Work. Party. Relax 100+ Product Reviews for Every Need Whatever You Want to Do, There’S an Electronics Gadget Or Product out There to Make Your Life More Convenient
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COvERSTORY Work. Party. Relax 100+ Product Reviews for Every Need Whatever you want to do, there’s an electronics gadget or product out there to make your life more convenient. We delve into the key technology innovations powering these devices today — Anil Chopra t’s amazing how technology becomes technology is evolving across various types a part of our daily lives so of products. This is essential in order to quickly that we end up get a wholistic view about what sort Itaking it for granted, as of technologies are “in”, what’s if it always existed, and then becoming obsolete, and what’s start demanding for more. still evolving and will become This never quenching thirst hot in the near future. After for more is what drives all, you don’t want to end the technology industry up buying a product that to introduce ever-better would become obsolete products and technologies. tomorrow, nor would you But as they say, that the want to spend out of proof of the pudding lies in your nose for a technol- eating it. That’s why this time, ogy that’s still evolv- we bring you over a 100 product ing (unless you have reviews that reflect this innova- money to blow away tion and help you in all your tasks, of course!), and whether you’re working, partying, or will soon become much relaxing! Incidentally, these products more affordable. were also nominated for NDTV’s prestig- ious Gadget Guru Awards, for which PC- Let’s look at what’s Quest was the official knowledge partner. happening We first conducted comprehensive tests Wearable Displays enter on these products so that NDTV’s jury of the market, but the technology tech experts could identify the winners. In is not quite there yet: Imagine having this issue, we’ve carried reviews of most displays that you can wear just as you wear of those products to help you choose the your specs, only to get a virtual 3D world best one for your needs. right in front of your eyes. It’s no longer science fiction. So you don’t need to scan through zillions of websites New products like Epson’s Moverio wearable display to identify the right product to buy. It’s all here, in one are gradually turning this into reality. Simply wear the single reference guide. We’ve divided the products across display and get immersed in your own private world around 20 different categories and for various budget of entertainment. Watch movies, play games, surf the points, right from those that would catch the fancy of the web, shop, and much more, all in private. While this uber-rich to those for price sensitive buyers. technology is available today, it doesn’t work as smoothly While you scan through various product reviews that as it should, but the way things are moving, it should suit your needs, it’s also worthwhile to understand how become widespread soon. 22 PCQUEST A P R I L 2 0 1 3 pcquest.com twitter.com/pcquest facebook.com/pcquest linkd.in/pcquest [email protected] Scan this code for more info. To download a barcode app, SMS <f2k> to 56677 from a mobile phone with Internet access and camera. SATA 3.x, USB 3.0, and Micro USB have become common from regular to micro-and now Nano-SIMs, but the service ports on devices: Be careful about the device you’re buy- providers are just not able to keep up with the pace. Today, ing. If it only has lower version ports (SATA 2, USB 2.0, or you might end up waiting for a month before the service standard USB), then it’s best to look at other options. SATA provider can give you a nano-SIM. So consumers end up 3.x for instance allows hard drives and solid state drives finding other ways of cutting their existing SIMs down to to attain up to 6 Gbps throughput—double of SATA 2. size. Likewise, USB 3.0 allows up to 5 Gbps throughput against Virtualization to Keep personal and official data 480 Mbps given by USB 3.0. Likewise, micro-USB ports on separate: Another technology one can look forward to in devices are becoming very commonplace in most devices, smartphones is virtualization to load multiple operating especially for connecting phone chargers. systems, or segregate your personal/private and official Voice/Gesture recognition is the next big thing: If data. Plus, such powerful specs are also allowing vendors touch and multi-touch is the ‘in’ thing in most devices to enable multi-tasking in their products. today, then voice and gesture recognition will become Vendors adding NFC support, which is pointless if the default interactive technologies in the near future. Al- there’s no eco-system to support it: Near-Field Com- ready, you’ll find TVs that can be controlled with hand ges- munciation is gradually becoming common in high-end tures or voice. There are hybrids and convertible laptops smartphones, but as of now, there’s very limited use for it that let you swipe the screen without actually touching it. in India. So unless there’s a change in the eco-system, this In the future, you’ll find 3D webcams mounted on laptops technology won’t really pickup. that’ll let you play games without touching the screen. Wireless charging: This technology has recently made Make way for robots: Yes, robotics is gradually enter- an appearance in smartphones and we sincerely hope it ing our daily lives with companies like Milagrow have will become commonplace so that users are not always introduced robots that can clean your windows, give you a hunting for wall outlets to plug in their chargers. massage, etc. Battery backup still an issue:Speaking of charging, Android in cameras and other devices: Google’s popu- though smartphones are becoming ever more powerful, lar Android OS is moving out of the confines of smart- their batteries aren’t. We don’t think vendors are doing phones and tablets and into other devices. Samsung’s enough to improve battery life. So even the most powerful Galaxy Camera is based on Android. Amkette’s Evo TV is a smartphones require daily charging if you use even some box that runs Android, and converts any TV into a smart of their basic features like web browsing or WiFi. Why can’t TV. Likewise, Linux distros are making it possible to build vendors think out of the box to tackle this problem? Maybe credit card sized computers, like the Raspberry Pi. they could embed solar panels in smartphones to elimi- Another trend worth noting is that the number of nate the charging problem forever. If this feature is already Indian players in the gadgets space has increased consider- there and works beautifully in some wireless keyboards, ably. Besides well-known names like HCL, Intex, Reliance, then why not in smartphones? Vendors, are you listening? etc, companies like Micromax, Spice, Milagrow, etc are Expect More from Budget Phones: Good news is that also making a name for themselves by introducing prod- smartphones of yesterday are becoming budget phones ucts at compelling price points. of today. So you can buy a sub-10K phone (or even sub-5K in some cases) with all the bells and whistles that used to Smartphone Revolution be the pride of more expensive smartphones—like WiFi, Multi-core wars: If you’ve been in the IT industry long Bluetooth, 3G, and even multi-touch. enough, then you’ll remember the MegaHertz and Giga- Hertz wars in desktop CPUs. This later shifted to multi-core Key Innovations in Cameras wars followed by performance per watt wars. Now, the The mega –pixel count in digital cameras has gone up to same thing is happening in smartphones, only faster. In 50x even in prosumer cameras, and doubled in DSLRs from less than two years, the race has shifted from higher speed 12 MP to 24 MP. Moreover, most camera manufacturers CPUs to dual and now quad core CPU based smartphones. are busy outdoing one another in creating full-frame and Greater Memory, Larger Screen Sizes are in: Memory mirrorless cameras, which is good for buyers as it makes and storage capacity are also increasing, with support for these devices more affordable. up to 32 GB becoming commonplace. The hardware specs are becoming so powerful that the software on smart- WiFi and Bluetooth Enabling Wirefree Access phones is trying to play catch-up. Besides CPUs, screen to Audio, Videos, and Photos Across Devices sizes are increasing and touch technology has nearly re- Tired of hooking all those wires before you even think of placed the keypad. Smartphone vendors have also shifted enjoying your new home theatre system? Or did you wish pcquest.com twitter.com/pcquest facebook.com/pcquest linkd.in/pcquest [email protected] A P R I L 2 0 1 3 PCQUEST 23 COvERSTORY Read This Before Making Your Next Purchase! Prominent vendors share decision-making criteria for evaluating different products, as well as why you should purchase the product at all in the first place Kenichiro Mori Sudhindra Holla Rajeev Singh Rajiv Rao Managing Director, India Country Country Head and Director SMB Olympus Imaging Manager - Axis GM, BenQ India - Lenovo India India Pvt. Ltd. Communications 5 Things to Consider When Buying a Portable Computing a security camera. The important ones that need to be considered Product are – HDTV, Varying light and weather conditions, Various viewing Brand, performance, weight/size, price and warranty angles, storage capacity, Intelligent alarm system —Rajesh Goenka, VP Sales & Marketing, Rashi Peripherals —Sudhindra Holla, India Country Manager - Axis Communications (focused on security cameras) 5 Things to Consider When Buying an Ultrabook Utility, Budget, Functionality and features, Convenience, mobility, Durability, Hard Drive, Battery Life, Screen Size , Resolution, design and colors Operating system and Quality Connectivity - Kenichiro Mori, Managing Director, Olympus —Toru Hasegawa, Managing Director, System Sales Division, Imaging India focused on compact cameras) Panasonic India Why an SME Should Go for a Camera 5 Reasons Why an SME Should Buy an Ultrabook SH (on security cameras): SMBs need to be aware that physical Extreme Portability and Mobility, Ever-ready Response, Business- security is an important aspect.