Google Inc, fresh from losing a bid to buy thousands of patents from bankrupt Nortel, lashed out at its biggest rivals on Wednesday and accused them of banding together to block the Internet giant in the red-hot smartphone arena.In a rare public outburst, Google Chief Legal Officer David Drummond blasted Microsoft, Apple, Oracle and "other companies" for colluding to hamper the increasingly popular Android mobile software by buying up patents, effectively imposing a "tax" on Android cellphones.Apart from increasing costs for consumers, snapping up the patents will stifle technological innovation, he said."Microsoft and Apple have always been at each other's throats, so when they get into bed together you have to start wondering what's going on," Drummond wrote in a blog post.He referred to "a hostile, organized campaign against Android by Microsoft, Oracle, Apple and other companies, waged through bogus patents."Microsoft and Apple had teamed up to acquire patents previously owned by software maker Novell and bankrupt telecom firm Nortel Networks Corp. to ensure "Google didn't get them," Drummond added.But Microsoft's General Counsel Brad Smith disputed Drummond's version on the Novell patent issue on Twitter."Google says we bought Novell patents to keep them from Google. Really? We asked them to bid jointly with us. They said no," Smith tweeted in response to the blog.Representatives from Apple and Oracle declined comment.Google - which is facing a federal antitrust probe in the Internet search market it dominates - is forging ahead in the smartphone market. But it has been hampered by a lack of intellectual property in wireless telephony, which has exposed it to patent-infringement lawsuits from rivals like Oracle.It lost out on the Nortel patents to a consortium grouping Apple, Microsoft, Research in Motion and others, which together paid $4.5 billion.Google individually had bid up to $3.4 billion for those patents before teaming up with Intel Corp, which on its own had bid up to $3.1 billion, according to a source familiar with the matter.They bid through $4 billion and then tapped out, another source had told Reuters.Patent PortfolioThe Android software, now used by phonemakers including HTC, Motorola and Samsung, has rapidly overtaken Nokia to become the world's most popular smartphone platform, with about a third of the market.Drummond said the company was looking to strengthen its patent portfolio. Google, whose crown jewel is its search algorithm, has never placed the same priority on patents as it has on copyright, but is now hoping to stock up. It recently bought more than 1,000 patents from IBM.The Internet search leader is now in talks to buy InterDigital, a key holder of wireless patents valued at more than $3 billion, according to the Wall Street Journal.That shift in mentality comes as a wave of patent suits crisscross the wireless industry. In past years, incumbents have tried to protect their position against newcomers like Google, which entered the market three years ago with Android.HTC received a setback last month when a U.S. trade panel said it had infringed on two of Apple's patents.Also, Samsung has delayed the Australian launch of its latest Galaxy tablet due to a patent dispute with Apple, which says the South Korean electronics giant "slavishly" copied the iPhone and iPad.And Oracle is suing Google, claiming Android infringed on Java patents that it inherited through an acquisition of Sun Microsystems in 2010.Patent acquisitions are expected to accelerate, with IBM and Kodak often mentioned as shopping intellectual property on the market. (Reuters)
Read More
Mac OS X LionThe big cat has arrived. While Mac OS X Lion may well mark the eighth release of Apple's computer operating system, there are a number of firsts that it chalks up against its name. For one, Lion is not sold or distributed on physical media like a DVD, and is only available via purchase from the Mac App Store (although at about 4GB for the download, many bandwidth starved folks may prefer to wait for the slightly pricier USB disk avatar due later this month). It's also a brave move by Apple to marry its desktop OS with its hugely popular iOS mobile-device operating system iOS. Take for instance the new Launchpad feature, which mimics the app home screens that you see on the iPhone/iPad. If you like the iOS method of organising apps by dragging apps to different screens or folders, you're going to love this feature. Older Mac users, or those with a lot of apps, will find Launchpad too tedious for daily use. Much like the iOS experience, every menu has a rubber band feel to it (scroll down to the bottom of the page and it springs back up). Trackpad gestures are now front and center in the Lion experience, and while I am not a big fan of the new ‘reverse' scrolling, the other stuff is pretty handy. You can rotate, punch, swipe left/right to move between desktops, the list goes on and it makes sense for you to get acquainted with the new gestures. And then there are the auto-save and version control features – each time Lion saves your file, it creates a new version of the file so if you make a change you don't like, you can revert to one of the older saves. If you want, Lion can even restore all your windows, exactly as they were when you shut down or restarted your Mac. I quite liked the new Mission Control app as well, which shows you a view of everything that is running on your Lion system at the moment. The iOS-ification of the Mac OS may be a radical revision for some, but Lion may end up welcoming a lot of iOS users looking to try out the Mac platform. Rating: 8/10Price: $29.99 (available on the Mac App Store)URL: http://bit.ly/q2jYJh Nokia E6 The writing is on the wall. Nokia's move towards Windows Phone 7 leaves a big question mark over its Symbian handsets, especially their smartphones range. With the E6, the latest in their hugely popular E-series range which has seen illustrious predecessors like the E51, the E71 and the E72, is Nokia flogging a dead horse? Let's find out! Design wise, Nokia's pulled another winner out of the bag. It looks and feels premium with its tastefully chosen plastic, metal and chrome elements. In a move to keep up with the times, Nokia's slapped a touchscreen onto this baby, which is of a capacitive variety and packs in a modest 640 x 480 resolution on its less-than-modest 2.46-inches display. Switch it on, and there's a fair chance you'd be impressed with the clarity of this screen – it packs in a slightly higher pixel density (326 pixels per inch) than the pixel-packed Retina display on the iPhone 4. You will find yourself switching between the comfortable and responsive keyboard and the touchscreen, depending on whether you want to type something click links or buttons. Just watch out for one-off software screens with far too-small-to-be-readable text. Now, while the design is very 2011 (read: modern), the software that runs the E6 is far from it. While the E6 does ship with Symbian Anna, which brings with it much needed improvements over the previous Symbian^3 version (including touch friendly icons and home screens), if you've used an iOS or an Android device, you will wonder why this phone still feels like it is stuck in some sort of a time-warp. Symbian Anna? More like Symbian ‘Anna'chronistic, if you ask me!But then there are tons of folks out here who love the familiarity of the Nokia user interface, and if you're one of them, you will love the E6 for its stellar hardware features – such as the awesome 1500 mAh battery and no-sweat multimedia playback for files upto 720p resolution. The 8 MP camera is a fixed focus sort, so your results will be about average. It's priced right but only if you're a Nokia UI loyal and are looking for a 2011 version of your beloved E-series.Rating: 7/10Price: Rs 18,679URL: http://bit.ly/o2A5EfHP Pavilion DV6Picking a mid-range laptop is pretty hard these days, what with cookie cutter configurations from almost all vendors. Differentiation comes really in the form of features such as metal construction, a bevy of ports and better than usual multimedia. HP's new Pavilion dv6-6015tx checks almost all the boxes in the extras category while pushing sensible hardware without breaking the bank.So while the specs sheet – good hardware choices such as a capable Intel 2.1 GHz Core i3-2310M processor, 4 GB of fast 1333 MHz DDR3 memory and respectable graphics by way of the AMD Radeon HD 6490M graphics card with 1 GB DDR5 graphics memory – are pretty bog-standard in this category, it's the goodies I'm more interested in checking out. First up, the design – in the DV6's case, it is classy and distinctive without shamelessly mimicking the bare aluminum look of the Apple range. The touchpad is highlighted with a white illumination, and it would really have been even more awesome had it been paired with a backlit keyboard. I'm not too hot on the 15.6" High-Definition LED HP BrightView Display – at a resolution of 1366 x 768 pixels, it just doesn't pack in enough pixels to be memorable.Where many budget laptops have cheap speakers that sound anemic, the dv6 includes Beats Audio, a combination of software and hardware that provides a pretty satisfying listening experience. No more of the tinny laptop sound - sound remains clear and undistorted even when turned up, with my only complaint being that the bass dropped off as the volume was increased. Throw in 2 of the faster USB 3.0 ports and a HD webcam, and you've got yourself quite the deal for your money!Rating: 7/10Price: Rs 39,038- for the HP Pavilion dv6-6015txURL: http://bit.ly/qHHhnGtechnocool at kanwar dot nettwitter@2shar
Read More
Rahul Malhotra, a 34-year-old accounts whiz, delivers his punch line with a perfectly straight face: "My job is turning out to be a major pain in the neck. And sometimes a pain in the back as well." For a guy who is passionate about his job, that is a strange statement — until he adds: "literally."Malhotra explains that his doctor has pinned his recurring neck pain and lower back ache to the long hours he spends sitting hunched in his chair in office, pecking away at his laptop. He routinely spends 10 hours or more in office, glued to his chair for the most part. When he finally calls it a day, he feels stiff around his collar, gets a nagging lower back pain. Usually, even after a good night's sleep, he feels the twinges in the morning. And by evening, the intensity of pain increases. It is a cycle he has been trying to break without success.It is a common enough problem, say all the general physicians and orthopaedic doctors Businessworld spoke to. The combination of long hours at sedentary jobs, bad eating habits, improper posture, and general lack of exercise and fitness has made sure that an increasing number of executives are suffering from either neck pain, lower back pain or both. The doctors say there are plenty of ways to reduce or even banish this pain without popping painkillers, provided you take some fairly straightforward precautions. Here are eight steps that they recommend. Invest in a proper mattress and pillow: Many people sleep on extra-soft mattresses and badly made pillows, which aggravate the problem. Investing in an orthopaedic mattress that gives adequate support to your back while you sleep can help a lot. And most reputed mattress makers offer orthopaedic ones now. Getting the right pillow is a bit more difficult. There is a staggering range of pillows in the market, and you will probably need to experiment a bit before you get the right one, which doesn't leave you with a stiff neck. Lose weight: Excess weight, especially if it is deposited around the waist, adds to the pressure on your back. Lose weight and your spine will feel grateful — and signal it as well. Strengthen your back — and your abdominals: A fair amount of people first go for physiotherapy to fix their back muscles. But that alone will not help, say most orthopaedic doctors. The abdominal muscles play an equally important role in stabilising your lower back, given that they lie opposite to your back. Regular crunches and oblique bends can help give you a better core strength, and lessen the pain in your lower back. Do your Bhujanga asana and your hyperextension religiously: In yoga, pilates and weight training, there are plenty of postures and stretches that target the back muscles very specifically. Getting a proper instructor and following these exercises will do wonders for your back pain. Similarly, there are specific neck exercises — both dynamic movements as well as static isometric poses — that can help de-stress and fix your neck pain. Posture, posture, posture: This is immensely important, stress all doctors. Lowering your weight and strengthening your core muscles will be of no use if you continue to slump in your chair for most of the day. Your spine is s-shaped and you need to sit in the correct manner to make sure you are not putting extra pressure on the wrong points. Doctors say it is worth going to a physiotherapist to train on the right posture. Getting the right chair — and other office equipment: Even good posture practice will not help if you are sitting in a badly designed chair. Or working on a laptop without a proper laptop stand. Most people make the mistake of placing the laptop on a low table. Hunching over it is the prime cause of work-related neck pain. Get a good laptop stand that puts the computer at the right height and you will soon feel the difference in your neck muscles. Also, getting the right ergonomic chair is imperative. Take frequent breaks: Most people don't get up often, says one general physician. The rule of thumb is to get up and stretch and walk around a bit every 15 minutes or so. If 15 minutes is too short a time span, try to do it every 30 minutes. Eat right: A high-protein diet which increases your uric acid levels, or a junk food diet also aggravates back pain. Following a balanced food plan, and eating at the right time will go a long way in alleviating your pain. This article is not a substitute for your physician's advice(This story was published in Businessworld Issue Dated 22-08-2011)
Read More
It is ironic that Chennai, the hub of ancient south Indian culture, should be relatively disconnected from modern Indian art. Seeking to address that imbalance was Art Chennai, a week-long art extravaganza in the city. Twenty-two galleries and 27 art shows showcased more than 2,500 works from India's leading and upcoming artists. There was also video art, art camps, live art, art conversations, and an art auction. "We tried to bring everything connected to art," says Sanjay Tulsyan, convenor of the show and managing director of Tulsyan NEC Steel. "We even brought in artists to paint live." The response was encouraging; Lalit Kala Akademi saw an average 900 visitors daily; other venues attracted more than 15,000 visitors.All big galleries of Chennai — and some from Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and Cochin — participated. From the far-flung, sylvan environs of Cholamandal Artists Village — a community of artists that gave birth to the Madras Movement of Art in the 1950s — to the rustic DakshinaChitra to top galleries such as Forum Art Gallery, Lalit Kala Akademi and Apparao Galleries, Chennai was treated to an art show on a scale not seen before in the city.Lalit Kala Akademi displayed Rabindranath Tagore's original drawings and paintings sourced from private collections, including Lady and Untitled. Also on display were portraits of the master made by Jamini Roy, Abanindranath Tagore, Gaganendranath Tagore and Atul Bose. It also had a special exhibition of the late K.C.S. Panicker, founder of Cholamandal Artists Village. This was part of the ‘Dialectics of Tradition' section, showcasing the works of four influential artists (K. Ramanujam, Velu Vishwanathan and K.V. Haridasan being the other three) who shaped the Madras Art Movement. "The show blew my mind, such a wide array of contemporary art was on display under one roof," says photographer Varun Gupta, some of whose photographs from his body of work, ‘In Search of Solitude' were also on display. "It is an attempted dialogue between my urban self and the person I become when engulfed by nature." The pictures were taken in 35-mm and 120-mm format, and black and white film.Apparao Galleries had works of modern favourites such as M.F. Husain (including The Tea Party and some untitled works) and Anjalie Ela Menon (including Vishnu and other untitled works) on display. "Chennai is definitely ready for something of this scale," says Sharan Apparao of Apparao Galleries. Focus Art Gallery displayed the works of photographer Gauri Gill from her ‘Notes from the Desert' series. The photographs, with silver gelatine print as the medium, are inspired by rural communities of western Rajasthan.There was installation art, too. At Lalit Kala Akademi, the grim ‘Bhopal — A Silent Picture', a multimedia installation that had a 20-ft long black container displaying 3D images and film with soundscape of the Bhopal gas tragedy, was evocative and thought-provoking. "My work went to the India Art Summit, then Kala Gora in Mumbai; this is the third step," says artist Samar Jodha. "Ninety thousand people have walked through it. Finally it will be installed permanently in Bhopal."The other installation art, ‘The Ore', is a community project, the brainchild of Cochin-based artist Rajan Krishnan. "I worked with 200 artists for three months and created one million handmade pieces," says Krishnan. "It is inspired by the landscape of Kerala." These miniature pieces, made of terracotta, included pots, elephants, dogs and abstract objects. The last three days of the show also had discussions among artists at the Taj Coromandel on topics such as what it means to curate exhibitions, how value can be determined in art, and artistic processes, titled ‘Art Conversations'. Speakers included cultural activist Ranvir Shah of Prakriti Foundation; Abhay Sardesai, editor of Art India; Mumbai-based art historian Arshiya Lokhandwala; art critic and curator Gayathri Sinha from New Delhi; and artist, academician, curator and writer Paula Sengupta from Kolkata. "The discussions were superbly organised," says Shalini Biswajeet, an artist and owner of Forum Art Gallery, whose sculptural works like ‘Woman, Cow and Lotus' were on display.Overall, Art Chennai drew kudos from critics and students alike. Says art buff Alexander Zachariah of Rubecon Advertising: "To see such an amazing width of art showcased at one point of time is a fantastic experience." For architecture student Charanya K.L., it meant a break from clubbing and movies. "It was thought-provoking and interesting," he says. Adds Biswajeet: "For serious players, it provides ample opportunity to network and be noticed; I wish for it to be an annual affair that the art community and city can look forward to."That is exactly what Tulsyan has in mind. Next year, he also hopes to rope in sponsors, and government support for access to spaces like the beach for large installation artworks. Chennai's art scene now has a new buzz.Click here to view slideshow on 'Aesthetic Fiesta'(This story was published in Businessworld Issue Dated 11-04-2011)
Read More
You're always looking around for toys for your child to have fun with and learn. Your kid probably looks around even more! And there are lots out there to satisfy both. Here are a few that bowled us over. If you've been scouring the Internet for knowledge on the moon, planets and motley stars and constellations to quench your child's thirst for knowledge, help is at hand. Bushnell's Voyager Sky Tour telescope (sold in India by AM Industrial Enterprises) is a real telescope, but with a twist. It comes with inbuilt content on the planetary bodies that can be seen at night. Once you stare up the telescope and point it to the night sky, the device lets you know which planetary bodies are available for viewing that night. Then as you point the telescope to a particular planet or a constellation, the handset that accompanies the telescope holds forth with interesting facts and even mythological beliefs about it. Price: Rs 22,000 A remote-controlled underwater game called RC Cyber Ray (by SwimWays) is a mechanical avatar of the Stingray fish, complete with a long, wobbling tail. As your child swims (underwater even), he can use a remote control (it's waterproof, silly!) to make the toy move in all directions, and even loop out of the water like a dolphin (haven't seen Stingrays loop like dolphins, but who cares). The RC Cyber Ray is 17 inches long, and has a 12-inch wingspan. Eyes and nose that light up only add to the fun. Price: $129 (Rs 5,800) If history and geography classes turn your child off, here's something that makes them interesting. The Smart Globe Deluxe, by Oregon Scientific, comes bundled with a smart pen and a speaker. You point the pen at a country on the globe, and the speaker spouts out the name of the country, its capital, language, currency, local wildlife, and much more. The pen can be programmed for content appropriate to your child's age, and there is a quiz mode, too, where your child's knowledge can be put to the test. Price: $99 (Rs 4,455) How do you ensure your child never loses his way? Give him a GPS device, of course! Yeah, well, GPS devices are complex enough for adults, how can a child make sense of it? He can, provided the device is simple and does not have confusing maps. Confused? Well, Bushnell's BackTrack Digital Compass looks like an oversized digital watch, but is actually a simplified GPS device with a self-calibrating digital compass. Your child marks the location where he is starting off (like, say, your home), and then goes wherever. When it's time to return, he selects the starting point again and, hey presto, the compass marks out the return path. Some of us adults could use it, too, especially for locating a car in a humungous parking lot, or the hotel before setting out for sightseeing in a strange city. Price: Rs 6,000 For the gadget-curious kid (which one isn't?) comes, hold your breath, an Android-powered tablet PC! Isabella's Fable has a 7-inch touchscreen with a customised user interface. The device will be launched in mid-2011, and will come with pre-loaded children's content from Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. Apart from providing pre-loaded content, Fable connects to a website run by Isabella called VizitMe.com, where children can read up on fairy tales and other stories using a pre-loaded e-reader application; draw to their hearts' content; play interactive games focusing on counting, reading, nutrition, colors, shapes and other educational themes; and even share photographs of friends and family. It allows parents to restrict access to material, control downloads, and also create a list of people with whom online interaction can be done. Price: $159-$179 (Rs 7,155-8,055) SMART LIVING: The Fable tablet (left) and the Backtrack GPS device are innovative hi-tech gadgets for kids You know what your child feels when he gets a signed autograph of Sachin Tendulkar. Here's a gadget that can record a message from your star! The Rawlings Recordable Autograph Ball is a baseball-shaped thingy — okay, so it's not exactly what Tendulkar hits — and has a chip that records a message for 12 seconds. There is also a 1.5-inch slot for a photograph of your star, and a locking mechanism that prevents the to-die-for message from getting overwritten. Of course, you can overwrite it if you wish, in case you meet a bigger star. Price: $24.98 (Rs 1,124)These, incidentally, comprise just the tip of the iceberg; there are cellphones for kids that come with parental control, high-tech safes that get your little ones hooked on to the savings route, stuffed toy making machines that make toys to order based on your child's demands, and much more. Makes you want to turn into a little one again? We can imagine. (This story was published in Businessworld Issue Dated 14-03-2011)
Read More
You have heard about all-terrain boots and trousers. And now there's all-terrain gadgets. Meant for those who like to get their itchy feet on dangerous grounds. So, if you happen to be an adventurer — or just want your thingamajig to outlive the occasional drops and plunges — here are four gadgets that you can count on.LaCie XtremKeyTouted as ‘10-ton truck resistant', the XtremKey, a USB storage device, from LaCie boasts a 2-mm-thick metal casing and is sealed with wear-resistant screw threads. And it is not just a bull without brains. Available in capacities ranging from 8 GB to 64 GB, it provides instant compatibility, fast transfer speeds and cross-platform convenience to both PC and Mac users. Prepare to shell out $79.99 (Rs 3,630) for a 16-GB variant.Olympus Stylus Tough-8010You've just bought your dream camera, and it turns into a nightmare when you accidentally drop it in the pool. But if it's the Olympus Stylus Tough-8010, you needn't bother. Shockproof, freezeproof and crushproof, the Olympus Stylus Tough-8010 is meant to take the rough with the smooth. Featuring a 2.7-inch LCD and 2 GB of internal memory, this 14-megapixel digital camera allows users to record high-definition movies 33 ft under water. Priced at $379.99 (Rs 17,250), the Stylus Tough-8010 also offers 5X optical zoom and a useful One-Touch HD Movie button.Panasonic Toughbook C1Panasonic has forged a ‘tough' reputation with its Toughbook series of laptops and tablet PCs. At 1.49 kg, the new Toughbook C1 is the world's lightest 12.1-inch convertible and is supposed to withstand a 30-inch drop, not just once or twice, but multiple times. It has a shock-mounted 250-GB hard drive and a spill-resistant keyboard, besides an Intel Core i5 Processor and 2 GB of RAM. Unfortunately, though, this toughened tablet has a starting price of an astronomical $2,499 (Rs 1.13 lakh).BlueAnt T1Though a bit bulkier than its predecessors, the BlueAnt T1 — a rugged Bluetooth headset — has a great voice user interface and delivers good quality audio. While the proprietary Wind Armour Technology ensures clear audio in wind speeds up to 35 kmph, the removable silicon covers protect the headset from accidental impact. It retails for $79.99 (Rs 3,600) on BlueAnt's online store.(This story was published in Businessworld Issue Dated 06-06-2011)
Read More
I often liken Google to the Greek mythological hero Achilles. A smashingly good track record in pretty much every battle it's fought – search, email, Android, advertising, office collaboration software. But… there's the ‘heel' – social. Time after time, buzz after wave, Google's made several well intentioned but misdirected missteps in this space. Will Google+, Google's latest attempt at making their network more social, end their losing streak? I take a deep dive into Plus to find out. (Note: At the time of writing, the service is restricted and you'll need somebody to invite you to get onto the service at plus.google.com. If you need an invite, try broadcasting this on ‘other' social networks – it works!) The Home Screen: Once you get past the minor formalities of creating a profile, Plus presents you with a Home screen which is largely dominated by what Google calls the Stream. It's similar to a Facebook-style newsfeed – some would say it is too similar to Facebook. In many ways, while the interface does take some getting used to, it is less of a departure from the known landscape of social media than say Google Wave was from email. Overall, the design is clean and simple, with the navigation for the stream on the left and content front and center. I particularly like the Notifications view – you click on a notification on the top right of the screen, and instead of being taken to a new page like Facebook (disrupting what you're doing), the post loads within a small area of the screen and lets your act upon it there and then. Circles: Circles is way you organise your contacts, and one of the immediate appeals for me was how easy it was to set up "circles" that match the natural patterns of real life. Say, one circle for immediate family, one for work chaps, one for "friends you actually know", another for "mere acquaintances who you can't shake off". Or by interest, drinking buddies, golfing group, Sunday morning walker's club… the possibilities are endless. And, just like in life, one person can be in more than one "circle". What is critical is that each time you share something in the stream – you can choose exactly who you want to share your content with. Choose certain people, certain circles, or make the post public – the choice is up to you, and the post reaches only those folks, no one else. Ah, privacy! This is technically possible via Facebook "lists" but is much more of a chore. I'd have to warn you – the cutesy manner in which you drag and drop contacts into circles is high on novelty but that wears off soon, and since Circles (and Plus on the whole) depends on Google Contacts from Gmail, you can very easily have years of poorly maintained contacts pulled into the service. Sparks And Huddle: Google does pull in the whole set of Google services – Photos (Picasa), Chat into the Plus experience, and you can even use Sparks, essentially a refined version of Google search that enables you to access things of interest on a particular topic. Use the Google+ app on an Android phone, and you get access to a couple of more features, such as Huddle (instant messaging between mobiles, much like BBM and WhatsApp) and Instant Upload (instantly upload web-optimised photos to Google+ into a private Picasa album, ready to share). Hangout: Possibly one of Plus' most unique features is Hangout, which allows group video chat with up to 10 participants, but only via Google+ on the desktop (not mobile…yet). All you do is start a hangout on your Plus account, which indicates you're free to video chat with anyone who cares to drop in. Or you could join a hangout in progress in your network. No awkward preamble of SMSing or email to figure out whether or not someone is free to Skype or use FaceTime. And it blows Facebook's 1-to-1 video chat, just announced this week, out of the water in both video quality and the sheer ability to video chat with more than 1 person at a time. In addition, Google+ has integrated a feature that allows a group of friends to watch content from youtube.com together – awesome to spice up any conversation! I will just go ahead and say it. Hangouts is the killer feature of Google+, and will appeal not only to small groups of friends but also small business who cannot afford professional video-conferencing solutions and depend Google+ Quick Tips: There is a lot about Google+ that will appeal to the inner geek in you, which I'd add isn't necessarily a good thing. There's still no clean way to achieve basic stuff – for example, you can make any text (a part of whole of your post) bold by adding a "*" before and after it, and italics are achieved by placing a "_" before and after the text. If you find many of your contacts sharing the same post over and over again – the network is small and some posts go viral really quick – you can actually mute a particular post, if you don't want to be bothered with the constant notifications. Simply left click on the post, hit Mute this post! And the last tip, quite often a life saver, is that you can not only decide who gets to see your post (via Circles) but you can even disable sharing of your post by using the Disable comment and Disable reshare options for each post. No longer do your family vacation pics get unintentionally shared out to other networks without your express permission! Verdict: Google+ is in no way a reinvention of the social wheel, then again maybe it isn't even needed to be. While I like the Circles and Hangout feature, the service is very clearly not ready for the primetime, and will need to take several big strides, (including launching for their enterprise Google apps customers and making the mobile app available on more platforms) in both features and maturity before it can truly challenge Facebook on its home turf. A Digital Run When you're running for fitness, less is more. Not running less, but what you have on your person! VEA's new Sportive mobile watch packs in basic phone functionality, a camera, and an MP3 player, apart from performing regular watch functions. Everything is controlled via the 1.5-inch touchscreen, and you get Bluetooth connectivity and 8GB of storage as standard. Plus, an SOS button that sends out your location and other vital information, should anything unfortunate happen to you on your run. URL: http://bit.ly/qTnFhFPrice: $578 Shoot And Save I've been a big fan of Eye-Fi SD cards for their ability to upload photos to your computer and online over a Wi-Fi network. The new Eye-Fi Mobile X2 adds in a new trick - it skips the network entirely, creating a direct link between the camera and your iOS or Android device. So, for instance, you could snap a photo on your camera when you're out on a trip, shoot it over to your iPad, edit it and post it online within minutes of shooting. Nifty! URL: http://bit.ly/n1RhevPrice: $80 (8GB) technocool at kanwar dot nettwitter@2shar
Read More
In today's touchscreen-or-bust age, are the days of the full-QWERTY phones numbered? Not if you see the latest sliders from the Nokia's and HTC's stables – the E7 and Desire Z. Now while these two may have a slide-out keyboard in common, there's little else that they share, and I pit them against each other to see which one comes out on top! Nokia E7Nokia's design team is on a roll since the N8, rolling out the E7 with similar design cues. In a sense, the E7 is a larger N8, packing in the same Symbian^3 platform, but trading off the N8's awesome camera for a larger, better display and a full QWERTY keyboard. Form Factor/Build Quality: To be able to fit a keyboard into a device this thin itself is part of the E7's charm, and the sturdy aluminum shell and Gorilla Glass display outclasses the Z's part-metal, part-plastic finish. At 180 grams, the Z is heavier, but only just. Screen: The E7 edges ahead of the Desire Z's 3.7-inch, 480x800 pixel capacitive LCD touchscreen with a 4-inch AMOLED screen packed with Nokia's ClearBlack Display technology, which allows for richer colors and better outdoor visibility. The Z has a higher resolution screen with a crisper display though. Camera: The E7 is destined to live in the N8's shadow in this department, after forsaking the Carl Zeiss branding and the 12-megapixel sensor for a 8-megapixel fixed focus (no autofocus) unit. This was a strange choice in the camera department, seeing how popular the N8 got thanks to its camera – an autofocus camera on the E7 is really what the doctor ordered. Saving grace for the E7 – the Z's 5 megapixels auto-focus, LED flash doesn't fare better in shooting everyday pics, so I'd go with the numbers here. Both cameras let you use a number different settings and effects, and there's an onboard photo editor too, but this one came down to just how good a picture each shot. Multimedia Playback: The Symbian^3 video player handles H.263/H.264/AVC MP4, plus DivX, WMV and many other formats, plus there's HDMI-out to broadcast to your TV direct. Z's portfolio is capable but doesn't top this.HTC Desire ZTake the successful HTC Desire and bolt on a keyboard, and you get a phone that's every bit usable and fun as any of today's Android touchscreen wonders, with a keyboard for those who get the heebie-jeebies from typing on a touchscreen. Keyboard: While the feel of the keyboard is better on the E7 (and the keys are larger), the Z scores higher thanks to a slider mechanism that's smoother to operate and access. Over time and frequent use though, the E7's slider feels more solid and less likely to become loose. Also, I personally prefer the angle that the Z adopts, involves less craning of the neck. Tough one to call, this is something that you'll have to see for yourself in the store. User Interface: Even with the revamped touch-friendly Symbian^3 user interface, it isn't a patch on the HTC Sense UI. Sure, it may be familiar to lifetime Nokia users, but that's about it. No competition here, move along.Platform: You can start listing features that Android 2.2 supports vis-à-vis equivalent stuff on Symbian^3, but the truth is that Android is a platform that's got an eye on the future, while Symbian is, sadly, shackled to the past. It's past its prime, and makes modern devices like the N8 and the E7 just look plain bad. An aside to HTC, please upgrade the Z to 2.3 post haste! Apps: While Nokia is making the right noises for apps on Symbian^3, it's getting drowned out in the din of over 150,000 applications available for the Android segment. Consumer and developer interest levels in the Android platform are much higher, which means new apps will come faster to Android than Symbian. Storage: Hmm. 16GB built-in on the E7 vs 1.5 expandable to 33.5 on the Z. No brainer - score one for the Z on pure numbers, more so if you're a media junkie who must have a ton of stuff to watch and listen to on their phones.Winner: On specs and design, the E7, but (more critically) on experience, the Desire Z. HTC Desire Z: Price: Rs. 25,590 (http://bit.ly/iGpiGv)Nokia E7: Price: Rs. 29,999 (http://bit.ly/kYQuT7) Repeated Perfection If it ain't broke…don't fix it. Apple's MacBook Pro range of laptops follow this design philosophy year after year, and still manage to remain the thinnest, most streamlined laptops in their class. Most of the changes in the 2011 variant are under the hood, including the latest second-generation quad-core Intel Core CPUs, and automatic graphics switching technology which recognises which apps or tasks require a heavy-duty dedicated graphics chip, and which can work with the built-in low-power graphics. In this iteration though, Apple's chosen the AMD Radeon 6750M chip over the Nvidia offerings, and the performance numbers bear that out. It's no surprise that this multimedia powerhouse still doesn't ship with Blu-ray drives which can be seen on some of the competition these days – Apple isn't clearly not ready to accept Blu-ray as a standard, preferring high-definition internet downloads instead. Yet, this laptop leads the way in another standard – the MacBook Pros now ship with Thunderbolt, an input/output technology from Intel (codenamed Light Peak). When connected to a Thunderbolt-equipped peripheral, transfer rates can hit a theoretical 10Gbps, that's roughly 21 times the speed of USB 2.0 and twice that of USB 3.0. It's a little like taking a 4-lane expressway when the rest of the world is using a 1-lane road. Trouble is, Thunderbolt peripherals like external displays and storage disks are hard to come by, and are prohibitively priced for the moment. The possibilities though are mouthwatering – the ability to play four uncompressed HD video streams off a hard disk, or to transfer a DVD movie (4.7GB) in a matter of seconds just reminds me just how slow our current generation of devices are. Net net, you have strong CPU and graphics updates, a new HD webcam for great construction and battery life - what's not to like in the new MacBook Pros? URL: http://bit.ly/mFHrO2Price: 13 inch models start at Rs 69,900 Game For Change Portable gaming is set to turn a corner with the Nintendo 3DS, and accessory makers are out with devices that extend the system's notoriously short battery life already. The Hyperkin Powerplus slips on to the back of the console without obstructing the 3DS' cartridge port, SD card and game controls, while adding an extra 1800mAh to the device's standard 1300mAh battery. Plus you get an LED indicator letting you how much juice you have on tap. Watch out for my full review of the 3DS next week! URL: http://bit.ly/k7OdvbPrice: $19.99 technocool at kanwar dot nettwitter@2shar
Read More
