For a company that's floundering in the new tablet economy, Windows 8 couldn't have come at a better time for Microsoft. It represents the behemoth's combined desktop, laptop and tablet operating system strategy, and it's meant to go right from 10-inch touch-only tablets all the way to big-screen TVs, while covering the ultraportable notebooks and business desktops along the way as well. That said, what I've seen so far is only a Developer Preview, and the final release is almost a year away, but here's my takeaway of some of the best features Windows 8 has to offer. Oh, and some stuff Microsoft really needs to fix!What I Liked…Metro User Interface: If you've seen Windows Phone 7, you know where the inspiration for the slick Metro interface lies. Much like its phone sibling, the user interface features Live Tiles – buttons not only launch applications but also provide at-a-glance info like weather, unread emails. And Microsoft has really taken multitouch to a new level here – for instance, you can select a Live Tile with one finger while scrolling sideways with the other finger to drop it exactly where you want. The interface is tailor made for touch with a pretty amazing touch keyboard to boot, but also supports pen and mouse inputs.Picture Passwords: Exactly what it suggests, you select a photo and perform three gestures on it that you can easily remember, and that's your password!Re-explored!: Windows Explorer finally gets a major overhaul, with an Office 2010 style ribbon and the ability to even uninstall a program right from within Explorer.Travel With Your Stuff: Using integration with your Windows Live account, Windows 8 will let you hop on another machine and enter your Live ID, and almost instantly, you'll get your own Lock screen, your contacts, your apps, and your SkyDrive (cloud storage) content.Deep Social Integration: Social sharing is in the core of this release, and you can share stuff you're reading on the web for instance with your friends simply by clicking the Share button and selecting the application of choice. The OS even remembers the people with whom you share the most, listing them as frequently used shortcuts. …And Some CriticismsConfusing Multitasking: While switching between apps is easy enough – you just swipe from the left side of the screen – the Metro UI doesn't show you all your running apps all at once, so you have to cycle through open apps until you find the right one.Bye-bye Start Menu: It's gone. If you've grown to love the little pop-up menu first introduced with Windows 95, say your goodbyes. Clicking on what used to be the Start button launches the tile-filled Metro UI, leaving most of us a tad confused as to where to find our applications. Too much too soon? While it may instantly make sense for folks who're used to Windows Phone 7, isn't that too much of an assumption on Microsoft's behalf? That too for desktop users?Cloud Data Security: It's still unclear how much stuff of yours travels with your Live ID, and exactly where it is stored. I'd like to know exactly which parts of my personally identifiable data Microsoft is squirreling away in the name of portability. The Weight Of Wars War games tend usually to shy away from the futility and the sheer desperation of war, taking solace in the glorified jingoism that is enough to pump players up for battle. Not so with Resistance 3, which puts the human element front and center, and you can really feel for Joe Capelli as the sheer burden of the responsibility of saving mankind starts weighing the main character down. So even when you're making progress kicking some enemy behinds, that feeling of defeat and desperation never subsides. Rest for a moment, and you start seeing a deluge of savage troops butchering your travelling companions, and you have to work hard to shake off that losing feeling. Never before was the game progress indicator, which keeps reminding you that you're moving forward in the game, more important! As Capelli, you must travel by foot, train, boat and aircraft to New York City on a mission to close an enemy wormhole that was opened four years prior (Resistance fans will remember this event from Resistance 2). As with the rest of the series, you get great and brilliantly thought out weapons to deal with equally impressively varied and downright insane enemies. Each of the guns respond beautifully, and pack a hell of a punch, which is just as well else you'd be overrun in the first level itself. When you round out the 10-11 hours of gameplay that it takes to finish this game end to end, you realize the developers meant for this to be as much a intensely harrowing personal experience as a compelling single-person shooter game. The multiplayer mode is top notch as well, but even without it, this is a must-buy for PS3 shooter fans. Rating: 9/10Price:Rs 2,499URL: http://bit.ly/qBB27Q technocool at kanwar dot nettwitter@2shar
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Mobile phone maker Sony Ericsson will focus entirely on the booming smartphone market, going head to head with rivals like Apple and underlining the importance of a tie-up with Sony amid reports the electronics giant is preparing a buyout.The company said it would shift all its production to smartphones during 2012 as it reported a swing back to profit of 31 million euros, just higher than forecasts.Last week, a source with direct knowledge of the matter told Reuters Sony was in talks to buy Ericsson's 50 per cent stake in the joint venture. In an interview with Reuters, Sony Ericsson chief executive Bert Nordberg declined to comment.Analysts believe the world's ninth largest handset maker can only succeed in attracting avid gadget users away from its rivals by being fully integrated into Sony's wide portfolio of devices and getting access to the Japanese electronic giant's entertainment assets, like PlayStation and music catalogues.Smartphones currently account for around 80 per cent of all Sony Ericsson's sales and the company said its share of the global Android-based smartphone market during the quarter was approximately 12 per cent in volume and 11 per cent in value."Speculation persists that Sony will buy out the JV," said Geoff Blaber from CCS Insight."This is arguably the most desirable end game for a company that needs full access to Sony content and services."Controlling Sony Ericsson would help Sony recoup ground in the battle against Apple Inc and Samsung Electronics, where it has been hampered by a disjointed strategy regarding mobile gadgets and online content.For Ericsson, a sale would insulate its profit and loss account from the volatility Sony Ericsson has brought and allow it to focus resources on loss-making chip venture ST-Ericsson.A Reuters poll put the price of Ericsson's 50 percent stake in Sony Ericsson at around $1.5 billion.SmartphonesThe road ahead will be tough for Sony Ericsson as it shifts fully to smartphones.All handset makers are targeting a bigger share of the smartphone market and players like Samsung Electronics and HTC Corp will be difficult to dislodge.Sony Ericsson has been losing money for a while, although its recent focus on smartphones based on Google's Android platform pulled the company back into the black.Third quarter pretax profit at the company was 31 million euros ($42 million), just higher than the mean forecast of 27 million euros in a Reuters poll and a swing back from a loss of 42 million in the previous quarter."On the sales side it's actually a pretty strong quarter for Sony Ericsson," said Sydbank analyst Morten Imsgaard, who said that customers like Sony Ericsson's new product line based around its Xperia smartphones."On the earnings side it's not that strong, and the company will have to work on that side going forward to lift the operating margin," he said.The operating margin was 2 per cent, down from 4 per cent a year earlier, indicating that after years of restructuring and cost cuts, more remains to be done.(Reuters)
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If we are to believe the Mayan and Hopi Indians, the world as we know it is due to end in 2012. Just when so much hi tech is coming our way. Here's what we might miss — or not. iPad 3: The King Of TabletsThe world has long been indulging in its favourite Apple activity — rumour mongering on the next iPad. Not just the iPad 3 but the iPad Mini. Since Apple doesn't have a tradition of even hinting at what one of its new products will be like, everyone theorises and looks for the smallest shred of evidence. This time the evidence is as small as an internal cable shown on a Chinese site which may or may not be intended for the iPad 3. And all it shows is that it will be housed in a different design, possibly thicker than the iPad 2. A stronger rumour is that the next iPad, probably launching in March on Steve Jobs' birthday, will have a high-resolution display. Whatever shape it takes, predictions are that the iPad 3 will continue Apple's tablet dominance. But for all those waiting for a 7.85-inch iPad Mini, chances are as mini, say Apple watchers.Windows 8: Operating SmartwareThe stunning user interface of Microsoft Windows 8, says Win rumours and many others, is due to grace computer and laptop screens in February or even earlier. Just maybe, there'll be a tablet in the works as well later — that too from Nokia. But, the Windows 8 tab may not be sold to consumers over 2012. But this much is for sure: more Windows phones are coming from Nokia to follow up the Lumia 800 including a possible Lumia 900 at the CES in January. Windows 7.5 smartphones are easy to use and have an interface that many say should have come from Apple, but their market share is still under 3 per cent. BlackBerry 10: See You Soon?Things don't seem to be getting better for BlackBerry makers Research in Motion. With global market share and financials plummeting, they really need to hurry up with that one panacea for all their troubles — the BlackBerry 10 operating system and the related Playbook OS. Promised for February, the OS will mean we may finally see brand new BlackBerry smartphones and Playbook 2 able to offer competition to the iPhone and Android phones. At least that's the plan. Ultrabooks: The Next Little ThingMore fact than rumour is the flood of Ultrabooks we will see soon. These thin, svelte imitations of Apple's MacBook Air are sub $1,000 and give you power which is not compromised by size. They run an Intel Sandy Bridge processor and have varying but adequate RAM and storage to work fast. There's no optical drive. The battery life is at least five hours and hooting up and resuming is quick. Ultrabooks are already around from Asus, Acer and Samsung, but more are coming and Intel says by 2013 they will have replaced laptops.(This story was published in Businessworld Issue Dated 09-01-2012)
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BlackBerry-maker Research in Motion is offering hefty discounts in India on its PlayBook tablet in a limited festive season offer until December 31, a company spokesman said on Wednesday.The 16 GB version of the PlayBook is available at Rs 13,490 in the festive offer, a more than 50 per cent discount from the regular price of Rs 27,990.The 32 GB model is available at Rs 15,990 and the 64 GB model is for Rs 24,490 in the festive offer, compared with regular prices of Rs 32,990 and Rs 37,990, respectively.The PlayBook, which RIM launched to scathing reviews in April, has sold less than one million units globally, while Apple has sold more than 11 million iPads in just its most recent quarter.(Reuters)
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The iPhone 4S is here, launching barely over a month after its US launch, at a staggering price of Rs 44,500 for the base 16GB model, going up all the way to Rs 57,500 for the 64GB variant. You still with me? Good. Now that we've got that out of the way (honestly, that price never really goes away, does it?), let's see what this year's update to the iPhone has brought.In many ways, the 4S raised more many eyebrows about what it wasn't rather than what it was. If you expected a redesigned, larger screen iPhone 5, all you got was an iPhone 4 with seriously overhauled innards, but no external changes really, save for a redesigned antenna — the same external casing, screen. It isn't an issue — the iPhone remains one of the best looking phones out there, but try asking the folks who like to show their friends that they've got the latest device from Apple how much this irks them!Inside's a different story, with the CPU the same dual-core A5 processor we've seen in the iPad2, and a claimed 7x increase in graphical processing power. The net result is that everything runs more snappily when compared to the iPhone 4, which translates into the 4S arguably remaining still the best hardware-UI combination in the market. And the camera, an 8MP version with an improved aperture ratio turns out the best images from a smartphone this side of the Nokia N8. You have to try this camera to realise how little time your compact camera has…Of course, what I was personally more interested in figuring out was how well Siri, the new intelligent assistant that brings true speech recognition to the iPhone, worked. Specifically how well it worked with a bunch of Indian accents and names, a far cry from Siri's American beginnings. Start conversing with Siri, and you realise this is really a peak into the future, with Siri's ability to understand natural language statements like "Do I need an umbrella today?" or "Wake me up in 7 hours" to look up the relevant weather data or set an alarm/appointment/reminder. It is immensely useful for quickly looking up things like "what is the population of New Delhi" as well, and it doesn't miss a beat picking up such words/phrases. The trouble starts when you pick a halfway complex Indian name on your address book, maybe to send a message or to locate an email. Siri trips up on most names, and how! That and its inability to look up local businesses/addresses or integrate with maps means that one of its biggest use cases for me – using it while driving – takes a solid usability hit. (Dreamstime) That said, for a software which Apple clearly states is in beta, it worked pretty well out of the box, but are the pumped up internals and Siri enough to justify the asking price in India? You could try asking Siri this, but I suspect she may be a tad biased!Rating: 7/10Price: Rs 44,500 onwards on Airtel (review device courtesy Airtel) and AircelURL: http://bit.ly/t23lhNApps For X-MasIf some of you are lucky enough to find an Apple or Android phone in your Christmas stockings, here are some apps that will make your Christmas experience complete. Android users can look at Christmas Ringtones and Christmas Tree Live Wallpaper to spruce up their phones with the yuletide spirit. iPhone users can head over to the App Store and see the special Christmas section which includes gems such as Christmas Songs, music and carols, an app that plays back over 50 holiday classics, or the Create Greeting Cards app for sending greetings to near and dear ones. What's more, look out for great deals on a wide range of apps – some going for free while others deeply discounted. It is the season of giving, after all…Smooth OperationPortable apps aren't exactly new, but Kingston's urDrive range of flash drives package a bundle of software that lets users install and run programs off of the USB drive so they can use, for example, their own photo viewer and MP3 player on any PC without leaving a footprint behind. Particularly useful for folks who have to use public computers or for those who can't install their own software in their work PCs. Best of all, the built-in browser has anti-key logging software and stores all cookies and passwords on the drive, which makes public use that much more secure.URL: http://bit.ly/rMqDQKtechnocool at kanwar dot nettwitter@2shar
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The Kindle's been around for a while now, and those who own it swear by its capability to …kindle… a reading habit with its ability to download books instantly and carry them everywhere in its travel friendly form-factor. Will the Fire, the latest salvo by Amazon in an ever crowded tablet segment, spell similar success, and quite literally kindle a sales fire? I spent some time with the Kindle Fire and here are my first impressions. The first thing you'll probably want to know is its price - the Fire can be yours for $199 from the US, with local retailers charging a premium to bring it to Indian shores. Even so, it's relatively affordable, and the skeptic in me wondered just how much Amazon could pack in to this tablet at this price point. Remember, the iPad 2 starts at twice the Fire's asking price. The good news is that even at this price, the Fire is a pretty good Android based tablet, with great build quality and decent mid-range hardware (although the Android it runs is heavily modified, and it is practically unrecognizable as an Android tablet). The idea is that with it, you read e-books using Amazon's Kindle software, download Android apps and games using Amazon's Appstore, purchase music using Amazon's MP3 store, and watch videos using Amazon's video on-demand and download services. Sense a common thread here? Amazon's pitching this as a content consumption device, the Trojan horse that will pave the way for greater sales from Amazon's digital storefront, plus this also allows Amazon to offset the costs associated with pricing the Fire so low. In addition, you can browse the web, send email, read document files, view photos and listen to your own non-Amazon music libraries as well (transfer via the USB cable, no memory card). The underlying software may be Google's, but key Android features, such as Maps, Gmail, Calendar Navigation, and the Google App Market, are all absent. And while Amazon's services - such as the music and e-book stores - are pretty good, the trouble is that a lot of them, including the App Store and video content, don't work in India yet and need a US billing address. So really, you're walking in uncharted territory if you pick one up in the near future, and I'd recommend a buy only if you're comfortable messing around with Android to make the app market work. Pick up the Reliance tab instead. Rating: 6/10Price: Rs 14,999/- on IndiaPlazaURL: http://amzn.to/ucQQ2M Sharp Appeal Speaking of kindling, if a big optical zoom, top-notch image stabilisation and advanced manual controls light in a prosumer fixed-lens camera is your thing, the Canon PowerShot SX40 HS may be the only camera you need. From a distance, this baby looks every part a digital SLR camera size, weight and form-factor wise, but it isn't. Blame that on the practically obscene 35x optical zoom (24mm wide-angle to 840mm telephoto) lens, which compares directly with the Nikon Coolpix P500's 36x zoom. Stepping away from the numbers, the camera feels good in the hand, with a largely metal body, and the manual controls are easily reaching during shooting. Pity that the LCD display on such a bulky device is a piddly 2.7 inch version. Taking it through its paces, the SX40 HS takes just a tad too long to switch on and be ready for the first shot, but after that, it dazzles in performance, with an impressive recycle time between shots, and a capable continuous shooting mode at just over 2 frames a second. Images are sharp and rich in color, as is the full-HD video capture (only at 24 frames per second, sadly). What troubles me is that the price breaches dSLR territory, which may make some of you think twice. For most others, the long zoom range makes this a topshot contender. Rating: 7/10Price: Rs 28,995/-URL: http://bit.ly/uRpw46 Heroes Of DarknessFans of the Batman franchise would be familiar with the crime-infested metropolis called Gotham City. In Batman: Arkham City, developers RockSteady have built on the outstanding 2009 Batman: Arkham Asylum game and cast Batman into a strong, atmospheric and fast paced super-prison neighborhood of Gotham called Arkham. As Batman, you start off trying to contain the gore and violence on the streets of Arkham. The attention to detail, especially the 1930's styling, is downright brilliant, and it's this richness that makes the game play and missions that much more believable. Along the way, you get to meet the Joker, the Penguin, Mr. Freeze, and numerous other members of Batman's rogues' gallery. The development is each character is terrific, with plenty of nods to their histories as established in the comic books, and part of the fun of progressing through the story lies in seeing who you might meet next. It's worth mentioning in particular the ensemble of voice actors who never miss a beat in their portrayal of the thugs. In any case, the exhilaration of soaring above the streets of Arkham and the thrill of discovering secrets at every turn stay with you long after you're done playing the game. Rating: 9/10Price: Rs 2,599/- (PS3 and Xbox)URL: http://bit.ly/txnAxDtechnocool at kanwar dot nettwitter@2shar
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Are you one to keep up with Joneses at all costs? Then you better know that the yellow Beetle or gold Hyundai Sonata you have set your heart on are uber uncool as far as car colours go! According to the 2011 DuPont Automotive Color Popularity Report—all over the world— white/white pearl along with silver are what people are opting for in cars.In India, light shades continue to rule the charts with white capturing 28 per cent of the market; silver follows closely with 27 per cent; gray was in third position with just 9 per cent share. White/white pearl surged ahead in 2011, boosted by sudden popularity in European, China, Korea, South America and South African markets which together with North American markets helped it to surpass long-standing rivals black and gray and to join silver at the top of the world colour ranks with 22 per cent share. Only last year (2010) white/white pearl languished in the third place, tieing with gray in the world colour ranks with just 16 per cent shareThe DuPont report, in its 59th year, is the longest running and largest of its kind in the industry, includes automotive colour popularity rankings and regional trends from 11 leading automotive regions of the world.Black and gray dropped to third and fourth, respectively, in this year's report with red and blue strengthening and holding positions in fifth and sixth place.Silver and black have long been recognised in the top three for colour popularity. However, in the past few years, white/white pearl has been steadily growing in popularity outside of North America. The overall trend for casual luxury has spread to numerous vehicle types. Classic white and pearlescent white effects are inspiring luxury design.In the North American market, white/white pearl were top choices (23 per cent market share), for the fifth consecutive year, led by the truck/SUV segment, with 29 per cent. Other colours of choice were black (18 per cent) and silver (16 per cent). Gray had 13 per cent of the market and was in fourth position while red maintained its fifth place rank with 10 per cent of North American market share overall. In Europe, the luxury segment continued to be dominated by black with 25 per cent share, led by luxury/luxury SUV segment (40 per cent). White/white pearl made a surprising surge of about five percentage points over 2010, to reach 20 per cent share. White was seen as inspiration for the ecological megatrend in Europe, because it represents modern minimalism and future technology, according to Elke Dirks, DuPont colour designer for Europe. Gray (18 per cent) and silver (15 per cent) decreased in popularity this year, and blue rounded out Europe's top five colours with 7 per cent of the vehicle market.Silver topped the Asia Pacific region overall with more than 25 per cent share in the region and repeated its No. 1 position again this year in China and South Korea. White/white pearl was second overall in the Asia Pacific region, with slightly less than 25 per cent of the market, led by Japan and India, where it ranked as the No. 1 color in those countries.Silver led the South American market with 30 per cent share and also was the color of choice in Brazil. The second most popular colour in South America, is black/black effect (19 per cent); white/white pearl comes third (17 per cent).Among other regions of the world, white/white Pearl is top choice in South Africa while in Russia, the preference is for Black.
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To improve quality of services and provide a hygienic environment in and around tourist destinations across the country, government Tuesday launched the 'Clean India' campaign aimed at attracting more visitors."The success of the Clean India campaign is crucial to achieve the targeted growth in tourists arrivals during the 12th Plan," said Tourism Minister Subodhkant Sahai at the Clean India campaign workshop.The campaign emphasising on sensitisation and action at field level comes after the Ministry conducted a survey in some selected sites where it was found that hygiene and sanitation conditions in and around tourist destinations are a big issues with foreign and domestic tourists.Tourism Ministry has set a target of achieving 12 per cent growth during the 12th five-year plan which commences from 2012 in the sector with the aim of attracting six million more foreign tourists. Currently India attracts about 5.7 million foreigners in a year."We want to carry out the action plan with involvement of both public and private sectors in keeping our monuments, beaches, stations, bus stops and other destinations clean," Sahai said."We will will be conducting similar workshops in states also and a concrete action plan will be finalised by April next year," he said.(PTI)
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