enable “Red and Green Alerts” so that you get to know when communications are being made across the network. Only Red Alerts require a decision— Allow/Deny. The “Enable Gaming Mode” is to prevent on-screen alerts while gaming.

STEP 7. In the Event Log Settings tab make sure you log every event and have it archived. When you suspect an intrusion or unnecessary resource usage, you can refer to these logs. Enable “Show Port numbers” so that you know which ones are being accessed excessively. Click on ‘Configure’, check all options except “Do not log events”.

STEP 8. Trusted IP Addresses within Options add a range of IP addresses if you are part of a home network or office LAN. If there is just one more computer, add that IP only. You can even set a rule to block an IP for a certain period of time. This the same place where you can add IP addresses or a range in the Banned IP section.

STEP 9. Click on System Services to view a list of all the functions like FTP, Mail, SQL Server, etc that will need to communicate over a network. These are disabled by default. Enable your Mail Server (POP and SMTP, IMAP) services. Make sure Remote Assistance is kept disabled (port numbers are also mentioned for your information). INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP | FEBRUARY 2006

Stop watching it! An unattended Windows setup guide

I

t’s only after installing Windows that you can start using your PC. But installing Windows is a huge task in itself and makes you feel you’ve spent ages before the PC whereas you’ve spent only an hour. Right from the time you insert the CD till the time when Windows is up and running, you are forced to keep your eyes glued to the screen to monitor the process and fill in the various dialog boxes. And if your PC is slow, you’ve had it! You’ll need to spend more time gazing at the progress bars waiting for the dialog boxes to appear. How about a CD then that can install Windows automatically, putting in all the details and answering all the dialog boxes?

With this, your job of monitoring the installation process will be over. This workshop will walk you through the entire process of creating an unattended Windows XP setup which won’t require any user interaction after specifying the partition details. The secret behind the unattended nature is the answer file which tells Windows what to do while it’s installing. The answer file can be created using ‘Windows Setup Manager’ that can be found under Support tools on the Windows XP installation disc. Using the tool you can make the answer file so powerful that you can even tell Windows to include or

exclude individual components, set the display resolution, specify user data and regional settings and so on. And if you’re an advanced user who likes tweaking, you can even automate the process of installing device drivers and hotfixes. All that you need to create an unattended setup is a licensed copy of the Windows XP installation CD. So, the next time you install Windows, you can leave the setup running and in the mean time you can take your dog for a walk or have a cup of tea or simply take a short nap. And by the time you come back, Windows will be up and running. | Anand Tuliani

Automated Windows installation

STEP 1. To begin with, insert your copy of the Windows XP installation CD into the optical drive and copy the entire contents of the CD to a folder on your hard drive. Make sure the drive has at least 700 MB of free space.

STEP 2. Navigate to the folder ‘Support |

STEP 3. The most crucial part of the

Tools’ on the CD and double click the file ‘Deploy.cab’. Copy all the files to a folder on your hard drive. The reason for doing this is to extract ‘Windows Setup Manager’ and the related help files needed to create the answer file which will be automating the entire installation.

workshop begins now—creating the answer file. To execute the ‘Windows Setup Manager’ double click the file ‘setupmgr.exe’ from the contents of ‘Deploy.cab’ which you just copied on the hard drive. The next step explains the options you need to select from the first few dialog boxes which appear. INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP | FEBRUARY 2006

WORKSHOP

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121

Automated Windows installation

STEP 4. The first few steps of the wizard are self-explanatory. Select the following options from the successive dialog boxes: ‘Create a new answer file’ > ‘Windows unattended installation’ > Select the appropriate Windows version > ‘Fully automated’ > ‘No, this answer file will be used to install from a CD’ and finally accept the license agreement.

STEP 7. Use the ‘Advanced Settings’ section only to configure telephony, browser and shell settings and installation folder. Under browser and shell settings, click the browser settings button to set the home page and add Favorites. If you are on a network, you can also specify the proxy settings.

STEP 10. Nothing better than Nero Burning ROM for burning CDs! Launch Nero and select CD-ROM (Boot) from the ‘New Compilation’ dialog box. Under the ‘Boot’ tab specify the boot sector file which you extracted. Set the emulation as ‘No emulation’ and keep the boot message blank. Most importantly, remember to set the ‘Number of loaded sectors’ as 4. FEBRUARY 2006 | INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP

STEP 5. Under ‘General Settings’, you can customize the installation of Windows by providing default name and organization, display settings, time zone and the product key. Fill in the fields using drop down lists or by keying in the details. If you don’t select any option from the drop down lists, the default values will be taken.

STEP 8. After you’re done, click the ‘finish’ button and save the answer file as ‘winnt. sif’ when you are prompted. Advanced users can further tweak the answer file by referring to the help file named ‘ref.chm’ in the same folder as the setup manager. Finally, copy the answer file to the ‘i386’ folder in the Windows XP installation folder which you created in the beginning.

STEP 6. Under ‘Network Settings’ configure the computer name, administrator password, networking components and workgroup. If you are specifying the admin password, make sure you check the option to encrypt the password in the answer file. If you have a static IP address, you can specify the settings under the networking components section.

STEP 9. To burn a bootable installation disc, you need the boot sector of the Windows XP CD. Download it from http://www.tacktech.

com/pub/microsoft/bootfiles/bootfiles. zip and extract the boot sector file to a folder. This file will be used with Nero Burning ROM to create a bootable disc.

STEP 11. Under the ‘Burn’ tab, set the write speed to 24x and the write method to disc-

STEP 12. Insert a blank CD into the optical

at-once to ensure reliability. Click the ‘New’

drive and hit the burn button. Wait for 5

button to begin adding files and folders to

minutes and there you go! Your unattended

the compilation. Drag all the contents of the

Windows installation disc is ready!

Windows XP installation disc that you copied

Before you begin using it, keep one thing in

on your hard drive (with the answer file in the

mind. As the installation is customized, refrain

‘i386’ folder), into the left pane.

from lending the disc to anyone.

The Geek’s Box Vishwanath Vanjire

Forget about codecs and play your movie straight off a bootable CD

T

ake a moment to think about the different kinds of media file types you know about. VCD, DVD, DivX, XviD, MP3, MPEG4, WMA, RealMedia, Ogg/Vorbis, AC3—the list goes on. And every other day you hear of some new format springing up that is amazing and so much better, but you need to install the codec. And before you know, there’s a veritable codec conflict happening under the hood. The answer to this comes in the form of GeeXboX, a standalone media player and a bootable operating system in one. Built around Linux and Mplayer (open source media player), GeeXboX can boot right from a CD and play any media file that is available out there. You don’t need to use Windows. Moreover, GeeXboX is a free, open-source software; this means you can modify it and build your own release of the GeeXboX. Sounds interesting? Let’s get started. First visit www.geexbox.org/en/ downloads.html and download a copy of the following: 1. GeeXboX x.xx.x English Edition for i386 (PC) from the GeeXboX ISO section

The GeeXboX boot splash screen

The ISO image of the your bootable CD should look like this 2. GeeXboX x.xx.x ISO Generator (i386 (PC) Target) from the GeexboX ISO Generator section The first one is the simplest way of using GeeXboX. It’s a bootable ISO image file with all the necessary stuff (check the box for dope on an ISO image file). All you need to do is burn a copy of the .iso file using any standard CD burning software like Nero Burning ROM. Check out the second part of this workshop to know how. Pop the CD in your drive, set the first boot option to CD-ROM and reboot. GeeXboX will boot off the CD and present you with the On-Screen Display (OSD) menu. At the same time, it will also eject

The GeeXboX on-screen display with the open media center (OMC) theme

your GeeXboX boot CD. Now is the time to insert your movie CD and enjoy. The OSD menu can be navigated with a keyboard, joystick or a supported remote control like the ATI Remote Wonder or Pinnacle PCTV Remote. Once the CD has been inserted, use the right arrow button to go to a sub-menu and the left arrow to go back. The menu items are pretty self-explanatory and lets you play around with various kinds of media like VCD, DVD, audio CD and single files like DivX, WMA, MP3 or MPEG. It also gives you playback control and allows you to change things like aspect ratio and subtitles. But this is all so plain jane. The actual fun begins when you tweak the source files and create your own GeeXboX release. For that, you need the second file we downloaded. This one is a tarball (Linux speak for zip file) with a tar.gz extension. Winzip does not handle such files. Use 7-Zip (www.7-zip.org) to unzip this in Windows. The files you get look like that as displayed in the screenshot above. Remember that it’s critical to maintain this structure for the GeeXboX to operate. Double click on “Generator.exe” to invoke the GeeXboX ISO Generator. This lets you make changes to the source files by using a GUI for us non-geeky kinds. STEP 1. The Interface tab is primarily meant for localization. You can change the menu language, menu font, even change the font of the subtitles in your media file. In addition, you can also change the theme of GeeXboX. The generator ships with two themes by default (OMC and

WORKSHOP

4 On the network front, it has DHCP and WiFi support too. Wireless freedom!

GeeXboX interface characteristics STEP 2. The second tab tweaks audio properties. If you have two soundcards, you may want to route the audio through your spanking new “Creative Live! Platinum” instead of the onboard Realtek chipset. “0” generally denotes master or onboard audio controller. You can also select analog or digital outputs of your soundcard and the channel configuration, for example, 2, 4 or 6-channel surround.

STEP 5. Remember, GeeXboX is built on the Linux kernel. So, to access Windows PCs on the network you need to have a SAMBA system up and running. The services tab lets you specify authentication for SAMBA shares. It also lets you start services to connect to the Internet. This is important for the last tab.

5 Your GeeXboX can also access files from other networked Windows computers

2 Like any good home theater, you can configure multi-channel audio STEP 3. Next select your preferred Remote Control and Receiver. In India, the ATI Wonder and Pinnacle PCTV are pretty much all you will get.

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| What is an ISO

Movies). Advanced Linux users can create their own themes. Check the GeeXboX wiki (http://www.geexbox.org/wiki/index. php/Theme) for that.

1 Here’s where you configure the

| HANDS ON

STEP 6. The Packages tab allows you to add fonts, drivers, codecs or firmware upgrades that are not a part of the standard GeeXboX ISO. Select the items and click on Download. If you set up your Network and Services tabs correctly, the Generator will connect to the Internet and add them to the ISO.

An ISO image file with the .iso extension is basically a way of distributing software by means of a single file with information like file system, boot sequence, attributes and other metadata. It is very similar to a zip file but the difference is that using any CD burning software, you can burn the .iso file onto a CDR and get the correct structure that it was intended to distribute with all the files required for the application to function correctly. ISOs relieve you of using multiple files and installation procedures. Just download, burn and go. ISO files are most commonly used to post and download Linux distributions on the Internet.

7 After creating your custom GeeXboX configuration, you compile it STEP 8. Start Nero from your Start Menu or desktop shortcut. Select the ISO tab and click New.

8 Use your favorite CD writing software to burn the image. You’re now ready!

6 You can use a variety of audio and video codecs to play your media files

3 GeeXboX also has built-in support for infrared remote control STEP 4. If you want your GeeXboX to use your network and access media files on a connected PC, the Network tab allows you to play with settings. It lets you select any Ethernet or Wi-Fi network but play safe and keep it in the Autodetect mode. You can even specify your custom IP address for network resources.

STEP 7. The last and the most interesting feature doesn’t come with a tab. You can create your GeeXboX ISO with the media file in it. Just copy your file to the ISO folder of the Generator folder structure. All you need to do now is “Compile!” it. The Generator will create your custom ISO image ready to be burnt. Now go to the next step to burn an ISO image file using Nero Burning ROM.

STEP 9. Locate your .ISO file from the explorer on the left and drag and drop it to the right. STEP 10. Click the Burn button to invoke the burn settings dialog. STEP 11. Select Write and the Disc-at-once option and click on Burn. Wait for the burning process to complete and your custom designed GeeXboX is ready. Pop it in and enjoy! ■ | Raunak Roy

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| TIPS & TRICKS

Tricks Tips& FEBRUARY 2006

WINDOWS

Umesh Dahiwalkar

125

1

Windows XP

Run older applications in Win XP

2

Windows XP

Protect your identity

3

Windows XP

Increasing the capacity of Start menu

4

Windows XP

Enable Administrative tools in the Programs menu

5

Windows XP

Disable Windows Messenger

6

Windows XP

Stop highlighting new programs

7

Windows XP

Shortcuts for all user accounts

APPLICAIONS

126

Tip of the month

8

Network Application

Ethereal

9

Network Application

TightVNC

Using the front panel

10

Winamp

Total music played

I’m quite apprehensive about connecting devices to my PC. How do I connect them with any hassle?

11

Winamp

Cool looks

12

Media Player

Playing all popular video files

13

Word

Applying text formatting

14

Word

Disabling startup task pane

Many of you dread the idea of connecting a new audio or USB device to the computer simply because it requires you to stretch and reach out to the back of your PC to plug that speaker or headphone cord, or the USB cable. If you have just bought a new PC, chances are that the case has a front panel that offers various connectivity options so that you don’t have to stretch all the way to the back of the case to connect devices. The front panel of the computer provides connectivity for audio devices like speakers and headphones, USB devices like digital cameras and MP3 players, and at times it even provides a Firewire port to connect your Handycam. So check out the front panel and start using your computer to the fullest. If you plan to buy a new PC, you must insist on front-panel connectivity!

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Word

Changing measurement units

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Word

Setting default language

INTERNET & COMMUNICATION

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17

Instant Messenger

Tweaking MSN Mesenger

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Instant Messenger

Uninstalling pre installed version of MSN Messenger

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Web Page

Trimming a URL

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Web Browser

Backing up Firefox settings

HARDWARE

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21

Mobile Phone

Using alarm in mobile when switched off

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PC

Protection against power surges

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PC

Cooling your system

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Speakers

Place your speakers correctly

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DVD Drives

Upgrade your DVD drive for free

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Scanners

Scan those images right

INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP | FEBRUARY 2006

TIPS & TRICKS

Windows 1 | Windows XP Run older applications in Windows XP How do I run applications for older version of Windows in Win XP? Though it’s not a dedicated solution, the “Compatibility mode” offered by Windows XP just might be useful when attempting to run an application intended for an older version of Windows. Success is not assured, but there is no harm in trying it out. To run an old application in compatibility mode, do the following: Right click on the executable or shortcut of the application that you intend to run in compatibility mode. Select the tab labeled as “Compatibility” and activate the very first option called “Run this program in compatibility mode for”. Using the drop-down menu, choose the version of Windows for which the application was made. Now click on “Apply” to confirm the procedure.

1 Select the desired option to run the program in compatibility mode

2 | Windows XP Protect your identity How do I stop the monitoring connection feature? You might be aware of the fact that most of the software audio players connect to the Internet, providing you with additional information about the CD or MP3 tracks that you load in the playlist. Some of this information, such as song title and album art is useful but the Windows Media Player that comes FEBRUARY 2006 | INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP

2 Prevent the Media Player from connecting to the Internet by disabling the retrieving option as a default bundle with Windows XP operating system also identifies your copy of Media Player to the parent site. According to the documentation in the help file: ‘The server uses this unique identifier to monitor your connection. By monitoring your connection, the server can make adjustments to increase the playback quality and to alert you about events that occur when receiving streams over the Internet’. Not everyone will be thrilled by this feature, and many might consider this as an invasion of privacy. If you’re perturbed by this exchange of information, here’s how to disable it. Launch Windows Media Player, and go to “Tools | Options”. Click on the Player tab and, under “Player settings”, disable the option “Connect to the Internet”. In the “Tools | Options” tab itself, click on “Library”. Ensure that the option “Retrieve additional information from the Internet” is disabled. After you’re done, click on “Apply”.

3 | Windows XP Increasing the capacity of Start Menu How I do add more programs to the Start menu? By default, the “Start menu” in Windows XP displays six programs, allowing you to launch them directly from the menu. You can change the number of programs displayed here. Go to “Start” and right click on the blank space above the “Programs” menu. Select “Properties”.

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Click on the “Customize” button next to the “Start menu” description. Under the “Programs” option, you will find a dropdown list; this allows you to define the number of programs that you want on the “Start menu”. A maximum of 30 is allowed. Though 30 will be impractical, you can certainly extend the capacity of the Start menu from 6 to 8 or 10, allowing you to launch more programs quickly from the Start menu.

4 | Windows XP Enable Administrative tools in the Programs menu Is there a way to quickly access Administrative Tools? Those who constantly monitor network activity and administer their computers are frequent users of “Administrative tools”. Finding your way to these tools through the Control Panel is a long and cumbersome process. Here is a simple tip that allows you to have the “Administrative tools” menu in the “Programs” menu itself, allowing quick and convenient access.

4 Enable Administrative tools in the Programs menu Go to “Start” and right click on the blank space above the “Programs” menu. Select “Properties”. Click on the “Customize” button next to the “Start menu” description. Under the “Start menu items” option, scroll down to the last option “System Administrative tools”. By default, the option “Don’t display this item” is selected. Change the selection to the very first option, “Display on All Programs menu”. Click “OK” and you are done!

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5 | Windows XP Disable Windows Messenger

6 | Windows XP Stop highlighting new programs

How do I deselect the Windows Messenger that comes preloaded with Win XP?

How do I disable the highlighting feature in Win XP?

Every time you load Windows XP, the Windows Messenger is loaded by default and there’s no straightforward way to permanently disable it through the Control Panel or Messenger. The startup might offer you an option of deselecting the messenger from the list of startup options, but it’s definitely not the end of it and some applications do override those settings, causing the Messenger to load at startup nonetheless. To permanently avoid the messenger from loading at startup, you should use the “GPEDIT.MSC” command. Click on “Start”, go to “Run” and enter “GPEDIT. MSC” and click on “OK”. For "per machine" restriction, go to “Computer Configuration | Administrative Templates | Windows Components | Windows Messenger”. Change the settings as you wish; you can either disable Messenger completely by double clicking on “Do not allow Windows Messenger to run” and enabling the option (by default it is not configured). Or you can also select the second option “Do not automatically start Windows Messenger initially” and enable that option to simply stop Messenger from loading during startup. Similarly, for "per user" restriction, go to “User Configuration | Administrative Templates | Windows Components | Windows Messenger” and modify the settings according to your wish.

The concept of highlighting all the new applications that you installed in the programs menu sounds practical in the beginning, but it does not make sense when you realize that you remember the latest applications you installed and don’t need to be reminded. Here is a simple way to disable the highlighting feature. Right Click on “Start” and select “Properties”. On the “Start” menu tab click on “Customize”. Select the “Advanced” tab. Uncheck the box labeled “Highlight Newly Installed Programs”. Click on “OK”. No more highlighting the obvious.

7 | Windows XP Shortcuts for all user accounts Upon installing certain applications, their shortcuts get created in ‘Start menu | Programs’ only for the current user. How do I make it accessible to all user accounts? Most applications give an option of creating Start menu shortcuts for all user accounts during installation. However, if it doesn’t give the option and creates shortcuts only for the current user, here’s how you go about it: Right click on the shortcut or the program group from the Start menu and click copy. Navigate to ‘Documents and Settings | All Users | Start Menu | Programs’ on the

5 Select whether you would like to disable Windows Messenger completely, or simply prevent it from loading at startup

7 The easiest way to make shortcuts available in the Start menu of all user accounts

drive where Windows is installed and paste the contents. The shortcuts or the program group will now appear in the Start menu of all user accounts.

Applications 8 | Network Application Ethereal Can you tell me more on software to monitor data sent across a network? Ethereal is a GUI-based monitoring tool that browses and captures data packets that is sent across a network. All one has to do to begin monitoring the data sent across a network is to install the software, select the network interface (your network card) and start capturing packets. You can do this by clicking on the Capture menu and clicking on Interfaces. In the Interfaces dialog box, select the network interface you want to monitor. If you are using a dialup connection then click on its corresponding Capture button. If you access the Internet or in case you’re on a network, then select the network interface (for example, Intel Pro Adapter). Clicking on “Prepare”, open the configuration dialog box called “Capture Options”. This is where you can change Ethereal’s default settings. If you want to monitor data traveling to and from your computer only then uncheck the option “Capture packets in promiscuous mode”. (If this option is left enabled then it will scan the network for all data packets that the interface can see.) By default, if you click on Capture, a dialog box will appear displaying a list of all the protocols being sent across the network. But a list will not be shown in the main Ethereal window. To show a live list of all packets on the network, check the box “Update list of packets in real time” under Display Options. As the packets are listed while the packet capture is on, click on the View menu and select “Auto Scroll in Live Capture”. This will keep the focus on the latest packets being captured and the window will keep scrolling automatically. Additional options in this dialog box (also accessible from Capture | Options) like specifying particular protocols that you want Ethereal to monitor can be added INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP | FEBRUARY 2006

TIPS & TRICKS

by clicking on the “Capture Filter” button. Select protocols like IP, TCP or ICMP from the list and click on OK. If you are going to monitor the network or your interface over a long period of time then it is preferable to create separate log files every few minutes. Under “Capture File(s)” section, check “Use Multiple Files” and choose the condition under which new log files will be created—total packet size or minutes. If you want to stop the capture after creating a few files, use the “Stop capture after” under “Capture Options” or use the “Stop Capture” choices.

8c Create a graph of network traffic the interface is exposed to with another representation of all network broadcasts (in Blue) visual representation of traffic. Use the filter buttons to create another graph, superimposed onto the present one.

9 | Network Application TightVNC How do I access a workstation from a single place?

8 Make the list of packets captured by Ethereal scroll automatically by choosing the Auto Scroll option in the View menu If you do not like the way the elements are laid out in Ethereal, you can change it by clicking on the Edit menu and select “Preferences”. Click on “Layout” from the list on the left hand side. Choose the layout of your choice and arrange the packet list, details and bytes according to your preferences. If you want to create a visual representation of network traffic to and from your interface, click on the Statistics menu and select “IO Graphs”. In the ‘Graphs’ window you can either simply specify the X and Y axis to get the overall

To access workstations remotely, you can use the software TightVNC. It is a very light utility and needs to be installed on the machine you want to control as well as the machine that will be used as the ‘controller’. Consider Computer X and Y and say “X” is the computer you want to control from “Y”. You will have to install TightVNC Server on computer “X” (the

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9a Configure the way you want to connect to the PC you want to control remotely through the VNC Listener Connections Options dialog box one you want to control remotely), while “TightVNC Viewer” will need to be installed on computer “Y”. There are two modes to run TightVNC— as an application or as a Windows Service. If you run it as an application then you will need to activate the server and its listener each time you restart whereas using it as a Windows Service will make it launch after every restart. The service can be installed from “Start | Programs | TightVNC | Administration | Install VNC Service. This will register the service and list in the Services menu as “VNC Server”. This service can be removed from the same place (Administration) or temporarily disabled by clicking on Start | Run, typing “Services. msc” and clicking OK. Disable the service VNC Server in the list. That’s all. On computer “X”, run the “Launch VNC Server” from Programs | TightVNC. Right click on the VNC icon and select Properties. If you have installed the VNC Listener on “X” also, then the icon in the system tray will sport a smaller “V” letter to help you discern between the server and the listener. http://www.postmaster.co.in

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9 Configure TightVNC on the computer 8a The layout option in Ethereal’s Preferences allows you to arrange the details making it more customizable to the user FEBRUARY 2006 | INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP

you want to control remotely via its Properties and Advanced configuration options

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In the Properties dialog box, set the password first and click on Apply. If you only plan to monitor “X” and not control it, then you should check the “Disable remote keyboard and pointer (view-only mode)”. This is perfect for simple monitoring of PCs on a network. Note that this setting has been made from computer “X”, so if you need to switch back to the interactive mode then you will need to visit the machine and change it back to the defaults. An easier method would be to right click on the VNC Listener (the icon with the smaller “V” in the system tray) and select “New Connection”. Enter the machine’s IP address or hostname and click on Options. In the Options dialog box, enable the option “View Only (inputs ignored)”, click on OK and then OK once again to connect to “X”. You will be prompted to enter a password—one you set on “X” earlier. Enter the password and click on OK. When X’s desktop appears in a new window you will only be able to monitor activities on the desktop. If network bandwidth is a precious commodity, click on “TightVNC Viewer (Best Compression)” or “Fast Compression”—this will display the remote computer but low detail.

line of the tab. If you are a music freak, you’ll be amazed to see how much you have listened!

11 | WINAMP Cool looks Is it possible to make the Winamp window translucent? Translucency gives the Winamp window a cool look. But for that you will need the latest version of Winamp. It is possible to make the player window translucent only in the ‘Modern skin’ mode. If you are not using the ‘Modern skin’, enable it from the skin browser which can be accessed via the shortcut ‘Alt + s’. Now right click on Winamp’s title bar and navigate to ‘Window settings | Opacity’. Select the opacity percentage depending on the level of translucency you like. Lesser the opacity, the higher is the translucency. Opacity between 70 percent and 80 percent looks very cool.

10 | WINAMP Total music played How do I check the total time played by Winamp till date? After starting Winamp, press ‘Ctrl + p’ to bring up the ‘Preferences’ dialog box. Under ‘Plug-ins’ in the left pane, select ‘Output’. Double click on the ‘DirectSound output’ in the right pane. Select the ‘Status’ tab and there you are! If the player is stopped, it will just show the total time played. Else it will appear in the second-last

10 Check out how much music you’ve listened to using Winamp

11 Make your Winamp window translucent to jazz it up

12 | Media Player Playing all popular video files I have recently got movies encoded in the divx, xvid and various other formats. In spite of installing quite a number of codecs, some of my movies don’t play. Can you recommend a single media player capable of playing almost all the popular formats? One media player well known for its capability to play a wide variety of

formats is VLC. VLC (initially Video LAN Client) is a highly portable multimedia player for various audio and video formats (MPEG-1, MPEG-2, MPEG-4, DivX, mp3, ogg…) as well as dvds, vcds, and various streaming protocols. You can download the free software from their official web site, http://www.videolan.org/vlc/. Once on this page, select the player suitable for your operating system. It supports a wide array of operating systems including Windows, Mac OS X, Debian GNU/Linux, Mandrake Linux, Fedora core, Red Hat Linux and even Windows CE/Pocket PC. You can even get the source code. Once downloaded, install the software. The interface is like any other media player. Once in a while keep looking for newer versions of the software, which would include support for newer formats.

13| Word Applying text formatting I have formatted text in MS Word. I would like to apply the same format to some other paragraph. Rather than applying a couple of changes all over again, is it possible to do it in a few clicks? Word has a very useful tool called ‘Format Painter’ which is an option in the ‘Standard toolbar’. It is located between the ‘Paste’ and the ‘Undo’ button. It’s specifically meant to copy and apply text formatting within or between documents. Using it is very simple. First select the text that has the formatting that you want to copy. Click the ‘Format Painter’ button on the ‘Standard toolbar’. This makes the mouse pointer change to a paint-brush icon. Now select the text that you wish to format and you’re done. To apply formatting to more than one block of text, double click on ‘Format Painter’. It saves a lot of time especially when it is across documents.

14 | Word Disabling startup task pane Each time I start Word, Excel or PowerPoint, I get the startup task pane. How do I disable it?

INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP | FEBRUARY 2006

TIPS & TRICKS

or other units such as points or picas, it can be done in the following method: Go to ‘Tools | Options’ and select the ‘General’ tab. In the ‘Measurement units’ drop down list, select the type of unit and click OK. This will affect the units globally—ruler bar, page setup, etc. Millimeters and Points are extremely useful for high precision.

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Internet & Communication 17 | Instant Messenger Tweaking MSN Messenger When I check my Hotmail account using MSN Messenger, it opens up in Internet Explorer even though I have set my default browser as Firefox. Is there any way to make MSN messenger open my Hotmail account in the default browser?

16 | Word Setting default language

14 If you get bothered by the task pane you can disable it

If you don’t use the startup task pane, it’s a bit irritating when it pops up each time you start Word, Excel or PowerPoint. To disable it, go to ‘Tools | Options’ and select the ‘View’ tab. Under the section ‘Show’, uncheck the option ‘Startup Task Pane’ and click ‘OK’. This is applicable to all applications in MS Office 2003, which show the startup task pane.

15 | Word Changing measurement units How do I change the measurement units in Word to centimeters or millimeters instead of inches?

By default, all word documents have the language set to English (US style). As a result, certain words which are spelt correctly according to the British dictionary get underlined red denoting a spelling error. How do I set the language to British English permanently? If you wish to change the language to British English only for the current session, you can do so by going to ‘Tools | Language | Set Language’. Select ‘English (U.K.)’and click OK to set the language for the current session. If you are accustomed to ‘English (U.K.)’ and want the change to be permanent for all the documents, click the ‘Default’ button after you select ‘English (U.K.)’ from the language options. Click ‘Yes’ when you are prompted to make the change permanent.

By default, MS Word uses inches as measurement units. However, if you want to change it to centimeters or millimeters

17 StuffPlug allows opening links in the default browser through MSN Messenger

When you open your Hotmail inbox using MSN Messenger, it will inevitably open up in Internet Explorer. And it’s not possible to open it in some other browser set as default unless you use some third party tools. Download the latest version of Messenger Plus from www.msgplus.net, which is an add-on to MSN Messenger. It adds a big chunk of tweaks to MSN Messenger making it http://www.postmaster.co.in

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Change the measurement units in Word if you’re not used to ‘inches’

FEBRUARY 2006 | INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP

If you’re used to the British dictionary, set it as the default language in Word

After you change the language to ‘English (U.K.)’, any word spelt in the US style will get changed to UK style automatically. For example, if you type ‘favorite’ by mistake, it will automatically get changed to ‘favourite’.

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more versatile. This includes options to fine tune your contact list, chat windows, messages and so on. It also has an option to use plug-ins, which further enhances its functionality. One such plug-in is StuffPlug, which adds more features to Messenger Plus. It gives an option to open the links in default browser instead of Internet Explorer. Apart from this, it has 20 other tweaks that you can try out.

18 | Instant Messenger Uninstalling pre-installed version of MSN Messenger I use the newer version of MSN messenger—version 7.5, but the older (version 4.7) which came pre-installed with Windows XP, also exists. How do I uninstall the older version? To install the older version of MSN Messenger, Click on start and then click on Run. Then type the following into the open run box: RunDll32 advpack.dll,LaunchINFSection %windir%\INF\msmsgs.inf,BLC.Remove You will get a prompt asking you to exit the old MSN messenger from the system tray in case you’re running it. Close all other programs that display the contact list, for example, Outlook, Outlook Express, MSN explorer and make sure you close all programs for all users who have signed in to the computer. In the end, you will get a prompt saying that it has been uninstalled.

19 | Web Page Trimming a URL I need to tell someone over the phone about a web page with a very long URL and it’s not possible for me to mail the link to him. What do I do? You can go to www.tinyurl.com, enter a long URL into the box and hit on the button that says “make a tinyURL!” And you have a tiny URL that never expires. For example, you want to tell someone about this URL: http://www.chip-india.com/ townsquare/viewtopic.php?t=5391, which opens the page for the prize winners of the ‘Monster PC’ contest. You just have to copy and paste the URL in the box and hit the button that says “make a tiny URL!” And

this is what you will get: http://tinyurl. com/9nzna. This URL opens the same page and can very easily be read out to someone over the phone.

20 | Web Browser Backing up Firefox settings and preferences I’m in the process of moving companies and I want all the settings in my Firefox browser on the new PC exactly as it was on the old PC. Is there a way to back up all of my Firefox settings, themes, bookmarks, extensions and customizations? A superb program called MozBackup packages all your essential Firefox and Thunderbird settings: bookmarks, mail, contacts, history, extensions, cache etc. Download the program from http:// mozbackup.jasnapaka.com/. Install the program and run it. Pick your Mozilla program and your user and choose “Backup a profile.” You will be able to passwordprotect your backup file. Please note that you can’t run Firefox when you’re backing up. When you’re done, the resulting .pcv file will contain all your settings. Email the file to your account and download it on your new computer. Install MozBackup on your new computer and run it. Now choose the option “restore a profile”. This should set your Firefox in the same way you had it on your old computer.

Hardware 21 | Mobile Phone Using alarm in mobile when switched off I own a Symbian Series 60-based cell phone. And I prefer keeping it off at night for a peaceful sleep. However, I also use it as an alarm clock to wake up. Is it possible to use the alarm clock while the phone is off? The Symbian Series 60-based cell phones have a clock utility featuring an alarm with support for snooze, which repeats the alarm a few minutes after you switch it off. To set an alarm, run the clock utility usually present under ‘Extras’. Choose ‘Options’ and select ‘Set alarm’. Set the time using the dial pad.

The best thing about the alarm feature is that the phone need not be on for the alarm to work. Even while the phone is off, it beeps at the set time and gives you the option to snooze or stop the alarm. It also gives an option to switch on the phone after the alarm. This way you’ll save battery life and most importantly enjoy a peaceful sleep!

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There’s no need to keep your Symbianbased phone on for the alarm to work

22 | PC Protection against power surges How do I protect my computer against lightning? I also have frequent voltage fluctuations at my house. In such a scenario, how do I safeguard my PC? A power surge is a sudden brief increase in the line voltage, usually caused by lightning or power outages, short circuits, tripped circuit breakers, etc. It can damage your electrical equipment or at least reduce its life span. When lightning strikes a power line, it creates an extremely large power surge that overpowers almost any surge protector, so don’t rely only on a surge protector. The best way to protect your computer is to unplug it. Also unplug any phone or coaxial cables. To tackle voltage fluctuations, it’s advisable to use a good quality surge protector. The quality is generally proportional to the price; a cheap spike guard (spikes and surges are pretty similar, difference being a surge lasts for 3 nanoseconds whereas a spike lasts for 1 or 2 nanoseconds) would do little more than just providing power outlets. It should also have an indicator light indicating whether it’s functioning properly or not. It should INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP | FEBRUARY 2006

TIPS & TRICKS

have a fuse that burns out if more than a particular amount of voltage passes through it. Power surges can also travel through your phone lines and coaxial cables—the phone line connects to the modem and the coaxial cable is used to provide broadband Internet. Look for a surge protector with a telephone and coaxial cable line-in jack. Some UPS units also provide surge protection.

23 | PC Cooling your system Please tell me how I can keep my system cool. Computers are becoming faster by the day, promising more power and capacity than you can ever need. But with all the power comes some heat. The heat generated by the chips running at high speeds is cooled by the coolers and fans inside the case. To ensure proper cooling, you should avoid cutting off the airflow to your computer. Depending on the design, your computer draws air through vents in the front, sides or bottom. Keep everything at least an inch away from obvious vents. (Tip: If your computer starts running hot, don’t take off the case in an attempt to give it more airflow. That usually diffuses the air too much. Instead, find out why it’s running hot and get it fixed.)

24 | Speakers Place your speakers correctly I want to know if there is any particular way I should place my speakers. If you have just upgraded your PC speakers to more powerful and advanced ones, you should learn how to use them optimally. These days PC speaker sets come with woofers and multiple speakers referred to as satellites. The placement of these speakers can go a long way in deciding the final output and quality of the sound. Whether you upgrade to a 2.1 speaker system (which comprises two satellites and one woofer) or a 5.1 speaker system (five satellites and a woofer), make sure you place the woofer in the corner of the room or the listening area. The woofer should be placed in a corner but not too close to any wall or other FEBRUARY 2006 | INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP

objects; the more open space it gets the better it sounds. The placement is also very important; it should be placed on the floor and not on any objects or shelves. Also make sure that it’s away from the computer or any other electronic device. Woofers are generally not magnetically shielded and hence may cause interference with other devices. Satellites should ideally be placed at ear level in terms of the height from the floor. This creates an ideal sound field, which plays a key role in delivering positional audio—a dominant feature for DVD movies.

25 | DVD Drives Upgrade your DVD drive for free Please tell me how I can upgrade my DVD drive. Most of us have DVD drives, allowing us to read DVD discs and play DVD media. But many of us might not be aware of the DVD Region Protection Code (RPC), a standard that was implemented to avoid piracy of DVDs when they were initially launched. Now that DVD media is universal and has become part of popular entertainment, newer DVD drives are generally not region-protected. In case you have a relatively older DVD Drive, chances are that it is region protected and hence will only allow you to change the DVD region codes five times. The fifth change will be permanent and the DVD will stay locked to a particular region, allowing you to only play DVD movie discs that correspond to that region. The solution lies in flashing the firmware, or installing a particular utility that unlocks the DVD drive. Doing this will convert your DVD drive to RPC-2 standard, which denotes a region-free DVD drive like all the latest DVD drives sold in the market. Flashing the firmware is complicated and should be done correctly and with precaution. The latest firmware will be listed in the “Downloads” sections of the manufacturers’ web sites. Make sure you identify the exact model number of your DVD drive and download the correct firmware. The manufacturer provides a detailed documented method of how to go about flashing the firmware to upgrade the drive.

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Another substantial advantage of upgrading the firmware of your DVD drives comes in the form of support for latest formats of DVD discs. Many of the older DVD drives only support DVD-R format and are unable to read the later DVD+R format. In many cases, flashing the firmware also adds support for DVD+R format discs.

26 | Scanners Scan those images right How do I ensure that the documents I scan come out perfect? Scanning images and documents is a simple job but it does call for some guidelines to ensure that the scanned images and documents come out the way you want them to. For instance, placing the document/photograph in the flatbed scanner can also influence the final output. Most modern scanners are intelligent enough to correct any accidental placement errors. Many of us don’t align the pages properly, so some scanners have incorporated a feature to correct misalignments automatically. However, the auto correction feature in most scanners works only to a certain extent. The pages/photos that are just slightly skewed on the scanner bed are corrected. If your original is tilted by more than 10 degrees, the scanner assumes that you intentionally put it that way. So don’t can’t assume that all the scans will be corrected irrespective of the placement, and try scanning the document or photo again. ■

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MODmania A look here at 10 popular MODs for some of the best games

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odifications or MODS as they are popularly called change your gaming experience altogether—when you’ve finished playing a game and want to play it again with some changes made to it, MODS are just what you need. MODS could either change the storyline or add new characters or even convert the genre of the game. They are not developed by the actual developers of the game but by gaming enthusiasts around the globe. You can download these MODS directly from www.moddb.com. A look here at the 10 popular MODs available for popular games.

1 Half-Life 2: Capture the Flag MOD This MOD aims to bring the familiar Capture the Flag game to Half-Life 2. It pits the Rebels against the Combine in a high-paced battle over the flags. The most noticeable feature of this MOD is the graphic-rich environment. It includes many other familiar features found in other Capture the Flag modifications.

2 Unreal Tournament 2004-Alien Swarm: The Telic Campaign MOD 2

The Telic Campaign builds upon Alien Swarm by giving you eight new and unique missions in the form of complete game play. Not only this, it has also expanded Alien Swarm with new weapons, original mission objectives and modified rules. It also has varied mission environments ranging from industrial facilities to high-tech labs and underground caves. Watch out for vibrant non-stop action and numerous challenging situations that require a good level of cooperation among your team members.

3 DOOM 3: Last Man Standing Coop MOD This MOD is a cooperative modification that aims to bring back the feel of the old Doom game in Doom 3. It’s all about your survival in nature. Get ready to face legions of monsters with hardcore heavy metal playing in the background. No matter how many monsters you kill, they just keep coming at you thick and fast. This mod is certainly not meant for the faint hearted!

4 The Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle Earth Elven MOD

Vishwanath Vanjire

All of you who played The Battle for Middle Earth must have craved for a glimpse of Liv Tyler in the game. Well, your wish is granted with this MOD. The Elven MOD apart from adding an Elven faction to your game will make certain changes to your other factions. The new heroes that you get are Galadriel, Elrond, Haldir, Gamling, and Gothmog. Spearmen of the Havens, Mirkwood Scouts, and Riders of Rivendell are among the new units. The Elves faction will also offer new strategies for cavalry, stealth, and sieges. This 4 will definitely help you in your fight to defeat 3 the dark forces of Mordor and protect the Ring bearer, Frodo.

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5 Quake 3 Arena: Tremulous MOD The Tremulous MOD for Quake 3 Arena is an open source modification that combines a team-based FPS with elements of an RTS. You can choose from two unique races, Aliens and Humans. Just as in a RTS game, you will have to build structures that will provide you with a wide array of functions, the most significant being spawning. Player advancement is different for each of the two teams. If you are playing as humans, then you are awarded credits for each alien kill which may be used to purchase new weapons and upgrades. If you are playing the role of the alien, you evolve into a new class when you kill your human enemy. The overall objective in this MOD is to eliminate the opposing team.

6 WARCRAFT III: Divine Right MOD This Warcraft III MOD is for The Frozen Expansion. It changes all four races to new ones, features brand new spells, units as well as heroes. It also has naval units. The Four races are the Sarenae, Adranti, Elves, and Humans. This MOD has its own story and history and is independent of the regular Warcraft series. It can be played in multiplayer or in singleplayer mode against computer AI.

7 Dungeon Siege: Copperhead – Retaliation MOD This MOD transforms the game into a sci-fi setting with completely new characters, new weapons and levels. Features include new character models with varied attacking styles, new sounds, completely new story and events, and amazing effects. It also gives you 17 new weapons. And not to forget the new terrains and buildings that come bundled.

8 Call of Duty: Heat of Battle MOD The Heat of Battle MOD for Call of Duty allows you to have a unique game play experience. It uses a capture and hold objective similar to that of BattleField 1942. Gear up for gripping struggles to control areas and total domination over other teams. Look out for a great deal of variety in terms of game play. Every map has an entirely different game play style. Overall, it gives you a realistic and fun gaming experience.

9 Max Payne: Kung Fu MOD The Kung Fu MOD for Max Payne is the most popular. Features include a hand-to-hand and a stick fighting mode, over 20 different moves, kung fu style flips and spins. In addition to these, there are two extra shoot dodging techniques, it also allows you to juggle bodies and slam them into walls. The ‘DOJO’ training area teaches you the basics of the kung fu fighting mode.

10 Age of Mythology: Defensive MOD Most of us believe that ‘attack is the best form of defence’. But this MOD for the Age of Mythology changes this perception. It allows you to play a defensive role by building strong walls and towers. But it takes long as well as costs you more resources to build them. The costs for upgrading the walls and towers are also raised. But the price you pay is well worth it when you find out how strong your walls and towers are and the kind of protection they give you. ■ | Anup Pillai 6

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Get ready for multiple role-playing in this amazing puzzle-oriented game

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Top: Indigo Prophecy begins with a rather grisly murder. Bottom: A rattled Lucas sees a policeman at his door. Will he lose his nerve or hold it? It’s up to you.

ndigo Prophecy, aka Fahrenheit, gets underway with an absolute bang. You begin by playing the role of Lucas Kane, a young man who stops over at a diner for a snack. But suddenly some strange force overpowers him. He slashes his arms wildly and brutallys stab a man to death. Strange visions fly through his mind and then suddenly, Kane snaps out of it. He sees the dead body, looks at the knife in his hand, and is horrified. As Lucas Kane, you now have to decide what to do. Since there is a policeman in the diner, your first task is to get out of the restaurant in one piece. Do so without leaving too many clues—after all, the cops will be along in a while. In fact, it might not be a bad idea to leave the odd clue behind. Because it’s you who will be investigating the murder! And that is the real beauty of Indigo Prophecy. You don’t play it from just one perspective but four. You play a murderer, two of the police detectives (Carla Valenti and Tyler Miles) investigating the crime Kane has committed and Markus Kane, Kane’s brother. And when these characters interact with one another, you can opt to play as one of them and then switch roles and play the role of the other. Quite simply, Indigo Prophecy is like a story that unfolds depending on the decisions that you take in accordance to which character’s shoes you have stepped into. And no matter what character you

RATINGS

9 / 10

For: Terrific story; amazing sound and music; great replay value. Against: Autosaving system; new interface might take some time getting used to.

play, you will seldom find yourself with only one option. Your choice will send the story spinning in a particular direction. As the story progresses, Lucas is in the curious position of knowing that he committed a murder, even though he does not know why he did so. He is also disturbed by the strange visions haunting him. On the verge of doubting his own sanity, he also has to dodge the police who are hot on his heels. He confides in his brother Markus, thus putting him in a bit of a spot as well. Meanwhile, a number of murders come to light and the city faces unprecedented snowfall. Is Lucas guilty? What is the secret force driving him? Is the city under threat from not just a serial killer but also the sinisterly increasing snow? These are just some of the questions whose answers you have to seek in the game. And you do so in a glorious cinematic setting. The graphics and environments may not be as dazzling as that in Half-Life 2 or Myst 5, but are more than sufficient. The voice acting, sound effects and music coupled with a gripping storyline are superb. However, Indigo Prophecy is not free of glitches. It does not allow you to save at any place you wish, preferring to autosave at certain locations. The game play does take some getting used to. And while the ability to play different characters is fun, it can leave you dreadfully confused at times, especially if you happen to take a break from the game for a while. But all these pale into insignificance when compared with what Indigo Prophecy offers—hours of compelling game play with arguably one of the most riveting stories ever told in gaming history. Also, this one has phenomenal replay value— you will find yourself trying different approaches even before you reach the end. ■| Nimish Dubey

Price: Rs 1,499 Publisher: Atari Distributors: Milestone Interactive Software Ltd Tel: 022-28203319 System: Windows All, Pentium III 800 MHz or faster CPU, 256 MB RAM, 8x or faster CD/DVD drive, 2 GB of free hard disk space, video card with 32 MB or more memory Vishwanath Vanjire

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So what if you can’t kick off on the field? You have the choice to live this realistic football experience

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ith the year 2006 being an important one in the soccer calendar (the World Cup is scheduled in June), it became imperative for EA Sports to make FIFA 2006 the best game in this series. And honestly, they haven’t let us down because FIFA 2006 is the most advanced as well as the most realistic football game to have ever been released by EA Sports. Once you select your favorite club from a plethora of clubs in different countries, you are challenged to play a match against a formidable ‘Classic XI’ squad. Win this match and you will be awarded 1,000 points that you can use to unlock the locked features. If you are playing FIFA 2006 for the first time, then it is better to become familiar with the controls by selecting the Practice option. Choose Kick-Off to play a friendly match or start your managerial career (spanning over 15 seasons) by selecting the Manager Mode. But prove your credentials first by playing for some of the lesser known clubs before the bigger clubs can come knocking on your door. In addition to managing your team, you will also have to keep a check on your team’s finances, your club’s fans, your support staff, player contracts, etc. You must try to utilize your player’s skill and efficiency to the maximum. Your sponsor will also contribute to your club’s revenue depending on the successes of your team. Before the season begins, the Board of Directors will inform Price: Rs 1,299 Publisher: EA Sports Distributors: Gayathri Impex Pvt Ltd Tel: 022-23881443 RAM, 8x or faster CD/DVD drive, 2.7 GB of free hard disk space, video card with 32 MB or more memory

you of their expectations from the team. Your team’s performance has to match the board’s expectations else you will be shown the exit door. The Tournament Mode enables you to choose the tournament as well as the team you want to play for. It also lets you create your own customized tournaments with the teams that you select. You can also go online and test your abilities with a host of other FIFA enthusiasts or play against a friend with the Multiplayer option. Game play is similar to that of the previous versions in this series. New features include a Performance Meter that increases as your team gains momentum while attacking, Player Styles that tell you how good the player is, and Team Chemistry, which lets the players bond better. But in a one-on-one situation your goalkeeper does not come out of his goal line immediately to gather the ball. Also, sometimes when a certain section of the pitch is crowded with players, the game lags. FIFA 2006 is a must buy for all FIFA fans. The atmosphere in the virtual stadium with the crowd chanting is electrifying, inspiring you to outplay your opponent. ■ | Anup Pillai

RATINGS

8.5 / 10

For: Excellent graphics; new features like Performance Meter, Team Chemistry and Player Styles. Against: Slow response by goalkeeper during one-on-one situation; game lags when a particular area is crowded.

System: Windows XP/2000, 1.3 GHz or faster CPU, 256 MB

Pramod Jadhav FEBRUARY 2006 | INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP

INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP | FEBRUARY 2006

Build your own movie studio and rake in moolah in this addictive strategy game

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Top: A bird’s eye view of your studio Middle: Assign the costume of your choice to your stars Bottom: Zoom in to see the movie being shot

our long cherished dream of making your own movies and owing a studio will now come true with The Movies. However, if your think running a studio in a game is pretty easier, you will be surprised to find that it’s not. After installation, when you begin with the tutorial you are told how to build your own studio from scratch, construct sets, hire actors and directors, crew members and most importantly, you are instructed how to make movies that will earn you studio money as well as recognition. The game begins in the year 1920. You need to hire builders as well as cleaners to ensure your sets as well as your studio premises are in perfect condition. For the first two movies, the script is automatically provided to you but after that you will have to build your scriptwriting office by hiring some good scriptwriters. On the top of the screen is an information bar that will keep you posted about the latest news; it’s here that you come to know which genre of movies people want to see at that time. So if you want to rake in good money, make sure your scriptwriters write a script on the genre in demand or else your movie could be a big dud at the box office. The available genres include horror, comedy, romance, sci-fi and action with sets built specifically to shoot the

RATINGS

8 / 10

For: Simple and addictive game play; sharing your movies possible; good graphics.

films belonging to these genres. The success of the movies produced by your studio will depend on a variety of factors starting from the mood of your director and actors, the maintenance of your sets, the script quality, etc. Initially, your movies will not be rated very highly but as your staff gains experience the ratings for your stars as well as your studio will go up. But maintaining the ratings is another tough job as one bad film could bring these ratings down. If you feel your scriptwriters are not doing a good job then you can try a hand at scriptwriting and then assign actors and directors to take the script forward at the casting office. At the ‘post production office’ you can add subtitles, give some finishing touches to your movie before you release it. Another noticeable feature in this game is that with newer technologies researched by your scientists, you will able to make movies in color as well as add sound effects. Your job doesn’t end here though, you will need to keep the stars you hire happy by catering to their needs, assigning trailers to them, giving them an image makeover as well as an occasional pay rise. Last but not the least, there’s an awards ceremony that takes place every five years. Based on the awards that your studio earns you will be able to unlock new sets as well as climb up the ratings charts. Game play is simple and based on the drag and drop concept. The graphics are superb and the overall look of your actors as well as your movies keeps changing as the game progresses. You can upload your movies on the web as well as watch the movies created by other players on the home site. On the downside, the game lags when played on the highest settings and does not give a good response. ■ | Anup Pillai

Against: Game lags when played at the highest settings. Price: Rs 999 Publisher : Activision Developer: Lionhead Studios Distributors: World Wide CD ROMS Tel: 022-56973894 System: Windows 98SE/2000/ME/XP, Pentium III 800 MHz or faster CPU, 256 MB RAM, 8x or faster CD/DVD drive, 2.4 GB of free hard disk space, video card with 32 MB or more memory Pramod Jadhav INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP | FEBRUARY 2006

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King Kong is a superb illustration of a fine combination of action, adventure and survival gameplay

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n the movie King Kong, Peter Jackson proved his mettle again. Audiences worldwide were pleased with the stunning visual effects in the film staging the return of the king. Having watched the film, the question that came to mind was whether Ubisoft would be able to create the same kind of magic in the game. But after playing King Kong: The Official Game of the Movie it can be said that Ubisoft doesn’t disappoint. The game is as appealing and visually stunning as the movie. You are introduced to the game with Carl Denham cruising with his movie crew (Jack, the screenwriter and actress Ann Darrow are part of it) to ‘Skull Island’ for shooting a film. The actual game play begins once the crew lands at ‘Skull Island’, which has been brillianty re-created. Initially, you play as Jack and your main aim is to protect yourself and Ann from the ferocious creatures you encounter and get yourselves out of the island. Therefore, you will have to use the ammo available to you very wisely else you will have to use bones or spears as your primary weapons. Action includes the captain of the ship dropping crates full of guns from his plane for you to pick up while he looks for a clear space to land. Some of the ferocious creatures like the packs of Tyrannosaurus rexes that pop up periodically can’t be shot down, no matter how hard you try. You will have to distract them with gunfire and spears

so that you buy yourself enough time to escape. When you are hurt, the screen turns red which means that you will have to take cover and another hit could be fatal for you. As the story proceeds, you get to play as King Kong. However, this part is short as compared to the portions of the game where you play as Jack. Playing as Kong (the highlight of the game) is total fun and you just have to keep swinging through the jungle and lay off your enemies with raw power. Replicate the scene in the movie where Kong snaps T-Rex’s jaw simply by using a few keys. Sometimes when playing as Kong, you will need to enlist the support of the Ann in order to progress further in the game. Majority of the game takes place at ‘Skull Island’ with a small part being in New York where Kong is brought after he has been captured. But if you’re expecting Kong to go on a large-scale rampage in New York then you will be disappointed to find the rampage scaled down to a great extent. Game play is simple while letting you be a part of an exhilarating gaming experience. The effects are also superb. On the flipside, the game is very short. You could finish playing the entire game very quickly. But these drawbacks apart, this game truly offers quality adventure, something that you will enjoy thoroughly. | Anup Pillai

Top: Kong snapping T-Rex’s jaw and finishing him off Bottom: Kong’s first encounter with Ann

RATINGS

9 / 10

For: Excellent graphics; game play keeps you on the edge of your seat, great sound effects. Against: Kong portion is short; game is of a very short duration and gets over in about six hours .

Price: Rs 1,299 Publisher : Ubisoft Distributor: e-xpress Interactive Software Pvt Ltd Tel: 022-28870016 System: Windows 98SE/2000/ME/XP, 1 GHz or higher CPU, 256 MB RAM, 8x or faster CD/DVD drive, 1.5 GB of free hard disk space, video card with 64 MB or more memory Vishwanath Vanjire FEBRUARY 2006 | INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP

INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP | FEBRUARY 2006

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More on Yahoo Your chance to optimize your web experience with the mélange of features and services that Yahoo offers

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aul Bausch’s Yahoo! Hacks, Tips and Tools for Living on the Web Frontier is a comprehensive compilation of interesting tips and tricks allowing you to enrich your Internet experience—it lets you optimize what Yahoo offers in the best possible way. The preface begins with a brief introduction of Yahoo and highlights how Yahoo’s ‘Fuse’ (Find, Use, Share and Expand) philosophy has been ingrained in all of Yahoo’s newest services. The basic idea is to let you walk into those uncharted Yahoo territories and familiarize you with all the new Yahoo services; examples abound on the various ways people are expanding and customizing Yahoo to reap the maximum benefit out of it. Most importantly, the book demystifies the term “hacks”, which thanks to the press, has been oft misquoted. The Hacks series is an attempt to reclaim the word and show how the quickest way to learn a new technology is by observing how others approach systems and problems. The book covers chapters like Yahoo ‘Search’ (touching upon how to fine-tune web search queries, saving search with web short cuts et al); Yahoo ‘Services’ telling you how to track your investments, how to build your own stock update e-mail; Yahoo ‘Communicating’ including a combo of tools to enable you to communicate and collaborate seamlessly on the web; Yahoo ‘Web Services’ such as programming Yahoo with Java, etc and Yahoo ‘Applications’, and ‘Webmastering’. The panorama of hacks covered in each chapter is wide and each hack is well described for the reader to comprehend and practically implement it. The author has taken care to do away with jargons as much as possible; at places where jargons can’t be avoided, the author has made sure he Paul Bausch deconstructs the meaning. Rs 400 The hacks are categorized into Shroff Publishers and Distributors Pvt Ltd Beginner, Moderate and Expert, 022-27634290 [email protected] depending upon the complexity

| Yahoo! Hacks Authors : Price : Publisher : Phone : E-mail :

of the coding. So those who have not tried their hand at programming can start with the first set of hacks and then move on to the other advanced ones. What’s worth mentioning is the way the book has been organized—there are reference numbers for hacks in the chapters, so in case you want to refer to a particular hack, you can straightaway jump to that. Besides, the scripts are exhaustive and customized. Interestingly, apart from the hacks, there is an abundance of warnings and suggestions, which come handy. The book has noticeably excluded numeric index for screenshots (as we have in product manuals). The size of the pages being considerably small, it would have been a better idea to index the various elements in a page numerically for better understanding of the readers as and when they need to refer to the screenshots. Also, tips for beginners should have had more screenshots for better understanding of the hack. As the subtitle suggests, the book is indeed a wide and interesting collection of tips and tools for a richer experience on the web. It’s well organized and modulated. However, it must be noted that the book is meant for users who already have basic knowledge and experience of the Internet. ■ | Pradosh Mitra

| What you can do Fine-tune search queries with keyboard shortcuts and advanced syntax. Store, sort, blog, feed, track, and share photos with Flickr and RSS. Visualize search results and topics, mash up images from around the web and remix other web content. Manage and customize Yahoo Mail, use it as your universal e-mail client to access all your other accounts. List (or hide) your site with Yahoo and integrate Yahoo Groups, Messenger, contextual search or other Yahoo features.

INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP | FEBRUARY 2006

Classifieds

140

PRIME ABGB Shop No.16,Laxmi Building Compound, Banlgore 09845028869 Hyderbad 09848052085 390,Lamington Road, Mumbai-400004 Calcutta 09830045322 Mumbai 09821035100 Phone: 23896600,23855500 Fax: 022-23885500 Chennai 09840077334 Kolhapur 09890690655 [email protected]

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LAST WORD

The Last Word

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esides an eternal fondness for my homeland (the great state of Goa), I particularly like visiting hill stations near Mumbai as often as I can. Earlier in January, I had the good fortune to travel a bit farther and visit Kodaikanal, a charming little hill station located on the southern tip of the Palani Hills in the state of Tamil Nadu. Actually, I also happened to get married a couple of days before I left on this trip! Blanketing a mere 21 kilometers square, this township is a curious mix of old-world Anglo-Indian charm and South Indian hospitality, enrobed in a film of misty mornings and spectacular panoramas. However, in the midst of all this natural wonder I noted a distinct air of progress. Much of this is spurred by the presence of the sprawling Kodaikanal International School that houses about 500 students from over 45 countries with a campus and facilities that make it look like it’s been plucked directly out of America. As you stroll through this little town, you find i Lake da Ko at an m there’s nothing Ramu, the boat too rustic about the facilities. Barring the occasional power outages, the town center has all the trappings of a bustling city suburb with modest supermarkets rubbing shoulders with Internet cafés and handicraft shops. Catering to the throng of Indian and foreign tourists that visit this lake city (yes, there’s also a fairly large artificial lake in the city which is the mainstay of most postcards or T-shirts you buy from there). Known for its homemade chocolates and eucalyptus oils, these are on the must-buy list of every self-respecting Kodai visitor. Then, like any other hill station, the most important activity for any tourist is sightseeing. Tourism, being one of the most significant sustainers of the Kodaikanal economy, there are tour operators everywhere. Besides bus operators that take you to places like Pillar Rock, Coaker’s Walk, Devil’s Kitchen, Berijam Lake and Silent Valley, you’ll even find local taxis that offer similar but personalized sightseeing services (albeit at a stiffer price).

Though the place was gorgeous and was a welcome change to the mad pace of city life, I did however begin to miss my mailbox. Yes, I know, it does sound a bit pathetic but hey, it’s a lifeline for many of us as I’m sure most of you will agree. Therefore, three days into our stay there, I began succumbing to the pangs of e-deprivation. That’s when I began to notice the sheer influence of technology on a place as small as Kodaikanal. Take the cellular services—you can receive a signal from one of the four operators in the city and more often than not, the signal connectivity is pretty good. Obviously, it’s plain to see the effect this has had on its local residents and the visitors. Cellular telephony has clearly changed the lives of people there—everyone from the taxi drivers to the chocolate shop owners is connected. On the Internet connectivity front, I didn’t find a plethora of places where one could get connected, but in the places that did offer such services, they were once again wireless-based. In fact, several of the mom and pop cyber cafés across the town consisted of a few computers networked together and each time a client needed to get onto the Internet, the owner (several of them being young enterprising locals in their late teens) would step in, end his cell phone call and use his handset to hook up to the Internet! Another thing that I noticed was that entrepreneurship was rife in the little town. Even the boatman who took us on a splendid hour-long ride on the lake did a fantastic job of using my digital camera to take photos of us at various points on the lake! My jaw hung as I saw him deftly cycle between settings on my Fuji FinePix S5500 and use different modes to achieve different picture effects. Apparently, he learnt these nuances from the several digital-cameraequipped tourists that passed through his boat these recent years. He went on to proudly share with us that even though he could only study till the 6th standard, he had a son in his final year of Electronics engineering and a daughter pursuing her BA. Truly, it was heartening to witness this man’s success story—a living example of the grassroots progress that is spoken of and splashed across every business magazine in our country these days. Well, it’s good to be back at work closing issue and diving into technology all over again. Until next time, cheers. ■

| | Marco D’ Souza INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP | FEBRUARY 2006

2006

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Free Software | 35 graphics cards | MS Office secrets

RNI Registration No. MAHENG/2003/12687