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Bridging India's digital divide TESTED
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Dozens of incredible apps for
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Three simple ways to make
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Sony Xperia Neo L
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Zotac GeForce GTX 690
Apple OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion
 EDITORIAL

editor's
letter
Setting a Bad Example
he legal victory Apple has scored over Samsung has far reaching and long-term

T consequences. Rest assured, Apple won’t leave a single stone unturned, and will
have many phones completely banned from further sale. The company has
already filed lawsuits around the world in an effort to block what it considers
rampant and blatant copying of its inventions. Not surprisingly, on the very same day of the
US verdict, albeit without the media glare, Samsung won a home court ruling in South Korea.
Judges in Seoul said the company didn't copy the look and feel of the iPhone, and that it was
in fact Apple that had infringed on Samsung's wireless technology. The ruling affects only the
South Korean market, but shows how each company is using its home turf to its advantage.
Apple has
reaped the However, don’t count on being forgiven if you, like me, are wondering what the fuss is about a
bunch of seemingly minor features and design quirks. The fuss is worth upwards of $1.05
first-mover billion, and we haven’t even hit primetime in this patent battle. So expect more Android
advantage and manufacturers to get broadsided, and more markets to get neutron-bombed. This is where I

has become think common sense could make its presence felt, but somehow always fails to, especially so
in cases where large legal egos are at stake. But what really shocks me time and time again
the world’s are the kinds of the penalties awarded for these infringements. Either it’s an all-out ban or a
most valuable massive multi-billion dollar fine—akin to life imprisonment for something as petty as
shoplifting. If you actually go through the type of patents that were up for discussion, then
company! you’d realize why these rulings are more like extreme and irrational overreactions.

Apple’s crying hoarse about technology “innovations” that include the ability of a scroll-list to
bounce back, pinch to zoom, one finger scroll, and tap to zoom. Granted, they are pretty nifty,
and in many ways unique to the iOS experience. But with touchscreens wouldn’t your fingers
be limited to the natural movements you are already used to? Just because Apple was the
first to figure out finger scroll on a touchscreen, do we expect other manufacturers to use a
one-knuckle scroll? Sure you should get the accolades that come along with such
innovations, and Apple has reaped the first-mover advantage and has become the world’s
most valuable company! But then to duke it out with competitors about the use of basic
finger gestures is ridiculous in my opinion, and in many ways unbecoming of them.

So where does that leave us? Based on what Tim Cook famously said very recently, India is
not really a priority market for Apple. I’m guessing we can continue to use bouncy scroll-lists
on our Android devices. And Samsung can continue as much as they want here without the
threat of a thermonuclear war.

Hatim Kantawalla

4 09/2012 INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP

Contents
84 FEATURED

THE BIG APP GUIDE

NEWSWIRE TEST CENTER FEATURED

14 In the News... 30 Product Spotlight 84 The Big App Guide
A roundup of the month's major news stories The gorgeous Asus ROG Tytan CG8565 is one of A comprehensive list of the best apps available
and events. the most powerful gaming rigs available today. for iOS, Windows Phone and Android.

20 The Buzz List 32 Hardware Tested 90 Restore Windows in just three

The hottest topics on everyone's minds and the
stories behind them.
22 New Products Launched
Our picks of the neatest products launched in
India this month.
26 PocketSMS: App for the
Deafblind
PocketSMS uses Morse code and vibrations to
help deafblind people communicate.
28 Digital Empowerment:
Connecting the last miles
Bridging the digital divide in India through
wireless networks.
This month's selection of gadgets, components
and accessories.
steps
Three simple ways to restore your Windows
installation.
52 The Cutting Edge
11 of the hottest Ultrabooks tested to find the
sharpest one of them all.
94 Use three systems on a PC
Use virtualisation to install operating systems,
safely test software, clone your system and more.
60 An Android for everyone
Take your pick of eight Android smartphones
priced under Rs 15,000.
100 Idea Incubation: Accelerate
your way to success
Incubation and accelerator programmes help you
66 Software Spotlight grow your business idea to its full potential.
Apple's Mountain Lion proposes a philosophy
that will take some time to get used to.
104 Web Watch
A roundup of useful and interesting websites.
72 Software Tested
Security, productivity, and a few neat utilities
to keep your PC chugging happily.

6 09/2012 INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP

 150
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32 TEST CENTER
HARDWARE TESTED
The latest hardware reviewed

66 TEST CENTER
SOFTWARE SPOTLIGHT
Mountain Lion

1 FREE DVD
POWER TOOLS PACK

114 HANDS ON
CORRECTING OVEREXPOSURE
Recapture lost details in overexposed snaps in a jiffy.

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112 A DVR for your car
Make a video recorder for your car using a
cheap spy camera for less than Rs 1,000.
114 Correcting Overexposure
Here are six simple steps for retrieving
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116 Visualising complicated
Excel data
Use the various diagrams and figures available
in Excel to represent complex data.
DR CHIP
04 Editorial, 08 Colophon, 10 Letters, RED HOT APPLICATIONS
Adobe Fireworks CS6 12.0.0.236
14 In the News..., 20 The Buzz List, Adobe Dreamweaver CS6 12.0
Adobe Audition CS6 5.0
22 New Products Launched, 82 PC Configs,
104 Web Watch, 108 Dr CHIP, FULL GAMES
118 Tips & Tricks, 127 Personal Tech, Racing Show 1.0, Street Racing Club 1.02,
Home Base, Alien Strike, Assault Droid,
128 Market Watch Ultra Drag Racing, Super Police Racing,
Last Conundrum of Da Vinci Deluxe and more...
GAME DEMOS
LEGO Batman 2: DC Super Heroes,
Deponia Demo 1.1, Rolling Coaster 1.0.2,
ETHER VAPOR Remaster and more...
GAME TRAILERS
Dead or Alive 5: Gameplay Tag Team Trailer,
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INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP 09/2012 7

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 LETTERS

INBOX
Next month's Star Letter wins Inspiring the youth
LE T TER
OF THE
accessories set (worth Rs 5,000) MONTH
Dearr Editor,
D
Dea
I have been w
with CHIP for the last six years since I got my first copy of this technology
magazine absolutely free of cost at TechFest in IIT, Mumbai. Dr CHIP always helped me
solve m
my hardware and software problems at home. My parents also like to at least go
throu
through the contents of this tech-oriented magazine. I am writing this letter especially
for young people like I was six years ago, who are also surrounded by comments
th
that the fields of IT and electronics are limited.
The fields of automation, simulation, touch technology, mobile computing, web
d
development, e-commerce, gaming, biotechnology, genetics, etc are continuously
iimproving.
m I was really surprised when Pranav Mistry developed a device that
ccould
o control different actions on a PC using two mouse rollers and a little coding
w
when he was a student, which led to a new field, “Sixth Sense Technology”.
S im
Similarly, a group led by Dennis Hong developed a car that can be driven by any
b liin person safely - also when they were students. So if they can do it, why can’t
blind
we?
w e W
We only need to have knowledge about the field in which we want to pursue our
ca
c
car
areers
a
careers and not just blindly believe anyone.
I bet tec
tech enthusiasts like me will really love to read this magazine. I really appreciate the
quality of conten
content and the way content is placed. I like to read the Hands On section which has
Chaitanya Surpur various interesting activities
activit and also try them. I also like the contents of the DVD. I appreciate CHIP for
giving a detailed flow chart of what to do after graduation in its July 2012 edition (a must-read for all
graduates). I also request CHIP to add a section with information on different global certifications such as
CCNA and MSCITP in its next edition. I refer this technologically versatile magazine to all my friends.
- VIVEK KHADSE

Dear Vivek,
Thank you so much for your passionate letter and appreciation of our work. We always aim to ignite such
passion in our readers and inspire them to make the best use of available products and also to innovate
when required. We hope you go on to do many amazing things in life, equal to or even better than the Sixth
Sense project! There's a lot of exciting work going on in the world, and our imaginations are the only limit to
how much more can be done.
- TEAM CHIP

A successful future the "Career growth chart" was Dear Vamsi,

Hello CHIP,
I am an avid reader of CHIP and this
magazine is close to my heart. I
follow many websites which cover
tech, including Engadget,
Techcrunch, etc. daily without
missing a single article. But what
astonishes me is that the content I
CONTACT INFO
read in CHIP is fresh. Thank you for
Please send your making so much effort, and the
letters to: great work in publishing such great
editor@chip.in content. The article "Unconventional
with "LETTERS" in paths to job success" that you
the subject line covered in last month’s issue with
superb and is seriously influencing
my career path. Thank you for that.
My advice to the team is to bring
CHIP to the iPad newsstand and
please price it aggressively as you
don't have the costs of print,
delivery and the DVD. Please
explore this possibility and make it
work. I'll continue to be a reader of
CHIP and want to appreciate the
team for putting up this wonderful
piece of work consistently every
month.
- VAMSI YUVARAJ
Thanks for your support and kind
words. Technology is our life and we
strive to present the latest
developments to you in fresh,
relevant and exciting ways. That
includes digital editions, which you
might just see in the future. Stay
tuned!
- TEAM CHIP
Games gone bad
Greetings CHIP,
I have been reading your magazine
for two years now and I thoroughly

10 09/2012 INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP

 LETTERS

SMS US appreciate your team's efforts. I Dear Abhinav,

Since we like knowing what’s
on your mind and what you
think about our magazine,
we bring you another way
to get in touch. Do you have
something to say about a test
or review? Liked a feature
story? Was the workshop
useful? SMS us your feedback!
especially want to thank CHIP for We're thrilled to hear that you've
converting Insider into a full gaming been using the Internet to teach
supplement (and also for the yourself so many things. Stories like
posters!) I have written this letter yours make us believe even more in
to express my anger about an issue the power of the Internet to connect
in the gaming industry which many people across massive distances. We
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www.chip.in/forums
was a regular player of one of the
greatest first person shooter
games, Battlefield 3. I used to love
that game until two months ago
when EA introduced weapon packs
that gave any player access to all
the weapons and unlocks by paying
a certain amount of money. Now
any rich 'noob' with no experience
can buy unlocks for which other
players like me had to work for
months to earn. What's more, they
also recently introduced premium
membership worth Rs 1,500 which
gives members dominance over
gameplay. Not only Battlefield 3,
but many games are doing this.
Many of my friends have also
stopped playing this game for the
same reasons. Do terms like "fair
play" and "gaming spirit" mean
anything to these companies?
-PRASHANT MOHITE
Dear Prashant,
We do feel your pain. Cheat codes
have existed since the very
beginning, but it's only now that
such "cheating" has gained
legitimacy and is in fact being used
by publishers to make more money.
The trend is even worse on portable
devices, where games are pretty
much deliberately designed to
frustrate you until you make an in-
app purchase to overcome obstacles.
We don't really see an end in sight,
but there is still hope. You might
enjoy Counter-Strike: Global
Offensive, which launched this
month and does not try to extract
additional money from gamers.
Leveling up is based on skill and
merit, and the Counter-Strike legacy
pretty much guarantees that it will
become a mainstay of multiplayer
gaming, especially in India.
- TEAM CHIP
The power of the Web
Hello CHIP,
I’ve been reading CHIP for about
four months and I am really
impressed. The best part are the
articles on upcoming technologies. I
am a teenager studying in class 11
and I am a creative freak; I really
love to develop programs, VFX, etc.
I live in Bulandshahr which is a
very undeveloped area and due to
the lack of resources here, I am
unable to learn many things. People
say “If God closes a door, another
door is opened” and that for me
was an e-door. I learnt to play
guitar and create my own VFX in
AfterEffects, and now I am starting
on Android development through
tutorials available online. Websites
like YouTube, eHow, etc, really
helped me a lot. I suggest you
publish an article on this ultimate
usage of the Internet. This can help
in enhancing skills just by staying
home, and that too, for free.
- ABHINAV BANSAL
the past and profiled the people who
created them. We definitely intend to
do more of this every month. We
have also taken up the issue of
broadband Internet connectivity, and
we hope that high-speed unlimited
connections become affordable
across the country so that many
more people like you can harness the
power of the Internet.
- TEAM CHIP
Lots to love
Hi Team CHIP,
I'm a new fan. I started reading
CHIP only three months ago and I
just love you guys. The last issue
was perfect as always. I really liked
the article about the Ouya game
console in Insider. What I like most
about CHIP are the Tips & Tricks,
Market Watch, and of course,
Insider (who doesn't?) I think
Market Watch is very informative
as it gives the pricing of the latest
GPUs, processors, etc. (It's not like
I'm going to buy anything, but still,
it's good to know). Oh, thanks for
the Resident Evil 6 poster, but I
really think the Far Cry 3 poster
looked cooler. You guys are the
best. Go Team!
- SIVAKIRAN MOHAN
Dear Sivakiran,
We're glad to hear you enjoy reading
CHIP and Insider so much. Hopefully,
the Market Watch data will come in
handy the next time you upgrade or
buy a gadget. We also hope you
enjoy this month's issue and poster
just as much!
- TEAM CHIP

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12 09/2012 INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP

 NEWSWIRE
NEWS SNIPPETS

DANGER PREDICTION IN THE NEWS...

Massive COMPILED BY JAMSHED AVARI
breaches of
data in the past
few months LEGAL ISSUES
mean your
private health
and banking
Apple discloses long-held secrets in patent battle with
details might
already be
Samsung, wins landmark US$ 1.05 bn in damages
in attackers'
hands. Apple has emerged victorious in its landmark
intellectual property infringement case
against Samsung, but at a price. Several of
the famously secretive company's unreleased
prototypes have been displayed for the
first time, and defendants have disclosed
WEB BROWSER WEAK POINTS tantalizing details about Apple's design
processes philosophies.
29% MICROSOFT ACTIVE X For instance, it was revealed that Apple
considered working on cameras, cars and
20% ORACLE JAVA
other devices before setting its sights on the
20% ADOBE FLASH mobile phone market. An early prototype
codenamed "Project Purple" was conceived
19% ADOBE READER by a specially formed team of "superstars" variety of form factors prior to the iPhone's
within the company who were tracked by launch, including keyboards and flip designs,
10% APPLE QUICKTIME
security cameras and made to live and work and the company's subsequent move to
0 20 40 60 80 100 in windowless rooms. Senior Vice President monolithic rectangles with large touchscreens.
Hackers make use of plugins in web browsers Scott Forstall testified that this team worked The trial involved dozens of witnesses
to break in to PCs. These are the notorious on recreating every kind of mouse- and and thousands of pages of presentations,
plugins with the most bugs.
keyboard-driven interaction from scratch provoking a frustrated judge Lucy Koh to ask
SOURCE: SYMANTEC
with a touchscreen in mind. at one point whether Apple's lawyers were

FINALLY: DECREASE IN SPAM Other prototypes displayed during the trial

displayed various design and material ideas
smoking crack. In the end, the jury sided
with Apple and awarded damages for most of
WORLDWIDE VOLUME OF SPAM IN PERCENT that were considered during the original the alleged infringing products. Samsung will
100%
iPhone's development cycle. One prototype appeal the verdict, and other patent-related
90% used an iPod mini-style rounded aluminum trials are also proceeding alongside.
enclosure, while another curved glass A simultaneous trial between Apple and
80% design was rejected due to manufacturing Samsung in Seoul ended in favor of Samsung,
complexity. It also emerged that the entire although both companies were ordered to
70% 66.8% project came close to being scrapped several stop selling specific products. There also,
times. The evidence focused on Samsung's appeals will no doubt be filed.
60%
2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012

Statistics show that the worldwide volume

of spam has reduced greatly in recent SECURITY
years. Currently, only around 67 percent of
all mails are spam.
SOURCE: SYMANTEC
RIM denies sharing encryption keys with govt
FIGURE OF THE MONTH RIM has refuted recent reports which
claim that it has given Indian government
its retail consumers, it maintains that it has
no control over enterprise BES customers
agencies the power to intercept messages and does not assign or administer their

50%
sent through its secure
BlackBerry Enterprise
services. The news
stemmed from RIM's
of surveyed respondents would rather lose their work with a company called Verint to create
wallets than their mobile phones a monitoring solution. While the Canadian
smartphone maker has provided methods of
SOURCE: MCAFEE
intercepting messages exchanged between
encryption systems.
RIM maintains that the
security and integrity of
its corporate customers
will remain unchanged. The government has
been demanding access to all BlackBerry
communications for years, but RIM has so far
resisted its pressures and threats.

14 09/2012 INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP SMS us!  Story code: NSN to 51818

0140912_News Snippets.indd 14 8/25/2012 10:26:52 PM

 NEWSWIRE
NEWS SNIPPETS

POLITICS SOFTWARE

US resists tranfer of Internet control Steam goes mainstream with

to international agency non-game software distribution
Against a backdrop of increasing government-sponsored
censorship, surveillance and manipulation of online content,
the US has reiterated that it will resist all efforts to establish
international agencies to administer the Internet and shape its
future. A number of non-government agencies including ICANN
are currently based in the US and are subject to its laws and
protections, but countries such as Russia have been increasingly
vocal about establishing a neutral body to take over. Such a
body could be convened under the United Nations' International
Telecommunication Union. The US has so far responded by
pointing out that a multi-stakeholder approach has served the
Internet well so far and must continue to do so.
The issue is likely to be one of the hot topics at the World
Telecom Conference, scheduled to be held in Dubai in December
this year. At stake are issues of the national sovereignity of
online content which would define nations' rights to block, censor
and seize anything they oppose.
Meanwhile, Iran is withdrawing from the Internet to prevent
citizen uprisings and attacks by the US and Israel. Government
sites are now accessible only through a domestic intranet.
Banking and other services still require international links, so it
is unclear whether the country will unplug itself entirely.
Steam, one of the world's earliest and most popular digital
software distribution platforms is expanding from games into
mainstream software. The move comes shortly after Valve
co-founder roundly criticized Windows 8's built-in app store
and could become a significant competitor to Microsoft's own
software distribution effort. Steam has built up an enviable
reputation and
community of 50
million users. Apart
from nearly 1500
games from Valve
and other publishers, the platform hosts user-created content,
VoIP chat, communities, rewards, a trusted payments system,
an anti-cheating system, and multiplayer facilitation. Steam is
supported across Windows and OS X, with native Linux support
and companion mobile apps in progress. It is estimated to control
over 70 percent of digital game distribution, although it never
releases sales figures.
Steam could become a significant software distribution
channel thanks to its massive existing user base and the fact
that the Windows Store will offer only apps that run in the new
"Modern" environment.

SOFTWARE WEB BUSINESS POLITICS

Assange safe in Indians behind in 9gag gets serious, Wiki edits reveal
Ecuador embassy cloud awareness raises $2.8m
Controversial Wikileaks
founder Julian Assange, who
has outstanding warrants
for his arrest and fears
extradition to the US, has been
granted asylum by Ecuador.
He is currently holed up in
the Ecuadorian embassy in
the UK, confined to a single
room due to convoluted laws
regarding legal jurisdiction. The
UK has threatened to invade
the embassy in violation of
diplomatic norms, sparking
outrage. Assange cannot be
safely transported even from
the embassy to Ecuador. In
a statement made from a
balcony, he equated himself to
a political prisoner. Wikileaks
has been responsible for
a number of high-profile
embarassments to the US.
political moves
A survey sponsored by
market intelligence firm
Blueocean shows that Indians
are largely unaware of the
concept of cloud computing,
although they do use several
services without necessarily
knowing their significance.
Fewer than 10 percent of
Indians surveyed were able
to articulate what cloud
computing is, compared to
around 20 percent in the
US and Germany, the other
countries in which the survey
was held. Awareness of the
term "cloud computing" was
around 40 percent, although
adoption of services was as
high as 80 percent. Security,
privacy and ease of use were
the major concerns regarding
the use of cloud services.
Popular visual humor site
9gag has raised $2.8 million in
venture funding, promising to
turn the irreverent blog into a
serious business. The site takes
advantage of Facebook and
Twitter shares to spread simple
jokes and messages virally,
which makes it attractive
to investors. The money
will be put into new staff,
mobile apps, and expanded
infrastructure. Often accused
of mass automated plagiarism,
9gag still attracts over a billion
page views from 70 million
unique visitors per month.
Political commentators turned
to Wikipedia's edit pages
to try to predict who US
presidential candidate Mitt
Romney would pick as his
VP nominee, but the results
this year didn't necessarily
match the previous nominee.
Then-relatively-unknown
Sarah Palin's page was edited
a massive 68 times right
before her nomination was
announced, but Paul Ryan's
page received major edits
only after his announcement,
indicating a PR effort to
present him in the best light.

16 09/2012 INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP

0140912_News Snippets.indd 16 8/25/2012 10:28:15 PM

 NEWSWIRE
NEWS SNIPPETS
SECURITY
NEW SECURITY
RISKS DETECTED
AND PATCHED
BSNL
An Indian security worker has
discovered a critical flaw in the way
BSNL's website handles typed URLs
allows for a carefully crafted SQL
injection that would give an attacker
access to subscriber databases and
allow any arbitrary code to be
executed on the web server.
SOLUTION: BSNL has not responded to
our requests for comment.
KERALA STATE CEE
Another hacker has discovered a
similar SQL injection vulnerability on
the Kerala state government
Commissioner of Entrance
Examinations website. An attacker can
spoof exam results and access data on
the server
SOLUTION: The Kerala CEE has
responded to our discovery and
assured us that work to rectify it has
already begun.
ADOBE FLASH
Remote-code execution vulnerabilities
could leave users open to attacks in
which harmful code embedded within
a Flash animation is executed on their
machines.
SOLUTION: Patches are available for
Flash Player 11 for PC, Mac, Linux and
Android. Adobe AIR should also be
updated to the latest version.
ANDROID
Apps promising to display nude
wallpapers instead send hundreds of
SMSes to premium numbers, thus
making money for the scammers.
SOLUTION: Stick to trusted sources for
apps, such as the Google Play store.
18 09/2012 INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP
0140912_News Snippets.indd 18
SECURITY SECURITY
Wired journalist hacked by simple Thief breaks into
phone call Jobs home
Mat Honan, a multiple-
award-winning journalist
who has worked for
Wired and Gizmodo,
has documented how
he nearly lost his entire
digital life, including
irreplaceable photos, A witless thief broke into
through a shockingly the home of Steve Jobs'
simple targeted attack. Despite using convoluted random- family, making off with
character passwords and maintaining multiple backups, a nearly $60,000 worth of
group of attackers was able to have his accounts reset by gadgets, jewelry and personal
calling Apple and Amazon's helplines and using publicly items, but was nabbed a
available information and social engineering tricks. The few days later. The house
attackers remotely wiped his MacBook and locked his was unoccupied at the time,
iPhone and iPad. They also managed to gain access to his and the thief was seemingly
Twitter and Google accounts, which they spammed and unaware of whose house it
then deactivated. Honan managed to recover some data was. He was caught after
from the wiped MacBook SSD, but much of his digital life trying to use the stolen
has been lost. His blog posts at www.emptyage.com recap devices with his own iTunes
the harrowing experience and highlight the dangers of account, and nearly everything
connecting various accounts to each other. has been recovered.
PRIVACY PRIVACY
Anonymous reveals existence of μTorrent users
TrapWire surveillance network protest ads
Anonymous and Wikileaks have uncovered
proof that a massive public surveillance
network known in limited circles as
TrapWire is in operation across the United
States of America, unbeknownst to its μTorrent, the world's most
citizens. A huge number of ordinary popular Torrent client, came
cameras in public places that most people think are under intense criticism
used only by police or building security staff are in fact after announcing that it
connected to a nation-wide surveillance facility which can would introduce "sponsored"
track individuals by face as they move about. Its accuracy automatic downloads in future
is said to be superior to current commercial face tracking releases. The ads will now
products and works for vehicles as well. The system is be opt-out, but μTorrent will
designed to help assess threats in public spaces by detecting continue to experiment with
and flagging "pre-attack behaviour". Major cities whose new revenue models to earn
cameras are part of TrapWire include New York and Los money from its 125 million
Angeles. Private facilities include Las Vegas casinos, and active users, according to a
cameras outside the US are also thought to be connected. company statement. μTorrent
TrapWire was created by a security contractor called is estimated to have a 75
Abraxas, which was formed by several ex-CIA and percent market share across
intelligence agency officers. The news is the result of a platforms. Furious users have
recent hack by Anonymous activists on the US Strategic threatened to abandon it or
Forecasting Intelligence Agency. revert to much older versions.
8/25/2012 10:28:50 PM
 NEWSWIRE
BUZZ LIST

LEGAL ISSUES GADGETS

3D printed keys and guns "iPad mini" speculation

causing trouble for police reaches fever pitch
3D printers are soon going to be a huge headache for law Rumors of a smaller,
enforcement agencies. Their ability to allow anyone to create cheaper iPad mini have
objects cheaply and precisely means that cheap plastic copies of been leaking onto the
the keys that lock handcuffs are already being circulated. These Web fairly regularly, but
keys are obviously highly protected, but are usually of the same the amount of specific,
design so that no one consistent information
has to track down a that has come out in the
particular key when it's past month make it
needed. A German almost certain that Apple
security worker who is working on such a product. Chinese accessory makers are
only goes by the name already showing off cases and covers, indicating that the size and
"Ray" demonstrated specifications are finalized. However, they were famously wrong
copies of such keys he about the shape of last year's iPhone 4S and the previous-
managed to obtain on generation iPod touch. So far, details seem to indicate a 7.85-inch
his own. These could be 1024x768-pixel screen, a new smaller dock connector, 8 to 16 GB
distributed cheaply and of internal storage, 3G and Wi-Fi, and a

BUZZ
concealed by criminals who would then starting price of US$ 200-250 range at
later use them to escape. A separate launch this October. If Apple actually does
initiative that calls itself the "Wiki Weapon launch the device, it would compete with
Project" is trying to create a blueprint for a Amazon's Kindle Fire and Google's Nexus 7

LIST
firearm that anyone can duplicate at home and capitalize strongly on Apple's iTunes
using existing 3D printers. store and iCloud streaming services.

WEB WEB

Twitter alienates COMPILED BY JAMSHED AVARI

The simple lowdown on Hotmail turns

its partners what everyone's talking
about this month
Twitter has seemingly turned on many of the
services that have helped it build up its name and user base over
the years. A new version of the protocol used by third parties to
access Twitter content specifies new restrictions on how Tweets
may be presented and enforces a new authentication scheme.
The regulations might help Twitter look more consistent across
services, but it drastically reduces the scope for innovation.
Clients might not be able to sufficiently differentiate themselves
from the official Twitter and Tweetdeck clients. External actions
involving sharing Tweets through other networks are prohibited,
and Tweets may not be displayed alongside feeds from other
sources. The "Find my Friends" function has been withdrawn from
Instagram and
Tumblr, and it will
be compulory to
display sponsored
Tweets. Developers
are crying foul, but
it remains to be
seen if any will shut
down or reinvent
themselves.
into Outlook.com
Microsoft has decided to bring all of its
email-related offerings under a single brand. Outlook.com will
complement the
desktop Outlook
program and largely
replace Hotmail and
Live.com. Users can
sign up for a new
account or migrate
an existing Hotmail
or Live account
without losing any
email, folders or settings. Much like everything else Microsoft
does these days, the service has been designed to match
Windows 8. The look is sparse and blocky, with the signature thin
typography and loads of white space. There are also feature
improvements such as improved search, keyboard shortcuts,
fitlers, and large thumbnails of attachments. SkyDrive has also
been redesigned to match, and it's only a matter of time before
the Calendar joins them too. While existing users will have their @
hotmail.com addresses indefinitely, this is the end of the road for
one of the Web's earliest and most successful names.

20 09/2012 INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP SMS us!  Story code: NBL to 51818

0200912_Buzz List.indd 20 8/25/2012 8:25:43 PM

 NEWSWIRE
NEW PRODUCTS LAUNCHED
NEW PRODUCTS LAUNCHED
COMPILED BY JAMSHED AVARI
AVERMEDIA
Standalone TV
Recorder
Avermedia has announced the AVerTV
Box PVR (A229), a standalone TV
recording box. The AVerTV Box PVR
features direct file recording to USB hard
drives, scheduled recording and
TimeShift. It is equipped with 3D Y/C
separation for superior video quality. It
can also be used to preserve your
favourite video from various external
devices through the Composite interface.
With the advantages of ease of
operations, high video quality and multi-
use capability, the AVerTV Box PVR is a
cost-effective solution for video
enthusiasts. Its inputs of TV antenna and
composite video allow users to capture
analogue cable TV, as well as TV content
from satellite/cable TV set-up-box. Due to
its compatibility with TVs and PC
monitors, the product stands out from
general TV boxes.
PRICE: Rs 8750
WEBSITE: www.avermedia.com
COOLER MASTER
Responsive Gaming
Keyboard
Cooler Master has
announced its new
mechanical gaming
keyboard, the CM Storm
Quick Fire Pro, utilizing
mechanical switches from
Cherry, rated for over 50 million
clicks. It will be offered in Blue,
Black, Brown and Red Cherry switches so
you can choose between linear feedback
and strong resistance. A high-grade
22 09/2012 INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP
braided cable ensures that the keyboard
and the connected peripherals maintain a
strong link with the PC. The key caps are
laser-marked and have a non-glossy
coating to improve tactile response. In
Game mode, the Windows key has been
disabled. With N-key rollover, gamers can
press any number of key combinations to
deliver that devastating spell or unleash a
hail of bullets. The Quick Fire Pro is laced
with red LED lighting on commonly used
keys such as the WASD & Arrow key
cluster.
PRICE: Rs 6,400
WEBSITE: www.coolermaster.in
SAMSUNG
Multifunction Laser
Printer
Samsung has announced a new range of
printers which offer quick printing speeds
with enhanced quality at cost effective
rates. The new launches cater to the entry
level single function, entry level multi
function and mid range multi function
segments. The SCX-4021MFP laser printer
series hold a standard 250 A4 sheet
capacity with 24ppm printing speed and
is up to 23 percent smaller than
conventional 250-sheet A4 MFP
laser printers. This compact
design provides an efficient
and elegant space saving
solution for any environment.
Print, copy, scan and fax functions are
easy to use. The easy 2-step ID Copy
function enables users to copy the front
and back of an ID onto a single page. To
ensure smooth and comfortable operation
from a standing or seated position, the
operating panel is tilt enabled.
PRICE: Rs 11,499 onwards
WEBSITE: www.samsung.com
SILICON POWER
Lucky USB drive
Silicon Power has launched
the Dragon theme Touch
836 USB flash drive in
India. The pint-sized
Touch 836 comes in
the colour of antique
bronze and features an
exquisite dragon totem design portraying
the noble majesty of the Chinese dragon.
The robust case is processed using a
sandblasting technique to protect the
surface from finger-prints and scratches
while giving Touch 836 a luxurious
metallic glamour. The drive comes with a
strap hole and a matching chain. The
Silicon Power Touch T836 utilizes COB
(Chip On Board), the advance packaging
technology. It is dust-proof, vibration-
proof and waterproof to reduce the risk
of losing your precious data. It also comes
with SP Widget free download, providing
seven major backup and security tools as
well as a 60 day free trial of Norton
AntiVirus 2011.
PRICE: TBA
WEBSITE: www.silicon-power.com
KARBONN
Budget Jellybean
Tablet
Karbonn Mobiles has introduced the
country’s first budget tablet, Karbonn
Smart Tab 1, running the Android 4.1
‘Jelly Bean’ platform. It has become the
first company to bring in the latest
innovation from the Android world which
is touted to be the fastest and smoothest
version of Android yet. With a 17.8 cm
capacitive 5-point touch screen powered
SMS us!  Story code: NPL to 51818
 NEWSWIRE
NEW PRODUCTS LAUNCHED
by a 3,700 mAh battery, the Karbonn Smart
mart
Tab 1 also features a 3D gravity sensor,
Wi-Fi and 3G support through USB
dongle, along with a 2-megapixel front
camera and pre-embedded
applications such as the Karbonn
Smart Browser and Karbonn Smart
games, local apps including the Times of
k
India and Economic Times app, Facebook
and much more.
PRICE: Rs 6990
WEBSITE: www.karbonnmobiles.com
LG
Quad-core Android
phone
LG Electronics has
launched the Optimus
4X HD smartphone in
India. This sleek, slim
and beautifully
designed smartphone
packs a powerful
viewing experience.
The Optimus 4X HD
flaunts Nvidia’s Tegra3
mobile processor and
has a 2,150 mAh
battery, which is the largest among quad
core smartphones. The phone has a 4.7-inch
True HD IPS display, which delivers a
high-clarity viewing experience with
an HD resolution of 1280x720. The
device’s high pixel density of 313 ppi
and Stripe RGB IPS Panel ensures that
the text, images and video are sharp,
crisp and almost in natural colours,
while its 16:9 ratio enables the
consumer to view more information at a
glance. It also flaunts LG’s new User
Experience, Optimus UI 3.0, which includes
QuickMemo that enables users to jot
memos or notes on any screen of the
phone.
PRICE: Rs 34,990
WEBSITE: www.lg.com/in
24 09/2012 INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP
The products and services listed here have not been reviewed by IC-CHIP.
These are not endorsements or recommendations. All prices, specifications
and claims are as stated by the respective manufacturers and publicists.
PNY
Nifty card reader
PNY
Technologies
has
releas
released a
stylish and
versatil multi-function
versatile
card reader that supports
t
any type off memory card on
the market. The PNY Multi-function card
reader supports SD, SDHC, MMC, MMCplus,
MS, MS Pro, MS Pro Duo, xD, CF, M2, Micro
SD, Micro SDHC and more. The USB 2.0
interface allows for easy plug and play
installation and its high speed performance
ensures up to 10K read/write speed. The
built-in USB cable ensures hassle free and
smooth operation of transfer and storing of
memory. It stores neatly into a slot at the
bottom of the reader. The cleverly-designed
card reader fashionably complements the
devices in eye catching and preppy red and
blue. The PNY Card reader works with all
versions of Windows and Mac OS and
comes with a limited warranty of 2 years.
PRICE: Rs 500
WEBSITE: www.pny.com.tw
FENDA
Stylish Bluetooth
Speakers
Fenda Audio’s newest introduction to its
speaker range, the W330BT 2.1 wireless
Bluetooth speakers promise to bring a crisp
feel to your senses. Those who seek new
aural experiences on their home couch or
office chair can now simply activate
Bluetooth, hit play and sit back to relish
incredible sound. The W330 boasts of a 56W
output and full, clear sound with a bass that
will transport you right into the heart of the
sound you are listening to. Delivering this
core value of superior quality is the CSR
(Cambridge Silicon Radio) chipset. The W330
has a slight edge thanks to its unique cubic
design and golden rings at its centre. It also
packs along a super volume knob and a
white LED ring with treble and bass control
on the side panel.
PRICE: Rs 5,990
WEBSITE: www.fendaindia.com
KASPERSKY
Home Security Suite
Kaspersky Lab has launched Kaspersky
Pure 2.0 for home users.
Kaspersky Pure 2.0
comes with enhanced
password-security-
related features,
encryption
capabilities, secure
vaults, backup and
Parental Control.
Kaspersky PURE 2.0
features an
improved, easy-to-use
centralized security management function—
Home Network Control —for home
networked computers, which enables
checking the protection status of, and
updating the antivirus database for, all
computers in a home network. The
improved Parental Control allows you to
supervise your children’s online
communications. Password Manager allows
you to create strong passwords, store them
securely, and manage them easily. Safe
Notes allows you to safely store passwords
and confidential information such as PIN
codes for SIM cards, software activation
codes, passport details, credit card
numbers, etc. Virtual Keyboard ensures
that passwords, banking and other
confidential data can be safely entered into
web pages without a standard keyboard.
PRICE: TBA
WEBSITE: www.kaspersky.com
– jamshed.avari@chip.in
 NEWSWIRE
POCKET SMS
PocketSMS: App for the Deafblind
For those with both hearing and visual disabilities, communicating with the world at large
is quite a task. PocketSMS, an app that makes use of Morse code and the phone's vibration
mode, hopes to solve this problem. BY PRIYANKA TILVE
T
echnology means different things to
different people. While it spells ease
and convenience for most of us, for
those with disabilities, it is liberating and
life-transforming. Technology has made
them less dependent on others and has
opened up a world of opportunities. Braille
keyboards and screen readers have made
computers and gadgets truly accessible
to the visually-impaired. But there is one
set of people, the deafblind, who are still
somewhat ignored, at least when it comes
to the technology being developed for
them. As per a 2010 survey conducted by
Sense International India, there were an
estimated 444,000 deafblind people in
India.
Delhi-based Bidirectional Access
Promotion Society (Bapsi) has been
working on developing technology to aid
those with disabilities for years, and on
their to-do list was a communication
solution for the deafblind. Dr Arun Mehta,
President of Bapsi, says, “We were aware
that the vibrate function on mobile
phones could work for the deafblind, but
the programming of mobile phones was,
until recently, quite a complicated thing.
With the launch of Android phones and
developer tools like App Inventor (now the
MIT App Inventor), all the pieces of the
puzzle came together, and that’s when we
decided to create this app.”
PocketSMS uses phone vibrations to
denote Morse codes, which, Dr Mehta
explains, is the best choice for binary
communication channels like the vibrate
mode. He says, “Morse code is a fairly
sophisticated means of communication.
It is widely used and is also available in
a number of languages. It is basically
dots and dashes, so in the app, a dot is
represented by a vibration of short duration
while the dash is represented by a vibration
of longer duration. So when a message is
received, every letter in the message will
be denoted by short or long vibrations
depending on its Morse code symbol. Here,
every pause is fixed; how long a pause
should there be between each letter and
how long a pause should there be between
26 09/2012 INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP
0260912_PocketSMS - App for the Deafblind.indd 26
every word is well-defined.”
The app was developed on App
Inventor during his Summer Internship
Programme at Bapsi by 23-year-old
Anmol Anand, a post-graduate in Masters
of Computer Applications, Lal Bahadur
Shastri Institute of Management, Delhi. He
says his biggest challenge was developing
the user interface. He explains, “All the
functions of the app, right from reading
the SMS to sending the reply, had to be
made possible using just one button.
And this was the biggest challenge.
Apart from this, I had to think of different
codes that would determine whether
the user wanted to send a reply, forward
it to a different number or just go back
to the reading section.” This application
has been designed to work on Android-
based touchscreen phones available at
reasonably low costs. Also, the app needs
to be kept open and running at all times.
Elaborating on the app's functions,
he says, “When a SMS is received, the
phone will vibrate and the user will need
to provide a short press to read the SMS.
The app will then convert the message to
Morse code and provide output through
corresponding vibrations for each alphabet.
If the user doesn’t wish to reply to the
SMS and wants to go back to the reading
section, they need to type “rx”. If they wish
to reply, a long press will take them to
the reply section, which is basically one
large text box. If the reply is meant for the
sender, the user has to input “tx” and once
the SMS is sent, the app will return to the
reading section. If the user wants to send
the SMS to a new number, they will have
to input a long press, which will take them
to the reply section where they can feed
in their message and then type “nx”. This
command will save the contents of the
text box and then clear it, so that the user
can type in the number of the recipient
and type “sx”, which will send the SMS.
“All these commands are not case
sensitive. The reading section of the app
has three areas – a pastel yellow displays
the SMS in English, a pink area displays
the alphabet that is being vibrated along
with its Morse code, and a bright yellow
allows you to customize the duration of
the vibration for a dot, which will then set
the corresponding duration for dash.” The
app is not yet available on the Android
app store, but it can be downloaded from
Bapsi's website.
While it seems pretty straightforward,
the main challenge for deafblind people,
who may know Braille, is that they will
have to first familiarise themselves with
Morse code. Aware of this issue, Dr Mehta
and his team have also developed a Morse
trainer. The PocketSMS app has been used
by several visually-impaired people and it
works as intended. However, much to the
Bapsi team's disappointment, they haven’t
yet found a single deafblind person to
try their app. He points out that the only
piece of tech available for the deafblind
is Refreshable Braille display, which is
expensive. What PocketSMS offers is an
inexpensive, simple yet effective solution
that can be further adapted for many uses.
They are now looking for funding for Morse
training and plan to organise competitions
for deafblind people where the winner will
get a free phone.
– priyanka.tilve@chip.in
SMS us!  Story code: NPK to 51818
8/24/2012 5:05:20 PM
 NEWSWIRE
DIGITAL EMPOWERMENT
Digital
Empowerment:
Connecting
the last miles
The Digital Empowerment
Foundation is working
relentlessly with an aim
to bridge the digital divide
in India through wireless
networks. BY PRIYANKA TILVE
F
or us city dwellers, connectivity
is a given. Be it looking for
information, getting work done,
social networking, shopping, online
activism and even voicing dissent, we're
able to connect with anyone, anywhere.
But a vast swathe of the population is
deprived of this convenience. And just how
serious is this? India was ranked 39th in
the Digital Inclusion Index, released in 2011
by UK-based MapleCroft, which studied
the level of digital inclusion across 186
countries. While India is one of the five
BRICS countries, it was the only one to be
categorised at extreme risk owing to the
severe lack of digital inclusion.
In a country like India, which is already
grappling with economic disparities, a
digital divide will further widen the gap
between the haves and the have-nots.
While the economic disparities need
complex solutions, the same is not the
case with digital disparities, as is shown
by initiatives like Wireless for Communities.
This is an initiative started more than
two years ago by Delhi-based non-profit
Digital Empowerment Foundation (DEF)
and the Internet Society (ISOC). Flagged
off in 2010 from Chanderi, a small town in
Madhya Pradesh renowned for its exquisite
Chanderi weaves, the initiative is making
rapid progress in connecting the last miles.
The man spearheading the initiative
and the founder of DEF, Osama Manzar,
28 09/2012 INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP
0280912_Digital Empowerment - Connecting the last miles.indd 28
is passionate about empowering people
with the help of technology. His journey
began after he opted for journalism
over engineering. Lack of technical
knowledge didn’t stop him from working
for an IT magazine or later heading the
Interactive Media division of a leading
media company. In fact, he went on to
start his own IT solutions company and
subsequently wrote a book, "The Internet
Economy of India", which proved to be a
turning point as he became aware of the
huge digital divide in our country.
But instead of seeing it as a divide, he
saw it as an opportunity, as he believed
that the existing technology was enough
to bridge that divide. With that thought,
he established the Digital Empowerment
Foundation in 2003. Emphasising the
importance of digital inclusion, Manzar
says, “If you're not connected, you're
completely in a situation of exploitation
as you can’t access media, you can’t
access information, so on and so forth. We
realise the fact that the whole problem of
poverty and economic deprivation is also
related to information poverty, as the more
disconnected you are, the less informed
you are.” Wireless for Communities is
one of DEF's many initiatives; the others
include Digital Panchayat, eNGO, Digital
Knowledge Centre and GyanPedia.
Over the years, DEF has made Internet
available in remote areas, some of which
DEF (Digital Empowerment Foundation)
have particularly challenging terrain. What
started with Chanderi has today reached
Sonapur in Assam, Tura in Meghalaya,
Baran in Rajasthan, Tehri in Uttarakhand
and Tilonia in Rajasthan. Manzar says,
“We realised that there was a possibility
to utilise wireless technology for last-mile
connectivity by using the unlicensed or
license-free spectrum the government
provides for community networks. Not
many people are aware of its existence;
5.8 GHz and 2.4 GHz are the bands made
free by the Department of Telecom and
Ministry of IT. We use this free spectrum
with wireless technology to connect
remote areas. We do not run it as a
commercial entity, nor are we distributors
or ISPs. We use it more as a community-
based network; we take one connection
and share it among multiple users on a
contribution basis.”
While using wireless technology made
perfect sense, what they also had to
consider was the cost of the infrastructure
and affordability. DEF’s strategy was to use
low-cost products without compromising
on effectiveness. “Once we identify the
location where we have to create a
network, we go ahead and explore the
low-cost equipment for the networking. We
currently make use of equipment from TP
Link. The average cost of connecting one
node is around 25 to 30 thousand rupees.
Whereas, if you talk to any telco or any
SMS us!  Story code: NDE to 51818
8/24/2012 5:09:53 PM

The community of weavers is now making effective use of software and online
tools to create designs
player who is into wireless connectivity
as a commercial service, it will cost three
to four times more than what it costs us.
Besides being low-cost, it also enables us
to do point-to-point networking and point
to multi-point networking, which is known
as mesh networking. Mesh networks are
very effective for connecting networks,
especially in hilly areas. If, for instance,
there is a valley that is surrounded by
hills, you can erect a tower on the hill and
the entire line of sight is connected,” he
explains. The only hindrance they face in
terms of infrastructure is the unreliable
and irregular power supply, a common
problem in almost all rural areas. DEF is
currently using batteries to tackle this, but
are looking forward to using solar panels
for power.
However, these hindrances pale in
comparison to the ways in which this
project is transforming the lives of the
people. For instance, not only have
the people of Chanderi gained a lot
from the project, but it never ceases to
surprise tourists visiting the town. The
community of weavers is now effectively
using software and online tools to create
designs and advertise their weaves across
the globe. Chanderi has a place of pride
in the W4C programme and DEF hopes
We realise the fact that the
whole problem of poverty and
economic deprivation is also related
to information poverty. The more
disconnected you are, the less
informed you are.
– Osama Manzar
Founder, Digital Empowerment Foundation
DEF also undertakes training programs where they teach the local youth the
nitty-gritties of wireless networks and maintenance.
to replicate the success in other regions
as well. Manzar states, “In Chanderi,
under what we refer to as a ‘Community
Wireless Network’, we have connected 25
nodes. The connections are being used
by the weavers and there are around
eleven schools that have opted for the
connection. Many had computers, but
lacked an Internet connection. Besides, our
service is used by cyber cafés, community
radio stations, government health centres
and even some government offices. And
since it is a community network, we ask
for donations from the people who use the
service. As of today, the donation is a fixed
rate of Rs. 500 per month. There is huge
demand and we are now considering to go
for a dedicated leased line.”
Besides providing connectivity, DEF
also undertakes training programs where
they teach the local youth the nitty-gritties
of wireless networks and maintenance.
Manzar says, “The whole idea of a
community wireless network is to make
sure that the community itself understands
what wireless technology is so that they
participate not only in its deployment but
also help manage it. Most of it is on-the-
job training, but we are not very happy with
the outcome. However, we are happy with
the participation and the interest shown.
NEWSWIRE
DIGITAL EMPOWERMENT
In Chanderi, the community members
who are part of the project manage the
network themselves. Right from new
connections to even troubleshooting.
In fact, we plan to organise a proper
six-month training programme for all
our aspiring community-level network
engineers so that they become
absolutely robust technology hands.
Besides this, we have also been running
regular computer literacy programmes
for the people of the community.”
Riding on the success of its pilot
project, DEF has set its goals for the next
couple of years. The Digital Empowerment
Foundation has a huge network of rural
centres that help them identify a location
in need of connectivity. DEF also has
people approaching it to replicate networks
in their areas. DEF then does its research
on the ground to find out the base line and
the need before deployment.
“Our plan for the next three to four
years is that each and every Digital
Empowerment Foundation centre should
be working with wireless technology
and serving the communities around it
in different states. The next big wireless
networking project we will be taking up is
in the Baran district of Rajasthan. Here, we
are also enabling video-conferencing, as
owing to low literacy, people in rural areas
appreciate video-conferencing more than
chatting or text messaging. This year, we
are going to establish networks in at least
five tribal areas. These include the Guna,
Balaghat and Shivpuri districts in Madhya
Pradesh, the Giridih district of Jharkhand,
and the Kohima district of Nagaland. The
very point of selecting these locations is
that they are remote, not well-connected
and are mostly populated by tribals or one
of the subjugated populations.”
– priyanka.tilve@chip.in
INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP 09/2012 29
 TEST CENTER
HARDWARE
PRODUCT
SPOTLIGHT

PC

ASUS ROG
TYTAN CG8565
VERDICT: A good package, but quite expensive.
FOR: Great aesthetics; mechanical keyboard.
AGAINST: Too overpriced for the configuration.

W
e’ve seen a lot of enthusiast-class
motherboards and graphics cards
from Asus’ Republic of Gamers (ROG)
brand. What we are reviewing here is neither of
the two, but a mean-looking gaming PC called
Tytan CG8565. It certainly looks powerful, but
let us see what it packs under the hood.
Features
The first thing anyone would like to know about a
gaming PC is its configuration. The Tytan CG8565 is
powered by the former Sandy Bridge top-end CPU,
the Intel Core i7-2600k. Considering Ivy Bridge has
already been released, this is slightly disappointing.
We would have liked to see a Core i7-3770k, but
the Core i7-2600k is almost as powerful. Asus has
used its own motherboard based on the Intel Z68
chipset, a P8Z68-V Pro. Again, a decent choice, but
it could have chosen the P8Z77-V Pro instead. The
P8Z68-V Pro offers an impressive feature set: you
get four SATA 6 Gb/s ports, four USB 3.0 ports, four
SATA 6 Gb/s ports,
and support for both
SLI and CrossFire.
The rear panel has
a Bluetooth adapter
and three video
outputs (D-sub,
DVI and HDMI).
Even though the
motherboard has a
7.1-channel audio chip,
Asus has thrown in
its Xonar DX sound
card for better audio
Nothing special about the RAM quality. This is fitted
used in the Asus ROG Tytan.
in the topmost PCIe
x1 slot. The other PCIe x1 card below the graphics
card is a Wi-Fi adapter.
Our expectations weren’t too high for a gaming
PC of this calibre, but we were quite disappointed
to find the GTX 560 Ti DirectCu II, a mid-range
graphics card. We believe it should have carried at
least the GTX 670. Maybe Asus couldn’t afford to
fit in a more powerful card, but any hardcore gamer
would expect a high-end card. This graphics card
isn’t factory overclocked, but it sports a custom
cooler that’s much superior than the one featured
on Nvidia’s reference design. The graphics card has
two DVI outputs and a mini HDMI port.
Wouldn’t you expect a SATA 6 Gb/s SSD and
high-end memory in an ROG PC? If you did, prepare
to be disappointed as the SSD fitted here is a 64
GB SATA 3 Gb/s; just for the operating system,
applications and a few games. Your movie library,
music, photos and other stuff go onto the 1 TB
Seagate Barracuda hard drive that uses a SATA 6
Gb/s interface. Asus has opted for a pair of 4 GB
DDR3-1600 modules by ASint. The plain green sticks
don’t look high-end at all. Although they should
suffice, you’ll need high-end modules if you wish to
heavily overclock this PC. You won’t have to worry
about the CPU getting overheated thanks to a
closed-circuit liquid cooler by Asetek. A radiator with
a 120 mm fan mounted on it is fitted onto the rear
of the cabinet. Other features include a BD-ROM/
DVD-writer combo drive, a hot-swap bay for 3.5-
inch hard drives, and a card reader that can read
Memory Stick, SD and CompactFlash (CF) memory
cards.
What we liked most about this PC are the
cabinet and input devices. As mentioned earlier,
the cabinet looks awesome. It would have looked
better had it featured a transparent side panel, LED

30 09/2012 INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP SMS us!  Story code: HCI to 51818
 TEST CENTER
HARDWARE

fans and some lighting within, but that

would be asking for too much. The top
panel of the front bezel slides down,
exposing the 5.25-inch bays behind it.
A geared mechanism prevents it from
coming down crashing. The ROG logo
lights up in blue, as does the lower
part of the bezel. The colour changes to red on of the SSD, but the write speed was significantly
pressing the Speed button on the top left corner, higher. Here, higher read speed is important for
which overclocks the processor on-the-fly. The better operating system response and quicker
stock speed of the Core i7-2600k is 3.4 GHz and it’s application loading.
configured to run at a default speed of 4.2 GHz on Gaming performance was also good, but it would
this PC. The Speed button further boosts the CPU’s have been much better had Asus used a high-end
speed to 4.4 GHz on the first press and to 4.6 GHz graphics card. Here is what this PC scored in the
with the second press. real-world gaming benchmarks which were run
The bundled keyboard is a mechanical one with at a resolution of 1920x1080. The games ran very
Cherry MX-Black switches. The keys are linear and smoothly, but they won’t be as smooth on larger
don’t make clicking sounds when pressed. The screens with higher resolutions.
layout is standard, and the keyboard comes with
a detachable palm rest. The mouse bundled is an  Crysis 2
Asus GX900. It sports a right-handed design and Ultra preset - Hi-res textures - No AA: 37.4 fps
uses laser-tracking. The keyboard and the mouse Ultra preset - Hi-res textures - 4xAA: 35.7 fps
have a matte, rubberised finish.  Dirt 3
Ultra preset - No AA: 67.69 fps
Performance Ultra preset – 8x MSAA: 57.5 fps
The overall performance of the Tytan is excellent,  Battlefield 3
thanks to the Intel Core i7-2600k. It scored 5367 Ultra preset - No AA: 62.4 fps
points and 4776 points in the PCMark 7 and 3DMark Ultra preset – 4x MSAA: 41 fps
11 benchmarking tests respectively. It breezed  Batman Arkham City
through the real-world tests, taking only 18 seconds Extreme preset - No AA: 75 fps
to transcode a one-minute MPEG video to H.264 Extreme preset – 8x MSAA: 43 fps
format, and clocked 24 seconds when we went
about compressing 100 MB of data to .7zip format Verdict
with Ultra preset. Note that these numbers are very The Asus ROG Tytan
low; a standard desktop PC would take more than CG8565 comes at
twice as long. a hefty price of Rs
The read and write speeds were good, but not 1,15,000. It is one of
very impressive owing to the SATA 3 Gb/s SSD. It the most powerful
logged sequential read and write speeds of 201 configurations available
MB/s and 60.79 MB/s in CrystalDiskMark and SiSoft in the branded gaming
Sandra 2012 respectively. SATA 6 Gb/s drives are PC category. We liked
more than the inclusion of a
SPECIFICATIONS twice as fast. high-quality mechanical
Rs 1,15,000 The Seagate keyboard and a gaming
www.asus.in
Barracuda hard mouse. However, at this
CPU: Intel Core i7-2600k; Chipset: Intel Z68;
drive managed price, you can easily
RAM: 8 GB DDR3-1600; SSD: 64 GB; Hard disk: 1 TB;
Optical drive: Blu-ray combo. to log 153 MB/s build a more powerful
CONTACT ASUS Technology Pvt Ltd and 151 MB/s in gaming PC with Intel
PHONE 022-67668800 sequential read Core i7-3770k, Asus
EMAIL reachus@asus.com and write tests P8Z77-V Pro, 8 GB of
RATINGS respectively. The high-end RAM, GTX 660
BUILD QUALITY
read speed of Ti and a large SATA 6
ERGONIMICS
FEATURES the hard drive GB/s SSD — all of which
PERFORMANCE was marginally this PC lacks. ASUS has gone in with an SSD + Hard Disk setup to combine
OVERALL RATING
lower than that - Anand Tuliani speed with plenty of storage space.
VALUE FOR MONEY

INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP 09/2012 31

 TEST CENTER
HARDWARE

TV

LG 72LM9500
FOR: Massive size; decent quality; Smart TV features are well
detailed; integrated Flash-enabled web browser; well built.
AGAINST: Backlighting issues; 3D performance is average;
extremely expensive.

T
he new LG 72LM9500 is a 72-inch
full-HD LED-backlit LCD TV, and
it’s a mammoth. Even though it
is an LED-backlit TV, it’s nowhere close
to light and weighs a massive 65.5 kg,
so it’s not very easy to shift and move
around. Wall-mounting may not be an
option either. The TV isn’t very slim at 6
cm thick, which is way more than most
LED backlit TVs. Unlike other TVs, this one
is mostly made of metal. The entire rear
of the TV is made of metal and it’s very
sturdy. The stand allows you to rotate
the TV, but it won’t do a complete 360.
There’s nothing too different about
the remote control that comes with the
TV. It has roughly the same design found
on the current line of LG TVs. You have a
dedicated 3D button that lets you switch
from 2D to 3D mode. In case of non-3D
content, you get the option to quickly
enable 2D-to-3D content conversion.
The TV uses passive 3D glasses
technology; the newer glasses are sleeker,
made of plastic and don’t have batteries.
Connectivity-wise, there are USB ports at
the rear of the TV but they’re placed quite
high up, which means a small corded
USB hard drive will hang in mid-air. There
are three USB ports on the rear and four
SPECIFICATIONS HDMI ports to use for different sources.
Rs 5,95,555 There’s also a D-Sub port and an optical
www.lg.com
connector. For internet connectivity,
Dimensions: 1694 x 1114 x 386.3 mm; Screen size: 72
inch; Resolution: 1920x1080; Screen type: IPS, LED- there’s a LAN port, which is particularly
backlit LCD panel; Connectivity: 4 HDMI inputs, 3 USB handy if you want to stream high-
ports, LAN port, AV-in, RF-in, Component in, D-Sub in.
definition content over the network. You
CONTACT LG Electronics India Pvt Ltd
PHONE 1800-180-9999
EMAIL serviceindia@lge.com VERDICT
RATINGS
BUILD QUALITY
ERGONOMICS
THE LG 72LM9500 IS A GOOD BUY, IF
FEATURES
PERFORMANCE
OVERALL RATING
YOU HAVE THAT KIND OF MONEY.
VALUE FOR MONEY
also have the option to connect a Wi-Fi
adapter or a USB keyboard and mouse to
the TV for easier use.
The TV has a variety of smart TV
features, which are quickly accessible with
the press of a button. Important content
categories are positioned in boxes one
after another. Apps and web services such
as Facebook, Youtube, Google Maps and
even a 3D content gallery are available.
Additional apps can be downloaded.
There’s also a Dual-Play feature using 3D
glasses, which lets you view two views of
a game using a single TV.
Video quality in general is good as
long as you sit at a distance. Backlighting
has some issues and it’s easy to see
large patches of backlight bleeding
at the corners of the screen. Black
levels otherwise are pretty good. 3D
performance is decent. Audio quality is
average. It’s not an issue. If you’re going
to be spending so much on a television
of this size, it’d be wrong not to buy an
equally impressive sound solution.
Media playback performance is good.
Quality of the videos is decent and
jumping from one video to another and
skipping happens effortlessly. Skipping
and fast-forwarding videos is also well
done. Fast-forwarding can be done by
moving the playback point to the place
you want to get, then skipping to it.
Overall, the TV is a good mix of viewing
area, performance and features.
- Rossi Fernandes

32 09/2012 INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP

 TEST CENTER
HARDWARE
PHONE
LG OPTIMUS 4X HD
FOR: Sturdy build; powerful hardware; good camera quality.
AGAINST: Average battery life.
T
he LG Optimus 4x HD is only a
bit heavier than the HTC One X
on paper, but the device has a
nice, solid feel to it. The build quality is
good and there aren’t any flimsy flaps
to worry about. Though it may not
have the aesthetic feel of the One X,
this Optimus has enough class to be
classified as a flagship phone. The front
comprises of a large 4.7-inch IPS display
with three backlit capacitive buttons
and a front camera. The left houses the
volume rocker, while the bottom has a
microUSB slot and the noise cancellation
mic. The back has an 8 MP camera, an
LED flash and a speaker grille. Under the
hood, there is a 2150 mAh battery, the
SIM card slot and a microSD card slot.
The Optimus 4X is powered by a 1.5
GHz quad-core processor with 16 GB
of internal storage and 1 GB of RAM –
enough to keep it chugging all day long
or till the battery lasts, at optimum
speed. The latest version of the Optimus
UI works smoothly on the 4X HD; there
wasn’t a single instance when the
phone actually froze or slowed down.
Multitasking is an absolute breeze - we
opened a couple of memory intensive
apps and there was no hint of lag
whatsoever.
The Optimus 4X HD is a quad band
SPECIFICATIONS handset. It has 3G, dual band Wi-Fi, DLNA,
Rs 34,990 Wi-Fi Direct, Bluetooth 4.0, GPS, and
www.lg.com
last but not the least, NFC. The phone
Dimensions (WxHxD): 132.4 x 68.1 x 8.9 mm; Weight:
also comes with two NFC tags that let
133 g; Display: 4.7-inch HD-IPS, 720 x 1280 pixels;
Internal storage: 16 GB; Camera: 8 MP with autofocus you set up profiles for corresponding
and LED flash; CPU: Quad-core 1.5 HGz Cortex-A9; environments – car, office, sleep, etc.
RAM: 1 GB; OS: Android V4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich).
The phone comes with an Application
CONTACT LG Electronics India Pvt Ltd
PHONE 1800-180-9999
EMAIL serviceindia@lge.com VERDICT
RATINGS
BUILD QUALITY
ERGONOMICS
A GOOD ALTERNATIVE TO BOTH THE
FEATURES
PERFORMANCE
OVERALL RATING
GALAXY S III AND THE HTC ONE X.
VALUE FOR MONEY
34 09/2012 INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP
Manager, which, as the name suggests,
lets you view installed apps and uninstall
them. There’s a Backup App that lets
you back up your downloaded apps,
bookmarks, calendar, call log, contacts,
messages and system settings onto the
internal memory or the SD card. The
Media Home works as a hub for your
videos, photos and music. The other
apps include LG’s SmartShare for DLNA
streaming, LG SmartWorld, LG RemoteCall
for diagnosis, and Memo.
The Optimus 4X HD is loaded with an
8 megapixel camera with a single LED
flash. Outdoor snaps are really good and
the colours look natural. Focusing is good,
though you might have to try a couple of
times to get your best shot. Continuous
shot lets you snap six photos at a time
and macro shots are nice, but we still
preferred the One X’s macro and burst
mode effects.
If you’re hoping that the 2150 mAh
battery would last more than a day, you’re
going to be disappointed. In our video
loop test, we managed nine hours, which
is higher than what the One X managed.
We’d recommend you to carry a charger
(or an extra battery) if you have moderate
to heavy usage.
On paper, the Galaxy S III performs
faster in benchmarks, but has a
questionable design and build and the
bland TouchWiz UI. The One X doesn’t
have a removable battery or a microSD
card slot, but has an overall better look. If
you’ve got no brand preferences, the 4X
HD won’t disappoint you one bit.
- Karan Shah
 TEST CENTER
HARDWARE

PHONE

HTC ONE S
VERDICT: An excellent multimedia droid.
FOR: Excellent design and build; good camera; ICS onboard; AMOLED screen.
AGAINST: Battery life could have been better; purple colour fringing issue.

T
he One X-inspired design gives we noticed on certain backgrounds, but
the One S an extremely sexy and overall, the colours are well saturated.
streamlined look. It’s slim at just The interface is slick thanks to the 1.7 GHz
7.8 mm and is light as well, weighing CPU. The Indian version, however, comes
SPECIFICATIONS just 119 gm. The ceramic shell is very with the Qualcomm S3 chipset instead
Rs 33,000 smooth and feels durable. The front has of the S4 due to supply shortages. The
www.htc.com/in
a row of capacitive buttons and a front music and video player features Beats
Dimensions: (WxHxD): 130.9 x 65 x 7.8 mm ; Weight:
119.5g; CPU: 1.5GHz dual-core; RAM: 1GB; Display: facing VGA camera, while the sensors Audio along with SoundHound, Tune-in
4.3-inch, 540 x 960; Camera: VGA front facing; Storage: are behind the black bezel. It also has a Radio and 7 digital services. You also
16GB; OS: Android 4.0 ICS
microUSB port, a 3.5 mm audio out, and get 3G, Wi-Fi, Wi-Fi Direct, DLNA and
CONTACT HTC India Pvt Ltd
PHONE 9811428765 the power and volume rocker buttons. TV-out via MHL, but no NFC. The 8 MP
EMAIL shaurya.vedvyas@brightpoint.com There’s no expandable memory card slot, camera is very good and the battery
but it has 16 GB of onboard memory. life is not bad either. For Rs 33,000, the
RATINGS
BUILD QUALITY The Super AMOLED display with a 960 One S makes a very good buy if you’re
ERGONOMICS
x 540 resolution looks sharp and crisp. looking for an ICS-based droid.
FEATURES
PERFORMANCE There is a slight purple fringing issue that - Roydon Cerejo
OVERALL RATING
VALUE FOR MONEY

PHONE

SONY XPERIA NEO L

VERDICT: Ideal if you aren’t looking for dual-core processor performance.
FOR: Decent performance; good call quality; large screen.
AGAINST: Average battery; not a very good camera; 1080p content won’t play.

T
he Sony Xperia Neo L is a fat
device at 12.2 mm thick and is
available in black and white. It has
a large four-inch display with a resolution
of 480 x 854 pixels. The keys at the
bottom are slightly cramped together and
the front camera rests at the top with the
sensors. The back has the speaker grill, a
5 megapixel camera and an LED flash.
The Neo L is powered by a 1 GHz
Qualcomm MSM8255 processor and
has 512 MB of RAM with 1 GB of internal
storage, besides a 1500 mAh battery.
Audio via the bundled earphones is good
would have liked a little brighter screen
on maxed out settings.
In-call quality was good and the
speaker is loud enough too. The Neo
L comes with a 5 megapixel camera
on board. There’s no dedicated shutter
button and you’ll have to hold down
SPECIFICATIONS
the icon on the screen to focus. The
Rs 17,990
autofocus capabilities of this phone aren’t www.sony.co.in
too impressive either. Dimensions: 61.1 x 12.2 x 121 mm; Weight: 131.5g;
The front camera is good enough for Display: 4-inch, 854x480 pixels; CPU: 1GHz; RAM:
512MB; Camera: 5MP; OS: Android v4.0 ICS.
video calling and self portraits. Video on
CONTACT Sony India
the phone in 720p mode was somewhat PHONE 1800-103-7799
framy and the colours didn’t appear too EMAIL NA

but video playback is limited to the stock natural. The Neo L is powered by a 1500
RATINGS
formats supported. It won’t play 1080p mAh battery, which should last you for BUILD QUALITY
ERGONOMICS
files, but manages 720p videos. The more than a day.
FEATURES
display has good viewing angles, but we - Karan Shah PERFORMANCE
OVERALL RATING
VALUE FOR MONEY

36 09/2012 INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP

 TEST CENTER
HARDWARE

TABLET

BSNL PENTA T-PAD (WS802C)

VERDICT: One of the best budget Android tablets in the market.
FOR: Good connectivity; Android 4.0; 1080p video playback; 3G with voice calls.
AGAINST: Slightly heavy; viewing angles and resolution could have been better.

T
he T-Pad WS802C is BSNL’s average due to the low screen resolution.
highest-end offering in this The tablet has 4 GB of built-in storage
segment. The tablet is a bit expandable to 32 GB through a microSD
heavy, so it’s not well-suited for one- card. The Penta T-Pad is a 3G tablet and
SPECIFICATIONS handed use. You get an eight-inch has Wi-Fi and Bluetooth.
Rs 14,700 capacitive touchscreen with front and The 2 MP rear camera manages to
www.pantel.in
rear cameras, 3G, a microSD card slot, capture pretty decent pictures. We got
Dimension (WxHxD): 117.28 x 192.8 x 12.53 mm; CPU:
1GHz Cortex-A8; RAM:512MB; Display:8-inch 800 x HDMI, USB OTG, 3.5 mm headphone around seven hours in our video drain
600; Camera: VGA front facing; Storage: 4GB; Video jack and a standard USB port. test, which is pretty good. There is a
output: HDMI; OS: Android v4.0 ICS
The tablet is powered by a 1 GHz CPU column of capacitive buttons along
CONTACT BSNL (Pantel Technologies Pvt Ltd)
PHONE 0120-4805200 and a PowerVR SGX 540 GPU. It also has the edge, which make it easy to use in
EMAIL info@pantel.in the ARM NEON video decoding engine, so landscape mode. For Rs 14,700, the BSNL
it is capable of handling Full HD content Penta T-Pad is one of the best budget
RATINGS
BUILD QUALITY too. It comes with ICS and the interface ICS tablets we’ve come across till date
ERGONOMICS
is extremely smooth. Videos look good, and is highly recommended.
FEATURES
PERFORMANCE but the picture quality is just about - Roydon Cerejo
OVERALL RATING
VALUE FOR MONEY

ZEN A100

ZEN ULTRATAB A100

VERDICT: Recommended for the low price, but has low battery life and no HDMI.
FOR: 1.3 MP front camera; low price; sleek design; matte finished exterior.
AGAINST: No HDMI port; shrill speaker; very low battery life.

Z
en Mobile recently entered the
tablet segment with the Zen
UltraTab A100. Just 10.5 mm
thick and weighing a mere 295 gm,
the tablet is pretty lightweight. Its
chassis is very sturdy and the matte-
finished body looks good. Overall,
the tablet is comfortable to use.
It comes with a 1.3 MP front-facing
camera, a microSD slot and a seven-inch
capacitive display with a resolution of
800 x 480 pixels. It runs on a 1.2 GHz
CPU, a Mali 400 GPU and 512 MB of RAM.
You get 4 GB of storage, expandable to
can connect to USB drives, accessories,
etc. The tablet runs on Android 4.0 ICS
and has some bundled apps.
The A100 performs at par with any SPECIFICATIONS
tablet in its category and we did not Rs 6,000
www.zenmobile.in
find issues with speed or usage. The
Dimensions (WxHxD): 181.5 x 121 x 10.5 mm;
display quality is good with good viewing weight: 295 g; Processor: 1.2 GHz, Mali 400 GPU;
angles. It natively supports common Display: 7-inch capacitive multi-touch, 800 x 480;
Memory: 512 MB DDR3; Storage: 4 GB internal, 32 GB
media and document formats. HD videos
expandable via micro SD slot; Camera: 1.3 MP front-
ran smoothly and gave no issues. Music facing; Operating system: Android 4.0, ICS; Connectivity:
playback is pretty good and the built-in Wi-Fi b/g/n, micro USB, USB host via adapter, 3G
internet via USB; Battery: 2800 mAh.
speaker is loud, but shrill. The battery is a
CONTACT Zen Mobile
bummer as it lasted barely four hours in PHONE 011-29531910
our battery test, which is a very low score EMAIL samay.sayal@zenmobile.in

32 GB via microSD cards and a built-in for a tablet. We would recommend the
RATINGS
2800 mAh battery. It comes with Wi-Fi, Zen UltraTab for its low price, but it has BUILD QUALITY
ERGONOMICS
but doesn’t have Bluetooth or an HDMI low battery life and lacks HDMI.
FEATURES
port. You get a USB OTG cable that you - Francis D’sa PERFORMANCE
OVERALL RATING
VALUE FOR MONEY

38 09/2012 INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP

 TEST CENTER
HARDWARE

TABLET

MILAGROW TABTOP 7.4

VERDICT: Very well-built with good performance, but the screen lacks quality.
FOR: Solid build; slim design; will get Jelly Bean; decent CPU-GPU performance
AGAINST: Average screen; poor camera quality; could have been cheaper.

M
ilagrow’s latest TabTop 7.4 but the viewing angles are quite poor.
feels like one big solid block The TabTop doesn’t have a SIM card
and is a tad heavy, but it isn’t slot, but it supports 3G or 4G dongles.
SPECIFICATIONS as heavy as the iPad. It runs on Android We also have a USB 2.0 port. Our review
4.0, has a seven-inch screen and three model had 4 GB of internal storage and
Rs 10,990
www.milagrowhumantech.com physical buttons that are very flat but was expandable to 32 GB with a microSD
Dimensions: 180 x 131 x 6.5mm; Weight: 361g;
sturdy. The tablet is powered by a rather card. The TabTop 7.4 only has a 1.3 MP
Screen size: 7-inch (800x600px); Processor: 1.2GHz
ARM Cortex A8, Dual-Mali 400MP GPU; RAM: 512MBV quick 1.2 GHz ARM Cortex A8 CPU and front-facing camera, which is particularly
DDR3; OS: Android ICS 4.0.3; Storage: 4GB (internal), 512 MB of DDR3 RAM. Graphics are useful when you’re video conferencing,
expandable to 32GB (microSD).
handled by a Mali-400 MP GPU that but is not built for photos. Camera quality
CONTACT Milagrow
PHONE NA should further boost performance. is pretty bad and video recording is even
EMAIL NA There’s also a Jelly Bean upgrade worse. The battery on the tablet has a
expected. In most of the benchmarks, capacity of 4000 mAh, which allows it to
RATINGS
BUILD QUALITY it matches the BSNL Penta T-Pad run a DVD quality movie for three and a
ERGONOMICS
WS802C. The quality of the speakers on half hours, which is average.
FEATURES
PERFORMANCE the tablet and the screen are average, - Rossi Fernandes
OVERALL RATING
VALUE FOR MONEY

DIGITAL CAMERA

OLYMPUS SH 25-MR
VERDICT: A well-designed camera with above-average zoom capability.
FOR: Good image, video and colour quality; GPS works well.
AGAINST: Average screen quality; minor image stabilisation issues.

T
he Olympus SH 25-MR comes
with a 16 MP CMOS sensor that
has an ISO sensitive range of up
to 6400 and a 12.5x optical zoom lens.
The camera has an all metal body,
with a rubberized hand grip at the front.
The large, three-inch resistive touchscreen
is easy to use. The buttons located here
include a four-way navigation pad, an
OK button, a dedicated video recording
control, a playback button and a menu
key. The camera has a GPS module and a
pop-up flash.
The screen quality of the camera
codec in the MOV format.
There were no anomalies seen
on the screen even when shooting
directly at the bright sky. While shooting
images indoors, we observed that there
was a lot of detail present. Colours and
skin tones appear natural and the overall
SPECIFICATIONS
indoor performance of the camera is Rs 19,499
www.olympus-imaging.co.in
really good. The camera does well while
Dimensions (WxHxD): 109.2 x 30.6 x 61.8 mm; Weight:
capturing images in a bright environment 208g; Resolution: 16MP CMOS sensor, Optical zoom:
and is great for shooting in badly-lit areas 12.5x; Display: 3.0-inch touchscreen; Aperture: f/3 -
f/5.9; ISO Range: 80 to 6400.
too. Video quality is really good and there
CONTACT Olympus Imaging India Pvt Ltd
were no issues faced at all. The flash PHONE 022-61420400
works well and can easily light up an area EMAIL inquiry@olympus.in

is average, but the 430k dot display is of around 12 feet. The colour reproduction
RATINGS
more than sufficient. The integrated GPS is really good and the camera does a BUILD QUALITY
ERGONOMICS
feature works rather well. The camera good job overall.
FEATURES
can record 1080p videos using the H.264 - Aaron Almeida PERFORMANCE
OVERALL RATING
VALUE FOR MONEY

40 09/2012 INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP

 MONO-LASER PRINTER

HP LASERJET PRO 400

VERDICT: Recommended for features and performance.
FOR: Print apps; good print quality; duplex printing.
AGAINST: None.

T
he HP LaserJet Pro 400 M401dn (duplex and
network) is made for SMBs and enterprises. It has
a boxy appearance and a slightly large footprint.
The front has a nice brushed look with two trays and the
power button. It has a USB port on the left using which
you can print stuff on the go. The top consists of a 3.5-inch
touch panel and the Ethernet port is located at the back.
This printer has a unique feature – it supports business
apps that allow you to print at pre-scheduled times. It
also has HP’s ePrint
SPECIFICATIONS capabilities with
Rs 32,724 which you can print
www.hpindia.com
by sending an email
Dimensions (WxHxD): 364.6 x 271 x 368 mm; to your printer’s email
Connectivity: USB and Ethernet; Print technology: Laser;
Print resolution: 1200 dpi; Paper trays: 2; Monthly duty address. The printer’s
cycle: Up to 50,000 pages. drivers are installed
CONTACT HP India automatically as they’re
PHONE 1800-4254-999
stored on the printer.
EMAIL NA
This printer has a
RATINGS print speed of up to 35
BUILD QUALITY
FEATURES ppm with the first page
PERFORMANCE out in eight seconds.
OVERALL RATING
VALUE FOR MONEY
The print resolution is
up to 1200 x 1200 dpi.
In default mode, a full page of text took 10 seconds to
print while it took 11 seconds under economy. A complete full-
sized image document took 15 seconds in both modes. It took
46 seconds to print a batch of 10 text documents, bringing
the average to 4.6 seconds per page. The default mode has
brilliant quality and it has no blotches, smooth curves and
the printer does its job well. The LaserJet Pro 400 M401dn is
a complete package. Extra features such as Print Apps and
the quality and speed of prints make it a good investment.
- Karan Shah

DIGITAL CAMERA
FUJIFILM F660EXR
FOR: Good dial and button layout; very good image quality; sturdy
build; good performance.
AGAINST: User interface could have been better; no effect filters.
F
ujifilm’s FinePix F660EXR packs
a telephoto lens, full manual
control and Full HD video recording
capability in a slim body. It is available
in black, blue and red. It’s small enough,
but is a tad heavier than most ultra-
compacts due to the slightly larger body
and telephoto lens. There’s a large rubber
grip on the front and rubber dimples for
the thumb on the rear for a slip-free grip.
The rear has a three-inch LCD screen
with a resolution of 460K dots. The
button layout is pretty standard with a
five-way D-pad and dedicated buttons
for playback, video capture, F-mode,
and Display/Back. The F-mode button
brings up a small menu for setting the
ISO, image size, and drive and color
modes. The user interface is not intuitive
enough for a first-timer to get used to
quickly. The menus are in full screen and
there are often multiple pages. Each
parameter has a separate sub-menu,
which makes operation a tad fidgety.
At the heart of this camera is a 1/2-inch
CMOS sensor with an effective resolution
of 16 megapixels. Note that this sensor is
slightly larger (15 percent) than 1/2.3-inch
sensors found in most compact digital
cameras, so expect better control over
noise with the ISO set above 800. You’ll
find negligible noise if you stick to ISO
100. The results are quite acceptable
with ISO values of up to 400, after which
luminance noise or graininess starts
creeping in. At up to ISO 1600, photos
shot in good lighting and rescaled to
about 50 percent still look very good.
At 24 mm (35 mm equivalent), the
VERDICT
A VERY CAPABLE CAMERA WITH GOOD
LOW LIGHT PERFORMANCE.
TEST CENTER
HARDWARE
lens is wide enough to capture a broad
field of view. You won’t have to stand too
far from a subject to shoot full-length
portraits or large groups of people. The
lens extends to 360 mm, which translates
to 15x optical zoom. Besides the regular
auto and PASM modes, the F660EXR
offers EXR, Advanced, and Scene modes.
The camera supports Full HD video
recording in 720p at 30 fps. High-speed
shooting is also supported: 320x112 at 320
fps, 320x240 at 160 fps and 640x480
at 80 fps. When played at 30 fps, high
speed videos appear in super slow
motion, which looks very cool. You can
also capture stills while recording videos.
If you like a frame while recording a video,
just release the shutter to shoot a pic.
Although the overall reproduction of
colour and detail is excellent, the camera
struggles with bright backgrounds and
tends to render flares around subjects in
the foreground. What we particularly liked
was the Pro Low Light mode. You get
very good exposures, good amounts of
detail and low noise even in poor lighting
conditions. Full HD videos also came
through very well, except for the stereo The angled mode dial and the jog dial around the D-pad
mic, which picks up the hum of the motor make operating the camera comfortable.
when you zoom in or out, making for quite
annoying sounds in videos. The overall
performance of the F660EXR is excellent.
This camera might have been even SPECIFICATIONS
more fun to use if FujiFilm had included Rs 16,599
 www.fujifilm.in
effect filters such as Miniature, Pinhole
Dimensions (WxHxD): 103.5 x 59.2 x 32.6 mm; Weight:
and Fish Eye, but, for the kind of
217 g; Resolution: 16 MP; Focal length: 24-360 mm;
performance and the feature set it offers, Optical zoom: 15x; Aperture: F3.5-F5.3; Shutter:
the price is quite justified. 8 - 1/2000 sec; ISO: 100-12800; LCD: 3-in, 430k dot;
Movie recording: 1920x1080 @30 fps.
- Anand Tuliani
CONTACT Fujifilm India Pvt Ltd
PHONE 022-42360000
EMAIL vihangghag@fujifilmindia.com
RATINGS
BUILD QUALITY
ERGONOMICS
FEATURES
PERFORMANCE
OVERALL RATING
VALUE FOR MONEY
INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP 09/2012 43
 TEST CENTER
HARDWARE

LAPTOP

SONY VAIO SVE14A15FNB

VERDICT: A good performance multimedia notebook that’s worth a look.
FOR: High resolution screen; good performance; comfortable backlit keyboard.
AGAINST: A bit heavy; no Ivy Bridge.

T
his VAIO E-series notebook is GB of RAM, which can be increased to 16
quite chunky but feels well-built. GB. For storage, we have a 640 GB hard
In terms of connectivity, we drive and for graphics, we have an AMD
have a DVD burner, two USB 2.0 ports, Radeon HD 7670M with 1 GB of dedicated
SPECIFICATIONS microphone and headphone jacks at video memory. The high resolution
the right, while the left has two USB screen (1600 x 900 pixels) makes a big
Rs 54,310
www.sony.co.in 3.0 ports along with VGA, LAN and difference when it comes to applications,
Dimensions (W x D x H): 341 x 33.3 x 245 mm;
HDMI; quite a good set of connectors pictures, video and even reading text. The
Weight:2.3kg; CPU: Intel Core i5-2450M; Speed:
2.3GHz; RAM: 4GB; HDD: 640GB; Screen: 14-inch (1600 for a 14-inch notebook. Inside, we are VAIO E puts up quite a good show despite
x 900); GPU: AMD HD 7670M; OS: Windows 7 Home greeted by a spacious backlit chiclet having an older CPU. While it does take a
Premium 64-bit.
keyboard. You also get a matching beating when performing CPU-intensive
CONTACT Sony India
PHONE 1800-103-7799 keyboard skin and laser mouse. tasks since it’s a dual-core, there doesn’t
EMAIL NA We wished it was a bit lighter as you’ll seem to be too much of a difference
certainly feel the 2.3 kg on your back. The when it comes to games. At Rs 54,310, it
RATINGS
BUILD QUALITY notebook is powered by an Intel Core makes a very good multimedia notebook
ERGONOMICS
i5-2450M CPU based on Sandy Bridge and is recommended.
FEATURES
PERFORMANCE running at 2.5 GHz. Besides this, we get 4 - Roydon Cerejo
OVERALL RATING
VALUE FOR MONEY

LAPTOP

ACER ASPIRE 5750Z

VERDICT: Not very impressive performance-wise, but it’s good bang for your buck.
FOR: Decent build quality; decent battery life; affordable pricing.
AGAINST: Average performance; slightly outdated hardware.

T
he Acer Aspire 5750Z (AS5750Z-
B942G50Mnkk) is a well-built
notebook with an attractive
design. The hinge of the display doesn’t
move around too easily, which is a
good thing. The keys have a good bit
of travel to them and are isolated.
The trackpad appears a tad small as
compared to other large notebooks.
This notebook runs an Intel Pentium
Core B940 dual-core processor clocked
at 2 GHz with 3 MB of L3 cache, 2 GB of
RAM and a 500 GB hard drive. It also has
a large 15.6-inch LED-backlit screen that
Bridge options in the market. Hard drive
performance is average as well, with
speeds hovering around the 73 MB/s mark
for read and write tests. The integrated
graphics card is only ideal for handling
older game titles.
The screen quality here is just average, SPECIFICATIONS
but it’s large, so you can use it to watch Rs 26,999
www.acer.co.in
movies and TV shows every now and
Dimensions (WxHxD): 382 x 33.2 x 253 mm; Weight:
then. Colours appear a tad pale, but 2.6 kg; Processor: Intel Pentium B940 (2GHz); RAM:
viewing angles are pretty decent in 2GB DDR3; Hard drive: 500GB; Screen: 15.6-inch;
Resolution: 1366x768.
general. The speakers aren’t very loud,
CONTACT Acer Pvt Ltd
but the quality is good. They are mounted PHONE 080-3940-8700
at the front, facing the user, so the sound EMAIL ailenquiries@acer.co.in

runs a native resolution of 1366 x 768. isn’t muffled. The notebook lasted a good
RATINGS
The Aspire 5750Z is an average hour and a half in our CPU-intensive BUILD QUALITY
ERGONOMICS
performer. Its Pentium B940 is a good battery test.
FEATURES
20 percent or so slower than the Sandy - Rossi Fernandes PERFORMANCE
OVERALL RATING
VALUE FOR MONEY

44 09/2012 INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP


MEDIA PLAYER
XTREAMER SIDEWINDER 3
VERDICT: Feature-wise, the SideWinder3 is great, but can be refined.
FOR: Solid build; tons of features; pretty good value for money.
AGAINST: Average aesthetic design; poor interface; buggy software.
T
he Xtreamer SideWinder 3 isn’t
the best-looking HD media
player in the market. It comes
with two USB 2.0 ports on the side,
and there’s also a USB 3.0 port. There’s
also Wi-Fi capability via a USB dongle.
The Android environment integrated
into the device comes with some apps.
Implementation is poor (we faced some
crashes), but the feature has some
potential. Popular online media services
including YouTube and Shoutcast radio
stations are accessible. There’s also a
web browser that you can use. Rendering
is good and the performance isn’t too
bad. Flash isn’t supported though.
SPECIFICATIONS
Rs 11,900
dune-hd.com
Dimensions (WxHxD): 110 x 26 x 77 mm; Weight: 152
g; Memory: 128 MB flash; Sources: Ethernet and USB
port; Video output: HDMI 1.3 and Composite; Video
codecs: MPEG-2/4, XviD, WMV9, VC1 and H.264; Audio
codecs: AC3, MPEG, AAC, WMA, FLAC and OGG.
CONTACT Kripa India
PHONE 1-800-224-244
EMAIL NA
RATINGS
BUILD QUALITY
ERGONOMICS
FEATURES
PERFORMANCE
OVERALL RATING
VALUE FOR MONEY
TEST CENTER
HARDWARE
There’s an Android app to control the
Xtreamer but we faced disconnection
problems. The player has support for
Airplay and DLNA. Like other Xtreamer
devices, you get a web interface using
SPECIFICATIONS
which you can control the player. The
Rs 9,999
Xtreamer also acts as an NAS device.  www.xtreamerindia.in
Another feature that is rarely found on HD Processor: Realtek 1186X; RAM: 512MB DDR3;
media players is the ability to download Connectivity options: 2x USB 2.0 ports, 1x USB 3.0 host
port, 2.5-inch drive SATA slot, DLNA/AirPlay support
BitTorrent content directly to the device.
CONTACT Xtreamer
The Xtreamer SideWinder3 might PHONE NA
have its glitches and bugs, but it can EMAIL info@xtreamerindia.in
play almost every format available. It’s
RATINGS
somewhat buggy - we had lock-ups and BUILD QUALITY
ERGONOMICS
no firmware updates fixed the issues.
FEATURES
- Rossi Fernandes PERFORMANCE
OVERALL RATING
VALUE FOR MONEY
MEDIA PLAYER
DUNE HD TV-101
VERDICT: A brilliant media player, except for a few minor glitches.
FOR: Ultra compact design; very good build.
AGAINST: Expensive; user interface could have been better.
D
une’s HD TV 101 is a compact device. The remote is rather small, but
media player. It lacks an internal is cumbersome if you want to handle
power supply or a hard disk, it for long (like typing using the virtual
and in fact, there are no buttons on keyboard).
the panel. Similarly, it has no direct This player starts up and accesses
card slots and a single USB slot at media files from connected disks quickly.
the front. You get an Ethernet port, an It also reads UPnP files as well as other
HDMI output, and 3.5 mm composite shared folders on the network. While it’s
video and analogue stereo output. easy to navigate, there is no option to
This little wonder box supports all deal with folders having too many files
types of video and high-quality audio — a scrolling option would have been a
formats. Powered by a Sigma Designs boon. The picture quality of high-quality
8670/8671 processor and 256 MB of RAM, rips was stunning and the audio quality
the player is fast and feature loaded. was pristine. The Dune HD TV-101 is
It also has a built-in BitTorrent client a good player, but kind of expensive
for download movies and music. You considering the more affordable
get a remote control to operate the HD alternatives by other brands.
TV-101 — this is the only interface to the - Mehul Mepani
INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP 09/2012 45
 TEST CENTER
HARDWARE
GRAPHICS CARD
ZOTAC GTX 690
VERDICT: The best graphics card money can buy.
FOR: Very good performance; excellent design and build; is cool and quiet.
AGAINST: Extremely expensive; will not fit in most chassis.
R
ather than just slapping a sticker
onto Nvidia’s reference design,
ZOTAC hasn’t done anything
to the card and left it as it is. This
is by far the best-looking and built
reference card we’ve come across by
Nvidia, or even AMD for that matter.
The rear connectors include three
DVI ports and a display port. There’s
even support for SLI, should you be mad
enough to get two of this beast. The
bundle includes two eight-pin to Molex
power adapters, a DVI-to-VGA adapter,
driver disk and an Assassins Creed 3
game pack.
Think of the GTX 690 as two GTX
680s in your system - the shader count is
GRAPHICS CARD
XFX R7750 BLACK EDITION
VERDICT: A well-designed card, but a bit too pricey.
FOR: Good design and build; runs silently; good performance.
AGAINST: Expensive; faster alternatives are available for the same price.
T
his is XFX’s custom-built HD 7750
designed for overclocking and quiet
operation. Their cooling solution
takes up two slots, which is typical of
cards in this segment. XFX uses what it
calls Ghost Thermal Technology, which is
a floating heatsink design that increases
airflow through the other components
too. Double Dissipation technology makes
use of two fans to effectively cool the
GPU as well as the other components.
We have two DVI-I ports, an HDMI port
and a DisplayPort. XFX has also used
IP-5X fans, which are completely dust-
resistant, so the card won’t be bogged
down with dust in the chassis. Since the
HD 7750 only requires 55 W to operate,
you don’t need an external power supply
46 09/2012 INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP
now 3072, memory is 4 GB and we have
two 256-bit memory bus lanes. Nvidia
has scaled down the core speed from 1
GHz to 915 MHz, while the memory speed
has remained the same. The ZOTAC GTX
690 is easily the fastest graphics card
SPECIFICATIONS
we’ve ever tested and nothing really
Rs 67,777
comes close in terms of performance. www.zotac.com
The card’s true potential, however, lies in GPU: Nvidia GTX 690; Core|Memory Speed:
resolutions above 1920 x 1080. It idles at 915MHz|1502MHz; Memory: 4GB; Memory bus width:
256-bit x2; Video outputs: 3x DVI and 1x DP.
around 60 degrees Celsius, while under
CONTACT ZOTAC International (MCO) Ltd
stress, it doesn’t go beyond 78 degrees, PHONE 0120-4555666
which is incredibly good for a dual-GPU EMAIL sales@adityagroup.com
card. At Rs 67,777, it’s easily the most
RATINGS
expensive card in the market, but power BUILD QUALITY
ERGONOMICS
does come at a price.
FEATURES
- Roydon Cerejo PERFORMANCE
OVERALL RATING
VALUE FOR MONEY
as it draws all the power from the PCIe
slot itself. The core is still clocked at
900 MHz and the 1 GB of GDDR5 RAM is
clocked at 4,500 MHz (effective).
The XFX R7750 will easily handle
games at resolutions up to 1600 x 900,
while scalable titles such as Dirt 3 and
SPECIFICATIONS
Batman: Arkham City will run smoothly Rs 11,000
www.rptechindia.com
even at Full HD with everything maxed
GPU: AMD HD 7750; Core|Memory Speed:
out. The dual fans do a very good job of 900MHz|1125MHz; Memory:1GB; Memory bus width:
cooling the card as well as keeping noise 128-bit ; Video outputs: 2x DVI and 1x DP and 1x
HDMI.
levels down to a minimum. We got an
CONTACT Rashi Peripherals Pvt Ltd
idle temperature of 41 degrees C while on PHONE 022-40470828
load; it never went beyond 54 degrees C. EMAIL response@rptechindia.com
The card is priced quite high at Rs
RATINGS
11,000. It makes more sense to go in for BUILD QUALITY
ERGONOMICS
the HD 7770 or the HD 6850.
FEATURES
- Roydon Cerejo PERFORMANCE
OVERALL RATING
VALUE FOR MONEY
 TEST CENTER
HARDWARE

MOTHERBOARD

ASUS MAXIMUS V EXTREME

VERDICT: One of the best Z77 boards money can buy.
FOR: OC Key, VGA Hotwire, CrossFireX and SLI support; very good for OC.
AGAINST: Very expensive.

T
he Maximus V is a full ATX temperature, etc. over whatever’s on your
motherboard that uses Intel’s monitor, and you can overclock these
Z77 chipset. This means you values through the OSD itself. Pressing
have Socket 1155, which is compatible the ROG Connect button toggles your
with both Ivy Bridge and Sandy Bridge keyboard’s input between Windows and
CPUs. The rear has a PS2 keyboard/ the overlay interface. The board also has
SPECIFICATIONS
mouse combo port, Thunderbolt, a feature called Subzero Sense that lets
Rs 29,800
www.asus.in DisplayPort, HDMI, 4x USB 3.0 ports, you monitor temperatures when using
Socket Type: LGA 1155; Form Factor:ATX;Chipset: Intel 4x USB 2.0 ports, a LAN jack, S/PDIF liquid Nitrogen. It can read temperatures
Z77; CPU Type: Intel Core i7/i5/i3, Memory Standard: in and out, audio jacks, a clear CMOS as low as -195 degrees Celsius. PCMark 7
DDR3; PCIe: 3 x16/1 x4,1 x1.
button and an ROG Connect button. scored the board 3584, while Cinebench
CONTACT ASUS Technology Pvt Ltd
PHONE 1800-090-365 The board also supports CrossFireX and R11.5 returned an OpenGL score of 88.9
EMAIL reachus@asus.com four-way SLI multi-GPU setups along fps and a CPU score of 6.98. This is one
with LucidLogix Virtu MVP Technology. of the most expensive motherboards
RATINGS
BUILD QUALITY One of the highlights of this board available, but it also happens to be one
ERGONOMICS
is the OC Key. It enables you to see of the best.
FEATURES
PERFORMANCE readouts of the CPU’s current voltage, - Roydon Cerejo
OVERALL RATING
VALUE FOR MONEY

MOTHERBOARD

MSI B75MA-P45
VERDICT: An affordable motherboard with a very limited feature set.
FOR: Good value for money; very good performance.
AGAINST: Few USB ports on the rear; no HDMI; limited set of expansion slots.

T
he B75MA-P45 is MSI’s attempt at
a super-affordable motherboard
for Sandy Bridge and Ivy Bridge
CPUs. The feature set here has been cut
down and you get the bare necessities –
PS/2 ports, six USB ports including two
USB 3.0, D-sub and DVI video outputs, an
Ethernet port and audio jacks. It would
have been nice if MSI had added an HDMI
port. You have a PCIe x16 slot, a PCIe x1
and a PCI slot. There is sufficient space
between the PCIe x16 and x1 slot for
dual-slot graphics cards. The bottom right
has six SATA ports, including one SATA
two RAM slots, but they’ve offered four,
so you can add up to 32 GB of memory.
We loaded the B75MA-P45 with Intel
Core i7-2600k, 8 GB G.Skill RipjawsX,
Radeon HD 6870 and Plextor PX-256M2S
SSD. The test rig scored 4917 points SPECIFICATIONS
in PCMark 7 and 4415 in 3DMark 11 Rs 4,500
http://in.msi.com
(performance mode). It took 26 seconds
Chipset: Intel B75; CPU Socket: LGA 1155; Memory:
to transcode a one minute MPG video
DDR3-1600 (32 GB max); Expansion slots; 1x PCIe x16,
in H.264 format and Cinebench R11.5 1x PCIe x1 and 1x PCI; SATA ports: 5x 3 Gb/s and 1x 6
reported 6.69 points, which is what the Gb/s; USB ports 2.0 | 3.0: 8 | 4; Video outputs: D-sub
and DVI.
Core i7-2600k should log at stock speed.
CONTACT MSI India
For Rs 4,500, the B75MA-P45 is one PHONE 1800-2000-004
of the cheapest boards for Sandy Bridge EMAIL technicalindia@msi.in.com

6 Gb/s port. The headers at the bottom and Ivy Bridge CPUs. It’s priced at par
RATINGS
include two USB 2.0 and one USB 3.0, with some of the older H61 and H67 BUILD QUALITY
ERGONOMICS
each supporting two ports. MSI could models, but is definitely a better deal.
FEATURES
have further cut costs by offering only - Anand Tuliani PERFORMANCE
OVERALL RATING
VALUE FOR MONEY

48 09/2012 INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP

 TEST CENTER
HARDWARE

SSD USB FLASH DRIVE KEYBOARD

CORSAIR FORCE GS CORSAIR FLASH CORSAIR VENGEANCE

240 GB VOYAGER SLIDER K90
VERDICT: Recommended for gaming and VERDICT: A flash drive with very good VERDICT: Consider it if you’re going for a
high performance PCs. read speeds. high-end gaming PC.
FOR: Excellent read/write speeds; FOR: Read speeds above 60 MB/s; FOR: Solid design; customisable.
bundled 3.5-inch adapter. retractable design; good build. AGAINST: Expensive; not all keys are
AGAINST: None. AGAINST: Write speed could be better. mechanical keys.

SPECIFICATIONS SPECIFICATIONS SPECIFICATIONS

Rs 15,300 Rs 832 Rs 7,280
www.corsair.com www.corsair.com www.corsair.com

Form factor: 2.5-inch; Interface: SATA 6 Gb/s; Capacity: 240 GB; Capacity: 8 GB; Interface: USB 3.0. Dimensions: 502 x 163 x 24mm; Weight: 1900g; Keys: Cherry
Controller: SandForce SF-2281 series; Flash memory: Toggle CONTACT Corsair Memory Inc MX mechanical; Other features: 18 customisable keys, backlit,
NAND. PHONE 1800-425-5464 volume roller and multimedia keys.
CONTACT Corsair Memory Inc EMAIL indiaservice@corsair.com CONTACT Corsair Memory Inc
PHONE 1800-425-5464 PHONE 1800-425-5464
EMAIL indiaservice@corsair.com RATINGS EMAIL indiaservice@corsair.com
BUILD QUALITY
RATINGS FEATURES RATINGS
FEATURES PERFORMANCE BUILD QUALITY
PERFORMANCE OVERALL RATING ERGONOMICS
OVERALL RATING VALUE FOR MONEY FEATURES
VALUE FOR MONEY PERFORMANCE
OVERALL RATING
VALUE FOR MONEY

T he Corsair Force GS features

Toggle mode NAND flash for
faster performance. The GS has a
bright red theme and the shell has a
rough finish, which does lend a sort
of rugged feel. The package includes
a 3.5-inch adapter and screws for
installing the SSD into the hard drive
bay of the PC case. The Force GS SSD
is backed by a two-year warranty.
We tested a 240 GB Force GS on our
Ivy Bridge rig powered by an Intel Core
i7-3770k CPU and 8 GB of DDR3 G.skill
RipjawsX RAM. CrystalDiskMark and
SiSoft Sandra 2012 reported 505 MB/s
read and 285 MB/s write speeds.
Between the Force GT and GS,
choose either and you’ll get almost
the same performance. So, it would
be wise to choose Force GT which is a
little cheaper.
- Anand Tuliani
T he latest addition to Corsair’s Flash
Voyager lineup of premium USB
flash drives is ‘Slider’, which uses the
USB 3.0 interface. The flash drive is
available in 8 GB, 16 GB, 32 GB and 64
GB variants, and comes with a warranty
period of five years. The overall build
quality of the plastic-body Slider is
good, but could have been better.
We got sequential read and write
speeds of 64 MB/s and 15 MB/s
respectively in CrystalDiskMark. SiSoft
Sandra 2012 recorded random write
speeds at 2.43 MB/s, which was
disappointing. ATTO Disk Benchmark
noted sequential read and write speeds
at 67 MB/s and 15 MB/s respectively. If
you want read speeds almost five times
faster than a USB 2.0 drive, buy the
Slider. But if you want high capacity for
low price, buy a USB 2.0 flash drive.
- Anand Tuliani
T he Corsair Vengeance K90 seems
to be designed to last, and to
perform flawlessly. Its frame is made
of brushed metal and holds the usual
set of keys. There’s a separate plastic
panel that attaches to the main
frame of the keyboard, and this setup
gives you 18 customisable keys.
The cable on the K90 is thick
and well-sheathed. The keyboard is
ergonomic and allows you to attach a
palm rest. Customised profiles can be
set up and switching between them is
easy. Users can disable the Windows
key and there’s a volume control along
with some multimedia controls next to
it. Backlighting controls are also present
on the keyboard itself. The Corsair V90
Vengeance is great for both typing and
gaming. Typing is effortless because of
the mechanical design of the keys.
- Rossi Fernandes

50 09/2012 INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP

 TEST CENTER
HARDWARE

PORTABLE HARD DRIVE POWER SUPPLY UNIT PORTABLE 3G ROUTER

SEAGATE BACKUP PLUS COOLER MASTER SILENT TP-LINK TL-MR3020

VERDICT: A USB 3.0 drive with a useful
backup utility.
FOR: Great build; very good read and
write speeds; useful backup software.
AGAINST: None.
PRO HYBRID 1050W VERDICT: A great three-mode router
useful for travelling and outdoor use.
VERDICT: Recommended for high-end FOR: Small size; easy to set up; USB
gaming rigs and silent servers. powered; triple operation modes.
FOR: Protection; high power rating, AGAINST: Glossy body; USB for 3G only.
modular design; fan control unit.
AGAINST: None.

SPECIFICATIONS SPECIFICATIONS SPECIFICATIONS

Rs 7,700 Rs 16,500 Rs 3,499
www.seagate.com www.coolermaster.in www.tp-link.in

Dimensions (WxHxD): 81.1 x 14.5 x 123.4 mm; Weight: 224 g; Power rating: 1,050 watts; Efficiency: 90 percent; Protection: Dimensions (W x H x D): 74 x 22 x 67 mm; Weight: 65 g;
Capacity: 1TB; Interface: USB 3.0. OVP / UVP / OCP / OPP / OTP / SCP; Connection: Modular; Connectivity: 802.11 b/g/n 150 Mbps, 1 x 10/ 100 Ethernet
CONTACT Seagate Certification: 80 Plus Gold; Others: PSU and case fan regulator. WAN/ LAN, 1 x USB (3G); Modes: 3G router, AP, WISP.
PHONE 011-2647 2491 CONTACT Cooler Master CONTACT TP-LINK India
EMAIL Sales@fortune-it.com PHONE 9820207871 PHONE 9768012285
EMAIL sanket_naik@coolermaster.com.tw EMAIL sales@tp-link.in
RATINGS
BUILD QUALITY RATINGS RATINGS
FEATURES BUILD QUALITY BUILD QUALITY
PERFORMANCE FEATURES FEATURES
OVERALL RATING PERFORMANCE PERFORMANCE
VALUE FOR MONEY OVERALL RATING OVERALL RATING
VALUE FOR MONEY VALUE FOR MONEY

S eagate Backup Plus is a portable

USB 3.0 hard drive that’s slightly
different from its brethren. The USP
of this drive is the software bundle
(Seagate Dashboard Agent) that
allows one to backup data – not just
local data, but also photos and videos
from social networks. The Share tab
allows you to upload media to social
networks with a few clicks. A backup
plan can be configured to backup
specific file types or user-specified
data. It can be hourly, daily, weekly,
monthly or continuous. Seagate Backup
Plus is available in 500 GB, 750 GB
and 1 TB variants. We reviewed the
1 TB drive and got sequential read
and write speeds of 115 MB/s and 114
MB/s respectively in CrystalDiskMark.
It’s slightly expensive, but the backup
software justifies the premium.
- Anand Tuliani
S ilent Pro Hybrid 1050W is Cooler
Master’s first PSU with integrated
dual 7V fan ports. The 7V rail regulates
the fans and limits their speed to
reduce noise, unlike traditional case
fans directly connected to 12V rails.
A fan speed controller occupies a
5.25-inch drive bay and lets you control
the speed of the internal 135 mm PSU
fan and has speed control for up to
three system fans. The PSU uses a
single +12V rail that operates at over
90 percent efficiency and has an 80
Plus Gold certification. All the cables
are modular, which ensures cleaner
system build. It also has a double-
Layer EMI Filter for protection from
electromagnetic interference. It can
be used for rigs with four-way SLI and
CrossFire modes with Dual CPUs. You
get a five-year warranty on the PSU.
- Francis D’sa
S mall enough to fit in your pocket,
this is a three-in-one wireless
router from TP-Link. It is a wireless
N router capable of speeds up to 150
Mbps. It is compatible with 120+ UMTS/
HSPA/EVDO 3G USB modems and
can be configured as an access point.
It can also act as a Wireless ISP client
module. It features a 3G/WAN failover
backup strategy to provide a sustained
Internet connection to all users. A
mini USB port is used as a power
input. It also has IP-based bandwidth
control, which allows administrators to
determine the amount of bandwidth
allotted to each connected device.
The sides sport the mode switch,
Ethernet WAN/LAN port and the USB
port for 3G dongles. Bundled with it
are a power adapter, a USB power
cable and an Ethernet cable.
- Francis D’sa

INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP 09/2012 51

 TEST CENTER
ULTRABOOK COMPARISON

The
Cutting
Edge
Thee ultimate
showdown
owdown of some
of the hottest
Ultrabooks
trabooks in the
market. Find out which
one
ne is the sharpest.
BY
Y ANAND TULIANI AND ROYDON CEREJO

N
etbooks offered cheap and
affordable computing for the
masses, which is why they
were wildly popular just a few years
ago. However, one of the recurring
complaints about netbooks was its
sub-par performance in multimedia
tasks and the small screen which wasn’t
really apt for being productive on the
go. Apple’s MacBook Air changed this,
but again, came at a premium, and not
many Windows loyalists were willing to
make the transition to OSX. Intel saw an
opportunity here to meet the increasing
demand for a Windows-based notebook
that offered the portability and
performance of a MacBook Air, but with
a more familiar working environment.
Enter Ultrabooks – a notebook with
enough power to run resource-hungry
multimedia applications, yet slim
enough to easily slip into your briefcase.
The first wave of Ultrabooks that started
hitting retail outlets towards the tail-
end of 2011 were simply too expensive
for most consumers to afford. The
reasons behind this were the aluminium
chassis and SSDs used by OEMs; it
wasn’t really their fault since they had
to stick to strict guidelines set by Intel
for a notebook to be classified as an
Ultrabook. After the launch of Ivy Bridge
CPUs and witnessing the dwindling
sales of their brainchild, Intel decided
to relax some of their guidelines so that
OEMs could make a few compromises to
bring the prices down. This led to some
chunky notebooks being passed off
as Ultrabooks, even though that went
against the whole concept; the new Dell
XPS 14 is a perfect example of just that.
With SSD prices stabilising, we’ve seen
larger storage capacities in the second
wave of Ultrabooks, and even some that
use a combination of a standard hard
drive and a small SSD for caching. This
allows OEMs to lower the price of an
Ultrabook while offering more storage to

52 09/2012 INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP Jagdish Limbachiya SMS us!  Story code: TAM
TMZ to 51818

the user so everyone wins. We also
have some Ultrabooks with higher
hav
res
resolution screens to stand out
from the competition.
fro
Nevertheless, since all the
major OEMs have their offerings
m keyboard’s keys and its layout, the
in the market, we decided to put
together a little roundup of some
to
o
of the hottest Ultrabooks trending
rright now. These fall into various
price brackets, feature sets and
configurations. Read on to find out
which one trumped our benchmark
charts and which one offers the
best bang for buck.
TEST PROCESS
The Ultrabook evaluation process
consists of five main parameters:
Features, Build quality, Ergonomics,
Performance and Warranty. Each
of these parameters were carefully
scrutinised to generate a table
of scores that finally pronounced
the winners. We award the best
Ultrabooks in the Best Performance
and Best Value categories.
In the features section, we noted
important characteristics such as
the main hardware configuration
which makes up the core. This
includes the processor, graphics,
memory, storage and display. Later,
we also noted other feature-sets
such as I/O ports, USB 2.0 and
3.0, video interfaces, pointing
devices, networking interfaces,
optical drives, operating system
and a few more. Lastly, the weight
of each Ultrabook was given high
importance.
The Build quality section is
the evaluation of the build and
the distinctiveness of each of
the Ultrabooks. These include
the quality of the chassis, screen
frame, hinges, keyboard, buttons
and switches. We also looked
at vital areas such as scratch-
resistant exteriors and the use of
metal in the construction. Lastly,
we subjectively rated the aesthetic
appeal of each Ultrabook on a five-
point scale.
Mexy Xavier
Next, we proceeded towards
Ergonomics, which is another
critical area while using a portable
device. This section analyses
essential elements such as the
pointing device and its buttons,
status indicators, hotkeys and a
few more.
Finally, the actual performance
matters the most. In the
Performance section, we ran a
set of exhaustive tests on each
Ultrabook. The tests were divided
into synthetic and real-world tests.
The synthetic tests made use of
four utilities which help analyze
core components such as the
processor, memory, storage and
the GPU. These tests included
utilities such as SiSoft Sandra
2012, PCMark 7, 3DMark Vantage,
CineBench R11.5 and 7-zip. The real-
world tests consisted of another
set of utilities and the scores here
would help analyse the actual
performance of the Ultrabooks.
These included a file compression
test using an assortment of
files, video transcoding of a
60-second MPEG clip to H.264,
ray-tracing of an image and,
lastly, the file transfer speeds of
the internal storage medium. We
also subjectively evaluated the
quality and power output of the
built-in speakers. To wind up the
performance test, we ran a test
to get an idea of the maximum
battery life under maximum load.
Lastly, the Warranty section
evaluates the amount of support
(in years) provided by the
manufacturer of each Ultrabook.
The Value for Money (Best
Value) award was awarded to
the Ultrabook that offered a good
balance of all of the feature-sets
mentioned above within the lowest
price bracket.
To find out additional
information about the various
tests in each section and compare
values, simply flip over to the table.
TEST CENTER
ULTRABOOK COMPARISON
PERSONAL TAKE
ANAND TULIANI
anand.tuliani@chip.in
Given no budget restriction I would pick the
Zenbook UX31E with my eyes closed. Asus hasn’t
compromised on any aspect with the Zenbook. It
looks gorgeous – personally, I find it sexier than
the MacBook Air. It’s unbelievably slim and the
build is top-notch. Going by its size, it was hard to
believe it had the most powerful configuration of
all the Ultrabooks we tested. But then, the scores
made things very clear!
Now, if I had to buy an Ultrabook right now, it
would be the one that doesn’t cost an arm and a
leg. I like the Sony Vaio T for its design and
features, but I would prefer a larger screen and
good sound quality. Hence, I would opt for the
Acer Aspire Timeline U M5-481T. It’s slightly less
powerful and a tad heavier (by around 600 g)
than the Vaio T. However, it’s more comfortable
to use, you get an optical drive, and more
importantly, it costs only a few hundred bucks
more than the Vaio T. If you have a budget of Rs
50,000 for a laptop, I suggest you go in for the
Timeline U M5.
ROYDON CEREJO
roydon@tech2.com
If I had the dough, I would go for the Asus
Zenbook UX31E any day of the week. Its style,
finish and lightness mean that this Ultrabook is in
a league of its own. Even though Asus has packed
in the same horsepower as our performance king,
the Dell XPS 13, it’s a lot lighter and slimmer,
which makes it the ideal travel companion. It’s
also one of the few Ultrabooks to feature a high-
res screen that makes everything sharper and
gives you more screen real estate when browsing
the web or working on spread sheets. For its size,
it also delivers surprisingly good audio quality
due the Bang & Olufsen speakers on board. Asus
gives you a lot of bang for your buck, and even
though it comes at a premium, I’d still go with it
over the Dell XPS 13.
INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP 09/2012 53
 TEST CENTER
ULTRABOOK COMPARISON

DELL XPS 13
T
VERDICT here’s no getting away from the look and also allows Dell to fit a larger
fact that Dell has created an screen into a smaller chassis. Along with
THE XPS 13 GIVES incredible-looking notebook. It
doesn’t matter which angle you look at
the 1.3 megapixel webcam, there’s an
ambient light sensor that automatically

YOU GREAT, FAST it from, the XPS 13 is definitely a head-

turner. This is mainly due to the choice
dims and brightens the display based
on the amount of light in the room. The

PERFORMANCE of materials used to build the chassis.

The lid and most of the base is crafted
keyboard area has a very nice rubber
finish to it and the rubber finish extends

TOPPED WITH A from machined aluminium, and the rest

of the base is carbon fibre. This makes
to the trackpad as well. Overall, the build
and finish of the notebook is very good

KILLER DESIGN. it extremely sturdy and durable while

maintaining a very slim profile. The
notebook measures about 18 mm at its
thickest and weighs around 1.36 kg. The
fit and finish is impeccable, and Dell has
paid a lot of attention to detail.
Connectivity isn’t the best when it
SPECIFICATIONS comes to Ultrabooks. While it’s nice
to see USB 3.0, there are just two
Rs 90,467
ports where we normally have three.
Weight: 1.37 Kg; CPU: Intel Core i7-2637M; RAM: 4 GB; SSD: 256 GB;
Display: 13.3-inch; Video outputs: D-sub, DP and HDMI; USB ports DisplayPort is a nice addition, but it
2.0 | 3.0: 1 | 1. would have been better if we had HDMI
CONTACT Dell India as the cables are easier to find and are
PHONE 1800-425-4026
EMAIL NA cheaper. Other ports include a headphone
jack and a battery status indicator. The
RATINGS XPS 13 has a 13.3-inch display with
BUILD QUALITY
ERGONOMICS Corning’s Gorilla Glass for protection.
FEATURES
This ensures your display remains free of
PERFORMANCE
OVERALL RATING unwanted scratches over time. The edge-
VALUE FOR MONEY to-edge glass gives the screen a seamless
and amongst the best you’ll find in the
market today.
With a Core i7 CPU and a super-fast
SSD under the hood, the XPS 13 is super
quick at any task you throw at it. The
XPS 13 managed to clock in some of the
highest scores we've seen among the
Ultrabooks. Typing is relatively stress-free
and the keys offer good tactile response,
so it doesn’t cause fatigue even after long
hours of typing. At Rs 90,467, it’s quite
expensive, but you do get best-in-class
performance. So, if it’s speed you’re
looking for, the Dell XPS 13 is one of the
best Ultrabooks money can buy.
FOR: Excellent design and build, superb
performance, Gorilla Glass screen,
comfortable backlit keyboard.
AGAINST: Expensive, touchpad
placement could have been better.

54 09/2012 INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP


S
ony always comes up with designs
very different from the rest. The
Vaio T is Sony's attempt to offer
a stylish Ultrabook at a competitive price.
The SVT11113FGS is an 11.6-inch variant of
the Vaio T series. Weighing just 1.4 kg, it’s
more convenient to carry than Ultrabooks
with larger screens. With the lid closed,
the brushed aluminium finish, a chrome-
coloured Vaio logo at the centre and a
chrome strip across the rear looks great.
Sony has paid attention to the finer
details: you have two tiny rubber stubs
on either side of the keyboard and a long
rubber strip above the screen frame to
protect the screen from rubbing against
the keyboard. What we liked most
were the two plastic bits at the back
of the laptop which slightly elevate the
keyboard when you open the lid. The
USB, VGA, HDMI and Gigabit Ethernet
ports, card reader and an audio jack are
placed on the sides.
The Vaio T SVT11113FGS has an Intel
Core i5-3317U CPU, HD 3000 GPU, 4 GB
of RAM and a 500 GB hard disk. The
suffix ‘U’ in the processor model number
suggests it’s an ultra-low voltage (ULV)
processor. It’s skewed towards good
battery life with minimal compromise
TEST CENTER
ULTRABOOK COMPARISON
SONY VAIO T
on performance. The hard disk is
VERDICT
complemented by a 32 GB SSD. It caches
frequently-used data for speedily booting
the OS and launching applications. The
THE SONY VAIO T
11.6-inch LED-backlit display looks crisper
than most of its larger counterparts
HAS A SLEEK
because it has the same resolution of
1366x768 pixels, resulting in a higher pixel DESIGN AND A
density. The keyboard is of the chiclet
type and the keys are flat, not bevelled. GREAT FEATURE
The touchpad is nice and wide.
In terms of performance, the Vaio T SET FOR A VERY
SVT11113FGS is almost at par with the
Dell XPS 14, HP Envy 4 and Toshiba
Satellite U840-X4310, all of which use
GOOD PRICE.
the same combination of CPU, memory
and hard drive. The scores indicate the
configuration is as capable as an entry- SPECIFICATIONS
level desktop PC — very good considering Rs 49,990
you’re also getting good battery life.
Weight: 1.37 Kg; CPU: Intel Core i5-3317U; RAM: 4 GB; Hard disk:
Under medium to light load, the battery 500 GB; Display: 11.6-inch; Video outputs: D-sub and HDMI; USB
should easily last between four and seven ports: 2.0 | 3.0: 1 | 1.
hours. The Sony Vaio T SVT11113FGS is CONTACT Sony India
PHONE 1800-103-7799
one of the most affordable Ultrabooks in EMAIL sonyindia.care@ap.sony.com
the market. It’s great bang for your buck,
RATINGS
hands down! BUILD QUALITY
FOR: Great value for money, very good ERGONOMICS
FEATURES
battery life, excellent design.
PERFORMANCE
AGAINST: The screen frame should have OVERALL RATING
VALUE FOR MONEY
been thinner.
Joshua Navalkar INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP 09/2012 55
 TEST CENTER
ULTRABOOK COMPARISON

1 2 3

SpecScan

NAME DELL XPS 13 Dell XPS 14 DELL XPS 13

Contact Dell India Dell India Dell India
Phone 1800-425-4026 1800-425-4026 1800-425-4026
E-mail NA NA NA
Price* Rs 90,467 Rs 79,038 Rs 80,943
OVERALL
Features (25%) 55 65 50

Build quality (15%) 99 97 99

Ergonomics (20%) 81 79 81

Performance (35%) 87 82 80

Warranty (5%) 100 100 100

0 50 100 0 100 0 100

Overall (OUT OF 100) 80 80 77

Value For Money
FEATURES
Dimensions ( W x H x D) | Weight 317 x 19 x 206 mm | 1.37 Kg 337 x 22 x 234 mm | 2.12 Kg 317 x 19 x 206 mm | 1.37 Kg
Processor | RAM Intel Core i7-2637M, 1.7 GHz | 4 GB Core i5-3317U, 1.7 GHz | 4 GB Intel Core i5-2467M, 1.6 GHz | 4 GB
Screen size | Resolution 13.3-inch | 1366 x 768 14-inch | 1600 x 900 13.3-inch | 1366 x 768
Storage | Cache SSD 256 GB SSD | NA 500 GB Hard Disk | 8 GB 128 GB SSD | NA
Graphics processor | Video outputs Intel HD | D-sub, DP and HDMI Intel HD 4000 | DP and HDMI Intel HD 3000 | D-sub, DP and HDMI
Gigabit Ethernet | Wi-Fi N | Bluetooth ✔ (via dongle) | ✔ | ✔ ✔|✔|✔ ✔ (via dongle) | ✔ | ✔
Optical drive | Backlit keyboard | Card reader ✖|✔|✖ ✖|✔|✔ ✖|✔|✖
Fingerprint scanner | Webcam ✖|✔ ✖|✔ ✖|✔
USB ports: 2.0 | 3.0 1|1 0|2 1|1
Operating system Windows 7 Home Premium, 64-bit Windows 7 Home Premium, 64-bit Windows 7 Home Premium, 64-bit
BUILD QUALITY
Chassis | Screen frame | Hinges 5|5|5 5|5|5 5|5|5
Resistant to scratches | Use of metal in construction ✔|✔ ✔|✔ ✔|✔
Aesthetic appeal 5 4.5 5
ERGONOMICS
Keyboard: Key size | Spacing | Tactility 4|5|5 4|5|5 4|5|5
Touchpad: Button size | Placement | Tactility 5 | 4 | 4.5 5 | 4.5 | 4.5 5 | 4 | 4.5
Status indicators: Wireless | Battery level ✖|✔ ✖|✖ ✖|✔
Media player controls ✔ ✔ ✔
PERFORMANCE
Synthetic tests
Sisoft Sandra 2012 (Overall)
Processor multimedia | Memory bandwidth 79 Mpix/s | 16.25 GB/s 82.56 Mpix/s | 8.87 GB/s 68.55 Mpix/s | 16 GB/s
CrystalDiskMark: Read | Write 439.2 MB/s | 264 MB/s 149.4 MB/s | 102.2 MB/s 447.9 MB/s | 259.2 MB/s
PCMark 7: Overall | Lightweight | Productivity | Entertainment 3896 | 4265 | 3575 | 2767 3260 | 3510 | 3158 | 2704 3545 | 3806 | 3078 | 2546
3DMark Vantage (Entry): Overall | GPU | CPU 8135 | 8394 | 7444 20662 | 19845 | 23575 7647 | 8148 | 6457
Cinebench R11.5 2.26 points 2.36 points 1.94 points
Real world tests:
File compression: 100 MB files to 7.zip (Ultra, 256-bit encry) 84 sec 83 sec 114 sec
Video transcoding: 1 min MPEG to H.264 (2nd pass) 70 sec 68 sec 84 sec
Ray tracing: POVRay (800x600 AA 0.3) 45.96 sec 46.16 sec 57.6 sec
Audio: Volume level | Quality 4.5 | 4.5 5|4 4.5 | 4.5
Battery life (Battery Eater Pro): Classic test 98 minutes 150 minutes 116 minutes
WARRANTY
Warranty period 3 years 3 years 3 years
Scores out of 5 * Prices are indicative and are subject to change, taxes extra

56 09/2012 INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP

 TEST CENTER
ULTRABOOK COMPARISON

4 5 6 7 8

ASUS ZENBOOK UX31E TOSHIBA SATELLITE U840-X4310 HP ENVY 4-1002TX Toshiba Portege Z830 SONY VAIO T SVT111A11W
ASUS India Toshiba India HP India Toshiba India Sony India
1800-2090-365 0124-4996600 1800-4254-999 0124-4996600 1800-103-7799
helpline_west@asus.com NA NA NA sonyindia.care@ap.sony.com
Rs 99,999 Rs 53,500 Rs 58, 325 Rs 96, 250 Rs 49,990

59 58 59 65 52

100 82 80 80 87

83 77 84 74 74

76 76 76 63 73

33 100 33 100 33

0 50 100 0 50 100 0 50 100 0 50 100 0 50 100

75 74 72 70 68

327 x 18 x 224 mm | 1.4 Kg 344 x 22 x 229 mm | 1.66 Kg 341 x 21 x 236 mm | 1.77 Kg 317 x 17 x 227 mm | 1.09 Kg 297 x 19 x 216 mm | 1.37 Kg
Intel Core i7-2677M, 1.8 GHz | 4 GB Core i5-3317U, 1.7 GHz | 4 GB Core i5-3317U, 1.7 GHz | 4 GB Intel Core i5-2557M, 1.7 GHz | 6 GB Core i5-3317U, 1.7 GHz | 4 GB
13.3-inch | 1600 x 900 14-inch | 1366 x 768 14-inch | 1366 x 768 13.3-inch | 1366 x 768 11.6-inch | 1366 x 768
256 GB SSD | NA 500 GB Hard Disk | 32 GB 500 GB Hard Disk | 32 GB 128 GB SSD | NA 500 GB Hard Disk | 32 GB
Intel HD | D-sub, DP and HDMI Intel HD 4000 | HDMI Intel HD 4000 | HDMI Intel HD | D-sub and HDMI Intel HD 4000 | D-sub and HDMI
✔ (via dongle) | ✔ | ✔ ✔|✔|✔ ✔|✔|✔ ✔|✔|✔ ✔|✔|✔
✖|✖|✔ ✖|✔|✔ ✖|✖|✔ ✖|✔|✔ ✖|✖|✔
✖|✔ ✖|✔ ✖|✔ ✔|✔ ✖|✔
1|1 2|1 2|1 2|1 1|1
Windows 7 Home Premium, 64-bit Windows 7 Home Premium, 64-bit Windows 7 Home Basic, 64-bit Windows 7 Professional, 64-bit Windows 7 Home Premium, 64-bit

5|5|5 4 | 3.5 | 3 4.5 | 4.5 | 4 3.5 | 3 | 2.5 4|4|4

✔|✔ ✔|✔ ✔|✖ ✔|✔ ✔|✔
5 4 4 4.5 4.5

5|5|5 3.5 | 4 | 4 5|4|4 3.5 | 4 | 4 3 | 3 | 4.5

5 | 5 | 4.5 5 | 4.5 | 4 5 | 4.5 | 3.5 4 | 4.5 | 3 5 | 4 | 4.5
✔|✖ ✔|✖ ✔|✖ ✔|✖ ✔|✖
✖ ✔ ✔ ✖ ✖

82.29 Mpix/s | 16.32 GB/s 83 Mpix/s | 10.65 GB/s 82.73 Mpix/s | 10.74 GB/s 77 Mpix/s | 14 GB/s 83.42 Mpix/s | 8.26 GB/s
440 MB/s | 251.7 MB/s 111.5 MB/s | 42.56 MB/s 195 MB/s | 92.38 MB/s 182.6 MB/s | 44.58 MB/s 94 MB/s | 55.57 MB/s
1905 | 1960 | 1603 | 1449 4045 | 3068 | 3042 | 3355 3745 | 3652 | 3309 | 2882 3245 | 2855 | 2682 | 2600 3449 | 3295 | 3235 | 2747
7885 | 7964 | 7658 10960 | 12368 | 8169 15372 | 21410 | 8327 8203 | 8463 | 7509 10187 | 11269 | 7908
2.29 points 2.4 points 2.35 points 1.7 points 2.38 points

85 sec 83 sec 83 sec 97 sec 83 sec

90 sec 68 sec 96 sec 72 sec 69 sec
46.62 sec 46.78 sec 57.2 sec 48.39 sec 46.41 sec
4.5 | 5 4|4 3.5 | 3.5 3|3 3|2
108 minutes 128 minutes 110 minutes 90 minutes 137 minutes

1 year 3 years 1 year 3 years 1 year

Joshua Navalkar INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP 09/2012 57

 TEST CENTER
ULTRABOOK COMPARISON

9 10 11

SpecScan

NAME ACER ASPIRE TIMELINE U M5-481T Acer Aspire S3 SAMSUNG SERIES 5

Contact Acer India Pvt Ltd Acer India Pvt Ltd Samsung India
Phone 080-39408700 080-39408700 NA
E-mail ailenquiries@acer.co.in ailenquiries@acer.co.in NA
Price* Rs 50,460 Rs 66,949 Rs 54,390
OVERALL
Features (25%) 58 53 69

Build quality (15%) 87 89 64

Ergonomics (20%) 75 67 71

Performance (35%) 61 65 58

Warranty (5%) 33 33 33

0 50 100 0 50 100 0 50 100

Overall (OUT OF 100) 66 64 63

Value For Money
FEATURES
Dimensions ( W x H x D) | Weight 341 x 22 x246 mm | 1.89 Kg 324 x 19 x 217 mm | 1.38 Kg 334 x 21 x 230 mm | 1.77 Kg
Processor | RAM Intel Core i5-2467M, 1.6 GHz | 4 GB Core i5-3317U, 1.7 GHz | 4 GB Intel Core i5-2467M, 1.6 GHz | 4 GB
Screen size | Resolution 14-inch | 1366 x 768 13.3-inch | 1366 x 768 14-inch | 1366 x 768
Storage | Cache SSD 500 GB Hard Disk | 32 GB 500 GB Hard Disk | 32 GB 1 TB Hard Disk | 16 GB
Graphics processor | Video outputs Intel HD 3000 | HDMI Intel HD 4000 | HDMI Intel HD | D-sub and HDMI
Gigabit Ethernet | Wi-Fi N | Bluetooth ✔|✔|✔ ✖|✔|✔ ✔|✔|✔
Optical drive | Backlit keyboard | Card reader ✔|✔|✔ ✖|✖|✔ ✔|✖|✔
Fingerprint scanner | Webcam ✖|✔ ✖|✔ ✖|✔
USB ports: 2.0 | 3.0 0|2 0|2 1|2
Operating system Windows 7 Home Basic, 64-bit Windows 7 Home Basic, 64-bit Windows 7 Home Premium, 64-bit
BUILD QUALITY
Chassis | Screen frame | Hinges 4 | 4.5 | 4.5 4.5 | 4 | 4 3.5 | 3 | 2
Resistant to scratches | Use of metal in construction ✔|✔ ✔|✔ ✔|✖
Aesthetic appeal 4 4.5 3.5
ERGONOMICS
Keyboard: Key size | Spacing | Tactility 4|5|4 3 | 3.5 | 4 4.5 | 4.5 | 4
Touchpad: Button size | Placement | Tactility 5|4|4 4.5 | 5 | 5 5 | 4.5 | 4
Status indicators: Wireless | Battery level ✖|✖ ✖|✖ ✖|✖
Media player controls ✔ ✖ ✖
PERFORMANCE
Synthetic tests
Sisoft Sandra 2012 (Overall)
Processor multimedia | Memory bandwidth 67.56 Mpix/s | 15.89 GB/s 82.91 Mpix/s | 9.9 GB/s 68.79 Mpix/s | 14.2 GB/s
CrystalDiskMark: Read | Write 112.8 MB/s | 113.6 MB/s 98.92 MB/s | 104.7 MB/s 88.36 MB/s | 86.2 MB/s
PCMark 7: Overall | Lightweight | Productivity | Entertainment 2148 | 1669 | 1226 | 2077 2520 | 1707 | 1348 | 2402 1658 | 1549 | 1139 | 1801
3DMark Vantage (Entry): Overall | GPU | CPU 7827 | 8350 | 6588 9567 | 11698 | 6186 11759 | 15843 | 6631
Cinebench R11.5 1.92 points 2.41 points 1.94 points
Real world tests:
File compression: 100 MB files to 7.zip (Ultra, 256-bit encry) 103 sec 85 sec 108 sec
Video transcoding: 1 min MPEG to H.264 (2nd pass) 84 sec 68 sec 84 sec
Ray tracing: POVRay (800x600 AA 0.3) 58.35 sec 46.31 sec 57.53 sec
Audio: Volume level | Quality 5 | 4.5 2.5 | 2 3.5 | 3.5
Battery life (Battery Eater Pro): Classic test 133 minutes 115 minutes 130 minutes
WARRANTY
Warranty period 1 year 1 year 1 year
Scores out of 5 * Prices are indicative and are subject to change, taxes extra

58 09/2012 INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP

 TEST CENTER
BUDGET ANDROID PHONE COMPARISON
An Android for everyone
A
ndroid-based handsets
have made their mark in the
smartphone segment. Almost
every other person can be seen flaunting
one due to their affordability. Android
smartphones started off barely two years
ago with 600 MHz processors, which
could easily run the Doughnut and Éclair
versions of the Android operating system
(OS). But are they efficient enough to
meet your requirements? The demand
for higher speed, better performance
and compatibility with newer versions
of the OS is pushing mobile phone
manufacturers to build the fastest
smartphone on earth. Take for instance,
the Samsung Galaxy S II or the Galaxy
Note, both of which feature dual-core
processors, large multi-touch screens
and are ready for the next-generation
Android OS Ice Cream Sandwich (ICS).
Both phones come with a price tag of Rs.
25,000, which not everyone can afford
to shell out. Also, everyone may not
need dual-core processor handsets for
daily use. Android smartphones based
on single-core processors and either
Gingerbread or ICS are good enough
60 09/2012 INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP
to get you moving smoothly on the
information superhighway with access
to Internet, GPS, e-mail, chat and social
networks on the go. Higher processing
power is called for when you need the
device for high-end gaming or heavy
image/video processing. Look around and
you shall find enough people happy with
their single-core Androids.
This roundup highlights budget
Android smartphones under the Rs
15,000 price tag. Most phones feature
a processors ranging from 600 MHz to
1 GHz, which is enough for casual use
like Internet surfing, e-mail, chat, music
and movies. The phones featured here
are definitely not future-proof, but their
feature sets surely can last you a year or
two, if not more. The comparison table
in this article may help you pick the best
phone for your budget.
TEST PROCESS
We tested each phone according to
parameters such as Features, Build
Quality, Ergonomics, Performance, and
Warranty to finally declare the winners
in the Performance and Value for Money
Jagdish Limbachiya
segments.
FEATURES: We began the smartphone
tests by noting down the important
details of each phone. To start with, the
version of the Android operating system
was noted, as were the dimensions and
weight of each phone — a phone too
bulky or heavy is a put-off. The display
type and size was recorded, as a larger
screen and a higher resolution create a
richer visual experience. The processor
specs were marked — a faster processor
increases the overall performance and
ergonomics. We noted the memory
capacity because memory and storage
space too have an impact on the overall
performance. Finally, we took down the
battery types, talk time, standby time,
networking, data interface, and the
capacity of the bundled memory cards.
BUILD QUALITY: A device handled for
almost 90 percent of a user's waking
hours should have rugged build quality.
In this section, we noted important
characteristics such as the quality of the
shell, the battery compartment, spacing,
overall quality and tactility of the keys,
location of the interface ports and
SMS us!  Story code: TAM
TMZ to 51818

Android phones are growing in popularity owing to ease of use
and the huge number of compatible apps. Take your pick of eight
Android phones priced under Rs. 15,000. BY FRANCIS D'SA AND SHAYNE RANA
presence of port flaps.
ERGONOMICS: As the touchscreen is
the main input medium, the ergonomics
of the phone depend completely on the
display and a few buttons. We noted
the discrete buttons available for search
and the camera.
PERFORMANCE: The performance
of the phone matters the most.
Here, we benchmarked each phone
using applications such as Linpack,
An3DBench, An3DBenchXL, AnTuTu
Benchmark and Quadrant. These
display the performance results of the
CPU, GPU, memory, I/O and storage.
The performance of the camera is
also important, as cameras with the
same specifications do not necessarily
perform similarly. We did a real-world
test on the cameras by shooting
indoors and outdoors, and evaluated
each camera’s results against those
of the rest. The sound quality of the
built-in speakers matters, especially
while watching a video or listening to
music. We played a few songs and
video files and noted the quality of
the sound produced by the speakers.
The performance and clarity of the
display was also recorded by viewing
a few pictures and videos. Finally,
we put together the scores of the
features, ergonomics and performance
to determine the phone with the Best
Performance. The scores were marked
across various parameters because
the performance of a phone is highly
dependent on its overall features and
ergonomics.
WARRANTY: A device that is used
all the time, usually handled with
almost no care, continually exposed
to changing weather, dropped a few
times and tweaked for its performance
should carry a good warranty from
the manufacturer. The phone with the
highest number of years of warranty
was given extra points.
VALUE FOR MONEY INDEX: This index is
derived by clubbing the overall scores
of a phone's features, performance,
build quality, ergonomics and warranty
against its retail price. The final number
indicates if the product is worth its price
tag when compared with its competitors
in the same category.
Joshua Navalkar
TEST CENTER
BUDGET ANDROID PHONE COMPARISON
PERSONAL TAKE
FRANCIS D'SA
francis.dsa@chip.in
Android smartphones are definitely popular
but choosing the perfect handset is a big
challenge. Hunting for a phone that has the
perfect balance of features and price is
definitely a task. As Android smartphones
with increasingly powerful processors, larger
display screens, and newer versions of the
OS constantly emerge, I recommend opting
for the latest handset with Jelly Bean.
However, if your budget limits you to a basic
handset, I suggest you consider the HTC
Desire C. It is small in size and has most of
the essential features, Ice Cream Sandwich
included. For an additional couple of
thousand bucks, you can get a phone with a
dual-core processor and a larger screen.
Cheaper than the Desire C is the Karbonn A7.
You could get your hands dirty by using the
A7 as your first Android phone while saving
some dough for a better one in the future. I
am sure the best of today’s phones will be
within reach in a year’s time.
INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP 09/2012 61
 TEST CENTER
BUDGET ANDROID PHONE COMPARISON

MOTOROLA DEFY XT
F
VERDICT ollowing up on its rugged mobile apps a smooth process with just the
editions in the Defy series, Motorola tiniest hint of lag. The device has 512
DUST-PROOF AND has rolled out the DEFY XT. Taking
the cue from its predecessors, this
MB of RAM on board and 1 GB ROM
with support for 32 GB of expanded

RESILIENT, THE hardcore handset has proved itself to be

the best overall performer in our current
memory via microSD cards. The DEFY XT
is equipped with Wi-Fi, Bluetooth with

DEFY XT IS A comparison test. The DEFY XT stands

out when it comes to durability. It is IP67
A2DP support, and USB 2.0 for starters.
Wi-Fi capabilities have been enhanced

GREAT, ROBUST certified, which means it’s very capable

of following you underwater; only up to
with Wi-Fi Direct and DLNA for media
streaming; it can also turn into a Wi-Fi

SMARTPHONE FOR about 1 metre and for about 30 minutes,

though. This also means it can keep
hotspot to share its 3G connection.
The DEFY XT is more than capable

THE INDIAN dust at bay. Its rugged shell and Corning

Gorilla Glass display ensure safety from
of providing its users with a better-than-
average battery life. You’ll easily get a

ENVIRONMENT. the elements.

For our durability test, we left the
full day’s usage out of this handset with
a single charge, unless you’re using Wi-Fi
phone switched on in a jar of water for a or watching videos quite frequently. But
SPECIFICATIONS while; we sent messages to the number you’re assured at least a full work day.
and even made calls. After about 25 The Motorola’s DEFY XT is a great
Rs 15,000
minutes, we checked the handset and it phone for the Indian environment. It
Dimensions (WxHxD): 58.5 x 115 x 12 mm; Weight: 130 g; Display:
3.7-inch, 480 x 854 pixels; OS: GB; CPU: 1GHz; GPU: Adreno 200; was functioning just fine. On removing is sturdy, water and dust-resistant to
RAM: 512MB; Storage: 388MB built-in, 2GB bundled; Camera: 5 MP. the rear panel, which has its own locking quite a high degree and offers a lot of
CONTACT Motorola Mobility system, we noticed just a little moisture functionality for everyday usage. Perhaps,
PHONE 0124-4988500
EMAIL NA in areas that could damage the handset. it’s only downside is that it comes with
The battery, SIM, memory card and Android Gingerbread out of the box.
RATINGS another major components were bone Maybe Ice Cream Sandwich will be on the
BUILD QUALITY
ERGONOMICS dry. The DEFY XT's benchmark scores cards soon. We have our fingers crossed.
FEATURES
were a little ahead of the other devices in FOR: Internal storage, rugged shell, water
PERFORMANCE
OVERALL RATING our tests. The handset’s 1 GHz processor and dust-proof, good performance.
VALUE FOR MONEY made navigating menus and activating AGAINST: Slightly expensive.

62 09/2012 INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP


MICROMAX A50 SUPERFONE NINJA
T
he A50 from Micromax is dubbed
Aisha, which stands for Artificial
Intelligence Speech Handset
Assistant. The A50 has a plastic body
that feels like the parts will soon fall
apart. It scores pretty low in terms of
build and design, but this comes as no
surprise if you consider the price. Its
shell is incredibly glossy and the screen
is a fingerprint-magnet. The A50 has a
3.1-inch display with a resolution of 240
x 320 pixels. You have three physical
backlit buttons making up the control
panel, a microUSB port, a volume rocker,
a power button on the top and a poorly-
designed 3.5 mm slot.
Under the hood, you have dual-SIM
support, a microSD card slot and a 1200
mAh battery. The Ninja is powered by a
650 MHz processor and a PowerVR SGX
531 GPU, 256MB of RAM and 180 MB of
internal memory. It runs on Gingerbread
2.3.6 and the interface is surprisingly
quick for such a low-power CPU. The
A50 comes with a stock media interface
that has a range of enhancements
and equalizers that work pretty well.
What seems a design flaw here is the
headphone jack; we were worried the
headphone jack might snap while trying
TEST CENTER
BUDGET ANDROID PHONE COMPARISON
to plug it in. Video playback is limited
VERDICT
to native formats, and coupled with the
poor display, the A50 is not meant for
watching videos.
NOT A TRUE VFM
3G, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi and GPS are
other features that the phone sports. Call
PHONE, BUT IT’S
quality is decent via the earpiece and
the loudspeaker. We have a 2 megapixel CERTAINLY THE
camera which has very bad photo and
video quality. The A50 Ninja is powered CHEAPEST
by a 1200 mAh battery, and keeping
in mind that this is a dual-SIM phone, ANDROID
the battery comes up as average. If you
operate only with a single SIM though, SMARTPHONE OUT
THERE.
the battery life improves considerably.
The Micromax A50 Superfone Ninja
has an impressive price, but the number
of cons it features prevents us from SPECIFICATIONS
actually recommending it. It is just the Rs 4,849
cheapest price between the eight phones
Dimensions (WxHxD): 61 x 113 x 13 mm; Weight: 117 g; Display:
that actually helped it bag the Best 3.11-inch, 240 x 320 pixels; OS: GB; CPU: 650GHz; GPU: PowerVR
Value award. If we were to recommend SGX 531; RAM: 256MB; Storage: 180MB built-in; Camera: 2 MP.
a cheaper Android phone instead of this CONTACT Micromax Informatics
PHONE 1860 500 8266
one, it would definitely be the Karbonn EMAIL info@micromaxinfo.com
A70. For a slightly higher price, you are
RATINGS
at least promised better quality and BUILD QUALITY
performance. ERGONOMICS
FEATURES
FOR: Cheap price
PERFORMANCE
AGAINST: Below average build, bad OVERALL RATING
VALUE FOR MONEY
camera and display quality.
Joshua Navalkar INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP 09/2012 63
 TEST CENTER
BUDGET ANDROID PHONE COMPARISON

1 2 3

SpecScan

BRAND MOTOROLA iBALL MOTOROLA

Model Defy XT Andi 4d Defy Mini
Contact Motorola Mobility Best IT World Motorola Mobility
Phone 0124-4988500 1800-300-42255 0124-4988500
E-mail NA sales@iball.co.in NA
Price* Rs. 15,000 Rs. 9,490 Rs. 11,490
OVERALL
Features (30%) 85 84 75

Build quality (10%) 54 53 54

Ergonomics (10%) 54 54 80

Performance (45%) 42 81 69

Warranty (5%) 100 100 100

0 50 100 0 50 100 0 50 100

Overall (OUT OF 100) 79 77 72

Value For Money
FEATURES
Dimensions | Weight 58.5 x 115 x 12 mm | 130 g 61 x 122 x 10.75 mm | 157 g 58.5 x 109 x 12.6 mm | 107 g
Operating system version Gingerbread Gingerbread Gingerbread
Processor 1 GHz, Single Core 1 GHz, Single Core 600 MHz, Single Core
Memory: RAM | Internal storage 512 MB | 388 MB 512 MB | 142 MB 512 MB | 165 MB
Memory: Bundled | Hot swap 2 GB | ✔ 4 GB | ✔ 2 GB | ✔
Display 3.7-inch, 480 x 854 pixels 4-inch, 480 x 800 pixels 3.2-inch, 230 x 480 pixels
Camera | Flash 5 MP | ✔ 5 MP | ✔ 3.15 MP | ✔
Video resolution | Frame rate 480 x 480 | NA 640 x 480 | NA 640 x 480 | NA
FM Radio | HDMI Port ✔|✖ ✔|✖ ✔|✖
Battery | Standby time | Talk time 1650 mAh | 300 h | 5.5 h 1630 mAh | 450 h | 4.5 h 1650 mAh | 504 h | 10 h
Aestheric appeal 3.5 4 3.5
BUILD QUALITY
Quality: Shell | Buttons 4.5 | 4.5 4 | 4.5 4.5 | 4.5
Sturdiness of back panel 4.5 5 4.5
Resistant to scratches | Port flaps ✔|✔ ✖|✖ ✔|✔
ERGONOMICS
Buttons: Size | Type 4 | Touch 4 | touch 5 | Touch
Physical buttons: Camera | Search ✖|✔ ✖|✔ ✔|✔
PERFORMANCE
Quality: Audio | Video | Photos 4|4|4 4.5 | 4 | 3.5 4|4|4
Camera imaging: Indoor | Outdoor 3.5 | 3.5 2|2 3.5 | 3.5
An3DBench (Overall) 6088 7503 6640
An3DBench XL (Overall) 23068 25414 19883
AnTutu System Review (Overall) 3002 2933 2299
Linpack: Single-thread | Multi-thread (MFLOPS) 24 | 23 18 | 22 7 | 13
Memory 289 285 165
CPU: Integer | Float 629 | 410 598 | 389 363 | 240
Graphics: 2D | 3D 252 | 889 340 | 961 403 | 873
SD card: Write | Read 6.0 MB/s | 9.8 MB/s NA | NA NA | NA
Quadrant (Overall) 1185 1370 944
CPU | Memory | I/O 1646 | 1696 | 843 7125 | 1658 | 1349 979 | 1062 | 980
Graphics: 2D | 3D 175 | 1567 505 | 1735 521 | 1176
WARRANTY
Warranty period 1 year 1 year 1 year
Scores out of 5 * Prices are indicative and are subject to change, taxes extra

64 09/2012 INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP

 TEST CENTER
BUDGET ANDROID PHONE COMPARISON

4 5 6 7 8

SPICE KARBONN HTC iBALL MICROMAX

Stellar Craze MI-355 A7 Desire C Andi 3e A50 Superfone Ninja
Spice mobile Karbonn Mobiles HTC India Best IT World Micromax Informatics
0120-4363879 011-4660 4660 9811428765 1800-300-42255 1860 500 8266
parikshit.markanday@spicemobile.in karan.kumar@jainaindia.com shaurya.vedvyas@brightpoint.com sales@iball.co.in info@micromaxinfo.com
Rs. 7,999 Rs. 7,490 Rs. 13,800 Rs. 6,990 Rs. 4,849

64 66 74 60 55

73 48 48 73 43

50 54 40 72 64

78 76 61 52 60

100 100 100 100 100

0 50 100 0 50 100 0 50 100 0 50 100 0 50 100

72 69 63 61 59

61 x 117.5 x 12 mm | 118 g 61 x 117 x 11.5 mm | 120 g 60.6 x 107.2 x 12.3 mm | 100 g 58 x 111 x 12.9 mm | 103 g 61 x 113 x 13 mm | 117 g
Gingerbread Gingerbread Ice Cream Sandwich Gingerbread Gingerbread
800 MHz, Single Core 800 MHz, Single Core 600 MHz, Single Core 650 MHz, Single Core 650 MHz, Single Core
512 MB | 213 MB 512 MB | 177 MB 512 MB | 960 MB 256 MB | 170 MB 256 MB | 180 MB
✖|✖ ✖|✖ ✖|✔ ✖|✖ ✖|✖
3.5-inch, 320 x 480 pixels 3.5-inch, 320 x 480 pixels 3.5-inch, 320 x 480 pixels 3.2-inch, 240 x 400 pixels 3.11-inch, 240 x 320 pixels
5 MP | ✖ 5 MP | ✔ 5 MP | ✖ 3.2 MP | ✖ 2 MP | ✖
352 x 288 | NA NA | NA 480 x 320 | NA 640 x 480 | NA 720x 480 | NA
✔|✖ ✔|✖ ✔|✖ ✔|✖ ✔|✖
1420 mAh | NA 1420 mAh | 100 h | 4 h 1230 mAh | NA 1400 mAh | 400 h | 8 h 1200 mAh | 240 h | 4 h
3.5 4.5 3.5 4 3

4|4 4|4 4|4 4|4 3.5 | 4

4 4 4 4 3.5
✔|✖ ✖|✖ ✖|✖ ✔|✖ ✖|✖

3.5 | touch 4 | Touch 4 | Touch 4 | touch 4.5 | Physical

✖|✔ ✖|✔ ✖|✖ ✔|✔ ✖|✖

4|4|4 3.5 | 4 | 3.5 3.5 | 3 | 3.5 3.5 | 4 | 3 3.5 | 3 | 2.5

3.5 | 3.5 3 | 3.5 2.5 | 3 3|3 2 | 2.5
5740 5757 6084 3772 10276
20325 20768 17920 13596 12898
2516 2710 1176 1477 2372
19 | 17 21 | 17 16 | 11 8|7 7|8
226 230 177 142 143
485 | 320 498 | 328 352 | 219 247 | 170 247 | 170
314 | 851 313 | 832 148 | 155 149 | 614 699 | 958
12.9 MB/s | 9.7 MB/s 11.2 MB/s | 9.2 MB/s NA | NA NA | NA 7.2 MB/s | 12.6 MB/s
1360 1219 1077 719 917
1422 | 1306 | 1640 1313 | 1337 | 1445 953 | 939 | 2447 639 | 728 | 570 644 | 933 | 607
809 | 1278 731 | 1260 211 | 833 509 | 1149 607 | 751

1 year 1 year 1 year 1 year 1 year

Joshua Navalkar INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP 09/2012 65

 TEST CENTER
TESTED SOFTWARE
SPOTLIGHT
OS X v10.8
MOUNTAIN LION
VERDICT: The price is right, but the philosophy will take a while to get used to.
FOR: Super-low price, useful new apps with iCloud syncing, speed and graphical improvements.
AGAINST: Frustrating new file storage model, could be confusing for users.
M
ountain Lion, the follow-up
to last year's Lion, promises
further adoption of concepts
from iOS and a stronger focus on iCloud.
If you feel restricted on an iPad as
opposed to a computer, you might not
like what this update brings. Mountain
Lion is aimed at the kind of user who
doesn’t care where files are saved as
long as they exist, and who loves how
iPad apps disappear into the background
when not needed but magically
remember what you were doing when
you bring them back.
The iPhone and iPad now make up 72
percent of Apple's business, with Mac
sales accounting for only 14 percent. It,
therefore, shouldn’t come as much of a
surprise that Apple wants to apply the
iOS formula to the Mac line.
OS X v10.8, better known as Mountain
Lion, comes almost exactly a year after
Lion and marks a transition to a cheaper
yearly release cycle, much like what iOS
users are accustomed to. Notably, the
“Mac” in “Mac OS” has been dropped,
and the “X” signifying version 10 has
become part of a new name, “OS X”.
Previous releases were spaced several
years apart and cost US$ 129 (Rs 7,170)
each. Mountain Lion costs only $19.99
(Rs 1,110) and includes a number of
visible features plus loads of background
improvements. Only specific Mac models
are eligible to run Mountain Lion, with the
oldest being the mid-2007 iMac refresh.
66 09/2012 INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP
0660912_Software Standalones.indd 66
Certain recent models are excluded, such
as Mac Minis launched before mid-2009.
If you didn’t get it preinstalled on a
new Mac, your only option is to download
Mountain Lion from the Mac App Store.
The download is 4.7 GB, but installation
took us only 40 minutes on a 2008
MacBook and just under 20 minutes on a
2011 MacBook Air.
OS LEVEL CHANGES
FIRST IMPRESSIONS: The dock now
has an almost-opaque frosted glass
finish, and a new Notification Center icon
displaces Spotlight from the top-right
corner of the menu bar. The dock isn't
functionally different, except that the
little dots that indicate when a program
is running are now barely noticeable.
Apple has refrained from arbitrary
visual tweaks, so the flat monotone
windows and menus remain as they were
in Lion. You’ll see icons for the new Notes
and Reminders programs in the dock. All
your preferences will be carried over from
your previous OS version if you upgrade.
Mac OS has always differed from
Windows in that a program can be
“running” even without being open—an
icon would stay in the dock until the
program was manually shut down. Lion
introduced iOS-style 'backgrounding',
in which programs would quit on
their own when the OS decided the
RAM they consumed could be put to
better use elsewhere. Mountain Lion
seems a lot more aggressive, and we
noticed programs terminating as soon
as documents were closed, in a very
Windows-like fashion. If you pin an
app to the dock and allow programs to
resume exactly where you left off, the
distinction between running and not
running becomes somewhat unimportant.
NOTIFICATION CENTER: This is one
of Mountain Lion’s headlining features.
Programs that support it—including the
new iOS-inspired ones—can place their
alerts and reminders in this unified space.
Some stay till you click a button, while
others disappear after a few seconds.
The most recent five of each type live on
in the Notification Center till you dismiss
them. At launch, Notification Center
can show alerts from all the built-in
programs. This is infinitely better than
the variety of dialog boxes and popups
we’re used to seeing. Thankfully, there’s
a Do Not Disturb mode, and notifications
are automatically suppressed when
you’re using a projector. You can check
SMS us!  Story code: TSM to 51818
8/24/2012 6:35:03 PM

Notification Center at any time by
swiping inwards from the right edge of
your trackpad with two fingers. Mouse-
confined users can click the bullet-list
icon. The desktop slides to the left,
revealing a dark-textured underlay.
For some reason, Notification Center
also lets you compose new Tweets (and
soon, Facebook status updates). If this
was a full-fledged Twitter client it might
make sense, but you're limited to just
reading incoming mentions and direct
messages. You can’t even reply to them.
ICLOUD AND THE NEW FILE
STORAGE MODEL: Even before you
get to the desktop, OS X will prompt
you to sign in to iCloud. This is the first
sign you’ll see of the most fundamental
changes to how you’re expected to use
your computer. Apple’s catch-all online
service synchronizes apps and settings
between your Macs and iOS devices,
gives you access to personal information
from any web browser, and provides a
limited amount of space for file storage.
If you’re an existing iCloud user, you’ll
immediately see your contacts, email
accounts, photos, calendars, reminders,
notes and documents synced and
available in their associated apps. If you
have any privacy concerns, you should
turn these functions off in the System
Preferences dialog. iCloud also lets
an application’s state persist between
devices, which is how changes in a
document on your laptop reflect near-
instantly on an iPad, and browser tabs
open in Safari on your iPhone can be
retrieved on your iMac if you want them.
iCloud is now the default location
where all files will be saved. Upon
opening TextEdit and Preview for the
first time (third-party apps will need to
be updated), you’re presented with a
brand new dialog box asking you to drag
and drop
SPECIFICATIONS files already
$19.99 on your hard
www.apple.com
SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS
drive to
CPU: Intel-based; RAM: 2 GB; Disk iCloud. Even if
space: 8 GB you just want
CONTACT Apple India
to type into
PHONE 1800-425-0744
EMAIL indiasales@mac.com a blank text
document,
RATINGS
FEATURES it will be
PERFORMANCE  created in
EASE OF USE
OVERALL RATING your iCloud
VALUE FOR MONEY space first.
TEST CENTER
SOFTWARE
Then, as you go along, changes are
saved on the fly. This makes the ‘Save’
dialog box unnecessary. Since documents
are saved and named from the outset,
discarding changes actually means
deleting the current version and reverting
to an older one. An option in the
‘General’ System Preferences category
will force programmes to ask
whether you want to save changes
to documents, but the default
behaviour is not to prompt the
user. A new ‘Duplicate’ command
in the File menu lets you manually
save different versions of a file, but
older versions are retained in the
background. You can pull them up
through the easy-to-miss ‘Revert
To’ command in the File menu. This
pops up a Time-Machine-inspired
view of all previous versions for you
to restore at any point. It’s pretty
seamless, but you lose the security
of being able to dabble with a
file after saving a known good version; worked for decades.
changing formatting and rewriting Even the iCloud dialog boxes look
sentences, for instance. Everything you like an iOS home screen with large
do is saved, even accidental deletions, thumbnail icons on the standard textured
so the better way to work now is to background. It quickly becomes difficult
explicitly create a duplicate. In this new to identify which file you need in a sea of
universe, you also don’t see a “confirm similar icons. You can create folders only
changes” dialog if you quit an application by dragging one icon over another, and
without explicitly closing the file you’re these can be only one level deep.
working on, simply because it will pop iCloud files are cached on your hard
up exactly as it was when you next drive, but not in a user-visible location.
open that application and OS X doesn't The assumption is that you'll always
consider it closed. have an Internet connection and will
There are other frustrating changes. never be able to tell the difference
You can’t browse through your iCloud between local and online storage. The
space like you would a hard drive. The problem with this, especially in India,
only way to see files is through the is that you’re quite likely to be caught
Open dialog box of the
program that created
them, and you can
see only that app’s
supported files. There
isn’t any way to see all
your files at once, and
there’s no way to store
different types of files
related to a specific
project in one folder. You
get the feeling that files
are stored within apps,
which is how iOS likes
to present things, but is
completely at odds with
how millions of us have
INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP 09/2012 67
 TEST CENTER
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without reliable Internet access when
you need a file that should by all means
be right in front of you. The other big
problem is that you get only 5 GB of
space. Users are going to run out quickly
and could easily be confused by “low
space” error messages which ask users
to pay for more storage when their hard
drives have always been good enough.
The iCloud model feels simultaneously
too advanced and too retrograde. If
we could take 100 Mbps always-on
connections for granted, it would be
easier to go with it. If, like us, you’re left
with some misgivings about the iCloud
way, you can click the “On my Mac”
button in each Open or Save dialog
box’s title bar, which takes you back to
the world we all know and understand.
However, we get the feeling that Apple
will eventually shepherd us into the cloud
whether we like it or not.
SHARE SHEETS: Every Open and Save
dialog now has a ‘Share’ button, which
lets you send files as e-mail attachments
or to other Macs via AirDrop filesharing.
Depending on the type of file, you’ll also
see options to Tweet, upload to Flickr or
68 09/2012 INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP
Vimeo, attach to an iMessage, or post
to Facebook. Each of the options brings
up a small “Share Sheet” over whatever
you’re doing. Just type in a message or
caption and hit ‘Send’. You’ll see ‘Share’
functionality elsewhere as well: Safari
lets you add a page to your offline
reading list and the ‘Add Bookmark’
command has moved here as well. Select
any text in TextEdit and an option in
the context menu will let you share via
e-mail, tweet or iMessage. All built-in
programs (including Quick Look) have
some level of sharing, and third-party
software can add it as well.
TWITTER AND FACEBOOK: Twitter
is an option in pretty much every Share
menu, and as detailed earlier, you can
receive notifications in the OS itself. If
your OS X/iCloud contacts match your
Twitter subscribers, their profile photos
and usernames will be added to their
contact cards. Apple hints that Facebook
integration will be even deeper, but it
won’t materialize till an OS update much
later this year. You’ll be able to choose
privacy settings for anything posted
using a Share Sheet and you’ll be able to
choose which album a photo should be
added to. Your Contacts will be updated
when friends change their profiles, and
birthdays (and presumably, events) will
show up in your Calendar.
There's no way to send a photo or
post a message to multiple services
at once. It also isn't possible to attach
multiple files to a single Share Sheet,
restricting the feature’s utility.
GATEKEEPER AND SOFTWARE
UPDATE: Gatekeeper caused us to raise
our eyebrows, but is not as threatening
as it seems. In an ideal world, Apple
would lock its computers down the same
way it has been able to lock iOS devices.
Gatekeeper is a simple system preference
that gives you three choices: allow only
programs from the App Store; allow
outside downloads if they have been

pre-approved by Apple; or allow anything
from anywhere. The default choice is
the middle ground—Apple now provides
signed certificates to developers and can
pin “signed” software to its source. With
this setting, executables downloaded
from unknown sources are blocked (this
applies only to downloads, not files on
USB media or preexisting on your hard
drive). You can right-click on a file and
click ‘Open’ to execute it anyway. Apple
believes this will protect casual users
and pacify power users. Honestly, we
never noticed that anything had been
restricted.
Software updates now happen
through the App Store. The standalone
Software Update app is gone and the
new interface shows less detail than its
predecessor. Checks for security updates
now happen every day. Incidentally, only
those programs downloaded from the
App Store can hook into Notification
Center, Game Center, iCloud document
storage, and other features. Software
vendors now have to choose between
giving users a consistent experience and
maintaining their independence (and
profit margins). This increases the App
Store's prominence, but points to a
future in which people see only pre-
approved choices of software.
DICTATION: The global speech-to-text
feature is not full-fledged Siri, so you
don’t get voice commands, but you can
speak into any input field you would
ordinarily type into. The first time you try
to use Dictation, you’ll be warned that
recordings are transmitted to Apple’s
servers. You’ll need to allow Apple to
take your Contact list so that names
can be processed to improve recognition
accuracy. English (India) isn’t supported
and won't be a priority for Apple either,
but English (US) worked for us with
about 90 percent accuracy. Dictation
doesn’t happen on the fly, so you have
to pause after every sentence to start
uploading and processing what you’ve
said. This will be more of an occasional
convenience than a daily tool, but is
especially important to those with
mobility impairments or injuries.
THE NEW "APPS"
NOTES, REMINDERS, CONTACTS,
CALENDAR AND MAIL: The new
Notes and Reminders look like they've
TEST CENTER
SOFTWARE
been lifted right out of iOS, but have
expanded functionality such as better
text formatting. It should go without
saying that iCloud syncs notes and
reminders between all your devices, and
alerts show up via Notification Center.
Contacts and Calendar ditch their
former names (Address Book and iCal
respectively) to better match their iOS
counterparts. We disliked the gaudy faux-
leather-and-ripped-pages look which
debuted in Lion and is still here.
MESSAGES: iChat, the multi-protocol
instant messaging client, has been
replaced by Messages, adding Apple's
own iMessage protocol, which iPhone
users will be familiar with. There’s no
contact list; you have to start typing a
name and you’ll see entries from the
Contacts programme that match. There
will be individual entries for each e-mail
address, protocol and phone number. We
often ended up with multiple threads for
the same person, and couldn't be sure
if they had received messages unless
we annoyed them by spamming every
service. FaceTime lives on as a separate
INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP 09/2012 69
 TEST CENTER
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program that is called up when you
try to video chat with an Apple ID user
(who might or might not be an iMessage
user). iMessage complicates things for
iPhone users whose accounts are tied
to their phone numbers. You can't chat
with them unless they also associate an
e-mail address, and they can't fall back
on SMS to reply. Even worse, if you’re
signed in to iMessage on your Mac, it’s
possible that someone trying to reach
your phone could have their message end
up on your computer, and you wouldn't
see it till you sat down at the computer
again. iMessage is confusing enough
when we use multiple mobile devices,
but mixing SMS and IM was so messy
that we just turned it off.
MISCELLANEOUS
Safari has a faster rendering engine,
unified URL and search bar, and visual
improvements. You can now “zoom
out” to see a swipable row of page
70 09/2012 INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP
thumbnails which looks exactly like the
tab switching mechanism on an iPhone,
but doesn’t make use of the much larger
screen. Unsurprisingly, there’s also a
Share button. iCloud Tabs let you see
what’s running on other devices (iOS 6
required) and bring individual tabs over.
Game Center looks and behaves
exactly the same as its iPad incarnation.
High scores and achievements should
now sync across the iOS and OS X
versions of a game. Cross-platform
multiplayer is also on the cards, but
doesn't work yet.
The System Preferences dialogs have
received tweaks and changes. You need
to sign in to Twitter, Facebook, Vimeo
and Flickr through the Mail, Contacts
and Calendars page for any of the Share
Sheet features to work, even though they
don’t quite belong there. Time Machine
can now create encrypted backups and
multiple backups in different locations.
Owners of the new MacBook Pro with
Retina display
and most recent
MacBook Airs can
use Power Nap,
which wakes the
CPU, storage and
Wi-Fi up from sleep
without activating the display or sound.
This keeps your iCloud, backups, location,
e-mail and notifications current. Updates
are also downloaded and installed. It runs
when you’re plugged into mains power by
default, and doesn't even cause the fans
to spin. AirPlay Mirroring originated on the
iPad but now lets you mirror your screen
wirelessly on any TV or projector through
an Apple TV set-top box. Your Mac’s
screen will scale itself to 1080p so the
output on the big screen looks crisp.
PERFORMANCE AND
CONCLUSION
Apple’s historical practice of tightly
integrating hardware and software has
paid off again. We noticed no stuttering
or instability after upgrading the 2008
MacBook and 2011 MacBook air to
Mountain Lion. The price is low enough
that we can recommend this upgrade
to everyone, and the download and
installation process couldn’t be simpler.
A few years ago, Mountain Lion would
have been an incremental OS update
rather than a whole new version, but the
world has changed and Apple is pushing
everyone into a new era.
In that sense, Mountain Lion is just the
beginning of a much larger shift. At every
 TEST CENTER
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ON DVD
step of the way, you’re encouraged to put your
files on iCloud, connect your apps to iCloud and
sync your settings through iCloud. This is where
everything is headed, and this is why Apple is so
intent on unifying iOS and OS X into consistent
points of entry. Microsoft is doing the same across SEPTEMBER 2012
Windows 8, Windows Phone and its various online
services, so you’re probably going to have to RED HOT APPLICATIONS
choose one camp or the other at some point. Once
all your data and devices are hooked into iCloud, Adobe Fireworks CS6 12.0.0.236 and more...

it’s going to be very difficult to switch allegiances.

Even now, if you’d rather just save files to your
hard drive, you need to understand what iCloud is
FULL SOFTWARE
in order to bypass it. And what does all this mean Avidemux 2.5.6
for hardware? Will future devices evolve around JahShaka 2.0
a cloud-based file storage model? Will Internet Video Edit Master 2.0.0.0
access infrastructure be able to keep up?
Unfortunately, it isn’t easy to describe or explain
FULL GAMES
the multifaceted online service, and there’s no
Racing Show 1.0
one app where users can, for instance, browse Street Racing Club 1.02
Home Base
through all their stored files. We expect users to
Alien Strike
be a bit confused when they start seeing prompts
Assault Droid
about uploading files or running out of space—and Apocalypse Motor Racers
considering that a single iPhone or iPad backup Last Space Fighter
Ultra Drag Racing
can occupy up to 3 GB (without app data), that
Super Police Racing and more...
free 5 GB quota will run out very quickly. We
expect Apple to at least double the free quota and GAME DEMOS
LEGO Batman 2: DC Super Heroes
put a lot more effort into explaining what iCloud
Deponia Demo 1.1
does for users in the near future. There are other
Rolling Coaster 1.0.2
constraints as well: those used to an always-on ETHER VAPOR Remaster and more...
Internet connection will find themselves without
the most recent versions of their files if they’re ever GAME ADD ONS
Decisive Campaigns: Case Blue
cut off. Our quick experiments with text files and
Dragon Oath
JPEG images worked flawlessly, but we can hardly Ghost Recon: Future Soldier
Eudemons Online Client
imagine storing a lifetime’s worth of photos or
Conquer Online Cumulative
working on heavy files in professional video editing
Forsaken World
and animation software via iCloud. Those of us Angels Online and more...
with “fair usage caps” of 2 GB and 5 GB on our
Internet service are shuddering at the thought. GAME TRAILERS
Dead or Alive 5: Gameplay Tag
Mountain Lion reminds us that the computer is
Team Trailer
in no danger of dying and that even Apple doesn’t Ghost Recon: Future Soldier -
Arctic Strike DLC Trailer
imagine everyone will be able to live happily with
Resident Evil 6: Comic-Con Trailer
only an iPad. The computer is, however, evolving WWE 13: Austin 3:16 Collector’s
Edition Trailer
to a new middle ground that will probably prove
Guardians of Middle-earth:
uncomfortable for anyone over 25 today who Gandalf and Gollum Battle
considers themselves a “power user”. On the other Profile
Mass Effect 3: Earth Multiplayer
hand, this will be well received by anyone who has
DLC Trailer
been frustrated by what they see as unintelligible Marvel Avengers: Battle For Earth
instructions and illogical conventions. E3 Trailer and more...
Mountain Lion and Windows 8 are going to
escalate the Mac vs PC argument to a whole
LINUX
LINUX DISTRIBUTION
new level, and it soon won’t be as easy to make 4MLinux Game Edition 3.3
a choice between the two as it is now. This is Antivirus Live CD 3.3-0.97.5
where computers are headed, and if you can’t Tiny Core Linux Plus 4.5.6
GParted LiveCD 0.13.0-1
get used to these seemingly “dumbed down” Android-x86 4.0 RC2 and more...
operating systems, now is the time to take a
fresh look at Linux.
LINUX TOOLS
FrostWire 5.3.8
- jamshed.avari@chip.in
AviSynth 2.6.0 Alpha 3
Camstudio 2.6c Beta
AVCHD Editor 0.4.4.1
FF-Multi-Converter 1.4.0
VLC 2.0.3
Midnight Commander 4.8.1.4
Komodo Edit 7.1.0 and more...
TOOLS
MULTIMEDIA
WebSite X5 Free 9.1
Screenshot Captor Portable 3.08
ezvid 0.8.5.0
PictuTools 2.1.4
Portable Free Any Burn 1.1
MKVToolnix 5.7.0
MediaPortal 2.0.0.0 Alpha
Fresh HTML 3.69
Blender 2.64 Test
PCAudi 1.22
HandBrake 0.9.7
NanoStudio 1.33
KMPlayer 3.3.0.33
RealPlayer 15.0.5.109
VLC media player 2.0.3 and more...
INTERNET
Vuze 4.7.0.3 Beta 64
CamDesk 1.2
TeamViewer 7.0.13936
GroupMail Free Edition 5.3.0.123
Keyword Bee 1.0
Talk.to 0.3.8.451 Beta
Facebook Messenger 2.0.4447.0
M Multi Yahoo Messenger 2.0
Facebook Pro 1.2.3.0
MultiLoader 1.0.0.1
Easy Download Manager 3.3
Rylstim Youtube Downloader 3.0
Firefox 16.0a2 Aurora
Opera Web Browser 12.50
Internet Explorer 8 Final
Internet Explorer 9 Final Vista / 7
Fresh Download 8.77 and more...
MOBILE
Syncios 1.0.0
Nokia PC Suite 7.1.180.94
Safe Deposit Box 1.05
WhatsApp Messenger
(Symbian) 2.6.97
QQ Browser Mini for Java 2.6
Skype Lite (Nokia) 1.2.11
MXit Lite (Java) 5.9.2
BOLT Browser (Java) 2.52
Kaspersky Mobile Security
(Symbian) 9.4.109 and more...
and more...
SECURITY
Malwarebytes’ Anti-Malware 1.62
Cryptographic Encryptor
1.6.3.305
McAfee AVERT Stinger 10.2.0.699
Folder Security 1.0.1
WinPatrol 25.0.2012.5
COMODO Cleaning Essentials 2.5
iSpy 4.3.7.0
Avira Protection Cloud 0.1.0.1
Kurupira Web Filter 1.0.29
Comodo Dragon 20.1.1.0
AVG Internet Security 2012 12.0
Build 2197a5126
Kaspersky Internet Security 2013
COMODO Internet Security
Premium 5.10.228257.2253
Kingsoft Antivirus 2012
SP3.5.061417 and more...
SYSTEM
Speccy
K-Lite Codec Tweak Tool 5.4.0
Booster+ 1.0 Beta
Notepad++ 6.1.5
PDFMate Free PDF Merger 1.03
LyX 2.0.4-1
Belarc Advisor 8.2g (8.2.7.14)
Wise Registry Cleaner 7.36
Freeplane 1.2.16_04 RC
EasyPC Cleaner Free 1.29
NoteTab Light 7.0 and more...
MUST HAVES
.NET Framework Version 4.0
AMD Catalyst Drivers 12.6 XP
AMD Catalyst Drivers 12.6 Vista
NVIDIA Forceware 301.42 WHQL
XP/Vista
Realtek AC’97 Driver A4.06
Realtek High Definition Audio
2.70 XP/Vista
DirectX 9.0c (Jun 10)
JRE 1.7.0.5 (32-bit) and more...
ADOBE PLAYERS
Adobe Air 3.4.0.2200 Beta 1
Flash Player 11.3.300
(IE & Non-IE) and more...
E-BOOKS
CHIP ARCHIVES
APRIL to JUNE 2012 (3 months)
 TEST CENTER
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VERDICT

ESCAN FOR MAC

IS A GREAT
SOFTWARE FOR
REAL-TIME
PROTECTION OF
YOUR MAC OS X
SYSTEM.

ANTIVIRUS

ESCAN FOR MAC

FOR: Real-time protection.
AGAINST: Takes a while to install; uninspiring user interface.

W
Installation is simple and it takes under 15 minutes ith emerging threats, security
with updates if you have a speedy net connection. solutions for Macs are on
the rise. eScan for Mac looks
more like eScan for Windows owing to
the lacklustre graphical user interface.
It’s uninspiring at best with pale blue
colours and very Windows-like icons.
The main panel gives you access to the
main functions – scan and update. Scan
options include a full scan, scanning
home directories, a custom scan, and a
separate scan for USB devices. Logs and
data monitoring is possible as well.
The key feature here is real-time
protection against security threats.
SPECIFICATIONS
Whenever a malicious file is accessed
Rs 1,677 or executed, the software immediately
www.escanav.com
SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS notifies the user on a real-time basis.
OS: Mac OS X 10.6 or higher; RAM: 1 GB; Drive space:
Besides this, files that are downloaded off
500 MB.
the Internet or transferred via a network
CONTACT eScan
PHONE 022-32564578 are actively monitored as well.
EMAIL support@msspl.co.in
On demand scanning lets you
RATINGS select different files and folders to
FEATURES
scan for viruses. Besides that, there’s
PERFORMANCE
EASE OF USE a scheduled scan option. There is
OVERALL RATING
VALUE FOR MONEY
live technical support as well, which
can be accessed from the HELP
section on the top right corner.
The current OS version supported
is Mac OS X Snow Leopard 10.6 or
later. System requirements include 1
GB of available memory and 500 MB
of free hard drive space. Supported
languages are English, Latin Spanish,
German, Greek, Spanish, French,
Italian, Dutch and Russian.
A 30-day trial version is available
as well. The software takes about ten
minutes to install. It’s a simple download
link with a key so there’s not much that
can go wrong here. After installation
and registration, an additional 47 MB
update was downloaded, which took
around ten minutes on a fast connection.
While running a scan, CPU utilisation is
close to 70 – 90 percent with around
272 MB of memory utilisation. There
was no noticeable lag in performance
while the scan was running.
– Karan Shah

72 09/2012 INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP

 TEST CENTER
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VERDICT

A CONVENIENT
WATERMARKING
UTILITY THAT
COULD HAVE BEEN
BETTER.

IMAGE WATERMARKING

STAR WATERMARK PRO

FOR: Allows using images as watermarks; batch resizing.
AGAINST: Sliders would have been convenient; doesn’t allow dragging the watermark.

R
escaling and watermarking is To make it simple, the location drop- It takes less than a second to add watermark to each
important for photographers to down list has nine coordinates on a 3x3 image in a batch.

protect their work. Star Watermark
Pro is a simple utility that presents a
simple workflow to watermark a batch
of photos in one go. The UI has minimal
elements, but it works effectively. The
toolbar gives you options to add/remove
photos, preview the output, start/stop
processing, etc. The work area is split into
two panes and is below the toolbar. The
left pane lists watermark templates and
the large pane to the right is where you
add photos.
The demo template is self-explanatory.
Double-clicking on it opens a large
dialogue box with a real time preview
of the watermark placed over a sample
photo. Later, you can move on to creating
your own templates. The program lets
you have multiple templates with different
watermarks and styles.
Creating a template is simple; you start
by specifying the text string followed by
the font and location of the watermark.
grid. To move the watermark around,
you have to offset the coordinates by
increasing or decreasing the values. Being
allowed to drag the watermark on the
image would have been most convenient.
Next, you can add shadow and edge to
the text. The angle of shadow, blur radius
and alpha blend can be tweaked. The Pro
version also allows you to use images as
watermarks.
Double-clicking on an image in the
batch displays the preview with the
SPECIFICATIONS
watermark and in the specified scale, if
US $ 19.5 (approx
you have enabled resizing. Clicking the
Processing button starts the job and it
Rs 1,080)
www.star-watermark.com
takes under a second to process a single SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS
RAM: 512 MB; Hard disk space: 4 MB; OS: Windows All
image on a basic home PC.
and Mac OS X 10.5 and above.
Star Watermark Pro is so simple to
CONTACT Star-Watermark.com
use that you won’t need a user manual. PHONE NA
EMAIL support@star-watermark.com
However, it would have been even simpler
if you had sliders to change values RATINGS
FEATURES
instead of manually entering them.
PERFORMANCE
- Anand Tuliani EASE OF USE
OVERALL RATING
VALUE FOR MONEY

INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP 09/2012 73

 TEST CENTER
SOFTWARE

VERDICT

BESIDES
CONVERSION TO
3D, VIDEO
CONVERTER
ULTIMATE
DOESN’T OFFER
MUCH MORE THAN
OTHER
FREEWARE.
VIDEO CONVERTER

It is possible to tweak the audio and video parameters
in the preset profiles.
4VIDEOSOFT VIDEO
CONVERTER ULTIMATE
FOR: Has conversion to 3D; easy to use UI; plenty of conversion formats and support.
AGAINST: GPU acceleration issues; a bit expensive.

4
Videosoft’s Video Converter
Ultimate, unlike many of the free
software available, supports GPU-
based hardware acceleration as well as
3D conversion. The user interface here is
simple; you can drag and drop files into
the window, select a preset profile and
start encoding a video. The program also
lets you rip DVDs. Moreover, you have
editing tools that let you trim portions of
the video, save certain sections, etc. You
SPECIFICATIONS can choose between anaglyphs, if you
US$ 45 (approx Rs have the red/blue glasses, or stereoscopic
4Videosoft has included a wide
range of popular platform presets like
PS3, Xbox, Blackberry, Android, iOS and
Windows Phone. Each preset has sub-
menus for individual devices – you can
choose between specific phone models
for optimised screen performance.
The converter supports a wide variety
of video and audio formats. Overall, Video
Converter Ultimate comes with a good
set of features in a simple and easy to
use interface.
4Videosoft Video Converter Ultimate

2,500) 3D if you have a 3D TV. There are also is priced at about Rs 2,500, which is a
www.4videosoft.com 3D video presets. You can even add bit expensive. Besides the 3D conversion
SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS
a watermark to your videos. In the feature, most of the other functions are
OS: Windows all; RAM: 512 MB; Drive space: 150 MB.
‘Preferences’ section, you can even set the easily available in other free software.
CONTACT 4Videosoft Studio
PHONE NA number of cores that will be used during The GPU acceleration doesn’t seem to
EMAIL support@4videosoft.com
the encoding process. There’s also full work too well either. Moreover, it doesn’t
RATINGS support for GPU acceleration, so we have seem to work well with AMD cards, too.
FEATURES
Nvidia’s CUDA technology and AMD’s APP We think you should give this a pass.
PERFORMANCE
EASE OF USE acceleration. - Roydon Cerejo
OVERALL RATING
VALUE FOR MONEY

74 09/2012 INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP

 TEST CENTER
SOFTWARE

PASSWORD MANAGER

STICKY PASSWORD PRO

VERDICT: Sticky Password does the job, but it's a bit too expensive.
FOR: Encrypted database; simple user interface; imports passwords from browsers.
AGAINST: None.

S
ticky Password Pro is a password
management tool. Using it is simple
— you have a master password that
secures all your other content. The software
recognises all the sites you have password
protected and immediately logs you in.
Tedious form-filling is also taken care of.
You need to enter all your information once
and the tool will automatically enter it then
onwards. Integration with browsers is taken
care of, so all your data is easily accessible.
Sticky Password lets you automatically
import passwords from browsers and
other programs. It comes with a password
generator that lets you create strong
passwords. The entire database is
encrypted with AES algorithms. There’s a
separate portable version that lets you take
all your passwords with you on a portable
Sticky Password is capable of storing passwords of both web and
drive too. The interface is simple and easy app account passwords. The user interface is very intuitive.
to use. The left panel takes you to the
main sub sections while the right has quick
access buttons. Time-based locking lets
you automatically lock your data after a
period of computer inactivity, (10 minutes
by default). Sticky Password runs silently SPECIFICATIONS
in the background and has minimal strain US$ 29.99 (approx Rs
on system resources. Importing data and 1,660)
www.stickypassword.com
getting started is easy and requires very SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS
little time from the user’s point of view. It’s OS: Windows all; RAM: 256 MB; Drive space: 15 MB.
quick, fast and nifty. We tried loading data CONTACT Sticky Password
PHONE NA
from mutliple sites and apps and it neatly EMAIL via website
arranges the content in a list. You can even
RATINGS
launch a service from the list itself to get FEATURES
you started with your work. PERFORMANCE
EASE OF USE
- Karan Shah
OVERALL RATING
VALUE FOR MONEY
 TEST CENTER
SOFTWARE

NETWORKING SYSTEM UTILITY DESKTOP NOTES

cFosSpeed 8 My Drivers Professional NoteFly

VERDICT: A solid network traffic shaping VERDICT: A quick and easy solution for VERDICT: Recommended over Windows'
program backing up existing drivers. Sticky Notes
FOR: Customisable; supports multiple FOR: Simple; easy to use; quick backup; FOR: Note management, customisable.
adapters and strict download budgets. can save drivers as .exe. AGAINST: None.
AGAINST: Can be intimidating for new AGAINST: Slightly expensive for a home
users; slightly expensive. user.
SPECIFICATIONS SPECIFICATIONS SPECIFICATIONS
US$ 19.90 (approx Rs 1,100) USD $39 (Approx Rs 2,340) Freeware
www.cfos.de www.zhangduo.com www.notefly.org
SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS
OS: Windows all; RAM: 512 MB; IP v4/v6 router or DSL cable OS: Windows all; Disk space: 10MB. OS: Windows All; RAM: 512 MB; Disk space: 460 KB.
modem. CONTACT HunterSoft CONTACT d9ping
CONTACT cFos Software PHONE NA PHONE NA
PHONE NA EMAIL info@zhangduo.com EMAIL NA
EMAIL via website
RATINGS RATINGS
RATINGS FEATURES FEATURES
FEATURES PERFORMANCE PERFORMANCE
PERFORMANCE EASE OF USE EASE OF USE
EASE OF USE OVERALL RATING OVERALL RATING
OVERALL RATING VALUE FOR MONEY
VALUE FOR MONEY

c FosSpeed 8 is the latest version

of the popular Internet speed
limiting program. It is tiny and is also
available for trial. At its heart is the
speed limiting feature, which is very
customisable. You can choose to
limit speeds and even set download
limits. Although highly configurable,
the program is pretty easy to use,
offering users simple sliders to adjust
bandwidth priority for each software
and protocol. Users can also choose
to give higher priority to latency. It also
supports multiple network adapters
and traffic shaping can be toggled for
each of them.
Besides this, it also has a real-time
network speed graph. Speed limiting
is done instantaneously, so it’s pretty
quick. Memory consumption is also
limited to under 15 MB for the entire
suite with close to no load on the
processor.
- Rossi Fernandes
T here are several occasions when you
might need to reformat your system
or re-install your operating system. The
reasons can range from a virus infection
or a system file corruption. It's possible
that you end up with a missing hardware
driver due to a misplaced or damaged
driver disk. One utility that's quite useful
at such times is My Drivers Professional.
The utility is powerful and can help you
quickly backup existing drivers from the
older OS installation and reinstall them
after a complete format. Simply select
the hardware device(s) you see in the
list, right-click on it, and in the context
menu, click on backup. You have three
types of options to backup the drivers:
backup to folder, backup to a .CAB file
or to a .EXE file. You can also remove
or update your existing drivers from the
same menu. A 15-day trial version is
available for testing and the full version
costs Rs 2,340.
- Francis D'sa
D esktop sticky notes are handy for
noting small chunks of information
such as reminders, contact details,
website addresses and so on. Windows
7 has a built-in note taking application
called Sticky Notes, which has minimal
functions; all you can do is change the
note's colour and it highlights web links.
Desktop Notes is way more versatile
than Sticky Notes and it comes for free.
The app sits in the system tray and all
of its functions can be accessed from
its context menu. Edit mode allows you
to format text. Right click on the note
and you can make it stay on top, set
the colour, save it as a text file, hide
it and even send the contents to an
email client. The most useful feature
is the manager with which you can
backup/restore notes, perform a search
and sort notes by colour. Give this one
a shot if you want a better app than
Windows' Sticky Notes.
- Anand Tuliani

76 09/2012 INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP

 TEST CENTER
SOFTWARE

FILE MANAGER

Q-DIR
VERDICT: A file manager for those who frequently move around a lot of data.
FOR: Customisable view; makes file operations easy.
AGAINST: Cluttered interface; not much useful than Windows Explorer.

Q
-Dir is a Windows Explorer subfolders displayed in the status bar.
replacement that makes file transfer You can also enable colour themes to The multi-window interface makes it very convenient to perform
easier and adds a few additional differentiate file types. You get sober file operations.
features that Windows Explorer should themes and also some gaudy ones with
have had. By default, it shows a quad- wacky names such as I Like Dune, I like
Window view with a tiled interface, which Superman and I Like Barbie. Another
makes it convenient to drag and drop files useful feature is the option to print the
and folders. The number of Windows in the contents listed in the active Window. It is
interface and the layout can be customised even possible to export the list of contents SPECIFICATIONS
using the representative icons in the as a TXT, CSV, HTML, Word file or Excel Freeware
www.softwareok.com
toolbar. Windows can be tiled vertically or spreadsheet. It would have been nice if the SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS
horizontally and you can even have a single developer had added templates to print RAM: 512 MB; Hard disk space: 750 KB; OS: Windows
All.
large window on top and two horizontally- inserts for CD/DVD covers. Despite the
CONTACT NenadHrg
tiled windows at the bottom. Furthermore, additional features, we didn’t find it worthy PHONE NA
each window has a tabbed interface and enough to replace good old Windows EMAIL via website
the icon view can also be customised. Explorer; we're just used to it for a very RATINGS
What we found handy was the count long time. FEATURES
PERFORMANCE
and size of selected files, folders and - Anand Tuliani
EASE OF USE
OVERALL RATING
 TEST CENTER
SOFTWARE
PHOTOGRAPHY
Photo Editor+
US$ 0.99 (approx
Rs 55)
iPad, iPhone, iPod touch; iOS 4.3
OVERALL RATING
In a sea of photo editing and
manipulation apps, Photo
Editor+ doesn't really stand
out. It has nothing new or
unique to offer, but it is at least
easy to use. You can choose a
photo from your Camera Roll
GAME
Luxor Evolved HD
US$ 4.99 (approx
Rs 277)
iPad, iPhone, iPod touch; iOS 3.2
OVERALL RATING
Luxor is back in an all-new
avatar. The ancient Egyptian
theme is still very evident,
but it's been wrapped up in
a futuristic new neon style
that's nothing like the original
games' detailed world. While
we did miss the charm and
78 09/2012 INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP
or take a new one from within
the app. After that, you'll see
a strip of tools that let you
perform basic brightness/
contrast adjustments, add
text labels, draw squiggles,
and add a few special effects
filters. You can clean up red-
eye effects and play with the
sharpness and colour tone of
an image. The Auto enhance
option was the only one that
impressed us. There are only
12 non-adjustable effects,
including simple monochrome
and sepia, which is
disappointing. You'll
also be prompted to
pay extra for pointless
"stickers" that can be
superimposed on an
image. Overall, you
can do much better
elsewhere and most
likely for free.
- Jamshed Avari
atmosphere of the older Luxor
games, the Geo-Defense-
inspired update is still just as
fun to play. The pace is faster
but the core mechanics are
exactly the same — shoot at
the chain of coloured marbles
as it progresses along the path,
blowing up sequences of three
or more marbles before any
of them can reach your base.
Many of the paths are lifted
directly from older iterations of
this game, so not much is new
apart from the visuals. Controls
are also a little fidgety and
it's easy to misfire when you
intended to swap marbles
in the shooter. There are
20 types of powerups
and assorted upgrades.
We hope more levels are
added in future updates,
because if you've played
the originals, there's
nothing new here.
- Jamshed Avari
GAME
to achieve than they sound.
Super Mole Escape Gems can be redeemed for
speed and agility boosts, as
US$ 0.99 (approx well as shortcuts that let you
Rs 55) jump ahead in the game. As
iPad, iPhone, iPod touch; iOS 4.3 is now the norm, you can just
OVERALL RATING buy thousands of gems at a
go and upgrade your mole to
Adult Swim has created yet the maximum limit. The fun
another whimsical yet addictive two-player mode lets you race
little game. This time, you're against friends or random
a criminal mole escaping Game Center members.
from prison, digging through - Jamshed Avari
layer after layer of rock, lava
and ice. There's an easy path,
but it isn't direct. Along the
way, you can collect gems
and powerups while avoiding
assorted obstacles and always
staying ahead of the police (or
bribing the magistrate when
you do get caught). You control
your path by tilting your device,
and collect lines of gems for
little speed boosts as you go
along, both of which are harder
GAME can combine to warp to bonus
Idol Tower levels in between rounds of
play. You can choose between
three different control layouts,
Free but we found that swiping
iPad, iPhone, iPod touch; iOS 3.0
worked better than hitting
OVERALL RATING
on-screen buttons. You'll want
The classic block-stacking to keep trying again and again,
puzzle gets a 3D makeover especially later on when there
with Idol Tower. Rotate the are more colours to juggle and
platform and cycle through levels that allow only certain
colours in the falling bars to kinds of matches.
match three or more in a row. - Jamshed Avari
You can't see the entire tower
at any time, but the game
starts off slow enough for you
to get the hang of it. You'll
progress through dozens of
levels, playing out an extremely
flimsy backstory about being
shipwrecked on a remote
island whose native inhabitants
hide a massive treasure in the
jungle. Of course, things get
faster and more demanding
as you level up, but there are
also bonus blocks which you
 TEST CENTER
SOFTWARE

GAME
Classic Words
Free
Android
OVERALL RATING
You must play this game if you
are a Scrabble fan. No different
from the original Scrabble,
Classic Words is a turn-based
game where you have to make
words from seven letter tiles
on a 15x15 grid board. The
layout of the board is similar
to the original Scrabble board,
and they retain their original
locations and the colour-coding
for the cells. Scrabble can be
played between four players,
but here you play against the
computer. You get six difficulty
levels (Very Easy to Extremely
Hard) and the word list (British/
American English, French and
Italian) can also be selected.
If you’re quick at making
words, a game will last you 15
minutes. Classic Words Free is
a lightweight application and
works even on older Android
devices. Thanks to auto-zoom
while playing, the game is
playable even on devices with
smaller screens.
- Anand Tuliani
BLACKLISTING APP you choose not to block SMS,
block all calls and SMS, block
Calls Blacklist private numbers, and disable
notifications after calling, or
Free send an SMS. The Pro version
Android of this app costs Rs 110 and
OVERALL RATING the only difference is that it’s
A blacklist app is nice to have ad-free.
if you’re frequently bothered - Anand Tuliani
by unwanted calls and SMSs.
Calls Blacklist is a vanilla app
but it does its job very well and
comes at no cost. The app has
three tabs; the Blacklist tab
is where you can add phone
numbers to block. Simply click
on the Add button and you can
select numbers from the call
logs, messages log, contact list
or key in the numbers manually.
On dialling your number, the
blacklisted contact gets a ‘user
busy’ message right after the
first ring. The Calls & SMS
tab has a log of the calls that
have been blocked with time
stamps. The Settings tab lets

UTILITY the battery percentage, and UTILITY the GPS co-ordinates. You can
also animate it when charging. also dock the phone on the
ChargeBar- MIUI It can start automatically on Dashboard Cam car docking unit and control

Battery Bar boot and also show up on the

Free
Android
OVERALL RATING
Those who frequently flash
third-party ROMs on their
Android phones might be
aware of the eye-candy
that MIUI-based ROMs offer.
Though there are a few home
launcher themes, skins and
icon replacements available,
the system tweaks are not
available for other ROMs.
ChargeBar-the MIUI Battery Bar
is a free, customisable battery
bar that does not require a
rooted device. You can change
its position on the screen or in
the notification bar, set its size
and even hide it. You can set
different colours for indicating
lock screen. It can overlay itself
on the edge of the screen even
when full-screen apps and
videos are on.
- Francis D'sa
Free
Android
OVERALL RATING
Dashboard Cam is a fantastic
app for recording information
about car journeys such as
speed, compass, time, date,
map and location. The app
allows you to record videos
and take fullscreen photos of
all information overlaid into
the picture or video. Dashboard
Cam uses your phone’s
camera, GPS and compass
to create videos.
Maps are updated
via Wi-Fi or 3G, if
enabled. External
Bluetooth GPS
devices are also
supported; these
can help improve
the accuracy of
the app remotely via another
smartphone or tablet. You can
customize the app to view
the information you need and
hide the details you don’t
wish to view. This app is best
used on tablets as phone calls
can send the application into
the background and stop the
recording. You can choose to
use the smartphone in flight
mode or use a Bluetooth
hands-free to avoid such
problems.
- Francis D'sa

INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP 09/2012 79

 TEST CENTER
ANAND'S PICKS

 Canon PowerShot SX260 HS

Rs 18,995
www.canon.co.in
verdict A fun camera with excellent
performance and plenty of filters to play
around with.
love Plenty of fun filters; good user
interface; GPS for geotagging; good build.
hate A larger aperture at the telephoto end
would have been better in low light.

SPECIFICATIONS
Weight: 231 g; Resolution: 12.1 MP; Focal length: 25-500
mm; Optical zoom: 20x; Aperture: F3.5-F6.8; Shutter speed:
15 - 1/3200 sec; LCD: 3-in, 461K dots; Video: 1920x1080.

ANAND'S PICKS

TRAVEL COMPACT DIGITAL CAMERAS

Tele-photo lens in a portable form factor for under Rs 20,000.

 Sony Cyber-shot DSC-HX10V Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ30 

Rs 17,990
www.sony.co.in
verdict A good performer and the most
affordable travel compact camera with built-
in GPS.
love Sweep Panorama mode; user-friendly
interface; sturdy build; crisp display; built-in
GPS.
hate Slightly heavy and chunky.
SPECIFICATIONS
Weight: 245 g; Resolution: 18.2 MP; Focal length: 24-384
mm; Optical zoom: 16x; Aperture: F3.3-F5.9; Shutter speed:
30-1/1600 sec; LCD: 3-in, 921K dots; Video: 1920x1080
Rs 19,990
www.panasonic.co.in
verdict A good, lightweight option, but it
should have been priced a bit lower.
love Touchscreen; good feature set;
lightweight; colour options.
hate A few of the buttons should have
been larger.
SPECIFICATIONS
Weight: 206 g; Resolution: 14.1 MP; Focal length: 24-480
mm; Optical zoom: 20x; Aperture: F3.3-F6.4; Shutter speed:
15-1/2000 sec; LCD: 3-in, 460K dots; Video: 1920x1080

 FujiFilm FinePix F660 EXR Nikon CoolPix S9300 

Rs 16,599 Rs 18,950
www.fujifilm.in www.nikon.co.in
verdict An economical option with good verdict A goood option for those who
performance, but no GPS. don't need manual controls.
love Sleek design; color options; 24 mm love Light weight and compact; 18x optical
wide angle lens; light weight. zoom; crisp display.
hate The inclusion of GPS in this model hate No manual or semi-manual shooting
would have sweetened the deal. modes.

SPECIFICATIONS SPECIFICATIONS
Weight: 217 g; Resolution: 16 MP; Focal length: 24-360 mm; Weight: 215 g; Resolution: 16 MP; Focal length: 25-450 mm;
Optical zoom: 15x; Aperture: F3.5-F5.3; Shutter speed: 8 Optical zoom: 18x; Aperture: F3.5-F5.9; Shutter speed: NA;
-1/2000 sec; LCD: 3-in, 460K dots; Video: 1920x1080. LCD: 3-in, 921K dots; Video: 1920x1080

80 09/2012 INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP


ULTRA-BUDGET PC
I
ntel’s branding is so strong that almost
everyone has heard of Core 2 Duo,
Core i3, i5 and its other CPUs. People
looking to buy a laptop or build a PC
first check for the Intel platform. Despite
being on a low budget, they don’t mind
shelling out a few extra thousand bucks
for an Intel CPU. The company clearly has
an upper hand in the mid and high-end
segments – their Core series of processors
rules the roost. However, AMD’s solutions
offer better value for money, especially the
APUs that integrate a very capable DX11
GPU. Intel currently doesn’t have low-cost
processors that can give AMD’s A-series
models a run for their money.
Consider the Intel Pentium G620: it
is a 2.6 GHz dual-core processor with
integrated Intel HD Graphics that’s DirectX
10.1 compatible. Priced at Rs 3,500, it is the
cheapest Intel Pentium processor available.
Any motherboard with socket LGA 1155 will
run this CPU and the best low-cost boards
are based on the Intel B75 chipset. Boards
based on the Intel H61 chipset are available
for as less as Rs 3,250. So, the lowest
possible price of the CPU and motherboard
combo works out to Rs 6,900.
Now, consider the AMD A4-3300 APU.
It’s the cheapest APU available and it costs
Rs 3,300. The A4-3300 is a dual-core model
that runs at 2.5 GHz and the integrated
Radeon HD 6410D graphics is DirectX
11 compatible. It will definitely render
smoother transitions and play HD content
much more seamlessly than the Intel HD
graphics engine. Also, it officially supports
DDR3 memory up to 1600 MHz while the
Pentium G620 has a 1066 MHz controller.
AMD A-series APUs use socket FM1, and
TEST CENTER
ANAND'S
PC CONFIGS
COLUMN
BUILD A COMPLETE PC FOR
RS 20,000 OR JUST THE
BOX FOR RS 14,000
ANAND TULIANI, DEPUTY EDITOR - TECHNICAL
the boards based on the AMD A55 chipset
are the most affordable; priced at around
Rs 3,300. The AMD APU and motherboard
combo works out to Rs 6,600, which is
slightly less than the Intel combo and
undoubtedly better value for money.
Now for the components that you need
to build just the box: a 2 GB stick of DDR3
RAM, a 500 GB hard disk, a DVD-writer
and a micro ATX PC case. You can buy a
2 GB DDR3 stick for Rs 725, which is the
cheapest component. The prices of hard
disks have come down and
the lowest capacity that you
can easily buy is 500 GB for Rs AMD’S APUS ARE
GREAT BANG FOR
3,700. A DVD-writer shouldn’t
cost more than Rs 950, and a
decent micro ATX cabinet will
cost Rs 1,750. The cost of these YOUR BUCK!
four components adds up to Rs
7,125. Combined with the AMD combo, the
cost of the box works out to Rs 13,725.
The rest of the components needed to
build the PC are the display, input devices
and speakers. An 18.5-inch monitor with a
resolution of 1366 x 768 pixels costs around
Rs 5,700. The cheapest keyboard and mouse
combos cost less than Rs 600. I recommend
spending a little more and going in for a
good brand like Microsoft or Logitech. The
Logitech MK200 wired USB combo costs Rs
850. Lastly, a good pair of stereo speakers
like the Creative SBS A35 costs Rs 600.
Everything put together should cost you
anywhere between Rs 20,000 and Rs 21,000.
It is possible to further bring down the price
to under Rs 20,000, but I don’t suggest
compromising on quality and reputed
brands.
– anand.tuliani@chip.in
INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP 09/2012 81
TTEST
EESSTT CENTER
CCEENT
N TE
TERR
PC CON
PC CO
CONFIGS
NFIG
FIGS
GS

PC CONFIGS
GAMING - ENTRY-LEVEL Rs 46,400 GAMING - HIGH - END Rs 1,49,365
Processor Intel Pentium G620, 2.6 GHz 3,450 Processor Intel Core i7-3770, 3.4 GHz 18,900
Motherboard Gigabyte GA-B75M-D3H, Intel B75 4,900 Motherboard Asus P8Z77-V Pro , Intel Z77 17,750
RAM 4 GB Kingston DDR3-1333 MHz 1,450 RAM G.Skill Sniper F3 DDR3-1600 - 8 GB kit 3,500
Corsair Force Series GT, 120 GB SSD + Seagate
Hard disk Seagate Barracuda 7200.14, 500 GB 3,800 Hard disk 13,600
Barracuda 7200.14, 1 TB
Graphics card HIS H679F1GD - HD 6790, 1 GB GDDR5 8,850 Graphics card Zotac GeForce GTX 680 - 2 GB DDR5 35,690
Optical drive LG GH22 SATA 22x DVD-writer 950 Optical drive LG GH22 SATA 22x DVD-writer 950
Monitor BenQ GL2250HM - 21.5-inch LED 9,500 Monitor AOC e2795Vh - 27-inch LED 17,800
Keyboard Logitech Gaming Combo G100 1,550 Keyboard Razer Lycosa 4,450
Mouse Included in combo - Mouse Razer Death Adder 2,675
Speakers F&D A520, 2.1 stereo 2,200 Speakers Creative Gigaworks T3, 2.1 stereo 15,000
PC Case Cooler Master Elite 311 2,150 PC Case NZXT Phantom 410 6,250
Power supply unit Cooler Master Extreme Power Plus 500W 3,300 Power supply unit Corsair CMPSU-750TX 6,500
Operating system Windows 7 Home Basic 4,300 Operating system Windows 7 Home Premium 6,300
TOTAL 46,400 TOTAL 1,49,365

HOME Rs 30,930 HTPC Rs 89,400

Processor AMD Athlon II X2 260, 3.20 GHz 3,700 Processor AMD A8-3850, 2.90 GHz 7,400
Motherboard Asus M5A88-M, AMD 880G 5,750 Motherboard Asus F1A75-M, AMD A75 6,900
RAM 2 GB Kingston DDR3-1333 MHz 900 RAM 4 GB Kingston DDR3-1333 MHz 1,450
Hard disk Seagate Barracuda 7200.14, 500 GB 3,800 Hard disk Western Digital Caviar Green, 1 TB 5,500
Graphics card Onboard graphics - Graphics card Sapphire Radeon HD 6670, 1 GB GDDR5 5,650
Optical drive LG GH22 SATA 22x DVD-writer 950 Optical drive Sony BD-5300S, 12x Blu-ray Writer 11,000
Monitor LG E2042C - 20-inch LED 7,200 Monitor BenQ V2400 Eco - 24-inch LED 15,450
Keyboard and Keyboard and
Logitech Deluxe 250 Desktop USB 680 Logitech Wireless Combo MK320 1,650
mouse combo mouse combo
Speakers F&D A111, 2.1 stereo 1,900 Speakers Creative Gigaworks T3, 2.1 stereo 15,000
PC Case iBall Pride 1,750 PC Case Silver Stone Milo ML03 10,700
Power supply unit Included with the PC Case - 250 Watts - Power supply unit Corsair CMPSU-430CX - 430 Watts 2,500
Operating system Windows 7 Home Basic 4,300 Operating system Windows 7 Home Premium 6,200
TOTAL 30,930 TOTAL 89,400

82 09/2012 INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP

 TEST
TTE
EST
S T CENTER
CCEN
E NTE
T ER
LAPTOP
L
LAAPT
PTOP
OP
P CONFIGS
CON
CONF
NFIG
IGS
S

LAPTOP CONFIGS
BUDGET
PROCESSOR Intel Pentium P6200, Intel Core i3,
Intel Core i5
MEMORY 2 GB or more
HARD DRIVE 320 GB or higher
DISPLAY 14.1-in to 15.6-in
GRAPHICS On-board or discrete
WEIGHT 2.3 Kg to 2.7 Kg
OTHER Bluetooth, DVD-writer, Wi-Fi b/g, Webcam
PRICE RANGE Up to Rs 35,000
MAINSTREAM DESKTOP REPLACEMENT
PROCESSOR Intel Core i3, Intel Core i5 PROCESSOR Intel Core i5, Intel Core i7
MEMORY 3 GB or more MEMORY 3 GB or more
HARD DRIVE 500 GB or higher
HARD DRIVE 320 GB or higher
DISPLAY 14.1-in or 15.6-in DISPLAY 15.4-inch to 17-inch
GRAPHICS On-board or Discrete GRAPHICS Discrete
WEIGHT 2.3 Kg to 3 Kg WEIGHT 2.5 Kg to 4 Kg
OTHER Bluetooth, DVD-writer, Wi-Fi b/g or n, Webcam OTHER Bluetooth, DVD-writer or Blu-ray, Wi-Fi n,
PRICE RANGE Rs 35,000 To Rs 45,000 Webcam, TV Tuner
PRICE RANGE Rs 45,000 to Rs 1,50,000

GATEWAY NE-56R SAMSUNG RC520-SOA TOSHIBA SATELLITE L850-Y5310

Rs 21,629
CPU Intel Pentium B950, 2.1 GHz; MEMORY 2 GB;
HARD DISK 320 GB; DISPLAY 15.6-in;
GRAPHICS On-board; WEIGHT 2.6 Kg; OS Linux;
OTHER Wi-Fi, Webcam, HDMI, Card reader
Rs 36,500
CPU Intel Core i3-2330M, 2.2 GHz; MEMORY 4 GB;
HARD DISK 640 GB; DISPLAY 15.6-in;
GRAPHICS Nvidia GeForce GT 520MX, 1 GB;
WEIGHT 2.48 Kg; OS Windows 7 Home Premium;
OTHER Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, Webcam, HDMI
Rs 53,990
CPU Intel Core i7-3610QM, 2.3 GHz; MEMORY 8 GB;
HARD DISK 750 GB; DISPLAY 15.6-in;
GRAPHICS AMD Radeon HD 7610M, 2 GB;
WEIGHT 2.2 Kg; OS Windows 7 Home Premium;
OTHER Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, Webcam, HDMI

ACER ASPIRE 5560 DELL INSPIRON 14 ACER ASPIRE V3-571G

Rs 27,809
CPU AMD A6-3420M; MEMORY 4 GB; HARD DISK
500 GB; DISPLAY 15.6-in; GRAPHICS AMD Radeon HD
6520M, 512 MB; WEIGHT 2.6 Kg; OS Linux;
OTHER DVD-writer, Bluetooth, HDMI, Webcam
Rs 38,990
CPU Intel Core i5-3210M, 2.5 GHz; MEMORY 4 GB;
HARD DISK 500 GB; DISPLAY 14-in;
GRAPHICS Nvidia GeForce GT 620M, 1 GB;
WEIGHT 2.1 Kg; OS Windows 7 Home Basic; OTHER
Bluetooth, Webcam, Wi-Fi, HDMI.
Rs 62,829
CPU Intel Core i7-3610QM, 2.3 GHz; MEMORY 4 GB;
HARD DISK 500 GB; DISPLAY 15.6-inch;
GRAPHICS Nvidia Geforce GT 630M, 2 GB;
WEIGHT 2.6 Kg; OS Windows 7 Home Premium;
OTHER Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, Webcam, HDMI

LENOVO G580 59-337032 HP PAVILION G6-2106TX HP PAVILION DV6-7039TXX

Rs 29,500
CPU Intel Core i3-2370M, 2.4 GHz; MEMORY 2 GB;
HARD DISK 500 GB; DISPLAY 15.6-in;
GRAPHICS On-board; WEIGHT 2.6 Kg; OS Free DOS;
OTHER DVD-writer, Bluetooth, HDMI, Webcam
Rs 39,200
CPU Intel Core i5-3110M, 2.4 GHz; MEMORY 4 GB;
HARD DISK 500 GB; DISPLAY 15.6-in;
GRAPHICS AMD Radeon HD 7670M, 2 GB;
WEIGHT 2.47 Kg; OS Windows 7 Home Basic;
OTHER Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, Webcam, HDMIMI
Rs 63,500
CPU Intel Core i7-3610QM, 2.3 GHz; MEMORY 8 GB;
HARD DISK 1 TB; DISPLAY 15.6-in;
GRAPHICS Nvidia Geforce GT 630M, 2 GB;
WEIGHT 2.45 Kg; OS Windows 7 Home Premium;
OTHER Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, Webcam, HDMI

HP 2000-2116TU LENOVO IDEAPAD Z580 59-333346 LENOVO IDEAPAD Z580 59-339355

Rs 33,550
CPU Intel Core i5-3210M, 2.5 GHz; MEMORY 2 GB;
HARD DISK 500 GB; DISPLAY 15.6-in;
GRAPHICS On-board; WEIGHT 2.45 Kg; OS Free DOS;
OTHER Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, Webcam, HDMI
Rs 44,990
CPU Intel Core i5-3210M, 2.5 GHz; MEMORY 4 GB;
HARD DISK 500 GB; DISPLAY 15.6-in;
GRAPHICS Nvidia GeForce GT 630M, 1 GB;
WEIGHT 2.60 Kg; OS Windows 7 Home Basic;
OTHER DVD-writer, Bluetooth, HDMI, Webcam
Rs 63,700
CPU Intel Core i7-3612QM, 2.1 GHz; MEMORY 8 GB;
HARD DISK 1 TB; DISPLAY 15.6-inch;
GRAPHICS Nvidia Geforce GT 630M, 2 GB;
WEIGHT 2.45 Kg; OS Windows 7 Home Premium;
OTHER Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, Webcam, HDMI

INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP 09/2012 83

 FEATURED
THE BIG APP GUIDE

THE BEST APPS

THE BIG APP-GUIDE

The guide to the app stores. Be it productivity, games, tools, multimedia or holiday apps,
we're listing the best apps for iOS, Android and Windows Phone.
BY JÖRG GEIGER

84 09/2012 INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP SMS us!  Story code: FBA to 51818
 Photoshop Touch offers

PhOtOgRaPhY professional functions

for mobile devices.

IpHoTo ($4.99)
Complete photography package
Apple uses the iPhoto OSX programme to complement
the pre-installed photo apps on iPads and iPhones. iPhoto, which
is officially compatible with the iPad 2, iPhone 4 and subsequent
models, brings together image administration, processing and
presentation in a single package. The app’s handling is simply
perfect on the iPad. You can use gestures to browse through your
photo collection, and multi-touch enables you to make use of the iPhoto enhances the
pre-installed tools and effects. iOS photo app with
useful features.

AdObE PhOtOsHoP tOuCh ($9.99)

Image processing with premium features
Photoshop Touch brings the most important features
of Photoshop, and professional image processing capability to
iPads and Android tablets. It features levels, smart tool-selection,
various filters, and extensive colour adjustment – no other photo
app can keep up with it. It does have its limitations though - the
image resolution may not be higher than 1600 x 1600 pixels.
FaCe SwAp (FrEe)
Fun photos with face-swapping
This app, created by Microsoft Research, is dedicated
to assembling faces. All you have to do is take a picture of two
people and shake your smartphone. The app then swaps the
faces of the two individuals. You can then post the modified
images on Facebook or Twitter.
APP-TICKER
Paper Camera ($0.99)
Paper Camera presents photos in an animated environment.
What’s cool is that you don’t even have to take the picture.
The app displays a real-time preview of the effect.
PicsArt-Photo Studio (free)
This app offers a deluge of photo effects, filters, frames and
cliparts that can be used to enhance images. You can send the
photos directly to Facebook, Flickr, Picasa or Dropbox. You
can even send them as e-mail attachments.
PhotoSync ($1.99)
As an alternative to Apple’s iCloud, PhotoSync uses Wi-Fi to
swap images between iPhones and iPads. The app
automatically detects pairs of PhotoSync-equipped gadgets.

MUSIC SoUnDhOuNd (FrEe)

The song-detector
Many smartphone users are familiar with Shazam,
the music identification software. SoundHound works in the
same manner, but it has some advantages. The app’s basic
function is the song-recognition capability, which is very smooth.
SoundHound is not totally dependent on original versions of
music either. The app can even identify covered tracks.

SpOtIfY (Na)
The king of streaming You can identify any clip of any song and discover lots of new music as well.

Spotify enables you to access millions of music titles,

even when you are travelling. It will soon be available on the iPad
too. The free version allows you to play music on your iPhone or
Android phone for six months, after which a 2.5-hour limitation
is set. The music is streamed onto the mobile device via Wi-Fi or
UMTS. An offline mode that saves songs for a limited period of
time is available. Sadly, Spotify is currently not available in India.
AiRmUsIc ($2.99)
Music is in the air
Streaming music can be simple, even without an Apple
TV. The AirMusic app can equip an iPhone, iPad or iPod touch
with DLNA capabilities, making it possible to stream music onto
other devices that support DLNA, such as a PC or a PlayStation
3. If the devices are located within your Wi-Fi network, the music
is automatically detected and streamed.
APP-TICKER
radio.de (free)
The free radio.de app enables you to tune in to more than
5,000 radio stations. A neat feature is that it’s very easy to
find local stations from your area.
Poweramp ($3.99)
Poweramp offers several features related to music. It gives
you a powerful equalizer and can even play formats such as
FLAC. We thought the menu and the user interface were quite
impressive.
Last.fm (free)
Last.fm caters to individual musical tastes. Just enter the
name of an artist or a genre, and the application generates a
playlist containing songs that are similar to each other.

ANDROID IOS WINDOWS PHONE TABLET SMARTPHONE

 FEATURED
THE BIG APP GUIDE

VIDEO PrImEtUbE (FrEe)

YouTube on steroids
This app is a real head-turner. It is free of commercials
and features a brisk search function. It can’t play HD videos, but
everything else works like a charm. Users can share videos on
social networks directly from the app, create shortcuts and post
comments. PrimeTube offers useful shortcuts and Viddy decorates video recordings with
transforms YouTube into a head-turner. artificial effects.

ViDeO DoWnLoAdEr PrO ($3.99)

Watch web videos offline
This iOS app lets you download videos from any
website. The videos are stored in their entirety on your iOS device
and can be played offline. Playlists and bookmarks enrich the
experience. The handling is quite attractive, thanks to an accurate
search function and impressive sorting functions.
ImEdIaShArE ($4.99)
Multimedia headquarters
iMediaShare streams videos, music and photos from
mobile devices to TV sets and stereo systems. All of the devices
must be located in the same Wi-Fi network and support DLNA,
which is something that most gadgets do. The connection is
set up with a simple tap of the finger. The app can even stream
YouTube videos to a TV set.
APP-TICKER
VPlayer Unlocker (Rs 285)
VPlayer accelerates your device's hardware, which gives you
jerk-free HD video playback. The player’s connectivity to
Dropbox, Facebook and Gmail makes it more flexible.
Plex (Rs 276)
Plex, which is already well-known on PCs and Macs, can be used to
play photographs and music on any type of device. Plex can
even access more than 200 online video channels in order to
play web videos.
Viddy (free)
The app records videos, decorates them with special effects
and posts them on social networks. At the moment, the
recording duration is limited to 15 seconds.

OFFICE NoTaBiLiTy ($0.99)

Helpful notepad
If you want to use your iPad to do serious work, you will
need the ability to process PDF files and Notability is more than
up to the task. If used in conjunction with the Retina Support in
the iPad 3, it can be a real head-turner. Intricate tasks require
the use of a stylus, but you can use your fingers to take down
notes. You can use the wide variety of tools, such as underlining, Paper enables you to captures ideas in a
playful and inventive manner.
markings and bullet points, to structure your notes.

SpLaShToP ReMoTe DeSkToP ($4.99)

SkyDrive gives you an easy to use
Remote access to your home computer
online storage medium.
With Splashtop, you can use a smartphone or a tablet
to access a remote computer via Wi-Fi or a 3G connection.
Initially, you must install the Splashtop Streamer application on
APP-TICKER
the computer, after which you can log in with your Google Mail iAWriter ($0.99)
account.
This text-processing app is best used in combination with an
external keyboard and comes with Dropbox and iCloud
integration. The app also features integrated AirPrint support.
SkYdRiVe (FrEe)
Lots of online storage OfficeSuite Viewer 6 (free)
Skydrive, Microsoft’s online file hosting service, enables OfficeSuite Viewer supports Word, Excel, PowerPoint and
you to access documents when you are travelling. It is most PDF files. The best overview of the available documents is
given on devices with Android 4.0.
compatible with Windows Phone. It enables you to view the
documents that were used most recently, upload several photos Paper by FiftyThree (free)
and videos simultaneously and share files in an uncomplicated Paper is an elegant tool that can be used to outline,
manner. When files are to be shared, the app generates a link describe, or sketch out ideas. You can post your thoughts to
that can be sent via e-mail. Facebook or Twitter.

ANDROID IOS WINDOWS PHONE TABLET SMARTPHONE

EDUCATION WoNdErS Of ThE UnIvErSe ($6.99)
Visual lessons on the universe
This app is an interactive 3D encyclopaedia, and as a
physics lesson, it’s an absolute stunner. Prof. Brian Cox explains
the fundamental principles of the world, covering everything from
giant galaxies to subatomic elements.

KhAn AcAdEmY (FrEe)
Free knowledge
The iPad version of the Khan Academy brings over
3,000 videos dealing with mathematics, physics, history or
economics to the tablet. Most of the English videos have
subtitles. You can even take tests and put your knowledge under
the microscope.
Wonders of the Universe explains how our world is held together.
APP-TICKER
Solar system ($0.99)
If you want to know why Pluto isn’t a real planet, you should
get this app. It reveals several interesting details about our
solar system.

10 StEpS VoCaBuLaRy TrAiNeR ($0.99) Mental arithmetic ($0.99)

Vocabulary trainer for the road
The 10 Steps Vocabulary Trainer helps you practice your
English, Spanish, German, French, Italian and Russian. The 1,300
words that are used most frequently will cover all your needs
when you are on vacation. All you have to do is choose the native
and foreign languages.
How much is 7 x (4+9)? If you want to be able to do sums
like that as quickly as you can, you should practice mental
arithmetic techniques. The app’s difficulty levels ensure that
it will be equally useful for children, teachers and professionals.
Homework (free)
Teachers can use this app to manage homework assignments
and study plans. The app sorts test dates and even offers a
widget for the start screen.

VACATION AdAc CaMpInG/CaRpOrT GuIdE 2012 ($7.99)

Wikipedia for campers
The ADAC app has all the information you need for your
next vacation. It answers questions such as ‘Which camping sites
are equipped with Wi-Fi?’ or ‘Are dogs allowed?’. The app covers
about 5,400 camping sites and 3,400 carports from across
Europe.

AiRpOrTs ($0.99)
A must for travellers
This app puts flight data related to the most important
airports on the screens of frequent flyers and holidaymakers,
along with all kinds of detailed information such as departure
or arrival time, gate, airline and weather. The flights’ status is
updated by the minute, and push-notifications can be used for
certain airports.
StReEtViEw In GoOgLe MaPs (FrEe)
Fine-tuning Google’s mapping service
Instead of relying on an abstract map or satellite image,
you can use Streetview to generate the real view of a street,
which can be very useful if you’re trying to get your bearings in an
unknown neighbourhood. Consequently, Streetview is an absolute
must for visits to inland cities. Using the app when you are
abroad is not recommended, as the quantities of data become
expensive very quickly. A trimmed-down version of the app is also
available for the iPhone.
ANDROID IOS WINDOWS PHONE TABLET SMARTPHONE
The ADAC camping guide provides all the The Streetview app is helpful during
information that campers need. journeys, but is too expensive overseas.
APP-TICKER
Translator (free)
Bing’s translator is a must for Windows Phone users. All you
have to do is take a picture of the text or enter it into the
device, and the app translates it for you.
Trip Advisor (free)
Trip Advisor supplies information on hotels, restaurants and
activities. You can use the proximity search to find the next
secret tip in your immediate surroundings.
Travel Guide ($1.99-$5.99 per city)
This app makes it possible to use the Lonely Planet travel
guide on the iPhone. The offline maps for several cities are
accompanied by insider tips, translation aids and other
information.
 FEATURED
THE BIG APP GUIDE

GaMeS AnGrY BiRdS SpAcE ($0.99)

Pigs in space
Angry Birds Space brings zero-gravity pig hunts to your device.
Almost every smartphone user is familiar with Angry
Birds. However, Angry Birds Space deserves a special mention,
because it really is a brilliant sequel to the well-known game. The
fundamental principle hasn’t changed, but in the sequel, the birds
are attacking the pigs in outer space. The game also makes use
of neat little devices such as the gravitational pull of planets. The
app contains 60 levels, and every now and then, the manufacturer
adds new difficulty levels. For fans of the original, there are new
challenges, new birds and new superpowers, so don’t miss it!

PiNbAlL Hd ($1.99)
The arcade classic
Pinball automats aren’t dead; they continue to thrive
on the iPad. With Pinball HD, you can set up three virtual pinball
PES 2012 is the ideal game for the half-time breaks in soccer games.
tables on your tablet and bounce the polished steel balls all
over the arcade. It’s easy to handle and guarantees long hours of
unadulterated fun. If you want to make the game as realistic as
possible, you’ll have to switch on the sounds, even if it happens
to bother the people around you. The racket in the background is
a little irritating, but the creaking, rattling components are part of
the game and quite realistic.

ShArK DaSh ($0.99)

Sinking ducks
Ever since Angry Birds was released, animal games have
been striking gold on the iPad, and Shark Dash is one of them.
What could be more disruptive to the peaceful life of a shark
than a rubber duck? The objective of the game is to rescue the
kidnapped shark-girlfriend and eliminate all the rubber ducks. The
gamer has to neutralize the rubber ducks by whacking them with Pinball HD brings the flair of the arcade Shredder Chess is well-suited for chess
the shark’s tail fin. The fewer attempts you need to gobble up the to the mobile device. training on the road.

ducks, the better it is. The game has about 100 levels featuring
various environments, from ancient Rome to Japan.
DrAw SoMeThInG ($2.99)
Painted riddles
Back in school, you had to look at little pieces of a
painting and guess what the other student had painted. Now
there’s an app for that. It is possible to share drawings over social
networks such as Facebook and Twitter. The app does slow down
the flow of ideas, though. There are about 2,500 concepts that
can be sketched, which means that there are an equal number of
options. Unfortunately, some Android devices have some stability
problems, but an update has already been announced.
PeS 2012 ($5.99)
Kicking with many extras
Pro Evolution Soccer 2012 offers great graphics on all
platforms. You can set up a team and use it to challenge other
players. The app features various competitions such as the
Champions League and the European league. It gives you different
kinds of balls, variable weather conditions, and various control
options, which guarantee long hours of pure fun. You can also use
the free kick challenge to improve your marksmanship.
ANDROID IOS WINDOWS PHONE TABLET SMARTPHONE
APP-TICKER
Shredder Chess ($7.99)
The Shredder app adjusts its difficulty level according to your
level, so it’s suitable for entry-level players as well as
professional competitors. The app even hands you tips for
tricky situations.
Taptitude (free)
Taptitude contains more than 60 games, including classics
such as Mine Flagger, Video Poker, Solitaire and Finger
Twister. You have to perform certain tasks in order to
activate all the levels.
International Snooker (rs 218)
The billiards variant can be a lot of fun on mobile devices,
thanks to its easy handling and graphics. You can play
spontaneous games involving one or two players or use the
game’s tournament mode.
Micronytes (Rs103)
In this game, the gamer uses jump-and-run operations to
steer tiny tokens through a human body. The game is simple,
and its 80 levels are quite challenging.
What’s the place? ($0.99)
This twenty-question game deals with landmarks, famous
personalities, important places and well-known cities. You
have to mark the answers on the map.
SPORT UeFa EuRo 2012 (FrEe)
Euro 2012 fever
The official UEFA app is available for free on Android
and iOS and supplies you with the latest tournament-related
news and player results. You can also activate push-notifications
for select pieces of information. You need to pay to view the video
highlights of individual games, but these highlights can only be
viewed after midnight. On the other hand, the tournament-related
photos and tables are free.

FoOtBaLl ApP (FrEe)

Soccer wizard iLiga has photos and videos of the biggest soccer events.
The free iLiga app is a must for popular tournaments
such as the German national league, the DFB cup or the
Champions League. It covers the European Championships too.
The editable live-ticker always contains a compact summary of
the highlights, breakdowns and lists of players, along with photos,
background information and updated overviews of the groups and
tables. The package is complemented by news items that relate
to the selected competition.

RuNtAsTiC PrO ($5.99)

Virtual training partner
Like running? If yes, Runtastic PRO is the app for
you. Runtastic PRO is a personal fitness assistant that displays
information related to time, distance, calories burned, tempo,
altitude in meters, etc. for exercises such as running or cycling. If
you wish, you can configure the app to play a sound notification
when you reach the final stretch or display details regarding how
many calories have been burned. When you are done, you can use
Google Maps to trace the routes you've covered. If you want, you
Runtastic helps you optimize your Climbing Mate has important
can even share your exercise-related details with your friends via
jogging program. information for rock climbers.
Facebook or Twitter.

5-MiNuTe AbDoMiNaL TrAiNiNg ($1.99) APP-TICKER

Abdominal exercises for office workers
This app claims that five minutes of exercise per
day should be enough for you to flaunt a six-pack. The kit is
impressive and features more than a hundred five-minute units,
along with a timer and an archive of completed exercises.
However, if you take a closer look, you will notice that the units
are combinations of about 20 exercises. The app does not cover
nutrition-related matters or exercises that go beyond abdominal
muscles, but it’s a good way to get started.
ZoMbIeS, RuN! ($7.99)
Run for your life
Zombies Run motivates you to start running and keep
running. The app leads athletes to believe that they’re being
chased by zombies. The only way to avoid them is to take to your
heels and collect as many virtual objects as you can. The virtual
objects are hidden somewhere along the jogging route. The app
is still incomplete, though. The developer wants to develop 30
missions, only half of which have been completed so far. The app
also records the route traversed, the time and the speed.
- feedback@chip.in
ANDROID IOS WINDOWS PHONE TABLET SMARTPHONE
You are your own Gym (Rs 110)
This app presents several exercises that do not need fitness
devices, and which make use of normal household
appliances. It also features a timer and 10-month plans.
iCross WoD Free (free)
Crossfit is an American fitness trend that involves new
training units being posted to a website every day. The app
brings these WoDs (Workout of the Day) to your phone.
FooDDB (free)
FooDDB brings an extensive calorie-table and nutrition log to
smartphones and tablets. The nutritional value table contains
information on more than 1,20,000 different foods.
runens ($0.99)
Runens is a combination of a training app and a social
network. The app can be used to compete with other runners
in the network who use Runens.
Climbing Mate ($1.29)
Climbing Mate helps you understand the evaluation systems
for different routes. It displays nine climbing evaluation and
three boulder evaluation systems. The app also features a
little section related to knot-tying.
 FEATURED
RESTORING WINDOWS 7
Restore Windows
in just three steps
Snapshot, time machine or exact copy—use whichever method you wish and Windows will be
fast, stable and clean again. BY MARKUS HERMANNSDORFER
M
ost tuning tools available
on the web promise to
optimize Windows with just
a click. But in most cases, you do
not know the changes the software
makes to the operating system during
the tuning process. If Windows is
unstable or does work at all after
the tuning, you may even have to
reinstall the operating system. There's
no need to fret, however, as we have
other options. Here, we describe
three ways to get a fresh Windows
90 09/2012 INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP
0900912_Restore Windows in just 3 steps.indd 90
installation without reinstalling it.
If you want to avoid a re-installation
and keep all your applications and data,
you can opt for Drive Snapshot. The
tool backs up your system and restores
it after the next restart using Windows’
very own shadow copy service (VSS).
The backup file created from this is half
the size as the secured system partition.
If you have very little space available,
you can backup all your data and
settings using Genie Timeline (on the
bonus DVD). Here, you select a restore
point on the timeline and restore
Windows to an earlier status. Genie
Timeline operates like a deluxe variant of
the System Restore application in-built
in Windows.
PHOTOS: NIKOLAUS SCHÄFFLER
Windows 7 features a tool that can
clone an entire system and restore
it completely. Planned functions for
Windows 8, like Reset and Refresh, take
this a step further. Here, you restore the
operating system to working status or
reinstall Windows without losing your
applications.
SMS us!  Story code: FRW to 51818
8/24/2012 2:46:05 PM
 THREE WAYS TO THE GOAL
Do you want to try risky programmes, revitalise a clunky
installation or replace your drives? For each scenario, we
have developed optimal, three-step workshops so that your
Windows installation runs smoothly again, without fail.

EXACT COPY
METHOD: System cloning
WINDOWS DOES
NOT START AT ALL REQUIRED TOOL: Windows complete
backup
1
EXPENDITURE 10 minutes
OF TIME*:

SNAPSHOT
METHOD: Secure current sta-
WINDOWS CRASHES tus of the system
OCCASIONALLY REQUIRED TOOL: Drive Snapshot
EXPENDITURE 5 minutes
OF TIME*:

TIME MACHINE
METHOD: Recover
LOSS OF FILES operating system
FROM THE PC REQUIRED TOOL: Genie Timeline
EXPENDITURE 3 minutes
OF TIME*:

SNAPSHOT 2

of the system
CREATING A BACKUP Download Drive Snapshot directly
1 from its website (30-day trial version at drivesnapshot.de)
and run it; the tool does not need to be installed. Click on
“Backup Disk To File” and select your Windows partition in the
next dialog box. Enter a memory location for the backup copy.
A second local drive is optional. Click “Start Copy” to run the
backup automatically in the background. You can continue
working without restrictions.

2
SETTING UP RESTORE Once you have backed up the 3
system, you can install programmes to your heart’s
content, or even play around with the registry values as a test.
If Windows does not function properly after that, start Drive
Snapshot and select “Restore Disk from File”. If you have more
than one backup file, select the most suitable one. Else, just
click “Next” in the assistant.

RESTARTING WINDOWS Select your system partition

3 and activate restore in the next dialog via “Next | Yes”.
The tool will now automatically recover your system on the
next restart. If you want to abort this process, press any key
within ten seconds of the restart, or else the Windows partition
will be restored. On our test computer, which has a 20 GB
system partition, the process took just ten minutes.

INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP 09/2012 91

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 FEATURED
RESTORING WINDOWS 7
1

TIME MACHINE
for Windows
SETTING UP THE TIME JUMP Install Genie
1 Timeline from the bonus DVD and start the tool. It
will create a new folder, “Backup free zone”, on your
desktop. If you want to exclude specific files from the
backup, you save them there. On the main screen, select
an external drive to save the backed up data. The free
version of Genie Timeline automatically archives your
data every hour. You can set shorter time intervals for 2
running backups if you upgrade to the full version
(approx. Rs 3,777).

SELECT FILES TO BE BACKED UP Determine the

2 files and settings to archive. You can select MS
Office files, images, e-mails, contacts, browser
bookmarks, etc. Once this is done, Genie Timeline
automatically backs-up the selected files in the
background. Timeline runs permanently in the background
and saves your changes automatically; for instance, as
soon as you save a new image, it is automatically copied
into the backup file. The amount of space on the backup
drive required by individual files can be viewed on the pie
3
chart on the lower right corner of the screen. If the drive is
full, you can delete older backups just like in Windows
system restore.

GOING BACK IN TIME Click on “Restore” and then

3 on “Restore from Timeline” to retrieve accidentally
deleted files. You can see the backups made on a time
bar with the exact dates. Just move the slider to a
specific date to restore your data.

Reset and Refresh in Windows 8

Two brand new features in Windows 8 are all set to make the task of system recovery
even easier. The Reset feature restores your PC to its original, freshly-installed state. All
data and installed programs are thus lost. It is imperative that you have administrator
rights for executing the Reset feature in the Control Panel. If you want to retain your data,
select the Refresh function. This feature backs-up all your data and applications in a
special area, and then reinstalls Windows and subsequently recovers the backed up data.
Reset: Completely re-installing Windows: If you’re planning on selling your PC, all your
files, settings and programmes need to be securely deleted in advance. The Reset function
does exactly this and reinstalls Windows; an assistant guides you step-by-step through the
process. The Reset feature writes random data in the sectors where the data was deleted,
making recovery of files using tools such as PC Inspector File Recovery impossible.
Refresh: Backup applications as well: With Refresh, Windows 8 backs-up and restores
the operating system with all your applications, settings and personal data intact. But this

92 09/2012 INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP

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 FEATURED
RESTORING WINDOWS 7
1

EXACT COPY
of Windows 7
START COMPLETE BACKUP Click on “Start |
1 Control Panel | System and Security | Create
backup of the computer” to start the backup application
integrated in Windows 7. Select “Create system image” in
the next dialog and select a memory location for the
backup. You can only backup “On drive” if you actually
2 have a second, physical drive. If you only have one drive,
Windows does not display this option. The option “On
DVD” has become useless in the terabyte age and the
only option remaining is “On a network address”. It is a
good solution to send the data to an NAS drive.

MAKING A RECOVERY CD Once the backup

2 process is over, the assistant will ask you if you
want to “Create a system repair disc”. This is only
required if you do not have a Windows setup DVD. You
can store the system image on a recovery disk and use it
to repair a defective Windows partition.

RESTORING DEFECTIVE SYSTEM If Windows

3 3 does not boot properly, you can either boot the PC
using the recovery CD or the Windows setup DVD. For
this, you must set the DVD drive as “First Boot Device” in
the BIOS. Select “Computer repair options | Restore using
a previously created computer image“. An assistant helps
you search the drives for the backed up system image.
Options to format and create new partitions are provided.
This is required if you have replaced a defective data
carrier with a new one. Once the backup is restored,
restart the computer. Windows should start running now.
If all of this works flawlessly, revert the BIOS to its earlier
settings during the next start up.
– feedback@chip.in

feature has a catch. Microsoft recognizes individual Metro apps as

applications and classic applications cannot be uniquely identified
by the recovery system (Windows RE). Windows, however, presents
a list with the names of the concerned programs.
Small detour, better solution: If you want to recover Windows
8 along with its classic applications, take a detour and use the
command line tool Recimg.exe. First set a new folder for the
backup - for instance, "D:\Backups” - and look for the complete
backup of the Windows partition in the PowerShell in the Start
menu using

recimg createImage D:\Backups\

Once done, the recovery system will use this image for recovery.

INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP 09/2012 93

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 FEATURED
THREE SYSTEMS ON A PC
USE THREE SYSTEMS
on a PC
Virtualisation enables you to make online transactions safely, test software without risks,
clone your computer and emulate consoles. BY MARKUS HERMMSDORFER
W
indows can do a lot, but it
can’t do everything. Windows
users occasionally shoot
envious glances at Linux, which promises
good security, is rarely infected with
viruses and is thus well suited for online
banking. Apple’s Mac OS X is also quite
coveted owing to its trendy user interface
and dedicated applications. Some users
may also want to test console games
or other software not meant to run
natively on Windows or on their systems.
Virtualisers and emulators enable you to
run all these systems on a Windows PC.
Should I emulate or
virtualise?
You can install a virtual system on your
system with VirtualBox (on this issue’s
DVD). You can choose to install either
94 09/2012 INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP
Linux or a second Windows version.
VirtualBox shares the CPU and main
memory with Windows, enabling the
OS installed on it to run simultaneously.
It also allows you to use the Internet
connection or existing USB ports
simultaneously. The virtual computer can
read data on your physical hard disk to
install an OS, but it cannot write to it.
You require an emulator for systems
with special hardware components,
for example, the RISC CPU of the
PlayStation 1 or the architecture of
an Apple PowerMac computer. This
tool simulates the complete hardware
of the external device in a special
environment. Emulators generally run
slower than virtualisers because they
must clearly carry out more operations.
The legal situation is often unclear
and may be a problem in the case
of emulators. The BIOS of a game
console is copyright reserved, but you
can read the BIOS from your own
PlayStation. We explain in this article
how you can manage the task quickly
and safely. Likewise, you must have an
original copy of Apple’s Mac OS X.
More tools, more games,
more user value
On the following page, we show you
how you can extend your computer’s
functionality by way of virtualisers and
emulators. You shall find all necessary
tools on the DVD bundled with this
issue. We also demonstrate how you
can safely clone your system for testing
applications, software or extravagant
configurations.
SMS us!  Story code: F3S to 51818

Online Transactions on a virtual PC
Rule out hack attacks with a high security operating system for online transactions that protects
you against hackers and viruses
INSTALL BITBOX: BitBox (www.
1 sirrix.de) is one of the best solutions
if you don’t mind virtualisation or Linux.
This banking software is a heavily-
armoured version of Firefox that runs from
inside a secured Debian Linux installed on
a virtual machine. To begin, click on the
set-up icon and let the application start
the set-up wizard. The set-up wizard first
unpacks the system to a folder of your
choice and subsequently installs VirtualBox
and reboots the computer. Once booted,
run the BitBox set-up file again and follow
the wizard’s remaining instructions. Select
“Expert mode” to set up each aspect of
the system by yourself. For security
settings, we recommend selecting the
“Confirmation by the user” choice,” which
will enable you to check on all data traffic.
The remaining steps are self-explanatory.
1 2
3 4
SAFE SURFING: Double click the
2 newly saved “Browser in the box”
symbol after the installation. BitBox first
initializes the virtual machine and a new
window opens in which the Linux version
of Firefox starts. Now you can type in your
bank’s website and carry out your
transactions. Once done, select “File |
Close” in BitBox. All browser tracks are
automatically deleted when shutting down
the virtual PC and all changes are rejected.
A clean, newly installed BitBox is available
with the next start.
ARRANGING A VIRTUAL PC: If you
3 want to run finance software on your
virtual PC, start “Oracle VM VirtualBox” by
BitBox and set up a virtual PC inclusive of
the hard disk and main memory using
“New”. Note that the resources shown in
the wizard for the operating system are
shared from your Windows installation. For
Puppy Linux (www.puppylinux.org), you
need only 128 MB of hard disk space and
256 MB of main memory. If the new virtual
PC is listed in the main window of
VirtualBox, click “Mass storage” and click
“Blank” under “IDE controller”. Now you can
give the path for the Puppy Linux ISO file.
Confirm with “OK” and “Start” the virtual
PC with the mini Linux. The new operating
system is installed there.
STARTING HOME BANKING: You
4 can immediately start a banking
software adequate for home use using
“Menu | Business | Homebank Finance
Management”. You can find additional
tools by clicking “Install | Click button to
run the Puppy Package Manager”. Enter
“gnucash” in the following window to
install this well-known banking software.
INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP 09/2012 95

Duplicating Your Personal PC Virtually
Test semi-finished software on a virtual copy of your personal computer or test extravagant
configurations
CLONING SYSTEM PARTITION: To
1 clone Windows 7 and your
applications to a virtual hard disk, enter
“Save” in the search line of the Start Menu
and select “Create backup of the computer
| Create system image”. Follow the
instructions of the wizard. Reject the
option to create a repair data carrier that’s
offered in the end.
EXTRACTING A VIRTUAL HARD
2 DISK: Windows creates a
“WindowsImageBackup” folder when
saving a new file. The “[Computer name}\
Backup [Date]” subfolders are located
there. Confirm the pop-up dialogue by
clicking “Continue” when opening this file
to receive the necessary access rights. You
will find VHD files in the backup folder
which include the “System reserved”
partition and a big file with the Windows
96 09/2012 INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP
1 2
3 4
partition. If you have a separate partition
that includes your application or have a
multiboot hard disk with different operating
systems, you will see several large virtual
hard disks. Now create a new “VHD”
directory outside the “Windows Image
backup” folder. Copy the virtual hard disks
to this new directory. Right click on one of
the VHDs and select “Properties | Security
| Advanced | Owner | Edit”. Now, you can
change the owner from “System” to
“Administrator” and copy the virtual hard
disk to “VHD”. Also change the file name
for a better overview. Name the small VHD
“system reserved” and the big one as
“Windows 7 copy”.
ORGANIZE VIRTUAL PC: Create a
3 virtual PC in VirtualBox (free
download) using “New” and add your
VHDs using “Mass storage”. If you have an
IDE hard disk, you must also select the
“IDE controller” in the virtual PC. You also
require a Windows 7 DVD. You include
these two in the ‘”Mass storage” field.
ORGANIZE BOOT SECTOR: Start
4 the virtual PC and press [F12] to
boot the Windows DVD. Click “Computer
repair options” in the Wizard. Open the
“Input request” in the “System restoration
option” in the dialogue. Type in the control
sequence that is given on the DVD as a
test file (“diskpart-listing.txt). Afterwards,
make the Windows partition bootable with
the “bootrec/fixmbr” and “bootrec/fixboot”
commands. Close the input request and
select “System start repair”. You must
execute it three times because the boot
manager cannot find the Windows
partition easily. Only after you do this can
you boot your cloned computer.

APPLE MAC OS X on Windows PC
Revive old programs that do not run on Intel Mac with the PearPC emulator in Windows
PREPARE: You require a legal copy
1 of Apple’s OSX as an ISO file for this
workshop. The PearPC emulator (on issue
DVD) supports OSX versions 10.2 (Jaguar),
10.3 (Panther) and 10.4 (Tiger). First,
create a new directory “C:\PPC” and
decompress PearPC there. Create a
subdirectory “image” in the “PPC” folder.
Unpack a blank virtual hard disk – the
PearPC image file (pearpc.sourceforge.
net). This is compressed in the “bz.2”
archive format. If unpacking fails, install
IZArc (izarc.org) and decompress the
image with this tool into the folder “PPC\
Image”. In “pearpc.img”, you can change
the file name of the packed image file.
Lastly, copy the Mac OSX ISO file in the
image folder.
CONFIGURE EMULATOR: Now
2 install the PearPC tool Vbox GUI.
1 2
3 4
Click “New”, enter a name, in the wizard
and select the operating system to be
emulated here. Enter the path to file
“pearpc.img” under “Primary master HD
image”. Give the file path for the ISO file of
the Mac OSX in the “IDE slot” field. Exit
the wizard with “Finish” and switch the
display resolution to “1024x768x32” under
“Video”. Click “Next” and change the entry
to “select” under “Boot | Boot method”. If
you have a PC with at least 2 GB of RAM,
increase the main memory to 1 GB under
“System”.
INSTALLING MAC OS: Click “Start”
3 to activate the emulator. The tool
shows a bootable partition marked with
“cdrom0”, which you select with the [1]
button. Subsequently, the installation of
Mac OSX starts. It runs automatically to a
large extent and lasts for approximately 40
minutes on a computer with a multi-core
CPU and 2 GB of RAM. At the end of the
installation, PearPC shuts down the Apple
operating system automatically. Remove
the entry for the set-up DVD using “IDE”.
CREATE SHORTCUT: Click “Create
4 desktop shortcut” by clicking the
main window of VBox GUI to start Mac
OSX easily in the future. From now on, you
can start your new Apple PC using the
shortcut. The operating system requests
all sorts of data and a compulsory
registration. The registration is used to
avoid the installation of the OS copy on
several Macs or PCs. Once the system is
installed, you can start programs like iChat,
Safari and the QuickTime player using the
task bar. Otherwise, open “System
settings” and configure the system by
yourself.
INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP 09/2012 97

Emulating Game Consoles on the PC
Do you have children playing with your PlayStation all day? Get the console absolutely legally on
your Windows desktop with an emulator.
READ PLAYSTATION BIOS: If you
1 have a PlayStation 1, you'll have read
the copyright protected BIOS on it. Unpack
the BIOS dumper (forums.ngemu.com/
showthread.php?t=93161) and burn the
“psx.exe” file from the archive onto a CD
ROM. Insert a blank memory card in the
PlayStation and insert the CD you just
burned. Once the dump tool starts, select
the BIOS parts displayed first with the [X]
button on the controller. Once the
selection is done, exit the console by
pressing the [O] button. To read the
memory card on the PC, you'll need a
device called DexDrive available on eBay
for approximately 20 Euros (approx. Rs
1,362), and the tool Memcard Rex
(shendosoft.blogspot.de). Do the same for
all four parts to retrieve all components of
the BIOS. Change the extension “.gme” to
98 09/2012 INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP
1 2
3 4
“.mcr” with every BIOS part that is
downloaded. Now, install Biosmerge
(forums.ngemu.com/showthread.
php?t-93161) and move the five BIOS
parts to its directory. The tool merges them
in a “SCPHxxxx.bin” file. Replace the four
x-digits with the serial number of the
PlayStation that you will find at the
bottom of the device.
CONFIGURE EMULATOR: Unpack
2 EPSXE (www.epsxe.com) and open
the file. Now, copy the BIOS of the
PlayStation in the “bios” directory. Start the
emulator and follow the instructions in the
wizard. If you are unsure whether a driver
functions on your system, click “test”. If an
error occurs, use another driver. Use
“Config” to configure video, audio, CDROM
and controller settings according to your
preference.
LOAD GAME: EPSXE can read your
3 PC's DVD drive. As soon as you insert
a game disk, you can run it via “File | Run
CDROM”. With Nero or ImgBurn, you can
also save games that are not copyright
protected onto a hard disk and load them
using “File | Run ISO”. If it rejects the game,
see under “Help | Contents | Specific
games” whether the developer of the
emulator offers any solution.
TUNE GRAPHICS: High-end
3 graphics are never to be had from
nostalgic block graphics. However, testing
plug-ins available on pbernert.com is worth
the while. If one from those available is
able to better support your graphics card,
you can go for high resolution in the video
configuration of the emulator or increase
the image frequency (“FPS”).
- feedback@chip.in
 YOUR IDEA IS
BRAINSTORM IMPRESSIVE
WITH FRIENDS

IDEA

APPLY FOR
INCUBATION

BUILD A TEAM

DON’T BUILD NOW WHAT

CASTLES IN
AIR
GET
FEEDBACK

IMPROVE AND
MAKE CHANGES
START WORKING
ON THE IDEA

IDEA INCUBATION: ACCELERATE YOUR

You may have a great business idea, but translating it into a successful business is not
an easy task. Getting your idea incubated with an incubation centre or being a part of an
accelerator programme is one of the smarter ways to get started. BY PRIYANKA TILVE

A
n engineering student was
travelling when he came across
a word he couldn't understand.
He had a basic phone with no Internet
connectivity and wanted to look it up.
It was then that it struck him: why
can’t there be an SMS-based search
engine? He got together with his friends,
discussed and deliberated, and they were
convinced that an SMS-based search
engine did make sense. Elsewhere, as
a part of their college project during
the placement season, two friends got
together to set up a forum for conducting
mock interviews, making it easier to
shortlist candidates. Its effectiveness
got them thinking and they realised it
had the potential to be used by large
companies for shortlisting candidates.
The former went on to become
the extremely successful SMSGyan,
launched by Innoz, which was founded
by four students from LBS College of
Engineering, Kerala – Deepak Ravindran,
Abhinav Sree, Ashwin Nath and Mohd.
Hisamuddin. Today, it answers more
than two million queries a day and more
than 10 million users have availed of the
service. The latter is InterviewStreet.com,
co-founded by engineers Vivek Ravisankar
and Harishankaran K. Its roster includes
companies like Zynga, Facebook, Amazon
and even NASA.
While both are undoubtedly great
concepts, their founders believe they
couldn’t have achieved half of what they
have if it were not for the belief, support
and mentorship they received from the
business accelerators they were part of.
So, what exactly are accelerators and
incubators? What’s at stake and how do
they help? We find out.
Incubator or Accelerator?
Since both incubators and accelerators
offer almost the same type of eco-
systems for startups, they are often
confused together. Both are used to
encourage good business ideas, but
there is a subtle difference. Incubators
are more traditional, usually funded by
governments or hosted by educational
institutions and offer long-term support.
They incubate all kinds of startups and
also encourage social entrepreneurial
projects. On the other hand, accelerators
are a relatively newer phenomenon and
are usually run by people who have
been through the rigmarole of setting
up a startup and thus, offer mentorship
to budding entrepreneurs. Accelerator
programmes are usually of shorter
duration and may not offer physical
incubation space. They tend to favour
tech startups that leverage technologies
and platforms like the Internet, cloud
and mobile. However, many traditional
incubators have also started offering
short-term accelerator programmes.
Why incubate?
Let's imagine that you have an excellent
business idea. You may even start working
on it and create a prototype, but you can
run into some problem and then just give

100 09/2012 INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP SMS us!  Story code: FII to 51818
 SUCCESSFULLY
INCUBATED
GET MENTORED,
SOLIDIFY YOUR
BUSINESS
PLAN
CHECK AND FIX
LOOPHOLES
ATTRACT VCs TO
GET FUNDING
WAY TO SUCCESS
up on it altogether. Or, you may simply
lose interest in the project. Then, probably
a few years later, you may come across
a successful business that was just what
you had thought about. How you wish
that had you pursued your idea a little
longer, that successful businessman could
have been you. Well, that’s just what an
incubation centre or an accelerator will
help you do – focus and hone your idea
into a successful startup. If they think your
idea has potential, they will offer you work
space, initial funds and technical support.
They will connect you with a mentor and
also help you raise funds by connecting
you with VCs, angel investors and private
investors. Once you find space in their
programme, you can focus on fine-tuning
and developing your idea. And if you
stumble along the way, rest assured you
will have a lot of helping hands. They will
also offer you help with things like your
business model, marketing and IP issues.
However, in return for all the support and
mentoring they offer, they will claim an
equity stake in your business.
Are they necessary? No. There is no
rule that says you have to be a part of
an incubator or accelerator programme
SCALE UP
BETA
POSITIVE
RESPONSE
BETA LAUNCH
KEEP WORKING
to be a successful entrepreneur; and
there are enough startups out there
that have made a mark on their own.
However, the eco-system they provide
will ensure your idea meets its full
potential. Ravisankar, the co-founder
of InterviewStreet.com, said that being
part of the programme at The Morpheus
helped them most in making decisions.
He says, “It was a fantastic experience.
When we started, we had no idea what
a startup was all about and Morpheus
helped us understand the business side
of startups. I don’t think we would have
achieved the same success had it not
been for the support we received there.”
InterviewStreet went on to become the
first Indian startup to be incubated by
US-based accelerator Y Combinator,
which is no mean feat.
Kattayil Rajinish Menon, Director- ISV
& Cloud Strategy, Developer and Platform
Evangelism, Microsoft Corporation,
supports Ravisankar’s claim. He says,
“The core benefit is that it will help you
narrow down your idea and understand
and pin-point your problem areas very
well. You will understand, as you speak
with the experts, what could be the
DO I SELL IT?
SUCCESS
STARTUP GURU
Jagdish Limbachiya
problems both from the technology and
business perspectives. They will help
you understand where and why things
could go wrong, what will or won’t work,
etc. It will encourage you to look beyond
what you have been doing, which makes
your chances of success much higher.”
Microsoft runs several programmes for
budding entrepreneurs based on the
feedback it received from the student and
developer communities. Its initiatives like
DreamSpark, BizSpark, BizSpark One and
BizSpark Plus are highly successful. The
company recently launched the Microsoft
Accelerator programme in Bengaluru,
which is a four-month programme aimed
at helping early stage startups.
Tanvi Rangwala, Director - iAccelerator
& ICT Initiatives, Centre for Innovation
Incubation and Entrepreneurship, Indian
Institute of Management - Ahmedabad,
says, “The number one way in which a
startup benefits is in the form of initial
investment in return of equity. This will give
them a longer run base. Most of them start
off by utilising their own savings, which
may be limited. So, the initial investment
that they will receive will certainly keep
them going for a longer period of time.
INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP 09/2012 101
 FEATURED
IDEA INCUBATION

Incubators provide all the facilities that you could possibly need. Entreprenuer Wide, open spaces that allow teams to sit together is beneficial as it encourages
working on a project at SINE, IIT Bombay. healthy competitiveness and interaction. The set up at TLabs.

Secondly, we also provide infrastructure
support in the form of office space; we
provide help related to IP, compliance and
with everything else that they'd need to
run their startup.” The CIIE runs several
incubation programmes for different types
of projects and SMSGyan is a product of
its iAccelerator programme.
You need more than just an
Idea
For incubators or accelerators to select
you, your idea has to be powerful. It will
be evaluated by domain experts and
you'll find a place in the programme only
if they see potential in it. The seats are
limited and the competition is fierce, so
your pitch has to be strong and should
convince them of its value. What will also
determine your success is your core team.
In fact, when you approach incubators
or accelerators, one important point of
consideration is whether your passion
is shared by your core team. Rangwala
points out: “We put a lot of emphasis on
the team as it is very important for the
success of your idea. As there may be a
lot of obstacles that can come along the
way, they need to have a good leader.
Most of them are really young guys with
good educational backgrounds and they
know the kind of jobs they can easily get.
Despite that, they choose to start on their
own, so there is a lot of motivation that
goes into it.”
Agreeing with the thought, Rajinish
added, “You need to have a core team
of believers; you may have an idea, but
you also need to successfully rally some
people around. Because, it is very rare
that someone can build a company on
his own. You need to have a team who
understands and stands by you. If you are
thinking of building or making a mark on
the eco-system today, you need to have
a good team in place. It doesn’t matter
whether the team is from a marketing or
technical perspective, but you need to
have a core team in place. You cannot
have people working part-time for you.”
Things to consider
Getting into an incubation centre or an
accelerator programme is not as easy
as it seems. And there is no right time to
approach an incubator or an accelerator
with your idea, as many of them provide
support to projects at all stages. Whether
you have just a sketch of your idea or a
working prototype, you will find the right
programme. However, there are certain
things you should bear in mind before
approaching them. Padmaja Ruparel,
President, Indian Angel Network, which
runs an incubation centre, says, “Before
approaching an incubation centre, the
entrepreneur should consider if their
goals are compatible with the goals and
objectives of the centre. The incubation
centre's ability to provide the tools and
mentorship that you require should also
be taken into account.”

One of the benefits are the mentorship sessions, which will immensely add to The accelerator centres also provide facilities like recreation rooms. Seen here
your knowledge. A session underway at The Startup Centre. is the recreation room at Microsoft's Bangalore Accelerator.

102 09/2012 INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP


SOME OF THE INCUBATORS AND ACCELERATORS OPERATING IN THE COUNTRY
National Design Business Incubator,
NID
www.ndbiindia.org
Centre for Innovation Incubation and
Entrepreneurship, IIM Ahmedabad
www.ciieindia.org
Society For Innovation And
Entrepreneurship, IIT Bombay
www.sineiitb.org
Before approaching them, it’s always
good to do some research about the
programme and their expectations. It
will also give you a head-start when
making your pitch. Sameer Guglani, a
serial entrepreneur with over ten years
of experience and the co-founder of
The Morpheus, has some words of
advice, “Check if the accelerator has
full-time partners who have been startup
entrepreneurs themselves. If yes, it can be
extremely valuable to work closely with
them for three to four months because
they can step into your shoes, understand
your situation and give you the right
advice, direction and suggestions.
Typically, accelerators work with a set
of companies as a batch, which creates
a good environment with lots of peer
learning and healthy competition. So look
for spaces that are more open and where
different teams sit next to each other.
Also, go for places that are flexible and
relaxed in terms of culture, work timings,
etc. Most importantly, take a look at the
deal terms, the equity expectations and
cash fees if any. Other factors include a
friendly community of portfolio founders
that you can be a part of and also good
relationships with angels and VCs so that
they can introduce you at the right time.”
Is it easier for Internet
projects to get incubated?
It may seem that startups that leverage
the Internet, cloud or mobile platforms
Technopark TBI
www.technopark.org
The Morpheus
www.themorpheus.com
TREC-STEP
www.trecstep.com
IAN Incubator
www.indianangelnetwork.com/
incubator
have an edge over others when it comes
to being incubated and even receiving
funds. While this is partially true, it
doesn’t necessarily sum up the situation.
Mahesh Krovvidi, CEO, National Design
Business Incubator, National Institute of
Design, Ahmedabad, agrees that Internet-
based startups find it easier, but blames
it on the business economics of quick
returns. He says, “Unfortunately in the
country, a large number of people are
involved in developing Internet-based
products as it's easier for them. Even
from the incubators' perspective - they
usually incubate products for two to three
years - if they take up a startup with a
mechanical product, it’s highly unlikely
that the product will hit the market in
three years. On the other hand, Internet-
based projects are relatively easy to
develop and can be ready in two to three
years. This is why most incubators are
biased towards startups that leverage the
Internet.”
Another factor at work is the mindset
where manufacturing companies favour
products that are successful abroad
instead of supporting a local entrepreneur
who may have developed a similar
product. And it’s not just the manufacturer;
it’s the same kind of mindset even
consumers have. Krovvidi rues the fact that
even the innovators here are rigid; they
want to do everything themselves instead
of partnering with the right manufacturer
and getting somebody to market their
FEATURED
IDEA INCUBATION
Microsoft Accelerator
www.microsoft.com/en-in/accelerator
The Startup Centre
www.thestartupcentre.com
TLabs
www.tlabs.in
The Hatch
www.thehatch.in
product. However, he is quick to point out
that the situation is changing. Investors
are now willing to fund entrepreneurs for
projects and the number of incubation
centres has increased as compared to the
last ten years. There are incubators – most
of them funded by the government and
hosted by institutes like the IITs, NITs
and the IIMs – that cater to the needs of
entrepreneurs who are developing products
in the technology, science, medical,
engineering and mechanical fields.
Incubation equals success?
Getting into an incubation programme
is definitely a big deal, as it proves that
your idea has the potential. But that
doesn’t necessarily guarantee success;
the biggest reason could be you. Guglani
states, “The biggest factor in the success
or failure of a startup is the hard work
and tenacity of the founders. Accelerators
or incubators cannot help founders who
are not ready to put in the enormous
effort that a startup needs.” Most of the
people we spoke to agree that this is the
biggest factor in making or breaking a
startup after incubation. Of course, there
could be other factors at play, like market
fluctuations or some technical flaws. But
that’s very rare as your idea is thoroughly
analysed. Once incubated, you benefit
from support, mentorship and funding –
things that will enable you to turn your
idea into a successful startup.
- priyanka.tilve@chip.in
 FEATURED
WEB WATCH
Web Watch
COMPARERAJA.COM
F M
requent online shoppers will be
well-aware of how tedious the
price comparison process can get.
The newly-launched CompareRaja does
all the work for you, bringing you
results from a whole range of sites.
In terms of design and layout, the site
is quite intuitive and easy to navigate.
After a user selects a category and
enters the product, it displays a list of
websites selling that product against its
cost. Search results are arranged from
the lowest price to the highest, with
the best deal highlighted. Additionally,
the website also shows discount
coupons, if any are available. Results
are pulled in from sites like Flipkart,
HomeShop18, IndiaPlaza, Naaptol,
Yebhi, InfiBeam, Indiatimes Shopping
and Sulekha. Choose your deal, and
the site takes you to the e-commerce
site to complete your transaction. You
can compare prices of mobile phones,
tablets, cameras, camcorders, laptops,
watches, perfumes, and books.
An interesting feature is an add-on
for Chrome and Firefox browsers. When
you’re browsing an e-commerce site,
it displays prices and discount details
from other sites. Apart from price
comparison, it allows you to ask your
Facebook friends their views about a
product. You can set price reminders for
notifications when a particular product
is available at the price specified.
The site displays ratings by
experts and users alike. In addition,
CompareRaja plans to have a user-
rating system for e-commerce sites so
it can feature only the best deals.
104 09/2012 INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP
Here are some interesting websites you might want to visit.
COMPILED BY PRIYANKA TILVE
TREETLE.COM
oving and adjusting to another city
is difficult, with your social life
being the worst-hit. Making new
friends is easier at events or activities
that you are passionate about, be it
dance, cycling, hiking, film, travel or
pets. Where could you find information
about such activities happening in your
neighbourhood? Treetle.com aims to
become a platform for connecting people
over common hobbies and interests.
You can sign up on Treetle and create
your profile by selecting your hobbies
and activities of interest. Depending
on your selections and location, you
will get updates. You can create or join
hobby clubs and invite people to join
them. Similarly, you can organise events,
post their details and invite people to
participate. Every new member has to
verify his or her phone number before
getting complete access to the site.
An additional feature is ‘Appreciations’,
which are somewhat like Facebook
‘Likes’. For every ‘Appreciation’ you
receive, you get credit points. People
who enjoyed any event or activity you
organised can give you ‘Appreciations’.
Credit points can be redeemed in the
form of e-vouchers of Treetle’s merchant
partners. The website is still in the
beta stage. Though it is available in
over three thousand cities in India,
most events currently listed are in and
around Bengaluru. Currently, over 70
clubs have been formed. The platform
has tremendous potential for growth,
considering the fact that it has a more
focused approach as compared to
groups on social networking sites.
PEOPLEPERHOUR.COM
D
o you freelance? What do you
think about the idea of an open
marketplace for freelancers?
Launched in 2008, UK-based
PeoplePerHour.com is a purpose-driven
platform that works on a simple
premise. Here, businesses can post
their requirements and freelancers
can sell their skills. What sets it apart
from other freelance job listings is
that all assignments are sold by the
hour. The home page of the site has
a video featuring Mark Zuckerberg,
Andrew Warhol and JK Rowling,
and signifies that their best ideas
were thought of in a few hours.
PeoplePerHour has a product called
‘Hourlies’ that enables freelancers to
sell their skills by the hour. Post a skill
you have, state the amount of time you
need, and quote your charges. When
posting your skills, you can upload
images, videos or a portfolio. You
need to enter a description of what
your client should expect and what
you require to get started. Services
posted on the site include SEO, social
media, writing reviews of products,
editing documents, creating logos,
re-touching photos, making itineraries
for a destination, caricaturing, creating
flash banners, and animations. The time
required for delivering the products or
services is crucial. All your postings are
displayed on your profile along with
their levels and ratings. You can browse
the jobs posted by category and apply
for them. The job posting states the
requirement, the fees and the duration
for which the services are required.
SMS us!  Story code: FWW to 51818
 FEATURED
WEB WATCH

IN SPITE OF THE
E-COMMERCE BOOM,
SHOPPING ONLINE
LEAVES A LOT TO BE
DESIRED.
PRIYANKA TILVE,
SENIOR FEATURES WRITER

S
PEPPERFRY.COM
hopping online has never been
easier. But now we are faced
with the problem of plenty. It has
also become dreary seeing the same
products and services listed on every
site. In such a scenario, a new site
needs to offer more than just good
deals to capture consumers’ attention.
PepperFry.com is like a breath of fresh
air in the cluttered e-commerce space.
With a Pinterest–like layout,
PepperFry claims to offer over 30,000
lifestyle products across categories. You
can select a particular category and then
set filters for an efficient search. For
instance, mobile and tablet accessories
are filtered according to colour, material,
or warranty. This is quite a handy
feature as it helps narrow down choices
considerably and makes selection easier.
It also saves you from browsing several
pages to find the product of your choice.
Though there are a limited number
of products featured in each category,
most are not available on a lot of other
e-commerce sites. On PepperFry, you
have the option to place bulk orders
on which you receive special discounts.
Bulk orders can be placed in case of
home décor, jewellery, and clothes.
Goods ship locally at no extra cost, and
there are several easy payment options,
including cash-on-delivery as well as
interest-free Easy Monthly Instalments
(EMI). If you are not satisfied with the
product, you can return it within seven
days of receiving it, stating the reason
for your dissatisfaction, and get your
money back. PepperFry offers deals,
signing bonus and loyalty bonuses.
E-SHOPPING WOES
W
hile I won’t term myself
as a serial e-shopper,
I do shop for books
regularly. I have also
shopped for electronics and my biggest
online purchase has been a digital
camera. In fact, a particular site tops
my list owing to its prompt delivery, no
payment gateway glitches, an efficient
delivery status notification system and
good customer service. I must say that
it has spoilt me and I expect the same
from the rest of the competition. I mean,
if this site can do it, why can’t the rest?
Unfortunately, that’s not the case.
I had never shopped for clothes or
shoes online and was tempted recently
when I came across an e-commerce site
offering great discounts on top brands.
A particular pair of jeans caught my
attention, and even though it was a
site I hadn’t heard of before, I decided
to go ahead with the order. I added
the item to the cart and proceeded to
make the payment. I had to fi rst create
an account and once this was done, I
clicked on ‘Payment Options’. But, to my
surprise, a window popped-up saying
that my shopping cart was empty! I
went back to the product page and it
showed an out-of-stock sign; it simply
vanished! Needless to say, I felt cheated
and robbed of a good pair of jeans.
Discussing the misfortune with
friends brought out tales of the horrors
of shopping online. One had ordered
a product from a daily deal site and
was eagerly awaiting its delivery,
but there was no sign of the product,
even after a few days. She called the
customer care only to be informed
that the item was out of stock. They
assured her that her money would be
returned and as a goodwill gesture,
gave her some bonus credit points.
One reason for such problems could
be the business model these sites follow.
While some prefer to stock products
in warehouses, many procure it from
vendors only after receiving an order. If
they stock products in their warehouses,
they know their inventory and are thus
in better control. However, maintaining
a warehouse adds to the cost for them
and they also have to deal with unsold
products. On the other hand, procuring
it from vendors after receiving an order
might be cost-effective, but the site
has little control over the inventory.
And so, while you may see the product
as ‘in stock’ online, the reality could
be otherwise. However, it’s hardly
a problem that cannot be solved.
While each site focuses on offering
great deals, most overlook the crucial
aspect of customer satisfaction. Instead
of spending large sums of money on
advertising, what they should do is focus
on getting their back-end right. After
all, no number of crazy deals is going to
help if customer satisfaction is lacking.
If you ensure that you deliver what you
promise, as a customer, I wouldn’t mind
paying a little bit more than I what I
currently do, as I’m assured of service.
- priyanka.tilve@chip.in

INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP 09/2012 105

 HANDS ON
DR CHIP
Sachin Pandit
[Q] Hello, Dr CHIP. I would like to block
some websites from my system. How
can I do that? Can you please give me
step-by-step instructions? I have a
Wi-Fi router and we have a desktop and
a laptop connected to it. I would like
to block websites so that any system
connected to this router cannot access
these sites. Finally, how do I remove the
restrictions? Thank you.
– Putou
You can use the router’s in-built blocking
mechanism to block sites by URLs and keywords.
[A] Hello, Putou. In order to block a
website on your given network, you can
make use of the router’s internal features.
You need to login to your router and
specify the websites you want to block.
You can also block multiple sites by
barring certain keywords. For example, if
you block ‘www.torrentz.eu’, users will
only be blocked out from that particular
website. But if you block the keyword
‘torrent’, users will not be able to access
108 09/2012 INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP
Dr CHIP
any site that has the word or characters
‘torrent’ in it. In order to do so, login to
your router with admin privileges and
look for the filter section; it could be
named ‘website filter’, ‘parental controls’
or something similar. This will differ from
router to router. Enable the filtering and
enter the keywords or URLs accordingly.
You can also specify if you want the
blocking to be applied to certain PCs
(MAC or IP address-based filters) or
applied within a time frame. This will also
depend on the features of the router (if
it has a built-in option). To disable it, you
can simply go back and disable the filters
when you need access. Certain routers
also have profiles that can be saved and
applied when needed. If you want to
block URLs on a specific PC or laptop,
you can do so by editing the ‘hosts’ file
on that PC. The file is located in the
folder ‘C:\windows\system32\drivers\etc’.
Open the hosts file using Notepad. Now,
for example, if you want to block the
website ‘www.facebook.com’, you need
to add the line ‘127.0.0.1 www.facebook.
com’ at the end of the document. Ignore
all the other lines that are already
present in the file and save it.
Now, when the user tries to access
the Facebook website, the browser will
first access the 'hosts' file and try to find
the website on the IP address ‘127.0.0.1’,
which is the same PC, and the website
will not be displayed. You can keep adding
multiple websites to the 'hosts' file.
However, do note that editing the 'hosts'
SEND YOUR QUERIES TO: drchip@chip.in
file is not a foolproof method and it can
be easily re-edited by the user to lift the
ban. Another method is to use OpenDNS
(www.opendns.com) to block websites.
Using OpenDNS is simple, but can be
complicated for a new user. I think the
best option for you is to use the router’s
blocking feature.
[Q] Hello, Dr CHIP. I have a LAVA
730G USB Internet Dongle for using
3G wireless Internet on my laptop.
But when I plug-in the USB dongle, it
mysteriously disables my sound card.
What I mean is that if I open YouTube
or any other website, it opens without
any problem, but there is no sound. I
also checked by using the same dongle
on my friend’s laptop, and the problem
persists. When I remove it, everything
works fine. I bought the dongle from
Flipkart. Please help.
– Sagar
ConnectifyMe can share an Internet connection
from a USB dongle using a Wi-Fi card or dongle.
SMS us!  Story code: HDC to 51818

[A] Hello, Sagar. There is absolutely no
connection between a USB modem and
the sound/audio being disabled when
they are both operated together. There
seems to be either a hardware fault or
a driver issue. Try downloading a fresh
copy of the drivers for both the dongle
and the sound card and reinstall them
after removing the older drivers and see
if the problem is solved. If it persists, you
should write to Flipkart and to Lava and
leave a complaint explaining the issue in
detail. Also ask for a replacement under
warranty. It could be a factory defect
with the dongle hardware and could
possibly be rectified with a replacement.
[Q] Hello, Dr CHIP. I have a Micromax
Wi-Fi router; model number MMX400.
The router is for use with multiple
devices like tablets and laptops.
The problem is that in my area, the
signal connectivity of any of the GSM
operators is very poor and there is
no possibility of a wired telephone/
Internet connection at my place. Tata
Indicom photon Plus, I believe, works
well in the area. My questions are:
Will the Micromax router I have work
with CDMA networks? Or will it work
only with a GSM network?
How can I use multiple devices on
Wi-fi using a GSM 3G dongle/Tata
photon Plus or similar 3G dongles like
the ones from Vodafone or Airtel?
Can I use the 3G dongle and make
my laptop or desktop PC a hotspot and
connect multiple devices through it?
Need urgent help. Thanks
– Capt Aseem
[A] Hello, Aseem. Since you believe Tata
photon Plus works well in your area and
the other services don’t, it seems there
is a Tata signal tower close to where you
live. A GSM dongle cannot be operated
with a CDMA service or SIM. You will
need a CDMA router or dongle. If you
want to use multiple connections on a
single 3G dongle, you will have to opt for
a 3G router or a router that is compatible
with a 3G dongle. The router will login
and connect to the Internet using the 3G
dongle and then share the connection
with other devices and PCs connected to
it. You can also connect the 3G dongle to
a laptop or a desktop PC and share the
connection with others on the network. If
you want to connect other devices to this
PC wirelessly, you will need to connect
a wireless card (or wireless USB dongle)
to the PC and use an application called
ConnectifyMe. This software will share
the connection from the 3G dongle with
other PCs using the Wi-Fi card or dongle;
the software turns the PC into a wireless
router. If you want to connect other
PCs via an Ethernet switch or standard
wireless router, you can do so by sharing
the 3G dongle’s Internet connection on
your computer's internal Ethernet card.
Then connect the PC to the WAN port of
the router using an Ethernet cable. The
router will take care of the sharing from
there on.
[Q] Hi, Dr CHIP. I have a Samsung
Galaxy Ace s5830i Android phone,
which I connect to a BSNL Internet
connection through a Wi-Fi router. The
BSNL connection uses a Nokia Siemens
modem. The IP address of the router
(modem) is 192.168.1.1. The problem is
that on the Play Store, the apps just
don’t download over Wi-Fi and throw
up an error code - "error 927". Please
help me.
– Chari
Clearing the cache and Dalvik cache via the
recovery utility can help solve issues with the OS.
[A] Hello, Chari. The problem is with
the Google Market app (now known as
Google Play Store). In order to get rid of
the errors while downloading apps from
the Play Store, you will need to take the
following steps and check if it works at
every stage.
Try clearing the cache and Dalvik
cache from the recovery mode or use an
app to do so.
Go to the applications section in
settings and clear out the data from the
market app.
Try force closing the market app, then
uninstalling the market app updates.
Reboot.
HANDS ON
DR CHIP
Add another Google account and
switch to that account in the market’s
settings.
Finally, backup your data and settings
using Titanium Backup and restore
factory defaults (reset the phone
settings).
[Q] Dear Dr CHIP. I want to install
both Windows XP and Windows 7 on
my Acer Aspire 5552G. Is this possible?
If yes, then how?
– Prateek
The system will show a menu during the booting
stage on a PC with two or more operating systems.
[A] Hello, Prateek. Yes, it is possible to
install both Windows XP and Windows
7 on the same PC. But for both the
operating systems to exist on the same
PC, you will need to partition your hard
drive into two partitions so that each
operating system can be installed on
different partitions. Secondly, in order to
install Windows 7 along with Windows
XP, you will need to install Windows
XP first and then install Windows 7
on another partition. Take a complete
backup of your data on another media
(external USB hard drive or DVD). Then
boot from the Windows XP CD and divide
the drives into two (or more) partitions.
Format the partitions and proceed with
the Windows XP installation on drive
C:\. Once done, you should boot from
the Windows 7 DVD and install Windows
on drive D:\. After both the installations
are complete, your system will show a
menu during the booting stage that will
ask you which operating system you
would like to boot into. Once you have
installed the two operating systems, you
should be very careful while installing
applications and deleting files. If you
install applications or delete important
files from the other partition, you could
end up with an operating system crash.
INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP 09/2012 109
 HANDS ON
DR CHIP
[Q] Hello, sir. I have a Sony VAIO
VPCEB34EN laptop and the DVD drive
is giving me some problems. It doesn’t
read most discs and usually shows them
as blank discs. When it does read a disc,
it but stops reading after a few minutes
and I have to eject and re-insert the disc.
Please Help.
– Rishav
Moisten an ear bud with a little isopropyl alcohol
and gently clean the lens.
[A] Hello, Rishav. Your laptop's optical
drive seems to be either failing or the lens
is dirty. Try using a DVD lens cleaner or
moisten an ear bud with a little isopropyl
alcohol and try gently cleaning the lens.
Wait for a few minutes and then check if
it works again. If not, the lens is probably
misaligned, weak or almost dead. If it's the
latter, you'd have to replace the drive or
opt for an external USB DVD writer.
[Q] Hello, Dr CHIP. I created an MS
Word file two months ago in Microsoft
Word 2007 and applied password
protection to prevent the file from
editing. But now I have forgotten the
password for it. Every time I open the
file, it asks for a password. Please help
me figure out if there is any way to open
my file now. Please help me. Thanks in
Advance.
– Ashutosh Rai
[A] Hello, Ashutosh. As we all know,
Microsoft Office 2007 is built with
significantly improved security features and
the passwords allotted to Word and Excel
2007 documents are extremely hard to
break. Presently, there are only two basic
methods of breaking passwords and they
are dictionary searches and brute force
attacks. Dictionary search is very quick, but
it doesn't help much if the password was
created artificially, which means that the
password is not a word, but is a random
combination of letters, numbers and/or
110 09/2012 INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP
Brute force attack is a method that tries all
possible combinations of specified symbols.
symbols. Brute force attack is a method
that tries all possible combinations of
the specified symbols. If the forgotten
password had less than six symbols, then
the recovery can be quickly done. With
longer passwords, the password recovery
tool will take much longer; it may take
hours and even days at times. Since you
need to recover the password for your
document, you can try Word 2007/2010
and Excel 2007/2010 Password Recovery
from ‘www.lastbit.com’. You could also
try some other utilities that are available
on ‘www.freewordexcelpassword.com’
and ‘www.password-crackers.com’. A
free utility for cracking Word and Excel
files called ‘Crackit’, developed by Jack
Kennel, is available for download on ‘www.
password-crackers.com/crack/guaword.
html’. Please do note that none of these
utilities are completely guaranteed to work
or give you the required results. You may
be lucky in certain cases if the password
applied to the document is weak.
[Q] Hello, Dr CHIP. I have a Sony VAIO
E series VPCEH18FG laptop powered
by an Intel Core i5 Processor. I want
to install Mac OSX on it together with
Windows 7 64-bit in dual boot mode.
I had installed Mac OSX earlier and it
worked fine except for some missing
drivers. The laptop has ‘Insyde H20’
BIOS and I know it supports UEFI
booting, but I am not able to install
Windows 7 or Windows 8 64-bit
versions using UEFI. I know I will have
to reformat the drive completely, but I
don’t want to do it and want to install
the other OS with dual boot options.
Please help.
– Shahzadpreet Singh
[A] Hello, Shahzadpreet. Since you don’t
want to format your hard drive, it is very
Install Windows 8 on a USB drive and boot from it
to save yourself the troubles of dual booting.
difficult to suggest something for dual
booting and installing Mac OSX on it. But I
can suggest an alternative. Why not make
use of your USB port and an external hard
drive to boot another operating system?
There are many methods you can
employ to have a live operating system
booting and running directly from a USB
pen drive or a USB hard drive. In this way,
you can make use of Mac OS on your
PC and use Windows 8 from the USB
drive. But in your case, you already have
Windows 7 installed and this is going
to make it more complicated. Why not
take the safest and easiest route? Take
a complete backup of your data from
the hard drive, repartition and format
the hard drive; install Mac OS and then
install Windows 7 or Windows 8 after that.
Alternatively, you can install Mac OS on
the laptop and then use Windows 8 via
a USB drive. Another option is to opt for
another 2.5-inch hard drive and install the
operating systems individually on each
drive and switch them whenever you need
them. In this way, you have a complete
drive for each operating system, enough
storage space, no data confusion between
the two operating systems and finally, no
dual boot troubles in case one OS fails.
[Q] Hi, Dr CHIP. I read your section in
every issue and find it very helpful. I
want to ask you a question. There are
some keys on my laptop for playing or
stopping the songs, but they only work
with Windows Media Player, which I
don't use. I use VLC Player more often.
Is there any way through which the keys
can be made to work with VLC Media
Player. Thanks.
– Sagar Goel
[A] Hello Sagar. You can remap or assign
keys from your keyboard to VLC at any

You can remap or assign keys from your keyboard
to VLC at any given time.
time. To do this, try the following steps:
Click Tools and select Preferences
From the left hand side, select Hotkeys
You will now see a window for
configuring an action and associating
it with a Hotkey. Scroll down until you
find the action ‘next’ and then double-
click on it.
You should now be prompted to enter a
new key for ‘next Track’. Now press the
multimedia key on your keyboard which
represents the next track.
When done, do the same for the play,
pause, stop, volume and all other keys
you want to map with the multimedia
keyboard. This mapping will now be
saved in VLC’s database and you can
use them in future.
Usually, VLC has frequent updates
which should take care of the keyboard
mappings automatically, unless the
hardware design is not a common one. In
these cases, you can use the above trick.
[Q] Respected sir, I have been reading
CHIP magazine for the past year and it
is the best. I have a problem with my
Dell laptop, the Latitude D505. I have
Windows XP Professional SP3 installed
on the laptop. Recently, I had formatted
my system and installed Windows XP
SP3 Professional all over again. The
laptop has two USB ports. So far, all
the ports were working fine, but after I
installed Windows XP again, one port
shows an error. Whenever I try to reset
the port, it doesn’t get done. There is
no USB device connected to it, but it
still shows a power surge icon. One port
works while the other one is blocked.
SiSoft Sandra is an easy way to find what
components your PC or notebook is using.
I have consulted various hardware
technicians, but all in vain. Could you
suggest any company technician who
could solve the problem or could you
suggest a solution so that I can do it
myself? Thank you.
– Somnath Paul
[A] Hello Somnath. The problem, at its
worst, could be with the hardware — in this
case, the motherboard itself, as it houses
the USB ports. To check if it is a software
or driver issue, you can try the following
things. First, try to reinstall the USB drivers
for your notebook. This will be available on
your notebook manufacturer’s site. You can
also use software such as ‘SiSoft Sandra’
to correctly identify the components used
in your notebook, so you can download
drivers from the chipset manufacturer’s
site. The other solution is to try a different
operating system such as Linux to see
if all the ports work properly. If they do,
then it’s merely a software problem that
can be fixed by either repairing Windows
HANDS ON
DR CHIP
or reinstalling the chipset drivers for
the notebook. The final alternative is to
reinstall Windows completely after taking a
backup of your data.
[Q] Hello, Dr Chip. I recently got an
Acer Aspire E1-531, which runs Windows
7 Professional Edition. I also have a
PC. I was fiddling around with the
Homegroup and Sharing options on
my PC and succeeded in sharing the
required folders. I wanted to share the
full drives, but I couldn’t. After all this
messing around, an extra drive partition
has popped out of nowhere on my
laptop. I’ve tried to remove it, but can’t
do so. Please help me to get rid of this
partition as it’s really annoying. I have
attached a screenshot of the drive for
your reference.
– Erin Viegas
The Disk Management feature within Windows is
an easy way to delete volumes and partitions.
[A] Hello, Erin. You can see if there are
any additional partitions showing up in the
‘Disk Management’ option in the Control
Panel. Click on Start > Control Panel >
System and Security > Administrative Tools
> Computer Management to access the
Disk Management feature. Here, you can
view, edit, shrink and delete the partitions
that you see. Make sure you have no data
on the partition before deleting it.
- Send your queries to Francis D’Sa
at drchip@chip.in
 HANDS ON
WORKSHOP
XXXX
A DVR for your car
This workshop will demonstrate how you can make a cheap car video recorder using a cheap
spy camera in less than Rs 1,000. BY FRANCIS D'SA
Vishal, a senior manager at a well-
known bank, drives to work every day.
One of the safest drivers in his circle, he
never breaks traffic rules and has never
got a ticket in all his years of driving.
One morning while driving to work, a
young man suddenly darted across the
highway to cross the road. The man was
hit by Vishal’s vehicle, and while a police
complaint did ensue, he wasn't hurt
much and escaped with a few scratches.
Fortunately for Vishal, he had installed
a digital video recorder (DVR) in his
car. From its place on the dashboard, it
recorded every part of his journey that
day. The recording proved in court that
Vishal was driving safely, was following
the speed limit of 60 Kmph, and that the
jay-walker was at fault. Vishal was found
innocent, all thanks to the DVR in his car.
LAPTOP CELLS SERVE THE PURPOSE BEST, CELLPHONE BATTERIES ARE ALSO GOOD ENOUGH
112 09/2012 INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP
1120912_Make a cheap car video recorder.indd 112
Car recorders are growing popular
all over the world. There are plenty of
ways in which DVRs prove useful. Taxi
operators can monitor if their drivers
are following the rules; parents can
check that their children are being
responsible; and innocent car owners
have evidence in case an accident occurs.
Installing a video recorder in your car is
recommended to deal with any untoward
incidents, but a branded DVR for the car
Spy cameras are cheap and small
is very expensive. Here, we show you how
to make one for less than Rs 1,000. its entire journey. Some DVRs comprise of
NOTE: The amount of money you spend dual cameras for front and rear (driver and
will depend on the type of recorder you rear view) recording, wide angle lenses,
want to build and the storage and battery high definition recording, high speed or
capacity you need. high frame rate recording, night vision,
Automobile digital video recorders and GPS geo-tagging. The prices of these
(DVR) are standard digital video cameras DVRs are exorbitantly high. The cheapest
mounted on a car’s dashboard to record and simplest China-made car video
SMS us!  Story code: HVR to 51818
8/23/2012 9:55:39 PM

RIG THE SPY CAMERA FOR ACCOMMODATING THE LARGER BATTERY EXTERNALLY
recorder can cost you around Rs 4,500.
We show you how to make a simple DVR
for less than Rs 1,000 with an inexpensive
spy camera and a few parts that can be
found at home.
First, find the cheapest spy camera
available and buy it. There are many
variants such as pen, keychain, button,
cap, tie, book, and toy. We chose the
keychain spy camera as it has a small
housing that can be easily hacked.
A keychain spy camera without a
memory card was bought for a meagre
Rs 650. An 8 GB microSD memory
card was bought for around Rs 250.
Small, lightweight and easily mountable
anywhere on the windscreen or
dashboard, the keychain spy camera has
very good quality video recording. It is not
easily noticeable because of its small size.
The battery used in spy cameras has a
very short running life, and cannot record
more than 20 to 30 minutes of video. The
battery capacity is usually only 150 mAh to
300 mAh, as the camera package has to
be as small as possible. We need to bump
up the battery life for the camera to record
at least two hours of video. If you need
more video recording time, buy a larger
storage card and install a battery with
higher capacity.
There are two ways to increase battery
life: either replace the internal battery with
a larger-capacity, rechargeable one, or
simply rig the unit to run off an external
power source. Using a larger capacity
battery means the battery unit would
need to be externally attached as the
shell would be too small for it. Using a
power source such as a power adapter or
a converter from the car’s cigarette lighter
point is the best choice. Either way, you
have to open the camera and de-solder
the existing battery. Then, attach a pair of
longer wires that can conveniently reach
the power source. A metre's length of wire
should be enough.
1120912_Make a cheap car video recorder.indd 113
Since the voltage requirement of a
video recorder is usually 3.7 V DC, you will
require a battery with a similar voltage
output, and a rating of 1000 mAh or
above. You can use these batteries:
 An 18650 battery either purchased
from the market or ripped off from an
old laptop battery pack.
 Any old or new mobile phone battery
with a rating of 1000 mAh.
 Batteries ripped out of non-working
media players or similar gadgets with a
higher rating.
Remember to check the voltage and
the rating before using any battery. You
can alternatively use a power adapter or
a cigarette lighter mobile charger unit.
Since their output voltage is 5 V DC,
you need to step it down to 3.7 V DC by
incorporating a voltage dropping circuit.
You can find one on Chinese electronics
websites or make one yourself. The work
and cost involved would then increase,
but you are assured of never running out
of power. Once all your requirements are
in place, proceed to hack the recorder.
Open the spy camera casing and locate
the battery and its terminals. Carefully
de-solder the wires from the PCB and
store away the original battery. We suggest
you connect this battery to a small motor
or LED to discharge it entirely before
storage or disposal, as Li-ion batteries are
dangerous, especially when the terminals
can short each other.
Now, solder the long wires onto the
proper places on the PCB by confirming
the positive and negative terminals,
ensuring your connections are safe and
secure. Make a small hole in the enclosure
of the spy camera’s shell so that these
wires can be routed outside the camera.
Ensure the wires are not loose to avoid
breakage. You can use some wax or hot
glue to secure the wires in place, but do
this only after the complete gadget is
ready and tested.
HANDS ON
WORKSHOP
Now, solder the other side of the wires
to a battery holder for your battery. Mount
the device on the car’s dashboard for
testing, plug in the memory card and start
recording your journey to test the video
quality, video frame and time.
As every camera has a different kind
of housing, you can make use of strong
magnets, Velcro strips or mobile phone
mounts to mount the DVR on your car’s
dashboard. Use your imagination to
find a secure place where the camera
can face the front and capture the best
angle of view. Place the camera in a way
that it does not pick up vibrations from
the engine, music, or bumpy rides, as
vibrations reduce clarity. Using permanent
magnets from old hard drives is one of the
best options we have tried so far.
That’s it. Test ride your recordings and
find a suitable angle for the camera. Make
changes to the memory card storage size
and the battery capacity depending on
your journey time. You can also use old
camcorders, handheld video recorders,
mobile phones and other such devices.
You can also use an Android phone as
a DVR by using the apps available. You
can instantly see the video on the display
screen too. Using an Android phone is
a lot easier; you do not need to rig the
battery as your car charger will work fine
here. Apps such as ‘DailyRoads Voyager’
and ‘VideoRoad (Car Video Recorder)’
are available for free on the Play Store.
These apps also include GPS geo-tagging,
current speed and timestamps as an
overlay on the recorded video. The videos
can be stored and viewed later.
Installing a car DVR is also beneficial
to those who want to improve their driving
skills. You can review the video after every
drive and identify your mistakes and areas
for improvement. Driving instructors too
can monitor their students' performance
with a car DVR.
– francis.dsa@chip.in
INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP 09/2012 113
8/23/2012 9:56:31 PM
 HANDS ON
WORKSHOP
Correcting
OVEREXPOSURE
Six simple steps to retrieve fine image details out of heavily overexposed snaps.
BY LUDWIG GROSS
C
orrecting overexposure
automatically used to be
a feature available only on
expensive, digital mirror reflex cameras,
but in recent years, middle to high class
compact cameras also include this
feature. You see, RAW files are “exposed”
or “developed” on a computer. These
terms conceal complex image data
processing, which includes, in the case of
overexposed images, white balance, light
exposure and sharpness processing. This
gives us the option to retrieve seemingly
lost visuals by manipulating the image.
In this tutorial, we will show you how
to optimise an overexposed RAW snap
using Camera Raw in Photoshop CS or
Elements.
For this, the original RAW file is
processed with two different exposures
114 09/2012 INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP
- one with distinctive depths and another
with corrected overexposed areas - which
can be eventually combined into a single
image in Photoshop. As a result, you
get perfectly balanced images with the
details lost in too much light retrieved by
using optimised depths.
The human eye can recognise high
contrast better than any camera. With
just a blink against a light source, your
eye can identify different tonal values.
While clicking photographs against a
light source, the camera has a bit better
balanced exposure – overexposed areas
are a result in which the details are not
visible anymore. Image information in
the “eroded” areas of the motifs are
completely lost in a normal JPEG snap,
but not in a RAW snap. RAW files are
largely unprocessed data delivered by
the image sensor of the camera.
This is How You Correct
Display overexposed First, open
1 the file “modell_fluss.CR2” (on the
bonus DVD) in Camera Raw and select
“White balance” in the settings palette
on the right hand side as shown. On the
histogram curve on the left, you can
clearly see the very brightly overexposed
area of the image. Press the [O] key to
view all the overexposed details in the
image.
Adjust the brightness Drag the
2
PHOTO: ANAND TULIANI
scale for “Exposure” to the left. A
value of “–1.60” is sufficient to retrieve
details from the overexposed areas. You
can ignore depths and midtones for now;
they are handled separately later. Click
on “Open image” to automatically load
SMS us!  Story code: HCO to 51818
 HANDS ON
WORKSHOP

1 2

3 4

5 6

the image in Photoshop and save it as a
Photoshop file. Name it “Overexposed_
Details.psd”.
Adjust the depths Open the RAW
3 file “modell_fluss.CR2” again. This
time, optimise with respect to the person
on the left using depths and midtones
without paying attention to the
brightness. Set the “Contrast” to “+44”
and “Brightness” to “+70”. Click on “Open
image” and save the document as a
Photoshop file. Name it “Dark_Area_
Details.psd”.
Fetch the images You should have
4 two differently lit versions of the
original image. One will have all details in
the overexposed areas and the other will
have details in the darker areas. Select
the contents of “Overexposed_Details.
psd” using [CTRL]+[A] and copy the
selection using [CTRL]+[C]. Then go to
“Dark_Area_Details.psd” and add the
copy using [CTRL]+[V] as a new layer.
Delete unwanted image details
5 Duplicate the background layer
with [CTRL]+[J] and give them
appropriate names. Select the “Eraser”
tool using the [E] key and set the
“Opacity” to “48%”. Ensure that you
select a white brush tip. Delete the
overexposed areas from the “Dark_Area_
Details” layer. This will bring out the
correctly exposed layer under it.
The final touches Reduce the size
6 of the brush according to the
subject in the image. If you have
accidentally deleted the correctly
illuminated areas, you can undo this
using the [X] key, thus exchanging the
foreground and background colours. The
finished image will now show distinct
colours and details in the areas blocked
out by too much light with added details
in the depths.
– feedback@chip.in

INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP 09/2012 115


Visualising complicated
EXCEL DATA
Newer Excel versions offer much more than standard diagrams to represent data. CHIP
shows you how to do this. BY PETER POSSE
O
verloaded or too many diagrams
and small labels disrupt clarity
in an Excel spreadsheet. But
for trends, even mini-diagrams within a
cell are good enough. These are called
Sparklines in Excel 2010, in case of
the accompanying XLSX file format
(see images 3 to 5 on the right).
Sparklines are a special cell format at
an intermediate level. Theoretically,
the same cells can have data in the
foreground and other structures in the
background. Moreover, Sparklines cannot
be deleted like normal cell contents.
The relevant command is “Delete” in
the field “Sparklinetools” in the section
“Grouping”. Excel 2003 and 2007 still do
not identify Sparklines. The free add-on
Sparklines for Excel (on the bonus DVD)
can, however, upgrade the functionality
for older versions of Excel.
116 09/2012 INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP
Classify and visualise
individual values
An absolute value cannot be represented
by a number. Visualisations also serve
in case of individual values whose
classification is in relation to default
ranges or other individual values, but the
structure only delivers one part of the
information. The simplest form for this is
the representation of profit and loss as
very indicative black and red numbers by
the number formats as shown in image
6. More complex options offer conditional
formatting where practically all formats of
a cell dependent on the value in the cell,
or even by another cell, can be defined.
As compared to the earlier versions with
attachable conditions, now everything is
rule-based.
Lots of data, facts and trends can be
meticulously arranged in statistical series
1
and complex tables. But it is often hard
to represent such a data collection, and
even its creator easily loses the overview
at some point or other. Though traditional
diagrams really look boring in Excel, we
now have new, innovative options to
illustrate data and results. The correct
way to do this depends on the available
space and on what and how much data
has to be represented. Thereby one
differentiates fundamental groups of data
that belong together as well as individual
values whose variables - for example,
range in a characteristic area - should be
immediately identifiable.
Diagrams are ideal for data
collectives
Typical data collectives are monthly
turnovers, daily temperature values or
percentages of a total, like in a ballot.
SMS us!  Story code: HED to 51818
 7
2
8

3
Multiple values must be represented in relation with one another.
Such variables are often dependent on a variable like time. All
types of classical diagrams are suited for this. They are available
in a huge number in the “Insert” section of the menu ribbon.

THIS IS HOW
Classic diagrams For a marked data area, there are a
1 variety of diagram types available for selection via Symbols
under “Insert”, which can be configured.
Alternative diagram forms Try a shape like “Net” or “Ring”
2 once in “Diagrams” under “Others | All diagram types”. Suit

4 your figures to catch the eye as per your needs.

Using Microdiagrams To insert Sparklines, mark the target
3 cell, click on “Insert” in “Sparklines”. For a shape like “Line”,
mark the “Data range” using the mouse for the displayed dialog
and confirm with “OK”.
Creating Sparkline groups Mark a Sparkline and other
4 cells. Transfer the structure using “Filling area” in “Edit” and
group the cells.
Adjusting Grouping options Through the superimposed
5 “Sparklinetools”, the groups can be commonly processed for
form, colour and axis and data options.
Red or black Clearly black and red stand for plus and
6 minus, which you can define from “Format cells” |
“Numbers” for “Negative numbers”.

5 7
Manage conditional formats All active conditional formats
of a cell are shown by the command “Conditional
formatting | Manage rules”. This enables you to update, process
or delete the conditional formats.
Using colours and symbols In case of ranges of individual
8 values, “Conditional formatting” quickly visualises the
individual values in context using “Data bars”, “Color scales” and
“Symbol sets”. “Conditional formatting” with “Rules to highlight
cells” is also a helpful tool.
– feedback@chip.in

INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP 09/2012 117

6
 HANDS ON
TIPS & TRICKS
Sachin Pandit
WINDOWS
WINDOWS 7
1 Initiate a web search directly
from the Start menu
1
A small registry tweak will add a Web search
function to the Start menu.
You need to manipulate the
Windows 7 registry a bit in order to trigger
an Internet search directly from the Start
menu. To do this, click on ‘Start’ and type
in ‘regedit’. Run the program and select
the key ‘HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\
Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Explorer’ in
the left pane of the editor. If the required
key is not available, you can generate a
new one by going to ‘Edit | New | Key’ and
then ‘Edit | New | DWORD value (32 Bit)’
for the entry ‘Add Search Internet Link In
Start Menu’. You can then double-click
this entry to select it, then set the ‘Value’
to ‘1’ in the dialogue ‘Edit the DWORD
value (32 Bit)’ and confirm with ‘OK’.
Close the registry editor and start your
118 09/2012 INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP
Tips &
Tricks
SHARE YOUR TIPS. Write to: tnt@chip.in
system again. Now, if you search for a
term in the Start menu, you will find the
link ‘Search through the Internet’ in the
list of results. This option opens your
browser and searches for your term on
the Internet using the default search
engine.
WINDOWS XP / VISTA / 7
2 Always see the current date in
the taskbar
The single-line taskbar always
displays the time but there is no place
for the date. However, if your monitor is
big enough, you can enable this without
much trouble. For this, right-click on the
border and make sure that a tick mark is
not set in front of the ‘Lock the taskbar’
option in the context menu. You need to
deactivate this option and then place the
2 will contain a folder for both the versions.
A simple way to see the date all the time in the
Windows taskbar.
mouse cursor on the upper edge of the
bar. Drag the bidirectional arrow upwards
to widen the bar and display more
SEPTEMBER 2012
information. Subsequently, lock the taller
taskbar in place by activating the option
‘Lock the taskbar’.
WINDOWS 7 / 8
3 Adjust the colour scheme with
the current background image
Ideally, your system's colour
scheme should automatically adjust
to match the background, especially
when Windows is set to change the
desktop wallpaper at regular intervals.
The tool AeroRainbow can do this for
you. Download it from www.winaero.
com and install it on your system.
Go to the ‘Software’ tab and click on
the ‘AeroRainbow’ option and then on
‘Download AeroRainbow’. Save and unzip
the file ‘AeroRainbow.zip’ in any directory.
The program runs both on Windows 7
and Windows 8. The downloaded ZIP file
Start the appropriate installation and
let it finish. You will then find a rainbow
icon in the notifications tray after a
restart. Right-click on the icon and select
‘Configuration’ from the context menu
to define the criteria for changing the
colour scheme. You can now activate the
option ‘Use wallpaper as colour source’
so as to balance the colour scheme with
the current wallpaper. The OS will adjust
the window frame and taskbar colour
as per the current. You can even request
a random change of colour scheme
(‘Always random colour’) or use the
SMS us!  Story code: HTT to 51818
 HANDS ON
TIPS & TRICKS

3 4 5

This simple utility will let you cycle between Microsoft's online Compatibility Center will let you Quickly detect all the devices on your Wi-Fi
chosen colours or match the wallpaper. see which of your programs and devices will work. network to identify intruders.

option ‘ Use the colours list’ and define
colours which AeroRainbow will cycle
through. You can define the frequency of
the change in colour using the scroll bar
‘Speed’ and then save the specification
values using the ‘Set’ option.
WINDOWS XP / VISTA / 7
4 Find out if a PC is compatible
with Windows 8
As a general rule, we can
say that performance and hardware
requirements keep on increasing with
every new version of Windows. Most of
the time, suitable drivers are also not
available for the older devices. Thus, it
is very important that before opting for
Windows 8, which is currently available
as a Consumer Preview, to conduct a
compatibility check for the intended
computer and the relevant hardware to
see if your system is compatible or if it
can be made compatible with suitable
updates. https://www.microsoft.com/
en-us/windows/ compatibility/en-US/
CompatCenter/Home is of great help for
such a compatibility check. By using the
‘Browse product catalog’ on the left, you
will be able to go through categories for a
number of programs and devices — these
are all checked to be compatible. The
detailed information here will tell you if
any necessary measures need to be taken
care of. It even provides you with suitable
update links for older versions. Those
who have already tested a product on
Windows 8 can share their result on other
developments of this database, where
it labels them as ‘Compatible’ or ‘Not
compatible’; this requires you to register
with a Windows Live ID. You can find
the entry of your choice by entering the
suitable term in the search field. In most
cases, system tools and security software
require the latest versions, although it is
seen that the programs and devices in
many old systems still function well.
WINDOWS XP / VISTA / 7
5 Quickly display the devices
connected to your network
Many times, you may need an
overview of all the computers currently
active in the local wired or wireless
network. This is possible from the
Windows Control Panel but it takes a bit
of time. However, this overview will not
show other devices such as smartphones
and tablets using your Wi-Fi network. It
is possible to gain a quicker and more
complete view through the freeware tool
Wireless Net View by NirSoft (www.
nirsoft.net). The program doesn't need
to be installed and you can simply
start using it right away by extracting
the ZIP archive and running the file
‘WNetWatcher.exe’. After a few seconds,
you will get a complete list of the active
IP addresses with the relevant device
names, MAC addresses and additional
information. Use the command ‘Options
| Background Scan’ for monitoring the
network. You can also activate ‘Options
| Beep On New Device’. This enables an
aural alert as soon as a new device is
detected on your network.
Note that if you are already using a
set of NirSoft tools either separately or in
Windows, then you need not download
this again. Just find the tool in the
collection.
WINDOWS 8
6 Comfortably access your PC
with an image password
Entering passwords on a
touchscreen can be difficult sometimes
as it's easy to make a few typing errors,
and entering special characters is a bit
tedious. To circumvent this, Windows 8
has come up with an alternative: image
passwords. This feature grants access
based on a series of defined gestures.
This feature is also quite suitable for
desktop PCs as graphical cues are quite
easy to notice. The only difference on
the PC is that the gestures are made
with the mouse. To enable this, login to
your system as usual and click on your
profile image on the Desktop. Now click
on ‘Change profile image’ and select the
category ‘User’ and then click on the
 HANDS ON
TIPS & TRICKS
option ‘Generate image code’. Enter your
password for access and confirm with
‘OK’. Now, click on the option ‘Select
picture’. You can browse through a
number of folders or even get a photo
6 of DNS provider OpenDNS and lets the
The picture password is a good compromise
between security and convenience.
from SkyDrive or Flickr. Drag the image
to the position you wish to set it and
confirm this step by clicking the button
‘Use this image’. Now, make three
movements or gestures one after the
other on the image to define a code. For
this, you may simply use straight lines,
circles and tapped points. The inputs
are faded in after each of the actions is
recognised and the number of the next
step is displayed on the left pane. Note
that the gestures' position in the image,
their size and their orientation are equally
important. However, the system tolerates
small inaccuracies. Once you repeat the
process for confirmation, you can store
the image code by clicking on ‘Finish’. You
also have the option of logging in using a
password at all times, which is a way out
if you forget your image code. You can
even change the code once you're logged
into your system or can view it once
again for revision or practice.
WINDOWS XP / VISTA / 7
7 Use encrypted DNS requests
and thus surf in a secure way
When you type in a website's URL
in your browser, a Domain Name Server
(DNS) converts the site's name to the
relevant IP address. Since this has always
been carried out as an unencrypted
service till date, attackers can track
your surfing patterns or can even guide
your requests to some other website.
Encrypting your data will always make
sure that monitoring or manipulating a
DNS request is not possible. However,
120 09/2012 INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP
theoretically, it is possible to at least
trace the returned IP address. A free tool,
DNSCrypt, which is presently available
for Windows on a trial basis, can be
used for added security. It encrypts and
carries your request through the server
request be answered. The software has
been is available on www.opendns.
com/technology/dnscrypt/. The only
additional prerequisite is that you need
to have the .NET framework 3.5 installed.
The program can be started immediately
after installation and runs silently in the
background. You can gain access to
this tool from the information section
7 WINDOWS XP / VISTA / 7
You can use this free service to encrypt your
browser's DNS requests and improve security.
in the Control Panel. You will get to see
the current protection status of your
system here in colour codes. In case of
any difficulties with your firewall, you
can activate the option ‘DNSCrypt over
TCP / 443’ so as to lead the request as
HTTPS. In addition to this, the option
‘Fall back to insecure DNS’ is generally
also activated. This feature ensures that
the OpenDNS server can be changed to
normal unencrypted operation in case you
can't access it.
WINDOWS XP / VISTA / 7
8 Comfortably use SkyDrive in
any browser
Those who use the free online
space provided by the Microsoft SkyDrive
normally access it through a browser.
However, if you use Internet Explorer 9
for this, you could optimise the benefits
of the integration and can operate
SkyDrive in a much simpler fashion.
Here, you need not remember the exact
address nor do you need to bookmark
the page in order to open the SkyDrive
website. Entering the term ‘skydrive’ in
the address bar and pressing the Enter
button is enough to reach the correct
website. The only requirement asked of
you here is that you need to enter your
login data for signing in. Use the 'Upload'
link given in the folder where you want
to upload files for uploading files from
your system. Generally, other browsers
pop up the file dialogue directly, but
Internet Explorer 9 gives you a section in
which you can comfortably drag and drop
files from Windows Explorer. Doing this
automatically triggers the upload process
in the background. The link ‘Select from
the computer’ in this section opens the
standard file dialogue.
9 Always have a tool box ready
for emergencies
It is often necessary to have an
offline first-aid packet for your PC at
hand. Most of the tools you may need is
available for free as part of a portable
tool collection called Microsoft Fix it. You
can find this tool at http:// go.microsoft.
9
This free tool can help you repair most common
Windows problems.
com/?linkid=9775982. You will need
to download the program and then you
will have to install the necessary tools in
your desired storage location. Now, start
Microsoft Fix it and follow the steps
given for preparing rescue USB flash
drives. You'll need to plug in the flash
drive, click on ‘Browse’ and then select
the portable drive as the target. Let
the option for the Windows PowerShell
remain unchecked and then select the
option ‘Save’.
Now, if you have a PC that's not
working, plug in your rescue disk and
browse to the folder 'Fix it portable'. Run
the program ‘Launch fix it.exe’ from the
USB stick on the affected PC. You can

limit the erroneous regions with the help
of the categories and can then carry
out suitable troubleshooting actions.
For this, click ‘Start now’. You can even
open the relevant link in case you have
a working Internet connection — this
helps ensure that the latest version of
the troubleshooting tool is always running
when connected. Now, just keep following
all the instructions and you can safely
solve most PC problems.
APPLICATIONS
EXCEL XP
10 /2003/2007/2010
Select large cell areas without
much fuss
10
You can easily mark huge areas without having to
scroll up or down by using the “Go to” dialogue.
When working with large amounts
data in Excel, it can be particularly
difficult if you want to select all the
data. One of the easier ways to go about
this is to first keep the cursor on the
starting cell and then, while keeping the
left mouse button held down, move the
cursor to the lowermost cell to the right
of the sheet. If the amount of data is
significant, then there are chances that
you may overshoot the target if you scroll
too fast. If you do that, you will have
to repeat the entire process. Instead,
you can use the technique described
below as it is both precise as well as
fast. For this, press [F5] or [Ctrl] + [G]
to open the “Go to” dialogue box. In the
box that appears, enter the desired cell
information in the ‘Reference’ section.
This will include the cell addresses for
the left upper and right lower corners,
which are to be separated by a colon.
For instance, if the starting cell is A1 and
the last cell is L54, then your input will
be ‘A1:L54’. As soon as you confirm your
input, Excel will highlight the desired
data. However, do keep in mind that
selecting cells with the mouse is much
faster and simpler when it comes to
selecting small cell sections.
EXCEL 2007/2010
11 Avoid warning messages while
opening files
11
You often face problems when opening a file in
Excel if the dynamic exchange is disabled.
You will often get an unexpected
error message if you are trying to open an
Excel work sheet directly from Windows
Explorer; this message is generally
regarding the path and prevents the file
from opening. The reason for various error
messages popping up or unexpected
behavior points toward the fact that the
Dynamic Data Exchange (DDE) option
is deactivated. You should be able to
open the file without any error once
this function has been activated. For
this, go to “File | Options” or for Excel
2007, click the Office button and then
“Excel Options”. Now, select the category
“Advanced” and go to the “General” tab.
HANDS ON
TIPS & TRICKS
Here, deactivate the option “Ignore other
applications which use the Dynamic
data exchange (DDE)” by clicking on the
corresponding checkbox. When you're
done, confirm your changes with “OK” and
close the Excel sheet.
Word 2007, 2010
12 Quickly scroll without mouse
using the Panning hand
12
Use the panning hand to navigate easily in Word
without using the mouse.
In the 2007 and newer versions
of Word, you have the option of scrolling
through larger documents using the
panning hand. But you first need to
activate this hidden function. For regular
use, it is advisable to integrate it in the
tool bar for easy access. To do so, click
the arrow in the quick access tool bar
and select the “Word Options” entry and
go to “Customize”. Here, in the “Choose
commands” combination field, change
the setting to “All commands”. Now,
search for and select the “Panning hand”
entry from the list on the left; the entry
is labelled “Moving hand” in the case
of Word 2010. By clicking “Add”, select
the command and confirm with “OK”. In
the future, you can activate this mode
by clicking the icon in the quick access
toolbar. Once this is activated, the cursor
takes the shape of a hand, with which
you can move the view in any direction
instead of selecting sections of text. You
can return to normal mode by pressing
 HANDS ON
TIPS & TRICKS
the [Esc] key or clicking the icon a second
time. The advantage of this function over
the mouse scroll is that you can also
scroll sideways and hence, also use it on
a desktop PC.
PHOTOGRAPHY
IMAGE EDITING
13 Brighten up the subjects and
minimise the image noise
Many times beautiful subjects
are hidden because of bad photography
techniques or camera settings. In most
cases, it is possible to resurrect these
13
Images captured on cloudy days or with incorrect
camera settings can be pepped-up in Photoshop.
images with the help of a little touch-up.
The photo seen here is somewhat
underexposed; the graining can hardly
be noticed, especially in shady regions,
and the artifacts are seen to possess
image noise in the mountainous region.
The image noise stands out clearly if
you increase the brightness to see more
detail. The photographer can capture the
same subject in a much better manner
if he/she uses a longer shutter speed or
a manual exposure correction of one to
two f-stops. A possibly low ISO value
would also reduce the visible image
noise. Or, you could brighten the photo
using Photoshop. To do so, select the
option “Image | Adjust | Levels”. You
can define the total value spread in the
editing dialogue using the 'Black & White'
slider. If you move the right white slider
to the left, then the entire image will
become brighter than it was earlier. The
disadvantage here is that the image noise
will be clearly seen. However, it can be
rectified with the help of the function
“Filter | Noise | Reduce noise”. To do this,
move the slider for “Reduce Color Noise”
to 100 percent and then move the other
slider correspondingly. The end result will
122 09/2012 INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP
make your picture look a lot better than it
was earlier.
IMAGE EDITING
14 Give a finishing touch to
portraits with shining eyes
The eyes are the most important
part of any portrait; an image will look
much more intense if the sparkle of
14
An image will look much more intensive if the eyes
sparkle in the right proportion.
an eye is in the right proportion. Many
portraits often appear unprofessional
on the PC. In such cases, the blame
generally lies in the dark and dull eyes. It
is therefore important to be very careful
while giving the final touches to the eye
region. To start with, create a copy of the
background in Photoshop in the Layer
palette using the key combination [Ctrl] +
[J]. The “Stamp” is the most suitable tool
to remove the red veinlets in the eyes
and small strands of hair. Use the “Clone
Stamp Tool” to remove any unevenness
in and around the eyes. However, ensure
that while doing these retouches, one
must work at hundred percent zoom view
to do a fine job. The white part of the
eye is reddened most of the times, which
can be quite disturbing. To rectify this,
create a settings layer of the type “Hue
/Saturation” in the layer palette. Now,
reduce the saturation and increase the
brightness.
However, make sure that you do not
increase it to extreme levels, because
then the white will quickly start to
appear grayish. Reverse the mask using
the key combination [Ctrl] + [I]. Now,
paint using the paint brush tool and
colour the eyes properly using white.
You can even activate the option for the
eye white by clicking on the layer mask
“Hue/Saturation” while keeping the [Ctrl]
button held down; this gives a radiating
effect. Once done, open the “Levels”
palette and increase the white shade
once again. For this, move the white
slider toward the left in the histogram
and subsequently reduce the opacity of
the layer. Now, set up a new setting in
the “Levels” in order to brighten the iris.
Close this dialogue box without changes
by pressing the “OK” option. Reverse the
mask using the key combination [Ctrl] +
[I]. Now, paint the area around the pupils
paint with the foreground colour as white.
You can now run the filter “Gaussian blur”
over the mask and then minimise some
of the opacity.
SHOOTING TECHNIQUE
15 Use the blurriness caused by
movement for giving an effect
In principle, photographers face
a lot of problems when it comes to
capturing moving objects, as you can
15
You can capture quick moving objects impressively
with the help of the longer exposure times.
reproduce only one short snapshot per
image, and nothing when a movement is
traced. However, there are simple tricks
that will help you click great pictures of
even moving objects. You can use the
resultant blurriness to your advantage,
as blurriness gives off an illusion of
movement. The effect created is quite
impressive, at times even more so
than the real situation. For this, all you
need to do is to set your camera to a
longer exposure time. Thus, it does not
freeze up the moment, but captures the
movement of the object on the sensor.
The lines left behind on the image
will be sharpened and the still elements
in the picture will be softened. The
most suitable option to do this is the
time pre-selection shutter priority “TV”
mode. Once you set the exposure time,
the camera will automatically select the
most suitable aperture. A time value
of 1/8 or 1/15 seconds is a good value

in daylight. As a counter move, a small
f-stop makes for a wide-ranging depth of
field. You can disable the image stabiliser
option, as it is of no use for this particular
process. Instead, use a tripod to avoid
any shakes. The beauty of this process is
that you can even get a good result with
a simple lens, as the speed is completely
irrelevant due to the long exposure times.
Even the picture errors do not attract
attention if your picture is blurry.
EVENT PHOTOGRAPHY
16 Use a wide-angle lens to make
wedding photos memorable
16
Unusual perspectives can make wedding photos
even more special.
Wedding ceremonies are generally
not spontaneous events. You can
therefore get detailed information about
the string of events planned for the party
in advance. You need not pester the
bride and groom with your questions, as
most of the times the witnesses to the
marriage, which include family members
or close friends, will have all the required
information. However, the important fact
here is that you are able to capture the
splendid wedding table at a point when
the decorations are still intact. If possible,
capture the table arranged in front of the
invitees as soon as everyone has taken
their place. A wide-angle lens will play
an important role here. It is usually used
to move details like the polished glasses
and the napkins to the foreground to lend
a blow-up effect. As a general rule, shoot
with a larger aperture opening so as to
reduce the depth of field of the lens.
The reception is the perfect opportunity
to capture all the groups. You need
to position yourself such that you can
capture both the bride and groom as well
as the well-wishers. The most precious
and special moment, a must-capture,
is when the bride and the groom are in
front of the ceremonial fire. Here, we
would recommend a full shot of the bride
and groom. Or you could use your tele-
photo lens and zoom in. An especially
perfect moment for portrait pictures is
also the reception. Remember to use
a powerful flash so that all the images
captured are crisp and clear.
UNDERWATER
17 PHOTOGRAPHY
Ensure your camera's safety by
following some basic rules
17
A few things to keep in mind before you dive in
with your camera.
Underwater equipment is made
of tough polycarbonate and tested to be
water-resistant to up to 40 metres below
water. We would highly recommend a
bucket test before diving in with your
camera. For this, lower your closed camera
in a bucket of water. If you do not see
any air bubbles on the operating buttons
after it has been in water for some time,
rest assured that everything is working
perfectly. When on site, prepare your
HANDS ON
TIPS & TRICKS
camera well in advance. Before locking it,
make sure that the rubber ring is perfectly
in place. Shut the plastic cover or there
are chances of sand sticking to the cover.
Make sure that the device is secured
properly, so that you don’t lose it.
SOCIAL NETWORKING
FLICKR
18 Hide geo data attached to your
images
Your location details are often
included when publishing photos on Flickr.
This information, along with some images,
can be equivalent to your postal address,
which can be quite interesting information
for miscreants. Besides this, the frequency
of uploads from one location can also
give away your whereabouts. In order to
help maintain privacy, Flickr has special
geo-privacy settings. This setting protects
your location, much like building a fence
around a selected area. To set it up, type
in www.flickr.com/account/geo/privacy/,
and under “Set up your geofences”, click on
“Create New”, search for your location and
define the radius of the protection zone
in the field “How big”. We recommend
selecting a large radius and assigning an
area that's not in the centre of the location
to be protected. You can even define
the category “Who can see the location
information”. All the security settings will
be in effect only for the images uploaded
henceforth. For old images, you will have
to open each individually and change its
geo-privacy setting by clicking on “Edit the
location”. This menu then relates to the
existing geo fence. Here, you also need to
make a relevant change in the combination
field for the visibility of the photos from
“Anyone” to the desired option. This
change must be confirmed by pressing on
the “Save location” button. Other areas can
also be protected in a similar manner.
– Compiled by Team CHIP
send your tips to tnt@chip.in
INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP 09/2012 123

IF THERE IS MASS REVOLT AGAINST
WINDOWS 8, MICROSOFT COULD JUMP ON
ON
THE "RAPID RELEASE" BANDWAGON ANDD
BRING SOMETHING NEW OUT NEXT YEAR.
R.
R.
JAMSHED AVARI, DEPUTY EDITOR
COMMITMENT hings aren’t looking good for Windows
T 8. Developers and software professionals
have been posting their impressions of
the fi nal version, known as the Release
to Manufacturing build, since the middle
of August, and the popular sentiment is not
overwhelmingly positive. Microsoft has also
made a 90-day trial available to the general
public though you’ll have to jump through a few
hoops to get it (details are available at http://
go.chip.in/dlw8). This is the fourth public
preview of what has turned into the biggest ever
reinvention of the world’s most widely used
operating system, so those who follow the tech
press should be more or less familiar with what’s
new. I’m trying to keep an open mind and will
be spending the next few months with the RTM
as my primary OS before I make any concrete
conclusions for myself.
From what I’ve seen so far, the general
tone of the tech-familiar seems to be one of
subdued resignation. People might have hoped
for and vocally demanded an official backtrack
of the Metro (now known as “Modern”) UI
and touch-centric strategy, but this facet of
Windows 8 has instead become completely
unavoidable. Public opinion of the new Modern
environment and its apps is overwhelmingly
negative—the music, videos, mail and calendar
have been described as underpowered and
borderline useless. Even worse, no one seems
to be able to get the hang of the new, reduced
concept of multitasking or the gestures
designed for touchscreens.
There’s some amount of praise and respect
for having made such a bold move, even if it
is given only grudgingly. Some are enthusiastic
about the futuristic, forward-looking
experience. Many point out the various other
improvements in Windows 8, such as better
battery life and SkyDrive integration. Those
1270912_Personal_Tech (Jamshed).indd 127
PERSONAL TECH
who do see Windows-based tablets in their
future are excited about the possibilities that
will open up. Plus, of course, the apps and
experiences can only improve over time.
However, millions of everyday users are not
familiar with the radical changes to Windows,
and won’t have any choice when it comes to
what’s preinstalled on their next laptop. Offices
that decide to roll out upgrades will also have
to take on massive staff retraining efforts.
Things are going to behave unexpectedly and
people don’t react well to change.
Which brings us to the unfortunate
conclusion that at least for a year or two,
Windows 8 is going to be the next Vista. It
will work well enough, but people will avoid
it based on hearsay and apprehension. The
biggest thing working against Windows 8 right
now is that there’s absolutely nothing wrong
with Windows 7, and no amount of advertising
will change that. The world’s current favourite
OS doesn’t feel tired, incapable or old-fashioned
in any way. Its replacement will be new and
different, but not appreciably better. People
are going to demand Windows 7 long after
Microsoft would like them to have moved on.
This time, though, Microsoft might not
oblige them. It has too much invested in the
brave new world of Windows 8—phones,
tablets, laptops and desktops will be unified
for the fi rst time, Office and all the major Web
services have been reinvented to match, and
Microsoft has changed its own logo for the
fi rst time in 25 years. The company has clearly
thought long and hard about the enormous
risk it's taking and is literally putting
everything it has on the line. Whichever way
this situation plays out, it will define the next
era of computing and personal technology.
- jamshed.avari@chip.in
- twitter.com/ja140
INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP 09/2012 127
8/23/2012 10:30:19 PM
 MARKET WATCH

MARKET WATCH
PROCESSORS: Intel
NUMBER OF
NAME PRICE (Rs) CPU SOCKET CLOCK SPEED MFG PROCESS TDP
CORES
Intel Pentium G620 3,708 LGA 1155 2 2.60 GHz 32 nm 65 W
Intel Pentium Dual-Core E5700 4,790 LGA 775 2 3.00 GHz 32 nm 65 W
Intel Core i3-540 5,665 LGA 1156 2 3.06 GHz 32 nm 73 W
Intel Core i3-550 6,386 LGA 1156 2 3.20 GHz 32 nm 73 W
Intel Core i3-2120 7,571 LGA 1155 2 3.30 GHz 32 nm 65 W
Intel Core i5-2320 11,176 LGA 1155 4 3.00 GHz 32 nm 95 W
Intel Core i5-2400 11,742 LGA 1155 4 3.10 GHz 32 nm 95 W
Intel Core i5-2500 12,875 LGA 1155 4 3.30 GHz 32 nm 95 W
Intel Core i5 2500K 13,596 LGA 1155 4 3.30 GHz 32 nm 95 W
Intel Core i7-2600 18,550 LGA 1155 4 3.40 GHz 32 nm 95 W
Intel Core i7-3930K 36,823 FCLGA2011 6 3.20 GHz 32 nm 130 W
Intel Core i7-3960X 59,998 FCLGA2011 6 3.30 GHz 32 nm 130 W

MOTHERBOARDS: AMD
CPU PCIE X16 | PCI |
NAME PRICE (RS) CHIPSET MEMORY SUPPORT D-SUB | DVI | HDMI
SOCKET SATA | USB
Jetway N68M 2,318 AM3 Nvidia GeForce 7025 DDR3 ✔|✖|✖ 1|1|4|8
MSI 760GM-P33 2,472 AM3 AMD 760G + SB710 DDR3 ✔|✖|✖ 1|1|6|8
Digisol DL-A76ML-K 2,601 AM3 AMD 760G + SB710 DDR3 ✔|✔|✖ 1 | 2 | 4 | 12
Gigabyte GA-78LMT-S2 2,829 AM3+ AMD 760G + SB710 DDR3 ✔|✖|✖ 1|1|6|8
Gigabyte GA-78LMT-S2PT 2,964 AM3+ AMD 760G + SB710 DDR3 ✔|✖|✖ 1|1|6|8
Asus M5A78L-M LX 3,013 AM3+ AMD 760G + SB710 DDR3 ✔|✖|✖ 1 | 1 | 6 | 10
Asus M5A78L-M LE 3,090 AM3+ AMD 760G + SB710 DDR3 ✔|✔|✖ 1 | 2 | 6 | 12
Digisol DL-A88GMV 3,348 AM3 AMD 880G + SB710 DDR3 ✔|✔|✔ 1 | 2 | 5 | 12
Gigabyte GA-A55M-DS2 3,554 FM1 AMD A55 DDR3 ✔|✔|✖ 1|1|4|8
Gigabyte 880GM-D2H 4,017 AM3+ AMD 880G + SB710 DDR3 ✔|✔|✔ 1 | 2 | 4 | 12
Asus F1A55-M LE 4,069 FM1 AMD A55 DDR3 ✔|✔|✖ 2 | 1 | 6 | 12
Digisol DL-A75M 4,867 FM1 AMD A75 DDR3 ✔|✔|✔ 1 | 2 | 6 | 14
Gigabyte GA-880GM-USB3 5,459 AM3 AMD 880G + SB710 DDR3 ✔|✔|✔ 1 | 2 | 5 | 14
Asus M5A88-M 5,794 AM3+ AMD 880G + SB710 DDR3 ✔|✔|✔ 1 | 1 | 6 | 14
Asus F1A55-M 6,155 FM1 AMD A55 DDR3 ✔|✔|✔ 2 | 1 | 6 | 14
Asus F1A75-M LE 6,309 FM1 AMD A75 DDR3 ✔|✔|✖ 2 | 1 | 6 | 14
Asus M5A97 6,824 AM3+ AMD 970 + SB950 DDR3 NA 2 | 2 | 6 | 14
Asus F1A75-M 6,901 FM1 AMD A75 DDR3 ✔|✔|✔ 2 | 1 | 6 | 14
Asus M5A97 Pro 8,318 AM3+ AMD 970 + SB950 DDR3 NA 2 | 2 | 6 | 16
Asus M5A88-V Evo 8,575 AM3+ AMD 880G + SB850 DDR3 ✔|✔|✔ 2 | 3 | 5 | 14
Asus F1A75-M Pro 8,627 FM1 AMD A75 DDR3 ✔|✔|✔ 2 | 1 | 6 | 16
Asus M5A97 EVO 8,704 AM3+ AMD 970 + SB950 DDR3 NA 2 | 2 | 6 | 18
Asus F1A75-V Pro 9,245 FM1 AMD A75 DDR3 ✔|✔|✔ 2 | 1 | 6 | 16
Gigabyte 990XA-UD3 9,940 AM3+ AMD 990X + SB950 DDR3 NA 3 | 2 | 6 | 18
Asus M5A99X Evo 11,820 AM3+ AMD 990FX + SB950 DDR3 NA 3 | 1 | 8 | 18
Gigabyte 990FXA-UD5 14,266 AM3+ AMD 990FX + SB950 DDR3 NA 3 | 1 | 8 | 18
Asus Sabertooth 990FX 15,219 AM3+ AMD 990FX + SB950 DDR3 NA 3 | 1 | 8 | 18
Asus Crosshair V Formula 17,356 AM3+ AMD 990FX + SB950 DDR3 NA 3 | 1 | 7 | 18

NOTE: Street prices (incl. VAT) as on 10 August 2012.

128 09/2012 INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP

1280912_Market Watch.indd 128 8/23/2012 10:10:32 PM

 CHIP brings you a roundup of all the latest and greatest products on the market.

PROCESSORS: AMD
NUMBER OF
NAME PRICE (Rs) CPU SOCKET CLOCK SPEED MFG PROCESS TDP
CORES
AMD Sempron 145 2,215 AM3 1 2.8 GHz 45 nm 45 W
AMD A4-3400 3,605 Socket FM1 2 2.1 GHz 32 nm 65 W
AMD Athlon II X2 260 3,657 AM3 2 3.2 GHz 45 nm 65 W
AMD A6-3500 4,635 Socket FM1 3 2.1 GHz 32 nm 65 W
AMD A6-3670 6,077 Socket FM1 4 2.7 GHz 32 nm 100 W
AMD FX-4100 7,107 AM3+ 4 3.6 GHz 32 nm 95 W
AMD A8-3870K 7,210 Socket FM1 4 3.0 GHz 32 nm 100 W
AMD Phenom II X2 560 5,150 AM3 2 3.3 GHz 45 nm 80 W
AMD FX-6100 8,446 AM3+ 6 3.3 GHz 32 nm 95 W
AMD FX-8120 10,300 AM3+ 8 3.1 GHz 32 nm 125 W
AMD FX-8150 13,596 AM3+ 8 3.6 GHz 32 nm 125 W

MOTHERBOARDS: Intel
PCIE X16 | PCI | SATA
NAME PRICE (RS) CPU SOCKET CHIPSET MEMORY SUPPORT D-SUB | DVI | HDMI
| USB
Biostar G41D3+ 2,590 LGA 775 Intel G41 DDR3 ✔|✖|✖ 1|2|4|8
Asus P5G41T-M LX 2,987 LGA 775 Intel G41 DDR3 ✔|✔|✖ 1|2|4|8
Gigabyte G41MT-S2PT 2,987 LGA 775 Intel G41 DDR3 ✔|✖|✖ 1|2|4|8
Jetway MIH55T-MV2 3,103 LGA 1156 Intel H55 DDR3 ✔|✔|✔ 1|1|4|8
Asus P8H61-M LX 3,245 LGA 1155 Intel H61 DDR3 ✔|✖|✖ 1 | 0 | 4 | 10
Biostar H61MHB 3,348 LGA 1155 Intel H61 DDR3 ✔|✔|✔ 1|2|4|8
Digisol DL-H61-MXEL 3,348 LGA 1155 Intel H61 DDR3 ✔|✔|✔ 1 | 2 | 4 | 10
Gigabyte GA-H61M-D2H 3,451 LGA 1155 Intel H61 DDR3 ✔|✔|✔ 1|2|4|8
Intel DH61WW 4,017 LGA 1155 Intel H61 DDR3 ✔|✖|✖ 1|1|4|6
Asus P8H61-M Plus V2 4,429 LGA 1155 Intel H61 DDR3 ✔|✔|✖ 1|1|4|8
Gigabyte GA-B75M-D3H 4,532 LGA 1155 Intel B75 DDR3 ✔|✔|✔ 2 | 2 | 6 | 12
Digisol DL-H67M 4,661 LGA 1155 Intel H67 DDR3 ✔|✔|✔ 1 | 2 | 6 | 14
Digilite DL-B75M 4,764 LGA1155 Intel B75 DDR3 ✖|✔|✔ 1 | 1 | 6 | 10
Intel BLKDH67CL 5,871 LGA 1155 Intel H67 DDR3 ✖|✔|✔ 1 | 3 | 5 | 16
Gigabyte GA-H77M-D3H 6,283 LGA 1155 Intel H77 DDR3 ✔|✔|✔ 2 | 1 | 6 | 14
Asus P7H55/USB3 6,670 LGA 1156 Intel H55 DDR3 NA 2 | 2 | 6 | 12
Gigabyte GA-H61N-USB3 6,747 LGA 1155 Intel H61 DDR3 ✔|✔|✔ 1 | 0 | 2 | 10
Asus P8H77-M LE 8,060 LGA 1155 Intel H67 DDR3 ✔|✔|✔ 1 | 2 | 6 | 14
Asus P8H67-M 8,369 LGA 1155 Intel H67 DDR3 ✔|✖|✔ 2 | 1 | 6 | 14
Intel DZ68DB 8,446 LGA 1155 Intel Z68 DDR3 ✖|✔|✔ 1 | 3 | 5 | 12
Gigabyte GA-Z77M-D3H 8,534 LGA 1155 Intel Z77 DDR3 ✔|✔|✔ 2 | 1 | 6 | 14
Asus Maximus IV Gene-Z 13,983 LGA 1155 Intel Z68 DDR3 ✖|✖|✔ 2 | 0 | 6 | 16
Asus P8Z68-V Pro/Gen3 17,047 LGA 1155 Intel Z68 DDR3 ✔|✔|✔ 3 | 2 | 8 | 16
Gigabyte GA-X79-UD3 17,402 Socket 2011 Intel X79 DDR3 NA 4 | 1 | 10 | 18
EVGA Z68 FTW 18,901 LGA 1155 Intel Z68 DDR3 NA 5 | 0 | 6 | 14
EVGA X79 SLI 19,225 Socket 2011 Intel X79 DDR3 NA 3 | 0 | 8 | 10
Intel DX79SI 21,321 Socket 2011 Intel X79 DDR3 ✖|✖|✖ 3 | 1 |6 | 18
Asus P9X79 Pro 22,609 Socket 2011 Intel X79 DDR3 NA 4 | 0 | 8 | 18
Asus Sabertooth X79 24,386 Socket 2011 Intel X79 DDR3 NA 3 | 1 | 8 | 20
Asus Rampage IV Formula 25,261 Socket 2011 Intel X79 DDR3 NA 4 | 0 | 8 | 18
Asus Maximus IV Extreme-Z 28,068 LGA 1155 Intel Z68 DDR3 NA 4 | 0 | 8 | 19

NOTE: Street prices (incl. VAT) as on 10 August 2012.

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 MARKET WATCH

MARKET WATCH
GRAPHICS CARDS: AMD
PRICE MEMORY MEMORY | BUD
NAME RADEON GPU DIRECT X SHADERS CORE | MEMORY SPEED
(RS) TYPE WIDTH

Sapphire Radeon HD 6450 2,730 HD 6450 11.0 DDR3 1 GB | 64-bit 160 625 MHz | 667 MHz
Asus EAH6450 Silent|DI|1GD3 2,987 HD 6450 11.0 DDR3 1 GB | 64-bit 160 625 MHz | 600 MHz
Sapphire Radeon HD 6450 3,399 HD 6450 11.0 DDR3 2 GB | 64-bit 160 625 MHz | 667 MHz
MSI R6570-MD1GD3|LP 4,043 HD 6570 11.0 DDR3 1 GB | 128-bit 480 650 MHz | 450 MHz
Sapphire Radeon HD 6670 4,750 HD 6670 11.0 DDR3 1 GB | 128-bit 480 800 MHz | 800 MHz
Sapphire Radeon HD 6670 5,253 HD 6670 11.0 DDR3 2 GB | 128-bit 480 800 MHz | 800 MHz
XFX HD-657X-CNF3 5,459 HD 6570 11.0 DDR3 2 GB | 128-bit 480 650 MHz | 500 MHz
XFX HD-667X-ZHF2 5,562 HD 6670 11.0 DDR3 1 GB | 128-bit 480 800 MHz | 800 MHz
Sapphire Radeon HD 6750 5,691 HD 6750 11.0 DDR3 1 GB | 128-bit 720 700 MHz | 800 MHz
MSI R6670-MD1GD5 5,897 HD 6670 11.0 GDDR5 1 GB | 128-bit 480 800 MHz | 1000 MHz
Asus HD6670-2GD3 5,974 HD 6670 11.0 DDR3 2 GB | 128-bit 480 800 MHz | 900 MHz
XFX HD-675X-ZNLC 6,567 HD 6750 11.0 DDR5 1 GB | 128-bit 720 700 MHz | 1000 MHz
MSI R6770-MD1GD5 7,519 HD 6770 11.0 GDDR5 1 GB | 128-bit 800 800 MHz | 1100 MHz
Sapphire Radeon HD 6770 Vapor-X 7,519 HD 6770 11.0 GDDR5 1 GB | 128-bit 800 800 MHz | 1200 MHz
HIS H775F1GD 7,870 HD 7750 11.0 GDDR5 1 GB | 128-bit 512 800 MHz | 1125 MHz
Asus HD7750-1GD5 8,112 HD 7750 11.0 GDDR5 1 GB | 128-bit 512 820 MHz | 1150 MHz
HIS H677FN1GD 8,302 HD 6770 11.0 GDDR5 1 GB | 128-bit 800 850 MHz | 1200 MHz
MSI R6790-2PM2D1GD5 8,833 HD 6790 11.0 GDDR5 1 GB | 256 bit 800 840 MHz | 1050 MHz
HIS H679F1GD 8,843 HD 6790 11.0 GDDR5 1 GB | 256-bit 800 840 MHz | 1050 MHz
Asus HD7770-DC-1GD5 9,888 HD 7750 11.0 DDR5 1 GB | 128-bit 640 1020 MHz | 1150 MHz
Sapphire Radeon HD 6850 12,103 HD 6850 11.0 GDDR5 2 GB | 256 bit 960 775 MHz | 1000 MHz
HIS H687QN1G2M IceQ 12,628 HD 6870 11.0 GDDR5 1 GB | 256-bit 1120 900 MHz | 1050 MHz
Sapphire Radeon HD 6870 13,236 HD 6870 11.0 GDDR5 1 GB | 256-bit 1120 900 MHz | 1050 MHz
XFX HD-687A-ZNFC 14,034 HD 6870 11.0 GDDR5 1 GB | 256-bit 1120 900 MHz | 1050 MHz
XFX HD-695X-ZNFC 16,661 HD 6950 11.0 GDDR5 1 GB | 256-bit 1408 800 MHz | 1250 MHz
HIS H785F2G2M 16,738 HD 7850 11.0 GDDR5 2 GB | 256-bit 2048 860 MHz | 1200 MHz
HIS H787Q2G2M 23,768 HD 7870 11.0 GDDR5 2 GB | 256-bit 1280 1000 MHz | 1200 MHz
XFX HD-697A-CNDC 27,424 HD 6970 11.0 GDDR5 2 GB | 256-bit 1536 900 MHz | 1400 MHz
HIS H795F3G2M 27,553 HD 7950 11.0 GDDR5 3 GB | 384-bit 1792 800 MHz | 1250 MHz
Asus HD7950-DC2T-3GD5 29,639 HD 7950 11.0 GDDR5 3 GB | 384-bit 1792 900 MHz | 1250 MHz
Sapphire Radeon HD 7970 35,123 HD 7970 11.0 GDDR5 3 GB | 384-bit 2048 925 MHz | 1375 MHz
HIS H797F3G2M 36,746 HD 7970 11.0 GDDR5 3 GB | 384-bit 2048 925 MHz | 1375 MHz
XFX FX-797A-TNFC 38,754 HD 7970 11.0 GDDR5 3 GB | 384-bit 2048 925 MHz | 1375 MHz

EXTERNAL DRIVE
NAME PRICE(RS) CAPACITY INTERFACE FORM FACTOR
Verbatim 53002 USB 2.0 4,275 500 GB USB 2.0 2.5-inch
Verbatim 3.5-inch External Hard Drive 4,609 500 GB USB 2.0 & FireWire 3.5-inch
Buffalo HD-PXT500U2/B 5,050 500 GB USB 2.0 2.5-inch
Seagate Free Agent GoFlex 5,305 500 GB USB 3.0 2.5-inch
Western Digital My Passport Essential 5,305 500 GB USB 3.0 2.5-inch
Seagate Free Agent GoFlex 5,950 1 TB USB 3.0 2.5-inch
Buffalo MiniStation PNTU3 7,056 1 TB USB 3.0 2.5-inch
Seagate Free Agent GoFlex 7,953 2 TB USB 2.0 2.5-inch
NOTE: Street prices (incl. VAT) as on 10 August 2012.

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 CHIP brings you a roundup of all the latest and greatest products on the market.

GRAPHICS CARDS: Nvidia

NAME PRICE (RS) GEFORCE GPU DIRECT X MEMORY TYPE MEMORY | BUS WIDTH SHADERS CORE | MEMORY SPEED

Asus EN210 Silent/DI/1GD3/V2 2,241 210 10.1 DDR3 1 GB | 64-bit 16 589 MHz | 600 MHz
Forsa GeForce GT610 2,987 GT 610 11.0 DDR3 2 GB | 64-bit 48 810 MHz | 650 MHz
Asus ENGT520 SL/DI/1GD3 3,193 GT 520 11.0 DDR3 1 GB | 64-bit 48 810 MHz | 600 MHz
Asus GT620-1GD3-L 3,760 GT 620 11.0 DDR3 1 GB | 64-bit 96 700 MHz | 600 MHz
Zotac GeForce GT 620 Synergy Ed 4,046 GT 620 11.0 DDR3 2 GB | 64-bit 96 810 MHz | 533 MHz
Zotac GeForce GT 630 Synergy Ed 4,262 GT 630 11.0 DDR3 2 GB | 128-bit 96 810 MHz | 667 MHz
Forsa GeForce GT630 4,378 GT 630 11.0 DDR3 1 GB | 128-bit 96 780 MHz | 650 MHz
Forsa GeForce GT620 4,429 GT 620 11.0 DDR3 2 GB | 64-bit 96 710 MHz | 650 MHz
Asus GT630-2GD3 5,356 GT 630 11.0 DDR3 2 GB | 128-bit 96 810 MHz | 910 MHz
Asus GT630-2GD3 5,356 GT 630 11.0 DDR3 2 GB | 128-bit 96 810 MHz | 910 MHz
Zotac GeForce GTS 450 6,592 GTS 450 11.0 GDDR5 1 GB | 128-bit 192 1620 MHz | 902 MHz
Forsa GeForce GT640 7,107 GT 640 11.0 DDR3 2 GB | 192-bit 384 900 MHz | 900 MHz
Zotac Geforce GTX 550 Ti 7,828 GTX 550 Ti 11.0 GDDR5 1 GB | 192-bit 192 900 MHz | 1025 MHz
Asus GeForce GTX 550 Ti 8,318 GTX 550 Ti 11.0 GDDR5 1 GB | 192-bit 192 910 MHz | 1026 MHz
Zotac Geforce GTX 560 11,356 GTX 560 11.0 GDDR5 1 GB | 256-bit 336 820 MHz | 1002 MHz
EVGA GeForce GTX 560 Ti SuperClocked 15,785 GTX 560 Ti 11.0 GDDR5 1 GB | 256-bit 384 900 MHz | 1053 MHz
Zotac Geforce GTX 560 Ti 16,480 GTX 560 Ti 11.0 GDDR5 2 GB | 256-bit 384 822 MHz | 1000 MHz
EVGA GeForce GTX 570 HD 22,145 GTX 570 11.0 GDDR5 1280 MB | 320-bit 480 732 MHz | 950 MHz
Zotac GeForce GTX 670 29,021 GTX 670 11.0 DDR5 2 GB | 256-bit 1344 915 MHz | 1502 MHz
Asus GTX670-DC2-2GD5 30,102 GTX 670 11.0 GDDR5 2 GB | 256-bit 1344 915 MHz | 1502 MHz
Zotac GeForce GTX 680 35,690 GTX 680 11.0 DDR5 2 GB | 256-bit 1536 1006 MHz | 1502 MHz

PROJECTORS
NAME PRICE (RS) TYPE BRIGHTNESS RESOLUTION CONTRAST RATIO
Mitsubishi EX200U 29,536 DLP 2300 Lumens 1024 x 768 1250:1
Viewsonic PJD5152 30,720 DLP 2600 Lumens 800 x 600 3000:1
Sony VPL-EX100 31,415 LCD 2300 Lumens 1024 x 768 2200:1
Sharp PGD2500 38,754 DLP 2500 Lumens 1024 x 768 1100:1
LG BX275 39,849 DLP 2700 Lumens 1024 x 768 2200:1
Sony VPL-EX120 41,715 LCD 2600 Lumens 1600 x 1200 2500:1
Viewsonic PJL3211 45,192 LCD 2500 Lumens 1024 x 768 500:1
Mitsubishi EX320U 45,372 DLP 3000 Lumens 1024 x 768 2000:1
Acer P1201 45,643 DLP 2700 Lumens 1024 x 768 3700:1
Viewsonic PJD6531W 51,578 DLP 3300 Lumens 1280 x 800 3200:1
Mitsubishi XD550U 51,861 DLP 3000 Lumens 1024 x 768 3000:1
LG HX301G 53,372 DLP 270 Lumens 1024 x 768 2000:1
Sharp PG-D3010X 53,586 DLP 3000 Lumens 1024 x 768 2000:1
LG BX286 55,492 DLP 2800 Lumens 1024 x 768 2100:1
Acer K330 59,548 DLP 500 Lumens 1280 x 800 4000:1
Sony VPL-EX175 61,285 LCD 3600 Lumens 1024 x 768 4000:1
Sony VPL-SW125 63,345 LCD 2600 Lumens 1280 x 800 3800:1
Acer S5201 69,977 DLP 3000 Lumens 1024 x 768 4500:1
Acer P5206 75,770 DLP 4000 Lumens 1024 x 768 4500:1
Mitsubishi WD570U 83,585 DLP 3500 Lumens 1280 x 800 3000:1
Viewsonic PJL9371 99,086 LCD 4000 Lumens 1024 x 768 2000:1
NOTE: Street prices (incl. VAT) as on 10 August 2012.

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 MARKET WATCH

MARKET WATCH
LAPTOPS
PRICE HARD OPTICAL
NAME WEIGHT PROCESSOR SPEED RAM DISPLAY OS
(RS) DISK DRIVE
Samsung NP300E4Z-A06 20,858 2.10 Kg Intel Pentium Dual Core 2.10 GHz 2 GB 14.0-inch 320 GB DVD±RW DOS
Asus X53E-SX1556D 21,373 2.45 Kg Intel Celeron Dual Core 2.80 GHz 2 GB 15.6-inch 320 GB DVD±RW DOS
HP Compaq CQ43-412TU 21,991 2.20 Kg Intel Pentium Dual Core 2.00 GHz 2 GB 14.0-inch 320 GB DVD±RW DOS
HP Compaq CQ43-300TU 22,506 2.20 Kg Intel Pentium Dual Core 2.00 GHz 2 GB 14.0-inch 500 GB DVD±RW DOS
HP Compaq CQ57-300TU 23,021 2.50 Kg Intel Pentium Dual Core 2.00 GHz 2 GB 15.6-inch 500 GB DVD±RW DOS
Lenovo B570 59-306815 23,793 2.44 Kg Intel Pentium Dual Core 2.00 GHz 2 GB 15.6-inch 500 GB DVD±RW DOS
Asus A43SJ-VX503D 23,948 2.44 Kg Intel Pentium Dual Core 2.00 GHz 2 GB 14.0-inch 500 GB DVD±RW DOS
HCL Series 1014-AE1V3067-X 24,075 2.30 Kg Intel Pentium B960 2.20 GHz 2 GB 14.0-inch 320 GB DVD±RW DOS
HCL Series 1015-AE1V3179-I 24,400 2.60 Kg Intel B970 2.30 GHz 2 GB 15.6-inch 320 GB DVD±RW DOS
HCL Series 1044-AE1V3113-I 26,000 2.10 Kg Intel Core i3 -2350M 2.30 GHz 2 GB 14.0-inch 320 GB DVD±RW DOS
Lenovo G560 59-318295 27,192 2.45 Kg Intel Core i3 2.53 GHz 2 GB 15.6-inch 500 GB DVD±RW DOS
LG ED530-G 27,809 2.66 Kg Intel Core i3 2.10 GHz 2 GB 15.6-inch 500 GB DVD±RW DOS
Lenovo B570 59-307494 28,840 2.45 Kg Intel Core i3 2.20 GHz 2 GB 15.6-inch 500 GB DVD±RW DOS
Toshiba Satellite L750-P5210 28,840 2.45 Kg Intel Pentium Dual Core 2.20 GHz 2 GB 15.6-inch 500 GB DVD±RW Win 7 HB
Toshiba Satellite L750-i5010 29,201 2.45 Kg Intel Core i3 2.30 GHz 2 GB 15.6-inch 500 GB DVD±RW DOS
Samsung NP300E5Z-A07IN 29,304 2.30 Kg Intel Core i3 2.20 GHz 3 GB 15.6-inch 640 GB DVD±RW DOS
Toshiba Satellite C640-X4013 29,355 2.10 Kg Intel Core i5 2.40 GHz 4 GB 14.0-inch 500 GB DVD±RW DOS
HP Pavilion DM1-4014TU 31,518 1.60 Kg Intel Core i3 1.40 GHz 4 GB 11.6-inch 500 GB No Win 7 HB
LG E530-G 31,673 2.66 Kg Intel Core i3 2.10 GHz 2 GB 15.6-inch 500 GB DVD±RW Win 7 HB
Toshiba Satellite L740-X4010 31,930 1.45 Kg Intel Core i5 2.50 GHz 2 GB 14.0-inch 500 GB DVD±RW DOS
Lenovo G570 59315902 32,342 2.44 Kg Intel Core i3 2.10 GHz 4 GB 15.6-inch 320 GB DVD±RW DOS
HP Pavilion g4-1200tu 32,703 2.10 Kg Intel Core i3 2.20 GHz 2 GB 14.0-inch 500 GB DVD±RW Win 7 Starter
HCL Series 1024-AE1V3232-I 32,740 2.20 Kg Intel Core i5 -2450M 2.50 GHz 4 GB 14.0-inch 500 GB DVD±RW DOS
Samsung NP300E5Z-A0HIN 32,909 2.30 Kg Intel Core i5 2.50 GHz 4 GB 15.6-inch 750 GB DVD±RW DOS
Lenovo ThinkPad Edge 14 33,681 2.30 Kg Intel Core i3 2.30 GHz 2 GB 14.0-inch 320 GB DVD±RW DOS
Samsung NP350U2B-A08IN 33,733 1.40 Kg Intel Core i3 2.20 GHz 4 GB 12.5-inch 500 GB No Win 7 HB
Lenovo IdeaPad Z370 59-313716 34,711 2.44 Kg Intel Core i3 2.20 GHz 2 GB 13.3-inch 320 GB DVD±RW Win 7 HB
Toshiba Satellite Pro C640-i4411 35,020 2.10 Kg Intel Core i3 2.10 GHz 2 GB 14.0-inch 320 GB DVD±RW Win 7 Pro
LG S530-G 35,535 2.60 Kg Intel Core i3 2.10 GHz 4 GB 15.6-inch 500 GB DVD±RW Win 7 HB
LG S530-G 35,535 2.60 Kg Intel Core i3 2.10 GHz 4 GB 15.6-inch 500 GB DVD±RW Win 7 HB
HP Pavilion G6-1301TX 35,793 2.30 Kg Intel Core i3 2.30 GHz 2 GB 15.6-inch 500 GB DVD±RW Win 7 HB
Samsung NP300V5A-A07IN 35,844 2.45 Kg Intel Core i3 2.30 GHz 4 GB 15.6-inch 500 GB DVD±RW Win 7 HP
HCL Series 1015 -AE1V3081-I 36,400 2.60 Kg Intel Core i5-2450M 2.50 GHz 4 GB 15.6-inch 500 GB DVD±RW Win 7 HB
HP G6-1200TX 36,452 2.30 Kg Intel Core i3 2.20 GHz 4 GB 15.6-inch 500 GB DVD±RW Win 7 HB
Lenovo ThinkPad Edge 14 36,565 2.30 Kg Intel Core i5 2.40 GHz 2 GB 14.0-inch 320 GB DVD±RW DOS
HCL Series 2025-AE1V3091-X 36,600 2.60 Kg Intel Core i3 -2350M 2.30 GHz 4 GB 15.6-inch 500 GB DVD±RW Win 7 HB

NOTE: Street prices (incl. VAT) as on 10 August 2012.

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 CHIP brings you a roundup of all the latest and greatest products on the market.

LAPTOPS
PRICE OPTICAL
NAME WEIGHT PROCESSOR SPEED RAM DISPLAY HDD OS
(Rs) DRIVE
Lenovo Z470 59-313567 36,771 2.30 Kg Intel Core i3 2.20 GHz 4 GB 14.0-inch 750 GB DVD±RW Win 7 HB
Lenovo G570 59-329524 36,977 2.45 Kg Intel Core i5 2.00 GHz 4 GB 15.6-inch 500 GB DVD±RW Win 7 HB
Lenovo G570 59-318794 37,286 2.45 Kg Intel Core i5 2.40 GHz 4 GB 15.6-inch 500 GB DVD±RW Win 7 HP
Samsung NP300E5Z-S08IN 37,389 2.30 Kg Intel Core i5 2.50 GHz 4 GB 15.6-inch 750 GB DVD±RW DOS
Lenovo IdeaPad Z570 59-306861 37,595 2.45 Kg Intel Core i3 2.20 GHz 4 GB 15.6-inch 750 GB DVD±RW DOS
Lenovo IdeaPad Z370 59-314056 37,801 2.60 Kg Intel Core i5 2.40 GHz 2 GB 13.3-inch 750 GB DVD±RW Win 7 HB
LG S530-K 38,625 2.60 Kg Intel Core i3 2.10 GHz 4 GB 15.6-inch 640 GB DVD±RW Win 7 HB
LG S530-K 38,625 2.60 Kg Intel Core i3 2.10 GHz 4 GB 15.6-inch 640 GB DVD±RW Win 7 HB
Samsung NP350U2B-A09IN 38,625 1.40 Kg Intel Core i5 2.30 GHz 4 GB 12.5-inch 500 GB No Win 7 HB
HCL Series 2035-AE1V2943-X 39,000 2.60 Kg Intel Core i3-2330M 2.20 GHz 4 GB 15.6-inch 750 GB DVD±RW Win 7 HB
HCL Series 2035-AE1V3226-X 39,300 2.60 Kg Intel Core i5-2450M 2.50 GHz 4 GB 15.6-inch 500 GB DVD±RW DOS
Samsung NP350U2B-A0AIN 39,655 1.40 Kg Intel Core i5 2.50 GHz 4 GB 12.5-inch 1 TB No Win 7 HP
HCL Series 2025-AE1V3125-X 40,071 2.60 Kg Intel Core i5-2450M 2.50 GHz 4 GB 15.6-inch 500 GB DVD±RW Win 7 HB
LG P420-N 40,170 1.99 Kg Intel Core i5 2.30 GHz 2 GB 14.0-inch 500 GB DVD±RW Win 7 HP
Asus K53SM-SX010D 41,200 2.60 Kg Intel Core i5 2.50 GHz 4 GB 15.6-inch 750 GB DVD±RW DOS
Toshiba Satellite Pro S750-I5430 41,612 2.45 Kg Intel Core i3 2.20 GHz 2 GB 15.6-inch 320 GB DVD±RW Win 7 Pro
HP Pavilion g4-1201tx 43,415 2.10 Kg Intel Core i5 2.40 GHz 4 GB 14.0-inch 640 GB DVD±RW Win 7 Starter
Toshiba Portege R830-i3310 43,729 1.39 Kg Intel Core i3 2.30 GHz 4 GB 13.3-inch 500 GB DVD±RW Win 7 HP
Lenovo IdeaPad Z570 59-315960 43,878 2.60 Kg Intel Core i5 2.40 GHz 4 GB 15.6-inch 750 GB DVD±RW DOS
LG P530-K 45,835 2.16 Kg Intel Core i5 2.30 GHz 4 GB 15.6-inch 640 GB DVD±RW Win 7 HP
Lenovo ThinkPad Edge 14 46,865 2.30 Kg Intel Core i5 2.40 GHz 4 GB 14.0-inch 500 GB DVD±RW Win 7 Pro
Samsung NP530U3B-A02IN 47,895 1.42 Kg Intel Core i5 1.60 GHz 4 GB 13.3-inch 500 GB No Win 7 HP
HP Pavilion dv6-6154tx 48,359 2.63 Kg Intel Core i5 2.30 GHz 4 GB 15.6-inch 750 GB DVD±RW Win 7 HP
HP Pavilion DM4-3010TX 51,439 1.40 Kg Intel Core i5 2.50 GHz 6 GB 14.1-inch 640 GB DVD±RW Win 7 HP
Toshiba Satellite L750-X531B 51,758 2.45 Kg Intel Core i5 2.50 GHz 6 GB 15.6-inch 750 GB DVD±RW Win 7 HP
Samsung NP300V5A-S0CIN 52,324 2.45 Kg Intel Core i7 2.20 GHz 6 GB 15.6-inch 1 TB DVD±RW Win 7 HP
Samsung NP530U4B-S02IN 53,766 1.79 Kg Intel Core i5 1.60 GHz 6 GB 14.0-inch 1 TB DVD±RW Win 7 HP
Lenovo IdeaPad Z570 59-315953 54,590 2.60 Kg Intel Core i7 2.00 GHz 4 GB 15.6-inch 750 GB DVD±RW Win 7 HP
Toshiba Satellite L750-Y5310 55,105 2.45 Kg Intel Core i7 2.20 GHz 6 GB 15.6-inch 750 GB DVD±RW Win 7 HP
HP Pavilion dv6-6165tx 60,719 2.63 Kg Intel Core i7 2.00 GHz 4 GB 15.6-inch 750 GB DVD±RW Win 7 HP
LG A520-D 61,028 2.50 Kg Intel Core i5 2.30 GHz 4 GB 15.6-inch 640 GB DVD±RW Win 7 HP
Lenovo U400 59-314001 61,182 1.98 Kg Intel Core i5 2.40 GHz 4 GB 14.0-inch 750 GB DVD±RW Win 7 HP
HP Folio 13-1017TU 68,367 1.49 Kg Intel Core i5 1.60 GHz 4 GB 13.3-inch 128 GB DVD±RW Win 7 HP
Lenovo ThinkPad X220 73,645 1.30 Kg Intel Core i5 2.60 GHz 4 GB 12.5-inch 500 GB No Win 7 Pro

NOTE: Street prices (incl. VAT) as on 10 August 2012.

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 MARKET WATCH

MARKET WATCH
DIGITAL CAMERAS
PRODUCT TITLE PRICE(RS) RESOLUTION OPTICAL ZOOM WIDE ANGLE APERTURE LCD SIZE SHUTTER SPEED

Canon PowerShot A800 3,875 10 MP 3.3x 37 mm F3.0 - F5.8 2.5-inch 15 - 1/2000 sec
Olympus VG-150 4,699 12 MP 4x 27 mm F2.9 - F6.5 2.7-inch 1/2 - 1/2000 sec
Canon PowerShot A2200 5,188 14.1 MP 4x 28 mm F2.8 - F5.9 2.7-inch 15 - 1/1600 sec
Sony Cybershot DSC S5000 5,305 14.1 MP 5x 28 mm F3.2 - F6.5 2.7-inch 2 - 1/2000 sec
Nikon Coolpix L26 5,475 16.1 MP 5x 26 mm F3.2 - F6.5 3.0-inch NA
Fujifilm FinePix JX500 5,897 14 MP 5x 26 mm F3.5 - F6.3 2.7-inch 8 - 1/1400 sec
Sony Cybershot DSC-W610 6,283 14.1 MP 4x 26 mm F2.8 - F5.9 2.7-inch 1 - 1/1600 sec
Nikon Coolpix S2600 6,400 14.0 MP 5x 23 mm F3.2 - F6.5 2.7-inch NA
Canon Digital IXUS 105 IS 6,547 12 MP 4x 28 mm F2.8 - F5.9 2.7-inch 1 - 1/1500 sec
Canon Powershot A3200 IS 6,547 14.1 MP 5x 28 mm F2.8 - F5.9 2.7-inch 15 - 1/1600 sec
Canon PowerShot A3300 IS 7,639 16 MP 5x 28 mm F2.8 - F5.9 3.0-inch 15 - 1/1600 sec
Olympus VG-170 8,009 14.0 MP 5x 26 mm F2.8 - F6.5 3.0-inch 1/2 - 1/2000 sec
Sony Cybershot DSC-W630 8,730 16.1 MP 5x 28 mm F2.6 - F6.3 2.7-inch 2 - 1/1600 sec
Fujifilm FinePix T350 9,270 14 MP 10x 28 mm F3.4 - F5.6 3.0-inch 1/4 - 1/2000 sec
Canon PowerShot SX150 IS 9,425 14.1 MP 12x 28 mm F3.4 - F5.6 3.0-inch 15 - 1/2500 sec
Nikon Coolpix S6300 11,475 16 MP 10x 25 mm F3.2 - F5.8 3.0-inch NA
Olympus SP-610 UZ 11,755 14 MP 22x 28 mm F3.3 - F5.7 3.0-inch 4 - 1/2000 sec
Fujifilm FinePix S4500 14,523 14 MP 30x 24 mm F3.1 - F5.9 3.0-inch 8 - 1/2000 sec
Nikon Coolpix S8200 14,675 16.1 MP 14x 25 mm F3.3 - F5.9 3.0-inch NA
Canon Powershot SX220 HS 14,704 12.1 MP 14x 28 mm F3.1 - F5.9 3.0-inch 15 - 1/3200 sec
Fujifilm FinePix SL300 16,274 14.0 MP 24x 24 mm F3.1 - F8.0 3.0-inch 8 - 1/2000 sec
Nikon Coolpix S9300 17,450 16.0 MP 18x 25 mm F3.5 - F7.0 3.0-inch NA
Sony Cybershot DSC-HX10V 17,536 18.2 MP 16x 26 mm F3.3 - F5.9 3.0-inch 4 - 1/1600 sec
Fujifilm FinePix F660EXR 17,665 16.0 MP 15x 24 mm F3.5 - F7.1 3.0-inch 8 - 1/2000 sec
Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ30 18,325 14.1 MP 20x 24 mm F3.3 - F6.4 3.0-inch 15 - 1/2000 sec
Canon IXUS 310 HS 18,330 12.1 MP 4.4x 24 mm F2.0 - F5.8 3.2-inch 15 - 1/1600 sec
Canon Powershot S95 20,472 10 MP 3.8x 28 mm F2.0 - F4.9 3.0-inch 15 - 1/1600 sec
Fujifilm FinePix HS25EXR 21,167 16.0 MP 30x 24 mm F2.8 - F11.0 3.0-inch 30 - 1/4000 sec
Nikon Coolpix P510 22,050 16.1 MP 42x 24 mm F3.0 - F5.6 3.0-inch 4 - 1/2000 sec
Sony Cybershot DSC-HX20V 22,377 18.2 MP 20x 25 mm F3.2 - F5.8 3.0-inch 4 - 1/1600 sec
Olympus SZ-31MR 22,712 16 MP 24x 25 mm F3.0 - F6.9 3.0-inch 1/4 - 1/1700 sec
Olympus XZ-1 23,021 10 MP 4x 28 mm F1.8 - F2.5 3.0-inch 60 - 1/2000 sec
Canon Powershot G12 29,793 10 MP 5x 28 mm F2.8 - F4.5 2.8-inch 15 - 1/4000 sec

NOTE: Street prices (incl. VAT) as on 10 August 2012.

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 CHIP brings you a roundup of all the latest and greatest products on the market.

MONITORS
NATIVE RESPONSE
PRODUCT TITLE PRICE(RS) SCREEN SIZE D-SUB DVI HDMI
RESOLUTION TIME
Samsung S19A10N 5,537 18.5-inch 1366 x 768 5 ms ✔ ✖ ✖
Asus VH197T 6,077 18.5-inch 1366 x 768 5 ms ✔ ✔ ✖
LG E2042C 7,200 20-inch 1600 x 900 5 ms ✔ ✖ ✖
Benq G2222HDAL 7,828 22-inch 1920 x 1080 5 ms ✔ ✖ ✖
Dell ST2220M 8,755 21.5-inch 1920 x 1080 5 ms ✔ ✔ ✔
BenQ GL2250HM 9,116 21.5-inch 1920 x 1080 5 ms ✔ ✔ ✔
LG E2242C 9,625 21.5-inch 1920 x 1080 5 ms ✔ ✖ ✖
ViewSonic VX2253MH 10,146 21.5-inch 1920 x 1080 2 ms ✔ ✔ ✔
BenQ G2420HD 10,300 24-inch 1920 x 1080 5 ms ✔ ✔ ✔
Philips 246EL2sbh 11,124 23.6-inch 1920 x 1080 5 ms ✖ ✖ ✔
Acer D240H 11,588 24-inch 1920 x 1080 2 ms ✔ ✔ ✔
ViewSonic VA2448M 11,794 24-inch 1920 x 1080 5 ms ✔ ✔ ✖
ViewSonic VX2453MH 12,051 24-inch 1920 x 1080 5 ms ✔ ✖ ✔
BenQ GL2450HM 12,618 24-inch 1920 x 1080 5 ms ✔ ✔ ✔
AOC i2353Ph 12,669 23-inch 1920 x 1080 5 ms ✔ ✖ ✔
Acer H243H 14,420 24-inch 1920 x 1080 2 ms ✔ ✔ ✔
BenQ LED V2400 Eco 15,450 24-inch 1920 x 1080 5 ms ✔ ✖ ✔
Asus ML248H LED 18,386 24-inch 1920 x 1080 2 ms ✔ ✔ ✔
Benq GW2750HM 20,343 27-inch 1920 x 1080 12 ms ✔ ✔ ✔
Philips 273P3 20,394 27-inch 1920 x 1080 2 ms ✔ ✔ ✔
Asus PA238Q 21,141 23-inch 1920 x 1080 6 ms ✔ ✔ ✔
ViewSonic VX2753MH 23,536 27-inch 1920 x 1080 1 ms ✔ ✔ ✔
Asus VK278Q LED 28,480 27-inch 1920 x 1080 2 ms ✔ ✔ ✔

CABINETS USB FLASH DRIVE

PRICE PRICE
NAME NAME NAME PRICE (RS) CAPACITY
(Rs) (Rs)
Zebronics CC-20R King 1,159 Thermaltake M9 VI1000BWS 4,841 Transcend JetFlash 500 232 4 GB
iBall i2241 1,751 BitFenix Shinobi Window 4,650 Transcend JetFlash 500 258 8 GB
iBall Piano 261 1,597 NZXT Guardian 921 RB 4,738 SanDisk Cruzer Switch 289 8 GB
Circle CC 512 1,694 Thermaltake Element T VK90001N2Z 5,125 SanDisk Cruzer Edge 335 8 GB
Circle CC 515 1,737 Cooler Master CM 690 II Advance 5,614 iball Ultra Strong 490 8 GB
Circle CC Stick 1,759 Antec Six Hundred 5,614 Sandisk Cruzer Blade 490 16 GB
Zebronics CC-219B Adorn 1,906 Lian Li Lancool First Knight Series 5,750 SanDisk Cruzer Switch 567 16 GB
Cooler Master Elite 311 2,163 NZXT Tempest 410 Elite 5,871 SanDisk Cruzer Edge 593 16 GB
Cooler Master Elite 335 2,369 Thermaltake Xaser VI MX Series 7,133 ADATA S102 670 8 GB
Cooler Master Elite 311 Plus 3,193 Thermaltake V9 VJ400G1N2Z Black 6,361 ADATA S805 670 8 GB
Lian Li Lancool Dragon Lord PC-K56W 3,300 Cooler Master HAF 912 Advanced 7,133 Silicon Power Touch 835 799 16 GB
Thermaltake Wing RS 301 3,657 NZXT Phantom 7,650 Corsair Flash Voyager Mini 850 8 GB
Zebronics Reaper 3,451 Antec Dark Fleet DF-35 7,854 iball Ultra Strong 1,082 16 GB
NZXT Vulcan 3,502 Cooler Master HAF 932 10,970 ADATA S102 1,159 16 GB
Cooler Master Elite 431 3,193 BitFenix Colossus Venom 11,500 Corsair Flash Voyager USB 3.0 1,211 8 GB
Lian Li Lancool Dragon Lord PC-K58W 3,800 Antec Dark Fleet DF-85 11,536 Sandisk Cruzer Blade 1,236 32 GB
Antec Three Hundred 4,017 Antec Lanboy Air 11,742 iball Ultra Strong 2,163 32 GB
Cooler Master Gladiator 600 4,301 Cooler Master HAF X RC-942-KKN1 13,674 Corsair Flash Voyager USB 3.0 3,141 32 GB
NOTE: Street prices (incl. VAT) as on 10 August 2012.

INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP 09/2012 135

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