Tech Tips And Tricks

Samsung Wave

2010-10-10T00:10:00.002+05:30

The Samsung Wave represents the first of the brand's Bada powered handsets. It has all the statistics you would expect from a high-end smart phone: 1ghz processor, 5mp camera with HD video recording and playback, slim build and multi-touch compatibility. But it also has a few things which could theoretically give it the edge over its competitors, the first of which is the Super Amoled screen.

The screen on the Samsung Wave at first glance seems relatively unexciting, albeit extremely bright. But look closer and you will see the contrast and clarity the screen pumps out. It is not quite iPhone 4 territory but it's pretty close. Pictures, websites and games are extremely vivid but never blown out and video looks particularly special.

It's difficult to fault most of the hardware on the Samsung Wave. No expense has been spared with the materials used to make the handset and they give the phone a reassuring weight and sturdiness. I found that the battery life is also extremely respectable, which is surprising considering the brightness of the Super Amoled screen. HTC's Desire or the iPhone 3GS routinely need a top up during the day, but not so with the Wave.

Bada OS is the phone's primary weakness, however. Given the strength of Android and the iPhone it seems strange for Samsung to release their own OS under so much competition. Bada feels like a simplified version of Android but puts too much emphasis on the internet browser. It does a good job of organizing home screens and applications logically, as well as keeping the phone's home screens crammed with information, but much of what may seem like apps on the home screen actually just link through to the browser. When compared to Samsung's own Galaxy S, which makes use of the Android OS, the Wave seems limited.

It is however extremely snappy. The 1ghz Hummingbird processor keeps the phone ticking along nicely and the screen is very responsive and smooth. More so than the Qualcomm-powered alternatives by HTC.

All in all the Samsung Wave is a decent enough phone, but with so much choice on the smartphone market, including the Galaxy S, it seems to just be another phone in the company's line up. It is much more reasonably priced than other similarly specced Android offerings, however, so it may be worth considering for those who want a smartphone without the huge price tag.

There's huge potential in the Wave's hardware, but it's let down by its OS. Bada simply can't hold its ground against Android or iOS 4. For those who are new to the smartphone market perhaps head elsewhere. If however you are an Android or iPhone veteran it is worth considering the Wave only because of its size, speed and simplicity.

Prices for the Samsung Wave vary by contract; sim-free it is available for approximately Rs 17,500/ from most networks and mobile retailers.

An easy way to pay

2010-05-24T22:42:00.002+05:30

An easy way to pay

I know many people who found interesting stuff to buy on the Internet, but got stuck because of the payment method — the seller would accept money only through PayPal.

PayPal, which uses encryption software, allows people to make financial transfers via the computer. The software ensures that no one gets to peek into the online payments being made. It has become one of the primary methods of funds transfer and boasts of around 153 million accounts worldwide.

One may use PayPal to pay for online auctions, purchase goods and services, or make donations. You can even use it to send cash to someone. However, making transactions from your personal account to a person in India (and vice-versa) has been temporarily suspended. Despite some problems regarding India, PayPal is worth it. You needn’t reveal your secret credit card number, which could be stolen anytime if you are on an insecure computer.

A basic PayPal account is free. You can send funds to anyone with an email address, whether or not they have a PayPal account. They will get a message from PayPal about the funds, and then have to sign up for their own account. Funds transferred via PayPal reside in a PayPal account until the holder of the funds retrieves them or spends them. If the user has entered and verified his or her bank account information, the funds can be transferred directly to that account.

Currently, there is a dispute between PayPal and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). Hopefully, things will get sorted out soon as there are more than 1,75,000 PayPal users in India. Till then, if you want to send funds to India or some other country. I suggest you use www.xoom.com. There are good reasons for this:

No more waiting in line. Send money any time of the day from the comfort of your house

Save money; their fees and exchange rates are lower than those of similar services

Send money in minutes for holidays, special occasions or any event back home

Xoom partners with trusted financial institutions in your home country.

Coming back to PayPal, signing up is quick and does not require any bank account information, although a credit card is required to use many of its features. On the home page, click on the “Sign Up Now” button. On the next page, you have to choose whether you want a personal, business or premier account. If you plan to use PayPal for the occasional eBay auction or online purchase, a personal account is the right choice. If you intend to use PayPal to accept payments for your own business, a business or premier account would be better. If you select a personal account, you can upgrade it in the future.

PayPal has other utilities. If you do some work for a foreign firm, you can receive the payment in your PayPal account. With the money accumulated here, you can buy goods from eBay or any other online shopping site. Professionals, businesses, freelancers and other service providers can withdraw money from PayPal to their local bank accounts as long as they submit the right purpose code at the time of the withdrawal.

Purpose codes are pre-defined by the RBI and their value varies, depending on the type of service you are offering the client. According to PayPal, the code P0805 has been fixed by RBI for “News agency services” and all freelance writers and bloggers will come in that category. The code P1007 is reserved for advertising and marketing, so social media consultants, web designers and Internet marketers should use this code. P0802 has been kept for software programmers and freelance coders.

PayPal’s personal accounts give you access to the core features, but that’s all. Customer support is mostly via email. There is a phone number, but it’s not toll free and sends users to a low-priority line with long wait times. There are no transaction fees for personal accounts, though there are fees for some other features, such as currency exchange. Personal accounts are also subject to volume limits of $500 a month. If you receive more, you will need to upgrade to a premier or business account (or deny the transfer).

Premier and business accounts are almost the same. The main difference is that a business account must be registered with a business or group name, and a premier account can be registered with a business, group or individual. Business accounts can also be set up for multiple users.

Play Chess Online

New use for old PC

2010-05-24T22:39:00.000+05:30

New use for old PC

When you bought your first PC you must have spent a fortune. But with technology being upgraded at a rapid rate, you may have switched to a new machine. Trying to sell the old PC is useless as there are no takers. And, of course, you don’t want to sell it as scrap.

Fortunately, there are many things you can use your old PC for. For example, you can make money from it. Dismantle it and sell the working parts on eBay: hard drive, RAM, A/C adapters, motherboards, graphics and audio cards, and even an intact case.

To make a good deal, carefully select the category of item. Post a picture of the article and describe it concisely. Write short sentences or lists and try to answer probable questions. Select the title carefully. Use the right keywords. Most important, be honest.

You can also make your old machine work faster. Replace Windows with Linux. I would recommend Ubuntu. Ubuntu version 10 is out. Download the software or request a free CD from https://shipit.ubuntu.com.

You could also transform your old PC into a workhorse with only the essential software components, including Windows File and Printer sharing. Get rid of all other software. Next, hook up all your external devices to it, such as an external hard drive or printer, and make them available to all other computers in the house through ethernet or Wi-Fi.

If parts of your laptop or desktop hardware are broken, you can salvage the working bits. So if the hard drive is still working, you can dismount it and transform it into an external and portable hard drive for your new PC. You will have to invest in a USB caddy, which can be acquired through eBay or your local hardware dealer. Be sure to get the right format and connector. For a laptop hard drive, you’ll need a 2.5-inch IDE or SATA caddy. For a regular hard drive, generally a 3.5-inch IDE or SATA caddy is in order. Caddies are enclosures for the hard drive so that it becomes USB compatible.

Your old PC can also be used for data entry, as it demands very little resources. However, one of the best uses is to convert it into an answering machine. Years ago I had software called Ashampoo that would answer my calls and even record conversations. The PC had an external 64k dial-up modem so the phone line had to be connected to it. There are several answering machine software. Google for one that fits your needs.

Best use of an old Mac

Convert your old Mac into a Wi-Fi Base station. Say the Mac is connected by ethernet to access the Internet. All you have to do to make it an access point is open up System Preferences. Click on Sharing. On the left panel just select Internet sharing (not checkmark). On the right put a checkmark on Airport and Ethernet. Click on Airport Options. Give the Network a name. Let Channel remain at Automatic. Put a checkmark against enable encryption (using WEP or wired equivalent privacy). Now put your password. If you share your Net connection with non-Apple computers, use a password with five characters and choose 40-bit as WEP key length. You need to put in a 13-character password for 128-bit WEP key. Finally, after okaying the password dialogue box put a checkmark against Internet Sharing. WEP data encryption is defined by the 802.11 standard to prevent access to networks by “intruders” using similar wireless equipment. This process is useful if you do not have Wi-Fi at home or in the office and want to use your iPod touch or the Wi-Fi on your phone.

Using the iPad in India & Windows games on Mac

2010-05-24T22:32:00.001+05:30

Using the iPad in India

The iPad does work in India, although it has not been officially launched here. When you touch the App Store icon on the iPad you will get, “Cannot connect to the App store. The App store is not supported in your country”. This gives the mistaken impression that the iPad is not working. A similar thing happens when you tap on the iTunes store icon in the iPhone and iPod touch. That does not mean that those two devices do not work in India. The iPad will work fine here, but there are a few workarounds you will have to do. One of its best features, the iBooks app — Apple’s answer to Kindle, Nook, Sony and other e-book readers — will also work, but you will be able to download only free books.

To get your iPad working in India, you will need to open a free US account (without a credit card). Make sure you have iTunes version 9.1 installed in your computer. Open iTunes in your computer; from the left panel click on iTunes store. By default it will take you to the Indian store. On the top left look for App Store Quick Links. There you will find the link for “Change Country”. Click it and choose the US. You will be taken to the US store. Here is the crucial part. Make sure you go to the App store. Try and download a free app. This will bring up a dialog box with “Create New Account”. Keep following the instructions till you come to a dialog box for payment options (credit card). Select None.

Fill out the required name and address fields.

You will then see a screen that says “Verify your Account”. Click Done and check your email for a verification email from the iTunes Store.

Click on the link enclosed in the email to activate your account. Once you click, iTunes will prompt you to sign in with your account name and password. If you have followed the instructions correctly, you will get to see a “Congratulations” screen. Click on Done and you will be taken directly to the US store.

On your iPad, go to Settings and scroll down to store. Sign in with the US account name and password. Go back to the App Store icon and this time you will not get an error message. Your first download should be the iBooks app, which is really fantastic. Reading a book on the iPad is an exquisite experience.

If you have friends and relatives in the US ask them to send you an iTunes Gift Certificate, or iTunes Gift Card. You will then be able to download books from the US Store (using your free US account) when you redeem a Gift Card bought in the US.

You can set up you mail easily too. Just keep your Wi-Fi on. For best results, your wi-fi router should support 800.11/. Routers come in 802.11/a/b/g/. The ‘’ specification is the best as it gives you a strong signal over a large range and a higher data speed transfer. The iPad supports 802.11/a/b/g/.

For further support for your iPad, write to info@systematixmedia .com

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Windows games on Mac

I want to be able to play Windows games on my Mac.

First, you need to buy a genuine version of Windows 7. Then you will need a virtualisation program for OS X, which will enable you to run other operating systems like Windows on your Mac. If you want the best results when you play the games, you will need to spend about $80 and get Parallels Desktop 5 (build 9308). If you want just basic 3D graphics for your games then get VirtualBox 3.1.2. This is free and made by Sun Microsystems. The third option is called Boot Camp. Also, make sure you buy a good Internet Security Suite.

Dell Adamo XPS

2010-05-17T00:01:00.000+05:30

If you’re looking for sheer flaunt value, the new Dell Adamo XPS is your baby.

A bold sliver of design ingenuity, a modern engineering marvel. Once you get past the initial confusion — “where did the rest of this thing go?” — the Dell Adamo XPS wows with its impossibly slim profile. At 9.9mm, the Adamo XPS really is the world’s thinnest notebook, and by far slimmer than the VAIOs, the Macs and the HP Envys. Heck, this is slimmer than a CD jewel case. The feeling is one of holding a thin aluminum tray that has somehow magically managed to fit in most computer internals.

Open it up by sliding your finger over the heat-sensitive latch (more wows ensue), and Dell’s secret to the ultimate laptop slimming package reveals itself. The keyboard fits into a recess the size of the 13.4-in screen, which means that the hinge swings up to become the rear support , slightly elevating the keyboard in the process.

And while it helps with heat dissipation, it’s especially tricky considering the quandary — this is a Rs 1.5 lakh laptop, after all. Do I let the hinge rest against my knees, or rest its slim edges on my legs, hoping I don’t do anything sudden that’ll throw this off? Despite its slim appearances, it’s sturdily built and feels solid — very reassuring if you’ve just spent that aforementioned one-and-a-half-lakh.

Now, to run Windows 7 smoothly, Dell’s packed in as much power as they could — a low-voltage energy-efficient processor, 4GB of RAM, a 256GB solid state hard-disk, and a bright 16:9 13.4 in high definition display. An integrated graphics card means that movies and videos will chug along nicely, but games are a strict no-no. Everyday tasks are a breeze, and that’s about the most you should expect from the pared-down internals. Ports are conveniently located on the sides, and Dell includes two slick-looking accessories — a 500GB external hard disk and an external DVD writer — in the price. About fair.

Where the Adamo XPS suffers more than anything else is battery life, and it’s a big Achilles Heel. Depending on how you use it, the battery lasts between 1.5 to a little over 2 hours. Bit of a pity considering 4+ hours of battery life are a netbook standard, and they’re one- seventh the price at best. The only redeeming factor — you can swap it out for a larger 40WHr battery, which is twice the current capacity, but it kind of kills the form factor. Not a good idea, since the form factor is pretty much why you’re buying this, right?

Obvious comparisons to the MacBook Air abound, not surprising given both share the all-aluminum looks and the desire to be the thinnest ever. The MacBook Air is a little thicker, but for approximately 30 grand less gives you a far faster processor, better NVIDIA graphics, and much better battery life, and you can run both Windows and the MacOS on it.

It’s difficult to recommend the Adamo XPS to everyone, not that it is meant to be either. It’s beautiful yet purely impractical, but there’s nothing else like it for now. If your laptop is intended to impress everyone around you, this is your best bet.

• Rating: 7/10
• Price: Rs 1.5 lakh
• URL: http://dell.co.in

Intex’s IN 6622 and iSmar

2010-05-16T23:57:00.000+05:30

Intex’s IN 6622 and iSmart are taking on Chinese competition in the dual SIM phones segment, says Tushar Kanwar

Isn’t it strange that you’re literally driven into the welcoming arms of the ‘Chinese’ mobiles if you’re looking for a dual SIM phone? All that’s set to change with Intex, the desi IT peripherals giant, launching their dual SIM phone range. And the IN 6622 and the iSmart are but a taste of things to come from them.

Now, while Intex phones may not be Chinese clones, their muses are very apparent. The iSmart is clearly gunning for the BlackBerry look, with design inspirations from the previous gen Curve, right down to the trackball and the QWERTY keyboard layout. Which is not half bad, given that it is light and easy to pocket, but the bright blue trackball really messes with the otherwise good looks. Switch it on, and the unabashed Blackberry-isms continue with the user interface as well, except that this time around, the user interface is rather sluggish and unpredictable. Expect to spend some time figuring out the user interface with this one. Where it does score is the dual SIM (GSM + GSM) functionality — it’s very clear when you’re making/ receiving calls or sending messages which SIM you’re using, and the UI is tweaked to make this feature work well.

The rest of the phone has pretty basic features — you get WAP/GPRS but no Wi-Fi, FM and MP3 playback but below average camera, Bluetooth with A2DP stereo but poor battery performance. All in all, you get a phone that had potential to do so much more, but you eventually get what you paid for. For its price, I’d almost call it a fair tradeoff, but the performance issues niggle.

The IN 6622 is the budget touchscreen handset in the dual SIM family, and while features are largely similar to the iSmart, the IN 6622 has a slightly larger (2.8-inch) QVGA touch display. A touch display at this price essentially means you get the less sensitive resistive display which is a bit touch-and-go when it comes to registering your on-screen jabs. The trackball is quite unlike the iSmart’s, and functions more like an OK button, which is rather confusing at first. I did, however, like the ‘SIM Lock’ feature, which locks your phone to the SIM with a password. Steal the phone, and the phone is pretty much useless with any other SIM.

At Rs 4,800, the 6622 is a stylish, affordable phone, and shows you just how affordable a hitherto premium technology (touch) has become. Goes to prove that at either ends of the budget spectrum, times can only get more exciting!

Intex IN 6622

• Rating: 7/10
• Price: Rs. 4,800

Intex iSmart

• Rating: 6/10
• Price: Rs. 4,600
• URL: http://intexmobile.in/

N97 mini and the E72

2010-05-16T23:55:00.001+05:30

With both the N97 mini and the E72, Nokia’s taken a well-trodden path rather than play with new ideas.

N97 mini

QWERTY. The six letters that mean the world to BlackBerry fanatics has a new champion in Nokia. With both the N97 mini and the E72, Nokia’s taken a path well-trodden and chosen to focus on optimising the current generation of products, rather than expand wildly into new product designs. How do these two fundamentally different phones, brought together for their love of QWERTY, stack up? More importantly, are they that much better than the devices (N97, E71) they seek to replace?

The N97 mini is, to be fair — and for better or for worse — viewed by many as the second attempt at what was a brilliant concept that failed in execution and timing, the N97. The mini nomenclature refers to the thinning down of the N97 on two specific counts.

First, a smaller screen on a smaller body with reduced internal flash memory from 32GB to 8GB. And second, a drop in price. The N97 needed both, so what’s to complain? The feature list is impressive as well, a 3.2-in display, a slide-out full QWERTY keyboard with a tilting screen, impressive applications and 5-megapixel camera with Carl Zeiss optics to boot.

The GPS and A-GPS are still present, together with ambient light, orientation and proximity sensors. The design is solid, and the reduced weight has meant that the mini can be shirt-pocket stuff finally. And finally, the keyboard is far better that the N97’s, with far more responsive buttons, plus no D-pad means your left hand ends up running around a lot less with the mini.

E72

But my biggest complaint about the N97 remains with its smaller sibling. With the Symbian S60 5th edition platform, Nokia’s still not got finger-friendliness down pat for the platform, and the user experience remains a mixed bag. Sure, some menus are bigger, but menus are still awkward and largely unintuitive in this day and age.

Much like the E72, the N97 mini’s browser supports full HTML with in-page Flash video, which means no separate app is required to play back Flash content like YouTube. The display is still resistive, which we can now officially say is so-last-decade, and with no multi-touch, zooming is clunky when compared to certain other phones. And problems with the battery remain, with Nokia replacing the N97’s already troubled 1500 mAh battery with a disappointing 1200 mAh battery in the mini.

Honestly, the mini is what the original N97 should have been, rather than a whole new product. Nokia’s touchscreen efforts are better spent with the newly announced N900 and Maemo OS than flogging the dead horse that is the current Symbian S60 platform.

The E72 has none of the mini’s problems —there’s no touchscreen so no comparisons to the touchscreen segment, and the battery is the same spunky 1500 mAh Li-Ion model that made the E71’s longevity legendary. As the successor to the hugely popular E71, the E72’s a hugely anticipated smartphone, but with almost six months between its APAC launch at CommunicAsia Singapore and its launch in India, appeal is bound to pale. Much like the E71, the E72 is a smart and sleek handset, and the generous use of metal trim lends a premium feel, not to forget one that collects fingerprints like never before!

E72

The good news continues with the keyboard which, despite the downsized space bar, is still very usable. New to the E72 is an optical trackpad — brushing your finger across the centre pad is recognised as directional control. I personally prefer the E71-style d-pad, but the E72’s system is reasonably responsive, and is really a matter of preference. Messaging options are really where the E72 comes out into its own, with plenty of account type support onboard. Basic POP and IMAP4 are of course accounted for, together with Nokia Messaging, ActiveSync, Lotus Notes Traveller and Mail for Exchange.

The only real disappointment I saw with the E72 was its 2.36-in 320 x 240 QVGA display, primarily because I’m surprised that Nokia didn’t squeeze in something more impressive. Higher resolution and bigger displays are fast becoming the norm now, and the flagship business device deserved better. Some of that blame goes to the Symbian S60 3rd Edition FP2 OS, and Nokia really needs to up its game so that users start believing they have a modern platform in their hands, and not a device that’s living with years of legacy.

So would I recommend the E72? Most certainly, if you’re not hung up on owning a BlackBerry (or aren’t forced by corporate policies!) and don’t need a touchscreen phone, this is the business-oriented cell phone to buy. One that will allow you to do your job and do it in style!

• Rating: N97 mini: 7/10, E72: 8/10
• Price: N97 mini: Rs 30,939, E72: Rs 22,989
• URL: http://www.nokia.co.in/

Acer Notebooks

2010-05-16T23:53:00.001+05:30

With the first ever 3D laptop and a multi-touch notebook, Acer gets ahead of the competition, says Tushar Kanwar

ACER 5738D

Even if you have a passing interest in the consumer electronics space, chances are that you would have heard the terms “3D” and “multi-touch” being ballyhooed all over the place over the past couple of months! While the third dimension has found its champions in Avatar and the slew of 3D TVs launched in CES ’10, multi-touch has the weight of Apple —everything from its iPhones, Macs, Magic Mouse to the iPad support it — behind it! So when Acer added 3D and multi-touch to their latest range of laptops, we had to take them out for a spin! Gimmick or path-breaking USP? Read on!

With the 5738D, Acer’s foray into the market of one — at least as far as 3D laptops go — has been nothing short of a great big technological move forward. Previously, if you wanted 3D hardware on your desk, you’d need special powered 3D glasses, not to mention a screen with a 120Hz refresh rate and a specialised graphics card. At Rs 43,500 + taxes, this is a far cheaper solution to living the world of Pandora on your desk than ever before.

Sure, so the laptop itself isn’t the slimmest or the sleekest model out there, and the power under the hood is capable, not awe-inspiring, but that’s not why you’re reading this, are you? The real attraction is the screen, which at 1366x768 pixels is a little on the lower side, but it’s 3D, so that makes it all worth your while, right?

Almost. There’s still no escaping the glasses, no matter how comfy Acer’s made them. The screen is covered with a thin layer of polarising filters, which when combined with Acer’s stylish polarised specs works the 3D magic. A piece of software — TriDef 3D — sends the left and right images to the correct parts of the screen for the corresponding eye, and with the glasses blocking out alternate pixels to each eye, your brain tells you it’s 3D.

Much like the Fujifilm 3D camera that was here not too long ago, you will have to tilt the screen and focus till you see the sweet spot for all that 3D goodness! Once that’s done, fire up the demo content provided on the TriDef media player, and the stuff quite literally leaps out of the screen at you!

ACER 5738PZG

It tweaks your images too for a nice 3D effect, and better still, the TriDef 3D software can add a 3D effect to any game that uses DirectX 9 rendering. The effect is insane — games render really well in 3D, but it’s a pity that the graphics card is not upto snuff for many modern games. Your mileage may vary.

Movie watching is a bit of a miss than a hit, with the 3D effect working intermittently and forcing you to keep switching your physical position ever so often. Plus 3D rendering adds to the processing load on your system, which means really high def content (should this system have featured a Blu-ray) would crawl. And before I forget, do yourself a favour and don’t watch 3D content over a sustained period of time — you’ll just be lining yourself up for a massive headache.

But as a proof of concept, the 5738D really works, and it does so without charging a massive premium. If you’re the early adopter who needs the latest tech on your table, this would a good point to dive in!

Acer’s 5738PzG multi-touch notebook is a whole different kettle of fish, although it does have one thing in common with the 5738D — unique screens. Kitted with a 15.6-in HD CineCrystal display with 16:9 aspect ratio and 1,366x768 pixel resolution, the 5738PzG features a multi-touch screen, which lets you use two fingers to zoom in and out on Web sites, create handwritten notes, not to mention other mundane tasks such as starting your favourite media apps and editing photos and videos. In addition, it also features a multi-gesture touchpad a la the Apple notebooks that will allow you to use gestures to navigate, such as pinching, flicking and swirling.

ACER 5738D

So with the new multi-touch capabilities built in with Windows 7 (included), it promised a refreshing take on what are otherwise reasonably good but ultimately bog-standard components. So how well does the multi-touch work on this screen? Well, for starters, it is responsive, which is always a good sign with touch screens. You can quite easily flick back and forth between pictures, your internet history etc, though I did find tasks like minimising windows and others that require a degree of precision to be better left to the trackpad. At Rs 45,204 (MRP), it is well priced, and the multi-touch capability gives it the edge over similarly specced laptops.

Acer 3D laptop 5738D
Rating: 8/10
Price: Rs 43,500 plus taxes
Acer multi-touch 5738PzG
Rating: 8/10
Price: Rs 45,204
URL: http://www.acer.co.in

Playstation 3

2010-05-16T23:52:00.001+05:30

Sony’s given the Playstation 3 a ‘slim’ and smart makeover, says Tushar Kanwar

Come to think of it, the PlayStation 3 was a utopian game-console designer’s imagination gone wild, when it first launched in 2006. Chock-full with the latest tech, its glossy appearance screamed vanity, arrogance and the kind of excess that can only come thanks to the monumental successes of its predecessors, the PlayStation 2 and the original PlayStation. The price tag was monumental too, a fact that gamers found hard to digest, and the PlayStation 3 trailed cheaper consoles. This despite the fact that it was far and away the best home entertainment console, thanks to Sony’s inclusion of a Blu-ray drive.

Come 2010, and Sony’s remodelled PlayStation 3 ‘Slim’ has lost some serious weight, in virtually every department. It isn’t called the Slim without reason — it’s significantly thinner and narrower than the original PS3. You’ll see numbers everywhere that describe the size reduction Sony has achieved with the PS3 Slim, to the tune of 33 per cent less space and 36 per cent less weight.

But these numbers can’t convey just how much smaller it’s gotten — it’s like comparing a laptop to a desktop, it’s that much smaller. Also gone is the fingerprint-friendly glossy exterior, with a new matte finish that is more contemporary and understated. The annoying touch sensitive power and eject controls have been replaced with actual buttons, and the hard disk has been upgraded to a 120GB variant, at the same price point as the entry-level previous-gen ‘fat’ model.

Sony’s also improved power consumption with the new Slim, and the unit consumes about 50 per cent of the power the original 2006 model consumed. Also down are the noise levels of the PS3, something that is really bothersome when you’re watching a Blu-ray movie.

With the weight loss regime, not everything made the cut in the transition from the fat PS3 to the ‘Slim’. In fact, if you pick up a current gen fat model, the only difference is that the Slim loses the ability to install a third-party platform like Linux. Not that I’d imagine the average consumer to care about this, but just so you know.

The two additional USB ports, the memory card readers were gone from the previous generation fat model as well but nothing hurts more than the loss of backward compatibility for PlayStation2 games. It not making a reappearance in the Slim wasn’t a surprise, but it still remains an anti- consumer decision. With one of the most impressive line-ups of game titles in the industry, continuing to ignore PS2 compatibility in the PS3 Slim doesn’t earn Sony any brownie points.

So here’s the good news, and the bad news — apart from the cosmetics and the power consumption, the fat and slim are basically the same. The same beast of a monster gaming console, but Sony didn’t add new features to the Slim. You still get the built-in Wi-Fi connectivity (it’s extra on other consoles), the excellent DualShock3 Bluetooth wireless controller, and the same built-in Profile 2.0 Blu-ray player with BD-Live capabilities.

The PS3 can act as a digital media hub as well, with the ability to stream content from any DLNA-compatible network device, including PCs and network attached hard drives. And you also get a built-in web browser, which is good enough for the occasional couch surfing, though not as good as any of the major browsers available for PCs.

As hardware goes, the PS3 still can run circles around the competition, and the Blu-ray abilities only help its case further. Where it lacks is the fully developed social gaming platform — you do get the PlayStation Network, but it still needs a lot of work to challenge competing platforms on the Internet gaming experience. Though, as a powerful gaming console with Blu-ray capabilities to match your full-HD TV, this is the console to pick up.

Quick Specs:

Model Number: CECH-2000A
Processor/Graphics: Cell Broadband Engine with nVidia RSX graphics
Memory: 256MB XDR Main RAM/ 256MB GDDR3 VRAM
Hard Disk: 2.5 Serial ATA 120GB
Communication: Ethernet (10/100/1000), Wi-Fi IEEE 802.11b/g, Bluetooth 2.0 (EDR), 2 x USB
AV Output: Resolutions (480i/ 480p/ 576i/ 576p/ 720p/ 1080i/ 1080p), 1 x HDMI out, 1 x AV Multiout, 1 x Digital out
Sound Output: Dolby Digital Plus/ Dolby Digital 5.1ch/ DTS 5.1ch/ LPCM 7.1ch/ AAC
Optical Drive: Blu-ray Disc/DVD/CD Drive
Included: 1 A/V cable , 1 USB cable, 1 DualShock 3 wireless controller
Colour: Charcoal black, matte finish
Dimensions (in inches): 2.6 x 11.4 x 11.4
Weight: 3.22kg
Rating: 8/10
Price: Rs 19,990 all inclusive
URL: http://www.sony.co.in/product/playstation+3+120gbU

high definition media players

2010-05-16T23:50:00.000+05:30

Three top brands vie for attention with their high definition media players.

Spot Quiz: What’s the #1 cause of disappointment for most new LCD TV owners? I’d hazard a safe guess — most programmes don’t look as good as the demo content that wowed you back in the showroom. And with service providers not looking any more likely to provide high definition (HD) anytime soon, companies like Western Digital, Asus and Amkette are looking to tap consumers who have multimedia files stored on their computers and hard disks and want to bring them to their TVs without the hassle of complicated cabling and unsightly computer boxes in the living room! Let’s have a quick look at what’s on offer.

Having owned a previous iteration of the Western Digital WD TV Live HD, I had a head start on this one. It’s by far the most pleasing looking of all the high definition media players we looked at, and had no problems reading every storage device we threw at it — USB flash drives, portable hard drives, even card readers.

The user interface to choose what to play is very slick, very suited to big screen viewing with large icons and fonts. You plug in your storage, and the WD TV Live HD plays back pretty much any format under the sun — videos, photos and music.

Just remember that whether you’re connecting to your TV via the standard composite (yellow, red, white) cables or HDMI, you’re limited by the quality of the file you are playing.

The less compressed, high-resolution files will obviously look better — that’s true for all players. Performance is top notch, with never a stutter even when it was playing back full 1080p content. And its ‘Live’ features — the ability to play back content over your home network or from the YouTube channel and Pandora Internet Radio were a cinch to configure.

The only downer — its price. At Rs 10,500, it’s a pretty packet to shell out, and I’d have expected at least wireless capabilities or some free HDMI cables thrown in for good value.

With the Asus !Play HDP-R1 (yeah, wrap you mind around that name!), the larger bulk gives it a sturdy feel, but the heavy use of plastic does tend to take the premium sheen away from the player.

The two blue status LEDs up front are bright, and mildly distracting when you’re viewing them straight on in a dark room. You get two USB ports, one of which doubles as an eSATA port as well. Around the back, you get a network port, along with stereo analogue audio, composite video, optical digital audio and HDMI.

Like the WD offering, this lacks component video, so if you have an older TV which supports only this, you’re out of luck. Switch it on, and you’re presented with an interface that’s nice and intuitive but not as refined as the WD.

Performance is at par with the best in class, save for a niggling video preview while browsing videos. I quite liked the File Copy feature, which lets you copy files between USB/eSATA devices and network locations without booting a PC. Again, there’s no wireless option, which makes this about okay at Rs 9,000 — but the !Play Air, due to be out soon, has wireless support and a memory card reader as well.

And then there’s Amkette. Find the name familiar? Those of us who’ve seen computers through the ’80s and early ’90s will remember Amkette to be a leader in the floppy disk market, which thankfully are a thing of the past today.

The Amkette Flash TV takes a very different approach to the media player business. So, it doesn’t support Full HD playback — it upscales all content to a reasonable 720p resolution. Inputs are via the single USB slot or the SD/MMC card slot, and output via coaxial audio, component and composite video.

No HDMI, as you’d notice. The user interface is basic but clean, and I like the Go to function which lets you skip to a particular point in a video file by just entering the time. Performance is good, with no frame skipping for all the content I threw at it, but it doesn’t support HD MKV file formats.

You’d be very critical of the somewhat low tech approach Amkette has followed until you see the price. At Rs 2,995, the Flash TV is a good 1/3rd the price of the other players, so while you do get what you pay for, it’s not half as bad if you’re not obsessed with getting the highest possible resolution that your TV supports!

Cut your PC power bill

2010-05-16T23:39:00.002+05:30

Cut your PC power bill

Did you know that if you used your PC for five hours a day, you have to pay almost Rs 90 extra in your monthly electricity bill? This might not bother till you realise that it is well over Rs 1,000 a year.

I arrived at this figure by studying the CESC website. I found that the charges are over Rs 5 per unit. This “unit” is called a kilowatt hour (kWh) and is a measure of how much electricity is consumed. A 100-watt (W) light bulb used for 10 hours consumes 1 kWh of power.

You too can find out how much power your appliances consume by going to http://www.cescltd.com/cescyou/powerconsumption/powercosumpnet.php.

Typically most desktop PCs consume around 300W, and that is why your power charges average to around to a little over Rs 5 per unit. Add to this the cost of running your printer, scanner, modem, router and any other accessories you have. Hence it very important to find out the power consumption of the new desktop you are going to buy. Ask your vendor to look at the technical specifications of the PC you want to buy, paying special attention to power consumption.

The table below will give you an idea of how much electricity some PCs consume.

The AMD platform clearly requires more power when idle and the power requirement difference is even larger when it is hard at work. At 210W vs 163.5W, there’s a 28 per cent difference between Intel and AMD. Remember that the results cover all other system components, including motherboards’ voltage regulators and graphic cards and every moveable part.

Clearly, the Mac consumes the least energy although it comes with a very high configuration.

Our PCs, especially the powerful Windows–based PC workstations and ordinary desktops, consume a lot of power even when they are idle (which means the monitor is on screensaver mode and a lot of background work, like indexing, is going on).

Power management

A little known fact is that a computer draws almost as much power when it is on standby with a screensaver on as it does when in use. By turning off your PC and peripherals when they’re idle, and by employing the little used power management applet, you can cut energy consumption dramatically — 75 per cent or more (if you use your computer six hours a day). And even if you keep your PC on as a server, you’ll save energy by turning off the monitor when you do not need it.

Offices — with over 100 computers — keen on cutting costs, should following the power management scheme and save thousands of rupees in electricity bills.

To get to your computer’s power-management settings in Windows XP, right-click the Desktop and choose Properties—Screensaver. Click the Power button near the Energy Star icon, and select the Power Schemes tab of the Power Options Properties dialog box. For desktop PCs, choose the Home/Office Desk power scheme.

Even if you mean to leave your desk for 5 minutes, I suggest you insert 15 minutes under ‘Turn off monitor’, and for ‘Turn off hard disks’ select 30 minutes. Let’s face it, you will never be back at your desk in 5 minutes!

The Standby and Hibernate options under the Power Schemes tab too are useful for cutting your system’s energy use.

Here are some of my recommendations to save power:

If you use a desktop, use an LCD monitor. They use lot less energy than CRTs.

Turn your computer off when you're done for the day.

Use a Mac. As I mentioned earlier, Macs use much less energy than most Dell or HP or even assembled computers.

Use a power strip, also known as spike buster, so you can easily turn off all your computer accessories at once.

More power savers:

More and more builders are shifting to LED (light emitting diode) lamps from regular bulbs and tubelights. Unlike incandescent bulbs or even fluorescent lamps, almost all of the energy used by LEDs is converted to light, rather than heat. LED fixtures still cost more than conventional ones, but the energy savings can help commercial projects pay for themselves in as little as two years.

Even televisions and monitors are shifting to LED displays primarily because of the low power consumption, yet are also giving you the bright lights and vibrant colours you require.

Moving to Windows 7

2010-05-16T23:39:00.001+05:30

Moving to Windows 7

Hundreds of millions of people use Windows XP. Also, those who have bought Netbooks have preferred to go along with it. But how do you get the much better Windows 7 on your computer?

Migrating to Windows 7 from Vista is easier. All your programs are preserved, files intact, and the computer runs faster. But this is not going to be the case with Windows XP. In fact, it may even be frustrating, tedious and painful.

Microsoft is not allowing any upgrades from Windows XP. They want you to do a clean install. This means even before you upgrade your computer to Windows 7 you have to perform a step that wipes off your hard disk. All your programs, files, settings have to go. This can be done manually or through the wizard on the Windows 7 installation disk. Although Microsoft has provided a saving grace whereby you can preserve your photos, music, documents and other files, it can be quite clumsy. You have to offload them from the PC to an external hard disk. Then when Windows 7 has been loaded on your PC, you have to reload them. You can do this manually or through Easy Transfer, a program Microsoft will give you. But even this will not preserve your earlier programs.

Microsoft asks you to gather those installation files of your old programs and reload them again onto your Windows 7 PC. But who keeps all these files? Most of us delete them after the program has been loaded. Also, the programs have upgrades from time to time.

So what is the solution? Microsoft recommends you buy a new computer with Windows 7 preloaded. Even if the configuration of your old computer qualifies for Windows 7, it is not a great candidate for the new operating system. There have been several hardware changes and Windows 7 must be able to work seamlessly with the new hardware.

Now if you insist on keeping your old PC with Windows XP and moving to Windows 7, you will have to spend about $20 to buy Laplink’s PCmover. PCmover essentially provides the upgrade option that Microsoft does not. With it you can preserve your old programs, photos, songs and other files. It creates a package of all your applications and data and bundles them up on your existing disk or an external hard disk. After you have installed Windows 7, run the PCmover program and it reinstalls all your old programs and restores photos, songs and other files.

PCmover comes in three versions. The $20 option allows you to migrate to Windows 7 on a single computer. Then there is the $40 version that allows you to do almost any thing like moving programs and files from an old PC to a new one. Finally, there is the $50 special version that gives you more control on what is moved. If you are going to be moving your programs to a new computer, the $50 special version is a bargain because it comes with a cable. These cables otherwise cost around $40.

I don’t know why Microsoft makes upgrades so difficult. Apple has had a Migration Assistant for years. If you get a new Mac it will find the old Mac on the same network and move over all your programs, logins and passwords, settings and data.

However, to be fair to Microsoft, moving Windows programs is more difficult than moving Mac programs. Windows programs are scattered all over your file system. Windows has to gather all these pieces and put them together before it can start moving them. So there is a high chance of things going wrong.

New white magic MacBook

2010-05-16T23:35:00.002+05:30

Over the last two weeks I have been overwhelmed by queries on how to perform simple tasks on a MacBook. It’s obvious many took advantage of the student discount. The decision to buy a Mac is going to change your digital life forever.

Here are tips to make things easier. First, change your operating system to Snow Leopard. The current version is OS X 10.6.2. Go to any Apple Premium Reseller and get the DVD for Rs 1,800.

Installation is easy. It takes barely 25

minutes and all your programs and files are intact. Also, many people will advise you to partition your MacBook and load Windows 7. Take my word for it: you do not need it. All the software is available for a Mac.

The current entry-level white MacBook, which has a maximum retail price of Rs 56,900, is worth every paise. If you buy from an Apple Premium Reseller (the shops are called Imagine whether you are in Delhi, Bangalore, Mumbai or Calcutta) you may get it at a lower price.

The configuration? It has 2GB memory, 250GB hard disk and an NVIDIA GeForce 9400 processor. It’s great for games.

The beauty of this new white MacBook is that it gives you a battery life of over seven hours. This means you can recharge it over 1,000 times, whereas other laptops allow only 300 charges. According to my calculations, the battery will last you five years. Not only that, the trackpad is also magical. Here’s how to use it:

One-finger click: The entire trackpad is the glass button, so you have lots of space to click

Right-click: Perform right-click functions by clicking a corner of your trackpad or by pressing two fingers anywhere

Scroll: Use two fingers to scroll up and down or across a page — perfect for long documents and large images

Pinch: Pinch to zoom in and out of photos, change font size on web pages, and more

Swipe: Swipe with three fingers to move forward and back in your web browser or move through your photos

Rotate: Rotate with two fingers to quickly make a photo or PDF horizontal or vertical.

Applications

Swipe down with four fingers to find open applications. Move four fingers to the top to see what is on your desktop. Move your fingers to the left or right to get the application switcher. Then with one finger choose the application you want.

Create PDFs easily

A PDF file is a great way to share documents with your friends and colleagues. In OS X all you have to do is open the print command and save them as .pdf documents. You will find this option in the lower left-hand corner. You can even choose to mail the PDF file or send it to the Web Receipts folder. You will find the web receipts under documents.

Dragging files

When you drag a file to a new location you expect it to be moved. However, if you press the Option key and drag, it will be copied. If you press Option+Command and drag it, an alias will be created. Aliases are created to make it easier to access a disk, application, file or folder. You can create an alias for it and place it in an easy-to-find location. For example, if you use Get Lyrical frequently, you can place an alias to it on your desktop instead of navigating to it each time you need it. When you double-click the alias, the original item opens.

To create an alias: Select the item and choose File > Make Alias. Select the item and press Command+L. You can create as many aliases as you need for a single item, and you can move the aliases to folders or to the desktop.

To create an alias and move it to a specific place: Press the Command and Option keys while you drag the item’s icon to another folder or to the desktop. Release the mouse button before releasing the Command and Option keys.

To find the original item for an alias: Select the alias, and choose File > Show Original or press Command+R. The items you see in the Finder window sidebar are aliases. For example, the Documents folder icon in the sidebar is an alias for the Documents folder located inside your home folder. When you click an item in the sidebar, the original opens. When you drag an item to the Places section of the sidebar, an alias to the item is automatically created and added to the list.

Iphone 3GS

2010-04-01T22:52:00.001+05:30

The Iphone 3GS truly is faster than the original Iphone (the 3G). BUT there ARE some negatives for the iphone 3GS

DISLIKES:

When I purchased the white iphone 3GS I truly loved it, it was really fast but after a while and a several days of use I noticed little brown spots on the back of my Iphone,it was visible because of how small they were but after a couple more days there were big golden/brown spots both on the back and front of my Iphone 3GS and when I would plug my Iphone in after 10 minutes my Iphone would be very hot, and even when it wasn’t charging it’d become hot when I would use it after half an hour or so. The overheating of the Iphone was a big minus for me because after a week my the Iphone was filled with brown/golden spots. So it overheats pretty fast. But luckily I got a new one and I’m 5 months in it and no spots! (YET?)

Call quality. I don’t hear ANY change in the call quality with the Iphone 3G and 3GS it’s pretty much the same this disappointed me because the quality for the 3G wasn’t jaw-dropping amazing it was good but not great so I thought Apple would be smart enough to change one of the most obvious things for a phone, but oh well.

Likes

New Camera options. I love the fact that you can now record video and EASILY cut and edit videos on the Iphone 3GS. It really is very easy. I also loved the quality of the camera and the high quality. BIG change from apple.

New screen,barely any fingerprints. Apple was smart to change the screen on the Iphone 3GS. If you touch the Iphone 3GS with force you will only leave a tiny spec of a finger print, with the 3G you’ll leave a full finer print. THANK YOU APPLE!

One more thing I love was that if you hold the home button you can tell something to you Iphone3Gs and it’ll do it. (ex: call john doe, then it’ll make a fast call to john doe.)

I also love the speed of it.

Norton AntiVirus

2010-04-01T22:37:00.003+05:30

Symantec Norton

I used this anti-virus software before since I heard nothing but good reviews. For an anti-virus software, I think it is pretty good. It is your standard anti-virus software which gives you the option to either scan the whole computer or some chosen parts of your entire system, and when it does scan it also looks for any potential harmful elements like viruses, malwares and spywares. It informs you if a virus is found, and after a few minutes the program comes with a result of the scanning process.

It does like what other programs do, like AVG and McAfee, so I can’t say if it is better than those two. However, even though it scans and removes viruses, it is very slow! When I run it the other programs I run are slowed down, too, causing them to close or crash. There was a time when I was browsing the web on Firefox, and I should have known that the two did not go well together because after a few minutes of running Norton, Firefox suddenly crashed. But, just as I said, it keeps my computer clean from viruses, spywares and malwares. It informs me if a website I’m about to visit can potentially attack my computer. It erases my temporary files, cookies and empties my recycle bin. It frees a lot of my unused disk space, which is something I can do, anyway, using the Disk Cleanup feature available in Windows XP.

Another feature of theirs I like is called the Download Insight, which pops up at the corner of my desktop to analyze everything I download and gives me a report if it is clean or not. Moreover, it gives me a monthly report of the infections and status of my computer. It is a lot more expensive than McAfee and other premium programs, but then again, I am not complaining. One thing you should note is that, it auto-renews your subscription after a year so if you are using it and plan not to use it year later, you should change the subscription length of the program int he setting menu.The only thing I don’t like about it is its large size. It swamps my disk space. All in all, however, I think it is a decent anti virus program which protects my computer.

AVG Antivirus 8.5 Pro

2010-02-10T23:02:00.000+05:30

AVG Antivirus & Antispyware 8.5 License till 2018

One of the most trusted security company in the world.

It is pretty fast, consumes minimum computer resources, at the same time provides top class security with free security updates till the license expires.

The security package includes:

Anti-virus
Anti-Spyware
Anti-Rootkit
E-mail scanner
Web Shield
Link Scanner
Resident Shield

First Download TRY and then PAY

Download

Enter the following license valid till 2018

License:8MEH-REDSL-7ETEC-ULA8R-EAOKL-4EMBR-ACED

If satisfied donate $10 through secure PAYPAL.

Ultimate Boot CD 4

2009-12-18T00:52:00.004+05:30

A Christmas Gift!! UBCD

Overview

Current release: 4.1.1

Ultimate Boot CD is completely free for the download, or could be obtained for a small fee. If you had somehow paid a ridiculous amount of money for it, you have most likely been fleeced. The least you could do is to make as many copies of the offical UBCD and pass it to your friends, relatives, colleagues or even complete strangers to minimize the per unit cost of your loss!

You need the Ultimate Boot CD if you want to:

Run floppy-based diagnostic tools
from CDROM drives. More and more PCs are shipped without floppy drives these days, and it is such a royal pain when you need to run diagnostic tools on them.

Free yourself from the slow loading speed of the floppy drive. Even if you do have a floppy drive, it is still much much faster to run your diagnostic tools from the CDROM drive, rather than wait for the tool to load from the floppy drive.

Consolidate as many diagnostic tools as possible into one bootable CD. Wouldn't you like to avoid digging into the dusty box to look for the right floppy disk, but simply run them all from a single CD? Then the Ultimate Boot CD is for you!

New! Run Ultimate Boot CD from your USB memory stick
. A script on the CD prepares your USB memory stick
so that it can be used on newer machines that supports booting from USB devices. You can access the same tools as you would from the CD version.

When you boot up from the CD, a text-based menu will be displayed, and you will be able to select the tool you want to run. The selected tool actually boots off a virtual floppy disk created in memory.

Tools currently included in the Ultimate Boot CD are:

Name of Tool	Version	Notes
CPU Tests
CPU Burn-in	1.00	The Linux version which is included in UBCD is at V1.00. V1.01 applies to Windows only.
Mersenne Prime Test	23.5.2	Need to update Mersenne Prime Test boot disk to allow user to manually override the decision (based on automatic CPU detection) to run V23/V24. The original maintainer does not have time to do this, so if you are interested to help, please contact me directly.
StressCPU	24-Oct-05
Memory Tests
Memtest86	3.3
Memtest86+	1.70
Windows Memory Diagnostic	n/a
DocMem RAM Diagnostic	3.1beta
TestMem4	4
Peripherals Tools
Parallel port detection and test utilities	1.45
ATAPI CDROM Identification	2.22
CHZ Monitor-Test	1.01
CPU Information
Intel Processor Frequency ID	7.2.20041115
Intel Processor Identification Utility	3.3.20061218
x86test	0.10a
System Information
AIDA16	2.14	Discontinued
NSSI	0.59.14
PC-Config	9.33
ASTRA	5.31	Demo version
PCISniffer	1.5
PCI	1.1	pcidevs.txt: 13 Feb 2006
CTIA	2.7
DIMM_ID	3.01
Benchmark Tools
System Speed Test 32	4.78
3D Benchmark VGA	1.0
CPU Benchmark	n/a
CD Index	1.1
QwikTest	n/a
BIOS Tools
BIOS	1.35.0
WipeCMOS	1.2
CMOSPWD	4.8
!BIOS	3.20
Hard Disk Installation Tools
MaxBlast 5 (Maxtor)	5.0
DiscWizard 2003 (Seagate)	10.45.06
Disk Manager (Seagate)	9.56a
Disk Manager (Samsung)	10
Hard Disk Diagnostic Tools
Drive Fitness Test (IBM/Hitachi)	4.09
Diagnostic Tool (Fujitsu)	6.90
SeaTools for DOS (Seagate/Maxtor)	1.09
SHDIAG (Samsung)	1.25
HUTIL (Samsung)	1.21/2.03	From soeren: "HUTIL 2.00 lacks the possibility to view the SMART values and it appears to be a lot slower than 1.21. It's only needed for the newest Samsung drives, the "older" ones still work with 1.21."
DLG Diagnostic (Western Digital)	4.15/5.04c	V5.x has been reported not to work on some older machines, so V4.15 has been included as a backup.
Data Lifeguard (Western Digital)	11.2
SCSIMax (Maxtor/Quantum)	1.21
GWSCAN (Gateway)	3.15/5.09	V5.x is for IDE hard drives larger than 10GB. For IDE hard drives 10GB or smaller, V3.15 is recommended.
ESTest (ExcelStor)	4.20
Salvation HDD Scan and Repair	3.0	Demo version
MHDD32	4.6
ViVARD	0.4
HDAT2	4.52	For personal use only
Hard Disk Device Management Tools
Feature Tool (IBM/Hitachi)	2.05
AMSET (Maxtor)	4.00
MAXLLF (Maxtor)	1.1
UATA100 (Seagate)	3.06
Ultra ATA Manager (Western Digital)	June, 2003
SUTIL	1.01
ESFeat (ExcelStor)	2.10
ATA Password Tool	1.1
SMARTUDM	2.00
ATAINF	1.3m
Hard Disk Wiping Tools
Darik's Boot and Nuke	1.0.7
CopyWipe	1.14
Active@ KillDisk Free Edition	4.1	Free Edition. Supports "One Pass Zeros" method only.
PC INSPECTOR e-maxx	0.95	Actual version is 0.95 Build 775, but is referred to as 1.0 on product website.
HDDErase	3.1
Hard Disk Cloning Tools
HDClone (Free Edition)	3.2.6
g4u	1.17	Unable to integrate latest version of g4u (does not like mkisofs -N flag, which is required for integrating Windows CD). If anyone knows of a workaround, please email me.
UDPcast	n/a
PC INSPECTOR clone maxx	0.95 Build 769	Actual version is 0.95 Build 769, but is referred to as 1.0 on produce website.
XXCOPY	2.93.1	Latest version on website says 2.95.3, but XXCOPY16.EXE still shows 2.93.1.
EaseUs Disk Copy	1.0
COPYR.DMA	Build 013
CopyWipe	1.14
Hard Disk Low-Level Editing Tools
Disk Editor	3.0
DISKMAN4	4.01
PTS DiskEditor	1.04
Partition Tools
Ranish Partition Manager	2.40	Using stable version because V2.44 is beta and reported to be buggy.
Free FDISK	1.3.0
SPFDISK (Special FDISK)	2000-03t
XFDISK (Extended FDISK)	0.9.3 beta
Cute Partition Manager	0.9.5	Although website says 0.9.6, program version and history log both says 0.9.5.
PTDD Super Fdisk	1.0
Partition Resizer	1.3.4
FIPS	2.0
Active@ Partition Recovery	2.1.1	Demo version
TestDisk	6.5
Partition Saving	3.40
MBRtool	2.3.100
MBRWork	1.07b
Boot Managers
Smart BootManager	3.7.1
Gujin	1.9
GAG	4.8
XOSL	1.1.5
Super Grub Disk	0.9590
File Tools
DOS Navigator	6.4.0
File Maven	3.5a
Necromancer's DOS Navigator	2.15 Build 4000
D-Browse	1.24	Must enable long filename support for it to work.
Volkov Commander	4.99.08 alpha	Or you can just type "vc" at the DOS prompt to launch this file manager.
Eraser for DOS	5.82
NTFS Tools
Offline NT Password & Registry Editor	070409
Active NTFS Reader for DOS	1.0.1
EditBINI	1.01.1
Boot Partition	2.60
Avira NTFS4DOS Personal	1.9	For personal use only
Anti-Virus/Malware Tools
F-Prot Antivirus for DOS	3.16f	For personal use only. Virus definition: 4 May 2007.
McAfee Antivirus Scanner	4.40.0	For personal use only. Virus definition: 3 May 2007.
BugHunter	2.1	Note that `C:\` has to be accessible and writable, otherwise `BUGHUNT.INI` must be edited and the line `C:\BUGHUNT.DAT` changed to `X:\BUGHUNT.DAT`, where `X` is the drive letter of the RAM disk.
Network Tools
Arachne WWW Browser	1.90
NetCopy	0.2
FileLink	3.01	This program is part of Caldera OpenDOS V7.03
QNX Demo Browser (network + modem version)	4.00
DOSRDP	2.0/XP
DOS Boot Disks
FreeDOS Boot Disk	3.40	This is named `dosubcd.igz` under the `images` subdirectory, and is the default boot disk for most DOS programs under `dosapps`. You can easily make other DOS disk images your default by renaming the appropriate image file (eg. `lzubcd.igz`) to `dosubcd.igz`.
LZ-DOS Boot Disk	3.40
OpenDOS Boot Disk	3.40	Won't work in a virtual machine, but will work on a physical machine.
MS-DOS Boot Disk	3.40	By default, this is not included in UBCD due to its commercial nature. But you can easily download and place it under the `images` subdirectory in order to use it.
NwDsk: NetWare Boot Disk	3.40	You can run TinyHost by choosing the "tinyhost" profile after booting. Then you will be able to connect remotely from any Java-capable machine with the command `java -jar tinyclient.jar x.x.x.x password` (password defaults to 'nwdsk').
MSRRC: Bart's Network Disk Clone	3.35
Linux Boot Disks
Tom's Boot Disk	2.0.103
BasicLinux	3.40
Trinux	0.89	The latest incarnation of the Trinux project is ubuntutrinux, but a stable release does not exist yet.

Downloads

P2P

Details

Version

EXE

ZIP

These are torrent files to be plugged into BitTorrent-enabled browsers such as Opera or BitTorrent download managers such as uTorrent.

4.1.1

ISO

These are hashes to plug into an eDonkey client such as eMule.

4.1.1

Mirror Sites

	Sponsor	Version	Status
ZIP EXE ISO	www.haraldkraft.de	4.1.1
EXE ZIP	www.fulminati.org	4.1.1
ISO	AusGamers	4.1.1
ISO EXE ZIP	Marc	4.1.1
ZIP	mrbass.org	4.1.1
EXE ZIP ISO	Computer Center/University of Crete	4.1.1
EXE ZIP ISO	Keith Heaton	4.1.1
ISO EXE ZIP	Alex Barnes, Directtechsupport.com	4.1.1
EXE ZIP ISO	Chris Richards, aoafiles.com	4.1.1
EXE ZIP ISO	Ulf Klose	4.1.1
ISO	Paul Swanson	4.1.1
EXE ZIP	Dept of. CSIE, NTU, Taiwan	4.1.1
EXE ZIP	pcinfo4u.net	4.1.1
EXE ZIP ISO	osfanatic.com	4.1.1
EXE ZIP ISO	Jean-Philippe	4.1.1
EXE ZIP ISO	Chad Harmon	4.1.1
EXE ZIP ISO	DotJason Technologies	4.1.1
ZIP ISO	Paul Schou	4.1.1
EXE ZIP ISO	NBI Computer Services	4.1.1
EXE ZIP ISO	souless	4.1.1
EXE ZIP ISO	LittlBUGer	4.1.1
EXE ZIP ISO	Older Geeks	4.1.1
EXE ZIP ISO	Stringer Systems	4.1.1
RAR ISO	Dennis Hecken	4.1.1
EXE ZIP ISO	Patrick	4.1.1
EXE ZIP ISO	myUBCD	4.1.1
EXE ZIP ISO	JUST USE LINUX	4.1.1
EXE ZIP ISO	Fusa	4.1.1
EXE ZIP ISO	net-actuality	4.1.1
EXE ZIP ISO	Johan Marcusson	4.1.1
EXE ZIP ISO	Internet Gateway of South Beach	4.1.1

Maximise Laptop Battery Life

2009-11-29T23:39:00.003+05:30

A friend of mine did something very wrong with his laptop. He left it in the cupboard for months without using it, until one fine day when he wanted it to make a presentation.

He took the machine out and put it on for charging. But it would not charge. However, he was lucky — it was a MacBook and with a little bit of coaxing and tweaking, it started charging. But it gave him a clear warning: “Check your battery.”

Apple’s service centres provide first class service. My friend got the battery checked. There was a defect, which was, of course, due to his fault. But the service centre provided a spare battery for a day so he could make his presentation. He got the contract.

Not everybody is as lucky. And neither does everyone own a Mac. So you need to take care of your laptop battery to maximise its life.

All laptops use lithium-ion batteries, be it a Mac or a PC. But they come from different manufacturers and while some are great, some are terrible. If you are shopping for a PC that will give you a decent battery life, you need to make some smart choices. For example, look for:

* An ultra-low-voltage processor

* A solid-state storage drive, which requires less power and, since there are no spinning parts, suffers less wear and tear than a traditional hard drive.

* An LED display. Although high priced, LEDs use much less power than do LCDs.

* A smaller screen. A smaller screen means a smaller backlight, which will also save on battery drain.

How to charge your battery: Lithium-ion batteries come partially charged. You can start using the battery right away and charge it when needed. It is better to recharge more often; avoid frequent full discharges.

There is no need to fully charge your battery every time. Charging in stages is acceptable.

You do not have to remove the charger from the battery when it is full. The charger automatically cuts the charge current when the battery is full. A laptop may be connected to the AC when not in use. However, this is not true for all laptops. For Macs it would be best to use it on battery when you are travelling, and plug it in at the office to charge. If you are not going to use your notebook for a period, it is best to store it at 50 per cent charge. Cool storage is more important than state-of-charge. Do not fully deplete your battery because the Lithium-ion may turn off its protection circuit.

Do not allow the battery to heat during charge. Little heat is generated during charge. A large laptop battery may get lukewarm.

There is one thing you should know about chargers — they should be able to apply full charge. Avoid economy chargers that advertise one-hour charge. A laptop’s full charge time is about three hours.

Getting more minutes per charge: You can choose to use your Mac or PC notebook in a way that maximises its battery life.

Energy: The energy saver control panel offers several settings that determine power levels. Your machine knows when it’s plugged in and runs accordingly. When on battery power, it will dim the screen and use other components sparingly. If you change this setting to maximise performance, your battery will drain more quickly.

Brightness: Dim the screen to the lowest comfortable level to achieve maximum battery life. For instance, when watching a DVD on an airplane, you may not need full brightness if all the lights are off.

AirPort Wireless: AirPort consumes power even if you are not using its features to connect to a network. You can turn it off in its control panel to save power.

Bluetooth Wireless: Likewise, you can turn off Bluetooth to maximise your battery life, as it also consumes power when not in use.

Applications and peripherals: Disconnect peripherals and quit applications not in use. Eject CDs and DVDs if you are not currently accessing them.

Storage temperature: Store your laptop in places with temperatures that is between 10° and 35°C. An ideal condition is around 25°.

Do not expose the battery to extreme heat or freezing temperatures. Do not leave it in the car in the summer. Hot batteries discharge very quickly, and cold ones can’t create as much power. If you have a nickel-metal hydride battery, drain it completely and recharge it once a month to maximise its capacity.

Sitemap

2009-11-22T23:49:00.001+05:30

Canon IXUS 960 IS

2009-10-05T01:11:00.003+05:30

The new Canon IXUS 960 IS easily holds its own against competition With camera-phones inching towards the 10 megapixel count, is it game over for dedicated shooters? Not if you’re considering the Canon IXUS 960 IS — the latest in the line of premium compacts from Canon holds its own against the competition, and then some.

There’s much to like — the sturdy and polished titanium body, limit-pushing 12.1-megapixel CCD sensor and 3.7x optical zoom lens. All the features of the previous IXUS models are present — face-tracking detects and exposes correctly for the people in the frame, and the IS in the model name stands for image stabilisation, allowing you to take hand-held shots in far lower light than you’d normally be able to manage.

More serious photographers won’t be too frustrated by the 960’s feature set either. As well as the very capable image stabilisation — you get three metering modes, including spot metering, and image review options include a histogram breakdown and warnings for over-exposed areas. Manual mode is a little limited though, and there’s no way of setting shutter speed aside from +/-2EV exposure compensation, and no manual aperture control at all. That, and the fact that the lens’s maximum wide-angle setting of 35mm-equivalent is rather regular for a compact, but it would nice to see a move to 28mm on higher-end models for a true wide-angle view.

Fancy-schmancy features aside, one department where the 960 IS really excels is image quality — excellent colour reproduction, with accurate and well-saturated tones, and exposures that tend to be accurate, even in some tough situations where it would have been a hit and miss for most compacts. And the biggest bugbear for cameras this size, the 960 IS manages to keep ISO image noise under control all the way through till ISO 400, and images are worth printing even at ISO 800. It’s pricey, but you get what you pay for — rock solid build quality and exceptional performance.

• Rating: 8/10

• Price: Rs 24,995 with a two-year warranty

• URL: http://site-in.canon-asia.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=digitalcamera&prod_type=ixus960is

World Of Warcraft Secrets

2009-09-14T23:05:00.006+05:30

Dear World of Warcraft Gamer,

If you're sick and tired of running around totally broke while other players get epic flying mounts and the most expensive gear, this information is for you.

You've probably always wondered why you can't seem to make as much gold as the other players on your server.

I used to wonder the same thing. I thought,

"Where are these people making gold?"

"Are they buying it on ebay?"

"What are they selling?"

So I set out to spy on all the successful players I could find to see just what they did to earn all of their gold.

I spent months using stealth tactics to track high level players everywhere from the auction house to their favorite gold farming spots and back.

I discovered just what it was they were doing to make extreme amounts of gold- and then improved upon their methods myself and even created amazingly profitable new ones.

They never suspected a thing, that is, until I started making more gold than all of them...If they found out that I spied on them- they would hate me even more!

They Laughed at You!

I didn't just spy on other players, but I interrogated them as well. Any time I saw wealthy players I would strike up a conversation so I could learn all their secrets for myself.

The most common reaction from these players was to laugh about how easy it was to make gold and how stupid people were for not doing it too. Most of them wouldn't tell me their secrets, but slowly a few of them started to crack and let me have little tips about what they were doing.

I Was Amazed

Their strategies were so stupid simple I was amazed I hadn't thought of them first, many of them made money in places I had been to many times.

Many of them had "secret" places to find loot or materials that I had never been to.

(If you're like me you're going to freak out once you learn these places!)

And even more of them made money but never left the auction house. They knew just what to buy and sell for insane profits. (and it's not what you think!)

I'm NOT Keeping the Secret

Since I've first discovered these secrets, I've spent years improving them, tweaking them, creating my own, and tossing out the ones that no longer work.

I now have numerous level 80, 70 and level 60+ characters all with very healthy amounts of gold! In fact, I used to share my character info right here on this page so I could talk to other gamers like you.

Pretty soon, I was getting thousands of e-mails and hundreds of people were begging me for gold. I was like a World of Warcraft rock star... everyone wanted my gold secrets!Things got so crazy- I stopped playing that character! It was totally out of control. Even more amazing...

Gold Sellers Hate Me!

When I started sharing these secrets, I had no idea just how incredibly mad it was going to make the World of Warcraft gold selling companies. I soon found out...

Since first publishing these strategies, I've had my account attacked, been sent hundreds of viruses and trojans (actually this happens pretty much daily) and the corrupt gold sellers even pressured the biggest gaming news sites to pull all my links! (because the gold sellers spend tens of thousands advertising with them)

Frankly, it's extremely dangerous for me to even reveal these secrets anymore- the gold sellers are madder than ever and are doing everything they can to stop me and make my life totally miserable!

But I won't quit that easily.

These Secrets Must be Revealed...

To get your copy now...

Click Here!

When You Get Your Copy of the Gold Secrets Guide Today, Here are Just Some of the Things You Will Learn:

Why 99% of players are using the worst methods to make gold and how to avoid making the same mistakes- and earn incredible gold!

Extremely effective ways for lower level players to earn gold, even if you're just getting started with your first character.

How I earned all the gold for my epic mount in just 2 days using a secret farming system! (this is so simple once you learn it)

How you can be guaranteed to get fun rare items like the "dancing" flute and even your very own rare chicken pet. Yes, it's real!

The story of one player who made over 3000 gold using only other players' skills, and how you can do the same. These tactics will make your head spin the moment you discover them!

How to make huge profits selling items you can buy from vendors. (this often brings a profit in only minutes when you know where to look)

How to learn what items are going to be worth massive gold soon- so you can buy them now and sell them later for massive profit!

How to farm rare patterns that sell for hundreds of gold- or you can keep the patterns and profit from selling the rare items!

How you can double your profits from common items like cloth. I felt like an idiot when I discovered this- and once you learn this you'll be blown away!

Where to find the best items with the least competition even if your server is packed with other people competing with you.

Where to go to find items that everyone wants and needs but can't easily get- but you can once you get your hands on this guide!

Mobs that you can repeatedly kill for massive gold fast that on one else is bothering with. (even the Chinese gold-farmers don't know all of these)

How to quickly identify items that are selling for way too little and easily sell them for huge gold (you'll be amazed at what you can "flip" once you discover this!).

Why there is big gold in items that no longer exist and how to get them- this will blow you away!

The best item farming paths for both old Azeroth, the Burning Crusade and Wrath of Lich King. If you decide to farm materials it won't be boring when you know the fastest and most profitable routes through the world.

How to maximize the gold generated from daily quests. Even if you don't need reputation gains these quests can put gold in your pocket while you do other things.

Detailed maps and images of the most profitable paths and locations. It's as if I were right beside you guiding you, unlike other maps that leave you scratching your head. I show you step by step exactly where to go.

and much more...

Lenovo Netbooks

2009-08-28T22:59:00.002+05:30

Another day, another netbook. Even the basic specs invoke a sense of déjà vu — a 10-inCH screen, an Intel Atom Processor running at 1.6 GHz, a three-cell battery, 1 gigabyte of memory, and a 5,400-rpm hard drive. Does the Lenovo IdeaPad S10 netbook flock to the herd, or does it manage to stand out?

It’s a bit of both really. The basic design of the S10 holds no surprises, although it is a far cry from the toy-like appearance of the Asus Eee PC 701 which started it all over a year ago. Much like the Dell Inspiron Mini 9, the S10 looks and feels solid — typically ‘Lenovo’, which is a good thing to inherit. And with the semi-glossy ivory finish and the matte-steel finish hinges, the S10 looks very classy and minimalistic, almost making some of the other 10-inch netbooks look big and bulky in comparison. The nice bit — the plastic casing is shiny, but not glossy, and it resists fingerprints. Enough of the highly overrated piano finish, I say. The clean lines almost remind me of a shrunk down MacBook and the blue status lights and colour-coordinated wire mesh cover for the speakers makes the Lenovo looks far more future proof than the already dated looking designs of some of the other netbooks.

Now for most, an area of concern for netbooks tends to be the keyboard and mousepad — if you cant use them easily, you’re not going to be using your netbook much, will you? At 85 per cent of full size, the S10’s keyboard is more spacious and comfortable than those found on most 9-inch netbooks, but it isn’t good enough to topple the MSI Wind from its top spot in this department. If you’re a touch typist, you will need time to acclimatise your hands to the smaller keys. Most of us expect to hunt and peck around on netbooks in any case, so your mileage may vary if you expect to do a lot of typing on this. In such a case, may I recommend an external keyboard and mouse – kinda defeats

the purpose of the netbook, if you ask me. The touchpad is well-sized for a netbook, and tracks well across the surface. A trackpoint a la the ThinkPads would have been nice though.

The matte 10.2” WSVGA (1024x600 pixel) AntiGlare TFT display on the S10 is nice and vibrant, and you get rich colours and good contrast. The matte finish on the screen glare and reflections, which help, make the screen easier to read under bright sunlight. So is it just a pretty looking netbook? Well, it does pack in a 160 GB, 5400 RPM hard disk, and 1 GB of RAM running at 667 MHz, so there’s plenty of power under the hood for most netbook needs and Windows XP chugs along just fine on the S10. From browsing the Internet on Firefox to working on Microsoft Office, transferring files over Bluetooth and listening to music over Wi-Fi, or even watching a movie, the experience was very good. Should you wish to add more power, the S10 is fairly easy to disassemble and upgrade. Plus, it also comes packed to the gills with USB, VGA-out (for projectors and external screens), a multi-card reader, and even adds built-in Bluetooth and an ExpressCard slot for additional connectivity.

It’s not without its flaws, though. It runs hot, so I’d recommend only short sessions of use on the lap. The three-cell battery lasts a bit under three hours, so keep that in mind if you intend to use it a lot outdoors (or invest in a 6-cell battery!). An additional USB port wouldn't hurt, either.

In the end, it’s a sleek addition to the burgeoning pile of netbooks already out in the market, and if you care particularly for the Lenovo brand, it can be had for a reasonable price, and it’s well worth the money.

Quick Specs:

Processor: 1.6 GHz Intel Atom N270, 512KB L2 Cache
RAM: 1GB DDR2 SDRAM - 667 MHz
Hard Drive: 160GB, 5400 RPM
Screen: 10.2" TFT active matrix, 1024x600 resolution with LED Backlight
Graphics: Intel GMA 945 Express Chipset Technology
Interfaces/ Connectivity: 2 x USB, 1 x ExpressCard/34, Ethernet, Wi-Fi 802.11g/b, 1.3 MP webcam, speakers and mic, VGA-out, Bluetooth, 3in-1 multi card reader
Battery: 3 Cell Lithium-Ion
Operating System: Windows XP SP3 Home Edition with OneKey Rescue System
Dimensions: 9.8" x 7.2" x 1.2"
Weight: 1.17 kg
Rating: 8/10
Rs. 24,490/-

URL: http://www.lenovo.com/in/en/index.html

Blackberry Storm

2009-06-22T23:08:00.003+05:30

A touch-screen BlackBerry? And no keyboard? Silence, you infidel!” I can almost imagine conversations like these happening in hushed whispers until a few months ago.

To its fiercest advocates, the physical keyboard was the last bastion from which they would shower scorn on the iPhone and its inefficient virtual keyboard. And then Research in Motion’s BlackBerry did the unthinkable — it brewed a Storm (almost) with the launch of the keyboard-less, full touch-screen Storm, where typing and navigating require tapping on glass, much like the iPhone and a slew of devices that were launched in its wake.

From a distance, there’s very little that sets the Storm apart from the increasingly crowded field of touch-based devices. It’s black and has (ho-hum) grey and silver accents. Run-of- the- mill stuff really.It’s about as wide as the iPhone, but the added girth around the waist makes it feel way bigger in your hand.

It’s big, surprisingly heavy and a tad on the clunky side. The weight does make it feel robust, and inspires confidence in its ability to take a licking. Even with four dedicated buttons at the base of the screen, you have to keep both hands free — this is most definitely a two-handed phone.

The size affords the Storm a gorgeous 3.25-in (480 x 360) touchscreen, the biggest and highest resolution screen to come with a BlackBerry model. It’s not as stunning as the Bold but it’s punchy and beautiful, and the BlackBerry OS and video look fantastic on it. Almost like holding a personal media player in your hand.

The capacitive touchscreen is fairly responsive, and here’s where the Storm stands out from the rest of the pack. Unlike the feedback-less iPhone and the haptic (vibration feedback) you get with the Nokia 5800 and the Samsung Omnia, the Storm utilises a completely unique “click” technology called SurePress that actually allows you to click the screen down like a mouse button.

Yes, the whole screen is one large button, and clicking it down is much like clicking a laptop mouse button. So, not only can you hover around the screen without actually selecting anything, there’s also the physical sensation of clicking a button when you type or navigate. It’s very well implemented in the hardware — you won’t accidentally press it when you don’t mean to, but you don’t have to hammer it either.

Now, just how usable is this? To answer that, one has to look at the OS that has been bundled into the Storm. Visually very similar to previous devices from BlackBerry, the Storm features version 4.7 of the OS, where the company has added touch functionality to take the place of trackball movements.

Translated, what this means is that unlike the iPhone, the Storm’s UI is not custom built for touch navigation. It’s almost like they’ve packed in touch navigation as an afterthought. The natural flow that has become now almost legendary on the iPhone — flicking and scrolling, pinching and panning — feel inelegant on the Storm. You’re never really fully in control of device, and the occasional lag you experience when using the phone for any serious use reinforces that fact.

So, to answer the question on everybody’s mind — does this phone have a true BlackBerry soul? It’s a BlackBerry, so yes, the Storm is everything you’d expect from one in the e-mail and security department, and the new Application Center is a step in the right direction. More power to certified third party applications, I say.

But for someone who uses their BlackBerry for a lot of e-mail, this is a serious letdown. I hate to say this, but typing is no fun on this device. Even after a number of days of using the device, pushing the screen in over and over requires so much more effort than simply gliding my fingers around a good touch keyboard.

If you’re in love with the BlackBerry keyboard, this will not do. It is downright tiring, even with the excellent onscreen SureType keyboard taking the smarts out of typing in the right word. And my biggest gripe — no WiFi! On a corporate device, that’s a no-no. On a consumer-oriented device, that’s downright suicidal.

If you’re intent on snapping up the Storm, bear the following in mind. You will need to take your time to get to know the Storm, it’s not an easy transition from the previous Berries.

Once you learn how it likes to be rotated, tapped and swiped, learn the shortcuts, only then can you really start to decide whether or not it’s for you. It’s not the average touchscreen device. Also, accept the fact that you may be sacrificing some amount of efficiency for that gorgeous screen and all that multimedia goodness. As long as you realise the Storm is not the ultimate BlackBerry, and there is no such thing as a one-size-fits-all-device, you’ll love the Storm.

Quick Specs

• Networks: 850/900/1800/1900 MHz, GSM/GPRS networks
• Display: 3.25-in 480 x 360 pixel Transmissive TFT LCD colour display with ambient light sensor
• Data Input/Navigation: SurePress touchscreen, On screen keyboard: portrait SureType and Multi-tap, QWERTY landscape
• Audio: 3.5mm stereo headset capable, A2DP compatible
• Camera: 3.2 MP camera with auto flash, auto focus, 2x digital zoom
• Memory: Expandable memory — Support for microSD card, 1GB onboard memory, 128 MB Flash (flash memory)
• Battery and battery life: 1400 mAhr battery; Standby time: 356 hours, talktime: 6 hours
• Dimensions (H x W x D): 112.5 mm x 62.2 mm x 13.95 mm
• Weight: 155gm
• Rating: 8/10
• Price: Rs 27,990. Available only on Vodafone
•URL:http://www.vodafone.in/existingusers/vbs/pages/blackberry_ind_storm.aspx

Shop Safe Online & Paypal

2009-06-07T12:15:00.004+05:30

You’ve stumbled upon a rare edition of Tolkien’s The Hobbit on eBay and, the bibliophile that you are, you know you must grab it before anyone else does. The only hitch is that you are too scared to use your credit card on the Internet.

On a travel site, you have found the perfect deal for your summer holiday and you know you won’t get a better one at the ticket counter. The only way you can book is online. And for that you need a credit card, something you don’t have.

There are people who persistently refuse to make online transactions, like our friend the bibliophile, because they fear their credit card number will be stolen. There are others who simply don’t believe in plastic.

The fear of your credit card number being stolen is not mere paranoia. There have been many instances of such online theft. This usually happens either because the computer user is using a pirated version of Windows, or he does not have adequate protection in the form of an Internet Security suite that protects him from viruses and online thieves. However, those of you who choose not to use a credit card in your daily life need not shy away from using one in the virtual world!

Just create a virtual credit card. It is both secure and easy. You can then use your virtual card number to buy anything online easily and without any fear. The best part is that you can fix a credit limit also.

To create a virtual card you need either a MasterCard or Visa credit card from your bank. You could even use your debit card. And you must be Internet banking enabled.

Creating a virtual credit card involves a simple three-step process. Go to your bank’s Internet site. See if it has the option for creating a virtual credit card. HDFC Bank has and it is called NetSafe. All it requires is a one-time registration. After that you can log in and generate any number of these temporary credit cards.

First you need to accept the terms and conditions (please read them carefully). Next key in your debit card number and your ATM PIN. If you are using a credit card you have to insert the three-digit number printed in the signature space on the back of most credit cards. It is called the CVV or Card Verification Value. On American Express Cards it is a four-digit code. Your date of birth and the date of expiry of your card also need to be filled in. Fill in your personal details and create a username and password of your choice. This completes the registration process and now you can log in to NetSafe.

Finally, you need to specify the account from which the money is to be debited, and the credit limit. That’s it. Your virtual credit card will contain your card limit, your unique one-time card number and finally the CVV.

The card lapses on use, thus preventing any theft. You must use your card within 24 hours of creating it. If you want to make more purchases online just make another virtual credit card by logging in to your NetSafe account.

Receiving payments

We have talked about buying securely using a virtual credit card. But what if you want receive payment for work done? For this PayPal is a very good option. Open an account by signing up in www.paypal.com. Link your virtual card to this account. Once your account is ready you can even make payments through PayPal.

A basic PayPal account is free. You can send funds to anyone with an e-mail address, whether they have a PayPal account or not. They’ll get a message from PayPal about the funds, and then they just have to sign up for their own account.

Funds transferred via PayPal reside in a PayPal account until the holder of the funds retrieves them or spends them. If the user has entered and verified the bank account information, the funds can be transferred directly into their account. For the money to be transferred to your bank account you will need the MICR code to identify your bank branch. You can get this information from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) website. Just search for “RBI micr number” and the first result will get you the relevant code.

To Get Yourself A Business Paypal Account and start accepting credit cards click on the image below.

No start-up or monthly fees, no cancellation fees, and no minimum payments.
Just Sign up and get started in minutes.

Online chess game

When Windows Don't Load

2009-06-05T12:46:00.002+05:30

One of the major problems faced by all PC users is when Windows simply refuses to load. Try as you might, in Safe Mode or Normal Mode, the PC will just not respond. You can keep pressing the computer’s switch till your fingers turn sore, but it stays dead.

Your vendor will probably tell you to format the hard drive and reload Windows. But this is easier said than done. You may think your precious pictures, programs and songs, not to talk about the important documents, are lost forever. This is when you need a bootable CD to kick start your computer and deal with the problem.

Ideally, a recovery disc should act as a safety net if anything bad happens to you

r PC’s hard drive or its data. This can occur because of a program crash, a virus or spyware attack, or even from a corrupt driver. A good recovery disc allows you to reinstall Windows to fix a minor problem without having to format the hard drive.

But there is a hitch in making a bootable Windows CD with the latest drivers and patches. Once you upgrade your Windows XP to Service Pack 3, the operating system will never allow you to install an older version (includin

g earlier editions of XP) without wiping the hard drive. The solution is to create a new installation disc from your Windows installer CD and a special version of SP3, using a process known as slipstreaming.

Before you begin creating a bootable CD make sure you have three things: a genuine XP CD, a valid Windows product key, and about 1.5 GB of free space on

your hard drive. Your Windows XP CD can be SP1 or SP2 or even the original release from 2001.

Now let us begin the process of creating a bootable Windows CD. First make a new folder called XPSetup in the C:\ of your hard drive. Insert your original XP CD, start Windows Explorer, and then navigate to your CD drive. Highlight everything in the root folder of the CD, and copy all of it to the C:\XPSetup folder you just made.

Next, create a second new folder in C:\ and name it SP3. Go to http://www.microsoft.com/downloads /Results.aspx?displaylang=en&nr=50 and click the link for Windows XP Service Pack 3 Network Installation Package for IT Professionals and Developers. Download the 324MB file, WindowsXP-KB936929-SP3-x86-ENU.exe, and save it to the new C:\SP3 folder.

From the Start menu, select Run and type the following command at the prompt C:\SP3\WindowsXP-KB936929-SP3-x86-ENU /integrate:C:\XPSetup. Make sure there is only a single space between ENU and /integrate — there should be no other spaces. Otherwise, you will get all kinds of error messages. If everything is done right you should get a “Completed” message box after a while. On some computers this process takes several minutes to complete.

Now we will create what is called

an “answer file” to enter your product key automatically so that you do not have to type it manually later on. On your original Win XP CD (Professional Edition only), navigate to the \Support\Tools folder, double-click Deploy.cab, and then double-click Setupmgr.exe to open the Windows Setup Manager Wizard. When prompted, choose Create a new answer file and then Windows Unattended Installation. For the User Interaction Level, choose Provide Defaults, and when asked about the Distribution Folder, answer No. Finally, you’ll see a new window, into which you can specify defaults; select Providing the Product Key on the left and then type your product key in the text fields on the right. When you’re done, save the file Unattend.txt into your C:\XPSetup folder.

The final step has yet to be done. You have to extract the boot loader from your old Windows XP disc so that you can make the new one bootable. The best way to do this is to download a free software called ImgBurn from www.imgburn.com.

Install ImgBurn, start the program, and click Write files/folders to disc on the first screen. Choose the Advanced tab, followed by the Bootable Disc tab, and from the Extract Boot Image list select the drive containing your XP disc. Click the Save icon and save the BootImage.ima file to your C:\SP3 folder. Now all that you have to do is burn a new CD.

In ImgBurn, choose the Advanced tab, followed by the Bootable Disc tab, and turn on the Make Image Bootable option. If prompted to choose a bootable disc emulation type, select no emulation. (Use 0x7C0 for the load segment, and 4 for the sector count. Make sure you are using the Joliet file system). Specify the BootImage.ima file you just created as the boot image; drag the entire contents of the C:\XPSetup folder into your CD project and burn the CD.

Keep this disk in a safe place. The next time your Windows does not load use it so that your computer recovers.