Videocon Zeus V 7500 Android phone Videocon Mobiles recently launched its very own Android Phone named Zeus, is it really worth if compared with Samsung’s low end galaxy and also hTC wild fire which is priced around 10k and 14k respectively?
Starting with the looks and style, this phone comes with stunning looks which will surely remind you the looks of the most popular Nokia 5800 music handset. Specifications wise, this bold looking stylish Videocon Zeus comes with a huge high resolution 480 * 320 pixel screen with 3.2″ Multi-touch Capacitive screen with Motion G Sensor. This android phone is currently powered by Android 1.6 version of Operating system but according to company’s website Videocon soon claims to its current 1.6 v to Android’s 2.1 (Eclair) operating system.
This phone is just a multimedia delight as it comes loaded with a host of future rich features like 3.5 G, Wi-Fi capability, A-GPS, push mail client with G-Mail server, multiple blue tooth profile supports like A2DP,GAP, HFP, HSP and many more like GPS and Geo-Tagging. With a support of over 70,000 down loadable applications via Android Market place, this surely becomes a masterpiece in its own.
This phone supports multi format advanced video codecs like H.263, H.264 AVC, and MPEG-4 SP; it also supports popular audio codecs like amr, aac, aac+, eaac+, midi, mp3 and wav. It also comes with 5 MP Auto focus camera with 24 FPS video capture quality with a dedicated Camera key and LED Flash. The video recording is done in two popular formats H.263 and MP4 leading to a great set of sharp picture quality.
This phone comes with an internal memory of 512 MB but can be extended externally with the help of micro SD card up to 32 GB. Adding to the list of specialties, this phone also comes with unlimited phone book and sms entries. This phone also guarantees unlimited entertainment with 3.5 mm jack 3.5 mm Headset Jack, Audio Recorder and also Loud Speaker.
Also with 5 customizable screens Gmail, G talk, YouTube, Facebook, Google Maps, Java Enabled, Android Marketplace, Document to Go, RSS reader, Notepad, Accelerometer, Proximity Sensor and Digital Compass. This phone can be compared with any other feature rich multimedia phone.
With 1230 mAH of battery we got a perfect talk time of 7 hrs on a 2G network and with almost 17 days of Standby Time it should address all your entertainment needs.
If you thought these are the only things this phone comes with, then hold your breath as this phone is box packed with contents which include one 8GB Micro SD Card, a Car Charger, two Batteries, a leather Carrying Case, a Charging Adaptor, a USB Data Cable, one Stereo Hands free, a Service centre directory, a User Manual, Warranty Card and also an Android Application Guide.
Priced at around just Rs. 10,999, this phone is totally a value for money, considering the fact that this phone is packed with lots of feature rich and supports maximum multimedia. This phone comes with a standard warranty of 1 year but for accessories like battery and on headset warranty is limited to 6 months.
This phone is easily available in all Planet M stores, Next show rooms, Digi world outlets and also this can be bought from you nearest mobile शॉप
Videocon Zeus V7500 [Review]
Videocon’s Zeus finds itself in the heat of the budget-Android category, facing stiff competition from Motorola, Samsung, Sony Ericsson; LG, all of whom have an offering that is more or less in the same league, specs wise. Does the Zeus have the zing to be counted as a contender against these titans? Read on to find out.
Package: Loaded with extras
It takes a lot to convince an average penny-pinching Indian to part with his moolah, the Videocon makes a convincing pitch at the point of purchase - The Zeus bundles in a spare battery, an 8GB Micro SDcard, Car Charger kit, carry case, along with the manual and warranty card. Videocon has put a fair bit of effort into the package and presentation, the extra battery is especially welcome considering how notorious Android phones can be with 3G, GPS, Wi-Fi, and data-intensive background apps running in the background.
UI, Battery Life, OS, Specs
The user interface is pretty much stock Android with a minimal amount of customisation - you can swipe across five panels that accomodate widgets and shortcuts, the center screen has widgets that let you turn on or disable Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, GPS, Data synchronisation and toggle the brightness in three levels. As a battery saving measure it is simple and effective to have this in the foreground, and lets you stretch Zeus' 1230 mAh battery for a day or more. And then there's that extra battery that can do a standby job.
While the official specs says that the Zeus runs Android 2.1, our test unit shipped with Android 1.6, which is a long way still from its Froyo-toting cousins. We asked Videocon if the Zeus is likely to run Froyo at some point in the future - there has been no confirmation on the same. At best, you can expect this phone to run Eclair. I called customer support on more than one occasion but have yet to see any clear instructions on how to go about it. TweetDeck and Google Sky Map worked splendidly but the selection of apps are limited. (FYI, all of these must-have Apps worked) At first there was no sign of Angry Birds, but a week later it showed up on the Android market.
We wanted to do a double-take on the specs, and felt wiser for doing so: Android System Info, a system diagnostic app on the Android market reveals that this phone has 172 MB of internal memory and 153 MB of RAM. The Zeus also has a magnetic sensor, orientation sensor, light sensor, and a proximity sensor.
Plus and Minus Points
The Zeus is a well designed phone, but the build quality could have been more rugged. The USB port can be accessed by flipping open the cover that is strung to the phone with a flimsy plastic cord. A few hard tugs, and It'd be detached from the phone for good. The plastic cover is easy to flip open, the battery, SIM, and SD card easily accessible, but the plastic cover itself is thin and doesn't inspire confidence. Would the body survive for a couple of years, the occasional drop to the floor or pavement? I'm not sure. Small design touches deserve a mention - it has a raised metallic strip that protects the camera lens from touching the surface.
The touchscreen on the Zeus is one of the best selling points - it’s a 3.2-inch capacitive HVGA resolution (320x480) display, and manages to register all taps and swipes without a fuss. Watching YouTube videos over Wi-Fi was a pleasure - battle units from HD Starcraft videos were animated well, and the framerates gave no reason to complain. As far as playback formats support is concerned, the phone failed to play an Xvid file, but had no issues playing an MP4 video. The Browser does not handle flash content, but loads webpages quickly and lets you pinch-to-zoom, and supports kinetic scrolling. The Technoholik homepage loaded in under 5 seconds over Wi-Fi. The screen is responsive and tactile and gave no reason to protest. At one point, I was chatting on Google Talk with two thumbs, and managed to hold a conversation without thinking about it - when the interface fades into the background and lets you do what you want to do - that can only be a good thing. Flipping the phone to landscape mode however, presented a wierd two-tap keyboard that I wanted to disable. I was unable to do so but I'm sure it can be done - this is Android after all, highly customisable and hackable.
Camera Performance
The Zeus has a 5-megapixel camera with LED flash, but to be honest, I've taken better quality shots out of the LG GW 620. The camera can take pics at maximum resolution of 2560x1920 pixels, and record VGA(640x480) quality MP4 videos, these can be instantly mailed or uploaded to YouTube. Photos once snapped can be instantly uploaded to Picasa, Gmail, Twitter or Facebook. With a bit of finesse and still hands you can get a decent shot out of the Zeus.
Conclusion
Videocon is one of the first Indian manufacturers to have integrated Android on their handsets, having used dual-sim phones with pathetic UI and functionality, I have to say, this is a welcome development. The Zeus is way better than most entry-level Androids, which have resistive screens, QVGA screens, Android 1.5 or 1.6 with no future upgrade path, or have a cripplesome amount of RAM. The Zeus is a contender for sure, but to really be counted a few months or a year down the line, we need to see Froyo running on it.
Zeus V7500: Key specs and features Display: 3.2-inch HVGA screen (320x480) CPU: 600 MHz Qualcomm Microprocessor Camera: 5 megapixel camera with geo-tagging Connectivity: 3.5G, Wi-Fi, A-GPS OS: Android 1.6, 2.1 Éclair upgrade likely Memory: 172 MB ROM 153 MB RAM, 32 GB expandable memory via MicroSD Bluetooth: A2DP, GAP, HFP, HSP Sensors: Magnetic sensor, orientation sensor, light sensor, and a proximity sensor. Battery: Two1230 mAh batteries Car Charger, Carrying Pouch, 8GB Card Price: 12,900 Warranty - 1 year Customer care no.: 1800 - 1025 - 111, 0124 - 4969999
Download 70,000 Applications via Android™ Marketplace
Pre-bundled 8GB Micro SD Card
5MP Camera with 24FPS video capture
3.5G, WiFi, A-GPS, Push Mail Client with G-Mail Server
3.2" Multi-touch (Capacitive) screen with Motion G Sensor
1230 mAh x 2 (two) Batteries + Car Charger + Application Guide
V7500 Specifications
Android™ Operating System
Android™1.6 Operating System. Upgradeable to Android™2.1 Eclair# Access to 70000 applications through Android™ Marketplace #: Upgrade applicable from October 2010 onwards
Display, Dimension and Battery Life
8cms (3.2") Multi-touch Capacitive TFT screen 480x320 pixel screen with 262K Colour 114.9 mm x 56.8 mm x 12.6 mm 1230 mAH battery * 2 nos: 7 hrs Talk Time*/17 days Standby Time** One spare battery for extra long usage 114 gms weight (with battery) */**: Talk Time/Standby Time in ideal conditions in 2G
Imaging
5MP AF Camera with dedicated Camera key and LED Flash Video Recording Formats: H.263 and MP4 formats Video Recording Frame Rates: 24 frames per second
Entertainment
Music player with multi format support (AMR, AAC, AAC+, EAAC+, MIDI, MP3, WAV) 3.5 mm Headset Jack Audio Recorder Loud Speakers Video Player with multi format support (H.263, H.264 AVC, MPEG-4 SP)
3.5G (HSDPA 7.2MBPS/HSUPA 2MBPS) Quadband 2G: 850/900/1800/1900 with UMTS 2100 WCDMA Multiple Bluetooth profiles: A2DP, GAP, HFP, HSP GPS and Geo-Tagging Wi-Fi USB 2.0 and PC Suite in handset POP3 Email Client Email and Calendar synchronization with exchange server USB modem for accessing internet
Enterprise Applications
Wireless Push Email Other Enterprise Apps from Android Marketplace
Others
5 customizable screens Gmail, Gtalk, YouTube, Facebook, Google Maps, Java Enabled, Android Marketplace, Document to Go, RSS reader, Notepad Accelerometer, Proximity Sensor, Digital Compass
Inbox Contents
8GB Micro SD Card Inside Car Charger Battery (Two Nos) Carrying Case Charging Adaptor USB Data Cable Stereo Handsfree Service centre directory Users Manual Warranty Card Application Guide
Looks like we're shooting the biggest panoramic photo with Canon's another wondercameracapable of taking 120 million pixels of panoramic photos. Apparently, you'll see that the real technology behind this camera is just a piece of thin plates CMOS sensor, yes, after the break.
Taking the image above, shows the cropped area (right) from the original 120MP image from the left. You'll be just needing terrabytes of extra storage with this camera taking outputs 1.4 frames a second at a data rate of 2.52Gbps.
Here is the that tiny piece of technology that takes gigantic leap in digital photography.
Laptop Watch: HP Pavilion dm3t
If you’re in the market for a laptop at the price of a netbook, you might want to hold on for this one. Product cycles don’t refresh as soon as the west, but this one combines cutting edge design with full-day battery life. Starting at $549, the Pavilion dm3t has a design derived from Intel’s 2010 lineup of CULV processors - the dm3t comes in a magnesium-aluminum alloy shell and a form factor that is just one-inch thick. Weighing about 1.8 kgs, it’s packing an Intel Pentium U5400 processor, optimised for thin laptops (Intel Pentium U5400 - 1.20 GHz, 3MB L3 Cache) and claims 7.5 hours of battery life on a standard 6-cell battery. This should help improve the performance over last year’s version that looks fairly klunkier and plebian - this PCmag review has the beef. “Despite its sleek design, it's hard to recommend the HP Pavilion dm3-1030us as your lone or primary laptop. Its performance simply lags too far behind the dual-core competition, and the gains in battery life aren't enough to justify the performance hit.” This year’s design has a sleek metallic finish complemented by a neat looking chiclet keyboard (optionally backlit), HDMI, VGA ports and Intel HD graphics with your choice of Windows 64-bit OS and upto 8 GB of RAM. We expect this laptop to be available in India someday, and will keep you posted on any price and product details as we can get them.
Key Specs and features:
Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium A compact case: less than 1" thick and just 3.99 lb.1 A black soft-touch cover Support for system memory up to 8GB DDR3 Support for hard drive up to 640GB4 A silvery island-style keyboard with click pad Integrated Gigabit Ethernet LAN Three USB ports, one of which is shared with an eSATA port A built-in VGA port for connecting a monitor An optional backlit keyboard An optional external CD/DVD drive for installing software (the dm3t has no internal optical drive), or choose the Blu-ray drive5 for ultimate 1080p video
Press release:
Thin and light, the HP Pavilion dm3 notebook PC is literally a cool notebook. Innovative HP CoolSense Technology combines advanced hardware and intelligent cooling software to pioneer a notebook that feels noticeably cooler and automatically adjusts cooling levels according to a customer’s personal preferences. Advanced materials – metal alloys, soft-touch paint and non-conductive surfaces – plus strategically placed vents minimize heat and channel it away from the bottom of the PC for optimal comfort. HP Thermal Assistant software detects how the PC is being used – for example, around the house or on a desk – and an accelerometer automatically shifts into either a maximum cooling mode or maximum performance mode based on the customer’s choice. With HP Fences, users can effortlessly organize desktop multimedia content, such as photos, music and videos, by categories, then access them quickly, keeping the desktop uncluttered. The HP Pavilion dm3 includes a 13.3-inch diagonal HD(2) display, an island-style keyboard with optional backlit feature and a stylish and durable metal finish with soft-touch surfaces in matte black. Offering up to 7.5 hours of battery life(5) and measuring less than 1-inch thin, the HP Pavilion dm3 gives consumers the ideal balance of mobility and performance in an affordable, slim and light notebook PC
We fast forward, 42 years into the future, a bleak vision for some of us when remembering the first “super-computer” as people shrieked and fled in terror, almost convinced that the “super-computer” will dominate human life. But let’s face it, it was the size of a small house and answered algebraic equation’s in minutes, just like the calculator can in seconds.
However, we have pondered and paced the garden thinking of what possible catastrophes can be applauded in 42 years? This is what we came up with:
The Flying Car
Since Moller released its “SkyCar M400X,” in 2003, it has failed to succeed. But this has only opened the door to new technology! Currently, there exists various patented, “Flying Cars”, but, again have failed to “take off” (No pun intended). But on a serious note – we have unearthed and have estimated that by 2050 no current car will be drivable! Now this might be because of the “Carbon Emissions,” law, which might rule out every gas powered vehicle. So move over gas, and welcome “Electric” power. Okay its hardly new, but we have listed an electric car that will give the Dodge Spider a run for its money!
Stop drooling…It’s called the Mazda Kaan, (yes it’s a Mazda) and it is “electric,” but do you want to know the best bit? It can drive up to mega top speeds of 250mph and it is soon appearing in the E1 – the Formula One of electric cars. In case you were wondering what those orange rims are…yep…you’ve guessed it – they’re wheels! So innovation in the making, it won’t be long until this thing will be able to fly.
Holograms
“Introducing, the new (2050) iPhone, with integrated, hologram, voice call.” Can you imagine this by 2050, or perhaps sooner? For many of us who watched the “Obama/McCain,” US election on CNN, we might of noticed a hologram of a female reporter. However, this used a few cameras on a 360 degree axis, and one very large “green screen,” to create the illusion. Nevertheless, it has created some media in the process, and now questions remain…when will we see, and use holograms?
George Lucas might be smug as he created the same techniques on Star Wars!
Teleportation
Ever heard of Quantum Teleportation? Now this is in progress at present and consists of transporting one entity to another geographical location. This may seem impossible but scientific research has found this is quite conceivable indeed.
Okay, all you need to get started is a “Transporter!” This could be anything, from a mobile handset to a complete array of electronic plates and a lot of Duracell batteries. However, silly as it might sound it has surpassed notion and is soon to be in development. So let’s all hope in 2050 teleportation could be made public! On the failier of the big “Red Phone Box.” Blue phone boxes might take their place, in the form of a Dardis.
Eco-Villages
Houses are already failing to meet the needs to be energy efficient so all homes will be totally green by 2050.
A normal house in the city, suburb or country, will predominately look the same. It’ll have solar panel roofing, wind turbines in the yard, a “flying car” landing pad and a garage for your teleport.
However, you will have a house robot that will assist you on your daily errands – helping to take out the garbage, prepare the food, beam up the teleport – practically anything. All you have to do is sit back in your eco home without worrying about the sky high electric bills because you have already invested into solar power.
Toilets
Now that were living in the year 2050 why can’t we have a futuristic toilet…well one for it would be insanely boring! There is no point going into the complexities of the matter when when it comes to using the toilet it is more of a functional experience. Well move over practical as the future is set to put some fun into using the good old lav.
Hold! Aim! Fire! yes, that’s right, its the game that you can pee all over. Play games as you pee, with such classics as “bullseye.” Bare in mind, these games consist of skill, accuracy, and “PE-resistance.” If your stuck on a level be sure not to cheat and peak in another guys urinal it might reap bad consequences…do you think it will catch on in the future? Who knows?! I mean, they made Take That popular again so anything is possible!
Robots
Robots might already be here and especially if you have read my review on Gaj-it “Robots taking over the world.” But today a robot’s limits are only to its creator and whatever its master wants. So far, we have acting robots – I know, it won’t make much of a film – we also have robots which can mimic facial expressions. But when, where, and why, will we get to see and use, a robot that can go to the fridge, pull out a Bud so you can sit back and amuse yourself on the latest release of the PlayStation 27.
However, Robots are picking up pace, and seem to grow immensely superior. So expect Robots to be already here by 2050, and themselves, picking their artificial brains, trying to uncover new technology, before 2050?
007?
Now James Bond has gave such a large contribution, that it deserves a category on its own. But where to start as the list ofgadgets and gizmo’s is so vast. When we say that the pen is mightier than the sword, we really mean it!
A watch with a laser on it? not Practical, but I’m sure you’ll find it in everyday use. Rings that can shatter bullet proof glass at a twist. A jet pack, for the business man, to get to work on time. Even X-ray glasses for the shop keeper to keep an eye on those youths exiting his shop. Can we see James Bonds’ array of gadgets in 2050, I think yes!
Computers
Comp…What? That’s right, by 2050, computers will no longer be called “computers”, it will have a new name, which would have already served its purpose. We predict that by 2050, computers will evolved enough that they will be monitoring themselves to find a new product, and we will be sitting back, relaxing and waiting until it does. However, Windows will no longer be call “Windows,” instead it will be called, “force field” because let’s face it, we have all this new technology, that we don’t need glass, Upvc windows any more. We can just deactivate a force field, whenever we want to let a little air in.
We predict that, keyboards will be a thing of the past, and we would use “touch screen,” and with many of us with larger roles in IT, will be using Minority Report style gloves to control programmes.
Fountain of Youth
The secret to eternal youth is out folks. Apparently according to boffins, they have found “growth” cells, which all help us age. What they have done is not remove, but reduced its length in order to help us grow old slowly. Now with that being said, I am currently writing a list called “Technology and Gadgets in 2150,” it might just be possible, that we’re all round then.
XPAL Solar Egg Charges In Just Four Hours Of Indirect Sunlight
A solar powered gadgets are a great idea, although many of the solar chargers available at the moment take a long time to charge and also need direct sunlight in order to charge them.
A company called XPAL has come up with a new gadget that can be recharged in just four hours of indirect sunlight, the XPAL Solar Egg.
The XPAL Solar Egg can recharge in medium levels of natural light, and it uses something called magic SunBoost solar conversion technology, which was developed by a company called Intivation from the Netherlands.
The XPAL Solar Egg can also detect what type of gadget you have connected to it, from MP3 players to digital cameras and it then delivers the correct charge to charge you gadget more efficiently.
It certainly seems like an innovative solar gadget charger, and it will be interesting to see how well it works in everyday life. It will be available next month in Europe there are no details on pricing as yet.
You See Keypad Inputs Input Dynamics sees a touchscreen device waiting to happen.Marcosleal viaWikimedia
Cambridge, UK, firm Input Dynamics is trying to take the bite out of iPhone envy with a new software fix that turns any “dumbphone” into a touchscreen device. But it doesn’t just turn the tiny screen on that old push-button handset into a touch-sensitive surface. Requiring no additional hardware, the system uses acoustic technology to turn every inch of a phone’s casing into touch-sensitive real estate.
TouchDevice, as it's called, relies on the phone’s microphone rather than expensive touchscreen surfaces to figure out the location of a tap, scratch, scroll, or swipe on the phone’s body. That means you can tap icons on the screen as on a conventional touchscreen phone, but also scroll through screens by swiping a finger along the side of the body, or call up hot-key commands using a special tap sequence on the phone’s backside.
The software uses the phone’s built-in microphone to pick up the unique acoustic signature produced by certain finger gestures – tapping, swiping, etc. – on the phone's casing. It instantly converts those gestures into software commands that correspond with the phone’s own OS. Right now the software works with single crisp taps from a finger or stylus, but Input Dynamics is refining its algorithms to detect and respond to several more distinct signatures, and will at some point be able to process multiple signatures at once, converting old cell phones into multi-touch devices.
The software is still in concept, but Input Dynamics says they are talking to several big-name phone manufacturers about adopting the software for future phones. In the meantime, it can be uploaded to existing models to turn current inventories into touchscreen devices. Which means you may soon see smart touchscreen tech coming to a dumbphone near you.
MSI introduces F-series laptops in India
MSI has introduced three models from its F-series in India, namely-- FX400, FX600, and FR 600.The FX400 comes with a 14” LED backlit screen, Intel i5 processor, NVIDIA A GT 325M GPU with 1GB DDR3 VRAM, 1.3MP camera and a THX certified sound processor. On the other hand, the FX 600 has a slightly larger screen measuring at 15.6”, along with two GPUs—a dedicated Nvidia GT 325M and integrated Intel graphics processor. Since the FX 600 has two GPUs, it uses NVIDIA’s Optimus technology to automatically switch between the two processors, depending on the task at hand. This model also boasts an integrated HD webcam that can capture images at 720p. Lastly, the FR 600 has the same screen size, processor and cam like the FX 600; however, a dedicated GPU has been dropped out of this model in lieu of an integrated graphics solution by Intel.
The MSI F-series of laptops are priced between INR 37,000 and INR 53,000, depending on the model and configuration. A quick look at the specs follows after the break.
Checkered Flag Exterior with Anti-fingerprint Coating
MSI Exclusive TDE Technology
THX Certified + 4 Premium Sound Speakers
Built-in HD Webcam
Lenovo S10-3t: More computer for your tablet
Pros:
Neat overall design, keyboard, appealing form factor.
Cons:
Trialware version of MS Office, poor touch browsing implementation, rather heavy.
The Bottom Line
Needs more than Bumptop and NaturalTouch to augment the touch experience.
6 | Average
Rs. 30,740/-
Rs. 30,000/-
SECOND OPINION
"What's even more aggravating is that $649 buys you a tiny trackpad, sluggish touchscreen software and terrible viewing angle"
FULL REVIEW
The Lenovo S10-3t is an interesting PC/Tablet hybrid that tries to integrate the flexibility and versatility of an Atom-based netbook running Windows 7 starter with a touch-sensitive swivel screen. An iPad alternative it is not, but it's an entirely different beast.
More computer for your tablet, least PC for your laptop Tablets that are essentially scaled-up phones have considerably less horsepower than a tablet-netbook hybrid like the S10-3t. A quick look at its specs, a full unabridged version here:
CPU: Intel Atom Processor N450 (512K Cache, 1.66 GHz, 667 MHz FSB) Display: 10.1 SD LED Glare & Multi-Touch Battery: Black Hybrid 8 Cell Battery RAM: 2GB DDR2 (667MHz) Storage: 250GB (9.5mm 5400rpm) Graphics: Intel GMA 3150 OS: Genuine Windows 7 Home Basic 32bit Misc: Bluetooth 2.1 / Camera 1.3M / 4-in-1 card reader / Meteoric Stone / Extras: Face Recognition; One Key Rescue System; Lenovo ReadyComm
The Indian version is a bit different from the one we’ve spotted in the West, which has an Intel Atom N470 / 1.83 GHz processor - about 10-15% faster than the N450. The S10-3t is powered by a single core Intel Atom N450, this Pinetrail CPU can't be expected to do anything more than basic email, editing, web surfing. To its credit, it handles those functions speedily.
Sadly you will have to make do with Intel GMA 3150 graphics, it’s not likely to be able to play any cool 3D games or HD movies. Here’s a list of games for netbooks that might play well on the S10-3t – the allure of playing these games on a 10-inch screen is wasted on me, you might have luck playing 10 year old games likeQuake III and Half Life.
Form Factor, Build Quality, User Experience Having found my match on a 11.6-inch netbook, I was previously convinced that 10-inch netbooks are just too small to be any fun while writing. The S10-3t has an extra inch of bezel around its 10-inch display, and the keyboard is well spread out to take advantage a 12-inch form factor. I found the keyboard a lot easier to type on, which is not usually the case with 10-inch netbooks. The trackpad however, was extremely tiny and incapable of parsing multi-touch actions, as was the touch screen while browsing. Your best approach to scrolling a webpage would be to hit [Pg up] or [Pg down]. I was unable to use two-fingered touch scrolling while browsing, even though the screen is multi-touch capable. Only the narrow scrollbar on the right hand is touch sensitive, and scrolling like that using the tip of your thumb is an altogether painful browsing experience. The 180-degree swivel screen is a neat design trick, letting you fold the screen over the keyboard with the display facing outwards. The battery sticks out a bit and acts as a hand grip in this scenario. Windows 7 is not really optimized for touch, so we have a couple of applications bundled to take advantage of the 10.1 inch TFT (WSVGA) touch screen - BumpTop and Lenovo NaturalTouch.
Lenovo Natural Touch is a media organiser that brings all your movies, music, pictures in an interface optimised for the touchscreen. Pinch to zoom on pictures worked here. Here's a video capture of the UI.
I thought it’d be great to have Jolicloud with Touch running seeing as to how it’s a neat netbook OS with large spaced out icons and a layout befitting this form factor. Sadly, touch support has not been extended to the S10-3t yet, I tried looking around for a way to get it working and was unable to find any workarounds. If you were to look at it a certain way, the Lenovo S10-3t is arguably more open standards and versatile than its tablet only companions, and to its credit, there are no add-ons that you will have to buy separately: it has VGA, TV-out, USB ports, and a built-in keyboard. If you were to factor in the price of all that, it would be a lot cheaper than building a personal computer around the iPad. The S10-3T is a lot heavier than the iPad - with the 8-cell battery, this thing is nearly three times heavier, at 1.5 kgs - it feels like I’m lugging a miniature battle tank in my bag. The S10-3t can also be used to play movies on to a projector or big screen using the VGA or TV-out port. It can’t play HD movies or rips though, and you would be stretching it with a videos larger than 720p. I’ve used a Z-series netbook with 1 GB of memory and this thing is more responsive and frustration-free in comparison to XP based netbooks. To its credit, Windows 7 Home Basic with 2GB of memory keeps the hard drive from thrashing with a decent number of programs running on the taskbar. (Chrome, Word, Google Talk, IE 6, Irfanview). While it lacks a SIM-card slot, those USB slots can be put to use with USB data cards. I was able to achieve more than 6 hours of total usage (Wi-Fi browsing) on a full charge thanks to its mammoth 8-cell battery and a few simple tweaks such as dimming the screen. The standby life is also quite impressive: this afternoon, the battery icon on the taskbar status reads: “2:28, 41% remaining”. I last charged the netbook a week ago. This is a testament to two aspects of this device: great battery life in an altogether un-engaging form factor. In recent news, Moore’s law is finally getting around the hump of anemic Atom cores on netbooks by giving you two of them. At a similar price point we are seeing interesting innovations such as this CULV laptop from HP (if you want more laptop for your money,) The S10-3t is bundled with a trial version of Microsoft Office 2007, which seems like an annoyance. I would have definitely warmed up to this netbook had it come with a full version of the same. For 30,000 there oughta be a few extras here. It's a very flexible form factor and can saddle up rather well next to your PC in portrait mode as a secondary monitor, but as a primary computing device it can be quite frustrating. The screen is just too small for long periods of usage and the touch implementation isn't all that well done, or widely supported by third party apps. In my view the multi-touch convertible tablet PC genre can be made better with a device that supports two OSes, Windows 7 and a free OS that is optimised for touch.
Most people wouldn’t expect a car that can go from 0-60 in under 3.2 seconds to be eco-friendly in the least, but the Porsche automakers beg to differ. This future car concept, the 918 Spyder, is supposed to be one of the fastest (if not the fastest) hybrid electric car on the market. This one-of-a-kind ride can teach tops speeds of 200 mph and gets a whopping 78 miles per gallon – double the amount most compact cars achieve on a good day.
This speed demon is charged by a 3.4 liter V8 engine which comes equipped with a lithium ion battery pack that can be charged from almost anywhere, not to mention whenever you hit the brakes as well. No word yet on the pricing but you can safely assume it will be in the 6 digit field (estimates have been set near the $500,000 mark), and is not expected to be listed for sale on the market for at least another year, probably closer to 2012 or 2013. The bad news is that you probably never will own one of these babies, or anything close to it, but the good news is that future cars will benefit from these technological break-throughs and the overall quality of regular day-to-day cars will be enhanced. Way to go Porsche!
Microsoft has recently announced an impressive addition to their popular X-Box video game system which will replace the standard controllers. Project Natal, as they call it, is the future gaming technology we have been waiting for and has built in motion sensors that allows users to act out their moves instead of having to press buttons. So if you are playing a fighting game (such as Street Fighter) you will actually have to do some physical kicks and punches in order to defeat your opponent. Project Natal is like a Nintendo Wii 2.0 – instead of having to swing around your controller you can just use your body, and no more worrying about cracking your new plasma TV. This new technology is also supposed to be equipped with voice and facial recognition software, which I’m assuming is used to distinguish between two players and keep track of player profiles.
Nintendo had better be prepared to answer back when Microsoft releases this future technology, or any hope for more Wii sales will be obliterated (assuming Project Natal turns out to be accurate and practical). The new gaming device is projected to be released near the end of 2010, just in time for the holidays, and has been speculated to cost somewhere around $100. There have also been somerumors going around as to whether 1 or 2 people will be able to use the gaming sensors simultaneously, but most signs point to 2 players. Exciting times for us video gamers!
For the past couple of years the world’s top space program NASA has been working on a future design for the very first personal flying suit. The puffin, as they call it, measures to be approximately 12 feet in length with a 15 foot wingspan. The aircraft module would land vertically, allowing for a person to step directly into it and has blades similar to that of helicopters. The puffin concept would relatively light weight and would use electric motors, allowing for high altitudes as well as being eco-friendly.
Now to another note: is the Puffin concept practical for consumer use? Highly unlikely, or at least not for a long time. First of all, this type of flying suit would cost hundreds of thousands of dollars, if not millions, so not many people would ever get to use one, as least for quite some time. Secondly, if this flying suit were to take the place of automobiles, modern travel would be extremely chaotic and the number of fatalities would drastically increase. Any type of mechanical failure or collision with another flying suit would be devastating and regulating travel would be nearly impossible. Yes, the idea is magnificent and I think most of us would like to have an experience like this someday, so hopefully this type of future technology will be able to advance, thanks to NASA.
Now that more and more 3D movies have been starting to come out (A Christmas Carol, Avatar, Alice & Wonderland, etc.) is the future technology of home televisions headed the same way? Can we expect to start seeing the next generation gaming consoles to be in 3-D as well? You better believe it and companies like Sony, Samsung, & Nintendo already have some surprises in the works.
By the end of 2010, Sony already plans to begin pushing their new line of 3D TVs to consumers, especially right before the major holidays. Samsung won’t be far behind, as they have taken some major steps in the home theater industry, producing the world’s thinnest LED TV, and also planning to start releasing TV apps (similar to the apps for your iPhone/Palm Pre) come July. The good news for us consumers is that we will have new technology to play around with and prices for regular plasma/LED TVs should go down and become even more affordable. Just make sure to save your 3D glasses the next time you see Avatar, you may just need them for your next TV.
Bookstore giant Barnes & Noble just announced today the release of their future eBook reader known as the Nook, and they are already taking orders. Priced competitively at $259, the Nook costs pretty much the same as the once popular Kindle, but offers a whole lot more. Check out some of the coolest specs the Nook has to offer:
·Color Touch Screen – Unlike the other eBooks which are pure black and white
·Screen Display – No glare or backlight with adjustable text size
·Share Books – You can share books you have purchased with your friends and family for free
·Huge Selection – There are over 1,000,000 available books (twice as many as the Kindle)
·Wi-fi Capable – Connect to the internet with local hotspots
·Media Slot – Supports Micro SD cards for extra storage space of up to 17,500 books
·3G Network – Offered by AT&T so you can buy books from almost anywhere
·Customization – You can get custom covers with different colors as well as upload photos
·Free books – There are over 1,000 free books offered to Nook buyers
·Hands-on Demos – You can test out the Nook before buying at any of the Barnes & Noble stores
Barnes and Noble has chosen a very strategized release date, which comes right before the heavy holiday shopping. For those of you who have held off on buying a Kindle, your patience has just paid off. The Nook will make the perfect holiday gift to those who love to read and travel quite frequently. Additionally, you may find consumer product reviews of eReaders on the Consupo website.
With a new wave of harmful computer viruses and worms making the rounds, college students should be more vigilant than ever in protecting their computers, especially when they are on a wireless network. Following these simple precautionary measures can help avoid system vulnerabilities and computer failure.
Install Anti-Virus Software – Make sure you have anti-virus software installed and that it is setup to update daily. Most colleges and universities have a license that allows students and faculty to download the software for free on personal and school-owned computers. Contact your school’s IT department to learn more.
Download OS Updates – Microsoft will sometimes issue critical OS updates or security patches for Windows which are designed to make the operating system more secure. Make sure you download and install them when available. If you need help doing so, contact the manufacturer’s technical support.
Use Strong Passwords – Always use strong password (including letters, numbers, and characters) for all your accounts. This can make it more difficult for hackers to access your computer and personal information.
Be Careful what You Download – A good rule of thumb to follow is to only download programs and software from reputable sources and companies, such as your University or computer manufacturer. Free software that can be downloaded from the internet can contain harmful spyware, which you may be downloading without even knowing.
Don’t Open Email from Unknown Users – Before opening email attachments, make sure you know who the sender is; otherwise you may be opening something harmful to your system. Delete all spam and if a message simply looks suspicious, it probably is.
Backup Your Data – Whether you need PC or Mac backup software, make sure you are regularly backing up all important electronic files (such as photos, music files, important text documents, etc.). If your laptop is damaged or stolen, you should be able to easily access the backups and restore the information.
Logout or Shut Down – When you aren’t using your computer, whether in the library or your dorm room, get into the habit of logging out of your account, locking the screen, or shutting down the computer completely. You never know who can gain access to your computer and personal files in just a few short minutes.
Any well-equipped entrepreneur knows they are only as efficient and productive as the tools they choose to employ. Subsequently, we’ve got five tech tools that’ll ramp up your fall output and make life a little more convenient (what entrepreneur doesn’t like the sound of that?).
Twitter Tools – If you’re anything like other entrepreneurs and small business owners, you probably use Twitter as a way to promote your brand and build awareness (if not, it’s about time you jumped on the bandwagon and did so!). There are a myriad of tools exclusively for Twitter that can help you manage, monitor and organize your account on your computer and mobile device. TwitterBerry allows you to use Twitter on a Blackberry while Tweetie is apt for the iPhone. SplitTweet allows you manage multiple Twitter accounts while TweetDeck is perfect for organizing your account (ideal if you follow a lot of people).
Google Apps Premier – For just $50 a year, Google Apps Premier is hard to turn down! For small businesses that are comprised of remote offices or a virtual workforce, Google’s offering provides apps that can make collaborate, manage and execute projects and tasks in an efficient, timely manner.
Netbooks – If you travel or work remotely frequently, lugging around a seven pound laptop gets old fast. At a fraction of the weight (and cost), ultra-slim, condensed netbooks (or mini notebooks) are all the rage. Primarily used to connect to the Internet and access cloud-based apps, you’ll sacrifice certain features and computing power but gain mobility and convenience.
VoIP – An affordable and easy-to-use phone alternative, a VoIP for business system offers all the features and capabilities of a standard land line for a fraction of the cost. In fact, you can even use your computer with VoIP software and a compatible headset if you aren’t quite ready to shell out for an actually phone.
iPhone 3G – While small business owners are all about a mobile device that can deliver high performance and professionalism, they want a sleek, good-looking phone as much as everyone else. While the BlackBerry has long been touted as the “it” phone for business professionals, the latest iPhone 3G is on its way to claiming the top spot namely because of its increased speed allowing quicker downloads and Web-surfing.
Every so often there comes along something that really shakes up the world of horology and nothing is even quite the same again after. Various big name companies have had their turn in the hot seat; at the beginning of the last century it was Cartier, later it was Tag Heuer, but nowadays the biggest name is by far Jacob & Co. It is the innovation in this collection of watches that has really taken everyone by surprise. These timepieces have now become the most recognized items on the planet, and this has not made the lives of those responsible for the Jacob & Co replica watches easy. Instead of seeing this as a reason to be miserable the makers of this copy have taken it as a challenge and gone on to produce completely convincing copy watches of the whole Jacob original collection.
The Jacob & Co replica watch have almost caused as much of a stir as the original models. Nobody expected these copy watches to be half as good as they are. This really is watch that anyone can feel proud to wear. These items have been made at vastly reduced prices but you wouldn’t be able to tell this by looking or even handling this selection of copy watches. The Jacob & Co replica watch delivers a whole lot more than its price tag might suggest.
It seems hard to imagine how copy watches could improve upon the Jacob & Co replica watch. This really is such a great item. The Jacob is sure to one day leave the its position as number one in the world of horology, but it seems definite that people will enjoy the Jacob & Co replica watch for many more years to come.
Imagine being able to unlock your car doors and start your car engine with the wave of your hand. Imagine being able to make all of your purchases without your purse, wallet, checkbook, or credit card. Pretty soon, you may not have to imagine that at all, thanks to the advanced technology of RFID (radio frequency identification) implantable microchips. VeriChip has been developing RFID chips for the past 5+ years with the original purpose to assists doctors treat non-communicable patients, as well as act as a tracking device on animals. The radio frequency chip would be inserted between the thumb and the forefinger, and is about the size of a large rice grain.
There has been much opposition from religious groups and critics who claim that these devices can cause cancer and that such implants are the work of the devil. Another obstacle the RFID chip would have to face is the fear of getting the chip implanted through an injection, something that causes most people to cringe. For now, VeriChip is only marketing to the medical fields, but they say if and when people want the chip to be able to do more, such as pay for things and open locked doors, the technology will be ready to do so.
Recently IBMclaimed that its 5.2GHz z196 processor is the world fastest processor boasts the ability to handle more than 50 billion instructions per second and, yes, without sophisticated cooling system that will make it runs efficiently and prevents it to get toasty. It's four-core slab that sports 1.4 billion transistors utilizing 45 nanometer technology. It's an enterprise chip, so getting this kind of processor to your custom built rig won't be that easy. There's a video and press release after the break.
Nissan has joined the race to create and sell the first practical electric car, and they plan to do it come 2010 - approximately 1 year from now. The Nissan Leaf, as they call it, is expected to achieve up to 100 miles per battery charge with a top speed of 75 mph. The leaf is a pure electric car that runs on lithium-ion batteries and can hold up to 5 passengers. This battery is estimated to fully recharge within 8-16 hours, depending on the wattage of the outlet.
The target economies for this new future electric car are the United States, Europe, and Japan. The starting price for this innovative sedan will be somewhere between $25-30,000, a price that is much less than its prestige rival, theTesla Model Swhich costs $58,000 and debuts in 2012. Hopefully these new electric cars pave way for making future cars less expensive and less oil-dependent.
Sony, one of the world’s top companies in cool gadgets and technology, has announced a new, advanced lithium-ion battery that will last almost 4 times as long as the standard lithium ion battery. This future battery is also said to be able to charge to maximum capacity in just 30 minutes, not to mention that it can be fully recharged over 2,000 times. These batteries use lithium iron phosphate for the outer material, which allows for the enhanced lifespan as well as a faster recharge.
No word yet on pricing details or an exact release date, but it looks to be in the near future. Speculators say that the batteries will start out being used only in portable power tools, and then soon after in regular electronic devices, such as cellphones, cameras, & flashlights.
The companyLive Wirehas recently come out with an electrical circuit test that can be used to detect intermittent fault conditions, or in other words, detect electrical components that aren’t working properly. This cutting-edge technology works by transmitting small signals into high-noise environments, such as power grids and telecom networks, and monitoring even the slightest changes in current. Thesearc fault breakersare capable of determining when electrical components are at risk for failure and help determine which components need to be fixed or replaced.
So how could this ever affect me, you ask? Well, if you plan to fly on an airplane anytime soon, you are at risk for any number of electrical failures on board, which could ultimately lead to the plane crashing. What this technology does is to help prevent these disasters from ever occurring. By simply monitoring the electrical circuits of heavy machinery, such as airplanes and heavy machinery, you can easily detect any type of mechanical failure before tragedy strikes. Hopefully, most airlines already use this type of technology, because you never know what could happen with some of those 20+ year old airplanes.
Rumor has it that Sony has designed a newer, slimmer play station 3 in hopes of boosting console sales. No one really knows if there will be any additional modifications to the system and most believe that just the design will be different. The previous version, Play Station II, has outsold the newer one by a couple hundred thousand, and Sony hopes to change that, hence the need for a new design.
Some of the reasons for this speculation are that countries have been noticing significant price drops in the PS3 consoles (perhaps in hopes of clearing out inventory and making way for the new ones) and there have also been a few leaked pictures of the device, as you can see here. Some believe it will be released within the next couple of months, just in time for the holidays.
Seeing as how there are over 2,000,000 burglaries committed each year (an average of 1 every 15 seconds), it’s no wonder security companies have been focusing on state-of-the-art technologies that will help reduce such an astounding figure, especially since that number has continued to rise each year. So what exactly is being offered to combat burglaries to homes and businesses?
One of the latest video security devices out there (which is quite mobile, in a sense that you can move it to different locations periodically) features some pretty innovative specs such as the following: starlight/infrared cameras, audio announcement (when someone enters the premise), hidden wireless cameras with motion detection, and the ability to watch it live from far away. Another cool aspect of this security gadget is that it records all of the videos to a hard-drive, which can be easily stored and don’t require changing video tapes.
Typical prices for such security devices run at about $500 a month, which isn’t bad, especially if you have valuables worth a lot more than that. Check out thevideo securitylink to learn more.
The new Scion iQ, Toyota’s next highly anticipated car is hoping to make its way to the U.S. come the end of 2010/early 2011. This new mini car is supposed to be more eco-friendly, able to achieve almost 55 miles per gallon. The best part of this new Scion is most definitely the new look. The previous Scions have always been quite boxy looking with not as much appeal, but this one seems to turn the tides.
The iQ will be able to sit 3 people, 2 in the front and 1 smaller individual in the back. The price is estimated to be about $15,000 and over 25,000 orders have already been fulfilled. This car will also be taking over much of Europe and Japan, as those two markets will be Scion’s area of focus.
Blizzard recently announced that they will proceed to make a movie out of the world’s most popular computer game,World of Warcraft. Sam Raimi, director of the Spiderman and Evil Dead series will be the director, and the same people who produced the box-office smash The Dark Knight will be working together.
Since previous video games that were made into movies have been notorious for doing poorly at the box office, it’s normal for people to expect the same with this upcoming movie. However, Blizzard hopes to break such expectations by using these prominent cinema characters mentioned above. No exact release date has yet been made but many suspect that this movie will be released sometime near the end of 2010, if not later.
The Tesla Roadster, first unveiled in 2006 at a California car show, is one of the most coveted electric cars available in today’s market. Some of the impressive specs of this electric beauty are that it can travel approximately 250 miles on a single charge from its lithium-ion battery pack, accelerate from 0-60 mph in 3.7 seconds (faster than a corvette), and can fully recharge in less than 3.5 hours.
Some of the downers of this car include a hefty price tag at around $100,000, a $1,000 delivery fee, a battery pack that only lasts 100,000 miles and costs a whopping $36,000 to replace it, and the inability to travel long distances. Surely, this is a car for the rich and famous. Hopefully, one day it will become more practical for the every day driver.
Remember in the movie Minority Report where Tom Cruise is using some state-of-the-art computer where he controlled pretty much everything just by moving his hands? Well, according to Microsoft’s head guru, Bill Gates, this technology has been in the works for quite some time and in as little as 1 year from now such technology could be released.
How this technology would work is by using built-in motion sensors on TVs and computer screens that would mimic human movements and integrate them into the system. This could mean that the function of a mouse and keyboard may be rendered obsolete in the near future, although, I doubt most people will be able to afford such future technology for quite some time. The nice thing about these future gadgets(besides being exciting) is that technology continues to improve and 2nd generation stuff will become even more affordable.
Apparently Nokia has a cool and unique phone in the works that will be able to charge itself without any wires. The phone accomplishes this by harvesting radio waves found in the air and coverts that energy into power for the phone. Such waves are derived from a number of different places, including TVs, radios, computers, and other mobile phones.
Since this phone is still in the development process, it is currently only capable of havesting 5 mw (milliwatts) at a time, which is just not enough to make the phone efficient. Nokia hopes to increase that number to 20 mw in the near future, making it more practicable to the typical cell phone user. While this type of phone does not have any kind of scheduled release date, the hope is that it will be ready within the next 3-4 years
