Call it what you will — the new iPad, the iPad 3, the new iPad 3, the iPad 2S — but there are two very immediate reactions when you see the 2012 iPad for the first time. One is … that not much has changed, visibly at least. It's looks remarkably like the iPad 2, only a tad heftier and thicker. You actually struggle to tell them apart when they're switched off.The second is a … wow! From the moment I switched it on and saw the ultra-high resolution Retina display on the new iPad, I was amazed by just how good it was. Even if you've seen pictures or videos, you will have no idea how good this display is until you see it in person. But just how good is it, then? Think of the upgrade from an old CRT-based TV to watching a Blu-ray disc on a high definition LCD TV. Yes, that good.So what does that 2048 x 1536 pixels translate into, besides being four times the pixels of the previous iPads and a full million pixels more than your average full-HD TV? The entire user experience is rendered to a higher definition, and it's particularly noticeable in pictures and when viewing text, and in apps that have been re-launched to suit the new display. Colors are not only brighter but more accurate as well.It's also a little quicker, courtesy double the iPad 2's memory and Apple's new A5X processor that pushes graphics on the pixel rich display through a quad-core graphics processing unit (GPU) accompanying a dual-core CPU. Pushing all those extra pixels does mean the iPad runs a bit warmer than the iPad 2, but not enough to be an issue. Should you plan to use the iPad to shoot photos and videos, the updated 5-megapixel shooter offers similar (and at times better) performance to the iPhone 4's camera, which is pretty good.There's a price one has to pay for all this clarity and resolution — storage. As apps get Retina-ready, they consume much more storage thanks to the high-resolution graphics, which means if you're app happy, a 16GB model just won't cut it.For iPad 2 owners, this isn't that much of an upgrade, to be honest, and you could possibly stave off the purchase till the next iPad. However, if you're in the market for your first tablet, don't hesitate.Rating: 8/10Price: starts at Rs 30,500URL: http://bit.ly/e4v7bK Picking The Right Store Google's long rumored cloud storage has finally arrived, and practically anyone with a Google account (and that's a lot of us!) can use Google Drive's cloud storage capabilities. Where does it stand though, against well entrenched players such as Microsoft Live SkyDrive and Dropbox? Let's look at free storage, to begin with. Drive offers 5 GB of free storage against Microsoft's 7GB, while Dropbox has the smallest initial offering at just 2GB – though if you refer enough folks, you could upto 18 GB free (500 MB per referral, good luck with getting enough folks to accept your referral at this late a stage in the game!). When it comes to sharing capabilities, Google tightly integrates Drive into its Google Docs suite, and you can collaboratively work on a shared document with a friend/colleague, and all changes will be synced back to Drive. Sharing these as attachments via Gmail and Google+ is an option as well. Microsoft on the other hand lets you send links to files you've uploaded directly to your friends, and they don't need a SkyDrive account to access/download these files. Dropbox goes one step further and allows folder sharing but restricts editing/changes to these folders. Synching and sharing is possible via a capable set of desktop and mobile apps, though Google Drive's iOS app and Dropbox's Windows Phone app are noticeable in their absence. At the end of the day, which cloud storage service should you opt for? Drive builds in Google Docs functionality, so you get a full-featured cloud document editing and collaboration suite in the bargain. SkyDrive offers more free storage initially and cheaper plans for those wishing to purchase a little more space, while Dropbox is probably still a nose ahead of the competition when it comes to polish and synching capabilities. URL: Google Drive: http://bit.ly/JuO8dn, Microsoft Live SkyDrive: http://sdrv.ms/Kh3jxB, Dropbox: http://bit.ly/JQpJkm technocool at kanwar dot nettwitter@2shar
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At the pace at which new tablets, smartphones and laptops are being launched, it's no surprise that that this year's shiny new gadget can make the one you picked up last year seem so…horrendously obsolete! You and I don't have an endless budget for tech purchases, do we? However, you can offset the cost of a new acquisition by selling your old gadgets — you'd be surprised how many folks are looking out for a good deal on used gadgets! Here are some of my favorite tips to keep in mind when selling old gadgets.Data, begone!: Consider the data that's been (or currently resides) on the gadget. Sensitive information like photos, passwords, bank accounts etc. have a nasty way of landing up in the wrong hands, and you don't have to be a programming wizard to extract this data from even a formatted hard disk. So whether it's a smartphone or a laptop, some simple precautions are in order. With a laptop/desktop, I'd recommend a tool like Darik's Boot and Nuke (DBAN) utility, which overwrites each block on your hard drive several times so that it is impossible for data recovery software to restore this data at a later date. What's more, it can create a bootable CD with which you can start your computer, and securely wipe the hard drive. Phones are simpler to deal with, with Android and iOS devices (and most others, for that matter) coming with a factory data reset option. In Android devices, it's usually to be found under Settings -> Privacy, and in iOS devices, under Settings -> General -> Reset. Also remember, if you're selling a memory card with a camera, you should wipe out the memory card as well, and Roadkil's DataWipe utility comes highly recommended for the job.Prime it up for Sale: It may seem obvious, but cleaning up the device and removing years of dirt with some non-abrasive cleaning fluids can do wonders for the resale value and buyer confidence! In addition, if some spring cleaning is required to find the documentation, invoices (for warranty) and spare cables/chargers, do it. If you've bought accessories for the device over the years and you cannot repurpose them with the new device you're eyeing, adding them to the bargain helps as well.Make the Sale: Your extended social network, the folks on Facebook and Twitter, are the first place I'd go to — they already know you and you've established some degree of trust already. The next best bets are a slew of websites such as eBay, Quickr, craigslist, OLX and the buy/sell forums on popular tech sites such as Erodov, TechEnclave, IndianVideoGamer. In either case, make sure your post is as descriptive as possible. Rather than just link to a product specs page, include the model number, color, condition and the reason for sale. The more details you provide up front, the fewer emails you will get asking for obvious details. Also, include at least 2-3 good photos of the device, clearly highlighting any case of wear and tear. And finally, set a price by looking at what others are asking for similar products in similar conditions on these sites, that's usually a good indicator of what folks are willing to pay. Of course, it helps if you're aware of the product release cycle — if you sell your gadget right before a new version is released, you should be able to get the best price before your gadget is outdated. A Good Show I've been a big fan of the Western Digital (WD) TV series of media players for a while now - they're built well, sport a great user interface and look good in your home entertainment setup. The third generation WD TV Live builds on those attributes, while showing off a few tricks of its own. The remote, for instance, is finally full-sized and doesn't feel flimsy anymore. Unlike the pricier WD TV Live Hub, this product does not include any built-in storage, but you do get two USB 2.0 ports, so you can easily connect a portable drive or a USB keyboard to simplify the initial setup (entering Wi-Fi and network user IDs and passwords, for instance). Plus, there's built-in Wi-Fi so streaming movies from your phone or PC via DLNA is a breeze. The only real drawback I noticed was that it occasionally slowed down when previewing folders with a large number of media files. URL: http://bit.ly/IEFJse Price: Rs. 7,900 QuickLook: Tata Photon Max Pros: Good indoor connectivity, speedy 6.2 Mbps connectivity in 16 cities across 10 states (incl. Kolkata) Cons: Roam outside high-speed cities and speeds drop by a factor of half, if not more. Limited flexibility in tariff plans. URL: http://bit.ly/J00NIw Price: Rs 1,999/- technocool at kanwar dot nettwitter@2shar
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The $7.8-billion US-based medical technology major Becton Dickinson (BD), is in the final stages of developing a new technology for diagnosing tuberculosis (TB), which kills 300,000 Indians every year. The commonly adopted method is to manually check a slide sample under a microscope. "We have developed a Micro Imager where, instead of slides, the (bio) sample can be placed on acredit card-sized cartridge and put into the instrument, and within minutes it will print the result, with about 85 per cent success. It is undergoing clinical trials and we hope to launch it by the end of 2013," says Tom Polen, global head of diagnostic systems at BD. "There are about 17 million TB slide-based tests done in a year (in India). But conventional methods' sensitivity is 45-50 per cent; so you are missing half the number of TB patients." BD also plans to introduce a molecular diagnostic platform, BD Max, in India for 20 different tests for illnesses such as TB, meningitis, sexually transmitted diseases as well as for many bacterial infections. Cervical cancer diagnosticsis also a focus area for BD in India.The company's combined (medical technology,diagnostics and bioscience businesses) annual revenues from India are about $115 million, with diagnostics at $25 million.(This story was published in Businessworld Issue Dated 04-06-2012)
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It's evidently clear what HTC's trying to do with the One X — shake off the slump and gloom borne out of being toppled off the top of the Android pile, and reinvigorate the brand's lineup with a flagship phone with the biggest bragging rights — a gigantic display, top notch hardware specs and gorgeous design. Can the One X truly be HTC's comeback device? This is where you'll find out!Design wise, this phone can literally take a master class for the industry on how to get first impressions right. I cannot overstate just how beautiful a device this is. A curved profile and polycarbonate unibody shell means that the phone not only feels premium but it also remains light for its size (and thin, at 8.9mm!). Even with its monstrous 4.7 inch display, the phone was surprisingly not unwieldy to hold. The unibody design does mean that the battery is no longer user replaceable, nor do you get the option of adding any extra storage through a microSD card. And like the iPhone and the Xperia S, it requires a microSIM card.Then again, HTC did manage to get design right every now and then, though it rarely led the pack in terms of hardware specs. Stuff of the past, really – with the One X, HTC's packing in a bleeding edge Nvidia Tegra 3 1.5 GHz quad-core processor, the first phone to launch with such specs. There's a generous 1GB of memory and 32GB of storage on board. And then there's that large 4.7-inch screen that is such a stunning part of the One X. A 720p high definition (HD) display, it treads confidently into "retina" territory, with the individual pixels becoming invisible to the naked eye. The camera — an 8.0/1.3 megapixel rear/front combo is super snappy, with almost zero shutter lag. That it comes wielding the latest release of Android 4.0 and HTC's latest Sense user interface just goes to show there were very few corners cut when dreaming up this baby.Is this phone perfect then? Heck no, it has its downsides too. Image quality is not as game changing as HTC would have you believe, and battery life is iffy, at best, never pushing more than 10-11 hours of moderate use. Pricing is well, premium. Despite these compromises, this is clearly one of the best mobile devices I've seen, period. Folks, this is *the* Android smartphone to beat in 2012.Rating: 9/10Price: Rs 42,999URL: http://bit.ly/JGdkEs Seriously Fun After the prolonged delay, the Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich trickle has finally started, only this time it has shown up in the most unlikely of places, in a sub-Rs.10,000 tablet from the house of Micromax. The big question for the Funbook is — can it break away from the crowded unusable-budget-tablet segment? For something that retails at Rs. 6,499, the Funbook is well put together yet remains slim and easy to hold, and you have a tough time believing you're paying that little for this device. A fairly usable 7-inch 480x800 pixel capacitive display adorns the front of this device, and it has the usual complement of buttons and ports. It is strange that the options, home and back buttons are included in the first place, since Android 4.0 doesn't really need physical buttons as these functions can be accessed directly through the ICS user interface. What is interesting though is that the Funbook supports the use of USB pen drives and 3G dongles with this device, which is a huge plus for the device. Under the hood, the device is powered by a 1.22 GHz Cortex-A8 CPU and two Mali 400 graphics chips, which gives it pretty decent graphics chops for its price. Is it usable though? Yes, if you want to put it through its paces by running full high definition 1080p video or playing Angry Birds, it's up to the task. However, the tablet is often plagued with lag when you're browsing the web or navigating the user interface, which one could pass off as par for the price, but it's disappointing. The content partnerships, especially on the education front, might differentiate the device, but in the end, I can recommend this only for those on an extremely tight budget. Rating: 7/10Price: Rs 6,499URL: http://bit.ly/IHic8g technocool at kanwar dot nettwitter@2shar
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There I was one afternoon minding my own business, when there was a knock on the door. A man in a blue shirt handed me a package. Just another phone, I thought, taking a quick peek but continuing my business, leaving the phone aside for some other time. Remembering it a few hours later, I opened the box — and out came an absolutely gorgeous phone. I picked it up and my mouth formed an involuntarily "Wow". This was the HTC One X.I should stop a moment to think back to last year and how HTC had a battalion of tough-looking smartphones, the biggest of the lot, all ready to battle in the dog-eat-dog smartphone arena. But then, perhaps because of too many phones and too little branding or because Samsung just pushed it into a corner, HTC lost its growl. It really looked like we would be left with Samsung vs Apple for the near future. HTC needed to do something — and it did. Coming up with a line of "One" smartphones (the others being S and V), it surprised everyone with the knock-em-dead One X. The first impression you get when you hold this 4.7 inch smartphone in your hand is that it feels so nice to the touch, with its white polycarbonate matte finish back and curved sides and edges. It's sensual in the way that Apple products are, but with a different direction in design. It's in white, which may upset a few men who want their phones to look like their bikes, but personally I think the white adds something to the overall impression. But then I'm also largely indifferent to bikes. The One X has an expanse of a screen (1280x720 pixels Super IPS LCD), which is so pleasing to look at without hitting you between the eyes. Flipboard, made available for Android but exclusive to the Galaxy S III for now, looks wonderful on it. Ah yes, it has quickly become unofficially available. HTC has made maximum use of the space for the screen and yet it manages to make it look minimalistic. Being a Galaxy S II user, I was and remain disoriented with the power button on the top edge. The 3.5mm jack for earphones is also on top. The volume rocker is on the side though, but it is strangely long. For a moment, I wondered if it was that long for a reason and whether it did something other than volume. The One X also feels solid, and somehow safe. At the same time, it's light and thin. A sweet spot in size vs weight and bulk. And this, by the way folks, is the way to do plastic. There's a price to pay for the beauty of that unibody design. It's a big one. You can't change or get at the battery, you don't have an SD card option, and you have to use a micro SIM. While we're on the downside, I found the unit I used getting hot under the collar — and that's when I wasn't gaming, but Flipboarding. But well, the iPad gets warm too and everyone's got used to that. On the hardware front, this phone is a powerhouse. The Tegra 31. quad core 1.5 GHz processor is as fast as it gets and is powered by 1.5 GB of RAM. But how fast it actually works depends on how you use it. Many users can go for years without ever touching the limits of their phone's power. Gamers can go to the other extreme and bring a device to its knees pretty quickly. The camera is its flagship feature. It's a standard (for premiums) 8 megapixel, but has other features that take it beyond that. It has a fast burst mode that takes 20 pictures before you can blink. It can take pictures while playing or even recording video (1920x1080p). There's panoramic and HDR photography and some editing effects. The sound on the phone is fine, though not remarkable. The One X runs on Ice Cream Sandwich and the 4.0 version of its Sense skin. If you've used another phone, it takes a little getting used to. But it feels as if every care has been taken to give the user a good experience without being in-your-face at the same time. From being a shadow of its former self, the Taiwan-based HTC is very much back in the game, going head to head with the recently launched (but still unavailable) Galaxy S III. From what the tech media were saying at the time of that launch, you could see that the One X was coming up all the time for comparison, along with the iPhone 4S and a future iPhone 5. We can go spec to spec with these, but the real comparison will be evident when the S III comes in and is experienced. The iPhone 5, of course, is still a twinkle in Tim Cook's eye. In the end, it takes more than just a great phone to get to the top in the fight, and even more to stay there. Marketing muscle and distribution is the least of it. So while we will see what we will see, it's nice to have another fantastic choice.(This story was published in Businessworld Issue Dated 28-05-2012)
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Large viewable pictures for less money than a similarly sized TV — who shouldn't want to consider a projector for home entertainment? Add to it the bonus of portability that mini projectors like the BenQ Joybee GP2 offer, and your entertainment continues even when you leave the house! Pull the GP2 out of its box and you get a stylish little box that's no larger than half a dozen CD cases stacked one on top of the other. The duo-tone black-and-white glossy finish is a fingerprint magnet, more so with the projector's touch controls located on the black top. You can use the included remote if you'd like your GP2 to remain smudge-free. Bear in mind that the remote isn't backlit, so you could be struggling a bit in the dark with the operation. Despite its diminutive size and mere weight of under 600 grams, the GP2 can throw a very usable 1,280 x 800 pixel (720p resolution) image to up to 160 inches! You'd be more hard pressed to find uncluttered walls that can support this massive display size! For the specs geeks, the projector offers a middling 2,400:1 contrast ratio and maximum brightness of 200 lumens. What's really interesting is that BenQ has pulled out all the stops with the projector's connectivity options. Apart from the very obvious inclusion of an iPod/iPhone dock (which lets you charge and operate your Apple device directly on the projector), you get a full-sized SD card slot, a far more practical alternative to most mini and micro projectors' MicroSDHC slots — allows for direct camera shooting to project viewing. Seamless! Then there's HDMI for video playback, a proprietary port that offers VGA and composite through an included adapter, plus ports for standard-sized and micro USB. The micro-USB is handy to connect to any PC directly, and it uses DisplayLink technology to allow it to accept input from any Windows computer with a USB port, Just plug it in at both ends, and with zero additional configuration, your projector can act as secondary monitor for you to extend your display or mirror your primary display. But it's the inclusion of the full-fized USB port that reveals an interesting capability — the GP2 can work as a media and document viewer, without the need of a PC driving the content. So you can playback AVI/MOV/MP4 movie files, MP3/WAV music, JPG/BMP images, Adobe PDF and Microsoft office formats directly off a thumb drive, SD card or the 2GB of internal memory. Pretty neat feature, though the on-screen navigation is a tad clunky and slow. Oh, and there's an audio out for external speakers as well – no matter how loud these speakers get, it just doesn't hurt having the option to connect a better set of external speakers. And while we're on the topic of sound, the GP2 does end up being rather loud, with a loud hum that can get rather annoying when you're watching that serious scene in the movie. Like most small LED projectors, the image quality the GP2 delivers is quite decent, with vibrant colors, nice and deep blacks. Movie watching was just about average, with the projector losing detail intermittently in bright and dark areas of the screen, and the flesh tones took on a strangely reddish tinge. Overall, results that will satisfy all but the most demanding users. That said, there's a lot to like in the GP2, if you don't fall into that category. It's well equipped on the connectivity front, and the size allows it to be carried to meetings and parties alike. The retail package packs in a padded carrying case which allows you to carry this portable projector safely in your travels. And if you're on the road much, you might want to consider the GP2's optional battery, which allows the GP2 to last upto three charges on each charge. A worthy buy, in my books.Rating: 8/10Price: Rs 39,167URL: http://bit.ly/Hozw2x Unsound Choice No one's going to give JBL's Tempo headphones any design awards, but the moment you slip them on, you realise how easily one would forsake design for long-duration comfort. The padded headband and earcups allow you to wear the Tempo through the entire duration of a Bollywood movie, and then some more, without the associated ear-fatigue. While clarity of playback is above average, there are a couple of issues with the headset, though. Bass is on the weak side, and there's simply too much sound leaking out the sides of these cans. Tad pricey too, if you ask me. URL: http://bit.ly/HozS9ePrice: Rs 2,749 Focusing On Work It starts with you opening a random link on YouTube or an innocent Wikipedia diversion, and before you know it, an hour or two has passed, and you realise that you haven't finished what you sat down to do. If staying away from distractions on the Internet is something you've tried to do, and failed, help is at hand with a simple and easy-to-use website blocker called FocalFilter. It allows you to block websites for pre-specified time intervals without muddling you with any confusing configurations. All you have to do is edit the blocked site list, select one of many time intervals (from 5 minutes to 12 hours) and hit go. Now, unlike a lot of other tools, which can remove the block by exiting or uninstalling the application, this one is serious about its job. To reset the block while it is active, you will need to reboot your computer. If that doesn't cure the temptation, nothing will! URL: http://bit.ly/GYXCxUPrice: free technocool at kanwar dot nettwitter@2shar
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Google Inc is getting into the eyewear business with a pair of thin wraparound shades that puts the company's Web services in your face.The experimental "augmented reality" glasses - from the same team that is developing self-driven cars - can snap photos, initiate videochats and display directions at the sound of a user's voice.The prototype digital glasses, unveiled on the company's Google+ social network on Wednesday, are still being tweaked and tested, and are not available in stores yet."We're sharing this information now because we want to start a conversation and learn from your valuable input," Google wrote in a post on a Google+ page devoted to Project Glass.The spectacles are being developed by Google<x>, the secretive group working on advanced research projects such as self-driving cars.The Google+ page featured a 2-1/2 minute video, shot from the perspective of someone wearing the glasses. The wearer goes about his day walking through New York City while speaking commands to the glasses to do things such as take a photo and post it to Google+, get block-by-block directions and weather conditions and get a pop-up alert when a friend is nearby.The Google posting is intended to show "what this technology could look like," the company said. Mock-up images of the glasses on the Google+ page depict a stamp-sized digital display that seems attached to a pair of glasses and sits at the top corner of one of the lenses.The post asks people to submit their suggestions for what they would like to see in the glasses.Google, the world's No. 1 search engine, is famous for letting its employees work on ambitious projects that don't always have a direct relation to its business.Those projects have not always sat well with investors, who worry about Google's spending on projects with uncertain returns.Google Chief Executive Larry Page has cut down on many of the projects and products underway at the company since taking the reins a year ago. But he has defended Google's commitment to working on "speculative" projects that could one day turn into "billion-dollar businesses," though he has stressed the company isn't "betting the farm" on such efforts.The glasses could provide a way for Google to more closely entwine its advertising-supported online services, including Web searches, maps and email, into people's daily lives.The glasses also could help Google match some of the buzz that rival Apple Inc <AAPL.O> has generated with its latest iPhone and the built-in Siri digital assistant, which takes spoken commands to do such tasks as schedule calendar appointments and get weather forecasts.A Google insider said it is unclear when the glasses might be commercially available, but noted that the philosophy of Google<x> group is to develop technologies that can be used in a relatively short period of time, rather than dreaming up creations that won't be possible for 10 or more years.The glasses, under development for two years, will be tested in public by members of the Google<x> team, according to the Google insider.Shares of Google, which reports its first quarter financial results next week, fell about 1.2 percent to close at $635.15 on Wednesday amid a broad market sell-off.(Reuters)
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New TVs, new tablets, new phones, new cameras, new entertainment devices, all under one roof. A few things get the gizmo-holics in us going as much as a packed house of soon-to-be-launched gadgets, and at the Samsung South West Asia Forum 2012, we were treated to the company's 2012 portfolio of products. Read on to find out which ones tickled our fancy.‘Smart' Smart TVs: Smart TVs circa 2011 used to be about TVs that could connect to the Internet, media players and such like. With the 2012 range, smart just got smarter, with the TVs packing in an integrated camera and microphone that will do fulfill more than just your Skype needs. These TVs recognize movement and voice and allow you to control the TV and navigate within the applications on the TV using gestures and voice commands, while offering basic face recognition features as well. Just say "Hi TV" and the voic control is activated, and you can speak the commands to change channels, increase the volume etc or simply motion to the right area on the screen with your hand gestures. In my experience of the device, the features were a bit hit-and-miss (especially with the gestures), though I expect stuff will be ironed out by the time these models hit Indian shores. What interested me more was that these TVs would ship with what Samsung calls a Smart Evolution Kit – the ability to add new hardware and sofytware features such as upgrading from dual-core to quad core processors – by simply adding a piece of hardware to the existing TV in the future! Select 2012 TVs will come equipped with a simple slot-in to the back of the TV, with prices for India expected to be Rs 80,000 onwards. Galaxy Tab 2 310 Retro Docks: Among the audio docks on display, the decidedly retro looking DA-E750 dock caught my eye with its use of mahogany finish and vacuum tube amplifiers, both of which wouldn't look out of place in radios from half a century ago. This dock plays nice not only with Samsung's Galaxy range of devices, but also features a dock connector for Apple devices, so folks on both sides of the Android-iOS debate can consider this for their living rooms.Beam Me Up: At first glance, the Galaxy Beam looks like one of the many Android phones on offer these days. It is powered by a 1GHz dual core processor and features a roomy 4-inch display with a resolution of 480 x 800 pixels. And the rest of spec sheet reads off without any surprises — Android 2.3, 5MP rear camera, 8GB internal storage with a microSD slot up to 32GB and a 2,000 mAh battery for all-day use. Of course, the real highlight of this device is a built-in 15-lumen brightness projector which lets you project images and video to upto 50-inches on the nearest wall (or ceiling, if you're feeling lazy!). You'll have to darken the room a bit for it to work, but the result is pretty fantastic — don't forget, this is a phone, after all!Computing Part Deux: One more for the alphabet soup, I guess. But with the Galaxy Tab 2 310 (quite a mouthful, isn't it?), you get the latest version of Android — 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich (ICS) — preloaded on the device. With the number of ICS devices still in the low single digits in India, an updated OS on the Tab 2 is something I'm looking forward to trying out when it launches in the next couple of months. Also seen at the show was the impossibly slim Samsung Series 9 notebook, arguably the slimmest notebook in the world — I just hope Samsung gets its pricing right when it launches in India in the next couple of months. Rigorous Reworkings Wow, talk of taking consumer feedback seriously. Seagate has updated the firmware on its GoFlex Satellite iPad compatible streaming hard drive to fix niggling issues I'd seen with the drive when it was launched just under six months ago. Not only does the drive see improved battery life (from five hours to seven), you can connect a lot more devices (up from 3) to the drive simultaneously. And perhaps most importantly, the update now allows you to use the drive and use the Internet at the same time — a major pain point in the first release. This drive just got itself a serious recommendation! URL: http://bit.ly/GOCRK0 Slow Delivery Know which game is played most in India? Street cricket, what else? Cashing in on the lifelong craze Indians have with just setting up a makeshift wicket (three stones, at the very least) and starting a game, Sony's launched Move Street Cricket. The idea had potential — using the Move controller to bowl or swing the bat. Unfortunately, the execution leaves much to be desired, with inaccurate handling and pretty pedestrian graphics and audio tracks. Not a game I'd recommend even for an ardent cricket fan – heck, this may well inspire you to get out and play some real street cricket! URL: http://bit.ly/GH84v1Price: Rs 1,499 technocool at kanwar dot nettwitter@2shar
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