Monday, September 27, 2010

Review: Apple iPod Nano, Touch, Shuffle

By now, Apple's introduction of new iPods each fall is about as surprising as kids going back to school. And, as usual, many of the changes CEO Steve Jobs announced this month were expected, such as the addition of cameras to the iPod Touch.

But Apple Inc took some risks this time with its lineup, too. It cut the video recording and playback features from the Nano to shrink it while adding a touchscreen, and went back in time stylistically to rework the tiny Shuffle.

The results, as expected, are awesome across the board.

iPod Nano
The latest Nano has gotten the biggest makeover of the bunch, trading in its rectangular body for a small square and eschewing the traditional iPod click-wheel controls in favor of a touch screen flanked by a few buttons.

I thought that having such a teeny touchscreen -- about 1.5 inches diagonally -- would be annoying. It turned out to be slightly irksome at first but nearly as intuitive as the old click wheel once I got used to swiping it to find my way around.

If the old Nano said, "Take me with you," the new Nano screams, "Only a fool would leave me at home!" It's less than half the size of the old Nano and fits in even the smallest pocket. And it finally comes with a built-in back clip, so you can attach the player to your shirt or pocket when you're exercising or walking around. Adios, expensive clip case.

The built-in pedometer, introduced on the last Nano, seems like a better idea now that the gadget has a more portable body. You also don't need to worry whether you've clipped it on upside down, as Apple smartly included a feature that lets you flip the screen's orientation by twisting two fingers on the screen.

I thought I'd miss the video camera included on the previous Nano since I don't like having options taken away from me. But after a little while I totally forgot about it. It would have been neat if Apple at least kept the video playback option, but such a small screen -- about 1.5 inches diagonally -- is hardly ideal for watching episodes of "Glee." The old screen, at 2.2 inches, was diminutive but did the trick if I needed a video fix on the fly.

Apple says the Nano, which comes with 8 or 16GB of storage, should give you up to 24 hours of music playback; I got close to 15 hours from a single charge when listening to music and viewing photos.

iPod Touch
As with the last iPod Touch, the new version is much like an iPhone without the phone -- a great alternative if you want to avoid a two-year service contract, especially since the phone part is often derided as the iPhone's weakest suit.

Like the iPhone 4, the new Touch has a gorgeous, super-sharp display that is great for surfing the Web and watching videos. It's stocked with Apple's newest mobile processor and comes with 8, 32 or 64 GB of storage.

The new iPod Touch also follows the iPhone 4's lead by adding cameras in the front and back. This means you can take photos and HD-quality videos and conduct video chats with other owners of the new Touch and latest iPhone.

The cameras bring the Touch to a whole new level. Before, it was a slick multimedia player that could access the Internet and download apps over Wi-Fi. Now, it's a potential replacement for a simple point-and-shoot -- though, sadly, it still lacks a flash -- and a better a communication tool.

Using FaceTime on the Touch is pretty sweet. Sure, video chat has been around for a while, and it's already available on the iPhone 4. But there's still something awesome about having video chat right in your pocket, assuming you are in a Wi-Fi hotspot. Since the Touch doesn't have a phone number that people can call for a FaceTime chat, you must choose which e-mail address (or addresses) people can use to reach you.

The Touch also comes with Apple's new Game Center app, which lets you keep track of your gaming scores and play games against friends.

I had fun playing the fruit-slicing game "Fruit Ninja" against my iPhone-brandishing colleague Peter in New York, but it wasn't seamless. We both noticed delays in seeing what the other had just done.

Still, you'll have plenty of time to challenge others and do everything else: The Touch's battery is rated for up to 40 hours of music or seven hours of video playback, and I got over 13 hours out of it when doing everything from playing games to perusing Apple's iTunes Store.

iPod Shuffle
At first glance, the new iPod Shuffle looks suspiciously like an older version of the same gadget, with its circular control panel and wee rectangular body.

Looks can be deceiving, though. It's actually a solidly updated device, both compared with its doppelganger, the Shuffle Apple released four years ago, and with the previous Shuffle that depended on controls attached to an earbud cord.

I like this return to the circular controls, which make it easy to navigate from song to song and pump up (or down) the jam. There's a button for voiceover features on the side, which speak over the music to tell you what song you're listening to.

And the $49 price tag -- $10 lower than the previous Shuffle with the same 2GB storage capacity -- can't be beat. Sure, it only has room for about 500 songs, and Apple is no longer offering a 4GB Shuffle, but it's more than enough to get you through plenty of workouts and commutes.

The Shuffle is supposed to get up to 25 hours of battery life; after using it for more than 15 hours, I clicked the voiceover button and a stilted male voice told me it still held a 25 percent charge.

Though I try to keep an eyebrow raised, year after year Apple convinces me of the merits of its latest iPods. There's always room for improvement (I'd love more camera settings and a flash on the Touch, for example), and I bet Apple is already figuring out what problems to solve and features to add in the next versions. But they're still far better than the competition -- no surprise there.
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Thursday, September 16, 2010

Apollo EHDD portfolio Expanded By Imation

Imation Apollo Portable Hard Drive - Hard drive - 500 GB - external - 2.5" - Hi-Speed USB - chrome, midnight black


Imation Corp has expanded its Apollo family of external hard disk drives (EHDD) lineup. The updated Apollo line delivers solutions ranging from personal to professional use, updated designs and next-generation software that simplifies, automates and personalises backup for up to two terabytes (TB) of data. The company's Apollo Expert D300 offers USB 3.0 technology to move data up to 10 times faster than USB 2.0-based drives


According to says Jason Elles, global brand leader for Imation - 
The explosion of large multimedia files, such as high-resolution photos and video, and the fact that even small businesses can be data-intensive, means households and businesses need to capture and save more digital information than ever. Whether they're seeking exceptional value or high speeds, using a drive personally or professionally, or backing up their desktop or managing data on the go, there's an Apollo external hard drive to utilize. 


The new Apollo family begins with the Apollo Expert D300 External Hard Drive. The drive is available in 500-GB, 1-TB and 2-TB capacities. The drive features a brushed silver industrial design and removable stand to orient it horizontally or vertically. The drive uses ArcSoft Total Media Backup software and includes a 60-day trial of Norton Online Backup. 


Other products in the portfolio include: 


1) Apollo Expert D200 External Hard Drive: Available in capacities from 500 GB to 2 TB, the USB 2.0-powered drive features a brushed silver, industrial design and a removable stand. Protected by a five-year limited warranty, the Apollo Expert D200 drive comes equipped with ArcSoft TotalMedia(R) Backup software and a 60-day trial of Norton Online Backup. 


2) Apollo Expert M200 Portable Hard Drive: The hard drive comes with a five-year limited warranty. The fully USB 2.0-powered drive comes in storage capacities of 320, 500 and 640 GB. The drive uses ArcSoft Total Media Backup software and includes a 60-day trial of Norton Online Backup. 


3) Apollo M100 Portable Hard Drive: Available in 320-, 500- and 640-gigabyte (GB) capacities, the fully USB 2.0-powered drive requires no external power supply or drivers. The 2.5-inch drive comes equipped with ArcSoft Total Media Backup software. 


The Apollo M100 and Expert M200 portable hard drives are available immediately. The Apollo Expert D200 and D300 external hard drives will be available in October. Prices range from $79.99 to $219.99 depending on drive capacity and data-transfer speed. 
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Next Generation Mobile Computing to go KeyLess

An Israeli start-up has launched a system that aims to make mobile computing easier by letting users type on invisible keys instead of a keyboard that typically takes up much of the screen.  SnapKeys calls its technology the "keyless keyboard" and has forged a deal with Philips Electronics to market the product, company officials said. 


SnapKeys and Philips will split revenue 50-50. "There is a fundamental problem in entering data on mobile devices," SnapKeys Chief Executive Benjamin Ghassabian told Reuters. "Keyboards were meant for fixed devices, not mobile. And screens are not supposed to be your input device; they are supposed to be output."
He said the keyless keyboard was 10 years in the making. The sucess of Apple's iPad -- which Ghassabian says is more entertainment than computer -- shows that people want more portable devices. Around 40 companies seek to market tablet computers, he said. 
"The market is moving towards mobile computers -- that's why tablets are coming out," Ghassabian said. 
SnapKeys, privately funded with $4 million, and Philips have started approaching the top mobile device and computer companies about using its keyless keyboard. 
"We are in the phase of closing deals ... It will take a few months to get to the market," Ghassabian said, adding the system works on all Windows, Symbian and Android-based devices. 
The keyboard has four invisible keys -- two on each side of the device's screen -- each comprising six to seven letters. There are other keys for numbers, punctuation and symbols. 
At first, the location of the keys appears on the screen but the company believes users will quickly learn the location of letters and will not need the overlay for long. Users tap the invisible keys with their thumbs and the system predicts the words. 
SnapKeys says its English version has about 100,000 words and is 92 per cent accurate. If the word isn't correct, it can be changed. Ghassabian said the system, in which typing words is far faster than a typical keyboard, is available in all European languages as well as Chinese. An Indian version is in the works. 


"The only competition for us will be voice recognition and that's not working well yet in mobile devices," Ghassabian said, noting it was not as discreet as typing. 
He rejected the notion that people will not want to change their typing habits from a keyboard that has been around for a century. 
"People used to have horses but when cars came out, not everyone wanted to switch to cars. But when they started driving cars, they didn't want to go back to riding horses," he said.
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Thursday, September 2, 2010

Review: Motorola Backflip smartphone

Motorola MB300 BACKFLIP GSM Unlocked Smart Phone With Android, 3.1-inch touchscreen, 5MP camera and QWERTY keyboard. (Black)When you open up the phone, it just flips open to give you a device which is different and easy to use. But then, this is just one of its new features. When you open the phone, you'll find a laptop's trackpad-like feature on the other side of the screen. 


What this means is that apart from tapping on the screen you can actually use this trackpad, which they call the Backtrack, to move around and select items by gently tapping on it (we would love all phones to have this feature). 
Its 5.0 megapixel camera, with flash, is housed at one end of the keypad. So, when you open the phone, you can as well take some shots of yourself. With such an exceptional hardware, we had expected it to be loaded with the latest version of Android. 


Unfortunately, we'll have to be satisfied with the ancient 1.5 version. So, there's no pinch-and-zoom facility and no access to some of the wonderful apps from the Android Market. 
The welcome feature is its Motoblur which lets you merge contact information from various email accounts with social networking sites. Infact, if you get into Motoblur's features, you can easily find a host of customisable options which makes this phone's usage much more fun. 


On the performance front, it does seem a bit sluggish, especially the time the screen takes to adjust itself when you open the keypad. The battery life is not bad with our device staying alive for almost one and a half days with heavy usage. 


It sure doesn't come cheap but the fact that you own a handset which is not a copy of other popular devices and is loaded to the hilt with innovative features is in itself priceless. If Motorola rolls out the latest Android version on the Backflip, it would be a much better buy.


More here >>>
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Review: Acer Aspire TimelineX AS4820T laptop

Acer Aspire TimelineX AS4820T-3697 14-Inch Laptop (Aluminum)
This laptop from Acer's TimelineX Series is the AS4820T. If you have seen the size-zero Vaio X series from Sony, then you will immediately associate the outer body of the Acer with it. 


It has got a nice black metal finish which means that there won't be any finger prints. The shiny metal finish continues on the inside with a neatly laid giant touchpad and a tactile keyboard. Although the keys are great to type with, the build quality is not so. 


The keys are quite wobbly. But in case of the touchpad, it is one of the best we have ever used smooth and responsive. The touchpad also supports pinch-and-zoom with two fingers. There is an obvious lag when you try to pinch or zoom into your photos, but then that's not what this touchpad is primarily going to be used for. 
Clean, glossy lines make up the top with power buttons and almost invisible speakers. All in all, it has a great design. But the best part is that even with a DVD drive, it's extremely light at just 2.1 kg. The screen is a beautiful, bright 14-inch one with backlit LED making Acer 4820TG really good to look at. 
It has an Intel Core i5 -430 M 2.26Ghz processor with 4GB of RAM. In addition, it also has a 500GB HDD and an ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5650 Graphics card. This ensures good video quality when you view your media or even want to play games. 


The OS is Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit which is responsive and works without hassles most of the time. But, if you open more than six applications and then try to watch a movie, it will start to freeze. 
Like Nvidia's optimus technology, this too, has two graphic processing units (GPUs) which switch between high performance and low to give you optimal performance for computing. What Nvidia Optimus does is switch to a high performance GPU, that is ATI, when it has to run programmes with high graphic content and switch to the Intel GPU for the low menial computational tasks. 


But then, you will have to do this manually as it doesn't switch automatically. If you are a new user, you wouldn't even probably know it's there as Acer has not mentioned this anywhere. A dedicated switch would have been better. 
Regarding the actual workings of the switch, Acer recommends that you shut down all applications before you switch to GPU. If you switch without shutting down your programmes, the screen freezes. The 2 GPUS are a pain to switch on. They do their job but with a lot of hiccups. 


All standard forms of connectivity are present -- USB, HDMI out, Ethernet, standard headphone jack and Wi-Fi. Multimedia is a pleasure to view on this laptop as it supports full HD in 1080p in 16:9. The speakers are pretty good too and enhance the sound via Virtual Surround Sound making it slightly better than the speakers on most laptops. 


Is the Acer Timeline X AS4820T worth your money? Yes, it looks good. But, the average performance of the GPU switch is what brings it down. If you want a good looking laptop which you can flaunt in the boardroom and will only use it for basic tasks without the headache of switching between the 2 GPUs, this could be a good pick. 


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