ULTRABOOK
PROS
Light weight
Excellent battery life
Large screens
Thin
CONS
No optical disk drives
No Ethernet ports
Can be expensive
SAMSUNG NP530U4C-S01IN Rs.57,200
Intel® Core™ i5 Processor (1.7 GHz)
14 inch LCD screen
4 GB RAM, may be extended to 6 GB
1 TB hard drive
7 hour battery life
NOTEBOOK
PROS
Includes all hardware
features
Supports all types of
software
CONS
Weighs no less than 2.5 kg
Not travel-friendly
HP 2000-2313TU NOTEBOOK (D7N15PA)
Rs. 27,893
Intel® Core™ i3 (2.3 GHz)
15.6 inch HD LED screen
2 GB RAM, may be
extended to 8 GB
500 GB hard drive
5 hour battery life
NETBOOK
PROS
Light weight
Small size
Easy portability
Inexpensive for a laptop
computer
CONS
No optical disc drives
Small keyboard can make
typing difficult
Cannot support heavy
programmes and software
LENOVO IDEAPAD S110 59-328519, Rs. 17,990
Intel Atom N2600 (1.6 GHz)
10 inch screen
2 GB RAM
320 GB hard drive
3-hour battery life
FINAL VERDICT: When it comes to simple use outdoors and for travelling, an ultrabook or netbook is recommended. If not, we say go for a notebook hands down; it runs fastest, supports all programmes and can be easily updated with the latest hardware and software.
NEW GADGETS
EPIPHANY ONE PUCK – Rs. 6,700 (expected)
- Coaster which can be used to charge electrical appliances
- Can be connected to any device via USB
- Uses heat and cold from the drink to generate power
- Warm drinks can be placed on red side of coaster
- Cold drinks to be placed on reverse blue side
FINAL VERDICT: You can enjoy your coffee and charge your phone! It’s expensive for a coaster, but we look at it as an investment.
LYTRO LIGHT FIELD CAMERAS – Rs. 34,400
- Light, small camera that fits in the palm of your hand
- In-built memory space of 16 GB
- 8x optical zoom
- World’s first camera that produces focus after the picture is clicked
- Once the photo is clicked, you can choose the focus on the picture using the touchscreen
- Works best under high-light conditions, produces grainy image in low-light
- Requires its own app for photo viewing
FINAL VERDICT: Convenient to use but at that price you might as well buy a DSLR.
FREE APPS of the MONTH
RECOMMENDED FOR ANDROID
POLARIS OFFICE 4.0
Category: Productivity
Description: Many Android devices cannot read Office documents, which is a pain when you need to work on the go. Polaris fixes that problem. It also lets you create text documents, spreadsheets and slideshows.
GOOGLE KEEP
Category: Productivity
Description: Google Keep lets you create and recall notes on any device. Through a desktop, tablet or smartphone, you can create lists using voice notes, images or notes. It can also transcribe voice notes.
DOCUSIGN INK
Category: Productivity
Description: DocuSign Ink makes it possible to sign documents electronically through a safe a legal system. You can sign on Word documents, PDFs and more, and email them across the globe.
RECOMMENDED FOR iOS
ADOBE PHOTOSHOP EXPRESS
Category: Photo and Video
Description: You can now use your iPhone or iPad to edit digital photos as well as any desktop. The application does not have every single feature available on the desktop, but is constantly updated.
IHEARTRADIO
Category: Music
Description: Connected to over 15000 radio stations, the app lets you create a ‘playlist’ of your favourite stations based on the type of music you like and listen to it even if your phone is out of range.
NH7 INTOWN
Category: Lifestyle
Description: NH7 inTown lets you stay on top of the best events happening in the city. Be it music, comedy or food, scan through their list and make your weekend plans easily. It is currently only functional in Mumbai but will include other cities soon.
TECH ADVICE
SWEMP3 WATERPROOF MP3 PLAYER – Rs. 13,930
- Bone conduction audio transmission
- Clips to attach to straps and rest on cheekbones
- 2 GB of Storage: approximately 500 songs, 30 hours of music
- MP3 and WMA compatible
- Rechargeable lithium-ion battery, 8 hours battery life
FINAL VERDICT: Great way to get your music fix in the shower or when swimming.
SONY SRS – BTM8 – Rs. 5,990
- Portable Bluetooth speaker
- Plays music via Bluetooth but alternatively equipped with 3.5 mm audio input via auxiliary jack
- Requires four AA batteries to power which run for up to 20 hours
- Can also run indoors on a 6V wall wart plugged to a power source
- Does not have a rechargeable battery
FINAL VERDICT: It does not produce the best sound quality but comes at about half the price of other portable bluetooth speakers in the market.
WHICH ARE THE BEST INTERNET RADIO WEBSITES?
GROOVESHARK – It’s like being on a highly customised online iTunes. You can run a search for an artist, song, album or more. You can also fast forward and rewind or repeat the song whenever you want.
TUNEIL – This website is like a portal to the radio stations of the world. You can find countless stations to listen to in real-time, as any transistor radio would work. You could even search for a particular station you want to listen to or search for stations based on genres: news, sports and more.
JANGO – Create your own station by searching for an artist you like. The station will then play a song by that artist and randomly play songs by artists similar to the one you picked. Alternatively, you can enter a genre you like and make a station out of it and find music under that genre.
MUSICOVERY – Musicovery lets you play music according to your mood. All you have to do is pick out your mood on a graph based on how energetic or calm you are feeling and whether you want to listen to music that is positive or dark.
8 TRACKS – A completely handcrafted music experience, the website lets you listen to playlists of 8 tracks or more. You can select the playlist using a combination search of genre, mood, artist, song, etc. Alternatively, you can handcraft your own playlist and listen to it whenever you feel like.
Volume 3 Issue 1
