MEMS device generates power from body heat.
Thursday, April 29, 2010
(PhysOrg.com) -- In an attempt to develop a power source that is compact, environmentally friendly, and has an unlimited lifetime, a team of researchers from Singapore has fabricated an energy harvesting device that generates electricity from body heat or any environment where there is a temperature gradient. Their device, called a thermoelectric power generator, attaches to the body and generates a power output of a few microwatts, which could be useful for powering implanted medical devices and wireless sensors.
(A prototype of the thermoelectric power
generator assembled in a ceramic package
and placed next to a indian rupees)
Rainmaker wins $100,000 Lemelson-MIT award
The award goes to an individual's overall achievement in
Agrawal has achievements in several areas. He started out in the corporate world working for big names like Hughes, ITT, GTE, General Dynamics, and Vecna Technologies bringing patented technologies to market. During his corporate stint, he patented a single-bit voice-processing technology that enabled voice over satellite, and a "self-healing" modem. He was also the associate editor of IEEE Transactions on Signal Processing and on Communications, and an evaluator of small-business innovation research program applications for the National Science Foundation.
Then Agrawal migrated to the nonprofit world to become a rainmaker for those doing good. He founded Sustainable Innovations in 2007. It's a nonprofit organization that helps tech entrepreneurs build self-sustainable projects that can aid developing nations. The organization becomes a partner, finds capital, and assists in project development and management, as well as marketing.
But Agrawal could also be considered a rainmaker in the literal sense.
Agrawal's organization has submitted a proposal to the Indian government to install a large-scale version of a rainwater harvesting system. Aakash Ganga, which means "River from Skies," collects rainwater from individual rooftops, and pipes it into manmade underground reservoirs that can be accessed as the need arises during drought season. The business plan revolves around villagers renting out their rooftops for water collection, using a portion of the collected water for their own household, and sending excess water to a common village tank. Seventy percent of the water is used by the individual households or sold. The rest goes toward supporting local agriculture.
Agrawal capitalized on local pride and the existing Indian custom of jalwa puja, a practice in which mothers worship at a spring 45 days after the birth of a child, to protect the reservoir tanks from would-be contaminators or poor maintenance. Women are invited to worship at the wells per Indian custom, and the names of the local masons are engraved on the reservoir tanks to instill a sense of community ownership.
The technology has been successful for 10,000 villagers in various drought regions throughout India, which also happens to be Agrawal's original homeland.
Agrawal, who came from a small farming village in India, has a degree from the Birla Institute of Technology and Science in India, a Ph.D. from the University of South Florida, and completed the executive MBA program at MIT's Sloan School of Management.
In addition to the Aakash Ganga rainwater project, Agrawal has partnered with TEOCO (The Employee Owned Company) CEO Atual Jain, who is also a Sustainable Innovations board member. Their joint project is called Arogya Ghar, aka Clinic for Mass Care. Arogya Ghar provides computerized health clinic kiosks that only require an individual with a high-school education to run the available health care services effectively, and cost an estimated 25 cents a visit per patient. The kiosk has been tested in rural areas where access to proper medical services are scarce. In 2009, it was approved by the Asian Development Bank for a pilot project in China, and has been successful enough at curbing the spread of preventable diseases that USAID, UNICEF, and the World Health Organization are interested in possibly using the kiosks in 50 villages by 2012.
Agrawal will accept his sustainability award at the Lemelson-MIT Program's Eureka Fest June 16-19. This year's student prize went to Erez Lieberman-Aiden. The $500,000 2010 Lemelson-MIT Prize has not yet been announced.
The Lemelson Foundation, founded by Jerome H. and Dorothy Lemelson, has given over $150 million to research since its inception. Jerome Lemelson is best known as the prolific inventor and patent holder who championed inventors' rights and challenged the limits of patent law.
Bushnell, binoculars Digital Camera ‘Imageview’
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
When you are watching a sports match in a huge stadium it may be helpful. It costs US$315.
How to Train your Dragon Movie Review
Dreamworks has a solid product with How to Train Your Dragon. Loosely based on the novel of the same name by Cressida Cowell, this movie version makes for a refreshing take in dragon folklore.
With allusions to the tales of yore, the cartoony caricature driven CGI world created here does more than stir the imagination. It harkens to a potential saga in the making. With more books in this series, there is potential to adapt the later novels. And the altered storyline is something that writer Chris Sanders is not too worried about.
This veteran in the animation scene is better known for his work in the Lilo & Stitch series, and he repeats his winning formula for Dreamworks. If one looks carefully, Toothless the dragon looks a bit like the alien Stitch.
And instead of a girl meeting an extraterrestrial, the tale takes a spin in a world of fantasy where a young boy, Hiccup (Jay Baruchel) encounters a dragon. His Viking village is at war with the entire dragon race and in order to train the next generation to fight against them, Hiccup goes to school.
Little do his classmates know, he is rehabilitating a serpentine beast behind everyone’s back. But it’s a question of who is training who, and those moments are particularly engaging. Just like Lilo and Stitch, there are a few adorable moments as the two bond.
When they take to the air, the aerial aerobatics they undertake are more breathtaking than what Avatar can do. James Cameron can learn from this film.
Photo-realism can only go so far, and the cartoony flavour helps to make this movie particularly enjoyable for the one important message it delivers—it’s possible to make alliances.
And no battle can come out scar-free. This touch of realism is important and this helps make for a solid film.
***** out of 5
Intel Core i3/i5 Dual-Core Processors and Mac OS X
Monday, April 26, 2010ntel's new Dual-Core Core i3 and Core i5 processors are currently (as of 10.6.2) not supported natively by Mac OS X. Furthermore, recent looks into the 10.6.3 developer build don't reveal any future support. This includes the following dual-core desktop and mobile processors:
Core i3-530
Core i3-540
Core i5-650
Core i5-660
Core i5-661
Core i5-670
Core i3-330M
Core i3-350M
Core i5-520UM
Core i5-430M
Core i5-520M
Core i5-520E
Core i5-540M
If you own one of these processors, and would like to try to install Mac OS X, you can try my Boot CD Method with the default tonymacx86-P55BootCD. It has the Qoopz 10.0.0 kernel which is patched to run on unsupported processors. Issue this command at the Chameleon prompt:
busratio=20
If you don't type this command, your computer may instantly reboot. Also, when you update to 10.6.2, you'll have to use a patched kernel.
METHOD FOR UPDATING TO 10.6.2
As of now the only Core i-series Intel processors that Apple has used in a Mac are the quad-core Core i5 750 and Core i7 860. Therefore these are the only ones that are supported natively by Mac OS X, and can therefore run the 10.6.2 Vanilla (default) kernel. Of course, Apple may release new Macs that run these processors, and at that point, they'll be supported.
EDIT: Here's a table of all of the actual bus/core ratios for every Intel Core i processor:
If you have had any success or failures using these new processors, be sure to let me know. Good luck!
Latest Intel processor security features
Westmere contains several security features beyond what Nehalem had, so I thought I'd discuss them here.
The press echoes Intel's claims that they speed up AES by 9 times over software implementations, but that's not completely true. It's complicated.
You only get that performance increase when you can encrypt (or decrypt) multiple blocks at a time. That is because the instructions have a high (6 clock cycle) latency. When encrypting a block, each instruction depends upon the results of the previous instruction, so the processor must stop and wait. When encrypting multiple blocks in parallel, the instructions for encrypting different blocks don't depend upon each other, and therefore the instructions can operate in parallel.
Some uses of AES "chain" blocks together. It uses data from the previous block in order to encrypt the next block of data. This prevents the CPU from executing the AES instructions in parallel, and is a huge performance loss. This is the default mode for SSL.
Disk encryption products typically don't chain blocks together, because software often reads from the middle of files ("random access"). You wouldn't want to have to decrypt the file from the start in order to read bytes from the end of the file.
Thus, if want use the new AES instructions for TrueCrypt or BitLocker disk encryption, you'll probably get around a 9 fold increase in encryption performance. However, if you want to use these new processors for SSL website hosting, you are only likely to get a 3 fold increase in encryption performance.
Note that in both cases, AES encryption is only part of the web hosting or disk encryption, so overall performance will not change as much.
AES security
A software implementation accelerates encryption by using lookup tables in memory. Each key causes a different pattern of memory lookups. Hackers can write software such that even though it's running on a different virtual machine, can still detect the pattern of memory access and thus recover part of the AES encryption key.
Intel's new AES instructions prevent this. It uses internal calculations in the CPU rather than lookup tables. The memory access pattern is the same, regardless of the key.
This is largely a theoretical attack. In the typical case of multiple customers sharing hardware for hosting websites, SSL generates a new key for every session, which are too short to make key recovery practical. However, in cryptography, "theoretical" attacks are frequently proven practical. Therefore, the new instructions are an important improvement.
SHA-3 selection
The government is currently looking for a new hash standard to replace SHA-1, which has proven to be weak.
Some have proposed algorithms that can be easily implemented in software, like Skein.
Other have proposed algorithms that are based on the same building blocks as AES. This means that while they may be slower on many processors, they will be faster on the latest Intel processors (and other processors that similarly contain AES features). Experiments with AES-like hash algorithms show that they can be sped up 5 to 10 times with the new Intel instructions.
Now that Intel is shipping these new processors, it might prejudice the SHA-3 selection committee toward one of the AES-based proposals.
Trusted Execution (TXT) and vPro
Intel added TXT features to the previous generation of processors (Core 2), but they were missing from the current generation (Nehalem, Core i7). The Westmere processor now includes the same TXT features as Core 2.
Trusted Execution protects against some specific hacker attacks. For example, "full disk encryption" products require the user to enter a password before the system can boot from the encrypted disk. In theory, a hacker could change the bootloader to first steal the password before booting the system. TXT (in theory) prevents the bootloader from being changed.
Another attack is to hook up a hostile device to the Firewire port that reads the contents of memory to a flash drive, or installs a virus on a running system. In theory, TXT features (VT-d) prevent this by restricting the range of memory the Firewire hardware can access this.
Fiddling with hardware, such as the sound or video card, has been one way that software running on a virtual machine could break into another virtual machine. TXT makes this more secure, by doing a better job of isolating hardware.
A lot of this is "theory". While it certainly makes things harder for hackers, researchers have found ways around some of the technology.
Conclusion
Corporations should take a look at "vPro" laptops and desktops, in particular, with "full disk encryption" in mind. TXT will protect the bootup processor for BitLocker, and the new AES instructions will accelerate encryption.
Web-hosting providers will like the AES encryption acceleration and greater isolation of virtual machines. The 6 cores of "Westemere" over the 4 cores of "Nehelem" processors are also a clear benefit. These processors use the same sockets, so web hosters can easily swap out the old processors for the new ones.
Notes
Intel has a whitepaper called "Intel Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) Instructions Set". It has good information, including sample implementations of AES using the new instructions.
DJB has a paper benchmarking optimized software AES "New AES software speed records". He gets 10.57 clocks-per-byte in his optimized software for the Core 2 processor, compared to (my guess) of 3.75 clocks-per-byte for the new AES instructions (in non-parallel modes like CBC). This implies a 3-fold increase for the new AES instructions.
The paper "The Intel AES Instructions Set and the SHA-3 Candidates" looks at how these new instructions might accelerate SHA-3 candidates. It also guesses that the core AES instructions have a 6-cycle latency. From this, I guess that the new AES instructions will encrypt data at 3.75 cycles per byte (each instruction executes a full AES round, each block requires 10 rounds, and there are 16 bytes per block, thus 6 * 10 / 16 = 3.75).
Security researcher Joanna Rutkowska has found several issues with TXT that are worth reading about. You should also look at the rebuttal to her points as well. Overall, it doesn't mean TXT is worthless; it still makes it harder to hack a system when deployed correctly.
Sniffing my Gmail connection, I see that it negotiates AES in chaining mode:
Secure Socket Layer
TLSv1 Record Layer: Handshake Protocol: Server Hello
Content Type: Handshake (22)
Version: TLS 1.0 (0x0301)
Length: 74
Handshake Protocol: Server Hello
Handshake Type: Server Hello (2)
Length: 70
Version: TLS 1.0 (0x0301)
Random
Session ID Length: 32
Session ID: F71EC579BD9E19F3EA64CAE5F78D3B2...
Cipher Suite: TLS_RSA_WITH_AES_256_CBC_SHA (0x0035)
Compression Method: null (0)
AnandTech and Tom's Hardware have benchmarks of the new AES instructions (using the "Clarksdale" desktop processor instead of "Westmere", but the performance should be essentially the same).
Intel Xeon 7500 Eight-Core Processor Provides Average of Three Times Increase in Processing Speed
Nokia E5 launched
Nokia has also announced the Nokia E5 smartphone. The Nokia E5 is the latest addition to the Eseries range. Nokia E5 runs Symbian S60 3rd edition operating system.
The Nokia E5 features a 2.4 inch QVGA display with 320×240 pixels resolutions, a full QWERTY keyboard, 5 megapixel autofocus camera with LED flash, 250MB of internal memory and up to 16GB on microSD card, two hot keys and dedicated buttons, one-touch access to favourite contacts and favourite social networks.
The Nokia E5 also come incorporated with 3G/HSDPA, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, GPS, 3.5mm headset jack. It also comes with access to the Ovi Store, Ovi Maps with free walk and drive navigation and support for Mail for Exchange and IBM Lotus Notes Traveler. It measures 115 mm x 58.9 mm x 12.8 mm and weighs 126 gms. The Nokia E5 comes in five colors – Carbon Black, Chalk White, Sky Blue, Copper Brown and Silver Gray.
The Nokia E5 will be available for €180 in the third quarter of 2010.
ASUS Eee PC Seashell (1008P) launched in India
ASUS has launched the Eee PC Seashell Karim Rashid (1008P) in the Indian market. Asus Seashell 1008P is powered by Intel Atom N450 processor, 2GB RAM, 250GB HDD, 500 GB ASUS WebStorage and Windows 7 Starter OS. The ASUS Eee PC Seashell has a 10.1 inch frameless LED backlit WSVGA screen with 1024×600 pixel resolutions and an ergonomic chiclet keyboard. The netbook chassis is covered in an organic Digi-Wave design. It has a dimension of 262mm x 180mm x 26.2mm and weighs 1.14 kg. Other notable features of the Asus Eee PC Seashell 1008P include WiFi 802.11b/g/n, BluetoothV2.1 + EDR, Mini VGA Connector, 2 USB 2.0 slots, 1 LAN RJ-45, 1 Headphone,1 Mic-in audio jack, 1.3 megapixel webcam and multimedia card reader. It is energized by Li-polymer battery which gives 6 hours of battery life on a single charge when uses ASUS exclusive Super Hybrid Engine energy management technology. The ASUS Eee PC Seashell also features Express Gate interface that provides instant access to Internet without booting into Windows. It is available in matte Coffee Brown finish. The Coffee Brown Eee PC 1008P has two layers: a Coffee Brown bottom layer sprinkled with gold glitter and a soft-to-the-touch upper layer of translucent rubber paint. The ASUS Eee PC Seashell Karim Rashid (1008P) is available in India for Rs. 26,990/- .
Dell India launches Inspiron One 19 all-in-one desktop PC
Dell has launched the new Inspiron One 19 all-in-one home PC in India. With sleek design and glossy black frame, it has a 18.5-inch LCD display that support 1366×768 pixels resolution.
Dell Inspiron One 19 is powered by Intel Pentium Dual Core/Core2Duo processors with integrated graphics.
It also features 4GB DDR2 memory, 640GB hard drive storage, integrated audio with dual 2-watt side speakers, built-in 8-in-1 media card reader, 6 USB 2.0, 2xPS/2, parallel, headphone and microphone jacks and I/O ports. The Inspiron all-in-one PC comes with 1.3 megapixel webcam with built-in-microphone, DVD drive, Wi-Fi802.11 b/g connectivity, power adapter and disk storage.
Measuring about 19 inches wide, 15 inches tall and up to four inches deep, the Inspiron One 19 saves up to 44 percent over the space needed for a traditional desktop PC and monitor and includes a built-in stand for upright viewing.
The Inspiron One 19 PC is available in India for a price of Rs. 29,900.
Acer launches five new smartphones in India
Acer has launched five new smartphones in India and announced it would be launching a total of nine models this year itself. Acer plans to be among the top five in smartphones within the next three-five years. The smartphones would be priced between Rs 16,000 and Rs 35,000. DX900, DX650, X960, F900, and M900 are the five new multimedia smartphones, which have been released by Acer.
Delhi-based Vision Distribution Pvtd. Ltd. will market acer smartphones “Initially, Acer phones will be available in top eight cities, including the four metros. We will then gradually expand to State capitals and mini-metros. Before Diwali, we will be launching new smartphones with prices starting from Rs. 16,000,” said Vision Distribution Director Rajiv Babbar.
The DX900 is the world’s first Dual-SIM Smartphone to support both 3.5G (HSDPA) and 2.75G (EDGE) SIM cards. The touch screen allows effortless one-hand navigation while the ultra-sharp 2.8 inch VGA display improves the web browsing experience. The DX900 has a new interface designed for easy navigation with large finger-friendly buttons for a smooth browsing experience. The DX900 features a front-side VGA camera for video calls, 3.2-megapixel autofocus camera with flash, voice recorder, voice-command, and expandable memory.
The DX650 takes user-interface convenience to new levels with a dual-face design, featuring a touchscreen on one side and keypad on the other. A high-resolution 2.8-inch VGA touchscreen and five-way navigation button allow easy maneuvering. The embedded GPS functionality provides reliable positioning and easy navigation with software available through retailers. The X960 comes with a VGA 3.2 megapixel autofocus camera with flash as well as a front-side camera for video calls and a classy black and silver design.
The F900 is also designed for web browsing with a 3.8-inch WVGA touch screen The F900 has a new easy-to-use touch keyboard and is able to display more information on screen to offer a superior browsing experience. The F900 also comes with an integrated 3.2-megapixel auto-focus camera with flash, GPS, FM Radio, voice recorder, voice command, and expandable memory. The F900 features easy one-hand navigation with the new Internet Explorer 6 supporting JavaScript and Adobe Flash Lite and high-speed 3.75G HSDPA/HSUPA and WiFi connectivity.
The M900 have been specifically designed for web browsing with the large 3.8 inch WVGA touchscreen. The M900 is an ideal smart handheld device. With a full keyboard, it is ideal for emailing and editing documents. It is preinstalled with Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional, Outlook, Mobile email and Office Mobile. HSDPA connectivity enables fast data transfer. The M900 allows access to all contacts and files through synchronization with a notebook or desktop computer. An embedded biometric fingerprint sensor secures the device and simplifies password maintenance. The M900 comes with a 5-megapixel autofocus camera with flash, GPS, FM Radio, voice recorder and voice-command, as well as expandable memory.
The X960 is publicized as an all-purpose smartphone. It comes with 2.8 inch VGA screen, integrated GPS for navigation, PDA, 3.2 megapixel camera with flash and auto focus, MP3 player and a widget-based friendly interface for instant access to the web. Browse the web, read and reply to emails, socialize online and of course make phone calls: the Acer X960 was designed for adventure. The embedded GPS functionality provides reliable positioning and easy navigation with software available through retailers.
Besides these five, Acer also unveiled four other models that it aims to introduce in India this year.
Acer Launches Aspire Revo Desktops with Nvidia Ion Graphics
Acer has unveiled Aspire Revo ion nettop, which is basically a mini-PC including an Atom CPU with an NV 9400 chipset. The Acer’s AspireRevo ion nettop is not a netbook; it is a ‘desktop’ computer featuring Nvidia Ion turbocharging Intel Atom. Featuring the Nvidia Ion graphics processor, the Revo offers advanced graphic capabilities for full enjoyment of multimedia contents in high definition. Aspire Revo is an entertainment center for the entire family, not only offering immediate access to music, video and images, but can also transmit and stream HD content and be used as a gaming console apart from having the most unique form factor in the market today. The PC’s unique form factor makes is appealing and it claims to be the first SFF PC that is based on the Ion platform. It combines the Intel Atom 230 processor with the NVIDIA ION Graphics Processor. Along with its reduced dimensions, it also boasts of graphic capability like a true multimedia PC. The integrated NVIDIA ION GPU delivers 5-10X faster graphics performance than desktop PCs with integrated graphics. Certified for Windows Vista Premium, Nvidia Ion ensures access to complex video with full graphic support. It will be release with either a Serial ATA hard drive or Solid State Drive (SSD) and up to 4GB of DDR2 memory; the users will be able to expand its memory with a Mini PC Express slot. eSATA port offers the possibility connecting it to external storage to make space for continuously growing multimedia files. It allows users to watch 1080p HD video or play DirectX 10 games at high frame rates. It will be released with a game controller with 3D motion sensors. Aspire Revo is the first small form factor PC to offer NVIDIA ION platform. The company claims it be smallest, greenest and fully capable PC that offers high performance, high speed net access, quality streaming of HD, HDMI content and gaming experience. Compared to normal PC, Acer’s Aspire Revo is one third small in size, consumes one forth less power and 5-10 times high performance. It consumes about 65 Watts powers and has been certified with Energy Star 5.0 rating. Acer Aspire Revo comes with an ET style webcam, wireless keyboard, wireless mouse, stylish stereo speakers all colored white. The 802.11b/g (and /Draft-N on selected models) wireless or Gigabyte Ethernet network connection guarantees a fast network connection into the network of other home computers. In addition, the HDMI port provides users with full HD video experience. It also comes preloaded with Vista Home Premium and is Windows 7 Ready and has reduced dimensions of only 1 liter. Its special mounting system makes possible to attach the device on the back of the LCD Monitor with a VESA attachment to offer the user an All-In-One capability and increase the working or playing area. In addition, with its vertical adjustment feature users can easily access the power-on button along with the memory card reader and webcam. It offers immediate access to music, video and images while easily transmitting and streaming HD content. Acer Aspire Revo is available at Rs. 22,999 without the monitor with one year on-site warranty.
ASUS Launches Xtreme Design Series P6TD Deluxe Motherboard
ASUS has launched the Xtreme Design series motherboards featuring innovative design. Xtreme Series motherboards boast of ultimate system performance with better reliability of controlling multi-core process operations and managing them effectively. Xtreme Design features Stack Cool3+ to enhance motherboard component longevity. Stack Cool3+ effectively cools motherboards with an enhanced PCB layer to provide a stable and low operating temperature for optimized data transmissions. Xtreme Design features Xtreme phase to ensure the most stable and optimized power delivery; and Turbo V for a real-time, dynamic processing boost. Enthusiasts and overclockers would be able to make the best of both features with a boost of up to 51 per cent in the processing throughput. The boards have passed the Electromagnetic Interference (EMI) testing and have a low Electrostatic Discharge (ESD) and an I/O bracket called Q-Shield which helps protect the components. Asus P6TD Deluxe motherboard is based on Intel X58 chipset and supports Intel Socket 1366 based Intel Core i7 CPUs including Extreme Edition that support Intel Dynamic Speed Technology. This motherboard can support up to 24GB of DDR3 RAM over six DIMM slots, three PCI-Express 2.0 slots and fourteen USB 2.0 ports. The P6TD Deluxe Motherboard will be available in India for a price of Rs. 21,350/- (excluding taxes) with a three-year warranty.
Sprint launches HTC EVO 4G Android smartphone
Sprint and HTC has announced the availability of the world first 3G/4G Android handset dubbed as HTC EVO 4G. The HTC EVO runs on Android 2.1 with HTC Sense interface and Friendstream and is powered by 1GHz Snapdragon processor. The HTC EVO 4G is the first WiMAX-enabled phone on Sprint. The EVO features rounded edges and a glossy black finish. The HTC EVO 4G has a 4.3 inch WVGA capacitive touchscreen display with 800 x 480 pixel resolution, 8 megapixel camera capable of 720p video recording capabilities and a 1.3 megapixel front facing camera. The phone also has 1GB of built-in storage, along with 512MB of RAM, an 8GB microSD card, HDMI out802.11b/g WiFi, Bluetooth 2.1, 3.5mm headset jack, FM radio and 1500 mAh battery. The HTC EVO 4G will be available in Sprint retail channels starting this summer. Price is yet to be announced. Via: Sprint, Press Release
Ghajini The Game for Gaming Freaks
Ghajini The Movie starring Aamir, Asin, Jia Khan and Pradeep Rawat is making high on Indian theaters right now. There is also a good news for Aamir fans, as a Game is going to be launched on 28th Dec 2009, just 4 days after the release of the movie. It’s going to be first 3D PC game. Developed by FX Labs, the game will have Max Payne like game play with manhunt like environment. As described on FX labs Ghajini site: Who is “GHAJINI”? For one man who has nothing left in his life, it is the end of a long road. Sanjay’s last memory is the brutal murder of his girlfriend Kalpana and her last whispered word – “Ghajini”. Will he find what he is looking for and avenge her murder? Experience the story through the unique perspective of a man who forgets but does not forgive. Experience his panic and paranoia as he comes to grips with his condition and tries to make sense of a world that is rapidly fading. Help him piece together the fragments of his life by sneaking into heavily guarded buildings searching for a reason to go on. Join him as he fights against those who have taken away his past, leaving a trail of destruction in his wake. Find out what lies at the end of that road. So, get ready to hunt Ghajini….
Nokia C3 launched, Nokia C3 Messaging Phone
Nokia C3 is a 2G phone and expected to be available in the second quarter of 2010. The Nokia C3 will be available in golden white, slate grey and hot pink colors. Nokia C3 will carry the price tag of Rs. 5500 approx
Nokia launched C3, a messaging phone with a full QWERTY keyboard. Nokia C3 is targeted to the users who need anytime instant access to Instant Messaging, social networking and email accounts. The Nokia C3 sports 2.4-inch screen display with 320 x 240 pixels screen resolution, 2 MP camera, 55MB internal memory and 8GB expandable memory card slot.
Nokia C3 also features 64 MB RAM, 128 MB ROM GPRS, EDGE, WLAN, WiFi 802.11b/802.11g, USB 2.0 connectivity, Bluetooth 2.1 EDR, 3.5 mm headphone jack and Stereo FM radio. It measures 115.5 x 58.1 x 13.6 mm and weighs 114 g and is powered by Li-Ion 1320 mAh battery that provides talktime of up to 8 hours, standby time up to 500 long hours and music play back of up to 30 hours on full charge.
iPhone costliest in India
India as we all know being a developing country, some calling it 'third' world should have services and goods at a cheaper price. You could not be more wrong. A live example in front of you being the new 3G iPhone.
The 3G iPhone will be priced at 31,000 rupees, a whopping $750 for the 8GB version. The 16 GB one will sell for Rs. 36,100 that is about $850. These prices are simply too high we believe for the iPhone to be a success in India. The phone will definitely make good sales in the first couple of weeks to the cream of the crowd, but this is simply fizzle out sooner than you can think.
To add more misery, 3G services are not even offered in India at the moment and will not be so till late 2009. The user will just be paying for the design and looks of the iPhone and nothing more!
Casio announces EX-Z300 - EXZ250 and EZ-Z85 cameras
The Casio Exilim range of cameras has been expanded by the company in order to obtain a larger market share in the digital camera market. The Casio EX-Z300 is our favorite one amongst the three cameras.
The Casio Exilim EZ-Z300 is a 10.1 megapixel camera with 4x Zoom and about 40MB of internal memory. The camera comes with a neat 3inch LCD display which guides you in taking good photos with high quality.
The Casio Exilim EZ-Z250 has a 9.1 megapixel camera with almost the same features mentioned above in the Z300.
Both these cameras run on the Exilim Engine 3.0 which offers high noise reduction, good quality images. Face detection to an extent and shake reduction as well. The Z300 and the Z250 both have movie modes which can record video with H.264 codec which is same as MP4 and can be played on your iPods or Zunes.
The Casio EZ-Z85 is also a 9.1 megapixel camera with similar features except the 2.6 LCD screen instead of the 3inch screen.
The EZ-Z300 will cost you around $300, EZ-Z250 around $250 and the best bet for value money buy is the EZ-Z85 for less than $180.
Sony Ericsson unviels James Bond C902 Mobile Phone
The Sony Ericsson C902 is a cybershot series phone which will be in stores in 2months time. The price announced for this limited edition phone is close to Rs. 21,000 (about USD 500/-).
This new handset is all set to promote the new bond film coming next year - "Quantum of Solace". Although there is one thing for certain there is no short of Bond crazy people around the world so this handset should sell well consider it comes bundled with the trailer of the mobie, interviews and other goodies like wallpapers and screensavers.
Internet Explorer 8 - Now with Privacy Mode
The privacy mode which is available on some of the web browsers is often called as porn mode or secret mode. There are quite a few names given to this. The latest version of the Apple Safari browser already has this mode and it works well on Apple OS.
It is now the turn of Internet Explorer to offer this facility to the Windows operating system users. The browser will offer the privacy mode so that information regarding the websites surfed on the browser is not avaiable.
Two new patents have been registered by Microsoft related to this feature, they go by the name - "Cleartracks" and the other by "Inprivate".
Mozilla Firefox which is one of the most widely used browsers are in the process of developing this feature.
The IE8 version by Microsoft is due to be released by december or early 2009.
Source: BBC News
Xbox 360 in India
Well, it's official now. The much awaited XBox 360 will now be available in India too. The price of the xbox 360 will be between Rs.20,000 and 24,000. Microsoft's marketing directors in India have selected youthful brand ambassadors from the Hollywood industry and the Cricketing world. Akshay kumar and Yuvraj Singh will lead the promotional ads in India.
The majority of the Indian public will not be able to afford this but it is mainly for the upper class people as each game will be costing anywhere from 2,000 to 3,000 rupees. They have also decided to launch the game 'Yuvraj Singh International Cricket 2007', lets hope that does his batting form some good too!
High Definition Optical Mouse from Microsoft
Give yourself freedom to move with wireless mouse. This can be a truth with High Definition Optical mouse from Microsoft, which delivers smoother tracking and is highly responsive for precise movements. With a longer battery life, it can work for 6+ months without any interruption.
Microsoft provides 3 years warranty for this compact and comfortable product designed for notebooks and laptops. You can enjoy smooth and intelligent performance with this on the go optical mouse. The ambidextrous design makes it comfortable to use this mouse with left or right hand.
The advanced feature automatically turns off the moose and saves the battery life. It works in operating environments like Windows Vista, Windows 98/2000/XP/Pro/Home/Media Center Edition/Tablet PC Edition.
Acer Super Entra 451 Desktop Computer - Rs 13800
Acer looks to be dedicated to achieve a good bit of market share in India and it has come out with an attractive offer for the Indian consumers. The Entra 451 Desktop PC comes with a AMD Athlon 64 bit processor with 2000 MHZ front side bus speed.
The desktop also features 256mb RAM which is definitely pretty low, but can be upgraded to 4GB when needed. A 80 GB hard drive at 7200 rpms, 52x dvd combo drive with a cd writer for burning cds but no dvds. It also comes with 6 USB ports, with 2 at the front and 4 at the back. The desktop does not come with a nice LCD screen, but you get a 15 inch CRT monitor with it.
The Acer Super Value Entra 451 desktop is definitely for the masses and at this price range you just cannot go wrong!
What are SLI and CrossFire? Should they affect how I choose a graphics card?
Sunday, April 25, 2010When looking for a graphics card upgrade you may have come across these two terms, but just what are they? For the majority of buyers they probably won't influence which graphics card you purchase, but in a nut-shell they allow you to install a second graphics card (or third!) to work together with your first. The two graphics cards split the processing between them, improving performance. However it's not as simple as plugging in a second card and there are important considerations before going down this route.
Firstly, ATI graphics cards will only pair with another ATI branded card (CrossFire) and Nvidia graphics cards with another Nvidia branded card (SLI). Typically the two cards your pair should be the same model. You will also need a motherboard that supports the appropriate system, SLI or cross-fire, typically a motherboard will support one or the other. Check the Nvidia and ATI sites for supported hardware. Finally you will need a free PCI express slot in which to install the second graphics card. For the majority of pre-built PCs this may simply not be possible! If you are putting your own together then make sure you do some research first, the performance gains seen from adding a second card vary from game to game and are unlikely to ever reach 100% increase, some games may show no gain over a single card at all.
We'd say that for most people installing a new graphics card is the best upgrade they can make to improve gaming performance, but that they should stick to a single card for reliable gains. Why not take a look at our guide to choosing a graphics card as well as how to install a new graphics card? We feel CrossFire and SLI are best suited for enthusiasts willing to deal with some potential technical issues and those looking for the absolute best graphics performance.
Choosing a graphics card
Now you've decided to upgrade and install a new graphics card you'll want to spend a little time picking the right one for your budget and your needs. As noted in our post on why you might want to upgrade your graphics card, nowadays it's the most important part of your PC when it comes to playing the latest games. Click through for some advice on choosing a new graphics card that's right for you.
It's worth doing some research at this point, in particular make sure you know the resolution of your monitor. You can check this by looking in your display properties in Windows. Most monitors nowadays have a resolution of either 1680x1050 or 1920x1200 for bigger screen sizes. You want to look for a card within your budget that will run games at this resolution. We'll go ahead and suggest some models that you might like to look at:-
Budget conscious:-
Nvidia Geforce 9800GT: This slightly older card will run most games at 1680x1050 extremely well and comfortably at 1920x1200 with lowered detail. For around $100 in the US or £80 it's still a steal.
Mid-range:-
ATI Radeon 5770: One of ATI's new 5 series of graphics cards, the only cards that support Direct X 11, which will help with future games. It's feature packed, will do a good job of running games at 1920x1200 resolution and costs around only $160 in the States and £120 in the UK.
Upper end performance:-
ATI Radeon 5850: Another of ATI's new 5 series - this a fast card that will run games at 1920x1200 with graphics settings on high. It's more expensive at $300 in the US or £200 - £250 in the UK but the performance is pretty impressive.
There are of course faster set-ups than the 5850, but if you're looking at those you probably already know what you're going for!
Once you've selected your card, head over to our article on how to install a new graphics card!
If you'd like some more information on how the cards above handle a specific game then why not check out the graphics card benchmarks at Tom's Hardware
Why upgrade your graphics card?
In our post above we've shown you how to install a graphics card, but you might be wondering just why you would want to do that. The main reason is that it's usually the most cost effective way to upgrade your PC and improve gaming performance. Hopefully this post will go some way to explaining the importance of the graphics card nestled inside your PC!
Your graphics card is essentially responsible for handling the image that is sent to your screen and in particular it deals with any 3D graphics. With the graphics of modern PC games looking better and better with each new release, these games put a lot of strain on your graphics card. Most modern processors have multiple cores and run fast enough to handle any current game. Instead, it is usually a slow graphics card, not a slow processor, that will hold you back from running that latest game smoothly.
Provided your PC is not too old, upgrading your graphics card is much more likely to give you a noticeable increase in gaming performance than upgrading your processor will. It is also likely to be a lot cheaper! Upgrading your processor usually involves changing other internal components of your PC, such as the motherboard or RAM and can therefore be an expensive undertaking. On the other hand, installing a new graphics card simply requires you to remove the old one and plug a new one in! With the pace that technology moves buying a good value graphics card today will likely get you a card that runs a lot faster than anything more than a year or so old and you should benefit immediately from the change.
So now you know why you should upgrade your graphics card, you'll probably want to look in to what new graphics card you should choose. Why not take a look at our article about choosing a graphics card to help you decide.
How to install a graphics card?
So, you've chosen your shiny new card, and it now lies waiting within its box. How do you actually go about installing a graphics card? Here is a complete guide to graphics card installation.
You will require:-
- A screwdriver
- An anti-static wristband (optional)
- Software drivers for your new card - should come on a DVD with the card, or you may wish to download the latest drivers from the internet
Step 1 - Having removed your old drivers if necessary, shut your PC down, and unplug all cables from the back. Put your case on a desk or similar work area where you have easy access.
Step 2 - Remove the side from case to allow access to the internal components. This will probably require you to unscrew a couple of screws that hold the sides of the case on - many cases have two large thumb screws to make this operation easier.
Step 3 - If you are replacing an old graphics card, identify it within the case. Wear an anti-static wristband or touch the metal side of the case to prevent build up of static electricity that may damage sensitive electronic components. Move or unplug any cables obstructing access, and any screws that may connect the backplate of the card to the case. Unplug any power cables attached to the card. Lift the blue lever at the top right of the socket (Highlighted in the picture below) to release the graphics card, and gently but firmly pull it out of the motherboard.
Step 5 - Replace and cables you may have unplugged to allow access and replace side of case. Screw in case screws.
Step 6 - Return your PC to its original position and plug all cables back in. Boot the PC up and install your new drivers, if switching between ATI and Nvidia.
Step 7 - Congratulations, you have installed your new graphics card!
Apple iPad changed a life of a 99-year-old
To this technology-ninny it’s clearIn my compromised 100th year,That to read and to writeAre again within sightOf this Apple iPad pioneer.