The RSS Feed Five Cs for the future

hen you try and take a loan, a bank music, you’re Consuming content. This is what or a lender looks at five Cs for devices today are best at achieving – your PC Wyou – Character, Capacity, Col- and your phone are equally capable of satiating lateral, Capital and Conditions. Character is this need of yours. your reputation – do you have a history of bad Communication is what is responsible for credit? Capacity is your ability to repay – a big Facebook, cell phones, emailing, IM-ing, video enough salary, existing debts, etc. Collateral is conferencing, etc., Regardless of whether we what you’re putting up to minimise the risk to communicate using PCs, phones or tablets, all the lender – property for example. Capital is form factors of devices of today seem to excel similar, in the sense it refers to how much you at Communication. have, and are risking from your own pocket. Creation is the real chink in technology Finally, Conditions define the loan amount and armour, and has always been. There’s always the interest rate, based on your age – how close some device that’s better at creating certain or far away from retirement you are… types of content than another. Your phone can Robert Sovereign-Smith No, I’m not going to give you a finance lesson click a photo like a dedicated camera can, make Executive Editor this month, especially since I consider myself a call as clear as a landline, video chat like on [email protected] to be pretty terrible on the subject. The only your PC, consume just about any kind of con- reason I bring it up is because I’ve modified tent as on any other device, but it sucks at crea- these five Cs of finance into my own little rules tion in many ways. It also can’t capture as much “I believe it’s the of what will govern the ultimate form factor as, say a PC can. PCs on the other hand are not convergence of of the future. I believe it’s the convergence of portable and thus communication is impossible these “five Cs these “five Cs of technology” that will drive the when moving, you cannot capture memories of technology” ultimate devices of tomorrow… as they happen. that will drive the The first one is pretty straightforward There are tough challenges ahead – for ultimate devices – Computing. The entire reason that tech- example text Communication and a lot of Crea- of tomorrow…” nology exists is that we’ve relied on shortcuts tion still depends on the keyboard, while Con- or machines to do complex mathematics. At sumption does fine without one. When it comes first it may have just been to count, but later it to Computing and Capture, your phone pales in was aimed at complex calculations – distance, comparison to the average PC, and a tablet finds speed, time, navigation, etc. Today, tasks are the middle ground for Capture, but fails quite broken into calculable chunks and Computed often on Creation. by a CPU to give you answers – everything Each C is also best married to certain hard- from currency exchange rates to rendering ware and form factors – Consumption is best a game. Put simply, it’s the need for as much done on large screens, but Communication is Computing muscle as possible. best on portable devices (small screens). Good Capture is my way of saying “saving stuff”. Computing capability is desired in any device, Everything from your movie collection to your as is the ability and flexibility to Create, but then photos, music, the wall paper on your phone, portability (Communication and Consumption bookmarks in your browser, and just any chunk on the go) suffers because of shorter battery life. of data is you Capturing something, and saving The form factor and devices that will win it for later. A search is you accessing out in the end are going to be devices that give what Google Captured, your Facebook page is a us the ability to experience the five Cs in the Capture of your online social life. This is one of best way possible. Our cover story this month the most important tasks we need technology to attempts to find just what permutation or com- do for us today. bination of form factors, GUIs and the five Cs is Personally, I think Consumption is main most promising. reason the internet exploded at first, not the fourth C (Communication). We didn’t want to connect the world to chat about the weather, we were hungry for knowledge, we wanted to Liked or hated this column? Consume. Whether it’s reading a web page, a Write in to [email protected] and Facebook update, watching a video, listening to let me know your thoughts.

Digit | September 2013 | www.thinkdigit.com 1

Coseptembner 2013te volume 13 \ n issue 09 ts quick navigator 001 Enter 018 COnnECTIONS Mobile Watch Web Watch App Watch Security Watch 034 Digital Life Droolmaal Uber phone cases 048 SCI-TECH Space Age 052 Toolbox Tips and Tricks Q&A Workshop TRIED AND 072 TESTED Laptops MFDs Bazaar The PC Redefined 101 Street Smart 38 Agent 001 We analyse the changing face of computing through Price Watch Killer Rigs the perspective of form factors that are flooding the 106 Tech at work market lately Smart SoHo Industry Connect 114 114 Esc Unwind Unwind Community Take a break from all the serious stuff and chill with us Digit 101

Tried & 90 90 92 Tested LG Optimus G Pro Galaxy GTX 770 Fujifilm X-M1 A powerful battery, a quality Good performace and the price is Looks good and you get the X-Factor product right! on a Budget

2 Digit | September 2013 | www.thinkdigit.com

Unique cases Volkswagen SmileDrive Instagram 4.1 is here Bitly for feelings A smorgasbord of Volkswagen and Google have come up with the Instagram for Android and iOS has been updated Link shortnenr Bitly has unveiled a new feature in beta cases to dress those handheld social app called SmileDrive which boosts up your to version 4.1. Are you excited? Find out more called “Feelings” which lets you addemotions to the Digital life 36 devices trendily driving experience: http://dgit.in/19PkK4m about it all: http://dgit.in/16ww2Fz shortened URLs. http://dgit.in/1ceVMgD Drool maal

Urbanears Re:Plattan Panasonic On The DV­­­Ds “Urbanears Re:Plattan is no ordinary pair of Toughbook CF-AX2 headphones,” goes the line describing this curious- looking, rainbow-coloured audio device on its product Rugged laptops are a sight for sore eyes, and the page. The headphones is made using spare parts from Panasonic Toughbook series of laptops and notebooks previous Urbanears headphones. But not only does this (http://dgit.in/13mxLOY) is renowned for its near- reduce waste, the sale of every Re:Plattan Urbanears indestructible build. The CF-AX2 is one tough business helps conserve five square metres of rainforest in ultrabook with a convertible screen – the display hinges all the way back to make the device run like a Visual Studio SKOAR! Magazine: The Costa Rica, with its exact GPS coordinates. Buy this and you’ve successfully saved 500 ants, 30 meters of Windows 8 tablet – kind of like the IdeaPad rising vegetation, 10 flowers, 5 spiders and YOGA. However, the CF-AX2’s chassis can withstand 2 butterflies. Yipee! pressure of up to 100 kg and drops from up to 76 cm – no problem whatsoever. If you have slippery hands, this may be for you. 2013 Ultimate (Trial) with interactive edition 26 Visual Basic Tutorials Time to get your drool on Sony Action Cam (with Wi-Fi) QuakeCon 2013 Highlights If you’re into adventure sports (mountain biking, river rafting, skiing, etc) and always wanted to capture the adrenaline packed moments for eternity, check out the Sony Action Cam. It lets you record HD 1080p video, yes 4x slo-mo HD vids as Special well; it comes with built-in Wi-Fi and stereo mic, HDMI out for hooking it to an HDTV. And adhesive mounts that keep it glued onto your helmet or bike handle. The camera’s petite, very light, and comes with a water-tight enclosure that’s waterproof for 200 feet! If you’re in the market for a POV Full Games wearable camera, this one’s worth a shot. Ashampoo GetBack Photo QuickHeal AntiVirus 2013 The Adventures of Fatman

Samsung Galaxy NX ARES Commander Edition Fighter’s Rampage Forget the point-and-shoot Galaxy Camera from last year, and feast your eyes on the Galaxy NX instead. It’s the world’s first ever interchangeable lens camera running on Android and supporting 4G LTE cellular data. It lacks manual dials, but the Galaxy NX has a 20.3 MP Husqvarna Automower 305 APS-C sensor, 1/6000 shutter speed, built-in Wi-Fi, 16GB King of fighters: Deathmatch What better way to trim the grass on your lawn but by a robotic assistant? Behold the grand daddy of onboard storage, and a few other bells and whistles to automated lawnmowers, the Husqvarna Automower 305! It can make unkempt grass prim and proper, covering push it into the high-end cameras category. It has a killer an area of 500m2 (or 0.12 acre) for about an hour – with no wire attachments. It’s light at 6.7 kg, can be price (over Rs 1.2 lakhs approximately) for a mirrorless controlled through an iPhone app, and intelligent – it returns to its charging station when low on battery power. camera, but it also lets you upload pics directly to It also has an anti-theft alarm, in case your neighbour tries to steal the Automower from your lawn. Facebook, and then some. Priceless, eh? TouchMagix tech demos Mortal Kombat Karnage 34 Digit | September 2013 | www.thinkdigit.com Digit | September 2013 | www.thinkdigit.com 35 Street Fighter 3 Clone Essentials Pain Town 034 Droolmaal 7-zip Gadgets and gizmos that will enrich your Avast! Free edition Game demos lives. Provided you’re rich of course. Burnaware BeamNG drive CCleaner Castlevania: Lords of Shadow Mozilla Firefox Homeworld 1, 2, Cataclysm, 097 World View uTorrent Complex mod VLC Our pick of the best articles from around and more... Game Trailers the world. Pixeljunk Monsters Movie Trailers Prince of Persia: TSATF 050 From the Labs 47 Ronin Splinter Cell : Blacklist Elon Musk, the real life Tony Stark has Ender’s Games The Witcher 2: Wild Hunt envisioned the next generation of high-speed Escape Plan The Wolf Among Us public transportation – The Hyperloop Her and more... The Boxtrolls The Counselor 40 Game Wallpapers Features 036 Case in point Unique cases that will add functionality to your smartphone

048 Space Age NASA’s ambitious expeditions into the solar system over the next 30 years

2GB of Essential

DVD 20 TED Videos

93 96 Toshiba Satellite Acer Aspire R7 P50-AI0010 The R7 gives you intriguing design and Smart and trendy, worth it as a basic great build quality, but is it enough? laptop

Digit | September 2013 | www.thinkdigit.com 3 September 2013 • Volume 13 • Issue 09 To Advertise Products reviewed this month

Email: [email protected] Bazaar National Manager: Sony Vaio Pro 13 (SVP1321WSNB) Lalit Arun, Mobile: +91-95822 62959 LG 32LN5150 Transform LED TV Lenovo IdeaPad Z400 Touch South: Ram Sarangi, Mobile: +91-98864 06961 Logitech Extreme 3D PRO Managing Director Dr Pramath Raj Sinha Jijo George, Mobile: +91-7676881480 S400C ultrabook Printer and Publisher Kanak Ghosh Sony Vaio FIT 15E Publishing Director Asheesh Gupta West: Sajeed Momin, Mobile: +91-98192 44603 LG Optimus G Pro Editorial Suvarna Shringarpure, Mobile: +91-93249 28247 Zebronics Shield Executive Editor Robert Sovereign-Smith Features Editor Siddharth Parwatay North: Galaxy Multimedia Co-ordinator Anirudh Regidi Debleena Majumdar, Mobile: +91-98101 19492 GTX 770

Test Centre East: Lenovo K900 smartphone Manager, Test Centre Jayesh Shinde Jayanta Bhattacharyya, Mobile: +91-93318 29284 FusionStor Inova 400 NAS Senior Reviewer Nimish Sawant Fujifilm X-M1 Reviewers Vishal Mathur, Sameer Mitha, Swapnil Mathur, Nikhil Pradhan, Anirudh Regidi advertising index Toshiba DT01ABA100V Intern Siddhant Sharma AVG Mobilation AntiVirus PRO Product Co-ordinator Shweta Mali Page No Assistant Vikas Patil Toshiba Satellite P50-AI0010 Creative HITZ MA350 Thinkdigit.com APC/Schneider...... 19 Online Editor Soham Raninga News Editor Abhinav Lal ASRock...... 29, 85 Lumia 520 Sr. Sub Editor Kul Bhushan ASUS...... 9,15,39,45,53,59 Micromax Canvas 4 Design Lava Iris 504Q Sr. Creative Director: Jayan K Narayanan Canon...... 25 Sr. Art Director: Anil VK Grand Quattro Associate Art Director: Anil T Google...... Insert Xolo Q1000 Sr. Visualisers: Manav Sachdev & Shokeen Saifi 5.8 Visualiser: NV Baiju AV...... 113 Sr. Designers: Shigil Narayanan, Videocon A55HD Haridas Balan & Manoj Kumar VP ...... 66-71 Ascend Mate Designers: Charu Dwivedi, Peterson PJ, & Pradeep G Nair Acer Aspire R7 Kaspersky...... BC Consulting Designer: Vijay Padaya ASUS GTX 760 DCII Marcom Designer: Rahul Babu LIC...... 17 Studio MFD Test Chief Photographer: Subhojit Paul Mediatek...... 23 Sr. Photographer: Jiten Gandhi Ricoh Aficio SP203SFN Micromax...... 13 Ricoh Aficio SP 200S Contributors Ricoh Aficio SP100SU Writers Tanmay Patange Panasonic...... 7 Copy editing Infancia Cardozo Panasonic KX-MB1500 SXB Quantum...... 120 Brother DCP-1511 Production and Logistics Sr GM - Operations Shivshankar Hiremath Quickheal...... 47 Brother DCP-7060 Manager Operations Rakesh Upadhyay Brother DCP-7065DN Asst Production Manager Vilas Mhatre Resellerclub...... 21 Production Assistant Brahmanand Nikalje Brother MFC-1811 Manager Logistics Vijay Menon Seagate...... IBC Epson L210 Asst Mgr Production & Logistics M P Singh HP Deskjet InkAdvantage 6525 Executives Mohd. Nadeem Ansari, Sony...... IFC Nilesh Shiravadekar Top Notch...... 31 Touchscreen Laptops Test Brand Product Mgr Arun Yadav HP ENVY 11 TouchSmart Asst Product Mgr Sourabha Shakya TP-Link...... 41 Asus VivoBook F202e Mgr - Online Shauvik Kumar Co-ordinator / Scheduling Kishan Singh Xerox...... 5 Acer Aspire V5-471 (MS2360) Lenovo IdeaPad Z400 Touch Circulation Sales National Co-ordinator Samir Mehta Lenovo IdeaPad Z500 Touch Published, Printed and Owned by Nine Dot Nine Regional Mgrs Jayanta Bhattacharyya, ASUS VivoBook S550CA Norbert Joseph Interactive Pvt. Ltd. Published and printed on their Manager Circulation Dharmendra Singh behalf by Kanak Ghosh. Published at Bunglow No. ASUS VivoBook S400CA Executive Vijay Mhatre 725 Sector - 1, Shirvane, Nerul, Navi Mumbai. 400706. Samsung Series 5 Ultra Touch (NP-540U3C) Printed at Print House (India) Pvt. Ltd. R-847, TTC Sony Vaio Pro 13 (SVP1321WSNB) Reader Services Industrial Area, MIDC, Rable, Navi Mumbai 400701. Lead Associate Itishree Mishra Editor: Anuradha Das Mathur Inspiron 15z with Touch Executives Pinky, Sudhir, Shabana, Pradeep Lenovo ThinkPad Twist +91-22-67899678 / [email protected] Disclaimer For every Digit contest, there will be only one winner, Lenovo IdeaPad Yoga 13 Cover Design: Shigil Narayanan unless specified otherwise. Dell XPS 12 In the event of a dispute, the Editor’s decision shall be final.

4 Digit | September 2013 | www.thinkdigit.com

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Column Beyond the bull****

s a technology journalist, keeping working for a decade to use these QDs as actual up with this ever changing world pixels without filters, since they output a much can be quite a task. A new product purer colour than other lighting sources. However, Ais revealed, a software is updated, it’s hard to achieve for large screens still. So has a startup is bought over, there’s something new Sony finally cracked the technique? every day, or every hour – it’s just mind boggling! No. Sony’s Triluminos displays are simply Most of what I write about as state-of-the-art today modified LED LCDs, which use pure blue LEDs has the shelf life of fresh cream. But that’s what (instead of white), and a couple of quantum dots makes it all the more exciting. per LED to get purer forms of colours going into Take for instance my recent quest to get myself the regular RGB filters. This isn’t technically a a new phone. I had so many new technologies, true QD display, more like a QD-supported LCD, specifications, models and to choose from. just as LED panels are actually LED LCD panels, Finally, I settled on one that had a TriPhoton but most people won’t know that. sensor, ColdForge housing, and a Petamicron It’s not always the case though, because some processor. What sealed the deal was the all monikers actually help describe a technology that Siddharth Parwatay new Anirobular display! This would be exciting is too technical to explain otherwise. Features Editor news, except none of the technologies I mentioned Sticking with display technology, take the [email protected] actually exist. example of the Kindle Paperwhite. The Paper- The first three are just random rubbish, and white’s e-ink display has a front light that’s Anirobular is in fact just an amalgamation of diffused onto the screen evenly using optical fibre “Find out what Anirudh and Robert – both of whom are always that’s been flattened out into a sheet. This forms makes things cribbing about every display they use. what calls a Light Guide, which really is tick, and don’t get Yes I pulled the 3 Idiots gag on you and my something innovative, and all of this information swayed like the apologies for drawing you in, but I’m trying to is easily available. highlight the growing trend of inventing mar- At other times, there really is a completely rest of the sheeple keting monikers and just renaming run-of-the- new underlying technology for which a name just out there." mill technologies to something fancy to make evolves. Electrowetting, for example, is currently them sound groundbreaking. being pioneered by a company called Liquavista. Now when I hear words such as UltraPixel, Displays based on the principle of Electrowet- I cringe and ask myself, “Is this a marketing ting use an oil that responds to electrical charge. buzzword created by ponytailed yuppies in a Such displays are reflective (like e-ink), but with boardroom, or actually something born out of a much greater refresh rates. When this technology bonafide research laboratory?” becomes commercially viable (in all probability, As a Digit reader, you’re already aware that combined with the Light Guide) you will have Apple’s Retina Display is in fact just a high- a new name to remember – something like resolution LCD screen with a ppi rating of 300+ OilectroD, OLit Display or OiLED – but that will at close range, or that ClearBlack is just a regular certainly be more justifiable than calling some- AMOLED with a polarized layer packed in – thing that already exists a new name. much like anti glare sunglasses. * Points finger at Apple’s Retina display again * Why can’t companies just call things what they It’s what we’ve always aimed to do at Digit: are? Why hide behind invented terms? It’s because prevent you from falling into traps and getting they want you to buy, and you will if you are daz- swayed with jargon like the rest of the sheeple zled by their little gimmicks. out there. While these new “technologies” may Companies also want to obfuscate the under- certainly be improvements over existing ones, lying technology, add a sense of mystery and leave you will always have the quiet satisfaction of things open to interpretation. Sony, for example, knowing that while your friends sound amazed has been talking a lot recently about its Triluminos with the recently resurrected Hyperloop concept displays. If you go by marketing material, they of 2012, you will be able to calmly point out that use these mystical things called Quantum Dots to it’s merely a reinterpretation of the produce “true, natural shades of colours”. How? (evacuated tube trains) from the 1970s! Here’s That’s left to your imagination. looking forward to many more years of cutting Google Quantum Dots (QDs) and you find through the bull**** together on this exciting that researchers at MIT and QD Vision have been journey through technology.

8 Digit | September 2013 | www.thinkdigit.com

Buzz My Tracks update The next-gen consoles from Google’s My Tracks has been updated with revamped stats Microsoft and Sony are view and improved location tracking. You can download it Enter 14 certainly gathering all the buzz directly from : http://dgit.in/197Cc19

) Hi Team Digit, how are you all? This month’s issue was awesome. The “Mafia Feedback for the August 2013 issue of Digit Sagas” cover story was great, specifically the story line. Usually I take a lot of time to read the articles but this time the storyline was so awesome that I didn't even take a bathroom break. All hail Anirudh Regidi! "Jahapana, tussi great ho." You left out something important from the magazine – the BlackBerry. How could you even forget about Don Mikey Lazzardo's lack of knowledge about the number system (inspired by your title of "What happened to OS 8 and 9?")? Or did you leave it out because you wrote the Fast Track about BlackBerry? In The RSS Feed, you said that the terms are in an alpha- betical order so you could have found some place for ‘B’ also. In regards to the article about "The Ultimate HTPC", you mentioned that the home theatre PC didn't cost you more than `68,000. In your Killer Rigs section had to take a call on where to draw the your cover story was great but it could based on the configuration, the cost of line. Yes, a lot of companies were left out, have been much better. I know there was the HTPC is in the range of `26,000 - but we were hoping that the article would a lot of hard work put into it but it still `30,000 while the cost of the ultimate trigger off our readers' imaginations and came up short. HTPC is more than twice that amount. It’s send them on a quest to discover the Despite that, you guys rock to the core like a mid-range gaming PC. entire story for themselves. so keep publishing the magazine. I pray Well, the complaints are over and now Coming to the HTPC, the plan there was that Digit never shuts down. I dream that it’s time to praise you guys for your hard to build a PC that would suffice for home one day my kids would also be reading work. Though you spent a bad month use without compromising on performance your awesome articles and I’d be telling (known from Digit Diary), the new Digit but small enough to hide in a closet. The PC them "This is the best magazine ever!” Squad section was cool. I found out a would have to be compact, cool, and pow- Anmol Dhand lot about the Nokia Lumia 1020, which erful at the same time, hence the choice couldn’t really be ascertained from of components. The 650Ti for example, Thanks for wishing Digit never shuts rumours. The Geocaching article was we could have easily plonked in a 780, but down. It’s good karma from well-wishers another great article. The DGT supplement there didn't seem to be a point in it. A 650Ti like you that keeps us going month after burned a hole in my father's pocket as I is sufficient for gaming and runs cool and is month. With our readers’ blessings we’ll be uselessly spent quite a lot of money on the small enough not to impede the air flow in around for quite some time. It’s true what shopping sites you mentioned. such a tiny cabinet. The HTPC we normally you said about the cover story. They’re a Happy Raksha Bandhan to Team Digit. mention is just the opposite, a bare-bones tricky puzzle to tackle each month. Some- Soumya Chowdhuri PC capable of playing back media and times the concept is a hit while the execu- maybe the occasional arcade game. tion is a miss, but we’re constantly striving Thanks a lot for your mail. It's readers Anirudh for utmost quality in both aspects. Hope we like you that we write for :) can make it up to you this time, after all it’s The cover story was a source of much ) I just couldn’t wait to write my first master wordsmith Robert himself taking controversy in the office. It wasn't just mail to you. You guys are awesome. I just over the cover story this issue. BlackBerry, we left out companies like love your reviews. I know that there’s a lot Siddharth , EA, eBay, Nintendo, Atari, and of hard work put in to the magazine as it many more. Quite frankly, our initial plan shows. I really want to thank you guys for ) Hi Robert, your work is admirable not was to do a complete "Yakuza Papers" making me the gadget guru of my school. only in terms of magazine text but also in style retelling of the entire tech world and Impressed by my knowledge of gadgets, terms of DVD content and new additions that would have been awesome. Sadly, a my friends have also started buying the such as Skoar! and Fast Tracks which story of that magnitude would have filled magazine and they love it. Don’t take this always rock. With changing times, CD/ a couple of magazines or more and we as criticism but as an encouragement: DVDs are legacy now and using a dual-

10 Digit | September 2013 | www.thinkdigit.com

Microsoft’s ID@Xbox Google+ native translations Microsoft’s come up with its brand new self-publishing No plugins, no extensions! Google has introduced its program called ID@Xbox for independent developers. native transaltion support to Google+, and started Inbox It is expected to make a debut later this year. first rolling out to the desktop version

Letter of the month Kaspersky is the best of all but please do something about it. ) I’m writing to you for the first time. we’re made aware of them, thus saving That was all the advice I could give. Digit is the coolest magazine in my us from outdated technology. I wait Now let’s get to my favourites. The DVDs view. I love technology and every- every month, not for any occasion, but have always been a favourite but from thing related to it, and Digit delivers for Digit to be published and be in my the magazine, I can spend my entire day information about the same, right hands. Hats off to you guys. Keep reading the ESC, Sci-Tech and, of course, from the best GPUs and lap- up the supercool job! I really Digit Diary sections. I won’t ask you to tops to cell phones and moth- want to know: do you guys get increase their length but will say never erboards. I especially like the any holidays? Is tech your stop publishing those sections. Keep doing DVDs that contain ultra- passion or job? My ques- a good job. cool giveaways catering tions are endless so this is Sorry for any spelling mistakes as I’m to crores of Digit readers enough for now. not very good at writing in English. with different tastes. It Supriyo Chakraborty Shubham Kumar Mishra would be great if Digit had a question-answer forum kind Passion. None of us is here Thanks for your feedback, we really appre- of thing. I’m learning to hack, because of the Job aspect, ciate it. However there is nothing we can do protect, recover and create which irritates our families about the advertising − just as the Ad-sales something wonderful from a single :-) Jobs you take breaks from, passions team is not allowed to tell the Editorial magazine called Digit. Many technolo- you can’t. team what should and shouldn't be written, gies are being discovered daily and Robert the Editorial team does not interfere with who should or shouldn't advertise and where. This is the only reason our magazine layer DVD on my VAIO laptop is a highly don’t you have a friend who can just dump has always been completely unbiased and tedious task. The laptop vibrates and cre- the DVD contents for you on a pen drive? gets the respect it deserves. ates a lot of noise as if it’s going to explode Once a month, should not take more than In fact, most people do not know this, and it also overheats. an hour a month :) but sales people are not even allowed into I use my DVD drive for your DVDs Robert the Editorial bay, and vice versa. We don't only; the rest of time I use pen drives. even encourage out of office friendships Can you please come up with an alterna- ) I’ve been reading Digit since two years between members of the two teams! tive to DVDs. I prefer pen drives over and I’m a big fan of yours. I can't tell you I hope you understand why we take even the internet since bandwidth is low how I became such a big fan; it's a big such extreme measures − remaining totally in our country. If you have any other story, so I’ll tell you in my next mail. For unbiased, and factually correct is the best alternatives, please share. I know the cost now, I must say that you and your team way we can serve you, our readers. associated with pen drives is high, but, it’s have bought me huge respect from my I will look into your other suggestions high time for sure that you came up with friends. You must be knowing about the and complaints. Thanks again for your letter. an alternative solution for DVD content. CTC quiz. Well, my friends participate in Robert Many other Digit techies must be facing it and some of them have won also, but the same problem. they thank me for telling them about your ) I want to thank you for changing my Waiting for your positive reply. magazine but the appreciation rightly perceptive towards editorials, which I Vaibhav Jain belong to you guys. used to consider boring. The August edi- Yes, I do have some suggestions. I’ll torial was so well written that it kept me Yes we've been trying to do this for start with last month’s magazine, more interested from the beginning to the end. ages now, but the costs are just ridicu- precisely with SKOAR! It was wonderful Now I look forward to reading the Digit lous. The cheapest deal we can get on pen but some videos were not working. How- editorial every month. The way the story drives would increase the cost of Digit to ever, there’s no need to worry since the unfolds in your editorials is quite amazing at least Rs 350 per issue, and that’s not videos can be seen on the DVD. Next is a and it reminds me of some very good even taking into account the amount of concern raised by most readers − the DVD movies like 3 Idiots. And the good thing is losses we will incur if couriers and post interface. You have the talent to improve that these editorials are becoming better start stealing the 16GB pen drives to it so it can be made better. Lastly, I’ll come with every issue of Digit. resell them. A stamped DVD has no resale to the magazine’s cover page. Please stop Keep up the good work. value for handlers, and yet many times using the Kaspersky ad for the back cover Nikhil Sharma those go missing. I shudder to think of because I’m getting sick of it. Whenever my what losses a perfectly reusable pen drive friends ask me about anti-virus software, Thanks Nikhil :) or memory card would cost us. Besides I always recommend Kaspersky. Yes, Robert

12 Digit | September 2013 | www.thinkdigit.com

Nimbuzz updated Roccat Kave XTD 5.1 Nimbuzz, the social app for Android was A successor to the Roccat Kave gaming updated recently. It brings in a number of new headset in the form of Roccat Kave XTD Buzz features with better file sharing options. 5.1 was released recently. Just Press Play The next-gen consoles from Microsoft and Sony are certainly gathering all the buzz, and apart from looking at their respective revelations, we celebrate the success of the Raspberry Pi!

Sony reveals PS4 no longer a certainty. This isn’t launch date, line-up too major a problem for the and price company however, as its big- Sony’s Gamescom conference gest competitor in the console was home to some rather inter- space, Microsoft, will also only esting and exciting revelations be releasing the in about current and next-gen 2014 in India. consoles. The press confer- Other highlights from Sony’s ence kicked off with a world Gamescom 2013 press confer- premier demo of the PS4 UI. ence include the price slashing More details here: http://dgit. of the PlayStation Vita and PS3. in/1duHExH PSVita prices will drop to $199, The highly awaited next-gen whilst the 12GB PS3 will be ID@Xbox – Microsoft’s attempt to add more Indie games to Xbox console from Sony got an official priced at $199/€199. launch date for November 15 in Sony has continued to focus the company announced inde- available with the Xbox One at North America, while in intensely on Indie games, pendent publishing platforms launch, including: Assassin’s it will be launched on November and debuted original titles aimed at independent devel- Creed IV Black Flag, Battlefield from indie developers — both opers who are considering 4, : Ghosts, Crimson already-existing games and publishing games for the Xbox Dragon, Dead Rising 3, FIFA 14, original exclusives for the One and are afraid it might be a Fighter Within, Forza Motor- PlayStation 4. costly affair. Independent Devel- sport 5, Killer Instinct, Loco- The launch line-up for opers @Xbox is aimed at making cycle, Need for Speed: Rivals, the PlayStation 4 includes 33 the development and publishing Ryse: Son of Rome, and more. games for the system due to of indie video games more acces- Check out the complete list here: be released before the end of sible than it was on . http://dgit.in/14YbyTw the year. Sony says that there Developers can apply for the ID@Xbox is the result of a will be 15 disc- program, and post-registration poll conducted by Microsoft based games will receive two Xbox One devel- of more than 50 developers to (available as opment kits, all free of cost. learn what they wanted from a downloads), Program Director Chris Charla self-publishing program. adds, “We want to be inclusive An exact launch date for rather than exclusionary”. the next gen console is yet to To begin with, Microsoft is be announced, but Microsoft Sony’s PS4 is expected to be launched in India in 2014 bringing in a smaller number said at E3 that it would arrive of developers for approval, with in November. Microsoft also 29, with a total of 32 countries and additional download-only more joining the fold as every confirmed that Xbox One will making the list. The PS4 is titles. The titles that will be Xbox One becomes develop- only be launched in 13 markets priced at $399/€399/£349, and available on the launch date will ment capable. in 2013. Sony claims to already have over be KillZone: Shadow Fall, Watch “The program is open to a million pre-orders! Dogs and Drive Club. developers of all scales,” says Nokia to showcase However, India has not Charla, whether it’s one guy in Windows tablet in been included in the list. Sony Microsoft reveals his basement coding the next September? Computer Entertainment India Xbox One launch miniature masterpiece, or an At the time of writing this story, Country Manager, Atindriya line-up, free dev kits AAA studio. Finnish mobile manufacturer Bose told MCV India that a 2013 At Microsoft’s Xbox One Microsoft also revealed the Nokia is reportedly all geared launch for the PS4 in India is Gamescom showcase event, full list of titles that will be up to host an event in New

14 Digit | September 2013 | www.thinkdigit.com

Released the Kraken! Corsair Force LS Razer unveiled the newer version of the A new SSD from Corsair sees the light of the day Kraken and this time it is a 7.1 channel with the new entry Force LS series. This new Buzz gaming headset. series uses the Phison controller.

humanoid robot run by a Pi, discs will be capable of holding which tells the weather, man- 300GB of data – considerably ages a diary and even makes higher than the 50GB that a coffee. “I wanted to create dual-layer Blu-Ray can hold at something by using a 3D the moment – which can be read printer and the Raspberry Pi by standard players and hard- – two cool items,” he told AFP, ware. Both companies believe adding that he wanted to dem- that the discs will be ready for onstrate the potential of the use by the end of 2015. Nokia’s rumoured device. “Many Raspberry Pi “Optical discs have excel- Windows tablet users did not know how to have lent properties to protect them fun with the chip. I wanted to against the environment, such York in September, where it is of the device across the globe. present practical ways to play as dust-resistance and water- expected to showcase its first The Pi, which is a single circuit with it.” resistance, and can also with- tablet. WP Central reported that board the size of a credit card Upton and his colleagues had stand changes in temperature the handset giant may host an with no screen and keyboard, first thought of developing of and humidity when stored. event on September 26-27. How- has sold almost 1.5 million units cheap computer suited ever, details regarding the event in the past one and half year. to programming when – whether it’s a public press “We’re closing in on 1.5 mil- they were teaching at event or an internal meet – are lion [sales] for something that Cambridge University. still uncertain. we thought would sell a thou- They noticed the chil- Rumours have it that the to- sand,’’ reveals Eben Upton, dren of then generation be-unvieled tablet could be pow- executive director of the Rasp- did not have access to ered by Windows. The tablet is berry Pi Foundation. ‘’We’ve the day-to-day expe- expected to feature an 11-inch sold many more to children than rience of coding that Next gen discs will have 300GB space display. Nokia’s rumoured Win- we expected to sell, but even helped the computer dows tablet was seen in bench- more to adults. They’re using it geeks in 1980s. They also allow inter-genera- mark results. A device named like Lego to connect things up.’’ “They didn’t have the grungy tional compatibility between RX-114 popped up on graphics The Raspberry Pi, launched familiarity with the dirty bits, different formats, ensuring processor benchmarking web- last year, is considered to be an the hacking,” Upton told AFP. that data can continue to be read site, GFXBench. educational tool for children “The theory of computer sci- even as formats evolve. This The results reveal that the to learn coding. However, the ence is math, but the practice is makes them a robust medium alleged tablet would be pow- device is now being used inno- a craft, like carpentry.” for long-term storage of content” ered by a quad-core Snapdragon vatively in various industries. said the joint press release from 800 processor with Adreno According to reports, the device Sony and Panasonic Sony and Panasonic. 330 graphics processor. The is now being used to power ware- working on 300GB “Both companies have pre- device would presumably run house doors in Malawi, Africa, discs for 4K movies viously developed products on the Windows RT. However, photograph astral bodies in the Sony and Panasonic have based on the Blu-ray format, not much has been disclosed in US and power robots in Japan. announced that they’re working leveraging the strength of terms of other hardware specifi- Tokyo inventor Shota Ishi- together to develop the next optical discs. However, both cations including RAM, internal watari has developed a small generation optical discs. These Sony and Panasonic recognized storage, camera and battery. It that optical discs will need to could sport a display screen accommodate much larger with a resolution of 1371 x 771 volumes of storage in years to pixels, which possibly translates come given the expected future to 1920x1080, just like the Sur- growth in the archive market, face Pro. and responded by formulating this agreement.” Raspberry Pi goes It’s easy to understand past 1.5 million units why Sony wants to support sales the evolution, with 4K con- Developers of the Raspberry tent being critically important Pi, also dubbed as the $25 com- to its 4K products since these puter, are overwhelmed by the discs will be capable of storing massive popularity and demand The sale of Raspberry Pi pieces exceeded expectations 4k movies.

16 Digit | September 2013 | www.thinkdigit.com

Web Watch App Watch The vaporous, but tangible reach of the internet This time we show you how to stream is encompassing every facet of our lives. We take to your tablet using Plex and cover Connections 22 a look at some of these news-making events. 26 some must-have utility tools and apps. New Directions With the competition in the mobile space only heating up, companies are looking in new directions to differentiate their products. Join us as we take a look at the biggest game changers this past month

BlackBerry board Android runs on 8/10 admits to considering “strategic alternatives” A recent study by Strategy Ana- The admittance of the fact has lytics has found that Google’s finally arrived. BlackBerry has Android is the most commonly announced the formation of used OS with nearly 80% of a special committee that will handsets sold in the second “explore strategic alternatives”. quarter of 2013 (182.7 million The company says this is to handsets) approximately. look at new ways of enhancing According to the firm, nearly brand value, as well as acceler- 34.6 million Android tablets ating BlackBerry 10’s growth. The not-so-secret watch from Samsung were sold in Q2 – double the The Special Committee of the number of iPads (14.6 million) Board is comprised of Barbara per the statement, “There can be event in on September sold in the same period. Neil Stymiest, Thorsten Heins, no assurance that this explora- 4. Samsung has sent out media Mawston of Strategy Analytics Richard Lynch and Bert Nor- tion process will result in any invites for the event, and specu- cites Android’s numerous dberg, and will be chaired by transaction. The company does lations suggest that the Galaxy hardware partners and varying Timothy Dattels. not currently intend to disclose Note III will also be unveiled at price points as the reasons for But, the rather telling further developments with the same event. its success. statement comes in the form respect to this process, unless The device will reportedly be Apple’s iPhone sales have of “These alternatives could and until its Board of Directors called Galaxy Gear and be pow- dropped to 14% in the second include, among others, pos- approves a specific transaction ered by the Android sible joint ventures, strategic or otherwise concludes the OS. Apps from Sam- partnerships or alliances, a review of strategic alternatives.” sung’s , as sale of the company or other opposed to apps from possible transactions.” Quite Samsung’s secret Google’s Play Store will clearly, the company has, to a Galaxy Gear be better suited for the certain extent, admitted that it Galaxy Gear. Besides needs to look at the option of Rumours about the existence having a resolution of selling. However, as expected, of a smartwatch have been 320x320 pixels, Wi-Fi, BlackBerry is still playing up around ever since we saw Dick and NFC the product BlackBerry 10, Tracy use it in the comics and to allow for bump-to- the cross-platform BlackBerry then on the TV show. We’ve sync and authenticate, Messenger and the wider seen a few Android-powered the smartwatch may Restricted profiles on Android deployment of BlackBerry watches hit store shelves, but include a 2MP camera. Enterprise offerings. they failed to impress us. In the According to Bloomberg, quarter from Q1. However the For this process, Black- past few months, we’ve heard “The global watch industry IDS report adds that Apple’s Berry has hired J.P. Morgan as rumours about Apple and Sam- will generate more than $60 market share can still pick up its financial advisor. Skadden sung working hard to launch a billion in sales this year, and the in the coming year when Apple Arps and Torys LLP will both smartwatch. first companies to sell devices will release its rumoured be the legal advisors. However, New reports circulating on that multi-task could lock “iPhone 5S” and the new iOS. the company has specified that the internet suggest that Sam- customers into their platform, Microsoft’s Windows Phone this process may still not result sung will unveil its Galaxy Gear boosting sales of smartphones, is doing well and has managed in any significant changes. As smartwatch to the world at an tablets and TVs.” to grab the third spot from

18 Digit | September 2013 | www.thinkdigit.com

Security Watch Connections Feature As cyberattacks grow in frequency and intensity We take a look at how social networks and governmental bodies show grit, urges for curation tools are altering the way you Mobile watch 30 transparency and MTNL hits a minor snag 32 consume news online

BlackBerry OS. Windows Phone get access to notifications front edges. Including increased its market share to – an indicator that devices the two storage vari- 3.7%, up from 3.1% a year ago like will now ants, the smartphone and shipped approximately work better with Android. will have an overall of 77.5% more units. Nokia is the Gaming experience also 504 different permuta- driving force and accounted for gets an improvement, with tions for customization. nearly 81.6 percent of the Win- Android 4.3 supporting For more details about dows Phone smartphone ship- OpenGL ES 3.0 – the latest the , refer to our ments during Q2. industry standard for accel- online coverage at the BlackBerry has come down erated 3D graphics. Google aforementioned link. to the fourth spot with 2.9% of also unveiled the Google shipments, from 4.9% in Q2 of Play Games app, which is iOS 7 beta 5 2012. Its much-hyped BB10 OS the hub for accessing the The customisable back panel on the Moto X launched has been unable to slow down game’s leader-boards, and Apple has released the company’s decline. see how your friends are doing grand total to 65GB. The Moto the fifth beta version of its in the same game. X runs on Android 4.2.2 Jelly upcoming iOS 7 mobile oper- Android 4.3 update Bluetooth 4.0 with the power Bean, and a 2200mAh battery ating system to developers and being rolled out to saving modes is now sup- powers the entire package. it appears that the new version Nexus devices ported by the OS, something The Moto X has a 4.7-inch makes the OS more stable. The update brings in a host which relied on manufacturer 720p display in a day and age According to GSM Arena, beta of new features to Android, provided drivers till now. The dominated by 5-inch devices users are reporting that while without looking much dif- ACRCP1.3 support for meta- boasting of 1080p displays. being more stable, the new ver- ferent from the predecessor. data streaming is also added, The rear of the smartphone sion seems to have increased Google also announced that meaning your phone can now houses a 10MP camera while start-up time as well. the existing Nexus devices – send the track’s data to the the front has a 2MP video- Screenshots of the iOS 7 the smartphone and music system it may be con- calling camera. the and tab- nected to, by Bluetooth. Under the hood, a lets will begin getting Android Google has added the Qualcomm - 4.3 from August via an Over Dialpad auto-complete, which dragon S4 Pro the Air (OTA) update. This suggests phone numbers and dual-core pro- update retains the Jelly Bean contacts as you’re punching in cessor clocked at family name. the numbers on the dial pad. 1.7GHz with 2GB With Android 4.2, Google With Android 4.3, you can use of RAM powers had added support for mul- Wi-Fi to detect location all the the smartphone. tiple users on tablets. The fea- time, without actually having We have a com- ture has now been updated to switch it on. pete breakdown with Restricted Profiles, which of the S4 Pro The in-call menu on the new iOS 7 Beta 5 allows for configuring per-user Moto X finally chipset that’s access to apps and games, as unveiled housed in the smartphone for Beta 5, posted by 9 to 5 Mac, well as content on the device. Google has owned you to check out at http://dgit. show that Apple has also incor- Google’s own suite of stock for about 14 months now and in/19jTUB2 porated some design and inter- apps has been updated – the entire tech world has held The Moto X is priced at face tweaks. The most notice- Hangout replaces Talk, Drive, its breath in anticipation for $200 for the 16GB variant and able of these changes are the Chrome and Maps have been what the two companies have $250 for the 32GB variant with redesigned icons in the settings given a refresh and Google Keep under wraps waiting to be a two-year contract. The car- menu with colour backgrounds is now available on the device revealed. The cat’s officially rier locked smartphone was added to the flat icons. straightaway. out of the bag and we have launched in late August. The version adds a Twitter Android 4.3 adds the Noti- with us the Moto X – a quite What’s all this customization icon to the contextual share fication history feature, just in interesting smartphone. It that Motorola has been hinting menu and gives the ability to case you need to go back and comes in two variants, 16GB at? To start with, you’ll be able to turn off the ‘Control Center’ check the details of a notifica- and 32GB. Buyers of the smart- choose the colour of your smart- panel, accessible at any time by tion from a few days ago. The phone will get 50GB of Google phone. You can choose between swiping up. The ‘Slide to Power new notification system will also Drive storage space. That’s in 18 colours for the back, 7 col- Off’ button has also been rede- sync notifications better across addition to the 15GB every ours for the accents, and two signed and so have the buttons devices. Third-party apps will Gmail user gets, bringing the colours (white or black) for the in the in-call menu.

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OCTOBER OCTOBER rchostingsummit.com 17 18 Run Linux software on Win Tag Manager This guide which will show you five ways in which Google recently launched Google Tag you can easily run Linux software on Windows: manager for mobile apps with Analytics Web Watch http://dgit.in/LinWin services SDK: http://dgit.in/GTagMgr Condensation Nuclei The vaporous, but oh-so-tangible reach of the internet is encompassing every facet of our day-to-day lives. We take a look at some of these news-making events that took place over the last month

Google’s 5-minute The social networking giant more than a quick answer. Our downtime plunges recently introduced hashtags, research indicates perhaps 10% global internet traffic another popular feature on of people’s daily information by 40% Twitter, in a bid to encourage needs fit this category – topics On August 17, the unthinkable public sharing on the net- like stem cell research, happi- happened – Google, and all its work. However, a recent study ness, and love, to name just a services such as Gmail and You- claims the hashtags have failed few. That’s why over the next Tube, went dark for a duration to drive engagement on the few days we’ll be rolling out a that spanned a single minute to social networking. new feature to help you find five minutes starting from 4:22 Embedded Posts is not yet relevant in-depth articles in AM to 4:27 AM IST. As a result, available for all users Google Search the main Google Search results.” global internet traffic crashed by updated to show 40% as users couldn’t access any able with CNN, Huffington Post, more in-depth Yahoo acquires of the dozens of hugely popular Bleacher Report, PEOPLE and articles social web apps services that the search giant Mashable. Broader availability Google has rolled out a nifty maker Rockmelt runs. The number-crunching is expected later this year. update to its Search. Now, users Yahoo CEO, Marissa Mayer, was done by GoSquared, a Web “Today, we are beginning can see more in-depth articles in has bought her 21st company analytics company who also to roll out Embedded Posts the main Google Search results. during her stint at the web gi- noticed that global web traffic to make it possible for people According to Google, the ant, and this time, it’s social spiked once Google was back up to bring the most compelling, results are ranked algorithmi- browser maker Rockmelt. and running. timely public posts from Face- This number (scarily) proves book to the rest of the web,” said how intensely everyone relies Facebook in a post. on Google. Inspite of the clear “Embedded Posts let people effects that its health has on add public posts from Facebook the global internet, Google has to their blogs or websites. When refused to divulge any details embedded, posts can include about why the blackout hap- pictures, videos, hashtags and pened, responding merely with other content. People can also a statement that said: like and share the post directly “Between 15:51 and 15:52 from the embed.” PDT, 50 percent to 70 percent Facebook’s Embedded Posts of requests to Google received is very similar to embedding errors; service was mostly features on Twitter, Vine, Insta- restored one minute later, gram and YouTube. Read more and entirely restored after about the Vine web embed and 4 minutes.” Instagram web embed support at http://dgit.in/16sRMCP and Facebook adds web http://dgit.in/18aNe8T Writers must understand the algorithms to draw in more traffic embed support for There’s also an option to visit public posts the post’s comments, photos, cally based on many signals Rockmelt had launched a Facebook has introduced hashtags and other content that look for high quality and Facebook-focused web browser Embedded Posts, which allow on Facebook. To learn more, in-depth content. in late 2010 but later shifted its users to embed a public post visit Facebook’s Embedded Google, in a separate blog, focus to mobile applications and on third-party sites. Currently, Posts documentation at http:// says: “To understand a broad released an Android application Facebook’s new feature is avail- dgit.in/1d4J4RT topic, sometimes you need for content consumption.

22 Digit | September 2013 | www.thinkdigit.com

Beats wants HTC to go Best writing apps The manufacturer of Beats by Dr. Dre Take a peek at ten of the best writing apps headphones wants to buy out HTC’s 25 % available on the iPad. There’s one for your Web Watch stake in the company. every need: http://dgit.in/WriteiPad

The latest Akamai Technolo- content on their networks, “This is, quite simply, about gies ‘State of the Internet’ report unless a subscriber specifically how we protect our children and states that India has a peak opts in. This was announced their innocence.” speed average of 10.6 Mbps. by the Prime Minister David India’s average internet speed Cameron, who also said that Amazon adds Art grew by more than 20% in the the broadband providers have category past year but lags behind other a “moral duty” towards pro- Amazon.com has added a Asia Pacific countries such as tecting users, particularly new ‘Collectibles & Fine Arts’ South Korea (15.7 Mbps) and children, but were “not doing department that offers paintings Japan (10.9 Mbps). The broad- enough to take responsibility”. and works of art from around band adoption rate in India still Cameron wants to make the world. The online retailer remains below 10%. it harder for pedophiles to has tied up with more than 150 Yahoo added that the four- Goveas adds that over the access child sex images. Search galleries and merchants and is year-old Rockmelt will shut recent months, cable opera- engines such as Google and offering a shopping catalogue down its apps by the end of tors and service providers are August, but the company’s adding high-speed fiber direct technology would be used to homes and are offering high- within Yahoo to bring in speed data plans especially in more traffic and revenue from Tier-1 cities. This comes on the mobile devices. According to a back of users accessing high- Yahoo spokesperson, “Thirty- speed internet on their smart- two Rockmelt employees phones and service providers have joined our media and giving some affordable data mobile organization. We aren’t plans to meet the demand. going to discuss specifics, but “We expect growth in we plan to integrate the Rock- speeds from users in Tier- melt technology into our media II and Tier-III cities as well, platform in order to deliver con- and not just Tier-I, given tent in new and exciting ways. the investments from telcos, Stay tuned!” and with users accessing the The new section lets you buy Fine Art internet from mobile phones,” India’s average Goveas further added. Microsoft’s Bing have been that includes 45,000 works by internet speed directed to make search results more than 4,000 artists. expected to improve UK Govt asks compatible with the family- According to Amazon, the by 50% ISPs to block all friendly filters. new art category allows users According to a report by cloud pornography, unless BBC reports that the Prime to browse all types of art works computing firm Akamai Tech- users opt in for adult Minister has mentioned spe- (mixed media, paintings, pho- nologies, the average internet imagery cifics on how the solution tographs and prints), ranging speed is expected to jump by The UK government is working would be implemented: family- from $150 to $4.85 million for an 40-50% to 1.8 Mbps in the next on laws that will compel internet friendly filters would be auto- oil painting by American artist 12 months. The hike comes on service providers to block all matically selected for all new Norman Rockwell. Many works the back of increased invest- adult imagery and pornographic customers by the end of the year, by famous artists such as Andy ments in high-speed fiber net- although they could choose to Warhol, Salvador Dali and Marc work and affordable data plans. switch them off. And millions of Chagall are also added for sale India saw an average existing computer users would on the site. internet speed of 1.0 Mbps in be contacted by their internet These original and afford- the first quarter of 2012 which providers and told that they able works of art from smaller increased to 1.3 Mbps in the must decide whether to use or galleries will benefit the most first quarter of 2013 – an not use “family-friendly filters” as the online store will help increase of almost 0.3 Mbps, to restrict adult material. The them broaden their reach but India still remains behind filters would apply to all devices while Amazon will get a 113 countries, according to linked to the affected home’s standard 5-20% commission. Akamai Technologies Director Wi-Fi network and across the Customers can avail of Ama- of Products for Asia Pacific and public Wi-Fi network “wherever zon’s return and shipping poli- Japan, Bruno Goveas. Prime Minister David Cameron children are likely to be present. cies for extra reliability.

24 Digit | September 2013 | www.thinkdigit.com

Du Battery Saver: Check it out Adobe Creative Cloud update A comprehensive battery saving app, Du Battery Saver comes Adobe has started rolling out File and Typekit sync armed with a host of features and tweaks to maximize your feature to its Creative Cloud users. Find out more App Watch Android device’s battery life http://dgit.in/19DmX0e about this update: http://dgit.in/11QJaW5 Plex: Stream the media library to your tablet Getting the media library from your PC to your tablet doesn’t necessarily mean transferring files to and fro. At least not anymore.

he fact that you’re app comes at a cost though, but reading this means not a very high one seeing how you need a solu- it’s in the region of `270 each, Ttion for the media in the respective app stores of streaming conundrum. If you all platforms. sail in the same boat as us, then you probably have a meticu- How does it work? lously arranged collection of The Plex media server can send movies and TV shows sitting media to devices running the on multiple hard drives, con- Plex client. Both machines need nected to the PC. The question to be connected to the same net- now arises as to how to get work. The server transcodes access to this entire library from media on the fly, whenever your tablet? For the iPad and needed. What this means is that All available episodes for a TV show will be displayed this way Android tablets, the solution is even if the device isn’t capable quite simple: the Plex applica- of natively playing that file if tion bundle. it were sitting on its local storage, Plex would be able to What is Plex? stream it seamlessly. Plex is an XBMC-based cross- Once you have the server platform media centre ap- app up and running on the plication, that will aggregate same network, open the client the media (music, movies, TV app on any device, and within shows, photos, etc) in the fold- a few seconds, the library being ers you point it towards. For broadcast by the server will movies and TV shows, it also appear on the device. pulls the metadata from the in- ternet – content such as synop- Playback sis, fan art, movie posters etc. We tried the Plex client on Android as well as iOS, and How to install? the playback quality is impres- Plex has two main installation The app will aggregate all the media on your PC in one place sive. The entire Plex set-up components: the server app and was able to stream a 1080p the client. The former needs to toring, be it the addition of a new you get a decent amount of video file over a wireless “b” be installed on your PC. Initially, file or the removal of one. This tweaks and settings for picture router (limited to 24Mbps – you’ll need to point the server application is free to download and sound quality. The client the one offered as default by to the folders which hold the for Windows, Mac and Linux app is available for iOS devices Airtel), to the iPad without videos and other media that operating systems. (iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch), any stutters. Yes, there was the you wish to share on the port- The client app, on the other Android (tablets and smart- initial 50 seconds of buff- able devices. The app is capable hand, receives the data from phones) devices and Windows ering, but smooth sailing after of updating the library every the server. This app is basically 8 machines (tablets, hybrids and that. During video playback, time it detects a change in the meant to access the library and even another laptop/ultrabook multimedia options are lim- contents of the folders it is moni- view content, and within that, on the same network). The client ited, however.

26 Digit | September 2013 | www.thinkdigit.com Stop being consumed by where you are...... focus instead on where you want to be.

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The Pinnacle Programme will help you do all this - and more.

www.theleadershipinstitute.in 9.9 Mediaworx, B-118, Sector 2, Noida – 201 301, India Tel: +91 120 4010999 Download apps on this page Google’s Project Loon All you need to do is follow the QR Code Project Loon is Google’s initiative aimed at alongside or if you like to do things the hard way providing Internet access to rural and remote App Watch here’s a link: http://dgit.in/sepapps areas http://www.google.com/loon/ Must have tools and utilities These are the nifty variety, the functional ones, the “Oh-what-would-I-do- without-you” type of apps

ith millions include remote acti- does basic task manager duties of apps out vation that makes like renaming, cut/copy/paste, there, your the phone send out delete. You have an ad at the Wsmartphone location info using bottom, which you can remove is as nifty as Batman’s utility GPS and WiFi forever if you pay 60 rupees. belt, or the fighter aircraft in geolocation. Lastly, Price: Free SwatKats, which always had you can send a mes- an unbelievable number of sage to the phone SpeedTest nifty things stored. Ok, maybe for the person to an exaggeration there, but see or even play a loud alarm. screen by opening the page in there is seemingly no limit or Price: Free Safari and clicking the “Add Internet companies love to boundary to what one can do to home screen” button in the advertise about speed. Maybe with his or her phone these Share menu. you’re wondering whether days. The apps mentioned below Price: Free you’re actually getting what will add a whole new dimension was promised? Or you have a to your smartphone. You’ve got Clean File Manager hunch that your cable Internet apps that control downloads is feeling slow all these past few progressing on your computer from anywhere in the world, Clean File Manager is a good and ones that keep your kids choice in the endless array from messing up your phone of file management apps for every time you give it to them Android. Its trump card is the to play games. There are apps no-bull interface — cleanly that will help you save precious laid icons and text and adopts battery (which in today’s smart- the Holo theme design philos- phones almost never seems to ophy (for e.g side-swiping UI be enough), or run a bunch design to navigate forward or of benchmark tests to gauge backward between folders). A whether the phone actually is menu to the left reveals easy to worth its printed specifications. uTorrent Remote find shortcuts for logical places you’d want to go (like Pictures, Prey Anti-Theft movies, Camera roll etc). It uTorrent is a pretty popular BitTorrent client for com- If your phone doesn’t have theft puters. With the remote app, days. Having the SpeedTest protection built-in, Prey is a neat you can control the activity of app handy will give you clarity. app that can help retrieve your your file sharing on the move. Test can take from a minute to stolen phone back. Prey for You can check the progress of a few, depending upon your Android can silently sending your downloads, stop or resume connection. But you’ll come to an SMS to a predefined number them. You can even add new know of the download, upload on SIM change. You can also downloads remotely. Unfortu- speeds and the latency between set an admin password to pre- nately, there isn’t an app for iOS, you and the server. Finally, it vent uninstallation of the app. but they have a mobile-friendly also keeps a history of all your Whereas in iOS, the app takes website which can let iPhone tests, separating the ones pictures using the front-cam and and iPad users have the same run on WiFi and on 3G, to help uploads them (the same feature functionality as the apps for you assess how your Internet for Android is coming in future other platforms. You can even has been. versions). Common features create a shortcut on your home Price: Free

28 Digit | September 2013 | www.thinkdigit.com C

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K Gigabyte G1.Sniper A88X Backdoor to Windows? A new line of AMD FM2+ motherboards German government denies allegations was launched by Gigabyte in anticipation that the “Trusted Computing” chip is in fact ConnectionsSecurity watch of Kaveri. a ‘back door’ to Windows Hedged-In As cyberattacks grow in frequency and intensity governmental bodies show grit, Twitter urges for transparency and MTNL hits a minor snag

India must be more serious about cyber security: EC-Council EC-Council has called for more stringent actions to secure cyber infrastructure in India. Citing the recent spate of cyberattacks on the websites of the Indian government, EC-Council has expressed concerns over the lack of professionals in the cyber security domain. It has sug- gested that the country should also sceptical about the govern- Twitter also saw an increase soon after the attack, though invest more into training young ment’s target of creating a work- in the number of withholdings, some users complained about IT professionals as well as into force of 5,00,000 professionals including the withholding of facing problems in accessing creating a sturdy infrastructure skilled in cyber security in the content in five new countries: the site.An MTNL spokes- for robust cyber defence. near future. Brazil, India, Japan, the Neth- person said that this was due At an event held in New Relevantly, as many as 78 erlands and Russia. to the hacked homepage still Delhi, EC-Council Global Presi- government websites fell prey to “An important conversation being in the customers’ caches dent Jay Bavisi pointed out that hackers in the first half of 2013, has begun about the extent to and not refreshed. China is estimated to have 25 revealed Minister of State for which companies should be MTNL’s compromised million cyber security experts Communications & IT Milind allowed to publish informa- website showed the following while 1.25 lakh are from the local Deora in the Parliament. tion regarding national secu- message: “MrCreepy Was government. The US has 91,080 rity requests. We have joined Here. Napsters CrEw. Happy experts in the government while Government requests forces with industry peers and Independence Day Pakistan. India has just 556 experts. Bavisi to share user info on civil liberty groups to insist that http://Facebook.com/m3creepy. also emphasized on the suc- the rise: Twitter the United States government Greets: SEEKER, Dr.FREAK, cessful model of the US Cyber Twitter has released its latest allow for increased transpar- MKHAN SWATI, And All Paki- Security Plan, which envisages transparency report (January ency into these secret orders,” stani Hackers :D”. 15% more cyber security experts 1 - June 30, 2013), showing a said Twitter in a blog post. Other MTNL websites every year. significant 40% surge in the “We believe it’s important including the corporate web- EC-Council pointed out a number of requests to release to be able to publish numbers site remained unaffected. The recent study revealing that 5.39 users’ private information. of national security requests hacker claimed on its Facebook million local threats The US tops the list with 1,157 – including FISA disclosures page that it had also attacked were detected on computers requests for information about – separately from non-secret the websites of Pune Traffic in India. According to the users – a 15% surge from the last requests. Unfortunately, we Police and janwani.org (a vol- organisation, India is lagging transparency report. are still not able to include untary group). Both these web- behind in its fight against cyber such metrics.” sites were however found to warfare. Any attack will result be operational. in financial loss, no matter MTNL Mumbai In June last year, MTNL’s how sophisticated. website hacked by corporate website was disrupted In regards to the govern- Pakistani hacker by hacker group Anonymous to ment’s Cyber Security Policy State-run telco MTNL’s protest against censorship of the 2013, Jay Bavisi said the policy Mumbai website was allegedly internet. Late last year the web- seemed to be great on paper, but hacked in August by a Pakistani site of another state-run telecom there should be greater focus hacker operating from Aus- operator BSNL was also hacked on its implementation. He was tralia. The website was restored by Anonymous India.

30 Digit | September 2013 | www.thinkdigit.com

Lost your phone? UC browser No.1 See the list of things you can do once you lose UC browser for mobile which is owned your Android phone in order to get it back: by UCWeb of China is now the most used Feature http://dgit.in/AndStolen mobile browser in India

Curated vs. Recommended: The changing face of online news We take a look at how social networks and curation tools are altering the way you consume news online

Nikhil Pradhan [email protected]

or some time now we’ve been liv- ing in what’s been widely consid- ered as the golden age of news. It Fwas high time for the news industry itself to be shaken up. And then, like an invading army of Conquistadors, the Internet rolled in and did exactly that. The funny thing is that inspite of all the hue and cry about the inherent unreliabil- ity of online news and how newspapers were the only source that could be trusted, the news business has evolved to fit into the online era. Even with newspapers The Filter Bubble as depicted by Eli Pariser dying left, right and center, there has never before been such a tremendous availability cles everyday on the social network. The you clicking on stories shared by Friend B of news in history. This is because news is political beliefs of one friend (let’s call him than Friend A. Also, since you have more no longer the sole domain of news organi- Friend A) only match yours by about 20%, in common with the former it’s more likely sations – social networks and news aggre- however you have a lot more in common that you will have visited their profile page gation sites such as Mashable and Reddit with Friend B and therefore his political and interacted with them more often than are massively important names even beliefs match yours by up to 80% most of Friend A. In due course of time (which may though they aren’t in the business of the time. even be as short as a day), you’ll notice that reporting or journalism. Now, let’s say news stories shared by Friend A’s stories have either completely With such an infinitely large amount of both these friends start appearing on your disappeared or are much less visible on news available online, it makes sense for newsfeed. There’s a higher likelihood of your newsfeed. you to be extremely selective about where Okay, let’s zoom out and you decide to get the news from. And since look at this situation from you were already spending a decent a broader perspective. amount of time on social networks (say, Even if you aren’t clicking Facebook), it also makes sense that Face- on the stories shared by book attempts to fulfil that need. Friend A, it doesn’t mean Although Facebook’s intentions were that you aren’t noticing (probably) pure, having news driven to them. You may be brows- your newsfeed automatically by algo- ing through the headlines rithms purely based on your behaviour on and may have even the social network can lead to what internet searched for the topic dis- activist Eli Pariser calls the ‘Filter Bubble’. cussed in the story on your own instead of clicking on The Bubble the story in Facebook. But Let’s explain this with an example: You according to Facebook’s have two new friends on Facebook – both new EdgeRank algorithm very opinionated about politics and predis- EdgeRank explained. Infographic courtesy: PostRocket via (that places importance on posed to sharing a number of related arti- BufferApp your interactions with par-

32 Digit | September 2013 | www.thinkdigit.com Pinterest buys Punchfork All about SSDs Pinterest, the pinboard style photo sharing With SSDs growing extremely popular by the day, website recently acquired Punchfork the famous you should definitely know everything about them. recipe aggregator Read this guide: http://dgit.in/AllSSD Feature

ticular friends, reactions to a particular post and your inclination to interact with a particular type of post), this is what’s responsible for creating your newsfeed, so none of that matters. As a result, Facebook (with the help of your own unconscious or conscious actions) tries to set up a filter between you and a vast pool of news/con- tent, only letting in things that comfort you or are considered clickworthy by you. This is the filter bubble Eli Pariser has been speaking about since 2010. He also spoke about how Google searches were being tailored to fit a user’s search history – a phenomenon that’s actually difficult to An example of a user-created Flipboard mag on the Middle East replicate. However, the concept of a user being “shielded” from information is The upside: news curation order to help users pick and choose con- starkly apparent on Facebook. Playing ‘Editor’ and wielding the ability tent and sources. to curate news to our exact requirements There are a ton of tools out there that News you want, not news can be a very powerful tool. In fact, the will help you tailor your newsfeed you need current availability of a huge number of according to the kind of content you But why is this a topic worth talking news curation tools for smartphones, want. Flipboard, Pulse Reader and about? Surely, people very seldom rely tablets and PCs means that we can Feedly are already well known for their on Facebook for news? That assumption keep ourselves up to date thanks to the ability to do this and are extremely pop- is no longer true, at least in parts of the constant flow of information on topics ular amongst smartphone and tablet world where Facebook is intrinsically that we would otherwise not have access users. These tools not only let you part of a person’s daily life. According to to, even through newspapers or TV news. choose specific topics you may be inter- a study published by the Pew Research Knowing the latest breaking news on ested in (such as Arts and Entertain- Centre in September 2012, 33% of young a subject that matters to you as it hap- ment, Politics, Sports etc.) but also let American adults (those under the age of pens even when we’re nowhere next to a you add news sources by exact keywords 30) relied on social networks for news. TV set is a priviledge we shouldn’t take as well as individual sites. If you’re look- Considering the vast leaps we’re taking for granted. ing to go beyond what social network to catch up in matters of technology One of the biggest tools intended for algorithms believe you should read, take consumption to our Western counter- this purpose is RSS (Rich Site Summary, some time out to personalise one of these parts, how long do you think will it also dubbed Really Simple Syndication), tools with topics and sources that inter- be before young and educated middle- a format that allows regularly updated est you. Also throw in some new sources class Indian adults begin relying on online content such as news to be viewed that cover topics that you wouldn’t usu- Facebook (or other social networks) for a and exported in a standardised format. ally follow or have never delved into. It majority of their news, especially since Even though Google Reader, the most will expand your mind and broaden Facebook already takes up such a large widely used RSS-powered news aggrega- your perspective. part of our daily lives. tion tool recently called it quits, RSS is Keep in mind that these tools will Pariser noted in his excellent TED still used by a wide number of tools in work best if you actually make it a point Talk how algorithms were giving us to carefully select trusted access to “the news we want, but not the sources and news. A tool like one we need.” The Facebook example Flipboard actually also makes mentioned earlier represents that phe- it very easy to succumb to con- nomenon. People who rely on social net- venience if you just decide to works for news tend to be exposed to top- stick to your social network ics that they’re more likely to find feeds or the pre-packaged top- comfortable rather than topics that they ics on offer. At the end of the should know about but aren’t inclined to day, these tools, when used follow up on. While the priority of stories right, should help you create a in newspapers and TV news broadcasts is library of news that goes decided by editors, on social networks, Eli Pariser speaking about the Filter Bubble at a TED beyond what your social net- you’re essentially playing the role of editor. conference work’s newsfeed has to offer.

Digit | September 2013 | www.thinkdigit.com 33 Unique cases Volkswagen SmileDrive A smorgasbord of smartphone Volkswagen and Google have come up with the cases to dress those handheld social app called SmileDrive which boosts up your Digital life 36 devices trendily driving experience: http://dgit.in/19PkK4m

Urbanears Re:Plattan “Urbanears Re:Plattan is no ordinary pair of headphones,” goes the line describing this curious- looking, rainbow-coloured audio device on its product page. The headphones is made using spare parts from previous Urbanears headphones. But not only does this reduce waste, the sale of every Re:Plattan Urbanears helps conserve five square metres of rainforest in Costa Rica, with its exact GPS coordinates. Buy this and you’ve successfully saved 500 ants, 30 meters of rising vegetation, 10 flowers, 5 spiders and 2 butterflies. Yipee!

Time to get your drool on

Husqvarna Automower 305 What better way to trim the grass on your lawn but by a robotic assistant? Behold the grand daddy of automated lawnmowers, the Husqvarna Automower 305! It can make unkempt grass prim and proper, covering an area of 500m2 (or 0.12 acre) for about an hour – with no wire attachments. It’s light at 6.7 kg, can be controlled through an iPhone app, and intelligent – it returns to its charging station when low on battery power. It also has an anti-theft alarm, in case your neighbour tries to steal the Automower from your lawn.

34 Digit | September 2013 | www.thinkdigit.com Instagram 4.1 is here Bitly for feelings Instagram for Android and iOS has been updated Link shortnenr Bitly has unveiled a new feature in beta to version 4.1. Are you excited? Find out more called “Feelings” which lets you addemotions to the about it all: http://dgit.in/16ww2Fz shortened URLs. http://dgit.in/1ceVMgD Drool maal

Panasonic Toughbook CF-AX2 Rugged laptops are a sight for sore eyes, and the Panasonic Toughbook series of laptops and notebooks (http://dgit.in/13mxLOY) is renowned for its near- indestructible build. The CF-AX2 is one tough business ultrabook with a convertible screen – the display hinges all the way back to make the device run like a Windows 8 tablet – kind of like the Lenovo IdeaPad YOGA. However, the CF-AX2’s chassis can withstand pressure of up to 100 kg and drops from up to 76 cm – no problem whatsoever. If you have slippery hands, this may be for you.

Sony Action Cam (with Wi-Fi) If you’re into adventure sports (mountain biking, river rafting, skiing, etc) and always wanted to capture the adrenaline packed moments for eternity, check out the Sony Action Cam. It lets you record HD 1080p video, yes 4x slo-mo HD vids as well; it comes with built-in Wi-Fi and stereo mic, HDMI out for hooking it to an HDTV. And adhesive mounts that keep it glued onto your helmet or bike handle. The camera’s petite, very light, and comes with a water-tight enclosure that’s waterproof for 200 feet! If you’re in the market for a POV wearable camera, this one’s worth a shot.

Samsung Galaxy NX Forget the point-and-shoot Galaxy Camera from last year, and feast your eyes on the Samsung Galaxy NX instead. It’s the world’s first ever interchangeable lens camera running on Android and supporting 4G LTE cellular data. It lacks manual dials, but the Galaxy NX has a 20.3 MP APS-C sensor, 1/6000 shutter speed, built-in Wi-Fi, 16GB onboard storage, and a few other bells and whistles to push it into the high-end cameras category. It has a killer price (over Rs 1.2 lakhs approximately) for a mirrorless camera, but it also lets you upload pics directly to Facebook, and then some. Priceless, eh?

Digit | September 2013 | www.thinkdigit.com 35 Capture an Asteroid? rumours Yup! this is what NASA’s new plans show. They More reports add fuel to the fire that it may be want to capture an asteroid and study it. LG who is going to make the next Nexus phone Feature http://dgit.in/AstNASA from Google http://dgit.in/Nexus5LG Case Some unique smartphone cases to watch out for inPoint Sameer Mitha smartphone, then a Mophie Juice pack is [email protected] the accessory for you. Available for most popular highend o you’ve just gone ahead and smartphones, the Mophie Juice pack picked up that new iPhone 5, unfortunately isn’t available for the Galaxy S4, HTC One or the trusty Nexus 4. For the Nexus 4 you can take Sold Nexus 4. Just like millions out a look at the Mugen Power 4500mAh there, if you too are butter fingered, you Power Case. As the name suggests, the will want to pick up a case with the smart- pack adds 4500mAh to the 2100mAh phone before you drop and destroy it. battery housed in the smartphone. The Here we take a look at some of the 4500mAh battery pack ensures that your unique cases available for high-end smart- smartphone has enough juice for more phones that not only make the device look than a day. cooler, but add utility value to the phone as well. Depending on your requirement, Back of the Galaxy S4 too be it ruggedness, increasing the battery plasticky for you? life, making it water proof or just making One of the geekiest cases out there has to the device look cool, there is a smartphone Mophie Juice Pack be the Iron Man Hard Case for the Sam- case available out there for everyone. sung Galaxy S4 priced at `2,690 approx. slim and others that are tough. Here are This case uses proximity communications Revealing that back the ones we think deserve to be wrapped and NFC making Iron Man’s eyes and Cases for smartphones such as the Nexus around your smartphone. Arc reactor on the case glow. The case will 4 are dime a dozen and even though you If you want to use the Galaxy S4 to totally make your Galaxy S4 look like the don’t want to cover that beautiful device its fullest potential you can’t expect the geek’s dream device and will take all the with a case especially since the case hides smartphone to survive an entire day. attention away from its original simple the back, trust us when we say that you Normally battery cases make the smart- will be compelled to do so once you have phone really thick and bulky. The Exolife dropped the smartphone a couple of times battery pack for the Galaxy S4 provides and see some scratches on its back. The an added 2600mAh battery to the smart- Rearth Ringke Fusion Case for the Google phone. The case boasts of being a mere 16 Nexus 4, iPhone and the Galaxy S4 is one mm in thickness and weighs 99 grams, that not only protects the smartphone, so the added bulk isn’t uncomfortable for but shows off the beautiful back as well. users. It snaps onto the smartphone and Priced around `1,130 the Rearth Ringke on the front has an LED indicator to check Fusion Case not only provides you with the battery status. It is available for $79 a bumper around the smartphone but a (`4,800 approx.). transparent protection for the back. If you don’t mind the battery pack being a little bulky, you have a lot of Give me more battery life options to choose from. Mophie is one that If a case is going to make your smart- is highly recommended. The price of the phone big and bulky, it may as well give Mophie cases ranges from $80 (`5,000) you some added battery life. There are to $130 (`8,000). If you are someone who however some battery-pack cases that are travels a lot or does a lot of work on your Iron Man Hard Case

36 Digit | September 2013 | www.thinkdigit.com Samsung Galaxy Gear Miniature Arc reactor Here is some more dope on Samsung’s Ever wondered about the concept behind the purported Galaxy Gear Smartwatch project Miniature Arc reactor seen in Iron Man? See this http://dgit.in/SamGear Quora thread to know: http://dgit.in/MiniArcR Feature

Turn your iPhone into a for smartphones from a large number of Swiss knife manufacturers such as Samsung, Apple, What if a case threw everything at you HTC, LG, Motorola, Nokia and more, cov- but the kitchen sink? That’s what the ering all the popular smartphone models ReadyCase for the iPhone 4 and iPhone 5 from the manufacturers. plans to do. To start with the case protects The Tank iPhone case is designed to your phone. The rear of the case houses meet or exceed the standards of the U.S. a USB stick (available in 8GB and 16GB Military. The case is constructed with a variants), so you always have a USB drive rugged polycarbonate exterior and a soft, stuck to your iPhone wherever you go. cushioning silicone interior to protect The USB stick doubles up as a kickstand the smartphone. It features a retractable that lets you prop up your phone at dif- screen and a holster clip. The case is tested ferent angles, very handy for YouTube to endure shocks, drops, vibrations, wind, viewing. The lens ring of the case is mag- rain, sand, and dust, and won’t break even netic giving you the ability to attach three if you smash the kitchen sink on it. Since small lenses – macro, fish-eye, or wide- the case comes in black, it’s ideal to make angle. The case also has a headphones your smartphone, the Batphone! clip that lets you wrap your earphones Defender Series Build Your Own Case around the smartphone without it getting I go scuba diving with my entangled. Last but not least, the case smartphone plasticky look. The case also protects the also houses a multi-tool blade – standard Ok, so scuba diving may be pushing it a smartphone from drops and impacts. blade, serrate blade, flat head screwdriver bit, but there are cases available for your Sticking with the Galaxy S4, how and a bottle opener. You can pick up the smartphone that can resist water to a cer- about a wireless charging cover? A case case for $40 (`2,500 approx.) starting tain level. If you have a trip to the beach would make the smartphone thicker than February 2014. planned, you may want to house your it is. If you don’t want to add a case to the smartphone in one of the following. device, how about replacing the back? My phone’s stronger than Even though the Otterbox Armor A back cover is available for the Galaxy the hulk Series is there to protect your phone from S4 that gives the smartphone wireless If you have a toddler in the house that physical damages, it also has the ability charging capabilities. Users can simply likes to toss your smartphone every time to sustain under water up to 6.6 feet for remove the original S4 back cover and he loses at Temple Run, you need some- a period of 30 minutes. If that isn’t good replace it with the S4 Wireless Charging thing that can withstand a few nasty falls. enough for you, there are a series of cases Cover. The case has a built in magnetic The Defender Series from OtterBox is designed specifically for waterproofing alignment between the wireless charging available for a large your phone. pad and back cover making sure the You have cases such as the Life- phone is always correctly placed on the proof, Krusell Sealabox and OBEX mat for optimal charging. You can cases for smartphones that make pick up the wireless charging cover them waterproof. These cases essen- for $60.99 (`3,650 approx). tially seal off all the ports from access. OtterBox makes a lot of cases for Some of these cases boast of the ability to smartphones but there is one that we will interact with the device while under water like to recommend above the rest. Priced Tank iPhone case but we wouldn’t recommend that. at $60 (`3,600 approx), the Galaxy S4 If you are taking a river rafting or kay- Defender Series Build Your Own Case number of smartphones. The Defender aking trip, we suggest you use the Over- gives the user the ability to customize Series offers users a robust, 3-layer Board Waterproof Pro Sport Arm Pack, the case you purchase. Users can choose protection that helps the smartphone which straps to your arm and promises to between nine colours for the colour of the withstands drops, bumps and shocks. It keep your smartphone safe from all water plastic and eight colours for the Slipcover also houses a built-in screen protector. It damage. This case is waterproof at up to giving you the ability to make your smart- covers the ports of the smartphone, too, 19 feet of water and floats on the surface phone look as good as you want it to look. protecting them from dust and debris. when dropped – easy to locate your phone When you customize the case, you The case also has a holster-style swiveling if it pops out. There’s also space to store have instant access to view what the case belt clip included. Prices for the Defender your keys and wallet. The only downside looks like, through a 360 degrees view. Series starts at around $45 (`2,800 is that the smartphone is concealed and Just give it a try and you’ll never see your approx.) and goes higher. The defender you can’t access the display. It is priced at Galaxy S4 in the same light. series of smartphone covers are available $30 (`2,000 approx.).

Digit | September 2013 | www.thinkdigit.com 37 Cover story ?

THe pc redefined Everyone is out to redefine what a PC is and the way we interact with it. Does it really need to be redefined and if so, how do we start?

Anirudh Regidi the variety and quick fix that YouTube ever entering a store or maybe even [email protected] offers. Your daily commute has to be looking at the actual physical device prior accompanied by another bout of reading to purchase. Google Now is your constant dvancements in technology of or music and everyone around you is companion, telling you where you are, any sort inevitably seep down doing the same. No one is looking at the “Oh, look! You’ve just crossed the Red to the lowest strata of our road or even out of the window, almost all Fort” and you tap the link and read about Aexistence and it does this in eyes are completely engrossed by the it without even glancing out the window. such a subtle way that within a couple of digital data that is constantly fed back to Or take the weather, do you even care years you won’t be able to imagine your them by their little screens. anymore what the weather is actually life without it. What about work? You can’t work like? It just seems so cool when your Take for example the daily routine of without a PC anymore, your browser is phone flashes those little strikes an average person. You wake up to the more important than any other program informing you that there’s a thunder- sound of your tinny alarm on your phone, and your keyboard, essential. You browse storm outside. empty your bowels while reading books through Amazon and eBay, hunt for Coming home and getting to bed is also on your kindle/phone/tablet/, the deals, read or watch reviews online and such a long process. Getting to sleep is TV seems so dull because it doesn’t offer zero in on your next purchase without more like a long-winded powering down

38 Digit | September 2013 | www.thinkdigit.com Cover story phase for a supercomputer. Your brain waves of pleasure coursing through our doesn’t just switch off anymore,? it needs bodies and manufacturers want that that constant stream of information going. device to be theirs. The standard designs You watch something on your PC, enjoy a that we’ve been used to over the years game or two on the Xbox or PS Vita or haven’t evolved much, though interfaces whatever console you have; you sink have evolved to some extent. deeper and deeper into the chair as you To that end, manufacturers and desperately try to beat the high-score in designers are bending over backwards to Super Hexagon and then finally, when find something new and innovative that you’re too drowsy to play, you grab your will be THE device. A new form-factor that kindle paper-white and snuggle into bed will be dominant over everything else and with it, only sleeping when you nod off one that they can claim to be the first to with the words a muddle in your mind. introduce. Some of the designs we’ve seen masses. A PC at home was an unthink- All the key events in your life are seen are downright wonky, others are intriguing able reality that people weren’t willing through the eyes of your camera. Your and some don’t seem to have a point. to believe in during the 1980s, but they baby’s first steps, you’re watching it on your As a matter of course, here’s a got around to it, and how! You still see iPhone as you frame the video. Uploading refresher of what you’ve come to accept as desktops everywhere and no matter what to Instagram and facebook is second nature the norm and what you can expect in the people will say about the changing face and any device which doesn’t let you do that near future. of the PC and the death of the desktop is shunned. Companies like Microsoft have as we know it, they’re here to stay for a even gone to the extent of hinging their The Classics long time yet. entire sales pitch for Windows Phone on The Desktop PC There is, even now, no viable alternative that very factor. These were the first devices that gave the to the true computing power and conveni- ? The point we’re trying to make isn’t first true taste of computing power to the ence that a desktop offers when it comes that technology is taking over our lives, it to doing actual work. Take this article for already has. The point is that we want a instance, this author wouldn’t have been screen in front of our eyes no matter able to type it out at almost 60 words per where we are and what we’re doing. minute if it wasn’t for the `10,000 mechan- Anything that pulls us out of our digital ical keyboard at his fingertips; the designers cocoon is a strict no-no. Touch screens couldn’t have laid this out without the help us consume this content better so power of InDesign and Photoshop running they’re now the norm; you wouldn’t have on s decent PC and even those awesome even considered a smartphone without a Showdown Effect and Quake sessions keyboard before the iPhone, but now a would be a distant memory. A keyboard keyboard is only for the fuddy-duddies on and mouse combo is still unbeaten when it their BlackBerrys (Robert will have blood comes to precision and there’s nothing that on his hands when he reads this) who still can be done about it, yet. swear by their keyboards. Laptops To change or not to change Laptops haven’t evolved much at all these Our devices define our lives, a fancy past 10 years. They’ve gotten slimmer, phone is like a holy totem that you want to their battery lasts longer and they’ve keep within reach at all times and never inevitably gotten more powerful over the let go. Just caressing it will probably send years. Regardless, they still don’t offer

Xxxxxx Cover story ? the power of a true desktop but at least they offer portability and sufficient power for most work. The traditional laptop is one we’re all familiar with– a hinged screen (up to 160 degrees), keyboard and touchpad.

Tablets / / Smartphones ? These are essentially the same, just enlarged versions of each other. A flat slab of glass with a touch-sensitive coating that the user interacts with. All the magic that happens here is via the software rather than the hardware. Some of these, especially the tablets, come with keyboard docks that let you at least believe that you’re doing something productive with these most indulgent of devices. These devices usually give us the longest battery life of any portable computer, but they only manage to do of both worlds, Android and Windows. technology is still in its infancy with only that because they do so little. It also attempts to give you the best of something like the giving us a both form factors, a tablet and a PC. It’s vision of what the future can be like Modern designs an interesting concept that also hasn’t (we’re not counting the Wii here as it’s Hybrid devices gotten much traction. nowhere near as flexible as the Kinect). These have popped up from time to time The next-gen consoles have showcased but have recently started gaining in Voice control their implementations of gesture-based popularity with the advent of Windows 8 Voice control is suddenly picking up games and interfaces to much acclaim (read all about UIs in the second part of momentum. Siri first introduced herself and it won’t be long before robotic arm this story). These devices look like to the world in October of 2011. Her voice gestures are so ingrained into our lives traditional laptops at first glance but have was the promise of a future world where that we’ll be using them in our day-to-day some sort of twist to them. Almost all your voice would have power. One word interactions with each other. have touch-screens, but some have (more actually) from you and all that In all the cases mentioned above, it’s screens that flip over by almost 360 you wanted would be at your fingertips. the software that is the main limiting degrees (the Lenovo Yoga), or screens that That vision has not turned into a reality factor. UIs have still not evolved enough you can pull closer to yourself (the Acer yet but the big three, Google, Apple and to meet our ever-changing needs and Aspire R7) or just screens that can be Microsoft have made great strides in this once it does, we won’t even know. It’ll be reversed and folded onto the keyboard to area and are working as fast as possible so well implemented that we’ll take to force the device to function as a tablet. to seamlessly integrate voice control into them like a duck takes to water and we’ll The Microsoft surface PRO is a all their products and services. Devices completely forget that the past was example of a hybrid laptop that is more like Google’s Moto X for example, have a different. Till then, we’ve got our old tablet than PC. A device with the dedicated chip just for processing innu- classics to fall back on. form-factor of a tablet, but with the power merable voice commands. of a regular laptop. Unfortunately, the PC(future)=? final verdict isn’t yet out on that one. Gesture input So what is the PC of the future? There are If that wasn’t enough, you have Another field that is garnering a lot of so many Permutations and Combina- devices like the ASUS AIO Transformer, attention but is yet to show something tions of the various components a device that attempts to give you the best truly concrete for the masses. This involved. Do you need a keyboard or not? What defines a seamless experience according to you? Is it to be a single device that lets you do everything while giving you everything that you want? Is ? the ultimate PC a device that is so flexible it learns and adapts to your needs, the ultimate in Personal Computing? Maybe. Only time will tell. Join us as we explore the possibilities and potentials of PC design in the following chapters. 40 Digit | September 2013 | www.thinkdigit.com ?

Cover story

on your phone? If you’re working, have you created a presentation, done some deep research into any topic using only your tab- let or phone? Of course, there are many who do this, because they choose to not have a laptop or desktop, and only live on a tablet or phone, but even they cannot truth- fully say they haven’t missed the trusty computing devices of yore at least a couple of times a day.

I can’t get no… As the popular Rolling Stones song goes, there just isn’t any one device out there that gives you total satisfaction. Way back in 2005 we talked about convergence in an anniversary issue, and what it promised. We’re still waiting... Yes, almost every- thing has converged into a single device that you keep in your pocket, but there are still a few critical things that need to be added to the mix. Back in the old days, we also foresaw that we consumers would go from being gullible walking wallets to prosumers. We have become exactly that. Look at the sim- ple change in yourself: what used to be a simple buying choice earlier (ask a few friends, listen to a salesman and pick one), has become akin to doing enough research n a gi n g : Shigil Naraya to be able to write a thesis on the subject. I m a We compare the minute details, ask a thou- sand questions, and even while making the payment for the product we’ve chosen, have ? U + I = Whee! a tiny voice in our heads screaming “Wait for something better!” or “Are you sure this The UI game needs to change. It shouldn’t be about is the best?” making icons look prettier, it should do away with them Yes, we all enjoy the post purchase once and for all and end their 30+ year reign endorphin rush that tells us our device is better than anyone else’s “for my Robert Sovereign-Smith stream, and yes, it’s earned them a lot of needs”, but deep down, we all know [email protected] money, and cost us consumers an arm and something’s missing. a leg to get the latest and greatest releases. et’s face facts, we’ve been saying However, over the past year or two, things So what are the problems? this for some time now, but a big are getting crazier. A lot of the problems we face today are Lchange is needed in computing, A lot of us own phones that cost us more really no different from a decade ago. We all and everyone knows it. We’re at a cross- than our laptops, and yet we keep running want computing devices to be insanely fast, roads of sorts, because finally ideas and back to the good old laptop to do anything of able to do everything we demand of them, prototypes of actually new computing use. It’s the wife and mistress analogy from and yet we want them with us 31.5 million devices are appearing and being talked old Bollywood days – the mistress was hot, seconds a year, want batteries to last a day about. Some actually seem like viable looked good on your arm, cost you a lot to (or more) and also expect them to be afford- options, or a step in the right direction keep, but she was never able to give you the able. Deep down, we’re all greedy toddlers even, while others just appear to be throw- love and satisfaction that your faithful wife with insatiable appetites, crawling around ing some permutations and combinations could. A clichéd moral, sure, but it’s proba- touching everything and screaming “I of form factors together to find a way for- bly more factual in the PC/Phone conun- want…” Not that there’s anything wrong ward in a hit-and-miss manner. drum than the wife/mistress one. with that; because at Digit we’re the bratti- Everyone went crazy with touch thanks If you’re a student, have you tried writ- est and fattest little bunch of technology to Apple bringing touch into the main- ing out submissions or doing research only babies you’ll ever meet. 42 Digit | September 2013 | www.thinkdigit.com ? Cover story

Bandwagons are the real problems. Not ? ones you don’t want, but then that platform just that a bunch of top manufacturers has its own share of problems… as does jump onto them all at once, but the fact that every other platform. they’re forced to, because all of us buy into Coming back to the point, touch is still whatever bandwagon is trending at the just an implementation of the old way of moment. If Apple’s making billions off you doing things. Replacing a mouse with a fin- for touch, do you really expect the others to ger – Control + Scroll with pinch, clicks ignore touch and try something different? with taps and scrollbars and other actions Touch was new, and exciting, and did with various swipes and gestures. It’s still away with pesky keyboards and tiny an icon-based UI, which is the way it’s been screens. We loved it because as any other for more than three decades now. bratty baby, we also wanted to paw at stuff. So what are some of the possibilities that We wanted to participate with a phone’s are being worked on or have been screen instead of holding it up and staring Closing running apps in iOS 7 is actually attempted? Let’s take a look at some prob- more painful at it. Older interfaces seemed primitive in lems and the innovations that are trying to comparison, because although on a PC we solve them. Some innovations are still were so used to the dexterity of a mouse, on anything different for the moment. within the touch-world, and some are truly mobile devices, cursors and selections were However, touch just doesn’t cut it. In fact, new ways of doing things. a pain. It’s just so much easier to tap on some of the innovations seem to be digress- what you see than use a scroll and button ing a bit when they attempt to improve. Keyboards combination, right? Take iOS 7 (the developer versions, as of Whether you like it or not, text is here to However, the real problem is, touch isn’t writing this), where the old way of closing stay for quite a while longer. It loads an innovation in UI design, it’s just another background programs has been changed. quickly on a page, is a nice silent communi- way of doing the same old things. How rad- All you had to do was to double-tap the cation method, and is what you’re reading ically different is tapping on an icon as home screen, the running apps bar would right now. Why? Because it’s still a damn compared to clicking on one with a mouse? appear, hold down any icon till they start good way to convey content and ideas. It’s Changing the input method is not really shaking, use the little close buttons on the when you get into the 5Cs (see page 1), and changing the UI – because you still need to top left of every icon to close them one at a realise that three of them – Consume, scan a bunch of stuff on a screen, locate the time. Anyone who’s given their iPad to a kid Create and Communicate – still rely heavily one you want (swipe through pages of will tell you, when you get it back from on text, that you realise that keyboards are icons) and then select the one you want them, you find scores of running programs still important. However, typing is the bane (click, touch, tap, whatever). open, which can be irritating to scroll of every touch device user. Even if you don’t This is ideal when “browsing” for ideas, through to find your list of apps. type a lot, you still could use a better more ?like with the old Start Menu on Windows. It With iOS 6.x and earlier, all you had to accurate way to do it. was great for people wanting to figure out do was the steps we mentioned above, and We were recently contacted about a what they wanted to do. With newer ver- then tap like 40 times in the same place product called TREWgrip, which is basi- sions of Windows we saw that same Start (usually the running app on the extreme cally a keyboard for touchscreen devices, Menu get more organised, more search- left) and you closed everything. With iOS 7 but with a difference. Instead of killing based, because more and more people (so far) this has been changed to a swipe up your thumbs while typing, TREWgrip knew exactly what they wanted to do, and motion. Sure the animation looks cooler, but placed the keys under the device, so you use just wanted a quick way to start doing it. sometimes when you’re trying to swipe up your fingers to type and hold the device, Increasingly, technology is becoming a the touch sensitivity thinks you’re trying to and your thumbs only to balance and grip. background tool. You might want to quickly go left or right, and scrolls through running We’re reserving judgement on the product start up your PC and start researching for apps instead. What we’d have really liked is until we see and use it, but it’s an interest- an article or thesis you’re writing, or you a small counter here that told you how ing example of innovative thinking. ? may just want to fire up Angry Birds on many apps were open, and maybe a Close Interestingly, even if you’re the kind of per- your phone to pop some pigs – regardless, All button or action. Yes you are now pretty sure of what you want to you can use multi-touch to do with all of your computing devices. Even swipe up with up to 3 fin- new apps rarely take more than a day for gers to close up to 3 apps at you to figure out; contrast this with a decade a time in iOS 7, but it’s still ago when getting a new PC or loading a new irritating and tiring to OS had a significant learning curve associ- swipe up to close 30+ run- ated with it. ning apps. We actually The problem with interfaces today, is prefer the BlackBerry 10 that they’re mostly touch-based. Very few way, where you swipe up seem to be pushing away from that, and once to see running apps, perhaps that’s because very few of us want and then just close the TREWgrip allows you to type more ergonomically

Digit | September 2013 | www.thinkdigit.com 43 ? Cover story ?

son who needs to look at keys when typing, bigger is better on a phone, we’re sort of ? TREWgrip offers visuals of keys on the top regressing. Some manufacturers are just of the product with LEDs to indicate what trying to get us back into the old LCD moni- key you pressed below. Although we still tor war days where inches were everything. think of this as a stop-gap measure in the At the risk of being risqué, it’s not how UI race to perfection, it certainly has the many inches you have people, it’s how you potential to improve the one experience of use them! This whole bigger is better race touch devices we all hate. seems to be encouraged by the fact that peo- If typing on the back of your phone is ple are giving up, and opting for phablets too weird an idea, then there’re always because they have realised that they just alternatives to on-screen keyboards. need a bigger screen for some tasks. For Minuum, for example, is a single line key- this, some of us are willing to look like Meet Minuum, the single-line QWERTY ? board that relies heavily on auto-correct to dorks with large Bluetooth devices in our get typing right. It’s currently available on ears, or worse, willing to hold up a tablet- which basically allow you to do all of your the Google Play store for android users, sized device to our ears to make phone calls. basic tasks on your wirelessly connected but it goes way beyond that. The aim of the Yes larger devices have larger screens, and watch, using your phone’s processing company is to give you the ability to make videos look good on them, as do web pages, power, and since this is a second device, it almost any surface a keyboard. Using a but they look funny in your pocket, ridicu- works well for all applications that don’t smart ring, or a wristband, or a game con- lous when held to your face, have huge bat- need a large screen. If a smart watch is troller, or even your own forearm, you can teries that take longer to charge, but the paired with a phablet, you can have the input text that’s wirelessly transferred to same time to run out, are heavy, and are best of both worlds, in a way, by having the device you’ve paired with. You can just not the answer. two separate devices. If people start selling read more about the proposed technology Google Glass and other wearable these as bundled products – Apple might at minuum.com. screens are one way ahead, because you can sell an iWatch and iPhone combo, or allow Plus, Google is also thinking along simi- project virtual screens (the virtual screen the iWatch to bring phone functionality to lar lines for project Glass, and is experi- appears to be a 15-inch display, or 17-inch, the iPad – then this does become a way of menting with a laser projection capability etc) when you need them – to watch videos separating UIs for varying tasks. To make that would allow pretty much any surface or look at a large web page, etc. However, or receive a phone call, you barely need to become a keyboard, or a text input these glasses also allow you to keep things anything more than the two line displays device. Perhaps simple laser displays and limited to your peripheral vision, so you’re of yesteryear. To play a game or a movie Minuum-type keyboards will allow us to updated with your notifications, but not at however, you need the high resolution dis- just type out stuff anywhere, with our the cost of being distracted with what’s in plays of today. Perhaps the future is really phones never even being visible. front of you. They have audio features also, diverging products as per their usage sce- Such research is of the utmost impor- and allow you to do tasks with spoken com- nario, and designing custom UIs that are tance, because we truly believe that the old mands, or take calls without touching your purpose built, and thus perform those set Icon-based UI just has to go, but however phone. The problem is they look too dorky, tasks better. also realise that touch or text just isn’t but that’s also fixable. What isn’t fixable is Of course what we’re facing today is going anywhere in a hurry, so these are that some idiot is eventually going to mow sort of divergent – your phone or tablet technologies that will bridge the gap and down school children crossing a road for fun and your laptop for serious work allow us to experiment with UIs that are because he wore his glasses while driving – so perhaps there really is no way for- actually made for devices that are used on and forgot to turn notifications off, or ward, and we’ve reached the pinnacle of the go, instead of just scaling down UIs worse, was talking to his co-passenger and human ingenuity in terms of mobile that were built for large, immovable dis- said, “Ok, you ass, you tell me what’s the devices… No, we don’t really believe that plays. But what about said displays? fastest way to MG road?” and his glass either! Why on earth would Google be Should we get rid of those altogether? heard “Ok Glass, what’s the fastest way to spending so much time researching ways MG Road” and promptly popped up a map, to do away with screens completely. It’s No screen or started talking in his ear, and distracted not just to sell a product like Glass, it’s a With everyone selling phones based on him long enough to kill someone! valiant attempt to finally replace the age- screen sizes, and actually trying to adver- Apart from this, voice recognition in ing icon-based system. tise an almost tablet-sized 6-inch screen as general is OK, but only in situations There are hundreds of more ideas for where you’re alone or won’t be dis- both divergent and convergent devices, and turbing anyone, or perhaps when the UIs that will rule will be decided by you don’t mind people overhearing what form factors of devices we are drawn your commands. to. At our end, we just hope that more pow- erful and more flexible devices will win in Divergence the end, so that we can finally be rid of the Another interesting area that’s need to buy and operate multiple form fac- Smart watches are all the rage now become popular is smart watches, tors just to get through an average life. 44 Digit | September 2013 | www.thinkdigit.com ? ? ?Cover story

True potential A peek into the future, and what we really should be heading towards

ood morning class!” said in front of his iLearn station. “Sorry youngest and oldest kids to be picked on Victoria out aloud. It was ma’am”, he said sheepishly, and there was a little, because the younger you were the? 10 PM on a Tuesday, but even more giggling that promptly turned smarter you were thought to be, and obvi- “G this was normal for her. his face red. ously everyone else wanted to cut your ego Humanity had used technology to lick a Arun put on his skull cap – another down to size, whilst the older you were, lot of the world’s problems, but time wasn’t Mapple rental, because kids out grew them the more the other kids looked at you as conquered just yet. She immediately got 39 so fast there was no point buying them one slow learner, and made fun of you. varied but quick replies, “Good morning – and now everyone was ready. “I’m not sure ma’am. I was working on Ms Shaw!” Time zones were tricky, and “Today, class, we’re going even further something all of last night, but I don’t think some of the kids were sleepy after just back in history, to look at some events that it’s ready yet,” he said sheepishly. “Surely waking up, some were sleepy because it caused a radical change in technology”. you can give all of us a taste of it, and if we was nearing bedtime, and others were This class was well behaved, but her feel it still needs work I’ll cut the feed. Is just annoyed because it was the middle of TruSense app could sense the groans that that an acceptable compromise Arun?” the day and they were too full of energy to the kids were dying to let out. “Now class, “Yes ma’am” be made to sit still – yet the world always remember what we discussed. We cannot “OK class, please put on your Googgles adapted, and so would this little virtual afford to ignore the past, because it holds and sign in” primary classroom. the key to the future. Did anyone do any There was bustle all about, as invari- “Wait. 39? Who’s missing?”, and as she research on the subject?” ably some of the kids always had untidy thought that her Retina display told her She got more feelings of despair from iLearns, and some components were that Arun was late, again. She sent out a most, but little Arun sent out mixed emo- always out of reach. Soon enough they quick ping, which sounded in little Arun’s tions – a cross between embarrassment were all hooked up and it took only micro- home, and this immediately brought and enthusiasm. Thankfully she knew her seconds for their Googgles to quickly sync Arun’s mother running into her picture. little classroom as well as she knew her- with their iLearn and activate their Retina “Sorry Ms Shaw, he’ll be here in 30 sec- self. “Arun? Do you want to present some- displays. She eased her iLearn chair into onds”, said Savita. “Thank you Mrs. Radia. thing?” She knew his own tardiness and Receive mode, hooked up her own Goog- ? We’ll wait in that case” replied Victoria. the class’ giggles had made him unsure gles, set her TruSense to monitor mode There were giggles all around – young kids of himself, and wanted to encourage him and relaxed. find everything funny. to participate. Although most of the kids It was still marvellous technology Victoria heard a bustle and some incom- here were between 8 and 14 years old, for someone in her generation, but these prehensible yells and Arun soon appeared Arun was only 5. It was normal for the kids always adapted so easily. Somehow Cover story

they were all now ready and waiting to emotions; or perhaps, Arun really wanted that everyone already knew, Arun wasn’t peer inside the Dreamy that little Arun to convey uncertainty, since they were? able to convey the right emotions associ- had thought about all night, and view it viewing the little historic video as core ated with a world shifting from a profit through him. Not just his eyes, but his members of the Microsoft team way back centric ideology to just doing good. He emotions, his thoughts on the subject, his in the 2000s. Then they moved forward did find an interesting link between each confusions, and of course his knowledge. in time quickly to Steve Jobs announcing spurt of collaboration the world experi- She still had to remind herself not to get the iPod in 2001, and the feeling this time enced, and the death of some of the world’s too engrossed, because as the teacher, she was of excitement. “Maria Ivanova, pay richest individuals who left their fortunes still had to monitor the thoughts of the attention please,” said Victoria in her head, to their causes. And given that every others, and allow them to make observa- and her iLearn sent out the message to her person who was filthy rich in the late tions and pass on emotions to the rest Russian student. 2000s was always a technology persona, when it was necessary to get more diverse The Dreamy went through all of the his- it was obvious that their money always opinions in. She would have time later to toric events of the 2000s, showing snippets went towards building public technologies go through Arun’s Dreamy on her own, of old videos of the announcements made such as the very iLearn and Googgles they and grade it accordingly. Thankfully the by all the old companies – Apple, Micro- were using. Googgles would do most of the moderation soft, Google, Samsung and the likes. Most She cut the feed, opened her eyes, which on its own, cutting out all data unrelated of those companies were still in existence automatically switched her brain input to the topic, and TruSense would allow her today, but were more like branches of the from the Googgles to her Retina display, as to silently send encouragement to the one World Technology Association (WTA). did everyone else in the virtual class. She or two students who would inevitably get The Dreamy spent a little less time could see a simple graph in her peripheral bored and stop participating. than it should have when showing the vision that told her most of the class was The presentation began, and everyone passing of the great Steve Jobs, and Arun quite impressed with Arun’s Dreamy. Some ? gasped as they were given an artificial could have made the outpourings of grief of them were already running searches to feeling of moving through time ran- a little more believable, but it was still find more funny videos of Steve Ballmer, domly, with images of events flashing by. impressive for a child. He was able to while others were reading up about how “Amazing how every younger generation add in humour by showing people some Bill Gates started the trend of leaving bil- seems to get even better than the previous videos by Steve Ballmer, and even spent lions to the world after his death. one at making Dreamys. I’m the last gen- just the right time on the eventual failure She would have time to give him per- eration of pre-Dreamy humans”, thought of Facebook, and its takeover by Apple. sonal feedback later, for now, all she said Victoria to herself. He covered the merger between Apple was, “Well done Arun, that was quite inter- and Microsoft to form Mapple well, going esting – especially your finding that it was “Historic Moments in through ranges of emotions. The odd the deaths of the rich that kick-started the Technology” narrative was a little childish, but then he interest in philanthropy when the world Victoria could swear the voice that spoke in was really just a child still. needed it most.” everyone’s heads was Morgan Freeman’s He worked his way well through all She knew he needed the encourage- – that oldies actor whose movies she loved. of the more modern inventions, but then ment, and even allowed the feelings of What she would later realise is that Arun again all the kids would have done the congratulations, awe, and even the odd was so skilled that he had only added code same. His conclusion was that it wasn’t feeling of jealousy from a classmate to be to use the most authoritative voice that the until technology became wearable and passed on to Arun. viewer knew, so for most of the other kids implantable that it really started to pro- Technology or no technology, in person it was their parent, family member or a gress at a pace that was needed. He also or virtually, there was still no better feeling famous Interweb star of some sort who said formed the opinion that it was only when in the world for her than seeing every one those opening lines. the WTA was formed, and geographical of these children smile and feel proud of They were all quickly transported back borders blurred, and as a result the com- their work and innovation. to an image of the iconic Philanthropist Bill petition between companies died out, did “At last, technology has achieved Gates announcing his retirement from his humanity really start working towards its true potential,” Victoria thought to old company, Microsoft. TruSense sent out using technology to improve the planet, herself, as she wrapped up her history a feeling of uncertainty, perhaps because instead of using it to make rich people class for children with physical and Arun was too young still to master human richer. Although this was a simple fact mental disabilities. ?

46 Digit | September 2013 | www.thinkdigit.com

From the labs More earth-like planets We take a look at Elon Musk’s Data from NASA’s Kepler mission suggests that dream of fast mass transportation nearby red dwarfs just 13 lightyears away, could Sci-Tech 50 – the Hyperloop have life much older than our own.

NASA’s Ambitious Expeditions into the

SolaWe give your the low down on the missions NASA has planned over System the next 30 years universe. The Chandra X-Ray Observatory has even captured particles right before they disappeared into the abyss that is a black hole. NASA’s come an incredibly long way in not just expanding our knowledge of the universe, but also in racking up its achieve- ments. They’ve put man-made instru- ments of measurement on alien planets, photographed dying stars and colliding galaxies and not to mention, developed a reusable shuttle that can perform repeated missions. Let’s not forget the fact that NASA played a key role in transport- ing components of the International Space Station into space. However, as amazing these achievements may have been, NASA has several programs in place that will be coming to fruition over the next two decades or so, which focus a lot on explor- ing and understanding our neighbouring entities. For your reading pleasure, here Not the movie, this is probably named after Jupiter’s wife are some of the really exciting ones:

Swapnil Mathur The agency just passed the 55 year Lunar Atmosphere and Dust [email protected] mark of being in existence, and in those Environment Explorer (LADEE): long years it has accomplished many September 2013 ational Aeronautics and Space successes, starting with putting the first The LADEE program will collect and ana- Administration, or more com- satellite into space, to putting a man on lyse samples of any lunar dust particles in monly known as NASA is one the moon and not to mention The Hubble the tenuous atmosphere. These measure- N of the most premiere Space Space Telescope, which in itself has led to ments will help scientists address a long- Agencies in the world. It was formed some incredible advances in our under- standing mystery: was lunar dust electri- on July 28th 1958 under the watch of standing of not just our galaxy, but the cally charged by solar ultraviolet light, the then President of the United States universe as a whole. It even launched the responsible for the pre-sunrise horizon Dwight D. Eisenhower, who stated that most sensitive telescope in the world, the glow that the Apollo astronauts saw. The the purpose of the agency was to engage Chandra X-Ray Observatory, which relies instruments on board are a UV and Visible in peaceful space exploration (civilian on X-Rays instead of visible light to create Light spectrometer that will determine the rather than military). images and observe the happenings of the composition of Lunar Dust by analysing the

48 Digit | September 2013 | www.thinkdigit.com Sound of a star When are they going to admit it? Scientists have found a way to create ‘sound’ from a Now even NASA astronaut Chris Cassidy saw something star’s light and using it are able to decipher its size floating around outside the ISS. Can the source get more and stage of evolution credible? The world is ready to know. Space Age

light signature of materials present and the New Horizons: 2015 third is a Neutral Mass Spectrometer that The New Horizons mission actually will measure the variance in the moon’s commenced back in 2006, when NASA atmosphere over several lunar orbits. launched spacecraft to Pluto. The probe has just passed the moons of Jupiter and Mars Atmosphere and Volatile will be the fifth to venture so far out away Evolution (MAVEN): Late 2013 from our Sun. The New Horizons space- NASA made huge news with the success- craft will be performing a flyby mission of ful deployment of the Curiosity Rover onto Pluto (and its moons) and will gather any the Red Planet. While the rover takes read- observational data it can about what lies ings and samples from on-ground, NASA on the fringe of our solar system. NASA feels that some chemical analysis can only hopes to get a good glimpse and under- be performed from measurements made standing of the former planet and its five high in the atmosphere, which is where the known moons. NASA hopes to discover MAVEN program comes in. MAVEN will or- more with the New Horizons mission bit high above the surface so it can sample about the former planet and its surround- the upper atmosphere for signs of what ing moons. The spacecraft is expected to changed over the eons and why. The mis- conduct its flyby sometime in 2015. sion will be the first of its kind and calls InSight lander, launches in 2016 for instruments that can pinpoint trace Juno: July 2016 amounts of chemicals high above Mars. No, this isn’t the movie we’re talking studying so far (as they are subject to en- The results are expected to let scientists about there, but an unmanned space- vironmental degradation and meteor and test theories that the sun’s energy slowly craft that is currently travelling at about asteroid strikes). eroded nitrogen, carbon dioxide and water 7 miles per second towards the largest from the Martian atmosphere to leave it planet in our solar system. The mission Solar Probe Plus: July 2018 dry and possibly desolate. draws its name from Greek and Roman Apparently some scientists at NASA mythology, being named after Jupiter’s discovered energy signatures in the solar Magnetospheric Multiscale wife. It was only Juno who was able to winds as they were picked up and meas- Mission (MMS): 2014 see through the veil of clouds Jupiter had ured by an aging probe, leading them to The Magnetospheric Multiscale mission is cast around himself to hide his mischief. form new theories about nuclear fusion. a Solar Terrestrial Probes mission com- The mission is an attempt to take on To make more measurements, NASA will prising of four identically instrumented that very nature, as Juno is set to arrive be launching the Solar Probe Plus towards probes that will use Earth’s magneto- at Jupiter in July 2016 with the aim of our closest star, the sun. The probe will sphere (the area around Earth that is understanding the giant’s atmosphere. travel to the Sun’s outer atmosphere, the effected by its magnetic field) as a labora- The spacecraft will also determine how farthest any spacecraft has ever gone. tory to study the interaction between the much water is present in the planet’s At its closest to the Sun, NASA says the Sun’s and the Earth’s magnetic fields and atmosphere to test the various theories spacecraft will be about 7 million kilome- their effect on various particles. of planet formation. It will also study the tres from the star. Solar Probe Plus will effect of Jupiter’s magnetosphere along have to withstand temperatures greater with deciphering the composition of the than 1400 Celsius and survive blasts of planet’s atmosphere. radiation at levels not experienced by any previous spacecraft. The probe will sam- InSight: March 2016 ple the sun’s plasma and magnetic field at Interior Exploration using Seismic Inves- the very source of the solar wind. tigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport or InSight for short, is NASA’s mission Manned Mission to Mars: 2030 that seeks to understand the composi- So far, all we have is President Obama’s tion of the Red Planet. The mission will word on putting a man on Mars in the see NASA placing a single lander on Mars 2030’s, the preparations for which are that will study its deep interior by drilling already underway. NASA says that within into the planet’s surface. Since Mars lacks ten years of landing the second probe on a tectonic plate system, NASA says the Mars in 2020, they will put a man on the interior of the planet has a more accurate planet. Interestingly, Mars One, a privately record of Mars’s planetary evolution than funded venture, aims at putting the first LADEE – pronounced “laddie,” not “lady” the mountains and canyons we have been two-member team on Mars by 2023.

Digit | September 2013 | www.thinkdigit.com 49 Land speed record PS4 launch titles The current land speed record Launch titles list for the PS4 has achieved by Andy Green of ThrustSSC been revealed finally. Take a look: From the labs stands at 1227.986 km/h http://dgit.in/16TAH8o The Usain Bolt of bullet trains

Elon Musk, the man behind Tesla Motors, PayPal, SpaceX and SolarCity has envisioned the next generation of high-speed public transportation – The Hyperloop

Mithun Mohandas With Elon Musk the entrepreneurial tracted by NASA to supply the [email protected] attitude set in at an early of 12 when he International Space Station having con- designed a computer game and sold it for ducted its first docking with the ISS in ail transportation is already $500, then sold an online service - Zip2 May 2012. Some might wonder that he is pretty fast, the fastest bullet for over $300 million. The next thing he just a good CEO but it so turns out that he train travels at 300 km/h but helped co-found was Paypal which was is the “Chief Designer” for the Falcon Rthat doesn’t seem to be enough bought out by eBay for $1.5 billion. The and also the “Head of Product for Elon Musk so he has proposed the figures have kept on rising ever since. Design” at Tesla. The guy seems like Hyperloop, a transport system where The guy has been likened to Tony Stark King Midas high on caffeine or another you have pods which travel at really in the media. He is smart, entrepre- Tony Stark. high speeds through low pressure tubes. neurial, charitable and one of the fastest While there have been several proposals money making machines in the world. So why a Hyperloop? regarding similar vactrain technologies in His green energy venture – SolarCity is Apart from being a real fast mode of the past, this one seems to have worked on currently the fastest growing company in transport, the Hyperloop is Elon Musk’s the shortcomings of the older ideas while the solar energy sector. SpaceX, the space answer to the overpriced “California coming up short on a few points. transport company has already been con- High-speed Rail Project”, the hectic traffic and as a means to satisfy his set of criteria StarTram which are as follows: • Safer The Hyperloop does seem a bit far- • Faster fetched but as you read into what all • Lower cost information Elon Musk has provided • More convenient it starts to seem closer to reality. • Immune to weather But as far as ambitious ideas go, the Hyperloop is small change compared to • Sustainably self - powering the StarTram – patform. • Resistant to Earthquakes • Not disruptive to those along the route That’s right! It’s a proposed system The propulsion is provided using that would use technology maglev technology but current maglev to propel a launch vehicle through a vacuum tube into space – 22 kilometers trains are open ended and not enclosed in from the surface of the earth. a tube all throughout. This gives rise to the problem with air pressure and resist-

50 Digit | September 2013 | www.thinkdigit.com 3D Printed Hyperloop Xbox launch titles A 3D printing startup just took 24 hours Launch titles list for the Xbox One has to build a model of the Hyperloop also been revealed. Take a look http://dgit.in/FruitLoops http://dgit.in/1549XCB From the labs

Travel times

The proposed route from Los Angeles to San Francisco is 960 kilometers long, a car takes five hours to cover that distance while current public transportation could take as much as 14 hours. Hyperloop claims to cover the same distance in approximately 35 minutes! For an Indian perspective into this scenario, a trip from Mumbai to Indore in just half an hour.

ance. There are a few ways of imple- menting the concept, one involves having the tube filled with air and the pods are pushed by the air pressure created behind each pod. This concept has been proven on a smaller scale with vacuum tubes which were used to transport small parcels and messages within a building, however, on a larger scale it’s quite diffi- A schematic that’s hand-drawn by Elon Musk. Nah we kid. But looks cool doesn’t it? cult to pull off and the friction due to the air present wouldn’t have allowed for “Speed has never killed The pod is practically a bullet, if any greater speeds than current generation anyone. Suddenly of the pylons give away when a pod goes bullet trains. becoming stationary, over it there is no easy way to stop the The other option is to reduce the that’s what gets you.” pod in time and save the lives of the volume of air within the tube to create a - Jeremy Clarkson people on board. Statistically, the casual- hard vacuum. This eliminates the prob- ties will be less given the low capacity lems of air compression and , how- per pod but even that wouldn’t go down ever, maintaining vacuum in small con- powering the air compressor using a bat- well with anyone. tained areas is still a difficult prospect. tery on the pod and since these folks are Another surprising revelation was Ensuring the same for a tube that spans the ones behind the Tesla electric car that Elon Musk was not interested in the length of 350 miles is not possible they handled the battery problem with building the project on his own, he’d given that there are going to be upteen ease. So to summarise, we have a pod rather prefer it if several investors pitched number of joints which will have to be with humans elevated by electromag- in and made it a reality. Primarily sealed completely shut and even a simple nets, has a curtain of compressed air because in the last two ventures that he crack anywhere could cause the section underneath it and has enough battery life began the initial concept and the final to implode. So with the Hyperloop, Elon to power the compressor the whole 350 product were quite different, here you Musk has proposed a environment of miles (563 kilometers). can’t utilise the same approach given the low pressure thus hitting a balance enormous cost and waste of infrastruc- between the two extremes which were What could go wrong? ture that would arise by changing plans earlier proposed. For starters, this is a massive straight towards the end of the process. Each pod is to have an air compressor tube across a vast . In order the built onto it which takes air from the maintain a straight tube the gradient of Can he pull it off? front of the pod and creates a compressed the natural terrain must be compensated, Not in the near future. There have been air cushion underneath the pod. This this requires a lot of different shaped no prototypes yet to demonstrate the compensates for the Kantrowitz limit pillars / pylons. Mass manufacturing concept and a rapid transit system has which states that if the gap between the isn’t exactly feasible given the varying already been approved along the proposed pod’s outer walls and the tube’s inner heights of each pylon. Then comes into route. Mr.Musk has solicited suggestions wall go below a certain threshold then play thermodynamics which states that on improving the current concept so we you’ll have the equivalent of a giant the increased pressure due to the air might see a few revisions of the idea before syringe. The pod will have to push the air cushion would lead to an excess of heat the execution phase gains momentum. in front of it which in turn would use up to be generated thus making the tube an Till then Mr. Musk will be taking the car more power. Then comes the trouble with oven of sorts. to work.

Digit | September 2013 | www.thinkdigit.com 51 Tips & Tricks Workshop This month we list tips for Evernote, Google Do you own a Canon 5D MarkIII? Maps and a few tweaks for improving your Then check out how you can get Toolbox 57 smartphone performance 64 more out of it The mystery of the disappearing thumbnails! And other maladies solved Yet another month where the Digit team and the diligent folks from the thinkdigit forums save the day .... every day. They'd have gone scot free if it weren't for these meddling folks.

Thumbnails Disappeared Thumbnails” in the right pane > Double that does not seem to be working at It has been two months since I installed click on it > Select Disable > Apply > OK. all. It’s starting from where I had previ- Windows 8 on my pc. All the thumbnails You should be able to see thumbnails in ously quit the game. So can you give of videos and music were visible at first, the explorer now. probable reasons for this and also solu- but somehow the thumbnails are gone. It tions for them? happens every time after 1 to 2 months Irritating Beeps Priyatam Yasaswi after reinstalling windows. (Yes, I rein- My system config is: stall windows from time to time). Tell • Intel DG41RQ desktop board; F1 2012 is a great game but it’s known me how to bring back the thumbnails. • Intel Core 2 Duo processor; to have that issue. The developers, Code Thanks in advance. • 2 GB RAM; Masters Racing released a number of Harsh Khurana • 320 GB HDD; patches for the game to fix these issues. • Windows 7 SP1 x64-bit; You will need to go to their website and If Windows Explorer in your PC is Whenever I start my PC it beeps twice, download the latest and that will regularly facing this issue then you once before showing the Intel logo and easily fix the problems you are having should check whether this happens after once after it. I have tried to update the while saving problems. Keep in mind, you install a particular program. BIOS but that does not change anything. you need to have an original version of Anyway, in order to enable thumbnails Apart from this everything works fine. The the game to do so. back again, you can open Windows beeps irritate me a lot. Explorer > Options > Change folder and Binay Kumar Virus woes This is my first letter. I have a 500GB When the computer powers up, the Sony external Hard Disk Drive full of files. power-on self-test (POST) tests whether It has been infected by viruses. The files all hardware is working properly before show up on a non-Windows OS. Please starting the remainder of the boot help me. I want to delete the viruses but I process. If the computer passes the want to keep the files. Thanks in Advance POST, it will have a single beep, but some Abhi Raman motherboards have a BIOS that make it beep twice. The Intel DG41RQ is one The best way is to connect your drive such board which beeps twice during to your computer with Autoplay turned startup. Since your computer is working off. Make sure you have a good antivirus Certain programs may disable this option fine, you need not worry about it at all. like Avast installed on your system. Do But if you really get that irritated by the not attempt to open the drive by double search options > Select the View tab > beeps then we’re afraid that you may clicking. First run a scan of the drive in Uncheck the box that says Always show have to live with it because the speaker order to quarantine or delete viruses icons, never thumbnails. Once you do on the Intel DG41RQ is soldered on to it present. If somehow, you are not able to this, you may be able to see thumbnails and it can’t be unplugged. run scans on the drive using antivirus on your files. software, you can then think of using a If that doesn’t work out, then go Game save issues Linux Distro. Create a bootable USB to Run > Type “gpedit.msc” and hit I have F1 2012 (from Code Masters Linux system > install an antivirus Enter > Navigate to User Configuration, Racing) installed on my computer. It software on it like ClamAV > run the scan Administrative Templates, and Start has been very interesting till now, but > you’re done. For a more detailed Menu and Taskbar in left pan of Group suddenly the game is not auto saving and step-by-step procedure to do the same Policy Editor > Locate “Turn off Taskbar when I try to save the game manually head here:dgit.in/WinVirusHelpLinux.

52 Digit | September 2013 | www.thinkdigit.com Warning over Win8 India ahead of Japan A German government body has issued a Our glorious nation has outdone Japan as far warning to key German companies over the as the number of Internet subscribers go use of Windows 8 http://dgit.in/16lKvBS Q&A

Random Reboots and Idle Temps: CPU: Average- overheating issues 61.6°, GPU: Average- 55.4° Hi, I've recently been having random After running Prime95 reboots on my computer, especially while (Blend, 15 mins): CPU: Average- gaming. No BSOD, just the monitor going 97.2°, GPU: Average- 55.5° blank and the system rebooting. The There is no aftermarket problem as of yet has not occurred while cooler installed in my system Install all pre-requisites for Catalyst Control Center anything else (Photoshop, Illustrator, 3Ds and the fan positioning inside Max etc all run just fine). Also, I've seen the case is default. I’ve been using this Windows 8 x64 and it came with Intel frame rates dropping sometimes while system for more than a year now. Please HD graphics Driver v9.17.10.2932. Then playing Fifa 13, Sleeping Dogs & Skyrim take a note that I have installed the RAM I downloaded AMD mobility drivers for (these are the only games I play). Could sticks from my backup computer but that the 7670M, uninstalled the Intel HD this be a GPU problem, or can the problem DIMM has been running fine for nearly drivers and installed the AMD 13.8 Beta be related to RAM or the PSU related? a year. Any help regarding this would be drivers. However, when I restarted the When I play Skyrim at any setting what- really appreciated. laptop after installation, and tried to start soever, it causes the PC to reboot within 5 lr7745(TDF member) Catalyst Control Centre, it gave a weird error saying: "AMD CCC cannot be started. This seems to be an Overheating issue. There are no settings that can be config- First, you should check your CPU cooler ured using CCC." The hotkeys for bright- if its working properly or is it seated ness control don't work too. Please Help. properly. Run Prime95 blend test for 15 anirbandd (TDF member) minutes and play a resource consuming game again for at least 30 minutes. Note Make sure that you have .Net frame- whether there is any difference in work 4.0 installed on your system temperature. If it still doesn’t change then because it is a prerequisite for Catalyst you should buy a good quality Thermal Control Centre and the program can’t Paste. The Arctic Silver 5 is a good TIM to start without it. In case you don’t have . consider. Clean the CPU surface by using Net framework installed, then head here: Re-apply the thermal paste every few years a piece of cloth and some Iso-Propyl dgit.in/dotNetFwork, download and Alcohol (available at chemists). Apply the install it. Next download and install minutes, while I can usually play FIFA for thermal paste to your CPU as shown in Leshcats 13.1 from here: dgit.in/Lesh- 2-3 hours without any problem. Nothing the picture, a small amount of it at the CatsDld. For ease of use, take a look at the other than gaming causes the reboots. centre should be enough. Re-install CPU installation guide which can be found at: My system: cooler, run tests again and check the dgit.in/LeshManual. Unified LeshCat • i5-2500k; difference in temperature. AMD drivers are very stable and they • Intel DH67CL; mastercool8695, harshilsharma63, gamer- would work fine. As for the hotkeys for • GT 430; anand and topgear (TDF contributors) brightness control, you can search for • 1x4 GB G.Skill RipjawsX DDR3; quickset drivers for brightness control • Cooler Master Thunder 600 Watt; Display Driver trouble and download them. This should solve Here are the temperature readings for I recently got a new laptop; the HP Pavil- your issues. your reference: lion G6 2303TX, with 7670M. I installed kkn13 and Cilus (TDF contributors)

Tips & Tricks

Getting the set it to pop-up at a particular best out of time or day. Evernote Of course, it’s not necessary Evernote is one of those tools to create tags or additional note- that everyone’s heard of, want books if your library of notes is to use but have no idea how small. It does help a lot though to. This is unfortunate since when your library gets more Evernote is a very powerful populated. tool that’s splendid at keeping track of everything you want ‘Clip’ webpages to remember. It also has vast as notes potential for things as minor Evernote also lets you ‘clip’ as recipes to as important as parts of webpages or an entire business contacts. Here’s how webpage as a note. On the to master Evernote. desktop, just install the Ever- Evernote...... 43 note Web Clipper extension Download the in the browser you’re using. apps Google Maps...... 44 When on a page, select the The first thing you should do parts that you want to save and is to download the Evernote Boost your Android device...... 46 then click the Web Clipper icon app for smartphones from the that should be present to the Tips & Tricks has its own page numbers, and does not follow the rest respective app stores and the of the magazine’s page numbers. This is done to ensure that you can right of your browser’s URL client for your desktop from { cut out and save T&T in a separate folder for later reference. } bar. Doing so will open a drop the Evernote homepage. Alter- box that will let you name the nately, you can access your Evernote library on the Web. can be found in the left side folders, then panel that’s accessed by swiping you have to Create notes right. On desktop and Android, create a parent Evernote, at its core, is a you’ll be able to attach any file to ‘Stack’ under note-taking app so if you want to the note, including audio, video which multiple get used to the app quickly, start and images while on iOS, this is Notebooks can limited to images and recorded exist. However, audio. In all cases attachments keep in mind Evernote’s web clipper should be below 25 MB. You can that although also directly capture an image you can create new notebooks note, tag it and choose the note- and save it as a note. in the mobile apps, you can only book in which the note should create new stacks on the web be filed. Save the clip as a note Organize your and desktop client. by clicking the ‘Clip Selection’ notes After you’ve decided the button. You can also choose to Once you’ve created a note, you notebook in which your note save the entire webpage or just will be able to organize it so that will be saved, you can further the URL, as a note by selecting the option from the dropdown which is visible by clicking the small down-arrow button next to the ‘Clip Selection’ button. Unfortunately, there is no direct way to save a web clip on mobile Evernote on iOS devices. You can, however, email anything you want directly to by creating plenty of notes. Cre- Creating a new note is as easy as blinking your eye your Evernote library without ating a note on all platforms is entering the app. extremely easy. On the desktop, it becomes easier to find single add ‘tags’ to your notes. This click the ‘New Note’ button at notes when you have a whole is to make sure that all of your Email anything the top of the Evernote home- bunch of notes saved. Ever- notes can be properly searched directly to your page or client, on iOS click the note lets you create Notebooks, for when your notebooks get Evernote library ‘New Note’ icon that appears which are essentially folders fatter. You can add as many tags A lot of times you may not at the top of the app while on within which you can save as you want to a note and if the have access to your Evernote Android, the ‘New Note’ button notes. If you want to create sub- note is a reminder, you can also library and still would like to

| www.thinkdigit.com Vol 13 | 43 Digit | September 2013 Tips & Tricks save a note directly. You can do of stacks and note- Google Maps this by utilising your Evernote books every single Google recently unveiled a email address (you can see your time. Fortunately, huge makeover to its Google Evernote email address in the like Gmail, Ever- Maps. Currently available in profile section of your Evernote note has plenty of beta mode, it lets you discover account. Keep in mind, this is ways to make search changes in its interface and not the email address that you more specific or improved accessibilities. How- use to sign in to Evernote) and comprehensive. By ever, the search results in this by utilising this method, you’ll default, if you type a version remain more or less the be able to save anything from term into Evernote’s same as in the earlier version. a webpage address to a wall of search box in either You’ll find some changes in the text to your library and even add the mobile apps or form of search inputs and que- the necessary tags, choose the Copying a note link the desktop/Web ries. Unlike the older version of notebook in which to save or set clients, it searches Google Maps, it has a bunch of a reminder. do so, when creating a note in for the exact terms included in new and improved functionali- To do this, add the content either the mobile app, desktop a note. However, you can use ties such as advanced filters for you want to save as a note to or Web client, select the check- operators to hone your search search queries. the body of an email. Add your box option. You can then add as well. For instance, if you Evernote email address as the text after each check-box to want to search only within par- Web recipient of the mail, add the create a list of things to do that ticular tags, type in tag:tagname Search on the name you want to give the you can mark/unmark with (for e.g. tag:smartphones will new Google note as the subject and send checks. In iOS, when in the show up only notes that have Maps the email. You will soon find text box of a note, clicking on been tagged ‘smartphones’). Let’s say you’re looking for the note saved in your Evernote the formatting button at the If you want to exclude certain coffee shops near Mumbai’s library. If you want to save the bottom will reveal the ‘Add note in a particular notebook, Checkbox’ icon. In Android, with particular tags or as a the checkbox icon is visible reminder, then add the note immediately when creating or title followed by @YourNote- editing a note while in the Web bookName, #YourTagName and desktop clients, the check or !Reminder[yyyy/mm/dd] box icon is part of the format- in the subject. ting options above the body text field in a note. Link your notes to each other Use Evernote If you’ve got the Evernote search better Google Map’s new interface is a lot better than before desktop client, you can create Once your library starts links for notes and then add the getting filled up with dozens of tags, type in -tag:tagname (for Marine Lines railway station, links to another note. Doing this notes, it’s wiser to rely on Ever- e.g. -tag:smartphones will you can use the term “near” in is quite simple- just right click note’s built-in search instead show up all notes that haven’t your search query. Therefore, on a note and select the ‘Copy of browsing through your lists been tagged ‘smartphones’). the most appropriate search Note Link’ option. The link for If you want to see all notes query would be “coffee near the note will be saved to the clip- that haven’t been tagged, type marine lines”. In the results board and can be pasted within in -tag:*. Similarly, to search you’ll be shown all the coffee any other note. Keep in mind within a particular notebook, shops located around Marine though that you can only copy type in notebook:“notebook Lines railway station. You can a note’s link in the desktop client name” (when searching for a do the same for other similar of Evernote. It won’t work in the tag or notebook with multiple search queries. Web client or in any of the apps, words in its name, use inverted although you’ll still be able to commas) or if you want to Instantly share use the created links to jump search for notes with specific URLs between notes. tags inside a specific note- Whenever you want to share book, type notebook:“notebook the URL of a particular map, all Create To-Do name” tag: “tag name”. you have to do is click a button lists For more search operators called “link” on the older version Evernote is also very useful if and to get a better idea of search of Google Maps. The new Google you want to create notes that in Evernote, refer to this blog Maps will allow you to always work as To-Do lists. In order to Checklist post: http://goo.gl/H7JeNV have a permalink of any place

Digit | September 2013 Vol 13 | 44 | www.thinkdigit.com Tips & Tricks

search suggestions for recently accessed places. Select “Make this map area available offline” and you’re done. Note: This feature is cur- rently available only on Android, and not on iOS.

Start using turn-by-turn navigation instantly To enable GPS support for turn-by-turn navigation, you don’t have to get into your mobile settings. Google Maps now gives you this option right inside your application. Just Look for things nearby and you’ll never consult another guide book select your current location Looking through search history and desired destination. You’ll you search for. Whenever you Android / iOS find the transportation icon taking you away from your search for any location, you‘ll Zoom in as you at the bottom-right corner of Google Maps experience. find its URL present inside please your Google Maps application. the address bar, ready to be If you think pinching the Taping this will automatically Explore local retrieved and shared instantly screen is the only way to zoom execute voice guided turn-by- businesses with your friends. in and out of Google Maps, turn GPS navigation, without In case you’re looking for a you’re not well acquainted with particular place or a category View all all of its capabilities, because of different places to eat, drink, available in addition to this, you can also shop, rest or be entertained, information for a double-tap your screen, hold, tap the search box to find a location at once and then scroll up and down to card called “Explore” in order Say you have a friend’s wed- zoom in and out. to start exploring places in ding in Kolkata and you want to the categories of your choice, tour the place while there. Once Get offline viz Eat, Drink, Shop, Play or you’ve entered the city name in Google Maps Sleep. Through Explore, you’ll the search field, related imagery If there are particular locations be able to find relevant places for the place will automatically on Google Maps that you’re fond tagged within the area of your show up. All you need to do is of, you don’t need to be online choice located in that particular simply click on any location on and connected to access them category with ratings out of five the map and explore the area each time. You can simply make stars and reviews as well thanks with the help of photo tours that them appear offline for later use. to the new Zagat integration. will appear below the search While you’re online, go to the Once you’ve found a busi- box. Earth view can be accessed Google Maps application on ness or service, you can allow at the bottom-left corner on the your phone and open the map. the search results to point you new interface of Google Maps. In the search box, you’ll find How it looks on Android towards other similar results. Tips & Tricks

directions float above the main quick reference. Simply open the smartphone/tablet laggy, maps, providing a sense of space the search box and tap the slow and a battery guzzler. and continuity within the app. list view icon. If you’re using To help you achieve a state Unlike on smartphones, you just a tablet, tap an option called of optimum battery life and need to tap on any location to get Results List in your Google performance on your Android all the information about that Maps app. device, here we list a few tips particular place instantly and Note that since the app is still and tricks that can help you as efficiently as possible. in beta mode, we should expect get the most out of your smart- to see many more changes based phone/tablet. Access Street on user feedback. Also, some of View the mentioned tips and tricks Delete it! Similar to Google Maps on desk- may not work in your country Some Android devices tops/laptops, there’s no longer or on certain devices. come preloaded with a bunch an option on mobile devices to of apps. If you pick up a smart- access Street View as soon as Boost your phone/tablet from Samsung, search results show up. If you Android device HTC, Sony and more, you want Street View of a particular Some easy tips and tricks to will get a preloaded skin on Street View FTW location on Google Maps, simply help you achieve an optimal it along with a few preloaded press and hold on the map to battery life and performance apps. Some of these apps may drop a pin. This will render an from your Android smart- consume memory, stay active info sheet, which lets you access phone/tablet in the background or just the Street View option. Android as an OS has consume storage space. If you evolved quite a bit over the past aren’t going to use these apps, Share your few years and there are a lot of it makes sense for you to delete location tools at users disposal to opti- them. This will not only help Similar to the way you access mize the performance of the you get some storage space, Street View, you can also share smartphone. The Android OS but also make the phone run your location instantly with has the ability to give users an smoother as well. Uninstalling your friends or colleagues. acceptable experience even on an app can be done from the Simply press and hold on the an entry level Android smart- Settings > Device >Apps. map to drop a pin. This will take phone. Manufacturers at times If you have purchased a few you to an option allowing you to skin the OS with their own apps and are worried that you share via different applications UI and also offer some will have to repurchase them i.e. text message, email, Blue- preloaded apps that are, at once deleted, don’t worry. Once tooth etc., depending upon the times, nothing more than an app has been purchased, you applications you have installed bloatware. The flexibility and can delete it and download it Who needs physical maps?! on your device such as Facebook customizations options that as many times as you like. All and WhatsApp Messenger. Android offers sometimes you need is to log in with your On a Phone works against it as it may make Gmail account (the one you If you’re using Google Maps on Save your your smartphone, you’ll find location a bunch of details right after The Google Maps application tapping on any location in the even lets you save your searches application. You just need to for later use. Simply press and swipe up and down the info hold on the map to drop a pin, sheet to find out more about and find an option for saving that particular place. If you your query. If you want to want to find more such ser- retrieve the saved search, tap vices, you don’t need to revert on the person icon in the upper to the search box. Swipe left right-hand corner near the and right on the existing search search box and scroll down to results page to view many access your saved places. other such businesses. Find search On a Tablet lists Google Maps has been opti- If you always search for a lim- mized for tablet users. The ited number of places, you can dropdown search menu and convert them into a list for Apps storage space usage Battery consumption

Digit | September 2013 Vol 13 | 46 | www.thinkdigit.com Tips & Tricks

mation seamlessly between Switch in the Wi-Fi when you devices. Unfortunately, the are in a Wi-Fi zone and switch background sync depletes the it off when you leave it. When devices battery life in a jiffy. you aren’t using the Internet Disabling background sync will on your smartphone, it makes help you save on the battery life sense for you to switch to 2G as of the smartphone. It is easy to 3G is very power hungry. GPS manually sync your Android and location services too can device with a simple click of be switched off after you have a button. You can also enable checked-in or finished using selective sync if there are apps Google maps. and information you would like Setting the brightness to updated all the time. auto will help you save the bat- On your Android smart- tery but it is better if you manu- phone/tablet you have a bunch ally control the brightness and of connectivity options such as set it to as low as possible. The 3G, Wi-Fi Bluetooth and GPS. screen is one the biggest bat- Brightness control Memory consumption Sure, all these connectivity tery drainers and if you are one options are great to use but you who has a behemoth of a smart- used to purchase the app). The aren’t using a widget, it makes aren’t going to be using them phone with a large display, you only downside is that you will sense to remove it as widgets all the time. It makes sense for will see a noticeable bump in lose any data that you have not only consume battery but you to disable these functions battery life with a lowered dis- saved via the app. data as well while updating. when you aren’t using them. play brightness. Widgets and live wallpa- Update on a pers consume not only the regular basis battery but the memory of App developers as well as your Android device as well. smartphone/tablet manufac- Switching them off means turers release updates on a that the device will become regular basis. These updates smoother. Long pressing the may bring the new OS to your home screen will bring up the device or may update the firm- wallpaper and widgets option ware to give you better perfor- on most Android devices. mance. Developers to release updates for the apps on a reg- Transfer apps ular basis. These updates help to the SD card optimise the performance of the One of the biggest problems, apps as well as make them effi- especially of mid-ranged cient. Updating your apps and Android smartphones and tab- device on a regular basis will lets is that the built-in storage is Memory clearing apps are important for responsiveness affect the performance. really low. There are some apps Updates for apps can be that cannot be transferred to the accessed from the Google Play SD card, but most of the apps store. For the firmware/OS that you will download from the update, you can access it from Play store can be moved to the Settings > System > About the SD card. It is easier to clean up Phone > System Update the memory card by deleting left over folders from uninstalled Fewer widgets apps and also easy for you to One of the best features transfer data from your PC to of owning an Android device the device. is that you can customize the available home screens with Background widgets and live wallpapers. data and The downside to this is that connectivity options they are battery guzzlers. You The beauty of Android is that would do a lot better to have it is very easy to sync your a static wallpaper and if you contacts, apps and other infor- Battery boosting apps are good to bank on

| www.thinkdigit.com Vol 13 | 47 Digit | September 2013 Tips & Tricks

Battery boosters Typing “battery booster” in the Play store will give you a hundred apps to choose from. These apps help you boost the battery life of your smartphone and also help you monitor and see what apps are consuming the most amount of battery. Some apps also give you options such as power mode, restrictive mode and battery saver mode. Each mode cuts down activities such as data, Wi-Fi brightness, background sync and more to conserve battery. These apps Power control widget for Software update Wallpaper selection are handy if you are someone android who doesn’t what to manually control the functions of your smartphone. They also help monitor the health of the bat- tery on your smartphone.

Clearing memory If you have a smartphone that has low RAM, you will notice quite a bit of lag, especially if you multi- task heavily. There are a bunch of apps available on the Play store such as Clean Master, Memory Cleaner, History eraser and more. These apps help clear the cache and also help free memory being consumed by apps in the Storage space Third party battery app Widget selection background at any given point of time. If you have a large library You can have a power control tage of rooting is that you have to come to third party smart- of apps and are a heavy multi- widget on the home screen that administrator level access on phones and tablets. Rooting tasking user, then these memory- gives you access to switching your phone/tablet. If there are your smartphone gives you the freeing apps do make sense for on/off Wi-Fi, Bluetooth GPS apps on your device that can’t ability to install and have access your Android device. and more along with bright- be uninstalled through the tra- to the latest version of the OS ness controls. Some smartphone ditional means, you will be able days after its launch. Monitoring makers such as Samsung, HTC to get rid of them after rooting apps and more give you these options the smartphone. Third party If you don’t want a different from the drop down notification. Rooting your phone also apps app for monitoring each func- gives you the ability to flash If you are someone who has tion of your smartphone, you Rooting it with custom ROMs. This already tried the above options can always resort to some all- This option isn’t means that you can customize and still wants to do more to get in-one apps such as Elixire 2, advisable for all but if you are the phone to work the way the best performance boost from System Tuner, Android Assis- someone who wants to unleash you want it to. Put simply, your Android device, you can tant, Greenify and many more. the full potential to your smart- rooting helps you enhance the resort to some third party apps These apps not only help you phone, there is no better option performance and battery life of available on the Google Play improve the battery life of the than rooting. your phone. store. You have many free apps smartphone but also help in Android is built on the Linux When Google launches a to choose from but there are a enhancing the performance by kernel and like any other OS it new version of the Android few paid apps worth investing managing the apps and memory also can be rooted. The advan- OS, it takes quite a bit of time in as well. usage of the device.

Digit | September 2013 Vol 13 | 48 | www.thinkdigit.com

Back to beta Ultrafast flex-circuits Crytek’s FPS titled Warface which was Researchers have found a way to print released last year set to enter closed ultrafast graphene on flexible material Workshop beta again. http://dgit.in/13KHTTG http://dgit.in/177VIbX Get HDR Video and 14-Stops of Dynamic Range on your Canon 5D MarkIII Get HDR Video and Photos by default on your Canon 5D MarkIII

Swapnil Mathur As great as the camera may be, there is not even qualified to be considered a beta. [email protected] always scope for improvement and there is a The firmware, which runs through the SD bunch of developers at Magic Lantern who card (in this case) is a soft-mod, meaning it f you own a Canon DSLR and haven’t swear by this philosophy. They have been does not permanently alter any firmware heard of Magic Lantern, chances are working extremely hard at developing a code that Canon writes to the you’re seriously under-utilizing the custom firmware that will take the 5D Mark camera’s ROM. Iprowess of your camera. If you III to the next level, and a few weeks ago, particularly, have the 5D Mark III, you’d they finally managed to do so. Major Disclaimer Alert – If you probably soil your pants when we tell you The first version of the Magic Lantern don’t READ this, your Camera that a team of developers have figured out Firmware for the 5D Mark III was released will die a fiery Death how to enable HDR video on your camera, as what the team calls a “nightly build,” a We’re not going to write our own warning, and yes, you can do it right away. highly experimental version of the firmware as the guys at Magic Lantern have done an amazing job of drafting one. With reference to the nightly build of the CFW of the 5D Mark III, they say “This code changes low-level sensor parameters. In the technical doc you can see how this method messes with the feedback loop for optical black, for example. There- fore, it’s safe to assume it can fry the sensor or do other nasty things. My 5D3 is still alive after roughly one week of playing with this, but that’s not a guarantee. We don’t pay for repairs. Use it at your own risk.”

The Math, Science, Absurdity and Wizardry of Dual ISO Explained The Dual ISO feature works only on the 5D Mark III and the Canon 7D (but photo only on this one). The reason behind this, according to A1ex, one of the Admins of the site and the co-creator of the firmware, is that the sensors on the Canon 5D Mark III and the Canon 7D both have an 8 channel read-out, as compared to the 4 channel read-out on every other Canon DSLR. Canon uses a signal amplifier circuit in all The EOS 5D Mark III is one of the most versatile cameras out there other cameras with a 4 channel readout, so

64 Digit | September 2013 | www.thinkdigit.com Fun with dry ice Woopsie! Dry ice is far from being dry when it comes Apple recently pushed an update for Find my to having fun with it iPhone limited to developer accounts only http://dgit.in/16C8dxp http://dgit.in/177W5D8 Workshop

for an 8 channel read-out, they speculated the presence of 2 amplifier circuits and designed the code that would program them Get HDR Video and 14-Stops of to operate at two independent ISOs. What Dual ISO is Dynamic Range on your Actually Doing When the mode is activated, it is essentially capturing two ISO frames at the same time. However, the image is quite garbled, so the light and dark frames must be separated and then recombined with usable informa- tion from both frames to yield one proper image. The downside for photo of this pro- cess is that the image yielded is technically a half resolution file (the image will still read a full 21 megapixels, but if you zoom in at 100%, you notice scan lines). For web-work, it shouldn’t matter, but if you’re looking to Explore the firmware menu to discover all the new features of Magic Lantern make billboard sized prints, we recommend using the bracketing approach to capture doesn’t need to go on the camera). The Using the Firmware maximum dynamic range. As for video, it other two are “ml-5D3-113.fir” (this is an 1) Magic Lantern usage instructions say should be obvious that since it’s a frame-by- actual custom firmware file) and a folder that once the firmware is installed, frame alternation of ISOs, if you get motion called ML (with several subfolders). pressing the “Delete” button on your in your footage, it will look unnatural. Within the ML Folder, create a new camera would bring up the menu, but However if you want to shoot a video for folder called “MODULES” (make sure that instruction is for sanctioned interiors, go right ahead and exploit it’s all caps). firmware and DOES NOT APPLY to this this technique. 3) Now open Fil-Set-B.zip and delete the 7D particular, highly experimental one. folder (you don’t need this). Now copy all 2) If you press the Delete key right now, Okay, Okay, I get it! How Do I the files with the extension “.MO” into nothing will happen. Turn off the camera Get it on my Camera? the Modules folder you created earlier. at this point and turn it back on. Before we begin, here is a list if things you Copy autoexec.bin and place it in the root 3) Press the Delete key will need: (outside the ML folder). It should be 4) Go crazy as the Magic Lantern welcome 1) 1 Canon 5D MarkIII running official giving company to the firmware file. screen welcomes you. Canon firmware version 1.1.3 4) Now you have your package ready, so 5) Go to “Modules” tab (the last one on the 2) Magic Lantern firmware files, which you plug in your SD card into your PC. Use a right) and enable “Autoload Modules on can download from http://dgit. card reader (plugging your camera just Startup.” All dots should turn green. in/18g20a8. Let’s call this “File-Set-A” won’t work) 6) You can enable Dual ISO from the Movie 3) The Dual ISO module which you can 5) Copy the firmware file, autoexec.bin or Shoot menus and set the correspond- grab from http://dgit.in/1czfgvz. and the ML folder to the ROOT of your ing values for the two ISOs you want the Download the whole thing as a zip file. SD card. camera to shoot at. Let’s call this “File-Set-B.” 6) Eject SD card and insert into camera. You now have successfully loaded the 4) An SD card, 8GB of less, with a mini- 7) Turn on camera and go to the update custom firmware onto your 5D Mark III. mum write-speed of 30MB/s firmware option. This you can do by We have been using it for over a week, pressing “Menu> Settings (the yellow with the camera shooting almost every- Getting the Firmware onto wrench icon)> Fourth page > thing on Dual ISO mode and the results the camera Update firmware. are actually quite nice. However, given the 1) Once you have downloaded the ML 8) Hit update firmware highly experimental nature of the firmware, extract it to a folder on your 9) Pray to god your 5D MarkIII doesn’t firmware, we strongly recommend desktop into a folder called “Custom explode from supercharging the living waiting till a more stable version of the Firmware.” You can call the folder shiznits out of it. (No seriously!) firmware is made available. But if you anything you like, but we like to calls 10) Wait for the red lights to stop blinking. absolutely must use this, we have a guide ours “custom.” Once they stop blinking, wait for a few to using the Dual ISO mode up on our site 2) In the folder, you will see three files, one minutes just to be sure. Now your (along wit sample photos and videos) of which is a PDF file for users (this firmware is installed. here: http://dgit.in/15jdtSj

Digit | September 2013 | www.thinkdigit.com 65 special section | Advertorial HTML5: Intel XDK he mobile industry has, for the past few years, witnessed rampant growth with the evolution of platforms such Tas Android and iOS. This has also resulted in better choice for the consumer. What’s more, each and every major manufacturer has tried to float its own mobile platform in the market at some point of time, be it Nokia’s Symbian or Samsung’s bada. Many such platforms have come and gone, but only a few have managed to survive the tide of time. While this trend does result in more choice to the consumer, at some point it also results in a bit of confusion as to whether the future of the platform is secure and whether it would make sense to invest in a technology that is just coming up and has a future that is very uncertain. Challenges posed... This problem can also be similarly extrapo- lated and examined from the point of view of developers, brands and those intending to target these consumers with availability of content in the form of mobile apps. In recent times, the number of apps has primarily been Many platforms have chases or some content made available in the the most important measure of success for a form of a subscription model, the problem of a particular platform related to mobile devices. come and gone but only learning curve attached to each new API and This is the reason why platform owners have a new platform is a bigger issue than it is nor- been continuously trying to lure developers a few have managed mally perceived. Not that it is something which into their own ecosystem with exciting rewards to survive the tide is technically complex or incomprehensible, but along with a promise of big returns in app mon- the fact that it takes time, effort and possibly etisation, a practice that was never as much of time. While this a finite amount of resources every time a new prevalent before. trend does result in platform or API is released or even when an This however, presents a problem to the existing one is updated, becomes a deterrent developers who are as much confused about more choice to the in itself. What’s more, if a hugely touted future putting in their time and effort as they are mobile platform is going to be released, devel- worried about the possible monetisation pos- consumer, at some opers always need to be ahead of the times and sibilities on these platforms. While there are point it also results in start planning for the future possibilities before now newer monetization channels available it even reaches the market. This essentially – whether they are in the form of in-app pur- a bit of confusion means that a lot of resources already have

66 Digit | September 2013 | www.devworx.in special section | Advertorial

and LinkedIn have dumped HTML5 in favour improving with better support for otherwise of native application development, but com- niche technologies like microdata and micro- panies such as Sencha have clearly demon- formats, which allow processing of machine strated how a good and responsive interface readable data. In fact there are some many can be developed if correctly implemented, standardized and non-standardized features as you might be able to see in the form of its that it could be impossible to list them in one app called FastBook. Some of the negatives place. Some advanced features like Indexed are now solved with features like the HTML5 DB and Web Storage have also made great application cache and offline browsing which progress in the way web applications are allows the HTML5 app to be made available now developed. These allow you to store and The XDK login screen offline. This not only reduces server load, but retrieve persistent key value data in the web also reduces the processing that takes place clients. Web workers are also now available to be put in, even before the success of the on the device itself. which provide functionality akin to background platform has been gauged, and if at the end of The major benefit for HTML5, i.e. cross services in any . In short, the day, the whole thing fizzles out, there is an platform compatibility results in much lesser these allow your web application to run scripts almost certain chance that it will be impossible costs for development teams and generally a in the background that do not need to run in to recuperate the losses. lesser time taken to reach the market. Such response to a user based interaction, as is the Keeping oneself restricted to established apps, once developed, can then be packaged case with normal JavaScript. All in all, HTML5 platforms such as Android and iOS might be and made to run in a web view container on now forms a huge set of features which is now one solution which many of us seem to be con- any platform, and the best part is that they no less limited in functionality as opposed to tent with, but another problem of fragmenta- are accessible very easily even from desktop any other programming language. tion within these platforms is a devil which browsers and places like the has been putting a roadblock in mobile app etc. While development time and again. The problem is these benefits can mean a lot bigger with Android, because there are almost for the developers, it does not innumerable devices of varying screen sizes, mean that HTML5 is the solu- screen resolutions and underlying architecture. tion for every such problem. This makes it impossible to make sure that your It has its own limitations app runs on all of the devices in the market. and its own use cases where Not only does it make debugging/testing dif- it can be satisfactorily used. ficult, but native apps tend to be less stable In some cases it does make and more prone to bugs if they are run on less sense to dump native apps popular devices. in the favour of HTML5, but sometimes there are of course The Initial Interface for the Intel XDK Possible solution? things which could be handled A solution that has always been spoken about better by native apps. In the for a long time is HTML5. It’s one of those end, it all depends on the devel- technologies which is open and supported by opers and the end product that all devices, and is easily accessible irrespective they have in their mind. Some- of all hardware form factors. One reason is times, a hybrid approach makes because HTML has always been encapsulated sense too. from directly interacting with the hardware Some of the main features and runs inside a container or interface which that HTML5 brings to the table forms a part of the browser. This allows the are the video and audio ele- device to provide a user experience which works ments, which allow embedding The new project details page almost at par with most native applications in of multimedia content without combination with other client side technologies using plugins like the flash such as JavaScript and CSS3. This results in player. This is expectantly much an interface which is fluid, flexible and rea- more secure and is faster than sonably responsive at the same time. While any third party plugin. More the last point is being hugely debated among features such as inbuilt geolo- the industry, it is no doubt that performance is cation support and the much also a lot dependent on server-side architec- more popular HTML5 canvas ture and the user base that the application is are things that have changed aiming for in its particular use-case. Most major the way we ever looked at the social media organisations such as Facebook web. Web Semantics too are The App Starter Wizard Theme Chooser

Digit | September 2013 | www.devworx.in 67 special section | Advertorial

One major problem however, which is Introducing the While an editor mode is integrated, one can plaguing the HTML5 marketplace until now, Intel XDK very well choose to develop the app in their has been the extremely slow pace of stand- The Intel XDK can be best defined as a sort own IDE and upload the code here in order to ardisation where each browser or vendor has of cloud based IDE which supplements the test the functionality in its emulator. The editor had its own implementation of HTML5 APIs HTML5 mobile app development. One of its mode also supports development of server side and features. There are now a lot of modern main features is the emulation of a lot of components and has readymade templates frameworks/tools available to supplement this devices for HTML5 based apps and even hybrid available for ASP and PHP. technology and with the support of leading native apps. Some of these devices include giants like Apple, Google, Intel, Mozilla etc., iPhone, iPad, , Galaxy Tab, Installing the the trend for better compatibility has indeed Microsoft Surface and ultrabooks. It supports XDK software sped up, wherein HTML5 features are much never before heard of features in an emu- The XDK can be installed on all the three closer to a formal specification by the W3C. lator, like accelerometer emulation across all desktop platforms including Mac OS X, Win- Keeping these developments in mind, Intel has the three axes, multitouch, geolocation and dows and Linux as long as you have Google decided to ride the bandwagon for the open web allows the developer to choose the current Chrome and Java installed. There is also a of HTML5. It has recently announced the avail- data connection type for the emulated device. Google Chrome plugin available in the Chrome ability of a rich set of tools including the Intel Multitouch emulation has a nice touch to it Web Store which provides a button to load XDK, HTML5 App Porter Tool and many others. too, one can just hold the right mouse button the XDK in its Java Applet. Further links to As stated earlier, it is widely accepted that the anywhere on the emulator screen and then download and install the XDK as well as the success of a platform, whether hardware or left click to provide multiple touch inputs. Chrome extension are available at xdk-soft- software, depends a lot on the availability of This is some of the functionality which is very ware.intel.com. content. It is clear that Intel too is aware of this well supported by hybrid HTML5 applications, Installation is fairly straightforward and fact, and the chip manufacturer understands which offer a good compromise of providing you will see some java archives being copied that it would be in its best interests to make access to functionality like the accelerator for the first time, followed by which it will ask as many apps available on their Intel based and other sensors which are unavailable to you for the location where the XDK files are devices, as are possible. HTML5 tools. to be stored. If installed and loaded success- fully, you will be presented with a login screen. Assuming that you do not have an ID, you only need to provide your email address for the first time and click Submit. If the email ID is cor- rect, you will automatically be presented with a sign up screen asking for further details which you can fill in. Once this process is completed and you are logged in, you will be presented with Intel’s Hello World app. You will be able to browse and load other samples and demos bundled with the IDE. Your First App To begin creating your first application, click on the Start New button on the top left corner The navigation bar setup screen and you will be presented with the Set up a new HTML5 app project screen asking for project details. Fill in the name of the project, followed by the development path you’d like to follow. The development path indicates whether you’d like to build up from a pre-existing demo, use the app starter wizard or use the Game Dev Mode which integrates features for ImpactJS and Ejecta based simulation for simple and 2D physics games. Alternatively, you could choose to upload a readymade zip file containing all the HTML and javascript files for the app. For the purposes of our demo, creating an app from the app starter wizard would be the best way to describe all the features The page setup screen provided by the XDK. The wizard is basically a

68 Digit | September 2013 | www.devworx.in special section | Advertorial

three step process which helps in generating a template for our future application. It utilises the App Framework, a JavaScript library, to supplement the mobile app development. The Intel app framework is a query selector javascript library which supports the Intel XDK and its HTML5 tools. It also includes a UI framework that works on all platforms and is known to be best supported by all the Webkit browsers. The App starter wizard first lets you choose the theme for your application tem- plate that you are going to use and you will have a choice between Frosty, Carbon, Slate, Volcano and Eco. Each of these themes will The navigation bar preview apply a particular CSS theme to your HTML5 app. This is followed by setting up of the navigation icons to set up the basic linking within the app from the navigation bar at the bottom. One can choose the Navigation Icon and Transition for each field. If you want, you can preview the navigation bar there itself, by clicking the Preview Navigation arrow, which will provide you with a sample of how the navigation will look like in the device approxi- mately. The Last step is to set up pages for each navigation item and specify the basic template for each page, which can be one of Content, Carousel or List. Once these details have been specified correctly, you will be able to click the generate button on the fourth step and a template application will be set up immediately for you. The source files for this template can be seen and edited in the editor mode, or you can click the folder icon on the top to open the project folder in the The Intel App Dev Center default file manager of your desktop oper- ating system, so that you can edit the files in required on part of the user, not even an appli- The Intel XDK also supports integration of the text editor or IDE of your choice. I won’t cation download. One can set up such updates Phonegap applications, which can be coded and go into the process of completing the whole in four types, one is to just update the app built inside the XDK IDE and built to target the application, but it should be simple enough for immediately, load it at the next restart, request respective platforms. This integration solves anyone who knows HTML5 and javascript to permission from the user to load the new app the problem of Phonegap developers, thus rid- go ahead and take over the remaining process. or to just notify the app when an update is ding them of the headache of setting up a local Once development is complete, actual available. Multiplayer gaming functionality in development environment. testing can be done on a real device with the the form of leader boards and achievements In order to perform a test build of the appli- help of the applab mobile app which allows are also available, something which has just cation, one needs to go to the app dev center you to test the app on your local wifi network. now been available in the Android platform to provide details related to the platform you The debug console can be used to perform in the latest play game services update. The are targeting. You can choose to focus on iOS, some debugging too. Further advanced func- pushMobi functionality lets applications on Android, Amazon, Nook, Windows 8, Windows tionality like push notifications, app monetiza- the users device to subscribe to messages Phone 8 platforms on the mobile, or you can tion, analytics and live application updates can from the developer which are then pushed choose to package it as a desktop app in the be accomplished with the help of the AppHub to the device in the form of a message which form of a WebApp. Actually, even Facebook and Control Center which can be reached from can be filetered according to the platform or Chrome are available as a valid choice for target the services tab present on the left of the any other custom filter. The Intel AppAds platforms. If however, you choose to integrate IDE. Live update functionality is one of those functionality allows you to help promote other with something like Facebook or Google, the benefits of using HTML5 where no action is such apps and earn credit per impression. XDK does provide an option to enter the cre-

Digit | September 2013 | www.devworx.in 69 special section | Advertorial

dentials related to the configuration of such to complete. Once the build is completed, you Game Development platforms if you click the Credentials button will be able to see a Build Successful screen Intel XDK also supports a wide array of game on the top right. The app dev center allows you followed by an email including the link to down- engines which are available for the open to perform test builds as well as actual builds, load the final built application. HTML5 standards. The most popular of the so that you can download and publish the app The best part about the app dev center is lot being ImpactJS which is integrated into to the respective app store directly. Though, that it can be used without developing the apps the XDK interface with the Weltmeister editor you might have to provide certain details first, inside XDK as well. So, you can possibly code to create levels tile by tile inside the Game which for example include the Project ID, API your HTML5 applications yourself, zip them up Dev mode. Other tools supported are Scirra, Key in the case of an Android app and probably and bring it straight to build your application for which provides drag and drop game creation, for other obvious details related to the application the target platforms available. It also allows developer who do not have much programming such as icon, version number, title etc. Once you for other functionality like sharing the applica- experience. Other listed similar tools include are done, you should be able to see a big green tion bundle over email and also has a debugging LimeJS, Box2DJS, and The Render Engine. Build your app now button which indicates that script available to check the functionality of all the required settings are in place for a build the application. Intel HTML5 App Porter Tool The HTML5 app porter tool is for those iOS developers who’d like to port their iOS applica- tions to other platforms without going through the effort of writing the whole application again from the scratch. This tool basically translates the the native Objective C code into HTML5 and Javascript and the API calls into the HTML5 or JavaScript API calls. It can also translate view layouts of the Xcode interface builder files into their HTML5 and CSS counterpart. The best part is that the con- version process is entirely automatic, aimed to be a one click process. Although, that is not exactly the case as of now, because some tweaking is definitely needed for functions which it was not able to successfully translate. Such functions are listed at the end of the process in the form of TODO files. It does this as part of an elaborate transformation pipeline The App Hub Cloud Services screen which works under the hood to convert all the Objective-C code into an abstract syntax and then mapping all the API calls to the JavaS- cript calls, after which the final coversion to HTML5 and Javascript is done. The list of APIs supported for mapping into JavaScript includes only the UIKit framework and NSFoundation Framework as of now. In order to make sure that you do not run into problems, it is important to know things that are not completely supported and that include Objective-C++, XIB files with storyboards, pointers, functions with variable arguments and a couple of other things listed in the tech- nical documentation. Installation The HTML5 app porter tool lists the minimum requirements as a Windows 8 system with Microsoft Visual Studio 2012 installed. Visual Studio is needed because the tool converts The HTML5 App Porter screen showing the translation process all XCode project files into Visual Studio 2012

70 Digit | September 2013 | www.devworx.in special section | Advertorial

project files, so that the code can be directly run into a Windows Phone 8 emulator. Other listed hardware requirements are a minimum of 4GB RAM and at least 200MB hard disk space, though I don’t believe the tool exactly checks for those and will run fine if you have a slightly lesser configuration. The App Porter Tool is currently in Beta and can be downloaded from Intel’s website at software. intel.com/en-us/html5. Getting Started The tool currently takes in the path of the XCode project file of your application and produces the output in the form of translated HTML5, Javas- cript and CSS code. Any untranslated methods or code are marked into empty placeholder files which can be manually implemented by the developer at a later point in time. It currently produces code that uses the standard HTML5 API and the JQuery Mobile library. There is The Android Build Screen also a custom App Porter library that is used for functionality which is otherwise not avail- able in standard tools. As an example, you can take up any demo application from its iOS code and try running it through the tool. The sample application from the HTML5 App Porter tutorial available online on Intel’s website also fits our pur- pose perfectly as it includes all components including XIB files and is fairly complex enough to check the functionality of the tool. The first step involves providing the path for the XCode project file for the application and specifying the output folder where the HTML5 files are to be stored. The following screen lets you The Intel HTML5 Playground choose the modules you want to be translated into HTML5 and possibly define any additional and check the functionality of the application. also share the link to your code to demon- include directories and pre-processor defini- If you do not have Visual Studio 2012 installed strate the functionality to your friends, giving tions. It goes without saying that you should you will see a warning making you aware of the it a social perspective. not choose any module that is known to cause same fact and you will be able to open the files These are some of the tools which are a part problems in translation, or is better to be coded in the file explorer. of Intel’s kitty of tools available for HTML5 and directly into Javascript. This whole process is followed by making which provide a good enough functionality for After the module parsing, XIB processing sure that all the components translated by the anyone to jump into app development. Getting and API coverage analysis is complete, you tool are working properly without any errors started with most of these tools is a no brainer will be asked to see the API translation report and implementing any functionality which is and almost all of them have a much lower and unselect any methods that are not properly needed in the final application. entry barrier for beginners as opposed to native translated. This will finally end in all the API applications. The readymade templates for calls being translated to HTML5 and Javas- HTML5 Playground some of the HTML5 apps just might promote cript, which will be followed by a translation Intel’s HTML5 playground tool is a simple anyone to get started with app development report along with a API call which could not developer tool to see real time output of and create an app with minor help available be translated, in the form of TODO files. You HTML5 code right inside the browser window. from the forums and documentation. The best should also be able to see statistics related It is a sort of sandbox environment which part is, since most of all the tools support to the translation and the number of views allows you to check the functionality of snip- hybrid functionality, monetization is not much converted from XIB to HTML and CSS. Here pets of code and also has some nifty code of a problem as opposed to other apps on you can open the application in the emulator examples up its sleeve. If you want, you can the open web. n

Digit | September 2013 | www.devworx.in 71 Column MFDs How important are online reviews? And We test some of the most widely should you get swayed by them? Trying available SOHO and home all-in-one Tried & Tested 79 to make sense of it all 80 printers to find the best ones

Laptops and Ultrabooks: Windows 8’s touchscreen gamble Touchè While many claim that touchscreen on laptops isn’t an ideal combination, the popularity of the concept, particularly among our readers, points to the reality that this is now the way forward for laptops and ultrabooks – conventional form factor with an added touchscreen

Vishal Mathur or ultrabook they are buying. screen. Yes, it is a little discon- gestures on smartphones and [email protected] But this does raise a pertinent certing at first to be tapping at tablets. It’s all about acquiring point – why the sudden rise in the screen of your laptop, but it new habits. udging by the number the popularity of something not is all about getting used to this While convenience and of queries that we have seen till now in a conventional method. Tapping and swiping better interaction with the ele- J received regarding laptop? After all, were things directly on a touch screen is ments is one reason, the second aya touchscreen laptops and not working fine till now? more intuitive, since you are reason is the Microsoft Win- ultrabooks, it is quite The answer to that is rather closely interacting with what is dows 8 operating system. If clear – the consumers like the simple – the touch screen adds on the screen. While it may feel you are using the Windows 8 additional feature of a multi- a whole new level to interacting different at first, one can argue UI, then there is nothing more

touch screen with the laptop with your laptop through the that it’s no different to using the convenient than a touchscreen. d Pa Vijay imaging:

72 Digit | September 2013 | www.thinkdigit.com Bazaar FB’s new project The latest and greatest products of Facebook launches Internet.org to the month tested and rated to help make Internet access cheaper globally. 86 you spend your money wisely http://dgit.in/12o6wCL Touchscreen LaptopsMFDs Test

How wE teSted

We never benchmark a laptop’s performance capability and overall performance – PC Mark score for every laptop, we take into account with the way the OS and the software is, out 07, Cinebench R11.5 and 3D Mark 11 and Unigine several factors like build quality, materials used, of the box. We uninstall all software that are Heaven are some examples of the benchmarks quality and placement of hinges, keyboard usage preloaded on the machine, including any security that we use to test and compare laptops with. quality and feel as well as the comfort, palmrest software trials and other bloatware - to ensure We have added a series of tests for the display real estate, touchpad response quality, etc., none of the pre-bundled software has any effect quality too, to test aspects like contrast, black and break it down exhaustively to arrive at a on the laptop’s performance score. We then and white levels through Lagom.nl. Battery cumulative score for ergonomics, design and download and install the latest patches and tests are done on high-performance mode with general usability aspects of the laptop. After drivers from Windows Update or the manu- full screen brightness. going through this process for each and every facturer website, BIOS update and any critical laptop, we arrive at a final score based on a patches the manufacturer may have released. Ergonomics formula with assigned weighted scores for While look and feel can be a matter of personal performance, design, and features. The Best Benchmarking preference to some extent, determining the best Performer Award is given to the best performing We run a range of industry standard software ergonomic design is a matter of scientific prin- laptop across categories, whereas Best Buys are benchmarks to measure a laptop’s hardware ciples. In determining the Design & Usability confined within price-based categories.

Agreed that the Windows them in terms of smooth and the 1.4kg weight makes this depth was better in the latter, 8 UI is meant for touch, but consistent response. The critical supremely portable. something that shows up on the for anyone who is going to use factor in the touchscreen expe- The keyboard design and TouchSmart’s 11-inch display Windows 8 in the desktop mode, rience is the deployment of the layout is exactly as the ones when you turn up the bright- much like the way he/she used screen and how taut the lid is, on the much bigger ENVY ness above 60%, and the blacks Windows 7, then a touchscreen to prevent it from rocking every notebooks, and offers the same look like dark greys. hardly makes any sense. While time you touch it. “MacBook-ish” precision and However, where the glittering ads and persuasive experience, which is by far TouchSmart 11 really needs brands will have you believe HP ENVY the best among all the afford- to be praised is for the battery that a touchscreen is a “must” TouchSmart 11 able notebooks. To fit this in life. In our battery tests, this on a Windows 8 laptop, that is This is the most affordable the dimensions, the key size is machine clocked 248 minutes, hardly the case. The good old ultrabook in the test and a suc- smaller, but the key spacing and which easily translates into the touchpad and keyboard still do cessor to the Pavilion dm1 range response are as good as ever. ultrabook-ish 6 hours of battery the job as well as ever. of notebooks. Between this and In terms of performance, life under most usage scenarios. But what about everyone the bigger ENVY notebooks, the AMD dual core A4-1250 A rather impressive package at out there interested in buying a there really isn’t much differ- clocking at 1GHz does fall an affordable price tag. touch-enabled laptop? Read on. ence in terms of the look, design, slightly behind the Intel Core build quality and the materials i3-3217U found in the slightly Asus VivoBook used. Except that the lid hinge more expensive Asus F202e. F202e The screen sizes vary between design and the bulbous battery However, while the boot times For an 11.6-inch display size the odd 11-inch, 13-inch and design below the display. But, are slightly on the higher side, device, the F202E is compact. It even 15-inches across this test. mind you, they don’t get in the the TouchSmart 11 did not freeze is slightly thicker at the back and All touchscreens supported way, and the silver finish on an or slow down when used for thinner at the front, lending the 10-point multi-touch input, otherwise black coloured laptop basic tasks and a bit of multi- keyboard a slight incline which and there wasn’t adds a subtle contrast. The lid, tasking – and that is all this really helps while typing. The much to separate with the grey enamel finish, machine is meant to do. The lid has the traditional brushed

september 2013 looks very similar to the ones Radeon HD 8250 graphics are metal look we have seen on found on the HP Mini range only marginally better than the much more expensive Asus ultr- of netbooks. For a small sized Intel HD 4000 graphics on the machine, the TouchSmart 11 Asus F202e, but that is not a still packs in three USB ports, huge consideration. memory card reader and an The 11.6-inch touchscreen HDMI out. What we are most display is pretty much at par in impressed about is the quality terms of crispness and colour of finish on an affordable reproduction as the F202e’s HP ENVY 11 TouchSmart notebook. The small size and screen. However, black level Asus VivoBook F202e

Digit | September 2013 | www.thinkdigit.com 73 Touchscreen Laptops Test

september 2013 september 2013 Category 1: Up to `39,999 Category 2: From `40,000 to `59,999 Category 3: `60,000 and above HP Asus Acer Lenovo Lenovo ASUS ASUS Samsung Sony Dell Lenovo Lenovo Dell ENVY 11 VivoBook F202e Aspire V5-471 IdeaPad Z400 IdeaPad Z500 VivoBook VivoBook Series 5 Ultra Touch Vaio Pro 13 (SVP- Inspiron 15z with ThinkPad Twist IdeaPad Yoga 13 XPS 12 TouchSmart (MS2360) Touch Touch S550CA S400CA (NP-540U3C) 1321WSNB) Touch Device Type Ultrabook Ultrabook Ultrabook Notebook Notebook Ultrabook Ultrabook Ultrabook Ultrabook Ultrabook Ultrabook Convertible Convertible Ultrabook Ultrabook MRP (`) 31,990 39,999 47,000 52,590 53,590 57,999 59,999 63,300 74,990 79,990 79,990 81,500 91,390 Test Scores Performance 15.61 15.05 16.65 20.73 21.05 24.02 18.73 22.69 21.98 24.91 18.73 25.59 23.00 Features 12.92 9.74 9.21 13.69 11.82 15.54 10.95 11.99 12.94 16.82 12.11 12.16 12.33 Design 20.04 22.08 19.68 18.36 18.60 20.88 20.88 23.28 23.52 19.32 22.92 19.44 22.08 Final Score 48.57 46.87 45.54 52.78 51.47 60.44 50.56 57.96 58.44 61.05 53.76 57.19 57.41 Specifications Processor AMD Dual-Core Intel Core i3 - Intel Core i5- Intel Core i5- Intel Core i5- Intel Core i5- Intel Core i7- Intel Core i5 - 3317U Intel Core i5 4200U Intel Core i7-3537U Intel Core i5 - Intel Core i5 - Intel Core i5 - A4-1250 3217U 3337U 3230M 3230M 3317U 3517U 3317U 3317U 3317U Cores 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 Clock Speed (GHz) 1 1.8 1.8 2.6 2.6 1.7 1.9 1.7 1.6 2 1.7 1.7 1.7 RAM 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 8 4 8 4 4 4 Graphics AMD Radeon HD Intel HD 4000 Intel HD 4000 Nvidia GeForce Nvidia GeForce Nvidia GeForce Intel HD 4000 Intel HD 4000 Intel HD 4400 Nvidia GeForce Intel HD 4000 Intel HD 4000 Intel HD 4000 8250 GT635M GT710M GT635M / Intel GT630M / Intel HD4000 HD4000 Discrete Graphics No No No Yes Yes Yes No No No Yes No No No Storage Type HDD HDD HDD HDD HDD HDD HDD HDD SSD HDD SSD SSD SSD SSD/HDD Size (GB) 320 500 500 1024 1024 750 500 500 128 500 128 128 128 Flash Partition capacity (GB) 0 0 0 0 0 24 24 24 0 32 0 0 0 Display Size (in inches) 11.6 11.6 14 14 15.6 15.6 14 13.3 13.3 15.6 12.5 13.3 14 Display Resolution (pixels) 1366 x 768 1366 x 768 1366 x 768 1366 x 768 1366 x 768 1366 x 768 1366 x 768 1366 x 768 1920 x 1080 1366 x 768 1366 x 768 1600 x 900 1600 x 900 No of Ports (USB/Firewire) 3 3 3 4 3 3 3 3 2 4 2 2 2 No of USB 3.0 2 2 2 2 1 1 1 1 2 4 2 1 2 Connectivity (LAN / Bluetooth / Wi-Fi) Y / Y / Y Y / Y / Y N / Y / Y Y / Y / Y Y / Y / Y Y / Y / Y Y / Y / Y Y / Y / Y N / Y / Y Y / Y / Y N / Y / Y N / Y / Y Y / Y / Y Optical Drive (Y/N) N N N Y Y Y N N N Y N N N Weight (kg) 1.37 1.4 2.1 2.3 2.9 2.6 1.83 1.69 1.06 2.17 1.6 1.5 2.1 Benchmark / Test Scores Battery Life (in minutes) 247 148 108 96 107 187 115 297 200 130 140 329 300 Display - Black Level 15 15 12 14 14 15 15 19 19 19 12 17 13 Display - White Saturation 5 8 7 5 5 8 8 6 8 7 7 10 7 CineBench CPU 1.36 1.79 2.49 2.96 3.03 2.4 2.71 2.07 1.98 1.97 2.37 2.35 2.3 Cinebench OpenGL (FPS) 10.34 7.59 12.36 25.12 34 28.88 12.39 14.76 11.71 26.68 9.37 12.86 13.03 3D Mark 11 - Entry Mode 859 611 1088 1766 1935 2002 1161 1158 1231 1978 1030 1091 1120 3D Mark 11 - Performance Mode 532 349 580 1072 1193 1187 488 630 675 1228 528 619 621 3D Mark 11 - Extreme Mode 0 130 169 331 356 378 206 214 193 367 147 189 207 PC Mark 7 1360 1782 2522 2687 2619 2966 3163 3538 4219 4236 4377 4862 4734

abooks. Open the lid, and the we are accustomed to. Tips the the screen, which can be clearly F202e’s performance is pretty clean keyboard deck comes as scales at 1.4kg, with almost seen till you wipe them off. much in line with the other a secondary point of attraction, the same dimensions as the For a machine powered machines with similar proces- the first being the surprisingly TouchSmart 11. by the Core i3 processor, the sors. When used as a primary generous sized touchpad! On the Text rendering is quite good. machine in office, we had keyboard, each key are slightly Even on a smaller than usual Chrome with multiple tabs, smaller than usual, but not display, we found that reading multiple Microsoft Word docu- uncomfortably so. The spacing text from the same source was ments and Excel spreadsheets is well managed within the real actually not at all any less com- and iTunes streaming music in estate available. But the best part fortable than on a bigger 13.3- the background, and the per- is the excellent travel and sharp inch display. Colour richness formance was fairly good. Bat- key response while typing. The is quite good, and the black tery life on the VivoBook F202E shift, enter and backspace keys levels were surprisingly among was clocked at 148 minutes in have not been messed around the highest when compared the battery benchmark test. with, leaving them with the between laptops in this cate- This machine was our instant traditional placement and size gory. It attracts fingerprints on Acer Aspire V5-471 recommendation, till the HP

74 Digit | September 2013 | www.thinkdigit.com Touchscreen Laptops Test

september 2013 september 2013 september 2013 Category 1: Up to `39,999 Category 2: From `40,000 to `59,999 Category 3: `60,000 and above HP Asus Acer Lenovo Lenovo ASUS ASUS Samsung Sony Dell Lenovo Lenovo Dell throughout. But, there is no run- ENVY 11 VivoBook F202e Aspire V5-471 IdeaPad Z400 IdeaPad Z500 VivoBook VivoBook Series 5 Ultra Touch Vaio Pro 13 (SVP- Inspiron 15z with ThinkPad Twist IdeaPad Yoga 13 XPS 12 ning away from the fact that for TouchSmart (MS2360) Touch Touch S550CA S400CA (NP-540U3C) 1321WSNB) Touch a 14-inch laptop, this is heavy at Device Type Ultrabook Ultrabook Ultrabook Notebook Notebook Ultrabook Ultrabook Ultrabook Ultrabook Ultrabook Ultrabook Convertible Convertible 2.3kg. If you can come to agree- Ultrabook Ultrabook ment with that, the specifica- MRP (`) 31,990 39,999 47,000 52,590 53,590 57,999 59,999 63,300 74,990 79,990 79,990 81,500 91,390 tions and the performance for Test Scores the most part will impress. For Performance 15.61 15.05 16.65 20.73 21.05 24.02 18.73 22.69 21.98 24.91 18.73 25.59 23.00 Features 12.92 9.74 9.21 13.69 11.82 15.54 10.95 11.99 12.94 16.82 12.11 12.16 12.33 one, there is the fairly capable Design 20.04 22.08 19.68 18.36 18.60 20.88 20.88 23.28 23.52 19.32 22.92 19.44 22.08 NVIDIA GeForce GT635M Final Score 48.57 46.87 45.54 52.78 51.47 60.44 50.56 57.96 58.44 61.05 53.76 57.19 57.41 (2GB) graphics. While a lot of Specifications machines without the additional Processor AMD Dual-Core Intel Core i3 - Intel Core i5- Intel Core i5- Intel Core i5- Intel Core i5- Intel Core i7- Intel Core i5 - 3317U Intel Core i5 4200U Intel Core i7-3537U Intel Core i5 - Intel Core i5 - Intel Core i5 - touchscreen offer good graphics A4-1250 3217U 3337U 3230M 3230M 3317U 3517U 3317U 3317U 3317U cards in this price bracket, the Cores 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 ones with touchscreen usu- Clock Speed (GHz) 1 1.8 1.8 2.6 2.6 1.7 1.9 1.7 1.6 2 1.7 1.7 1.7 ally don’t. The 15-inch version, RAM 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 8 4 8 4 4 4 Graphics AMD Radeon HD Intel HD 4000 Intel HD 4000 Nvidia GeForce Nvidia GeForce Nvidia GeForce Intel HD 4000 Intel HD 4000 Intel HD 4400 Nvidia GeForce Intel HD 4000 Intel HD 4000 Intel HD 4000 8250 GT635M GT710M GT635M / Intel GT630M / Intel HD4000 HD4000 Discrete Graphics No No No Yes Yes Yes No No No Yes No No No Storage Type HDD HDD HDD HDD HDD HDD HDD HDD SSD HDD SSD SSD SSD SSD/HDD Size (GB) 320 500 500 1024 1024 750 500 500 128 500 128 128 128 Flash Partition capacity (GB) 0 0 0 0 0 24 24 24 0 32 0 0 0 Display Size (in inches) 11.6 11.6 14 14 15.6 15.6 14 13.3 13.3 15.6 12.5 13.3 14 Display Resolution (pixels) 1366 x 768 1366 x 768 1366 x 768 1366 x 768 1366 x 768 1366 x 768 1366 x 768 1366 x 768 1920 x 1080 1366 x 768 1366 x 768 1600 x 900 1600 x 900 No of Ports (USB/Firewire) 3 3 3 4 3 3 3 3 2 4 2 2 2 No of USB 3.0 2 2 2 2 1 1 1 1 2 4 2 1 2 Connectivity (LAN / Bluetooth / Wi-Fi) Y / Y / Y Y / Y / Y N / Y / Y Y / Y / Y Y / Y / Y Y / Y / Y Y / Y / Y Y / Y / Y N / Y / Y Y / Y / Y N / Y / Y N / Y / Y Y / Y / Y Optical Drive (Y/N) N N N Y Y Y N N N Y N N N Lenovo IdeaPad Z400 Touch Weight (kg) 1.37 1.4 2.1 2.3 2.9 2.6 1.83 1.69 1.06 2.17 1.6 1.5 2.1 Benchmark / Test Scores the Z500, comes across as a Battery Life (in minutes) 247 148 108 96 107 187 115 297 200 130 140 329 300 bit more agreeable in terms of Display - Black Level 15 15 12 14 14 15 15 19 19 19 12 17 13 weight because of the bigger Display - White Saturation 5 8 7 5 5 8 8 6 8 7 7 10 7 form factor, and offers fairly CineBench CPU 1.36 1.79 2.49 2.96 3.03 2.4 2.71 2.07 1.98 1.97 2.37 2.35 2.3 powerful specs in its own right. Cinebench OpenGL (FPS) 10.34 7.59 12.36 25.12 34 28.88 12.39 14.76 11.71 26.68 9.37 12.86 13.03 The performance is indeed 3D Mark 11 - Entry Mode 859 611 1088 1766 1935 2002 1161 1158 1231 1978 1030 1091 1120 very good on both machines, 3D Mark 11 - Performance Mode 532 349 580 1072 1193 1187 488 630 675 1228 528 619 621 once you clean the Windows 3D Mark 11 - Extreme Mode 0 130 169 331 356 378 206 214 193 367 147 189 207 installation off all the trial PC Mark 7 1360 1782 2522 2687 2619 2966 3163 3538 4219 4236 4377 4862 4734 software and the unnecessary startup items that’s bundled TouchSmart 11 came along. But shows ripple. The ripples show `10k lesser (VivoBook F202e) within, and this machine will nothing takes away from the up every time you tap on the come across as infinitely better handle gaming quite well. F202e’s premium finish. screen, and the lid hinge isn’t built, you don’t mind sacrificing Unfortunately, battery life on great either – the display rocks the screen size for a bit. the Z400 isn’t the best, and it Acer Aspire V5-471 considerably when the touch- clocked a measly 96 minutes in Yet another neat ultrabook screen is used. Quite frankly, Lenovo IdeaPad the battery benchmark. Trans- from Acer, but still doesn’t take this is unacceptable. Z400, Z500 Touch lated into real life, expect just a that final step towards being a For its specs and price, the A fairly recent launch from bit more 2.5 hours at best, if you “premium” offering. The light Aspire V5-471 does pretty much Lenovo, the resemblance to the are very careful. colour finish on the lid and the the standard performance num- U-series of ultrabooks is more The keyboard design needs keyboard deck of the Aspire bers you would expect, but with than evident in the IdeaPad a bit of work, because the place- V5 looks very nice. The thin lid just 109 minutes of battery life Z400 and the IdeaPad Z500 ment and design of the enter and adds to the overall slim persona. clocked in our tests, it is among notebooks. The finish is com- the arrow keys isn’t the same But, this is where the problems the lowest, with only the Lenovo pletely matte and non shiny. as what we traditionally see on creep in. Hold up the machine Z400 Touch scoring lower. Open the lid and the keyboard laptops, and that can somewhat on its left side, and the screen When machines that cost almost deck has a light grey finish confuse the fingers.

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ASUS VivoBook ultrabooks till sometime back, also has a very taut display where the difference is felt, par- S550CA and that really adds another hinge and makes touchscreen ticularly when multi-tasking. The VivoBook looks very dif- dimension to the overall per- use feel like an integrated part Unfortunately, Samsung ferent from the outset, when formance aspect. You will no of the setup, rather then some- stripped the touchscreen ver- compared to most ultrabooks doubt be able to play the fairly thing forced on. sion of the Series 5 ultrabook off in and around the `60k price recent games at medium-high Battery life is a touch disap- the graphics card, and that is a bracket. The HP Spectre XT, till settings without any dropped pointing, and a single charge bit of a downer. The 13.3-inch the S550CA came along, was frames. The battery clocked 187 cycle registered only 115 min- display is the only ultrabook the only machine that had a minutes in the benchmark test, utes in the benchmark test. in this price bracket to offer a truly sharp and edgy look to which translated into a solid five This would mean a little over matte display, which makes this it, in addition to all the slim- hours when used as a primary three hours of conservative use immensely comfortable for use ness. The S550CA does pretty machine at work. at best, if you are careful with in a variety of environments, much follow similar design ele- The VivoBook S550’s key- aspects like display brightness. with things not reflecting back ments. The ultrabook, despite board is slightly behind the off the display. At 297 min- HP ENVY 4 – which Samsung Series 5 utes on the clock, the Series doesn’t have a touch- Ultra Touch (NP- 5’s battery is among the top screen – in terms of key 540U3C) scores across all machines we travel, pressing force The design elements on the are testing in this comparison. and key placement. new Samsung Series 5 Ultra This will easily offer over seven The key size is good, Touch remain largely the same hours of battery backup in a but the spacing is a tad as the predecessor, but for typical “day at work” . too much and the key subtle changes. Samsung calls travel is something we this colour Titan Silver. The Sony Vaio Pro 13 will rank second best theme has been slightly altered At 1.06 kilograms, the Sony Vaio to the keyboard on the though, with the lid getting a Pro 13 is the lightest 13-inch Dell XPS 12 ENVY 4. much darker colour finish. The touchscreen Windows 8 ultra- base of the new Samsung Series book that money can buy today. sporting a touchscreen, doesn’t ASUS VivoBook 5 Ultra Touch has fiberglass, The super-light body is accord- feel heavy or bulky. The alu- S400CA while the keyboard deck is of ingly complemented with a slim minum chassis is one of the The ASUS Vivobook S400CA’s very good quality plastic. The profile that measures a measly best in this price bracket, and aluminum chassis is one of the fiberglass is a very light mate- 17.2mm at its thickest point. the angular yet sharp design best in the class, and the design rial, but extremely resistant All the trimming on weight gives it a very classy look. The is sophisticated. Adding to its to the usual wear and tear a and dimensions might raise lid remains very stable when charming design is its thick- laptop’s underside would typi- some doubts about the build using the touchscreen. The dual ness which appears tapered cally register. This was one of quality, but fear not, Sony has colour theme of black and silver and thinner at the front lip, the first ultrabooks to offer 8GB not compromised on that either. is a good contrast. Silver adorns and thicker near the display of RAM out of the box, and the The smooth (matte) finished the lid and the keyboard deck, hinge. It is a little heavier than performance boost that offers carbon fibre body ensures solid while the base has the black we would have liked for some- is tremendous. The benchmark build with almost no traces of colour. The finish throughout is thing that has a 14-inch display, scores may not give it a much creaks or bends that one would matte, with no glossy bits any- which in turn is quite crisp, and higher rating, but the real world normally associate with thin where to attract fingerprints text rendering is very good. performance is and light laptops. It is no uni- and dust. Icons look sharp, and colour body like the Macbook Air, Just like the Lenovo Z400, is handled very well. We are a which in our books scores the S550CA is again an example tad perplexed that ASUS has september 2013 slightly above the Sony Vaio of a machine bogged down by packed in a Core i7 processor, Pro in terms of overall build preloaded stuff – trials, free- but only 4GB of RAM. Had this quality. But, barring the Mac- ware and badly deployed utili- been 8GB offering more head- book Air, the Sony Vaio Pro ties by the laptop manufacturer. room, the multi- is the best designed and built Once you clean the installed tasking perfor- touchscreen ultrabook in the app list and the startup, per- mance could have market in its class. formance tends to show up in been even better than the cur- Coming to the hardware an impressive way. The fairly rent scenario, which is impres- front, the Vaio Pro 13’s base powerful NVIDIA GT635M sive in itself. Just like the bigger Samsung Series 5 Ultra Touch model runs on the latest graphics card – a rare aspect in sibling, the 550CA, the 400CA (NP-540U3C) Intel Haswell platform,

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promising improved processor narios, we managed a hand- – both machines powered by the screen can either be laid flat or architecture and better battery some 8 hours and 12 minutes Intel Core i5 - 3317U processor. can be twisted around (hence life. Given the slim profile, you of battery life with Wi-Fi on and This anomaly aside, the real the name!) to fold down over obviously can’t expect a pow- brightness set at 50% over a reg- world performance is signifi- the keyboard in what would be erful beast of a processor and ular work day scenario which cantly better than most other a sort of tablet mode. The hinge involved browsing machines out there, when it itself may feel somewhat flimsy with 8-12 tabs along comes to CPU intensive tasks. at times, but looks can be decep- with office appli- It is a surprise that Dell hasn’t tive and the solidity of the hinge cations and light bumped up the graphics, which is excellent. The keyboard deck image editing. The continues to be the NVIDIA is uncharacteristically popu- Vaio Pro 13 largely GeForce GT630M (2GB). Con- lated for a ThinkPad machine, manages to keep sidering that much lower priced and the placement of the power the thermals under machines have the GT635M now, key on the side of the display is check and the key- we would expect this upgrade another unique element. The soft board and the sooner rather than later. feel matte finish is again rather Dell Inspiron 15z with Touch rest do not suffer The Inspiron 15z’s display similar to the finish on the much from excessive is also much improved over the more expensive X1 Carbon. GPU to power this ultrabook. heating when the machine is previous generation’s offering. Performance-wise, you do However, it does offer a fairly under full load. But, the same For starters, it is brighter and get the benefit of a fairly quick equipped Intel Core i5-4200U cannot be said about the noise the text rendering is much SSD and excellent battery life dual-core chip running at 1.60 levels – max out the four cores better, enabling crisper read- (140 minutes in the benchmark GHz with a maximum turbo and the fan noise is eminently ability of words. Certain colours test) to make this a rather com- boost capability of 2.6 GHz on obvious and irritating. feel a tad washed out at bright- petent option for those looking a single core and the on-die Intel ness above 70%. However, that for a business machine. The HD Graphics 4400 GPU (15w Dell Inspiron 15z can be forgiven for a while, Samsung MZ7PC128HAFU max TDP combined) is barely a with Touch (5523) because despite being a reflec- solid state drive isn’t as quick notch above the older HD 4000 Dell has always carried forward tive display, the better native as the Toshiba THNSNH128NT series that did duty inside the the family resemblance between brightness ensures you don’t in the VAIO Pro 13, but is almost previous Ivy Bridge platform. machines, and the same holds struggle with the environment as quick as the Samsung PM830 The 4GB on-board (soldered) true for the upgrade from the reflecting off the screen. in the Dell XPS 12. RAM and 128GB SSD make Inspiron 15z to the Inspiron 15z For all this performance for a fairly zippy machine. The Touch. The lid has the brushed and the bigger display, battery Lenovo IdeaPad boot-up time ranged anywhere metal finish, and that is carried life does take a bit of a hit. The Yoga 13 between 8-12 seconds, which is around the keyboard deck as Inspiron 15z lasted just two Lenovo has named this the way better than regular HDD well. The sides have a light grey hours and 10 minutes in the Yoga for a reason – it can attain laptops (that take 18-30 sec- frame. Throughout, the finish is battery benchmark test. While various positions that most onds to boot). The SSD logged matte, and that is a huge positive there are some machines that ultrabooks cannot even dream an impressive average of 416 if you do not like your laptop to have fared a lot worse in the of. And yes, the display does not MB/s read and 191 MB/s write adorn visible fingerprints, dust battery stakes, the Inspiron 15z, come off like on some devices. speeds. Having said that, Sony’s and scratches. Unlike the effort we would say, still does fairly Unlike the swivel mechanism decision to not use the PCI-e last year, this version has very alright in this department. like the Twist, the Yoga 13 has a based SSD likethe international good build quality, and all the variants of the Vaio Pro 13 is a panel flex issues have been Lenovo ThinkPad major disappointment for per- ironed out neatly. However, Twist formance junkies like us. PCI-e while this is technically an ultr- We would not hold it september 2013 based SSDs can deliver read abook, the form factor thanks against you if you thought and write speeds in the range to the 15.6-inch display and the the ThinkPad Twist and of 800 and 400 MB/s respec- optical drive means it is closer to the X1 Carbon are the tively which is screaming fast the conventional laptops. same, at least when the storage performance. While this is actually a Core lid is closed and you don’t The Sony Vaio Pro 13 lasted a i7 processor, the PC Mark 7 score notice the slightly different good 4.3 hours under heavy load is surprisingly lower than some designed display hinge to (all four cores running at max, other machines – 4862 that the enable the swivel screen – Wi-Fi on and screen bright- Lenovo Yoga 13 scored and the the 180 degree movement ness at 50%). In real-world sce- 4734 that the Dell XPS 12 scored mechanism means the Lenovo IdeaPad YOGA 13

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traditional hinge design which the flip hinge, sports anodized minutes the battery clocked in very good battery life make this lets the screen go as far back as aluminum. A very premium our benchmark tests. an all-rounder ultrabook, at an resting flat on what is otherwise look and feel to the machine, affordable price point. the underside of the machine, but if we were to nit-pick, we Winners when in laptop mode. While the would say that the only thing For this test, we have divided Best Value (Category 3): flexibility is appreciated and missing is the heat-channeling all machines across three price Series 5 Ultra Touch critical when you use the touch- layer of silicon on the base that bands, to make the results more (NP-540U3C) screen, there is a bit of a design was designed into the XPS 14 relevant for you and the budget Like the Yoga 13, this machine issue when you use the so-called ultrabook. The unique design you have kept at a side for the has been in the market for tablet mode – the keyboard is element of Dell XPS 12 is the laptop purchase. quite some time now. And yet, exposed. This means, you are rotating display – connected holding the Yoga 13 and may on two sides, you need to push Best Performer: Lenovo indadvertedly press the keys back softly at either the top, IdeaPad Yoga 13 and you need to be very careful or push towards you from This was one of the first touch- september 2013 when you place this flat on any behind the display at the screen Windows 8 laptops to surface in this mode. bottom, and the display will hit the markets, and the results Apart from this niggle, the rotate a full 180 degrees. Now, show that it is still the best per- Yoga 13 is rather well built. The this is useful if you want to former among the bunch. That 16.9mm thickness remains con- show something to someone advantage is mostly because sistent throughout, and the flat sitting across the table, or to of the excellent battery life on slab design looks rather neat fold over the keyboard and col- offer, something most rivals because of the dual colour lapse into sort-of tablet mode. are unable to even come (orange and black) matte finish. Unfortunately, there seems to close to. Buy this if you The texture and finish on the be no lock when the display is want something that can ASUS VivoBook S550C keyboard deck can pick up a bit set on the conventional ultra- be a laptop, a tablet or even of dust at times, though. book mode, and that can be an some more weird shapes, as it remains one of the better The performance of the Core inconvenience if the laptop is and when you please! options that can be considered. i5-3317U chip is pretty much at subjected to sudden jerks or The build quality is very good, par with other machines with handled slightly roughly. Best Value (Category 1): one of the brightest displays the same processor, but the real The benchmark tests peg the HP ENVY TouchSmart 11 among the rivals and an excel- highlight of the Yoga 13 is wit- performance at the same level The Asus VivoBook F202e lent battery life. The only thing nessed by its comes with the 329 was the premium small screen missing in this particular ver- minutes of tested battery life. machine to buy, till the HP sion is a powerful graphics card. This is by far the best among TouchSmart 11 came along. september 2013 all machines in this test, and At a price considerably Editor’s Pick: Sony Vaio will easily translate into 8+ lower than the F202e, you Pro 13 hours of backup easily in a get relatively similar perfor- One of the rare Haswell pow- typical day at work routine. mance, but much better bat- ered ultrabooks in India at the The Samsung PM830 tery life. Good to see that HP moment, the Vaio’s super light SSD is fully Sata III capable has completely recreated and slim body, excellent build (the Dell XPS 12) has the the excellent keyboard of quality/looks, ever-lasting same storage version, but the bigger ENVY notebooks battery life, high-resolution inexplicably, Lenovo has lim- in this form factor. IPS touch screen display and Sony Vaio Pro 13 ited this drive’s performance the zippy overall performance with SATA II. The 265 MB/s Best Value (Category 2): come together to make it a very sequential read speed pales in as the other machines running Asus VivoBook S550CA good deal for its asking price comparison to the 452.7 MB/s the the Core i5-3317U processor, but At the time when we had first of `74,990. There isn’t a single same drive gets on the XPS 12. that wouldn’t show till you clean reviewed the S550CA, the ultrabook in the market today the machine by uninstalling all standout factor was the fact that that offers the same level of Dell XPS 12 unnecessary preloaded apps ASUS had packed in the touch- quality and refinement at this Convertible and trials. The onboard SSD screen without adding bulk to price point. We would recom- The Dell XPS 12 Convertible’s is fairly quick, with only the the entire form factor – some- mend this to anyone who wants chassis is made from machined Toshiba SSD on the Vaio Pro 13 thing where a lot of rivals had the latest hardware and the best aluminum, while the thin but leading the scoring charts. What faltered. A fairly good keyboard, possible display in a sleek and strong display frame, including impresses the most is the 300 a powerful graphics chip and sophisticated design.

78 Digit | September 2013 | www.thinkdigit.com Column Expert speak. Or is it?

icture this: A Web-savvy ecommerce whether all those hundreds of approvals were enthusiast visits a popular portal written by actual customers? How do you to purchase an item that he wants know they aren’t manufactured or biased? Or Pto splurge some of his disposable written by paid writers? And do you honestly income on. Seduced by several photos of the believe that anyone who bought a product product clicked at different angles, our bedaz- online would go all out and criticize it and zled online shopper is all but ready to hit the admit they made a mistake? Don’t get easily purchase button and hold the item in his eager swayed by positive “reviews”, but pay atten- hands (in a couple of days, as promised by tion to negative criticism directed either to the the shopping portal). But the slightest sense product or the shopping site. of apprehension creeps into his dulled mind In our quest to embrace online shopping and he hesitates from clicking. What if he’s and ecommerce, let’s also spare a thought and making a mistake and the product isn’t as celebrate the existence of large-format-retailers good as he thought it was? Without batting an that give us the opportunity to touch and feel eyelid, he scrolls down the product page and a product before purchasing it – that’s some- scans through the “product reviews” section thing I do pretty regularly whenever I have to Jayesh Shinde faster than an overzealous kid reaching for his purchase something noteworthy and I need Manager - Test Centre [email protected] favourite candy. After reading a few “happy” to reassure myself completely. Reading and reviews of this product is worth its weight in looking at images of that much-awaited phone gold, he feels reassured. How can anything online just won’t compare to walking into a possibly go wrong with a product vouched for mobile phone gallery and actually playing with “Don’t get easily by hundreds of satisfied customers? Without it for a while. And even when we try to rate and swayed by positive wasting any further time, our online shopper review products the best way we know – with a “reviews”, but purchases the item. lot of objective parameters – a small amount of pay attention to Most of us are guilty of going through this subjectivity remains. For example, we may rate routine at least once in our online shopping the typing experience on a laptop’s keyboard negative criticism history – I know I have. However, with time to be “good but not the best”, some other expert directed either to and added online shopping experience, there’s may rate the same keyboard at “better than the product or the a few things that could’ve been done better. most”, but when you try it out at an electronic shopping site." Unless you’re buying digital games, Kindle store you may not like the same keyboard. ebooks, or the like, online shopping is still a Your fingers are different than ours. Similarly, virtual mode of buying physical goods. What certain aspects of a product like its aesthetics that means is that product images on shop- and look and feel may strike differently to dif- ping pages may be for representation only. You ferent users. Remember how beauty is in the may not exactly get what you pay for. To stress eye of the beholder? Wise words that couldn’t this point, here’s an extract from Myntra. be more true. com’s ‘exactness not guaranteed’ clause which But since we’re pretty much in the busi- appears in its terms of use : “Myntra.com ness of reviewing products day in and day out, hereby disclaims any guarantees of exactness and with the accumulated knowledge of going as to the finish and appearance of the final through the greatest and most disastrous of Product as ordered by the user. The quality products across different categories for over a of any products, Services, information, or decade, our readers can be rest assured of not other material purchased or obtained having to buy a lemon. Ever. by you through the Website may not meet your expectations.” To convince fence sitters and lackadaisical shoppers from taking the plunge, ecommerce sites increasingly display product reviews or user testimonials on the product purchase page. Don’t get swayed by them. Who’s to say

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Anirudh Regidi a bit, let’s take a closer look at they are a much neglected cat- in the course of this test. We [email protected] the printer’s we received and sift egory and just picking up a essentially got two categories of through the marketing mumbo- printer off-the-shelf is a bigger printers, laser MFDs and colour he dawn of the digital jumbo and myriad, seemingly risk than you might realise. MFDs, but only two of the latter. age was supposed to important specifications to come There are so many things that sound the death knell up with facts and figures that you have to consider, the fea- Monochrome Tof this most wasteful are more sensible and will help tures that you want; the cost LASER MFDs of contraptions. But, yet again, you make an informed decision. of cartridges; how large is the Laser MFDs are a staple in any we find ourselves testing these Printers aren’t really an buffer (does it even matter?); office and truth be told, there facilitators of mass tree-geno- exciting category for us to test how much you’re printing; is isn’t much to distinguish one

cide and trying to come up with and the whole process usually there an option for a cheaper printer from the other. You ai j u n.v. the most economical option for feels more like a chore than any- toner or refill and so on. might have the odd document your home or small office use. thing else and reading about it All these questions and feeder or in-built fax machine,

Setting aside our consciences for might be even worse. However, more we’ve strived to answer but these devices are by and i ng: b i mag

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How wE teSted

The MFDs we received were put through an document in MS Word in 12pt Calibri font. Scan test: exhaustive test process that consumed many The second was an MS Word document with • For this test we used a cover of Digit at hundreds of pages as we tried to comprehen- fonts ranging from 2pts to 12pts in Calibri. 300dpi and rated the final image based on sively account for every possible use-case of an The third was a PDF with fonts ranging each MFDs ability to render certain pre- MFD in a SoHo environment. Here’s a run-down from 3pts to 20pts and yellow text on a defined zones accurately. of the tests we ran: black background with diminishing font size. Speed tests: Initial preparation: The final document contained a mixture of • Print speed tests were measured as the • After installation, the printer is made to run plain text at various fonts, coloured text time taken to print a pure text file, image through a complete round-up of diagnostics on a coloured background, text embedded file and a mixed document at quality and and checks, including calibration and car- in images and text in different orientations draft settings on the printer. Scores were tridge alignment, etc. where applicable. and shades. individually noted and assigned appropriate • Fresh toners and cartridges were used for • various points were identified on all these weights. all tests. documents and rendering ability was • Warm-up time was measured as the time to • All printer settings were reset to defaults checked. Text prints were primarily rated print 5 pages from the sleep and power-off where applicable. on ink-bleed, sharpness, white spots and states of an MFD where applicable. • Laser printers were made to print 10 pages merged characters. Features: of text so as to warm up before the actual Copy Tests: • All salient features of the MFDs were listed testing began. • For this test we used a print of the first and out and rated with appropriate weightages. • For quality tests, we used a loupe to examine the fourth text file mentioned above. Cost of ownership: the print quality. • Output was taken at default printer set- • Cost of ownership (C) is the cost of run- Image Quality: tings and the copy was rated as per the text ning the printer for 3 years and is the total • We used three different images for each test. quality test mentioned above. investment required per page that you One full-colour image, one monochrome OCR Test: expect to print. So say you need to print image (black) and one calibration image to • In this test we used two files. The first was 1000 pages and a cartridge gives you 500 check printer resolution. a print of first text file mentioned above prints, then C = (Cost of printer + cost of 2 • Certain areas were identified on each image and a page from a text-book on computer cartridges)/1000 and printers were graded on their ability to programming. • For colour printers, we assumed cost of render those regions correctly. • We used ABBYY Fine Reader to analyze the ownership based on 60% black and white Text Quality: scan and determine the text. Final score prints and 40% colour prints on 3000 prints. • We used four test files to inspect text was given based on the number of errors • For MFDs we used two load scenarios as quality. The first was a standard text and missed text blocks. can be seen from the table overleaf.

large the same. You will see from a more advanced MFD that quality will be consistently can only guess at the cause. the table that the performance can handle more paper and the above average. That said, you’ll never really of these printers does vary con- most advanced which includes We did notice that the need to print at 1200x600 as siderably, given our scoring, an Automatic Document Feeder printer struggled when it came prints at 600x600 look the but please bear in mind that and even FAX support. In terms to printing large image files at same anyway. All three devices these scores are given with the of design these printers are very the maximum claimed quality showcased impressive scanning harshest of mentalities while the staid and simple and are exactly (1200x600dpi) and we capabilities and while the test prints were examined under like almost every other MFD resolution might be low a loupe, but the untrained eye that we’ve come across. (compared to scanners will not notice any significant One unusual design deci- september 2013 on photo printers), the variation in quality. sion is the paper input quality and colour tone tray, which is longer than were excellent. Ricoh the width of the printer Where these printers Ricoh sent us three printers, and so, juts out the back. really take a beating is in the SP100U, SP200SU and What impressed us most the cost of ownership with the SP203SFN. In order, they with these printers how- the SP203SFN coming in represent the three basic types ever was the consistency at an astronomical `4 per of MFDs that you can pur- of the performance; you can word and the others at chase, namely, a basic laser pick up either of these printers almost `3. Another area where MFD for low volume printing, and rest assured that the print Ricoh SP200S these device suffer is in the copy

Digit | September 2013 | www.thinkdigit.com 81 MFDs Test september 2013 Monochrome MFDs Brand Ricoh Ricoh Ricoh Panasonic Brother Brother Brother Brother Aficio SP KX-MB1500 Model Aficio SP 200S Aficio SP100SU DCP-1511 DCP-7060D DCP-7065DN MFC-1811 203SFN SXB Price 19110 8673 9900 10900 9090 12600 13990 13100 Features(F) (SO 100) 55.74 32.92 21.54 43.74 45.74 51.43 55.90 42.45 Performance(P) (SO 100) 45.63 51.95 42.65 49.47 41.10 51.80 56.23 48.44 Runnning costs(C) (SO 100) 28.90 49.78 47.29 32.08 66.43 46.65 42.79 48.49 Total Score (40%P+30%F+30%C) 43.64 45.59 37.71 42.53 50.09 50.14 52.10 46.66 Connectivity USB Flash Drive Support (Y/N) N N N N N N N N Memory Card support (Y/N) N N N N N N N N LAN Y N N N Y N Y N FAX Y N N N N Y N N Features Maximum print resolution (dpi) 1200x600 dpi 1200x600 dpi 1200x600 dpi 2400x600 dpi 2400x600 dpi 2400x600 dpi 2400x600 dpi 1200x600 dpi Maximum scan resolution (dpi) 600x600 dpi 600x600 dpi 600x600 dpi 1200x600 dpi 1200x600 dpi 2400x600 dpi 2400x600 dpi 600 x 600 dpi Zoom / Fit to Page (Y/N) N N N Y Y Y Y Y Monochrome Monochrome Monochrome Monochrome Monochrome Monochrome Monochrome Monochrome Display Type LCD LCD (2-digit) LCD (2-digit) LCD LCD LCD LCD LCD Total Paper Tray Capacity (Plain A4) 150 150 99 150 150 250 250 150 ADF support and capacity 15 N/A N/A 10 10 N/A 35 N/A 402 x 360 x 291 402 x 360 x 249 402× 368.5× 385 x 340 x 283 385 x 340 x 283 405 x 398.5 x 428 x 397 x 381 x 361 x 200 Dimensions mm mm 163 mm mm mm 268 mm 305mm mm Weight 9.9 8.9 8 8.3 8 10.1 11.1 9 Max paper size Legal Legal Legal Legal Legal Legal A4 Legal Tray #2 Y Y N N N Y N Y OCR Software? N N N N N Y Y Y Approx. footprint in mm2 (all trays open) 153966 166026 266124 177100 177100 170100 175474 137541 Height (paper in tray) 291 249 280 283 283 268 315 200 Speed Text print (Q / D) 5 copies (secs) 32.5 / 22 23 / 22 34 / 32 26 /25 23 / 22 21 / 22 21 / 20 23 / 22 Mixed Document Print (Q / D) (Time) 6pgs 29 / 27 29 / 25 79.5 / 41 31 / 31 104 / 43 22 / 22 23 / 21 25 / 24 Copy Test (Time) (Colour / B&W) 18 / 17 14.5 / 15 23 / 23 10 / 10 12 / 12 10 / 10 10/ 10 12 / 12 Scan Test (Time) (colour 300dpi) 18 14 17 22 22 21 10 22 Scan from ADF (6 Pages, Time) 96 N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A 31 50 Print from power off / sleep (sec) 5 / 9 2 / 10 5 / 7 4 / 5 10 / 10 10 / 6 11 / 3 14 / 2 Quality Text print (Quality) 94.58 94.58 92.08 89.17 64.17 84.17 94.17 77.08 Text print (Speed/Eco) 63.75 63.75 83.75 62.08 50.42 61.67 66.67 54.17 Mixed Document Print (Quality) 71.94 81.32 81.32 70.83 65.21 75.35 76.47 73.40 BW Test Image 70.38 77.29 83.00 76.10 62.10 65.19 50.19 28.57 BW Sharpness test 70.73 77.70 86.23 75.13 72.17 73.17 81.17 61.27 Copy Test 64.79 76.39 78.47 75.76 83.40 76.81 84.03 61.88 OCR Errors (ABBYY) 68 93 89 55 70 76 86 99 Scan test 85 77.5 75 90 72.5 72.5 85 75 Cost of Ownership Normal load Toner cost B&W 5302 5302 4134 5481 1775 2500 2500 1775 No of prints per B&W cartridge 2600 2600 2000 2500 1500 1200 1200 1500 Cost/print 2.04 2.04 2.067 2.19 1.18 2.08 2.08 1.18 Cost per print for 1 year (2000 prints) 11.59 6.38 7.017 7.64 5.73 8.38 9.08 7.73 High-load Drum / Refill 680 680 680 NA 2775 5320 5320 2775 No. of prints per refill or drum 2000 2000 2000 NA 10000 12000 12000 10000 Cost/print 1.01 1.01 0.92 2.19 0.28 0.44 0.44 0.28 For Laser Printers - 6000 prints for 3 years 6072.73 6072.73 5512 13154.4 1665 2660 2660 1665 (100% B&W) Cost per print for 3 years lifetime of product 4.2 2.46 2.57 4 1.79 2.54 2.78 2.46

82 Digit | September 2013 | www.thinkdigit.com MFDs Test september 2013 Monochrome MFDs Brand Ricoh Ricoh Ricoh Panasonic Brother Brother Brother Brother tests, where the outputs were a Epson’s Ink Tank Aficio SP KX-MB1500 Model Aficio SP 200S Aficio SP100SU DCP-1511 DCP-7060D DCP-7065DN MFC-1811 little more faded than we hoped. 203SFN SXB Ricoh also gives the option of The wild card entry here was Epson with its “ink tank” technology. Price 19110 8673 9900 10900 9090 12600 13990 13100 a toner refill, drastically cutting Something we didn’t know much about and whose claims we wanted Features(F) (SO 100) 55.74 32.92 21.54 43.74 45.74 51.43 55.90 42.45 down your printing costs in the to see to believe. Epson has been claiming a cost of less than 15p Performance(P) (SO 100) 45.63 51.95 42.65 49.47 41.10 51.80 56.23 48.44 Runnning costs(C) (SO 100) 28.90 49.78 47.29 32.08 66.43 46.65 42.79 48.49 long run. That said, in terms of per page for quite some time now and we didn’t really buy it. Till we Total Score (40%P+30%F+30%C) 43.64 45.59 37.71 42.53 50.09 50.14 52.10 46.66 pure numbers, the SP203SFN tried out the printer for ourselves that is. The Ink Tank technology Connectivity is by far the most expensive is very simple in concept. You have a tank that holds ink (in fluid USB Flash Drive Support (Y/N) N N N N N N N N printer to run. With the total form obviously) and the nozzles draw ink from that tank and spray Memory Card support (Y/N) N N N N N N N N cost of ownership exceeding it onto the paper. LAN Y N N N Y N Y N `11 per page for one year. The Now this might sound like any other inkjet printer to you, but the FAX Y N N N N Y N N SP203SFN only makes sense difference here is that you fill up the tanks yourself, with the requisite Features if you’re printing thousands of ink bottle of course, that costs nothing compared to the cartridges Maximum print resolution (dpi) 1200x600 dpi 1200x600 dpi 1200x600 dpi 2400x600 dpi 2400x600 dpi 2400x600 dpi 2400x600 dpi 1200x600 dpi pages per month. Even if you and toners that you would normally need. Since you’re not purchasing Maximum scan resolution (dpi) 600x600 dpi 600x600 dpi 600x600 dpi 1200x600 dpi 1200x600 dpi 2400x600 dpi 2400x600 dpi 600 x 600 dpi were to consider toner refills a hunk of plastic and the accompanying circuitry, and considering the Zoom / Fit to Page (Y/N) N N N Y Y Y Y Y and a three year average print fact that the ink bottles contain quite a bit of ink and the fact that you Monochrome Monochrome Monochrome Monochrome Monochrome Monochrome Monochrome Monochrome Display Type cycle (as we did), the costs come don’t need more than a few drops to print a page, the math becomes LCD LCD (2-digit) LCD (2-digit) LCD LCD LCD LCD LCD down significantly `( 4 per page) quite obvious. As you can see from the tables, it really does cost next Total Paper Tray Capacity (Plain A4) 150 150 99 150 150 250 250 150 and it’s still the highest in this to nothing to take a printout (not considering the cost of the printer of ADF support and capacity 15 N/A N/A 10 10 N/A 35 N/A category. Ricoh’s remaining course). It’s an interesting twist to the cartridge saga (the companies 402 x 360 x 291 402 x 360 x 249 402× 368.5× 385 x 340 x 283 385 x 340 x 283 405 x 398.5 x 428 x 397 x 381 x 361 x 200 Dimensions two printers aren’t so bad in are supposed to make their profits on the cartridge sales rather than mm mm 163 mm mm mm 268 mm 305mm mm the price per page department on the printers after all) and we’re curious to see how the strategy Weight 9.9 8.9 8 8.3 8 10.1 11.1 9 works out in the long run and whether we can expect to see such Max paper size Legal Legal Legal Legal Legal Legal A4 Legal and are well below average at Tray #2 Y Y N N N Y N Y approximately `2.4 per word. printers popping up among the ranks of HP and Canon and the like. OCR Software? N N N N N Y Y Y Approx. footprint in mm2 (all trays open) 153966 166026 266124 177100 177100 170100 175474 137541 Brother Height (paper in tray) 291 249 280 283 283 268 315 200 There were four MFDs from bad when it came to our point easily the best printers when Speed Brother; the 1511, 1811, 7060D size test and just awful when it it comes to volume printing Text print (Q / D) 5 copies (secs) 32.5 / 22 23 / 22 34 / 32 26 /25 23 / 22 21 / 22 21 / 20 23 / 22 and 7065D. Of these, the DCP came to our sharpness test, with and comparatively heavy print Mixed Document Print (Q / D) (Time) 6pgs 29 / 27 29 / 25 79.5 / 41 31 / 31 104 / 43 22 / 22 23 / 21 25 / 24 7060D and the 7065DN are by gradients and striations where loads. Couple that with the Copy Test (Time) (Colour / B&W) 18 / 17 14.5 / 15 23 / 23 10 / 10 12 / 12 10 / 10 10/ 10 12 / 12 far the better designed and built. they should have been none. optional drum cartridges that Scan Test (Time) (colour 300dpi) 18 14 17 22 22 21 10 22 Both these printers look and feel The 7065DN was the best can pump out over 10,000 Scan from ADF (6 Pages, Time) 96 N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A 31 50 solid and generally very profes- in terms of pure text and image pages and you’ve got a very cost Print from power off / sleep (sec) 5 / 9 2 / 10 5 / 7 4 / 5 10 / 10 10 / 6 11 / 3 14 / 2 sional, sadly, the same can’t be quality and the 7060D wasn’t effective option on your hands. Quality said for the DCP1511 and the very far behind and where When it comes down to pure Text print (Quality) 94.58 94.58 92.08 89.17 64.17 84.17 94.17 77.08 MFC1811. The printers have a the Ricoh printers seemed to numbers, the drum cartridges Text print (Speed/Eco) 63.75 63.75 83.75 62.08 50.42 61.67 66.67 54.17 comparatively flimsy input tray struggle a bit when it came to bring down the cost of owner- Mixed Document Print (Quality) 71.94 81.32 81.32 70.83 65.21 75.35 76.47 73.40 and you can’t open the flaps for handling large files, the 7060D ship, at high print volumes, to BW Test Image 70.38 77.29 83.00 76.10 62.10 65.19 50.19 28.57 the o/p tray without popping up and 7065DN didn’t stutter even less than `2 per page, which is BW Sharpness test 70.73 77.70 86.23 75.13 72.17 73.17 81.17 61.27 the entire scan bed. slightly. These are quite significant. Copy Test 64.79 76.39 78.47 75.76 83.40 76.81 84.03 61.88 The problem with these OCR Errors (ABBYY) 68 93 89 55 70 76 86 99 MFDs, unlike the Ricoh september 2013 Panasonic Scan test 85 77.5 75 90 72.5 72.5 85 75 ones we mentioned ear- Panasonic had only one Cost of Ownership lier, was the inconsistent device to offer us, namely Normal load results. While the 7060 the KX-MB1500 SXB. The Toner cost B&W 5302 5302 4134 5481 1775 2500 2500 1775 No of prints per B&W cartridge 2600 2600 2000 2500 1500 1200 1200 1500 and 7065 performed very name may be a mouthful, Cost/print 2.04 2.04 2.067 2.19 1.18 2.08 2.08 1.18 well, choosing the highest but the printer is nice Cost per print for 1 year (2000 prints) 11.59 6.38 7.017 7.64 5.73 8.38 9.08 7.73 quality output would result and compact. In fact, it’s High-load in prints where the con- the most compact MFD Drum / Refill 680 680 680 NA 2775 5320 5320 2775 trast was pumped up way we received this month. No. of prints per refill or drum 2000 2000 2000 NA 10000 12000 12000 10000 too much, turning finer Both paper trays (i/p and Cost/print 1.01 1.01 0.92 2.19 0.28 0.44 0.44 0.28 details into a black mess. o/p) are recessed and built For Laser Printers - 6000 prints for 3 years Prints at standard quality into the body. If space is a 6072.73 6072.73 5512 13154.4 1665 2660 2660 1665 (100% B&W) were easily the best in class. constraint then this is defi- Cost per print for 3 years lifetime of product 4.2 2.46 2.57 4 1.79 2.54 2.78 2.46 The 1811 was surprisingly Brother DCP 7065DN nitely the printer for you.

Digit | September 2013 | www.thinkdigit.com 83 Print directly from FB LG G2 powered by Snapdragon Canon’s new line of printers use an app LG G2 will make the debut in the mobile industry and allow users to print files directly from on LG’s G series platform, sporting the Qualcomm MFDs Test Dropbox and Facebook. dgit.in/FBPrint Snapdragon at heart. http://dgit.in/LG-g2

The device’s performance is strictly average and doesn’t september 2013 stand out in any key area except Colour MFD maybe scanning, where the Brand Epson HP scanned images we tested had Model L210 Deskjet InkAdvantage excellent colour tone. If any- 6525 thing, the output was a little Price 10499 10900 faded compared to the com- Features 63.83192758 42.31003408 petition, but we will say that Performance 49.44395258 63.066211 the quality is sufficient for any Running costs 54.08158207 37.21832495 home or office use. Total Score 55.15163393 49.08499211 Truth be told, we can’t think Connectivity of even one reason to specifically PictBridge / USB / SD Card (Y/N) Y / N / Y N / N / N choose this MFD over the com- WiFi / LAN (Y/N) Y / N Y / N petition. It’s a strictly average Features device and the only thing actu- Maximum print resolution (dpi) 9600x2400 dpi 4800x1200 dpi ally going for it is the size, which Maximum scan resolution (dpi) 4800x2400 dpi 2400x1200 dpi is, only slightly smaller than, Zoom / Fit to Page (Y/N) Y N say the Ricoh SP100U. It’s not Ink Type Cartridge Cartridge a bad printer at all, but neither Display Type Colour LCD Monochrome LCD (2-digit) is it a great one. Cartridge Colours CMYK. PGBlack RGB, Black Total Paper Tray Capacity (Plain A4) 125 100 Best Buy Dimensions 455 x 368 x 148mm 449 x 304 x 152mm The Best Buy award goes to Weight (kg) 8 5.5 the Ricoh SP200S. The printer Max paper size (tray) Legal Legal scored consistently well in all Tray #2 Y N our tests and while it wasn’t a Does scanner lid rise? Y Y stand-out printer, it offers the Maintenance and utility sw Y Y best combination of price to Approx. footprint in mm2 (all trays open) 269815 261318 performance that should be suf- Height (paper in tray) 148 152 ficient for most use-cases. The Speed device is a bit short on features Text print (Q/D) (5 copies) (secs) 202 / 24 207 / 30 but, it makes up for it with a Mixed Document Print (Q/D) (6 pages) (secs) 950 / 58 319 / 48 comparatively reasonable price. Photo (B&W / Colour) (Time) 165 / 77 57 / 60 Copy Test (Colour) (B&W) 52 29 Best Performer The Brother DCP 7065DN Scan time at 300dpi (secs) 50 25 takes the crown for the best Print from power off / sleep (sec) 10/Oct 20 / 1 performer. The printer’s excep- Quality tional print quality and general Photo 85.26 91.38 design make it the ideal printer BW Photo 78.75 88.75 for high-volume work, couple Text (Q) 61.04 83.85 that with an ownership cost that Mixed Document (Q) 71.31 81.84 is just about average in this cat- Colour copy test 43.5 46.75 egory means that this printer Text copy test 58.33 88.33 should make a for a good, long- OCR Errors 69 130 term office staple. Scan quality 60 50 Cost of ownership Colour MFDs Ink cost B&W 441 499 We did have more printers in Ink cost Colour 1323 897 this category but we were left No of prints per B&W cartridge 4000 550 with only two when Canon No of prints per Colour cartridge 4000 300 decided to opt out of the test as Cost / print 0.2 1.74 they’re refreshing their lineup Total cost of ownership for 3 years (3000 prints) 3.7 5.37 next month. You can look for-

84 Digit | September 2013 | www.thinkdigit.com Gold iPhone 5S Nokia Bandit The Internet is rife with rumours about Nokia is expected to launch a device with a how Apple may release a Gold iPhone 6-inch 1080p display running the Windows 5S. Read More: dgit.in/GoldBappiDa Phone OS. More here: http://dgit.in/420Nokia MFDs Test

ward to their reviews in the the body of the printer. The printer when it comes to print us back to our school days as coming months. input tray itself actually has quality. By the worst we don’t we used to go around with ink- Getting back to the devices at two trays, one for your standard mean ridiculously awful, it’s stained fingers revelling in our hand, the Epson L210 and HP A4 and letter papers and one for just the worst when compared fancy new fountain pens. DeskJet InkAdvantage 6525, photo paper. to traditional printers with Despite all of the above, this while both are colour MFDs, The cost of ownership for cartridges. The print quality is printer prints cheap. Dirt cheap. they couldn’t be more different. this printer is fairly high at acceptable for general use and That’s all this printer offers and, Refer to the box for details. around `5 per page for 3000 if you really were finicky about we suspect, is all that most prints, but this is not a printer quality you’d take a proper SoHo’s need in the first place. HP DeskJet for volume prints anyway. The photo printer anyway. InkAdvantage 6525 biggest disappointment with The printer also has no This is one of those old school this MFD was the scanner. The features to speak off colour printers with the images that we scanned lacked and only comes with standard RGB and Black ink the colour tone that we expected cartridges. The print quality and our OCR software had was excellent and the best in a very hard time identifying our tests. We know that isn’t many key areas of the page that september 2013 saying much, considering we were using. All-in-all, this there isn’t any competition, but is an excellent colour printer we’ve compared it against other but one that is only worth con- printers in its class and it did sidering if you’re finicky about come out on top. print quality. For any other sce- One very interesting feature nario, refer to the Epson L210. of this MFD is the LCD screen. It’s a touch-screen and very Epson L210 handy but, that’s not the inter- If you don’t know what makes Epson L210 esting part. You can actually the Epson L210 special then play Sudoku and a handful of you need to look at the box that a scanner; it’s not particularly Editor’s Pick other games on that screen, as we’ve added on the ink tank well-designed either and you’ve The editor’s pick has to go the well as get news updates and somewhere in the story. The got a vertical input tray along Epson L210. We’ve said it before the like. Why anyone would ink tank technology essentially with a somewhat flimsy, exten- and we’re saying it again. When want to do that with a printer allows this printer to churn out sible output tray. The printer you’re printing colour pages is beyond us, especially as your more than 4000 pages per refill, feels light and, dare we say at approximately 20paise per phone is permanently glued to which cost next to nothing, and it, cheap. The printer suffers page, no other printer can come your hand anyway. essentially saving you a tonne of from quite a bit of ink bleed close. At high volumes of print, The output tray of the printer cash in the bargain. which is probably a conse- this printer gives almost every is fairly large and unwieldy, Don’t get us wrong, this quence of the technology. printer a run for their money. In extending out quite a bit from printer is easily the worst Filling the cartridges is a fact, only the Brother DCP1511 messy job if you don’t have a offers a similar cost of own- Contact Details steady hand and trust us when ership (`1.79 vs. `1.86) as the Brand Mobile no. E-mail / Website we tell you, woe be you if you Epson L210 and even in that Brother 1800-209-8904 [email protected] get ink stains on your clothes or situation, the L210 will beat the Ricoh 011-49103000 [email protected] your floor or table or wherever DCP1511 hollow when it comes Epson 080-3051-5000 [email protected] you’re filling the ink. In fact, to higher volumes than we’ve Panasonic 1800-108-1333 [email protected] filling ink in the printer took accounted for.

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Want to experience Augmented reality? If you have an iOS or Android device, you can make some of the reviews in this Bazaar section come alive. Bazaar Step 1: Install “Zoop” (from the Google The latest products Play Store or Apple App Store) reviewed For you Step 2: Look for images that have the Zoop tag and scan them using the Zoop app (example below). The Digit Test Centre receives hundreds of products every month. Each of these products is put through a series of tests and is finally given a score. The final score is arrived at after considering a number of factors and evaluating them in terms of features, performance, value for money, build quality, and, in the case of software, even ease of use.

For better understanding of our ratings, here’s a quick guide to our overall score Extremely poor product. 10 to 30 Keep away! Step 3: Enjoy an augmented reality Digit Strictly OK. 31 to 50 like never before Not recommended Remember to send feedback about Decent product. 51 to 70 this initiative to [email protected] Go for it, but there may be better products out there.

Very good product. 71 to 90 Highly recommended. PLUS Ground-breaking product. 91 to 100 88 | LG 32LN5150 Transform LED TV We’ve never seen anything like it before. 88 | Logitech Extreme 3D PRO A definite must buy! 89 | Sony Vaio FIT 15E 90 | LG Optimus G Pro 90 | Galaxy GeForce GTX 770 91 | Lenovo IdeaPhone K900 92 | Fujifilm X-M1 92 | AVG Mobilation AntiVirus PRO 93 | Creative HITZ MA350 94 | Nokia Lumia 520 96 | Acer Aspire R7

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86 Digit | September 2013 | www.thinkdigit.com Android Device Manager Google updates Chromium Now locating your lost Android device is even more easier The latest Chromium build has received an with the help of Android Device Manager. It works hilariously update in the form of three new options - Open, awesome even on silent mode. http://dgit.in/14zUY2N close, and reload tabs http://dgit.in/196irH7 Bazaar Sony Vaio Pro 13 (SVP1321WSNB) Does a fine balancing act, gets most things right

t 1.06 kilograms, the Sony Vaio Pro 13’s super-light body is accordingly comple- mented with a slim profile that measures Aa measly 17.2mm at its thickest point. All the trimming on weight and dimensions might raise some doubts about the build quality, but fear not, Sony has not compromised on that either. The smooth (matte) finished carbon fibre body ensures Price solid build with almost no traces of creaks or bends 74,990 that one would normally associate with thin and light laptops. Portability and looks are obviously the key unique selling points of this ultrabook and the Vaio Pro is very well suited for frequent trave- lers and business users looking for a sleek machine that exudes class and craftsmanship. The Sony Vaio Pro would have scored an almost perfect score in our design and build quality test but for some tiny (yet critical) design limitations. The 13-inch noise levels – max out the four cores and the fan touchscreen has a rather limited tilt angle, some- noise is obvious and irritating. thing that can be frustratingly restrictive, especially Moving on to the screen, the Vaio Pro 13 offers because of its reflective display. a 13-inch Full HD (1080p) IPS touchscreen backed Its boot-up time ranged anywhere between 8-12 by Sony’s ‘Triluminous’ display technology which seconds, which is way better than regular HDD adds extra vibrancy and ‘punch’ in colors does shift laptops (that take 18-30 seconds to boot). In terms the color reproduction away from the true/natural of core system performance, the Vaio Pro 13 logged colors that one associates with IPS panels, since a score of 4219 in PC Mark 7 and 675 points on the everything on the screen looks more pleasing and performance mode in 3D Mark 2011. To put these vibrant to the eyes. The ‘touch’ side of the display scores in perspective, the Samsung Series 9 13-inch is excellent. There is one irritating factor in the 84 (our earlier Best Buy recommendation on the Ivy otherwise excellent display on the Sony Vaio Pro Bridge platform) scored 4347 and 590 points on PC 13 – the reflections! The bright vivid display is well Features...... 86 Mark 7 and 3D Mark 11 respectively. Sony’s deci- complemented by its in-built speakers. The Vaio Performance...... 79 sion to plonk a fairly fast SSD on the Vaio Pro 13 Pro 13 won’t fill the room with sound, but it will Build...... 84 helps the system handle multitasking sessions with deliver a fairly pleasant personal aural experience Value...... 85 great ease. The SSD logged an impressive average of without the usual distortions and harshness that 416 MB/s read and 191 MB/s write speeds. Having one associates with thin and light laptops. Specifications said that, Sony’s decision to not use the PCI-e based The ‘chiclet’ styled back-lit keypad on the Vaio Display: 13.3-inch,1080p SSD likethe international variants of the Vaio Pro 13 Pro is well spaced, offers good feedback with no IPS Touchscreen, CPU: Intel Core i5-4200U, Storage: hint of flex. Even the touch pad is well sized, though is a major disappointment for performance junkies. 128GB SSD, RAM: 4GB, PCI-e based SSDs can deliver read and write speeds the response and fluidity cannot match that of glass Keyboard: Backlit with in the range of 800 and 400 MB/s, respectively. based touch pads (again, comparing it to the king ambient light sensor, The Sony Vaio Pro 13 lasted a good 4.3 hours of touchpads on the Macbook Air). What we sorely Wireless Connectivity: under heavy load (all four cores running at max, miss though are LED based activity indicators and WIFI a/b/g/n, Bluetooth Ver 4.0, NFC, Weight: 1.06 kg, Wi-Fi on and screen brightness at 50%). In real- hardware controls. Ports: 2x USB 3.0, HDMI, SD world scenarios, we managed a handsome 8 hours The Vaio’s super light and slim body, excellent Memory card reader, OS: and 12 minutes of battery life with Wi-Fi on and build quality/looks, battery life, high-resolution Windows 8 64-bit brightness set at 50% over a regular work day sce- IPS touch screen display and the zippy overall per- nario which involved browsing with 8-12 tabs along formance come together to make it a very good deal Contact Sony India for its asking price of `75k. It’s one of the best Win- with office applications and light image editing. The Phone: 1800-103-7799 Vaio Pro 13 largely manages to keep the thermals dows 8 based touchscreen ultrabooks out there. Email: http://bit.ly/o7xidE under check but the same cannot be said about the Soham Raninga Website: www.sony.co.in

Digit | September 2013 | www.thinkdigit.com 87 Foursquare for iOS update Kanex Slimport Foursquare rolled out an update to its iOS Kanex unveiled SlimPort to HDTV Adapter app which loads an app faster than before. which allows users running their multimedia Bazaar Download it: http://dgit.in/13gPpjB contents and games on any screen they want

Lenovo Logitech LG 32LN5150 IdeaPad Z400 Extreme 3D Transform LED TV Touch PRO An affordable TV that brings the IPS value Bulky, has bloatware, but Fun on a budget also a good feature set

Price 3,399

Price or a 14-inch 47,990 oysticks are a rare breed of Flaptop, this Jgaming devices. They don’t is quite heavy. It find any use in general gaming has a decent display with the but when it comes to flight touchscreen working well. sims, they’re indispensable. Price he LG Trans- 33,000 reflective, but much The keyboard is good but For a joystick to be of any form LED lesser than its rivals. placement of Home, End, Pg use, it needs to offer complete series admit- This isn’t ideal for rooms Up and Pg Dn keys is slightly “6-axis” control and a plethora Ttedly surprises us with lots of ambient light. annoying. The dedicated GPU of buttons, but most impor- by bucking the trend that most Having said that, the TV’s pic- is nice, so is the feature set but tantly, it needs to be precise. TVs in this price band follow – ture quality is very good, and the Z400 feels nippy after you The Extreme 3D Pro offers all of feeling ‘affordable’. It’s built Standard Definition content delete some of its bloatware. of the above except the preci- well and has a thin, unobtru- looks nice and isn’t affected by Battery life is the only major sion. It’s precise enough for sive bezel. The table-top stand its native resolution – 1366 x disappointment at 96 minutes. general use and average users; has the conventional two part 768 pixels. Colour reproduc- This is a nice machine, but the discerning enthusiast setup, which is quite common. tion is quite good as well, and the HP Pavilion m4-1003tx is might want to look elsewhere. The TV has an IPS panel side viewing angles are always slightly better. The joystick works flawlessly with edge LED backlighting. better on IPS panels, made out-of-the-box; most of the The 32LN5150’s panel is even better by the lesser-than- games we tried managed to average reflective display. map the axes without a hitch. Amidst all the positives 70 The official price is a bit high, about build and performance, but you can get it within `2.5k; 73 there is the issue of compro- Features...... 75 well worth it at that price. mising on connectivity. This Performance...... 70 TV has just 2 HDMI inputs Build...... 65 Features...... 70 – If you have an HD STB and Value...... 70 Performance...... 75 a upscaling DVD player, any 69 Build...... 80 third device would require Value...... 65 Specifications disconnecting one of the two. Processor: Intel Core i5 - 3230M @ Features...... 67 The remote works well, in 2.6GHz; RAM: 4GB; Graphics: NVIDIA Build Quality...... 65 Specifications terms of response, but the GeForce GT635M (2GB); Display: Panel size: 32-inch; Panel Type: IPS Value for money...... 75 layout feels a tad cluttered. 14-inch LCD (1366 x 768 pixels) with LED; Resolution: 1366 x 768 pixels; touchscreen; Storage: 1TB HDD; Connectivity: 2 HDMI, 1 Composite, The good thing is, you can Connectivity: 3 USB ports, 1 HDMI, Specifications 1 Component, 1 USB port; Remote: play back most SD video for- memory card reader, optical drive; Control: 6-axis; Features: 8-way hat- Yes; Weight: 6.7kg with stand mats off a USB drive, directly OS: Windows 8 (64-bit) switch, 15 programmable buttons, weighted base; Warranty: 3 years Contact connected to the TV. All in all, this is the TV to Contact LG Electronics Lenovo India Contact Phone: 1800-180-9999 consider if most of the content Email: http://dgit.in/1bVBYuZ Logitech Electronic India Email: http://dgit.in/13HRpaf you will be watching isn’t HD. Phone: 1-800-3000-9990 Phone: 022-33416111 Website: www.lg.com/in Vishal Mathur Website: www.lenovo.com/in Website: www.logitech.com/en-in

88 Digit | September 2013 | www.thinkdigit.com Goodbye OMGPOP Better in-flight entertainment Zynga announced closure of one its website OMGPOP. Singapore Airlines introduced KrisWorld , which is com. Accordingly, its website will be shutting down their new and feature-rich in-flight entertainment by September 30. http://dgit.in/15JKPh2 system. http://dgit.in/in-flightE Bazaar Asus S400C ultrabook A slightly more affordable, all-rounder ultrabook

75 ith the S500C moment, it can multitask fairly easily, being the and the flash storage for caching really bigger sized helps with boot times and repetitively Features...... 75 sibling, used apps. Gaming isn’t this ultrabook’s Performance...... 75 W the smaller S400C is forte, since there is just the HD 4000 Build...... 80 definitely a very attractive graphics installed. As far as battery Value...... 70 proposition, both in terms life goes, the S400C does very Specifications of portability as well as price. well. Our battery test Processor: Intel Core i7- It’s 14-inch frame is built pegged it at around 3517U @ 1.9GHz; RAM: 4GB; well and slim, unlike some 200 minutes, which Display: 14-inch (1366 x 768 other ultrabooks. Its aluminum means around 5 pixels); Graphics: Intel HD chassis is one of the best in the hours in the real world “a 4000; Storage: 500GB HDD class, and the sharp slim design is day at work” usage scenario. All in + 24GB flash; Connectivity: sophisticated. It looks good with the dark- all, the Asus S400C is an ultrabook that 3 USB, memory card Price reader, Ethernet, HDMI; OS: coloured lid, keyboard deck is coloured 59,999 you can consider for its very good build Windows 8 (64-bit) silver, while the touchpad gets a slightly and speedy overall performance. brighter tone of the same colour. However, if you want something with a Contact Performance is very good, but you do need dedicated graphics card and a touchscreen isn’t ASUS India Pvt Ltd Phone: 1800-209-0365 to get rid of a whole bunch of preloaded utili- an important criteria for you, then the HP ENVY Email: [email protected] ties for unshackled performance. The Core i7 4 is a worthy alternative worth looking into. Website: www.asus.in processor is paired with 4GB of RAM. At the Vishal Mathur

Sony Vaio FIT 15E Affordable laptop with unique build and good battery life

o be brutal and blunt, Sony’s ‘affordable’ because of just 2GB of RAM. This is a basic, laptops, till now, felt just the part. There budget consumer’s laptop after all. It offers good was too much compromise on build battery life as well, lasting more than two hours 70 Tquality, specs and ultimately, performance. on a single charge in our tests. Typically, for web However, the updated FIT series seems browsing and document work, expect over to be doing a much better job of it. For 4 hours of usage. Features...... 60 starters, you don’t realize this machine What we really like Performance...... 65 costs around`35k, just by looking at it. Its is the display, which Build...... 75 matte black finish, with the typical VAIO is crisp, bright and Value...... 80 rounded edges, gives the FIT a rather mostly non-reflective. curvy look, intertwined with The keyboard is very Specifications rather sharp lines, and it well spaced out, and Processor: Intel Core i3- can easily pass off as a `45k the key size is adequate. 3227U @ 1.9GHz; RAM: 2GB; Graphics: Intel HD 4000; laptop based on its build and However, key travel is a Display: 15.5-inch (1366 x looks. It isn’t the slim- tad on the lesser side, and 768 pixels); Storage: 500GB mest machine around, the key response isn’t ideal. HDD; OS: Windows 8 (64-bit) but does a good job over These are but minor its weight and overall footprint. nitpickings. Sony has an afford- Contact Sony India The FIT 15E boots quick enough and Price able notebook that is absolutely 34,990 Phone: 1800-103-7799 apps will load without hiccups. It has a worth considering. Email: http://bit.ly/o7xidE modest CPU and multitasking is limited Vishal Mathur Website: www.sony.co.in

Digit | September 2013 | www.thinkdigit.com 89 Afraid of flying? Boost your productivity Simple technique is to carry some portable gaming consoles Take a look on some of these productivity to stay away from your fear of flying. Need some more tips? tips to boost up things to the next level: Bazaar Read this article on Lifehacker: http://dgit.in/13G1aUv http://dgit.in/19NsaF3

Zebronics Galaxy LG Optimus G Pro Shield GTX 770 A quality product Designed well, decent The price is right! performance here is plenty to like about the LG Optimus G Pro – it has a great looking Price T 28,200 display that’s balanced and Price not oversaturated. It 4,900 offers a ton of software ith two fans on this card features including a Wagainst the single one highly customizable Price seen on the stock GTX 770 38,700 virtual keyboard, an from NVIDIA, the GTX 770 IR blaster to control he Shield is no slouch in from Galaxy has a different other gadgets. It performs Tterms of looks at all, as design: its heatsink sticks out impressively and is very it has a nice design with a slightly from the front. Its build usable. It wields a powerful rubber grooved carry handle quality is decent as they’ve battery that helps it easily at the top and since this case used a nicely designed metal last more than a day of is very light, it can be used to shroud on top of it. Putting the regular use and it’s great for carry around in LAN Parties. performance of this card in shooting videos. The front part of the Shield has spotlight, you can say that this However, we can’t ignore It may seem logical to easy to remove 5.25-inch bay card would run all the current some of its downsides such think that the LG Optimus G panels with a meshed fan grill crop of games with ease given as an overly large body that Pro should compete against and a headphone holder on the benchmark scores: 3D Mark many users may find uncom- the likes of the Samsung the left side panel. Operating 11 (Extreme): 3765; Unigine fortable, a camera that under- Galaxy Note lineup or other at 34°C on idle at 28°C ambient Heaven (1080p extreme): 52.2 performs under low-light phablets on account of its room temperature and 39.5°C FPS; V2 (1080p conditions and a UI that looks 5.5-inch screen size. But the under full load, its cooling max): 38 FPS; Metro Last Light boring to be honest. fact is that since it’s a direct performance is impressive. (1080p Very High): 31.28 FPS. upgrade over the LG Optimus Better than the stock GTX 770 G, it also stands as a viable and a good option to go for alternative to current flagships your high end gaming needs. 84 like the 71 and the HTC One. When put in that company and taking Features...... 90 Features...... 72 into account its price, the 84 Performance...... 85 Performance...... 75 LG Optimus G Pro comes in Build Quality...... 80 Build Quality...... 62 third. This is mainly because Value for money...... 80 Value for money...... 76 Features...... 85 the Optimus doesn’t offer the Performance...... 85 Specifications same design and premium Specifications Build Quality...... 85 Operating System: Android 4.1.2 factor of the more expensive Dimension: 420(L) x 185(W) x 430(H) Value for money...... 80 (Jelly Bean); Screen Size: 5.5-in at One and is more expensive mm; Motherboard Support: 1920x1080 pixels; Built-In Storage: than the Samsung Galaxy S4. ATX, mATX; Expansion Slots: 7; Specifications 16GB; MicroSD Card Support: Upto However, if you’re looking Form Factor: Mid-tower; Drive Base Clock: 1110 MHz; Boost Clock: 64GB; RAM: 2GB; Camera: 13MP; for a smartphone with a Bays: (x3) 5.25”, (x5) 3.5”, (x1) 2.5”; 1163 MHz; Memory: 2048MB; Wi-Fi: 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac; Bluetooth: Cooling: Front 1x120mm, Side Memory bus width: 256-bit; Display 4.0; Battery: 3140mAh; Processor: larger display than what the 1x140mm; Front I/O: (x2) USB 3.0, (x1) Ports: 2xDVI, 1xHDMI, 1xDisplayPort. Quad-core 1.7 GHz Qualcomm flagships offer, then the LG Headphone, (x1) Mic; Warranty: NA Warranty: 3 Years Snapdragon 600 Optimus G Pro is the phone you should buy. On it’s own Contact Contact Contact too, the LG Optimus G Pro is Top Notch Infotronix India pvt ltd Technology and Gadgets LG India (Zebronics) Phone: 022-23823331 E-mail: https://wws.lg.com/in/ a quality product and a very Phone: 044-40000007 Email: sales@ support/contact-login good buy. Email: [email protected] technologyandgadgets.com Phone: 1800 180 9999 (Toll Free) Nikhil Pradhan Website: www.zebronics.com Website: http://dgit.in/176Bf7l

90 Digit | September 2013 | www.thinkdigit.com Voice messaging on WhatsApp Firefox 23 WhatsApp has recently updated its app across multiple Firefox 23 has arrived with enhancements like a platforms, allowing users sending voice messages to dedicated sharing button, mixed content blocker one another. http://www.whatsapp.com/ and network monitor. http://dgit.in/158U5HM Bazaar Lenovo K900 smartphone An impressive effort, but some rough edges need ironing out

76 he K900 has a lot of things quickly. However, the K900 heats up working in unison here. It is even under the slightest of load, and big, an interesting combo of under gaming, can become uncomfort- Features...... 75 straight lines, curved spines, ably warm to hold. Performance...... 80 T and its flat design. The phone is so flat For a phone that packs in a big Build...... 85 that you notice it straight away, and it’s 2500mAh battery, the K900 does Value...... 65 just 6.9mm thick. Compared directly suffer in this regard because of Specifications with the LG Optimus G Pro, also heating, and the K900 will only Processor: Intel Atom rocking a 5.5-inch display, the K900 is last a day, like most Android Z2580 dual core @ 2GHz; clearly taller. phones. We expected more. RAM: 2GB; Graphics: The Full HD IPS LCD panel feels Price This is a phone with an PowerVR SGX544; Display: more realistic in terms of colour repro- 32,999 imposing personality. The 5.5-inch IPS LCD (1920 x duction, compared to the AMOLED build quality is very good, 1080 pixels); Storage: 16GB + microSD card; Battery: family of displays. Media playback on the humongous display is 2500mAh; OS: Android 4.2; this screen is very good, and so are the worth the effort and the camera is very Weight: 162 grams viewing angles. Text is crisp and clean, good. For what is Intel’s first serious making readability easy. However, the attempt at the high-end smartphone Contact blacks are washed out at times. market, currently dominated by Qual- Lenovo India Phone: 1-800-3000-9990 In real world usage, we experi- comm’s Snapdragon series of proces- Website: www.lenovo. enced no lags or stutters as the phone sors, this is a rather good beginning. com/in performed with merit. Apps opened Vishal Mathur

FusionStor Inova 400 NAS A simple NAS device, but that’s about it

his is the first FusionStor product we’ve responsive, you can setup a RAID drive and create received at the Test Center and it delivers as many shared folders. on all its claims. It’s built mostly of metal With an Intel Atom D525 at its core and 4GB 66 Tand the HDD cage is quite rigid and well of memory it does all that it claims to do. Over a built. The HDD trays have enough mounting holes gigabit network it does sustain transfer speeds for 3.5-inch drives but in case you intend to use a between 75 - 110 MB/s to a single user and we had Features...... 75 2.5-inch drive then there are only two holes. There it hooked up and continuously on for around three Performance...... 70 is no rubber padding and the months without any problems. Design...... 65 trays are spaced evenly apart You can schedule regular Value...... 55 with plenty of airflow. backups to a web server and It doesn’t work out of the even extend the NAS to a Specifications box given the lack of a manual remote device, however, there CPU: Intel Atom D525 @ or a quick setup guide, unfortu- are no fancy plugins available 1.8 GHz; RAM: 4 GB; RAID: 0,1,10,5,6; Bays: 4 (4TB x 4 nately, as we found no manuals to make it into a full-fledged = 16TB); Connectivity: 2x – not even online. Curiously, web-server or a torrentbox. Gigabit Ethernet ports, 2x hard drives must not have any What we’ve observed is that USB 2.0, 2x USB 3.0, eSATA partitions prior to install as the this device has better hard- device does not recognize them. ware than most devices in its Contact FusionStor Technologies From then on it’s fairly easy to set up as Price price range but lacks the array of plugins 40,000 Pvt. Ltd. you don’t need to download the software and versatility of its competitors. Phone: 022 41 577 577 separately. The OS is pretty lean and fairly Mithun Mohandas Email: [email protected]

Digit | September 2013 | www.thinkdigit.com 91 Finding a domain name? A theory of 5 senses The Next Web explains how you can get a See what desginer Jinsop Lee explains in his theory perfect and affordable domain name you want. of 5 senses, with the help of some handy and well Bazaar Read this article: http://dgit.in/19Nn9N0 demonstrated graph examples. http://dgit.in/159G4cL

Toshiba AVG Mobilation Fujifilm X-M1 DT01ABA100V AntiVirus PRO The X-Factor on a Budget A good drive that does all. Packed to the gills

he Fujifilm X-M1 is the entry level mirrorless T Price camera from Price 499 the Japanese 5,000 company. With the X-M1, the he Toshiba DT01ABA100V company aims Tis different from regular at getting the drives as it functions as an AV quality of the drive – it’s predominantly sold n anti-virus tool that is X-series into the f/3.5-5.6 and the 27mm for multimedia use and incor- more tune-up utility than Price A hands of those who 42,999 f/2.0) are optically porated in set-top-boxes and an AV suite. The suite is packed cannot afford the more (body only) amazing and also DVRs. Priced competitively, to the brim with almost every premium X-Pro1 and because Fujifilm hasn’t it offers good performance tool that you’ll ever need to the X-E1. The X-M1 incor- dumbed the insides of the – single file and multiple file keep your phone in tip-top porates a 16 megapixel APS-C camera down at all in lieu of transfer rate of 70MB/s and condition. You’ve got every- X-TRANS sensor coupled up the price. 82MB/s, respectively. Even in thing from a full-fledged task with the EXR Processor II. For Unfortunately, where some our synthetic bench- scheduler to anti-theft, data some reason, Fujifilm decided Fujifilm does compromise marks, it consistently came usage and bandwidth limiter, to leave out the X-Trans II is in the build quality. The close to the performance peaks data wiper and more. You can sensor from the X-M1, which X-Series has so far carried a attained by several other take a backup of your apps and is a slightly better performer very signature metallic build, 7200RPM drives, which is data and even selectively wipe than the X-Trans sensor in the giving it a solid, robust feel, noteworthy. If you dabble in call logs and sms details and X-Pro1 and X-E1. but the X-M1 turns to plastic AV projects and are looking even specific user info if you’ve Performance wise, the as the material of choice. The for a peculiar type of drive, got multiple accounts synced to X-M1 yields incredibly good camera just doesn’t feel as pre- this is worth checking out – your device. This is easily the images, partly because the mium, but given that is costs and should be available at a most feature-rich AV suite that two new lenses (the 16-50mm less than half of the X-E1 and street price of `5k or below. we’ve ever come across for a performs almost just as well. It mobile device. has a slightly slower frame- rate, but the focus is just as 75 fast. The best part is that you 73 can still use the high quality XF lenses, allowing you to 88 Features...... 80 save on the body and splurge Features...... 75 Performance...... 80 on high quality lenses instead. Performance...... 70 Features...... 90 Design...... 65 The other good thing about Build...... NA Performance...... NA Value...... 75 the X-M1 is that it is the first Value...... 75 Value...... 90 X-Series camera to back built- Usability...... 85 Specifications in NFC and Wi-Fi for transfer- Specifications Sensor: 23.6mm x 15.6mm (APS-C) ring images to Android and Unformatted Capacity: 931.51GB; X-Trans CMOS; LCD Screen: 3-inch; Interface: SATA 3 Gbps; Cache Specifications Wi-Fi: 802.11n; Connector: USB 2.0, iOS devices instantaneously. memory: 32MB; Rotational Speed: AntiVrus; Deep Scan; Web browsing HDMI mini; Dimensions (WxHxD): All said and done, if you’re in 5700 RPM; Weight: 450 grams; protection; SMS and Call blocker; 4.6-inch x 2.6-inch x 1.5-inch; Weight: the market for a nice compact Warranty: 3 years Tune-up utilities; Task Killer; Anti- 330g (approx) camera that is nothing but a theft; etc. performance workhorse, the Contact Contact Toshiba India Pvt.Ltd. Contact Fujifilm India Private Limited Fujifilm X-M1 might be perfect Phone: 022-61771771 AVG Technologies Phone: 1800-200-0608 for you. Email: [email protected] Website: http://www.avg.com/in-en/ Website: http://www.fujifilm.in/ Swapnil Mathur Website: www.toshiba-india.com customer-support

92 Digit | September 2013 | www.thinkdigit.com Facebook for BlackBerry Twitter mobile update The recent Facebook for BlackBerry update brings Twitter for iOS and Android has received an update which support for Facebook Chat. You can get it directly adds support for login verification system. Read on to from BlackBerry World: http://dgit.in/15K7b4s find out more about this update: http://dgit.in/1cuYttH Bazaar Toshiba Satellite P50-AI0010 71 Smart and trendy, worth it as a basic laptop

Features...... 73 he Satellite P50’s screen lid’s exterior Satellite P50’s onboard Performance...... 60 is made of high quality plastic with a speakers are among Value...... 70 brushed metal finish that looks and the best we’ve heard Design...... 80 Tfeels quite premium. The P50 feels in this price band. sturdier than the Satellite L40 we reviewed In terms of Specifications last month, with a better hinge and more usability, we like the Screen: 15.6-inch, 1366x768; robust screen lid and palmrest. laptop’s full keyboard CPU: Intel Core i3-3227U Despite its 15-inch frame, the layout complete with a 1.9 GHz; RAM: 4 GB DDR3; HDD: 750 GB, 5400 RPM; laptop appears to be thin and dedicated number pad GPU: Intel HD 4000; OS: trim, but not quite on the right. However, the Windows 8 Premium 64-bit; light, though. accompanying touchpad Optical Drive: Yes; USB 2.0: Our benchmarks is over-sensitive and Yes, 2 ports; USB 3.0: Yes, 2 peg it as a basic to average per- frustrating to use at first. The ports; Connectivity: HDMI, VGA, Gigabit Ethernet, Wi-Fi former. And with the Toshiba Satellite P50 laptop’s battery lasted for a total of 2 802.11n, Bluetooth, SD Card sporting an Intel Core i3-3227U 1.9GHz pro- Price hours 42 minutes in our benchmark test slot cessor and 5400 RPM hard drive, we aren’t 39,831 – this is lower than the battery life on the too surprised. Processor-intensive tasks are 14-inch Toshiba Satellite L40, but not too bad Contact handled modestly at best, while the onboard for a 15-inch laptop. Overall, there’s a lot to like Phone: +91-124-4996600 Email: aditya.bhandari@ Intel HD 4000 graphics isn’t much to write home about the Satellite P50, if you’re not too picky about toshiba-india.com about either. The laptop’s LED-backlit screen is its CPU performance. Website: toshiba-india.com nice and bright, with good viewing angles. Also, the Jayesh Shinde

Creative HITZ MA350 Colourful, convenient and not too shabby

he HITZ MA350 in-ear headset is avail- giving you crystal clear mids and sharp highs able in a variety of trendy colours. The without the flatlining bass of the EM1. Some of our dual-tone effect thanks to the translucent bass heavy test tracks such as Hatesong by Porcupine 70 Ttips and the colour of the housing makes Tree or Angel by Massive Attack sounded fairly nice. them quite easy on the eyes; not to mention the You got that skull jarring effect angular cut design with the Crea- without the usual boomy rol- Features...... 74 tive logo embossed in a reflec- loffs. The only trouble we had Performance...... 72 tive surface adds to the charm. was with the lack of a clip that Value...... 63 Creative stresses on the term could’ve greatly reduced cable Build quality...... 68 isolating on its product page and microphonics. indeed they provide great isola- Priced similar to the iDance Specifications tion using quality silicon tips EB-X203, they’re way ahead in terms Weight: 11g; Driver (available in three sizes). of performance and looks. However the Size: 9mm; Driver type: Neodymium magnet; The headphones sport a flat pricing is still too high to secure a great Frequency Response: 6Hz ~ tangle-free cable just like the value score or to make them an instant 23kHz; Cable Length:1.2m Cowon EM1 but gains a few points in the no-brainer recommendation. However features department thanks to the sliding they are still highly-recommended for Contact volume control switch (most likely an bass-heads who want fidelity in other Raman Chawla Email: indiagetcreativek@ in-line potentiometer, thus working with Price frequency ranges and are willing to pay 2,299 ctl.creative.com any source) and gold plated connector. a slight premium for the quality. Website: http://in.creative. Performance-wise too they’re slightly ahead Siddharth Parwatay com/

Digit | September 2013 | www.thinkdigit.com 93 Chrome users beware! AOL to acquire Adap.tv This is why you should never hit “Save Password” AOL announced that the company has reached while browsing on Google Chrome. Read this an agreement to acquire a California based Adap. Bazaar article on Gizmodo: http://dgit.in/14y6Z94 tv for $405 Million USD. http://dgit.in/1cv68YR

Nokia Micromax Lava Iris 504Q Samsung Lumia 520 Canvas 4 Budget quad-core with Galaxy Grand Most inexpensive WP8 cell A smartphone with a lot of gesture support Quattro gesture controls An average 15K smartphone

Price Price 13,490 10,499 Price Price 17,999 16,570

he Lumia 520 is definitely he Canvas 4 has the same he Iris 504Q has the same Ta budget phone, as you Thardware as its prede- Tquad-core CPU and inter- he Galaxy Grand Quattro can tell from the low-contrast cessor, the Canvas HD, which nals found on other 5-inch Thas the tried and tested 480x800 display, or performs well. It comes with smartphones running on the Samsung design and build. the lack of 1GB RAM or even a slew of gesture controls. MediaTek SoC. The smart- The Android OS is overlaid an LED flash for that matter. These gesture controls can be phone brings with gimmicky with the TouchWiz UI. The However, the OS is so well used to pause a video when gesture support. These con- smartphone comes preloaded optimized that the behaviour you turn away, pick up a call, trols aside, the Lava Iris 504Q with Smart Stare, which is identical across the range of reject a call, switch on the loud is a run-of-the-mill quad-core refused to work. Natively the all WP8 devices, regardless of speaker and more. The build budget Android smart- smartphone didn’t recognise their price. The Lumia 520’s of the smartphone is good. The phone. Games and apps runs any of our video formats – camera is decent for most Canvas 4 has stock Android smoothly and the touchscreen AVI, MP4 and MKV. We had day-time shooting, with quick UI and comes preloaded is responsive. Its battery has to resort to third part video response and good images. It with Micromax apps such as enough juice to run through players for this. For it’s asking has 8 GB of on-board storage the M!Store. The camera on the day but camera’s average. price, the Quattro’s difficult to which can be increased the smartphone clicks good There are quite a few smart- recommend especially since to 32GB with the help of a images in both well-lit and phones in the market boasting you have devices such as the microSD card. For the price, low-lit situations. of similar specifications. Xolo Play T1000 and others the Nokia Lumia 520 is an selling at a cheaper price band. incredible little phone offering an excellent balance between price and features. Definitely 68 worth considering. 68 58

Features...... 80 Features...... 70 Features...... 60 75 Performance...... 70 Performance...... 70 Performance...... 50 Value...... 60 Value...... 70 Value...... 60 Design...... 60 Design...... 60 Design...... 60 Features...... 70 Performance...... 60 Specifications Specifications Specifications Value...... 85 Display: 5-inch IPS LCD display with Display: 5-inch IPS LCD display Display: 4.7-inch LCD display with 1280x720 pixel resolution, CPU: with 1280x720 pixel resolution, 480x800 pixel resolution, CPU: quad- Design...... 85 quad-core 1.2GHz processor, RAM: CPU: quad-core 1.2GHz, RAM: 1GB, core 1.2GHz processor, RAM: 1GB, 1GB, Storage: 16GB built-in, Camera: Storage: 4GB built-in expandable up Storage: 8GB built-in expandable up Specifications 13MP rear camera & 5MP video call to 32GB via a microSD card, Camera: to 32GB via a microSD card, Camera: CPU: Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 camera, OS: Android 4.2, Battery: 8MP rear & 2MP video calling 5MP rear & 0.3MP video calling Play; GPU: Adreno 305; RAM: 512 2000mAh battery. camera, OS: Android 4.2, Battery: camera, OS: Android 4.1, Battery: MB; Weight: 124 gm; Camera: 5MP 2000mAh battery. 2000mAh battery. Contact Contact Micromax India Contact Contact Nokia India Phone: 0124-4811000 Lava Samsung India Phone: +91 (STD Code) 30303838 E-mail: http://www.micromaxfunbook. Phone +91-0120 463 7333 Phone: 1800-300-08282 Website: www.nokia.com/in-en com/contactUs.php Email ID: [email protected] E-mail: http://dgit.in/14mUv1K

94 Digit | September 2013 | www.thinkdigit.com Dhingana on Windows Phone 8 Is “Auto Tune” bad? Do you love listening to Bollywood songs? The popular Time Magazine descibes Auto Tune as one of the worst Indian music streaming service Dhingana has launched inventions ever, which helps bad singers sounding as its Windows Phone 8 app. http://dgit.in/16tXyn7 good ones. See the Wikipedia: http://dgit.in/14iXO9x Bazaar

Xolo Q1000 Samsung Videocon Huawei Worth recommending Galaxy Mega A55HD Ascend Mate 5.8 Looks good Does size really matter? A really large smartphone

Price 14,999 Price Price 13,499 Price 24,900 24,900

hat the Xolo Q1000 Woffers users is a good he Videocon A55HD is or 25k you get some pretty build; impressive display and he Galaxy Mega 5.8 is a Tjust another quad-core Fgood specifications on the a smooth touch experience. Thuge smartphone. It’s like budget Android smartphone Ascend Mate and a really Apps and games ran well on a Galaxy S III on steroids. You running on the MediaTek SoC. large display. The smartphone the smartphone except Real have the standard TouchWiz However, what the smart- has a good slim form factor. Racing 3. On the downside, UI overlaying the Android OS phone brings to the table are Huawei has its own Emotion the camera is average and the on the smartphone. It comes good looks, decent build and UI overlaying the OS on the device attracts fingerprints. preloaded apps and the Sam- a smooth touchscreen. On the device. The large display of the The touchscreen has a good sung App store. The viewing downside the performance smartphone is good for run- response and is comfortable to angles of the display are quite of the camera is average. ning multimedia content and use for multimedia as well as good but the screen lacks Games ran smoothly on the playing games but we wish it reading books. The battery on sharpness. The display is good smartphone’s stock Android were 1080p. The performance the smartphone lasts through for multimedia consumption OS. The preloaded apps are of the camera is lacklustre one day of average use. The but it’s too big as a phone. The nothing to boast about. You do overall. You can consider call quality on the smartphone camera on the smartphone is get access to local content such picking up the Mate if a large is crisp at both ends. If you good in well-lit situations and as Bollywood new, wallpa- display is mandatory for you are in the market to pick up average in low-lit situations. pers and ringtones from the and you don’t mind using a a 5-inch quad-core budget Mate has preloaded apps. Buy this for new UI. smartphone, this is definitely better specs at the same price. its discerning look. worth considering. 65 65 70 78 Features...... 60 Features...... 70 Performance...... 70 Features...... 80 Performance...... 60 Features...... 70 Value...... 70 Performance...... 80 Value...... 70 Performance...... 80 Design...... 60 Value...... 60 Design...... 60 Value...... 80 Design...... 60 Design...... 80 Specifications Specifications Display: 6.1-inch LCD display with Specifications Display: 5.8-inch LCD display with Specifications 1280x720 pixel resolution, CPU: Display: 5-inch IPS LCD display 960x540 pixel resolution, CPU: Display: 5-inch IPS LCD display quad-core 1.5GHz processor, RAM: with 1280x720 pixel resolution, Dual-core 1.4GHz processor, RAM: with 1280x720 pixel resolution, 2GB RAM, Storage: 8GB built- CPU: quad-core 1.2GHz processor, 1.5GB RAM, Built-in storage: 8GB CPU: quad-core 1.2GHz processor, in expandable up to 32GB via a RAM: 1GB RAM, Storage: 4GB storage expandable up to 64GB via RAM: 1GB, Storage: 4GB built- microSD card, Camera: 8MP rear built-in expandable up to 32GB vial a a microSD card, Camera: 8MP rear in expandable up to 32GB via a camera & 1MP video call camera, microSD card, Camera: 8MP rear & camera & 1.9MP video call camera, microSD card, Camera: 8MP rear & OS: Android 4.1, Battery: 4050mAh 1.2MP video call camera, OS: Android OS: Android 4.2, Battery: 2600mAh 3.2MP video calling, OS: Android 4.2, battery 4.2, Battery: 2100mAh battery. battery. Battery: 2000mAh battery. Contact Contact Contact Contact Huawei India Xolo India Samsung India Videocon Email: http://dgit.in/1bXzXyl Mail: [email protected] Phone: 180030008282 Email: [email protected] Phone: 1800 209 6555 Phone: 1800 30 100 104 E-mail: http://dgit.in/14mUv1K Phone: 0124-3273091 Website: huawei.com/in/

Digit | September 2013 | www.thinkdigit.com 95 “Relevant Ads” on Google Maps Smokers Beware! Google has started rolling out its so called “relevant Smokers Beware! If you have Apple products ads” in the newly updated Google Maps app on iOS and around you, it’s recommended to be more careful. Bazaar Android. Read on to find out more: http://dgit.in/16D8yjY Read on to find out “why”: http://dgit.in/149yQoH

ASUS GTX Acer Aspire R7 760 DCII The R7 gives you intriguing design and great build quality, Middle of the pack but is it enough?

aptops come in many also set the screen against the shapes and sizes, keyboard (face-up) and use some purely func- the device as a tablet. Ltional, others for show The problem here is that Price with a few falling in-between. Acer decided to reposition 23,500 There are very few laptops the touchpad and pushed it that manage to hit that per- above the keyboard, so he build quality of the card fect balance between form while the screen does Tis good and it has four heat Price come closer, you lose and function and it’s that 74,999 pipes that run through the balance that the Aspire R7 the functionality of heatsink below the fans. This hopes to strike. the touchpad and the card runs quite cool and is This is, first and since the keyboard silent as well. Being a slightly foremost, a lifestyle laptop. is at the outer rim of overclocked version of the Yes, the price is high and the the device, you lose the reference GTX 760, this card hardware is something that palm-rest. This wouldn’t has a 1072 MHz boost clock the average geek will turn be so bad if the screen and performance benchmarks his nose up at (and rightly was smaller or Windows scores are as follows: 3D Mark so), but this device isn’t 8 a better OS, but as it 11 (Extreme): 2827; Unigine meant for them. It’s a lifestyle stands, using the device Heaven (1080p extreme): 41 product for the well-heeled without the precision of a FPS; Sniper Elite V2 (1080p (or indulged) geek and in that touchpad is just a pain. The max): 29.5 FPS; Metro Last regard, it doesn’t disappoint. size of the device and the lack Light (1080p Very High): 23.55 The laptop is extremely of a palm rest also means that FPS. According to the scores, well-built; the device feels solid. The display is the device is more suited for a this card was faster than the sturdy with nary a hint of a among the best we’ve seen desk than a lap and it actually stock GTX 760 but slower and squeak and the hinge is rock- and the speakers, they’re does seem a bit more usable costlier than the Palit GTX what a laptop’s speakers in that mode, especially with 760 Jetstream, the fastest GTX should be, loud and clear an external mouse. All this 760 we’ve tested. and capable of pumping makes us wonder if this new out enough volume to fill a form-factor even has a point. 73 decent room. They’re Dolby It doesn’t seem to improve Digital certified and the upon the existing designs and 76 Features...... 75 four speakers – one in each seems to create more prob- Performance...... 75 corner – are excellent. They lems than it solves. Build Quality...... 85 do distort at higher volumes, This is a lovely laptop, a Features...... 85 Value for money...... 55 but then again, what speaker premium, lifestyle device that Performance...... 72 doesn’t? is designed to appeal to the Build Quality...... 80 Specifications We now come to the stand- crowd that would consider a Value for money...... 65 CPU: Intel Core i5-3337U @ 1.8GHz; out feature of this device, its MacBook just as easily as a RAM: 8GB; GPU: Intel HD4000 USP if you will, the hinge. ThinkPad Carbon. The device Specifications Display: 15.6-inch (1920x1080); HDD: Acer’s taken to calling it the is exceptionally built and the Base Clock: 1006 MHz; Boost 1TB; OS: Windows 8 (64-bit) Clock: 1072 MHz; Memory: 2048MB; multimedia capabilities are Connectivity: IEEE 802.11a/b/g/n “Ezel” hinge and it’s a nifty Memory bus width: 256-bit; Display Wi-Fi; Bluetooth 4.0 + HS; 2 x USB3.0 little piece of engineering that above par. The battery life of Ports: 2xDVI, 1xHDMI, 1xDisplayPort; + 1 x USB 2.0; HDMI serves to bring the screen over 3.5hrs is great and while Warranty: 3 Years. closer to the user while it will burn a hole in your Contact typing while allowing him pocket, everyone else will Contact Acer India Pvt Ltd ASUS Technology Pvt. Ltd. be too busy gawking at the Phone: 080-39408700 to flip it over so the person Phone: 1800-209-0365 E-mail: [email protected] on the other side can check device to notice the smoke. Email: [email protected] Website: www.acer.co.in out what’s going on. One can Anirudh Regidi Website: www.asus.in

96 Digit | September 2013 | www.thinkdigit.com Our pick of the best tech articles from around the globe

(Must reads) [ExtremeTech Corner]

The future: Upgradeable smartphones

Amazon’s Ace up its sleeve Reports suggest that Amazon is working on displays that work on a principle called electrowetting, in which each pixel on the screen consists of tiny capsules of an oil that respond to electrical charge. http://dgit.in/sepww888

Build your own apps You don’t have to be a code monkey to build a half decent app? “Idea to Appster” present three do-it-yourself app builders designed for non-programmers that we’re sure you’ll love. http://dgit.in/sepww333

20 Life Hacks Will you ever be able to simply slide in a new processor, RAM, and battery – effectively These are not just simple extending your smartphone’s useful life almost indefinitely – just like a PC? The answer may common sense tips. What we surprise you. http://dgit.in/sepww222 have here are specific tools for gmail, chrome, and the cloud at large that will boost productivity on your computer instantly. http://dgit.in/sepww444

Grammar Nazis loose their mojo Autogrammar is coming to auto- correct, and an entire species Xperia Z Ultra too large for $500 PS4 and PS Vita bundle Bionic eye that’s upgradable of supercilious internet beings your hand? Although not yet confirmed, rumours Meet the Argus II bionic eye, faces extinction. On the bright After the cellphone industry spent seem to suggest such a bundle the first to get FDA approval and side, now your smartphone will around a decade minimizing the size (containing both the PS4 and the currently being prepped for a save you a lot of embarrassment. of mobile phones it has now come PS Vita) may be in the works. firmware upgrade that gives Your gonna love it! (Yes we know back full circle culminating in an This could be just what the doctor users of the Argus II bionic eye an enormous 6.4-inch smartphone. ordered to return PlayStation brand better resolution, focus, and it’s *lose and *you’re) Does it really make sense? Find out: to dominance. image zooming! http://dgit.in/sepww777 http://dgit.in/sepww111 http://dgit.in/sepww555 http://dgit.in/sepww666

Digit | September 2013 | www.thinkdigit.com 97 (worldview)

40 Maps that explain How BlackBerry fell Can twitter affect The internet could the world Since the launch of BB 10 share prices? get 3x faster This collec- OS sentiment regarding Apparently it A piece of software from MIT tion overlays BlackBerry changed. Still, all can and it has. is set to make the internet the world as is not rosy for the Canadian Mid-august three times faster by gener- you know it smartphone manufacturer. billionaire investor Carl Icahn ating algorithms that prioritize with brilliant insights such as This incisive piece delves sent Apple’s stock price soaring where to send data. Effectively, places most welcoming to for- deep into why the company with a single tweet. Apple shares the computer outwits human

S hor t s eigners, the best places to be has put up a giant, blinking went up nearly five percent. solutions to network conges- born, the most racist countries “for-sale” sign on its doors. Want to find out what he said? tion. If perfected, it could mean and many more. Desperation? Maybe. Follow the link: goodbye TCP as you know it. http://dgit.in/wwsep234 http://dgit.in/wwsep456 http://dgit.in/wwsep345 http://dgit.in/wwsep543

Humble Bundle outdoes itself. Are you in on the action yet?

t the time of writing this, the some time now, a sort of revolutionary enues it gains in client usage and latest made up concept for selling games that the audi- installs. Yes some of the games only work A entirely of Origin (or EA) games, ence loves and adores. You decide the in Origin unlike the usual Steam play- crossed the $6.6 million mark in revenues. price (as long as it’s equal to or above a able titles we’ve seen so far. It is likely to go down in history as the US dollar) and you’ve got yourself some If this is an EA ploy to boost the most successful humble bundle ever and amazing games. number of subscribers to Origin we’re taking this opportunity to introduce But besides just pandering to the (Steam’s rival) then it’s definitely a this unique concept to those of you who whim of the gamer zerg rush, the Bun- brilliant stroke on their part. But EA are not clued in to it as yet – believe us dles serve another purpose. Each Bundle will quickly have to ramp up its cloud when we say that you won’t want to be associates with a handful of charity infrastructure, for within hours of missing out on all that fun. organisations and gives you a chance announcing the Origin Bundle, EA’s Humble Bundles till date have given to do your bit for society – that’s right, Origin clients froze, in some isolated gamers all over the world access to games by contributing towards a Bundle, you instances some items from users’ inven- at throwaway prices. This particular one, wipe clean all that bad karma you accu- tories went missing. dubbed the Humble “Origin” Bundle While it’s understandable that it let buyers spend as little as $1 giving may have not anticipated such a surge them access to Dead Space, Dead Space in traffic and ruthless assault on its 3, Burnout Paradise: The Ultimate Box, servers beforehand, EA has a long way Crysis 2: Maximum Edition, Mirror’s to go match Steam’s stranglehold over Edge and Medal of – and get this, the market. Dead Space 3 and Medal of Honor are One other thing: sometimes Humble games that are less than a year old. Phew, Bundles add extra games to people those are some heavy duty games and who contributed more than the average it’s impossible to get these games for a mulated pirating games through your price, and we’ve seen this happen quite buck anywhere. teenage years. a few times in the past, but it isn’t a dead But that’s not the end of the story. If But what about the developers, you certainty with every Bundle. buyers chose to pay above the average ask? You get to choose that as well. We only hope that after the record- price ($4.80 at the time of going to press), Decide what share of your contribution breaking success of this Origin Bundle, they also got Battlefield 3 and The Sims goes to whom and you can walk out with EA goes through its roster of AAA titles 3 “+ Starter Pack,” which is an unbeliev- a glowing, satisfied conscience. The best and throws in one or two more for the able deal, and something that propels part about this Origin Bundle is that ravenous horde of gamers. If they throw you towards your wallet and credit card each and every cent of that amount col- in Dead Space 2, that’s one great trilogy details faster than a speeding jet. Just the lected will go to a predetermined charity right there. fact that cumulatively all these games – and you can also tweak the amount By the time you’re reading this, would’ve easily cost couple of hundred you pledge towards a charity of your the Origin Bundle will have been long dollars makes the Humble Origin Bundle interest (from the shortlist, of course). closed. But don’t despair, Bundles come ideal for gamers who can’t afford expen- Pretty great of EA to announce that, but out every week so be sure to bookmark sive games at their launch date. Humble it could’ve been the plan all along; who www.humblebundle.com and get on Bundles have been doing this for quite knows perhaps what EA loses in rev- their mailing list for updates.

98 Digit | September 2013 | www.thinkdigit.com (worldview)

Your meat addiction is Random scientific Faking genius Top-secret warplanes destroying the planet findings If we go by movies, of Area 51 One of the most com- ArsTechnica’s science editor the most common Stealth jets? Hypersonic bombers? mented articles on brings us a roundup of some signs of a super- Pop-Sci, with the help of patent fil- The Verge, this long interesting findings from cut- charged brain include ings and other evidence speculates feature delves into the specifics of ting edge bio-research labs. quickly solving a Rubik’s cube on what’s really being developed at meat consumption and how there Did you know that plants send and speed reading. These are not the US military’s most famous clas- is still hope to save the planet. Yes messages to each other over a god-given gifts but rather abilities. sified base. There’s a VTOL special even lab grown burgers have been fungus-net? Or that August is Check out this article that will ops infiltrator and the ram jet discussed. Brace yourselves carni- a fine month to kill off all your teach you how to learn five so powered Aurora Mach 6-plus attack vores, there’s a revolution coming. family members? What!? called signs of genius. aircraft. The gallery is worth a visit. http://dgit.in/wwsep098 http://dgit.in/wwsep765 http://dgit.in/wwsep567 http://dgit.in/wwsep654

Now that Google’s 20% time perk is over, how will innovation thrive at Mountain View?

nce a mainstay of innovation radically different ideas but will concen- at Google, the 20 percent time trate only on a small number of them. Now O perk allowed employees to spend the incubation and innovation baton has one day a week working on projects that been passed on exclusively to Google’s weren’t necessarily in their job descrip- super-secret X Lab. Google Glass and the tions. Towards the middle of last month self driving car were the results of this we began hearing murmurs online that very group. Google has unofficially put an end to While Google initially remained mum this practice; a practice that gave Google when the explosive Quartz post came some of it’s most profitable and innovative out, it later clarified that 20 percent products till date. It’s hard to believe but time is actually alive and well (http://dgit. AdSense, Gmail, Google News, and Google in/gogresp). But the (over)reaction from Talk were all the result of the 20 percent silicon valley is quite understandable. time perk. AdSense alone accounts for Google is somewhat of a flag bearer when about 25 percent of the company’s rev- that “stack ranking” has also led to the it comes to propagating an informal work enues. The program was so successful in slow death knell of the 20 percent time culture and yet remaining competitive fact that reportedly LinkedIn and Apple perk program. The stack ranking policy and productive. are some of the other places where it’s ranks employees and fires the bottom 20 To those of us not fortunate enough currently being emulated. percent. Hardly an environment that’ll to be working at the Googleplex, it’s sort A post on Quartz (http://dgit.in/20ptime) encourage employees to take risks. Thus of like a holy grail and to think that this insisted that while there is no official reportedly a running joke in Google calls bastion of un-corporate culture is under directive from Google to kill the 20 per- the perk 120 percent time, meaning that threat is bound to get everyone worked cent time perk, managers have made it even if engineers explore other projects up. Heck working at Google has been por- such that following independent pro- it is over and above what is expected of trayed as so cool that it has now become jects on that one day during the week is them in their regular job descriptions. the subject matter of a big-budget hol- more difficult than ever. From being a However, some posts also noted that while lywood movie – The Internship. “right” engineers now had to seek permis- 20 percent time is a luxury at Google, The funny thing though is that 20 per- sions to follow their dream projects. The the company at least makes available its cent time is not a Google original idea; 3M second spanner in the works came with immense compute power, vast databases has had 15 percent time for quite some the way Google’s internal analytics struc- and other resources to employees seeking time. Besides, companies are engaging ture measures productivity. It assesses to pursue their own Google-related ideas in hackathons which ultimately amount how productive teams have been by outside their main line of work. to that much time, but bring down costs taking into consideration 100 percent of Sources attribute this change in and are more focussed. Author Ryan Tate the time available to an employee (not strategy to Larry Page and the revamps who wrote a book on the subject insists 80 percent after discounting the perk). he’s put into place since he took over as that regular clamp downs on this culture The growing number of debates online CEO since January 2011. He has suppos- are common in Silicon Valley. Read his about this very topic drew in a lot of cur- edly implemented a “more wood behind opinion on why Google won’t be able to rent and ex-Google engineers. Some of fewer arrows” strategy which basically kill 20 Percent time even if it wanted to them (anonymously of course) claimed means that Google will still encourage (http://dgit.in/20pdie)

Digit | September 2013 | www.thinkdigit.com 99 (world(worldview)view)

Smosh Games Subscribe to this channel (Product Launches) and you get Smosh’s Ian Z Ultra Moto X The new Nexus 7 and Anthony plus the most hardcore game nerds on the web! It’s

At 6.8 inches, this monstrosity The Moto X features a It’s thinner, lighter and now from Sony sports the world’s Snapdragon S4 Pro (1.7GHz comes with a 1080p display. largest display in the world’s and Adreno 320 GPU) pro- It is also currently the only slimmest Full HD smart- cessor with 2GB RAM, and a device running Android 4.3 phone. It’s waterproof, fea- 2200 mAh battery. You also Jelly Bean out of the box. tures an 8 megapixel camera get options to customise the Other specs include a massive with 16x digital zoom, and phone’s body. No word on 3950 mAh battery and a Quad- runs on a 2.2 GHz quad core non-contract pricing yet but core Qualcomm Snapdragon processor. The price is likely most estimates peg it around S4 Pro @ 1.5GHz. all the news, strategy to be `44,990 approx. $700 i.e `43,000 approx. Price: `14,000 approx and reviews of a gaming channel, with all the w O R D j u m b l e Absolute insanity of Smosh. Timepass D E L G G O C E M B I L J A Z U R E Y K Y http://dgit.in/wwsgames T O B H N J K W A H Y R A I V A E E P E Z T U H B G R A L D D I W T I R B H B P V I X V O O M U U J W Q Z C T O D C I U P M L 20 cloud services B V T G Z I G B X H S Z P R E Z N I Q H S we’ve covered in next U Y L Z N T S B K K T L U H Y O G N F E I H Y N P R A C K S P A C E O P C X T N O F month’s FastTrack T V L X R R H R E T S I E M D N I M M U O are hidden in the grid I Y E T N I A P O M U S J X M M O D W E T alongside. [Since G X L K H R A L B B I R C S Z C R W K E O some of you have been Y T E E U G O H P W E S Q Z G A N T T E R asking for answers we T R D G T C I A T P Q O E C O L G W A I F decided to give you a E E Q Z G A O S Y N T Q Y B N W O G S B I cheatsheet, because (QR Code) D L T C B S E K N S Q K I X E G O Q A P A hey answers would be J L G T B O S R Z I N A C N U C L S N M Y too easy. Find it here: G O D P S Q Y Q C O B D K K N X F P A Y S http://dgit.in/wwsep]

Make sure your boss doesn’t catch you goofing off with Top 3 Picks one of these videos playing on your screen

For a list of all the links from this section, head over to Assassin’s creed UK Prism Slow mo water balloon fight Duration: 3 mins 1 sec Duration: 2 mins 16 secs Duration: 4 mins 43 secs http://dgit.in/WorldViewSep2013 Assassin’s Creed 4 meets Imagines what would happen Gav and Dan start a water bal- Or point your phone to the parkour in real Life in this if a government surveillance loon fight with over a thousand QR code above special comic con video program was privatised people and film it at 2500fps. http://dgit.in/wwsep987 http://dgit.in/sepww876 http://dgit.in/sepww654

100100 DigitDigit || SeptemberSeptember 20132013 || www.thinkdigit.comwww.thinkdigit.com killer rigs Everything you’ll ever need to build your own PC. Whatever your budget.

Basic rig = 25,950 HTPC = 26,600 Entry-level gaming = 37,220 Mid-range Compact System = 59,760 Mid-range gaming = 67,640 Ultra high-end = 2,06,540

Basic RIG HTPC Processor Intel Pentium G2020 4100 Processor AMD A6-3650 6450 Motherboard Gigabyte GA-H61M-D2H 3610 Motherboard MSI FM2-A75MA-P33 4300 RAM Corsair 2GB DDR3 1333MHz 1400 RAM Kingston 2GB DDR3 1333MHz 1430 HDD Seagate Barracuda 500GB 3400 HDD Western Digital WD20EZRX 2TB 5960 Monitor ViewSonic VA2038WM 6350 Monitor None (your TV) 0 Graphics Card None 0 Graphics Card None (HD6530D onboard) 0 Cabinet Huntkey T-91 1650 Cabinet Cooler Master Elite 120 Advanced 3000 PSU Corsair VS450 2400 PSU Cooler Master Thunder 450W 2650 Speaker (2.1) Logitech Z103 1550 Speaker None 0 Optical Drive Samsung 22x SATA DVD Writer 950 Optical Drive Samsung 22x SATA DVD Writer 950 Mouse Amkette Ash Black (Bundle) 540 Mouse Microsoft Desktop 2000 wireless combo 1860 Keyboard Amkette Ash Black (Bundle) 0 Keyboard Bundled 0 Sound Card None 0 Sound Card None 0 Total 25,950 Total 26,600

Entry-Level Gaming Mid-range Compact System Processor AMD A10-5800K 8200 Processor Intel Core i5-3570K 14600 Motherboard ASUS F2A85-M-LE 6440 Motherboard Asrock Z77E-ITX 11000 RAM G-skill F3-10600CL9S-4GBNT 2500 RAM Corsair Vengeance 8GB DDR3 1600 5200 HDD Seagate Barracuda 1TB 4200 HDD Seagate Barracuda 2 TB 6000 Monitor AOC I2251FWE IPS 8000 Monitor Your TV 0 Graphics Card None 0 Graphics Card ASUS GTX 650 Ti Boost 2GB 13900 Cabinet Huntkey T-91 1450 Cabinet Cooler Master Elite 120 Advanced 3000 PSU Corsair VS450 2400 PSU Cooler Master Thunder 500W 3250 Speaker Logitech Z313 2540 Speaker None 0 Optical Drive Samsung 22x SATA DVD Writer 950 Optical Drive Samsung 22x SATA DVD Writer 950 Mouse Amkette Ash Black (Bundle) 0 Mouse Microsoft Desktop 2000 wireless combo 1860 Keyboard Amkette Ash Black (Bundle) 540 Keyboard Bundled 0 Sound Card None 0 Sound Card NA 0 Total 37,220 Total 59,760

Mid-Range Gaming Ultra high-end Gaming Processor Intel Core i5-3470 12400 Processor Intel Core i7-4770K 23870 Motherboard Gigabyte GA-B75M-D3H 4550 Motherboard ASRock Z87 Extreme4 12570 Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2x4GB) RAM Corsair Vengeance 4 GB 3000 RAM 7400 Toshiba 1TB + Kingston DDR3 1600 HDD 7200 WD WD30EZRX 3TB + Corsair V100 64GB HDD 15700 Monitor BenQ G2420 HD 10500 Neutron 120 GB Sapphire HD 7850 OC Monitor BenQ XL2420T 23200 Graphics Card 15500 Edition 2 GB Graphics Card ZOTAC GeForce GTX 780 50500 Cabinet Antec One - S3 3650 Cabinet Cooler Master HAF - XM 10000 PSU Corsair GS 600 4900 PSU Cooler Master Real Power Pro 850W 11250 Speaker Logitech Z313 2540 Speaker Logitech Z906 5.1 20000 Optical Drive Samsung 22x SATA DVD Writer 950 Optical Drive LG Blu-ray WH14NS40 RW 7000 Mouse Razer Abyssus (bundled) 2450 Mouse Roccat Kone XTD 4750 Keyboard Razer Abyssus (Bundled) 0 Keyboard Corsair Vengeance K70 9300 Sound Card None 0 Sound Card ASUS Xonar Phoebus 11000 Total 67,640 Total 2,06,540

Digit | September 2013 | www.thinkdigit.com 101 Killer Rigs Price Watch If you’re looking at assembling a PC This month we give you the prices of for you, we have the covered. laptops, ultrabooks and ultraportables Street smart 101 Take a look at these rigs 104 available in the market right now Home Entertainment Projectors The best way to take your entertainment quotient to the next level

Agent 001 [email protected]

n an ideal world, a home entertain- ment projector is worth investing in if you have a big house with I large rooms and a dedicated movie room (if not a mini theatre). Having said that, no one stops you from con- tures that you’d want for your living mium. In my experience, BenQ, Ricoh templating a purchase if you need the room. Trust me when I say this that it’s and Viewsonic’s short throw projectors convenience of a large screen display one thing reading documents and com- are worth checking out. that your LCD TV just can’t provide. I’ve pletely another watching a fast-paced As per my observations, 3LCD noticed that the price range of a “basic” movie off a projector that’s not meant projectors are slightly better than con- 50-inch TV in many cases exceeds the for it – it’s a painful experience made ventional DLP ones, in terms of overall price of a reasonably good home pro- doubly painful if you paid good money picture quality. Since 3LCD is patented jector. And if you’re not particularly a for it. So beware of buying a lemon. by Epson, their home entertainment fan of smart, intelligent TVs (that let you Also portable projectors are ok if you projectors are definitely top notch and surf the Web, play games, support ges- travel a lot, but a strict no-no if you’re worth checking out (but they aren’t ture and voice control, and everything considering them as your primary TV cheap). At your local Reliance Digital, that burns a crater-sized hole through replacement cum entertainment option Croma or Ezone, try playing with your wallet) a projector is something for home. They simply don’t perform as Epson’s EH-TW series or Viewsonic’s that increasingly starts to make a lot of well as I’d want them to. Pro series geared for home entertain- sense. Like I said, it’s great for pro- Now that I’ve told you what not to do, ment. They’re pretty good. jecting a large viewable area either on let’s try and focus on what to look for in 3D is slowly coming off age not only an overhanging screen or directly onto your quest to buying a good home enter- in cinema halls and TVs but also in the smooth wall surface – something tainment projector. If you don’t have too projectors, I’ve noticed. However, when that TVs can’t match – making projec- much real estate to play with, consider you purchase a 3D-capable projector, tors a worthwhile medium for super- purchasing a ultra short throw projector ensure you invest in the requisite 3D sizing your movies or gaming sessions. – they’re specifically made to project a glasses. Don’t expect a 3D projector to When you go to market to purchase 50-inch or greater picture from just a have more than two pairs of glasses. As a projector for your home, don’t settle few centimetres away from the screen. far as projector screens go, just buy the for the cheapest one and don’t be swayed Take note, however, that there aren’t cheapest one out there – it doesn’t really by the salesman at any electronic too many short throw projectors meant make a huge difference unless you have store. More likely than not you’ll end for home entertainment use – most are the eyes of a hawk. I use a basic `1,500 up buying a simple business projector categorized for business use – so if you white-on-black six feet hanging screen devoid of any real entertainment fea- find one, be prepared to pay a hefty pre- for my movie sessions at home.

102 Digit | September 2013 | www.thinkdigit.com Anonymize BitTorrent traffic Indian Paypal coming? A handy guide to setup a private internet access Flipkart has begun investing in a new through a proxy for your download box. Comes in payment processing startup named PayZippy handy. http://dgit.in/187WODj http://dgit.in/14KvnOM Agent 001

Budget smartphone for dad promise is with the camera. Despite the drive. This will also be available around Dear Team Digit, my father wants to pur- camera, these three devices are good. `50,000 (http://dgit.in/10SUyji). chase a new mobile phone as his very old We would recommend that you take Regarding that tablet for your mom, and faithful Nokia set is unable to hold up a look at the Lumia 520 as it is a simpler since the priority is video calling, you Home any longer. He is not all fond of too many device to navigate. The Android options need a tablet with a front facing camera bells and whistles and treats a mobile are good too, with the exception of the and some average specifications. Our phone as a device designed only to ‘talk’ camera on them. first option here is the Nexus 7 (first and do nothing else. Transferring data from your PC on gen) priced at `13,000 approx. This will Entertainment But still his minimum requirements are Android and Windows Phone is quite give you a good tablet utility apart from as follows: easy, so there should be no trouble there. working as a good video-calling device. 1. Good and sturdy build quality. If you are looking for a cheaper option, 2. Touch-screen is preferred although Laptop for me, tablet you can take a look at the Asus MeMo Pad Projectors physical keyboard would do if the set is for mom priced at `7,999. It has a good touchscreen good. Hi Digit, I’ve already surfed through the but the rest of the functions are fairly 3. Good sound quality (he is quite fond of websites of HP, Dell, Lenovo, etc, and tried basic. For the purpose of video calling, old songs :-) ) to pick a laptop for me but was over- these two are good enough. 4. Good amount of storage. whelmed by the large no. of choices avail- 5. Android is preferred as the OS but other able. I thus seek your help. alternatives are also accepted. My budget is around `55,000, and want a 6. And finally, a decent camera. good latest laptop. My usage will be mainly And here’s the trick: The budget is college studies and project works, video `10,000. It can be extended by another calling.(parents and friends), web surfing and 2k at max. maybe some occasional graphic designing.We Brand preference: Samsung and Nokia. saved up a lot for the laptop and I want it to Abhineet Pratyush last for at least 4 yrs. Also I wish to buy my mom a new tablet The one device that fulfils all your so that we can stay connected(skype), as Cooler Master Notepal U requirements is the Nokia Lumia 520. the we don’t have a PC at home. Any of your only catch is that it works on the Windows suggestions will be valuable. Thanks in Laptop heating woes Phone OS. The build of the phone is good, advance. Will be looking to your reply. I’ve been playing hardcore games like touchscreen is smooth and responsive Digit reader FIFA 13, Mass Effect 3,Dead Space 3 on (one of the better ones at that price) and my 1 year old laptop and as expected it the sound is nice as well. it has 8GB You have mentioned the budget for the heats up a lot after some interval of time. I storage that can be expanded so the laptop purchase, which is very helpful. fear it might get damaged. So is it neces- storage shouldn’t be a problem. The Your first option would be the HP sary to have a laptop cooler while playing camera is decent too. Pavilion m4 priced at Rs. 49,990. You these games?? Are they really effective If Android is what you are looking for could get it for a couple of grand less at in reducing CPU temperatures?? If yes then you can take a look at the Canvas 2 most stores. It has a 14-inch display, an please suggest me some. Plus, Spice Mi515, Xolo Q700 and a few Intel Core i5 processor and 8GB of RAM, Yash Kher more. now, these smartphones work well Nvidia GeForce 730M (2GB) graphics as Android devices, but where you com- with a 1TB hard drive. Very slim machine, Laptop cooling pads help minimize a and would be comfortable for lugging to laptop’s processor’s operating tempera- college everyday and back. What we really ture, up to as much as 10-12 degree love on this is the keyboard, and assuming Celsius, in our performance tests. At least you will be typing a lot, this is a critical the good ones do. If you want to buy one, element you should consider (http://dgit. we highly recommend the Cooler Master in/19IeURX). Notepal U (read review here: http://dgit.in/ Another machine that you could con- JBNRsV), for its versatility and perfor- sider is the Lenovo IdeaPad Y500. This is mance benefits. It’s not too costly either, if also a fairly slim machine, but we would extending the longevity of your gaming recommend this in case you need a bigger laptop matters to you. Apart from this, display - this one has 15.6-inches screen. we’d also recommend keeping your laptop Very powerful machine – Intel Core i5 in a cool environment (air conditioned processor, 6GB of RAM, NVIDIA GeForce room) to reduce ambient heat sur- Nokia Lumia 520 GT645M (2GB) graphics and a 1TB hard rounding it.

Digit | September 2013 | www.thinkdigit.com 103

Ubuntu Edge fundraising fails Mystery virus linked to bats After raising $3 million in the first 24 hours nobody The mystery virus that killed a lot of people in would have imagined that the campaign would fail Saudi Arabia has been linked to bats Price Watch http://dgit.in/16Uml7L http://dgit.in/15glQma Spend Smart This month we take a look at laptops, ultrabooks and ultraportables available for you to purchase in the market.

Laptops Brand Model Display Size Processor RAM Graphics OS Price (in inches) (in GB) Apple MacBook Pro 15 with 15.4 Intel Core i7-3635QM 8 NVIDIA GeForce GT 650M OS X Mountain 149900 Retina (1GB) Lion Apple MacBook Pro 15 with 15.4 Intel Core i7-3740QM 16 NVIDIA GeForce GT 650M OS X Mountain 189900 Retina (1GB) Lion HP Pavilion 15-e002au 15.6 AMD Quad-Core A4- 8 AMD Radeon HD 8330 (1GB) Windows 8 32990 5000 HP Pavilion 15-e018tx 15.6 Intel Core i3-3110M 4 AMD Radeon HD 8670M (2 Windows 8 37990 GB) HP Pavilion 14-e006tu 14 Intel Core i5-3230M 4 Intel HD graphics 4000 Windows 8 41990 HP Pavilion m4-1003tx 14 Intel Core i5-3230M 8 NVIDIA GeForce 730M (2 Windows 8 51990 GB) HP ENVY 4-1202tx 14 Intel Core i5-3337U 4 AMD Radeon HD 8750M (2 Windows 8 56990 GB) Dell Inspiron 14R 14 Intel Core i3-3227U 4 Nvidia GeForce GT730M Windows 8 43490 (2GB) Dell Inspiron 15R 15.6 Intel Core i3-3227U 6 Intel HD graphics 4000 Windows 8 42190 Dell Inspiron 15R 15.6 Intel Core i5-3337U 6 AMD Radeon HD 8730M Windows 8 51590 (2GB) Lenovo IdeaPad Y500 15.6 Intel Core i7-3632QM 8 Nvidia GeForce GT650M Windows 8 70790 (59-346619) (2GB) Lenovo IdeaPad Z500 15.6 Intel Core i5-3210M 6 Nvidia GeForce GT645M Windows 8 53990 (59-341235) (2GB) Sony Vaio Fit 14 14 Intel Core i5-3337U 4 NVIDIA GeForce GT 740M Windows 8 45990 SVF14218SNB (2GB) Sony Vaio Fit 15 15.5 Intel Core i5-3337U 4 NVIDIA GeForce GT 740M Windows 8 46990 SVF15218SNB (2GB) Sony Vaio Fit 15 15.5 Intel Core i5-3337U 4 NVIDIA GeForce GT 740M Windows 8 59990 SVF15219SNB (2GB) Sony Vaio S SVS13126PNB 13.3 Intel Core i5-3210M 4 NVIDIA GeForce GT 640M Windows 8 69990 Alienware Alienware 14 14 Intel Core i7-4700MQ 8 NVIDIA GeForce GT 750M Windows 8 111490 (1GB) Alienware Alienware 14 14 Intel Core i7-4800MQ 16 NVIDIA GeForce GTX 765M Windows 8 140490 (2GB) Alienware Alienware 17 17.3 Intel Core i7-4700MQ 8 NVIDIA GeForce GTX 765M Windows 8 132490 (2GB) Alienware Alienware 17 17.3 Intel Core i7-4700MQ 16 NVIDIA GeForce GTX 770M Windows 8 176490 (2GB) Samsung NP550P5C-S04IN 15.6 Intel Core i5-3210M 6 NVIDIA GeForce GT 650M Windows 8 56500 (2GB)

104 Digit | September 2013 | www.thinkdigit.com Makerbot Digitizer World's most precise clock The folks behind Makerbot have come up This clock – if you can call it that – predicts time with a digitizer for capturing the 3D profiles accurately down to the hundred trillionth second. of objects http://dgit.in/14KgDzt http://dgit.in/1bZVSFp Price Watch

Ultrabooks & Ultraportables Brand Model Display Processor RAM Graphics OS Price Size (in (in inches) GB) HP Pavilion TouchSmart 11.6 AMD Dual-Core A4- 4 AMD Radeon HD 8210 Windows 8 31990 11-e006au 1250 APU HP Pavilion TouchSmart 14 14 Intel Core i3-2375M 4 Intel HD 3000 Windows 8 39990 HP Pavilion TouchSmart 14 14 Intel Core i5-3337U 4 NVIDIA GeForce GT 630M (1GB) Windows 8 49990 HP Spectre XT 14 Intel Core i5-3317U 4 Intel HD Graphics 4000 Windows 7 59990 HP ENVY TouchSmart 4 14 Intel Core i5-3337U 4 Intel HD Graphics 4000 Windows 8 59990 Dell Inspiron 14z 14 Intel Core i3-3217U 4 AMD Radeon HD 7570M Windows 8 47790 Dell Inspiron 15z 15 Intel Core i5-3337U 4 NVIDIA GeForce GT 630M (2GB) Windows 8 55990 Dell Inspiron 15z with Touch 15 Intel Core i5-3337U 6 Intel HD Graphics 4000 Windows 8 65190 Dell Inspiron 15z with Touch 15 Intel Core i7-3537U 8 NVIDIA GeForce GT 630M (2GB) Windows 8 79490 Dell XPS 12 12.5 Intel Core i5-3337U 4 Intel HD Graphics 4000 Windows 8 87490 Dell XPS 12 12.5 Intel Core i7-3537U 8 Intel HD Graphics 4000 Windows 8 105490 Dell XPS 13 13.3 Intel Core i7-3537U 8 Intel HD Graphics 4000 Windows 8 107490 Asus Taichi 21-DH51 11.6 dual Intel Core i5-3317U 4 Intel HD Graphics 4000 Windows 8 1,08,000 Asus Taichi 31-DH71 13.3 dual Intel Core i7 3517U 4 Intel HD Graphics 4000 Windows 8 139999 Asus VivoBook F202E-CT148H 11.6 Intel Core i3-3217U 4 Intel HD Graphics 4000 Windows 8 35500 Asus S550CM-CJ054H 15.5 Intel Core i5-3317U 4 NVIDIA GeForce GT 635M (2GB) Windows 8 57999 Asus S400CA 14 Intel Core i7 3517U 4 Intel HD Graphics 4000 Windows 8 59999 Lenovo IdeaPad U310 13.3 Intel Core i5-3317U 4 Intel HD Graphics 4000 Windows 7 55990

Lenovo IdeaPad U410 14 Intel Core i7 3517U 4 NVIDIA GeForce GT 610M (1GB) Windows 7 63990 Lenovo IdeaPad U510 15.6 Intel Core i5-3317U 4 NVIDIA GeForce GT 625M (1GB) Windows 8 67490 Lenovo IdeaPad Yoga 11 11.6 Nvidia Tegra T30 2 Nvidia ULP GeForce Windows RT 49990

Lenovo IdeaPad Yoga 13 13.3 Intel Core i5-3317U 4 Intel HD Graphics 4000 Windows 8 84290 Sony Vaio Pro 11 SVP11213SNBI 11.6 Intel Core i5-4200U 4 Intel HD 4400 Windows 8 69990 Sony Vaio Pro 13 SVP1321WSNB 13.3 Intel Core i5-4200U 4 Intel HD 4400 Windows 8 74990 Sony Vaio Z SVZ13115GNXI 13.1 Intel Core i7-3612QM 8 Intel HD Graphics 4000 Windows 7 179900 Toshiba Satellite U840W-X0310 14.4 Intel Core i5-3317U 6 Intel HD Graphics 4000 Windows 8 63500 Toshiba Satellite Satellite 940X0110 14 Intel Core i5-3317U 4 Intel HD Graphics 4000 Windows 8 51890 Samsung Series 5 NP530U4C-S04IN 14 Intel Core i3-3217U 4 NVIDIA GeForce GT 620M (1GB) Windows 8 47700 Samsung Series 5 NP530U4C-S03IN 14 Intel Core i5-3317U 6 NVIDIA GeForce GT 620M (1GB) Windows 8 58800 Samsung Series 5 NP540U3C-A01IN 13.3 Intel Core i5-3317U 8 Intel HD Graphics 4000 Windows 8 63300 Samsung Series 9 NP900X3C-A02IN 13.3 Intel Core i7-3517U 4 Intel HD Graphics 4000 Windows 8 100000 Samsung Series 9 NP900X4C-A01IN 15 Intel Core i7-3517U 8 Intel HD Graphics 4000 Windows 8 105500 Acer Aspire S7-391C 13.3 Intel Core i5-3337U 4 Intel HD Graphics 4000 Windows 8 91290 Apple MacBook Air 11 11.6 Intel Core i5-4250 4 Intel HD 5000 OS X 67900 Apple MacBook Air 13 13.3 Intel Core i5-4250 4 Intel HD 5000 OS X 74900 Apple MacBook Pro 13 with Retina 13.3 Intel Core i5 8 Intel HD 4000 OS X 99900

Digit | September 2013 | www.thinkdigit.com 105 Work@tech Flip. Read. Now. Find out what it takes to Two weeks since Flipboard introduced its new make or break a career in magazine feature, its readers have already created Tech @ Work 111 software testing over 500,000 publications

Smarter Surfaces: A smarter way to do business? It’s an interactive world out there. How do you use that to better your enterprise?

Anirudh Regidi a custom, gesture-based interactive environ- projects the graphics onto a surface of your [email protected] ment for you to best showcase your work choice (a glass surface, a wall or a floor) and/or draw customers in. In fact, you don’t and a sensor unit that usually comprises e live in a world where even need to rely on someone else to do it for of infra-red LEDs and a sensor. The setup we’re using gestures eve- you, with a bit of patience, a bit of cash and will be hooked up to a PC, you don’t need a rywhere. Where touch- some intelligent use of yours (or someone fancy one, and the requisite software will Wscreens were only in the else’s) programming skills, you can create manage the whole thing for you. As long realm of the geek, they’re now part and your very own gesture-ready display. as you have a surface to project on and the parcel of our lives and aged grandmothers sensor can see that surface, you can create pinch-to-zoom just as easily as toddlers How do these “interactive an interactive surface. thanks to the plethora of smartphones and surfaces” work? The problem is in implementing the tablets that have permeated our lives. So Anywhere. Most commercial implemen- system for yourself as there would be quite much so in fact that traditional buttons tations of this technology involve the a bit of image processing (IP) knowledge and switches don’t seem to cut it anymore. use of projectors and Kinect style sen- involved. Companies that provide this As a company, you can take advantage sors or infra-red cameras to capture and service are almost always using the same of this fact, the gesture-ready human race, interpret gestures and other movement. type of tech to create that surface, though the and leverage it to your advantage. There are The technology involved is very simple, design may vary slightly, and then leverage many companies and organizations that off-the-shelf components will easily suf- their experience in IP and app design to provide services that will allow you to create fice. You essentially have a projector that create a solution that suits your needs.

106 Digit | September 2013 | www.thinkdigit.com NewYork Times turns around Shh! The NYT now allows free viewing of it’s videos, a big Want to know how the Spy Satellite Program step considering it is known for keeping news behind was built? Be careful though – the CIA is a defined paywall onto you. http://dgit.in/ZOkyIh Smart SoHo

Why bother? uses infra-red beams to detect up to 40 Ubi-Interactive Apart from the fact that interactive surfaces touch points. Ubi-interactive’s solution for the creation look cool, or rather because of it, they tend • TouchMagix Phone: This is an interesting of smart surfaces is interesting. They’ve to draw attention. You can setup interactive interactive solution that can get people to taken Microsoft’s Kinect sensor and exhibitions for your products, 3D models interact with a display via SMS. It can be essentially implemented the same gestures that people can interact with for example, something as simple as some sort of voting and responsiveness that you would expect and various other implementations. It can system at the waiting line at a counter to from an Xbox360 with Kinect and allows be something as simple as an entertainment something that can be used in theatres to you to use it on any Windows-based PC. zone for kids in your restaurant or commer- say, vote on movies. The advantage here is that you can project cial institution of some sort. People will tend • Custom solutions: The Company also pro- that screen anywhere and still have fully- to interact with those surface, and inadvert- vides custom solutions for your interactive functional gestures. ently your product, simply because they’re surface needs; they’re backed by a team At $1500 for a 20 touch point imple- curious and because it’s a novel experience. of designers and programmers who can mentation, setting up a system is expensive, Interactive billboards are a huge crowd create what you need. but cheaper than many other enterprise pleaser as well and implementing them is We visited the company’s offices in Pune level solutions that we’ve seen. Also, the fact not as difficult as you might think. and got a chance to interact with many of the that there is no custom hardware involved Schools can also use this technology to interactive solutions that they’ve developed means that getting spare parts is easy. their advantage as a teaching aid of sorts and we’ve come back impressed with the Full details are available at: http://www. (http://dgit.in/NS4zWH), not to mention fluidity of the interfaces as well as the ease ubi-interactive.com/ hospitals and other such similar institu- with which the systems can be imple- tions. It need not be that smart surfaces mented. For all those who’re curious about DIY Solutions have to be used only for advertising, their work and what we saw, don’t forget to Setting up a smart surface need not be a maybe they’re the best way to showcase check out our Alpha DVD this month where ridiculously expensive project, especially your product. The technology is available we’ve included the videos that we shot there. if it’s just for setting up a small, elegant and it’s only your imagination that is the The company has a vast portfolio and solution for a restricted audience. There are limiting factor. have worked with many large corporations plenty of tools and resources online that can Offices can make use of the technology in India and abroad and include clients such get you started. as well, as a digital drawing board if you as AT&T, McDonalds, Nokia, Intel, IBM, will. Of course, it can be considered more etc. They can be contacted at http://www. Atlas Gloves of an indulgence in such a scenario and touchmagix.com/ This is a very simple DIY solution that it probably is, but hey, it might get more anyone with a PC and `50 to spare can people to enter the conference room and implement. Just head to http://atlasgloves. actually contribute. org and go through the site. They’ve pro- Now that you’ve got a rudimentary idea vided the source code as well as instructions as to what goes into the creation of smart to build your own gloves from scratch. surfaces and what you can do with the tech, The project might seem very basic on here’s a roundup of some of the companies the surface and you’re only restricted to that offer such services. one app (Google Earth) as a demo, but, with some rudimentary programming skills TouchMagix and some degree of determination, you TouchMagix is a Pune based company can take the basic concept and source code that offers various interactive solutions to to create almost any kind of responsive customers. These include the following:- display that you like. • TouchMagix Interactive Wall and Floor: These are essentially the same, it’s just that Intel in once case you have a projector aimed at Intel has provided the so-called “Creative a wall and in the other, a projector aimed Interactive Gesture Camera Development at the floor. The software involved can, of Kit.” The kit consists of a 3D camera (a course, differentiate between hands and slightly more complex webcam with two feet, depending on the orientation. lenses instead of one) and support via the • TouchMagix Table and Kiosk: These are Intel SDK to get any developer started on the also the same, almost. One is a table and development. The camera and software can the other a kiosk but the tech involved is recognize simple gestures out of the box. identical. Both use LCD TVs or screens of Anup Tapadia, founder of TouchMagix You can purchase the kit for yourself at any sort that are embedded in a frame that demonstrating the TouchMagix table http://dgit.in/152jJy4

Digit | September 2013 | www.thinkdigit.com 107 Ben Afflect next Batman New drug mimics exercise That’s right. Warner Bros. has confirmed their A drug known as SR9009, currently being developed choice for the next flick in 2015. Surprised? at Scripps Research Institute can make you enjoy Industry Connect http://dgit.in/1dyQ3Aj the benefits of exercise http://dgit.in/19Bsqog Our Opera moment One of the stalwarts of the browser world, Opera holds a special place among power users. The browser has undergone many transformations recently, and to catch up on the latest and greatest from Opera, we had a chat with Sebastian Baberowski, Product Management Director (Desktop), Opera Software. Following is an excerpt from our exclusive interview:

Jayesh Shinde them and other aspects that make Opera [email protected] better than most browsers on the market? So yeah I think that I said about a few For anyone not using Opera browser right features that we have now, and also about now, what would be the most compelling the features which we are about to include reason for them to switch to Opera? like Opera Sync (for syncing things) which So Opera is now lighter with our compact is not a new feature since it is already source which is one of the reasons and present in Firefox and Chrome. But we are we also have the main features, which going to continue in that market and get are speed dial, we group tasks (which is a on to cloud for the browser. We are really completely new idea and I think it’s quite doing some research and spending a lot of great) and discover. We are switching time in the human interaction design and from webkit to whole new engine and our UI design and so on to make this browser goal is to have more time to focus on the really cool and really usable. Unlike really cool things, cool features for our Mozilla, Google or Apple, we are mainly a users to really help them in their daily browser company and focusing more on work. So over the time I except that we those areas than other companies do. will have a lot more of the great features and hope that we will continue to do what Sebastian Baberowski, Product MD So who do you think is Opera’s core audi- Opera did in the past. If you look at the (Desktop), Opera Software ence, is it geek users or the masses? current browsers, whatever browsers you We were just working on targeting the want to look at like IE, Chrome, Safari and look for original content source and elimi- browser and so on. Currently I can tell Firefox. The main functionality of those nating duplicates. you that we have a lot of geeky users, it’s browsers are taken from Opera, so we nothing new. I think for the new Opera, were the first browser with an ad blocker, Opera’s had issues with Google services Opera 15, the target user is one who wants integrated search and speed dial. So we in the past, they don’t work as well as on to have a choice. It’s not like for the masses simply want to continue doing that and Chrome, for e.g. Any particular reason why because we don’t have geek marketing we want to be the leader in the innovation this seems to be happening? forces that Google has and so on. I think, of browser technology. I’m happy to report that we don’t have not technical but a user who wants to have these issues on Opera 15 because we a choice who can choose intentionally and Would you elaborate more about Opera now use the same engine as Chrome download and use us. Then recommend to 15’s “Discovery mode”? (Chromum and WebKit) so all services other fans. We have a dedicated engineering team for should work as normal and this also is a making that feature as it is still evolving big reason for us to switch from our old So from Opera 15 the geekiness of the and we are looking to adding a few more engine (Presto) which used to have prob- browser is reducing? things. Our marketing and PR teams lems rendering those pages because we So the idea behind Opera 15 is to have a around the globe points us to the right were the only browser using that engine browser which feels good for the power content, from the tech point of view it is and it is not accurate. So yeah, I can tell users. So we want to have powerful quite a good feature, and we constantly you that we used to have those issues and browser which can please the power users look for duplicates. For example, when the now that we don’t have them anymore. but we also want a browser that can be user new pope was elected, there was a lot of by normal users and not just geeky users. content to catch on because every portal You mentioned briefly about how Opera This is quite a hard task to do, you know was saying the same about the new and has been pioneering tech that other brows- join those things, but so far I think we are old pope. Our team was happy trying to ers have duplicated. Can you talk about good at that and we are progressing well.

108 Digit | September 2013 | www.thinkdigit.com NASA releases Europa wishlist Yahoo mail shuts in China As it gears up to launch a mission to Jupiter’s icy Yahoo’s email service in China is shut down and it moon, NASA has made public a list of fancy gear it has asked users to transfer accounts to Alibaba’s wants to take to Europa http://dgit.in/19Buv3m Alimail. Read more here: http://dgit.in/1d8ePcL Industry Connect Memory matters Who hasn’t heard of Kingston memory and storage devices? Undoubtedly, a lot of us here in India have. Probably that’s why duplicate or fake products bearing a close resemblance to Kingston drives have flooded the markets, recently. We interact with Vishal Parekh, Marketing Director - India, Kingston Technology, and find out how the company’s dealing with this specific problem, and other product highlights in an exclusive interview. Excerpts follow:

Jayesh Shinde percentage of RAM sales includes HyperX [email protected] RAM in India? Yes, our HyperX memory modules are Apart from the HyperX 3K (and its vari- available in various designs and speci- Vishal Parekh, Marketing Director - India, ous capacities), there isn’t any other model fications, which make them ideal for the Kingston Technology in the Enthusiast SSD lineup. With competi- gaming and enthusiast segment. You’ll tion having a diverse range in the enthusiast find modules for home theatre systems, segment, why does Kingston not have vari- gaming rigs and overclockers in the What is Kingston doing about the ‘fake ety there? HyperX range. In fact, HyperX is our Kingston pen drives’ being sold on the Kingston chooses not to focus on any most premium line of products and are streets in Mumbai and other places? These specified consumer groups, and we don’t immensely popular across the globe. India drives offer huge capacities at lower prices really believe in following trends set is no exception, as HyperX have always and they come with the Kingston branding. by our competitors. Instead, we have a been popular among gamers and enthu- The concern around fake pen drives is range of SSD in different segments – from siasts, especially HyperX blu. Kingston more of a law-and-order situation in the enterprise to enthusiast. You shall notice will focus on researching and continue country. What we are doing right now is that Kingston always has something to bringing the high-performance memory to create awareness about purchasing gen- offer various users. We put a lot of efforts products into the Indian market to fulfill uine Kingston products through author- into different products for different consumers need. ized distribution channel and dealers. consumers, and we believe we have an Through our channel partners’ initia- impressive variety of SSD. For instance, Could you tell us about your Data tives, social media, and EDMs, we keep the V300 is for regular consumers, the Traveler encrypted pen drives and its secu- consumers informed about the benefits HyperX 3K ones are for enthusiasts, and rity features? purchasing from authorized distribution. the E100 SSD is for enterprises. One thing Kingston’s range of encrypted, secure Consumers can also visit our website to that’s for sure, however, is that all our SSD flash drives provide the highest level verify if the Kingston product they’ve pur- have excellent quality, high speed, and of data protection that meets specific chased is authentic. (http://www.kingston. great performance. agency directives like TAA and FIPS com/en/support/product_verification ) compliance and are ideal for corporates We are seeing newer players in the SSD or government use. We have 6 varie- At CES you showcased a first-of-its-kind controller segment recently. Does Kingston ties of secure USB flash drives and in 1TB pen drive. Was that just a proof-of- have any plans to move away from the various capacities. While each of the concept or do you actually expect demand SandForce controller in the near future? flash drives is unique, the qualities for pen drives with hundreds of gigabytes of No, we don’t have any plans at the they have in common are that they are storage to increase? moment to move away from the Sand- durable, waterproof, easy to use, have We realize that the 1TB capacity flash Force controller. hardware-based encryption, and come drive will attract a group of more niche, with a five year warranty. The hardware enthusiastic consumers. But we do believe The HyperX RAM lineup is quite inter- based encryption makes these flash that in time, the demand for high perfor- esting, Could you give us an idea of the drives a better option over the software mance flash drives with greater capacities adoption rate of enthusiast RAM, as in what based ones. will increase.

Digit | September 2013 | www.thinkdigit.com 109 Download iOS 7 Xbox at Gamescom 2013 Can’t wait to test drive Apple’s new OS on your Engadget previews what Xbox has to offer iPhone or iPad? With the following steps, you at this year’s Gamescom gaming convention. Industry Connect most certainly will http://dgit.in/19O7ldK Read on http://dgit.in/1d8gHSM What makes GIGABYTE tick To better understand some of the technical wizardry employed on their motherboards and future product plans, we got insights from Colin Brix, Technical Marketing Director, GIGABYTE. Excerpts from our interview:

Jayesh Shinde tion we had added the Creative Sound [email protected] Core3D as well as a new feature called GIGABYTE AMP-UP, which as you men- What unique new tech is Gigabyte packing tioned, is the world’s first motherboard into its 8 series motherboards? OP-Amp socket, allowing enthusiasts For our 8 series motherboards, we have to swap out the motherboard’s onboard three main product segments including operational amplifier (Op Amp) using Gaming, Overclocking and Performance a range of nuanced OP Amps available motherboards and we have added quite on the market. a few new features for each. For Gaming We’ve already had quite a lot of posi- we are the first motherboard to include tive feedback from our Indian customers an onboard OP-AMP socket as well as for this feature, as not only are they able to Creative Sound Core3D, gold plated customize their onboard audio experience audio jacks, Killer + Intel dual LAN and for the first time, but it is also a relatively a new water block + fan heatsink design. cost effective way to get a huge improve- For our overclocking motherboards, our ment in sound quality, without having to overclocker HiCookie has added a bunch go out and buy really expensive high-end of new features including GIGABYTE OC Colin Brix, Technical Marketing Director, speakers or cables. Ignition, OC Brace, OC Touch hardware GIGABYTE overclocking buttons and gold plating Gigabyte’s boards are known for durabil- for the power connectors, the PCIe slots, BIOS’ and a ‘Backup BIOS’, making ity. Can you give us an insight into some memory slots as well as the CPU socket. users protected from BIOS failure due of your testing (or R&D) methodologies to virus attack, hardware malfunction, that help ensure Gigabyte’s motherboards With the 8 series motherboards, improper OC settings or power failure deliver on their promise of durability? Gigabyte’s introducing UD5 Plus for the first during the update process. The first step in ensuring the quality of time. What’s its significance? 4. Ultra USB3+ packs up to 10 USB 3.0 our motherboards is to make sure that we GIGABYTE Ultra Durable 5 Plus debuts ports per board. Each of these 10 use only the highest quality components on GIGABYTE 8 Series motherboards, USB 3.0 ports are also provided with for our design. This is especially impor- with a range of features and component a dedicated fuse, ensuring that an tant for the power delivery to the CPU and choices that provide record-breaking unexpected malfunction on one port, that is why every year we add a new Ultra performance, cool and efficient opera- will affect only that port, isolating Durable technology to our motherboards. tion and extended motherboard lifespan. potential damage and protecting other From there, we build several stages of Some of the key Ultra Durable 5 Plus connected devices. development boards that are rigorously features include tested for everything from audio quality 1. Industry-leading PWM controllers In the 8 series of motherboards, Gigabyte to mechanical drop tests to see how the and PowIRstage ICs from International seems to have focused a lot of attention on board will fare during transportation. We Recifier. These components are 100% audio implementation. Why is that? Can you also send our motherboards to certified digital, offering incredible precision in also explain the audio tech deployed on your 3rd party testing companies to make sure delivering power of the 4th Generation latest Z87 boards in detail? Do you think in our boards comply with all global regula- Intel processors. a market like India such DIY mobo technol- tions. Once the boards enter the manufac- 2. All New Heat Sink Design offering ogy will take off? turing stage, every single board is tested uncompromisingly efficient cooling We were the first motherboard manu- multiple times throughout the manufac- on key areas of the motherboard facturer to put Creative’s digital Sound- turing process to ensure our customers including the PWM area and chipset. Blaster processor on our first G1.Killer new motherboard will work from the day 3. GIGABYTE UEFI DualBIOS : GIGA- motherboards and now you see other they open their box, to the day they decide BYTE DualBIOS provides a ‘Main companies doing the same. This genera- to upgrade it.

110 Digit | September 2013 | www.thinkdigit.com LG’s new display WP8 gets Bing Apps LG is working on a 5.5-inch AH-IPS display for Microsoft has launched a set of Bing Apps for WP8 mobile phones with a resolution of 2560x1440 pixels. including News, Sports, Weather and Finance. http://dgit.in/13QRMdm http://dgit.in/1euKj8z Work@Tech Indie-pendence The high, the lows and the promises of life as an indie developer

Nikhil Pradhan rently interning with the Walt Disney Nikhil [email protected] Company in Mumbai. He is responsible for the WP app, Instant Access that has ith the explosive growth of been downloaded over 20,000 times. smartphones and tablets, Now that you’re familiar with them, Wapp development is no longer here’s what they had to say about life as an a hobby but a viable career choice. We indie developer: speak to four promising independent developers, who’ve all witnessed varying On choosing to become an indie amounts of success, about what it means developer to be an indie developer and what people Sreekanth, Raja and Shanthi said their looking to join the ranks should know. decision was based on their excitement at the potential of mobile apps and how they The line-up: were connecting with users at a personal Sreekanth Sastry level and changing lives at the ground Sreekanth, a Bangalore resident, is a level on a day to day basis. software professional with a history of Nirmit and Rahul were more prag- working with startups and established matic with Nirmit looking at earning companies. He has now started Antara- some money and strengthening his jaal, a company developing vernacular resume by developing apps. Rahul came lifestyle mobile apps for iOS and Android. from a coding background and then He is behind ‘Situational Gita’, an app that joined the Microsoft Student Partner pro- recently broke into the Top 10 paid apps gram, following which he realised that the list on the Indian iTunes App Store. WP App Store was anemic and decided to make apps for it. Nirmit Gauravbhai Kavaiya VFX industry but now have their own Nirmit, a 22 year old resident of Rajkot, company- WapleStuff- that publishes On picking the ecosystems to has been working on and developing apps apps for iOS. Their first app, Pick- The develop for for Windows Phone and Windows for Purchase Tracker, has been downloaded Sreekanth started developing first for three years. He has so far published close by over 1,14,000 iOS users across the iOS because of its simplicity and ease to twenty apps, out of which Ludo, a free world and was also featured by Apple in of testing. However, he soon recognised app for Windows 8 has been downloaded the ‘Apps for Shopping’ and ‘Shopping by over 50,000 users in nine months. Assistants’ sections in the US App Store.

Raja & Shanthi Rahul Mathur Raja and Shanthi are a husband-wife duo The youngest of the lot at 21 years, Rahul from Chennai who used to work in the develops for Windows Phone and is cur-

Sreekanth Sastry Nirmit Gauravbhai Kavaiya Raja & Shanthi

Digit | September 2013 | www.thinkdigit.com 111 Brain cells for navigation New Dragon Age game delayed American researchers have discovered a new Dragon Age: Inquisition, the upcoming Bioware RPG has type of human brain cells that help in navigating been delayed so that the developers could add multiple Work@Tech unfamiliar environments. http://dgit.in/15jdeqt playable races to the game. http://dgit.in/19IXdCT

plete. However, through their experience, could be monetized by someone with they realised that without a marketing patience and a good sense of what works plan, their app got lost in the crowd, and what doesn’t. Raja and Shanti had especially one as huge as the one in the a similar outlook and revealed that they Apple App Store. They stressed on the were making little money before their app importance of things like building a dedi- was featured by Apple. cated website, creating demo videos of the app, reaching out to review sites and even Their advice making the app free for a limited time to Sreekanth said that he believes that generate buzz, in order to get the kind of aspiring developers have a wide gamut download numbers that stand out. of options and it’s not necessary for an independent developer to produce their On whether life as an independent own apps. Instead they could also work developer provides financial as consultants and work on app ideas of stability other people. He added that while devel- Sreekanth said that a developer working oping apps on your own is a risk, the huge Rahul Mathur on services can expect a semblance of number of smartphone users out there financial stability by pursuing multiple means that there are plenty of investment the numbers behind Android and began projects that can generate consistent opportunities and users to target. developing for it as well. Nirmit exploited cash flow. However, developing products Rahul emphasised on the importance his background in Microsoft .Net and (read: individual apps) is risky and all the of coding and comprehending your own developing software for Windows and developer can hope is for the product to code. He said that every developer should Windows Mobile to move on to Windows be noticed by a large number of users and enjoy debugging their apps and pushing Phone and Windows 8. generate some cash. them towards perfection. He added that Raja and Shanti picked iOS because Nirmit stressed on choosing the right developers should participate in forums the iPhone was the first smartphone platform to ensure quick monetization and discussions and not be afraid of they used and they ‘“fell in love with it.” for apps. However, where platforms like asking questions, even the simplest ones, They also preferred the iOS audience iOS and Android may seem like they in order to improve their own under- who were more likely to spend on an would be easier to make money off, even a standing of the field. app. Rahul saw the potential of Windows burgeoning platform like Windows Phone Nirmit’s advice to aspiring developers Phone and the convergent future that was to start immediately and allot daily Microsoft has promised with Windows 8 time to work on ideas and apps. Like and Windows Phone 8. Rahul, he focused on the importance of feedback and the need to open up to sug- On what were the biggest pitfalls gestions, in order to help to develop confi- of working as an independent dence in your own work. Raja and Shanti developer also talked about having confidence in the All five had different experiences to share products you create but to be prepared for from their time as indie developers. For the fact that there was no ‘easy money’ in Sreekanth, the biggest drawback is the app development. To garner success, Raja absence of a team and the relationships and Shanti said that developers need to be you develop when working with a team. willing work very hard and put maximum Rahul revealed that another drawback of effort into every single app they create. working as a solo developer was that he didn’t have a second/third-party whose If given the choice, would they experience he could count on, especially work for a development firm or with respect to things he wasn’t so great continue as indie developers at like design. Nirmit pointed to the dif- Nirmit, Sreekanth, Raja and Shanti were ficulty in getting freelance projects as all happy in their current profiles as an indie developer especially without a independent developers. Nirmit felt very strong portfolio and experience, both of strongly about the fact that he wouldn’t fit which take time to build upon. into a 9 to 6 job in a development firm. He Raja and Shanti made an interesting revealed that he codes during the week- observation about how developers expect ends and sometimes pulls all-nighters their work to end when the app is com- when working on something exciting,

112 Digit | September 2013 | www.thinkdigit.com New traffic control UK to ban small mobiles C-DAC has developed WiTraC, India’s first The UK government is mulling over plans to ban wireless traffic control system that will run small form factor phones to prevent prisoners on solar power. http://dgit.in/1593SSq from getting them http://dgit.in/17PIIre Work@Tech

The Stories Behind Their Apps something he wouldn’t be able to added that he would like to gain do at a development firm. experience in a firm and then Sreekanth Sastry on Situational Gita (iOS/Android): The Sreekanth stated that he return to indie development in the intent behind the app was simple - can we present the answers wanted to stay away from working future with a better skill-set. from the Bhagavad Gita in a new format that people can relate in bigger organizations as people to in an obvious way, and can we match learning to day-to-day there tended to have responsi- On where they see situations? Dr. Dinesh Anvekar who has devoted many years to bilities but without the corre- themselves five years in the study of Bhagavad Gita helped us in this effort. sponding authority. Conversely, as the future We wanted to be different from the rest of the “Gita” apps so an independent developer, he was Sreekanth: “I see Antarjaal with a we based the navigation on categories. We thought that would glad to have the responsibility and rich portfolio of apps that have a help users easily identify with their situations and quickly dive authority to decide on a product cumulative download count of at into sections they were interested in. plan. Raja and Shanti said that least a million.” Rahul Mathur on Instant Access (WP): It took me a week they too were happy as inde- Rahul: “Hopefully sipping coffee to learn about the SDK, brush my C# skills and in another pendent developers but were open with Elon Musk and heading a week the application was up in the marketplace. The feedback to the idea of collaborating with product in the right direction!” was incredible- I would get mail from several people every others to work on projects. Nirmit: “Working in a small week telling me how useful it was. I found out that Microsoft If given the chance, Rahul said start-up of my own with small employees were using that app too but the best part was that he would love to work in a team of people passionate about noticing a random person in a restaurant using my app. development firm as it would give creating great Apps for whichever The whole ‘post-publishing’ scene was such an amazing him the freedom to simply focus ecosystem they’re targeting.” inspiration for me to develop more applications. Instant Access on what he was good at and not be Raja and Shanti: “Sitting in front isn’t my most downloaded app and is one of the simplest apps distracted by things like design, of a Mac, creating apps with the I have ever written but definitely the one I am particularly publishing and monetization. He focus same as now.” proud of because it ended up giving me a head start that I required at that point. Nirmit Kavaiya on Ludo (Windows 8): I developed Ludo for Windows 8 last year after attending a coding hackathon organ- ized by Microsoft in Pune. I was already developing Apps for Windows Phone, so I was quite familiar with the new features added to Windows 8. I learnt the new APIs, UI guidelines and completed Ludo in 20 days and got it approved from Microsoft. Ludo is a free ad-supported app and has an average rating of 4.5 stars since its launch nine months ago. The in-app ads are only available in the U.S. and some European countries and I get a payout of `2,000 per month. That is a very small amount but, I’m working on some more features for the game like Board themes, 3D Dice, etc. and they will be available via In-App purchases so I’ll be able to get more revenue from the game. Raja & Shanti on Pick - The Purchase Tracker (iOS): The Idea for this app came to us when we took a trip to Europe last year during Christmas and shopped quite a bit. We started the development process by deciding on the core functionalities and use-case scenarios of the app. We decided the app would do quick currency conversions, percentage calculations and keep a track of spending. The app would be targeting shoppers and travellers and would be optimized for single hand use (because shoppers will most likely have their shopping bags in one hand). The app would also need a simple and bright colour pallette. For version 1.x, we wanted to develop the core functionality of the App with a simple and intuitive user experience. Our inten- tion was not to overload the user with “features”, just to keep the App simple. Since launch, we’ve received a lot of positive feedback and we are gradually implementing new features. Community Digit101 Check out what our Digit Squad A non-photographer’s complete Esc members churned out this month guide to the jargon that’s involved in 116 including the XOLO Q800 and more 118 photographers l33t speak Of accidental inventions If you thought all the invented wonders of our world were thanks to the efforts of thousands of man hours spent closeted inside a science lab somewhere, you couldn’t be more wrong. Well, not all of them, at least. A few inventions happened by pure accident. Or was it aliens?

Viagra Viagra’s remarkable invention was spearheaded by a common side-effect noticed while testing Pfizer’s drug on high blood pressure and a heart condi- tion. The pharmaceutical firm instead of ignoring this common complaint, seized on the opportunity to explore a whole new market. Men all over can’t thank them enough. Probably women too. Saccharin Microwave oven One can be forgiven to think that this It would sound a little absurd that the sweet sugar substitute was invented by first microwave oven was an accidental a diabetic. Instead it was chanced upon invention triggered by a magnetron by a chemist experimenting on coal-tar (instrument to power radars) inspec- derivatives – hardly an appetizing topic. tion. But when a candy bar melted in An experimental compound spilled on his Percy Spencer’s trouser pocket, while hand made everything he ate taste sweet standing next to a magnetron, he studied that day. It made him think and retrace the effects of microwave. And got the his steps. The rest is history. brainwave for a kitchen appliance.

X-rays Wilhelm Röntgen was dabbling with cathode-ray tubes, but despite covering it with cardboard he found a chemical glowing near the machine. How can this be when it’s fully covered and no light escaped? As we’ve all read in our school science text books, Röntgen named these mysterious waves as X-rays and they’ve been immensely useful in medicine. Potato chips Popsicle Believe it or not but the very first potato Ah, sweet summer delight. While popsi- chips ever made were meant to be an cles are synonymous with summer days, insult. As the story goes, in 1853, a cranky they were actually chanced upon by an guest complained about a chef’s soggy 11-year-old boy who forgot his fruit-fla- fried potato slices. The chef decided to voured soda in a cup with a stirring stick get back at the customer by slicing the outside his house in the middle of winter. next batch of potatoes paper-thin, frying When he saw what his drink had trans- them to a crisp and sprinkling too much formed into the next morning, a whole salt. But the customer loved it. History! new ice addiction was born.

114 Digit | September 2013 | www.thinkdigit.com UK to ban small mobiles Lenovo and tango The UK government is mulling over plans to ban Lenovo will pre-load Sweetlabs’s Pokki software small form factor phones to prevent prisoners suite in all of its upcoming Windows 8 PC’s with from getting them native store support Unwind

How we unwind

The Showdown Effect This time Regidi introduced this game to the rest of the team, keeping a hawk- like gaze on all gaming deals the World Wide Web has to offer. It’s an absolute gem of a game, bought by everyone with much gusto. Since then, beating the crap out of each other has been a lot of fun. We highly recommend it.

Scrubs Kindle Paperwhites Sid and Jayesh are big fans of the show, After a common friend went to the and tried to peel Regidi’s eyes off of his US, Sid and Jayesh wasted no time in Animal Planet documentaries during placing their respective Kindle Paper- lunch time. They weren’t too hopeful, white orders. And ever since they got but Regidi got hooked onto the comedy their newly delivered babies, they’ve sitcom in no time. And we were all too been their most prized possessions. glad to welcome the inmates at Sacred It has definitely re-kindled the love of Heart Hospital into our lunch breaks. reading for pleasure in both of them.

diary

Now we don’t know if it’s because of the humiliation he suffered really took its toll on him and he set a record for going 39 hours last month or if it was because he got his precious mouse working without sleep (well, not counting a short, two hour spell anyway) again, but the Ant was on a roll this month (we’re speaking only and only stopped when he realised that his vision was so blurry he of Quake here) but he’s been whooping our collective behinds couldn’t see through the loupe. Hard times. So, if any of you have the entire month. We barely mange to hold our heads above any complaints about the test, you’d better keep it to yourselves. water as he unleashes his pent up angst (in the form of rockets) The wrath of the Regidi can be fearsome to behold. against his tormentors. We are very aware of the position we’re in, and the jealous The situation was so bad that when the Humble Origin Bundle letters that we got from our readers expressing their envy at the came out (WHAT! You didn’t buy it yet?) and the Ant was beg- insanely expensive and shamefully geeky hardware that we have ging for someone to purchase it for him (muahahaha) Siddharth access to don’t help. In fact, sometimes we seem to take things made a bet with him. The terms were as follows, Sid gifts Ant the too much for granted. For example, scrounging around the test bundle if Sid loses a Q3 match in the negative and the Ant gets centre for spare parts can actually be quite rewarding at times. the call sign “BJ” (for the sake of this self-respect, you should In fact, that’s how we discovered a Thermaltake Level 10 GT just assume that he’s a big fan of Wolfenstein) assigned to him if (yes, this massive case was lying unused and invisible in our store Sid goes above zero. room for over a year) and a few other odds and ends. Our discovery The fact that Sid went on to lose the match 8-0 in a game this month was something on a similar scale, we discovered a that was possibly the worst he’s played in recent memory and Tagan 900W PSU that’s apparently been lying unused for the past the fact that because of the skoar, Sid bought him the bundle but 3-5 years, not to mention more than a handful of SSDs, 1TB and also assigned him the call sign is not the point. The point, if you 500GB hard drives and a few other assorted odds and ends. haven’t noticed, is that the bet wasn’t about who won or lost, it The return of the prodigal Mithun was also a high point and was about Sid losing in negative or positive figures. (Heavy sigh….) his arrival managed to jumpstart the Sid’s failing heart for a while Oh how the scales have fallen. (refer to last month’s diary entry) Moving on, this was the month we tested MFDs and Regidi was Disclaimer: No rats were harmed in the making of this issue. assigned to test them since he-who-shall-never-be-named-ever- Not voluntarily, we actually wanted to take turns at watch, gun in again left us and has been tasked with filling his shoes. The test hand. No, we just ran out of sticky traps.

Digit | September 2013 | www.thinkdigit.com 115 Pro gaming: A story Google Now improved A fascinating account of one pro gamer The already amazing but spooky Google Now has new from Chile and his love of fighting games features for travel and entertainment. We wonder which Digit Squad http://dgit.in/16CHikR card will it pull up now. http://dgit.in/GooNow

This month we highlight some aspiring tech writers and their spirited attempt to get published in the magazine. Let’s have more! Readers’ write-ups

Leap Motion an account, the website started down- nect them again. Next I downloaded Corel Controller Review loading the required drivers. Along with Painter and tried some air-drawing too. the drivers, it also installed Airspace, But, soon enough I found that keeping I was Googling ‘molecular the app warehouse for Leap Motion. your hands aloft and waving is very structure’ and a series Once the driver installation was com- cumbersome. In no time, my hands got of careless clicks lead plete, I could see the controller working fatigued, and I had to resort to the use of Uddip Talukdar me to a website where its way through its ‘Orientation app’. a mouse. My experiments are going on they claimed they are With the orientation app, I could make till now with the Leap Motion Controller, making a software to build virtual waves on the screen ripple by waving and had fun in some of the apps, and molecules, and the software would take my fingers over the controller. You for other apps, it was almost unusable. hand gestures as inputs. Immediately, just have to keep the controller device But, I have learnt that for gesture ‘Minority Report’ came to my mind. A on a surface and any hand movement recognition to be made acceptable to quick glance at the website said that above is perceived by the controller. people, developers have to create apps a promising technology is coming up So, the first impression was cool! which truly need gesture recognition which will make our PCs and Lapptops The installation was extremely easy; the to function. Most of the reviews of understand finger movements. A soft- technology showed that it was not totally Leap Motion Controller have brought- ware was also being made for this new bogus. But, was it precise enough to do up the problem of fatigue while using technology. The technology they were serious work? For that, I had to download the controller. But, what I feel is that talking about is called Leap Motion. a few apps from Airspace. As I browsed Leap Motion is not there to replace Leap Motion is actively designed through the app collection, I learnt that the mouse and keyboard. Our current by Leap Motion Company. When I first most of the apps weren’t free, though not computer tasks are best done by the got to know about it in May 2013, the very costly. So, I downloaded the Cybermo- mouse and keyboard, and no, gesture company was taking pre-orders for the tion app which allowed you to take apart recognition can’t make them any easier, Leap Motion Controller. I researched the bones of a skull apart, and join them because the tasks are designed for the a bit and figured that my Dell Vostro again. I had some tough time picking mouse and keyboard. So, we should with Windows 7 was enough to take up the movement patterns for Cybermo- not compare Leap Motion Controller in the controller. Its price was $79.99 tion. But, after some time I could do the against our mouse and keyboard. There excluding shipping. I placed an order maneuvers to move the bones and con- are rumours that this technology will on a whim as I just wanted to get some soon feature in smart phones too. taste of gesture recognition technology, So, am I satisfied with the technology? and the price seemed justified. Yes, for starters it’s quite sophisticated The shipment arrived and it contained and precise. The cost is very reasonable. one small cardboard box. Inside sat the But, we need software that makes real actual controller which was just 3x1.2x0.5 use of this device. In some fields, gesture inches in size. Its top was covered with recognition would open new ways to a black glass, bottom had the Leap use a computer. But, is it time that we Motion logo and an aluminium casing all should get one? No! Leap Motion is covered its rim. The bundled accessories a novel and innovative idea, but it is not included a microUSB 3.0 connector, and necessary as of now. It’s up to the devel- warranty documentation. The order opers to improve upon this technology, confirmation mail itself, the company maybe then we will see some takers. had given ‘how to begin’ instructions. Sadly, I could not get the Molecular As per the instructions, I hooked the structure software, which brought controller to my Laptop and checked in up all this. In Airspace, I saw that to the activation web site. As I opened The Leap Motion Controller in action the free app works only in Mac!

116 Digit | September 2013 | www.thinkdigit.com Tt eSPORTS Posiedon launched Apple buys Embark Tt eSPORTS by Thermaltake has introduced yet Embark, a company that makes transit apps has another illuminated mechanical gaming keyboard. This been bought by Apple recently. This is the third new one is christened Posiedon. mapping company Apple has bought this year. Digit Squad

XOLO Q800 not need or use at startup, like Adobe, etc. Review and when you are done press OK. Un-installation – Uninstall any applica- The XOLO Q800 is well tion you do not use anymore. This will not built and doesn’t feel only save disk space, but also prevent your cheap at all. The phone is laptop from slowing down. Amogh equipped with a 1.2GHz Backup – Occasionally, take a backup Bharadwaj quad core processor on of your data on a portable hard drive. So, the MTK6589M chipset. if your laptop crashes you won’t pull you Powered by a PowerVR SGX544 GPU, it hair out in frustration as you would have a has 1 GB RAM and 4GB internal memory backup of everything important. that can be expanded upto 32GB using Cleanliness – Cleaning your laptop a microSD card. Running Android OS occasionally, especially from the ports will v4.1.2(Jelly bean), the phone has an IPS prevent it from heating up. LCD capacitive display with 16M colors Power Management – Laptops these and a screen size of 4.5 inches (~245 ppi days manage power well. In Windows, you ) that has a resolution of have a choice to save energy and put it in 960X540 pixels. Available in white, the a low power state or in a full performance XOLO Q800 is a dual SIM phone. It has state. Alternate between the choices wisely. white casing, a back panel which is not You can also turn off Wi-Fi and Bluetooth prone to finger prints and gives good grip when not in use and even decrease screen to the phone. brightness to save more power. Multitasking is simple and it can Close applications – Close applica- run most graphic intensive applications tions when you are not using them, as As you can see from the screenshot above easily. The included music player app they not only hog battery but also lower the XOLO Q800 gets a score of 12806 on has a shake phone to change the track the AnTuTu Benchmark the laptop’s performance. feature. The Q800 has an 8MP primary Disconnect – Remove external pe- camera with autofocus, BSI sensor and benchmark and smartbench were also ripherals or devices like external HDDs, LED flash. The camera picture quality run and they gave a decent result. optical drives and pen drives when you do is good and their was very little noise Verdict: In all, the XOLO Q800 is a good not need them. when taking pictures outdoors although, value for money phone, worth buying at Shut down – When the laptop is not some noise was present when taking about `11k. in use for a long time it is better to shut it pictures in low light but the noise was down rather than putting it on suspend or very less presumably due to BSI sensor. Tricks to improve sleep mode. The camera can take 40 images continu- Laptop usage Carry Safe – It is better to buy a good ously and can also record videos at 720p. laptop bag instead of risking it getting There is a 1MP secondary camera thrown When it comes to using drenched or falling down. in the front as well. Though the Q800 technology, there are Extra Power – If you have the feeling supports 720p playback, it is not able to some guidelines you that your laptop’s battery is not up to the recognize mkv, mp4 files directly, but AVI Tarun Dham should actively follow. mark for you, you can buy a laptop battery or DivX format file playback is smooth. Below are a few important that fits your laptop. Although, keep in Gaming performance of the Q800 is pointers for you to take a note of while us- mind that you buy an original battery, and at par with most feature rich phones as ing your laptop. not a local one. As this is very harmful for it can easily play games like Asphalt7: Shortcuts - For ease of use, group pro- both, you and the laptop. There have been Heat, NFS Most Wanted, Templerun grams into folders depending on their type cases where, the local battery has exploded 2, Rayman Jungle Run, without lags. or make shortcuts for the programs you and harmed the user. Dead Trigger which is a well known use often. This not only saves time but also When in Rome – If you are traveling, resource consuming FPS game on makes it easier to work. But keep in mind, you must have a universal socket adapter, android platform runs quite easily. A not to add too many icons on the desktop as as different countries have different types of 2100mAh battery provides juice to the that may hinder productivity in some way. power sockets. If you travel to a lot of coun- Q800 and it does its job quite well. The Boot Faster - To make the laptop boot try’s it is sensible to buy a universal adapter. battery easily lasts for a maximum of faster, remove unwanted programs from 10hrs and 16 hrs on 3G and 2G networks startup. To do this, “Press Win+R > type: If you want to join this elite gang of Digit Squad respectively. Synthetic benchmarks like msconfig > Press Enter > Select Startup members, drop us an email at editor@thinkdigit. NeanMark, 3Dmarkicestorm, Antutu tab”. Here, uncheck all programs you do com with “Digit Squad” in the subject line

Digit | September 2013 | www.thinkdigit.com 117 Decoding consciousness PirateBay launches browser Ever wondered how consciousness works? A Princeton In act of defiance towards Web censorship, PirateBay neuroscientist recently wrote a long article about it. has released their own browser, which is a bundle of Digit 101 Read more. http://dgit.in/1dzdZnc software apps. http://dgit.in/16UHK0A Cameras 101: The Jargon Explained Have you always been fascinated by photography but found the whole thing to be a little too daunting? Have you always been “clicking on auto” but want to learn the finer details of functions? Well, worry not as we’re going to simplify all the technical jargon that comes with having to operate a camera, so that all you have to do is dial in the settings and just shoot.

Aperture: Exposure Aperture is the term that refers to a circular Compensation: curtain inside the lens which determines just how Exposure compensation is the much light goes into your camera. An aperture method where you expose a little value signifies just how much the curtain opens longer or for a shorter duration than and is measured in fractions. Therefore, a bigger what your light meter says should be fraction denoted a bigger opening, e.g. 1/2 is big- the right setting. This can occur when ger than 1/16, meaning the curtain is “open wider” you shoot at the light meter recom- at 1/2 than it is at 1/16. The larger the aperture mended settings and your exposure is opens, the more light hits your sensor. Therefore either over or under exposure. So you to shoot in low light, a big aperture is a must. can do positive exposure compensa- tion (to increase exposure) or use Shutterspeed: ISO, the more sensitive it is, meaning it needs negative exposure compensation (to underex- Once the light has crossed the aperture, it sort lesser light to create an image. This, however, pose). You’d ideally use exposure compensa- of just sits inside your camera before hitting does not mean that you can crank the ISO set- tion as a quick fix to your exposure problems, the sensor. What’s blocking it is another curtain ting all the way to the highest, as there are a few without having to change the shutter speed and/ called the shutter. The shutter decides for how downsides to using High ISO. or aperture etc. long all this light that has entered your camera will hit the sensor. Allow it too much time and Light Meter: Depth of Field: your image will start turning white and allow it A Light meter is a little module that measures The Depth of Field (DoF) of a particular photo- too little time and it will be too dark. The dura- the amount of light coming into the camera and graph essentially refers to the area in front and tion for which the shutter is open is measured factors all the conditions to generate a “good” ex- behind your intended point of focus. The more in fractions as well, unless you’re doing a long posure based on preset parameters. This is what the depth of field, the more you will have in fo- exposure of several seconds/minutes/hours. tells you how much shutter speed and aperture cus in your image and smaller the depth of field, values to use. Unfortunately, the light meter is the more background (and foreground) blur you ISO: not always a 100% accurate, so always review will get. Macro shots tend to have a “shallow” The ISO on your camera determines just how your images after shooting and if they look over depth of field, while group shots must have a sensitive your sensor is to light. The higher the or under exposed, do use exposure compensation. great depth of field.

Bracketing shots: Interestingly, (and possibly sadly) this neither involves the brackets from mathematics nor any shots of intoxicating beverages. Bracket- ing is a method where the camera can take a number of shots simultaneously at different exposure values. Normally, this would be a “0” exposure (the value determined by your light meter as ideal) and two (or more even numbered shots) more with an exposure value of a higher and an equally lower value. This is an extremely handy method for shoot High Dynamic Range images.

118 Digit | September 2013 | www.thinkdigit.com

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