January 2006

cover_jan 06.ai

12/28/2005

11:00:28 AM

Budget Processors Tested

www.chip-india.com

at the heart of technology January 2006

Volume 3

Gadgets for Girls

Issue 2

Rs 100

C

M

How technology will seamlessly integrate into every aspect of our lifestyle

Y

CM

MY

CY

CMY

K

WORKSHOP

Record TV shows Use your PC to save your 114 favorite episodes FEATURE

Boom time The visual effects wave is upon us. All aboard? 84 Also available in Bangladesh Nepal, Bhutan, Sri Lanka, U A E

Next-GenPhones

52 A dozen of the most sought after smart phones tested

Notebook or Desktop

64

Confused? Find out which of the two suits your needs better

Return of the King! The making of Peter Jackson’s King Kong

Slim and Svelte: ASUS W5G00AE

76

LG.indd 1

12/27/2005 1:14:02 PM

EDITORIAL

Riding the Waves

F

In most cases today, the inadequacy of infrastructure and standardization tarnishes the efficacy of content delivery services

or those of you who were schooling before the Nineties, you’ll know what I mean when I say that I used to wait for evening time. That was the time I used to bolt out of the house and spend the evening hours kicking around a football or scratching my elbows while in the throes of a game of ‘chor-police’. Today, the more I look at school and college kids, the more I reminisce about those bygone years—and the scary part is I can’t even be classified as old! The pace of social evolution has indeed increased. Today’s youth are talking Playstations, Xboxes and the newest FPS and RPG games. The lingo has changed. Today, we are in the midst of not one, but several technology waves. Take the epidemic adoption of cellular and Internet connectivity—at the rate at which it’s moving, we’ve seen some very interesting application mutations where these technologies intersect. We have instances where service providers are hawking e-mail on mobile devices, Internet telephony is offered on traditional Internet access lines, value added services like music downloads and online gaming are being offered by ISPs for mobile devices… the list goes on. Blink and you miss a new service announcement. Ironically, this is both good and bad. Deep down, every consumer only yearns for his needs/aspirations to be fulfilled by a particular product or service. For that to happen, usability needs to be out-of-the-box and price affordable. Here’s where the potential speed breakers lie. For users to be able to maximize the use of a technology, the very technology should be transparent to them. An apparent dichotomy in terms, this is the very reason why every other massaccepted product or service (like television, electricity and increasingly computers and cell phones) are such inherent part of our lives today. People want to use products in the course of normal life, not live to learn products. However, in today’s scenario of rapid converging technology waves, learning any one technology is becoming difficult. Broadband, cellular technology, online gaming, music downloads, portable computing—all of these have varying threads of commonality among them. Accompanied by an immense torrent of offers and announcements being piggy-backed onto existing services and products from companies, it’s all too easy to be swung by the promise of a new-found ‘killer app’. In most cases today, the inadequacy of infrastructure and standardization tarnishes the efficacy of content delivery services. And there’s no sign of this trend abating. We stand at the head of an expectedly exciting year ahead of us. Several great technologies will be upon us, several will recede. With communication, processing, networking and electronic entertainment forming the very waft and weave of our lives today, it’s prudent to be mindful of the technologies we face this year, to refrain from taking them at face value and to ignore the hype that blinds us into adopting that which will not eventually be useful in our lives. Here’s wishing you all a prosperous, fun and fulfilling 2006!

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

7

Contents JANUARY 2006 76 The

52 32 How broad is

Broadband? NEWSWIRE

22 Free does IT? Free PCs for developing markets—a marketing gimmick or a smart move? Will Asiatotal’s unique concept take off?

32 How broad is Broadband? Find out what you can expect from broadband as service providers gear up with their stock of services

COVER STORY 34 Our Lives Ahead How technology is going to affect every aspect of our lives at home, on the road and everywhere around

HARDWARE 42 Top Gear An ultra portable notebook, a ‘nano’ player and lots more—for all you gadget-hungry people

66 Processing on a Shoe String The budget processors have been put to test. Let’s find out if they put their money where their mouth is

APPLICATIONS 70 Software Center Make that move to protect your PC with the latest security applications reviewed here—and lots more…

76 The King is back! Peter Jackson is back—this time with a remake of the 1933 classic, King Kong. We go behind the scenes to tell you how the magic was created

84 Real vs Reel “What we see is not often what it is” – visual effects in Indian films has only reinforced this fact. Technology and a maturing film industry are creating career opportunities like never before

Smart. Sexy. Stylish.

87 Building Independence The disabled in India are slowly being enabled with the help of technology solutions that aim at making their lives simpler and happier

90 Search Specialists Find out more about how the popular web search tools are performing to find and present information from your hard disk

92 It’s aLIVE! Microsoft is providing a slew of online services with Live.com. A glance at their latest Beta offering…

94 Mandriva Linux Find out more about Mandriva Linux 2006 that was launched a few months back

HANDS ON 100 Working Remotely Facing a problem with your PC? Invite anyone you trust over the network to solve it for you with the help of Windows XP’s Remote Assistance feature

52 Smart. Sexy. Stylish. A dozen of the most sought after phones in the country tested. Check out which one’s the winner

64 Portable Dilemma Can’t make up your mind between a notebook and a desktop PC? This feature will help you decide

King is back!

104 The Art of Composition 34

Master the method of composition to make the photos you click appear life-like INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP | JANUARY 2006

87 Building Independence

108

Personalize Your Dates ! 70

108 Personalize your Dates! Learn how to make your personalized photo calendar with your favorite memories of the year gone by

112 Add Zing to your Drive We give you a few tips on how to service your optical drive to keep it functioning

114 The Living Room PC The computer has shifted place now from the bedroom to the living room. It functions as a home theater, a personal video recorder...learn here how to transform your PC into a PVR

118 Indulge in WAP! Exciting projects for your WAP phone

123 Made a Backup Yet?

UNWIND

Software Center | Products Tested

134 Chip and the Chick

Hardware

Women-friendly gadgets...

42

Microsoft Laser Mouse 6000, Microsoft Natural Ergonomic Keyboard 4000

136 Call of Duty 2 From great graphics to amazing smoke effects, CoD 2 is the most immmersive WWII shooter yet

137 Need for Speed Most Wanted Revving engines, squealing tyres, hot babes—that’s Most Wanted for you!

ExBoot EXB-0121, Asus W5G00AE, Typhoon Maxima Series 2.1, Sahara DT7523-360-Q1, Lenovo ThinkCentre E50, Nvidia GeForce 6800GS, Logitech G15, Seagate ST3500641AS, Gigabyte 3D1, Canon S80, Apple iPod Nano, Buffalo DriveStation

138 Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire Is the latest game in the Harry Potter series worth all the hype? Find out...

Smart phones

52

Nokia 9300, O2 XDAIIi, O2 XphoneII, BenQ P30, Motorola A780, palmOne

139 Black and White 2

Treo650, I-mate JASJAR

God playing can be overwhelmingly addictive

How XP’s Backup Utility helps you to back up personal files, system files, etc. More here...

Multimedia phones Nokia 6680, Nokia N90, Nokia N71, Samsung SGH-D-600, Sony W800i

Regulars Town Square Letters

18

Technology Landscape

69

Dr. CHIP

JANUARY 2006 | INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP

96

Lenovo ThinkCentre E50

Tips and Tricks

…43

Game Reviews

136

Last Word

148

(Desktop PC)

84

16

126

Disk Contents JANUARY 2006 | VOLUME 3 | ISSUE 2

Security: ZoneAlarm Free 6.1, Norton Antivirus Virus Definitions, McAfee Antivirus Virus Definitions, eScan Internet Security Suite Developer: Alice 2.0, VOINS System: System Mechanic 6 Pro, NVIDIA Forceware Drivers 81.95, ATI Catalyst Drivers 5.11, SwissKnife Linux: My SQL Standard 5.0.16, KOffice 1.4.2, Skype Mobile: Microsft ActiveSync 4.0, FastForward, Symbian Multimedia: Winamp 5.12, Real Alternative 1.44, K-Lite Mega Codec Pack 1.4.5, QuickTime Alternative 1.64 Utilities: DirectX 9.0c, LogInventory, Magic NetTrace, Virtual CD 7.0, WinRAR 3.51, YPOPs! Internet: Pegasus Mail 4.21, Download Accelerator Plus 7.5, LimeWire, Mozilla Firefox 1.5, MSN Messenger 7.5 Red Hot: muvee autoProducer 5

Game Demos: Harry Potter and Goblet of Fire, Civilization IV, ToCA Race Driver 3 Game Addons: Age of Empire 3 1.01 Patch, Quake 4 1.0.4 Patch Game Trailers: Need for Speed Most Wanted Black Edition Trailer,Hitman Blood Money Trailer Movie Trailers: GOAL The Dream Begins, Pink Panther, Yours,Mine and Ours

$)*1%7% Game Demos: Earth 2160, Law and Order Criminal Intention, Ski Racing 2006 Quake 4, 80 Days Game Addons: Rome Total War Realism 6.2 Game Trailers: Ski Racing 2006 Trailer Movie Trailers: Bandidas, Take the Lead, The Benchwarmers, Annapolis, Pirates of Carribean:Dead Man's Chest Syriana Linux: Mandriva Linux 2006 Service Pack Collection: Win XP SP3 Preview Pack #2

Quick Quote JANUARY 2006 | VOLUME 3 | ISSUE 2 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 combines the fun of IT with functionality, making it a great boarding point for getting on the info superhighway Nandkumar Saravade, Indian Police Service Officer

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 ASSOCIATE EDITOR

Brian Pereira ASSISTANT EDITOR

Harikrishnan Menon WRITERS

Nikhil Rastogi, Gagan Gupta, Arunabh Arora HEAD MARKETING

Ganesh Lakshmanan EDITORIAL OFFICE

Intelligent Computing Chip, Infomedia India 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 Infomedia India 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 Infomedia India 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. Infomedia India 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 Infomedia India Ltd. and printed at Infomedia India Ltd, Plot No.3, Sector 7, Off SionPanvel Road, Nerul, Navi Mumbai – 400 706 and published at Infomedia India 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 | JANUARY 2006

16

TOWN SQUARE

THIS MONTH ON chip-india.com

Town Square I

t’s the new year and our resolution for this year is to further improve the quality of IC CHIP and provide our readers with top notch content in the magazine and the cover disks. We would like to begin the year with sincere thanks to all the readers who are part of the CHIP family and we hope that as we embark on a new beginning you will continue to support us as you have all this while. With the number of registered users on our site swelling to over 18,000, it will act as a catalyst inspiring us to work in one direction—to further improve our site. As usual, our Tips and Tricks section has been buzzing with activity. This month some really neat tips as well as tricks have been posted by several users. The most noticeable trick was given by sauron. He explains how we can view thumbnails of .DAT files. The procedure is as follows: Type REGEDIT at the run prompt Expand HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT -> .DAT in the registry editor. right click on .DAT and create a NEW KEY and name it as ‘ShellEx’ right click on ‘ShellEx’ and create a NEW KEY expand .MPG and copy the KEY value under ‘ShellEx’ Paste it for the key (under ShellEx) just created for .DAT move to .MPG and click on the value under ‘ShellEx’ In the right pane double click on the DEFAULT under Name Copy the value next to VALUE DATA and paste for the .DAT one Close the Registry Editor Our user ‘neo_natasha’ gave us information about the software called ‘Festoon’ that allows you to add video and share it on Skype and Google Talk. You just have to connect your camera, download the free festoon plug-in and then you

can see each other and also invite your buddies for a video call even if they don’t have a camera. So you can have fun while chatting and talking with your near and dear ones. Another small tip was given by user ‘j667’. This was with regards to performing a search while using Mozilla browser. If you want to perform a search using Google, you don’t need to go to their home site. Just type google and your topic in the address bar and the results will be displayed, similar to when you perform a search on google.com. Keep the tips and tricks coming in. We would love to see more of them. Also, on the forums we found lots of complaints regarding the issue reaching late to the subscribers. Last month, the box pack of the magazine created problems for the courier guys during packaging and as a result there was a delay in the delivery of issues. Rest assured that next month the issue will reach you on time. On the web site there have been several complaints posted by some of our users about more games being put on the DVD as opposed to software. Well, this month we have tried to minimize the game content on the DVD and we have included more software. We are also planning to include more Linux distributions on the DVD. Mandriva Linux 2006, included on this month’s DVD, is the first in this process. Do check out the review of the same in this issue. We are of course always open to suggestions that will improve the quality of our Cover CDs and DVD. We will certainly keep them in mind while collating the content for the CDs and DVD in the upcoming issues. Hope you have a rocking starting to the year 2006. We also hope you will continue to send your feedback to us as has been the norm in the past. Your feedback—good or bad—only encourages us. So keep writing in to us and here’s wishing you all a very happy new year. ■ | Anup Pillai

INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP | JANUARY 2006

18

LETTERS

Letters Dear CHIP, I am a regular reader of your magazine. I am doing a course in hardware and networking. And I find several topics, which are part of my classroom training, very find difficult to understand. However, when I read articles in CHIP, especially the visual infographic on laser printer operation, the Windows XP boot sequence and the workshop on building a portable hard disk, I find it really simple to understand. Thank you so much for such articles. Suyog Pramod Sawant Dear Sujog, Thanks for writing in to us as we appreciate your feedback on our visual infographic-based articles and workshops. Yes, these are our favorite articles as well! If you have any ideas on what you’d like to see in our magazine, do feel free to write in to us—we’d be happy to hear you out! Team CHIP

Umesh Dahiwalkar

Dear Marco, I was very impressed with your editorial, ‘Chasing Perfection’. Your outlook is completely different from that published in some other magazines that are no more than shiny catalogues of cell phones, TVs, etc. It is such magazines that give advice on buying an AMD 64 processor paired up with a completely incompatible motherboard. This month, to my dismay, I became disillusioned with CHIP as well. I bought the November issue because it contained a demo of the game Heroes of the Pacific. Unfortunately, when I tried to load the game, I got an error message saying there was something wrong with the Nullsoft Install System. I downloaded this from the Internet, but it is not something that I can use. Another game gave a similar error message for the same installer. Please check the functioning of the DVD and if necessary, please correct the recurring error. I would be grateful if you could send me a replacement that has been tested. Cdr Arthur J D’Cruz (Retd)

Dear Arthur, The reason I wrote that article was because I was inspired to, owing to certain situations that I experienced during the previous month. It is indeed sad that there is such rampant inefficiency and non-professionalism in the various sectors of life that touch us each day. I do believe that it is passion that makes people want to do better and excel in the work they do. The trick, I suppose, is to find ways to instill (or inspire) that passion in ourselves and in the folks around us. It is only then that we could become a nation that churns out consistently high-caliber services and products and create a society that encourages a high quality of life. With regards to your non-functioning application installation, we would be glad to replace it if you could send it back to us after checking it on other computers to see that it is in fact faulty. Cheers, Marco Dear CHIP, I am a 71-year-old civil engineer and I’m a regular reader of CHIP. I also occasionaly engage in assembling of computers for my grandchildren and friends. And I’m really thankful to CHIP for giving me a good background knowledge. Your product reviews also, I must mention, are very credible. The reason why I’m writing this letter is, about a year ago, I assembled a Socket A-based AMD system with a Krypton Motherboard (CG18G-400) and a Pinnacle PCTV card for my son. It worked very well and captured TV programmes nicely. Based on CHIP’s motherboard comparison test results, I decided to assemble another one for my grandchildren using an AMD Socket 754 board, a Krypton K8M800 (tested by CHIP, March 2005) but using the same Pinnacle TV tuner card of the previous computer. With the TV tuner, the K8M800 failed to boot. When I sent it back to the board’s distributor Priya Limited at Chennai, they used my purchase receipt and replaced it immediately. What was most impressive during this episode was the extraordinary customer care treatment I received from the distributor, dealer and even the dispatch department. I would fail in my duty if I don’t bring to light this level of efficiency to an esteemed magazine such as yours. Following this episode, I had to undergo a bypass INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP | JANUARY 2006

20

LETTERS

Letters surgery (I’ve been a heart patient for some years now). Today, I’m happy to report that I, along with both the computers, are healthy! May Lord Sri Lakshmi Venkateswara bless you all and may your magazine prosper. With kind regards and respect to you all. Er T S Nagarajan Dear Mr Nagarajan, It is letters such as yours that warm us and reaffirm our resolve to create a good magazine each month. And it is not very often that customers actually reply to a good deed that has been done by a company—it is the lapses in customer service that are most often reported. In conjunction with the observations in my November editorial, it is this kind of service that is so important in a booming marketplace such as ours. Our buoyant economy should be used as an opportunity to raise the standard of operation and serve customers with that much more zeal and vigor! Of course, your bringing this to light would definitely spur on the companies involved. Recognition is, after all, one of the biggest motivators. Thanks for writing in! We wish you (and both of your computers) the best of health! Team CHIP Dear CHIP, I am a regular subscriber of your magazine and I’m need some advice from you on a very important issue. I am a freelance web designer. And I have been handling a domain of a client of mine since the last two years. This domain is very important to my client. Unfortunately, I forgot to renew the domain name which expired on September 10, 2005. When I did remember, it was already too late. And by the month of October, the domain had been shifted to ‘Redemption Period’ by OnlineNIC. I contacted my sub-registrar and was told that the domain would remain in this state for about 45 days after which it would be free. I waited and kept checking the domain every day. A few days later, the status of the domain changed to ‘Pending Delete’. That was November 23. When I checked it again on the morning of November 24, I was shocked to find the domain registered by some registrar in the United States.

The registrar is the web site http://www. privatedomains.biz. After searching through their whois on their site, I found that this company was just a proxy for eNOM Inc. in the US. I mailed them twice about transferring the domain in my client’s name as it rightfully belongs to him but I’m yet to receive any response from the said company. I would imagine this is a case of domain squatting. Can you tell me if there is anything I can do? I don’t know whether we have any cyber laws preventing unauthorized registrations of domains belonging to someone else in our country. I would be very thankful for a solution on getting my domain back. Warm regards, Rishi Khanna Dear Rishi, In order to affect the resolution of cybersquatting complaints, the Internet Corporation of Assigned Names and Numbers [ICANN - www.icann.org] has instituted the Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy [UDRP] for the resolution of domain name disputes. Any complaint filed under this online arbitration policy (which incidentally is the only successful online arbitration system in the world) is decided within two months. This procedure is comparatively faster than other procedures for dispute resolution. It would be appropriate to use this system as it covers a wide range of domain name disputes. I do hope this is responsive. I would be happy to provide more information or answer any further questions that you might have. Please do feel free to call or write. All the best! Warm regards Rodney D Ryder (Rodney is a lawyer specializing in cyber law and writes columns on cyber law policy in our magazine.) Corrigendum In the review of the game The Age of Empires III that appeared on page 166 and 167 in our December 2005 issue, the publisher was wrongly mentioned as EA Games. The publisher of The Age of Empires III is, in fact, Microsoft Game Studios. We regret the inconvenience that might have been caused due to this error. INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP | JANUARY 2006

22

Free does iT? Hong Kong based Asiatotal raised very few eyebrows when it announced the concept of free PCs for developing markets. Is it another run-of-the-mill business scheme or a genuine effort? We scratch the surface to reveal more

O

Newswire

nce in a while, the concept of free PC emerges. Replete with the usual spout of ‘changing the world’ or empowering the poor to embrace technology, there have been numerous attempts in the past that various well-meaning organizations have undertaken to come out with a low cost model for the world’s less fortunate ones. Failed projects in the past included the likes of the $99 Netpliance computer, the Simputer which went down without a trace, AMD’s $199 Personal Internet Communicator, Palm’s $100 Z22, the $99 Sinclair, amongst other unknown ones. In the fray is also the recent announcement of the $100 ‘One Laptop Per Child’ program by Negroponte, developed by the stables of MIT. The new and interesting entrant this time around is a free PC to be given out by a Hong Kong-based technology company known as

Pramod Jadhav Pramod Jadhav

Asiatotal.Net with its tagline—‘Bridging the Digital Divide’. According to Asiatotal, it’s the stripped-down version of a desktop known as ‘iT’—and will be given away free to deserving candidates. A snazzy looking computing device, iT is equipped with a 7-inch LCD monitor and a 400 MHz processor running Windows CE and is aimed especially at traders and businessmen in the developing markets. The iT freeware comprises a portable, language-adapted package, which includes keyboard, mouse, speakers, amongst other add-ons. Other features include a smart card reader, voice and text messaging via Windows Messenger, virus immunity, etc and ready to connect to a wide range of USB peripherals. The hardware has been planned, built and technically managed by Taiwan-based technology manufacturer Biostar, which would also be manufacturing the units in bulk quantities, according to country requirements. The company is engaged to produce three million units a month, and is currently in the process of bringing out a batch of two lakh units for Brazil. The units will also have integrated key components furnished by other Taiwanese partner companies such as VIA and GBM. At first glance, the keyboard looks fairly standard, except for half-a-dozen particularly prominent keys that are equipped to handle

INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP | NOVEMBER 2005

NEWSWIRE

more than what meets the eye and this slightly controversial accessory mainly differentiates iT from other desktops. In order to make the system just about virus-proof, the software has been incorporated in a chip that eliminates the use of hard drives thus staving off virus attacks. It has 64 MB of memory to save some small files and is equipped with a USB connector to allow users to place external drives. The seven-inch (18 cm diagonal) screen comes with built-in speakers for ease of use in music and movies, and a built-in modem. Judy Chen, President and CEO of Asiatotal.Net expounds the reason behind the free PC philosophy. According to Chen, only 10 percent of the world’s population is connected to the Internet and 70 percent of the world’s Internet users live in the 24 richest countries which only accounts for 16 percent of the world’s population. Although the idea descends as selfless and not-for-profit on the face of it, it’s obvious that the proponents of the ‘free PC’ philosophy would not be able to justify the manufacturing and distribution costs, especially as it plans to dole out the PC without a charge. In an official note, the company states that the PC is based on a self-financing business model, hence the PCs will be distributed via a sponsorship model: the computer includes 10 dedicated hotkeys linked to its sponsors. Only eligible individuals and small businesses will gain access to iT in areas of education, medical, financial and entertainment while participating companies will benefit from a direct and profitable channel to maximize business opportunities in the world’s fastest growing economies.

NOVEMBER 2005 | INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP

The free PCs will be paid for by sponsors who will own hotkeys on the PCs. The hotkeys take users directly to the sponsors’ web sites, from where they are able to make payments for goods and services using a smart-card reader. The completely modified version of the desktop appears futuristic and is touted for those who are first time users and for those who would like to use the Net for business purposes. It comes with a card swipe similar to the ones used in merchant establishments, albeit a much smaller footprint. A closer peek at the device and the organization reveals that the thought behind portioning out free PCs is to enable traders and small-time businessmen to interact and deal with the global market and help them spread the business without having to travel long distances. An engrossing conception, iT seems to have the potency to reach out to developing markets especially empowering SMBs to address the global market. However, it remains to be seen whether Asiatotal will be able to pull through and spread the message of its philosophy as it awaits sponsors. Whether advertisers would be willing to stick around long enough to turn this into a mass-market product is another question. Incidentally, the project took six rigorous years and with the help of a great deal of planning, design and several key partners, the concept came to fruition. It’s based on a simple business model to supply cost competitive computers free of charge for universal Internet access by sharing profits with partner companies in designated markets. The first 200,000 units were dispatched to Brazil some time back. In

23

the subsequent months, iT is slated to do the rounds in communities in Latin America, China, India, Russia, Continental and Eastern Europe, South Africa, Mexico, the Philippines and the Middle East. Chen has claimed that Asiatotal.net will target quality partners in the consumer business, retail, financial services, and entertainment, healthcare, technology, media and telecommunications sectors. In China, for example, the company is considering rolling out the program initially in Beijing and Shanghai, and later in rural areas if Internet Service Providers (ISPs) are in a position to provide service in these locations, she said. ISPs may find some benefit in offering their service free as well, she said. In a recent trip to India, Asiatotal brought `iT’ to Bangalore for its India launch and has invited corporate organizations and potential sponsors for iT. A number of technology companies, including HP and Intel are researching and churning out products and services to help emerging economies in developing countries. Intel had made a recent announcement about its Community PC, a computer specially designed for rural applications, especially for Indian communities, while Wyse Technology, a vendor of thin client computing in San Jose, California, is screening a platform for the delivery of services to rural areas around its thin client technology. However, unlike Asiatotal, Wyse and some other players have put in their commitment in setting up Internet centers in rural areas, expecting revenue to eventually kick in from Internetbased services, based on the country’s rural population. ■ | Carol D’ Costa

24

NEWSWIRE

iPod keyboard

Japan counters the Google threat

I

M

f not for the love of anything iPod, at least for the rising emergence of USB gadgets, finally someone saw the need to come out with a keyboard, with a dedicated USB 2.0 dock. Matias recently unveiled a new computer keyboard that features a dedicated USB 2.0 dock for the iPod shuffle (or other iPods using a USB cable). The USB 2.0 keyboard lets users plug high-speed USB devices via a convenient port on the keyboard. Two USB 1.1 ports are included for devices such as mouse and joystick and the keyboard comes in two versions—a white, Mac-only version and a black version that works with both Macs and PCs. They both sell for $39.95, or $49.95 with a mouse.

ove aside Yahoo, MSN, etc. We now have a brand new contender to take on the behemoth that is Google. The Japanese government seems to have been peeved at Google’s world dominance and is apparently goading its techie sleuths to launch a spanking new search engine to take on the current world champion. Slighted by Google’s universal popularity, Japan believes that it has better competitive power to give Google a run for its search and money. In this bid, the government has joined hands with 20 Japanese electronics companies and universities to be partners for the project. They include well-known companies such as Matsushita Electric, Hitachi, Fujitsu, Tokyo University and the Tokyo Institute of Technology, NEC as well

as Nippon Telegraph, the telecom group, NHK, and public broadcaster, with the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI). So great is the threat perceived by Google that the government has actually succeeded in persuading two vicious opponents, Sony and Matsushita to come together on a common platform to oust the US giant. More importantly, Japan seems to be warily eyeing the high profits from online ad revenues raked in by Yahoo and Google, and hence the aggressive endeavor. Pitched at an outgo of about 500 million pounds, with an initial investment of 60 million pounds, this project would roughly take about three to four years to be completed.

New flaw worms through iTunes

A Speed up!

W

e haven’t been able to resist gawking at this absolutely frivolous piece of gadget ever since we laid our eyes on it. And as all gadget freaks we thought this was pretty neat and out of the box even though it’s pretty pointless. This Street Racer optical (800DPI) mouse is lightweight, and with real headlights it’s also got tail lights too. Interestingly, the headlights are always on, and the tail-lights go on every time you move it. It comes with USB cable and is available in five colors and it does not require any batteries.

new QuickTime and iTunes flaw discovered by Tom Ferris, an independent security researcher, claims that the glitch can be misused by spiteful users to cause a Denial of Service (DoS) attack. There are no confirmed reports by anyone else on the issue, as the uncovering made by Ferris, in early December, was

code has yet to be confirmed; also, it has yet to be determined if this flaw affects other versions of QuickTime and/or iTunes. At this time, the flaw is being diagnosed as “moderately critical” and as having an “unknown impact”. If you are a user, it is advisable—unless more data can be unearthed—that you don’t open media files from sources you

conspicuous in Apple QuickTime Player 7.0.3 and iTunes 6.0.1.3. Other versions may also be affected. The dangerous role of this defect is that if and when the flaw is exploited, it would cause memory corruption and induce a program crash. The vulnerability is caused due to an error in handling malformed ‘.mov’ files. No one knows how potentially huge this issue is at the moment, since reports and studies have yet to come in based on Ferris’ discovery, as the execution of arbitrary

don’t trust. This will serve to prevent any potential abuse of this flaw until an exact analysis of its extent can be made and Apple issues a security update. Most importantly, it may lead to your computer being hacked! Media player glitches are not a new phenomenon. A new trend suggests that criminal coders are moving their focus of attacks from OS such as Windows to media players and other applications. Recently, eEye Digital Security had issued an alert on flaws in RealNetworks’ RealPlayer. INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP | JANUARY 2006

26

NEWSWIRE

IM hit by Santa worm

Malware mayhem may multiply in mobiles

I

2

n the world of Internet, Santa is not good. So before you get excited to click on an e-card attachment showing Santa, sent to you by your friend via instant messenger, hold on! The attachment might cause your system to crash. IM.GiftCom.All is the worm traveling from one IM to other (that includes AOL, Microsoft and Yahoo) and messing up with your system performance. You might be duped to believe that you have received an attachment from one of your friends or known contacts. But once you click on the attachment, you get to see only Santa Claus’ image while the worm installs itself into your system. After the installation gets over, the worm uses your contact list and sends them a similar fake message. Just as you believed it to be from an authentic source, your contacts might do so too and not think twice before downloading the attachment. The worm functions with the help of a malicious program set known as rootkit enabling it to circumvent the security of your computer and give complete access to the attacker. IMLogic and Sophos (two leading anti-virus companies) have already warned officially about the presence of the virus. However, Graham Cluley, senior technology consultant at Sophos, assured that these worms are less successful than the ones, which usually flow via e-mail. Unlike email, an assured place for the worms to move through because they can approach and sit in your inbox unnoticed even if you are not logged in, this worm can approach your computer only when you are logged into an instant messenger. However, the threat looms large as most of the IM users are not aware of the fact that the transmission of virus/worms, etc is possible through IM. It has been observed that since corporate organizations bar the usage of IM within the office environment, there is less possibility for worms such as this to attack the office network, whereas home users who log into instant messengers as and when they desire might be the victims targeted more often.

006 is predicted to be an arduous year for mobile users as McAfee cautions users of security threats in mobile devices. A whole new range of virus attacks is assumed to hit smartphones and converged hybrid devices in the months to come. This is a gloomy forecast since more and more people are turning to Internet connected handhelds and PDAs. If malware in mobiles does become widespread, it’s sure to wreak more havoc than the current PC virus attacks. Interestingly, it has been noted that mobile phone malware has grown 10 times faster as compared to PC malware, simply because more and more people are drawn towards smartphones. Moreover negligible mobile security could cause even more confusion and according to McAfee, consumers do not perceive mobile dangers as high risk, leaving their devices deliberately unguarded. According to McAfee, a mobile threat targeting several OS could corrupt up to 200 million connected smartphones simultaneously. Instead of having to

write viruses and worms for each model of mobile phone, hackers can easily write malware for the Symbian OS or Windows Mobile, which makes matters very easy for them. And because of the kind of personal data stored in smartphones, especially passwords to credit cards, contacts, etc, it’s a prime target for viruses and worms. This is compounded by the fact that mobile phones are harder to back up compared to PCs. McAfee has painted a very gory picture with further predictions of PC security threats including phishing, increase in Commercial Potentially Unwanted Programs (PUPs) and identity theft, which will “continue to cause concern” throughout the coming year. Attacks may become more targeted, using spyware programs and password stealers, there will also be an increase in the number of web sites set up to steal passwords and log-in details. Phishers will continue to take advantage of people’s nature to help others in need, as they did after Hurricane Katrina in the US Gulf Coast region.

A girl’s best friend

R

ubies and diamonds have started shifting place—from jewelry box to laptop. If you wish to keep your hold, then grab the new E-Go Diamond laptop. Let’s check the list of what it has: Solid palladium white gold plates, thousands of diamonds and a ruby. The brilliantly cut diamonds are placed on the gold plates with surgical precision and the ruby is a part of the Tulip logo. Though the specifications are decent, gamers and geeks please look away; this piece is not for you. The system runs on an AMD Turion 64 processor, with an ATI Radeon Xpress 200 graphic chipset featuring 1 GB of DDR RAM. The SATA hard disk can store 100 GB and the system has a 12.1-inch widescreen which supports a max resolution of 1280x800. The spec list continues with a DVD-RW drive, touch pad, built-in web cam and a microphone. Even the list of connectivity features is highly loaded with Wi-Fi 802.11a/b/g, Bluetooth 1.2, an ExpressCard slot, four USB 2.0 slots and the 10/100Base-T Ethernet port.

Additionally, VGA and S-Video port are available along with a SD/MMC/MS/MS Duo card reader. Shaped like a handbag, this laptop was jointly designed by Beer Master Jewellery Designer and Marcel van Galen Design Laurent. E-Go Diamond is primarily focused towards a very specific market audience— the ultra affluent woman with huge spending capacities.

INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP | JANUARY 2006

28

NEWSWIRE

LG’s big baby

Desktop in your palm... and as a mobile!

ust how big can a monitor be? LG Electronics has crossed all limits with their new 55-inch (measured diagonally) multifunctional monitor. This widescreen LCD chunk named M5500C, has a native pixel resolution of 1920x1080 pixels; therefore it can project true 1080p resolution—that is scanning 1080 vertical lines in noninterlaced mode. LG’s big baby supports both DVI and VGA connecters (the former is used for connecting with digital video output, the latter is used for connecting with PCs), and can be used for watching movies, delivering presentations and even as a normal PC monitor. It also carries the HDCP (HighBandwidth Digital Content Protection) feature which is a transmission encryption technology that primarily operates in the transmission channel of video source (the DVD disk), transmitter (DVD players) and the display units (monitor or television) to retain the integrity of the content. HDCP is not designed to prevent the copying or recording of digital content. M5500C has a high contrast ratio of 500:1. The monitor is not just big, it has a viewing angle of 176 degrees and depth of 16.7 million colors. It also has connectors for S-Video (where all the transmission signals are passed through two cables), composite video (where all the video signals are passed through three cables), resulting in higher quality.

wait the cPC to be launched shortly this month as DualCor Technologies introduces its zippy new version of a Windows Mobile 5.0 phone with a fully equipped Windows XP desktop PC as a handheld. Sounds unbelievable but it’s true! There have long been fantastic claims and desires to bring out such a device, and although in the past Sony and OQO introduced their own versions, it had restricted sales due to short battery life and confined functioning. This time around, DualCor has taken equipped its cPC with a battery long enough to run applications for eight hours or more. The cPC jams two devices into one package; the computer part of the equation consists of Windows XP Tablet operating system, a 1.5 GHz C7-M processor from Via Technologies and 1 GB of DDR 2 memory. The cell phone aspect of the device has Windows Mobile 5.0 Pocket PC phone edition, a PXA communications processor from Intel, 128 MB of DRAM and 1 GB of flash memory. The Input is effected using a stylus and touch screen. The screen resolution is 800x480 pixels; it’s big enough for viewing large documents and graphics applications. Together, the computer and

J

A

cell phone components share a 40 GB hard drive. Additionally, there are all the ports and slots you could ever want, including three USB 2.0 ports, a mini-VGA port, stereo and telephone headset ports, and a CF Type II slot. The cPC also comes with a few additional features that add shine to its sparkle factor. The screen is made from special glass, manufactured by LG, which provides a brightness level of 200 NITS, which the company claims is brighter than most other smart phone screens. The company figured how to include Tablet PC functionality without incorporating a digitizer, which is an additional chip. Users can also use the cPC like a traditional computer, plug it into an outlet and LCD screen and it will feel no different than using a regular desktop. The most impressive aspect of this product is that it lets you run your Windows XP applications and acts as a smart phone while simultaneously solving the bulky, cumbersome and power-hungry issues generally associated with these products. Like they say, good things in life are either free or unaffordable. So with $1500 tagged to the cPC, it may be quite a while till we manage to get our hands on this piece of goodness.

Microsoft’s IE7 promises better security

M

icrosoft’s upcoming IE7 is likely to have better Internet security settings to protect your computer from malicious coding, which thus far was a favorite target with their existing version. The changes will primarily take place in the manner IE classifies web sites. The current version classifies all web sites in four basic categories (Internet, Local intranet, Trusted and Restricted) and allows the user to set security rules for the browser to interact with these groups of web sites. Microsoft engineers have found out that malicious codes generally flow in through less restricted web sites and are trying to prevent that by developing a new set of

security settings. Microsoft’s first priority was to keep a PC out of intranet settings if not a part of any corporate managed network. This indicates that intranet web sites will be treated as Internet web sites and internet security settings will get applied on them. However, if the PC is part of a network then IE will automatically apply intranet zone settings. Network administrators will probably be able to set group policies to ensure the browser functions as desired. Microsoft, however, did not spell out exactly what kind of changes and flexibility one can expect from IE7. Watch this space for more on this. INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP | JANUARY 2006

30

NEWSWIRE

Grey is not that grey

Encrypt SMS with XMS

A

f you are insecure about the privacy of messages you send and receive, then this will be interesting to you. You need not worry about the open-to-all inbox. Just set a security shield around it so that it remains accessible only to you. Kuala Lumpur-based TM Net’s Xecure Messaging Service (XMS)—read Secure Messaging Service—encrypts all your messages so far read by any body and everybody. XMS is easy to use and is compatible with your desktop or laptop. All you need to do is download the application to your PC, transfer it to your mobile, install the application, get it registered, set a password, set a secured channel with your contacts, and message the way you generally do. XMS will encrypt the message you send and store the similar version in your message inbox if you receive message from your pre-defined channel. You only need to remember the password because

ll those lonely, incomprehensible, gnawing moments of ageing are being shown the exit door. Now you have gadgets promising to transform the experience of ageing. The Center for Ageing Services Technologies (CAST) has a bagful of devices, starting from the types that can monitor your BP to robot support that can communicate with a remotely located doctor. Intel has already plunged in by creating gadgets which assist Alzheimer patients to answer phone calls by providing them information like names, look, brief description of the caller and even with pointers on the issues last discussed. “The focus in creating such gadgets should lie on four basic points—disease prevention, early detection, caregiver support and maintaining independence”, says Eric Dishman, CEO of CAST. Already in the research pipeline are floors which have sensors to check that gait, and sound an alarm if you fail to retain your balance. And in case your brain gets fogged with names and timing of medicines, you get a medicine cabinet that can be programmed to keep track of what medicine it holds and when it should be taken. The built-in camera scans the face of the person and a programmed voice reminds you that it’s time to take a capsule. Even if you pick up a wrong file, the voice helps you in correcting the mistake. If you are a tech-savvy senior citizen and know how to plug a USB mouse into a computer which has broadband Internet connection, then you can get online support from Motiva—a service channel developed by Philips Medical offering personal reminders suggesting healthy activities and also the scope for online consultancy with a nurse from your home. Does going through all these make you feel lonely? Drop the thought. You can have a companion who will take care of you at hard times like when you need a support to stand or to walk. It’s even capable of communicating with a distantly stationed doctor and assists you with all sorts of medical help you will possibly require.

I

that is something you will need every time to decrypt the secured message. To communicate with XMS, both the identities involved in the communication need to have the application installed in their device. This application also assists in wiping out the entire database from a phone. Just in case your phone gets lost or stolen you can completely delete all messages by sending an SMS using your secret code. TM Net has set a minimal monthly subscription for their services. The service will prove to be useful to call consumers; no user would wish to share their sensitive information. XMS will enable this security solution which they were looking for. Be it credit card information, or be it your personal love letters, XMS’s holistic approach covers them all. So the next time you send a message you wouldn’t want anybody to read, don’t worry. XMS is there to protect your privacy.

Power bag

N

ow you needn’t worry at all if you forget to carry the charger for your mobile or PDA. Your bag could do it for you. And before you begin to wonder how a bag can charge your phone, here is the story. As your bag is solar powered and capable of converting solar energy to electrical energy, it takes care of recharging the battery of small USB devices like cell phones, PDAs, voice recorders and even small cameras. Designed by Joe Hynek, a doctoral student in mechanical engineering at Iowa State University, the bag does not look

like any alien device. It’s just like a regular rectangular purse with plastic handles, the only difference is the presence of a layer of laminated solar panels separated with white lines. The sunlight received by these panels are converted to electrical energy and the connected devices within the bag utilize that to get their battery recharged. Joe wishes to commercialize this product and wants to keep a price within easy grasp. This research is however not something new; we have already seen solar powered backpacks in the past. INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP | JANUARY 2006

Special

Subscription

Offer

3 years subscription (36 issues) Pay Rs 3600 & get a 256MB MP3 Player worth Rs 2400 FREE

Yes! I would like to subscribe to CHIP for 3 years (36 issues) Pay Rs. 3600 & get a MP3 Player worth Rs. 2400 FREE Pay Rs. 2160 (40% discount on Rs. 3600)

OR

2 years (24 issues) Pay Rs. 2400 & get Rs. 1300 worth UMAX 128 MB USB Pen Drive FREE Pay Rs. 1680 (30% discount on Rs. 2400)

OR

2 years subscription (24 issues) Pay Rs. 2400 & get an UMAX 128 MB worth Rs. 1300 USB Pen Drive FREE A perfect tool for PC or Mac users Hi-Speed USB 2.0

1

1 year (12 issues) Pay Rs. 1200 and get Tech-Com 25 in 1 Card Reader worth Rs. 799 FREE Pay Rs. 960 (20% discount on Rs. 1200 )

OR

Name: Mr/Mrs Designation:

City:

year subscription (12 issues) Pay Rs 1,200 and get Tech-Com 25 in 1 Card Reader worth Rs 799 FREE

Organisation:

Mailing Address:

Tel: (O) Fax:

State:

PIN

(R)

(M)

(E-mail)

Please find enclosed Cheque/DD No. drawn on (Name of bank) dated for Rs

favouring TBW Publishing & Media Pvt. Ltd.,

payable at Mumbai. (Add Rs. 30 for outstation cheque) Or charge my Credit Card

VISA

MasterCard

Amex

Card No.: Date of Birth:

Discount Offer Tenure

Card Expiry Date:

Date: You pay (Rs.)

Discount

3 Years

2160/-

40% discount on Rs 3600/-

2 Years

1680/-

30% discount on Rs 2400/-

1 Years

960/-

20% discount on Rs 1200/-

Student

Signature Professional

Self-employed

Other

Fill this coupon and mail it with your Cheque/DD to: CHIP, Subscription Department, TBW Publishing & Media Pvt Ltd, C/o Infomedia India Limited, ‘A’ Wing, 2nd Floor, Ruby House, J. K. Sawant Marg, Dadar(W). Mumbai - 400 028. INDIA You can also fax your Credit Card orders to (022) 2430 2707 or e-mail us at [email protected]. Please allow one month for your subscription to commence and 4-6 weeks for delivery of the gift. Cancellation of subscription will not be entertained.This offer is valid only in India. International subscription charges - US$ 84 or Rs. 3750 (12 Issues) The subscriber hereby authorizes TBW Publishing & Media Pvt Ltd, to use the information contained herein for maintaining their database as well as for any other purpose that TBWPML may deem fit. The signatory hereby authorizes TBWPML to print the information in all or any of the future issues at TBWPML as may deem fit.

 At the heart of technology

For further details contact INFOMEDIA INDIA LIMITED : Subscription Dept, Ruby Corporate Park, Ruby Mills Compound, J.K.Sawant Marg, Dadar (W), Mumbai - 400028 Tel: 022-24232803/4/5 Fax: 022-2430 2707 Email: [email protected], [email protected] Website: www.chip-india.com, www.eshop.infomediaindia.com

Vishwanath Vanjire

How broad is Broadband? The broadband scenario in India has changed a lot in the past five years. Let’s take a look at where we are at the moment

G

one are the days of sitting before the PC and waiting for the Internet connection to jumpstart. Today, we no longer rush to cyber cafés advertising high-speed Internet connections to log on. Broadband changed the connectivity experience altogether. Few years back, we probably never expected the connectivity scene to see such a rapid change. Having a connection of 256 kbps or 512 kbps at our homes was unthinkable. But not so today! Though broadband touched base in India around 2000-01, it was controlled by a few service providers who were mainly catering to either the corporates or the Internet cafés. The general mass was still untouched by broadband for reasons either relating to cost or simply unavailibility of bandwidth in the hands of the service providers. But gradually with prices falling and the availability of more bandwidth, the want and therefore demand for broadband connection at home increased. And although better connectivity at homes and

office is available thanks to broadband, there’s a long way to go from where we are now. With broadband connection being offered through cable networks today, the dynamics has suddenly changed. After all, cable operators have the unique advantage of having a reach of over millions of homes through their cable TV networks.

Major players Since 2000-01 much has changed in the domain of service providers—mergers, buy-outs, shut downs, change in functions, etc. At present, players ruling in this sphere are Bharti-Airtel, Hathway, IOL network, Sify, Zeenext, Tata Indicom-VSNL. And when providing services to customers, all of them have their own set of strengths and weaknesses. While some provide great speed, others offer cost-effective packages. While at one end we are being offered scalable cable networks, at the other end more and more people are being touched by broadband. Undoubtedly, the prime attribute is speed. Service providers out there are using

varied technology to generate never before like speed. Airtel & Hathway have chosen Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) to give the user the flexibility of using the Internet connection along with telephony. Though both the Internet and phone will be using the same line, the usage of one will not affect the other. This is a highly user-friendly option since the user will not have to log out to make a phone call or vice-versa. Plus, it reduces cable clutter. Sify and Zeenext, on the other hand, offer cable networking, allowing for much higher speed for data transfer. Unlike in the case of DSL, the cable network facility does not share the connection with any other device; therefore the broadband signal faces no obstruction thereby resulting in better experience for the user. IOL network, another player, is offering broadband connection through optical cables. IOL’s network is completely dependent on optical fibers, making them highly scalable and capable of offering bandwidth four times higher than what is being offered by them now. INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP | JANUARY 2006

NEWSWIRE

Now what about the rural base being touched by broadband? The question is of what use will broadband be if all the speed, technology, infrastructure are not exploited by those outside only a select few cities. With Internet slowly moving to the remotest of villages, thanks to the efforts of the government as well as the initiatives taken by NGOs etc, we will perhaps witness a broadband penetration much deeper than what we expected a few years back. Of course, it’s a bit too early to talk about it. Unfortunately, service providers still don’t have too wide a reach. IOL Network, for example, is only concentrated in one corner of a city like Mumbai. Providers like Hathway are slightly better off—they have made their presence felt at least in a number of cities namely Delhi, Bangalore, Chennai, Nasik, Pune, Mumbai and Baroda. But again, that’s not good enough. Pan India coverage is being more or less catered to by Bharti-Airtel. Even though they are not present in all the cities of the country, they are covering all the major metros and have even moved to towns like Itarasi, Sehore, Satna and a few more remote townships. Coming to reach and the variety of services being offered by providers, we must mention what’s being offered by Tata Indicom-VSNL. They have their presence in most Indian towns and cities with their bouquet of value added services. The service list comprises Online Encyclopedia Britannica—access to the complete database of Encyclopedia Britannica including their video and audio content, entrance test preparation facility for examinations like CAT, SAT, GRE.

What you pay VSNL’s entire tariff structure is based on three types—volume-based plan based on the volume of downloads, time-based plan based on the duration of connection, and unlimited plan, which allows unlimited data transfer and long hours of connectivity. Service providers need to design the cost structure in the most acceptable manner possible. The key words here are comprehensibility and affordability. The cost should commensurate the mix of technology, speed and download allowance. JANUARY 2006 | INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP

At present, the most easily comprehensible cost structure is being offered by Sify. The combo of 256 kbps connection speed, 1 GB download allowance and one-month validity period will cost the user Rs 550 per month. To encourage heavy usage during nights and weekends, Sify offers have another set of cost structure, which allows the user to download 150 MB of data per night. For night usage, users even pay Rs 5 less per month than what they would pay for use during the day. As

The Indian user is beginning to access the Internet using wireless connectivity technologies opposed to Sify, Bharti-Airtel has a very simple cost framework. For example, one of the packages that Bharti offers costs Rs 1,400 per month, comprising a bandwidth availability of upto 256 kbps and a download allowance of 1.5 GB per month. The package also offers an additional download limit of 1.2 MB and 2 email accounts of 5 MB capacity each. Along with these, the package offers one static IP to the user, using which they can have their own web site and need not buy additional web hosting space from any other company. So far, so good. But all the confusion starts the moment they club their voice plans along with the existing set of charges. Moreover, Bharti does not even specify the rupee amount of the charge. And that is not all! Since Bharti-Airtel uses DSL technology, which requires a digital modem, their tariff charges also include an additional cost of modem rent amounting to Rs 99 for a modem and Rs 199 for a router. The list continues. For additional IP, you pay an extra Rs 2,000 per IP and for additional email accounts, you spend an added Rs 200 per account. With so many extra charges, users will have to figure out for themselves what they need and what they don’t. Each and every service, whether

33

it’s broadband or dialup, must be aided with customer support. Whether it’s billing issues, information about the services, getting tech support, the customer must have a way to reach the service provider as quickly as possible. In many of the existing service providers, customer support leaves plenty to be desired.

Bandwidth unwired Increasingly, the Indian user is beginning to access the Internet using wireless connectivity technologies. Once the mainstay of voice communications, today’s cellular services have opened a significant channel for broadband access services by way of current-day EDGE services and the upcoming 802.16a WiMAX standard (that can incidentally offer high-bandwidth services over a range of up to 30 miles). Both of these communication technologies facilitate theoretical browsing speeds of up to 384 Kbps for the former, up to 75 Mbps for the latter. With standard GSM and CDMA 1x RTT services already deployed throughout the country, using the same services for Internet connectivity is the most natural way for folks (especially in rural areas) to have access to the Internet. Unfortunately, these wireless services are still fledgling and are therefore a tad expensive when compared to their wired counterparts. The EDGE service from Hutch (which is a data-enabled evolution of their GSM service), costs Rs 499 per month with a download cap of 100 MB and 50 paise per 10 KB of subsequent data usage. While this isn’t really cheap, it certainly is convenient, making it a very option for business users. This is especially useful when tied into a mobile device like a PDA or a laptop. To make it that much more convenient for laptop users, service providers even offer EDGE access cards that eliminate the need for connecting through your phone while on the move. While cellular services are pervasive, WiMAX is in the process of getting a foothold here in India. But if companies like Intel have their way, we should be seeing these utopian broadband and all-pervasive services well within the course of this year. ■ | Pradosh Mitra

Coverstory

34

XXXX

P

Pramod Jadhav, Dinesh Desai, Manoj Tandel

JANUARY 2006 | INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP

icture this—you wake up in the morning to the sound of your favorite MP3 music being piped through wireless speakers in your bedroom. Your entire song collection is stored on a computer that happily serves out all your media files (audio and video) to any of the several media devices scattered all over your house—your portable MP3 player, your home theater system and even outside to speakers on the garden porch. As you swing out of bed, you mosey over to the kitchen and whip up a breakfast, done to perfection by your ‘intelligent’ microwave that has been silently recording your preferences since you bought it a few months ago. If you think this sequence sounds like the opening scene of the next Will Smith sci-fi action flick, think again! Though we might not be conscientiously aware, technology envelopes us to a far deeper extent than we can even imagine. From the tiniest chip on your wristwatch to the ‘fuzzy logic’ in your washing machine to your car’s ‘16-bit processor’ that manages its driving characteristics, intelligent electronics are so prevalent that it’s almost transparent in our lives. And if that’s not enough, this is going to be in a larger way so. Convergence has been trumpeted for the better part of the last five years but up until now, it’s been more a catch-phrase than anything else. With cellular services intersecting with broadband, broadband fueling online gaming, gaming driving hardware development, the circles are more intersected than ever. Through it all, we are seeing new waves of devices where the stress is not so much of

| COVERSTORY

35

sheer processing power than it is on ‘intelligence’. From MP3 players to cars to even vacuum machines, many of these devices are moving more toward autonomous functioning where the mundane (or high risk) tasks are taken care of, leaving the human user to look at higher-level actions in using the device. Another interesting trend is the aspect of communication—more importantly, inter-device communication such as USB enabled gadgets exchanging data with computers and other devices. In today’s wireless world, technologies like Bluetooth are already enabling seamless data transfer between gadgets like cell phones, laptops, PDAs, etc. Looking forward, wireless technologies like Ultra Wide Band (UWB) promise to fulfill the dreams of true broadband data transfer between virtually any type of device in the home or office—prototypes of UWB-enabled televisions, fridges and media players have already been showcased. Once these standards are ratified, be prepared for a wave of intelligent devices that have the capability of talking to one another—a very potent combination indeed. With the start of the new year, we decided to crystal-ball gaze a bit and paint a picture on how technology is going to play a part in our daily lives in the year 2006. Yes, from this very year, we have every reason to believe that many things that were considered ‘fringe technology’ have already taken shape in commercially available products. Be it at home, in your car or outdoor, let’s take a peek into our lives in 2006 and going forward from there on.

36

COVERSTORY

| XXXX

7

10 5 1

8

3

4

At Home W

ith appliances getting more intelligent and with embedded processors finding their way into every gadget you encounter, we are already beginning to witness a revolution in the capabilities of these devices. From televisions to washing machines (10) to even lighting systems, phrases like “Fuzzy Logic” that are now marketing buzzwords are actually advanced technologies that have found their way into today’s consumer products. Especially in the home, we expect to see huge advances not only in the types of gadgets seen, but even in aspects like information storage, exchange and

access within the home environment. Take the home we have depicted here, for example. There’s technology present everywhere, even though much of it might not be immediately apparent. Take entertainment—everything from televisions (1) to home entertainment consoles to DVD players to home computers (2) are going to be able to talk to one another. That’s right, besides performing the function they are created for, technologies such as Ultra Wide Band (UWB) are going to see the light of day this year and will enable fast and wireless data transfer among these devices. (9) Storage is another capability we’ve

seen on some of the most unassuming of devices this year—who’d have thought of things like cellular phones having gigabytes of storage on them? This year, phones like the Nokia N91 have 4 GB (yes, you read right!) of storage! Take this concept to other devices as we will see storage capabilities everywhere—televisions this year will have integrated storage in the form of hard disks. Coupled with processing (encoding/ decoding) capabilities, they will be able to store television shows, schedule recordings of your favorite shows and record your best programs even while you’re away at work. Sounds familiar? Yes, you might have used this kind of functionality on your TV tunerINTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP | JANUARY 2006

9 11

2

10

equipped home computer. The point is that from now on, you’ll see this integrated directly in your TV. Televisions themselves will have HD (High Definition) capabilities as is found in most regions in the West and Europe. This will deliver video resolutions that would make today’s DVD appear like a VCD. And using UWB, (11) there’s nothing to stop you from accessing content stored on your television, pulling it wirelessly over to your PC, editing it and creating a DVD. Gaming consoles have already made huge inroads into our markets—we know of at least one person who owns a Playstation (3) or an Xbox. You’ll be hearing a lot more from these during this year. Touted as ‘media

and entertainment hubs’ in the home, their processing, storage and networking capabilities will let you access their content with equal ease with which you’d fire up one of the newest racing simulations. When it comes to appliances, the world is already seeing ultra cool devices like robotized cleaning machines (the Roomba, for example) (4) which is capable of autonomously scanning a room and setting itself up to clean it—all unattended. This is fact, not fiction. The use of sensors and embedded processors will enable even lighting (5) and home security systems (6) to control themselves depending upon external factors—come sundown,

your porch lights (7) will automatically switch themselves on; if your armed home security system finds unauthorized activity in the house, it will automatically notify the nearest police station while sending you a message on your cell phone. Taking about protection of human life, wearable sensors (8) and processors will be able to detect anomalies in older folks with medical conditions and will be able to automatically request help and even preempt critical situations. Much like how airbags in cars are now de facto standard, these technologies may sound over the top, butthey are closer to reality that you could imagine.

38

COVERSTORY

| XXXX

6 3 4 7

2

2 1

5

In your car T

is is one place where you’ll see a hotbed of really funky technologies. With traffic in urban areas causing most people to spend the better part of their waking hours either in their car or public transport, terms like comfort, safety and entertainment are taking on entirely new meanings in the world of transport. You’ve probably heard of many of the systems used in cars today, including GPS navigation,(1) on-board processors that control driving characteristics, sensor technologies that enable the car to deploy life-saving airbags (2)within hundredths of a second from collision impact. Cars are already being built to enable them to report errors in their

functioning wirelessly to the manufacturing units, from where diagnostic and spares delivery mechanisms can be initiated even before a car reaches its destination on an interstate route. (3) There are systems today that enable a manufacturer to unlock a car remotely if you’ve left your keys in the cabin by mistake (4)! With wireless technologies like Wi-Fi and UWB, the songs on your portable MP3 player could be accessed as easily as the ones on the car’s built-in storage system (5). With present DVD-based navigation systems, updating the system requires the media to be changed—newer systems will have the capability of being updated over the air with

new route information and live geographic and climatic updates. Many of today’s cars can almost drive themselves—the Mercedes S600 is teeming with sensors and processors that enable it to remain at a pre-defined distance (6) to a car in front of it. It even applies brakes or accelerates to counter any changes to its programmed information. Talking about sensors and embedded chips, there are cars today with advanced engine management systems (7) enabling emerging fuel technologies using hydrogen and hybrid engines that boast ultra-low pollution levels and awesome fuel economy, all without sacrificing on performance! INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP | JANUARY 2006

40

COVERSTORY

6

| XXXX

7

5

4

3 2

1

5

Everywhere around W

ith strides in communication technology effectively severing your bonds to the office, it’s not hard to imagine that you can check your e-mail on the way to work on your cell phone (1). With technologies like EDGE, Bluetooth and Wi-Fi giving consumers a taste of the freedom associated with accessing your data anytime, anyplace, there will be huge strides here. When outdoor, mobile devices like laptop (2) and cell phone will be your lifelines to your official data and entertainment services. One of the facilitators of this is, once again, embedded processors that have integrated several

mobile functionalities (communication standards, storage, processing and entertainment) onto a single, low-cost chip that powers affordable cell phones (3). While we’re experiencing this in a preliminary way these days, leaps in cellular bandwidth will allow services like mobile television, videoconferencing and several location-based services. With gigabytes of storage, robust audio/video processing capabilities and integrated wireless capabilities, we’ll be able to share information across devices very easily (4). Wireless technologies like RFID are going to enable huge strides in everything from

inventory management to access control. Ultra-tiny GPS units will enable them to be incorporated into things like shirt buttons or dog collars! (5) On the communication front, we’ll see the advent of interesting parallel standards like WiMAX and 3G services (6). Both capable of providing huge bandwidths to wireless users, they will open the doors to exciting Internetbased multimedia services for enabling ‘anywhere-entertainment’(7). These technologies are all set to invade our lives. So let’s just sit back, go with the flow and enjoy the ride. ■ | Marco D’Souza INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP | JANUARY 2006

42

Vishwanath Vanjire

Hardware

I

t’s the first issue of the year and the product lineup for the standalone tests speaks a lot of what we can expect in 2006. We have had an interesting mix of products which serve the geeks as well as the masses. Starting with the 6800GS from Nvidia, it’s a perfect example of a product that is brought back in the market with improved specifications and a tweaked engine. The fact that PC gaming is gaining ground is evident by the release of highly customized products for the gaming community. We reviewed the Logitech G-15—a keyboard made specifically for the gamers with deep pockets. Brands

Top Gear which we don’t really associate with technology have also made their foray in the field—the Sahara Media Center PC being a fine example of such a brand. The latest iteration of the Microsoft Natural keyboard highlights the importance given to ergonomics and comfort, something that can never be ignored for input devices. The ultra-compact notebook W5 from Asus surprised us with the features and performance that it delivers in such a small package. All of these and a lot more have been covered this month—a nice way we thought we could say hello to 2006!

| 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 | JANUARY 2006

TESTED

| HARDWARE

43

Budget PC

L

enovo’s ThinkCentre E series is aimed at corporate users who need a simple solution to their computing needs. The ThinkCentre E50 is the desktop that is supposed to fit the bill (pun intended). The E50 is available in two flavors—one runs on an Intel 915 chipset while this one uses a SiS-661FX chipset. It consists of an all-black PC cabinet accompanied with Lenovo’s standard keyboard and mouse. The cabinet houses a Micro-ATX form factor motherboard (manufactured by Gigabyte) powered by a 218 Watt power supply. This SiS-661FX chipset board runs an Intel Pentium 4 3.06 GHz processor (non Hyper Threading) with a 256 MB DDR-400 memory module. The processor is cooled by a huge aluminum heatsink and an 80 mm fan. The processor fan is assisted by a 120 mm rear panel fan very close to it, allowing the Prescott to function at respectable temperatures. The IDE and power cables are neatly arranged within the cabinet. The 80 GB Western Digital drive and the CD-ROM use the same IDE cable that should ideally have been on separate channels. An 8x AGP slot on the board allows for a user to upgrade his graphics system, depending on his needs. There are four USB ports on the rear panel and two on the front. You can have two more USB ports from the headers on the board too. Though six ports are more than enough in an office. SATA ports and a compatible hard drive could have been provided instead. The SiS chipset board offers integrated audio too—good enough for the corporate guy. The cabinet can support upto four hard drives, two optical drives and two floppy drives. A 7200 rpm, 80 GB hard disk space is enough storage but a 48X CD-ROM drive is not useful at all. At least, a DVD-ROM (or a combo drive for those who need to take regular backups) could have been provided instead of the plane jane CD-ROM drive. The 3 GHz processor does not support hyper threading and the memory that is being used works in single channel memory mode. Usually, 256 MB of RAM is enough in a small office but if usage is going to be excessive like heavy database access or the use of multiple applications

JANUARY 2006 | INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP

then 512 MB would have given enough head room. There are two memory banks available which can support upto 2 GB RAM. However, the memory runs in single channel mode—this is a SiS chipset and the ThinkCentre is meant to be a budget desktop. The desktop is the bare minimum for a user who needs to work on presentations, access a database and use the Internet. This computer is very suitable for audio encoding too. (However heavy audio/video encoding will put a strain on the system.) The availablility of an AGP slot allows the user to upgrade whenever the need arises. Since a 56k modem is not integrated you will need to invest in a PCI card to do the job. The cabinet build quality is solid, made of sturdy aluminum and a matt finish front bezel. The front panel has two USB ports and audio connectors for convenience. The cabinet does not have a reset button—just a power button which when pressed once shuts the system down completely. The side cabinets are easily removable—though this sort of experimentation is not expected of a corporate user—Lenovo has paid a lot of attention to the overall build and aesthetics of the case and peripherals (keyboard and mouse). This is what sets it apart from other branded computers. The keyboard and the mouse is the standard Lenovo design. The ThinkCentre E50 is a budget PC and a one-stop solution for an office that needs to invest in computers to handle accounting applications, database access, basic image editing and network connectivity. The main drawback to this configuration is the presence of a CD-ROM drive. If that is upgraded to a DVD-ROM or a combo drive then it is worth it. For: The build quality is excellent. Performance is quite enough for an office PC. Against: The hard drive and the CD-ROM should be placed on separate IDE channels and a DVD-ROM as an optical drive would have been better.

Desktop PC

Lenovo ThinkCentre E50 Specifications: Intel Pentium 4 3.06 GHz processor, 256 MB DDR-400 RAM, 80 GB 7200rpm HDD, 52X CD-ROM, SiS-661FX chipset, standard keyboard, optical mouse

Price Contact Phone E-mail website

Rs 34,500 Lenovo (India) Pvt Ltd

1600-4254240 [email protected] www.lenovo.com/in

RATINGS Build Quality Performance Features Warranty Overall Rating Value for money

A large heatsink and two fans are provided for pulling hot air away from the Socket 775 processor. Cables are neatly arranged for better air circulation

44

HARDWARE

| TESTED

Little monster Laptop

Asus W5000 Specifications: Processor: Intel Pentium M 750 1.86GHz, Chipset: Intel 915GM, Bus speed: 533 MHz, RAM: 512 MB DDR2, Screen: 12.1-inch WXGA color

W

eighing only 1.6 kg, the Asus W5000 is feature-rich and packs in blazing performance and excellent build quality. It’s one of the best ultra-portable notebook we’ve come across.

shine LCD, Native resolution: 1280x800 (16:10), 80 GB hard disk, 2X DVD writer, 802.11 B/G, 10/100 LAN, 56K modem, 1.3MP camera, card reader, wireless mouse, 3 USB ports, PCMCIA slot, S-video and VGA out

Price Contact Phone E-mail website

Rs 1,04,999 Asustek Computer Inc

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

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

A swiveling web cam is built into the LCD screen frame

Side placement of ports makes the W5000 very convenient to use

Features: Raw power and low battery consumption—that’s what the Intel’s Sonoma platform is all about, making it the best solution for mobile computing. The W5G00AE utilizes the Sonoma platform with the ultra-low voltage Intel Pentium M750 (Dothan) processor clocked at 1.86 GHz on the Intel 915GM chipset. Fitted with 512 MB of 533 MHz DDR2 memory and a massive 80 GB hard disk, you won’t hunger for extra speed or storage space. And if you’re still worried about running out of disk space, a 2x DVD R/W drive is also present. The 4-in-one card reader (MMC, SD, MS and MS Pro) makes it easy to transfer data and images from mobiles, PDAs and digital cameras. There are three USB 2.0 ports present allowing you to use multiple devices simultaneously. Apart from support for 10/100 Ethernet and dial up access, the W5G00AE also allows wireless freedom with support for 802.11 b/g WiFi network. Among the features, the first thing that left us stunned is the shiny 12.1-inch widescreen LCD screen. With a native resolution of 1280x800, it offers a crisp and sharp display. Though the screen is small, watching widescreen movies is fun. To add excitement, you can even use multichannel speakers. It’s got SPDIF output! What sets this notebook aside from its counterparts is the 1.3 MP swivel camera fitted at the top of the screen. Before you underestimate the camera’s performance, it can capture crisp images at a resolution of 1280x1024. Flip it 180 degrees and you can even capture images and videos from behind the screen. Using the bundled utility called Asus LifeFrame, you can capture images using effects like sepia, emboss, outline, etc. It also supports auto-capture using motion detection! For a quick shoot hotkeys are present on the screen frame for clicking and zooming. The W5G00AE

comes with a Logitech RF optical scroll mouse. Interestingly, the RF receiver is built into the notebook. Support for Bluetooth, IEEE 1394, VGA and S-Video outputs rounds off the features. Finally, you have two options to lug the notebook—a carry bag and a notebook case.

Build quality and ergonomics: The build quality of the notebook is top notch right from the chassis to finer elements like the drive tray, hinge and keyboard. The only compromise made to keep the notebook thin is a flimsy screen frame. It does lend a sleek look but be prepared for a wobbly display on a bumpy ride. Coming to ergonomics, using the notebook is comfortable even though it’s small. Asus has paid attention to each and every detail to make user experience pleasurable. For easy access, all ports and jacks are placed at the sides. The rear panel sports only a USB port and S-Video out. While most ultra-portable laptops feature a crammed keyboard, the one present here has a good layout with normal size keys. With the touchpad centralized with the spacebar, it can be easily accessed while your fingers are positioned on the keyboard.

Performance: For its size, the Asus W5G00AE has a stellar performance. In SiSoft Sandra the 4,200 rpm hard drive reported an acceptable score of 20 MB/s. The optical drive also reported a fairly decent speed of 1,754 KB/s. With a six-cell 4,800 mAh battery pack offering a good 3.5 hours life, it’s enough for a short flight or a long drive! A respectable score of 3,192 in PC Mark 2004 clearly indicates that the W5G00AE is a killer. If you are frequently on the move and serious about buying an ultra portable laptop with a budget a little higher than a lakh, the Asus W5G00AE is the best you can get. It’s good enough even to be a desktop replacement! For: Light; large hard disk; crisp widescreen display; wireless mouse; web cam, good ergonomics; SPDIF. Against: Flimsy screen frame; camera can’t be tilted. INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP | JANUARY 2006

TESTED

Oozing style

A

pple has, once again, reaffirmed its prowess in product design. Sporting an unbelievably skinny form factor, their newest MP3 player is a mere 6.8 mm thin and fits snugly in the palm of your hand. Characteristic of the iPod legacy, it’s seamless and the shell comprises the white plastic front and reflective metallic back. Skim your thumb around the circular click wheel and you can scroll through song lists, menu settings and volume control, and click the centre button to select. Reflecting the iTunes song management interface, the device is meant to be paired with iTunes. In addition to playing back all formats of MP3, AAC, AIFF and WAV files, the 1.5 color screen also lets you view images. With a relatively small screen, we didn’t really find this too exciting, but the picture quality was surprisingly sharp. The 4 GB variant we tested holds up to about 1,000 songs and

the USB 2.0 interface resulted in very fast file transfers—we filled it with songs in a little under 12 minutes. The audio quality of the player and bundled headphones is very good and the battery life is decent—we extracted about 10 hours of normal use. And since it uses flash memory, there is no question of the audio skipping. However, there are a few peeves. Firstly, it scratches very easily—the gloss surface of the test unit visibly marred. While it doesn’t affect the screen readability in any way, the scratches are evident when it’s off. It requires a carry case or protective covering. Also features like voice recording and FM radio are missing. For: With brilliant style and functionality oozing out of its miniscule frame, this MP3 player redefines cool. Against: No FM or voice recording, susceptible to scratches; very expensive.

| HARDWARE

MP3 player

Apple iPod Nano Specifications: Dimensions (cm, WxHxD): 4 x 8.9 x 0.68, Weight: 42.5 gms, Capacity: 4 GB flash, 1.5-inch color screen, Audio out: stereo minijack, Interface: USB 2.0, Audio formats: AAC (16 to 320 Kbps), Protected AAC (from iTunes Music Store), MP3 (16 to 320 Kbps), MP3 VBR, Audible (formats 2, 3 and 4), Apple Lossless, WAV, AIFF, Image formats: JPEG, BMP, GIF, TIFF, PSD (Mac only) and PNG

Price Contact Phone E-mail

Rs 18,200 Apple Computer International Pvt Ltd 1600 425 4683 [email protected]

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

Mega CCD

C

ontinuing with the “S” series, the 8 MP S80 from Canon sports the same sleek stylish body with excellent build quality. Equipped with 3.6x wide angle optical zoom and the popular DIGIC II processor, the cam uses 9-point auto focus system with focus-assist illuminator. It offers 21 shooting modes. Another very impressive feature is the ability to capture XGA quality video clips at 15 FPS. Along with the presets, the camera also offers manual controls for white balance and exposure compensation. The default package includes a 32 MB SD card and memory is expandable upto 1 GB. Sporting the USB 2.0 standard, the S80 takes very little time to transfer the pictures to the PC. PictBridge support allows direct printing without a PC. The 2.5-inch LCD screen is surrounded by controls. The overall build quality is excellent. The menus let you navigate easily. The position of the JANUARY 2006 | INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP

jog dial for switching between various modes is slightly altered and the change compliments the compact nature of the camera, while lending a distinct look as well. Powered by a high capacity NB-2LH lithium battery, the S80 packs in a charger. The camera performed really well for its size—image quality was good with accurate color saturation. Images are sharp and the noise is under control, the noise factor creeps at ISO 200 and above. The low-light performance is again one of the best in the category. With a mammoth 8 MP resolution and impressive image quality, the S80 is an excellent option for users looking to take large prints. You can easily get A4 size prints with the S80 at the highest picture quality mode. For: Superb image quality, 8MP CCD, XGA movie mode, compact foot print. Against: Noise at ISO200, expensive, body gets smudged easily.

45

Digital Camera

Canon S80 Specifications: 8 megapixel CCD sensor, 3.6x optical zoom, 2.5” LCD, XGA movie mode, SD card compatible

Price Contact Phone E-mail

Rs 33,995 Shobha 1600-3453366 www.canon.co.in

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

46

HARDWARE

| TESTED

Quarter terabyte tiffin External Storage Device

Buffalo DriveStation Specifications: Capacity: 250 GB, Storage: 250 GB 7,200 rpm hard disk, Interface: USB 2.0, Power consumption: 17 Watts (avg), Weight: 1.4 Kg, Dimensions (W x H x D), cm: 5.3 x 17.3 x 16.4

Price Contact Phone E-mail

Rs 10,800 Nexgen Networks 011-30888825 [email protected]

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

T

he Buffalo DriveStation is a storage device based upon the USB 2.0 interface; it houses a factory-formatted 250 GB hard disk in a metallic casing. Sporting a hassle-free installation with plug-and-play Windows detection, it was a snap to set up—after plugging it into the PC, it was automatically detected and the Windows drivers was installed. The drive’s metallic shell acts as a heat-sink, eliminating the need for a cooling fan and enabling very quite operation. LEDs on the front panel indicate power and device access. The rear panel consists of the power connector, a power switch, a USB port and a power mode switch that enables the device to be started up along with the PC. It uses an external power supply but we felt the absence of a non-standard power plug. The bundled application CD contains

a program that steps the user through setting up the device, a rudimentary backup application that lets you schedule data backups to the DriveStation by pointing it to various folders on your PC, and a power saving utility for the device. In our tests, we clocked some pretty impressive data transfer speeds—we transferred an assortment of 755 MB of video files to the external drive in 51 seconds, putting the write speed at a little over 14 MB/sec. The read speed was clocked at an impressive 27 MB/sec. This excellent performance could be attributed to the 7,200 rpm Western Digital hard disk that it houses, along with a good implementation of the USB 2.0 interface. For: Effortless setup; very good transfer speeds; fanless construction. Against: Uninspired software bundle; nonstandard power plug.

Mega storage Hard Disk

Seagate ST3500641AS Specifications: 500 GB storage, 7200 rpm, 16 MB buffer, SATA-II ready, NCQ support

Price Contact Phone E-mail Website

Rs 20,000 eSys Distribution Ltd 011 - 51811694 [email protected] www.seagate.com

RATINGS Build Quality Performance Features Warranty Overall Rating Value for money

T

he latest from the Seagate stable is a 500 GB drive which supports SATA-II standard which theoretically translates to a bandwidth of 3 GB/sec, by taking advantage of Native Command Queuing. NCQ is an intelligent way of speeding up data read/write speeds minimizing the mechanical process while boosting the performance. The 500 GB drive comes with 16 MB of buffer and is the highest capacity 3.5-inch HDD from Seagate. The drive uses four platters with a density of 125 GB per platter, one of the highest in the segment. Higher density allows better performance and also helps the manufacturer to reduce the number of platters per hard drive. Going by specifications, the ST3500641AS is an impressive HDD supporting a host of features and provides mammoth storage as well. The drive performed well, giving a drive index of 54MB/sec and sequential read/write speeds of 60MB/sec in SiSoft

Sandra file system benchmarks. Low-level performance with HDTach was very similar with average read speeds of 52.3MB/sec. Finally, we benchmarked the drive using our real-time file transfer tests. The drive took about 8 seconds to read/write 405 MB of assorted data which essentially translated to about 51 MB/sec. As far as CPU utilization goes, the drive recorded a rather high CPU utilization of 11 percent in low level tests. Access times in SiSoft Sandra 2005 file system tests were fairly tight at 7 ms. The drive is super silent. The ST 3500641AS has a good feature set backed by decent performance. But it’s a little disappointing to see that the performances of the next generation hard drives are marginally better than the older hard drives. For: Consistent performance across all benchmarks; SATA-II and NCQ support. Against: Not ground breaking; slightly higher CPU consumption; heats up a bit. INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP | JANUARY 2006

TESTED

| HARDWARE

47

Old wine in a new bottle?

T

he 6800GS is a mainstream video card from Nvidia, placed just above the 6600GT and the 6800 vanilla which has been ruling the midrange segment in the local market for quite a while. The 6800GS is based on the 6800 series from Nvidia. The 6800GS is built on the NV42 core and comes with 12 pixel pipes and 5 vertex engines as opposed to the 16-pixel pipes and 6 vertex engines in 6800GT. While the pipes are cut down, the core is bumped to 425 MHz as compared to 350 MHz in the 6800GT. No changes in the memory configuration; the 6800GS comes with 256 MB of 256-bit GDDR3 RAM clocked at 1000 MHz. At stock speeds, the card scored 5504 point in 3DMark 2005 and 12677 points in 3DMark 2003 at default settings. We pushed the clocks to find out how well the card can overclock. The 6800GS gave us a

healthy overclock of 525 MHz on core and a whopping 1.3 GHz on memory, a cool 100 MHz more on core and 300 MHz on memory. After our burn-in tests we arrived at 500/1300 MHz as the stable overclock for the card. The 3DMark05 score jumped to 5918 points while 3DMark 03 recorded a score of 13113 points. F.E.A.R. ran well at maxed settings@ 1024x768 giving an average of 35 fps, Doom 3 at high settings 4xAA@1024x768 gave a whopping 70 fps. We never encountered any lock-ups or corruption, which means that the card will run fine @500/1300 MHz clock speeds. What we reviewed is a reference sample, so the overclock mileage might vary depending on various models and brands offering the card. For: 6800GT level performance; sweet overclocker; good cooling. Against: Expensive; availability.

Graphics Card

simply enable all the keys by returning back to normal mode. The keyboard also offers additional USB ports, allowing you to attach a USB mouse or any other USB 1.1 devices. If all this isn’t impressive enough, you have a cool back-lit LCD that gives basic information on your system resources, supports media tag reading and also some additional gaming functionality. A jog dial for volume control, further adds to the “cool” factor. Zeroing on to the performance, the G-15 is truly a gaming keyboard with a generous and well spaced out design. The palm rest is not as effective, and can be improved upon. At its price, cordless functionality would have been better. Overall, an impressive product that’s a god-send for gamers, rich gamers I may add. For: gaming macros, cool LCD and jog dial, back-lit keys, looks. Against: Expensive, large foot print.

Keyboard

Nvidia GeForce 6800GS Specifications: GEFORCE 6800GS chipset, 256MB GDDR3 RAM, PCI Express, DVI port, D-SUB port, Video-out.

Price Contact Phone E-mail Website

Rs 14,000 Prasad Phadke 9860555660 [email protected] www.nvidia.com

RATINGS Build Quality Performance Features Warranty Overall Rating Value for money

Gaming specialist

L

ogitech’s G-15 is unique in a lot of ways—other than the normal keys, it offers special gaming macros which can be programmed for specific games—just hit a single key to activate a gaming macro and the keyboard becomes a specialist at the game! This saves a lot of time and effort to map keys for various game genres. The software provided with the keyboard syncs with the games, allowing you further customization. The keys are backlit, thus you can certainly have the lights off while fragging and not worry about detonating yourself by pressing a wrong key. The keyboard also offers some quick tweaks. A single switch will disable all the unwanted keys which don’t come into play while gaming but an accidental press can mean disaster. You can disable the function keys and sleep keys but switching the keyboard to “gaming” mode by a switch. Once done with the gaming, JANUARY 2006 | INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP

Logitech G15 Specifications: back-lit keys, 18 programmable keys for gaming macros, LCD, palm rest

Price Contact Phone E-mail Website

Rs 4,995 Logitech Electronic India Pvt Ltd 022-26571160 [email protected] www.logitech.com

RATINGS Build Quality Ergonomics Performance Features Warranty Overall Rating

INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP | JANUARY 2006

48

HARDWARE

| TESTED

Extra comfort Keyboard Microsoft Natural Ergonomic Keyboard 4000 Specifications: Split keyboard, 105 keys, USB, 5 favorite keys, E-mail and internet hotkeys, multimedia keys, lockable F keys, integrated palm rest

Price Contact

Rs 3,651 Microsoft Entertainment & Devices Division

Phone E-mail

1600-111100 [email protected]

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

I

f you are one of the few loyal users that love split keyboard, check out the new Natural Keyboard by Microsoft now called Natural Ergonomic Keyboard 4000. For the first time in 10 years Microsoft has revamped the design of its split keyboard. This sleek keyboard is expertly crafted to improve wrist posture and finger stress. To allow the wrists to approach the keyboard in a natural position, the split has a 12-degree angle and the gable has a 14-degree angle. The moment you position your fingers on the home row (ASDF…), you can feel the comfort thanks to the natural wrist position of the keyboard. For a more natural wrist position, an optional separate removable seven-degree reverse slope attachment is also provided. Typing on the keyboard is sheer pleasure provided you know touch-typing.

Placement of keys in an arc reduces key reach by bringing the keys closer to the center of the hand. So you don’t have to stretch your fingers to reach the keys. A cushioned wrist wrest encourages better arm and wrist alignment. Other features include a zoom slider placed at the center of the keyboard for zooming into documents and pictures. Shortcuts include e-mail and Internet hotkeys, multimedia keys and programmable favorite keys. Back and forward keys for easing web and folder navigation are placed at the center of the base. Additional ‘= ( ) and backspace’ keys are placed above the numeric keypad to ease calculations especially while using formulae in spreadsheets. For: Extremely comfortable; excellent ergonomics; good layout; shortcut keys. Against: Not suitable for non-touch typists.

Store and restore External Storage Device

ExBoot EXB-0121 Specifications: 2.5-inch hard disk, 40 GB, USB 2.0, one-touch backup button

Price Contact Phone E-mail Website

Rs 5,126 Xserve India Pvt Ltd 080-5113 1001 [email protected] www.xserves.com

RATINGS Build Quality Performance Features Warranty Overall Rating Value for money

W

hen it comes to external storage, there is nothing as convenient as a 2.5-inch hard disk. The ExBoot backup and instant recovery is a robust 2.5-inch hard disk case fitted with a 40 GB hard drive. It offers mammoth capacity to carry your important files, movies, music, etc. But what makes the ExBoot special is its capability to back up an entire drive on your hard disk at the touch of a button. To use the hard disk you need to connect it to a USB port using the bundled Y-cable. In most PCs a single USB port is enough to power the drive. But if it still hungers for more power, you can use the second USB head. The one-touch backup feature isn’t available until you install the bundled software, Axiomsoft ExBoot. Once installed, backup/restore is just a touch of a button away. The very first backup has to be a complete backup of a drive. Later, you can opt for an incremental backup using

which you can only back up the changes made since the last backup was done. The only time you realize the importance of backup is when you face disaster. What if your PC gets wiped out by a pesky virus? What will you do if your hard disk crashes? With ExBoot you can restore your entire drive by booting from the bundled rescue disk and restoring the backed up content and get back on track in minutes without worrying as though nothing happened at all. With high-speed USB 2.0 interface and 25 MB/s transfer speed, you won’t have to wait for more than half an hour while backing up or restoring. Use the restore option in case you accidentally delete important files. One problem, you can’t back up a drive holding more than 40 GB of data. For: Excellent build quality; one-touch backup button; separate USB power cord. Against: You can’t back up a drive with more capacity than 40 GB. INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP | JANUARY 2006

TESTED

| HARDWARE

49

Sweet sound

M

usic, games and movies aren’t much fun without thuds, booms and thumps delivered by the subwoofer. To enjoy good sound you need at least a good 2.1-channel stereo speaker system. The Typhoon Maxima Series 2.1 is one such speaker which does its job well. Typhoon has managed to keep the size of the speakers small by using 2.5-inch drivers in satellites and a 5-inch driver in the subwoofer. To set up the system, you have to direct the sound source to the subwoofer using the inline control pod and then connect the satellites to the RCA sockets provided behind the subwoofer. Simple! With 8.5W satellites and a 12W subwoofer, the speakers deliver a total of 29 W RMS—enough to rock your table! The subwoofer with a down-firing design and a front bass port throws good bass. But you

will need to tweak the bass using the knob behind the subwoofer to get a good balance. The only problem with the subwoofer is the poor design of the bass port. When the bass kicks at high volume, a whizzing noise from the bass port can be heard. However, you won’t realize unless you have good ears! Satellites sound good for their size, but since the cones are made of paper the mids and highs are not very crisp. Overall, the speakers deliver good sound without distorting at a volume little less than the peak volume. If you are looking out for a budget 2.1-channel stereo speaker system, you can buy this. Remember, these are good only for personal hearing. For: Good sound balance, control pod. Against: Poor bass port design, ineffective shoepads.

Speakers

MS-7131 motherboard sporting an Intel 915G chipset; 256 MB DDR-400 memory is enough for basic use. Also, the 80 GB SATA hard disk will satisfy most basic users allowing them to store their data and a couple of songs and movies. For people who love capturing their favorite TV shows, a DVD combo drive is also present to relieve you from running out of disk space. It’s the Hauppage WinTV tuner card which extends the functionality of the PC by adding support for TV and FM. Using the bundled IR receiver and remote control, you don’t need to be sitting at the PC while watching TV or listening to radio. For its price, the Sahara DT7523-360-Q1 is a rocker! It’s not meant for hardcore gamers or power users. For: Complete entertainment package. Against: Not meant for power users.

PC

Typhoon Maxima Series 2.1 Specifications: Subwoofer: 12W, satellites: 8.5W, frequency response: 50Hz-20KHz, SNR: 65dB, volume control pod, signal output: RCA socket

Price Contact Phone E-mail Website

Rs 1,100 Aditya Infotech Ltd 011-26223810 [email protected] www.adityagroup.com

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

PC TV

A

part from gaming, imaging, surfing the Net and using office suites, Windows Media Center PCs today let you watch your favorite TV shows and listen to your favorite radio stations. In case, you missed your favorite sport, you can schedule the PC to record it for you to see it offline. You can also record FM radio broadcasts. The Sahara DT7523-360-Q1 is a fully loaded Windows Media Center PC replete with a 17-inch monitor, a 5-button optical mouse, speakers and a multimedia keyboard. To begin using it, you simply have to open the package, connect the various components and power it on. You don’t need to install or configure any software since everything is preloaded. The DT7523-360-Q1 is targeted towards those who want a basic Windows Media Center PC. The PC is powered by Intel Pentium 4 3.00 GHz processor on the MSI JANUARY 2006 | INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP

Sahara DT-7523-360-Q1 Specifications: Intel 915G Chipset, Intel Pentium 4 3.00 GHz, 256MB DDR-400, 80 GB SATA HDD, DVD Combo drive, 56K PCI modem, 1.44 FDD, multimedia keyboard, speakers, 5-button optical mouse, Hauppauge WinTV TV tuner card, Windows XP Media Center Edition

Price Contact

Rs 36,999 Sahara Computers and Electronics Ltd

Phone E-mail Website

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

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

50

HARDWARE

| TESTED

High precision

Mouse

Microsoft Laser Mouse 6000 Specifications: 2000 dpi laser tracking, 4 buttons, scroll wheel, 180 cm cord

Price Contact

Rs 2,866 Microsoft Entertainment & Devices Division

Phone E-mail

1600-111100 [email protected]

RATINGS Build Quality Performance Features Warranty Overall Rating Value for money

M

icrosoft has launched its first wired laser mouse—the Laser Mouse 6000. Instead of a bright red glowing LED found in optical mice, this mouse offers invisible and fast tracking through a laser beam. With 2000 dpi laser tracking (standard optical mice offer around 800 dpi) it’s targeted toward FPS gamers; it helps you to be quick and frag your opponents before they blow you into pieces! This mouse flies! It’s light and is very fast to track across the entire screen at normal settings. Move the mouse an inch and the pointer will travel from one end of the screen to the other. If you are migrating from a laser mouse to this one, you will have to play around with the pointer speed adjustment to suit your style. However, the LM6000 also offers on-thefly sensitivity adjustment which means faster movement in the game with lesser

movement of the hand. To change weapons with ease, the scroll wheel has detents which allow easy switching of weapons. Also with a thin cable the mouse allows swifter movement across the desk without being tied down to the weight of the cable. All this means greater accuracy, more enjoyable game play and most importantly more kills and greater frustration for opponents! With side buttons which work as ‘back’ and ‘forward’, it’s easy to surf the Net and navigate folders. With Microsoft Intellipoint driver installed, it’s possible to remap the side buttons to perform useful functions. The main problem with this mouse is that the grip isn’t too satisfying. Maybe people with bigger hands will like it. Also the tiny side buttons are placed a little further than they should have actually been. For: Light; good sensitivity; excellent bundled software; good build quality.

Double barrel graphics Graphics Card

Gigabyte 3D1 Specifications: Dual NVIDIA 6600GT chipset, 256MB of 128-bit GDDR3 memory, Dual DVI ports, TV-Out, PCI Express, Shader Model 3.0 support.

Price Contact Phone E-mail Website

Rs 24,990 Gigabyte Technology (India) Ltd 022-26526696 [email protected] www.gigabyte.in

RATINGS Build Quality Performance Features Warranty Overall Rating Value for money

3

D1 from Gigabyte is a dual GPU card that uses the SLI technology to combine the power of two GPUs placed on a single 16x PCIe card. It works very similar to two cards paired under SLI but the difference is that in case of 3D1, a single card houses two separate GPUs which have their own individual 128 MB of GDDR3 RAM each making the total available memory to 256 MB GDDR3. 3DI employs two GEFORCE 6600GT GPUS with the same reference specifications in terms of vertex and shader units. Each of the 6600GT core runs at 500 MHz while the cumulative 256 MB memory is clocked at 590 MHz (1180 effective). The card requires added power for the dual GPUs and a minimum of 400W PSU is required to power the card. The box specifies that the card will only run on a gigabyte nForce SLI-based motherboard. We decided to check this out by pairing the card with an Asus nForce SLI board and the

card worked fine! Also, we didn’t use any special drivers that came with the CD; the latest forceware 81.85 worked like a charm, detecting and configuring the card in SLI mode. Once the dual GPU card was ready, we got rolling with the benchmarks. The 3D1 scored a handsome 14556 points at 3DMark 2003 and 6307 at 3DMark 2005. These scores are very identical to two 6600GT SLI cards running in SLI mode. As far as the synthetic benchmarks go, 3D1 achieves the expected performance without a hitch. Moving on to real-world performance, the card clocked an average of 57 fps at “high” settings in fear without AA. Doom 3 registered a frame count of 70.6 at “high” settings with 1024x768 and 4x AA. The only glitch is the price—it’s 10K above the cost of two 6600GTs. For: Dual 6600GT on a single card; good performance; quick and hassle free installation. Against: Very expensive. INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP | JANUARY 2006

Smart. Sexy. Stylish. We bring for you some of the most sought after phones available in the market today. Not only do they entertain, they also pack in a lot of performance

Vishwanath Vanjire

Shirish Karale

HARD DISK COMPARISON

| HARDWARE

53

xxx

xxx

S

earching for the perfect phone is not an easy task, especially when you have a huge range of phones catering to a wide audience across multiple price ranges. Indians have taken a liking to cell phones like no other; we are choosy about features, brands and the looks more than our western counterparts. Out here, the cell phone is more than just a phone, it’s a status symbol that speaks about the person. With so much of importance given to cell phones, the manufacturers have come to the party with a lot of variety and aggressive pricing. To put it in a nutshell, a cell phone tops the shopping lists of most Indians, whether they are first time buyers, upgrade buyers or simply gadget freaks. Cell phones can be bracketed into three categories—the basic ones, the smart phones and the multimedia phones. While the basic phones performs the bare minimum task of calling and messaging, the smart phones offer a lot more features. Our comparison tests deal with the smart phones and the multimedia phones. No, we did not jump the gun on the PDAs. Smart phones by being more versatile and user friendly are literally eating into the PDA market—PDAs are a passé today. Smart phones are basically a combination of a cell phone and a PDA, allowing you to digitize your organizer and offering you wireless freedom for most of the office applications that can be used on the cell phone. Multimedia phones are the latest craze—these phones offer imaging, music

playback and video playback as well as recording, along with mobile games. Basically, these phones offer a lot of fun and entertainment while providing the basic features. Today, these multi-faceted phones are popular with not just the youth but also the corporate class. These phones let them catch up with their music and capture those moments on the camera without their having to deal with too many gadgets or to be too tech-savvy for that matter. For the comparisons we selected the cream of the crop that offer the latest and the best in technology and features. Looking at the pace at which the industry is zipping, it was logical to test the best of the lot available today because a couple of months down the line, phones with new technologies will replace these current ones. We were surprised to discover the potential and functionality that these smart phones have integrated while keeping a check on the flab. Internet and wireless connectivity are almost a given with the latest breed of smart phones, allowing you to stay connected all the time, be it the office campus or the goa beach! With a steep jump in the screen resolution and quality, it makes a lot more sense now to watch videos or images on smart phones; they might not be high definition but they surely are brilliant pocketable devices. The multimedia phones—well, they are a special lot! Giving a tough time to dedicated MP3 players,

54

HARDWARE

| SMART PHONES COMPARISON

these phones sell more as music players rather than as communication devices. A 512 MB MP3 player with a large 265K color display, video player/recorder, 2 MP digital camera, wireless connectivity and a lot more—that’s what your next phone might carry. Are you game?

Test Process We classified the phones into two categories—smart phones and multimedia phones having at least a 1.3 megapixel camera or a dedicated music player. The entire test process was based on five parameters—features, build quality, ergonomics, performance and warranty, and support. Let’s have a look at each of these sections to know how we arrived at the scores.

Features: More the features, higher the productivity! This section carried the highest weightage. Here we made note of specifications such as the type and speed of the phone’s processor, amount of memory and the operating system. We also noted the type of memory cards supported by the phones. The display of the phones was evaluated on the basis of the size of the screen, resolution and color depth. Next up, we looked at the features such as connectivity (Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, IR, USB, docking cradle) and standards supported (GSM, CDMA, EDGE, WAP, GPRS). Points were awarded based on the number of standards and connectivity supported. To assess the camera, we noted its specifications such as resolution, flash, optical focus, modes, effects and self-timer. Warranty & Support 15%

Features 25%

Performance 15% Ergonomics 20%

Build quality 25%

More of these features, better the camera and higher the scores. Finally, we looked at features like speakerphone, voice recording, antenna and battery type and package contents. Phones which came with bundled goodies such as interface cable, carry case and memory card stepped a little further. For multimedia phones, we further looked at support for playlist management, equalizer, bitrates supported, and play modes.

Build quality: To survive everyday wear and tear, a phone needs to be sturdy and have a robust build quality. To check this, we evaluated aspects such as the quality of construction of the shell, sturdiness of movable parts like hinges and button response. Sturdier the phone, higher the score.

Ergonomics: Phones, especially smart phones, must be convenient to use. The presence of a QWERTY keyboard in smart phones was rewarded an extra point. Button size and spacing also play an important role when it comes to operation. If a device offered handy features such as hotkeys, jog dial or a directional button, it was given extra points. Ease of menu navigation and readability of the screen in sunlight and darkness were also taken into consideration. Finally, it makes sense to have support for hot swappable memory with a card slot outside. Devices with

support for hot swapping of memory card scored higher than the ones which had a slot within the battery compartment.

Performance: We assessed the performance of the devices on the basis of processor power, battery life, audio/video clarity. We also looked at standby and talk time. To judge the performance of camera we assessed the quality of image captured based on color reproduction and sharpness after transferring them to the PC. To judge the quality of audio in multimedia phones, we assigned scores based on playback quality and sound quality of the bundled earphones. Finally, looks too matter! Based on their aesthetics, phones were subjectively rated from being decent looking to downright sexy! Warranty and Support: It’s important that a phone comes with good warranty and support, especially if you have emptied your wallet to buy the top notch model. Keeping this in mind, we logged the warranty period, the number of service centers present in India and the number of cities in which they are based. All this eventually affected the overall scores.

Value for money: We rounded off the comparison test with the value for money index. This is a price-performance ratio. Looking at this ratio, you will know how good the phone is in terms of features and performance in contrast to its price. Highest VFM doesn’t mean best performance, but it lets you quickly discern how good the product is in terms of price. And now for the winners! In each category, we awarded the best performer. We awarded the best value device only in the smart phones category.

Weightage distribution for evaluation parameters INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP | JANUARY 2006

SMART PHONES COMPARISON

ST

01 | 2006

-CEN

T

BES

B

T

BES

Sony Ericsson W800i E

CE

-CEN

O2 XphoneII

R TE

E

T

01 | 2006

T

ST

R TE

AN

CE

T

E

E

AN

I-mate JASJAR

ST

01 | 2006

-CENTE

Specifications: 65K color display, WiFi connectivity,

Specifications: 65K color display, Mini SD slot, 0.3

Specifications: 256K color display, 512 MB memory

1.3 megapixel camera, 1,620 mAH Li-Poly battery

megapixel camera, 1,050 mAH Li-ion battery

stick, 2.0 megapixel camera with optical focus

Price Contact Phone E-mail

Price Contact Phone E-mail

Price Contact Phone E-mail

Rs 64,990 4G Mobiles Retailing Pvt Ltd 011-51081012 [email protected]

RATINGS

Rs 18,888 Creative e-Biz 9892939268 [email protected]

RATINGS Features

Features

Perfomance

Perfomance

Perfomance

Ergonomics

Ergonomics

Ergonomics

Build quality

Build quality

Build quality

Warranty

Warranty

Warranty

Overall Rating

Overall Rating

Overall Rating

Value for money

Value for money

Value for money

JANUARY 2006 | INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP

The XphoneII is one sweet device with a lot of power and performance neatly packed under its belly. With its looks, weight and dimensions, the XphoneII can easily pass as an ordinary color screen phone. This naïve looking phone houses a 200 MHz processor and runs on the Microsoft Windows mobile platform. The upgradeable memory along with Bluetooth support lets you load numerous applications based on the Windows Mobile operating system, letting you do a lot more with the phone. Not missing out on the fun part, it plays MP3, MPEG4 and WMA format, ensuring that there is never a dull moment. If at all, there is any feature that is dearly missed in the device, it has to be support for EDGE. GPRS can be painfully slow for web browsing, especially in the case of smart phones with a screen resolution 176x144 pixels. With so much to offer, the O2 XphoneII is not very demanding on your wallet. Priced under the 20K mark, it’s the cheapest and the most feature-rich smart phone that money can buy. For: Compact and stylish; good build quality, good feature set and performance for price. Against: Lacks EDGE support, tiny screen. size for a smart phone.

R

Rs 24,995 Sony Ericsson India 0124-2560808 [email protected]

RATINGS

Features

Comprehensive in every respect, the JASJAR from I-mate is one of the most powerful mobile devices today. Blessed with Wi-Fi connectivity, this smartphone looks more like a mini tablet PC. The large screen and a brilliant QWERTY keyboard make the JASJAR an excellent device for office applications. With a mammoth 520 MHz processor, the smart phone makes the Windows Mobile OS dance to its tunes. The large screen and multimedia capabilities lend the excitement to the smart phone. The device can handle all the media formats, whether it is audio or video, almost matching the multimedia phones except for the quality of the screen. The screen, though large, feels a touch dull with just 65K colors. The build quality and ergonomics of the JASJAR also deserve mention, especially for a large device which generally is marred with creaking battery compartments and non-responsive keypads. The 1620 mAH lithium polymer battery is operational for eight hours. For: Wi-Fi capable; large screen; excellent keyboard; smooth finish and sturdy build quality; Herculean battery life. Against: Only 65K color, mighty expensive, should have had EDGE support.

55

RFOR M PE

T VA L ES

U

RFOR M PE

| HARDWARE

It’s got style, features, performance and quality. The W800i zips ahead of the competition, be it in imaging or the music feature. Lack of EDGE support might be a minus point for smart phones, but as a multimedia phone, the W800i hardly feels the pinch. On the flip side, the sound quality, music management and storage capacity is the best of the lot. Being a Walkman phone, Sony obviously emphasized on the music functionality, but the W800i also surprised us with best-ofthe-class imaging features, with excellent image quality and rich color reproduction. Even the Nokia N91, which boasts the Carl Zeiss lens, lagged behind the W800i in pure image sharpness and white balance tests. The biggest advantage of the W800i over the other multimedia phones is its performance to size ratio. Most of the times, users are forced to compensate on the size and weight factors when asking for features and performance, but with the W800i, you can literally have your cake and eat it too! For: Best-of-the-class music phone in the market; excellent imaging phone; 512 MB memory and high quality head phones bundled; very compact. Against: Only one color available; screen could be a tad bigger.

RFOR

BES

| SMART PHONES COMPARISON

CE

HARDWARE

T

E

| Personal Take

AN

56

M

T

PE

ST

01 | 2006

-CENTE

R

SpecScan 1

Soham Raninga [email protected]

The Sony W800i is my favorite of the lot. While providing the best MP3 player and digital camera functionality of all the cell phones, it also keeps the size and weight in check. Unlike some of the other multimedia phones, this one excels in the basics of ergonomics, build quality, interface and speed. The package is also one of the best with a 512 MB memory card, and good quality earbuds bundled with the phone. I am not a big fan of camera phones and hence image quality isn’t a worry for me but looking at the results, the W800i is a perfect candidate for a make-shift digital camera and it got me clicking!

Anand Tuliani [email protected]

Whoa! So many sexy devices and just one choice! Since I own a digital camera and a MP3 player, I don’t care much for multimedia phones. Smart phones rock! I’m so used to tapping screens that I’ve started tapping on my plain vanilla cell phone. Out of the seven mighty devices, I’m hooked on to the palmOne Treo650. It has got everything what I prefer in a smartphone—decent set of applications, excellent build quality, EDGE support, camera, QWERTY keyboard, hot swappable memory, great looks and compact design. It also comes with a meaty 1,900 mAh battery.

Name (Smartphones) Contact Phone E-mail Price* Overall Features (out of 25) Build quality (out of 25) Ergonomics (out of 20) Performance (out of 15) Warranty and support (out of 15) Overall (out of 100) Value for money (out of 5) Features Dimensions (WxHxD) (mm) Weight (gms) Processor (Name, speed) Memory (Onboard, bundled) Operating system Display Type (No of colors) Resolution (X x Y) Diagonal size (mm) Standards (CDMA, GSM, GPRS, EDGE) Input type (Stylus, keyboard, keypad) Connectivity (Infrared, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi) Memory expansion (MSD, MMC, TF, Mini SD, SD)+ Audio playback (WAV, MP3, WMA, ATRAC) Video playback (Real, MPEG4, AVI) Integrated camera (Sensor, flash, optical focus) FM radio, Voice recording Battery (Type, rating) Build quality Body Construction Sturdiness of moveable parts (Flap) Sturdiness of battery retention clamp Button Tactile response / button quality Ergonomics QWERTY keyboard Button size/spacing Shortcut keys, one-handed operation Hot swappable memory Ease of Navigation Performance J-Bench Speaker clarity Recording (image, video) Standby time (hours) | Talk time (hours) Warranty & Support Period of warranty (years) Number of authorised service centres Number of cities where service centres are present

2

I-mate JASJAR 4G Mobiles Retailing Pvt Ltd 011-51081012 [email protected] Rs 64,990

Nokia 9300 Nokia India 0124-5199000 [email protected] Rs 31,529

18.93 23.21 16.71 11.73 6.03

12.52 16.07 16.29 9.61 15.00

Total: 76.62

Total: 69.49

81 x 127 x 25 285

51 x 132 x 21 167

Intel Bulverde / 520 MHz

ARM9 / 150 MHz

64 MB / 128 MB Windows Mobile 5

80 MB / 128 MB Symbian 7

Color (65K) 640x480 90 ✕ |✓| ✓| ✕ ✓ | ✓| ✕ ✓ | ✓| ✓ ✕ | ✓| ✕ | ✕ | ✓ ✓ | ✓| ✓ | ✕ ✓ | ✓| ✓ 1.3-megapixel | ✓ | ✕ ✕ | ✓ Lithium Polymer / 1,620 mAH

Color (65K) 200x640 103 ✕ | ✓ | ✕ | ✓ ✕ | ✓ | ✓ ✓ | ✓ | ✕ ✕ | ✓ | ✕ | ✕ | ✕ ✓ | ✓ | ✕ | ✕ ✓ | ✓ | ✓ ✕ | ✕ | ✕ ✕ | ✓ Lithium Ion / 970 mAH

Excellent Excellent Good Excellent / Excellent

Very good Very good Good Very good / Very good

✓ Excellent / Very good ✓ | ✕ ✓ Excellent

✓ Excellent / Very good ✕ | ✓ ✕ Very good

958 Excellent Good/Good 260 / 8

1,647 Good Good/Good 200 / 4

1 1 1

1 400 190

* Prices are indicative and are subject to change, taxes extra +Memory Stick Duo, MMC, TransFlash, MiniSD, SD

INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP | JANUARY 2006

B

T VA L

U

ES

E

SMART PHONES COMPARISON T

E

3

4 O2 XDAIIi Creative e-Biz 9892939268 [email protected] Rs 45,888 16.26 20.00 16.29 10.49 6.17

ST

01 | 2006

-CENT

ER

6

5 BenQ P30 BenQ 022-25705231 [email protected] Rs 19,500 9.77 19.29 13.00 9.01 12.40

| HARDWARE

O2 XphoneII Creative e-Biz 9892939268 [email protected] Rs 18,888 10.20 20.00 15.71 10.22 6.17

7 palmOne Treo 650 Cenzer India Limited 022-39452289 [email protected] Rs 29,999 13.81 16.79 15.29 9.98 6.03

Motorola A780 Everest International 022-55704646 [email protected] Rs 22,415 12.57 15.36 13.29 10.76 6.31

Total:69.20

Total:63.47

Total: 62.31

Total: 61.90

Total: 58.28

70 x 130 x 19 190 Intel Xscale PXA272 / 520 MHz 96 MB / NA Windows Mobile 2003 SE

52 x 118 x 17 150

44 x 107 x 18 102

53 x 106 x 24 130

ARM9 1510 / 144 MHz

TI OMAP 730 / 200 MHz

Intel Xscale 271 / 312 MHz

16 MB / NA Symbian 7

32 MB / 64 MB Windows Mobile 2003SE

59 x 113 x 23 178 Intel Xscale PXA 270 / 312 MHz 23 MB / NA Palm OS 5.4.7

Color (65K) 240x320 90 ✕ | ✓ | ✓ | ✕ ✓ | ✕ | ✕ ✓ | ✓ | ✓ ✕ | ✓ | ✕ | ✕ | ✓ ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✕ ✕ | ✓ | ✓ 1.3-megapixel | ✕ | ✕ ✕ | ✓ Lithium Polymer / 1,200 mAH

Color (256K) 208x320 70 ✕ | ✓ | ✓ | ✕ ✓ | ✕ | ✓ ✓ | ✓ | ✕ ✕ | ✓ | ✕ | ✕ | ✓ ✓ | ✓ | ✕ | ✕ ✕ | ✓ | ✓ 0.3-megapixel | ✕ | ✕ ✕ | ✓ Lithium Ion / 1,050 mAH

Color (65K) 172x220 55 ✕ | ✓ | ✓ | ✕ ✕ | ✕ | ✓ ✓ | ✓ | ✕ ✕ | ✕ | ✕ | ✓ | ✕ ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✕ ✕ | ✓ | ✓ 0.3-megapixel | ✕ | ✕ ✕ | ✓ Lithium Ion / 1,050 mAH

Color (65K) 320x320 65 ✕ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ ✓ | ✓ | ✓ ✓ | ✓ | ✕ ✕ | ✓ | ✕ | ✕ | ✓ ✓ | ✓ | ✕ | ✕ ✓ | ✓ | ✓ 0.3-megapixel | ✕ | ✕ ✓ | ✓ Lithium Ion / 1,900 mAH

Color (65K) 240x320 63 ✕ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ ✓ | ✕ | ✓ ✕ | ✓ | ✕ ✕ | ✕ | ✓ | ✕ | ✕ ✓ | ✓ | ✕ | ✕ ✕ | ✓ | ✓ 1.3-megapixel | ✕ | ✕ ✕ | ✓ Lithium Ion / 780 mAH

Excellent Good Very good Very good / Excellent

Excellent Very good Excellent Very good / Excellent

Very good Very good Excellent Good / Excellent

Excellent Good Good Very good / Excellent

Very good Very good Very good Good / Good

✕ Very good / Excellent ✓ | ✓ ✓ Excellent

✕ Average / Average ✓ | ✓ ✓ Very good

✕ Good / Good ✓ | ✓ ✕ Very good

✓ Good / Good ✓ | ✓ ✓ Very good

✕ Good / Good ✓ | ✓ ✓ Very good

2,361 Very good Very good / Good 150 / 3.5

2,293 Good Average / Average 120 / 5

5,341 Good Good /Average 140/ 4.5

1,000 Good Good/Average 300 / 6

7,585 Very good Good/Good 110 / 3

1 5 5

1 190 180

1 5 5

1 1 1

1 21 3

JANUARY 2006 | INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP

48 MB / 128 MB Linux

57

| SMART PHONES COMPARISON

RFOR

M

T

PE

CE

BES

HARDWARE

AN

58

T

E

ST

01 | 2006

-CENTE

R

SpecScan 8 Name (Multimedia Phones) Contact Phone E-mail Price* Overall Features (out of 25) Build quality (out of 25) Ergonomics (out of 20) Performance (out of 15) Warranty and support (out of 15) Overall (out of 100) Value for money (out of 5) Features Dimensions (WxHxD) (mm) Weight (gms) Processor (Name, speed) Memory (Onboard, bundled) Operating system Display Type (No of colors) Resolution (X x Y) Diagonal size (mm) Standards (CDMA, GSM, GPRS, EDGE) Connectivity (Infrared, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi) Memory expansion (MSD, MMC, TF, Mini SD, SD)+ Audio playback (WAV, MP3, WMA, ATRAC) Video playback (Real, MPEG4, AVI) Integrated camera (Sensor, flash, optical focus) FM radio, Voice recording Battery (Type, rating) Build quality Body Construction Sturdiness of moveable parts (Flap) Sturdiness of battery retention clamp Button Tactile response / button quality Ergonomics QWERTY keyboard Button size/spacing Shortcut keys, one-handed operation Hot swappable memory Ease of Navigation Performance J-Bench Clarity (Speaker, music) Music (Quality, management) Recording (image, video) Standby time (hours) / Talk time (hours) Warranty & Support Period of warranty (years) Number of authorised service centres Number of cities where service centres are present

9

Nokia N90 Nokia India 0124-5199000 [email protected] Rs 34,949 14.54 21.79 16.71 10.68 15.00

10 Sony Ericsson W800i Sony Ericsson India 0124-2560808 [email protected] Rs 24,995 15.90 21.07 15.86 11.88 10.06

Nokia 6680 Nokia India 0124-5199000 [email protected] Rs 28,539 13.68 18.93 15.00 9.38 15.00

5

Total: 78.72

Total: 74.77

Total: 71.99

51 x 112 x 24 173 ARM9 / 220 MHz 13 MB / 64 MB Symbian 7

46 x 100 x 20 99 ARM9 / 200 MHz 38 MB / 512 MB Symbian UIQ

55 x 109 x 21 133 ARM9 / 233 MHz 10 MB / 64 MB Symbian 8

Color (256K) 352x416 55 ✕ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ ✕ | ✓ | ✕ ✕ | ✓ | ✕ | ✕ | ✕ ✓ | ✓ | ✕ | ✕ ✓ | ✓ | ✓ 2-megapixel | ✓ | ✓ ✕ | ✓ Lithium Ion / 760 mAH

Color (256K) 176x220 50 ✕ | ✓ | ✓ | ✕ ✓ | ✓ | ✕ ✓ | ✕ | ✕ | ✕ | ✕ ✓ | ✓ | ✕ | ✕ ✕ | ✓ | ✓ 2-megapixel | ✓ | ✓ ✓ | ✓ Lithium Polymer/ 900 mAH

Color (256K) 176x208 58 ✕ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ ✕ | ✓ | ✕ ✕ | ✓ | ✕ | ✕ | ✕ ✓ | ✓ | ✕ | ✕ ✓ | ✓ | ✓ 1.3-megapixel | ✓ | ✕ ✕ | ✓ Lithium Ion/ 900 mAH

Very good Excellent Excellent Very good

Excellent Excellent Good Excellent

Excellent Good Excellent Very good

✕ Excellent / Excellent ✓ | ✓ ✓ Very good

✕ Very good / Very good ✓ | ✓ ✓ Very good

✕ Good / Good ✓ | ✓ ✓ Good

1,829 Excellent/Very good Very good / Very good Excellent / Very good 290 / 3

3,979 Very good/Very good Excellent/ Very good Excellent / Good 400/9

5,276 Very good/Good Good/Good Very good/Good 240 / 6

1 400 190

1 150 100

1 400 190

* Prices are indicative and are subject to change, taxes extra +Memory Stick Duo, MMC, TransFlash, MiniSD, SD

INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP | JANUARY 2006

SMART PHONES COMPARISON

| HARDWARE

59

| Terminator EDGE: EDGE which stands for Enhanced Data rates for GSM

11 Samsung SGH-D600 Samsung India Electronics Pvt Ltd 011-51511234 [email protected] Rs 23,999

12 Sony Ericsson K700i Sony Ericsson India 0124-2560808 [email protected] Rs 9,000

13.57 21.07 13.00 8.23 10.81 Total: 66.69

Total: 64.02

46 x 96 x 22 103 ARM9 / 104 MHz 76 MB / 64 MB RTK-E

46 x 79 x 19 93 ARM9 / 104 MHz 41 MB / NA Symbian UIQ

Color (256K) 240x320 50 ✕ | ✓ | ✓ | ✕ ✕ | ✓ | ✕ ✕ | ✕ | ✓ | ✕ | ✕ ✓ | ✓ | ✕ | ✕ ✕ | ✓ | ✓ 2-megapixel | ✓ | ✕ ✕ | ✓ Lithium Ion / 950 mAH

Color (65K) 176x220 48 ✕ | ✓ | ✓ | ✕ ✓ | ✓ | ✕ ✕ | ✕ | ✕ | ✕ | ✕ ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✕ ✕ | ✓ | ✓ 0.3-megapixel | ✓ | ✕ ✓ | ✓ Lithium Polymer/700 mAH

Excellent Excellent Excellent Very good

Very good Very good Good Very good

✕ Very good / Very good ✓ | ✓ ✓ Very good

✕ Very good/Good ✓ | ✓ ✕ Very good

1,000 Very good/Good Good/Good Good/Good 300/7

2,575 Very good/Good Good/Average Good/Good 360/ 7

1 175 120

1 150 100

JANUARY 2006 | INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP

12.60 16.79 15.57 9.01 10.06

Evolution is an enhancement to 2G or 2.5G or what we know as the GPRS network. It is designed to deliver data at rates up to 384 Kbps and enable the delivery of multimedia and other broadband applications to mobile phone and computer users. It therefore allows delivery of advanced mobile services such as the downloading of video and music clips, full multimedia messaging, high-speed Internet access and e-mail on the move. EDGE is a superset to GPRS and can function on any network with GPRS deployed on it. Hence it does not require hardware changes to be made in GSM core networks. However, the base station requires modifications.

3G: 3G is short for third-generation mobile telephone technology. The first generation of wireless (1G) was analog cellular. The second generation (2G) is digital cellular, featuring integrated voice and data communications. 3G networks provide dramatically improved data transfer rates, enabling new wireless applications such as streaming media and video telephony. Bluetooth: Bluetooth is a short-range radio technology that allows the wireless networking of devices. It works a bit like infrared, except that the devices don’t have to be in line of sight of one another. It uses the unlicenced 2.4 GHz frequency band, similar to 802.11b wireless networking, but at lower power, and with slower data carrying capacity up to 721 kilobits per second. Bluetooth comes in two classes: Class I which has a range of up to 100 meters with a power of up to 100mW, and Class II, which has a range of up to 10 meters, using a power of 1mW. Of course, you need a Class I unit at both ends to get the increased range.

T9: T9, which stands for ‘Text on 9 keys’, enables users to easily enter text into small devices with limited size keyboards, like mobile phones. It replaces the traditional ‘multi-tap’ method of entering text providing the ability to enter text using only one keystroke per letter. It works by referencing a dictionary of commonly used words. As the user presses the number buttons, an algorithm searches the dictionary for a list of possible words that match the keypress combination, and offers up the most probable choice.

60

HARDWARE

| SMART PHONES COMPARISON

| Smart phone buying guide Smart phones are like mini PCs combining features of a cell phone and most of the features of a PDA such as office applications, web browsing, e-mail, media player and file viewer, making them ideal solutions for businessmen and people who are on the move. But mind you, they cost as much as you would pay for both a cell phone and a PDA! So make sure you carry a heavy wallet before you set out to buy a smart phone. To find out which smart phone is best suited for you, take a look at the following application areas:

Office: If you are strictly looking at web and e-mail access and want to work with documents, spreadsheets, presentations and other document formats, ignore highend multimedia features like a powerful camera, video playback, etc. Instead, look out for features such as compatibility with MS Office, synchronization and other office applications. If you are used to MS Office, opt for a device based on Windows Mobile.

Communications and connectivity: If you

Models: O2 XDA IIi, palmOne Treo 650, I-mate JASJAR, Nokia 9300

Multimedia: Apart from standard applications, if you want to want to enjoy music and watch videos, Windows Mobilebased devices are better suited for the job. Pay attention to audio/video formats supported, screen resolution, integrated camera and video capturing. If you like capturing images and videos, look out for a phone having at least a 1.3 megapixel camera. A 3.5 mm jack in a phone would be a treat for music lovers. Models: O2 XDA IIi, I-mate JASJAR

wish to surf the Internet or check your mails while you are on the move, look out for features like web-browser, e-mail client, chat client, etc. With many GSM service providers supporting EDGE over their network, you can enjoy high-speed Internet on smart phones having EDGE support. To take advantage of Wi-Fi hotspots remember to check for Wi-Fi support. For ease while typing e-mails, messages or web addresses, the presence of a QWERTY keyboard would be a big advantage. Models: O2 XDAIIi, I-mate JASJAR, Nokia 9300, palmOne Treo 650

| Multimedia phone buying guide Users looking for a multimedia phone need to be sure about the exact application and the nature of usage that they have in mind. Multimedia phones allow the users to play various media files on the phones, be it MP3 or video files. They also let you capture images using the built-in digital camera.

Music: If you want a music phone, you will of course prefer one that gives you expandable memory. And since it plays music, it better have good sound quality. We strongly recommend you to personally experience the sound quality and be the

best judge. Music management is another feature that cannot be ignored for a phone that doubles up as an MP3 player. Playlist synchronization and ID3 tag support help a lot to keep your music collection organized. Last, but not the least, the quality of headphones matter a lot. Make sure the headphones are responsive and do full justice to the music player. Models: Sony Ericsson W550i, Nokia N70

Imaging: If you plan to view the clicked

Gaming: Compulsive gamers will demand

images on the cellphone itself, you can settle for any 1 MP or above camera cell phone which has a nice 256 K color screen. In case you want to view the pictures on the computer screen or take prints, a minimum 2 MP camera phone is recommended. Also look for various options with regards to exposure compensation and white balance settings; these allow you to get better shots as per the light conditions. A camera phone with proper optical focus and better quality compression will give sharper images. Models: Nokia N91, SonyErisson W800i

a phone that allows them to game while they are on the move. Currently, the choice is limited to the Nokia N-Gage QD, which is specifically meant for gaming. For options one should look for cell phones that support 3D games on the Java platform. Not all phones have the oomph to run 3D games and hence you might want to try some games out. Bluetooth support or memory card slot is important, this will allow you to quickly transfer the downloaded Java games from the PC to the phone. Models: Nokia N-Gage QD, Sony Ericsson K750i INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP | JANUARY 2006

SMART PHONES COMPARISON

| HARDWARE

61

| Phone Accessories Two identical phones need not look the same. Phone accessories not only add functionalities but also enhance the looks. You will be amazed at the variety of accessories that your phone supports and how these bells and whistles transform your phone into a style statement. Enough said, take a look at these and accessorize your cell phone now!

should be in line of sight of the IR dongle for synchronizing with the PC.

1) Bluetooth Dongle: A Bluetooth dongle lets you connect your phone to the computer wirelessly. Installation is simple! You just need to connect it to the PC’s USB port and install the necessary drivers if Windows XP doesn’t detect and install the drivers automatically. The supported data transfer speeds are upto 1 Mbps depending upon the class of the Bluetooth device. File transfer over Bluetooth is suitable for small files. But if you wish to transfer large files like a video clip or music, it would be wiser to use a card reader for quick transfers.

Price range: Rs 250 - Rs 500 Brands: Bafo, Techcom

3) Bluetooth Headset: If you are presently using a corded handsfree device, you may want to upgrade to a Bluetooth headset to get rid of wire clutter. If your workplace is a long drive or if you are frequently on the move, there’s nothing as ideal as a wireless headset which allows you to receive calls at the touch of a button. However, before wearing it, you simply have to charge it and pair it up with your phone. Since Bluetooth headsets are powered by a lithium-ion battery, they aren’t too heavy on the ear. Apart from letting you enjoy wireless freedom, Bluetooth headsets are also hightech fashion accessories which demand a second look!

Price range: Rs 400 - Rs 1,000 Brands: Belkin, Techcom

2) IR Dongle : The IR dongle is comparatively primitive in terms of technology. The Infrared or IR medium is recommended for phones that do not support Bluetooth. These devices are more restrictive in terms of the range and data transfer rates. On the other hand, IR is a tad simpler to set up and configure as compared to Bluetooth. Your handset

JANUARY 2006 | INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP

Price range: Rs 2,500 - 5,000 Brands: Jabra, Logitech, Samsung

4) Memory Cards: Memory cards allow the user to expand the storage capability of

the phone. Not all phones support memory expandability and the type of memory card used by phones to extend storage capacity also differs. The latest phones make use of the miniature memory cards which are almost half the size of the regular memory cards. Before buying a memory card, you need to be aware of the type of memory card the phone accepts and also the maximum capacity supported by the phone. The maximum storage capacity for the memory cards can go upto 4 GB as well!

Price range: Rs 500 - Rs 3,500 Brands: NCP, Microsim, Sandisk, Pretec

5) Memory Card Reader:

Connecting your phone to the PC regularly for transferring data from the phone can be cumbersome. To avoid the hassle of data cables and also to obtain fast transfer speeds, memory cards readers are highly recommended. These card readers also save the wear and tear that the phone goes through every time you wish to connect it to the PC. There is an abundance of 5-in-1 memory card readers in the market that support all the memory card formats. With a wide range

62

HARDWARE

|

SMART PHONES COMPARISON

of memory cards used in various devices these card readers can always come in handy for other digital devices. These card readers are fairly compact allowing you to carry them to office or a friend’s place for data transfers to other devices via memory cards. For the price they command, it’s a wise investment. Price range: Rs 250 - Rs 500 Brands: Techcom, Transcend

6) Screen Films: High resolution color screens do look very attractive but a small scratch can ruin all the charm. Protecting the screen using scratch guards was almost unheard of some time back. But with the large-screen phones becoming a rage, the demand for screen protectors was evident. Screen films offer inexpensive and a simple way of protecting the screen while not sacrificing on the readability. Price range: Rs 150 - Rs 600

7) Phone Covers:

A cell phone cover or shell is an important accessory. They protect the phone from serious damage, especially during accidental drops. The dust and dirt entering the cell phones through keypads and speakerphone can also influence the functioning of the instrument. Dust covers add a layer of protection and also lend some peace of mind. There’s a wide variety of cell phone covers and shells for all the popular cell phone models. Price range: Rs 100 - Rs 400

| Applications to make your phone smarter Smart phones and multimedia phones come loaded with dozens of applications spanning across all categories right from office suites to multimedia. Whether you want to read a document, prepare a schedule, click a snap or nod your head to your favorite track, it’s all there in your palm! Smart eh? But what if I say that the phone isn’t smart enough? Surprised? Apart from regular applications which are featured in most phones, there are hundreds of other applications which can make your phone smarter, thereby increasing productivity. If you think smart phones are only meant for serious people, you are wrong! There’s a plethora of cool apps and games which can keep you hooked on to the phone for hours until the battery runs dry! Here are some cool apps and games which can make your smart phone or multimedia phone one of the smartest!

phone into an IR remote control? If your phone has support for IR, using appropriate software it can be used to as a remote control to control TVs, video players and amplifiers just like a universal IR remote control. Symbian: Psiloc Infrared Remote Control Palm: Novii Remote Deluxe Windows Mobile: Novii Remote

Document Reader: If reading is one of your hobbies, you wouldn’t want to miss out on a document reader. With one loaded on your phone, you can read e-books while you are on the move. A variety of document readers are available for all mobile platforms which are capable of reading PDF and Word documents and other formats.

Phones having a 1.3 MP or a 2 MP camera have features like shooting modes and effects. With such features built in, you can take the camera a level further and shoot panoramic pictures. And for phone camera freaks, image management utilities will not stop you from clicking hundreds of pics! Symbian: PanoMan - Automatic Panorama Stitcher, Photo Blaster Palm: MobiSystems Photo Album, Windows Mobile: Vectorsoft Draw 3, GV Mobile PocketBrush

Birthday Reminder: It’s difficult though not impossible to remember birthdays and anniversaries of all your friends and family members. With a simple utility like a birthday reminder, you won’t forget to wish your close ones on their birthday. If you’re

IR Remote: How about converting your

Symbian:Symbianware ebook, Documents To Go Palm: Adobe Reader for Palm OS, Palm Reader Windows Mobile: Adobe Reader for Pocket PC

Imaging: A camera is a common feature in most multimedia and smart phones.

too lazy to type a birthday wish, some applications can even send messages to contacts on their birthday autoamatically! Symbian: SmartBirthday for UIQ, INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP | JANUARY 2006

SMART PHONES COMPARISON

PowerDates for Nokia 9300, AquaCalendar Palm: Birthday Plus Windows Mobile: Birthdays+ for Today, VBirthday Gold, DateMate, Birth2Day

Media players and converters: Who doesn’t like listening to music or watching videos on that small screen? With a music and video player most phones can play MP3s and short video clips. But have you ever thought you could play an entire movie on the phone? Using video converters, it’s possible to squeeze an entire movie in the Xvid format on the phone! Then all you need is an appropriate media player. And if your phone doesn’t have support for MP3s, there are players which can convert your phone into a mini jukebox! Symbian: SmartMovie, Mobile Media Maker Palm: SmartMovie, Kinoma Media Player, Pocket DVD Wizard Windows Mobile: PocketTV Enterprise Edition, SmartMovie

Privacy: When you have personal data like contacts, documents, messages and picture which you wouldn’t like to share

JANUARY 2006 | INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP

| HARDWARE

63

with anyone, it feels uneasy when a friend or a family member goes through your phone. And if it’s someone inquisitive, you’re doomed! Most phones lack an application to protect your personal data. With applications which can encrypt or password protect your inbox or folders, you won’t feel uneasy the next time someone plays around with your phone. Symbian: My Safe+, Handy Safe Pro for Nokia 9300 Palm: TealLock Plus, Handy Password, Account Safe Windows Mobile: eWallet, MyAccounts, Password Manager

Games: Arcade, simulation, racing, FPS, strategy, board, mind… I’m not talking about games for the PC but mobile gaming! By now I’m sure most of you must be fed up of preloaded games on your phones!! How about playing Scrabble while you’re traveling or solving a SuDoku puzzle while you’re having tea? Have you ever tried playing an FPS like Doom or a racing game like Need for Speed? With hundreds of games available for phones, gamers

would love keeping a separate memory card full of games! If you aren’t yet into mobile gaming, try out a few games. You’ll surely get addicted very soon! Symbian:SkyForce, Super Miner Brothers, Prince of Persia, Need for Speed Palm: Billiard Master, Astraware SuDoku Windows Mobile: Myst for Pocket PC, Scrabble, SuDoku Rules Extreme ■

64

HARDWARE

| FEATURE

Portable Dilemma With notebooks becoming so very affordable, is it time to ditch the humble desktop PC?

W

hat should you buy? A notebook or a desktop PC? With the steep fall in the price of notebooks and an overflow of brands and models available in the market today, people are very keen to join the ‘notebook’ bandwagon. And therefore, questions on the 35-40K notebook abound. Often I’m asked whether a notebook is a better choice over a traditional desktop PC. Most of the users having such queries are buying a PC for the first time and are willing to spend some extra dough in order to buy a notebook instead of a desktop PC. Clearly, their applications are more suited to desktop computers and therefore a budget notebook though seemingly very attractive might not be the best choice. We tend to forget that the notebook is still primarily a device that offers portability over performance and hence it’s not an absolute substitute for a desktop PC. To simplify this statement, let’s go through a set of 10 most common questions asked by users willing to take the plunge but aren’t sure whether it’s a safe one or not.

Q

I want a performance PC with no cut corners. Will a notebook suffice my needs or should I settle for a desktop?

A

Most notebooks are built with ‘portability’ as the key factor with performance, features and other factors following it. If you’re looking for extreme performance, a desktop PC is always a better choice. It gives you a lot of headroom in terms of features as well as performance. Another important element is the pricing. The performance notebooks are very expensive with prices ranging between Rs 1-2 lakhs. If portability is not needed, given a budget of about 35-40K, you can buy a desktop PC, which is not only power-packed but also future proof when compared to a notebook that costs the same.

Q A

Notebooks offer portability, a feature that’s tempting me to dump the desktop PC. What should I do?

If portability is what you’re looking for, a notebook is an obvious choice. Having said that, you need to be aware of how portable the notebook is in terms of weight, battery life and ruggedness. Most of the budget or even the mid-range notebooks are rather heavy, weighing somewhat between 2-4 kgs. Add to this the weight of a carry case, power adaptor and other accessories and suddenly the notebook is not all that portable. Another important factor for notebooks is the battery life which also affects portability. If you get a battery life of 60-90 minutes, the notebook will transfer into dead weight in almost no time and you will be frantically looking for a power connection to charge it. So if portability is your mantra, make sure you choose a fairy light notebook (1.5-2 kgs) with a decent battery life. Last, but not the least, the build quality and ruggedness of the unit is extremely important if you plan to carry it around.

can be pushed from 256 MB to 512 MB. But if you are looking for a computer with 250 GB storage space and 2 GB of RAM, a desktop computer is a better option. As mentioned, the upgrades for notebooks are limited and they cost a bomb. The service charges and other costs involved with notebook upgrades can easily touch the 10K mark and above.

Q

I’m a working professional and I enjoy gaming. Will I be able to game on my notebook, just like I do on the desktop PC?

A

Notebooks barely let you mix work with games. I strongly recommend a desktop PC for a fulfilling gaming experience. Gaming notebooks are

Q

I have selected a notebook that fits my budget. It’s got all the features that I am looking for but I might want to upgrade the HDD and RAM in the near future. Is that possible and what are the costs involved?

A

Notebooks offer very limited upgradeability when compared to desktop computers. As far as the core system goes, you can upgrade RAM as well as the HDD but there are some restrictions attached to them. The upgrade path is not as easy as the desktop PC, manufacturers offer upgrades for a high premium and you can’t go all out with the upgrades as well; you might be able to upgrade the existing 40 GB HDD to a max of 80 GB and the RAM

mighty expensive and there isn’t much of a choice available in India. Given a budget, you can buy a far better gaming machine than a gaming notebook for the same amount of money.

Q

The new and affordable notebooks available look very attractive. Can they be used as a family PC or are they more suited for personal use?

INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP | JANUARY 2006

FEATURE

A

Notebooks are primarily built for personal usage but that does not mean that they cannot replace a family desktop PC. If you can live with the limitations of the desktop in terms of the view angles of the LCD screen, the cramped keyboard and the touchpad which is not as comfortable as the mouse, a notebook can be used as a family PC. You will have to add a full fledged USB keyboard and an optical USB mouse which will make it more comfortable for the entire family to use the notebook PC.

Q

I need maximum wireless connectivity for network access and wirefree synchronization of my cell phone and PDA with the computer. Will a notebook be a better choice for me?

A

If connectivity is what you are looking for, a notebook is a much better solution than a desktop PC. Built for wireless connectivity, most of the latest notebooks offer Bluetooth, Wi-Fi and infrared connectivity as part of the default package. Rarely will you find a desktop computer offering all these features by default; adding all the wireless connectivity to a desktop computer is a tad messy with Bluetooth dongles and PCI cards. Notebooks are much friendlier for wireless connectivity, hence they are highly recommended over the desktop PC, specifically in this case.

Q

I plan to use my computer only at home. But I need one which is rugged and hassle free to use. Are the budget notebooks available in the market today good enough for rough usage?

A

In case of rough usage, notebooks cannot match desktop computers. Even the toughest of the notebooks (which cost a bomb!) might succumb to a fall or a bump. If you don’t need portability and are simply looking for a rugged computer, we suggest a desktop computer. Also, the real tough notebooks like the Lenovo T-series and the Panasonic ToughBooks are mighty expensive and don’t warrant that kind of money if you don’t require portability. Now as far as the budget notebooks available today are concerned, they are heavy but not necessarily sturdy, and the build quality of the frame is generally a suspect with most budget notebooks. Therefore, in case you decide on a budget notebook, make sure you don’t ignore the build quality.

Q

I am a media junkie and can’t live without my music and movies. I download a lot of music and movies and

| HARDWARE

65

create my own compilations of the two. I would also like to watch TV on my PC and record TV shows. Will a notebook let me do all of this?

A

Notebooks can play all types of media and also store them, but they are not the best for a media center. Burning a lot of movies, downloading content and multitasking require a powerful machine which can take all the heat. Notebooks have restrictions in terms of battery life and heat dissipation and hence unlike desktop computers they cannot be left on overnight regularly for downloads or audio/video encoding. For such media intensive applications, desktop computers make a lot more sense.

Q

I’m looking for a low maintenance PC. Are notebooks easy to troubleshoot? Can I fix them myself in case there is an issue? I am keen on modding and would also like to try out overclocking.

A

The beauty of desktop computers lies in the fact that they allow you to play around with them in terms of assembling them, modding them and fixing them in case they go kaput. Notebooks are a lot more complex and restrictive in terms of performance and design. They can’t be overclocked or modded unlike the desktop machines. Fixing your notebook is also a daunting task and it’s better left to the manufacturers. The costs involved in repairing them are very high compared to the desktop computers.

Q

I am a housewife and my interaction with the computer is limited to surfing the Internet, chatting with friends and relatives and watching some movies and music. Will a budget laptop be a better choice over the desktop?

A

For basic and non-intensive applications like Internet surfing, movie watching and working with office applications, a notebook is a perfect match. A budget notebook should allow you to do all of it while lending portability, so that you can carry the notebook around the house and to that occasional kitty party as well! ■ | Soham Raninga

Processing on a shoe string While the saga of the fastest processors continues, we get up close and personal with their budget counterparts

T

he race for the fastest and most efficient processors and chipsets for computers is a never ending one. While the chip giants— AMD and Intel roll out a lot of meaty processors for the desktop platform, we seem to completely ignore the parallel release of budget desktop processors which are targeted at the mass market and value buyers. Even the budget processors have come a long way—being more potent and advanced than ever, these processors pack quite a punch for the price they command. We got our hands on two of the best budget processors in the market and we put them to the test just to find out what these budget processors are capable of. In case you are on a shoe string budget, you certainly will want to know the capabilities of these budget platforms and get a lowdown on whether they deliver the goods for you. Instead of going for the bare minimum in terms of technology and performance, we went for one of the best budget platforms in the local market,

The Celeron-D 326 comes with 256 KB of L2 cache and 64-bit support

the reason being that these will stay in the market for a while and are the true representatives of the entry-level segment. From the Intel camp we chose the Intel Celeron-D 326 processor based on the LGA 775 architecture. The processor is clocked at 2.53 GHz and comes with 256 KB of L2 cache. We chose the AMD Sempron 2600+ processor based on the socket 754 architecture. The Sempron comes with 128 KB of L2 cache and operates at 1.6 GHz. Both the processors support 64-bit extensions and hence sport the 64-bit computing logo. As I mentioned earlier, we are looking at the best of the budget platforms and hence we are using motherboards that do full justice to the processors. For the AMD-Sempron platform we chose the newer Nforce-4 4x chipset for the socket 754 Sempron 2600+. We paired the Intel Celeron-D 326 with the Intel D915GAV based motherboard which is a great balance of price and performance. We used 512 MB (256x2) of DDR400 value RAM which in our opinion should be the bare minimum for a budget computer. We used the Nvidia Geforce 6200 turbo cache instead of the onboard video. By using an external video card, we wanted to avoid the onboard GPUs since they would affect the CPU performance by sharing the resources and thus would not let us guage the peak performance of the processors. If you were to go to a vendor, be it the local assembler or a branded seller, he is sure to paint a very bleak picture of these budget processors. In reality, these processors are pretty capable for most of the office and home applications. If you are a gamer or a power user, you certainly won’t settle for these processors but others need to be aware of these unsung The Sempron operates at a mere 1.6 GHz heroes who deserve a lot of credit for the and has half the amount of L2 cache performance they pack. These processors INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP | JANUARY 2006

FEATURE

Si-soft Sandra 2005 CPU Multimedia scores

Si-soft Sandra 2005 CPU scores 6762

15048

Dhrystone ALU MIPS

6833

0

5000

Sempron 2600+ Celeron D326

seconds

62 20

30

40

50

60

70

3244 0

80

| Sempron 2600+ CPU score breakup

500

1000 1500 2000 2500 3000 3500

Sempron 2600+ Celeron D326

Video encoding seconds

388 150

200

250

300

350

400

score (points)

3D Mark 2003

374

100

2063

GeForce 6200 TC 500

1000

1500

2000

2500

GeForce 6200 TC

47

GeForce 6200 TC 30

Quake 3

640x480 @ low (FPS)

low quality@640x480 no shadows (FPS)

53

20

GeForce 6200 TC

Sempron 2600+ Celeron D326

Doom 3

10

2014

0

Sempron 2600+ Celeron D326

0

20000

3049

Sempron 2600+ Celeron D326

50

15000

PC Mark

Overall CPU score

MP3 @ 320 kbps (MP3@ 320kbps)

56

10

10000

Sempron 2600+ Celeron D326

Audio encoding

(232 MB vob file to XVID)

Floatingpoint it/s

16781

1000 2000 3000 4000 5000 6000 7000 8000

0

| Celeron-D 326 CPU score breakup

Integer it/s

16493

Whetstone FPU MFLOPS

3106

0

67

14191

3306

0

| HARDWARE

40

50

60

Sempron 2600+ Celeron D326

are priced roughly in the range of Rs 3,200 to Rs 3,400, which is nearly half of their mainstream equivalents, the Pentium-4 2.8 GHz and the AMD Athlon 64 3000+ which sell for around Rs 6,500. As far as office applications, movies and Internet applications are concerned, a budget processor will fit the bill perfectly.

Not bad at all! As far as choosing between the two processors is concerned, as you can see from the results, both of them are almost identical in performance. The synthetic JANUARY 2006 | INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP

0

182

GeForce 6200 TC

178

GeForce 6200 TC 50

100

150

Sempron 2600+ Celeron D326

benchmarks might slightly favor the Celeron-D 326 while the real world and gaming benchmarks tilt the balance towards the Sempron 2600+. Given the performance, both the chips offer excellent value for money and the 2-3 percent performance gap does not warrant for any single winner amongst the two. Students or geeks might find the Sempron more interesting simply because it’s clocked at a mere 1.6 GHz and does house some potential for overclocking. The thermals for

200

both the chips were well within control throughout all the tests and the default coolers provided with the package are excellent. Ideally, if you’re trying to squeeze in a computer under the 20K mark, these processors will let you do that while giving you an absolute bang for the buck. ■ | Soham Raninga

68

HARDWARE

| PERSONAL TECHNOLOGY

The fusion within O

nce upon a time the computer and consumer electronics industries held their own. A computer (and its peripherals) were designed to handle data processing. Back then ‘data’ meant text that represented information in digitized form. The graphics and other pyrotechnics, which simplified or glamorized computing, came later. Today, the HPs, Microsofts, Dells, and Intels of the industry want to get into your TV and video system, your music system, your camera, and other gadgets that vie for your attention. Let’s try to understand how this happened. Pry open the clamshell casing of an Apple iPod (if you dare). You’ll see something familiar—flash memory, hard disk, color LCD screen, processor. Beneath the simplicity of the control panel and interface, lies the sophisticated digital hardware. This is an example of the fusion of computer technology and consumer electronics. To understand how this fusion happened, we’ll take a trip back in time to the year 1990. There were computers with 20 MB hard disks and barely 1 MB of main memory. LCD screens? Those were found in digital wristwatches. So we had to contend with bulky CRT monitors with green or amber monochrome displays. Now try putting this kind of technology into say, an MP3 player—you’d end up with something that would have to be as large as an open reel tape recorder. Of course, back in 1990, they did have microchips in electronics devices, but their functionality was quite limited. The more sophisticated the device, the more chips it had—resulting in a bulky form factor. Memory chips, processors and hard disks at that time weren’t ready for portable devices. Over time there were significant advances in chip manufacturing. Manufacturers moved to “smaller micron processes,” an advance in chip manufacturing technology. Effectively, this shrank the size of the transistors, the fundamental component on every chip. Which meant you could double the amount of transistors within the same space on a chip. They call it Very Large Scale Integration (VLSI). VLSI technology allowed for integration of discreet chips, and that meant fewer discreet chips in devices. So motherboards

and adapter cards (now called PCI cards) shrank in size—and computing hardware headed for mobility. That led to technology advances in other areas too—like storage, displays, and processors. That’s how desktop PCs evolved into laptops and later notebook computers. Although computer hardware became portable, it wasn’t ready for consumer electronics devices yet. For long these were two separate industries with separate standards. Naturally, there were some standardization and integration issues to be sorted out. There was another reason for this | Brian Pereira delay—the need for killer apps. [email protected] What makes a PC appealing? It’s the software applications you install on it. The same was happening with digital devices. We needed applications that would really make them useful. One such killer app is MP3 audio. MP3 was invented at the Fraunhofer Institute in Germany, and Shawn Fanning created Napster to exchange all those MP3 encoded songs on the Net. Then people wanted to take their favorite MP3 songs with them on the road—and felt the need for a portable device. The Diamond Multimedia Rio MP3 player was the answer. About the same time other cool digital devices emerged. We now have portable MP3 jukeboxes with hard disks; printers that connect wirelessly with digital cameras; thin LCD monitors that also function as TV sets; mobile phones with e-mail and browsing features; hard disk video recorders, gaming consoles with optical drives and other convergence products—fine examples of the fusion of consumer electronics and computer hardware. So the next time you go to an “IT exhibition”, don’t be surprised to see less computers and more electronics devices (read gadgets). Yes the PCs, printers, web cams and other peripherals will all be there—camouflaged in shiny casings with all the trappings of high-tech electronic devices that caught our attention in the past two decades. Coming soon to a shop near you: portable media players, camcorders with built in DVD burning, cell phones with word processing and spreadsheets. The fusion continues…. ■ The writer has been covering personal technology issues for the past twelve years

We now have hard disk video recorders, gaming consoles with optical drives—fine examples of the fusion of consumer electronics and computer hardware

INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP | JANUARY 2006

TECHNOLOGY LANDSCAPE

| HARDWARE

69

Print smart

Inkjet

Laser

Multi-function

Brands: Canon, Epson, HP, Lexmark

Brands: Canon, HP, Samsung, Xerox

Brands: Brother, Canon, Epson, HP

Price: Rs 3,000 – Rs 15,000

Price: Rs 9,000 – Rs 25,000

Price: Rs 5,000 – Rs 30,000

W

ith a tight budget in hand, the best option to go for would be an inkjet printer. Even the cheapest inkjet printer gives an output of 12 pages per minute at a resolution of 600 dpi. They may be the cheapest around, but low price doesn’t necessarily mean it’s economic. With hardly around 150 prints per cartridge, the price you end up paying is between Rs 7 to Rs 10 per print. Replace the cartridges thrice and you end up paying the price of a new printer! Buy an inkjet printer only if you need color printouts. If you are into imaging, you’ll be impressed by the quality of prints from highend inkjet printers. They use 4 color or 9 color cartridges for photorealistic printouts having a resolution up to 4800 dpi. For photographers, with inkjet printers having a card reader and PictBridge support, pictures can be printed directly from the digital camera or memory cards. Be careful with inkjet printouts, a drop of water can smudge the contents!

JANUARY 2006 | INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP

I

f you don’t care much for color prints and you are comfortable with grayscale ones, a laser printer is the way to go. Laser printers are economic. A regular toner cartridge gives an economy for one buck per page and after you refill it, the economy drops to 80 paise per page. Way better than inkjet printers! For the price of an inkjet printer and two sets of cartridges you get a basic laser printer. With a speed of 14 pages per minute at a resolution of 600 dpi, you don’t have to wait long for prints to roll out. Printers with speed up to 19 ppm and a resolution of 1200 dpi are also available but they cost as much as a new PC! The best thing about laser printouts is sharp and precise print quality. Additionally, you can even print on transparencies and glossy surfaces. Also, unlike an ink cartridge, the toner cartridge doesn’t dry up or clog if unused for a long time. Finally, after fitting a new cartridge, forget about it until you complete 2,000 prints!

A

ll-in-one! That’s what multi-function devices are all about. With a single machine you can print, scan, copy and fax! It’s both space and money saver. You don’t have to spend extra bucks on a scanner, and since it’s built into the printer, it also saves space. But what you end up spending for the prints fired from MFDs is the same as that of inkjet printers. But then you also have the advantage of not only scanning but also copying similar to photocopying. Most MFDs have speed a little higher than inkjet printers. On an average, MFDs can roll out 18 pages per minute. A budget MFD has a resolution of 600 dpi. But high-end MFDs have a higher resolution. Also, like high-end inkjet printers, there are MFDs which use 4 color inks for better color reproduction and sharpness. Some even have a card reader and PictBridge support for direct printing from digital cameras. For SOHOs, there are MFDs which have an integrated fax machine. Truly an all rounder! | Anand Tuliani

Vishwanath Vanjire

A guide to buying the right type of printer

70

Pramod Jadhav

Software Center

Applications

A

nother new year is here and we decided the best way to start this section would be with previews of the latest security software to keep your PC safe and secure for the rest of the year. The first one is Norton SystemWorks Premier 2006, with enough features to keep your PC safe round the clock. The McAfee Internet Suite 2006 has more advanced features than what the previous versions offered, a noticeable one being the plug-in for Internet Explorer to block access to known ‘phishing’ sites. The new features will protect your PC from spam, ad ware, Trojans, etc. Having started with security applications, we haven’t forgotten the cool ones. One such is the muvee autoProducer 5 that lets you make movies in a jiffy. All

budding movie makers will find this an interesting tool. Also, check out the new version of Winamp that has fixed most of the bugs of the previous versions. We have also reviewed Virtual CD 7.0 that allows you to have 23 virtual drives. Another application that we found interesting is Nero 7 Premium, labelled as the complete multimedia software that you can ever find. You can play audio and video files and at the same time use this application to burn CDs or DVDs. Did we miss out the Elicitus Content Publisher? Well, it’s a feature-rich content authoring tool, the best part being even if you don’t have any scripting knowledge, you will be at ease while using this. A wide array, it is. Read on to find out which of these suit your needs best.

| 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 | JANUARY 2006

TESTED

| APPLICATIONS

71

PC savior

T

oday, when your PC is under continuous threat from viruses, spyware, trojans, you are constantly in search of good software that will provide you various options that will help make your system more secure as well as ensure that it is always protected. Norton SystemWorks 2006 Premier is one such tool that ensures that the security of your system is never compromised. When you run the CD you are presented with a menu from where you can choose whether you want to install Norton SystemWorks Premier or launch the various utilities from the CD. The utilities that you can run directly from the CD are Norton Cleanup, Norton Disk Doctor and WinDoctor and Wipe Info. If you don’t have much space on your hard disk dive and you need to free up some space then you can select Norton Cleanup. This will scan your cached files and temporary files and remove the unwanted files. As a result, you will be able to free up some space on your hard disk. Selecting Norton Disk Doctor will allow you to diagnose and repair your disk problems. Just select which disks you want to be diagnosed and if you want the errors to be fixed automatically then you can do so by just enabling this option. The diagnosing process will scan your partition table along with the file structures and if any errors exist it will be promptly displayed. Another utility that you can run from the CD is Norton WinDoctor. This utility will automatically perform all the tests; it even allows you to choose which tests you want to run. Once you proceed with the tests WinDoctor will then check for any problems with Windows and at the end show you as to where the problems exist. It even

While installing, you can select either preselected options or custom installation JANUARY 2006 | INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP

System Security allows you to repair these problems. The last utility here is Wipe info that allows you to permanently remove files from your hard drive. Other than the utilities you can also install CheckIt and performance test directly without actually installing Norton SystemWorks. When you start the installation for Norton Systemworks, a pre-install check up will run which includes a Norton GoBack Preinstall Scan along with an anti-virus Quick Scan. Once this is done you will have to select the installation type, whether you want to install with preselected options or custom installation where you can manually select the application that you wish to install. It is better to deselect Norton GoBack because if you select this then it will give you a lot of problems when Windows restarts after the installation. The installation does take quite a lot of your system resources and it is advisable that you don’t have any other applications running while SystemWorks installs. Once you are through with the installation the rest of the procedure is similar to the earlier versions of Norton Systemworks. This includes activating your product, running LiveUpdate, etc. From the ‘Extra Features’ option you can run System Optimizer, which allows you to optimize the settings for Windows XP. You can also lock your settings with a password so that no one else can change your settings. Overall, Norton SystemWorks 2006 Premier has all the features that will protect your PC round the clock. The drawbacks are that this application uses a lot of your system resources as a result of which the system slows down. When we tested this software on a 1.6 GHz AMD Athlon XP 1800+ with 480 MB of RAM, it utilized, on an average, 75 percent of CPU resources and approximately 57 MB of system memory. Also installing Norton GoBack can give you problems while restarting, as occasionally Windows fails to load. For: Provides complete security options; can run most of the utilities from the CD itself. Against: Reduces the speed of your system, installing Norton GoBack could result in Windows not loading properly; expensive.

Norton SystemWorks 2006 Premier Specifications: Windows XP/2000, 300 MHz or higher processor, 256 MB of RAM, 170 MB of available hard disk space

Price Contact Phone E-mail

Rs 3,999 Ingram Micro India 09324604427 [email protected]

RATINGS Ease of use Features Performance Overall Rating Value for money

From here you can install the utilities (as seen above) directly from the CD

72

APPLICATIONS

| TESTED

Surf without worrying System Security

McAfee Internet Suite 2006 Specifications: 300 MHz or higher processor, Windows All, 128 MB of RAM, CD-ROM Drive, 100 MB of available hard disk space, Internet Explorer 5.5 or higher.

Price Contact Phone E-mail Website

Rs 2,500 Kartik Shahani 56935278 [email protected] www.mcafee.com

RATINGS Ease of use Features Performance Overall Rating Value for money

The main interface that informs you about the various protection levels for your PC

W

ith more advanced features as compared to the earlier versions, McAfee Internet Suite 2006 will certainly allay your fears regarding online transactions. This application is a comprehensive, multi-layered security solution that protects your most important digital files and personal information from the latest security threats. It also blocks unwanted or persistent pop-up ads, manages cookies and filters unwanted and offensive Internet and e-mail content. If you have any other anti-virus software installed on your PC then you will have to manually uninstall them before the installation can proceed. The application will install McAfee Virus Scan, Personal Firewall, Privacy Service, and Spam Killer. The installation does take time so you will have to be patient till the installation gets over. After the installation is done, you can create privacy service administrator password. After you register the software, it will update itself with the latest virus definitions. The interface of the main menu is quite user friendly and retains the appearance of the previous version. From ‘My Security Center’ you come to know about the potential security risk for your PC. This is done very neatly with colored bar charts displaying the current level of your computer’s protection which is easily understood. Red means bad and Green means good. The virus scan allows you to scan your computer for viruses, find out about viruses, check whether it’s protecting your PC or not, also get a view of where the latest viruses are infecting computers worldwide. It also includes a huge virus data base. With the help of Personal Firewall Plus you can view the list of Internet applications allowed or blocked by the firewall, modify your settings, test your firewall, and also trace the origin of a suspected attack. You can also adjust security levels with a simple slider and extra features like traffic monitor, which breaks down your bandwidth usage. In the

privacy service, you can create profiles for different users of your PC. It also has pop-up and ad blocking. McAfee Shredder deletes files completely from your hard disk leaving no trace behind. Spam killer will add all your e-mail accounts to its protected list and as a result provides effective respite from spam mails. This application has lots of features like automatic spy ware detection which identifies, blocks and removes potential spyware or other programs that could pose as a threat to your privacy or even slow it down. It automatically detects when you are in full screen mode and suppresses pop-up messages. It can identify and block potential ‘phishing’ web sites and scams. It can also automatically clean infections when a virus or a Trojan is detected. It has got advanced spam filtering features. Additionally, it also allows you to have immediate integration with your existing e-mail accounts and also allows spam to be managed directly within Outlook and Outlook Express. Overall, McAfee Internet Suite is a very good security tool for both the home as well as the office users. The virus scanner is very good and meets the standards expected from McAfee. Additional features like Firewall and Spam Killer do add to the overall utility of the product. The Internet Explorer plug-in to block access to known phishing sites is also noteworthy. You also get free live support via Internet chat round the clock. On the downside, however, it does use a lot of system resources and as a result your PC becomes a bit slower. Just to give you an idea, this software utilized on an average 70 percent of CPU resources and approximately 55 MB of system memory when installed on a 1.6 GHz AMD Athlon XP 1800+ with 480 MB of RAM. The virus scans do take longer than those of Norton Internet Security 2006. For: Plug-in to block access to known phishing sites, wide array of features that ensure your system stays protected. Against: Longer virus scans, makes the system slower, plug-in to block access to known phising sites is only for Internet Explorer. INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP | JANUARY 2006

TESTED

| APPLICATIONS

73

Create your own potboiler

A

t some point of time everyone amongst us has had the inclination to make a movie with the pictures and videos that we have, only to drop the idea because of the lack of good software. But with muvee autoProducer 5, you can turn your dream of becoming a movie maker into reality. muvee autoProducer 5 lets you experience the fastest and the easiest way to transform your videos and pictures into professional quality movies instantly. It allows you to create complete home movies from raw video clips. The interface is quite elegant and all the options are present right on the interface itself. You are given the option to add videos or pictures as well as music from which you can create your own movies. From the images that you have queued to make movies, you can select an area of interest within the image with the help of magicSpot. Then in your final movie those areas will be focused. Making a movie is quite simple, you just have to select the video files and pictures from your hard disk, add your favorite music, choose a style from the various style options available and click on ‘make muvee’. If in this movie there is something that you are not satisfied with and you would like to change that then you will be able to edit it very easily. You are also allowed to add multiple music tracks to your movie. If a particular frame grabs your attention then you can take a snap of it by using the snapshot option. You can also change the settings for your movie. If you find that the duration of your final movie is too short then you can provide the user defined duration and also allow videos and music to repeat. Selecting the Video tab will provide you options wherein you can shuffle shots as well as interleave pictures. The audio tab gives you options wherein it automatically crossfades music tracks to remove the silence in between them and also adjusts the audio playback volume of different tracks to the same level. By using the ‘tweak muvee’ option you can select a particular segment of the movie and auto replace it with something similar or something different. You can

JANUARY 2006 | INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP

also do it manually. It basically allows you to make some quick final touch-ups to your movie. The styles provided in muvee autoProducer are templates for producing your movies. They basically determine how fast your movie is, and the effects and transitions. If you do not know which style to choose then just select any one style and you will be able to see a short sample of the style. If you think that the styles provided here are not of your interest then you can go to the web site and get new styles that suit your needs. Another feature is magicMoments that allows you to quickly pre-select the most important shots of your video with a thumbs-up button to ensure that they are included in the final production. Once you have used magicMoments to pre-select shots in your video, all future productions you make will use this information. You can also add your own title and credits to your movies. This application will be very useful for all those who wanted to create their own movies quickly and without much effort. It even allows you to burn your saved movies on to a DVD and then share it with your friends and relatives. It’s simple to use with a very easy-to-use interface. However, it’s quite resource hungry. So before you start using this application do check the system requirements. For: Easy to use, good features, allows you to create movies and then share them. Against: Resource hungry.

magicSpot allows you to select a particular area of your image

Movie Maker

muvee autoProducer 5 Specifications: 1 GHz Pentium III processor or equivalent, 256 MB of RAM, 16 MB of Video RAM, Microsoft DirectX 9.0

Price Website

$99.95 (Approx Rs 5,000) www.muvee.com

RATINGS Ease of use Features Performance Overall Rating Value for money

The easy-to-use interface provides you with all the options required to make a movie Find it on CHIP

CD

With ‘teak muvee’ you can make the final touch-ups to your movie

74

APPLICATIONS

| TESTED

New and better

T

Multimedia

Winamp 5.12 Specifications: Windows All Price Website

Free www.winamp.com

RATINGS Ease of use Features Performance Overall Rating

Find it on CHIP

CD

his new version of Winamp has lots of new features as well as significant improvements when compared to the earlier versions. Some of the noticeable additions include a new decoder, built-in cross fader, an advanced Media Library. During the installation you are asked to select the optional components that you will would like to install as well as the media to be associated with Winamp. By default all are selected. In the Preferences option, you can enable Hotkeys to play your audio and video files with ease. The CD ripping feature here will allow you to select the encoding format of your choice. Some of the encoding formats available are accPlus Encoder v1.1; MP4 ACC v1.0. You can even choose whether you want the Classic skin or the Modern skin for Winamp.

The new features in this version of Winamp include Windows Media Video support and also support for HE-AAC MP4/ M4A files. It allows you to alter the sound through a built-in equalizer. It has also got lots of minor plug-in improvements, a vast improvement from the earlier versions. Overall, Winamp 5.12 has good new features. Most significantly, most of the bugs that existed in the previous version have been fixed. The drawbacks are that you still can’t rip and burn your CDs at the maximum speed your CD burner can offer. Also, you can’t rip your CDs to MP3s. For these tasks, you will have to purchase Winamp Pro. For: The bugs of previous versions have been fixed; additional new features. Against: For some of the features you will have to purchase Winamp PRO.

Create virtual drives

V

System Utility

Virtual CD 7.0 Specifications: Windows All Price Website

$39.95 (Approx Rs 2,000) www.virtualcd-online.com

RATINGS Ease of use Features Performance Overall Rating Value for money

Find it on CHIP

CD

irtual CD 7.0 is a software that lets you create up to 23 additional virtual CD/DVD drives. As a result, no more will you be bothered about scratched or lost disks. After you finish the installation and run the program you are presented with an array of tasks. These tasks allow you to create a virtual CD, burn a virtual CD/DVD, delete the data from a rewritable disk, etc. All these tasks are present on the interface itself. And if you are stuck anywhere in between then you can always refer to the help menu. From the Settings option you can check out the supported ISO images and if any format is missing then you can add it yourself. You can also change the default path where the virtual CDs are stored. Multiple CD applications can be accessed simultaneously. It allows you to have network access to your CD archive.

What is even more interesting is that it allows you to create unlimited number of virtual CDs. It also has better data compression. You can also organize your virtual CDs in folders. Another feature is that it allows editing of current virtual CDs with the virtual CD editor. Your virtual CDs are password protected and hence they are protected from unauthorized access. Virtual CD 7.0 enables you to perform all the tasks with relative ease. Its simple interface is particularly helpful to the novice user. The only downside is that you will need to purchase it to continue using it. For: Easy to use; simple interface; allows you to create 23 virtual drives; allows network access to your CD archive; you can also organize your Virtual CDs into folders, better data compression. Against: None. INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP | JANUARY 2006

TESTED

| APPLICATIONS

75

Very innovative

I

f you want to experience digital media in a completely new and innovative way then Nero 7 Premium is the software to get. Nero 7 Premium allows you to manage your media files, edit videos as well as compress files to take them wherever you go. Before you can install this product you will have to uninstall all previous versions of Nero on your system. After installation, you can perform many digital media projects. You can create your own DVDs, edit videos, design CD labels, etc. You can also create a back up of your entire system on CDs/DVDs. It even allows you to create slideshows from your photos and videos, and also add transitions to your music. Some of the applications included in this version are ‘Nero Home’, ‘Nero Scout’, ‘Nero Burning ROM 7’, ‘Nero Express 7’,

‘Nero Wave Editor 3’, ‘Nero Cover Designer 2’, etc. All these applications add to the features of this software. For example, With Nero Home, you can quickly access all your digital media files from your home; whereas Nero Wave Editor 3 enables surround sound editing. We have got to say that you must take home Nero 7 Premium—it’s good for both the novice as well as for the advanced user wanting to explore creative interests. Its only drawback is that in order to continue using this product you will have to purchase the retail version of the same else your wonderful experience will end in 30 days. For: Feature-rich software; easy to use; you can use it as a media player and as CD/DVD burning software. Against: System requirements on the higher side.

Multimedia

languages and you can pick it up in a matter of few hours. It also allows you to create assessments or exercises. You can also customize the score pages. Creating hyperlinks to other pages in the course happens in a jiffy. For added interactivity, it allows you to use customized buttons. It also has a wide range of supported file formats. Another feature that deserves mention is that it contains a course outline generator that creates a hierarchical content view. Overall, this application is a very good authoring tool. And what’s worth talking about is that even though you have no scripting knowledge you will be at ease using this. There’s one glitch though; it’s a bit over priced for what it offers. For: Lots of features; built-in, user-friendly templates; easy to use. Against: Expensive; you need to have .NET Framework 1.1 pre-installed.

Content Authoring

Nero 7 Premium Specifications: 1.6 GHz Pentium 4 processor or equivalent, 128 MB RAM, 600 MB of hard disk space

Price Website

$70 (Approx Rs 3,220) www.nero.com/eng/ Nero_7_Premium.html

RATINGS Ease of use Features Performance Overall Rating Value for money

Create courses in a jiffy

E

licitus is a desktop authoring tool for trainers, educators and subject matter experts. You require no programming or scripting knowledge to create courses with this software. It provides you with a wide range of question types like multiple choice, true or false, etc and different styles for navigation. It also allows you to use visually appealing layouts to create designs. With the help of a single click you can publish what you want on the web site, CDROM, or slide shows. Other features of this software are that you can make one-time changes at the master level which are then automatically reflected in the related content. This software has lots of templates and if you want, you can create your own templates also. These templates contain pre-built course navigation and display but they can be customized by you. It also supports courses in many JANUARY 2006 | INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP

Elicitus Content Publisher Specifications: Pentium III Processor or higher, 256 MB of RAM, 100 MB of free hard disk space, Windows 2000/XP, IE 5.5 or above.

Price Contact Phone E-mail

Rs 1,27, 000 Harbinger Knowledge Products 020-25284201 [email protected]

RATINGS Ease of use Features Performance Overall Rating Value for money

70

Pramod Jadhav

Software Center

Applications

A

nother new year is here and we decided the best way to start this section would be with previews of the latest security software to keep your PC safe and secure for the rest of the year. The first one is Norton SystemWorks Premier 2006, with enough features to keep your PC safe round the clock. The McAfee Internet Suite 2006 has more advanced features than what the previous versions offered, a noticeable one being the plug-in for Internet Explorer to block access to known ‘phishing’ sites. The new features will protect your PC from spam, ad ware, Trojans, etc. Having started with security applications, we haven’t forgotten the cool ones. One such is the muvee autoProducer 5 that lets you make movies in a jiffy. All

budding movie makers will find this an interesting tool. Also, check out the new version of Winamp that has fixed most of the bugs of the previous versions. We have also reviewed Virtual CD 7.0 that allows you to have 23 virtual drives. Another application that we found interesting is Nero 7 Premium, labelled as the complete multimedia software that you can ever find. You can play audio and video files and at the same time use this application to burn CDs or DVDs. Did we miss out the Elicitus Content Publisher? Well, it’s a feature-rich content authoring tool, the best part being even if you don’t have any scripting knowledge, you will be at ease while using this. A wide array, it is. Read on to find out which of these suit your needs best.

| 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 | JANUARY 2006

TESTED

| APPLICATIONS

71

PC savior

T

oday, when your PC is under continuous threat from viruses, spyware, trojans, you are constantly in search of good software that will provide you various options that will help make your system more secure as well as ensure that it is always protected. Norton SystemWorks 2006 Premier is one such tool that ensures that the security of your system is never compromised. When you run the CD you are presented with a menu from where you can choose whether you want to install Norton SystemWorks Premier or launch the various utilities from the CD. The utilities that you can run directly from the CD are Norton Cleanup, Norton Disk Doctor and WinDoctor and Wipe Info. If you don’t have much space on your hard disk dive and you need to free up some space then you can select Norton Cleanup. This will scan your cached files and temporary files and remove the unwanted files. As a result, you will be able to free up some space on your hard disk. Selecting Norton Disk Doctor will allow you to diagnose and repair your disk problems. Just select which disks you want to be diagnosed and if you want the errors to be fixed automatically then you can do so by just enabling this option. The diagnosing process will scan your partition table along with the file structures and if any errors exist it will be promptly displayed. Another utility that you can run from the CD is Norton WinDoctor. This utility will automatically perform all the tests; it even allows you to choose which tests you want to run. Once you proceed with the tests WinDoctor will then check for any problems with Windows and at the end show you as to where the problems exist. It even

While installing, you can select either preselected options or custom installation JANUARY 2006 | INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP

System Security allows you to repair these problems. The last utility here is Wipe info that allows you to permanently remove files from your hard drive. Other than the utilities you can also install CheckIt and performance test directly without actually installing Norton SystemWorks. When you start the installation for Norton Systemworks, a pre-install check up will run which includes a Norton GoBack Preinstall Scan along with an anti-virus Quick Scan. Once this is done you will have to select the installation type, whether you want to install with preselected options or custom installation where you can manually select the application that you wish to install. It is better to deselect Norton GoBack because if you select this then it will give you a lot of problems when Windows restarts after the installation. The installation does take quite a lot of your system resources and it is advisable that you don’t have any other applications running while SystemWorks installs. Once you are through with the installation the rest of the procedure is similar to the earlier versions of Norton Systemworks. This includes activating your product, running LiveUpdate, etc. From the ‘Extra Features’ option you can run System Optimizer, which allows you to optimize the settings for Windows XP. You can also lock your settings with a password so that no one else can change your settings. Overall, Norton SystemWorks 2006 Premier has all the features that will protect your PC round the clock. The drawbacks are that this application uses a lot of your system resources as a result of which the system slows down. When we tested this software on a 1.6 GHz AMD Athlon XP 1800+ with 480 MB of RAM, it utilized, on an average, 75 percent of CPU resources and approximately 57 MB of system memory. Also installing Norton GoBack can give you problems while restarting, as occasionally Windows fails to load. For: Provides complete security options; can run most of the utilities from the CD itself. Against: Reduces the speed of your system, installing Norton GoBack could result in Windows not loading properly; expensive.

Norton SystemWorks 2006 Premier Specifications: Windows XP/2000, 300 MHz or higher processor, 256 MB of RAM, 170 MB of available hard disk space

Price Contact Phone E-mail

Rs 3,999 Ingram Micro India 09324604427 [email protected]

RATINGS Ease of use Features Performance Overall Rating Value for money

From here you can install the utilities (as seen above) directly from the CD

72

APPLICATIONS

| TESTED

Surf without worrying System Security

McAfee Internet Suite 2006 Specifications: 300 MHz or higher processor, Windows All, 128 MB of RAM, CD-ROM Drive, 100 MB of available hard disk space, Internet Explorer 5.5 or higher.

Price Contact Phone E-mail Website

Rs 2,500 Kartik Shahani 56935278 [email protected] www.mcafee.com

RATINGS Ease of use Features Performance Overall Rating Value for money

The main interface that informs you about the various protection levels for your PC

W

ith more advanced features as compared to the earlier versions, McAfee Internet Suite 2006 will certainly allay your fears regarding online transactions. This application is a comprehensive, multi-layered security solution that protects your most important digital files and personal information from the latest security threats. It also blocks unwanted or persistent pop-up ads, manages cookies and filters unwanted and offensive Internet and e-mail content. If you have any other anti-virus software installed on your PC then you will have to manually uninstall them before the installation can proceed. The application will install McAfee Virus Scan, Personal Firewall, Privacy Service, and Spam Killer. The installation does take time so you will have to be patient till the installation gets over. After the installation is done, you can create privacy service administrator password. After you register the software, it will update itself with the latest virus definitions. The interface of the main menu is quite user friendly and retains the appearance of the previous version. From ‘My Security Center’ you come to know about the potential security risk for your PC. This is done very neatly with colored bar charts displaying the current level of your computer’s protection which is easily understood. Red means bad and Green means good. The virus scan allows you to scan your computer for viruses, find out about viruses, check whether it’s protecting your PC or not, also get a view of where the latest viruses are infecting computers worldwide. It also includes a huge virus data base. With the help of Personal Firewall Plus you can view the list of Internet applications allowed or blocked by the firewall, modify your settings, test your firewall, and also trace the origin of a suspected attack. You can also adjust security levels with a simple slider and extra features like traffic monitor, which breaks down your bandwidth usage. In the

privacy service, you can create profiles for different users of your PC. It also has pop-up and ad blocking. McAfee Shredder deletes files completely from your hard disk leaving no trace behind. Spam killer will add all your e-mail accounts to its protected list and as a result provides effective respite from spam mails. This application has lots of features like automatic spy ware detection which identifies, blocks and removes potential spyware or other programs that could pose as a threat to your privacy or even slow it down. It automatically detects when you are in full screen mode and suppresses pop-up messages. It can identify and block potential ‘phishing’ web sites and scams. It can also automatically clean infections when a virus or a Trojan is detected. It has got advanced spam filtering features. Additionally, it also allows you to have immediate integration with your existing e-mail accounts and also allows spam to be managed directly within Outlook and Outlook Express. Overall, McAfee Internet Suite is a very good security tool for both the home as well as the office users. The virus scanner is very good and meets the standards expected from McAfee. Additional features like Firewall and Spam Killer do add to the overall utility of the product. The Internet Explorer plug-in to block access to known phishing sites is also noteworthy. You also get free live support via Internet chat round the clock. On the downside, however, it does use a lot of system resources and as a result your PC becomes a bit slower. Just to give you an idea, this software utilized on an average 70 percent of CPU resources and approximately 55 MB of system memory when installed on a 1.6 GHz AMD Athlon XP 1800+ with 480 MB of RAM. The virus scans do take longer than those of Norton Internet Security 2006. For: Plug-in to block access to known phishing sites, wide array of features that ensure your system stays protected. Against: Longer virus scans, makes the system slower, plug-in to block access to known phising sites is only for Internet Explorer. INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP | JANUARY 2006

TESTED

| APPLICATIONS

73

Create your own potboiler

A

t some point of time everyone amongst us has had the inclination to make a movie with the pictures and videos that we have, only to drop the idea because of the lack of good software. But with muvee autoProducer 5, you can turn your dream of becoming a movie maker into reality. muvee autoProducer 5 lets you experience the fastest and the easiest way to transform your videos and pictures into professional quality movies instantly. It allows you to create complete home movies from raw video clips. The interface is quite elegant and all the options are present right on the interface itself. You are given the option to add videos or pictures as well as music from which you can create your own movies. From the images that you have queued to make movies, you can select an area of interest within the image with the help of magicSpot. Then in your final movie those areas will be focused. Making a movie is quite simple, you just have to select the video files and pictures from your hard disk, add your favorite music, choose a style from the various style options available and click on ‘make muvee’. If in this movie there is something that you are not satisfied with and you would like to change that then you will be able to edit it very easily. You are also allowed to add multiple music tracks to your movie. If a particular frame grabs your attention then you can take a snap of it by using the snapshot option. You can also change the settings for your movie. If you find that the duration of your final movie is too short then you can provide the user defined duration and also allow videos and music to repeat. Selecting the Video tab will provide you options wherein you can shuffle shots as well as interleave pictures. The audio tab gives you options wherein it automatically crossfades music tracks to remove the silence in between them and also adjusts the audio playback volume of different tracks to the same level. By using the ‘tweak muvee’ option you can select a particular segment of the movie and auto replace it with something similar or something different. You can

JANUARY 2006 | INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP

also do it manually. It basically allows you to make some quick final touch-ups to your movie. The styles provided in muvee autoProducer are templates for producing your movies. They basically determine how fast your movie is, and the effects and transitions. If you do not know which style to choose then just select any one style and you will be able to see a short sample of the style. If you think that the styles provided here are not of your interest then you can go to the web site and get new styles that suit your needs. Another feature is magicMoments that allows you to quickly pre-select the most important shots of your video with a thumbs-up button to ensure that they are included in the final production. Once you have used magicMoments to pre-select shots in your video, all future productions you make will use this information. You can also add your own title and credits to your movies. This application will be very useful for all those who wanted to create their own movies quickly and without much effort. It even allows you to burn your saved movies on to a DVD and then share it with your friends and relatives. It’s simple to use with a very easy-to-use interface. However, it’s quite resource hungry. So before you start using this application do check the system requirements. For: Easy to use, good features, allows you to create movies and then share them. Against: Resource hungry.

magicSpot allows you to select a particular area of your image

Movie Maker

muvee autoProducer 5 Specifications: 1 GHz Pentium III processor or equivalent, 256 MB of RAM, 16 MB of Video RAM, Microsoft DirectX 9.0

Price Website

$99.95 (Approx Rs 5,000) www.muvee.com

RATINGS Ease of use Features Performance Overall Rating Value for money

The easy-to-use interface provides you with all the options required to make a movie Find it on CHIP

CD

With ‘teak muvee’ you can make the final touch-ups to your movie

74

APPLICATIONS

| TESTED

New and better

T

Multimedia

Winamp 5.12 Specifications: Windows All Price Website

Free www.winamp.com

RATINGS Ease of use Features Performance Overall Rating

Find it on CHIP

CD

his new version of Winamp has lots of new features as well as significant improvements when compared to the earlier versions. Some of the noticeable additions include a new decoder, built-in cross fader, an advanced Media Library. During the installation you are asked to select the optional components that you will would like to install as well as the media to be associated with Winamp. By default all are selected. In the Preferences option, you can enable Hotkeys to play your audio and video files with ease. The CD ripping feature here will allow you to select the encoding format of your choice. Some of the encoding formats available are accPlus Encoder v1.1; MP4 ACC v1.0. You can even choose whether you want the Classic skin or the Modern skin for Winamp.

The new features in this version of Winamp include Windows Media Video support and also support for HE-AAC MP4/ M4A files. It allows you to alter the sound through a built-in equalizer. It has also got lots of minor plug-in improvements, a vast improvement from the earlier versions. Overall, Winamp 5.12 has good new features. Most significantly, most of the bugs that existed in the previous version have been fixed. The drawbacks are that you still can’t rip and burn your CDs at the maximum speed your CD burner can offer. Also, you can’t rip your CDs to MP3s. For these tasks, you will have to purchase Winamp Pro. For: The bugs of previous versions have been fixed; additional new features. Against: For some of the features you will have to purchase Winamp PRO.

Create virtual drives

V

System Utility

Virtual CD 7.0 Specifications: Windows All Price Website

$39.95 (Approx Rs 2,000) www.virtualcd-online.com

RATINGS Ease of use Features Performance Overall Rating Value for money

Find it on CHIP

CD

irtual CD 7.0 is a software that lets you create up to 23 additional virtual CD/DVD drives. As a result, no more will you be bothered about scratched or lost disks. After you finish the installation and run the program you are presented with an array of tasks. These tasks allow you to create a virtual CD, burn a virtual CD/DVD, delete the data from a rewritable disk, etc. All these tasks are present on the interface itself. And if you are stuck anywhere in between then you can always refer to the help menu. From the Settings option you can check out the supported ISO images and if any format is missing then you can add it yourself. You can also change the default path where the virtual CDs are stored. Multiple CD applications can be accessed simultaneously. It allows you to have network access to your CD archive.

What is even more interesting is that it allows you to create unlimited number of virtual CDs. It also has better data compression. You can also organize your virtual CDs in folders. Another feature is that it allows editing of current virtual CDs with the virtual CD editor. Your virtual CDs are password protected and hence they are protected from unauthorized access. Virtual CD 7.0 enables you to perform all the tasks with relative ease. Its simple interface is particularly helpful to the novice user. The only downside is that you will need to purchase it to continue using it. For: Easy to use; simple interface; allows you to create 23 virtual drives; allows network access to your CD archive; you can also organize your Virtual CDs into folders, better data compression. Against: None. INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP | JANUARY 2006

TESTED

| APPLICATIONS

75

Very innovative

I

f you want to experience digital media in a completely new and innovative way then Nero 7 Premium is the software to get. Nero 7 Premium allows you to manage your media files, edit videos as well as compress files to take them wherever you go. Before you can install this product you will have to uninstall all previous versions of Nero on your system. After installation, you can perform many digital media projects. You can create your own DVDs, edit videos, design CD labels, etc. You can also create a back up of your entire system on CDs/DVDs. It even allows you to create slideshows from your photos and videos, and also add transitions to your music. Some of the applications included in this version are ‘Nero Home’, ‘Nero Scout’, ‘Nero Burning ROM 7’, ‘Nero Express 7’,

‘Nero Wave Editor 3’, ‘Nero Cover Designer 2’, etc. All these applications add to the features of this software. For example, With Nero Home, you can quickly access all your digital media files from your home; whereas Nero Wave Editor 3 enables surround sound editing. We have got to say that you must take home Nero 7 Premium—it’s good for both the novice as well as for the advanced user wanting to explore creative interests. Its only drawback is that in order to continue using this product you will have to purchase the retail version of the same else your wonderful experience will end in 30 days. For: Feature-rich software; easy to use; you can use it as a media player and as CD/DVD burning software. Against: System requirements on the higher side.

Multimedia

languages and you can pick it up in a matter of few hours. It also allows you to create assessments or exercises. You can also customize the score pages. Creating hyperlinks to other pages in the course happens in a jiffy. For added interactivity, it allows you to use customized buttons. It also has a wide range of supported file formats. Another feature that deserves mention is that it contains a course outline generator that creates a hierarchical content view. Overall, this application is a very good authoring tool. And what’s worth talking about is that even though you have no scripting knowledge you will be at ease using this. There’s one glitch though; it’s a bit over priced for what it offers. For: Lots of features; built-in, user-friendly templates; easy to use. Against: Expensive; you need to have .NET Framework 1.1 pre-installed.

Content Authoring

Nero 7 Premium Specifications: 1.6 GHz Pentium 4 processor or equivalent, 128 MB RAM, 600 MB of hard disk space

Price Website

$70 (Approx Rs 3,220) www.nero.com/eng/ Nero_7_Premium.html

RATINGS Ease of use Features Performance Overall Rating Value for money

Create courses in a jiffy

E

licitus is a desktop authoring tool for trainers, educators and subject matter experts. You require no programming or scripting knowledge to create courses with this software. It provides you with a wide range of question types like multiple choice, true or false, etc and different styles for navigation. It also allows you to use visually appealing layouts to create designs. With the help of a single click you can publish what you want on the web site, CDROM, or slide shows. Other features of this software are that you can make one-time changes at the master level which are then automatically reflected in the related content. This software has lots of templates and if you want, you can create your own templates also. These templates contain pre-built course navigation and display but they can be customized by you. It also supports courses in many JANUARY 2006 | INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP

Elicitus Content Publisher Specifications: Pentium III Processor or higher, 256 MB of RAM, 100 MB of free hard disk space, Windows 2000/XP, IE 5.5 or above.

Price Contact Phone E-mail

Rs 1,27, 000 Harbinger Knowledge Products 020-25284201 [email protected]

RATINGS Ease of use Features Performance Overall Rating Value for money

Created by Weta Digital, King Kong is a visual treat of awe and striking images, thanks to digital effects, doubles, animation, motion capture, etc. It doesn’t disappoint one bit

INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP | JANUARY 2006

FEATURE

T

| APPLICATIONS

77

he heady three-hour ‘Kong’ extravaganza replete with brilliant effects blended with out-of-the-world yet eerily life-like sets were created by the visual effects facility Weta Digital and accomplished applying Autodesk’s Discreet Lustre system to digitally color grade the entire film. Skull Island in itself was a marvelous creation with its larger-than-life surface of the island, contorted and misshapen flora, decayed vegetation studded with skulls and bones, menacing deep chasms spanned by rotting tree trunks, and all this crawling with hostile primitive life forms. For better handling of the visual effects the movie was broken down in three main parts—the scenes in New York, in Skull Island and finally scenes during the voyage. The deployment of the three-piecemeal approach worked perfectly as it helped teams to concentrate on each given patch of work at a time. Old photographs and images depicting New York during the Thirties were studied to re-create that era in terms of lighting and the look and flavor of the city. Similarly, frames and blueprints of the original Empire State building as well as close-ups were studied to generate a digitally rendered 3D Empire State Building and the surrounding New York cityscape. For the movie, Weta Digital increased its team from around 420 people to over 500 and created an in-house Digital Intermediate department based on Discreet Lustre’s system. The biggest challenge faced by the team was the creation of five million hair or fur on the ape’s body. Fur engines from Maya, Shave and Haircut were available, but they were just not enough to create a life-like appearance, hence Weta also created its own fur simulation software and new fur shaders that yielded, slicked and animated Kong when he moved, dealt impacts with other objects, and stirred his hair while giving it a natural feel as it caught grime and muck. Although it’s widely known that Andy Serkis played the role and expressed emotions and created life for the gorilla, much work had to be done to bring forth life and movement to the graphic anthropoid. Serkis was motion captured and his facial expressions were interpreted before mapping the data onto the 3D model, while digital doubles were created in Maya and blended with the team efforts to make Kong seem believable. Weta also employed the use of Los Angeles-based effects from Massive Software namely its AI-driven 3D animation system for more than 600 visual effects shots on King Kong, especially the scenes involving the living, breathing backdrop of activity on Manhattan and Skull Island. Crowd scenes were conjured with the help of Massive 2.0; the software was also used seamlessly in a number of sequences in tight choreography with live-action footage, actors and props. The team that used Massive elements animated 600 shots, which had

JANUARY 2006 | INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP

78

APPLICATIONS

| FEATURE

Kong in itself is a masterpiece, with five million hair and a wide range of emotions

Behind Naomi Watts is a digital rendition of the Manhattan skyline as in 1930

anywhere from 20 to thousands of digital characters in each. For the scenes set in New York, Weta Digital produced a bustling metropolis using Massive to generate cars, buses, trains, pedestrians and circa-1930s’ traffic patterns. For the fantastical Skull Island, Massive was applied when the VFX studio needed to animate birds, insects and human in large numbers. In the New York scenes, characters with the help of Massive ranged from boats, cars, buses and trains and the humans sitting in them to people on the streets reacting, falling down and running. Skull Island was an entirely invented geographic region, accomplished mainly using miniatures and lush digital work. A variety of creatures from flying insects to six-legged bugs were produced in Massive alongside bats, various birds and crowds of native peoples. Especially fascinating was creating from scratch Skull Island with a varied assortment of raptors, flying reptiles, hostile monkeys, flesh eating creepy crawlies and giant spiders. Intriguing sequences included ‘Ann’s sacrifice’, ‘Kong’s capture’ that demanded the right kind of lighting and smoky effects and this was achieved with Discreet Lustre. Senior visual effects supervisor at Weta, Joe Letteri has won numerous accolades, especially Academy Awards for visual

effects for I Robot, The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, amongst others. He used Discreet Lustre as part of the entire visual effects color grading process while making King Kong—color grading at the front end, before the computer-generated elements were added, and at the very end to grade the final images. As the elements came in, Lustre helped to work out the look for complex environments. Producing the right color and lighting were key aspects of King Kong. The filmmakers knew they had control and flexibility in the digital grading postproduction phase, which gave them more freedom while shooting. For example, when shooting took place at various times of the day, the lighting could later be corrected with Discreet Lustre to match the preferred lighting and time of the day. With five Discreet Lustre systems installed at Weta Digital, in New Zealand, digital colorists were able to explore numerous options for the film’s look. “Color Bibles” were created in the Lustre system. These Bibles contained two or three digitally color graded shots from each of the film’s scenes, establishing color references for the final color grade. The end result was a stunning, stylized film in which color greatly enhanced the viewer’s experience as establishing the right look and feel is an essential part of the story. ■ | Carol D’Costa

INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP | JANUARY 2006

COLUMN

| APPLICATIONS

79

E-LEGALITIES Top ten items that you must have on your legal checklist

T

he rapid development of the web offers many opportunities to those brave enough to seize them. Nevertheless, dangers galore. It’s important therefore for those entering the world of e-commerce to bear ten key legal principles in mind. A look at them here:

1. Mark your territory: Trading on the Internet means you’re dealing with customers worldwide. Always state that the contracts are under the Indian jurisdiction. Could you deliver to someone in some distant corner of the globe? Are you selling products on which certain jurisdictions impose strict regulations? Sometimes a “territory statement” reduces the risk of unwittingly contracting with a customer abroad, whose local laws may give him additional rights and against who it might be difficult to enforce any judgement if things go wrong.

2. Have the final say: If you allow customers to place orders online, make sure you have the final say on whether a binding contract is made. This is done by making it clear that the web site is an invitation to buy, not an offer to sell. In law, the former means a contract is formed when you accept the order, while the latter means it is formed as soon as an order is placed—so you will be bound to fulfil it. Make it clear that no binding contract exists until you send an e-mail to accept the order, confirming the goods and the price. 3. On your own terms: Ensure your standard terms and conditions are clearly displayed on your web site. Do so preferably by including links to them on each page with the “I agree” button at the end before the customers can place an order. Check that your terms deal with key matters such as payment and the extent of your delivery guarantees. JANUARY 2006 | INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP

that national trademark rights have a priority, and you will not be able to use a domain if a similar trademark is registered. Similarly, if someone is using a domain similar to your trademark, you can prevent him or her from doing so.

| Rodney D Ryder [email protected]

4. Is it secure?: Provide secure payment mechanisms such as encryption and secure arrangements with credit card companies. 5. The customer’s always right: Contracts with customers who are not buying for business purposes will be governed by consumer protection legislation. You cannot exclude some warranties relating to the nature of the goods in consumer contracts, and limits on your liability will only work if they are “reasonable”. Your site must set out information on key issues such as delivery charges, order progress and policies on returns and redress, bearing in mind that any unfair terms may be ineffective in a contract with a consumer. 6. Privacy policy: A privacy policy clearly signposted must comply with applicable data protection legislation (as per the Information Technology Act 2000). For example, a database of customers’ names and addresses must be processed in accordance with certain “Data Protection Principles”, such as collecting and processing data fairly and lawfully, keeping it up to date, keeping it secure and not transferring it abroad without relevant safeguards. 7. Domain names: Decide on a preferred domain name, check on its availability and register as soon as possible. The international domain registries recognize

8. Protecting your brand: Someone else may have registered your brand as a trademark in a different country. Although your registration will be effective in India, putting the trademark on the site may infringe that second trademark registration. This can be taken care of by making it clear on the site that you’re only targeting the Indian market. If you plan to trade internationally, clear the trademark for usage in each of your target countries and, where needed register. Reproducing third party trademarks on your site involves a significant risk of trademark infringement, so obtain the third party’s permission first. 9. Copyright: You will automatically own various copyrights for your site. Unless sites state that you can use their material freely, you can’t infringe upon their rights. Hotlinks too may infringe third party copyright, so it’s best to obtain consent for the proposed use. All links should be checked regularly to ensure they still work and that the content of the linked site is still appropriate. 10. Chatting online: Many companies offer online chat rooms and blogs, allowing you to post comments on their servers. The courts have recently decided that the owner of a server is responsible for the content on his web site. You could therefore find yourself liable to a third party for defamation because of comments made via an online chat facility. ■ 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]

80

APPLICATIONS

| INFOGRAPHIC

Voice Calls for a Song I

f you’ve never heard of Voice over IP (VoIP), you’re missing out on a cool technology. Especially if you have family and friends outside your home town, this is a technology that enables you to make phone calls to their land lines or computers at little or no cost. Yes, depending upon the VoIP method you opt for, costs could range from a fraction of what your phone provider is charging you all the way to being totally free! And you needn’t invest in too much new hardware—if you have a broadband connection and a computer at home, all you’d need is to supplement it with a headset, a microphone, some software and you’re ready to start making phone calls at deliciously low rates! VoIP uses a different approach to voice transmission as compared to traditional telephone lines. With the former, your telephone instrument is connected to other telephones through a network of copper lines, local exchanges, international exchanges, satellites etc. Through it all, the mode of transmission of voice is via electrical signals. This network is not to be confused with the Internet—it is a completely different network altogether. In the case of VoIP, the network used is not your telephone network, but the Internet itself. The voice information transmitted is first converted into a series of digital ‘packets’ that are eventually transmitted through the Internet in much the same way as information is transmitted while you are surfing through Internet web sites. With this approach, since you already have your Internet connection at home, you are not paying anything extra for using voice capability. VoIP therefore ‘piggy-backs’ voice on your existing Internet line. Obviously, the faster your Internet connection, the higher will be the voice quality. There are three scenarios that VoIP can be used in, depending upon the device used at the source and destination.

PC-to-PC Connection

1

PC User

PC-to-Phone Connection

1

PC to PC: In this method, all you need at both ends of the phone calls is a computer with appropriate VoIP software installed (Skype, MSN Messenger and Yahoo Messenger are software that offer voice capabilities). Using this method, since the call initates and ends on computers connected to the Internet, there are no additional costs—you are only paying what you are for your Internet connection and nothing more.

2

PC User

Phone-to-Phone Connection

2

PC to Phone: If you are using a PC and need to make a call to a remote land line, the situation gets a bit more complicated. Since your voice call needs to be routed from the Internet to conventional telephone networks, end-users are charged for the fees involved. Therefore, this method is slightly costlier than the first.

Adapter

3

Phone to phone: Since telephone instruments are used at both ends of the call, the service has to be tied in very closely to your Internet service provider. These days, this method is still fledgling as there aren’t many service providing inherent voice capabilities with their Internet packages. | Marco D’Souza

3

Phone User INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP | JANUARY 2006

INFOGRAPHIC

| APPLICATIONS

81

Set yourself free from costly phone bills—using a voice communication technology called Voice over IP (VoIP), you can make and receive voice calls using your existing broadband connection. Let’s take a peek at what makes this exciting technology so useful and accessible to consumers

Internet

PC User

PSTN

Free of Cost

Phone User

Internet

Costs a little

PSTN Internet

Service Provider

Costs more Pramod Jadhav

JANUARY 2006 | INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP

Pramod Jadhav

Real vs Reel What we see is not often what it is. What you see on reel as against what is shot in reality is possible because of visual effects. And what with the industry maturing now, the opportunity to explore career options in this arena is immense

R

emember Russel Crowe in The Beautiful Mind looking out of his window and scribbling figures all over it? You must have also noticed a change in the timeline soon after. Subtle, yet admittedly assertive, visual effects made that scene possible. Cut to eerie Gollum staring you in the face, and emitting his hisses in Lord of the Rings III. The above mentioned are two of the many such scenes and sequences where visual effects have played a key role in enhancing the subject of the film or suggesting a transition in period or in simply entertaining. Now that was a bit about Hollywood. But Bollywood isn’t lagging behind. Though, earlier on, touching up films digitally was almost unthinkable, today it’s a different story. With the adoption of technology, Indian film producers today have more control over the budget, and the final look and feel. The post-production process here in India has evolved with global trends and the infrastructure and equipment used are at par with what’s available abroad. Digital Intermediate for full-length feature films is a comparatively new process and Indian films are making full use of this technology. DI has added a range of

film styling options as well visualizing options, unimaginable in the analog domain. The most recent films to have used DI are Black, The Rising, Chocolate and the just released Vaah! Life Ho Toh Aisi. Imagine if Black wouldn’t have that dreamy look, largely made possible by DI, combined with Autodesk’s Discreet Lustre and Smoke (two applications that enable these effects), all the old world charm of the movie dating to a past era would have been lost. While Lustre makes it possible to design new looks and color grade, Smoke manages with finesse all the finishing tasks. Applications like Smoke, Lustre, Fire, Flame, Combustion, etc have added more creative capabilities to the cinematographer and simplified many complicated tasks. The market’s changing undoubtedly, and the rising demand for visual effects in advertising, feature films, and slowly television is throwing up a lot of opportunities for the young and the talented. There’s no dearth of talent around; what’s lacking is awareness and visibility. But now since the industry is showing prospects of growing rapidly, visual effects artists have a lot INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP | JANUARY 2006

to look forward to. It’s a world market everyone’s looking at now. Bollywood films are not being made keeping only the Indian audience in mind but the global audience at large. So even if our industry has not grown out of the tried and tested formula for filmmaking with the same old storylines, the approach has definitely changed. Scenes are futuristically conceived and shot and then processed. Coupled with that, there’s a new breed of filmmakers doing away with run-of-themill stuff and experimenting with new subjects. Hence, the scope to explore in the special effects arena is huge. What’s worth mentioning here is the just emerged although not yet arrived animation industry in India. Our homegrown animation wonder, Hanuman, is the first of its kind animation film with an epical subject backing it; its success is a clear indication of the fact that the future holds good for the industry and for the people working for it.

VFX demystified Post-production experts we spoke to, while talking about the artist’s dependence on applications, helped us delve deep into the world of effects by giving real examples. Merzin Tavaria, Visual Effects Supervisor and Creative Director at Prime Focus, says it was three years back when a film (Qayamat) was DI processed in India for the first time. Other than DI, Qayamat included pure CG work such as designing environment props like aircraft, all of which was done on 3D with the help of Autodesk’s 3ds Max software. Only 20 percent of the film included visual effects. So it’s definitely been a long way since then. One of the very recent films, No Entry (Prime Focus) used special effects to JANUARY 2006 | INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP

overcome issues of production as well as artist safety. One sequence in the film required the three lead actors to hang from a cliff side with a rocky beach below. Shooting a scene like this would endanger the lives of the artists. So the sequence was shot in a location with the actors hanging, suspended with cables at a height of only a few feet. Plates of rocks and the sea were shot separately. A new background was created using these plates complete with rocks at a distance of a few hundred meters, and a totally new shoreline to enhance the effect of the waves crashing on the rocks below. Discreet Smoke enabled the smart compositing behind the scene which was convincingly dangerous. Discreet Smoke is an all-in-one integrated creative editing and finishing system, offering HD to 2K scalability and unmatched speed. The system provides compositors the flexibility to edit media at any resolution, aspect ratio and frame rate in a single timeline, to mix them in compositions and then to master in any desirable output format. Even a movie like Mujhse Shaadi Karogi (can you think of special effects in a “girlmeet-boy” kind of a film?) included special effects. The scene depicting six Akshay Kumars fighting a single Salman Khan, says Merzin, was shot using Milo Motion Control Rig. In very simple terms, tis is like a computerized crane which enables you to repeat certain camera moves a number of times. It can also perform complicated tasks like scaling down a move for shooting miniatures. In this particular scene, each Akshay was shot as a separate layer on a green screen and all of them were later composited using Smoke. Remember the Matrix? It’s interesting to know that in the past when double-role sequences were shot,

the camera had to be locked in one place when doing the various layer shots. But Milo gives the director of photography a lot of freedom to plan shots the way he wants to. One of the most popular ads on television, the Toyota Innova, which shows several Aamir Khans inside the car, in the getups of the roles he has played in the past was shot in a similar fashion. And might as you think, Aamir wasn’t sitting in the car against the backdrop of the beautiful locales as shown in the ad. He was simply doing his job in the studio with a flat green background. Roads and the amazing landscape were shot separately and then visual effects artists displayed their acumen by joining them together and then compositing beautifully on Smoke. The visual appeal in the ad showing Jackie Chan flying on a bike was possible after color correction was done through telecine on a Spirit 4K system, and further

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]

86

APPLICATIONS

| FEATURE enhanced by Smoke. The latest in the list of digitally enhanced films from Prime Focus’ bag is Sanjay Gupta’s Vaah! Life Ho To Aisi. The entire film has been shot on high definition. Life Ho to Aisi is one of the heaviest projects handled by PF so far. About 65-70 minutes in the film constitute VFX. The promos of the film showing Sanjay Dutt flying through the clouds is currently on air. And if you’re wondering if those are real clouds, think again! The clouds were created in 3D Maya, after which the lead characters were composited on them with the help of Smoke. The illusory look created for Shahid Kapoor, who plays the ghost in the film, was particularly challenging because of the sheer number of shots, over 650 or so. Frame cutting of mattes for the characters, with the ‘glow’ effect along with a moving texture and smoke particles enabled by Adobe After Effects and Particle Illusion, added the eerie look to the scenes. As each shot had a different lighting pattern, maintaining it for all the shots was a difficult task. Rajiv Raghunathan, Sr Line Producer at EFX, avows the importance of high-performance systems like Arri Laser film recorder, 4K Spirit and 4K Oxberry scanners, indispensable to most post-production houses, and which EFX constantly depends on for all DI projects. A couple of the most recently concluded Indian and foreign projects completed at EFX Studios include Taj Mahal, Blood Sucker (English), Anniyan (Tamil), Ghajini (Tamil), The Shooting Gallery (English), Athadu (Telugu). Other projects nearing completion include Forest, I Not Stupid Too and Shot of Love. As the amount of VFX work in films is increasing by the day, it’s important that artists’ time is saved—hence the need for applications that can work faster. Prime Focus is the postproduction house, claims Autodesk, that has the highest number of Autodesk systems. Future projects with heavy DI and VFX work include Harry Baweja’s Love Story 2050—a completely futuristic project. Prime Focus is excited with the amount of work they would have to put in a project of this magnitude. Also expected from Pixion’s bag is a Ram Gopal Verma film that is supposed to include a completely “digital environment” song. Pixion refused to talk much of it but what it would effectively include is a lot of compositing shots. At the Pixion studios, resolution independent software like Smoke 6.7 and Flame 9 at the Pixion editing suite allow a far superior level

| Visit Prime Focus http://primefocus.co.in/v2/home.html Tel: (022) 56925000 Pixion http://www.pixion.tv/ Tel: (022) 55076607 EFX http://efxmagic.com/ Tel: (022) 28259622/3/4/5 of compositing and detailing. The final output we see on screen is basically the execution of complicated effects on latest versions of Flame, Smoke, Shake (with a wide range of specialized plugins), combined with the distinct advantage of working on high-resolution. Spirit 4K Datacine enables scanning the image up to 4K resolution (which means you upscale the image size to play with detail), even for an SD output, after which again it’s downscaled to 2K. Also, now with real time transfer of rushes from telecine to the centralized digital storage, the process of transferring data from film to tape is eliminated. So it’s more work in less time. India has opened up as an offshore market for foreign projects. A lot of post-production work is done here for foreign films. The reason is of course quality at lower costs. And the trend is bound to pick up, considering the pace at which the industry is moving. Working in this direction are companies like Autodesk in collaboration with Zee Institude of Media Arts, imparting specialized training in the usage of applications for compositing. Athough the future is full of opportunities, VFX specialists point out an acute lack of technicians in the industry. And what with this industry growing, the dearth of programmers will be felt very soon. “If we want to call the shots, we better have our own programmers creating software for our projects, failing which we will be known as just another BPO, doing only secondlevel work thrown at us by the West, says Rajeev Joseph, VFX supervisor at Pixion Studios. Solutions enable film production from the stage when ideas are germinated to the final color graded frame. But these solutions are after all only tools in the hands of the creative minds. It’s up to the artists to use them the way they want to. After all, it’s the human mind that is the key to making optimum use of these tools and their capabilities. ■ | Sharmistha Dey INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP | JANUARY 2006

Dinesh Desai

Building independence Technology for the physically disabled is slowly beginning to be taken seriously in India with the development of more and more specialized applications and hardware

B

eing physically challenged doesn’t necessarily mean not being able to achieve what is seemingly impossible. Over the years we have been witness to unimaginable feats achieved by the physically challenged. So feeling at home with technology is just another step in this process. After all, if everyone else around us can become tech savvy, there’s no reason why the disabled should be left behind. The first attempt towards making this possible here in India has been taken by the Council for Indian School Certificate Examination (CISE). This year, the Council has taken the decision to enable physically challenged students to develop technical skills by encouraging the use of computers using special teaching and learning aids. Therefore, students who are challenged with vision impairment, dyslexia (learning disability) and dysgraphia (writing disability) will now be able to interact with a fair amount of technology—a sector that might have thus far been alien to them. Although there are several decisions

JANUARY 2006 | INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP

that need to be taken along this road, this initiative is expected to open a window of opportunities for future developments. One of the many NGOs in this field is Educare, which has been active in spreading awareness relating to children suffering from dyslexia. In their first workshop in the year 1999, conducted on dyslexic students, it was illustrated that such children can lead a normal life if only their learning problems can be solved. Richard Wanderman, an education technology consultant from New Preston, and a dyslexic himself, conducted the workshop and pointed out the fact that digital writing tools can help in overcoming the hurdles experienced due to dyslexia. The digital writing tool is similar to a normal keyboard, with an additional display unit to reproduce text clearly, concisely and in a bigger font size for the user. This can be easily attached to a computer and can be used seamlessly with Windows and Linux applications. Habitat Learning Center (HLC), another NGO working in this sphere, has

emphasized the usage of text-to-speech software, which is highly user specific and which also provides a fairly high level of independence to the user. The technology behind software like this (known as Assistive or Adaptive Technology) has the potential to enhance a child’s ability to communicate, learn, move around and play. HLC also highlighted how devices like roller balls, mouth sticks, head sticks and joysticks have the ability to break barriers for all those challenged with hand mobility. The mouth stick, aptly named, is a device that the user can clutch at with the help of his teeth and tap at the other end of the stick to type on the keyboard. The Systems Development Laboratory (SDL) of the Science and Engineering Department of IIT Madras, also developed a particular software for the purpose of teaching the use of computers to those who don’t speak English. The same was extended with features to make it suitable for the visually handicapped. The software can read out text which are created and edited in it, in several Indian languages

88

APPLICATIONS

| FEATURE

A text-to-speech reader software to assist the visually handicapped to listen to what they have typed including Hindi, Gujarati, Punjabi, Bengali, Oriya, Telugu, Kannada, Tamil, Malayalam and of course English. It can also read electronic books. Interestingly, as it can read instructional designs, school or college text books are converted into e-books by using this software (developed by IIMT) thus enabling the visually handicapped to study them easily. Apart from this, the software has been built in a way that it can deliver printouts in Bharati Braille (the adaptation of the six-dot system for Indian languages). Above all, the software also has a talking web browser to assist the user in browsing web sites. What it basically does is culls out only textual information (filtering out all visuals with the help of ‘Betsie’—a technology used for this purpose). The software has a unique feature of generating phonetically correct audio feedback, claims Kalyana Krishnan, a professor at IITM. Another NGO working in this domain is Asha. It started its crusade for enabling physically challenged children to lead normal lives during the year 1991. Asha http://www.postmaster.co.in

Scalable Engineered to handle the demands of hundreds of users, simultaneously. And at remarkably low TCO. 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]

started out by formulating a discussion forum of a student research group. Today, it works as a support system for specialized schools for children suffering from disabilities like cerebral palsy, visual impairment, hearing impairment, slow learning capabilities and the likes. In one of their projects for blind children, Asha rendered its support in the form of Braille Production Unit, capable of transforming textbook characters to Braille characters. This unit consists of a scanner, a computer, a translation software and a Braille printer. Asha’s goal was to increase the conversion ratio of characters translated into Braille. Traditionally, when it was done by Braille typewriters, the conversion ratio was a mere two to three text-book characters per second to Braille characters. However, things changed rapidly with the use of technology—it is now possible to convert 50 text-book characters per second into Braille characters. Although ample projects have been floated to integrate technology seamlessly into the daily lives of the challenged, many have not been implemented so far. In fact, the pilot project spearheaded by Habitat Learning Center died a premature death primarily due to lack of funds. Whatever significant little has been achieved in this sphere has been mainly for the visually impaired. Nothing noticeable has been done to develop specific technology for those who suffer from learning or writing disabilities. CISE’s new regulation allowing the physically challenged to use computers at board examinations is indeed innovative. “The council has been concerned about the difficulties faced by the differently abled since a long time”, stated Ms Rita Wilson, secretary to the board. “It was 1993 when, for the first time, a public announcement was made stating that candidates suffering from dyslexia would be given special consideration in the ICSE and ISC examinations,” she added. At present, the council permits extra hours, a reader and a writer to be physically present wherever required for such students. This would naturally alienate the candidate in an examination room.

A Braille printer that helps the visually handicapped to read After spending careful time and effort to find out the core ability areas of the handicapped, the council arrived at the conclusion that such children are more comfortable with computers and the decision has been taken to allow PCs to be used in examinations. These are not specially designed computers but regular PCs running on Pentium 3 processors. The software asking questions to the visually impaired during examinations will be developed not only for Windows but also for the Linux platform. This software, confirms Ms Wilson, will be highly user friendly. Since this is the first step taken in the direction, the council has decided to continue with their tradition of providing a reader or writer in case a student finds it uncomfortable to use the PC. The board has also taken up the responsibility to provide structured guidance to schools in terms of grooming students, since writing an examination paper with the help of a PC would need reasonable amount of practice. Looking to the future, the National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro Sciences (NIHAMS) has already defined their vision to explore solutions for the mentally challenged children. Research is being done on fringe sciences such as stem cell research and gene chip applications. The correlation between a processor and the human brain is being closely studied and research is in progress to create applications that could one day enable embedded processors to supplement the non-functioning parts of the human brain. With technology headed in this direction, the day where the challenged become champions is probably close than we can imagine. ■ | Pradosh Mitra INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP | JANUARY 2006

90

APPLICATIONS

| FEATURE

Search specialists A look at the popular desktop-search tools and how they stack up

L

ocating information on the Internet is no longer a big deal. Yahoo and Google solved that. That’s why you longer search for info, you just Google it. But there’s a plethora of information lying on our desktops that is insanely difficult to make sense of. Remember how frustrated you got when you were looking for that excel sheet with the expense calculation? ‘Find’ files and folders in Windows does not help. So creating search functionality for desktop use is required. Most tools specializing in desktop search started off as search engines for the Net and are still rough around the edges but the battle has only just begun. Desktop search is about three things: locating data, locating it fast and presenting it in the most intuitive and user-friendly way possible. For the first two, we need to index (see box) by mining data from all information available on our PCs—browser histories, emails, documents, media files and even chat archives. For the third, we are still in the learn-and-develop mode. Searching is only half of it. The information needs to be displayed in a way that makes sense and retrieval easy. Here’s a look at six of the best desktop search utilities available for Windows. If you are a Mac user, check out ‘Spotlight’ shipped with Mac OS X Tiger. And yes, five of them are free.

Yahoo Desktop Search Yahoo took the easy way out by licensing tested, industry-grade search technology from X1 (www. x1.com) and giving it away for free. X1 retails for approximately US $75. Called Yahoo Desktop Search (YDS), this avatar of X1 has most of the features as

The Natural Language Query feature lets you ask any question you want

the original. It uses an award winning on-the-fly indexing technology that supports a whopping 300+ file types. Check out the entire list at http://desktop. yahoo.com/filetypes. The interface features two toolbars and two panes below them. Toolbar one lets you select content type such as e-mail, attachments, contacts, etc. Toolbar two lets you type in the query and/or refine your search. Simplistic and no-frills—that’s the YDS interface. YDS also ships with a Deskbar for quick searches where you just type in a query in the text-box. Strangely, the default type is email though you can change that in the menu. Index file size is quite small—50 MB compared to Google Desktop’s 240 MB (on my rig). YDS’ main drawback is that it doesn’t categorize results by context and relevancy which can be a pain at times. Also, the main X1 features not present in YDS are support for Eudora and Mozilla email clients, the ability to index offline PST files in Outlook, and support for indexing remote drives on a LAN. Price: Free Homepage: http://desktop.yahoo.com

MSN Desktop Suite If Google is doing it, Microsoft can’t be far behind. MSN Desktop Search (MDS) is a part of the MSN Desktop Suite which runs on XP. It uses XP’s indexing service. Go to Start > Search > Files or Folders > Change preferences > Indexing service. Using IFilters that allow indexing multiple file formats, Microsoft attains amazing customization abilities. MDS by default supports email, contacts, HTML files, MS Office documents, Windows media files, images, favorites and shortcuts. The only thing

The interface is colorful, has large and bold icons and is extremely intuitive

Two words to describe Google desktop: simplicty and smart technology INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP | JANUARY 2006

FEATURE

missing is web history. The easiest way to use MDS is the Deskbar. Type in the query and the most relevant results pop up in a translucent box just above the bar. It searches everything by default and groups them up by type. Press enter and you reach the results window that looks just like IE. Price: Free Homepage:http://desktop.msn.com

Ask Jeeves Desktop Search Remember Ask Jeeves? They were the first search engine letting you ask a question in the form of a statement. Called ‘natural language query’, the result even returned other related questions. Their own tool—Ask Jeeves Desktop Search (AJDS)— developed in-house, is not ready yet. Unlike the others, AJDS does not have a deskbar. It sports the familiar toolbar and a two-pane interface. Current indexing supports MS Office documents, Outlook email, images, music, video and favorites. There’s neither PDF support, nor web history. AJDS is about to release great support for Firefox, Thunderbird and OpenOffice documents, which would help them score over most of the competition simply due to the size of the user community. Price: Free Homepage: http://sp.ask.com/docs/ desktop/index.html

| Indexing Indexing is the process of building a database. Indexing creates a table of contents for your disk. The index database consists of: Location: File and folder names. Meta Data: Like titles, authors, date of creation, comments, etc. Type: Contents of files and related files. The first task of the search tool after installation is to index the entire storage medium (in most cases the user’s hard drive). Once that’s done, search is conducted on the index thus saving the time taken to run thorugh the entire disk. by your desktop. Like its web brother, GDS is lightning fast. Current index support includes email (Outlook, Outlook Express, Thunderbird and Netscape), AIM sessions, web history (IE, Firefox and Netscape), plain text, MS Office documents, PDFs, music, etc.. Plus, a wide range of plug-ins (http:// desktop.google.com/plugins.html) let you add more types like OpenOffice documents to the list. Deskbar is included. Like Google web, GDS also maintains a cache apart from the index. So you actually have access to document revisions as well. Price: Free Homepage: http://desktop.google.com

Copernic Desktop Search Google Desktop Do you know when you install Google Desktop (GDS), it actually installs and runs a web-server also with a indexing service in the background. So the familiar Google homepage that you see when you invoke GDS from the system tray is actually hosted

Copernic Desktop Search (CDS) is awesome due to two reasons. One, the beautiful interface . And two, it doesn’t proceed before you provide it a file type to search from the eight choices (emails, files, music, videos, pictures, contacts, favorites and web history). It returns more focused results. You

View file contents without the original application in which the file was created

Type in the query in the Deskbar and the results pop up in a translucent box

JANUARY 2006 | INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP

| APPLICATIONS

91

can define the files to be assigned with each of the eight categories. Use the deskbar for query or the main interface which can be invoked from the system tray. Advanced index settings let you know when and what to index, what not to index, throw out the current and make a new one. This is surely the winner. Price: Free Homepage: http://www.copernic.com/

ISYS:Desktop The only commercial tool here, ISYS:Desktop (ISD) is a power-packed enterprise desktop search application. Features include natural language, time limited searches, on-thefly categorization and results clustering, excellent linguistic support, result filtering and a knowledge warehouse. We can’t look at all of them but ISYS:desktop 7 supports more than 30 foreign languages and 140 file formats, including Microsoft Office documents, Internet Cache (IE, Firefox, Netscape), PDF, Outlook PST, Flash (SWF), CHM, ASCII, ZIP, email, attachments, HTML, XML, IFilters and more. You can view file contents without the original application in which the file was created; search in various ways. Interesting features include the ‘Word Wheel’ which are searches made with keywords that “sounds like” or “starts with”. You can attach hyperlinks, text notes or graphical annotations to your indexed documents without modifying the original documents. No wonder it’s not free. Download a 14-day trial or buy a license from their web site. Price: Starts at US $1,000. Homepage:www.isys-search.com ■ | Raunak Roy

Yahoo Desktop’s indexing technology supports more than 300 file types

It’s aLIVE! Microsoft has been busy this year—going Live. They have harnessed the Internet to make their services more accessible to those who are always on the move

H

ow often have you felt like a fish out of water every time you work out of office on an alien machine in some hotel’s ‘Business Center’? How about the times you realize you are working on a machine which does not even have a text editor like Microsoft Word installed? You wish you owned a notebook, right? Well, if you have access to the Internet very soon you might not need the notebook. You will just need to go Live! Microsoft has launched quite a few new products this year and have plans to launch more next year. They hope their new services will increase the ease of use of their products —irrespective of a user’s location—assuring security at the same time. Something similar to having a ‘roaming profile’ in a Windows network, Microsoft has come up with a roaming profile that is available to a user online. Widening the boundaries of your workspace—that’s what they seem to be trying to achieve with their latest offering Windows Live. Before Windows Live came about, Microsoft had created a site called Start.com. Now, many view Microsoft’s Start.com to be an act of leveling up to Google’s personalized page—Google IG. There are features that are extremely similar like a drag-and-drop interface and displaying RSS news feeds. This isn’t too new a feature since My Yahoo has been providing more or less the same functions for ages now, but without web technologies which

Live.com: News feeds, personal links and mail—all one page

Drag ‘n’ Drop: Customize the layout of your page on Live.com

are used to provide such services. Microsoft and Google use AJAX (Asynchronous JavaScript and XML), used to create interactive web applications. Microsoft has concentrated on providing more than what is being offered already with its Live project, making it more personalized, smarter, more accessible, more secure and more fun to work with. In addition to a personalized web page (which, if you have been using the Internet regularly for a year or two, isn’t something that’s radically new) there are products that allow you to stay in touch with your colleagues constantly and also have your Office applications tag along with you all over the place. Microsoft’s Live.com is in its Beta stage as of now and is still going through iterations, trying to improve on existing features and include support for third-party web browsers. Some of their services are available for trial use (some services require you to sign up and some require you to download content). As always, there are two clear categories in which these services are being offered—desktop and enterprise. Live.com web site’s facilities are free and primarily meant for desktop users while the Live Communications Server 2005 caters to the needs of an enterprise that requires its employees to stay connected to one another as often as possible. It is quite obvious from all of this that these

Edit Favorites: Store and edit your Favorites online on Live Beta INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP | JANUARY 2006

FEATURE

services are not ‘box packs’ you can buy and work on. These are web solutions that require you to have an Internet connection. Let’s take a tour of all the services the Redmond brigade has in store for an end user and a corporate junkie who can’t do without his notebook or his handheld.

The Live Search for mobile devices allows you to run a search from a web-enabled handheld. The service is in Beta and as of now works on phones that are WAP 2.0 and HTML capable. Just type in http://mobile. msn.com/ search on your phone and use Microsoft’s Live Search to get your answers.

Windows Live Lounge Live.com

Windows Local

Live.com, as mentioned earlier, came about after Start.com—a web site that can be personalized to your needs—be it news feeds, favorites sites, weather forecasts, mail—all on the same page that can be arranged in multiple ways. Basically, it is like a one-stop page you would visit, which contains content and sites of your choice. All this is possible with the help of ‘components’ that will eventually make up Windows Live. All of the features in Windows Live are not active while the rest are in Beta. They are, however, up for trial for anyone who owns a Hotmail account (certain components might require an add-in to be downloaded too). All you need to do is sign in and follow the instructions if an installation is required. What regular MSN Mail users will find useful is the fact that you can view your inbox side by side with your news feeds, favorites, etc. on the same page. It intends to allow users to create their mail accounts and make it appear like working on Outlook.

Windows Live Search for Mobile Devices Search has been a hot topic ever since the big ‘G’ got all the glory with its web and desktop tools. Microsoft was not to be left behind in this category either.

Live Local: Microsoft’s answer to Google Earth, powered by Virtual Earth JANUARY 2006 | INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP

| APPLICATIONS

93

given but it’s not seen throughout the Live services.

Windows Live Safety Center and OneCare Live

This might not be of any interest to everyone because it’s Local referring to America only. But it’s still interesting to know that Microsoft has launched Live Local (using Virtual Earth), a map service for directions—save them, mark them or just enjoy looking at the “Bird’s Eye” images.

If everything is going to be on the Internet then it has to be secure. Live Safety Center is a free virus scanning utility that tries to keep your computer free of viruses. A ‘scanner’ needs to be downloaded (these downloads are basically ActiveX components). One Care Live is a PC health service that runs on your PC constantly making sure that it’s up to date and prepared to defend against any virus or spyware intrusions.

Windows Live Mail, Messenger and Favorites

Live Communications Server 2005 and Office Communicator 2005

Right now, as mentioned earlier, Hotmail users can check out Live Mail by just signing into the Live.com web site. Beta users can use Live Mail to create e-mail accounts and access them from anywhere around the world. The interface is meant to look like Microsoft’s popular e-mail clients with features like ‘live spell check’ (checks spelling as you type a mail). Live Messenger is a web messenger for all those who work on machines that don’t have the latest MSN installed and don’t want to waste bandwidth updating it. This is going to be one popular service! Live Favorites is quite simple and can be tried out. http://favorites.live.com/ is where you can add all your bookmarks and even import what you have already saved on your computer. It has a very simple interface but is functional only in IE 6.0 —support for Firefox and Opera 9 has been

Live Communications Server 2005 is meant for the corporate guys who need to stay connected to one another irrespective of the place they work out of. This is done with the help of LCS 2005 that enables employees to share and work over a network or over the Internet in real time with the help of Live Meeting and Live Messenger (providing security without the need for virtual private networks). This is a powerful product, which integrates with an older Messenger version (5.1) and includes enhanced support for spam over IM (SPIM). The Office Communicator 2005 is a client-side add-in that extends functionality to the Messenger interface allowing employees to make voice and video calls over the Internet to telephones.

Communicator 2005: Yahoo, MSN and AOL can be used to keep employees connected

Office and XBox Live When Office Live will be available all you will need is a license (there are different types depending on your requirements) and an Internet connection. After that you can work from any machine on documents or projects and easily share them with colleagues. Gamers have not been ignored—XBox Live includes real-time communication (voice/ video messaging) with your gaming brethren and downloads. This is niche in India as XBox is still not available here but most of the Live services like Mail and Messenger (which will offer telephony services similar to Skype) seem to be worth the wait. ■ | Ashutosh Desai

A spanking new version of Mandriva is included in the CHIP DVD. Read on to find out why it’s worth the install

L

inux users might be aware that Mandriva, until February this year, was known as Mandrake Linux. MandrakeSoft merged with a Brazil-based Linux vendor known as Conectiva SA to form ‘Mandriva’. It allowed them to create a better distribution for users by using the best of both companies. In July, Mandriva went on to acquire yet another company, Lycoris—a desktop linux distribution maker based in the US. Mandriva has followed up its mergers with its new distribution a few months ago—Mandriva Linux 2006. This distribution comes in various versions; each one is a result of their merger with Conectiva (Mandriva PowerPack) and Lycoris (Mandriva Discovery/Lx). We have included the free version of Mandriva Linux 2006 on the CHIP DVD this month and hence the review is based on the very same version. This version does not include proprietary applications like Real Player, Flash, etc. So you will have to take the effort to download and install these applications when the need arises.

Installation The CHIP DVD contains three CD ISO images of Mandriva Linux 2006. Mandriva supports Pentium, AMD (including Celeron and Sempron) processors, requires at least 128 MB RAM (more is better) and 4 GB of hard disk space for a full install. The distribution provided on the DVD is meant for system based on the Intel architectre. Since CD images have been provided, you can

The menu structure almost touched the far side of the 19-inch monitor!

Accessing a network share from Konqueror - KDE’s file explorer

work without a DVD drive but the installation will be slower. Installing the distribution will require at least an hour of your time if you are new to this sort of thing. If you going to install Mandriva on a hard drive containing Windows you should defrag your partitions before the installation. Initially, I used a machine that has a SiS-based Gigabyte board with 256 MB RAM, a 80 GB hard disk, a DVD drive and a 19-inch Samsung monitor. A number of questions are asked prior to the creation of partitions, which are useful and allow you to create partitions manually, automate the process or resize them for the installation. The only hitch is the way you have to allot space for each partition (root, usr, swap, etc) – it measures the size in terms of “cylinders”. It could have just been shown as percentages or in Megabytes/Gigabytes. That is a constant grouch of mine with any distribution. You can also create a partition in FAT32; this is useful when you want to dump common files for multiple operating systems. Package installation is divided into Workstation, Server and Graphic Environments. There is not much to choose from but make sure you select the package related to the Samba client if your computer is part of a network. KDE 3.4 is the default desktop environment that will be installed – GNOME 3.10 (the latest version is 3.12) is another one of the options available. I went with the KDE interface, chose all the Workstation packages and stuck to the Server

Configure the Software Media Manager for downloads INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP | JANUARY 2006

FEATURE

Various audio/video formats played right out of the box

package defaults. After the packages are installed onto the newly created partitions, the boot loader screen is displayed. If you have a Windows operating system, make sure you choose to install the boot loader on the Master Boot Record (MBR). The options could have been accompanied with a few explanatory lines like in the Red Hat installation. Once the boot loader is installed, new users are created and a root password is set. Mandriva presented a list of all the hardware that it detected. You can even configure each of these components further, if required. I configured the network interface and the proxy easily. You can only get to set the FTP and HTTP proxies. There is no option to add a SOCKS proxy. I continued to work on the Graphics card settings and tweaked around with the resolutions and refresh rates. All the components were detected correctly. Even the audio was detected and could be configured to drive 5-channel audio (the integrated audio on the board supported surround sound). Once I was content with the rest of the configurations, the installation proceeded to finish, rebooted and I finally reached the KDE desktop.

Post Installation Some of the new features included in this distribution are the Kat desktop search tool and an interactive firewall. Kat is a useful indexed search tool, which needs to be configured to index specific folders. By default, the Home folder is indexed by the tool. In the beginning there isn’t much to search for in the Home folder.The interactive firewall is helpful when you JANUARY 2006 | INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP

Mandriva’s new indexing tool - Kat Catalog Browser

need pop-up alerts to inform you about anything that tries to access your machine or port. I found the KDE menu in Mandriva to be quite convoluted. Going through four menus to reach a particular app is not fun. The Mandriva Linux Control Center is where you can configure your computer’s hardware as well as install packages with the Software Media Manager. I was not able to use Mandriva’s Update feature until I configured the proxy in the Software Media Manager—extra effort. In the office suite, an OpenOffice Writer 1.1.5 is provided while the latest one available is 2.0. At least, a 2.0 Beta should have been included since the older versions of OpenOffice are not worth using at all. Internet browsing is handled by Mozilla Firefox 1.0.6 while KMail is the mail client on KDE. I was not able to access network shares out of the box. I struggled with the network configurations in the Control Center and with the Samba client tools. Nothing worked until I logged in as root and edited one of the Samba config files. Even though I could access network shares, it would not show any machines on the network in Konqueror (the file browser). I had to manually type the machine name in the location bar. (I never had to do all this in SuSE or Fedora). Mandriva has decent support for external storage like thumb drives and digital cameras too. It even mounts the Windows partitions by default. The best thing about this distribution is that it played different audio/video formats without the need to install any additional libraries. AmaroK 1.3.1 played

| APPLICATIONS

95

Changing Samba settings did not help in accessing network shares

MP3 as well as WMA formats without any problems. Kaffiene 0.7 accepted MOV, DivX and WMV files without a fuss. This is what a desktop user looks for—something that works right out of the box. Mandriva Linux seems to be perfect for a desktop user in spite of the ‘extended’ menu structure. it has some exhaustive configuration settings for a user to fiddle with. The update manager needs a little getting used to when you need to install additional software. Like the download managers in other distributions the Media Manager (YAST, Yum, Synaptic) configured to access different sites/mirrors for downloads. Mandriva Linux 2006 did not hog resources and worked comfortably on the basic machine I used. It makes for a good multimedia solution because it can play so many formats and nothing beats a bit of entertainment while working your way around a Linux distribution. ■ | Ashutosh Desai

http://www.postmaster.co.in

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

96

Dr. CHIP Windows Power Options

Hands on

Din

esh

Des

ai

Q> I use Windows XP and my cabinet has the Power button and the Reset button. If I press the Power button once, Windows XP shuts down! My cabinet is placed in such a way that my knee keeps bumping into this button, shutting my computer down all the time. I do not want to change the cabinet’s position due to space restrictions. Is there anything I can do? Do you think this is happening because some wires have become loose? -Sam No, you have not knocked anything loose. If you had, Windows would not have shut down properly and on restart it would have started running a disk check. The problem you’re facing is due to Windows’ default power management configuration. Windows shuts down whenever the power button is pressed on the PC cabinet or the keyboard (if it has those extra keys for power down, hibernate, etc). This can be extremely annoying but it’s meant to simplify the switch off process. Nevertheless since you find it bothersome,

| 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

you can easily disable this in Windows XP. Click on Start | Control Panel and click on Power Maintenance and then on Power Options (if you are in Category View). If in Classic View, go straight to Power Options. Click on the ‘Advanced’ tab under ‘Power Options Properties’ and under the ‘Power Buttons’ section, set the options to either “Do Nothing” or “Ask me what to do”. This will prevent system shutdowns in case of any accidental hits to the power switch on the cabinet. If there are any multimedia keys to disable, you can do it via the keyboard’s software (if installed) or from the same place in the Power Options Properties dialog box. The ‘Reset’ button on the cabinet next to the power button cannot be reconfigured, and will restart the PC without any warning if pressed. It can be disabled from inside the cabinet, but it’s not recommended.

Disable the shutdown behavior by changing the setting from Windows’ Power Options

Cannot View Google Earth images Q> I am experiencing a weird problem. I cannot see the earth when I try to view it in Google Earth. At times if something shows up, it looks like a white ball. While on my friend’s computer the image appears fine. Why is that? -Kiran Kiran, you have not mentioned the INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP | JANUARY 2006

DR. CHIP

graphics card you use. Such problems are usually caused because of the graphics card’s inability to render the Google Earth image. To view Google Earth, you need a 3D card. A lot of onboard (integrated) video cards are not true 3D cards – they are just 3D accelerators with the most basic of 3D capability. You must check your motherboard manual for details of the problems you are experiencing with your onboard graphics card. You might also require new drivers for your graphics card. Visit the manufacturer’s website to look for driver updates and update your graphics card driver to see if this solves the problem. Avoid installing beta drivers that manufacturers might offer. Only download and install the most recent stable version. Most 3D graphics cards have chipsets from manufacturers such as Nvidia, ATi and Intel. If it is a notebook you have, visit the notebook manufacturer’s web site (HP, Acer, Sony, etc) to get the most recent driver. For some graphics cards, it’s also necessary to install DirectX 8.1 or higher from Microsoft. Even though OpenGL is used for 3D rendering, some OpenGL drivers ‘wrap’ DirectX internally. Microsoft currently has DX9.0c, though DX8.1 and beyond will work. If after trying these options out, your problem still persists, try to set DirectX as your default renderer. To do so, follow these steps: Click on Start | Programs, hover over your version of Google Earth and select “Set Google Earth rendering to DirectX”. Restart Google Earth. Google Earth requires a minimum screen size of 1024x768 pixels. It also requires “True Color (32-bit)” resolution and a graphics card is required for filled polygons; otherwise, they will be rendered as outlines only.

Insert Video in PowerPoint Q> I have created a small video clip. Now I would like this video to play in PowerPoint. How can I insert a video clip into this application? -Amir You have not mentioned the PowerPoint version you use. Assuming that you use the 2002 version or newer, follow these steps to insert a WMV file into a PowerPoint file. JANUARY 2006 | INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP

Use Control Toolbox in PowerPoint versions older than 2002 to insert a video file Right click on a slide and select “Slide Layout”. Choose any slide layout that has the option to “Click icon to add content”. Now, click on the camcorder image in the lower right of the icon block. If you place your mouse pointer over the camcorder images, it will display “Insert Media Clip”. After clicking on the image, select the WMV file you want to insert. If you are using a version older than PowerPoint 2002, follow these steps, Click on View | Toolbars and then on Control Toolbox. Click on the icon to the far right called “More Controls”, hover the mouse pointer over it to know the name of the icon. In the drop-down list that opens, select “Windows Media Player”. A cross will appear on your slide. Use your mouse to create a box – this is the size of your movie’s window. After your Windows Media Player appears, right click on it and choose “Properties”. Double click on “Custom” and under the ‘General’ tab, insert the name of the video clip you want to insert into the slide. Choose “Browse” to navigate to where your video resides and click on “OK”.

Windows Update Error Q> Whenever I try to run Windows Update on my computer, I get the following error “0x8007007E”. How do I get rid of this problem? I use Internet Explorer to run Windows Update. -Santosh You can try the following steps to solve the problem. It involves registering DLL files once again. Click on Start | Run and type the following command in the ‘Open’ box. Click on OK after you have entered the command. regsvr32 Inseng.dll

| HANDS ON

97

You should receive a ‘RegSvr32’ confirmation when the particular function (DllRegisterServer in this case) has succeeded. Click on “OK”. Now you will have to register the following DLL files in the same way. Register each one of these files: regsvr32, Oleaut32.dll, Ole32.dll, Urlmon.dll, Mssip32.dll Once you are done registering these files, open Internet Explorer and try to access the site to update Windows. If you still get the same error, you will need to remove the Windows Update Setup Files folder. Browse to the following folder in the drive where Windows has been installed, “C:\Windows Update Setup Files”. Delete this folder and restart. If this also does not help, install the latest version of Internet Explorer

Recreate ASR Floppy Q> I had made a backup of my system using the Windows Backup Utility. I used the Automated System Recovery method in which an ASR floppy is also created. I have some corrupt/missing files in my “C” drive and want to use the backup I created to restore my system but I have lost the ASR floppy I created. Can I recreate the floppy and restore? Otherwise I will have to reinstall and lose all my data on C drive. -Chetan Yes, you can still use the backup you created to restore your system. Luckily, there is a way in which you can recreate the ASR floppy. Keep a formatted floppy ready with you and start the Backup Utility from Start | Programs | Accessories

98

HANDS ON

| DR. CHIP CHIP-INDIA KNOW HOW | (www.chip-india.com/knowhow) Stop Error - 0x0000007E I scanned my system with

Use the backup set to copy two files and recreate the ASR floppy you misplaced | System Tools | Backup. When the Backup and Restore Wizard is displayed, click Next. Click ‘Restore Files and Settings’ and click Next. In the “What to Restore” dialog box, select the ASR backup you had created. If it was done on an external device, make sure you have connected it to the PC. Expand the ASR Backup set you had created by double clicking on it and click on the plus sign next to the second instance of the drive letter that contains the system files (it is usually ‘C:’ if you have installed the operating system in this drive). Now click on the plus sign next to the ‘Windows_ folder/Repair’ folder to expand it. Check the boxes for the ‘Asr.sif’ and ‘Asrpnp.sif’ files from this repair folder. Click on Next. In the ‘Completing Backup or Restore Wizard’ screen, click on the ‘Advanced’ button. In the ‘Where to Restore’ screen set the ‘Restore Files to:’ dialog box to “Single Folder” (this is very important otherwise the files will dumped on to the floppy within the existing folder structure. The files need to be saved on the floppy without any folders). Set the ‘Folder Name’

When I clicked “Connect” on NetOne Internet connection, the system asked for a restart and I got a blue screen error. It said, “System restarted to avoid error.” The “Technical Information” said, “STOP: 0x0000007E (0x0000005….) viaaudios.sys - Address FA6BC3F base at TA6B0000, Datestamp 4029C2F1 Physical memory dump complete” It also asked me to check disk space, a driver update (which I cannot download because of the error), changing the video adapter and turning off caching and shadowing in the BIOS. What should I do as this problem occurs constantly. I am using Windows Media Player as of now. My System configuration is AMD Athlon, Windows 2000/XP, Jetway V2MDMP motherboard, 80 GB 7200 HDD, 256 MB DDR and an ACE V.92 internal modem. dialog box to your floppy drive - “A:\”. (or the letter that is used to define your floppy drive). Click Next. Additional options presented in this wizard are optional, continue through the wizard and finally the files are copied to the location you specified. Check the floppy contents to ensure the two files have been copied into “A:” without any folder structure. You have just recreated your ASR floppy. Now you can restore your system.

Firefox Profile Error Q> I’ve started having problems with Firefox. I keep getting an error - “profile is already in use”. So I have to choose another profile and continue. As a result, my bookmarks do not show up. What do I do? -Dev When Firefox is in use, it locks the active profile to keep other programs from altering the contents or cause conflicts. This lock is normally transparent to the user. That is why you can’t access your bookmarks either, as they are closely associated with profiles. This is how you can unlock a profile. Check for any open Firefox windows. Go through your list of

different utilities and found no viruses, spyware, etc. Please help. - georgecs123

Solution: It seems there is a problem with the VIA Audio Driver (if you look at the file mentioned in the error - it points to viaaudios.sys). You should go to the manufacturer’s web site and download the latest display, soundcard and VIA 4-in-1 drivers. First, uninstall the older 4-in-1 drivers before you install the new ones. Now, install the drivers you downloaded. You could also download any other updates (if available) and install them too. Check whether the problem persists. You can download the latest drivers and updates for your motherboard from here, http://www.jetway.com.tw/evisn/ download/driver/index-1.htm - Prachanda running processes by opening the Task Manager—press [Ctrl]+[Alt]+[Del] to see if the application is running in the background. If it is, ending it should unlock the profile. If the application was shut down abnormally, try deleting a file named “parent.lock” in your profile folder. A Netscape 7 or another Mozilla-based program such as Thunderbird may be using the profile. Try shutting these programs. You should also create separate profiles for each application. If you use both Mozilla Suite and Netscape 7, sharing the same profile might result in corruption of data.

iPod not detected Q> I own a computer running Windows XP. I also own an Apple iPod. Of late, Windows refuses to recognize my iPod anymore. I even restarted the computer thinking it will work but it did not. It is not detected on my father’s notebook either! But it is recognized immediately on another computer. So it does not seem to be a problem with the player or its cable. How do I make it detect my player again? -Rajeev INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP | JANUARY 2006

DR. CHIP

There are a few things you can try to resolve this issue. They are very basic and apply to external storage devices in general. First, try a different USB port on your PC. There must be at least 2 ports available on your computer. Try them all. Some USB ports might have problems with recognition. Check to see the latest version of iTunes on the Internet (www.apple. com/itunes/download) and iPod software (www.apple.com/ipod/download). Uninstall iTunes and install the new version. As far as Windows XP is concerned, ensure that you have at least Service Pack 1 installed, which solves certain USB 2.0 compatibility problems. If all this does not work then try resetting your iPod. The method used to reset an iPod depends on whether it is a click wheel or scroll wheel type. If it is the former then slide the Hold switch to on and then off. Press and hold ‘Menu’ and ‘Select’ until the Apple logo appears, in approximately 6-10 seconds. For the scroll type, slide the Hold switch on and then off. Press and hold the ‘Play/ Pause’ and ‘Menu’ buttons until the Apple logo appears. If this fails to solve the problem then you will have to ‘restore’ the iPod to factory settings. Restoring the iPod should be the final option. Please refer to your iPod manual on how to restore the player – this method will reinstall the firmware and clear all the songs off the storage. The notebook might not be recognizing the player because it must have turned off power to the USB bus to conserve power. Turn USB bus power back on by right clicking on the “My Computer” icon and select Properties. Click on the ‘Hardware’

Power Management in notebooks might turn off the power to the USB Bus. Disable this option from the Device Manager JANUARY 2006 | INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP

tab and click on the Device Manager button. Scroll down the list of devices to “Universal Serial Bus controllers” and click on the “+” sign to expand the category. Double click one of the indented ‘USB Root Hub’ entries. Since it’s almost impossible to know which USB hub is root, select each one and follow these steps, double click on each Root Hub and click on the Power Management tab. Uncheck “Allow the computer to turn off this device to save power”. Click on “OK” and restart the notebook.

PCI.sys error Q> I get this error message every time I switch my computer on – “PCI.sys missing or corrupt”. It also says that the computer was not shut down properly and offers different startup options. Choosing Safe Mode does not help and gives me the error I mentioned above. Will I have to reinstall Windows completely? -Mangesh The file might have been accidentally deleted; some hardware must have been added as a result of which the error might have occurred. You can try to replace the corrupted file with one from your XP CD. If you had installed hardware then remove it, restart and enter in Safe Mode to check if you still get the error. If you do not get an error anymore then it is a driver issue. Get the latest drivers to install the new hardware. If the error persists then you will need to replace the file. You will need to boot from the XP CD and enter the Recovery Console. After the hardware check and initialization, you will reach the “Press [Enter] to set up Windows XP” screen. The second option is to repair the installation to enter the Recovery Console. Press [R] to enter the console. If you have set an Administrator password you will be prompted to enter it. If you have not and you are still asked for one, press [Enter]. Now, you will be at the command prompt. Enter the following command and press [Enter]. MAP Make a note of the CD drive letter that contains the XP CD. Type the following command to expand the file to be replaced. Expand <X:>\i386\pci.sy_ c:\Winnt\

| HANDS ON

99

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? System32\drivers /y Press [Enter]. “X” is the CD drive letter. If you get a message saying a file has been expanded then type “exit” as your next command, press [Enter] and the computer will restart. Remove the CD and check to see if this solves the problem. If you get an error “access denied” after the “expand” command, then type the following prior to that, Set AllowAllPaths=true This will give access to all files on the hard drive. If all these steps do not solve the problem then you will have to reinstall the operating system. ■

Vishwanath Vanjire

Working Remotely Using the Remote Assistance feature of Windows XP, you can invite anyone you trust over the network to solve your PC travails by accessing it

U

nless you are stuck while doing some important work on the PC, you don’t realize how lucky you are when your PC, rather Windows I must say, is working smoothly without any hiccups! But the moment you are stuck and unable to solve the problem even after spending a good deal of time, you get really frustrated. You then call your friends or the technician to get help over the phone. Finally, when they say that the problem is impossible to solve unless they come and see the PC, you begin biting your nails or playing with your hair wondering what to do next. So if and when you happen to be the victim of a similar situation, don’t panic! The ‘Remote Assistance’ feature in Windows XP can come to your rescue. Using this feature, you can invite someone you trust, for example a friend over the network or the Internet, to access your computer to provide assistance. Since it allows the helper to see your screen and communicate through a chat box, he or she can walk you through the problem. And if

the task is too difficult for you to perform, he can take control over your PC and solve the problem himself, provided you give him permission. If your technician is busy elsewhere and there’s no one around to come and help you, Remote Assistance is the best way to seek help. Getting help is not the only function of Remote Assistance. If you’re an expert at Windows XP, you can also be a helper and offer assistance remotely to someone who needs help. Remote Assistance is one of the methods of working remotely on a PC. Here, the main objective is providing assistance to solve problems on the remote PC. Windows XP has another feature called Remote Desktop which allows you to have access to a Windows session that is running on your computer, when you are working at another computer. Imagine how convenient it would be if you could connect to your work computer from home, and have access to all your files, applications and network resources. If you’re a student

you could use the Remote Desktop to connect to your home computer from college. You can also use it at home if you want to access the Windows session running on a PC in a room from a laptop or a PC in some other room. Once connected to the host, using Remote Assistance or Remote Desktop is a child’s play. But you need to follow quite a few steps to establish a connection with the host. The workshop in the following pages will step you right from enabling and configuring the remote services to finally establishing a remote connection with the host PC for both Remote Assistance and Remote Desktop. Before you start off, you need to do the following: 1. Make sure your anti-virus definitions and engine are up to date. 2. Make it a point to disable Remote Assistance and Remote Desktop after you are done with the remote session. 3. Use passwords wherever applicable. INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP | JANUARY 2006

WORKSHOP

| HANDS ON

101

Requesting remote assistance

STEP 1. Before you start, go to System properties in Control Panel and then click the ‘Remote’ tab. Here, enable the option to ‘Allow Remote Assistance invitations to be sent from this computer’. Also click the ‘Advanced’ tab and enable the option “Allow this computer to be controlled remotely”. This is primarily applicable to those who seek remote assistance.

STEP 2. The Remote Assistance feature allows you to ask as well as offer assistance. You can request assistance through Windows Messenger, e-mail or via a file sent as a request. Sending a remote assistance as a file is the most convenient method as it can be used on the network as well as the Internet.

STEP 3. To request assistance, first run the ‘remote assistance’ application from ‘start menu | programs’. This will bring up the Help and Support Center window which will guide you through the process. Select the option ‘Invite someone to help you’ and on the next screen, select the third option which says ‘Save the invitation as a file’.

STEP 4. Enter your name in the field provided so that the receiver knows who has requested assistance. Also to lessen the chance that someone gains fraudulent access to your PC, you can specify a password and a timeframe for accepting the invitation. Save this invitation as a file and send it to the helper via e-mail or file transfer.

STEP 5. You can also request assistance from any of the contacts who are online on your Windows Messenger contact list. You should ensure that the person assisting you is trustworthy and is willing to help you. To request assistance, start a chat conversation with the person. Click on “Actions” and select the option “Ask for remote assistance”.

STEP 6. As soon as the receiver double clicks the file sent as a request or accepts the invitation sent via Windows Messenger, he will get a message asking whether he wants to connect to your PC. When he accepts your invitation, you will get a dialog box stating that the user has accepted your invitation.

STEP 7. When the connection is established, the Remote Assistance window opens. It’s like a chat window using which you can chat with the receiver and describe the problem you are facing. He or she can see your entire screen and watch what you are doing.

STEP 8. If the receiver can’t help you through chatting, he can take control of your PC so that he can attempt to solve the problem by himself. Your helper has to click on the ‘Take Control’ button. He won’t gain control over your PC unless you grant him the permission.

STEP 9. If the helper is your friend and you find him playing around with your PC after granting him permission to take control of the PC, you can stop him by clicking on the ‘Stop control’ button in the Remote Assistance window. It is advisable to do so when you are away from your PC.

JANUARY 2006 | INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP

102

HANDS ON

| WORKSHOP

Offering Remote Assistance

STEP 1. After your problem has been solved, disable control and end the Remote Assistance session by clicking the ‘Disconnect’ button. The helper can also end the session by releasing control and disconnecting from your PC after your problem is solved.

STEP 2. Apart from chatting, you can also start a voice conversation or send a file to the helper. But do so only if you are on a network or a fast Internet connection because it will consume a lot of bandwidth and there will be a serious lag making it difficult for him or her.

STEP 3. Now that you know how to request remote assistance, the next step is to learn how to offer it. However, before offering remote assistance to someone, you have to ensure that the feature is enabled. Go to “Start | Run” and in the dialog box, type ‘gpedit.msc’. This will open up the Group Policy window:

STEP 4. Go to ‘Computer configuration | Administrative templates | System | Remote assistance’. In the Details pane, double click “Offer Remote Assistance” and enable it. You can set a list of ‘helpers’ who you can ask for remote assistance.

STEP 5. Now, click on “Start” and go to “Help and support”. Under the “Pick a Task” section, click on “Use tools to view your computer information and diagnose problems”. In the Tools section, click on the option “Offer Remote Assistance”.

STEP 6. You will now be asked for the IP address or the name of the PC to connect to. Once entered, click on “Connect” to communicate with the other PC. When the user accepts the remote assistance request, the session is launched.

Remote Desktop Connection

STEP 1. Before launching a remote desktop connection, you need to do set up the host computer to allow you to connect from another PC. Go to System properties in Control Panel and then click the ‘Remote’ tab. Here, enable the option to ‘Allow users to connect remotely to this computer’.

STEP 2. Unless you specify remote users, no one will be granted access. Click the ‘Select remote users’ button, click ‘add’ button and click ‘advanced’ button. In the ‘Select users’ dialog box, keep the ‘Ctrl’ key pressed and select the users who you would like to allow remote access.

STEP 3. If your PC goes to standby mode, you will be unable to access it. Hence it is recommended to disable the PC from automatically entering the standby mode. It’s recommended to set the ‘Power scheme’ as ‘Always on’ from ‘Power options’ under ‘Control panel’. INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP | JANUARY 2006

WORKSHOP

| HANDS ON

103

Remote desktop connection

STEP 4. Unlike ‘Remote Assistance’ where a user has to accept the request and grant permission, Remote Desktop connection allows the user to directly connect to the host PC. But this is possible only if all the users are logged out from the host PC. Log off all the users so that remote users can connect.

STEP 5. To establish a connection with the host PC from a remote PC, go to ‘Start | Programs | Accessories | Communication | Remote desktop connection’. In the ‘Remote desktop connection’ dialog box, click the ‘options’ button. Type the IP address of the host PC and a user name which has been allowed access.

STEP 6. Under the ‘Local resources’ tab, it’s possible to use resources like sound and printers from the host PC on the remote PC. Check the relevant options before connecting to the remote PC. But you need a fast Internet connection or a LAN to do so.

STEP 7. Depending on the connection speed, you can choose to enable or disable certain options which aren’t really necessary over a remote desktop connection. If your Internet connection is slow, you can disable options like desktop background and menu and window animation.

STEP 8. Click the connect button and you will be connected to the remote PC. In a few seconds you will see the remote PC’s desktop and you can begin working on it. Unlike Remote Assistance, you cannot see what’s happening on the remote PC—it will just show the log-in screen. But you’re connected to it in the background.

STEP 9. It is possible to copy files to and from the remote PC. But to do so, you have to enable the option to connect the local drives to the host PC in the ‘Local resources’ tab in the remote desktop connection dialog box before connecting. Mapping your local drives to the remote PC can be a bit risky.

STEP 10. When you connect to the remote PC after enabling the option to connect the local drives on it, you will be able to see the local drives listed on the remote PC. Use this option only if you want to transfer files between the remote and local PCs. JANUARY 2006 | INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP

STEP 11. After having finished working on the remote PC, make sure you click on ‘Start | Disconnect’ to disconnect from the remote PC. When you don’t require remote desktop connection, disable the option ‘Allow users to connect remotely to this computer’ from the ‘Remote’ tab in the system properties dialog box under control panel.

Warning: Remote desktop connection is a very useful tool. But it’s like a doubleedge sword. It can be a treat to hackers and crackers who like peeking into other people’s computers, steal information or cause harm to the remote computer. Hence, take strict measures to ensure tight security on the host computer. It is highly recommended that you maintain strong firewall policies, keep the anti-virus updated, protect user accounts with alphanumeric passwords and always keep multiple backups of critical information to be on the safe side—in this case ‘Prevent! There may be just no cure!’ ■ | Anand Tuliani

104

HANDS ON

| WORKSHOP

The art of composition Digital cameras have undoubtedly made clicking photographs very easy. But if you want to make your pictures look like real works of art, you need to master the art of composition

G

ood photography is more than just shooting with just a fancy camera. The vision and the capability to take a good shot is the photographer’s. Being intuitive, creative and having an understanding of the techniques is what really makes a photographer take more than just regular snapshots. The secret to a good if not great photograph lies in composition. It’s the same for artists and painters, who believe that a great work of art is what it is becuase of the way it’s composed. You can’t just keep clicking with your camera and expect award-winning quality photos to magically appear. Like everyone else, you have to learn the rules of composition.

Rule of Thirds The most basic rule of composition is rule of thirds. Beginner artists, for instance, are taught from early on to hold up a cardboard frame to an image they want to sketch to frame the picture. Then they visualize that the subject visible through the frame is divided into a grid made up of nine equally sized squares. This technique is called the rule of thirds and the same technique is used by the photographer as well; only he uses the viewfinder to “frame” the subject.

Rule of Thirds: Isolating your subject and carefully placing it offcenter results in a picture with a lot of impact

Now you may ask the question as to why we need to divide an image instead of just taking the shot. Well, the fact is, most of us are inclined to take a picture using the auto focus function, which focuses on the centre of the image. As a result, we end up getting the subject at the center which results in somewhat “wooden” looking and often, boring photographs. Let’s take the example of holiday pictures. When shooting, let’s say your family, you tend to place your subjects at the center, when you could get a more interesting picture by focusing slightly off-center or a little higher. The rule of thirds helps you broaden your vision beyond the center of the viewfinder by splitting the image into thirds, both horizontally and across. Let’s say you want to take a picture of a bird or a group of birds. Looking through the viewfinder, you’ll find your eye automatically drawn to the object in the center, in this case the grey pigeon. However, you can see that the picture lacks impact and the “wow” factor. One reason is that the pigeon at the center is too far away. Also, you’ll notice that there are too many other pigeons around that are distracting. To counter these you need to know framing and cropping, which we explore

Too many pigeons, as you can see in the above picture, are taking attention away from the pigeon at the center INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP | JANUARY 2006

To frame a shot better, zoom closer to capture the atmosphere, shape and texture

Framing A good macro lens enables tighter framing later in this article. In the second photo, we’ve isolated one pigeon as the subject. If you’ve noticed, the pigeon is not directly at the center of the image, it’s been shifted to the higher left and with the additional space and contrast of colors against its white coloring, gets your attention more than the first photograph of pigeons. Tip: Practise the rule of thirds by placing your subject at one of the intersections of the invisible grid you use to compose the shot. Try taking your subject in various different focus points to see which ones best capture what you’re trying to show.

The background is quite messy, enough to draw attention away from the main subject JANUARY 2006 | INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP

As with the pigeon, you need to properly frame a subject for a visually arresting photograph. Most often, we make this mistake when taking holiday snapshots, we tend to cram everything possible into the picture. The result is that it draws attention away from the people, who are the real subject of the photograph. How do you resolve this? Well for starters, move a little closer to the subject. Your aim should be to fill the frame with as much as possible of the subject. If you’re taking a family portrait shot, you’ll be able to capture the expressions and personalities of your subjects much better than if you were standing a mile away and had trees sticking out of the back of their heads! When taking portraits, cut out as much of the background as possible to bring attention to the person or persons you are digitally capturing.

Draw focus to your subject by either finding a less cluttered background or change your position to get a better angle

106

HANDS ON

| WORKSHOP

A picture of a plate of jellies being arranged by a woman, shot from the top But what if you want to shoot something more challenging, such as a bunch of leaves. Here you will have to decide which part of the bunch you want to capture. The first picture has been shot in portrait size and a little further away. The second picture has been shot with the bunch of leaves at the center (rule of thirds) and we’ve zoomed closer to capture the colors as well as water on the leaves (framing). It’s obvious which picture shows the leaves to appear more fresh.

Cropping So now you’ve learned about the rule of thirds as well as framing. That’s a great start, but to ensure focus on your subjects, look a little harder—look into the corners of your camera viewfinder and the areas surrounding the subject. Are there things that shouldn’t be there? There are a couple of ways to eliminate clutter. Let’s

Changing your position makes the picture appear more life-like. Here the focus is on the woman’s knuckles to emphasize on her meticulousness take the example of the flower (previous page). While the red color stands out, it’s lost against the blur of the leaves in the background as well as the stems and other leaves attached to the plant. Now you can solve this by moving around until you find a background that will contrast better with the flower. The other alternative is shooting the picture from another angle, which will make the photo even more interesting. Don’t just stand in front of the subject: stand above, beside or under it for more arresting photos. Take it in portrait or landscape modes until you find the best angle to capture the mood of the shot.

Perspective

Now that you’ve tried shooting from different angles, try out different perspectives as well. This comes in handy when you’re taking shots of buildings, architecture as well as landscapes. For instance, if you’re taking landscape shots, such as of the beach or a stretch of green you can use the rule of thirds to improve your shot. If it’s a sunny day and the sky is full of interesting shaped clouds, you may want to fill up two thirds of the picture with the sky and the rest with the scenery. Conversely, you’d want to play down the sky if the landscape itself appears more interesting. You can add impact by including an object in the picture to capture your own experience of being right there, shown in the pictures here. Remember, good composition takes time, skill and patience. And in order to achieve perfection, a good amount of practice is required as also observing the work of professional photographers. Magazines on photography abound, where photographers account Both these images were taken from the same angle. The addition of a their personal experiences, while giving you the right motorcyclist in the second picture enhances the curves of the road; it perspective on this art. ■ also gives you a sense of being there Sharmila Ganapathy

INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP | JANUARY 2006

108

HANDS ON

| WORKSHOP

Personalize your Dates! There’s no gift like a personalized gift! What better way to bring in the new year than by gifting a personalized photo calendar with your favorite memories of the year gone by? Join us as we show you how…

A

nother year put to bed and another coming up. It’s time to look out for a 2006 calendar. Like most folks, not all of us are fortunate enough to have access to this year’s edition of the calendar from National Geographic or Sports Illustrated. So how about chucking those staid old bank calendars and instead creating one with your favorite pictures from the last year. Or how about one with those touched-up photos from your parent’s wedding album? Sounds like fun? Sure it is! First of all, let it be known that it’s not as overwhelming as you might think it is. With the prices of Multifunction devices dropping through the floor, you probably have one in your house or have access to one at office or a friend’s place. Besides that, all you need is a little bit of creativity, some good photo-paper and a little bit of time on your hands. When it comes to software, there are plenty out there on the Internet that you can try out. However, for this workshop, we’ve

decided to make do with what we already have—after all, you might as well spend the money on other more practical things like more paper for additional calendars when your friends and family start asking you for them! We are using good ol’ Microsoft Excel for this workshop and will show you how you can use it to make a calendar that’s as slick and high-quality as any other out there. All you need is a couple of Excel formatting skills and 12 of your all-time favorite images to put on your calendar. So join us as we step you through the process of creating your very own personalized desktop calendar—your folks will love it!

Designing the calendar 1. First up, you will need to download a special file called a template before creating any calendars in Excel. This template will give you the base file containing the months, dates and days in all their appropriate places. You could even opt to enter these manually, but this

would (as you’d agree) be terribly tedious. Click on File | New and instead of starting with a new workbook, select a new template from ‘Templates on Microsoft. com’. This will open the Office Update web page. Click on any of the zones on the map and you’ll be taken to the main Office Online web page. From here, you’ll see a variety of updates for your office installation. Since we are interested in templates for 2006 calendars, click on ‘Templates’ from the bar on the left, or select it from the ‘Spotlight’ section if you can see it in the middle of the page. Browse through the various calendar pages and download one you like. Here, we’ve chosen one where each month is on a separate worksheet. After downloading, open this file and save the template file to a location on our disk. Now, select File| New and navigate to your saved template. Open the file and save it as an Excel file. There, you can now begin working on this file and tweak it to your needs. 2. Tweaking the layout: I didn’t like INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP | JANUARY 2006

the initial layout of this template so I decided to tweak it a bit. In this example, I re-formatted the ‘month’ heading to the Trebuchet MS font, size 34 and italicized it. The days looked better as ‘Verdana’, size 12, bold. The dates were a little trickier to change as they were saved each in their own little text box. Using the ‘Select objects’ tool (that looks like an arrow on the drawing toolbar), draw a binding box around all the dates to select them. Then right click on any one date and select ‘Font’. I changed this to the ‘Comic Sans MS’ font, size 16, bold. There, that looked much better—the larger dates would make the calendar friendlier to older people!

3. Time to add the photos. First, select 12 of your favorite digital or scanned photos—your family, your daughter, son, dog, cat… there are plenty to choose from! Choose Insert | Picture and select ‘From file’. Depending on the size of your image, you could scale it up or down. For quality, choose a larger image (over 1024 x 768 at 300 dpi). Scale it by right-clicking on the image, selecting ‘Format picture’ and click on the ‘Size’ tab. Under the ‘Scale’ section, enter a lower value in the Height or Width box while ensuring the ‘Lock aspect ratio’ is selected. Do this until your image is about the same height as your calendar. While scaling your images, remember to keep

EACH MONTH IN YOUR CALENDAR TEMPLATE SHOULD LOOK SOMETHING LIKE THIS. THIS IS A GREAT PLACE TO START YOUR PROJECT HEAD OVER TO THE OFFICE UPDATE SITE TO DOWNLOAD AN EXCEL CALENDAR TEMPLATE

PLAY AROUND WIH THE IMAGE AND TABLE SIZE—DON‛T STOP UNTIL IT LOOKS RIGHT!

FEEL FREE TO MODIFY YOUR CALENDAR‛S FONTS IF YOU‛RE NOT SATISFIED WITH WHAT‛S IN YOUR TEMPLATE

JANUARY 2006 | INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP

the ‘Shift’ button pressed to scale it evenly or your images will appear distorted and quality will suffer in the final print. From the ‘Format picture’ dialog box, you can add borders and funky background colors to your pictures. You can also add special entries to dates like anniversaries, birthdays and holidays. Feel free to add icons and fun clipart to relevant months and festive seasons. 4. Since we are using A4-sized photo paper for the final prints, fire a couple of test black-and-white prints to make sure the calendar and picture fits comfortably without exceeding margins. Format the months so that you get two per page—that way you can later cut them in half to get the desktop friendly format as shown. After creating the rest of the months, you’re ready to print your creation. 5. First up, buy a set of A4-size photo paper from

your local stationary store. For best results, choose the 260 GSM variant of paper and make sure that it is for photography applications. With the correct printer settings, this will deliver sharp prints and vivid colors. Since these sheets have a higher GSM (grams per square meter) rating compared to standard inkjet paper, they will be thicker and therefore firmer—ideal for desk calendars. This should cost you about Rs 300 for a set of 25 papers. You would not need more than six (since we are fitting two months per page). 6. Select the area you need to print, click on File | Print and choose ‘Selection’. Click on the Preview button. You would need to select the ‘Portrait’ setting, and under the printer properties, make sure you have the best quality or photo quality options selected. Insert your printer paper

TRY A COUPLE OF TEST PRINTS ON PLAIN PAPER AND TWEAK THE IMAGE AND CALENDAR POSITION UNTIL YOU‛RE SATISFIED!

FOR BEST RESULTS, SHELL OUT ON SOME GOOD PHOTO PAPER. YOUR LOCAL STATIONARY STORE SHOULD HAVE PLENTY IN STOCK

YOU NEED PHOTO QUALITY, SO BUMP UP YOUR PRINTER QUALITY SETTINGS AND SELECT PHOTO PAPER. YOU‛RE NOW READY TO ROLL

FOR BEST RESULTS, CHOOSE 260 GSM PHOTO PAPER (THE THICKER, THE BETTER)

INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP | JANUARY 2006

and hit the print button! If you’ve done everything right, you should be satisfied with what you see! Do the same for the rest of the months and assemble the prints of all your months together. 7. For a desktop calendar, you will need to create an appropriate base. There are two ways to do this—you could either rip out the base of an old desktop calendar which fits the size of your prints or you could create one by cutting out a piece of firm cardboard and creasing it so that it can be propped up on the table once your month printouts are spiral bound to it. Settle for a base that looks like the one in the image. 8. With the final pieces of your calendar ready, all that’s

left is to assemble them together. There’s nothing to stop you from punching two holes at the top of your prints and tying them together with some twine, but we decided on a more elegant approach—spiral binding. Take your calendar down to the local book binder and they’ll be able to bind your creation together in a jiffy. Bind it along the upper edge as shown. You should be paying not more than Rs 30 for the work. Note: Remember to arrange the months correctly before handing it over for binding! 9. Prop up your calendar on your desk and get ready for calendar orders from family and friends! ■ I Marco D’Souza

YOUR LOCAL BOOK BINDING WALA SHOULD HAVE A SPIRAL BINDING MACHINE. HAND OVER YOUR PROJECT AND SUPERVISE CAREFULLY!

CHEAT A BIT—TEAR OUT THE BASE FROM AN OLD DESKTOP CALENDAR AND USE IT HERE!

NOW DOESN‛T THAT LOOK NICE? STEP 1: PLACE ON TABLE, STEP 2: GLOAT!

THE END

JANUARY 2006 | INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP

Add zing to your drive Quick tips to keep your optical drive up and running

A

n optical disc is the cheapest solution to store data externally. For a price as low as Rs 20, you get a mammoth storage capacity of 4.7 GB. Or 700 MB for Rs 6! These shiny discs are show pieces unless your computer has an optical drive. Depending on the type of the optical drive, you can read, write and rewrite CDs and DVDs making them the most convenient and long lasting media for storage. When your hard disk is

overflowing with documents, web pages, songs, movies and other stuff, it’s the optical media which come to rescue. You feel handicapped when something goes wrong with the optical drive. It then fails to read some CDs or DVDs. In worst cases, it refuses to pick up any! And if you have a drive which ejects discs when it’s unable to read them, you feel like venting your anger on the drive. Using lens cleaning CDs and DVDs hardly make any difference. So before you lose your patience and ask your technician to replace the drive, hold on. Simply servicing it may solve your problem. The reason may just be dirty lens due to dust and carbon having settled on it. This workshop is a step-by-step guide on

how to service your optical drive. Right from disconnecting the drive to cleaning its lens and body and re-connecting it, each and every step is explained in detail. Even if you haven’t opened the case yet, you’ll still be able to clean your optical drive in and out! However, do the following before you go ahead with the workshop: Don’t tinker with your drive if it’s still under warranty. Don’t disconnect/reconnect the drive while the PC is on. Use a clean lint-free cloth. Don’t use harsh solvents like acetone to clean the body or the lens. Don’t exert pressure while cleaning the lens. | Anand Tuliani

How to service your optical drive

STEP 1. You don’t require any special instrument. All what you need are the following—screwdriver, lint-free cloth, petroleum jelly or vaseline, a few ear buds and some water with a few drops of liquid soap. Now grab a screwdriver and get ready for the next step.

STEP 2. Before you remove the drive from the case, press the eject button so that the tray is ejected. Open the case and detach the power, data and audio cables by gently pulling them out. Now, with a Philips screw driver, remove the screws and gently pull out the drive from the case.

STEP 3. Now detach the plastic panel attached to the drive tray. With the drive turned over, displace the notches behind the panel from the grooves and carefully slide the panel off the tray. Also detach the front panel of the drive using a screwdriver to release the clips INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP | JANUARY 2006

WORKSHOP

| HANDS ON

113

How to service your optical drive

STEP 4. Hold your breath! It’s time to rip the drive open. Turn the drive over and lay it flat on the table. Locate the screws holding the metallic plate—there’ll be a screw at each corner. Unscrew them and keep them safely. Now, carefully lift up and remove the back plate.

STEP 5. Now holding the metal cover, carefully overturn the drive and lift it up to rip the drive open. The entire mechanism will get exposed. Don’t be freaked by the sight of PCBs and gears! You’re on the right track. Now it’s turn to clean the various parts of the drive.

STEP 6. Start off with simple parts like the front panel and the tray. It is safe to clean them with a damp cloth. Prepare a solution by adding a few drops of liquid soap to a cup of water. Wrap your finger with a lintfree cloth, dip it in the solution and clean the plastic surfaces.

cover are the easiest to clean. Wipe off the dust using a dry cloth. If you stay close to the sea, they may develop rusty patches. You can dab some lubricant with cotton wool on the patches to prevent further rusting.

STEP 8. Using a ear bud, clean the exposed plastic and metal surfaces inside the drive. You can lightly dampen the tip of the ear bud if there’s too much dust. Never use a brush to dust off the dirt inside the drive —it will cause the dust particles to settle somewhere else in the drive!

STEP 9. The lens of the optical drive moves back and forth on a carriage which slides on a thin metal rod. The rod is greased for smooth carriage movement. To re-grease the rod, wipe off the grease with a cloth and apply a thin coat of petroleum jelly or vaseline with a clean ear bud on the metal rod.

STEP 10. It’s time to clean the ‘eye’ of the optical drive—the lens. With a clean ear bud dipped in alcohol or spirit gently rub the lens in circular motion. Don’t apply pressure! It is usual for the lens to move around a bit while cleaning. Repeat the process and clean it with a dry ear bud.

STEP 11. You’re done! Now, you’ve simply got to put everything back and connect the drive to the PC. First, fit the drive cover. Holding the cover, carefully turn the drive over and screw the back plate to cover the drive. Fit the front panel and the tray panel and push the tray in.

STEP 12. Slide in the drive in the 5.25-inch bay and fasten it with screws from both sides. Now attach the audio cable, data cable and power cable. Then close the case, power on the system and you’re done! What you have now is a sparkling optical drive once again!

STEP 7. The dusty metal plate and drive

JANUARY 2006 | INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP

114

HANDS ON

| WORKSHOP

Vishwanath Vanjire

The living room PC With all the hype surrounding Windows XP Media Center Edition, it’s easy to forget that most of its functionality can be added to your existing PC for a fraction of the cost of a new one

T

V tuner cards have been around for ages, but it’s only now that computers are becoming serious contenders for space in our living-room entertainment centers. Rather than consigning a computer with a TV tuner to the bedroom as a secondary television set, people are starting to discover the advantages of using “home theater PCs”, devices that function as personal video recorders as well as let you play your digital audio and video files through your home theater system. And it’s only now that computers are powerful enough to encode video to DVD quality in real time—just a few years ago TV tuners that could display TV full screen were a rarity. Combined with a slim cabinet and a couple of quiet lowrpm fans, PCs aren’t out of place in your living room anymore. That said, if you’re interested only in recording your favorite TV shows, there’s no need to go in for a full-fledged HTPC setup. All you need is a decently configured

computer and a TV tuner card. Recording and encoding video in real time is a demanding task, so you’ll need at least a 1.5 GHz processor with 512 MB RAM if you want to even think of encoding at DVD resolution. You’ll also need large amount of free hard disk space—budget for about 50 MB per minute of video at DVD resolution. A DVD burner will come in handy when you want to share recorded shows with friends. TV tuners don’t necessarily have to be internal cards. Most of the tuners in the market today use USB, so you don’t need to open your computer cabinet at all. If you’re buying an external tuner, make sure it uses the faster USB 2.0 standard rather than USB 1. Check out what other inputs the tuner offers—if you’d like to capture video directly from your video camera or VCR, make sure the tuner has composite as well as S-video inputs. Whether internal or external, make sure you get a remote control in the package as well or you’ll kill your eyes watching

TV up close on your monitor. Keep your operating system up to date; Windows XP users should have Service Pack 2 installed. Last, but not the least, check the quality of the software that comes with the tuner. The software is what lets you use all the functions of the tuner, so make sure it’s easy to use, especially from across the room with the remote. One thing that’s sure to become an issue in the next few years is using TV tuners with a cable TV set-top box. If you have one, your cable won’t connect to your TV tuner’s cable port. You have to use the tuner’s AV inputs just like you would with your TV’s—this is the same issue you’ll encounter if you want to use a VCR or game console through a TV tuner. Make absolutely sure your tuner hardware and software let you watch video as well as capture it through the AV inputs, this is a requirement that often slips through the cracks. | Jamshed Avari INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP | JANUARY 2006

WORKSHOP

| HANDS ON

115

Setting up

STEP 1. In this workshop, we’re going to use Pinnacle’s PCTV USB2. This tiny box sits unobtrusively on your desk and has a socket for your TV cable as well as the IR remote reciever, S-video, composite video and audio connectors on the front.

STEP 2. Using this tuner is as simple as plugging it into a free USB port on your computer. Once that’s done, all you have to do is pop the CD marked Pinnacle Media Center into your computer and let the software install itself.

STEP 3. Installing the software will take upto 20 minutes. You’ll be prompted to enter your name, to choose which components to install, and whether you want the application to be available to all users on your computer.

STEP 4. After a compulsory reboot, a diagnostic program called PCTV Assistant will launch automatically. It will test your computer’s hardware, DirectX compatibility and whether or not the software was installed correctly.

STEP 5. As soon as the diagnostic tool exits, the Pinnacle Media Center Settings window will pop up. Here’s where you can set all your preferences. Most of these options can also be accessed through the main Media Center interface as well.

STEP 6. In the same window, click on Channels, where you’ll be able to start an automatic scan or tune your favorites in manually. An automatic scan will take about a minute and a half, and all the channels it detects will be stored for you.

STEP 7. The main Pinnacle Media Center interface is designed to be used with the remote control, and the text can easily be read from across the room. It scales perfectly to widescreen displays and is extremely easy to get around.

STEP 8. The Live TV screen shows you a preview of the currently selected channel and gives you options to browse through the list of channels by name, schedule a program to be recorded or watch a program that’s already been recorded.

STEP 9. The IR remote that comes in the package looks crowded and confusing, but all controls are within easy reach. You can use it to navigate the interface, pause live TV, start a recording and change the channel and volume.

JANUARY 2006 | INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP

116

HANDS ON

| WORKSHOP

Pausing, recording and editing TV shows

STEP 10. Pausing live TV is as easy as hitting the ‘pause’ button on the remote or clicking it on screen. The screen will change to show the exact time you pressed pause, and how much longer you can buffer your show before running out of space.

STEP 11. Click on ‘Record’ to tell the software when your favorite shows will air. All you have to do is specify the channel, start and end times, select how often the show recurs (daily, weekly, etc) and choose the quality of the output.

STEP 12. The ‘Recorded TV’ screen lists all the shows you’ve recorded. Each entry shows the name of the channel as well as the date and time the clip was recorded. Just make your selection and hit enter to start watching!

STEP 13. The PCTV USB2 also comes with a basic video capture and editing application called Studio 9 Quickstart. While most of the advanced functions are disabled in this version, it’s more than enough to add some basic effects to your TV shows and videos.

STEP 14. You can set the program to capture video from any TV channel or the AV inputs on the tuner. Click the button marked ‘Settings...’ to set the format and quality you want to use. Then all that’s left to do is click on ‘Start Capture’ to begin.

STEP 15. The ‘Edit’ tab shows you the video you just captured with each scene automatically cut into clips. Drag these clips to the timeline and apply transitions and special effects to your heart’s content, before making a DVD or VCD of your work.

newspaper all the time. Of course, you can also use your TV tuner’s AV inputs to connect a VCR, game console, digital cable set-top box or video camera, and capture the footage to edit on your computer.

Pinnacle’s Media Center doesn’t let you watch video through the tuner’s AV inputs, so those with set-top boxes and game consoles are out in the cold. You can however see the input in the video capture preview in Studio 9 Quickstart.

Digital Set-top Boxes These boxes are starting to appear all over the country. They plug into your TV’s AV inputs rather than its tuner (the cable socket). These boxes act as the tuner themselves, and output audio and video to the AV inputs that your television set uses to connect to VCRs, DVD players and game consoles. This renders your TV remote useless; you change channels and make other settings through the set-top box’s tuner instead of the TV’s. Digital cable is much clearer than traditional analog cable, it has bandwidth for hundreds of channels and offers features like an interactive program guide so you don’t have to refer to your

INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP | JANUARY 2006

Vishwanath Vanjire

Indulge in WAP! WAP and GPRS technology were earlier available only in high-end phones. These days even entry-level phones are WAP-enabled. Here are some exciting projects for your WAP phone

T

he action is now in your palm. How about mobile karaoke, railway bookings, online search, viewing family photos, transferring your own ringtones, and checking email? Some of this may sound familiar, because you experience it on your computer. But when a mobile phone is coupled with the Internet there are lots of exciting possibilities, thanks to WAP and GPRS. Wireless Application Protocol (WAP) and GPRS are two technologies that were once the purview of pure techies. In those days, both technologies were present only in the high-end phones. As the gap between affordability and technology closed in, WAP seeped into entry-level phones, priced between Rs 5,000 - 6,000. Playing around with my new WAP phone (a Nokia 6030) during the long commute home, I discovered some useful enhancements and services. This happened much to the envy of fellow commuters who enquire about the model and price.

The common fare on WAP sites are news, screensavers, games, ringtones, wallpapers, and themes. While the wallpapers and ringtones usually cost Rs 10 each, the games work out to Rs 50 - Rs 100 a download. Then there are games that one can try and buy. These ‘samplers’ cost far less or are free (limited tries) and they are meant to get you hooked. We also discovered some innovations like mobile karaoke and file transfers from your PC to your phone via a WAP site. So what does one need to surf across WAP sites? While WAP technology takes care of the web surfing part, GPRS handles connectivity to the Internet, via a service provider. First, subscribe for GPRS connectivity with your service provider and check if this service has been activated.

How to connect Test out the connection by initiating a WAP session. Select the web option on the

phone’s menu. In the Nokia menu system select “Options > Other Options” and then “Go to address” from the phone menu. Then type the address for a WAP site and select “OK”. We recommend that you create a bookmark when the main page for a particular WAP site appears. It offers the same functionality as browser bookmarks/ favorites. To create a bookmark on the Nokia phone system, select “Options > Add Bookmark”. And to use a bookmark in future, select “Options > Bookmarks”. If you want to play it safe and avoid viruses we suggest that you stick to known WAP sites. Viruses can cause havoc with your phone software and disrupt normal operations!

Google wap.google.com It’s hard to miss Google these days, especially if you spend much time online. Need to reference something on the road? INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP | JANUARY 2006

WORKSHOP

| HANDS ON

119

| Browsing Tips

It’s a good idea to bookmark a WAP site as the main page appears on the screen Look up the Google WAP site on your phone itself! From your phone menu select “Options > Other Options” and then “Go to address”. Then type: http://wap.google.com and select “OK”. The Google search box appears and it is highlighted. Select “Edit” and begin typing some keywords, putting a comma after each word in a list; put double quotes before and after a set of words that are expected to remain together in the search results (as in “California Elections”). Press the * key for special characters. Then select “OK”. Press the down arrow key on the phone and select one of the following links: Web, Mobile Web, or Local. Mobile Web implies search only on WAP sites. A few seconds later, the search results will appear on your phone’s screen. Use the up or down arrow keys to move between links and press “Select” to choose a highlighted link.

Yahoo wap.yahoo.co.in Besides mail, Yahoo offers a plethora of online services. Though not all are accessible on your WAP phone, you can actually check your Yahoo Mail, use Yahoo Messenger, and view your photos (stored online). There’s web search too, and you can also access your online calendar and address book. Also, use Yahoo to download games, wallpapers, ringtones, and logos. We recommend that you explore Yahoo mobile on your PC first. Log in to http:// in.mobile.yahoo.com/. This will make you familiar with the site and its offerings. You’ll see similar sections when you browse the WAP site (wap.yahoo.co.in). JANUARY 2006 | INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP

User IDs and passwords are case sensitive. While entering these change the text casing to small before typing the first alphabet, just as you do when typing an SMS in lower case letters. Look for the highlighted object. Use the up and down arrow keys to move from one link to another. The current link will be highlighted. Text boxes (such as the password box) and buttons (like “Sign in”) can also be highlighted. Get familiar with the phone’s menu first. Explore all the menu options in your phone’s browser. Be aware of the folder system in your phone. Create separate folders if needed. If you are familiar with the folder structure you can organize your downloads better and find things easily. If a WAP site has a web equivalent (like Rediff and Indiatimes), then it would be easier to navigate through that web site using a PC. This will make it easier to locate specific content when you browse that WAP site on your phone, later.

Yahoo offers services like mail, search, messenger, and photos on its WAP site

Rediff mobile.rediff.com The WAP equivalent of the popular Rediff. com web site is called Rediff Mobile Zone. It’s a stripped down version of Rediff. com and offers downloads (wallpapers, abstract art, paintings, animations, games). Then, of course, regular sections like news, astrology and Rediffmail. Be sure to explore the Specials that change periodically. How about “Man’s World Special”, “Wild Life Special”, and “Corbis Imagery Special”? Looking for a swimsuit model? You’ll find

Explore the Specials section on the Rediff WAP site one here! The Mobile Zone on Rediff.com can also be explored on your PC (there’s a link at the bottom of the Rediff.com home page).

Indiatimes Poly.indiatimes.com/site1/wapsite This offers similar fare as the Rediff WAP site. The highlights here are the contests, specials and exclusives. The downloads section offers wallpapers, polytones, tru tones, regional tones, mobile and WAP games, and themes. If you thirst for hot bikini babes and supermodels, check out the wallpapers

Indiatimes offers news and plenty in the Downloads section

section. You could also check your Indiatimes mail here.

Planet Hutch hutchworld.co.in The service provider of this WAP site offers news headlines, cricket scores, and specials (mainly promotional material for new Bollywood films). The Downloads section offers a rich fare. There are wallpapers, ringtones, SMS tones, animations, mcards, railway bookings, and news videos. We found some innovations too, like Mobile

120

HANDS ON

| WORKSHOP

Hutch’s WAP site offers plenty in its Downloads section Karoke. Yes, try singing along to your favorite tunes! Other service providers also have their own WAP sites. Check out AirTel Live! (live. airtelworld.com), BPL Mizone (wap.mizone. bplmobile.com), and Idea (10.4.43.4:7501/ wap).

Handygo

Zedge

www.handygo.com/wapx/ There are plenty of add-ons and enhancements for your mobile phone at this WAP site. There’s a variety of poly tunes, D tones, and sing tones. Before downloading ensure that your phone supports their file formats like .amr. Undoubtedly, this site has a comprehensive and good collection of movies, wallpapers, animations and themes—neatly organized under many categories. Do explore the mobile games and utilities too.

wap.zedge.no The web site http://www.zedge.no/ offers free wallpapers, ringtones, and other goodies for specific phone models. A section named “Upload Shack” on this site caught our interest. Through this section you can upload your digital pictures, midi files, MP3 files, etc to the site. Later, you can log on to its WAP site (wap.zedge.no) on your phone and download anything that was previously uploaded to your upload shack! Incidentally, some midi files (.mid) also make good polyphonic ringtones. First log on to www.zedge.no using your computer and register for a free account. Note your password and ID. When you sign in, click the “Upload Shack” link on the menu bar (left side). Then click the “Add File” button on the page. Specify the name and location of the file in the text box and click “Upload”. Once this is complete, click “Go back” and upload other pictures or music files. Finally, log out and get your WAP phone out. Connect to the web on your phone and go to the address wap.zedge.no. Once the main page appears, enter your username and password. Then select the “Login” link. Scroll down the page and select the link “My Upload Shack”. You will see a list of files that were earlier uploaded. Select a file link and then select the target folder on your phone (Tones or Graphics). You will see a numeric file name. Delete it slowly by pressing “Clear” repeatedly on your phone. Then type a new file name. The file is downloaded to your phone. If it’s a digital music file and your phone supports that format, then you can set it as your ringtone. | Brian Pereira

Indiagames 202.46.200.191/orange/Test The main page on this WAP site also offers wallpapers (some animated) of Bollywood actresses and Indian models. There are tempting offers for free downloads (games), but these are like the “buy-twoshirts, get-one-free” offers. Other interesting sections to explore are Cricket World (mobile cricket games and cricket wallpapers), and the gaming categories. You’ll find plenty of games on this WAP site, and these are organized under heads like Racing games, Action games, new games, etc. Just don’t get carried away and download with a devil-may-care attitude, because each game costs Rs 99. Download five and you’ve spent almost Rs 500—just like that! We recommend the Try and Buy games (trialware).

Indiagames offers plenty of mobile games and wallpapers

Handygo has an exhaustive collection of ringtones, movies, and wallpapers

Esato wap.esato.com/wap/#esato Besides the regular fare of wallpapers, screensavers, ringtones, and themes, this WAP site does offer something different. Gakkamations is a section of realistic animated pictures—like a Christmas tree with blinking lights. Developers can indulge in the WML/WAP or xHTML forums, although it would be easier to read the postings on a regular web site. And then there’s a collection of Java games. Esato also offers free themes and wallpapers, matched to specific phone models.

There’s a choice of ringtones at the Esato WAP site

Transfer ringtones and pictures via the Upload Shack on Zedge INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP | JANUARY 2006

WORKSHOP

| HANDS ON

121

Checking email on your phone (Gmail) Checking mail on a WAP phone is similar to checking your web mail (like Hotmail). You need to know the address of the corresponding WAP site. Once you enter that in your phone’s browser, the log-in page appears. A link or box or button will be highlighted. Use the up/down arrow keys on your phone to move between links or boxes. Pressing the “Select” button on your phone is equivalent to clicking a link on a conventional web page.

STEP 1. Connect: Connect to the web by selecting the web option on your phone. From the phone menu, select [Options> Other options > Go to address]. Enter the address m.gmail.com and select [OK]. Once the Gmail web page appears, you can bookmark the site by selecting [Options > Add Bookmark] from the phone’s menu.

STEP 2. Sign in: When the Gmail page appears, scroll down and highlight the username box. Select [Edit] and enter your Gmail ID. Then select [OK]. Scroll down and highlight the password box. Again select [Edit] and enter your password. Then select [OK]. Move down and select the [Remember me] box if needed. Then select [Mark]. Scroll down and select the [Sign in] button. Select a message to read it and after that use the [Back] button.

STEP 3. More views: Gmail on WAP offers options that are similar to those on the Gmail web site. But these are on a separate page. If you scroll towards the bottom of the main page on your WAP phone, you will see the other folders and options [More views]. Be sure to sign out after you finish. The sign out link is at the bottom of the main page on Gmail.

Checking email on your phone (Yahoo Mail)

STEP 1. Connect: Make a connection to the web by selecting the [Web] option on the phone. Select [Go to adress] from the [Options] menu. When prompted, enter the address wap.yahoo.co.in or wap.yahoo.com and select [OK]. A security message will appear. Select [Yes]. When the Yahoo home page appears, you can bookmark it for future access by selecting [Options > Add Bookmark]. Scroll to the bottom and select the [Mail] link.

JANUARY 2006 | INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP

STEP 2. Sign in: The sign-in screen appears. With the Yahoo ID box highlighted, select [Edit] and enter your Yahoo ID. Then select [OK]. Scroll down and highlight the password box. Again select [Edit] and enter your password. While typing the password, the characters appear for a brief moment and then turn into an asterix, so be quick while typing. Scroll down and select the [Sign in] button. A security message appears. Select [OK].

STEP 3. Check mail: The list of mail folders appears. Highlight the folder to be checked and press [Select]. The list of messages appears. If there are several messages you will find a [Next] link at the bottom of the page. To read a message highlight the message link and press [Select]. Select the [Back] button to view the folder list again. Don’t forget to sign out after checking messages. You’ll find the Sign out link at the bottom of the page (in folder view).

122

HANDS ON

| WORKSHOP

Transfer pictures (wirelessly) into the phone Don’t have the cable for connecting your phone to the PC? No sweat. Here’s a way to transfer pictures wirelessly, via a WAP web site.

STEP 3. Upload to Yahoo Photos:

STEP 1. Resize the image: The new phones can automatically resize the image for the phone’s screen. In case your phone can’t do that, use an image editing software and resize . Check the phone’s screen resolution in the manual or on the manufacturer’s web site.

STEP 2. Sign in to Yahoo Photos: Using a computer and browser, log on to photos. yahoo.com and sign in. Click the [Add Photos] button. A list of existing albums is shown. Create a new album if needed and click the [Continue] button. Choose the [Private] option and click [Continue].

When prompted to do so, click on [Select Photos]. Then indicate the location of the folder that contains your photo. Within that folder, click on the photo and click [Select] and [Continue]. Wait a few seconds as the photo is uploaded to the Yahoo server. Do note the album on Yahoo where you uploaded the photo. Click the [View Album] button to verify. Finally, sign out from Yahoo and get out your WAP phone.

STEP 4. Connect to the Web: Initiate a connection to the web by selecting the web option on the phone’s menu. Then select [Options > Other Options] and then [Go to address] from the phone’s menu. Then type: wap.yahoo.co.in. Select [OK].

STEP 5. Sign in to Yahoo on your phone: Select the [Sign in] link. With the Yahoo ID box highlighted, type your Yahoo login ID and select [OK]. Scroll down till you see the password box. Enter your password in the box and select [OK]. Scroll down and select the [Sign in] button. Select [OK].

STEP 6. Select an album: Scroll down and select the [Photos] link. Then select the link for [My Albums]. A moment later all your albums will appear. Select the album in which you stored the resized photo. Then highlight the resized photo within that album.

STEP 7. Download picture to phone:

STEP 8. Sign out: Remember to sign out from the web site and also to terminate your WAP session. Select the [Back] button till you go back to the main Yahoo page. From there select the [Sign out] option. Then select [Options > Quit] on your phone’s menu .

STEP 9. Viewing the picture on the phone: From the phone’s main menu

Select [Options] and then [Other Options]. Then select [Save Image] and [Save]. Select the [Graphics] folder on your phone. Then select [Save to]. Type the name for the photo (you can select the [Clear] option to delete the default name. Then select [OK].

select [Gallery]. Select the [Graphics] folder. Highlight the photo that you just downloaded and select [Open]. You can then select the [Options > Zoom] or [Options > Set as Wallpaper] . INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP | JANUARY 2006

Manoj Tandel

Made a Backup Yet? It’s time you made a copy of all your important documents, if you haven’t so far. Let’s take a look at how XP’s Backup can make your life easier.

A

lot of personal data has been lost because of procrastination—I’m sure the same has happened to a lot of you too. Well, I woke up from my slumber and started taking backups more often. I used to manually copy files on to optical media, and then I started using proprietary software to automatically save select files on my computer. Then I started using XP’s Backup Utility, which turned out to be a very simple and inexpensive way of backing up information on your computer. XP’s Backup Utility is a very handy tool for the user at home or in a small office—it has a variety of settings to choose from to suit your needs and is part of the operating system (no costs at all in terms of money or bandwidth). One can take a backup of personal files, system files or everything on the system partition (‘C’ drive). The Backup Utility in Windows XP Professional also has an additional feature known as Automated System Recovery. This method allows you to create a backup of the JANUARY 2006 | INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP

System State and create a diskette, which aids in reinstalling your operating system (faster) and all the data as well from a backup made earlier. In addition to this, there is the scheduling feature that allows you to automate backups while you are away from the computer. There are a few things that you need to know before you begin using the Backup Utility. There is a little fine print in the way you can use this Utility. For example, XP Home Edition users will not find ‘Backup’ under System Tools. This is because it is not included by default—it needs to be installed from the CD. You will find the installable in the ‘Valueadd\MSFT\Ntbackup’ folder in the XP Home Edition CD. After you have installed it, you will notice that Windows XP Home Edition’s Backup Utility does not have the Automated System Recovery feature. Windows XP Professional, on the other hand, has Backup installed by default and also has the ASR feature. There is a caveat to using the ASR method for backing up

your system – it only supports FAT16 and NTFS partitions. It is preferable to use the NTFS file system for your system partition. If you are not going to use NTFS, you can still use the rest of Backup’s features of backup and restore. This workshop will take you through the different types of backups like System State, Incremental, Differential, etc and then tell you how these can be restored at a later stage. The final part of the workshop deals with the Automated System Recovery feature in Windows XP Professional. You can use floppies to take backups (which is quite pointless since you will not have enough floppies for all the data) to save it on another partition (anything except the system partition) or hard drive. External storage can also be used to store ‘backup sets’. Make sure your external drive has enough storage (at least 2 GB, if you are going to make a copy of your system files) before you go ahead with the backup. | Ashutosh Desai

124

HANDS ON

| WORKSHOP

Create a Backup

STEP 1. Click on Start | Accessories | System Tools | Backup. Use the wizard to help you create a backup set on to a storage device or another partition. Choose ‘Back up...’ and click on Next.

STEP 2. Select what you want to backup. ‘Everyone’s documents and settings’ will save My Documents, My Folder, etc of all the users on the computer. ‘All information...’ will also create an ASR disk.

STEP 3. Choose the destination of the backup you are going to create. Do not forget to type a name for the backup—keep it simple and easy to understand. It helps when you create multiple backup sets.

STEP 4. If you want to set the kind of backup then click on ‘Advanced’ instead of clicking on ‘Finish’. If you just want to create a plain old backup then click on Finish. It will create a Normal backup.

STEP 5. Within ‘Advanced’, you can select Normal, Copy, Incremental, Differential or a Daily type backup depending on your needs. Below the option you will find a small explanation of the backup type.

STEP 6. The “Backup Progress” dialog box first analyzes all the folders that are to be backed up and then begins the actual process. Do not work on documents or any application at the same time.

Restore your Backup

STEP 1. Run the Backup Utility again, opt for ‘Restore files...’ and select the backup set. If want a select few folders or files, check the appropriate boxes and click on Next.

STEP 2. Select the destination where you want the backup to be restored. If want to restore a few files only into a particular folder then select the ‘Single Folder’ option and browse to the destination folder.

STEP 3. Certain files might have certain security settings or contain mount points. If mount points are not preserved then the contents within the mount folder will not restored.

INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP | JANUARY 2006

WORKSHOP

| HANDS ON

125

Automated System Recovery

STEP 1. If you create an ASR back, click on the ‘Advanced’ link before you click on Next to start the backup wizard. (You can start your Backup/Restore wizard from here also, if you wish.) Click on Automated System Recovery Wizard. A floppy is also required.

STEP 2. Create an ASR in the same way as a backup. At the end of the backup you will be asked to insert a floppy to create the ASR foppy. This method only creates a backup of the System State and is used to restore the operating system quickly.

STEP 3. To restore your system partition, boot from a Windows XP CD and press F2 (when prompted to do so) to run ASR. Insert the ASR floppy that was created during the backup. The restoration of the operating system will begin.

STEP 4. While restoring the operating system, the system partition will be formatted. This will take some time depending on the size of the partition. The system partition is usually the C drive.

STEP 5. After the initial preparation, the operating system will begin installing. This process is of a shorter duration since it will restore from the ASR backup instead of running a complete reinstall.

STEP 6. At a particular stage of installation, the ASR recovery wizard will begin. If you have used an external storage device for backup, make sure it is connected to your computer. Click Next.

STEP 7. By default, the last backup set taken will be displayed in the field. Click on Browse to select the .bkf file you want to use. Click on Next and continue with the restore process. After the PC restarts, you will be back to your desktop as it was.

STEP 8. To further configure the Backup Utility, click on the Tools menu and select Options. Browse the tabs to set the kind of backup/restore you want to set the utility to use. You can also use the ‘Verify data...’ option to avoid taking corrupt backups.

STEP 9. Once you are comfortable with taking backups, you can use the Schedule Jobs option to automate the process. This is where the Incremental, Differential backup types will come of use. They basically append files to the same backup set.

JANUARY 2006 | INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP

126

HANDS ON

| TIPS & TRICKS

Tricks Tips& JANUARY 2006

WINDOWS

127

1

Windows XP

Slow installation

2

Windows XP

Monitoring the system

3

Windows XP

Removing programs from “Open with”

INTERNET & COMMUNICATION

128

4

Web Browser

Enhancing Firefox functionality

5

Web Browser

Opening link in new Firefox tab

6

Web Browser & Email Client

Portable Internet

7

Outlook

Tweaking Outlook

Umesh Dahiwalkar

Tip of the month Windows XP

APPLICATIONS

How can I make my own personalized icons in Window XP?

8

Adobe Photoshop

Creating images for web pages

9

Word

Utilizing word count toolbar

10

Word

Updating time in Word

11

Word

Creating shortcuts in Word

12

Word

Embedding fonts in a document

13

Winamp

Making Winamp dance to the beats

It’s extremely easy to create your own icons in Windows XP. Here you go : Click “Start >click All Programs>click Accessories> and then click Paint. On the Image menu, click Attributes. Type 32 for both the width and height of the document, and make sure that Pixels is selected under Units. Click [OK] to create a new 32x32-pixel document: the size of an icon. Now add type, color, or do whatever you’d like to with your image.When you’re finished, open the File menu and click “Save As”. Use the dialog box to choose where you want to save your file, then give it a name followed by “.ico” (without the quotes), and click “Save”. (The extension “.ico” tells Windows that it’s an icon file). We just created an icon. Now you can change any shortcut or folder to your own icon and just browse to it on your hard drive.

129

HARDWARE

132

14

Speakers

Correcting noise problem

15

Hard Drives

Prevent excess heat and vibration

16

Digital Cameras

Get bright images without flash

17

Digital Cameras

Checking for actual lens resolution

18

Cabinet

Avoiding clutter in the case

19

Cabinet

Cleaning the case

20

Monitor

Installing the right monitor

21

Mice

Using the mouse pad

INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP | JANUARY 2006

TIPS & TRICKS

Windows 1 | Windows XP Slow installation My Windows XP installation has been progressively slowing down over the past few weeks. I tried out plenty of applications from the Internet and this is beginning to clog my system. I can’t stop myself from doing this, so I want to know what precautions I need to take to ensure that my system is running at its optimal best, despite my download-heavy lifestyle. During the course of normal computer usage, there are several opportunities where your hard disk can get progressively filled with unnecessary programs and fragments of files that are remnants of your Web browsing and application installations. All this system junk will certainly slow down your computer. There are several areas from where you can weed out all this junk and keep your system spiffy clean. First, get rid of all the extraneous files on your hard disks that might have been left by old program installations, Internet browsing, deleted files etc. Go to Start | Run and type “cleanmgr /sageset:99”. This opens up the Disk Cleanup Wizard. This little application lets you select one of many areas of your Windows XP installation and safely deletes superfluous files that clutter your hard disk. Some of the sections include offline web pages, temporary setup files, log files, etc. There’s nothing to stop you from selecting all of these categories and hitting the

1 Bring up the disk cleanup application to help you weed out junk files JANUARY 2006 | INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP

[OK] button. However, there might be instances where you might want to keep your Internet cache, for example, to take advantage of better load times while browsing your favorite web sites. If you don’t really want to do so, go ahead and check all of these areas and Windows will proceed to remove all of these files, leading to a cleaner (and faster) system. There are other ways you can optimize the space allocations of common Windows resources such as the System Restore Points and the Recycle Bin. Both of these are notorious for allocating enormous amounts of hard disk space that can otherwise be put to more productive use. By default, Windows allots 10 percent of the volume space to the recycle bin—that’s 4 GB from a 40 GB hard disk! Reduce this by right-clicking on the Recycle Bin, selecting properties and swinging down the slider to 3 percent or less. Similarly, with the System Restore Points, right click on [My Computer] in Windows Explorer, choose Properties and drag this down to three percent or less. There, you’ve now recovered several gigabytes of space on your hard disk.

| HANDS ON

127

2 Unearth every specification of your computer’s hardware using this nifty tool If you need more details than what is offered by Windows System Information or the Device Manager, try out an application called Everest Home Edition (www.lavalys.com). This application hunts through your hardware and software setup and extracts every piece of information you might need about your processor, motherboard, graphics card, hard disk and any other piece of hardware or software information that you might care to know about your computer.

3 | Windows XP 2 | Windows XP Monitoring the system I would like to know with several applications running, how much free RAM does my computer have. How I can monitor the temperature and fan speeds of my system and processor fans? Also, I want to know how I can obtain a detailed report on the hardware configuration of my computer. There are various applications you can use to monitor the state of your system at any given time. One of them is a program called CoolMon (www.coolmon. org) where you can monitor about 22 of the most geekiest system parameters like the temperature and speed of your system fans, the number of processes running, the total available memory on your hard disk and RAM, CPU utilization, etc. Each of these can be individually configured to appear on the interface. Best of all, this monitoring happens in real time. Better still, the program is free.

Removing programs from “Open with” When one right clicks on a file ones sees an option called “open with” which links to different programs which can be used to run the same file . In case I want to delete them, how do I go about it? Click Start, Run, Type REGEDIT Navigate to the following key: HKEY_CURRENT_USER \ Software \ Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion \ Explorer \ FileExts Find the extension you wish to edit and click on the [+] sign to expand OpenWithList (in the right pane, you will see a list with the programs, like “paint. exe”, “notepad.exe”, etc). Use the File, Export option to back up the key. Click on the one you wish to delete and press the delete button. Still some items may show up in the Openwith lists, which comes from the HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT registry key, which is

128

HANDS ON

| TIPS & TRICKS

common for all the user profiles. You may remove the entries from the following key: HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\ .xxx \ OpenWithList where xxx is a file extension. With that removed, Windows may still show some default open-with lists. Depending upon the file type, the openwith listing is generated from the subkeys under: HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT \ SystemFileAssociations \ \ Simply put, don’t remove this part as it affects many file types, not a particular one.

Internet 4 | Web Browser Enhancing Firefox functionality I’ve been using Firefox for a while now and am really addicted to its extensible architecture where I can add the feature I need. What are the cool extensions that I can use to truly beef up the functionality of Firefox and take my Internet experience clear into the geek domain? Firefox lends itself to extending its functionality using a range of tiny plug-ins called extensions. There are extensions for several applications such as FTP, AD blocking, mouse gestures, weather and stock updates, enhanced download functionality, etc. Some of the must-have extensions you need to make your Firefox installation into a power web browser are:

Adblock: Besides speeding up your web browsing experience, this plug-in eliminates all web advertising from the web pages your browse through. It works by referencing a list of known advertising web sites and selectively blocking content from these sites which appear on other pages in the form of banner Ads, popups, etc. The list can be modified to incorporate future inclusions as well. All-in-One Gestures: Once you start using it, there’s no looking back—using your mouse, you can define specific movement patters to execute tasks during your web browsing experience. This enables you to virtually control your surfing using just the mouse, where you can browse through

5 | Web Browser Opening link in Firefox How do I open a link in a new tab in Firefox?

4 Give Firefox a shot of steroids—these are some of the must-have plugins pages, navigate between open web sites, close web sites and move forward and backward within them with just a flick of your wrist.

It’s known that in Firefox you can open a link in a new tab by clicking the link with the ‘ctrl’ key pressed. But there is a quicker way. If you have a three-button mouse, you can click a link with the middle button (in a scroll mouse, the scroll wheel is also a middle button) to open it in a new tab.

6 | Web Browser and E-mail Client Portable Internet

Tabbrowser Preferences: Tab browsing is one of the best pieces of functionality in Firefox. This extension extends this functionality by giving you greater control on how tabs appear, where they appear and how links within them are handled.

FoxyTunes: For all you music junkies out there, how would you like to control your MP3 player software from your browser itself? FoxyTunes lets you do just that—it hooks into popular MP3 players like iTunes and Windows Media Player and offers full audio control from a toolbar in the browser itself. Very handy.

IEView: There are some web sites that aren’t Firefox-friendly. For these, you can open them in a dedicated window using this extension. Google Toolbar for Firefox: It’s been around for a while, but this version is now officially released and supported by Google. This Google-enabled Firefox extension lets you search from within the interface itself. Gmail Notifier: Just like your local e-mail client, this extension provides a notification each time you receive mail on your Gmail account. Neat.

Flashblock: If you’re bogged down by those Flash-heavy web sites that slow down your surfing experience, this functionality banishes them to digital oblivion!

I travel a lot and very often I need to access my mail and the Internet from various locations. However, I don’t have a laptop and so I often need to access information from public places and computer in other offices. Is there any way I could keep my familiar web browser and POP mail client with me and use this to access the Internet? If you’re addicted to your specific settings on your browser and e-mail client, it’s only natural that you’d want the exact same settings no matter where you go. There’s hope—portable versions of web browsers like Firefox and e-mail clients like Thunderbird do exist. Using these scaleddown applications, you can carry them on a portable storage medium like a thumb drive, an MP3 player like the iPod. To start off, you’d be best off getting yourself a USB 2.0 enabled thumb drive as these will give you the best application response compared to those based on the older USB 1.1 standard. A 256 MB drive should more than suffice, with space to spare for your other files. Then, you would need to download and use the portable versions of a browser like Portable Firefox (portablefirefox.mozdev.org) for your web browsing and Portable Thunderbird (portablethunderbird.mozdev.org) for your e-mail client. You can even try out Portable Nvu (portablenvu.mozdev.org) and Portable Sunbird (portablesunbird. mozdev.org) for browsing and e-mailing respectively. All of these applications are specifically optimized for use on a USB INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP | JANUARY 2006

TIPS & TRICKS

thumb drive—they are small to begin with, they minimize the amount of times they write to the device and don’t store data like web pages by default. All of this makes for a very usable experience while working with these applications. A portable drive is highly susceptible to being stolen or pilfered. So you can use the file encryption software that came with your thumb drive or download third-party encryption applications such as Cypherix Cryptainer LE (www.cypherix.co.uk) or Dekart Private Disk Light (www.dekart. com) to add an extra level of security to your portable applications.

7 | Outlook Tweaking Outlook I rely on Microsoft Outlook for everything from e-mailing to tracking my schedules to assigning tasks to my team members. However, there are times when the application responds in a very sluggish manner. Is there a way I can move the mail Outlook file to a different directory or hard disk, to make it easier to take backups of it? Outlook, being the multi-faceted application it is, lets you do plenty of tasks for the home and office. However, in this age of bloated attachments and relentless e-mail forwards, it doesn’t take too long for your mailbox to swell up to hundreds of megabytes. There are several ways to counter this and to help keep it slim and trim. First, you can compress your mailbox (and all attached files along with it). To do this, select Tools | Options and choose the ‘Mail Setup’ tab. Now click the ‘Data files’ button and select ‘Settings’ from the following screen. You’ll see a button here called ‘Compact’. Clicking this will enable Outlook to compress the data file that is used to hold all your e-mails, tasks, calendar entries etc. The default location of the mail Outlook PST storehouse file is within a long-winded folder structure in a hidden location. Since this is a critical data file, you would want it to be in an accessible location from where you can back it up easily. Therefore, it’s best to move it from its initial location. JANUARY 2006 | INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP

7 By relocating your personal files folder to a new location, managing it is easier First you need to locate the ‘Outlook. PST’ file. From the menu bar, click on ‘Tools’, then select ‘Options’ and click the ‘Data files’ button. Now click the ‘Open Folder’ button. A new window will open, containing the main outlook file. Copy this path to this file from the address bar. Now close Outlook and navigate to this file using the path you saved. Cut the file from this location and paste it to the new location in an accessible folder. Now, the next time you start Outlook, it will throw up an error box since the file will not be found. Simply navigate to the new location, select the file and click [OK]. That’s it, from now, Outlook will access the file from the new location. You are now free to take backups of that file from its new location.

APPLICATIONS 8 | Adobe Photoshop Creating images for web pages I am learning to create my own web site. Since I am quite new to this, I’m using an easy-to-use web design software. I have noticed that many web sites have some really cool logos, icons, etc. It’s easy to just click, save these images to my system and then use them on my web pages. I would like to create images on my own. I have Adobe Photoshop installed on my computer. Could you tell how I can use it to create some images for my web site? There are a whole lot of things you can do with Adobe Photoshop—you can design almost all the elements of your page in Photoshop. So the best time to start learning how to do that is now! Here,

| HANDS ON

129

we will create an image for your page that will make use of shadow, emboss and burn effects. This image can be used to add to your web page, as part of an e-mail or a desktop wallpaper. In Adobe Photoshop, create a new file – File | New and enter Image Size’s Width and Height to 400x400. You can change this depending on your preferences. Notice the estimated file size as you enter the dimensions into the fields. Also make sure that the “Contents” is set to ‘Transparent’. Set the foreground color by clicking on the ‘Foreground’ in the Tools bar (if it’s not visible, click on Window | Tools).

8 Use the color picker to set the object’s color Click on the Rectangle Tool to get a list of the additional shape tools. Select Custom Shape Tool. Select the symbol you want from the drop down list. Click and drag to create the shape onto the new file that you just opened. After creating the shape the color should get filled in automatically since you had selected it earlier. Create a new layer, click and drag it below the ‘Shape’ layer. With this new layer http://www.postmaster.co.in

Peace Of Mind Unbeatable on-the-ground presence. To ensure that you're free to focus - on the next level of productivity for your organization. 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]

INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP | JANUARY 2006

130

HANDS ON

| TIPS & TRICKS

8a The custom share tool has a lot of

Now click on ‘Bevel and Emboss’ and choose the ‘Emboss’ ‘Style’ under ‘Structure’. Set the ‘Technique’ to ‘Chisel Hard’ and the ‘Depth’ of this style to “505”. You should play around with these settings and see the changes that occur on the symbol you created a while ago. Change the ‘Gloss Contour’ under ‘Shading’ to Gaussian and check ‘Antialiased’. Set the ‘Highlight Mode’ to

will need to disable the Gradient Overlay settings to make the ‘burn’ effects visible.) You can make each layer ‘invisible’ by

options to play around with selected, select the Background color. Use the Pain Bucket Tool (press [G] or click on [Edit | Fill]) to fill the background with the color you just selected. With this done, you go ahead adding all the effects to the shape. Select the Shape layer and right click on it. Select ‘Blending Options’. In the Layer Style dialog box that appears, you can fiddle with any of the

8b Right click on the symbol in layers and select the blending options features listed here. The ‘Blending Options’ can be left as is – Default. Click on ‘Drop Shadow’ to enable it and set the ‘Blend Mode’ to Multiply. Set ‘Opacity’ to 75 percent. If you like you can change the angle of the light source by changing the value against ‘Angle’. Set the ‘Contour’ as Linear under ‘Quality’.

8f The ‘History’ tool lets you undo many steps at a time

8d The Bevel and Emboss feature will give some high relief to the symbol Darken, ‘Shadow Mode’ to Multiply and the ‘Opacity’ to 75 percent. Now click on ‘Color Overlay’ and select ‘Darken’ for the ‘Blend Mode’ and the ‘Opacity’ to 75 percent. Select ‘Gradient Overlay’ and set the ‘Opacity’ to 85 percent to choose the kind of ‘Gradient’ you want to apply to the image. Select it and click on the arrow new ‘Presets’ to load additional gradient styles. The changes can be observed on the image, all the while. After you are done with setting the gradient style, select the ‘Style’ as Linear and check ‘Align with Layer’. Do not set the Gradient Scale too high, as it will only darken the image completely. Click [OK] to confirm the changes you have just made. Use the ‘Burn Tool’ to create a ‘singed’ look on the symbol. (You

clicking on the small eye icon to the left of the layer (or effect under that layer). To undo some actions, click on Window | History—this will list all the actions you have performed on the image. Select the step from where you want to restart your work. You can select a particular step and click on the trash can icon to delete it. Just selecting the particular step without deleting anything to continue your work from is good enough. Save the file as a .psd (if you want to continue working on the layers later on) and as a JPG file (choose the quality depending on the use). You can use this file for your web site or to create a wallpaper or greeting card.

8f Your final web image—embossed, raised and ready for upload

9 | Word Utilizing Word count toolbar How do I get the word count in a Word document? Is there a way to keep the word count display active for all the documents?

8c Select Drop Shadow and choose the amount and quality of shadow

8e The ‘Burn’ tool increases the darkness of a color

The word count option is present under the ‘Tools’ menu. Apart from word count, it also displays the number INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP | JANUARY 2006

TIPS & TRICKS

of characters, lines and paragraphs in a document. The shortest way to get word count is by using the shortcut [Alt+T+W]. But if you want to keep the word count active permanently, there is a way to add a word count toolbar. To add it, go to ‘View | Toolbars’ and select ‘Word Count’. After the toolbar gets displayed, you can drag it to the standard or the formatting toolbar so that it snaps into place. Now, to get the word count, you simply have to click the “Count” button on the toolbar. After you have edited the document, you have to click on it again to get a fresh count. A simpler way to get the word count on the toolbar is by pressing [Alt+c]. If you wish to get a count of characters, lines or paragraphs, you can set the option in the toolbar from its drop down list.

| HANDS ON

131

10 | Word Updating time in Word What is the shortcut to insert automatically updating time in a Word document? To insert time, you have to go to the ‘Insert’ menu and then choose ‘Date and Time’. Then in order to keep the time updated, you have to choose the option ‘Update automatically’. Next time when you want to insert time, just press [Alt+Shift+t] and your work will be done in half a second. This shortcut also works in PowerPoint.

11 | Word Creating shortcuts in Word How do I get some useful shortcuts in Word? Here you go! These shortcuts will help you to save time and keep your hands off the mouse while you’re working on a Word document.

12 | Word Embedding fonts in a document I have downloaded and installed some additional fonts. If I create a document using those fonts, the document doesn’t appear the way it is meant to on other PCs. Please give me a quick tip. The document won’t appear with similar formatting on other PCs unless they too have the fonts that you have used. The first and the most common way to solve this problem is to carry the additional fonts that you have used in the document and copy them to the ‘Fonts’ folder located in the ‘Windows’ folder. A wiser option is to embed the font in the document itself. It does make the document a little larger in size, but you won’t to worry about installing the fonts on other PCs. To do so, click [File | Save as] and click the “Tools” drop down list in the

Previewing a document: To preview a

9 By utilizing the word count toolbar, you can keep tracks of word count in a jiffy

document, you either have to go to ‘File | Print Preview’ or click the ‘Print Preview’ button on the Standard toolbar. A quicker way would be to press [ctrl+alt+i]. Don’t worry about clicking the [close] button after you are done with the preview. You simply have to press [alt+c] to resume working on the document.

Page setup: Rather than going to ‘File | Page Setup’, it’s easier to double click the blank area at either sides of the horizontal ‘Ruler’ bar. Even though using the former method is easy, the latter is surely an easier and a time-saving method.

9a Choose the option ‘Update automatically’ in order to keep the time updated in word JANUARY 2006 | INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP

Zooming: Zooming in and out is not a big deal. You just have to select or type the zoom percentage in the zoom field in the Standard toolbar. But there is a quicker way without moving the mouse! If you have a mouse with a scroll wheel, keep the [ctrl] key pressed and scroll the mouse wheel up to zoom in or down to zoom out. Piece of cake, isn’t it? If you have a keyboard with a zoom slider, nothing like it!

12 By embedding fonts in a document, they needn’t be installed on the computer it’s used

http://www.postmaster.co.in

State-of-the-art E-mail hosting and management system. With a 99.5% performance guarantee.

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

132

HANDS ON

| TIPS & TRICKS

‘Save as’ dialog box. Choose ‘save options’ and check ‘Embed TrueType Fonts’. You can exclude the system fonts from being embedded to keep the file size low.

13 | WINAMP Make Winamp dance to the beats! I use Winamp majorly. Please give me a funky tip for Winamp. Did you know you can make Winamp’s main window flash to the beats of the song it’s playing? To check it out, you need to have Winamp 5. Set the skin to ‘Winamp Modern’. Now type ‘NULLSOFT’. After each ‘L’ the ‘open file’ dialog box will open, so you have to hit escape. So actually you’re typing N,U,L,Esc,L,Esc,S,O,F,T. Watch the fun if you’ve got it right! It looks very funky.

HARDWARE 14 | Speakers Correcting noise problem It gets quite disturbing when there’s a continuous hiss or distortion in the background while I am listening to my favorite tracks. I can detect the hiss more correctly when I use my headphones. I would like to know what causes the hiss. The hiss could be due to various reasons like a bad sound card, faulty speakers or headphones and also due to some interference from other devices in your computer. But the most common of all factors is the soundcard itself and its inputs, which might be enabled in spite of them not being in use. To correct this problem you need to follow the steps: a) Open the software mixer or volume control. There are several inputs that can create noise in the speakers. b) The microphone and the modem are the usual culprits. Mute these two items. This should eliminate all or most of the noise. Note: The microphone does not have to be un-muted to use it. Un-muting the microphone allows you to hear what you are recording through the speakers while you are recording. It doesn’t stop you from recording. Therefore, the microphone should always be muted so that it does not cause a hissing

sound or low-level hum from the speakers.

15 | Hard Drives Prevent excess heat and vibration While installing a second hard drive, what are the precautions I need to take? With hard drives becoming more and more affordable, buying a second hard drive to boost the computer storage is a very common upgrade amongst users. Hard drives have a major contribution to the overall system heat and hence you need to take the following precautions before installing a second hard drive. Here are some tips to ensure that the new hard drive does not bring new worries. 1) Make sure there is enough ventilation in the cabinet and ensure that the hard drive is not in physical contact with any other device (floppy disk drive, hard drive or optical drive). 2) The two hard drives should have sufficient space between them, if they are too close to each other, the heat emitted by them can not only cause damage to the hard drives but also pushes the system temperature higher, putting the other components in danger of excess heat. Maintain a minimum distance of 1.5-2 inches between the two drives; in case you have more than two drives, which don’t allow sufficient gap between the drives, it’s recommended that you use hard drive coolers to control the heat. 3) Being mechanical devices, hard drives have a tendency to vibrate in case they are not attached properly. Loosely fit hard drives can cause vibrations that not only damage the hard drive but other components as well. To avoid such issues, make sure that they are fit properly and ensure that they are attached to the chassis of the cabinet from all four sides.

16 | Digital Cameras Get bright images without flash How do I ensure bright images without using the flash? There are several issues with digital cameras although they are easier and smarter than film cameras. Low-light

shooting is one of these issues. Capturing images in low-light can become a daunting task, especially if you want to avoid the use of flash. Using flash tends to overexpose (brighten) the image too much. To capture decent images in low light, you will have to increase the ‘Exposure’ setting, which basically determines the sensitivity of the sensor to ambient light conditions. The exposure settings are used to lighten or darken the image by overriding the default exposure. Most cameras provide “EV Compensation” to adjust the amount of light that reaches the image sensor—this is controlled by a combination of the lens aperture and shutter speed. Experimenting with the Exposure setting will yield surprisingly accurate results in low-light conditions.

17 | Digital Cameras Check for the actual lens resolution I am planning to buy a digital camera and I have a pretty much tight budget. Please tell me about the most important factor I need to look for. Digital cameras are mostly sold on the criteria of “lens resolution”—higher the resolution, the more preferred it is. Since the resolution is the single most dominant factor, lots of manufacturers play around with words by boasting of resolutions of 5 MP and above. These cameras are sold for almost half or an even lesser price than the other models in a similar category. This can easily convince the user to buy the particular camera. The catch lies in the fact that the resolution is not the actual lens resolution; in fact it’s the interpolated resolution. These cameras have an inbuilt interpolation technique, which converts the images to high resolution by interpolating them—the result is a dull, washed out and pixilated image. The actual hardware resolution of the lens is nearly half of the claimed resolution, thus the quality suffers a great deal. To avoid such confusion and buying hazards, always check the resolution of the lens, ask the seller to provide you with the exact hardware resolution. Always evaluate a camera on the actual hardware resolution of the lens and the image INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP | JANUARY 2006

TIPS & TRICKS

quality rather than making the decision on the basis of the claimed/advertised lens resolution.

18 | Cabinet Avoiding clutter in the case In what way do I get rid of all the clutter in the case?

| HANDS ON

133

can be lethal to the components inside the computer case since the vacuum cleaner generates a lot of static electricity, which can damage the components. Users can use a vacuum to suck up dirt, dust, or hair around their computer on the outside case and on their keyboards.

20 | Monitors Your computer might be the coolest of all in terms of looks and technology but opening the computer case might reveal a completely difference picture. With a lot of hardware installed in the computer, the clutter of wires is almost unavoidable to begin with, but there are simple and effective ways of managing the clutter in a way that it causes minimum inconvenience. The clutter of wires also poses a risk to the components because they might obstruct and disturb some of the components from functioning properly. With coolers fitted with high-speed fans, there is a high probability of the wires obstructing the fan and causing damage to the components. To keep such incidents at bay, you can simply tape all the wires together in such a way that they cause minimum clutter and also are safe from

Installing the right monitor Please tell me how I can install the correct monitor. Most often what happens is Windows XP fails to realize your LCD/CRT monitor type and model. The result is that the highest resolution support and the refresh rates supported are not displayed accurately in the video control panel. Windows XP takes the monitor as either a “Default Monitor” or “plug and play monitor”, installing generic drivers with the most common set of features and settings for the display device. To install the correct type of drivers, follow the steps given below: 1) Go to “Start | My Computer” 2) Right click on “My Computer” and

select “Properties” 3) Go to “Hardware” tab and select

“Device Manager” 4) Under the device manger click on

“Monitors”

18 By organizing your computer’s cables, it not only looks neater, it also runs cooler fans and other equipment.

19 | Cabinet Cleaning the case Can I use a vacuum cleaner to clean the insides of the computer case? I have seen many a times people using a vacuum cleaner to suck up or blow the dust inside the computer case. This JANUARY 2006 | INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP

5) If it displays a “Default monitor” or “Plug and play” monitor then that implies that the correct monitor driver is not installed 6) Double click on the “Default Monitor” and select “Driver” 7) Click on the tab “Update driver” 8) The Driver update wizard will be launched; in case you don’t have the drivers downloaded, you can either let the wizard connect to the Internet and look for them. You can also alternatively trust Windows to have the drivers in its database; in such a case select the option “Install from a list or specific location” and in the next screen choose

“Don’t search, I will choose the driver” option to manually select the driver from the data base. 9) Select the monitor manufacturer/brand

20 Most mice (especially optical ones) have pads at the corners called skids. They help smoother usage from the given list and then select the correct model number. Once done, click on “Next”. 10) Windows will not accept the driver if it doesn’t match the hardware. Once the driver is accepted, click on “Finish” to complete the driver installation process.

21 | Mice Using the mouse pad Since the optical mouse doesn’t have a ball, is it ok to use it without a mouse pad? If you flip your optical mouse and look at its back side or rather its bottom surface which rests on a flat surface, you will notice that it has small plastic or rubberised pads called skids (generally four along the edges). These, if used on a coarse or not so smooth surface, tend to get grazed due to friction and then the mouse does not feel as smooth or tactile as before. Hence, use a mousepad. It mostly comes for free. ■ http://www.postmaster.co.in

E-mail, content protection & Internet sharing through one intuitive interface. For a free trial call QuantumLink Communications Pvt. Ltd. Mumbai - 26820004. Bangalore - 51152792. New Delhi - 26691152 / 927. Pune - 9373307992 Or write to - [email protected]

158 134

Chip and the Chick Gadgets that draw the woman towards technology? Suprisingly there are...

W

why aren’t women drawn towards technology, unlike their male counterparts who drool at every chip, circuit and computing device? Most gadgets are male biased and are otherwise seemingly inconsequential to femininity in the larger frame of life. For those wondering why, it’s of little surprise that most technology and gadget related content available on stands is aimed keeping in mind men’s fascination towards gadgets. Boy’s toys so they say! A host of technology information and gadget magazines are ostensibly woman-repellent, what with the spread of bikini babes (take a cue from the recent front cover of CHIP’s anniversary issue) and boorish lad humor, how do we welcome the women folk to develop interest in the world of technology? Apart from wooing them with pink fluffy things,

I’m not sure if women see immense value in USB powered epilators or the like. While research states that electronic gifts actually arouse the greatest response in women, the biggest hit in the world of entertainment and media are DVD and music players, and to a very niche female audience—gaming consoles. And who could deny the ubiquitous mobile phones without which love and social lives would be zilch. Technology is strongly appealing to estrogen rather than purely to testosterone, provided women know what’s out there and how they could use it for their benefit. The approach is everything. Men and women shop differently and are interested in technology in different ways. Dismay not sisters! Here’s a rundown on a few gadgets— some exclusively for women and others universally accepted.

1 Benq Qube Z2 A mobile combined with a MP3 player, the Qube Z2 breaks the conformist handheld mould; it’s also a pretty 1.3 MP digital camera available in three flower-themed designs. The square design makes the Z2 look like Sony MiniDisc player, but fits snugly in your palm. 2 Siemens CL75 The CL75 clamshell mobile from Siemens seems an ideal companion with its soft contours, a floral-motif, lightweight, nifty design and 11 MB memory bank. Interestingly, it turns into a pocket mirror at the touch of a button!

Unwind

3 LG Xtick This dandy USB device packs quite a punch. LG’s futuristic trackable flash drive also known as Xtick, contains an embedded privacy-safe tracking software called Inspice Trace that would email you the location of your flash drive, if an unauthorized user uses your information without your permission.

Pramod Jadhav

4 Logitech Ladybug Mouse Here’s one appealing especially at aesthetics. The Logitech Ladybug Mouse is two-third the size of a standard Logitech mouse, and with an optical sensor and a USB connection, it is easy to set up and use.

5 Creative Zen Neeon With eye-popping skins or Creative Stik-ons—decorative skins for the player’s cover—the Creative Zen Neeon is a flashy little player, easy to attract attention without compromising on the product’s features or the music quality. So go out there and flash your music the way you want it to be! 6 Luella Bags for Sony Vaio And while you are busy showing off your spiffy little music player, you could add some finesse to the boring laptop you tote around. Fashioned by none other than Luella Bartley in collaboration with Sony, Bartley has created a limited edition laptop bag, designed exclusively for Sony VAIO notebook PCs.

INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP | JANUARY 2006

7 Mimobot Mimoco’s line of Mimobots are impressive little designer toys with a USB flash drive. Available in 256 MB, 512 MB and 1 GB, these three-inch tall figures can be plugged into your computer’s USB drive and are compatible with both Mac and Windows OS. 8 The Panda Humidifier With a capacity of holding a gallon of water, this kinda cute looking humidifier helps add moisture to the air, as most heating and drying units could dry out the air in your room. It performs quietly, and turns off automatically if the water should run out. It comes in a range of animal designs including a frog.

9 QWATCH QWatch is a video surveillance camera that will help you to keep an eye on your kids or pets, suspicious people in your store, etc. The best part about this camera is that it can be connected to the Internet, and controlled remotely. Videos from the camera can thus be viewed directly on the PC as well as on the mobile phone. 10 Wallet Flash The Wallet Flash is an ultra-slim USB flash drive, and the world’s first credit card-sized wallet-friendly consumer electronics device. Founded by Walletex, Wallet Flash heralds the rapid arrival of the day when consumers will be able to choose from a broad range of credit card-sized wallet-friendly products.

11 LaCie Carte Orange USB Key As small as a credit card and easy to use, the new LaCie Carte Orange USB key is the smallest storage device ever with up to 8 GB capacity and credit-card-thin being the new fad in gadgets, this tiny thing can bundle quite an amount of data. It can be used anywhere without the need for a cable, power supply or drivers. 12 Tulip E-Go E-Go is a ‘Dutch-design’ notebook, with a unique form factor and interchangeable covers. Touted to be out in the European markets, this one is meant only for the ladies, with the competitive edge/unique selling point being the design and design accessories like design bags to cover the product.

13 Seiko SVRD001 Imagine this funky bracelet cum watch on your wrist. Seiko is the first company to release a watch that uses e-ink (or e-paper) to display time. With a minimal power consumption it uses electrostatically charged balls as the basis for its display. A limited edition of 500 units is currently available, so grab your watch now! 14 CD Shredder If you’re wary of disposing your used CD with sensitive data, simply feed them into the CD /DVD shredder before disposing of them to ensure that the sensitive data on that disk is completely unrecoverable. This device does not break the media into pieces but ends up making a certain dimpled impression that will make the CD completely unreadable.

A better way to draw female attention would be an approach that would focus on desired practicality and added features. For that researchers would have to understand problems and opportunities women face in their daily lives and help them see how technology might solve the problem, meet the need, leverage an opportunity, etc. Women as ‘technophobics’ is a myth. Thanks to changing and evolving standards among the two genders—in the workforce, domestic sphere and society—the astronomical metamorphosis in the working patterns of women is evident JANUARY 2006 | INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP

worldwide. Since women fighting in the career space are growing, they are increasingly using and employing the same technological weapons, as their male counterparts. So it’s not just boys who love shiny toys; the girl-next-door is the new geek round the corner. And while at it we believe that gadgets could do with an increase in aesthetical flair and élan. Gadget envy now being non-gender specific, can truly be declared a global phenomenon. ■ | Carol D’ Costa

The most perfectly balanced FPS till date!

Y

ou’d probably be sick of WWII shooters and their ever increasing tiresome expansion packs, MOH certainly got to be a bore! But someone forgot to mention this to the developers—Infinity Ward and that’s a good thing! CoD 2 without deviating from its previous successful formula that made the first game a hit, is immensely exciting and entertaining from first shot to the last.

Game play: CoD 2 mirrors much of what we have

Top: Ouch! Getting hurt really looks bloody good Middle: The untouchable! Me in my tank in the vast expanse

Vishwanath Vanjire

Bottom: Green smoke - Smoke effects are the best ever

experienced in the past two installments. It’s still pretty much the same in core game play, such as reaching your objectives, holding positions until reinforcements arrive, etc. But what’s changed is the pace, level design and openness of the game. It hasn’t changed in linearity but you have the choice of completing those objectives in the order you wish to. The emulation of wide open spaces is beautiful. It wouldn’t be Call of Duty without big movie-like set pieces such as Pointe Du Hoc (which you’ve seen in the trailer) where you find yourself climbing a rope up the side of a cliff as bullets ricochet all around you. Like its older sibling, CoD 2 covers World War II across three interwoven campaigns featuring the Russians, the British, and the Americans. However, now you can revert back to a previous level or campaign, once you’ve played through a batch of missions.

Innovation equals immersiveness: The biggest enhancement in the game is the perfect pace maintained throughout. This is helped more with the game featuring ‘auto-regeneration’ —there are absolutely no health or armor packs. You must take cover to recover from wounds indicated by a red bloody screen and a heavy heartbeat. This may seem blasphemous to hardcore FPS fans but it’s much more realistic than tediously backtracking hunting for a health pack across a hail of MG42 gun fire. Infact, the game doesn’t even sport a HUD (a recent trend

in games a la King Kong). When not firing, no health bar or ammo information is available, stupid as it may sound, but surely helps you to immerse yourself in the game. True life savers are the grenade and damage direction indicators. Whenever a grenade is thrown close to you or when you are shot, an icon appears on the screen with an arrow indicating the direction that it came from, it’s up to you to duck or get your polygon ass out of there! There are no quick saves unlike in the previous CoD. What it has instead is a very robust auto-save game feature that acts much like the quick-save. All these innovations lead to only one thing—lesser frustration during game play. Looks like Infinity Ward really paid a lot of attention to the immersiveness of the game.

Smart (scripted) AI: AI including your comrades as well as the enemy are well balanced. They don’t dumbly stand in the path of machine gun fire or kamikaze while you openly fire at them! Squad mates do a good deal of legwork on their own, they do a great job of sticking with you, opening fire and calling out targets and enemy grenades. The game runs smooth, looks really beautiful, with best ever seen smoke effects and sounds equally awesome. This is one FPS you don’t want to miss! ■ | Nikhil Rastogi

RATINGS

9.0 / 10

For: Perfect game play balance, new health system improves the pace, more sprawling epic firefights. Against: Hardcore FPS fans might not like automatic health regeneration, devoid of quick-save option.

Price: Rs 1,299 Publisher : Activision Distributor: Placebo CD-ROM Club Fax: 022-56237766 E-mail: [email protected] System: Windows XP/ 2000, 1.5 GHz CPU, 256 MB RAM, DirectX 9.0c compatible video card with 64 MB or more, DirectX 9.0c compatible soundcard, HDD with 4 GB, 8x CD/DVD drive INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP | JANUARY 2006

REVIEW

| UNWIND

137

Get ready to face the ultimate racing challenge of the season, XXXX Most Wanted gets the adrenaline pumping!

F

ast cars, hot chics and a lot of money—if this is what you want from a racing game, look no further! The latest from the need for speed stable has got it all and more. The cops are back in the race, keeping an eye on your moves and waiting for that half chance to put an end to your riding days. Normally I would drift into my conclusion slowly but this game makes me shout it out loud. Need For Speed: Most Wanted rocks! Let’s start with the game play—it’s day time racing, something that we all craved for after the last two NFS offerings dealt with street racing at night. There are multiple racing modes—starting with the basics, you have quick race, random race and also free roam mode where you can roam around exploring the maps. If you are in for some serious racing, you have the formidable blacklist staring at you. Fifteen of the top underground racers pledge to give you more than just a tough time on the road. You gotta climb your way to the blacklist to defeat the number one on the list and take the crown of the fastest racer in town. You are not alone; you got “Mia” with you, the sweet chic who helps you make the right moves while you climb the blacklist. Your arsenal has almost all the supercars that one can think of possibly with the exception of the Ferrari which I am sure will be missed by a lot of die-hard Ferrari fans. You can mod your cars with performance upgrades, body parts, and loads of eye-candy, as long as you have got the money to buy them. From the game play angle, Most Wanted is fun with a lot of variety, fun and attitude. The game play is supported by stunning visuals; detailed racing environments and a lot of eye candy in the form of bloom and blur effects that add to

RATINGS

8.5/ 10

Pramod Jadhav

For: Excellent graphics, fun game play, it’s NFS! Against: Sound track is not up to the mark, cheezy cut scenes,

the realism. Making the most of modern day GPUs, the game can look absolutely stunning at ultra high graphics. Sound is good with accurate engine growls which are very unique to each type of car and they also change as per the engine upgrades. The sound track is nothing great. I still feel that NFS: Hot Pursuit 2 had the best sound track of all the NFS series. One feature that I dearly missed is the “replay” option which was offered in the underground series; you certainly want to have a second look at that race, especially when you take down the blacklist members! The blacklist is most definitely the most exciting part of the game, and it keeps you hooked for sure. Almost midway through the blacklist the skill level suddenly jumps to a new high, it calls for some frustrating times because you certainly will have to boost your racing skills accordingly and also spend monies to upgrade your ride. Amongst all the competition, you go through some very cheezy cut scenes which could have been handled much better; though they don’t spoil the racing experience, you do want to run through them quick. There is no conclusion to this review because I already said it at the start, NFS: Most Wanted rocks! Don’t miss this ride! ■ | Soham Raninga

7.5 / 10

RATINGS For:

XXXXX

XXXX

Against: XXXX

Price: xxx Publisher : xxx Distributor: xxx Phone: xxxx E-mail: xxxx System: Windows XP/ 2000/Me/98 Pentium III 933 MHz or equivalent, 256 MB Price: Rs 1,499 Publisher : Electronic Arts Distributor: Gayathri Impex Pvt Ltd Phone: 022-23881443 E-mail: [email protected] System: RAM, DirectX 9 compatible video card, soundcard, HDD with 2 GB space Windows XP/ 2000, CPU 1.4 GHz or faster, 256 MB RAM or more, DirectX 9.0c compatible video card with 32 MB or more, DirectX 9.0c compatible soundcard, HDD with 3 GB or more space, 8x or faster CD/DVD drive.

JANUARY 2006 | INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP

INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP | JANUARY 2006

Are you ready for the face off with Lord Voldemort?

W

Top: Harry Potter and his friends being instructed by Professor Moody

Pramod Jadhav

Bottom: Your first Triwizard Task where you have to outrun the Dragon

ith EA Games having released Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire almost simultaneously with the movie, you can experience the magic of the movie in the game also. For the legions of Harry Potter fans out there, this game will be quite a different experience from the earlier installments of the same series. Much of the game has a dark and spooky feel just like in the movie. The game installs in a few minutes and once you run it you realize that it does not support the mouse at all. So for the entire in-game menu selections as well as game play, you are left only with the keyboard as your controller. Before you start playing, you are allowed to choose the character that you would like to play namely Harry, Ron or Hermione. Even though you select only one from them, the remaining two will be there most of the times to help you out. The actual game begins after you (Harry Potter) are mysteriously selected for the Triwizard Cup by the Goblet of Fire and thereafter you are trained under Professor Moody so as to be able to cast perfect jinxes and charms. Your next task is to collect Triwizard shields from Hogwards Exterior and The Forbidden Forest so that you are eligible to compete in the Triwizard Cup. After completing the three Triwizard Tasks along with a few other stages, you will have to confront Lord Voldemort himself. While playing the game you will find that at some stages your individual spells won’t be sufficient, you will have to use combined spells with Ron and Hermione. At the end of each stage you are automatically leveled up depending on the charms that you have cast and

how accurately you have jinxed. The overall graphics of the game is a notch higher than the earlier games of the same series; the characters of the game are the same as in the movie. The cut scenes in between the various stages of the game are also done very aesthetically and they show a level of refinement that was missing in the earlier games. The background score also adds to the overall suspense and thrill that the game throws at you. Most of the game play revolves around the usage of few keys for casting charms and jinxes. And this version doesn’t offer anything new; it’s the same old hack and slash title. The younger players will definitely like it but the more mature Harry Potter fans are likely to lose their interest after a few levels. But although the game has significant improvements over the earlier series, there are a few glitches. There is no option to control the camera angle. Hence what happens sometimes is the creatures and enemies attack you offscreen before the camera focuses on them. Also, there is no option to adjust the graphic settings. All these make you wonder whether the developers had children as their target audience while creating this game. But whatever they had in mind, all I would like to say is no matter what the age of a person is, an invitation to step into Harry Potter’s shoes is definitely tempting! ■ | Anup Pillai

RATINGS

7.0 / 10

For: Improved graphics, simple game play. Against: No option for changing the camera angle , cannot use mouse as controller.

Price: Rs 1,299 Publisher : EA Games Distributor: Placebo CD-ROM Club Fax: 022-56237766 E-mail: [email protected] System: Windows XP/ 2000, 1.2 GHz CPU or faster, 256 MB RAM, DirectX 9.0c compatible video card with 32 MB or more, DirectX 9.0c compatible soundcard, HDD with 1.2 GB or more free space, 8x or faster CD/DVD drive

INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP | JANUARY 2006

God’s at the PC and all’s right with the world! Or is it?

I

Top: Your Creature - a giant cuddly pet or a fearsome war machine? Middle: Unleash an Epic that ravages the enemy forces.

Vishwanath Vanjire

Bottom: Sometimes attack is the best form of defence. Raise a massive army and train your Creature to fight.

f you’ve played the game Black and White, you will be familiar with the basic game play. You are a god with followers whose needs have to be provided for and their city has to be defended. Black & White 2 works on a similar principle, but with a tighter storyline and more streamlined controls. The game starts with a comprehensive tutorial guided by your two spiritual advisers, or the two halves of your conscience. The good one in white, sitting demurely on a puff of cloud; the bad one with red skin, bobbing around and sometimes making vulgar pelvic thrusts! These two advisers will be your constant companions as you play. While very useful at first, the good guy/bad guy act of the advisers gets on your nerves after a while. Skipping the tutorial is impossible, and every time you start a new game you have to yet again follow asinine instructions about how to scroll and move about in your world. When the story begins, your people, the ancient Greek, have been overrun by the Aztecs. However, you manage to save some of them and get them to a safe place, from where you will help them rebuild their lives and their civilization. The enforcer of your (divine) will in the game is your Creature. You choose from an ape, a wolf, a lion and a cow. Once the Creature wakes up, you will have to train it. Training the Creature is not as hard as it sounds. You can teach it to be good or bad. If you don’t want your Creature moulded into a builder, gatherer, entertainer or soldier, you can give it free will and let it do what it wants. Your interaction with the game is via a giant hand. It’s used to place buildings, move people, direct armies, pet your Creature, perform miracles, and just about everything else. But you

are limited by your “circle of influence”, a green ring denoting the boundaries of your land. As your city grows, so do your boundaries of influence. How you choose to progress is up to you. You could be a peaceful deity or a power-hungry control freak. A rational middle path is always available. At various points in the game you will come across scrolls that contain quests. Gold scrolls contain the main objectives, silver ones have additional quests, and bronze ones are tutorials. Some quests are silly, but fulfilling them earns you tribute, which is your divine currency. The Town Center has an information scroll that gives statistics of your city; shows the people’s desires and displays your alignment (good or evil). However, good planning is essential. Providing good infrastructure and defences make your people secure and happy. Making and maintaining disciples ensure that your will—and your people’s needs—are looked after and you city runs smoothly. Overall, Black & White 2 is a fascinating game. If you are already a Black & White fan, this sequel will not disappoint you. If not, you will find that god playing can be quite addictive. Game play aside, the game’s graphics are also quite stunning, with beautiful locales and intricate details. However, be warned, the system requirements are quite high. ■ | Payal Dhar

RATINGS

8.0 / 10

For: The presentation and game play are stunning. Against: The long drawn-out tutorial in the beginning can’t be skipped; high system requirements.

Price: Rs 1,299 Publisher : Lionhead Studios Distributor: Gayatri Impex E-mail: [email protected] RAM, 3.5GB HDD, 8x optical drive, 64MB video card with pixel shader 1.1, CD/DVD drive

System: Windows XP/2000, 1.6Ghz processor, 512MB

INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP | JANUARY 2006

140

UNWIND

| BOOK REVIEW

PC talk One of the best bets you could lay your hands on if you want to maintain and upgrade your PC

I

f you are desperately in need for a guide that will teach you the basics of computer hardware as well as how to upgrade and maintain your PC then this book is your best bet. It starts off with a quick guide to popular upgrades like MP3 players, scanners, digital cameras, web cams, DVD players, speaker systems, etc. The book is divided into six parts with each part dedicated to different aspects of your PC. The first part explains about the core components that make up your PC. The first chapter in this section introduces you to the functions of CPU, peripherals, buses and interfaces. The next chapter explains in detail about the bus and its functions, CPU speeds, motherboard, slots and sockets, system controllers, etc. The subsequent chapters in this section deal with rebuilding the PC, preventive maintenance, installation of new circuit boards, system memory and power supplies. The second part is devoted to all your PC devices. What you essentially get is a full chapter explaining the terminologies related to hard disk drive like heads, tracks, cylinders, etc. The remaining chapters tell you in detail about the working of CD-ROM and DVD Drive, Blu-ray and other Blue Lasers, ATA and SCSI drives, partitioning and formatting your drives, and most importantly, protection and maintenance of your hard disks and data. The third part of the book contains chapters that explain the various printer types and interfaces, troubleshooting of inkjet and laser printers, scanners. The fourth section

| The Complete PC Upgrade & Maintenance Guide Authors

: Mark Minasi, Faithe Wempen, Quentin Docter Price : Rs 499 Publisher : Wiley-Dreamtech India Pvt Ltd Phone : 011-3260877 E-mail : [email protected]

is completely dedicated to multimedia. Here you will find chapters that give details on how to shop as well as install a video card, select speaker system and install a soundcard, these also dwell on installation and performance problems related to your soundcard. This part also has a chapter that deals with Flash RAM and digital cameras. This chapter will definitely help you solve most of your camera connectivity problems. The next part of the book exclusively deals with hardware management and troubleshooting. In this part, there are chapters that will guide you as to how to manage your hardware in Windows, how to use the Internet for hardware support and troubleshooting your PC problems. The sixth part of the book contains chapters that talk about the various networking concepts and hardware, troubleshooting networks, types of viruses. The last chapter deals with notebooks where you will learn how to take care of your batteries and conserve your battery power. This chapter will also enlighten you about PC-to-laptop syncing and syncing your data with PDAs. Simple and informative, the book is meant for anybody and everybody wanting to know more about computers. What is worth mentioning is that most of the description is well accompanied by a picture of what’s explained. For example, when you are reading about the motherboard, you will find well illustrated pictures of Pentium, Pentium II, Pentium 4 so that you can understand more clearly the various ports, sockets available on it. The book is a useful guide for the novice and a very good reference guide for the more advanced reader. Even though it’s long and exhaustive reading, it doesn’t allow your interest to wane. The book is also a one-stop solution for all your PC problems. So if you don’t want to keep calling your vendor, you can get this book home. This edition has been updated to cover all the latest technologies. The only drawback that I can point out is that the pictures are not in color. ■ | Anup Pillai INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP | JANUARY 2006

Classifieds

JANUARY 2006 | INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP

141

146

Classifieds

INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP | JANUARY 2006

148

LAST WORD

The Last Word

T

here is always a story to tell when one travels, right? Well, I used to think otherwise. A friend of mine would narrate hilarious experiences while travelling in the Virar local. “How do all these things happen around you only?”, I would ask over peals of laughter. “It happens to all of us, yaar. We just don’t pay attention most of the time”, would be his standard reply. I really didn’t believe him. I just assumed he was hardwired to attract incidents, until I started travelling more often by outstation trains and by air. The kind of people I met—at the ticket counter, in the queue or even at an adjacent seat—have been either highly amusing or down right frustrating. At the end of day—as my friend says—you look back at it, chuckle and tell someone else your story. And that is exactly what I am going to do now—narrate the incidents I was put through while I travelled to the Northeast for my annual vacation. (Note that while some of the incidents might tickle you pink in a sadistic sort of way, they had left me positively livid. So once you are done with your smirking, do spend a few moments empathizing.) I have always wanted to visit the Northeast, so when my wife’s friend invited us to visit Kohima, I was most thrilled! We found out that Indian Airlines (now known as Indian) is the only service that has flights to Nagaland. Some of the Northeastern states are ‘unviable routes’ for private airlines (like Jet, Sahara, etc) and Indian Airlines is the only option by air. There are other routes if you want to stick to a private airline—fly to Assam and then take a bus out of there. But our travel agent went the Indian Airlines way to save us time and energy. Even though I had never travelled with IA, I had heard enough to know that it was going to be one hell of a ride to Kohima and back. Almost a month before the flight, we received a phone call informing us that our flight schedule from Kolkata to Dimapur had changed. A change in time table already accompanied with a personal update! I didn’t know whether I should feel glad or not! On the date of departure, we were at the airport at 6 am in the morning. I didn’t care how early it was, I

just wanted to get out of the city! But Indian Airlines did not let me go so easily—we were made to stand in the line for over half an hour. There were only two counters, operating at a speed that would make a snail look like it’s on steroids. When our turn finally came, I realized that the check-in counters were nothing like the ones handled by the private airlines. Here, things were being written manually and just one weird looking machine was being used to punch in information. Instead of a barcode, a handwritten sticker was pasted onto the bag. I wiped the sweat off my forehead as our new Aristocrat bag drifted away on the conveyor belt. A boarding pass resembling an outstation train ticket was handed to us and my wife pulled me towards the ‘waiting lounge’ as I continued staring incredulously at my train ticket... I mean my boarding pass (I knew that dot matrix printer looked familiar). Our train, I mean, our plane’s airhostesses were extremely polite—something I did not expect at all. But take away the cabin crew and the Alliance Airlines planes will put the fear of flying into anyone—old and rickety, they have a tiny overhead luggage space, which cannot accommodate the average trolley bag. The plane we traveled on our way back from Kohima was tinier than the first one! It must’ve been a 46-seater and carried 23 noisyas-hell Japanese tourists. While one happily clicked pictures of his friends, my wife pointed at a strange bug on the front seat! A stowaway! It looked like a garden bug—only more exotic—brownish, mottled, with long legs and the freakiest antennae I have ever seen. They were each tipped with a small black bead, like a yuletide decoration. Then I spotted another, its friend I assumed, perched on the corner of the seat in front of me. But it soon got bored of the Japanese landscape and decided to take a walk, away from me, thankfully. My vacation is over and my wife and I came out of the IA flights unscathed. Our luggage, however, suffered much trauma along the way—a broken stand and excessive shoving around had worn a hole into its side. The personnel could do nothing about it, as always, and now my bag is crippled thanks to “Indian’s” rude and careless attitude. I shall bust my butt traveling on a bullock cart but will not sit in an ‘Indian’ plane—that way I can only blame myself for the pain in the ass. ■ | | Ashutosh Desai

Dinesh Desai INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP | JANUARY 2006

2006

01

Our Lives Ahead | Next-Gen Phones | Return of the King!

RNI Registration No. MAHENG/2003/12687