cover_March 06.

ai 2/24/2006 9:03:53 PM

Enhancements in 3DMark 06 Understanding PC-BSD

at the heart of technology www.chip-india.com

March 2006 Volume 3 Issue 4 Rs 100

A behind-the-scenes look at today’s innovations

CM

MY

CY

CMY

Plus

117
WORKSHOP
Windows skinning
35 laptops tested 62
From affordable to sleek to powerful, find your laptop here
Spice up your
Windows interface
WORKSHOP
Free storage 100
Great websites to hoard your images, videos and files
Fun with the PSP
114

Stream music over Wi-Fi to

anywhere in your home
Gorgeousgrayscales 120
Create stunning black and white digital images
Also available in Bangladesh
Nepal, Bhutan, Sri Lanka, U A E O2 Atom: An office in your hand
LG.indd 1 2/24/2006 1:45:52 PM
 EDITORIAL 7

The Information Buffet

Information—it’s the new currency that separates the today’s haves from the have-nots.
Not 10 years ago, people’s intellectual capital was built on an investment of quality time
in school and college libraries or hours spent in training institutes. Back then, these two
sources were the mainstay of information—books and lectures. If we deconstruct these
conduits, we’re left with a precipitation of two elementary forms of data—text and voice.
Though many of us might not consciously realize it, we’re growing increasingly used
to imbibing electronic forms of text. Be it e-mail, chat or active web surfing, we receive a
fairly large portion of our daily information intake through a screen. Not to say that print
is going away—quite the opposite actually. Statistics show that people are reading more
newspapers and magazines than ever before. We’d like to believe the reason behind this is
a thirst for specialized information that is fuelled by the existence of an abundance of it. An
apparent dichotomy in terms, this makes complete sense—the more we are presented with
terabytes of information through the likes of Google, Wikipedia and online blogging, the
more we want to be able to filter in the stuff that is relevant to our daily lives.
When it comes to voice-based information, the diversity of sources has increased
exponentially—voice over IP, Podcasts and, of course, the surge in cellular telephony have
become a part of many people’s lives. With the government ratifying VoIP services and
adopting progressive stances on broadband and cellular policy, we are already experiencing
The thirst for grassroots penetration of voice-based services. I counted them on the way to office today—
specialized information the cab driver, roadside fruit seller and even the balloon man were all cellular-enabled! Today
is fuelled by the we have more choice for information retrieval than ever before. I remember coming across
a statement that likened the process of information retrieval over the Internet to holding a
existence of an
glass in front of an open fire hydrant. In today’s context, this couldn’t be more correct. Apart
abundance of it from the Internet, information is headed our way from a boggling array of other sources.
From the cell phone to satellite radio, information has got us surrounded.
It’s really not as bad as it sounds. More than resisting it, our lives will begin to change
once we begin to intelligently embrace it. Now that an increasing number of services are e-
enabled, Internet-centric services are quite commonplace. Extend that idea to the fact that
almost every new cell phone today has GPRS capabilities and you now have a pretty good
Internet experience on even a cell phone. With a bit of practice, it’s tremendously easy to get
used to booking movie tickets to paying bills to requesting for location-specific information
on restaurants and the like. I’ve used these services fairly regularly since they first saw light
of day and am beginning to see a maturity in their efficacy and convenience. With today’s
product design catchword being ‘experience’, developers and service providers are now
looking at incorporating out-of-the-box usability in their products and applications. This is a
good sign—the more transparent a technology is, the easier it is to merge in our lifestyles.
Thought we may not realize it, newer technologies are going to be part of our lives where
we least expect it to. The ones who win will be those who actively educate themselves
about these new technologies and try to integrate them into their daily agenda. Information
is king and the time to ascend the throne is now.

| Marco Angelo D’Souza

marco.dsouza@chip-india.com

MARCH 2006 | INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP

Contents
MARCH 2006
32 Rural Revolution
NEWSWIRE
24 Torino Winter Olympics 2007
CHIP speaks to Philippe T Davy to
get an understanding on Lenovo’s
interests at the Winter Olympics at
Torino, Italy
32 Rural Revolution
The government’s endeavors in
educating the rural populace has
seen a host of villages and towns
hitching onto the IT highway
COVER STORY
34 The Winning Edge
We delve deep into how technology
has revolutionized sports
HARDWARE
44 Top Gear
Spiffy new products—O2 XDA Atom,
MSI graphics card, Canon digital
camera amongst others
62 Anywhere Computing
for Everyone
35 laptops tested. Find out what
suits you—budget laptops or sleek,
sexy portable powerhorses.
78 Juice up the Box
More about PSU—the force that
powers your mean machine.
APPLICATIONS
84 Software Center
Reviews of useful software such as
backup tools, photo editors, audio
production tool and so on...
90 Diagnose your PC
The Everest 2006 is not only the
ultimate tool kit for PC diagnosis but
is also a fine example of simplicity
and functionality.
92 3DMark 2006
The latest version of 3DMark is here,
with new and better features to
test the performance of your
graphics cards.
96 A Word About Word
It’s amazing how MS Word can be
spiced up especially since most of
us think it is one of the most vanilla
looking piece of applications.
34
114 Wireless Music
Station
62 Anywhere Computing
for Everyone
100 Free Space
We help you discover some of the
best sites where you could put in
your precious stuff starting from
important data to pictures, music,
video, etc.
102 Radio Refreshed
Satellite radio is fast emerging as a
strong contender in the traditional
radio space as WorldSpace spreads
its tentacles far and wide.
104 Reinventing Learning
Traditional forms of rigid learning
systems are now being challenged
and this time with more vigor
and proof by a professor from IIT
Mumbai who is determined to
make a difference to the children of
tomorrow.
107 An Alternative OS
Here we guide you to a step-by-step
approach in setting up PC-BSD—a
secondary OS.
HANDS ON
114 Wireless Music Station
Let loose your PSP’s potential of
playing music anywhere in your
home without lugging across
messy wires.
INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP | MARCH 2006
 107 An Alternative OS

100 Free Space

ne 84 Software Center

117 Dress it Up 136 Gaming Glitz | Products Tested

Add zest to your otherwise boring
Windows desktop. We show
you how…
120 Shades of Grey
Turn your pictures to black and white
tones with the help of this detailed
workshop that teaches you to add a
classic touch.
UNWIND
We bring you a host of new and
exciting game releases of this year.
These are indeed a breed apart.
138 Scrabble Interactive
2005 Edition
Word play in a brand new avatar.
139 Brothers In Arms -
Earned in Blood
Enhanced AI and multiple player
options bring out the warrior in
Hardware 44
O2 XDA Atom, Altec Lansing FX-6021,
Western Digital Raptor X 1500AFHD, MSI
N7300GS, Canon Digital IXUS 750, Aiptek
PocketDV 8600, Vantec Ion2 460 watts, HP
Deskjet 460cb, ECS RD480-A939, Zebronics
Las Vegas, Microsoft Wireless Optical
Laptops 62
ACI Elite, Asus U5A, Asus W5F, Fujitsu
Lifebook P7010, Gigabyte N211 U, NEC
Versa S1100, Panasonic Toughbook CF-w2,

132 Brain Food you as you go back in time in this

Stimulate those grey cells with
fun as we tell you about a slew of
games that will actually help you do
the same.
134 Prince of Persia
The spanking new version of the
Prince of Persia series leaves you
wanting for more.
Sahara NB5630-N4, Sony Vaio VGN-TX17GP,
Zenith Presidio Vu, ACI S28, Asus V6800J,
WWII genre.
Dell Latitude D510, Fujitsu Lifebook S6240,
Gigabyte W431 UD, Lenovo ThinkPad T43,
147 Thriving on 3D NEC Versa S940, Panasonic Toughbook CF-
A complete guide to aspirants
Y2, Samsung NP-X20 E, Acer Aspire 1640,
planning to make a move in the field
Acer Travelmate 8204WLMi, Asus A6J, DELL
of computer graphics.
Latitude D810, Gigabyte W511 UC, Lenovo
Z60m, MSI Megabook M630, MSI Megabook
M645, Samsung Sens X60, ACI Ethos V, Benq
Joybook R31E, Gigabyte N521UC, Intex 023G,
Acer Travelmate C202 Tmi, Fujitsu T4020D,
Lenovo ThinkPad x41

Regulars
Town Square 16
Letters 18
Technology Landscape 82
Dr. CHIP 110
Tips and Tricks 124
O2 XDA Atom
Game Reviews 134
…45
134 Last Word 148

MARCH 2006 | INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP

 Disk Contents
MARCH 2006 | VOLUME 3 | ISSUE 4

Mobile: Cell Phone Manager, Opera Mini System: Acronis True Image,
Paragon Drive Backup Multimedia: FL Studio 6.0.8, Ultra Video Splitter
Developer: NovaPDF SDK, Eclipse 3.1.1 Linux: AbiWord 2.4.2,
Stopmotion 0.3.4 Internet: Download Accelerator Manager,
ThunderBird 1.5 Utilities: ANote, Magic Utilities 2006, TweakNow
PowerPack 2006 Professional Software of the Month: Ulead Photo Express 6

Full Games: Bookworm, Towers of Hanoi,

Pure SuDoku, SuDoku Solver, Mummy
Maze Game Demos: Tom Clancy's
Rainbow Six: LOCKDOWN,
B-Jigsaw, Crazy Tangram
Game Addons: Age of Empires III 1.04 Patch
Game Trailers: The Sims 2: Open for
Business, Star Wars: Empire At War
Movie Trailers: Slither, Hard Candy, Dirty

$)*1%7%
Full Games: Trackmania Nations: ESWC, Navy Fleet
Must-haves : 3DMark 06 , Magic ISO Maker, Internet
Explorer 7 Game Demos: CrashDay, Star Wars: Empire
At War, Stubbs the Zombie in Rebel Without a Pulse,
TimeShift Videos: The Godfather, Ice Age 2: The
Meltdown Game Addons: Half-Life 2: GMod
Linux: Ubuntu 5.10
 Quick Quote
CHIP is insightful,
informative and
reader-friendly.
The product reviews
are rigorous and
provide insights
that are often
missed by others
N. Sambamoorthy,
GM Business Products,
Epson India Pvt Ltd
www.chip-india.com
MARCH 2006 | VOLUME 3 | ISSUE 4
GENERAL MANAGER - PUBLISHING Chennai
Krishna Tewari O K Gurumurthy
Phone: (044) 28295050-54 Fax: (044) 28295060
EDITOR gurumurthy@infomediaindia.com
Marco Angelo D’Souza
Hyderabad
ASSOCIATE FEATURES EDITOR
Carol D’Costa
Vasudevan Iyer
Phone: (040)55622211 Fax: (040) 23393488
SENIOR COPY EDITOR
Sharmistha Dey
Kolkata
A. K. Roy
Phone: (033) 2468637, 2468638 Fax: (033) 2462964
WRITERS
Ashutosh Desai New Delhi
Jamshed Avari, Pradosh Mitra
Pranav Saran
pranav.saran@infomediaindia.com
TEST CENTER
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Anand Tuliani, Gaurav Seth 401-409, Prakashdeep Building,
7 Tolstoy Marg, New Delhi – 110 001.
Phone: (011)55303278,79,80,82 Fax: (011)23327884
MULTIMEDIA COORDINATOR
Anup Pillai
CIRCULATION
National Circulation Manager
DESIGN
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(kumar.mohanani@infomediaindia.com)
Vishwanath Vanjire, Pramod Jadhav, Dinesh Desai
Rushikesh Masurkar, Manoj Tandel, CHIP INTERNATIONAL
Umesh Dahiwalkar, Ravi Parmar Editorial Management International
Ludwig Blaha, Poccistrabe 11,80336 Munchen
PHOTO EDITOR
Shirish Karale Editorial Consultant International
Wolfgang Su, Poccistrabe 11,80336 Munchen
MULTIMEDIA & WEB
Hemant Charya CHIP is also published in the following countries
China
SPECIAL PROJECTS Czech Republic
EDITOR-PROJECTS Germany
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WRITERS Indonesia
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HEAD MARKETING Poland
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EDITORIAL OFFICE Singapore
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Phone: (91 22) 24232323, Fax: (91 22) 2430 2707 responsibility for returning unsolicited material sent without
E-mail: comment@chip-india.com due postal stamps for return postage. No part of this magazine
can be reproduced without the prior written permission of
BUSINESS OFFICES the publisher. TBW Publishing & Media Pvt. Ltd. reserves the
Mumbai (Head Office) right to use the information published herein in any manner
Martin Wilson, whatsoever.
mwilson@infomediaindia.com
Copyright 2004 INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP
Sagar Salunkhe For all international subscription enquiries, contact the
TBW Publishing & Media Pvt. Ltd. subscription department, Intelligent Computing CHIP
`A’ Wing, Ruby House, 2nd Floor, J.K. Sawant Marg, (subscription@chip-india.com).
Dadar(W). Mumbai - 400 028. INDIA
Phone: (91 22) 24232323, Fax: (91 22) 24302707 Intelligent Computing CHIP is printed by A. S. Vadiwala
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Cover Design: Umesh Dahiwalkar, Pramod Jadhav
INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP | MARCH 2006
16 TOWN SQUARE
THIS MONTH ON chip-india.com
Town Square
G
reetings! We’ve had another very
eventful month behind us and plenty of
activity on our web site. Before I proceed,
sincere apologies for the magazine reaching
late this month. We faced a couple of hiccups
during the printing cycle due to which there was
a delay. These have been sorted out and we’re
confident of our normal delivery cycles from
the following month onward. On a related note,
we’ve been receiving a bit of feedback regarding
our courier and delivery services to certain parts
of the country—if any of you have issues in this
regard, please feel free to get in touch with our
subscription department at subscription@chip-
india.com. They can also be directly reached on
(022) 24232804. Of course, if you need to escalate
your matter further, I’m always there to mail!
We crossed a milestone this month—our web
site has now officially crossed 20,000 registered
users! We’d like to us this opportunity to thank
each and every one of you out there for your
support and endless enthusiasm. We’ve got
significant plans ahead for our web site and we will
be looking forward to hearing from all of you.
Another interesting development—one of our
readers, Mrinmay Bhattacharjee, has created a
group dedicated to our magazine on the popular
social networking web site Orkut. For those of you
who are on the Orkut circuit, just search for IC-CHIP
magazine. Thanks Mrinmay—we appreciate the
gesture.
This month, ‘Varun_007’ started an informative
thread that queried the efficacy of the Windows
Swap file. While we covered this subject in our
Dr CHIP section during the previous month,
‘sans_india85’ did a good job of listing a few
important points to keep in mind when dealing
with the swap file. He also posted an interesting
link to a file that explains this in the form of a
video. Good stuff.
Here’s what he said along with our
explanations:
The swap file depends on the programs that
are used. This is true—some applications are
programmed to require greater amounts of
RAM compared to others. For example, Adobe
Photoshop requires plenty of RAM as it works on
image files. With such programs, the size and type
of your swap file becomes important, especially
when your system memory falls short of what is
required while running applications and open files.
As per standard optimization rules, everyone
sets swap file size to 1.5 times the amount of
system RAM. This rule of thumb is recommended
as it works pretty well for most types of
applications and prevents users from creating too
large or too small a swap file and subsequently
deteriorating system performance.
Virtual memory works great if you place the
virtual memory file (pagefile.sys) in a separate
partition. Very true—by placing the swapfile on
a separate partition (or better still on a separate
hard disk), its functioning and size will not
interfere with program and data files.
After changing the virtual memory file to a
separate partition, defragment your C Drive. This
is a very intelligent suggestion—after relocating
the swap file to a separate partition, the freshly
created free space could result in new files being
scattered all over the hard disk. By defragmenting
your drive, this is effectively alleviated.
For all of you out there who’ve always wanted
to know which games would run on an older
generation graphics card (such as the 32 MB Nvidia
or ATI cards), there’s an interesting post containing
a list of plenty of good suggestions in our Games
forum. Head over to “The best FPS game” post. The
suggestions are actually more than just FPS games
and the posts pretty much cover the entire
gamut of genres.
Finally, keep the feedback coming—especially
keep posting to the sections that ask for
suggestions for our Tools, Toys and DVD software.
Ask for it and we’ll do our level best to deliver.
Until next time, cheers! ■
| Marco D’Souza
INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP | MARCH 2006
18 LETTERS
Letters
Dear CHIP,
I am a regular reader of your magazine. I like the
way you write the product reviews with less
emphasis on text and greater weightage given to
the detailed tables in your hardware comparison
tests and reviews. However, I’ve noticed that you’ve
never tested any gaming peripherals as yet. It’s
true that wheels and joysticks cater to very few
gamers but I would request you to not neglect
hardcore gamers like me.
Being a racing enthusiast, I feel I am getting only
half the fun using my keyboard in all my racing
simulation games. That’s when I started searching
the market for force feedback wheels. I saw several
products from the likes of Microsoft, Logitech,
Typhoon and Frontech. Some of these wheels had
the rumble effect whereas others advertised actual
force feedback (and were also very expensive). The
shopkeeper informed me that rumble effect feels
almost the same as force feedback. But I’m puzzled
because I don’t know how these wheels perform in
real world. Without CHIP’s thorough tests, I can’t be
sure of any of these products. So, I have decided to
put a hold on buying any of these devices.
Could you please feature a test on products
such as these? If a full-blown comparison test is
not possible, can you please feature them more
regularly in your standalone test review section. I
am sure many people like me would find it useful.
Regards,
Shubhajit Maity
Dear Subhajit,
Gamers such as you are truly
a rare breed! Very few
go through the bother
of buying a steering
wheel (much less force
feedback!) for using them
with the likes of Need For
Speed and other racing
titles.
As you pointed out, there are
plenty of options available in
the market when it comes
to steering controllers for
racing games. These physical
effects implemented with the
‘feedback’ element produced by
actual instructions are sent to
Umesh Dahiwalkar
the controller during the game. In the more expensive
variants, this force feedback is finely variable and
actually reflects the type of terrain in the game for
more realistic effects. Therefore, if you drive your
car outside the track and over gravel, you’ll feel a
fair amount of feedback, but this will be more if you
happen to drive over rocks or bump into something!
In the cheaper controllers, this variable feedback
isn’t there—all you get is a standard rumble, no
matter what the situation. While effective, it’s not
as realistic as actual force feedback. The best way to
shop for such a controller is to see for yourself—have
the salesperson demonstrate this to you at the shop
and buy it only if you’re completely satisfied!
Since there isn’t a great demand for
game controllers, we haven’t conducted any
comparison tests on them. But look out for
standalone reviews in the issues to come!
Team CHIP
Dear CHIP,
Allow me to congratulate you for your rock-solid
performance. I have been an avid reader of your
magazine ever since the first issue, which I bought
from the newsstand. I subscribed to your magazine
shortly afterward and I have each and every issue of
it till date, along with the accompanying cover CDs
and DVDs.
But it has become a very tedious process
to keep hard copies of all the issues, and since I
don’t wish to misplace even a single one, I would
like you to provide the soft copies of all your past
magazines. I was prompted to write this to you after
I started my search for an HTML Editor included in
one of your CHIP CDs. Not remembering which CD
one it was on, I was forced to put in every CD in
the drive and manually search for the application.
I only found it after 45 minutes! Therefore, a
searchable database of the software from your past
CDs and DVDs would be a welcome feature. I’m
looking forward to your implementing this in your
forthcoming issues.
Cheers,
Arif Ismail
Hello Arif,
We already have a tool that tracks the applications
carried on our cover disks! This is, in fact, available
on our web site for download—it is known as CHIP
INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP | MARCH 2006
20 LETTERS
Letters
CD Seek. Using this tool, you can locate which
month a particular software has been carried
on our cover disks. Download it at http://www.
chip-india.com/install_chipcdseek.exe
No more will you need to go through the tedium
of manual searching, the next time you’re
trying to locate your favorite application.
Team CHIP
Dear CHIP,
It’s clear that you guys put a lot of hard work into
your magazine. Getting so much information—
news, product reviews, tips and tricks, workshops,
et al in a single package is commendable really. And
I would like to thank you a lot for keeping people like
us updated on the computing front—you guys really
are the jargon busters!
However, I have a couple of requests that I
implore you to consider:
Can you please provide the latest edition of
Autopatcher with your monthly DVD?
Also, can you please include a CD containing all
the past CHIP issues in PDF format published
till date?
Regards,
Nipun Mohta
Dear Nipul,
Thanks for the adulation! It’s good to know that
we’ve been helpful in your computing experience.
Also, we do actively include the latest versions of
Autopatcher on our CD each month—you will find
it in our ‘Tools’ cover disk. However, this program
is only updated once every couple of months or so.
We include the latest version as and when it’s out.
As regards including our past issue on PDFs, this
is perhaps one of the most oft-asked requests we
get. We are definitely looking into this and will be
incorporating this suggestion in our subsequent
issues. So look out for it. And keep writing
in to us.
Team CHIP
Dear CHIP,
The work put into making your magazine is mind
blowing. I have been reading it since the year 2000
but February 2006 was my first subscribed issue.
However, I missed the December and January
issues of 2005. Is it possible for me to buy them
from you in case you have extra copies? Also, I have
lost one of the issues published last year where
there was a workshop on how to edit audio using
a keyboard (music) for a midi workstation. Being
an ardent music and technology enthusiast, the
issue is of importance to me. Is it possible for you to
make this article available to me? I would also like
more information on audio-related connections,
especially relating to audio mixers and the
workstation setup, audio software, configurations
for sound card, choice of speakers for a budget
setup, etc. I’d appreciate if you incorporate such
an article in one of your subsequent issues. Also,
can you please help me set up mine? I’d really
appreciate it.
Once again, cheers to the great work and keep
it up.
Regards,
Jeremy Fonseca
Hello Jeremy,
There are plenty of music creation enthusiasts
out here in CHIP as well! It’s unfortunate
that you lost your last year’s issues, but we’ll
help you out here—we’ll be sending you the
article on audio creation that was featured in
our February 2005 issue. We hope that gets
you started off on your musical journey.
While several of us here would love to do
a detailed workshop on how to set up a mini
home studio and get started on using your
computer for music, it would be a little beyond
the scope of our magazine. However, there
are several fantastic resources that provide
invaluable sources of information when it comes
to understanding, selecting and setting up
audio workstations. You could check out books
like ‘Digital Home Recording for Dummies’ (a
publication from the famous Dummies series
of books), ‘Anatomy of a Home Studio: How
Everything Really Works from Microphones to
MIDI’ by Scott Wilkinson, and ‘Desktop Digital
Studio’ by Paul White. You should be able to get
hold of these at a computer bookstall near you.
Simultaneously, you can also check out web
sites like www.tweakheadz.com for getting
you started on your home studio journey.
Hope this helps!
Team CHIP
INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP | MARCH 2006
24
Torino Winter
Olympics 2006
Philippe T Davy, VP of the Olympics Project, Lenovo speaks to
IC CHIP on the marketing activities associated with Lenovo’s
sponsorship of the 2006 Winter Olympic Games in Turin, Italy
CHIP: What is the main objective of Lenovo as
the official computing equipment provider for
the Torino Winter Olympics?
Phillipe T Davy (PD): The Torino Olympic Winter
Games are a coming out party for Lenovo. We
are well known inside China and looking to
build recognition outside of China. This is an
unmatched global stage to show customers
and business partners the best of Lenovo—our
world-class people and technology.
CHIP: Apart from supplying computing
technology, what kind of infrastructural
services is Lenovo providing during the event?
How will the hardware provided by Lenovo be
used during the event and in what applications
will it be found practical? Kindly elaborate on
the applications.
PD: As worldwide computing equipment
sponsor for the 2006 Torino Olympic Games,
Lenovo has worked with TOROC, the Torino
Organizing Committee for the Olympic Winter
Newswire
Games, and other Olympic technology providers
including Atos Origin to provide a hardware
technology solution to secure and deliver
real-time results from medal events; to manage
the logistical and administrative activities of the
complete Olympic operation; and to distribute
comprehensive information about all aspects
of the Games throughout the Olympic Family,
including on- and off-site news media, broadcast
commentators, Olympic and sports federation
officials, coaches, athletes and volunteers.
To do this, Lenovo has provided more
than 5,000 personal computers, 350 servers,
800 notebook PCs to support the games
infrastructure. This infrastructure will help
ensure competition results are available to more
than 10,000 journalists, 1.5 million spectators
Pramod Jadhav
and three billion television viewers. Lenovo is
providing another 1,000 PCs to support business
operations of numerous worldwide sponsors
and organizations, including NBC television, Visa
International, Bank of America and the United
States Olympic Committee.
What makes this solution and project overall
particularly interesting is the environment in
which it has been deployed. The winter alpine
environment in Torino has posed several
challenges from a distributed venue layout
to preparing for extreme weather conditions.
Some of our PCs will remain outside overnight
at various venues in the mountains at more than
6,000-feet and in below-zero temperatures.
These products have undergone rigorous testing
by Games organizers to ensure their reliability,
but we still must prepare for the unexpected,
given these conditions.
In tandem with our support of the overall
IT infrastructure, Lenovo has created Internet
“i.lounges” for athletes, coaches and press
to utilize in the three Olympic Villages. The
i.lounges have been developed to meet the
increasing demands by athletes for Internet
access and related PC tools while at the Games.
The i.lounges will offer athletes a fun place to
socialize with other Olympians and the ability to
share their experiences and progress with family,
friends and fans during the Games.
As mentioned before, Lenovo is also working
with several TOP Olympic partners to enable
them to carry out their operations on site in
Torino.
For example, Lenovo is working with Visa
International to award all 23 runner-up national
winners of the “Visa Championships – Torino
2006” online video game with new ThinkPad
Z60m widescreen notebooks. We are also
INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP | MARCH 2006

working together to design and stage
the global “Visa Championships – Torino
2006” finals in Torino on February 15,
with competition taking place on Lenovo
desktop PCs.
As the personal computing supplier
to NBC television in Torino, Lenovo has
provided more than 1,000 ThinkPads and
Lenovo desktops to produce hundreds of
hours of coverage for NBC, MSNBC, CNBC,
USA, Bravo and Telemundo.
22Bank of America deployed Lenovo
PC technologies in a specially designed
i.lounge for its Hometown Hopefuls
Program Family Center to allow athletes’
visiting family members to continue
working while at the Games. Lenovo also
provided PC technologies to support Bank
of America’s daily corporate operations
onsite in Torino.
In addition, Lenovo created a
customized i.lounge to support the United
States Olympic Committee’s onsite
operations in Torino.
CHIP: According to Lenovo reports, the
company plans to unveil a new branding
strategy during the event. Please
elaborate on the same.
PD: We are excited to take advantage of
the global audience engaged in the Torino
Olympic Winter Games as a launchpad for
our brand outside of China. We are doing
this through our activities supporting
the Torino IT infrastructure; creation and
support of Internet i.lounges for athletes,
staff and media; work with other Olympic
sponsors for onsite activities and cross-
brand promotions; and an upcoming
product announcement during the Games
that will further demonstrate the quality,
innovation, reliability and value of our
technology.
CHIP: What set of marketing initiatives
has Lenovo planned during the Torino
Games?
PD: We have collaborated with several
TOP sponsors to work together on various
marketing/cross-branding activities
during the Games, and we have created
several programs to target key areas of
our business. First, Lenovo advertising on
MARCH 2006 | INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP
NBC will extend throughout the Games
and will deliver more than 100,000,000
impressions for Lenovo. As part of the
Lenovo-NBC agreement, the NBC team will
utilize Lenovo PCs during broadcasts and
interviews. On NBCOlympics.com web
site, Lenovo will be the exclusive sponsor
of the “What’s New” section, which covers
the current buzz about new athletes,
events and technology in Torino.
Lenovo and Visa have created co-
branded Olympics prepaid cards for
expenses by Lenovo guests and employees
at Olympic Games venues in Torino. In
addition, a co-branded Olympics credit
card will be issued in co-operation with the
Bank of China for the 2008 Olympic
Games in Beijing.
Coca-Cola-branded Lenovo notebooks
are available in China and Italy as part of
the companies’ promotional activities.
In China, Lenovo has engaged China
Central Television to run advertising spots
and Lenovo product placements as part of
its newsroom programming.
Lenovo is releasing limited edition
ThinkPad Z60 notebooks for sale during
the Games that feature the Olympic
rings logo.
Approximately, 400 Lenovo customers
and business partners throughout the
world will be hosted at the Games. The
guests will attend athlete competitions
and receive a behind-the-scenes look at
how Lenovo’s technology is supporting
operations in Torino.
CHIP: What would be the nature of
‘combined strength’ between Atos Origin
and Lenovo during the Games?
PD: Lenovo has been working with TOROC
NEWSWIRE 25
and other technology providers such as
Atos Origin, Telecom Italia and Omega as
part of a technology consortium to prepare
the IT infrastructure for the Torino Games.
We have provided our unique expertise to
create the solution and could not support
the Games without one another. Lenovo
began planning for the Torino Olympic
Winter Games in April 2004 at which time
a technology team of 30 moved to Italy to
begin working onsite.
CHIP: With security high on everyone’s
mind, how does Lenovo plan to tackle the
issue? Tell us about the kind of technology
that will be implemented to ensure
smooth functioning and safety of the
people involved in and around the venue.
PD: ThinkPad notebooks and Lenovo
desktop PCs are renowned in the industry
for providing the highest level of personal
computing security. Our partners have
chosen our equipment for its unmatched
level of security and reliability to help
deliver superior service and access to
information during the Torino 2006
Olympic Winter Games.
Subscribing to Olympic ideals of
international understanding, fair
competition and excellence, Lenovo has
contributed secure, stable computing
equipment for the successful operation of
the Olympic Games.
CHIP: As Technology Equipment sponsor
of the Torino 2006 Olympic Winter
Games and the Beijing 2008 Olympic
Games, how would you describe Lenovo’s
agenda for promoting these colossal
events?
PD: Our agenda is simple: utilize these
events to demonstrate the quality,
innovation, reliability and value of
our people and technology. With our
headquarters in the US and employees
worldwide, Lenovo is both a symbol of
21st century business and the
Olympic desire to build international
understanding. As a newly emerged
global company, we have the resources
and experience to become the next great
leader in personal computing. ■
| Carol D’ Costa
26 NEWSWIRE
Night driving safer
D rivers rejoice. Now night driving will
become less hazardous, thanks to
night vision monitors on the dashboards.
Mercedes and BMW are planning to install
infrared-based night vision systems,
which will expose the presence of objects
beyond the ambit of headlights. The
images of such objects will get projected
on the monitor placed at the center of the
dashboard, enabling the driver to see what
lies within the darkness ahead.
BMW is using far-infrared technology
in its 7 Series. The night-vision system will
scan a range of 984 feet in front of the car
at an angle of 12 to 18 degrees. BMW’s
infrared sensors are based on algorithms
that detect heat from the objects outside
the car. Therefore images of animals
or pedestrians are seen as bright and
ghostlike on the monitor, while the image
of a landscape is less vivid.
Mercedes S-Class, unlike BMW, is using
near-infrared technology. Their system
scans only a range of 492 feet, far less in
comparison to that of BMW, but projects
images that are crisp and clear. The other
advantage of near-infrared technology
is that it does not emphasize on living
objects, and shows all objects with the
same clarity to reduce visionary confusion
at night. The image viewed on the monitor
is more like viewing the landscape beyond,
with extended headlights.
These cars come with a bundle of
electronic driver interface for navigation and
costs over $100,000. Additionally, these cars
also provide a set of driving performance and
entertainment accessories.
As the rate of accidents between
midnight and 6 am in the US is as high as
20 percent even when the volume of traffic
is 2.4 percent, it’s important to have night
vision technologies that can make night
night driving safe.
Video games may prevent brain ageing
V ideo gaming could actually be good
for the growth of the human brain.
At least that’s what is being claimed by
The research shows bilingual gamers are
bound to outperform their non-gamer
rivals at any difficult task. According
a group of Canadian researchers, who to the researchers, bilingualism helps
are soon going to publish their papers in suppressing the knowledge of one
in support of gaming. These researchers language while using the other; similarly,
from York University, Canada studied 100 gaming assists in filtering all irrelevant
undergraduates and found that playing information to move to the core of other
video games may help prevent their brains problems. It becomes easier for bilingual
from ageing. gamers to perform multiple tasks because
The physical ability to silence mental they can shut out distractions and can
noise is the key in making the elderly swiftly switch attention between tasks.
prone to distractions. But for gamers it has
been found that a see-saw effect takes
place which activates and de-activates
the frontal lobe of brain (needed to focus
on task). This effect actually fades away
after the age of 60 (before 60 in case of
non-gamers), giving gamers longer time to
use the frontal lobe of brain and thereby
prevent it from ageing. The see-saw effect
also makes video game players faster
and better performers at multitasking.
Bye bye books
S eems like there’s no stopping for the
iPod. Apple’s new venture, the iTunes
U, will enable students from Canadian
fact, one of the students declared that she
could not have passed her examination if
she would not have viewed CHEM 1000.
universities download their class lectures The availability of university lectures on
on their iPods. iPods has multiple advantages. Students
The project was launched around a year will not miss any lectures even if they don’t
back with only seven American universities attend a class and the need for textbooks
and is now being welcomed by other has been reduced to a great extent. More
institutions. The podcasting trend, very importantly, podcasting of university
popular in the US is catching up in Canada. lectures have created a wider scope for
The service will only provide university knowledge sharing across the globe.
content along with administrative
rights for tailoring the interface with
university logo and matching colors and
blocking certain content for outside
parties. Administrators can also include
audiobooks, music and video content.
The freedom of posting different
types of content has proved to be highly
beneficial for students. Bob Burke, a
chemistry professor from Carleton
University started filming his classes and
posting them online via iTunes with the
name CHEM 1000 since last October. And it
was viewed by more than 1,500 students,
apart from Burke’s own 450 students. In
INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP | MARCH 2006 2006
 NEWSWIRE 27

Identity manager
R emembering passwords will not be a pain any more.
No matter how many you have, Microsoft’s new
security system InfoCard will father the responsibility of
remembering them for you. InfoCard is already present in IE
7 and will be available in Windows Vista also.
Based on the ‘identity metasystem’ technology that
manages and enables interoperability of online identities,
InfoCard allows you to create a number of virtual cards with
specific sets of information. You can select and use these
cards depending on the nature of transaction. For example,
if you wantto go for online banking operation, you will need
to choose the virtual card that holds similar information
as that of your credit or debit card. Once that’s done, you
don’t need to key in your user id and password, you will be
allowed to access your account.
The usage of multiple virtual
cards will reduce the
need to remember
passwords and
will also reduce the
tendency of using
one user id or password
across all web sites.
InfoCard runs like an
isolated application and doesn’t affect any other
application or the OS. It maintains your privacy and prevents
intrusion of any malicious code or spyware.

Global IM service on your mobile

M obile phone operators are on a mission to make
instant messaging on the mobile as popular as SMS by
aiming to offer standard IM service across their networks to
GSM enabled handsets. The initiative, spearheaded by GSM
Association (GSMA), includes a list of 15 operators such as
Orange, Vodafone, etc. The group also expects to join hands
with Internet-based IM service providers and extend the
availability and interoperability of IM wirelessly. Vodafone and
Orange have already kicked off the drive among their mobile
service users; Orange has also tied up with France Telecom
to offer IM service to their Wanadoo customers in selected
European markets.
GSMA plans to use Open Mobile Alliance (OMA) or Session
Initiation Protocol for instant messaging and Presence
Leveraging (SIMPLE) standard to offer this service.
The group aims to offer the service to their combined
customer base of 700 million. Over the coming few months,
they expect other GSM service providers to join in and develop
a customer base of 2.2 billion.
Though Internet messaging is free, instant messaging on
the mobile will cost the person engaging in a conversation.

MARCH 2006 | INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP

28 NEWSWIRE
Smart armor for skiers Multitasking mobile
H eard about tech dressing for safety?
Well, if not everywhere, a bit of
technology in your apparel will surely
save you in skiing land. To save skiers
from injuries, Spyder, a leading skiwear
manufacturing company, has developed a
special skiwear that instantly hardens into
armor upon impact.
Normally, skiers wear bulky arm and
leg guards during a slalom run to protect
themselves from injuries. But with
Spyder’s inventive d3o technology, skiers
can give up the bulk while on the run.
As a trial run, during November
2005, Spyder offered their ski suits
incorporating d3o technology along the
shins and forearms to skiers from the US
and Canada. After the good response,
Spyder manufactured a complete inner
suit for skiers with d30.
The lightweight and bendable material
exhibits a property called “strain rate
sensitivity”. Under normal conditions,
the molecules of the material are weakly
bound and can move past one another
with ease, thus making it flexible. But a
sudden shock causes the chemical bonds
to strengthen and the weakly bond
molecules to lock turning the material
into a more solid protective shield. This
reaction is instantaneous and repetitive.
Without disclosing about the chemical
composition of d3o material, Richard
Plamer, CEO of UK-based d3o Labs stated
that the material is synthesized by mixing
a viscous fluid with a polymer.
Y our mobile has become a truly
multifunctional device capable of
broadcasting multifluid digital TV, high-
fidelity surround sound, rapid multi-shot
photography, and console-class 3D
graphics. The new Nvidia GPU processor,
the NVidia GoForce 5500, brings all of
the above to your handheld. So far these
features were seen in function-specific
devices such as home entertainment
systems, digital cameras and game
consoles, but now you have a power device
on your palm with such functionalities.
The NVidia GoForce 5500 GPU supports
video playback for H.264, WMV9 and MPEG-
4 formatted video. It supports both NTSC
and PAL resolution at a rate of 30 frames
per second. Moreover, it is compatible with
major mobile TV standards including DVB-H,
3D in the air
W elcome 3D of a new kind. The
Japanese National Institute
of Advanced Industrial Science and
Technology (AIST) recently announced a
breakthrough in 3D display technology. So
far 3D images were shown on a 2D plane
based on optical illusions or binocular
disparity (disparity in viewing). But now
3D images can be showed in open air by
creating plasma with lasers.
It started when Keio University and
Burton Inc figured out that if laser beams
are strongly focused through a lens, an air
plasma emission is possible, which generally
takes place near the focal point of the lens.
They combined a laser light source and
two galvanometric mirrors (for controlling
height and width) to construct an array of
ISDB-T and DMB networks.
It produces an immersive audio
experience with Crossfade and
Multistream technologies to prevent
annoying breaks between songs and music
cut out when a ring tone is activated.
The NVidia GoForce 5500 supported
handsets can take multi-shot photographs
with a resolution as high as 10 megapixels.
It also boosts the 3D imaging capability.
You can experience console-class games at
an unrivalled speed on a handheld device.
Finally, the low-powered hardware
design delivers more hours of
entertainment and less drain on talk time.
NVidia claims that the launch of NVidia
GoForce 5500 GPU will mark a new era for
3G mobile phones. The processor is likely to
be released by the end of 2006.
dots, which together created a 2D image.
To fine tune the display and to add depth to
the image, AIST increased the quality of the
laser and added a diffusion lens in their unit.
AIST used high-brightness infrared pulse
laser with a frequency of 100 Hz to control
the production and position of the plasma.
This frequency will enable brighter image
with higher contrast, which can even be
placed at several meters from the source.
The time taken for emitting one laser
pulse or creating one plasma dot is precisely
1 nanosecond; this way 100 dots per second
are created for a 3D display.
To create a 3D image in
the air, the pulses are
synchronized with the help
of certain software.
INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP | MARCH 2006
30 NEWSWIRE
Touch to pay
F orget about carrying your credit cards
to make payments at stores. A finger
scan can simply complete the transaction
process for you. The new technology for
payment has been developed by Pay by
Touch, a leading provider of biometric
authentication, loyalty, membership and
payment solutions. The company has tied
up with two of the five largest American
grocery chains.
As a user, first of all, you have to
register with Pay by Touch. Though the
process is not time consuming, it asks for
a lot of personal and private information
like passport number or driving license
number for creating a secure file. Once
the registration is done, the user needs
to provide information about direct debit
account information, loyalty programs or
other awards or discounts programs, so
that while transacting using Pay by Touch,
he does not lose the benefit of
such programs and the store gets the
payment without any hassle. And finally,
the user will need to activate the account
by visiting a participating store and by
scanning his finger.
While registering, a user also needs to
provide an account access number that is
termed as the ‘Search number’.
At the payment counter, all a user
needs to do is just place the finger on the
scanning device and key in the Search
number. Once that is done the amount
will automatically get transferred from
the user’s direct debit account to the
merchant’s account.
At the back end the scanning machine
does not work with the user’s fingerprint,
instead it measures distances between
different points on the finger and
generates an equation, which is then
transferred to a secured data center. As a
similar equation is already stored (when
the user activated the account), the
authentication function performed at the
time of payment is just matching the two
and approving the transaction.
To access the account for online
maintenance, you can use a separate user
id and password. This way, your account
will stay completely secure and can be
accessed by you only.
Slice nano balls off the tee
A fter we have heard about
nanotechnology curing diseases,
mitigating the energy crisis, now it has
touched sports such as golf. Developed
by New York-based NanoDynamics, these
golf balls called NDMX are made of nano
molecules. Specially designed, these
balls measure less than 100 meters and
can correct their own flight paths to get
reduced scores.
Unlike conventional golf balls,
NDMX does not pop, jump or roll and
thus provides better controllability.
NanoDynamics’ balls offer a golfer some
additional benefits. As the outer shell
of this ball is stiffer than a normal ball,
it doesn’t get easily deformed when hit
unlike a regular one. This enables an
efficient distribution of energy between
the club and the ball. Also, such a ball
doesn’t move off its normal axis as in
the case of a normal golf ball. Because
of features like ratio of stress to strain
Are you game for games?
T hink you got the brains of Kasparov?
If you wish to find that out a company
based in Silicon Valley will come to your
rescue. Just spend 2 hours for the test
series designed by Sports Potential from
Palo Alto and you will know which game
you are suited for.
The 2-hour non-invasive test series
includes assessment of power, endurance,
foot speed and coordination. According to
Sports Potential, the tests can be described
as physical, talent IQ test and something
like a summer camp challenge. Before the
actual testing for physical ability starts,
you need to provide information on family
history in sports, attitude towards team
and individual activity and measurement
of body composition through an online
questionnaire and then sit for a pulse test.
Once the preliminary information is
disseminated, the candidate will come
across a quiz for assessing concentration. He
will be asked to point and call out numbers
from 1 to 100 as guided by the application,
named Sports Potential Assessment, on a
random grid of all numbers within 1 minute.
To assess balancing ability, the candidate is
and specific gravity even on the putting
green, the ball behaves like a wide-track
tire breaking less on incline and being less
prone to be nudged off.
The United States Golf Association
has approved the NDMX golf ball for
tournament play. This ball provides an edge
to the user like flying farther than a normal
ball and reducing the problem of slicing
(tilting of ball towards right) or hooking
(tilting of ball towards left). The balls are
already available on the company’s web
site, www.ndmxgolf.com for sale and are
available for $60 for a dozen.
asked to stand on a wobble board; for speed
and agility he will be asked for a 25-meter
sprint which also includes making a turn and
return past the finishing line to check turn
agility as well. For checking endurance level,
he is asked to run a lap of 20 meters within
specified time, with the time limit reducing
after each lap. At the point when the runner
fails to meet the time limit twice in a row,
the endurance test ends.
The test series is mainly targeted
towards individuals who are of 13 years
of age or above and wish to know which
sports suit them best. The tests will be
particularly useful to people who don’t
have perfect eye-hand coordination in
sports like baseball, basketball and football.
In April this year, the company will unveil
another series of tests aimed at children
between eight and 12 years of age. This
series named Sports Readiness Awareness
is targeted towards the parents who remain
worried about their kids’ future in sports.
The Sports Potential Assessment
costs somewhere between $175 and
$225 and the upcoming Sports Readiness
Assessment will range from $125 to $150.
INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP | MARCH 2006
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Rural revolution
A rural IT ecosystem in India is underway, thanks to the government’s information
communication technology programs
O
ver the years, the government
of India has undertaken several
information and communication
technology programs. In the recent past
the impetus has been to educate the rural
populace in the country by embracing
information technology. An important
step towards information communication
technology reaching the masses was the
establishment of a non-profit research
organization called Media Lab Asia in
collaboration with the government of
India (Ministry of Communications and
Information Technology). The organization,
which was established with the objective
of bringing the benefits of innovation and
technology to the masses, officially began
operations on January 1, 2002. A network
of research labs were established on the
IIT campuses at Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai,
Kanpur and Kharagpur. Media Lab Asia
also collaborates with other non-profit
organizations to develop and deploy
technology that helps the masses.
MLAsia is not the only organization
working in this field. In April 2005, Drishtee
(an NGO) in association with Microsoft,
conducted a pilot survey in some districts
of UP, Bihar and Assam to improve the
standard of life of the residents. The project
was initiated to help the people meet
their e-commerce and e-health needs by
setting up kiosks. These kiosks provide
health, e-governance, insurance, computer
education facilities, etc to the villagers. In
Kerala, the information communication
technology movement by the name
of Information Kerala Mission (started
operation in June 1999) has been expanded
to develop an e-governance environment
by strengthening local self-governance. The
project work includes computerizing and
building a network among 1,215 local self-
government institutions, thus addressing
the entire gamut of issues concerning local
body governance, decentralized planning,
and local economic development. Different
applications like Sulekha (to monitor
financial planning and expenses), Sevana
(to register civil information), Samoohya
(to maintain a citizen database) have been
developed by the Center for Development
of Imaging Technology (C-DIT) to help
improve local self-governance.
Vishwanath Vanjire
Education has been the area of focus
of several information communication
technology projects. For instance, in the
interior parts of Maharashtra, NGOs
like Vijyan Ashram and Vatke Vimukti
Vikash Parishad in collaboration with IIT
Mumbai, have set up a number of camps to
encourage education among the nomadic
tribes. The teaching methodology is divided
into two phases. In Phase I, the children
learn in the natural environment like
learning the names of the trees, animals
and the environment around. The entire
process is video recorded and then used as
a learning tool in the second phase.
Phase II includes teaching with the help
of laptops. Every camp accommodates
20 students to maintain a balanced
student-teacher ratio. Each camp is given
one laptop. During the first two days, the
instructor helps the students familiarize
themselves with the laptop, teaches them
how to handle it and also introduces them
to the interactive applications. After this,
every student sits for 2 hours a day and 6
days a week for the lessons. The teaching
module includes self-learning packages
INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP | MARCH 2006

based on interactive applications such as
sorting exercises (sorting boys from girls)
and arranging exercises (arranging objects
in descending orders of heights). To help
teach abstract concepts, the instructors
prepare colorful, visually attractive
animation. Every student has the benefit
of getting 24x7 instructional support,
a patient mentor who is available on
demand. He or she can access modulated
lessons, as the lessons are prepared keeping
the IQ of the individual student in mind.
Students will also get explanations to
wrong answers as the applications are
programmed that way. They can also revise
and repeat a lesson as many times they
want; an ever-changing set of questions is
also available for children while they sit for
assessments thereby stopping them from
getting into the habit of guesswork.
The teaching model is designed in a
manner that it can help a student recall
previous events while seeing the pre-
recorded video and solve mathematical
problems, etc independently. The laptops
are left in the camps so that the students
can access it any time they want to.
Also, if the tribe relocates, the laptop
travels with them.
Dr M V Ananthakrishnan, Prof of IT
Mumbai who is heading the project
said, “We are trying to extend education
facilities to nomadic tribes. As of now, we
have undertaken a research to evaluate
how comfortable the children are with
using laptops. Interestingly, we have found
that the students are more comfortable
with the touchpad rather than the mouse.
This will reduce project cost as there will be
no additional expenses for the mouse.”
Apart from IITs and NGOs, technology
bigwig like Microsoft has recently unveiled
project “Saksham”. As a public-private
initiative, Saksham aims at developing
self-sustaining and upgradable information
kiosks for rural India. Saksham has been
designed in close consultation with
industry partners to develop a strong rural
IT eco-system. “So far IT has been viewed
as a means for social development for
this segment”, stated Neelam Dhawan,
MD, Microsoft India, “but we believe, that
it can also serve as a driver for economic
growth.” While describing the project,
MARCH 2006 | INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP
Exercise to arrange objects in ascending
order of height
Dhawan explained that Saksham through
its four levels of innovative business
models, private public partnership, localized
content and affordable solutions will
address the issues that have so far affected
the uptake of IT in rural segment—be it
lack of infrastructure and connectivity or
affordable and relevant IT services and
solutions. The initiative will also address
the concerns of economic viability of the
existing kiosk models.
These kiosks will also have a portal
powered with content that the rural
populace can access such as information
on agriculture, education, etc. They will
also act as a point of revenue generation
for local independent software vendors,
who will be developing the content and
applications.
An extensive research for the initiative
revealed that users are looking for a mix
of online and offline services, targeting
their socio-economic needs. Ranjivjit
Singh, Group Director, Consumer Business,
Microsoft India said, “Users want access
to government records, agriculture
related information, entertainment and
communication services, education and
learning, among other things. However,
there is a gap between what they want
and what the existing models are able to
offer. With Saksham, we aim to enable the
rural eco-system to deliver solutions to
these needs.”
Keeping in mind the research findings,
these kiosks will offer government to
citizen services such as information on land
records, birth and death certificates, etc. In
the health service area, users can find direct
referrals to hospitals, they can also place
online appointment and online consultation
requests. Among agricultural services, users
NEWSWIRE 33
Exercise to sort objects
can access agri-newspapers (sites devoted
to agriculture) and go for online consultation
as well. They can take advantage of
commercial services like insurance,
astrology, matrimonial services, etc. They
can also communicate with one another
through chat programs, online-telephony
and e-mails. Web browsing, games, music
and movies are part of the entertainment
segment. The kiosks will offer desktop
publishing services as well, which will allow
the users to type, design and print different
communication materials. As education is an
integral part of Saksham, the kiosks include
computer education and language literacy
content as well.
Sakhsham’s objective is to set 50,000
kiosks in the near future. Singh stated, “Our
larger aim will be to touch more than 50
percent of the rural population in the next
three yeas. We believe Saksham serves as
a great framework for a rural kiosk model
and other bodies including government and
private entities.”
Media Lab Asia and Sakhsham
are different steps towards the same
objective—achieving rural knowledge
revolution. According to S N Swaminathan,
chairman, National Alliance for Mission
2007 and National Commission for Farmers,
such initiatives will help accelerate the pace
in achieving the goal of National Alliance
for Mission 2007, where every village will
turn into a knowledge center.
A rural revolution is on and what with
the government of India’s initiatives to
boost it with the help of information
communication technology, the day is
not far when we will have a self-reliant
rural community gathering and sharing
information across the world. ■
| Pradosh Mitra
34

The Winning Edge Where Innovation is the name of the game

Coverstory

Pramod Jadhav

INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP | MARCH 2006

 TECHNOLOGY IN SPORTS | COVERSTORY 35

T
he need to excel in sports has
increased over the last 10 years so
much so that the sports fraternity
has been continually turning to the latest
in technology for that extra edge over
competition. Six years ago in a cricket match
between South Africa and India, Hansie
Cronje walked on the grounds wearing
an earpiece. A move that coach Woolmer
presumed as ‘innovative’ was shot down
immediately by the ICC. Cronje was asked
to remove the earpiece before the match
started. All Cronje and Woolmer wanted to
do was discuss strategy during the match.
That did not work out too well for Woolmer
and Co who probably thought it to be a
brilliant way to outsmart the Indians.
Even though this sort of ‘invasive’
technology did not work in favor of the
game there are other entrants that have
managed to survive (like the Third Umpire)
and make a huge difference.
Football has also seen a sea change
with competition among teams getting
more and more intense. Last year, FC Genk
goalkeeper, Jan Moons became the first
footballer to use an earpiece on the field. He
conveyed messages from the coach to the
rest of his teammates. No objections were
raised and the Football Association did not
pass a verdict against it.
Formula 1 too has had its share of
controversies over design changes made by
a team (that allegedly made a difference to
the car’s lap timings) to the use of different
brakes for tighter turns.
Innovations such as these have either
been a boon to a sport or have failed to
impress at times. We take a look here at
some of the most popular sports that have
benefited immensely, resulting in increased
viewership.
| Anup Pillai, Ashutosh Desai

MARCH 2006 | INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP

36
36 HARDWARE
COVERSTORY FEATURE ||
TECHNOLOGY IN SPORTS

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he latest from the 7xxx series, the 7300GS is he latest from the 7xxx series, the 7300GS is he latest from the 7xxx series, the 7300GS is
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clocked at 550Hawk-eye
MHz, is used extensively

INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP | MARCH 2006

 TECHNOLOGY IN SPORTS | COVERSTORY 37

Cricket

SimulCam
test from the composites
7xxx series,two videothe
sequences
7300GS of live
is a value or archived
chipset for the
clips to illustrate
entry-level segment.at each It’sinstant
built
the relative
using the 90nm position fabrication,
and speed
of the different
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speeds into
anda
Courtesy: Dartfish

Courtesy: Dartfish

single integrated
smaller size. The video sequence.
MSI 7300GS is
aStroMotion
PCI Expressallows card viewers
supporting to
see live
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3.0 andunfold
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256 MBeyes in time
of DDR2 and space
memory clocked by
Dartfish generates a frame-by-frame path Dartfish being used in a studio at Karachi atbreaking
810 MHz. theThe video images
7300GS GPUintois
of the ball during the final Hutch Cup ODI
a frame-by-frame
equipped with 4 pixel sequence.
shader units, The
he latest from the 7xxx series, the 7300GS is he latest from the 7xxx series, the 7300GS is indriving force with
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810 MHz. of their living rooms.
The 7300GS GPU

MARCH 2006 | INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP

 38 COVERSTORY | TECHNOLOGY IN SPORTS

M arch 12 2006, Bahrain—the time

and place will bring a smile on many
a racing fan’s face. It’s when Formula 1
begins. Ask any fan about his favorite team
and expect an outpouring of emotion that
could rival a nationalist. You will get the
lowdown on the team, the car, the engine,
the super smooth pit stops and the number
of ‘Gs’ the driver is subjected to while taking
a sharp turn.
The race is also continuously monitored
from the pits and split second decisions
are conveyed to the F1 driver in case of
an eventuality. There is absolutely no room
for error. Formula 1 is a precision sport
where the pole position can be lost by a
hundredth of a second.
There are numerous technicalities like
these that one can unearth. For instance,
how does the Ferrari manage to take tight
corners at high speeds? What makes the
Williams car faster on a straight stretch?
How in the world does a Formula 1 car—one
that is built to ride at speeds as high as 320
kmph—manage to keep to the regulation
pit stop speed of 100 kmph? What goes on
in the pits while the race is on? It’s time to
get these questions answered.
Courtesy: Ferrari Spa & Fluent Inc

Courtesy: Allianz F1
Courtesy: Allianz F1

Fluent uses Computational Fluid Dynamics A battery of buttons on the BMW Williams Race track analysis starts before and
to simulate air flow on a Ferrari steering wheel continues throughout the race

Car design: A typical Formula 1 car can be designed such that the car remains stable Sauber and BMW leverage Intel’s technical
accelerate to 100 kph in just under 4 seconds at all times and also offers least amount of expertise. McLaren Mercedes on the other
and experiences lateral forces of up to 3.5 resistance. hand uses Sun’s Technical Compute Farm
times its body weight while making a sharp All of this has been achieved over the (rack-based enterprise servers). Even after
turn (3.5 Gs). To be able to do this the team last 12 years with the help of a concept the car has been designed, its prototypes
needs to use a powerful engine. But at such known as Computational Fluid Dynamics are made using different materials
speed a car would topple over while making (CFD). CFD analysis is done with the help to test in wind tunnels. Iterations are
a turn; in fact, such speed could make the of high-end workstations—clusters. Ferrari made to parts of the car so as to reduce
car practically take off the tarmac if there is uses AMD Opteron processor-based high drag and increase ‘downforce’ to keep
a cross wind. So the car and engine have to performance servers while teams like it stable.

INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP | MARCH 2006

 TECHNOLOGY IN SPORTS | COVERSTORY 39

Formula 1

Courtesy: Overdrive
when they are made to work
in combination. McLaren uses
a system known as ‘Advanced
Telemetry Linked Acquisition
System’ (ATLAS) to constantly
Courtesy: Allianz F1

Courtesy: McLaren

monitor their cars—in trial runs as

well as on the final race day. 120
sensors placed across the car relay
data to the team. Information on
The team gets inputs from the F1 driver as McLaren’s ATLAS system analyses a car’s speed, tyre pressure, fuel levels,
well as the headsup display speed around the race track
lap times, temperatures, etc are
beamed from the car wirelessly to
Steering: The steering wheel in a Formula car’s speed (under 100 kph) while in the pits. the control room in the pits. A driver
1 car is filled with all sorts of buttons and A display on the steering wheel provides is warned if any of the readings are
knobs. Some are to adjust the fuel-air information on personal lap times, average found amiss, thwarting a possible
mixture, power steering or other engine speed, etc. disaster. All these readings and
adjustments, while others are related to complex calculations are done on
gearshifts and neutral. There is also a button Telemetry – Modern Monitoring: Once on the fly on the workstations and
that provides fluids to the driver via a pipe the circuit, the car is constantly monitored notebooks. After the race is over
under the helmet. Human error has been by sensors placed in different sections of the team pours over all the data
ruled out by providing an additional button the automobile. Each sensor gives multiple once again and tries to rectify
on the steering wheel that maintains the readings and produces hundreds more niggling problems on the clusters.

MARCH 2006 | INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP

 40 COVERSTORY | TECHNOLOGY IN SPORTS

W ith the football World Cup around

the corner, it makes sense to talk
about the current technologies being
employed in the game that has such
global appeal. Over the years live television
coverage of the matches increasingly
helped to increase the popularity of the
game amongst viewers. The past decades
of watching football reminds us of players
on the field concentrating on scoring more
goals than their opponents and defending
well till the final whistle was blown by the
referee. But time has shown that even a
game like football known for its simplicity
cannot remain untouched by technology.
Since the last few years defensive tactics
began to be employed by football coaches
to win matches. In fact, to bring more flair
to the game, lighter footballs began to be
manufactured so that spectators witnessed
the scoring of more goals during matches.
FIFA is working towards making sure that
the World Cup about to kick off in Germany
in the month of June, turns into the biggest
entertainment event of the year 2006.
In that case, we should all be hoping to see
some mind-blowing action on the field
with the game having roped in the lastest
technology. Let us check out what will
follow in the World Cup.
Courtesy: Allianz
Courtesy: adidas

Courtesy: Allianz

adidas’ +Teamgeist ball will be used in the The Allianz-Arena in Munich will host some The stadium changes color from red, blue and
upcoming FIFA World Cup this June of the games in the World Cup white according to the team that plays there

adidas’ +Teamgeist Ball: This is the ball
that is going to be used in the World Cup.
It has been tested by the adidas Innovation
team in the toughest laboratory conditions.
Extensive tests conducted by a high-tech
robotic leg at the adidas football laboratory
in Scheinfeld demonstrated that this ball is
30 percent more accurate when compared
to the other competitive balls tested. Other
noticeable tests that were conducted
include the circumference test to ensure
the ball has a consistent circumference, the
water absorption test to check if the water
absorption is within the permissible limits
set by FIFA, the shape and size retention
test to see if the ball can perform identically
till the last second of extra time and the
loss of pressure test to check if the ball
would lose air while the match is in
progress.
Allianz Arena-Munich: The Allianz Arena
in Munich is one of the most beautiful as
well as the most technologically advanced
stadiums in the world today. Online access
to the arena is controlled by W-LAN which
covers the entire stadium. An integrated IT
concept has combined all the installations
which include fibreglass connection to
the Internet, power supply, and telephone
connections in a detailed network.

INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP | MARCH 2006


The control center where tickets will be
monitored to validate their authencity
Ticketing System: For the first time FIFA
along with the organizing committee has
opted for chip-based tickets so that they
can improve customer service as well as
ensure that every ticket is unique.
These chips will allow precise allocation of
tickets and also ensure that every genuine
customer gets his or her seat in the stadium.
If anybody with a counterfeit ticket tries
to gain entry into the stadium his ticket
MARCH 2006 | INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP
TECHNOLOGY IN SPORTS
A new technology that will see a chip placed
in the ball
will be blocked. These chip-based tickets
can also be used as parking tickets or for
payment in the food kiosks within the
stadium.
Chip in ball : Future tournaments could
see the usage of chip-based balls on the
field. Developed by Institut Fraunhofer
for Integrated Circuit in Erlangen, working
together with Cairos and adidas, the chip
| COVERSTORY 41
Football
in the ball will determine if the
ball has crossed the goal line
or not. The data from the chip
is processed immediately by a
computer present in the stadium
which will help the referees in
difficult situations and minimize
the errors made by them.
These chip-based balls have been
manufactured in order to avoid
the controversy that had erupted
during the 1996 World Cup which
saw the referee make a blunder in
awarding a goal against Germany.
The decision resulted in England
winning the cup.
Already tested in the Under 17
World Cup that took place in Peru
in September last year, these
chip-based balls are undergoing
further tests in order to obtain
more conclusive results.
 42 COVERSTORY | TECHNOLOGY IN SPORTS

E ndurance cycling is not a new form of

extreme sport, it has existed for over nine
decades. Amongst all the races held through
the year, the Tour de France is one that always
garnered maximum popularity. Spanning over
21 days across more than 3,000 kilometers,
the Tour de France is undoubtedly the most
grueling cycling race in the world.
The race involves limitless reserves
of energy, teamwork and the smartest
innovations money can buy. Each team is
sponsored by companies that provide them
with cutting edge equipment or valuable
expertise. Everything from the pedals to the
headgear is designed such that the cyclist
can improve his performance. Improving
performance by a few seconds also is of
utmost importance as it could cost the
cyclist a crucial position in the race.
The Tour de France consists of 21 stages
and cyclists are made to brave a punishing
terrain—one that even takes them
through the Alps. A team is usually made
of specialists—some are ‘climbers’ while
others are ‘sprinters’. All of them have their
work cut out in supporting their leader and
for this they need to have gear to help them
achieve their goals. This is made possible
with the help of drag resistant apparel and
the right kind of cycle, and training.
Courtesy: Allied Aerospace

Courtesy: Trek Bicycles

The Trek bicycle in the Aerospace Long Speed The cyclist being monitored in the wind Lance Armstrong’s Trek bicycle was designed
Wind Tunnel tunnel for wind resistance by Trek with the help of thinkiD

Cycle design: One perfect example of how
a cycle is created is to first consider what
seven-time Tour de France winner, Lance
Armstrong and his team rode in July 2005.
They all rode different models provided
by Trek Bicycles. Each one was designed
almost completely on high-performance
computers using ‘thinkiD’ to model the
cycle’s components. Right from frame
design to its behavior when it is subjected
to external factors like wind, everything was to a 40 kmph head wind. It is even capable
done on computers. This sort of simulation of producing cross winds while computers
enabled them to practically model the (running on AMD Opteron processors)
entire bike on their machines. The end and notebooks (using AMD’s Turion64
product is the Modane SSL 5.9 that Lance processors) calculate the drag, cadence
Armstrong rode to victory last year. (pedaling rhythm), speed and heart
The cycles and their riders were further rate. This is where the cyclist also learns
tested in Allied Aerospace’s Low Speed at what position and speed he is
Wind Tunnel (LSWT). The San Diego offering least amount of resistance to
facility’s wind tunnel subjects the cyclist the wind.

INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP | MARCH 2006

 TECHNOLOGY IN SPORTS | COVERSTORY 43

Cycling

in touch with their trainers. So

they use AMD Turion64-based
notebooks to connect to the
Internet and log into www.
trainright.com. The team is able
to share the progress with the
Courtesy: Polar

coach via a web-based tool.

Watches by Polar record a cyclist’s heartbeat,
cadence, speed and altitude
Training and Communication: The Intel
Action Team—a Polish cycling team uses
Polar watches to keep a check on the heart
rate, cadence, speed and altitude. This
device connects to the cyclists’ Centrino
notebooks wirelessly allowing them to
transfer readings easily. These readings are
compiled visually with the help of software
so that the athlete is able to recognize the
areas he needs to improvise upon.
A cyclist can wirelessly transfer readings
from the watch to a notebook for analysis
While the cyclist is on the road he is in touch
with the team manager via a wireless voice
communication system consisting of an
earpiece and a transceiver that is slipped
into the back of the cycling outfit. The team
manager keeps the cyclists updated on the
road ahead, wind direction and other general
race statistics. The Discovery Channel Team
uses similar methods too. While on training
in a different country, cyclists need to stay
Devices like PDAs or cell phones
are used to keep the trainer
informed regularly. This way
the coach can advise changes in
their training accordingly. The
SRM Training System is used to
monitor performance. It consists
of a device attached to the bicycle,
recording everything from heart
rate, speed and power (measured
in watts). These details are visible
to the cyclist on a small display and
can be transferred to a PC later to
be sent to the trainer via e-mail
for analysis. ■

MARCH 2006 | INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP

44
Top Gear
T
he first two months of every year
keep us busy with the release of new
new products and technologies.
These new releases set the pace for the
year ahead and this year has not been any
different. Similar to last month’s product
list, this month we have some spanking
new releases which up the performance
and features graph by a long way. The
Raptor-X and O2 XDA Atom are fine
examples of a huge leap in technology.
The Atom has surprised us with the almost
perfect mix of features and size. The
7300GS from MSI announces the incoming
of next-generation budget cards that will
Hardware
| The Ratings Explained
The products in the individual and
comparison tests share exactly the same
test procedures.
Each product in Top Gear is rated on
a scale of 5 for different key parameters:
Performance, Build Quality, Features,
Ergonomics and Warranty. These vary
according to the characteristics of the
hardware. For instance, ergonomics (ease
of use) is not important in a graphics card
and therefore, it will not be evaluated
for this.
A product’s Overall Rating is calculated
by assigning weightages to each evaluation
Vishwanath Vanjire
serve the mass market. The Zebronics slim
case is a unique product that serves a very
niche market and is a nice variant in the PC
case segment. The Aiptek PocketDV 6800 is
another interesting product the represents
the budget DV camera segment. Speaking
about cameras, the Canon IXUS 750 will
excite the ultra compact digital camera
buyers with its looks and features list. In
the audio department we have the stylish
high-end AltecLansing 2.1 speaker system
with distinct looks and lot of power. We
enjoyed testing the assorted platter of
gadgets and are sure you it will tickle your
“tech” buds!
parameter—the more important a parameter,
the higher is the weightage allotted to it.
In addition, there is a Value for Money
rating, which is calculated from the
performance and the features of the product,
in relation to the price. High performance
and lots of features at a low price translates
into a better Value for Money rating. This
rating is calculated using current prices.
Note: The prices mentioned here do
not include taxes. Hence, they will vary
according to the taxes applicable in
the city or state where you buy the product
from.
INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP | MARCH 2006
 TESTED | HARDWARE 45

Smart Phone
O2 XDA Atom
Specifications: Dimensions: 58x102x18.5 mm
(WxHxD), Weight: 140 g, Processor: Intel PXA272
416 MHz, 262K colors TFT, miniSD slot, EDGE,
Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, IR, Microsoft Windows Mobile 5.0,
2 MP camera with flash, FM Radio, Pocket Office, 5
hrs 30 min talk time

Price Rs 38,888
Contact Creative e-Biz
Phone 9892939268
E-mail cr_mumbai@yahoo.com
website www.seeo2.com

RATINGS
Build Quality
Ergonomics
Performance
Features
Warranty
Overall Rating
Value for money

Hello gorgeous!
T he smart and sexy O2 XDA Atom is
another hot addition to O2’s line of
smart phones. It sports a glossy black plastic
shell that leaves fingerprints easily and
packs in all the bells and whistles in a form
factor nearly as much as a deck of cards.
Features: It’s powered by the Intel PXA272
416 MHz processor and runs the latest
version of Microsoft Windows Mobile 5.0.
The memory is bifurcated into RAM and
ROM. The 128 MB ROM contains the OS
and program files and data that the user
decides to store. Program memory is 64
MB of RAM where the open programs run.
If you plan to buy the Atom, make sure
you buy a hefty mini SD card as the usable
memory won’t suffice in the long run
especially if you’re a shutterbug or a music
lover. A 2.0 MP camera with flash and FM
radio are also packed into the phone. The
6.8 cm TFT screen with 262K colors serves
its purpose well. The display is quite sharp
and vibrant.
The phone fits snugly into your
hand; navigating it is a cakewalk using
the programmable hotkeys and a small
toothpick-like stylus. A directional pad that
doubles up as controls for Media Player 10
further eases operation. Don’t miss the two
tiny stereo speakers sitting at the base of
the phone!
In a struggle to fit too much in too
little space, O2 has cleverly provided a
2.5-inch audio jack. This will disappoint
music lovers as standard earphones are
not compatible with this phone. And even
more disappointing is the fact that the
bundled earphones are very uncomfortable
to wear.
The Atom also has Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and
IR squeezed into it. With the built-in Wi-Fi
adaptor, it’s possible to instantly access the
Internet at any hotspot. Support for EDGE
support enables accessing high-speed
Internet while you are on the move.
Performance: For a Windows Mobile
device, the Atom is sluggish. A ROM
update is seriously required to rev up the
phone’s speed. The 2.0 MP camera is good
for nothing! It takes around 10 seconds
to start up and the quality of images and
video are below average. Integration of a
The Atom sports a 2.0 MP camera with
flash and a self-portrait mirror
flash is a good feature if you want to shoot
in low light conditions. But the person will
get blinded for a few seconds after saying
‘cheese’ due to the strong blinding flash
which stays on for a few seconds after
clicking.
Barring the camera and speed issues,
the phone is simply mind-blowing. Even
though it has its share of foibles, we still
recommend it due to its features and the
amazing form factor. The O2 XDA Atom
needs serious consideration if you’re
planning to buy a smart phone.
For: Looks cool; FM radio; Windows Mobile
5.0; Wi-Fi; EDGE.
Against: Sluggish; poor image and video
capture quality; ill-fitting earphones.
The O2 XDA Atom is of the size of a visiting
card

MARCH 2006 | INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP

46 HARDWARE | TESTED

Speakers
Altec Lansing FX-6021
Specifications: Dimensions: Satellite – 1x1x1
Subwoofer – 1x1x1, Power rating: Satellite: 12.5 W,
Subwoofer: 50 W, Total output: 75 W RMS Control
pod, IR remote, satellite audio extension cable

Price Rs 9,800
Contact Rashi Peripherals Pvt Ltd
Phone 022-28221013
E-mail navinderc@rptechindia.com

RATINGS
Build Quality
Ergonomics
Performance
Features
Warranty
Overall Rating
Value for money

Slim, svelte and loud!

I f you’re on the prowl for a powerful
and sexy looking 2.1 speaker system to
complement a small desktop, stop right
here! The Altec Lansing FX-6021 combining
power with elegance meets your demand
for the above features.
The slim and svelte satellites are
sleek towers, each housing six one-inch
neodymium drivers, which means a total
of 12 drivers to deliver mid and high-range
frequencies. After seeing through the grill,
you’ll be surprised to see half a dozen tiny
drivers residing behind. In fact, so far these
satellites have the most number of drivers
in them. The wooden subwoofer with a
rear bass port also stands tall and houses
a single 6.5-inch driver to deliver low
frequencies. In comparison to the stylish
satellites, the subwoofer looks vanilla with
a plain face. Adding to the beauty of the
FX-6021 is the slick control pod with all the
necessary controls to adjust the volume,
treble and bass. The LEDs present on the
pod indicate the levels. It also bears an IR
receiver and a recess to house the tiny IR
remote control having all the controls. The
IR remote will surely please people who
love sitting far while watching movies or
listening to music.
Setting up the speakers is child’s play.
Like most Altec Lansing speakers, the
jacks and connectors are color-coded—so
connecting the satellites and the control
pod to the subwoofer is a breeze. Altec
Lansing has been extremely generous
with the wires. The satellite and controller
cords measure 3 meters! And to top it,
you also have the option to extend the
length of the satellite cords by 2 meters.
This totals to a cord length of 13 metres or
43 feet for a 2.1 speaker system. So
even if you plan to wall-mount the
speakers well apart, the length of the cord
won’t be an issue.
The FX-6021 looks chic, and the sound
the system belts out is enormous. The
satellites are rated at 12.5 watts RMS and
the subwoofer can punch 50 watts of
power. A total of 75 watts RMS for a 2.1
channel system is monstrous.
In terms of sound quality, the FX-6021
is excellent in terms of sharpness. A dozen
neodymium drivers in chorus is loud! But
the mid-range frequencies are restricted
by the size of the drivers—you can’t expect
1-inch drivers to deliver excellent mids. The
bass delivered by the subwoofer is fairly
above average.
The speakers are good for gaming since
they’re loud but they are not meant for
music and movie lovers. If you’re serious
about buying high-end 2.1-channel
speakers, get the THX-certified Altec
Lansing MX-5021 instead. It rocks!
For: Excellent build quality; control pod and
IR remote; good cable length; great looks.
Against: No depth in sound due to absence
of mid-range drivers.

Color coded connectors make the process The satellites of the FX-6021 measure A control pod as well as an IR remote are
of setting up the speakers a breeze more than a foot! bundled in the package

INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP | MARCH 2006

48 HARDWARE | TESTED
Hard Disk
Western Digital Raptor X 1500AFHD
Specifications: Interface: SATA 150 MB/s, Capacity:
150 GB, RPM: 10,000, Cache: 16 MB, Platters: 2,
Heads: 4, NCQ
Price Rs 17,500
Contact Amarjit Singh
Phone 9321029204
E-mail amarjit.singh@wdc.com
website www.wdc.com
RATINGS
Performance
Features
Warranty
Overall Rating
Value for money
Watch it whizz!
N eed for speed! That’s what the
hard drives belonging to Western
Digital’s Raptor family are all about.
The Raptor 740GD which used to be the
fastest drive for the desktop PC is a thing
of the past now. Meet its big brother, the
Raptor X 1500AFHD—now the fastest
hard drive on the planet! The Raptor
740GD still outperforms most of the
SATA-II drives with twice the buffer size.
With approximately 30 percent more
performance than the 740GD, the Raptor X
is undoubtedly the king of all hard drives!
The Raptor series of drives derives its
lightning like speed from the 2.5-inch
platters that whiz at 10,000 rpm as
compared to the slower 7,200 rpm drives
featuring 3.5-inch platters. This translates
into a blazing rotation speed of 120 km/h
for the entire life span of the drive! Like the
740GD, the Raptor X too features a pair of
2.5-inch platters read by 4 heads, but they
have double the density, which amounts to
75 GB per platter. With 16 MB buffer size
and support for Native Command Queuing,
it outperforms all the hard drives. Although
NCQ has limited benefits at present, it
will have a significant role in optimizing
performance by reducing latencies in
rigorous multithreaded scenarios where
multiple simultaneous commands from the
OS can expand the command queue depth.
Coming to environmental specifications,
the WD1500 is quite similar to the
WD740GD. The operational and non-
operational shock measures 65 G and
250 G respectively, which is a tad lower
than most of the other drives due to the
higher spindle speed. Rated at 4.6 dB in
seek mode and 3.9 dB in silent mode, the
acoustics of the drive are on the higher
side—bearable for a single-drive setup, but
the rattling of heads in the RAID 0 array
will drive you nuts especially when you’re
working in a quiet environment.
The WD1500 looks quite similar to the
WD740GD, but what sets it apart is the
strong transparent top panel meant to
please enthusiasts. It’s a treat to see
Watch the platters spin and the head
move to and fro!
the head moving to and fro in split
seconds reading the platters spinning at
10,000 rpm.
Performance: The Raptor X 1500AFHD
cruised through all the synthetic and
real-world tests. For real-world tests we
transferred a single as well as multiple files
amounting to 1 GB from the RAM drive to
the hard disk and vice versa. After the tests,
we were amazed to see the raw muscle
power of the drive—80 MB/s read speed
and a drive index of 73 MB/s for a SATA 150
MB/s drive is so far the highest
record achieved by a hard disk in our
Test Center.
The WD1500AFHD will surely
make enthusiasts desiring ultra-high
performance drool! And if you’re a big
spender geek with a mighty bank balance,
plug four such drives to create the most
powerful RAID array in the world having
600 GB spinning at 10,000 rpm.
For: Killer performance; cool looks.
Against: Heats up; high CPU utilization;
terribly expensive.
TEST RIG
Motherboard: Asus A8N-SLI Deluxe
Processor: AMD Athlon 64 X2 4400+
Memory: 1 GB Kingston HyperX ULK2 in
dual-channel mode
INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP | MARCH 2006
 TESTED | HARDWARE 49

Graphics Card
MSI N7300GS
Specifications: GeForce 7300GS chipset with 4
PixelShader units, 256 MB DDR2 memory with
64-bit memory interface, ShaderModel 3.0 support,
DVI and D-sub connectors, TV-Out option

Price Rs 6,000
Contact Micro-Star International
Phone 011-51758808
E-mail info@msi-india.com
website www.msi-india.com

RATINGS
Performance
Features
Warranty
Overall Rating
Value for money

Entry-level upgrade
T he latest from the 7xxx series, the
7300GS is a value chipset for the
entry-level segment. It’s built using the
cards, there is negligible performance
boost over the older generation cards.
The answer lies in crippled 64-bit memory
41 MSI 7300GS
Quake 4- High@1024x768

33 GeCube GC-RX550GU2
90nm fabrication, ensuring higher clock bus, which significantly influences the 30 AZebronics 6600LE
speeds and smaller size. The MSI 7300GS overall performance. The same card with 92 BIG 6600GT 128MB
is a PCI Express card supporting Shader a proper 128-bit memory interface would 0 20 40 60 80 100
Model 3.0 and comes with 256 MB of have made a lot more sense. The GPU as
DDR2 memory clocked at 810 MHz. The well as the core has some potential for Fear- High@1024x768
7300GS GPU is equipped with 4 pixel overclocking. We were able to push the 17 MSI 7300GS

shader units, in accordance with all the GPU to 580 MHz and the memory to 855 14 GeCube GC-RX550GU2
15 AZebronics 6600LE
current entry-level GPUs. The core is MHz. The performance boost is almost
37 BIG 6600GT 128MB
clocked at 550 MHz, one of the highest negligible and hence it’s recommended
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40
clocks for an entry-level GPU. Going by the to use the card at stock speeds unless you
clock speeds and memory configuration, desperately need those extra two frames!
Half Life2: Lost Coast- High@1024x768
the card looks promising. However, in For: 256 MB DDR2 memory; high core and 22 MSI 7300GS
reality, the performance of the card is memory clocks; good performance. 23 GeCube GC-RX550GU2
seriously restricted by the 64-bit memory Against: Over priced; 64-bit memory 14 AZebronics 6600LE
interface. The 256 MB DDR2 memory interface. 43 BIG 6600GT 128MB
clocked at 810 MHz makes very little sense
0 10 20 30 40 50
with the 64-bit memory interface. The
card provides DVI and D-sub connector 3Mark 2003
along with support for TV-Out. 4576 MSI 7300GS

Performance: The card comes with a 3674 GeCube GC-RX550GU2

decent active cooler, which is more than 3690 AZebronics 6600LE

sufficient for the chipset. Moving on to the 8674 BIG 6600GT 128MB

performance, the graphs tell the story. The 0 2000 4000 6000 8000 10000

7300GS from MSI is at par with the best

of the entry-level cards. Even though the 3Mark 2005
card performs at par with the other cards, 2227 MSI 7300GS

the overall performance is disappointing. The cooler is pretty efficient for a budget 3790 BIG 6600GT 128MB
graphics card 0 500 1000 1500 2000 2500 3000 3500 4000
Representing the next generation of

MARCH 2006 | INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP

52 HARDWARE | TESTED

Digital Camera
Canon Digital IXUS 750
Specifications: 7.1MP CCD sensor, 3x optical zoom,
32 MB memory card supplied, 2.5-inch LCD screen,
9-point AiAf, manual exposure and shutter speed
controls.

Price Rs 29,995
Contact Canon
Phone 1600-3453366
E-mail shobha@canon.co.in
website www.canon.co.in

RATINGS
Build Quality
Ergonomics
Performance
Features
Warranty
Overall Rating
Value for money

Small is big!
T he Digital IXUS series of cameras
from Canon is popular for a perfect
mix of quality, size and features. With the
Performance: The startup time of the
camera is excellent, ensuring you don’t
have to wait for long just to get the camera
with proper saturation and contrast. The
image quality is good with high detail
level but some of the test images were a
IXUS 750, you get a massive 7.1 MP CCD up and running. The controls are intuitive little too soft. Noise levels till ISO 200 are
resolution and a host of features all packed and the menus are fast and easy to master. minimal ensuring crisp images; at ISO 400
in a compact body. The 2.5-inch LCD screen The brushed metal body with smooth the noise typically creeps in. Battery life is
with wide viewing angle dominates the finish not only looks great but is also one above average, giving about 150 shots on a
back of the camera. The IXUS 750 offers of the sturdiest in the category. In short, fully charged battery. Overall, the IXUS 750
3x optical zoom and can capture VGA the IXUS 750 simply exuberates style and is a stylish and capable camera made for a
(640x480) quality MPEG-4 video at 30 fps. quality. The 2.5-inch LCD is nice with good demanding point-and-shoot user. Having
It also gives you an option of capturing refresh rate and excellent viewing angles said that, more manual controls and a
videos at 60 fps as long as the resolution but the resolution could be a tad better. better LCD screen would have made the
is 320x240. Using the 9-point AiAf system The flash is sufficient for most conditions IXUS 750 almost perfect!
along with preset shooting modes, you and is one of the best in the ultra compact For: Excellent build quality and finish;
can get good results from the camera category. The focusing is generally accurate 2.5-inch LCD screen; fast operation; 7.1 MP
without getting to the manual settings. and fast except for low light conditions image resolution; easy to use.
In case you want manual settings, the where the unit takes some time to focus Against: LCD resolution could be better;
manual mode lets you change the shutter accurately. Color reproduction is excellent images are little soft; few manual controls.
speed, white balance and exposure
settings. The camera comes with a 32 MB
card as part of the package with slots for
SD cards for storage. The unit is powered
by a 790mAh li-ion battery, which is
charged by the supplied charger. Just in
case you don’t want to use the LCD screen
as the viewfinder, there is an optical
viewfinder as well that allows you to
save power when the battery is low. The
camera connects to the PC through USB
and also sports an A/V out for viewing the An optical viewfinder sits on top of the The build quality of the camera is one of
2.5-inch LCD screen the best in the ultra-compact category
captured pictures and movies on TV.

INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP | MARCH 2006

54 HARDWARE | TESTED
Digital Video Recorder
Aiptek PocketDV 8600
Specifications: 8 MP (5 MP optical sensor) camera,
Video-in, Video-out, Personal Media Player, Voice
Recorder, PC/Web Camera.
Price Rs 12,500
Contact Wespro India
Phone 022-30916039
E-mail sales@wesproindia.com
website www.wesproindia.com
RATINGS
Build Quality
Ergonomics
Performance
Features
Warranty
Overall Rating
Value for money
Digital Swiss knife
F orget about the clunky devices
promising to do a lot when you can
have a fully functional device housed in
a small form factor. The Aiptek PocketDV
6800 digital video recorder is one such
multifunctional device with a wide array of
features.
Design: It’s just the right size and snugly
fits into your palm. It has a 2.4 inch LCD
screen which can be rotated by 270
degrees, pretty much like in camcorders.
However, the recorder has been designed in
a way that while holding it, you inevitably
end up blocking the flash.
The rechargeable lithium-ion battery
rated at 850 mAh lasts for 4 hours per
charge. You have to charge the battery
externally with a charger, which is a bit of
a pain. It comes packed with 32 MB built-in
flash memory with 16 MB for storage.
Memory is expandable upto 2 GB with
slots for SD/MMC cards.
Camera: Although it’s being touted as
a 8-megapixel camera, it actually has
a 5-megapixel image sensor. So in case
of shooting pictures at a resolution
higher than 5 megapixels, the size can be
increased only with the help of a certain
software. The camera also features a
flash . However, it misses out on optical
zoom. While testing the image quality
MARCH 2006 | INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP
of the camera, we clicked snaps at 8 MP
resolution, set to automatically control
white balance. The image quality was
above average but the color reproduction
was not accurate. After manually adjusting
the environment settings, the color
reproduction was much better. You can
record video clips at VGA (640x480) or
QVGA (320x240) resolutions. The recording
quality is very good and smooth at 30 fps.
Video Recorder: We were very impressed
with the video recorder, which records
movies, programs from TV or DVD player.
You simply have to connect the required
cables and the image will instantly display
on the TFT screen. You can directly start
recording by just hitting the record button.
Video is recorded at VGA and QVGA
resolutions.
Left to Right: Charger; mini tripod stand;
remote; earphones
Video Playback on TV: It was easy to
set up video playback on TV. Whatever
pictures or videos you view on the 2.4
inch LCD can also be played back on your
television in real time.
MP3 Player & web/PC Camera: MP3
playback is very good, though the supplied
headphones don’t do justice. The recorder
also functions as PC/web camera. The
software is very intuitive and the bundled
small tripod stand is a nifty addition.
In addition to the above features, it can
be also used for voice recording and as a
portable storage device.
It comes with a fully functional remote
and a carry case. You will need at least a
1 GB SD/MMC card to store and record
data to fully utilize the potential of the
device. A 1 GB MMC card costs around
Rs 2,500, effectively making the price
of the unit Rs 15,000 (12,500+2500).
And at 15,000 bucks, it’s an expensive
proposition, especially when you look at
the performance.
For: Extensive bundled package; easy
to implement functions; smooth video
capture and recording; PC/Web camera;
MP3 playback; well illustrated and simple
to understand manual.
Against: No optical zoom; external
battery charger; low on storage.
INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP | MARCH 2006
56 HARDWARE | TESTED

Power Supply Unit

Vantec Ion2 460 watts
Specifications: 460 Watts, EZ-Grip connectors, Pre-
sleeved cables, PCIexpress power connector, SATA
connectors, 20-24pin ready.

Price Rs 4,500
Contact Apical Impex Pvt Ltd
Phone 9821349177
E-mail tejas@apical.in
website www.vantec.com.tw/

RATINGS
Build Quality
Performance
Features
Warranty
Overall Rating
Value for money

Super power
O ut of the box, the Ion2 from Vantec is
a good looker. The glossy black finish
with a steel fan grill looks classy. The top
rung PSU manufacturers normally sleeve
just the main power cable. Vantec has gone
a step ahead and has sleeved all the cables
in black, which is very commendable. And
if you are wondering that it’s easy to sleeve
the cables on your own, think again. It’s
pretty time consuming and you need to
remove the Molex connectors for which
you need Molex removal tools. But Vantec
has done away with these hassles. The
sleeved cables don’t obstruct airflow and
give a neat look.
Features: We have already mentioned
about pre-sleeved cables, which is a big
plus. Next comes Vantec’s EZ-Grip Molex
The ratings of the Ion2 are pretty
impressive
connectors. Almost everyone who has
spent time with a computer case knows
how difficult it is sometimes to remove the
Molex connectors with the risk of snapping
the cables. But with the EZ-grip connectors,
you just need to press the grip and off they
come. It comes with a 24-pin connector.
The last four pins can be slid off to make it
a 20-pin connector for motherboards with
a 20-pin socket. The 120 mm fan sucks in
air from the case and exhausts it from the
outlet. The outlet has a meshed grill. The
120 mm fan is thermally controlled, that is
it spins faster if the temperature increases.
The ION2 is pretty silent and even at higher
temperatures when the fan rpm increases,
it’s not very audible.
Credit it to the 120 mm fan, they are
less noisy at higher rpm than an 80 mm
Top to Bottom: PCIexpress, SATA & EZ-Grip
Molex connector
fan plus they also move much more air. It
comes with the wall socket-to-PSU power
cable, again something unique as most PSU
manufacturers leave this out.
The manual is spot on and very detailed,
though most of us wouldn’t be interested
in all the numbers inside.
Performance: This is the most important
part. Sleeved cables, EZ-grip connectors,
etc are all features to reckon with but a
power supply is no good if it can’t be stable
when stressed out. To check for stability
we observed the +3.3V, +5V, and +12V rails
under load. It is acceptable if it fluctuates
within +/- 5 percent. Bad PSUs widely
fluctuate at load. To check this out, we
stressed the ION2 with Prime 95, a software
application. Our test system included a
7800GTX, AMD 3800+, Asus A8N-E, 2 SATA
hard drives and one optical drive.
The ION2 came out with flying colors.
All the three rails were well within the 5
percent acceptable range and didn’t stray
even at loads.
We were very impressed with the ION2.
It’s one of the most complete packages you
can expect and at Rs 3,890 it’s a killer deal.
For: Gold plated connectors for better
conductivity; EZ-grip connectors; all cables
sleeved; silent operation; rock stable.
Against: None.

INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP | MARCH 2006

58 HARDWARE | TESTED

Printer
HP Deskjet 460cb
Specifications: Dimensions: 340.2x80.5x163.8 mm,
Weight: 2 kgs, thermal inkjet printer, 1200x1200 dpi,
32 MB memory, 50 sheet input capacity, Pictbridge
compliant, wireless and Bluetooth connectivity
options

Price Rs 14,999
Contact HP India
Phone +91 124 270 6283
E-mail saranya.rustagi@hp.com
website www.hp.com

RATINGS
Build Quality
Ergonomics
Performance
Features
Warranty
Overall Rating
Value for money

Mobile Printer
H P’s sleek Deskjet 460cb is a ‘mobile’
printer with multiple connectivity
options. It is certainly not as small as
Canon’s compact printers or as bulky
looking as Kodak’s printer docks. Weighing
in at 2 kgs, it’s a slimmed down version
of a desktop printer that can accompany
you on all your journeys. A 2300mAh
lithium-ion battery pack is also provided
with the printer for the moments when
you are left stranded without a power
outlet in sight. The battery is slim and does
not make the printer heavier. The notable
features incorporated into this printer are
the various connectivity options. Printer
supports USB, Bluetooth as well as wireless
(802.11b standard) connectivity. However,
wire-free printing is possible only if you
have the necessary add-on hardware
plugged into the device. This was a bit
of a disappointment as we expected the
features to be out of the box. You need to
either have a Bluetooth USB dongle or a CF
card (since the printer also houses a CF/SD/
MMC card reader). The same goes for the
Wi-Fi hardware. Since the Pictbridge port
on the printer is a regular USB connection
(A-connection or ‘upstream’), you can
connect the Bluetooth/Wi-Fi dongle to
it. True to its mobile theme, the Deskjet
460cb allows you to save three wireless
profiles—say, home, office and direct.
It manages to save all these details—
whether to connect directly (ad-hoc mode)
to your home network or securely with
a key in the office—in its ample 32 MB
memory. The input and output trays fold
in to keep the printer protected from dust
when not in use.
The printer was put through a basic
text print of 10 pages, and it took a good
two-and-a-half minutes to complete it.
The black text in the Normal print seemed
to spread a little—at different places—on
the paper. This effect was even more
pronounced in areas where text had been
highlighted with Word’s yellow marker.
Printing the same text in ‘Normal Fast’
produced a slightly better output while the
Multiple connectivity options are offered
by HP’s mobile printer
Draft mode seemed to be the best one to
use for basic black text printouts—it took
a little over a minute to print 10 sheets.
Color prints taken of documents containing
geometric detailing and text in color were
quite good. A normal print of such a page
on regular A4 paper took around half a
minute. The same page when printed on
260 gsm photo glossy paper made a world
of difference. The grey tones, minute
detailing and text readability was much
better. The color management needed to
be switched from ColorSmart to AdobeRGB
for precise outputs. This ensured an output
that was true to the original document.
The print mainly comes through
well on photo paper while it seems to
be strictly average on regular paper. For
the price it is available, the printer should
ideally have wireless and Bluetooth built
into it by default. To take advantage of
its mobility, you have to invest in more
hardware.
For: Good photo quality printouts; smart
design; profiles can be created for different
wireless scenarios.
Against: Doesn’t support Memory Stick or
CF-Type II cards; printing plain text on Draft
mode to prevent the ink from spreading;
additional hardware needed to avail wire
free options.

INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP | MARCH 2006

 TESTED | HARDWARE 59

Motherboard
ECS RD480-A939
Specifications: ATX, AMD Socket-939, ATI Xpress
200 CrossFire (ATI RD480) chipset, dual-channel
DDR400, 8 USB ports, 8-channel audio, Gigabit
LAN, 4 SATA headers, 2 PCI slots, serial and
parallel ports

Price Rs 6,500
Contact Cyberstar Infocom Ltd
Phone 080-51266808
E-mail sales@cyberstarindia.com
website www.cyberstarindia.com

RATINGS
Build Quality
Performance
Features
Warranty
Overall Rating
Value for money

Budget CrossFire board

A fter hearing about ATI’s CrossFire
for months, we have it here finally!
With multi-GPU CrossFire setup gradually
gaining popularity, the wait for CrossFire
motherboards to hit the shelves is finally
over. The ECS RD480-A939 is one of the
first budget CrossFire motherboards aimed
at audience having a tight budget in hand
for a CrossFire setup.
As the name suggests, the ECS RD480-
A939 is an AMD Socket-939 based ATX
motherboard featuring ATI’s Xpress 200
CrossFire (RD480) chipset. Like most ECS
motherboards, this one too is purple having
colored slots. The layout is such that it
leaves plenty of breathing space between
various components. This is primarily
because it’s an entry-level CrossFire board.
There are some components missing in the
board contributing to some barren areas
on it. One such is the empty area at the
rear-panel, which is usually occupied by
The rear panel of the RD480 doesn’t
feature a parallel port
the parallel and D-sub ports. Instead, the
board has a parallel port header and the
port comes bundled separately. The board
also lacks SPDIF and optical outputs, RAID
controller, SATA 300 MB/s and Firewire
support.
The PCIe slots are placed well apart
allowing two cards in CrossFire mode
to breathe comfortably. This holds only
true in case of cards occupying a single
slot. If you populate the slots with two
mammoth-sized cards like the X1800XT or
the X1900XT, they are separated by merely
half a centimeter!
An interesting feature of the
motherboard is the provision of a shunt
card in the package. You can plug it into
the empty PCIe slot in a single-card setup
to allow the occupied slot to utilize full 16x
bandwidth without which the bandwidth
would halve to 8x.
Being a budget board, the RD480-A939
offers more then a handful of features.
It supports AMD 64 FX and dual-core
processors and a maximum of 4 GB
DDR400 memory in dual-channel mode.
Gigabit LAN and 8-channel audio support
are an added bonus. Other features like
8 USB ports, 2 IDE connectors, floppy
disk drive connector and serial port are
also included as seen on most budget
motherboards.
Performance: The RD480-A939 delivers
good performance for its specifications.
When coupled with high-end components,
the board reported fairly decent scores.
Finally, it’s to be kept in mind that
this board is a budget board—it won’t do
justice to top-end cards like the X1800XT or
the X1900XT. So, enthusiasts keep
away! Get it only if you get a kick out of
multi-GPU gaming!
For: Budget CrossFire motherboard.
Against: No optical or S/PDIF outputs; no
SATA-II support; tiny PCIe retention clips.
TEST RIG
Processor: AMD Athlon 64 X2 4400+
Memory: 1 GB Kingston HyperX ULK2 in
dual-channel mode
Hard Disk: Western Digital Raptor 740GD
SCORES
SiSoft Sandra 2005-SR3
CPU arithmetic:
Dhrystones: 19,799
Whetstones: 9,136
Memory bandwidth: 5,280 MB/s
PCMark 2004 – 6,763
3DMark 2003 – 17,487
3DMark 2005 – 10,577

MARCH 2006 | INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP

60 HARDWARE | TESTED
Computer Case Small wonder
Zebronics Las Vegas
W ith PCs becoming living room items,
it has become important to consider
asthetics while designing a case. The
Zebronics Las Vegas has a compact, slim
body. Let’s check out the features it offers.
Exteriors: The case is 34.5 cms in height,
about 20 percent lesser than a conventional
case and 13.5 cms in width, which is lesser
Specifications: Specifications: Slim Case, Micro-ATX than the width of an optical drive—reason
form factor, touch front panel, 300 watts power why the optical drive bay is vertical. The
supply USP of the case is its feather touch panel,
Price Rs 2,300 which apart from looking elegant has
Contact Zebronics buttons for power, reset, standby and
Phone 022-23009539 hold. But the classy touch panel is not
E-mail mumbai@zebronics.com
complemented by a good exterior paint
website www.zebronics.net
job. It’s black and has a matte finish and is
RATINGS
best described as average. The front bezel
Build Quality
is made of plastic. It has a color-coded front
Performance
panel for USB and audio.
Features
Interiors: The frame is made up of above
Warranty
average quality aluminum and more
Overall Rating
Value for money
importantly it doesn’t have sharp edges.
Sadly, the default back panel hasn’t been
cut out completely during fabrication and
Input Device Comfort with precision
Microsoft Wireless Optical A ll of us look for clutter free desktops.
And therefore wireless keyboards
and optical mice make more sense than
anything else these days. The Mircosoft
Wireless Optical Mouse while following
this trend also offers a host of other
cool features.
Design: The mouse has well designed
grooves for comfort and comfortably fits
Specifications: optical, 1000 dpi, Tilt wheel (4-way
in your hand. The dark blue portion of
scrolling), magnifier.
the mouse has a matte finish for better
Price Rs 2,600 grip. The rest of the body is silver in color
Contact Microsoft Entertainment & Devices Division
to give it a refined dual tone look. It’s
Phone 1600-111100
E-mail i-ruchga@microsoft.com not ambidextrous, which means it’s only
website www.microsoft.com designed for right-handed operation. Two
RATINGS pencil-sized batteries make it heavy.
Build Quality Features: There are two thumb buttons
Ergonomics on the left hand side. Both of them are
Performance configurable. The smaller thumb button
Features is pre-configured to enable the magnifier
Warranty feature. Just point and press the magnifier
Overall Rating button to enlarge anything on the screen.
Value for money The larger thumb button can be configured
to perform a variety of functions. You
just have to install the given software
and using the program you can assign a
attaches itself to the case at three or four
points. You need a pair of pliers to remove
it and even after you have removed it,
the sharp joints still remain which can be
dangerous while installing the back plate
of your motherboard. It can only fit a Mirco
ATX board and not standard ATX board. You
can fit in a single hard drive, optical drive
and floppy drive, understandable for a
small form factor PC. With regards to case
ventilation, it has slots for two 50 mm rear
exhaust fans, one 80 mm front intake and
side intake fan each and is supplied with
one 80 mm side intake fan.
The power supply is good enough for
normal computer usage and since the
case is anyway limited with the number of
components, it does a fairly good job.
For: Feature touch front panel; thumb
screws; side panel fan with stylish grill;
well managed interior space.
Against: Average power supply; difficult to
remove default back plate; ordinary paint
quality.
function to it from the huge list of available
options. For example, you can assign it to
launch MSN Messenger or assign it basic
options like “Copy” , “Paste”, etc. The tilt
wheel is one unique feature and is indeed
nifty. It lets you do the conventional
vertical page scrolling and also lets you
scroll horizontally.
Functionality: Most importantly, it does
not eat into your desktop space. The
receiver plugs into the USB or PS2 port.
You must keep in mind that the distance
between the receiver and the mouse
should be 6 feet or less. It has a resolution
of 1000 dpi. Though it cannot match up to
the 1600 dpi-laser mice, it costs lesser than
a laser mouse and is perfect for anyone
looking for a affordable and reliable
wireless mouse.
At Rs 2,600 , it’s a little more expensive
than similar models from Logitech.
For: Wireless; configurable keys
(magnifier); good build quality; four-way
scrolling.
Against: Two pencil-sized batteries make it
heavy; not ambidextrous.
INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP | MARCH 2006
Anywhere computing
for everyone
35 laptops across five categories put under the
magnifying glass. FInd out which one can be yours...

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INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP | MARCH 2006


I
n an era where our towns and cities
are rife with progress and excitement,
people are beginning to spend an
increasingly large amount of time in transit.
Be it on the way to office, on the way back
or between cities on work, you’re probably
away from your digital data longer than
you’d like. Being so heavily dependant on
connectivity, it’s only natural that every
once of us have, at some time or the other,
fantasized about owning a laptop.
We all know the possibilities it throws
up, not to mention the status symbol it
embodies. Until just last year, the very
thought of owning a laptop was just
that: a thought. But not anymore—with
plummeting prices, increasingly capable
specifications and deliciously portable
form factors, the laptop has finally come
into its own.
No matter which town you stay in,
you’ve probably come across at least a
dozen advertisements on laptops from at
least half-a-dozen brands. Yes, there are a
growing number of people jumping onto
the laptop bandwagon these days and the
trend clearly shows no signs of abating. In
the midst of all this excitement, there’s just
one ruling question that looms above every
prospective laptop user’s head: Which one?
Given the sheer spectrum of
specifications, screen sizes, form factors,
processor speeds, integrated graphics and
other frilly features, it’s not difficult to
understand why people are so confused.
Moreover, every brand out there is boasting
of a USP that is curiously similar to the next
one. In planning, sourcing, categorizing and
evaluating the laptops in this comparison,
we have used a format that demystifies
MARCH 2006 | INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP
LAPTOP COMPARISON | HARDWARE 63
the entire process of understanding what
makes laptops different from one another;
more importantly, what task each is best
suited to. To that end, we’ve focused
on the laptop’s final application as the
fulcrum point of reckoning during our
search and decide process. Specifications,
features, size and every other characteristic
follow later. With this ideology in mind,
we’ve evaluated the 35 laptops here on
a selection of many of the usual (and
enhanced) real-world applications and have
put these devices under the magnifying
glass to reveal every facet of how well
they are designed and built to suit your
particular application. By abstracting the
specifications from the actual application,
we found the suitability of each laptop to a
given task standing clearly.
Since the last year, there has been an
obviously upward transition in terms of
specifications: every one of these devices
features high-speed wireless network
capabilities (802.11g), all of them feature
processors with speeds upward of 1 GHz,
almost every one has optical drives with
writing capabilities as de-facto standard…
the list goes on. However, three of the most
interesting trends we’ve seen in terms of
specification are the proliferation of the
widescreen displays, the arrival of ‘dual
core’ mobile processors and, of course, a
sharp drop in overall prices. We’ve factored
all of these new enhancements into our
review process and checked them out for
effectiveness.
There are some fantastic products out
here, many of them first-ever reviews in
the Indian market. So what are we waiting
for—let’s go ahead and dig right in.
64 HARDWARE | LAPTOP COMPARISON
Test process
Before getting our hands dirty with the
battalion of laptops, we first segmented
them into 5 categories—ultra-portable,
mainstream, desktop replacement, budget
and tablet PCs based on their form-factor,
features, usability and price.
We logged more than 150 scores and
specifications for each laptop to give
you detailed results. The laptops were
evaluated on the basis of their features,
performance, ergonomics, build quality
and warranty, and support.
Let’s take a close look at what went into
each of these parameters to find out how
we arrived at the results.
Features: A powerful feature set implies
that the laptop is a powerhouse and covers
a large application area. Hence we have
assigned the highest weightage to this
section. Here, we noted the specifications
of the core components like the processor,
memory, hard drive, graphics subsystem,
display and pointing device. The better
each of these features, the higher the
points awarded to the laptop.
Presence of integrated features such as
Bluetooth, IR, webcam, biometric security,
FireWire, memory card reader is an added
bonus. We even logged the specifications
of each component such as the type of
optical drive, resolution of the web cam,
number of USB ports and card formats
supported by the card reader to further
refine the results.
Performance: Here, we used a couple
of synthetic and real-world benchmarks
to assess the core performance of each
laptop. We ran SiSoft Sandra Pro 2005 to
evaluate the performance of the processor,
hard drive, RAM, optical drive and the
Presence of an integrated webcam is
useful for video conferencing.
overall system. PCMark 2005 which
emulates real-world scenarios like booting
Windows XP, web page rendering, hard
drive usage and multithreading was also
used. 3DMark 2003 and Doom 3 were only
run on desktop replacements and laptops
having a powerful graphics subsystem
capable of handling the stress put forth by
the tests.
For real world tests, we logged the time
taken to encode audio to MP3 and a VOB
file to Xvid using Easy CD-DA Extractor and
AutoGK respectively. Being CPU intensive,
these tests clearly highlighted the laptop’s
processing power. The optical drive was
assessed by measuring time taken to rip
two tracks off an audio CD. The LCD display
was also tested for the reproduction of
color gradients and viewing angle.
We used MobileMark 2002 by Bapco
to assess the battery life. It emulates real-
world activities like web surfing, imaging
and word processing until the battery runs
dry and reports the battery life in minutes.
Ergonomics: Apart from features and
performance, it is crucial that a laptop
has good ergonomics to offer the user
maximum comfort. Side or front placement
of audio and USB ports, dedicated volume
control, presence of hotkeys and good heat
management system does make the user
experience more pleasurable. If you are used
to desktop keyboards, minor features like
the placement of ‘ctrl’ key before ‘Fn’ key
in a laptop’s keyboard is appreciated. The
placement of the touchpad centralized to
the keyboard rather than the chassis plays
a significant role in reducing finger stress
when using the touchpad while your fingers
are placed on the keyboard. Inclusion of
such features were taken into account and
points were awarded accordingly.
Touchpad centralized to the keyboard is
easier on the fingers while typing.
15% Warranty &
Support
30% Features
15% Build
Quality
10% Ergonomics 30% Performance
Weightage distribution for evaluation
parameters
Build quality: Since laptops are portable
devices, they must be able to withstand the
occasional bumps and scratches while you
are on the move. Robust chassis and sturdy
hinges, clasps and flaps contribute to the
overall sturdiness of the laptop. Use of metal
(brushed aluminum or magnesium alloy)
or carbon fiber in construction of the body
renders extra ruggedness. Since the LCD
screen is the most delicate component of
a laptop, a sturdy screen frame is a must to
prevent bending or wobbling of the display.
Owing to the compact form factor,
laptops usually have a small keyboard.
Therefore we also took the layout of the
keyboard along with the size and spacing of
the keys into consideration for evaluating
the overall build quality.
Warranty and support: Since laptops are an
expensive asset and susceptible to damage
like hardware failure, it is crucial that it
must be backed up by a robust warranty
and support. We evaluated this parameter
based on the number of years of warranty
offered, the total number of service centers
in the country and the number of cities in
which service centers are present
Value for money: We concluded the round
up with the ‘Value for Money’ index which
we calculated by stacking up the features
and performance against the price. The
higher the performance and the number of
features with respect to price, the greater
this score.
In each of the five categories, we
awarded the notebooks having the best
performance and the highest ‘Value for
Money’ index.
INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP | MARCH 2006
 LAPTOP COMPARISON | HARDWARE 65

Ultra portable Mainstream

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Asus W5F Zenith Presidio Vu Asus V6800J

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Specifications: Intel Core Duo T2500, 1 GB DDR2 Specifications: Intel Pentium M 745 1.6 GHz, 256 MB Specifications: Intel Core Duo T2500, 2GB DDR2 @
@533MHz RAM, 12.1-inch screen, DVD Writer, Intel DDR@ 333MHz, 12.1-inch screen, DVD Writer, Intel 533MHz RAM, 15.1-inch screen, DVD Writer, Nvidia
945GM integrated graphics, 100 GB HDD. 855GM integrated graphics, 40 GB HDD. GeForce Go 7400, 100 GB HDD.

Price Rs 99,000 Price Rs 49,000 Price Rs 1,10,000

Contact ASUSTeK Computer Inc Contact Zenith Computers Ltd Contact ASUSTeK Computer Inc
Phone 022-40058914 Phone 022-28228162 Phone 022-40058914
E-mail info_india@asus.com.tw E-mail info@zenith-india.com E-mail info_india@asus.com.tw

RATINGS RATINGS RATINGS

Features Features Features
Perfomance Perfomance Perfomance
Ergonomics Ergonomics Ergonomics
Build Quality Build Quality Build Quality
Warranty Warranty Warranty
Overall Rating Overall Rating Overall Rating
Value for money Value for money Value for money

The Asus W5F is an ultra portable mean
machine with looks that would make
heads turn. From a black body made of
carbon fiber to steel buttons to a glare
screen, the notebook exudes style and
class in every little detail packed in.
The W5F is the only notebook in the
ultra portable category which is powered
by Intel’s latest Core Duo processor and
has the 2 GHz variant. It has 1 GB of RAM,
a 100 GB hard disk, a 12.1-inch wide screen
with a maximum resolution of 1280x800.
The screen quality is good and has good
viewing angles. It’s a tad heavy though
at 1.6 kgs in the ultra portable category.
Additional features include a 1.3 MP
web cam, a DVD writer, a FireWire port
and a S/PDIF out for multi-channel sound.
It has a battery life of 3 hours and 10 mins,
which is good for a laptop of its size.
The laptop costs Rs 99,000, a price
you would be ready to pay for a
powerhorse which is portable and easy
to carry around.
For: Dual core 2 GHz processor; DVD Writer;
good looks; S/PDIF out.
Against: None.
Ultra portable notebooks are expensive as
they have to pack in all components within
a small package. The Zenith Presidio Vu is
one such laptop but at an affordable price.
The body of the notebook is gleaming
white and so is the keypad. It has a
12.1-inch wide screen with a maximum
resolution of 1280x768.
The notebook is powered by the Intel
Pentium M processor 745 at 1.6 GHz and
has 256 MB of DDR RAM. Though it’s
absolutely usable with 256 MB of RAM
and allows you to run all applications on
Windows XP easily, yet an upgrade to
512 MB of RAM will make this machine
unbeatable. It comes with a 40 GB hard
disk, which is not enough for a notebook in
the ultra portable category as you would
be carrying movies, music, tons of data
while out on a business travel. A
60 GB hard disk would have been more apt.
Coming to battery life, it lasted for
almost three-and-half hours during our
tests, which is commendable.
For: Good value for money for a notebook
in the ultra portable category.
Against: A 40 GB HDD; 256 MB RAM.
The Asus V6800J belongs to the new breed
of powerful and good looking notebooks
from Asus. The body is composed of carbon
fiber making it sturdy. It is a tad heavy at
2.5 kgs but its stupendous performance is
to be reckoned with.
The notebook is powered by Intel’s
latest dual core 2 GHz processor with 2
GB of RAM, which is four times the RAM
in other mainstream notebooks. The hard
drive is king size at 100 GB. The 15.1-inch
screen supports a maximum resolution of
1400x1050.
Other features include a DVD writer
and S/PDIF out for multi-channel sound.
The V6800J has one of the latest graphics
cards, the GeForce Go 7400 delivering very
good performance. While running the
battery test, we found it to last for 3 hours
3 minutes, which is good for a feature-rich
laptop with powerful components.
The V6800J at Rs 1,10,000 is certainly not
affordable for everyone but considering the
workhorse it is, the price factor is justified.
For: Dual Core 2 GHz processor;
S/PDIF out.
Against: None.

MARCH 2006 | INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP

66 HARDWARE | LAPTOP COMPARISON

Mainstream Desktop replacement

S T VA L RFOR T VA L
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Gigabyte W431 UD Acer TravelMate 8240WLmi Acer Aspire 1640-ZL8

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Specifications: Intel Pentium M 740, 512 MB Specifications: Intel Core Duo T2500, 1024 MB DDR2 Specifications: Intel Pentium M 740 1.7 GHz, 256 MB
DDR2@533 MHz RAM, 14.1-inch screen, DVD Writer, @533 MHz, 15.4-inch screen, DVD Writer, ATI DDR2 @533MHz RAM, 15.4-inch screen, DVD Writer,
Intel GMA900 integrated graphics, 40 GB HDD. Mobility Radeon X1600XT, 100 GB HDD. Intel GMA900 integrated graphics, 60 GB HDD.

Price Rs 54,499 Price Rs 1,34,999 Price Rs 42,499

Contact Gigabyte Technology (India) Ltd Contact Acer India Contact Acer India
Phone 022-26526696 Phone 080-25219520 Phone 080-25219520
E-mail laptops@gigabyte.in E-mail sivakumar_n@acer.co.in E-mail sivakumar_n@acer.co.in

RATINGS RATINGS RATINGS

Features Features Features
Perfomance Perfomance Perfomance
Ergonomics Ergonomics Ergonomics
Build Quality Build Quality Build Quality
Warranty Warranty Warranty
Overall Rating Overall Rating Overall Rating
Value for money Value for money Value for money

The Gigabyte W431 UD is a perfect mix
of features and performance at a very
affordable price tag of Rs 54,500. The
Gigabyte and the ACI S28 are fighting a
close battle for the best-value notebook in
the mainstream segment.
The Gigabyte W431 and ACI S28 both
have Pentium M processors. The former
has a better clock speed of 1.7 GHz when
compared to ACI’s 1.6 GHz. Both have
512 MB of DDR2 RAM The W431 UD is a
widescreen notebook with a screen size of
14.1 inches and supporting a maximum
resolution of 1280x768 as against ACI’s 15.1-
inch normal screen. While the Gigabyte has
a DVD writer and a 60 GB hard disk, the ACI
has a combo drive and a 40 GB hard drive.
Battery life at 4 hours 36 minutes for
the Gigabyte W431 UD is extremely good.
The ACI has a battery life of 3 hours and 10
minutes. It’s priced at Rs 50,000. But we
would say you pay for the extra Rs 4,500
more to get what’s worth your money.
For: Good value for money; DVD writer;
excellent battery life.
Against: None.
The Acer TravelMate 8240WLMi is one The Acer Aspire 1640-ZL8 is powered by
mean machine and one of the fastest an Intel Pentium M 740 1.7 GHz processor,
notebooks we have ever laid our hands on. which although not top of the line is quite
It’s powered by the latest technology— fast for the mobile platform. Though it has
Intel’s dual core 2 GHz processor and just 256 MB of memory, we suggest you
X1600XT graphics card. get the RAM upgraded to 512 MB to make
The notebook has good build quality. it a more balanced machine. An additional
Expect a 15-inch widescreen with an Rs 2,000 shouldn’t hurt your pocket.
aspect ratio of 16:10 and a maximum The notebook is heavy at 2.9 kgs. It
screen resolution of 1680x1050. The packs in a 15.4-inch wide screen supporting
screen quality is good although with a a maximum resolution of 1280x800.
compromise on viewing angles. To cut down on the price Acer has not
It has both DVI and docking ports—rare included features like a memory card reader,
features in laptops. A built-in 1.3 MP Bluetooth and infrared. These accessories
camera is also part of the package. can be bought separately for few hundred
Our tests revealed how the Asus A6JA rupees as and when you feel the need.
duked it out closely with the Acer 8240 in all For example, a card reader comes for
the performance department but was shot Rs 300 only and is small enough to fit in
down completely when it came to battery your laptop bag. However, Acer doesn’t
life. The 8240 has a whopping battery life of miss out on important features like Wi-Fi
5 hours 10 mins when compared to Asus’ 2 B/G, Ethernet and FireWire.
hours 6 mins. At Rs 1,34,999 it is expensive Our tests revealed it has average battery
but with a nitro boosted performance. life at only 2 hours per charge.
For: Dual Core 2 GHz processor; X1600XT For: Best priced; DVD writer.
graphics card; good build quality. Against: 256 MB RAM, average battery
Against: Heavy. life; heavy.

INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP | MARCH 2006

 LAPTOP COMPARISON | HARDWARE 67

Budget Tablet | TERMINATOR

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Intel Core Duo: Based on 65nm
Gigabyte N521UC Acer TravelMate C202 Tmi fabrication process, the new Intel Core

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2.16 GHz per core, it is highly suited to
handle multiple demanding applications
simultaneously. Tasks such as encoding
Specifications: Intel Celeron M 360, 256 MB DDR@333 Specifications: Tablet PC, Intel Pentium M 740,
MHz, 15-inch screen, Combo Drive, Intel GMA900 512 MB DDR2@ 533 MHz, 12.1-inch screen, DVD
audio and video as well as rendering a
integrated graphics, 40 GB HDD. Writer, Nvidia Go 6200 (64 MB),80 GB HDD 3D model simultaneously is a breeze
for notebooks based on the Core Duo
Price Rs 31,999 Price Rs 94,999
Contact Gigabyte Technology (India) Ltd Contact Acer India
processor. The extreme power of the
Phone 022-26526696 Phone 080-25219520 Core Duo processor doesn’t compromise
E-mail laptops@gigabyte.in E-mail sivakumar_n@acer.co.in on the battery life of the mobile device
RATINGS RATINGS thanks to the 65nm fabrication process
Features Features and ultra-low power consumption.
Perfomance Perfomance
Ergonomics Ergonomics LV/ULV Processors: Most of the mobile
Build Quality Build Quality processors from Intel that belong to the
Warranty Warranty Centrino platform, sport the LV or the
Overall Rating Overall Rating ULV tag. These tags are used to classify
Value for money Value for money the processors depending on the power
consumption technology incorporated
The Gigabyte N521UC is the best in the The Acer c202 Tmi tablet PC is truly unique in them. The LV stands for Low Voltage
budget category. It has won the Best Value in design. In the normal mode, the screen processors that are found in most of
award and also the Best Performance is fixed at one angle, therefore the viewing the Intel Pentium-M based notebook
award. angle is restricted. Acer has done away with computers. The Ultra Low Voltage
The Gigabyte 521UC and the BenQ the touch pad and used a stub instead. processors are used in the ultra compact
Joybook R31E wrestle it out closely in the There is small scroll wheel in the corner, a notebook computers; these are lower
performance tests. The 521UC wins the feature indeed unique. clocked processors and hence consume
test in spite of having a slower processor This is the first and the only tablet we less power. The Intel Core Duo series of
@ 1.4 GHz when compared to BenQ’s 1.5 reviewed which packed in a DVD writer processors use the ULV technology built
GHz because of superior battery life. The with a slot loading mechanism. You no on the 65nm fabrication process. They
N521UC gave us almost four-and-a-half longer have to worry about the flimsy consume less power while delivering
hours of battery life! drive trays. high performance.
The N521UC has an Intel Celeron M360 Coming to performance, the tablet is
processor clocked at 1.4 GHz which is powered by Intel’s Pentium M 740 processor Turion Processors: AMD Turion 64 is
good enough for office based applications @ 1.7 GHz. With 512 MB DDR2 RAM, the primarily based on their vastly popular
and general multimedia applications like requirement for office applications is taken Athlon 64’s architecture. What has
watching movies. It comes with 256 MB care of. The cherry on the cake comes in the changed is the power consumption;
of DDR RAM but we recommend getting it form of Nvidia’s Go 6200 64 MB graphics the Athlon 64 Mobile dissipates 65 W
upgraded to 512MB. It sports a good quality chip which is better than onboard graphics while Turion 64 dissipates only 35 W (ML
15-inch screen plus a card reader, which is chipsets. models) or 25 W (MT models). Another
absent in the BenQ. Battery life is healthy at 3 hours 19 difference between them is the amount
Also included is a combo optical drive. minutes. of L2 cache, which is always 1 MB on
For: Phenomenal battery life for its For: Best value for money; Nvidia Geforce Athlon 64 Mobile, while Turion 64 can
category. Go 6200; fingerprint scanner; wide array of have a L2 memory cache of 512 KB or 1
Against: Heavy at 2.8 kgs; 256 MB RAM; hotkeys. MB, depending on the model.
Windows XP not bundled. Against: Heavy; fixed viewing angle.

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Category Ultra portable
Soham Raninga
soham.raninga@chip-india.com
Name Zenith Presidio Vu Asus W5F
Contact Zenith Computers Ltd ASUSTeK Computer Inc

After using the Sony VAIO VGN- Phone 022-28228162 022-40058914

E-mail info@zenith-india.com info_india@asus.com.tw
TX17GP, it’s hard to imagine life
Price* Rs 49,000 Rs 99,000
without it. The sheer looks, size and
Overall
grace of the machine combined with
Features (out of 30) 19.29 21.78
power and style mesmerized me like Performance (out of 30) 16.37 19.50
no other. A near 6-hour battery life Ergonomics (out of 10) 5.96 6.44
packed in such a form factor speaks Build Quality (out of 15) 9.74 10.12
volumes of the engineering and Warranty & Support (out of 15) 11.67 4.07
technology behind the VAIO. The only Overall (out of 100) Total: 63.02 Total: 61.90
hole left by the VAIO is the gaming Value for money (out of 5)
department and that’s where the Features
Dimensions (cm) 30.8 x 3.2 x 22.2 30.5 x 3.1 x 22
ACER TravelMate 8200-ZC1 comes Weight (Kg) 1.6 1.6
to rescue. The machine packs more Processor (Name, speed in GHz) Intel Pentium M 745 / 1.6 Intel Core Duo T2500 / 2
punch than most of the desktop PCs, RAM (MB) 256 1024
thanks to the Core Duo processor, Hard disk (size GB, rpm) 40 / 4200 100 / 5400
Screen size (inches) 12.1 12.1
mammoth 1 GB of memory, 100 GB
Screen format 16:10 widescreen 16:10 widescreen
of storage space and ATI X1600
Max resolution 1280x768 1280x800
graphics. Now that you guys know Optical drive Combo drive DVD-Writer
what I want, show me the money! Motherboard chipset Intel 855GM Intel 945GM
Graphics Intel 855GM Intel 945GM
Integrated (Bluetooth, IR, web cam) ✓|✓|✓ ✕|✕|✓
Wi-Fi (802.11b/g) ✓ ✓
Ports (Ethernet, USB, FireWire) ✓|3|✓ ✓|2|✓
Card reader (CF, SM, MS, xD/SD) ✕|✕|✓|✓ ✕|✕|✓|✓
Battery capacity (mAH) 4800 4800
Performance
Anand Tuliani Audio Encoding (sec) + 57 43
anand.tuliani@chip-india.com
Multimedia Encoding (sec) ++ 52 27
Gaming: Doom 3 (640x480x32) (fps) NA NA
Thirty-five gorgeous devices and just SiSoft Sandra 2005 Pro (out of 10) 6.75 9.26
one choice! For a budget of Rs 45,000 PCMark 2005 index 1468 3121
that most of us would set aside for a 3DMark 2003 index NA NA
laptop, the Acer Aspire 1640-ZL8 hits MobileMark 2002 (mins) 213 190
LCD quality (out of 10) 8.6 8.2
the sweet spot on all counts. Based
Speaker quality Average Below average
on Intel’s Sonoma platform powered
Ergonomics
by a 1.7 GHz processor coupled with Manual volume control ✕ ✓
a decent memory, a generous 60 Number of shortcut keys 5 1
GB hard drive and a dual-layer DVD Smoothened edges ✓ ✓
Wizard-driven wireless setup ✕ ✓
writer, it can easily replace a basic
Heat management Average Average
desktop PC while also being portable. Operational silence Good Good
Watching movies on its slick 15.4- Build quality
inch glossy widescreen display is a Quality of screen (frame/hinge) Average / Good Average / Good
visual treat to reckon with. The only Optical Drive tray Average Average
Use of metal in construction ✕ ✕
problem is average battery life while
Scratch resistance ✓ ✓
you’re on the move. But all in all—it’s
Warranty & Support
a terrific package. Gamers stay Authorised service centers 450 44
away! Cities with service centers 450 22
Warranty (Years) 1 2
* Prices are indicative and are subject to change, taxes extra
+ WAV to 192Kbps MP3 using Easy CD-DA Extractor INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP | MARCH 2006
++ XviD, using AutoGK
 LAPTOP COMPARISON | HARDWARE 69

3 4 5 6 7
Sony Vaio VGN-TX17GP Fujitsu Lifebook P7010 NEC Versa S1100 Asus U5A ACI Elite
Sony India Pvt Ltd Fujisan Technologies Pvt Ltd Enkay Technologies India Pvt Ltd ASUSTeK Computer Inc ACi Asia Ltd
1600-11-11-88 022-30213388 022-24962705 022-40058914 022-56407000
mktginfo@ap.sony.com sales@fujisan.co.in vpb@enkayindia.com info_india@asus.com.tw sales@aci-asia.com
Rs 1,22,900 Rs 1,40,000 Rs 92,900 Rs 85,000 Rs 49,999

19.49 19.51 16.81 18.66 16.77

16.26 16.54 16.37 16.45 16.08
7.69 7.03 5.19 5.62 6.64
10.93 10.86 11.50 8.67 9.74
4.11 1.82 5.16 4.07 3.96
Total: 58.48 Total: 55.76 Total: 55.02 Total: 53.47 Total: 53.19

27.2 x 2.9 x 19.5 26.1 x 3.3 x 19.9 27.2 x 3.2 x 23.8 27.4 x 3.3 x 23.2 27.5 x 3.5 x 26.5
1.24 1.4 1.41 1.4 1.8
Intel Pentium M 753 / 1.2 Intel Pentium M 753 / 1.2 Intel Pentium M 753 / 1.2 Intel Pentium M 760 / 2 Intel Pentium M 730 / 1.6
512 512 512 768 512
60 / 4200 80 / 4200 60 / 5400 80 / 4200 40 / 5400
11.1 10.6 12.1 12.1 12.1
16:9 widescreen 16:9 widescreen 4:3 conventional 4:3 conventional 4:3 conventional
1366x768 1280x768 1024x768 1024x768 1024x768
DVD-Writer DVD-Writer DVD-Writer DVD-Writer Combo drive
Intel 915GM Intel 855GM Intel 915GM Intel 915GM Intel 915GM
Intel GMA 900 Intel 855GM Intel GMA 900 Intel GMA 900 Intel GMA 900
✓|✕|✕ ✓|✕|✕ ✕|✕|✕ ✓|✕|✕ ✓|✓|✕
✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓
✓|2|✓ ✓|2|✓ ✓|3|✓ ✓|3|✓ ✓|3|✓
✕|✕|✓|✓ ✕|✕|✓|✓ ✓|✕|✕|✕ ✕|✕|✓|✓ ✕|✕|✕|✓
7800 4800 4800 4800 4400

95 78 75 45 56
85 62 63 41 46
NA NA NA NA NA
4.52 5.98 6.31 7.12 6.73
1397 1258 1551 2080 1730
NA NA NA NA NA
307 260 248 152 203
9.6 9.6 9.2 9 8.6
Below average Good Average Below average Poor

✓ ✕ ✕ ✕ ✕
5 2 0 1 0
✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓
✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓
Average Good Average Average Good
Excellent Excellent Good Good Good

Below average / Excellent Excellent / Excellent Good / Good Below average / Below average Average / Average
Excellent Good Excellent Average Average
✕ ✕ ✕ ✕ ✓
✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓

170 7 7 44 200
50 7 7 22 6
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Category Mainstream
Name Asus V6800J Samsung NP-X20 E Dell Latitude D510
Contact ASUSTeK Computer Inc Samsung India Electronics Pvt Ltd Dell India Pvt Ltd
Phone 022-40058914 011-51511234 1800-425-8045
E-mail info_india@asus.com.tw ashok.jangra@samsung.com Belgundi_Indrajit@Dell.com
Price* Rs 1,10,000 Rs 67,490 Rs 51,184
Overall
Features (out of 30) 22.53 16.66 15.87
Performance (out of 30) 23.33 18.30 15.57
Ergonomics (out of 10) 6.39 6.04 5.96
Build Quality (out of 15) 12.74 11.52 10.95
Warranty & Support (out of 15) 4.07 5.38 9.44
Overall (out of 100) Total: 69.06 Total: 57.90 Total: 57.80
Value for money (out of 5)
Features
Dimensions (cm) 33 x 3 x 27.18 32.9 x 3.1 x 27.4 33.8 x 3.6 x 27.36
Weight (Kg) 2.5 2.4 2.36
Processor (Name, speed in GHz) Intel Core Duo T2500 / 2 Intel Pentium M 740 / 1.7 Intel Pentium M 740 / 1.7
RAM (MB) 2048 512 512
Hard disk (size GB, rpm) 100 / 5400 60 / 5400 40 / 5400
Screen size (inches) 15.1 15.1 15
Screen format 4:3 conventional 4:3 conventional 4:3 conventional
Max resolution 1400x1050 1024x768 1024x768
Optical drive DVD-Writer Combo drive DVD
Motherboard chipset Intel 945PM Intel 915PM Intel 915GM
Graphics Nvidia GeForce Go 7400 ATI Mobility Radeon X600 Intel GMA 900
Integrated (Bluetooth, IR, web cam) ✓|✓|✕ ✕|✕|✕ ✕|✓|✕
Wi-Fi (802.11b/g) ✓ ✓ ✓
Ports (Ethernet, USB, FireWire) ✓|3|✓ ✓|3|✓ ✓|4|✓
Card reader (CF, SM, MS, xD/SD) ✕|✕|✓|✓ ✕|✕|✕|✓ ✕|✕|✕|✕
Battery capacity (mAH) 4800 4800 4700
Performance
Audio Encoding (sec) + 44 52 54
Multimedia Encoding (sec) ++ 29 45 49
Gaming: Doom 3 (640x480x32) (fps) 97 67 NA
SiSoft Sandra 2005 Pro (out of 10) 9.23 6.93 7.27
PC Mark 2005 index 3780 2473 1988
3DMark 2003 index 4364 3359 NA
MobileMark 2002 (mins) 183 136 132
LCD quality (out of 10) 8.6 7.6 9
Speaker quality Average Good Average
Ergonomics
Manual volume control ✕ ✕ ✕
Number of shortcut keys 5 4 1
Smoothened edges ✓ ✓ ✓
Wizard-driven wireless setup ✓ ✓ ✓
Heat management Average Average Good
Operational silence Excellent Good Excellent
Build quality
Quality of screen (frame/hinge) Average / Average Good / Excellent Excellent / Excellent
Optical Drive tray Average Excellent Good
Use of metal in construction ✓ ✕ ✕
Scratch resistance ✓ ✓ ✓
Warranty & Support
Authorised service centers 44 17 200
Cities with service centers 22 17 200
Warranty (Years) 2 3 3
* Prices are indicative and are subject to change, taxes extra
+ WAV to 192Kbps MP3 using Easy CD-DA Extractor INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP | MARCH 2006
++ XviD, using AutoGK
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Desktop replacement
Lenovo ThinkPad T43 Gigabyte W431 UD NEC Versa S940 Acer Travelmate 8240WLMi Asus A6JA
Lenovo India Pvt Ltd Gigabyte Technology (India) Ltd Enkay Technologies India Pvt Ltd Acer India ASUSTeK Computer Inc
1600-425-4240 022-26526696 022-24962705 080-25219520 022-40058914
buy@in.lenovo.com laptops@gigabyte.in vpb@enkayindia.com sivakumar_n@acer.co.in info_india@asus.com.tw
Rs 89,900 Rs 54,499 Rs 82,900 Rs 1,34,999 Rs 1,05,000

14.87 17.49 16.48 24.28 23.25

17.83 18.51 17.75 27.26 22.70
6.10 6.01 5.15 6.48 6.41
13.07 9.33 9.95 12.43 10.71
5.78 3.22 5.16 3.03 4.07
Total: 57.65 Total: 54.56 Total: 54.48 Total: 73.48 Total: 67.14

31 x 2.54 x 25.4 33.2 x 3.7 x 27.5 30.9 x 3.1 x 22.1 36.4 x 2.6 x 27.1 36 x 3.7 x 26.9
23 2.4 2 3 3.1
Intel Pentium M 740 / 1.7 Intel Pentium M 730 / 1.6 Intel Pentium M 745 / 1.8 Intel Core Duo T2500 / 2 Intel Core Duo T2600 / 2.16
256 512 512 1024 2048
40 / 5400 40 / 5400 60 / 5400 100 / 5400 100 / 5400
14.1 15 13 15.4 15.4
4:3 conventional 4:3 conventional 16:10 widescreen 16:10 widescreen 16:10 widescreen
1024x768 1024x768 1280x768 1680x1050 1280x800
Combo drive Combo drive Combo drive DVD-Writer DVD-Writer
Intel 915GM Intel 915GM Intel 855GM Intel 945PM Intel 945PM
Intel GMA 900 Intel GMA 900 Intel 855GM ATI Mobility Radeon X1600 ATI Mobile Radeon X1600
✓|✓|✕ ✕|✕|✓ ✕|✓|✕ ✓|✓|✓ ✓|✕|✓
✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓
✓|2|✕ ✓|4|✓ ✓|2|✓ ✓|4|✓ ✓|5|✓
✕|✕|✕|✕ ✕|✕|✓|✓ ✕|✕|✕|✕ ✕|✕|✓|✓ ✕|✕|✓|✓
4800 4400 4400 7800 4800

54 56 48 44 40
44 47 46 25 25
NA NA NA 125 118
7.33 7.22 6.77 9.33 9.80
2021 1967 1702 3677 4302
NA NA NA 7670 6588
227 190 238 310 126
8 8.2 9.2 7.8 2.6
Good Good Below average Average Average

✓ ✕ ✕ ✕ ✕
4 3 4 6 9
✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓
✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓
Excellent Average Average Average Below average
Excellent Good Good Excellent Good

Excellent / Good Below average / Average Good / Good Good / Good Excellent / Good
Average Average Average Good Average
✓ ✕ ✕ ✓ ✕
✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓

35 200 7 66 44
35 6 7 57 22
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Category Desktop replacement
Name Dell Latitude D810 Samsung Sens X60 MSI Megabook M645
Contact Dell India Pvt Ltd Samsung India Electronics Pvt Ltd Micro-Star International
Phone 1800-425-8045 011-51511234 011-41758808
E-mail Belgundi_Indrajit@Dell.com ashok.jangra@samsung.com info@msi-india.com
Price* Rs 1,06,000 Rs 84,990 Rs 57,000
Overall
Features (out of 30) 19.61 20.06 18.19
Performance (out of 30) 20.13 21.23 20.06
Ergonomics (out of 10) 6.75 7.32 8.32
Build Quality (out of 15) 10.71 11.88 11.17
Warranty & Support (out of 15) 9.44 5.38 3.22
Overall (out of 100) Total: 66.64 Total: 65.87 Total: 60.95
Value for money (out of 5)
Features
Dimensions (cm) 36.12 x 4.18 x 26.04 36.1 x 3.4 x 26.5 35.5 x 3 x 25.5
Weight (Kg) 2.94 2.5 2.9
Processor (Name, speed in GHz) Intel Pentium M 780 / 2 Intel Core Duo T2300 / 1.63 Intel Pentium M730 / 1.6
RAM (MB) 2048 1024 512
Hard disk (size GB, rpm) 80 / 7200 80 / 5400 60 / 4200
Screen size (inches) 15.4 15.4 15.4
Screen format 16:10 widescreen 16:10 widescreen 16:10 widescreen
Max resolution 1900x1200 1280x800 1280x800
Optical drive DVD-Writer Combo drive DVD-Writer
Motherboard chipset Intel 915PM Intel 945GM Intel 915PM
Graphics ATI Mobility X600 Intel GMA 945 Nvidia Go 6600
Integrated (Bluetooth, IR, Webcam) ✕|✓|✕ ✓|✕|✕ ✕|✓|✕
WiFi (802.11b/g) ✓ ✓ ✓
Ports (Ethernet, USB, Firewire) ✓|4|✓ ✓|3|✓ ✓|4|✓
Card reader (CF, SM, MS, xD/SD) ✕|✕|✕|✕ ✕|✕|✓|✕ ✕|✕|✓|✓
Battery capacity (mAH) 7200 5200 4400
Performance
Audio Encoding (sec) + 45 52 60
Multimedia Encoding (sec) ++ 44 31 48
Gaming: Doom 3 (640x480x32) (fps) 77.18 26 98
SiSoft Sandra 2005 Pro (out of 10) 7.67 8.44 6.37
PC Mark 2005 index 2756 4891 2639
3DMark 2003 index 3427 1452 5438
MobileMark 2002 (mins) 185 245 170
LCD quality (out of 10) 7.2 8.2 9.2
Speaker quality Good Average Good
Ergonomics
Manual volume control ✓ ✓ ✓
Number of shortcut keys 4 5 4
Smoothened edges ✓ ✓ ✓
Wizard-driven wireless setup ✓ ✓ ✓
Heat management Good Average Good
Operational silence Excellent Good Excellent
Build quality
Quality of screen (frame/hinge) Excellent / Excellent Good / Excellent Average / Average
Optical Drive tray Good Excellent Average
Use of metal in construction ✕ ✕ ✓
Scratch resistance ✓ ✓ ✓
Warranty & Support
Authorised service centers 200 17 70
Cities with service centers 200 17 70
Warranty (Years) 3 3 1
* Prices are indicative and are subject to change, taxes extra
+ WAV to 192Kbps MP3 using Easy CD-DA Extractor INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP | MARCH 2006
++ XviD, using AutoGK
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Budget
Acer Aspire 1640-ZL8 Gigabyte N521UC Benq Joybook R31E Intex 023G ACI Ethos V
Acer India Gigabyte Technology (India) Ltd BenQ India Pvt Ltd Intex Technologies ACi Asia Ltd
080-25219520 022-26526696 022-25705231 1800-11-67-89 022-56407000
sivakumar_n@acer.co.in laptops@gigabyte.in SalesEnquiryIn@BenQ.com sanjay@intextechnologies.com sales@aci-asia.com
Rs 42,499 Rs 31,999 Rs 33,000 Rs 29,000 Rs 22,999

16.66 15.51 14.38 11.15 10.67

15.79 16.82 15.90 10.54 8.54
5.66 6.03 4.93 5.16 5.12
12.64 12.74 11.62 10.74 4.93
3.03 3.22 1.98 2.43 6.24
Total: 53.78 Total: 54.32 Total: 48.81 Total: 40.03 Total: 35.50

36.2 x 3 x 27.2 33.4 x 3.5 x 27.7 32.9 x 3.5 x 27.7 31.5 x 3.55 x 25.5 31.7 x 4.5 x 25.6
2.9 2.8 2.7 2.7 2.4
Intel Pentium M 740 / 1.7 Intel Celeron M 360 / 1.4 Intel Celeron M 370 / 1.5 VIA Nehemiah C3 / 1.2 VIA Nehemiah C3 / 1.2
256 256 256 256 256
60 / 4200 40 / 4200 60 / 4200 40 / 5400 40 / 5400
15.4 15 15 14.1 14.1
16:10 widescreen 4:3 conventional 4:3 conventional 4:3 conventional 4:3 conventional
1280x800 1024x768 1024x768 1024x768 1024x768
DVD-Writer Combo drive Combo drive Combo drive CDROM
Intel 915GM Intel 915GM VIA PM 800 VIA VT8622 VIA VT8622
Intel GMA 900 Intel GMA 900 S3G Unichrome Pro S3G Unichrome S3G Unichrome
✓|✕|✕ ✕|✓|✕ ✕|✕|✕ ✕|✕|✕ ✕|✕|✕
✓ ✓ ✓ ✕ ✕
✕|3|✓ ✓|3|✓ ✓|4|✕ ✓|4|✕ ✓|4|✕
✕|✕|✕|✕ ✕|✕|✓|✓ ✕|✕|✕|✕ ✕|✕|✕|✕ ✕|✕|✕|✕
2000 4300 4400 2200 2200

53 65 60 247 245
48 63 55 117 163
13 NA NA NA NA
7.10 6.19 6.31 5.09 4.92
1749 1501 1301 571 571
822 NA NA NA NA
121 267 168 111 95
9 9 8.2 8.6 7.6
Average Average Excellent Average Below average

✕ ✕ ✕ ✓ ✓
7 3 0 5 4
✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓
✓ ✓ ✓ ✕ ✕
Good Average Average Average Average
Excellent Excellent Good Excellent Average

Excellent / Average Average / Good Good / Excellent Good / Good Poor / Below average
Good Good Average Good Poor
✓ ✓ ✕ ✕ ✕
✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✕

66 70 14 42 206
57 70 14 27 206
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Category Tablet PCs
Name Acer TravelMate c202 Tmi Lenovo ThinkPad x41 Fujitsu T4020D
Contact Acer India Lenovo India Pvt Ltd Fujisan Technologies Pvt Ltd
Phone 080-25219520 1600-425-4240 022-30213388
E-mail sivakumar_n@acer.co.in buy@in.lenovo.com sales@fujisan.co.in
Price* Rs 94,999 Rs 1,24,900 Rs 1,60,000
Overall
Features (out of 30) 18.90 16.76 19.68
Performance (out of 30) 18.66 16.99 17.55
Ergonomics (out of 10) 6.97 5.83 6.89
Build Quality (out of 15) 10.71 11.74 10.79
Warranty & Support (out of 15) 1.98 5.78 1.82
Overall (out of 100) Total: 57.22 Total: 57.10 Total: 56.73
Value for money (out of 5)
Features
Dimensions (cm) 31.5 x 3.5 x 23.8 26.6 x 2.79 x 23.25 29.21 x 3.6x 23.6
Weight (Kg) 2.5 2 2
Processor (Name, speed in GHz) Intel Pentium M 740 / 1.7 Intel Pentium M 758 / 1.5 Intel Pentium M 750 / 1.86
RAM (MB) 512 512 512
Hard disk (size GB, rpm) 80 / 4200 40 / 4200 80 / 5400
Screen size (inches) 12.1 12.1 12.1
Screen format 4:3 conventional 4:3 conventional 4:3 conventional
Max resolution 1024x768 1024x768 1024x768
Optical drive DVD-Writer None DVD-Writer
Motherboard chipset Intel 915PM Intel 915GM Intel 915GM
Graphics Nvidia GeForce Go 6200 Intel GMA 900 Intel GMA 900
Integrated (Bluetooth, IR, Webcam) ✓|✓|✕ ✕|✓|✕ ✓|✓|✕
WiFi (802.11b/g) ✓ ✓ ✓
Ports (Ethernet, USB, Firewire) ✓|3|✓ ✓|3|✓ ✓|2|✓
Card reader (CF, SM, MS, xD/SD) ✕|✕|✓|✓ ✕|✕|✕|✓ ✕|✕|✓|✓
Battery capacity (mAH) 4800 4500 5200
Performance
Audio Encoding (sec) + 53 62 50
Multimedia Encoding (sec) ++ 56 53 53
Gaming: Doom 3 (640x480x32) (fps) 56.8 NA NA
SiSoft Sandra 2005 Pro (out of 10) 7.05 3.53 7.18
PC Mark 2005 index 2263 1674 1963
3DMark 2003 index 2603 NA NA
MobileMark 2002 (mins) 199 259 190
LCD quality (out of 10) 9 3.8 9.6
Speaker quality Average Below average Average
Ergonomics
Manual volume control ✕ ✓ ✕
Number of shortcut keys 6 4 7
Smoothened edges ✓ ✓ ✓
Wizard-driven wireless setup ✓ ✓ ✓
Heat management Good Good Good
Operational silence Excellent Excellent Excellent
Build quality
Quality of screen (frame/hinge) Excellent / Good Good / Good Good / Good
Optical Drive tray Excellent Average Good
Use of metal in construction ✕ ✓ ✕
Scratch resistance ✓ ✓ ✓
Warranty & Support
Authorised service centers 14 35 7
Cities with service centers 14 35 7
Warranty (Years) 1 3 1
* Prices are indicative and are subject to change, taxes extra
+ WAV to 192Kbps MP3 using Easy CD-DA Extractor INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP | MARCH 2006
++ XviD, using AutoGK
 LAPTOP COMPARISON | HARDWARE 75

SpecScan
26 27 29
Category Ultra portable
Name Sahara NB5630-N4 Panasonic Toughbook CF-W2 Gigabyte N211 U
Contact Sahara Computers and Electronics Ltd Third Wave Exim Gigabyte Technology (India) Ltd
Phone 1800-180-7235 9322133259 022-26526696
raksham.
E-mail vasisht@saharacomputers.co.in
info@toughbookindia.com laptops@gigabyte.in
Price* Rs 47,999 Rs 1,49,990 Rs 62,999
Overall
Features (out of 30) 18.64 14.87 16.85
Performance (out of 30) 15.15 13.38 17.63
Ergonomics (out of 10) 5.71 5.89 5.69
Build Quality (out of 15) 11.52 13.33 6.62
Warranty & Support (out of 15) 2.07 5.12 3.22
Overall (out of 100) Total: 53.10 Total: 52.60 Total: 50.00
Value for money (out of 5)

SpecScan
30 31 32
Category Mainstream
Name ACI S28 Fujitsu Lifebook S6240 Panasonic Toughbook CF-Y2
Contact ACi Asia Ltd Fujisan Technologies Pvt Ltd Third Wave Exim
Phone 022-56407000 022-30213388 9322133259
E-mail sales@aci-asia.com sales@fujisan.co.in info@toughbookindia.com
Price* Rs 49,999 Rs 1,08,000 Rs 1,69,990
Overall
Features (out of 30) 17.95 18.22 15.83
Performance (out of 30) 16.80 15.76 15.10
Ergonomics (out of 10) 6.42 6.91 5.59
Build Quality (out of 15) 8.05 10.83 11.67
Warranty & Support (out of 15) 3.96 1.82 5.12
Overall (out of 100) Total: 53.17 Total: 53.54 Total: 53.30
Value for money (out of 5)

SpecScan
33 34 35
Category Desktop replacement
Name Lenovo Thinkpad Z60m Gigabyte W511 UC MSI Megabook M630
Contact Lenovo India Pvt Ltd Gigabyte Technology (India) Ltd Micro-Star International
Phone 1600-425-4240 022-26526696 011-41758808
E-mail buy@in.lenovo.com laptops@gigabyte.in info@msi-india.com
Price* Rs 74,990 Rs 51,499 Rs 45,000
Overall
Features (out of 30) 19.24 18.09 14.78
Performance (out of 30) 15.87 18.69 14.16
Ergonomics (out of 10) 6.46 6.72 6.54
Build Quality (out of 15) 12.60 10.19 10.74
Warranty & Support (out of 15) 5.78 3.22 3.40
Overall (out of 100) Total: 59.94 Total: 56.91 Total: 49.63
Value for money (out of 5)
76 HARDWARE | LAPTOP COMPARISON

Buying Guide
Buyer profile Applications Minimum specifications Key features

Surfing, office Processor with minimum clock Overall build quality of the product, generation of
applications, speed of 1.4 GHz. 256 MB RAM, 40 heat, warranty and support. Default operating system
Budget e-mail GB Hard Disk drive, 14.1-inch TFT bundled with the laptop. Don’t rely on the rated
and basic Screen, LAN, Modem, 90 minutes battery life; most of the budget laptops deliver 80% of
computing rated battery life, combo drive. the promised battery performance

Surfing, Processor with minimum clock

The budget as well as the cheaper mainstream
presentations, speed of 1.6 GHz. 256 MB RAM,
laptops are recommended for this category. Make
e-mail, 40 GB Hard Disk drive, 14.1-inch
Student educational TFT Screen, Wi-Fi, modem, 90
sure the LCD screen quality; viewing angles as well
as the wireless connectivity (Wi-Fi) are in place.
software, minutes rated battery life, combo
Carry case bundled with the laptop is a bonus.
gaming drive.

The mainstream laptop and desktop replacement

Mobile processor clocked at 1.6 category are a perfect match for the home user
Movies,
GHz with 2 MB of L2 cache. 512 segment. wide-screen displays and good multimedia
gaming, office
Home user applications,
MB RAM, 60 GB Hard Disk drive, functionality is a must. Look for comprehensive
15-inch TFT Screen, Wi-Fi, combo expandability options with Firewire port, VGA port
surfing
drive, 3 USB ports, VGA-Out as well as S-Video out. Ensure that the keypad is well
spaced for maximum comfort.

The mainstream as well as the ultra portable laptops

Mobile processor clocked at
Office are meant for this segment. Make sure the battery
1.6 GHz with 2 MB of L2 cache.
applications, life, weight and build quality get maximum priority.
512 MB RAM, 60 GB hard drive,
Executive video
14-inch TFT Screen, Wi-Fi, combo
A webcam comes handy for video conferencing
conferencing, and if you have a healthy budget, tablet PCs
drive, 3 USB ports, VGA-Out,
presentations. are recommended for excellent feature set and
webcam
portability.

Mobile processor clocked at 2 A dedicated gaming level desktop chip which is

Gaming,
GHz with 2 MB of L2 cache. 1GB above the GeForce Go 6200 or the ATI Mobility
graphic
Gamer and designing, 3D
of DDR2 RAM, dedicated graphics Radeon X300 is a must. Make sure the graphics
graphic modelling,
chip with 128 MB video memory, chipset is suppoted by 128MB of dedicated and not
designer 80 GB hard drive, 15.4-inch TFT shared video memory. The screen resolution and
video editing
widescreen display, Wi-Fi, DVD view angles matter and hence check for the overall
surfing
writer. TV-Out LCD quality and not just the size.

Mobile processor clocked at 2 Desktop replacement category is the most suitable

GHz with 2 MB of L2 cache. 2 GB
All of above and of DDR2 RAM, 100 GB hard drive,
Power user more! 15.4-inch TFT widescreen display,
Wi-Fi, DVD writer, Firewire and
TV-Out
match for power users. The preference should be
more on performance and features rather than
the dimensions. Dual core processors and high-
resolution screens with good color reproduction and
view angles are crucial for this category.

The ultra-portable category is made for the frequent

Mobile processor clocked at 1.2 traveler. The weight, dimensions and battery
E-mail, office
GHz, 512 MB DDR2 RAM, 12.1-inch life should be the driving point. Special battery
Frequent applications,
TFT LCD screen size, 4 hour rated saving modes and easy Wi-Fi configuration wizard
traveler movies, music,
battery life, maximuim 1.7 Kg, saves time. Don’t compromise too much on the
digital imaging
combo drive, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth. performance front, especially when you are paying a
bomb for it!

INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP | MARCH 2006

 LAPTOP COMPARISON | HARDWARE 77

The Specialists

Reviewed models

Gigabyte N521 UC,

BenQ Joybook R31E
ACI Ethos E2

Benq Joybook R31E Sony Vaio VGN-TX17GP

ACI S28 Even though Sony’s latest ultra portable notebook did not win
Acer Aspire 1640-ZL8 any accolades in its category it certainly managed to attract
a lot of attention. This 2.4 kg carbon fiber notebook is just
2.9 cm thick, making it the slimmest notebook available in
the country today. In spite of such dimensions Sony notebook
Acer Aspire 1640-ZL8 designers have been able to offer a slick 11.1-inch widescreen,
Gigabyte W431 UD
Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, flash memory reader, a 60 GB hard drive and
Dell Latitude D510
512 MB RAM. They even managed to fit in an internal DVD
writer! Top it off with its ability to see you six straight hours
of work. This notebook is worth the price.

Zenith Presidio Vu
ACI Elite
Gigabyte W431 UD

Acer Travelmate 8204WLMi

DELL Latitude D810
Asus A6JA

Panasonic Toughbook CF-18

Encased in a magnesium alloy body, fringed with toughened
DELL Latitude D810
Asus V6JA rubber, the Panasonic CF-18 is one tough nut to crack. Its
Samsung Sens X60 uniqueness made it a misfit in any of the notebook categories.
Meant for rugged use this shockproof notebook has all its
ports covered with tough rubber flaps to protect it against
dust and water. Built around the Centrino platform it supports
Wi-Fi and runs on Intel’s 1.1 GHz Ultra Low Voltage processor.
Sony Vaio VGN-TX17GP The CF-18 is a rugged Tablet PC with additional protection on
Asus W5F the LCD display too, giving it a tough exterior and a power
Zenith Presidio Vu savvy interior –just what a trekker, geologist or the military
need.

MARCH 2006 | INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP


Juice up the Box
Get your facts right about one of the most underrated components of a computer
system—the power supply unit
W
e have done an article on
power supply earlier, but with
newer standards having been
introduced in the recent past, this article
should be an eye opener. The power supply
unit or the SMPS (Switch Mode Power
Supply) converts AC (Alternating Current)
from your Wall socket and converts it to DC
(Direct Current) which is then fed into the
various computer components. As users
you need to know whether the PSU
works the way it’s supposed to or not, also
you must know which PSU is the right one.
So let’s dive straight into that.
The PSU is indeed one of the most
underrated and overlooked components
of a computer. An insufficient power
supply can cause random restarts, system
hangups, or the system may not boot at
all. In such cases, we first blame it on the
motherboard, then the other components
and finally we realize that it’s the power
supply unit that needs to be taken care of.
A power supply unit is of more
significance to the overclockers since
components at overclocked settings
consume a lot of power. Also, graphics
cards, especially in SLI (two of them
together in a system) consume humungous
amounts of power. For eg, two 7800GTs in
SLI consume 125 watts of power.
How to choose the right power supply unit
With so many different manufacturers in
the market, not all practise fair standards
of representing the power ratings. So the
rule of the thumb is to look for a reputed
brand. Antec, Vantec which are a little on
the expensive side, and Powersafe which
is reliable and affordable, are brands that
you can trust.
Next comes wattage—the most widely
looked upon criteria for determining the
ability of the power supply unit. The PSU
supplies power through different lines,
popularly known as rails. Primarily, the
components draw power from
three rails—+3.3V, +5V, & +12V rail.
The table, Current consumption of
high-end system describes clearly how
different components pull power from
different rails.
Umesh Dahiwalkar
xxxxxxxx
Don’t go just by the wattage
The total wattage is a sum of all the
smaller separate values of each ‘rail’ in
the PSU that runs at different voltages.
Total amperage available on the +12V
rail is the most important, followed by
the +5V amperage and then the +3.3V
amperage. Because of the increased power
consumption of the new high-power
video cards, the recommended minimum
amperage for +12V is 24A, for SLI it’s 35A.
Now let’s look at the voltage ratings
given for Vantec ION2 400 watts power
supply. 30A on the +12V rail is good for
mid to high-end gaming systems but not
enough for ultra high-end systems with
two 7800GTXs in SLI. 28A and 30A on the
+3.3V and +5V ratings respectively are
sufficient.
Power supply calculator
You can utilize the power supply
calculation utility by Outervision Extreme
called the Extreme PSU calculator v1.3.
It allows you to input your system
components and then gives you the total
INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP | MARCH 2006
 FEATURE | HARDWARE 79

Current consumption of a high-end system Fact sheet

+3.3V +5V
5 3
0 0
0 2
0.5 3 3
0.5 0.5
0 0.8
0 1.2
0 0.8
0 0.5
0 0.25
0 0.25
0 0
wattage required by the PSU to run your
system smoothly. It even gives out wattage
for an overclocked processor and has
options for everything, right from system
fans to water blocks for water cooling.
It’s one the most comprehensive PSU
calculators available.
Check it out at http://www.extreme.
outervision.com/index.jsp
New standards introduced
Dual 12V rails: Intel’s latest ATX 2.xx
specification doesn’t allow more than
240 VA to pass through any wire in the
computer for safety reasons. So in case
+12V Device
0.3 Motherboard
0.25 Fans( Case and Components)
0 Memory 512 MB DDR
Graphic Card 7800 GT PCIe
0 PCI Sound
2 Hard Drive Sata
1.1 Optical Drive
0 Floppy
0 USB Devices
0 Keyboard
0 Mouse
10 Pentium 4, 3 GHz
you’re buzzed while working inside the
computer, it will not be all that bad. Ideally,
there should not be more than 20A on the
12V rail (12A x 20V = 240 VA). But since
our recent system components rely heavily
on the +12v rail for power, the PSUs have
heavy +12V rails going right up to 30-35A.
This problem was catered to by making
dual +12V rails. So for 30A on +12V, you
can have the +12V1 give out 18A and the
+12V2 give out 12A. The 12V2 is supposed
to supply only the AUX12V 4-pin plug,
which supplies only the CPU. Though a PSU
with a single +12V rail would work just as
fine without lagging in performance.
24 Pin Power Connector: It has been
introduced following the latest ATX 2.0
standards. It adds another +12V pin along
with +3.3V and + 5 V and ground pins.
This is done because the latest high-end
PCIexpress graphic cards consume a lot
of power. In the extra 4 pins added, only
the +12V is immediately critical, followed
Some companies have their PSUs
manufactured by another company.
(OEM: Original Equipment Manufacturer).
For example, the Zebronics Power One
640 watts available here is actually
SkyHawk Power one 640, a reputed
international company known for quality
value PSUs. But not all Zebronics PSUs
are from SkyHawk.
An Nvidia 6800 ultra graphics card
consumes 30 watts when idle but consumes
a whopping 76 watts when at load.
You can go by their weight when it comes
to PSUs. Heavier PSUs signify that good
quality heat sinks are used.
by the ground pin. The +3.3 and +5V have
enough current already. A 20-pin PSU
would work fine on boards with a 24-pin
slot leaving a few boards like the DFI.
Please read your motherboard manual
before making any decisions. You can also
use a 24-20 pin adapter for a 24-pin PSU
and 20-pin board, though this only assists
in compatibility and not in functionality.
Silent PSUs
PSUs generate heat and need to be cooled.
You can choose from the various options
given here—single 80 mm fan or two 80
mm fans or single 120 mm fan or even one
80 mm and one 120 mm fan. And certainly
with fans come noise. If you are looking
to build a silent system, take a PSU with
a single 120 mm fan and make sure it’s
thermally controlled, that is, it adjusts its

Pin diagrams
1 11 + 3.3V + 3.3V
Pin 1 + 12VDC + 3.3V + 3.3V + 3.3V -12V
COM + 3.3V -12V COM COM
COM COM COM
+5V PS_ON#
Pin 4 + 5VDC +5V PS_OI
COM COM
COM COM +5V COM
Molex Connector
+5V COM
COM COM
COM COM
PWR_OK -5V PWR_ON NC

+5VSB +5V +5VSB +5V

+12V1 +5V +12V1 +5V
Pin 1 Pin 3
COM + 12VDC Main Power Connector +12V1 +5V
COM + 12VDC 20-Pin ATX + 3.3V COM

+ 12V Power Connector

Main Power Connector
(+12 V2 In dual rail set up)
20-Pin ATX
Power supply calculator version 1.3 Left to Right: 4 pin Molex Connector (top), 4 pin AUX Connector(+12V2 in Dual Rails), 20 pin and 24 pin Connectors.

MARCH 2006 | INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP

80 HARDWARE | FEATURE

Acceptable fluctuation limits

Output Range Min Ideal Max
+12V +/- 5% +11.40V +12V +12.60V
+5V +/- 5% +4.75V +5V +5.25V
+3.3V +/- 5% +3.14V +3.3V +3.47V

Powersafe 400 watts Digital Multimeter Everest 2006

Idle Load Idle Load

RthDribl stressing out +3.3 V 3.36 3.36 3.20 3.18

the processor 100% +5 V 5.08 5.13 4.87 4.89
+12 V 11.84 11.56 11.39 11.01

Power Safe 400 Watts: Just within prescribed limits, but nevertheless does the job.

Vantec ION2 460 watts Digital Multimeter Everest 2006

Idle Load Idle Load
+3.3 V 3.33 3.33 3.20 3.18
+5 V 5.09 5.13 4.92 4.92
+12 V 11.98 11.80 11.65 11.39
Vantec ION2 460 Watts: Again well within prescribed limits. Good performer.
Digital Multimeter being used to measure
the rail voltages Cooler Master 460 Watts Digital Multimeter Everest 2006
Idle Load Idle Load
rpm according to the heat generated. So it
+3.3 V 3.33 3.33 3.18 3.17
spins at lesser rpm and is relatively silent
+5 V 5.05 5.06 4.81 4.84
when you are casually using your system,
such as for Internet browsing. It spins +12 V1 12.16 12.03
11.71 * 11.58 *
faster when your system is stressed out, for +12 V2 12.14 11.96
example, while gaming. CoolerMaster 450 Watts: Good performer again. It comes with dual 12V rails.

*Note: It’s not possible to measure the +12V1 and +12V2 rails independently using
Symptoms indicating PSU trouble
the sensor on the motherboard.
Random system restarts.
System hangs when you start a game.
System switches off randomly.
System doesn’t boot at all. Recommended PSUs
PC components need a steady supply Entry-level non gamer: PowerSafe 300 watts, Rs 800 - no graphics card
of power and are susceptible to even small Mid-level gamer: PowerSafe 400 watts, Rs 1,550 - up to 6600GT
fluctuations in voltage. Antec SmartPower2 350 watts, Rs 3,000
A fluctuation of 5 percent is acceptable.
High-level gamer: Vantec Ion2 460 watts, Rs 3,890 – up to Single 7800GTX
For example, for the +12V, voltages in the
range of 11.4V to 12.6V are acceptable. Antec SmartPower2 400 watts, Rs 4,000
The adjoining table shows the acceptable CoolerMaster RS-450-ACLX, 450 watts, Rs 3,965
limits. Ultra high-level gamer/ Antec TP II 550 watts, Rs 7,500
Overclocker Up to two 7800GTX in SLI
Let’s stress test some PSUs
We have used Rthdribl, an application Our test system We measure the voltage rails using:
which stresses out your system Processor AMD FX 53 Digital Multimeter—it’s reliable and
completely, particularly your processor Motherboard Asus A8N SLI Deluxe accurate
and graphics card. It is a “Real-time High RAM Kingston HyperX 1GB Everest 2006—a diagnostics application
Dynamic Range Image-Based Lighting” (512x2 MB) which measures the voltage off the
demo. The Load voltages mentioned in GCard ATI X1900XT sensor of the motherboard, not very
the table are noted down when Rthdribl HDD Western Digital WD740 accurate. ■
is running. Optical Drive DVD Writer DRU-810 | Gaurav Seth

INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP | MARCH 2006

82 HARDWARE | TECHNOLOGY LANDSCAPE
A heady affair
A guide to choosing the perfect headphones suiting your budget
Entry level
Models: HB 575, iBall 660MV, Frontech JIL 3465
Budget: Below Rs 500
I f you are looking to buy very basic and
affordable headphones or headsets,
the requirement has to be elementary.
You can’t expect high quality sound and
excellent frequency range or bass response
from a headset that sells for Rs 500. There
are plenty of brands in this range and
all of them more or less offer the same
quality. It’s recommended to have a demo
of the unit before you buy it. The build
quality is suspect with these headphones.
Hence you need to check for the quality of
materials used. In case of headsets, look
for the quality of microphone as well. The
microphone that manages to filter the
ambience sounds is always a better choice.
The quality of microphone depends on the
sensitivity of the unit. Make sure you test
the headphones at full volume and check
for any crackling or breaking of sound.
Many of the entry-level headphones
struggle to maintain the sound quality at
high volumes.
When buying headphones or headsets,
depending on your PC setup make sure you
buy a headphone with a sufficiently long
cord that allows enough headroom for
movement.
Mid range
Models: Altec Lansing AHP5, Philips HP 800,
Altec Lansing AHP 512
Budget: Rs 500-Rs 1,500
I f you have a decent budget for headphones,
there are some very interesting options in
the mid-range category. A mid-range user
expects good sound quality as well as sturdy
construction. In case of headsets, the Altec
Lansing AHP 512 is a good choice. It uses
40 mm neodymium drivers and delivers a
frequency response of 20 Hz to 20 KHz. The
build quality is excellent and the ear cups
are well cushioned for comfort. If you want
want only headphones, the Philips HP800
is an excellent option. The sound is warm
and clear, perfect for music or movies. The
build quality is excellent; the ear cups encircle
around the ears and are very comfortable for
long duration usage. If you want something
sleeker and more stylish that can be used with
your PC as well as your portable media player,
the Altec Lansing AHP5 is a good choice.
Ergonomically designed, the AHP5 fits behind
the head rather than on top of it, making it
less conspicuous than the other headsets.
If sound quality is your prime concern,
stay away from the cordless variants. Given
the price range, none of the headphones
come near to the sound quality delivered
by the corded headphones in the mid-range
category.
High end
Vishwanath Vanjire
Models: Zalman 5.1 ZM-RS6, Gainward Sound
Xplosion, Plantronics DSP 500
Budget: Above Rs 1,500
I n case of high-end headphones/headsets,
there isn’t too much of a choice available
in the local market. High-end headphones
not only give god sound quality but they also
provide extra features in terms of surround
sound support and cordless functionality. If
the application is only music, surround sound
headphones make little sense. Headphones
from brands like Sennheiser, Koss and Grado
are tough to get in the local market but you
can find them in duty-free shops and grey
markets. These headphones are the best in
terms of pure sound quality with excellent
frequency response and low noise ratios. In
case of gaming or movies being the prime
application, the Zalman 5.1 ZM-RS6 and
Gainward Sound Xplosion are two of the
well-known and commonly available brands
in the market. The RS6 from Zalman has good
bass response for the thumps and thuds
in games and movies while the Gainward
Sound Xplosion has a cleaner high frequency
range. The Gainward headphones also come
bundled with an external soundcard, which
uses the USB port to connect to the PC. It’s an
ideal solution for notebook users who want
6-channel sound for games and movies.
| Soham Raninga
INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP | MARCH 2006

What’s next? PC phone?
I
fondly recall scenes from the television series
of the Sixties, Star Trek. If you’ve seen the
older Star Trek serials, you’ll remember how
Captain James T Kirk (William Shatner) ends phone
conversations with orbiting shuttle crew. In his
own inimitable style, he’d flick his wrist to close his
communicator—a striking resemblance to today’s
flip phone. Little did I imagine then that I’d do the
same someday, minus the shuttle crew at the other
end of the conversation. In light of that, I feel the
future is here. But the cell phone is indeed evolving
at a feverish pace. Here’s a look at what it’s likely to
become in the near and distant future.
It wasn’t too long ago when a cell phone was
just a phone. It had a simple interface, a two-line
LCD display and keys that you see on a regular
desk phone. Two additional keys let you answer
and end calls. Since then, we’ve seen many
technology innovations, both on the device and at
the backend (services). This enabled operators to
offer more services; manufacturers could provide
more features on the phone. And the humble
phone evolved to become a ‘smart’ phone.
Take a look at today’s top-of-the-line smart
phone. It’s got an operating system (Windows
Mobile or Symbian), and equivalents of PC
applications: MS Office-like applications, e-mail
client, web browser, media player, document
reader, file compression, personal information
manager, games, even anti-virus software. Some
models offer proprietary or third-party software to
edit photos and videos. The smart phone may not
offer the same feel as a laptop, but for all practical
purposes, it’s a mini computer. (Read all about
smart phone applications in CHIP, January 2006).
When phone applications are coupled with
wireless services, the range of possibilities
explodes. I’m talking about high-speed wireless
services like those available in Tokyo and Seoul.
In Japan, you’ll see people wielding sleek
phones packed with technology. But it’s more
interesting to see what the Japanese youth are
doing with their phones. NTT DoCoMo, a leading
service provider in Japan, offers a service called
“i-mode”. Wireless Internet and e-mail are the
main attractions. It’s not uncommon to see young
Japanese women consult shopping and restaurant
guides, dash off a quick e-mail to a dear friend, or
MARCH 2006 | INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP
PERSONAL TECHNOLOGY | HARDWARE 83
download the latest radio tune—all on her
cell phone.
A recent development is the Mobile Suica
system, now in use on the Tokyo metro system.
It’s a very practical and convenient application for
commuters, which allows contactless ticketing
from a mobile-based wallet (an application on the
SIM card). If you own a handset with the FeliCa-
based mobile wallet you can stroll through any
of Tokyo’s 900 stations by waving the handset
near the ticketing barrier. No more queuing to
buy tickets from counters and ticket vending
| Brian Pereira
machines! And the same technology can be used brian.pereira@chip-india.com
in retail outlets.
In South Korea suitably equipped phones can
receive satellite TV broadcasts from operators like
Takeout TV and SK Telecom. Back home, Reliance
Infocomm offers near real-time television by
When phone
video-streaming the live telecast of two news
channels—Aaj Tak and NDTV. applications are
coupled with
Future phone
While the focus is now on mobile entertainment, wireless services,
I think the mobile phone will become an all- the range of
encompassing personal information device. Star
Trek fans would remember the Tricorder. It’s a
possibilities
scientific device that’s supposedly loaded with explodes. Check
sensors. In the TV series Kirk and his crew used
Tricorders during exploratory trips to new planets.
the high-speed
Various sensors on the Tricorder were employed wireless services
for detecting surface radiation levels or the
available in Tokyo
presence of aliens.
I think the future cell phone will have and Seoul
something similar. While it may not be able to
detect the presence of aliens in the room, it
should be able to give you accurate readings for
temperature, altitude, humidity, etc.
There’s great potential in the healthcare sector.
Imagine a cell phone with a built-in pulse monitor
(heart patients) or glucose meters (diabetics)!
I’d also like to know how many calories I’ve lost
during my brisk evening walk!
And cell phones with built-in GPS (global
positioning system) will certainly be an instant
hit. That would make it easier for me to locate a
client’s place in the periphery of the suburbs. ■
The writer has been covering personal technology
issues for the past 12 years
84
Software Center
I
n this month’s roundup of cool tools and
fun applications, we have data security,
system tweaking, image editing and
audio production as the dominant themes.
With Norton Ghost 10.0, Stellar Data
Security and Acronis True Image 9.0 we have
reviewed a set of tools that safeguard your
hard disk’s contests by effectively creating
images of your files. In these versions, we’ve
seen several improvements in user interface
Applications
and ease of use. If you are swamped with
digital photos and are looking for a fun
way to touch them up, add special effects
and share them with family and friends,
Ulead Photo Express 6.0 is just the tool. It
has more features than most home users
would ever need and it’s plenty of fun to
use. For all you music buffs out there, you’re
going to love Fruity Loops Studio 6—the
| The Ratings Explained
The parameters used for evaluating
software are assigned a graphical rating
out of a scale of 5. These parameters include
performance, features and ease of use. The
overall rating shown in the reviews is based
on all these factors.
In addition, there is a value for money rating
for each application. This rating is obtained
Pramod Jadhav
latest release of a well-known sequencing
and looping audio production application.
From novices to pros, it empowers you to
create some very professional-sounding
tunes and have fun while doing so. Panda
Platinum 2006 Internet Security is a suite of
programs that safeguards your computer
from Internet-based threats. If you’re
the geek who’s never satisfied with your
system’s speed and are always looking at
pushing it further, TweakNow Powerpack
will help unlock several speed boosts inside
various components of your computer. Then
we have FileZilla which is an easy-to-use
FTP client for browsing FTP servers easily
and quickly. With its small install size,
comprehensive functionality and nice
price (free!), it’s a must-have for your
Internet toolset.
by stacking the features and the utility of the
application against its price.
In the case of freeware and shareware
tools that are available for download from
the Internet, we replace the price with the
download size (and therefore the time taken
to download the application) for arriving at
the value for money rating.
INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP | MARCH 2006

The importance of backing up
W hen dealing with a corrupt Windows
installation or lost files, there’s
nothing that quite offers the comfort of
having a backup. Adopting a different
approach to traditional backups, Norton
Ghost has built a name for itself with its
ability to completely clone your system into
an image file that can later be restored in
case of a file system fault or hard disk crash.
Other than working with individual files,
it operates on the principle of a sector-for-
sector copy of your hard disk, enabling the
content to be exactly duplicated.
Installation is straightforward. During
this process, the program goes through
a driver validation process to ensure that
the Symantec recovery disk contains the
necessary drivers of the storage devices
present on the computer. This is critical
to allow you to boot your computer and
access drive images on a storage device,
in case Windows is unable to start. During
the activation process of the installation,
the computer is required to be connected
to the Internet without which the program
will only function for 15 days. Also, the
program intrusively requires Microsoft .NET
Framework to be installed, significantly
adding to its install size.
The box contains two disks—Norton
Ghost 10.0 with Norton Ghost 2003
MARCH 2006 | INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP
bundled. The Norton Ghost CD is bootable
and enables you to start the computer and
access stored drive images even if your
Windows installation is corrupt. The box
also contains a friendly and informative
user guide. It starts off by listing data loss
scenarios and assists in suggesting courses
of action depending on the problem.
The program’s main interface is
straightforward, containing three
sections—Backup, Restore and Status.
Clicking on each of these opens a set
of associated tasks. The backup section
allows you to create a recover point (drive
image), edit backup schedules, view backup
progress and copy your hard disk. All
processes are wizard driven—for example
while backing up, it helps you select the
target drive, destination for the recovery
point, backup method, compression,
schedule, etc. This step-by-step
functionality makes it a snap to complete.
During the backup process, a slider lets you
control the amount of processing power
used during the backup. This lets you
throttle back resource utilization to let
you work smoother while the backup
is in progress.
Once a backup is created, it can be
accessed quickly by simply clicking on its
entry in the backup list. Backup schedules
TESTED | APPLICATIONS 85
Backup Tool
Norton Ghost 10.0
System requirements: 300 MHz processor or higher,
256 MB RAM (384 MB or higher recommended),
160 MB available hard disk space, Microsoft .NET
Framework 1.1
Price Rs 2,242
Contact Symantec
Phone 09324604427
E-mail shreekant.c@ingrammicro.co.in
website www.symantec.com
RATINGS
Ease of use
Features
Performance
Overall Rating
Value for money
can be modified subsequent to creating the
backup. Since recover points can take up
a significant amount of storage space, the
program allows you to optimize how they
are stored by defining limits to the space
taken and automatically deleting older
recovery points.
It is now possible to browse within a
recover point making it more convenient
to recover individual files or folders.
Additionally, this version even has the
ability to mount a recovery point as a
logical drive in Windows. With this, you
can access individual files in your recover
point and this drive can even be shared
and accessed over the network—very
functional and utilitarian in a corporate
environment. Another interesting feature
added to this version is event-triggered
backups where a backup procedure
automatically starts after detecting certain
system event—each time an application is
installed or when data on a drive exceeds a
pre-set limit, for example.
With an easy-to-navigate interface and
excellent functionality, this is a valuable
tool for protecting your system against
eventualities.
For: Simple interface; powerful features.
Against: Requires .NET framework to be
installed.
86 APPLICATIONS | TESTED
Photo Editor
Ulead Photo Express 6.0
System requirements: Microsoft Windows XP,
Intel Pentium III 450 MHz (700 MHz or higher
recommended), 64 MB RAM (128 or more
recommended), 420 MB of available hard disk
space, display capable of 800x600 resolution
Price $ 29.99 (Approx. Rs 1,440)
E-mail www.ulead.com/pe
RATINGS
Ease of use
Features
Performance
Overall Rating
Value for money
Tweak and manage your pictures
W ith a plethora of images being
created by people today—be it
from a digital camera, a mobile camera
or scans from old photos—managing
them becomes quite a task. Also, the need
for sharing images and porting them to
different devices is increasingly important.
You’d definitely want to transfer your
favorite vacation picture to your cell phone
and use it as wallpaper, right? Ulead Photo
Express 6.0 offers these capabilities in a
fun-to-use package. With its generously
beveled interface and large, indicative
buttons, it’s simple to learn.
The main interface of the program
launcher features four buttons for
Browsing, Editing, Creating and Importing
images. There are buttons on the top of the
application that let you perform several
tasks on your image. You can import photos
from a digital camera or scanner or from
a video capture device attached to your
computer. After doing so, functions such as
Batch Adjust lets you run a variety of tasks
such as cropping the image, straightening
it (especially for images that have been
scanned), adjusting brightness, contrast,
hue, color focus, etc. These can be executed
on one or several images at a single go.
However, we found it was not possible to
preview the effects of these tools while
using the batch command.
Double-clicking on an image opens it
in an interface that provides a variety of
fun tools for enhancing or modifying it.
The toolbar on the top consists of several
buttons that expand into drop-down
selections consisting of a number of
associated tasks. For example, there is a
Selection tool for selecting specific areas
of your image by color, shape, etc. The
Effects button gives access to several
filters like lens flare, distort and warp. The
Adjust button lets you remove red-eye
from subjects in your image, automatically
enhance hue, color and brightness, etc.
After touching up your image, the
Decorate function enables you to add
fun special effects like funky edges
Decorate your images with plenty of
photo effects
around images, frames, etc. After you’re
through with dressing up your images,
the Create button lets you assemble them
into a slideshow, greeting card, calendar,
slideshow, wallpaper or even export
to a mobile phone as wallpaper. This
functionality makes it easy to share images
across devices.
If you need to create printouts of
you images, you can do so in a variety
of formats. Besides normal prints, the
program creates tiled images, posters,
T-shirts and tiled-print sheets. Within each
of these, there are several settings for
tweaking the outcomes of each of print
method.
Throughout this imaging program, all
functions are clearly described and the
online help file adequately explains its
functions and capabilities. But more than
poring over help files, the fun in using this
program lies in trying out all the functions
and experimenting with its capabilities.
This application is highly recommended
for young photo and imaging enthusiasts
and for users who don’t want to be
bothered with the nitty-grittys of digital
photo editing.
For: Very simple to use; feature-rich.
Against: Not possible to preview effects
while using the batch command.
INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP | MARCH 2006

Three-in-one tool
A data loss can happen any time.
If you’re the kind who values the
prudence of taking precautions, this data
safety suite from Stellar offers a utilitarian
set of tools. It consists of three applications
that together address an individual’s data
safety needs.
The first is a backup tool for creating
images of your hard disk’s files. With this,
the user can backup specific folders on the
hard disk or choose from profiles allowing
specific backups like Outlook files, registry,
favorites, Windows Address Book, etc. There
is also the option of filtering specific files in
these selections. The resulting image can be
saved to the local disk, on a network drive
or even uploaded to an FTP server. You can
select from an incremental backup or a full
backup with additional options for deleting
files currently in the destination folder or
compressing them. The wizard allows you
to schedule these backups daily, weekly,
monthly, yearly or at user-defined times and
dates. The program can even send e-mail
Safe from online threats
B undling a comprehensive suite of
applications for enabling security
during your Internet usage, Panda Platinum
2006 contains an anti-virus, firewall, anti-
spam and anti-spyware applications.
During installation, Panda Platinum
interestingly detected McAfee anti-virus
as an ‘incompatible program’ and would
only proceed if it was uninstalled. It even
offered to initiate McAfee’s uninstall
process. That being done, it proceeded to
install its various components. At every
stage, the application presents indicative
and helpful prompts—ideal for novices to
configure its components like the firewall,
content filtering, etc.
After installation, the main program
window displays a status of the various
components. There are three sections
here—Security protection, Unwanted
content filters and Updates and
subscription. By expanding the views in
each of these section, the status of the
components are visible. Individual settings
can be configured for each of these. In the
first section, for example, you can turn
MARCH 2006 | INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP
TESTED | APPLICATIONS 87
Backup Tool
notifications of the backup status—very
useful in a corporate environment.
The second application is a tool for
Stellar Shield 3.0
monitoring and reporting the health of your
computer’s hard disk drive. This tool runs in
the background and logs the temperature
and the S.M.A.R.T. status (a technology
found on most drives for monitoring drive
integrity) of the hard disk, and pre-empts
System requirements: Any IBM-PC compatible
imminent hard disk failure by issuing a
computer, 64 MB RAM (128 MB recommended),
warning. The third program is called Stellar 100 MB available hard disk space, Windows
Shield—a file recovery tool that enables 9x/ME/2000/XP (may not run on Windows NT)
deleted data to be safely recovered.
Price Rs 3,000
Besides its intuitive wizard-driven Contact Stellar Information Systems Ltd
interface, we found these tools to be Phone 124-4045819
effective and surprisingly quick, making it E-mail sales@stellarinfo.com
website www.stellarinfo.com
a wise toolkit for individual or corporate
applications. However, there were a RATINGS
Ease of use
few stray instances of instability we
Features
encountered especially when the program
Performance
was set to run on system startup.
Overall Rating
For: Straightforward; wizard-driven
Value for money
interface.
Against: Plain design; stray stability issues. Find it on CHIP
System Security
Panda Platinum 2006
on or off the virus scanning functionality,
select what types of files to track (files on
disk, e-mails and chat messenger transfers),
etc. The other sections enable Internet
access control, fraud protection for online
transactions (such as phishing attacks) and
protection against systems vulnerabilities.
There is a useful side bar that also offers
information on each of these threats.
The next section protects against junk
System requirements: 300 MHz processor, 128 MB
e-mail and spam. This can be configured to RAM, 160 MB available hard disk space, Windows
add e-mails and domains whose messages XP/Windows 2000 Pro/Windows Millennium/
are to be excluded from scanning. The last Windows 98, Internet Explorer 5.01 or later
section helps manage automatic updates Price Rs 3,595
and Internet proxy settings for enabling Contact Panda Software India
the application to access the Internet. Phone 011-23418199
E-mail marketing.india@pandasoftware.com
Offering a holistic approach to
website www.pandasoftware.com
protection against online threats, this
RATINGS
application is a good one-stop shop for
Ease of use
keeping your system safe while surfing,
Features
while being relatively light on system
Performance
resources.
Overall Rating
For: Wizard-driven configuration;
Value for money
comprehensive protection; informative
Against: Doesn’t co-exist with other anti- Find it on CHIP
virus applications.
88 APPLICATIONS | TESTED
FTP Client Feature-rich and free
FileZilla 2.2.18
T his is an FTP client developed under
the GNU license. It’s small, fast, free
and yet boasts plenty of the configuration
and FTP control options you’d find in
most commercial FTP clients. Among its
salient features are the ability to resume
uploads/downloads (if supported by
the server), SSL connections for added
file integrity, firewall support, drag and
drop functionality across the Windows
System requirements: Windows XP/2000, 64 MB RAM,
interface, SOCKS 4/5 and HTTP 1.1 protocol
3 MB available disk space
support, a Site Manager for saving FTP
Price Free server settings, a Keep Alive system that
Website www.sourceforge.net/projects/filezilla
helps maintain connectivity, etc. Since
RATINGS this is a GNU-covered application, if you’re
Ease of use inclined to do so you’re free to add features
Features and functionality to it and recompile it to a
Performance new version using the MS Platform SDK.
Overall Rating
The main interface is split into five
Value for money
windows: the message log, the local view,
the remote view, the transfer view and the
status bar. A Quick Connect bar at the top
of the screen allows you to directly feed
in an FTP server’s address information
Backup Tool
Mirror your data
Acronis True Image 9.0
T his is a powerful, yet simple to use
application that helps protect your data
by saving it to an image file. This file can
later be used to restore its contents in the
event of data loss or a hard disk crash. The
program allows you to backup your entire
hard disk on a sector level where it creates
a mirror image of the state of your entire
system—the OS, folders, program, user
System requirements: Pentium-compatible processor,
settings, etc. You can also use it to create
32 MB RAM, Windows 95/98/ME/NT/2000/XP images of personal data in individual files
and folders. These images can be saved
Price $ 49.99 (Approx Rs 2,390)
Website acronis.apposite.com.hk
on a variety of media including hard disks,
writeable CDs and DVDs, USB drives, etc.
RATINGS
The main program interface presents a
Ease of use
lucid collection of icons and explanations
Features
that describe each of the program’s
Performance
Overall Rating
operations. Actions are grouped by tasks that
Value for money allow you to either backup your disk, restore
a previously created image, clone your entire
drive or add a new disk. By cloning your
hard disk, you can create a mirror image of
your existing hard disk to a new one—very
useful if you need to transfer your OS and
applications to a new drive without having to
re-install everything. The ‘Add new hard disk’
and the username, password for quickly
hooking up to a remote FTP server. You can
also enter this information using the Site
Manager, which stores it for quick access
later on. While connecting to the server,
you’ll see FTP-specific status information
in the message log, with the windows
showing the local and remote files on
the left and right respectively. The queue
window at the bottom lists the files being
transferred along with information such as
elapsed time, remaining time, progress bar,
etc. All of FileZilla’s configuration options
are accessible through the settings menu,
where parameters such as firewall and
proxy settings, directory caches and speed
limits can be accessed. You can choose to
store these configuration settings in either
the registry or in an XML file.
For: Plenty of functionality in a small
size. It’s free and re-compliable for added
features.
Against: Some of the more advanced FTP
features like inter-FTP transfers are missing.
feature enables you to prepare a new hard
disk by formatting and initializing it.
Besides its basic drive image
functionality, the program features several
other useful tools. For example, it can
mount an existing drive image, where it
shows up as a system drive in Windows
Explorer, letting you conveniently view and
access image contents without needing
to restore them. If, for example, your
Windows installation becomes unstable
and refuses to boot up, you can launch the
application in standalone mode, enabling
it to access saved drive images even before
the operating system loads. The program
also enables you to create bootable media
for restoring images to your system.
With most of its functionality accessible
through step-by-step wizards and
helpful prompts, Acronis True Image is a
thoughtfully created application enabling
data protection and preservation.
For: Easy access to all of its features.
Utilitarian additional functionality besides
its drive image capability.
Against: None.
INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP | MARCH 2006

System boost
D eep down, don’t we all believe that our
computer can perform faster than it
actually does? TweakNow Powerpack 2006
Professional is a tool that will appeal to the
little geek in you—be it boosting the speed
of your hard disk’s file access, speeding up
your Internet connection or optimizing
system memory.
The program’s main interface looks a
lot like Windows’ Control Panel, with icons
representing various areas of Windows
such as the processes manager, system
RAM tweaker, disk cleaner, registry cleaner,
system optimizer, Windows enhancement,
track cleaner and system information.
Using these tools, a user can perform
a myriad of performance tweaks such
as modifying the priorities of running
applications for better response, tweaking
system RAM, periodically cleaning out
extraneous files from the hard disk,
enhancing the appearance of various
Windows applications or erasing tracks
created while using your computer and Web
Rhythm and groove
W hen it comes to creating funky
trance, RnB and hip-hop tracks using
a computer, there are very few applications
that can outshine Fruity Loops. Like its
catchy name, this program has invoked
creativity for the musically inclined through
its numerous past iterations. In its present
avatar, it boasts powerful capabilities and
sophisticated tools that allow real-time
effects on audio during playback, an
open architecture allowing for several
third-party plug-ins and effects like VST2
and FL instruments.
While advanced users will find the
interface familiar to their recording studio
gear, it does tend to be intimidating for
a first timer. Being a music sequencer at
heart, there are several related concepts
and fundamentals that need to be
understood before producing sensible
music. Here’s where the comprehensive
help system comes in. With in-depth
and comprehensive descriptions of its
numerous capabilities, it is easy for even a
first-timer to jump right in.
During the setup process the program
MARCH 2006 | INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP
TESTED | APPLICATIONS 89
System Tweaking
browser. With the RAM optimizer, you can
define thresholds for how much free RAM
you need in your system, and configure
TweakNow Powerpack 2006 Pro
the program to run a preset times or if the
free RAM falls below the set threshold.
The Windows tool offers access to plenty
of hidden features in common Windows
applications such as the Media Player,
Internet Explorer, Desktop, Start Menu,
Windows Messenger, etc.
System requirements: Pentium-compatible processor
The program also includes many other
or higher, Windows 98/Me/2000/XP/XP/x64
nifty tools. For example, the Virtual
Desktop feature lets you run up to four Price Shareware ($ 34.95 to buy,
approx Rs 1,670)
exclusive desktops on you computer
website www.tweaknow.com
simultaneously. You can also edit the OEM
information on your system, configure the RATINGS
Ease of use
CD autorun functionality and configure the
Features
program to automatically shut down your
Performance
system at a given time.
Overall Rating
For: Quick access to plenty of Windows
Value for money
enhancement features without inundating
the user with unnecessary options. Find it on CHIP CD
Against: Not the most comprehensive of
tweaking tools.
Audio Production
FL Studio 6 Fruity Edition
automatically sets itself up for your
particular hardware. The main interface
consists of three main areas—the Channels,
the Mixer and the Playlist. Using these
sections, you can proceed to setting
up the instrumentation on the various
channels (bassline, drums, synths, etc).
You can compose either by using a MIDI
keyboard connected to your computer
or using the intuitive step sequencer System requirements: Pentium II-compatible
that lets you ‘paint’ musical sequences processor or higher, Windows 95/98/
onto tracks using the mouse. Once the Millenium/2000 or XP, DirectX-supported sound
card, 30 MB available hard disk space, 16 MB
basic track is in place, the real fun starts
required (64 MB recommended), CD-ROM drive
by overlaying effects on each of your
instruments or entire tracks—there are Price $ 99 (Approx Rs 4,720)
website www.fruityloops.com
hundreds to choose from including reverb,
chorus where virtually every parameter of RATINGS
these effects can be individually modified. Ease of use
Features
Plus, there are numerous techno-effects
Performance
to create professional sounds. Your work
Overall Rating
can be exported to CD Audio or MP3 for
Value for money
distribution.
For: Funky interface; immense audio Find it on CHIP CD
processing functionality; professional-
quality song production.
Against: Rather steep learning curve.
90 APPLICATIONS | FEATURE

Diagnose your PC
Everest 2006 ultimate edition is a one-stop shop that lets you get up,
close and personal with your computer, literally!

D
iagnostic utilities have been around since the time PC was
invented. Slowly they started trickling down from the
engineers and debuggers to the end users. Currently there
are full fledged diagnostic utilities which give in-depth information
on each component inside the computer to the end users. Everest
Ultimate Edition 2006 from Lavalys is the mother of all the diagnostic
tools—with its comprehensive diagnostic modules, you can find out
the finest of details regarding any component of the PC. Users who
don’t want to get their hands dirty by digging into the registry or going
through the device manager can take advantage of this extremely
simple and friendly utility. Apart from providing detailed information,
it also includes some useful benchmarking modules that offer basic
benchmarking of core components. Everest also offers some powerful
features like temperature, voltage and fan RPM sensor readings which
help you monitor critical components of the computer. Everest 2006
Ultimate edition is vast and hence it’s nearly impossible to cover all
the modules. We have covered the most impressive and sought
after modules, explaining the utility, usage and importance of these.
The free version of Everest Ultimate Edition 2006 restricts some
of the readings and values while the full version does not hold
anything back
| Soham Raninga

Sensor Information The sensor is one of the most crucial
components of the diagnostic utility.
The sensor readings are taken from the
motherboard and hence the motherboard
model and its sensing capabilities are
very important. Latest motherboards are
equipped with much better overall sensing
technology, while older motherboards don’t
support extensive sensing. The Everest 2006
sensor will give you temperature readings for
the processor, GPU or the graphics chipset,
hard drive and the overall motherboard
ambient temperatures. The CPU and GPU
temperatures are very crucial for users who are
experimenting with overclocking the system
as well as those who are troubleshooting. In
case of troubleshooting, with temperatures of
all the crucial components displayed together,
it is easier to isolate a particular component
that is heating more and causing the system
to fail or reboot. The second and equally
important aspect is the rpm of the cooling
fans. A computer makes use of the fan to cool
the CPU, GPU, motherboard chipset as well as
the case. With support for measuring the rpm
of the fans, you can monitor the fans and can
spot a failing fan with the low rpms. Lastly,
the voltage values, though not accurate,
are good indicators of the performance and
stability of the Power Supply Unit (PSU). You
can identify a faulty PSU when the sensor
shows drastic anomalies in the derived and
promised/expected voltages on the 12 and 5
volt rails.

Everest Ultimate 2006 provides extensive
information on the CPU inside your
computer. The CPUID, CPU and Overclock are
the three components that together provide
information on the CPU. The “Overclock”
option under the “Computer” module
typically provides details on the CPU type
w.r.t name, core type, stepping and name.
It also gives real-time CPU speed in MHz
along with the multiplier and FSB settings.
The total CPU cache in the form of L1 and
L2 cache size is also given under CPUID.
The CPU option under the “Motherboard”
module gives additional detail about the CPU Information
CPU. The supported instruction sets (MMX,
3DNow! SSE2) along with the manufacturing
process, die size and number of transistors
are also provided. Such intricate details
are a bonus for enthusiasts and geeks who
would not let go until they know everything
about their CPU. Lastly, the CPUID does
the job of assimilating all the CPU-bound
information under one roof, and giving
additional details on the CPU which though
very rarely referred to, can be put to use
when required.

INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP | MARCH 2006

 FEATURE | APPLICATIONS 91

The overall system performance and
compatibility heavily depends on the
motherboard and the chipsets used by
the motherboard. Hence, information
on the type of motherboard, the ports,
expansion slots and support are all very
crucial. The “Motherboard” option under
the “Motherboard” module particularly
gives information on the mainboard and
its features. Information on the Front Side
Bus (FSB) width, real-time clock speeds and
bandwidth are provided along with memory
bus and chipset bus properties. The physical
information with respect to the number of
expansion slots, RAM slots and integrated
devices is also listed. This information saves
the time and pain of actually opening the Motherboard Information
system just to check whether it has an
AGP slot for graphics upgrade or if you
can add more memory to the system by
populating another RAM slot. Particular
information on the motherboard chipset
is given by the “Chipset” option under the
“Motherboard” module. This option gives
exact information on the North Bridge and
the South Bride used by the motherboard.
Information regarding the AGP/PCIE
controller, integrated sound chipset Error
Checking Code (ECC) support and FSB
speeds is very valuable for users keen on
investigating the minutest of details on
the motherboard.

Memory information Very often you end up being confused
with what kind of RAM your system
uses, what is the speed in MHz and what
latencies it runs at. With high-performance
processors heavily depending on RAM
performance being released for the mass
market, it’s crucial you know the type
of memory your system uses and the
specification it carries. The “Memory”
option under the motherboard module
gives basic information about the total size
of physical memory and its usage. It also
gives information on the virtual memory
or the swap file which is allocated by the
operating system. The “SPD” option under
the motherboard module gives details on
each of the DIMM slots occupying the RAM
stick. You can get the exact rated memory
speed, latency, type and of course the storage
capacity of the RAM stick. The memory timing
is the most crucial component, indicating the
exact latencies that the RAM can run at as
stated by the manufacturer. Many a times, the
RAM in your system runs at slower latencies
due to the “default” or “safe” settings which
might not allow the memory to run at its best
possible timings. After obtaining the exact
latency timings, users can actually fine-tune
the memory performance by resetting the
timings to optimal level.

A separate module labeled “Benchmark”
gives benchmarks for memory and CPU.
The Benchmarks are split into particular
sub-modules which test various aspects
of the hardware component. Memory
benchmarks are split into read, write and
latency tests. Similarly, CPU benchmarks
are also granular in nature. The results are
clearly given with scores and are compared
with the inbuilt database which has a log
of almost all the latest CPUs. The “Tools”
menu further gives more comprehensive
benchmarks for cache, memory, hard drives
and optical drives. The cache and memory
benchmarking suite gives read, write,
copy and latency tests for the system Benchmarking
memory as well as the L1 and L2 cache
in the CPU. The Disk benchmark suite
is even more comprehensive, allowing
you to test the read, write and access
capabilities of the drives. The disk tests
also gives a CPU consumption reading
while the benchmarking is in progress,
giving an idea of the load the CPU goes
through when the disks are under usage.
Benchmarks and diagnostics for CRT and
LCD monitors are also included here.
Each and every benchmark and test is
explained clearly and is simple to execute
and analyze.

MARCH 2006 | INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP

92 APPLICATIONS | FEATURE
3DMark 2006 hands on
We decided to test-drive the latest version of 3DMark and the results are very
interesting...
F
uturemark has been consistently updating its graphics card
benchmark by incorporating latest features and technologies
and gearing them up for the next level of GPUs. 3DMark is
almost a de facto standard used to gauge the overall performance
of a graphics card, including both its processor and memory
subsystems. Though 3DMark 2006 is essentially an update to 3DMark
2005, it incorporates latest features that test the performance
SM2.0 Graphics Test - Canyon Flight
3D Mark 2005
SM2.0 Graphics Test - Firefly Forest
3D Mark 2005
HDR/SM3.0 Graphics Test - Return to Proxycon
3D Mark 2005
capability of the cards for present and upcoming games. The three
demos from 3DMark 2005 are revamped with better lighting and
shadow effects. “Deep Freeze” is the new demo which is specifically
included to test new lighting and shading performance. Scores are
split into three sections with individual indexes for each, apart from
the overall score which is commonly used to compare performance
across graphics chipsets on a common platform.
| Soham Raninga
3D Mark 2006 “Return to Proxycon” from 3DMark05 is
being re-used in 3DMark06, but its uses the
updated engine, improved artwork and a new
shadow technique. The texture resolution is
beefed up and the lighting is more complex
when compared to the earlier version. There
are all in all 26 light sources in the test, each
dynamically effecting the scene. The stress
on particle count dominates this benchmark
along with extensive use of soft shadows.
3D Mark 2006 Firefly Forest is also repeated with an
additional firefly which almost doubles the
complexity of the scene. The lighting and
shadow effects along with foliage are simply
amazing. This test uses additional diffuse,
diffuse detail, normal and normal detail
maps. The rock surfaces also have specular
mapping, stressing particular areas of the
graphics processing unit.
3D Mark 2006 Canyon Flight from 3DMark05 has been
updated with the improved engine, HDR
rendering, use of SM3.0, a new shadow-
technique and a completely new shadow
filtering technique. This test gives an example
of a large scale outdoor scene with HDR
rendering, massive use of smooth shadows
and complex SM3.0 shaders. The scene is very
complex with large areas of water reflecting
the high canyon walls.
INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP | MARCH 2006
 FEATURE | APPLICATIONS 93

HDR/SM3.0 Graphics Test - Deep Freeze

Deep Freeze is a completely new graphics test, introducing an

Antarctic research base. Carrying a cinematic effect, it uses
other very subtle effects. This test is a good showcase for using
HDR effects in vast landscapes, and stunning dynamic soft
shadows. The snow uses enhanced shading model, 2 normal
maps and 1 color map. The metallic and other surfaces use
Strauss shading model. This test also uses the heterogeneous
fog, along with heavy use of particles, to create a nice snow-
storm effect. The snow also uses the subsurface scattering
effect. Overall, Deep Freeze is one of the most intensive
benchmarks for testing ShaderModel 3.0 performance.

Apart from the

overall score,
3DMark 2006
generates
seperate scores
for SM 2.0 and
HDR/SM 3.0.
This way, one
gets a better
overview of the
graphics card’s
performance

3DMark 06 scores (Overall) 3DMark 06 scores (SM 2.0) 3DMark 06 scores (SM 3.0)

2373 Nvidia GeForce 6800GS 996 Nvidia GeForce 6800GS 908 Nvidia GeForce 6800GS
3694 ATI X1800XT 1613 ATI X1800XT 1680 ATI X1800XT
4133 Asus N7800GTX Extreme 1925 Asus N7800GTX Extreme 1898 Asus N7800GTX Extreme
4501 ATI X1900XT 2068 ATI X1900XT 2236 ATI X1900XT

0 1000 2000 3000 4000 5000 0 500 1000 1500 2000 2500 0 500 1000 1500 2000 2500

Benchmark scores and performance

A new release of 3DMark is known to bring the best of the graphics cards to their knees and this one is no different. At best, top of the
line cards manage to touch 50 percent of the 3DMark 2005 scores. The ATI 1900XT leads the pack with a score of 4501 points, which is
almost 1/3rd of what it scores in 3DMark 2005. Similarly, even the 7800GTX and the 6800GS logged very low scores when compared to
3DMark 2005. With 3DMark 2006, the bar is raised once again and we will witness the race for crossing the 10K barrier in the coming
months. Just for the record, a card that crosses the 10K barrier will have to be more than twice as fast and powerful as the X1900XT
which currently boasts of 48 pixelshader units!

MARCH 2006 | INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP

94 APPLICATIONS | INFOGRAPHIC

How RFID works

Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) is currently
used in an array of applications; from waste
management to product tracking to highway toll
systems. Here we take a look at how this technology
helps in the production, tracking, and maintaining
of stock in a company’s inventory.

1. Mass generation
Consider milk cartons manufactured
in a plant. The cartons have a smart
RFID tag embedded on the carton that
stocks important information such
as its price, date of manufacturing,
unique batch number, etc.

2. Transportation of goods
The RFID tag has the capacity of
hoarding a wealth of information, so
shipment details such as the number
of the cartons and the destination
address can be stored in the tag
itself. The manufactured products
pass through various checkpoints
and are handled by various people
before they are finally unpacked and
displayed on store shelves.

Pramod Jadhav

A simplified explanation of how RFID
works from conception to execution in
a manufacturing unit
3. Warehousing and storage
Warehouses preserve a stock of all
products purchased and keeps track
of the number of cans present in the
store. If the stock falls lower than the
specified limit, the warehouse places
an order for more.
4. Intelligent reorders
Once a buyer purchases a carton and
picks products he/she has bought, the
list with the supermarket is updated.
5. Purchase history
Shoppers during a visit to a supermarket
carry items they wish to purchase in a
cart. The products get displayed on the
cashier’s PC as soon as the RFID tags
on the products come near the range of
the tag reader.
INFOGRAPHIC | APPLICATIONS 95
There are four key elements in
a basic RFID system:
A transponder – also known as tag, is cogitated
with data that uniquely distinguishes itself, thus
the concept of “automatic identification”.
A transreceiver also known as a tag reader addresses
radio communication through the antennas and
passes tag information to the outside world.
An antenna attached to the reader is used to
communicate with transponders.
A reader interface layer or middleware which
compacts thousands of tag signals into an
individual identification also acts as a passage
between the RFID hardware components to the
client’s application software systems, such as the
inventory, accounts receivable, shipping, logistics.
How the system works:
The tag is actuated when it goes through a radio
frequency field (generated by an antenna and
reader).
The tag sends out a programmed response.
The antenna that generates the field is attached to
a reader that detects the tag’s response.
The transreceiver (or reader) sends data to the
middleware.
The middleware sends data carried in the tags
to the systems requesting that information. For
example, this could be a database or ERP software
that is used for inventory management.
A word about Word
The beige box you’ve got sitting on you desk at home is capable of producing
documents that look as good as anything made by professionals
W
ord processing on a home
computer used to be a
tedious job. Those were the
days of WordStar, monochrome monitors
and dot-matrix printers. You couldn’t
even see effects like bold and italicized
text on your screen and you weren’t sure
what anything would look like until you
held a printed copy of it in your hands.
Fast forward to 2006 and practically
every home computer user has a copy
of Microsoft Office, the gold standard
productivity suite.
Today, what you see on screen is what
you get in print. Programs like Microsoft
Word have grown tremendously in terms
of features and functionality in the last
10 years or so and home and office users
have far more power in their hands than
they might be aware of.
Before proceeding, it’s important to
note that desktop publishing (or DTP) is
not the function of a single application.
There is no one single DTP program.
Desktop publishers use word processors
to prepare their matter and then use
page layout programs to manipulate
the appearance of that text on a page
as well as the tables, charts, images and
graphics that will accompany it. The most
commonly used page layout programs
for print publications today are Adobe
PageMaker, Adobe InDesign and Quark
Xpress. Page layout is what most people
refer to as desktop publishing, but it
is only one part of the process. Other
programs that come into play include
Adobe Illustrator or CoreDRAW for
creating vector illustrations i.e. drawings
and diagrams, and Adobe Photoshop to
edit images and photographs. In addition,
desktop publishing now encompasses
electronic and online publishing, so
additional programs might be used.
What Word can and can’t do
Today, the lines that separate programs
like Word from specialized illustrating,
image editing and page layout programs
have blurred. Designed primarily to
work with text, Word has evolved into a
program that is fully capable of handling
images, graphs, charts and illustrations.
It still isn’t on the level of page layout
packages such as Adobe PageMaker,
Adobe InDesign or Quark Xpress, but
most people don’t need that level of
functionality for their day-to-day needs.
First of all, your choice of program
should depend on what you need it for.
Word is a good option if you’re going
to produce text-based documents with
only a few images, such as letters,
official documents, pamphlets, flyers,
and leaflets. But image-heavy brochures,
booklets that require extensive
formatting and anything that involves
a lot of different formatting styles
and designs is best left to page layout
packages. The other major consideration
is how you plan to print your work—Word
is fine if you’re going to print only a dozen
or so pages on your home inkjet, but
high-volume jobs require a page layout
program that can handle the file formats
used by professional printers.
For home use, Word can handle pretty
much anything you could possibly need
to produce: school or college projects,
great looking cards, invitations and
letters. For offices, it’s suitable for
internal documents, letterheads and
reports. You’ll soon come to appreciate
the advantages of page layout programs
if you’re designing a newsletter or
magazine, which means you’re dealing
with a number of small articles and
pictures rather than one continuous
document. And don’t use Word
(especially WordArt) to design logos
since these often need to be printed at
different sizes. An illustration program
will allow you to print it at any size
without suffering a loss in quality.
Things to know about page layout
First and foremost, always remember
the purpose of the matter you’re working
Text wrapping doesn’t have to look staid
and boring
on. Everything from the selection of
fonts to the images and colors must
be appropriate to your specific project.
Your choice of fonts, layout and even
the size of the paper will depend on the
type of document you are producing and
how it is intended to be handled. Use
larger point sizes and more white space
for posters that will be displayed on a
notice board, and more descriptive text
in smaller font sizes for documents that
people will hold in their hands to read.
Page layout is all about manipulating
text and images on screen, so don’t be
afraid to try new ideas and see how
they look. Feel free to experiment with
margins, borders and the structure of
your pages. Remember to save your work
regularly, or even save multiple versions
of it so you have more choices.
It helps to type your text first, and
then place images (including tables,
charts and text boxes) to fit. Keep in mind
which images you want to place where,
and plan which page you want each one
to be on. Inserting images will displace
a large amount of text, so be a little
flexible when imagining the end result.
Pay attention to the visual appeal
of each page. Try to follow the rule of
thirds—divide your page into a 3x3
grid and align elements like pictures
and text boxes along those lines—for a
more striking look. And remember that
humans tend to scan pages starting from
the upper left and continuing in a “Z”
pattern. Place your most eye-catching
images on the upper half of the page, and
try to avoid starting new subtopics too
close to the bottom.
Use white space (any blank space
without text or images) generously,
and plan pages so that viewers’ focus
Your charts and graphs can look better
and convey more information
is drawn to the points you want to
emphasize. There are no set rules about
whether or not to use justified or left-
aligned text, so choose whatever you
think is appropriate to the subject matter.
How to get great looking results
with Word
Creating good-looking documents with
Word is just a matter of exploring the
program and becoming familiar with
all the options. First and foremost,
change the default font! Everyone’s
sick of 12-point Times New Roman. If
you want to grab eyeballs, a nice, crisp
font is the place to start. There are two
main types of fonts, serif and sans serif.
Serif fonts have decorative “curls” on
the ends of each character. These are
considered classical and elegant, and
connote a sense of stability and formal
establishment. Common examples
are Times New Roman, Garamond
and Book Antiqua. Sans Serif fonts use
straight lines without any curls. These
are used to convey a sense of neatness
and modernity, for example Arial,
Tahoma and Verdana. Similarly, thicker
or “heavier” fonts project a more formal
feel, and lend a serious, credible image
to your text. Thin, light fonts look crisp,
fresh and energetic.
Decorative and novelty fonts should
Use text boxes to break monotony as
well as draw focus to important points
be used only after careful consideration.
Whatever you do, do NOT type your
resume using Comic Sans!
The type of font you chose will
have a major impact on how well your
work is received, but that isn’t the only
consideration. While you can use more
than one font in your document, try to
make it look as uniform as possible to
avoid the impression of clutter. If you
aren’t happy with the fonts you have,
there are thousands available for free
online. Try your luck at sites such as
www.1001freefonts.com.
Now it’s time to explore the lesser-
known font manipulation options in
Word. Click Format>Font… and try out all
the options there. Click on the Character
Spacing tab, and you’ll find options to
fine-tune the appearance of your text.
You can tweak the spacing between
individual characters and also enable
kerning, a highly sophisticated method
of adjusting the spacing between specific
combinations of characters (like A and V)
so they look better.
Next, click Format>Paragraph,
where you’ll find options to tweak the
alignment, indentation and spacing of
paragraphs. One great way to make your
document look better is to manually
adjust the spacing before and after
paragraphs instead of hitting Enter
twice while typing. This is also an easy
way to make pesky paragraphs that are
running over into a new page fit where
they should. The Line and Page Breaks
tab in the same dialog box has a very cool
option called Widow/Orphan Control.
Checking it ensures that paragraphs will
never start on the last lines of a page
or spill over to a new page for one or
two lines!
Next up, it’s time to tweak your
images. You might be familiar with Text
Wrapping, the art of making text flow
around pictures, but here’s something
you probably didn’t know. Double click
on any image to open the Format Picture
dialog box. Select the Layout tab and click
the button labeled Advanced. You’ll see
many more options for text wrapping,
including how far text should stay from
the edges of the picture. The Picture
Position tab even lets you manually
specify the exact position of the image
on the page. (By the way you can also add
a border to your image using the Format
Picture dialog box.) But that’s not all! If
your picture is an irregular shape, you
can force Word to wrap text perfectly
around it, rather than in a rectangle.
Enable the Picture toolbar (select
View>Toolbars>Picture) and select the
second last tool, labeled “Set Transparent
Color”. Now just click anywhere in the
space surrounding the shape and voila!
Instant wraparound text! Click the Text
Wrapping button on the same toolbar
and select “Edit Wrap Points” to further
tweak the shape if you want to.
Nothing looks as tiresome as the
default charts in Microsoft Word,
and luckily there are dozens of other
options already built in. Effective chart
design goes a long way in making your
documents look professional. Tip: Use
Microsoft Excel to make your charts,
since it has a very flexible wizard that lets
you specify all options in one go. Check
out all the types of charts available, and
make sure you know what you need—a
single 3D 100 percent stacked column
chart can often illustrate the data in five
or six pie charts far more simply and
effectively. Specify names and labels for
all axes, and explore all the tabs in the
wizard to suit the look of your charts to
your document. To make data more easily
understandable, try the options under
the Data Labels tab, and enable the Show
Data Table option to integrate the chart
with a table for further clarity. Finally,
once the chart is created, double click on
each area, i.e. the legend, the background,
the walls of the chart and even each
individual column or line to bring up
its Format dialog box. Experiment with
colors, gradients and background effects,
and once you’re completely done, copy
and paste the chart into Word.
Text boxes are also a powerful way to
make a plain text document look more
interesting. They can be used to highlight
Use fonts, photographs, illustrations and formatting to make an impact
important points within your subject
matter. Here’s a quick tip to create
the perfect sized text box quickly and
easily—rather than creating a textbox
and then having to resize it to fit your
text, just type the text first, select it and
then click Insert>Textbox. You can
double click on the box border and
format it just like a picture, including
wrapping your document’s text around
it. You could also use a slightly different
font, spacing or paragraph style to make
it interesting.
And there you have it! These are
just a few pointers. Word has far more
hidden tricks that can help you create
some awesome looking work without
expensive and complicated page layout
programs. You’ll impress your friends,
family and colleagues, but what’s more
important is that you know they’re
looking at your work and reading it
with interest. A little attention to
presentation goes a long way. So start
exploring all the options Word has to
offer, and your boring old documents will
never be the same. ■
| Jamshed Avari

Personal data
Privacy risks in data transfers and corporate compliance
“You have zero privacy. Get over it”.
Scott McNealy, CEO, Sun Microsystems
Despite Scott McNealy’s blunt admonition
that Internet users should get comfortable
with the notion of vanishing privacy, 86
per cent of users are either very concerned
or somewhat concerned about electronic
privacy. The issue has generated intense
media scrutiny worldwide.
Data protection law in Europe
Privacy law structured in its present context
with data protection legislation on the lines
of the EU Model is the norm for any business
in the Internet economy. Compliance with
privacy law is of great practical relevance
for any company doing business in today’s
global information economy.
With the advent of electronic
commerce, the concept of ‘data transfer’
is much broader than what it used to be in
the past. Today, data transfer is a routine
activity in every day business transaction.
India has no data protection or privacy
laws. Privacy has been in most cases
interpreted as the right to be let alone as
enshrined in Article 21 of the Constitution.
However, except for the tort of unlawful
invasion of privacy, there is no recourse
against private parties.
Data transfers
The definition of “personal data” under
present European data protection legislation
(as envisaged by the EC Data Protection
Directive 1995) is wide enough for it to
cover practically any information held about
an individual. This is because the simplest
information such as a name associated with
a terrestrial address will constitute personal
data for the purposes of the legislation.
Holding such personal data requires
the organization in question to obtain
registration with the data protection
registrar (information commissioner) and
to provide specific details of the purposes
for which the data is held. All personal
MARCH 2006 | INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP
| Rodney D Ryder
rodney@preconcept.com
data, which is held must comply with the
following eight principles:
Personal data shall be processed fairly
and lawfully.
It must be obtained only for one or more
specific and lawful purposes, and shall
not be further processed in any manner
incompatible with that purpose.
The data held must be adequate,
relevant and not excessive in relation to
the purpose or purposes for which it is
processed.
It must be accurate, and where
necessary, kept up to date.
It must not be kept for longer than it’s
necessary for the purposes for which it
was obtained.
It must be processed in accordance with
the rights of data subjects under the Act.
Appropriate technical and
organizational measures shall be taken
against unauthorised or unlawful
processing of personal data and against
accidental loss or destruction of, or
damage to personal data.
Personal data shall not be transferred
outside the European economic area
unless the recipient provides an
adequate level of protection (equivalent
to the data protection principles within
the European Union).
Regretfully, the legislation does not
provide any guidance as to what is meant
by the word “lawful” in the context of data
processing. Decided case law suggests
COLUMN | APPLICATIONS 99
that the natural meaning of “unlawful” is
“something which is contrary to some law
or enactment or is done without lawful
justification or excuse”. An essential
prerequisite for the processing of personal
data is that the data subject has given
consent to the processing. That consent
must be informed and unequivocal. It’s
important to recognize that if a request to
supply data is not adequately fulfilled then
the data holder may be the subject of a
criminal prosecution under the legislation.
One of the fundamental consequences of
Internet usage is that national boundaries are
easily crossed, often without the knowledge
of the users. It’s not unusual for Internet
trading sites to carry personal data about
customers. There is, therefore, the risk that
the personal data might, albeit innocently
and inadvertently, move outside the confines
of the European Union. This is potentially
a major problem for data users. That’s
because under the Data Protection Act, no
personal data can be exported anywhere
outside the European Union unless it is sent
to a jurisdiction with equivalent legislative
protection for data or unless it is subject
to express confidentiality provisions. Data
‘exported’ to call centers, BPO operations in
India is governed by a contract structured
in terms relating to European law, with
jurisdiction and governing law in Europe.
Any business user of data must care
about the operation of the legislation
because there are quite a number of issues
which need to be taken very carefully into
consideration to ensure that the use of
personal data is in accordance with the
principles of the relevant legislation and
is also consistent with the terms of the
registration which all users must obtain. ■
Rodney D Ryder heads Preconcept
(www.preconcept.com), a service law
firm with cutting edge specialization in
Intellectual Property, Media and Technology
Lawrodney@preconcept.com
100 APPLICATIONS | FEATURE

Free space
Make the best use of free online
file hosting sites

H
ave you ever felt helpless not being able to share
documents, home videos, voice recordings,
music or photographs with people who rarely
check their e-mail accounts or those who’re always
busy? How about sharing huge files with hundreds
of people? In such situations, using optical media is
pointless. The solution is simple. Host the files and
distribute the links via phone call, SMS or e-mail so that
people can download them from anywhere at their
own convenience. This way you can be sure of one thing
—you won’t have to worry about e-mails bouncing back
or clogging the inboxes of recipients. Also, you need not
worry about people not having an e-mail account.
Apart from sharing files, you can even use it to create
online backup of your critical data. With sites offering njir e
th Va
w ana
over a gigabyte of hosting space, size of the data doesn’t V ish

matter.
Let’s drill into what file hosting is all about and take a
look at a few sites offering free file hosting service.

What’s file hosting? Features of file hosting sites

The name says it all! In simple terms, it means hosting
files which are uploaded on an online host or a server
so that they can be downloaded anywhere in the world
using a computer that has access to the Internet. The
hosting server is a super-fast computer having terabytes
of storage space and a constant, high-speed connection
to the Internet. The need for such a monstrous computer
for a hosting server is obvious. Storing millions of user
accounts and terabytes of files and handling thousands
of simultaneous upload, and download requests from
all over the world 24 hours a day throughout the year is
certainly a Herculean task.
One-click hosting: Unlike web hosting sites which are
dedicated to hosting web sites that require registration,
most file hosting sites don’t require user registration.
Instead, they offer an interesting feature called ‘One-click
hosting’. Here, the user simply has to upload a file on the
host server by specifying the file and then clicking on the
upload button. After the file is uploaded, the site returns
a short URL which can be given to other people, who can
later download the file. Some hosting sites also have a
field wherein you can specify the e-mail address of the
person who you wish to send the URL of the uploaded file.
The method of deleting a file on one-click hosting sites is

Step 1 Step 2
Step 3

Select the file you wish to host Upload the file to the host server Make note of the link and share it

INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP | MARCH 2005

 FEATURE | APPLICATIONS 101

Free online storage sites

Website One-click Capacity File types Max file size Image gallery Duration
hosting
www.mytempdir.com ✓ 40 MB All 40 MB ✕ 21
www.rapidshare.de ✓ 100 MB All 100 MB ✕ No limit
www.sendspace.com ✓ 1.2 GB All 1.2 GB ✕ No limit
zip, rar, doc, pdf, txt
www.webfilehost.com ✓ Unlimited 10 MB ✕ 30
Media Files: mp3, wmv, rm
www.upload2.net ✓ All 25 MB ✓ 1 year
www.zshare.net ✓ 100 MB All 100 MB ✕ ✕ limit
www.yousendit.com ✓ 1 GB All 1 GB ✕ No limit
www.filefactory.com ✓ 1.5 GB All 1.5 GB ✕ No limit
eng.webfile.ru ✓ 20 MB All 20 MB ✕ 7
www.uploading.com ✓ 300 MB All 300 MB ✕ No limit
www.gfoto.com ✕ 1 GB Images ✓ No limit
Images, audio, video,
www.putfile.com ✕ Unlimited 25 MB ✕ No limit
flash content

simple—along with the URL of the file, you
also get a URL to delete the file. Click on the
link and the file gets deleted in a jiffy.
Large files? No problem: Uploading large
files isn’t a problem—some file hosting
sites allow a maximum single file size of 20
to 40 MB. There are also sites which allow
you to upload a maximum file size of 1.5
GB for a single file. Since most one-click
hosting sites allow only a single file to be
uploaded, it would make sense to utilize
the space by uploading big files of music
and video. However, there are some sites
featuring multiple file support also.
Storage duration: After the files are
uploaded, there is no limit on the
duration of storage provided that they
are downloaded at least once during the
time period mentioned in the terms and
conditions of the hosting site. If you wish
to share a file for a few days, there are sites
that offer a definite storage period ranging
from a week to a month.
Online photo album: If you’ve got
photographs which you would like to share
with your friends or family members, the
easiest way to do it is by creating an online
photo album. All you’ve got to do is upload
the images and share the link. The best
thing is that you don’t need any application
to create it.
File hosting vs e-mail
Even though major web based e-mail
service providers like Hotmail, Yahoo and
Gmail offer massive storage space, using a
file hosting service is far more preferable
due to the following reasons:
Unlike webmail which restricts the
maximum single file size to a few
megabytes, using file hosting you can
upload a file up to 1 GB in size.
If you forget to include one e-mail
address while sending a mail to many
with a big attachment, you’re calling for
trouble. Because even if you have a
copy of the sent mail, you’ll have to
forward the e-mail all over again. Giving
the link of the hosted file to people
would be a better option.
Storing huge files like videos or
high-resolution images would hog
humungous space on your e-mail
account. And, one day you will find
your inbox jammed. Such a problem
is eliminated by hosting files. Imagine
the amount of space you would be
saving.
If you wish to share a file with
colleagues at work or friends at school
or college, you need not remember
everyone’s e-mail address; simply give
them the link to your file.
Finally, uploading or downloading files
from the host doesn’t require the user
to have an e-mail account.
www.gfoto.com
Creating an online photo album could
never get as easy as using www.gfoto.
com. After registering on this site, you get
a personalized URL using which people
with who you share it can view your album
from anywhere in the world. Uploading
the images to the album is a breeze using
applet displaying a Windows Explorer-like
interface having a thumbnail view. After
uploading the images, you have options to
rotate images and add comments to them
on the fly. Creating multiple huge albums
with hundreds of images is not a problem.
This site not only offers a few MBs but
also a whole gig of storage space. If you
don’t want to make your album public,
you can even create password-protected
private albums.
The next time you wish to share those
precious memories captured in photographs
with your friends and loved ones across
cities or overseas, create an online album to
light up their faces with a smile. ■
| Anand Tuliani

MARCH 2006 | INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP

102 APPLICATIONS | FEATURE
Radio refreshed WorldSpace’s satellite radio is gaining ground as
an alternative medium for listening to music
A
pple’s iTunes might
have had a grip on
the music scene
for quite some time now. But in India,
although the legal download market
is showing rapid growths, a sizeable
music loving population is not game for
downloads yet (it’s only recently that MP3 players
have redefined the concept of personal music and
more so for the mobile populace). They still prefer
to listen on their trendy music systems or the age-
old radio. While, the coming of FM revolutionized
radio listening in India to a great extent, a lot of the
music-hungry citizenry were left craving for music
of the rare kind and a wide plate to choose from.
It’s only then that WorldSpace, which pioneered
satellite radio worldwide, launched its digital audio
services in India. But sadly even before a
considerable size of the public could tune
into satellite radio, the services faded
into oblivion because of no impetus on
marketing and the issue of high-
cost barriers. Cut to 2004 and the
country witnessed the
resurgence of satellite
radio with WorldSpace
in a new avatar; it’s
not unusual that since
then we have watched
listeners driven into
a musical frenzy
unseen before.
Dine
sh D
e s ai
WorldSpace India, a subsidiary of WorldSpace
Inc, has been screaming about its subscription-
based services over the last months in several
major cities in India. A technology company that
eventually metamorphosed into a media company,
Worldspace leveraged on the unique features of
satellite radio by providing immense value to the
subscribers. These features include an extraordinary
platter of music stations, outstanding quality
content and service, and a refreshingly clutter-free
environment virtually free of advertising of any
kind. Not surprisingly then, WorldSpace today
has a base of over 1,15,000 subscribers across
the globe (a sizeable portion of this consists of
Indian listeners). The fourth quarter of 2005 saw
an addition of 40,000 subscribers, increasing the
subscriber base by more than 50 percent.
Satellite broadcasting of radio programs:
WorldSpace beams audio content across the globe
through strategically positioned satellites. The
two geostationary satellites—AfriStar and AsiaStar
have three beams each, with each beam having
the capability to send up to 80 channels directly to
portable satellite radios. The content is recorded
in digital quality in a studio and then encoded, and
sent to the satellite from a ground station. The
satellite then transmits the signal to special receivers
at your home where embedded chipsets decode
the broadcast. Satellite radio signals are broadcast
in digital form, which means no fading of sound,
no noise or distortion and listeners are presented
with clear and CD quality audio. Every WorldSpace
satellite radio is equipped with a data port that
transforms it into a wireless modem that can be
used to download data to PCs at rates of up to 128
kbps. Therefore, one this service is made available
to you, your WorldSpace receiver can also serve as a
device capable of broadcasting multimedia content.
WorldSpace earth stations: WorldSpace
satellites use onboard processing to enable
program reception from many stations. Content
providers on the WorldSpace system can uplink
their programs via the traditional hub method,
sending broadcast signals to a central location
for transmission to the satellite. A second mode
enables use of smaller, more mobile Feeder
INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP | MARCH 2006
2005

Link Stations (FLS). Onboard processing
technology converts these multiple signals
at the satellite, combining them into a
single downlink signal before transmitting
them back to earth.
Focus: Worldspace’s metamorphosis in
India came about with an increased focus on
communication activity. Initially, there were
very few stations. “Today at WorldSpace, we
beam over 40 stations playing a range of
music, news, sports and other information
directly to millions of households across the
world,” says Andy Ras–Work, worldwide
COO, WorldSpace. Listeners get an
opportunity to choose from a wide range of
musical genres from classical to popular and
regional to international hits. An aggressive
push in approaching music companies and
radio and TV broadcasters lifted the content
base to include a rich and comprehensive
package of news from CNN, Bloomberg, BBC
Asia West, NDTV (English and Hindi), music
from two Indian classical stations—Shruti
(Carnatic) and Gandharv (Hindustani), as
well as from regional Indian stations that
include Tara (Bengali), KL Radio (Tamil),
Sparsha (Kannada), RM Radio (Malayalam)
and Spandana (Telugu). Recently four
new stations have been added to its
network—Tunak Punjabi (Punjabi), special
interest stations like Moksha (spirituality
and wellness) and Radio Art of Living
(The Art of Living Foundation on radio),
and PLAY (India’s first 24-hour dedicated
sports radio station).
Tie-ups with local vendors such as
BPL resulted in slashing the cost of the
receivers, which would otherwise have to
be imported. A reduced subscription rate
helped in augmenting revenues. Though
currently the annual subscription rate
is Rs 1,800 per year (Rs 150 per month),
customers get a bouquet of services, and
spend less than what they would on CDs
every month. Receivers are a one-time
investment; at present customers have a
choice of four receivers—and from what
we last heard about prices, the BPL Diva
(Rs 3,790) and the BPL Celeste (Rs 4,990)
are affordable while the Tongshi (Rs 8,190)
and the Polytron (Rs 6,790) are a bit high up
the scale. The BPL Diva is now available at
a special price of Rs 1,999, which includes
3 months’ subscription. However, this is a
MARCH 2006 | INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP
| WorldSpace’s USPs
You can choose from over 40 radio
stations, each catering to a specific
musical genre.
Digital quality music, virtually ad-free. The
stations and programs are music-focused
and committed to leading listeners
through a journey of musical exploration.
An entire radio station dedicated 24x7 to a
genre of music means in-depth exploration
of the genre beyond the obvious.
Listeners are offered truly national radio
stations—which means a Malayalee
living in Kochi or Mumbai can tune into
Malayalam music on RM Radio.
limited period offer only.
The experience zones or ‘lounges’ as
they are known as, in cities like Bangalore,
Chennai and Hyderabad, have been a boon
to listeners wanting to touch base with
WorldSpace. Each of these zones has the
right ambience for listening to music with
bean bags and listening posts. So in case
you like what you hear, you can sign up for
the service and take a receiver home.
However, more importantly, adding
mobility to its radio services will see an
upscale in revenue for WorldSpace. After
all, who wouldn’t welcome radio sans
insipid jockey talk while they on the move?
Making the receivers portable in India will
go a long way in increasing the listeners’
base, agrees Andy Ras-Work and says that
they have plans to implement the same.
Educational services: Moving forward
with its subscription-based business
model, WorldSpace depends on a non-
profit organization it created called
First Voice International (FVI—www.
firstvoiceint.org) for humanitarian and
educational programming. FVI, which is
endowed with 5 percent of the WorldSpace
satellite system, provides the vehicle for
corporate social responsibility, it offers
distant education programming to the
most remotest regions. The WorldSpace
receivers can be powered with electricity,
batteries or solar panels for those areas
that are off the electrical grid. FVI provides
satellite bandwidth at low costs.
In India, WorldSpace intends to
take education to various parts of the
country with the help of its Digital Audio
FEATURE | APPLICATIONS 103
Broadcasting (DAB) technology. Unlike
traditional broadcasting of programs,
WorldSpace’s superior satellites enable
easy and smooth transfer of voice and
data—therefore teachers will be able to
send presentations of their lectures to
students via the Internet who in turn will
be able to interact with them via instant
messengers, etc.
Promotion: Satellite radio is still like
a nouveau radio service for many in
India. Reason why WorldSpace is focused
upon creating more awareness among
the audience through a 360-degree
communication campaign launched across
nine cities in India. The campaign includes
print, radio and outdoor advertising,
customer contact programs based on
one-on-one interactions, ‘experience zones’
in the form of mobile experience vans,
participation in a range of ground events
and concerts, and a recent alliance with Café
Coffee Day playing only WorldSpace radio
stations. It also recently signed a MoU with
Webel Electronics to explore technology
transfer for the assembly, installation and
commissioning of broadcast infrastructure
that work in conjunction with WorldSpace’s
satellite radio offering.
With a slew of promotional schemes, a
new MD—Shishir Lall—entrusted with the
responsibility of spearheading the growth
strategy drawn up for 2006 and just going
live in Kolkata, WorldSpace seems zeroed in
on establishing the fact that it’s indeed not a
replacement for download or other mediums
but a complimentary medium which will keep
music aficionados riveted to its stations. ■
| Sharmistha Dey
Reinventing Learning
Our education system where a student’s success is centered more on marks other
than comprehension, is in dire need of revival. Albeit in a small way, that revival has
begun. CHIP meets one such institution driving this change…
F
or a minute, let’s step back and
question the very root of the issue
of education. What does it entail
really? When a child is sent to nursery,
junior school, high school, college and
university, what does the system really
expect him or her to take away? Are the
tools of knowledge imparted using today’s
techniques adequate armament for a
young worker headed out into the world?
While this topic has been argued to death
at numerous casual and formal platforms,
there is no real sign of any change.
Refinements, if any, happen at a superficial
level, leaving the system to go about its
modus operandi of drilling fact over fact
of textbook literature into increasingly
fatigued minds of our students today.
These are the kinds of issues that
impelled Prof Kirti Trivedi to think about
the system of Indian education and, on a
deeper level, the very core of the learning
process. Teaching at the Indian Institute of
Technology Mumbai, at the IDC (Industrial
Design Centre), Prof Trivedi has been
associated with the fields of visual design
and photography since the past 30 years.
It was this fascination with the world of
instructional design that led him to create
a product which now helps thousands
of children in villages, towns and cities
enjoy a new kind of education. Known as
the K-yan, this product is a marriage of a
multimedia computer and a DLP projector,
resulting in a portable computer that has
the propensity to convert any blank wall
into an interactive, engaging classroom.
The K-Yan was developed as part of a
project commissioned by IL&FS Education
and Technology Services. The mandate was
to develop an integrated multimedia-based
device that would facilitate group learning
in communities. Being a self-contained
unit, it is built to be transported between
teaching venues, enabling much wider
reach. When used with the right blend of
multimedia applications, the effect of the
large, vivid screen, the in-built speakers,
the networking capability and the wireless
keyboard/mouse, the K-Yan has proved its
efficacy in opening up a world of learning
and wonder to children in India and
abroad. Already into a second generation
of production, its manufacturing unit at
TVS Electronics in Himachal Pradesh will be
producing about 500 units per month. This
device continues to be promoted by the
Infrastructure Leasing & Financial Services
Ltd (IL&FS) and costs around 1.5 lacs. (We
covered the initial development of the
K-Yan in January 2004.)
The software behind the system
However, this is the half of it. More than
being a glorified multimedia computer
with a projector fused into it, the device’s
real power comes from the applications
that have begun to drive it. It is the
development of these new software-based
tools that has the propensity to reinvent
the way students can be taught. All of
this stemmed from Prof Trivedi’s ideology
pertaining to learning. Diametrically
opposite to the fact-funneling approach
adopted by almost every teaching system
today—schools, colleges and training
institutes alike—his philosophy speaks of
first inculcating an ethos of curiosity in
the minds of students. To him, this is the
only way in which a person can grasp the
very fundamentals of the world around
him, and from which the quest for learning
becomes inherent. The form and function
of the software tools created by him and
INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP | MARCH 2006

his team at their development center in
Mumbai is born out of this very ideology.
He maintains that the K-Yan and its
associated software tools are facilitators
of learning and not radically new and
powerful products. It is more the merger
of the capabilities of each of the system’s
components that, if used correctly, can
facilitate a rich learning environment.
These tools only reach the pinnacle of their
capability when they are intelligently used
as instructional tools along with teaching
methodologies that promote discussion
and multiple perspectives through
activities like active classroom discussions.
He believes that this is the combination
which would truly inspire students to
learn and continue learning. In the time
I spent with Prof Trivedi, this was aptly
demonstrated through the software.
Beginning at the very foundation, Prof
Trivedi and his team of developers are
creating teaching modules for students
ranging from pre-school all the way to
grade XII. This software initiative, known
as K-Class, is unlike any other multimedia-
based training application that you would
come across. Structured on his scientific
studies of learning and comprehension,
these tools do not deliver information in
the traditional top-down manner—instead,
they provide a range of relevant tools
that can assist the teacher to probe the
mind of students across various subjects.
All this is done in an environment that
encourages creativity and inquisition.
MARCH 2006 | INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP
Pramod Jadhav
He demonstrated several such modules theory follow later making it far easier to
pertaining to different classes and across understand. This is but one of the several
subjects such as mathematics, physics, examples I was shown on a wide variety
history, geography, etc. of subjects.
Another very innovative module is the
Experiencing the system one on pre-school learning. Targeted at
The design of the interface of the K-Class children at the pre-alphabet stage, the
is itself an interesting study. Structured system of explaining concepts here is
to closely resemble the objects you’d very innovative. In one charming example
encounter in a real-world classroom, the that teaches about the different kinds of
application’s main interface contains fruit, the module starts off by displaying
elements like images of books on a library images of an actual fruit stall. It then goes
stand, whiteboards, colored painting on to stress on understanding particular
tools, tools for drawing shapes, etc. These characteristics in fruit by showing it in
modules deviate from the usual splash different sizes, comparing it to other
screen followed by screen upon screen of similar fruit, etc. It is this approach that
information ending with an interactive marked the difference between traditional
question-answer module. Instead, the onus methods of teaching—while children are
of directing the flow of the lesson plan is traditionally asked to identify fruits from
placed on the instructor. Using these tools, a chart and by associating the fruit to a
the teacher presents scenarios—many of word, their understanding of the concept
them from real-world examples—where
students can see phenomena happening,
and derive the concepts from there on.
For example, in the demonstration of
the lesson on physics, the concept of
trajectories of moving objects is illustrated
by a video clip of a person throwing a
ball at several angles and examining
how far it traveled. This is followed by a
video of a child holding a hose pipe and
pointing it higher and lower—seeing the
natural phenomenon being played out
conveys the concept of the subject and
not the mathematics behind it. Once the
concept is grasped, the mathematics and
106 APPLICATIONS | FEATURE
of a fruit is marred by the fact that they
are still not fully aware of he concepts of
words! Prof Trivedi elucidates this approach
saying that if a child is able to identify the
characteristics of a fruit or vegetable or
even an animal, regardless of its shape
or type, his mind will then graduate to
isolating key characteristics. It is from
here that comprehension stems where he
will finally be able to abstract identifying
information and use it creatively in other
contexts. After that, associating it with
a particular word will be a comparatively
insignificant step in the entire process of
learning and comprehension.
Providing tools
Throughout each of these lessons, the
K-Class interface is designed to provide
access to a set of related tools that help
the teacher during a lesson. For example, in
the geography lesson plan, the toolbar on
the side contains Google Earth along with
links to local and web-based geography-
related resources. These tool sets change
to suit every lesson plan. These tools
are all culled from new-age information
resources, most of which are web-based,
such as Google earth, Wikipedia, etc.
Placing them all in one interface provides
a palette of opportunities that can then be
used to stimulate a student’s mind. When
combined with the visual approach of
representing ideas and concepts, coupled
with interactive discussions and viewing
a topic from multiple perspectives and
contexts, he found that comprehension
is that much easier. Interestingly, in most
of his lesson plans, there is very little
use of the written word. This language-
agnostic approach enables his teaching
aids to be used across cultures and
demographics—he believes that the visual
approach of conveying information is a
language unto itself. Also, once language
is separated from the learning process,
the barriers of comprehension and the
subtleties generally lost in translation
are no longer issues. With basic concepts
illustrated through images and video, it is
left to the teacher to further explain this in
a language of their choice, resulting in a far
wider reach.
Another feature of these modules is
The K-Yan system integrates a
multimedia computer with a
projector, facilitating large-screen,
interactive teaching
their ability to be extended. According to
Prof Trivedi, the process of learning opens
new avenues to additional questions and
directions. This would necessitate students
and teachers to be able to supplement the
material already contained in the K-Class
modules with additional media of their
own. The system’s library can therefore be
augmented with user-created or externally
procured audio, video or text files that can
be categorized and recalled subsequently.
This is being made possible with a module
under development called K-Content Creator
that will allow students and teachers to
create their own learning material and
integrate it into the K-Class system.
Prof Trivedi explains that some of the
biggest problems faced while deploying
these systems in the vast majority of rural
classrooms is that of infrastructure. Very
often, power is so erratic that the device
and consequently the classes are left
at the mercy of power availability. Also,
being a device of significant potential, its
efficacy comes to the fore only when used
correctly and in an enthusiastic classroom
environment. This is a challenge while
teaching teachers to use the system and its
associated application software.
All of this represents a radical
departure from the norm in teaching.
In fact, these teaching systems clearly
indicate a sea change from present-day
education. But such a system would
only reach the pinnacle of its existence
if it’s accepted and used within the right
context and in the right manner. IL&FS
is coordinating with several central and
state governments to make these systems
available to government run schools via
educational programmes like the Sarva
Shiksha Abhiyan, Primary and elementary
education programmes, etc. The device has
also found acceptance in several private
schools across the country.
How far-reaching the effects of such
systems will only be dictated by their
acceptance and institutionalization by
today’s government bodies—not on a
local level, but by ensuring their mass
popularity. As is with the introduction
of any radically new system, it is bound
to meet with opposition, especially in
light of the complacency of present-day
education systems. If today’s education
has to produce talent to meet the needs of
our country’s pace of advancement today,
we believe that it is innovation such as this
which will drive the change. ■
| Marco D’Souza
INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP | MARCH 2006
107 APPLICATIONS | FEATURE
An alternative OS
Installing a new operating system is like an adventure sport—exciting for some and
harrowing for others. Find out how the events unfolded while installing PC-BSD
L
ast year, I had attempted to install
FreeBSD 5.4 on my computer. The
experience is still quite fresh in my
mind. Maybe because it was the least
user-friendly installation routine I had ever
attempted. After about three attempts,
I gave up—I could not bring up the GUI.
On hindsight, I realized it must have had
something to do with my motherboard—an
Nvidia nforce2 chipset, which I am very fond
of despite its *nix compatibility problems.
So when I came across PC-BSD, I had my
reservations. But then what is life without
an adventure, right? So I eventually decided
to install PC-BSD. Not one to plunge into
unfamiliar waters, I decided that some
‘Googling’ was in order. Apart from all the
information I found about the installation, I
came across some really interesting trivia.
BSD—an acronym for Berkeley Software
Distribution—owes its existence to the
University of California, Berkeley. It is
a Unix-based operating system that is
developed and maintained by a large
team of individuals. (Many web sites are
hosted on BSD). BSD contains (almost)
MARCH 2006 | INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP
everything you need for a running system,
including kernel, C libraries, command line
tools, installation programs and a system
to “integrate and update third-party
applications”.
Just like Linux, BSD comes in a
number of flavours—both commercial
and free. Major flavors include FreeBSD,
OpenBSD, NetBSD, DragonflyBSD, PicoBSD,
TrustedBSD and PC-BSD. Incidentally, Apple
Macintosh OS X, which is derived from
Open Darwin, is also one of the BSD flavors.
Pico BSD is another flavor that is quite
noteworthy. It allows you to have secure
dialup access, a small diskless router, or
even a dial-in server. What is so great about
this, you may ask? Well, all these can be run
off a mere 3.5-inch 1.44 MB floppy!
For those who care to know, the BSD
Virtual Memory system is claimed to be far
superior to that of Linux—it uses available
memory resources more optimally. This
results in a stable system which is ideal
for mission critical server applications. I
guess that is why FreeBSD is the operating
system for the biggest single-machine ftp
FEATURE | APPLICATIONS 107
Pramod Jadhav
server in the world, ftp://wcarchive.cdrom.
com/. Sites like Yahoo have also used
FreeBSD for providing Internet services.
That’s one hell of a job for FreeBSD. Since
PC-BSD is a reworked version of FreeBSD,
it is therefore optimized for desktop use.
(FreeBSD has a mode that allows you to run
Linux applications on it. As a result, almost
all Linux applications run on FreeBSD with
practically no performance drop.)
Hard Disk Nomenclature in BSD
With all this trivia and all the technical
information required for the installation
under my belt I was ready to install PC-BSD
on my computer. I have to admit that
my earlier experience with BSD came in
handy here. Unlike Linux, BSD will only
install onto a Primary partition. This
peculiarity is applicable to PC-BSD as well.
Another unique characteristic of BSD is its
nomenclature for hard disks. It refers to
the first hard disk as ‘ad0’ and ‘ad1’ for the
second hard disk. These are suffixed once
again to denote the partitions (‘slices’ in
BSD). For example, the second partition
108 APPLICATIONS | FEATURE
Dddddddddd
Install PC-BSD, reset the graphic
configuration or partition your drives
after booting from the CD
on the first hard disk would therefore be
‘ad0s2’. As far as space requirements go for
this distribution, a 5 GB slice will do just
fine for the install. The file system used by
BSD is ‘ufs2’ and it is capable of reading
and writing to VFAT, ext2/3. It can also read
NTFS partitions.
Install and Konquer
When you boot with the installation CD,
you are first greeted with the BSD boot
menu (this appears during every boot
sequence). Choose the default option to
boot to BSD. Shortly thereafter, you will
be greeted with an ncurses menu which
has options for configuring the language
(default is US English), keyboard (default
is US), disk partitioning by fdisk (this is
also ncurses driven, and is reasonably
user friendly; only keep in mind the
disk/partition naming convention) and
graphical install. On selecting this option
the graphical interface comes up. It is slick
and similar to the GUI used by Fedora. The
hardware detection was quite good. All my
hardware including my optical scroll mouse
was properly detected and configured.
During the installation, BSD makes its
own ‘sub-partitions’, including a swap
space, within the assigned ‘slice’. These
have an additional suffix starting from
‘a’. Consider another example, the BSD ‘/’
partition on the second partition of the
first hard disk would therefore be called
‘ad0s2a’. An experienced user can configure
this ‘sub-partition’ scheme as per his or
her requirements. However, for most users
(who will most probably be newbies), this
is really not required. Another thing to note
about BSD is its boot loader. It uses its own
boot loader, which can apparently load
Choosing the right boot loader option
is one the most important installation
decisions
other operating systems as well. Installing
this into the Master Boot Record (MBR)
as the primary boot loader is really not
recommended if you already have a Linux
distribution installed on your computer. If
you have Linux installed then one can boot
to PC-BSD by ‘chain-loading’ it with the
help of GRUB. I would highly recommend
this over the PC-BSD’s native boot loader.
If you intend on installing PC-BSD only on
your computer then you can opt for the
BSD bootloader to install on the Master
Boot Record instead of the boot partition.
Partitioning and Boot Loader Options
The only inputs required from the user
are about partition selection, and boot
loader installation. Both are critical
decisions. For partition selection, in case
you have more than one disk, you have the
option of selecting the appropriate disk.
The default option is to use the whole
disk—certainly not recommended. Since
the disk partitioning has already been done,
just select the required Primary partition
using the nomenclature as described earlier.
The next critical decision is about the boot
loader. De-select the MBR option, and
select ‘No bootloader’. This option writes
the bootloader into the BSD partition and
permits chain-loading using GRUB. Once
this is done, the operating system and the
complete applications packages are copied
to the selected ‘slice’. You have no control
over the package selection. On my machine
with an AMD Athlon XP 3200+ processor,
1 GB RAM, and a Seagate Barracuda PATA
hard disk, the install took about 12 minutes,
including the post install configuration. The
only other thing left was to create a ‘root’
account and a user account. At this point
Post-installation reveals a familiar
desktop environment - KDE 3.4
make sure you deselect the ‘auto-login’
option for security. With a new user created,
the installation completes and clicking on
Finish will restart the machine.
Post Installation
The default option boots into PC-BSD with
KDE 3.4.2 as the desktop environment—the
version I installed on my machine (as of
now the version available is ______).
You have to login as a normal user, since
‘root’ is not permitted in GUI logins. I have
to say that KDE’s startup tune came as a
pleasant surprise to me. KDE 3.4.2 is a slick
interface and it is accompanied with a very
decent bundle of packages covering most
requirements. Konqueror is the default
package in KDE. While it is a fairly good
web browser, I prefer working with Mozilla
Firefox or Opera (no ad banners and very
fast). Unfortunately, neither of these is
installed. Another glaring absence is that of
a word processor.
All my hardware was detected—all
except the network card. PC-BSD, like many
other distributions, configures detected
network cards with DHCP. Since my Internet
connection uses the network card with
a static IP address, I had to configure it
manually. For this you have to open the shell
console, sign as ‘root’ and run “sysinstall”.
This will require you to enter the following
commands pressing Enter after each one,
$ su
password: <type root password. This
changes the prompt and makes you the
‘root’ user>
# sysinstall
This opens up a ncurses menu, which
permits the user to configure the various
components of the system, including
INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP | MARCH 2006

system security settings. For configuring the
network card, select ‘Configure Networking
Interfaces’ from the menu. This will display
a list of devices detected by the system.
Select the appropriate device, and configure
it. Enter the necessary parameters to
configure the network card - IP Address,
Netmask, Default Gateway & Primary
Nameserver. Once you are done, it will
give you the option to start the device.
If this does not work then rebooting
the system will get the network card to
become functional. Another thing you
will need to take care of here is the list of
devices that appeared earlier. Disable all
the devices that appear above yours. This
is because the systems seems to load the
first one in the list—ignoring the one that
has configured. This will require selecting
each device and deselecting the option to
‘bring up the device’, when you exit the
device configuration menu. This is kind
of tedious and it could be worse. Like my
network configuration, which was not as
simple from the start. The nforce2 chipset
which supports the network interface
too is not natively supported in PC-BSD.
Hence, the device did not show up at all.
I solved this issue by downloading the
driver from www.pbidir.com. Obviously, I
had to boot to another operating system
on my computer to do this. I saved this
file on a primary VFAT partition so that I
could retrieve it while working in PC-BSD.
(PC-BSD does not seem to be able to work
with extended partitions/logical drives). If
you visit the site www.pbidir.com, you will
come across a list of a number of software
packages in the *.pbi format. I downloaded
the nforce driver for my motherboard
(nvnet20050312.pbi). It also works for
nforce1 chipsets. Unfortunately, Nforce3
chipsets are not yet fully supported.
Install Additional Packages
While you are at this site, you might as
well download Mozilla Firefox (the latest
version available), Opera 8.5, Ktorrent
(BitTorrent client) and K3b (for DVD/CD
writing). Open Office 2.0 is also available,
which is a 94 MB download—much
time and bandwidth is required. After
downloading these packages, I restarted
and booted into PC-BSD. The /etc/fstab
MARCH 2006 | INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP
Configure your network card through the
ncurses menu
file showed only the Primary partitions on
the disks. The next step was to mount the
VFAT partition (ad0s3 in my case). For this
click on Kmenu Computer Disks. This opens
up a Konqueror window with the devices/
partitions which can be mounted. Right
clicking on the device gives the ‘mount’
option. Double clicking on the mounted
device to display its contents in a new
| Editing GRUB
If you intend on booting to PC-BSD via
GRUB (Linux’s boot loader) then some
editing is required. For this you will have
to add an entry in the ‘/boot/grub/grub.
conf ‘ file on your Linux distribution,
which GRUB is a part of. (In some distros
this file is called ‘/boot/grub/menu.lst’).
Boot into the Linux distro and as ‘root’
(Administrator, in Windows terms) open
the relevant file in any text editor, and add
the following lines:
title PC-BSD
rootnoverify (hd0,1)
chainloader +1
(hd0,1) is the GRUB naming convention in
which the first hard disk is hd0, and the
first partition on the disk is ‘0’. (hd0,1)
indicates that you have installed PC-BSD
on the second partition of your first hard
disk. Change this notation according to
your installation. “rootnoverify” may
not be required for the newer versions
of GRUB. However, adding it will not do
any harm.
Save the file and reboot the computer.
When the GRUB screen appears, it will
display an additional entry “PC-BSD”.
Selecting this will cause PC-BSD to be
booted.
FEATURE | APPLICATIONS 109
window. Installation of any *.pbi package
is a breeze. Right clicking on the package
gives the option ‘runpbi.sh’. Selecting this
option starts the install. You are asked for
the root password, and then the program
is installed by the graphical installer. It also
makes the required changes to the ‘Kstart’
menu—you may have to use the menu
editor to put the new menu entry into the
appropriate category.
After the ‘nvnet’ driver was installed
(it required a reboot to complete
the installation), it showed up in the
configuration menu (/stand/sysinstall) as
‘nv0’—it was on the top of the list of devices.
Now it was just a matter of entering the
relevant parameters, another reboot, and
the network was up and functional. Before
accessing the Internet, I set the system
security level to ‘secure’ using ‘/stand/
sysinstall’. It is not clear whether it is enabled
by default. The Internet is not the place you
should be without proper protection.
I have used PC-BSD for over a month. It is
a fully functional desktop operating system
that appears to be very stable, secure and
has a good mix of essential applications—
packages include glib-2.8.3, kde-3.4.2, and
xorg-clients-6.8.2. The multimedia player
‘kaboodle’ that is included plays MP3 files,
which is not bad at all, considering it is just
a single CD install. I had to install Mozilla
Firefox 1.0.7, Opera 8.5, K3b and Ktorrent,
and I hope some of these will be included in
the later releases.
PC-BSD has a graphical “Online update”
utility, which permits you to keep the
system up to date. For the more technically
minded, PC-BSD also supports the FreeBSD
package installation procedure using
“ports”. This essentially permits you to
download application source code, and
then compile it on the machine. I will
however, stick with the “Online update”
facility, and occasional downloads from
www.pbidir.com. The only grouse that I
have about PC-BSD is that you can’t access
logical drives from PC-BSD. But then, it
would be unfair to blame PC-BSD for my
decision to store my music on a logical
drive. All in all, PC-BSD turned out to be
a better desktop replacement and well
worth the install. ■
| John M
110
Dr. CHIP
No GUI in Linux
Dinesh Desai Q> I installed Mandriva Linux 2006 from
the CHIP DVD. The installation went on
fine but after it restarted I was not greeted
with a graphical login screen. Instead, it
was a plain text-only screen. Even after
Hands on
logging in, I reach the user prompt. How
do I get it started with the graphical user
interface?
-George
| How to Read the Code
All code lines and commands are
written in the following manner:
netsh•int•ip•reset•tcpreset.txt
where the • symbol denotes a space.
Hence, the above code line should be
typed as
netsh<space>int<space>ip<space
>reset<space>tcpreset<dot>txt
To change the mode a linux
distribution (in this case, Mandriva) boots
to, you need to edit the ‘inittab’ file. The
‘inittab’ file runs like a script during the
startup process. When you reach the login
screen (non-GUI mode), enter as ‘root’ (the
administrator of the system). If you are
already logged in as a different user then
type the following command and press
[Enter].
su
After pressing Enter you will be
prompted to enter the ‘root’ password
(since you want to log in as the super user).
When you type the password, you will not
see any changes in the password field on
the monitor. Don’t be alarmed, your input
will be registered. Press [Enter] after the
password. Now that you are logged in as
root, type the following command and
press [Enter],
pico /etc/inittab
Pico editor is used here to edit the
‘inittab’ file. When the file opens look for
the following section,
# Default runlevel. The runlevels used
Edit the inittab file to make the computer
change from the text to GUI mode
INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP | MARCH 2006

by RHS are:
# 0 - halt (Do NOT set initdefault to
this)
# 1 - Single user mode
# 2 - Multiuser, without NFS (The same
as 3, if you do not have networking)
# 3 - Full multiuser mode
# 4 - unused
# 5 - X11
# 6 - reboot (Do NOT set initdefault to
this)
# open Notepad (from Start | Programs |
id:3:initdefault:
The line “id:3:initdefault” has to be
edited. All you have to do is change the
value ‘3’ to ‘5’. Do not make any other
changes. Press [CTRL]+[X] to exit the Pico
editor. A prompt will appear asking you
to save the changes you made. Press [Y]
to save changes and restart the computer
by typing in ‘reboot’ and press [Enter].
The system will restart and you will get a
graphical user login screen.
If the ‘pico’ command does not work,
you can try using the VI editor. Type the
command,
vi /etc/inittab
Press [Enter] after typing this line. The
inittab file will be opened in the “Normal”
mode. Press the [I] to enter the “Insert
Mode” and edit the “id:3:initdefault” only.
After changing the number, press [Esc] to
get back to the Normal mode. Press the
following keys in sequence (not together)
to save the changes you made,
:wq
The changes will be saved and the
file will be closed. You will return to the
prompt. Restart the computer and this
time it will boot in the GUI mode.
Printer Problem
Q> I own a printer that connects to my
computer via the LPT port. The printer
worked fine for a few days after which
it stopped printing documents. I have
not made any changes to my system or
installed any software on Windows XP. Do
you think the printer cable is the cause of
my troubles?
-Rajat
There can be two reasons for your
printer refusing to print. You have more or
MARCH 2006 | INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP
DR. CHIP | HANDS ON 111
less stated them in your question itself. It is
either your printer drivers that might have
been altered, deleted or damaged or the
other reason might be a faulty cable. I am
assuming you have made sure the cable is
connected firmly on either side so as to rule
out a loose connection.
By running a DOS command from the
MS-DOS command prompt window, you
can use the ‘print’ command to find out
Create a new ‘Expandable String Value’ in
if the printer cable is faulty or not. First,
the folder and assign the default value to it
Accessories). Enter some dummy text and click Ok. Navigate to the following register
save the file in “C:” drive as ‘test.txt’. Click key after the Register Editor window
on Start | Run and type, appears,
cmd HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\
Click on Ok. In the MS-DOS command Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\
prompt window that appears after this, Explorer\User Shell Folders
type and press [Enter], Now check the values of each of the
print /D:lpt1 C:\test.txt items listed in the right hand side of the
If the printer prints the test file you Register Editor. Here is the list of all the
just created then it proves that nothing is “Values Names” that should be there with
wrong with the cable. All you have to do their respective “Values”. If there is any
now is remove the printer that has been Value that does not match with what is
installed from “Printers and Faxes” in the given here, delete it.
Control Panel. After removing the printer, (Note that all these value names are of
reinstall the drivers once again. the ‘Expandable String Value’ type)
You can also use another command,
which directs the output of the ‘directory’ Value Name : Value Data
command to the LPT1 (parallel) port. It is AppData : %USERPROFILE%\Application
usually used on Windows 9x machines. Data
Type, Cache : %USERPROFILE%\Local
Settings\Temporary
dir > lpt1
Internet Files
Press [Enter] and the printer will print a
Cookies : %USERPROFILE%\Cookies
list of all directories within the “C:” drive.
Desktop : %USERPROFILE%\Desktop
Favorites : %USERPROFILE%\Favorites
Error 1606! History : %USERPROFILE%\Local
Q> I’m experiencing a strange problem. Settings\History
I can’t install programs on my computer.
I keep getting an error message. Now, I
get the same error message when I try
to remove certain programs also from
Add/Remove Programs in Windows XP. It
just says, “Error 1606: Could Not Access
Network Location”. This is really annoying
me. The last thing I want to do is format
and reinstall Windows.
-Shaukat
Shaukat you have not mentioned
what sort of programs you have tried to
install or remove. Changes in some of the
default registry entries might be the cause
of this error.
Click on Start | Run, type ‘regedit’ and
112 HANDS ON | DR. CHIP

LocalAppData : %USERPROFILE%\Local CHIP-INDIA KNOW HOW | (www.chip-india.com/knowhow)

Settings\Application Data
Configuring user interface
Local Settings : %USERPROFILE%\Local
I have a question with regards to the user
Settings
interface in Windows 2000 Professional,
My Pictures: %USERPROFILE%\My which is my operating system. How can
Documents\My Pictures I configure my English user interface to
NetHood : %USERPROFILE%\NetHood display Spanish? Please help.
Personal : %USERPROFILE%\My - AOLSolution
Documents
PrintHood : %USERPROFILE%\PrintHood You should visit this link on the Microsoft
web site,
Programs : %USERPROFILE%\Start Menu\
http://www.microsoft.com/
Programs
globaldev/DrIntl/faqs/MUIFaq.mspx
Recent : %USERPROFILE%\Recent
It says, “Microsoft first introduced the
SendTo : %USERPROFILE%\SendTo Multilingual User Interface Technology for
Start Menu : %USERPROFILE%\Start Menu
Startup : %USERPROFILE%\Start Menu\ Value Name : Value Data
programs\Startup Common AppData : %ALLUSERSPROFILE%\
Application Data
Templates : %USERPROFILE%\Templates
Common Desktop : %ALLUSERSPROFILE%\
Desktop
Common Documents : %ALLUSERSPROFILE%\
To create a new value after deleting
Documents
an incorrect one, right click on “User Shell
Common Favorites : %ALLUSERSPROFILE%\
Folders” and select “New | Expandable
Favorites
String Value”. Enter the Value Name as Common Programs : %ALLUSERSPROFILE%\
mentioned in the list above and double Start Menu\Programs
click on it to enter the Value. The value will
Common Start Menu : %ALLUSERSPROFILE%\
be as given in the list above. Start menu
Now, navigate to another folder in the Common Startup : %ALLUSERSPROFILE%\
Registry Editor hive, Start Menu\Programs\
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\ Startup
Microsoft\Windows\CurentVersion\ Common templates : %ALLUSERSPROFILE%\
Templates
Explorer\User Shell Folders
Now, verify the following Value Names
with their data and delete in case of any After this verification and modifications,
discrepancy. Create another “Expandable close the Registry Editor and restart the
String Value”, name and modify its value as computer.
explained above.
Can’t start Firewall Service
Q> I use McAfee as the anti-virus solution
and its firewall for protection and
monitoring. I have not been using the
firewall for a while as it used to make
my computer a little slow. Now, when
I want to start the firewall because of
sudden increased threat of infection, it
refuses to do so. It gives me an error saying
something like a service was not able to
start. How do I make the service start?
-Darshan
To enable the service once again
click on Start | Programs | Control Panel
| Administrative Tools | Services. In the
Windows 2000 Professional
as ‘Windows 2000 Professional
Multilanguage Version’ and was later
extended to the Windows 2000 Server
Family.”
It is also available to other Windows
operating systems. You will get all your
questions answered here.
You need to install the MUI over your
English version (from the Control Panel)
in order to select other languages, which
you can get directly from the Microsoft
web site.
- neo_natasha and roco salgok
Since the services at the top of the list are
once again dependent on the ones below,
start with the lower ones first
Services window that appears, look
for the McAfee Firewall service (or the
firewall you are using on your computer).
Right click on it and select “Start”. If it
does not start and still gives an error
about some dependencies failing to start
then right click and select Properties.
Click on the ‘Dependencies’ tab and click
on the ‘+’ sign for the item under ‘This
services depends on the following system
components’. After you have expanded
the list completely, look for services (from
bottom of the list to top) with the same
name in the main Services window. Enter
their properties, make their ‘Startup type’
automatic and ‘Start’ the service. Only
after you have started all the services that
the McAfee Firewall service is dependent
on can you start the program’s own service.
Close the Service’s window and enable your
firewall now.
A blank System Restore
Q> I can’t run System Restore anymore on

INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP | MARCH 2006


my computer. The window does appear but
nothing is visible within it. I can’t even go
back to a previous restore point because
the utility does not work anymore. What
can I do? I use Windows XP Professional.
-Manoj
This sort of problem might be
because of a damaged Java script file. You
will need to re-register the necessary DLL
files. Click on Start | Run and type,
regsvr32 jscript.dll
Click on Ok. Run the same command for
the file “vbscript.dll”. Each time you register
a DLL file you will get a confirmation. If
you still get an error, then you will need
to replace the files with the ones on the
Windows XP CD. Place the CD into the drive
and click on Start | Run and type “cmd”.
Click on OK. Enter the following command,
replacing “X” with your optical drive’s
letter,
expand X:\i386\JSCRIPT.DL_ -r
C:\windows\system32
Press [Enter]. Now type the same command
replacing the file to be extracted from the
CD,
expand X:\i386\VBSCRIPT.DL_ -r
c:\windows\system32
If the System Restore screen still appears
blank then click on Start | Run, type
“regedit” and click on OK. Navigate to the
following folder (key) in the Registry Editor,
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\
CLASSES\CLSID\{f414c260-6ac0-11cf-b6d1-
00aa00bbbb58}\In procServer32
After clicking on “In procServer32” make
sure the value for ‘Default’ is “C:\
WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\JSCRIPT.DLL”. If not,
right click on ‘Default’ and select ‘Modify’.
Change the value to the path mentioned
here and click on OK. Also make sure the
“ThreadingModel” has the value “Both”.
Extract files from Windows XP CD from
the command prompt using the Expand
command
MARCH 2006 | INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP
Now, go to the following folders and carry
out the same tasks as you did above.
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\
CLASSES\CLSID\{f414c261-6ac0-11cf-b6d1-
00aa00bbbb558}\In procServer32
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\
CLASSES\CLSID\{f414c262-6ac0-11cf-b6d1-
00aa00bbbb558}\In procServer32
Close the Registry Editor and restart the
computer.
Page fault in Excel
Q> I have Office 2000 installed on my
computer. I use Excel quite often for my
projects and finances. Of late, it has been
refusing to open and it all ends with one
error that says it came across an invalid
page fault in ‘excel.exe’. What do you think
is the problem? Will I have to reinstall
Office 2000? I don’t have the CD with me.
-Arun
Try starting Excel in Safe Mode.
Note that this is not Windows Safe Mode
that is being referred to. It is Excel’s
Safe Mode that you need to start. This
loads Excel without processing any
customizations like toolbars and ignores
macros. Here is how you start Excel in its
Safe Mode. Click on Start | Run and type,
excel /s
Click on OK. By default, it should work.
If it doesn’t then verify the path ‘excel.exe’,
then use the Search or Find Files or Folders
tool to search for this file. Make a note of
the path and enter it in the Run dialog box
in the following manner,
"C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\
Office\EXCEL.EXE" /s
Excel will launch in Safe Mode, click on
OK. This should resolve the problem.
Otherwise, open Windows Explorer and
Make a note of the path where Excel.exe is
installed on your computer before running
the Excel Safe Mode command
DR. CHIP | HANDS ON 113
Need a hand with your PC travails?
Log on to www.chip-india.com/
knowhow and post your query. Voila!
You’re on your way to a glitch-free
future.
Info | For Accurate Diagnosis…
1. Mention system specifications.
2. Mention new hardware or software
installed recently.
3. Note the error message, including the
action or event that triggers the error.
For instance, the error message comes
up only during startup or shutdown, or
when starting a particular application
and so on.
4. Mention any changes you’ve made
just before you started getting the
error. For instance, have you deleted
some files recently or uninstalled
some application?
go to the following folder, “C:\Windows\
Application Data\Microsoft\Excel”. Look for
a file called “Excel.xlb” – this is your toolbar
in Excel with all your customizations.
It will have to be renamed to get Excel
to work again. This means you will lose
all your toolbar customizations. If the
extension is not visible then click on Tools
| Folder Options. Click on the ‘View’ tab
and uncheck “Hide extensions…” under
Advanced Settings. Save the changes by
clicking on Apply and OK. Now you will be
able to see the extension “.dlb”. Select the
file, press [F2] to rename the file extension
to “.old”. Start Excel once again. ■

Wireless Music Station
Learn here how to unleash your PSP’s Wi-Fi potential to play music wirelessly at any
corner of your home
S
o you know the PSP has Wi-Fi
capabilities and you also know that
you can play multiplayer games with
a PSP via Wi-Fi. But did you know that you
can browse and listen to gigs of music
stored on your computer’s hard drive on
the PSP wirelessly in any room of your
house? You can also listen to thousands
of international Internet radio stations on
your PSP wirelessly within a range of 100
meters anywhere inside your house. You no
longer need to buy separate music systems
for each room. Just connect the PSP to a
pair of speakers and you have a full fledged
music system at your service, anywhere.
In this workshop, we show you how to do
this by using two of the most popular PSP
homebrew (third party) applications for
Wi-Fi—the Wi-Fi Jukebox and PSP Radio.
After you finish with this exercise, you
will agree why PSP was touted as the best
gadget of 2005.
How it works
You need the following:
1) A version 1.5 PSP or lesser.
2) Wireless Access Point (WAP). You can
also use a wireless router with an access
point or a PCI Wi-Fi card which can be
configured in software as an access
point (for example, the Asus WL-138G).
3) Internet connection (Preferably 256 Kbps
for PSPRadio; the Wi-Fi Jukebox doesn’t
need an Internet connection).
4) Software application i.e. PSP Radio or
Wi-Fi Jukebox.
5) Windows PC (for Wifi Jukebox)
The PSP with in-built Wi-Fi capabilities
communicates with your computer
through the wireless access point.
Here is the detailed step-by-step guide
to get started.
STEP 1. Configure and activate your
access point
We have used the Asus WL-138G PCI Wi-Fi
card. It’s configured to work as an access
point in software. You can also use an
access point or a router with an access
point and configure it accordingly.
Install the Wi-Fi PCI card in an empty PCI
Umesh Dahiwalkar
Asus WL-138G PCI Wi-Fi card
slot on the motherboard.
Load the software CD in the drive and
follow instructions to set up an access
point in software.
After completion, note down the Static
IP Address and SSID.
STEP 2. Configuring your PSP for
Wi-Fi access
a) Slide the Wi-Fi switch to ‘on’ position.
b) Go to the main PSP Screen>
Settings>Power Save Settings>WLAN
Power Save and turn it “off”.
c) Go to:
1) Network Connections
INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP | MARCH 2006

Carefully enter the addresses obtained in the first connection
2) Select Infrastructure Mode
3) Select New Connection
4) Enter Connection name (eg: Connect)
5) For the SSID, hit “Scan” and the PSP
finds it and enters it automatically.
Then for encryption, you can either
enter a WEP key or use the option
“none”. We kept it as none.
6) Address settings “Easy”.
7) Press X to save and then “Test” the
connection.
If the connection is successful, note
down the settings on a piece of paper.
You will require it in the following steps.
8) Now using the first three steps,
create a new Infrastructure Mode
Connection (say for example:
Connect1).
9) Enter the WLAN settings in the similar
manner as in step no 5.
10) For Address select “Custom” and for
IP Address Settings select “Manual”.
11) Enter addresses noted down from
step no 7.
12) For Proxy Server, select “Do Not Use”.
13) Save and Test the connection. If
successful, on the next screen
right at the bottom, it will show
Connection: Successful.
STEP 3. Load the software on the PSP
This has been described separately for each
of the applications below:
Applications
Wi-Fi Jukebox
For: PSP with firmware 1.5 or lesser.
Imagine you have about 20 GB of music
on your desktop computer stationed in
MARCH 2006 | INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP
Main screen of the Wi-Fi Jukebox
your bedroom and you want to listen to it
in your living room on your music system.
Just connect the PSP to the music system
and wirelessly access the songs from the
computer on the PSP.
Concept: Wi-Fi Jukebox is a client/server
application which sends MP3s from your
Windows PC to your PSP using Wi-Fi and
an access point. The PSP Jukebox creates
two 10 MB buffers each to hold the song it
is playing and to queue up the next song.
MP3s larger than 10 MB will be skipped by
the client. Once the first song is buffered, it
will begin playing and the next song will be
sent. Once both songs are buffered, then
you can press R1 to skip the current song
and begin playing the next song.
Installation: Download both the “Wi-Fi
Jukebox server for Windows” and “Wi-Fi
Jukebox for PSP” files from the web site
mentioned at the bottom of the page.
A) For Windows Server
Install the program from “Wi-Fi
JukeboxServer-v0.0.2” folder and run it. In
the right hand bottom corner under server
settings for IP address, put the IP address
of the access point (we had 192.168.0.1).
Put the IP address of the access point in
the server settings
WORKSHOP | HANDS ON 115
Below that, in the open box under the
“Music Folder”, enter the path of the folder
in which the music is stored and hit the
reload button. For example, the artist
you want to listen to is in D:\Music\Bryan
Adams, just type in the path or go to that
folder and copy paste the path.
B) For PSP
Connect the PSP to the computer using
the USB cable. On the main screen, go
to Settings | USB Connection and hit the
button [x]. On your computer screen, go to
“Open the folder to view files”. Then open
the PSP folder and proceed to the Game
folder. Now copy the folders WIFIJUKEBOX
and WIFIJUKEBOX% from the folder Wi-
FiJukebox-v0.1c and paste it in the Game
folder.
C) Launch the Application
On the Main PSP screen, go to Game |
Memory Stick | Wi-Fi Jukebox Version 0.1c.
Put the same Music Server Address as in
step A i.e. 192.168.0.1. And you’re ready
to roll.
Official web site: http://www.globware.
com/psphomebrew_wifijukebox.php
Put WIFIJUKEBOX and WIFIJUKEBOX%
folder in I:\PSP\GAME
116 HANDS ON | WORKSHOP
Playlist screen: It lists your chosen favorite radio stations
Note: We have made an alternate URL for
it, so that it’s not difficult for you to type
the long URL address from here to your
browser. It will direct you to the same web
page as above. From now on, along with
the original URL, we shall also provide the
tiny URL for your convenience.
Alternate TinyURL: http://tinyurl.
com/cnon5
File Download URL: Same as above.
PSPRadio
For: PSP with firmware 1.5 or lesser.
You can listen to several international radio
stations wirelessly on your PSP in case
you don’t want to opt for satellite radio.
Whereever there is Wi-Fi Internet access,
you can stream music to your PSP from
international radio stations.
Concept: When you tune into an Internet
radio station, it streams music to your
computer. Similarly, using a wireless
Internet connection, the PSP connects to
the Internet radio station and it streams
A different skin of PSPRadio seen here
Shoutcast screen: It lists the top 600 radio stations
music to the PSP. You can go to www.
shoutcast.com to checkout thousands of
Internet radio stations playing all genres
of music.
Installation
This is exactly similar to steps B and C of
Wi-Fi Jukebox, the only difference being
the folders which you copy and paste are
“PSPRadio” and “PSPRadio%”. It is advisable
to have an Internet connection of 256
Kbps or more for lag-free streaming of
music. Lower connection speeds will also
do but then you will have to stream songs
of lower bitrates to compensate for lesser
bandwidth or else the music will break
occasionally.
Once into the application, hit the
“Start” button of the PSP to enter
the Options screen, enable the Wi-Fi
connection here.
There are three other screens
available to perform independent
functions:
Main Playlist Playback screen
It lets you play your own choice of
Options Screen: Enable Wi-Fi here, also use it to exit PSPRadio
Internet stations.
ShoutCast Playback screen
This screen gives you access to the top
600 Shoutcast radio stations. It is also
sorted so that you can select by genre
of music.
MP3/OGG Playback screen
Plays MP3 and OGG files on your
memory stick.
An excellent detailed guide on the
“Working of PSPRadio” is available for
download at
http://viscovich.dhs.org/pspradio/
PSPRadioInst37pre8.pdf
TinyURL: http://tinyurl.com/e48k9
Official web site: http://pspradio.berlios.
de/phpBB/index.php
TinyURL: http://tinyurl.com/dp9mz
Download web site: http://dl.qj.net/
PSPRadio-v0.38.03-Gaming-Consoles-PSP-
Homebrew-Applications/pg/12/fid/835/
catid/189
TinyURL: http://tinyurl.com/9fket ■
| Gaurav Seth
INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP | MARCH 2006
Dress it up
Give your Windows desktop a facelift like never before
I
1
f you’re the one falling for great looks
more often than not, you probably are
already bored with the same old boot
screen consisting of the Windows logo and
the desktop lined up with icons. Changing
wallpapers, themes and icons won’t keep you
satisfied for long. In case you have dreamt
of making Windows look like the Mac OS
or an OS from outer space, stop right here.
Not only can you transform your Windows
2
desktop into something totally different
but you can also customize the default boot
and logon screens. So, how about setting
Changing the boot screen
STEP 1. On running BootXP for the first
time, it will prompt you to make changes
3
to the file ‘boot.ini’ located in the root of
the system drive in order to use custom
boot screens. Clicking on ‘Save and run
BootXP’ will modify ‘boot.ini’ and back up
the original file as ‘boot.bxp’. It’s crucial you
don’t delete ‘boot.bxp’ as it will be required
to restore the default settings.
STEP 2. Plenty of boot screens are available
for download on www.themexp.org and
4 www.deviantart.com. To change the boot
screen, run BootXP and specify the folder
having the downloaded boot screen in the
first tab called ‘Your boot screens’. Select
the file ‘ntoskrnl.exe’ and click ‘Preview
boot screen’ button to see the boot screen
in action. Click on the button ‘set as your
boot screen’ and the job is done!
MARCH 2006 | INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP
the picture of your favorite movie star as
your boot screen? With countless number of
themes available on the Net, the possibilities
are limitless. However, bear in mind that the
eye candy is a bit demanding on the system
resources—better have a system armed with
a good amount of memory.
This workshop will take you though
the entire process of changing the boot
screen, logon screen and Windows shell to
give Windows XP a facelift that will baffle
everyone around you.
| Anand Tuliani
STEP 3. Apart from using downloaded
boot screens, it’s also possible to use your
favorite images as boot screens. Simply
browse for an image, select it and hit the
‘Set as your boot screen’ button to convert
it into a boot screen. Images when used as
a boot screen get converted to 640x480
16-color format. Since it results in loss of
image quality, do preview your boot screen.
STEP 4. After using hundreds of boot
screens, you may feel like reverting to the
same old Windows XP boot screen. To
restore the original boot screen, go to the
options tab and select the option to restore
the ‘boot.ini’ backup. The original ‘boot.ini’
will get restored only if its backup exists.
Hence, it is strongly advised to create a
copy of ‘boot.bxp’ to be on the safe side.
118 HANDS ON | WORKSHOP
Changing the logon screen
STEP 1. Logon Loader is useless unless
you have downloaded logon screens. Get
3
some logon screens from www.themexp.
org or simply by querying Google. It’s
recommended you organize all your logon
screens in a single folder. Start Logon Loader
and set the default logon screens directory
under the ‘Settings’ tab. After applying the
settings, you will get the entire list of logon
screens under the ‘Browse’ tab.
STEP 2. Changing the Logon Screen is a
4
piece of cake—Click the ‘Browse’ tab and
select a logon screen which you would like
to use. The preview of the screen appears
as a thumbnail under the tasks pane. If
you haven’t organized the logon screens
at a single location, click on ‘Select a logon
screen’ under the Tasks pane and select the
desired logon screen.
STEP 3. Logon Loader also has an option to
randomize logon screens in order to display
a randomly selected boot screen each time
Windows starts. Select the ‘Favorites’ tab
and add your favorite logon screens to the
favorites list. After saving the list, click
on the settings tab and check the option
‘Randomly select a logon screen from your
favorites’. Finally, save the settings to apply
the changes.
STEP 4. Restoring the default Windows
logon screen is just a click of a button
away. Simply select the option ‘Reset
to default logon’ from the ‘Tasks’ pane.
Logon Loader will display a message saying
that the default logon screen has been
successfully reset to confirm the action. It
is crucial that you restore the default logon
screen in case you plan to uninstall.
INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP | MARCH 2006

Desktop alternative
STEP 1. Talisman Desktop starts with
giving Windows a completely different
look by replacing the Windows desktop
with its own default theme having a brand
new Start menu and a Google toolbar. You
can either replace the entire desktop or add
a desktop panel having various shortcuts
and applets. To change a theme, click the
Talisman menu and select the desired
theme from the ones listed under ‘Themes’.
STEP 2. Hundreds of themes are available
for download on www.lighttek.com/
themes2. Before using the downloaded
theme, you need to install it. Go to
‘Talisman Menu | Themes | Theme
manager’ and select the tab ‘Theme
installer’. Browse for the downloaded
theme and click on the install button to
add it to the list of themes to begin using it.
MARCH 2006 | INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP
1
STEP 3. Talisman Desktop can also replace 3
the Windows Explorer shell with its own
shell giving Windows a brand new look
and feel. In addition to different taskbars,
icons and system tray, it adds several
enhancements to the desktop such as
calendar, media player, analog clock, etc
depending on the theme applied. Select
‘Talisman Menu | Settings | Shell switcher’
to switch to shell mode.
STEP 4. You need to master the Talisman 4
menu to get used to the Talisman shell.
Apart from clicking on the menu button,
it can also be invoked by right clicking on
the desktop. In addition to the Start menu
components, Talisman menu has a task list,
theme manager and a group called ‘System
folders’ which has most of the Windows
desktop components. Have fun!
INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP | MARCH 2006
 Shades of Grey
In this workshop, we explore the various methods to strip out the color from your
images and create a refined monochrome picture

I
f you have a favorite photograph of scanned images of actual photographs. comprehensive. For our test image, we’ve
a portrait or a still-life experiment, These methods are presented in order used a photograph of an old seminary
you’ll often find the true spirit of the of quality and control offered, starting located in the Nilgiri hills from South
image emerging when viewed in black and with the quickest method (which offers India—an ideal candidate for conversion to
white. By imparting a sense of nostalgia or least control over your image) to the most black and white!
conveying a subtle message of solemnity or
recreating memories of a bygone era, black
and white photography is an art form unto
itself. In this day of digital photography, it
is all too easy to shoot a black and white
image—simply flick the dial on your digital
camera to the appropriate mode and there
you have it. But then, this is certainly not
the best way to create black and white
photos—if you truly want an artist’s
control over your image, it makes sense to
delve a little deeper and grab the reins of
some powerful, yet subtle image editing
tools. Once you understand these tools,
you’ll surprise yourself with the amount
of life that you can breathe into your black
and white images!
In this workshop, we are going to use
Photoshop to explore three different
methods of creating black and white
In choosing an image for conversion to black and white, select one that has character—
photos. All of these techniques can be portraits, still life and old architecture lend themselves very well
used for either digital camera images or

INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP | MARCH 2006


Changing the mode
The quickest and easiest way to convert
a color image to black and white is to
change the image mode. Load the image
in Photoshop and simply click on Image |
Mode and select the ‘Grayscale’ option.
You’ll be presented with a dialog box
| The Histogram demystified
The Histogram is one of the most powerful
tools for reviewing the tonal quality of an
image. It is also one of the most misunderstood.
This tool illustrates how pixels in an image are
distributed by counting the number of pixels at
each color intensity level and plotting these in
the form of a graph.
At a glance, it allows the user to see where
pixels are concentrated. From this, one can
ascertain the amount of detail in the shadow
(dark), mid-tone or highlight (bright) areas
of an image. Seeing this tonal range enables
a user to make smarter corrections to the
image’s color or brightness intensity.
In the histogram graph (Fig a), you’ll see an
example of an image whose pixels are fairly
a b
MARCH 2006 | INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP
asking if you wish you discard all color
information from your image. When you
click OK, your image is converted to
black and white.
This method leaves every pixel with
only its brightness value. This value can
represent one of 256 shades ranging
evenly distributed across the intensity range.
This means that there is a good balance of
dark, mid tone and bright pixels in the image—
characteristics of a good image. In an image
that is predominantly brighter, you’d find the
higher part of the graph toward the right of the
histogram area, which represents a greater
number of pixels with higher intensity in the
image. Similarly, for images with greater pixel
information in the mid-tone area (such as skin
tones in portraits of people), you’d find the
graph highest in the middle of the histogram
area. As you move the cursor across the
histogram, you’ll find the values of the three
parameters on the right varying—the ‘Level’
corresponds to the intensity of the pixels at
WORKSHOP | HANDS ON 121
from 0 (black) to 255 (white). Though this
is the simplest method, it certainly isn’t
the best for converting color images to
monochrome as it does not give you any
control over this conversion process. For
an artist, this is not good, so let’s look at
other options!
that point and ranges from 0 (lowest intensity)
to 255 (highest intensity). ‘Count’ specifies
the number of pixels having a particular Level
value and represents the height of the graph
at that point. Percentile represents the Level
value as a percentage.
The other two histograms indicate an
overexposed (Fig b) or underexposed (Fig c)
condition of a photograph. In the first, the
histogram indicates very low pixel content
(loss of detail) in the darker areas and in
the second, there is very low pixel content
in the brighter areas. A correctly taken
photo is primarily indicated by a good
distribution of pixels over all areas across the
intensity range.
c
INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP | MARCH 2006
122 HANDS ON | WORKSHOP
Desaturating the image
This process creates a black and white
image from a color image by assigning
equal red, green and blue values to each
pixel. By doing so, the resultant image
Using Curves
Curves are one of the most powerful
tools for editing the color and brightness
characteristics of an image. With it, a
digital artist can exert fine control over
the color of an image using an intuitive
graphical control system. But before we
delve into using curves, we’d be better
off converting our test image into a mode
called ‘Lab’ color (also written as L*a*b).
Just as RGB and CMYK are color modes
for digital images, the Lab color mode
is the one used by Photoshop as the
intermediate mode for image conversion.
The advantage of this color mode over any
other is that it is independent of the imaging
device (monitor, scanner, printer, etc) it is
used on, and it also retains a greater tonal
range within its images. In this mode, the
‘L’ represents the Luminosity value, the ‘a’
represents the green-to-red range, while
the ‘b’ represents the blue-to-yellow
range in an image. The Curves tool gives
us the ability to accurately and intuitively
vary these parameters.
Firstly, to convert your image to the Lab
space, open the image in Photoshop and
click Image | Mode | Lab Color. You won’t
is monochromatic, while preserving the
lightness value of each pixel. At first
glance, the resultant image from each of
these methods might appear similar, but
you’ll notice a slightly higher contrast
Viewing channels in Lab image mode
immediately notice any difference in the
image. However, if you view the channels of
the image (by clicking Window | Channels),
you will notice that the “Red”, “Green” and
“Blue” channels have now changed to the
“Lightness”, “a” and “b” components. The
first step of our black and white conversion
process starts by eliminating the a and b
channels in this image. Do this by clicking
on the eye icon beside the a and b channels.
You’ll notice that the image immediately
transforms into black and white as the
color information masked from view. This
shall be the starting point in our tweaking
process.
Bring up the Curves tool by clicking
on Image | Adjustments | Curves
(alternatively, pressing CTRL+M).
What you now see is a tool that lets you
accurately control the tonal range of
your monochrome image—from this, we
when using this method (as seen by the
greater pixel distribution in the Histogram).
Even so, with this method we still don’t
have control over the conversion process,
so let’s move on to the next.
can achieve striking contrast and clear
details.
Let’s first run through the controls
in the Curves tool. In the Channel drop-
down box at the top, you’ll only find the
lightness selection, since there is no
other chromatic (color) information in
the picture. The graph you see in the
main area specifies the relation between
the input (existing) and the output (final)
values of each of your image’s pixel
intensity values. These values are shown
in the boxes below. When you first start
this tool you’ll see a straight line, implying
The Curves tool is a powerful image
tweaking function. Learn it well!
INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP | MARCH 2006

Curves can bring out details in areas
Add points on the curve and move them
all the intensity values of the pixels, from
the darkest to the brightest, are at their
original values—there is a linear relation
between their input and output value as
these are equal. By clicking on any part
of this graph, you can change the value
of sets of pixels of similar intensity by
dragging points up or down. The darker
pixels of the image are represented on the
left of the graph with the brighter ones on
the right. You’ll immediately see this effect
in the image by keeping the ‘Preview’ box
checked. The three eyedropper icons on
the lower right area of the tool represent
the Black point (dark), Grey point (mid
tones) and the White point (bright) areas
of the image. They are also called the
Shadow, Midtones and Highlight areas
respectively. By clicking on these icons,
you can target these areas specifically.
Go ahead and play around with this
tool—you can always cancel the effects
later if you wish!
After you’re fairly familiar with the
Curves tool, you can proceed to tweaking
your image. First up, we need to establish
the brightest and darkest levels in the
image. This will result in good image
contrast. In our image, there are some
very dark areas in the doorway on the
MARCH 2006 | INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP
WORKSHOP | HANDS ON 123
ground floor and also in the area beneath
the rooftop. With the Curves tool on
screen, click with the eyedropper mouse
cursor on these areas and look out for
its corresponding location and value
indicated on the Curves tool. When you
find the lowest reading, this is your final
shadow value. Click on the Black Point icon Duplicate the Lightness channel to save
in the Curves tool and click on the image’s
darkest area. You’ll notice the image
becoming slightly darker. Similarly, for
setting the White point, find the brightest
area in the image by clicking bright areas
with the eyedropper mouse cursor. Once
you’ve found it, click on the ‘Set White Save the channel to a new file
point’ icon in the curves tool and click that
point. You’ll immediately notice the image Saving your creation
becoming brighter. You’ve just improved Once you’re happy with your image, you’ll
your image’s contrast. need to save your work. Before doing so,
Now, you can selectively change the you’ll need to convert it to a format that
intensity of any area of your image by first is recognized by JPEG or TIFF (Lab files
finding its relative location on the curves cannot directly be saved). This is how it’s
line (as you did for the black and white done: select only the Lightness channel,
points above), and then move that point on right click the channel and choose
the curve up or down to vary its relative ‘Duplicate Channel…’ In the box that
intensity. For example, we can slightly comes up, select ‘New’ from the Document
brighten the dark areas under the roof to drop box. This creates a new file from your
reveal some of the details there. Click on existing Lightness channel. Convert this
the line of the graph and add additional new file to a Grayscale image by clicking
points if you feel the curve is going out on Image | Mode | Grayscale. That’s it—
of shape—the trick being to keep the line you can now save your masterpiece as a
as straight as smooth as possible. This TIFF or JPEG image! ■
results in natural images. | Marco D’Souza
The final image. Compared to the original, this black and white photograph almost
speaks of a story of a long-forgotten era
 124 HANDS ON | TIPS & TRICKS

Tips&Tricks MARCH 2006

WINDOWS 125
1 Windows XP Hide/Show extension for known file types
2 Windows XP Enable/disable AutoRun feature for CD/DVD ROM
3 Windows XP Transferring settings from an older OS
4 Windows XP Hidden desktop icons
5 Windows XP A web page as your desktop
6 Windows XP Target forlder for ‘My Documents’
7 Windows XP Changing icons
Umesh Dahiwalkar 8 Windows XP Change the taksbar location
9 Windows XP Scroll effect
10 Windows XP Create your own toolbars
11 Windows XP Shift focus
Tip of the month
12 Windows XP Back to Classic style Start Menu
Configuring the power button 13 Windows XP Accelerate your print jobs
How can I stop Windows from automatically
shutting down when the power button is pressed?
APPLICATIONS 128
14 Word Saving Word content as a text file
Windows XP has a very smart and efficient
15 Word Clear formatting
power management system, which lets you
configure the system “power on/off” button. By 16 Word Changing the default font
default when the power on/off button is pressed, 17 Word Quickest way to run spell check
the system automatically performs the “Turn off 18 Word Optimize the layout
computer” action which is otherwise done by going 19 Word Linking questions to answers in Word
to “Start | Turn off computer | Turn off”.
20 Winamp Migrating custom equalizer presets
E Here’s a tip to change the settings and stop
21 Winamp Synchronizing inaccurate visualization plugins
Windows from automatically shutting down when
the power button is pressed.
INTERNET & COMMUNICATION 130
Right click on the desktop and select 22 Internet Explorer Surf smart with AutoComplete
“Properties”. 23 Internet Explorer Cache cleaning
Click on the “Screen saver” tab and then go to the 24 Internet Explorer Disable script errors
option “Power” at the bottom of the window. 25 Internet Explorer Printing Internet Explorer favorites
Under the “Power” settings click on “Advanced”. 26 Internet Explorer Editing default associations in IE
Go to “Power buttons” and select the first 27 Outlook Express Automate e-mail check
option “When I press the power button on my
computer”.
HARDWARE 131
The default action is set to “shutdown”, you can
28 MP3 Player Using your MP3 player for studies
change it to other options like “stand by” or “ask
me what to do” and click on apply. 29 Hard Drive Protection against static electricity

INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP | MARCH 2006


Windows
1 | Windows XP
Hide/Show extension for known
file types
Whenever I rename a file or create a new
one and name it, I also have to type the
file extension. For example, if I create
a new word file and want to name it
as “magazine”, I have to name it as
magazine.doc otherwise I get a prompt
saying, “If you change the file extension
it may become unusable, do you want to
change it?” Previously, I never got any such
warning message and I was able to save
the file name without the need to type the
extension. What do I do?
This happens because your option
“Hide extension for known file format”
option is unchecked.
To enable or check the options do the
following:
Go to “My Computer”
In the top row, click on Tools > Folder
Options >then Click on the “view” tab.
Check the box for “Hide extension for
known file formats” and then click on Apply
and OK.
Alternatively, you can uncheck the box if
you want to see the file extensions.
2 | Windows XP
Enable/disable AutoRun feature for
CD/DVD ROM
Earlier whenever I inserted my CHIP CD in
the CD drive, it played automatically and
also launched the graphical interface. Now
when I insert the CD in the drive, it doesn’t
play automatically and I have to access
the contents by right clicking on the CD
drive icon and by using the “open” option.
How do I get my CDs to play automatically
again?
When a CD is inserted in the optical
drive, Windows XP looks for the autorun.
inf file, which has instructions to launch
a program or do any other task. For CHIP
CD, the autorun.inf file has the instruction
to launch the graphical interface where
you see all the contents in a graphical
format rather than the regular file explorer.
Sometimes due to changes in the OS, the
AutoRun feature gets disabled. Here is how
MARCH 2006 | INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP
TIPS & TRICKS | HANDS ON 125
to enable it again. You will have to modify
the registry for it. We suggest you make a
backup of your registry so that if anything
goes wrong, you can go back to your old
registry settings.
Go to Start > Run.
In the open box, type “regedit” without
the quotes. The Registry will open.
First save your current registry settings,
here is how you do it:
Click on file and then click on import
3 Create a Wizard Disk if you need
and save the file. to transfer settings from an older
Now here is how to enable AutoRun: operating system
On the top left hand side, you will see
my computer, expand it in the following Start | Programs | Accessories | System
manner : Tools | Files and Settings Transfer Wizard.
My computer > HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE Click on ‘Next’ and select ‘New Computer’.
> System > CurrentControlSet > Services > Choose “I want to create a Wizard Disk in
Cdrom the following drive”, insert an empty floppy
Click on Cdrom and on the left hand disk and click on ‘Next’. This is all you need
side there will be a string called AutoRun, to launch the transfer wizard on an older
double click on it, a box will open, make operating system. To launch the wizard on
sure the base is hexadecimal and put the say, Windows 98, insert the floppy disk,
value as “1”. click on Start | Run and type,
In case you want to disable AutoRun, A:\FASTWiz
shift the value to “0”. Click on OK. The wizard will run
prompting you to select the settings you
3 | Windows XP want to transfer to the new computer. If
Transferring settings from an older OS you want to use the Windows XP CD then
I have just bought a new computer for my let it auto run on the Windows 98 system
office already installed with Windows XP. I and click on “Perform additional tasks”
intend on setting up this computer similar in the CD menu. In the next menu, select
to the rest of my employees’ machines. I “Transfer files and settings”.
have been doing this manually and would
like to know if there is an automated Running the Wizard on Windows XP
method to configure a PC similar to others machine,
in my office. It will save a lot of time. All you have to do is start the Files and
Settings Transfer Wizard, click ‘Next’, select
There is a way by which you can ‘Old Computer’ and click on ‘Next’ again.
make the process of configuring a new
computer with settings similar to the ones
in your office. You should use Windows
XP’s ‘Files and Settings Transfer Wizard’
to save time. Older operating systems
like Windows 95/98/ME settings are also
supported. For this reason you will need
to have the Windows XP or a “wizard disk”
handy on the older operating system.
Running the Wizard on Windows 95/98/
ME machine,
Here is how you can create a wizard disk or
run it from the Windows XP CD:
On a Windows XP machine, click on
126 HANDS ON | TIPS & TRICKS
3a Select the type of storage (or transfer)
where you would like the settings to be
stored
Saving the Settings of the Old Machine
You can transfer both files as well system
settings or you can manually select the
items you would like to reproduce. When
you reach the “Select a transfer method”,
choose the ‘direct cable’ option if you have
created a direct connection between two
machines. If your office is interconnected
(networked) then select the ‘small office
network’ option.
In the office environment it would
also be better to save the settings to an
external storage or a shared folder for later
use. For this, select “Other (for example, a
removable drive…)”
Clicking on ‘Next’ will display a list
of all the files, file types and settings
that saved to the destination folder (or
external drive). If the new computer is
for a different department then the files
need not be transferred—select “Settings
Only”. This will transfer display settings,
audio settings, mail, network (including
proxy), dial-up, Office settings. There
are many more settings that are listed. If
you select “Files Only” then everything
within your user profile folder (Desktop,
My Documents, Fonts and QuickLaunch)
will be transferred. Manually select the
file types, files or settings you want to
transfer by checking the box “Let me select
a custom list…”
Transfer settings to the new computer
Start the ‘Files and Settings Transfer
Wizard’ and select ‘New Computer’. Select
‘I don’t need the Wizard Disk. I have already
collected my files…” and click ‘Next’. Now
select the transfer mode you want to
use—cable (if network or direct) or external
3b Manually remove any
settings you don’t
want to replicate on
your new computer
storage. Browse to the source folder
and click on ‘Next’ to begin the transfer.
(Passwords will not be transferred in this
process. Any passwords created in Outlook,
Office or dial-up will not be transferred.)
4 | Windows XP
Hidden desktop icons
Placing shortcuts on my desktop of the
applications I install has resulted in a
cluttered desktop. I would like to hide the
icons on the desktop. Please tell me how I
can do it.
To enjoy your favorite desktop image
without the clutter, follow the steps and
learn how to hide the desktop icons.
Minimize all the windows and right click
on the desktop.
Select the option “Arrange icons by”.
Inside the option, deselect the option
“Show desktop icons”.
There you are, all the icons on the desktop
are gone! You can enable them by going
through the same process.
5 | Windows XP
A web page as your desktop
How do I view a web page as a desktop
background?
So you’re looking to add some variety
and fun to your desktop. Try this then.
Right click on the desktop and select
“Properties”.
Select the “Desktop” tab click on the
“Customize desktop” option at the
bottom.
Click on the “Web” tab, this tab lists the
available web pages that can be viewed
as the desktop background. To add
your own choice of web page, click on
“More” and then select the
web page that you would
like to add to the list of web
pages that are available for
desktop background.
Out of the list, select the
web page that you would
like to view as a desktop
and then confirm by
clicking on “OK”
The “Browse” option lets you select the
web page of your choice.
6 | Windows XP
Target folder for ‘My Documents’
Can I specify a different folder as the
target to store the contents of ‘My
Documents’?
By default, the contents of ‘My
Documents’ which you see on the desktop
are stored in the folder, ‘Documents
and settings | (user account name) | My
Documents’. To specify a different target
folder, right click on ‘My Documents’ on the
desktop and select ‘Properties’ to bring up
the ‘My Document Properties’ dialog box.
Under the ‘Target’ tab, click on the ‘Move’
button and select the destination folder.
Upon clicking the ‘OK’ button, the existing
contents of ‘My Documents’ will be moved
to the selected target folder.
6 The contents of ‘My Documents’ can be
shifted by just changing the target path
7 | Windows XP
Changing icons
How do I customize my desktop to change
the default icons?
To change the default icons and add
INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP | MARCH 2006

7 Select the icon that you would like to
change and click on “Change Icon”
that extra whiff of customization to your
desktop:
Right click on the desktop and select
“Properties”.
Select the “Desktop” tab click on the
“Customize desktop” option at the
bottom.
Under the “general” tab, select the icon
that you would like to change and click
on “change icon”.
The next window presents the default
icon bank that Windows has to offer.
To apply your own custom icons, select
“Browse” option, it allows you to select
any icon file that you have stored on the
computer. Select the icon file of your
choice that contains the icons and click
on “OK” to apply.
Select the icon that you would like to
change and click on “Change Icon”
You can download icons from http://www.
themexp.org
8 | Windows XP
Change the taskbar location
Although I’m aware that Windows XP
allows you to change the location of the
taskbar, I don’t know how to shift its
position. Please tell me how to do it.
To change the location of the task
bar, simply click on the taskbar and drag it
to the left, right or top of the screen. When
dragged to the top of the screen, the task bar
looks exactly the way it does when it is at the
bottom of the screen. Shifting the taskbar to
the left or right broadens the taskbar a bit,
MARCH 2006 | INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP
taking away some desktop space.
Note: You can’t move the taskbar or
alter the size of the Quick Launch toolbar
if the task bar is locked. Right click on the
taskbar and check if the option “Lock the
Taskbar” is selected. Deselect the option
to enable changes to the taskbar. On the
contrary, if you wish to prevent and restrict
any kind of changes done to the taskbar,
select the option and lock the taskbar.
9 | Windows XP
Scroll effect
By default, menus fade into view in
Windows XP. How do I switch back to
the classic ‘scroll effect’ like it used to be
in Windows 98/ME? Will Windows run
smoother if I disable transitions and other
effects?
9 It’s possible to change or disable menu
transition in Win XP
If you are still addicted to the classic
‘Scroll Effect’ for menu transitions, do the
following:
Right click on the desktop and select
‘Properties’ from the context menu to
bring up the ‘Display Properties’ dialog box.
Click on the ‘Appearance’ tab and click
on the ‘Effects’ button.
Now change the transition type to
‘scroll effect’ from the first drop down list
and click on the “OK” button to apply the
changes.
Alternatively, you can also disable the
menu transition. You can also toggle other
options like shadows under menus and
showing contents of a window while
dragging it. Keeping Windows less fancier
does result in increased performance
especially if you are low on memory.
TIPS & TRICKS | HANDS ON 127
10 | Windows XP
Create your own toolbars
How can I create a toolbar to represent a
particular category of applications?
To represent a particular category of
applications, for example, media players,
which would house shortcuts to all the
media players that you frequently need for
opening various types of media files, you
need to create a new toolbar by following
steps such as:
Right click on the task bar and select
“Toolbars”.
Select the last option “New Toolbar”.
Here you can select any existing folder
that can be added as a new toolbar to the
existing list of toolbars or create a new
one by clicking on “Make a new folder”.
In this manner, you can have a customized
toolbar that houses some particular type of
files, applications or shortcuts.
11 | Windows XP
Shift focus
How do I shift the focus back to the
previous option if I have shifted it to the
next option by pressing the ‘tab’ key on
the keyboard?
The ‘Tab’ key on the keyboard can
be used to cycle the focus between the
options or buttons in a dialog box or web
pages. If you would like to shift the focus
backwards, use ‘Shift + Tab’. It comes very
handy when you are using the keyboard
to navigate web pages especially while
filling forms.
128 HANDS ON | TIPS & TRICKS
12 | Windows XP
Back to the Classic Start menu
I don’t like the new eye-candy Start menu
and would like the classic default start
menu that came with the older version of
Windows. How do I get it?
To go back to the classic default Start
menu, follow the steps and you shall have
it in no time.
12 Choose from the menu option to go
back to the Classic Start menu
Right click on the taskbar and select
“Properties”.
Under the properties, select the “Start
menu” option.
This is where you can choose between
the “Classic Start menu” and the default
“Start menu”.
The tab “Customize” provided next
to both the options lets you further
customize the Start menu, you can add
and delete the items that you would
like to appear in the Start menu.
Select the style for the Start menu and
customize it further.
13 | Windows XP
Accelerate your print jobs
How can I perform other tasks on my
computer while shooting prints?
By default, Windows uses the
spooling technique for print jobs. The
Print Spooler is a background program
that writes data to temporary files in
your C:\Windows\Temp directory. The
final print command is sent to the printer
through the spooler, allowing you to
perform other tasks while you print.
While this might be an effective way of
multitasking, there might be numerous
occasions where you may need to simply
print multiple documents or photographs.
This is when the spooler might actually
slow the printing process by writing data to
temporary files and then printing.
On most printers, you can turn off
the spooler by going to “Start | Settings
| Printers”. Right click on the icon of the
printer you’re using. Click “Properties”
and select the “Advanced” tab. The Spool
settings options can be altered from here,
select the “Print directly to the printer”
option. This will tie up your application
until the printer has all the data, but
your print job should finish more quickly.
Printing directly to the printer will also
come in handy if your print spooler crashes
and you need to print before you reboot
your PC.
Applications
14 | Word
Saving Word content as a text file
Which is a quick way to save the contents
of a Word document as a text file?
The ‘Notepad’ is the simplest plain
text editor if you don’t need formatted
text. However, at times you might want to
convert a Word document into a plain text
file. Or you may simply like to use Word
to create plain text document rather than
using ‘Notepad’. To save a Word document
as a plain text file, select ‘File | Save as’. In
the ‘Save as’ dialog box, locate the ‘save
as type’ drop down list at the bottom.
Scroll down the drop down list and select
the option ‘plain text’ which is the second
14 If you don’t require formatting, save the
document as a plain text file in Word
last option. Provide a file name and hit the
‘Save’ button. In the next dialog box, select
Windows (default) as the text encoding
and click on “OK” to save the contents as a
plain text (.txt) file.
15 | Word
Clear formatting
When I copy the contents from web pages
to a Word document, the formatting too
gets copied. Is there a way to clear the
formatting in a single shot?
Word takes into consideration the
formatting of the web page contents when
they are copied to the document. It may
get irritating at times when you simply
need the contents without any formatting.
The next time when you copy contents
from a web page, do not press ‘ctrl+v’ or
paste the contents directly. Instead, go to
‘Edit’ and select the option ‘Paste special’.
Select the option ‘Unformatted text’ from
the dialog box and click the ‘OK’ button to
paste the contents as plain text without
formatting.
15 Paste the web contents as unformatted
text to exclude formatting
16 | Word
Changing the default font
How do I change the default font in
Microsoft Word and Excel?
The default font in a new Word
document is ‘Times New Roman’ having
a font size of 11 points. In case of a new
Excel worksheet, it is ‘Arial’, 10 points. But
it is possible to change the default font
according to your choice.
To change the default font in Word:
Go to ‘Format | Font’ and set the desired
font and font size in the ‘font’ dialog box.
Click the ‘Default’ button and accept the
changes.
INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP | MARCH 2006

16 The default button is the key to set the
default font in Word
16a The default font in Excel can be set by
changing the standard font in ‘Options’
To change the default font in Excel:
Go to ‘Tools | Options’.
Click the ‘General’ tab and change the
‘Standard font’ to what you wish.
Click the ‘OK’ button to apply the
changes.
17 | Word
Quickest way to run spell check
Which is the quickest way to do a spell-
check in a Word document?
The usual way of doing a spell check
in Word is by clicking the ‘spelling and
grammar’ button located next to the ‘print
preview’ button, on the ‘standard toolbar’.
Alternatively, you can also select the option
‘Spelling and grammar’ from the ‘Tools’
menu.
However, the fastest way is by pressing
the ‘F7’ key on the keyboard. Place the
mouse cursor at the beginning of the
document and press ‘F7’ to perform a
spell check on the entire document. You
can also perform a spell check on selected
contents—Simply press ‘F7’ after selecting
the contents!
MARCH 2006 | INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP
TIPS & TRICKS | HANDS ON 129
18 | Word
Optimize the layout
How do I ensure my document prints
without any error?
The “Print Preview” option is one
of the commonly underutilized features
in word processors. It gives you an exact
idea/preview of the output that the printer
is about to give. The “Print Preview” option
is mostly placed under the “File” menu.
19 Click on ScreenTip and add ‘hover text’
Formatting errors are easily detectable similar to links in web page
in this view of the document, which can
save multiple printings due to errors. when the mouse pointer is placed on the
Within the “Print Preview” itself there is question (soon to be a linked question)
an option “Shrink to fit” which compresses then click on the ‘ScreenTip’ button.
the overlapping text so that it fits in Click on “OK” to save changes and verify
adequately without wasting a complete if the changes have taken effect in the
page for a few lines or words of text. document.
19 | Word Create a link using ‘bookmarks’:
Linking questions to answers The process is similar to heading styles.
in Word Click on the answer you want the link
I have been working on a list of Frequently to take you to and then click on ‘Insert |
Asked Questions (FAQs) for my students in Bookmark’. Name the bookmark—Answer1,
Word. I would like to make it similar to the for example. Click on OK. Now select the
web pages that have a list of questions at question (Q1), right click on it and select
the top of the page. Clicking on a particular “Hyperlink”. Expand the ‘Bookmarks’
question takes one to the relevant answer
on the same page. Can I do something like
this in Word too?
Yes, you can link the questions to
different parts of the Word document.
There are different ways of doing this. One
is by using Word’s “heading styles” and the
other is by using “bookmarks”.
Let us create a link on question number 19a Select the bookmark you want to link
1 (Q1), which will lead you to the answer text to within the same document
(A1).
Create a link using ‘heading styles’:
Select an answer. In this case it is “A1”.
Change the heading style to “Heading
1”. Now select the question Q1, right
click on it and select “Hyperlink”.
Alternatively, you can use the shortcut keys
[CTRL]+[K] to bring up the ‘Insert Hyperlink’
dialog box.
Make sure “Place in this document” is
selected under “Link To”. Under “Select
a place in this document”, expand the
‘Headings’ section and select the answer
you want to link (in this case it is A1). If you
want to include any text to be displayed
130 HANDS ON | TIPS & TRICKS
section under “Select a place…” and select
the bookmark you created. Click on “OK”
or add a screen tip. Save the changes and
verify the hyperlink.
20 | Winamp
Migrating custom equalizer presets
I have saved plenty of custom equalizer
presets in Winamp. How do I get them on
another PC?
Equalizer presets are stored in a file
called ‘Winamp.q1’ in the Winamp program
folder. Custom equalizer presets when saved
get appended to the same file. To migrate
the presets, simply copy the file ‘Winamp.q1’
to the Winamp folder on the destination PC
and you’re done! The file is so small that you
can even e-mail it to your friends if you want
to share your presets with them.
20 The file ‘winamp.q1’ contains the
equalizer settings
21 | Winamp
Synchronizing inaccurate
visualization plug-ins
The synchronization of Winamp’s
visualization plugins to the music isn’t
accurate. Give me a quick tip to solve the
problem.
21 Up the visualization plugin priority for
better synchronization with the music
Watching visualization plugins isn’t
fun when their synchronization with the
music isn’t accurate. The inaccuracy arises
when the priority of the visualization
plug-in is set to ‘Normal’ or lesser. You need
to crank up the priority to increase the
accuracy. To do so,
Press ‘ctrl+p’ at Winamp’s main screen
to bring up the ‘Preferences’ dialog box.
In the left pane, click on ‘plugins’ and set
the priority to the highest. Now close
the dialog box and play a song. Watch
visualization dance to the music more
accurately!
Internet and Communication
22 | Internet Explorer
Surf smart with AutoComplete
While surfing, the problem of forgetting
the entire URL happens very often. What
do I do in such a circumstance?
Whenever you begin typing a URL in
the address box of the Internet Explorer,
it attempts to find a recently visited page
that matches the URL of the web site
that you are typing. If it finds a match, it
automatically fills in the rest of the address
for you. Apart from saving the effort of
typing the complete URL, this feature also
comes in handy when you seem to have
forgotten the entire URL and remember
only just a part of it.
To enable the “AutoComplete” feature:
Open the ‘Internet Explorer’ and go to
“Tools | Internet Options | Advanced”.
Scroll down and select the “Use Inline
AutoComplete” feature that is placed
under the “Browsing” category.
23 | Internet Explorer
Cache cleaning
How can I clear the browser cache of files?
Internet Explorer uses the “Caching”
technique to store the common elements
of the web pages that you visit. Though the
caching technique saves on some amount
of time by loading some elements of the
web page from the cache without having
to wait for the web site to send them, it
can cause problems with some web sites
by causing incorrect loading of content
of some web pages. Clearing the browser
cache can also retrieve some disk space, in
case you are in need of some extra space.
To clear the files, inside the Internet
Explorer go to “Tools | Internet Options”
Under the “General” tab, click on
“Delete Files” to clear the cache.
An additional option of “Delete all
offline content” is displayed; selecting
this option will delete all the web pages
that you might have saved for viewing
them in the ‘offline’ mode.
24 | Internet Explorer
Disable script errors
How can I stop pop-ups of script error
messages?
When you’re surfing the web, there
are times when some of the scripts don’t
run correctly and you encounter lots of
script errors.
You can turn off these useless script
error messages from popping up by doing
the following:
Click on “Tools | Internet Options |
Advanced” Now click the checkbox labeled
“Disable script debugging”. Uncheck the
checkbox labeled “Display a notification for
every script error”.
Note: Please do this if you are absolutely
sure that you don’t want the script error
notification; though the error notification
doesn’t affect the page loading and
execution, users who want to test or
de-bug a web page should have the
notification turned on.
25| Internet Explorer 6.0
Printing Internet Explorer favorites
How do I carry my list of favorites in IE?
Internet Explorer allows us to add web
sites to the list of favorites but when you
want to carry them along with you, you can
either email the links to yourself or get a hard
copy and carry it along wherever you go!
To print out the web pages listed under
Internet Explorer’s Favorites menu, follow
these steps:
Click on the Start button, point to
Programs, and then click on Internet
Explorer.
On Internet Explorer’s File menu,
INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP | MARCH 2006

choose Import and Export.
In the Import/Export Wizard, click on
Next.
Click on Export Favorites and then click
on Next.
Click on Favorites—the topmost folder
—and click on Next.
Click on Export to a File or Address, type
C:\MY DOCUMENTS\BOOKMARK.HTM
in the Export to a File or Address box,
and then click on Next.
Click on Finish and then click on OK.
Quit Internet Explorer.
Open the My Documents folder on your
desktop and open your newly created
BOOKMARK.HTM file. (It opens in
Internet Explorer.)
On Internet Explorer’s File menu,
choose “Print”, Go to options and Click
on the option “Print table of links” and
click on OK.
Now you shall have the list of favorites
printed on the page.
26 | Internet Explorer
Editing default associations in IE
How can I edit the default associations in IE?
By default, Internet Explorer has
various associations where applications
are set to work with it. You can change the
default associations by:
Go to “Tools” menu in the Internet Explorer.
Click on “Internet Options” and open the
tab “Programs”.
You will find a list of associations, there
are drop down bars where you can select
an alternative application, for e.g, you can
change the default “HTML editor” from
“Microsoft Word” to “Notepad”.
Click on “Apply” and your Internet Explorer
associations will be edited immediately.
27 | Outlook Express
Automate e-mail check
How can I automate my Outlook Express
Most of us check e-mails about
two to three times a day, especially if it’s
the work e-mail ID which is expected to
be active throughout the day. If you find
the process of launching Outlook Express
and connecting to the server every time
you need to download e-mails a tedious
MARCH 2006 | INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP
and repetitive job, you can automate the
whole process where Outlook Express will
automatically check for new e-mails at
every specified time interval.
Follow the steps to automate e-mail
checks and downloads:
From the menu choose “Tools | Options”
Click on the “General” tab
Under the “Send/Receive Messages”
section, select the third option-
“Check for new email message every
…….minutes”
Specify the time interval at which
Outlook Express should check for new
e-mails by selecting the time interval
from the drop down menu.
Further down, below the “Send/Receive
messages” you can also instruct Outlook
Express to connect to the Internet
in case you are not connected to the
network/Internet for downloading the
latest email messages.
Click on “Apply” and you are done!
Hardware
28 | MP3 Player
Using your MP3 player for studies
I’m a college student and spend almost
two hours traveling to my college and
back. I own a MP3 player. I want to know if
I can use it for educational purpose.
There are two ways in which you can
utilize your MP3 player for the above.
First, if your MP3 player has a
microphone, you can use it to record
lectures. It will directly encode the file to
MP3 format. You can playback the recorded
lecture afterwards.
Second, you can use a software
like Speaking Notepad (it’s free, you
can download it from http://www.
qwertystudios.com). The program will
convert whatever text you want into speech
and save it as an MP3 or a wav file. You can
choose between six male and female voices.
So, for example, if you have a boring chapter,
you can skip reading and just type it into
the speaking notepad and it will convert it
into an MP3 file. Then you can conveniently
listen to it while traveling. It’s easier to listen
to text rather than read them.
You can pause whenever you want
and resume from where you left. It can
TIPS & TRICKS | HANDS ON 131
read TXT, DOC, HTML and RTF documents,
readme’s, notes and e-mails.
29 | Hard Drive
Protection against static electricity
I have heard that static electricity from
the human body can damage electrical
components. Can you please tell me why
this happens and what precaution I need
to take so that I don’t end up damaging
computer components?
Internal computer parts and
especially hard drives are extremely
susceptible to static electricity. This
static electricity is held within our
body. It happens due to a process called
Triboelectrification. Everything surrounding
us including our body is made up of atoms.
The atom has a nucleus, which has protons
positively charged and neutrons which
are neutral. Outside the nucleus are the
electrons, which are negatively charged.
The protons and neutrons don’t change but
the electrons transfer from one atom to
another. When an object touches another
object with either an opposite or neutral
charge, electrons flow. Static electricity
is created when electrons move back and
forth between atoms.
Before you begin work in the computer
case, make sure you ground the static
electricity. There are two ways of doing it:
Use an anti-static band (found in most
of the electrical hardware stores).
Touch the metal part of your computer
case while it is plugged to the AC wall
socket. The static electricity will be
grounded through the wall socket. ■
132

Brain food
Give your brain the much needed shake by stepping into the
realm of mind games

W ant a break from the usual FPS, RPG, racing and arcade games? Here’s something
different that you could try—Mind Games. Unlike shooting down monsters, running
around the arena and stepping on the gas to win the race, what you’ve got to do is use your
brain! Games belonging to this genre facilitate reasoning and help improve logic. The best
thing is that you don’t need a super computer to play such games—a plain Jane PC is more
than enough.
Want some brain food? Check out these brain-busting puzzle and logic games that will
keep you thinking hard for hours (check out the CHIP Toys CD).
| Anand Tuliani

/ / /of/Hanoi
Towers //////////////////////
At first glance, the Tower of Hanoi
looks like a child’s toy with circular
discs placed on top of one another on a
peg. The game looks simple but it’s not
as easy as child’s play. The objective of
the game is to move the stack of discs
from the first peg to the last one. Only
one disc can be moved at a time and no
disc can be placed on top of a smaller
disc. The game gets tougher requiring
more moves with higher number of
discs. Try solving a game with 6 discs.
It’ll keep you scratching your head for
quite some time!

Rating : 2.5/5

//////////////////////////
B-Jigsaw
If you like jigsaw puzzles, this one’s
just right for you. B-Jigsaw can turn
pictures into a jigsaw puzzle at the click
Unwind

of your mouse button. The number

of pieces in the puzzle depends on
the size of the image and the level
of difficulty you set. To make it even
more difficult you can enable rotation
of pieces. Apart from solving puzzles,
you can also print or e-mail them to
your friends. Do sit with a packet of
popcorn and a can of Coke if you plan
to solve an insanely large puzzle. It’ll
take ages to put it all together!

Rating : 4/5
Vishwanath Vanjire
/Crazy
/ /Tangram
///////////////////////
Did you ever imagine that over a
1,000 different figures could be made
with just seven pieces? Tangram is
an ancient Chinese puzzle where you
must arrange all the seven pieces called
Tans to form a given figure called the
Tangram. Tans comprise two big, one
middle-sized and two small triangles, a
square and a rhombus. Tangrams look
simple, but at times they can be very
tricky to solve. Many a times you’ll feel
that a piece is still missing even after
you’ve used up all the pieces!
Rating : 3/5
//////////////////////////
Bookworm
Get ready to chomp on words. The
goal of Bookworm is to link adjacent
letters together into words to feed
the hungry bookworm. At the same
time you also need to look out for
burning letters. If you don’t get rid of
them by using them in words, they will
soon land at the bottom of the screen
igniting the library, ending your game.
However, you can score bonuses by
utilizing rewarding tiles or making
bonus words. Stunning 3D graphics,
animation, music and sound effects
make this game highly addictive.
/Pure
// /////////
SuDoku
If you’re a SuDoku addict, you don’t
need a morning newspaper to get
glued to a SuDoku puzzle. Pure Sudoku
is the electronic version of the classic
Japanese number puzzle. The puzzle
has a 9x9 grid which is sub-divided
into 3x3 sub-grids with some cells
having numbers between 1 and 9
as clues. The aim of the puzzle is to
complete the grid by placing a digit in
each cell so that every row, column and
3x3 sub-grids contain all the numbers
from 1 to 9.
To solve a SuDoku puzzle you don’t
need any mathematical skills but plain
reasoning, logic and most importantly,
patience—no guessing and no chance
of cheating! Every puzzle has a unique
solution.
The difficulty level of the puzzle
depends on the number and position
of clues given in the puzzle. While
simple puzzles get over in minutes,
difficult ones are marathon brain-
massage sessions!
Rating : 5/5

Rating : 5/5

/ / / /Maze
Mummy //////////////////////
Beware of the Mummy or you’re dead!
The objective of the game is to exit
the maze without getting caught by
the Mummy. The game is turn-based,
but for every one square you move,
the Mummy moves two. Luckily, the
Mummy isn’t too smart; you need
to take advantage of his limited
intelligence and get him trapped into
dead ends and behind walls so that
you can escape. Mazes keep getting
more and more complex as you
advance. Some brain-busting mazes
have two mummies, scorpions, and
traps. So better watch out!
Rating : 4.5/5
134 UNWIND | FEATURE

INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP | MARCH 2006


T
he latest of the Prince of Persia
trilogy surely leaves you asking for
more. The storyline of the game is
so gripping that by the time you reach the
end of the game, you don’t want to wait
for the next sequel. The last two iterations
successfully kept a void open in the final
sequence to keep you wondering where
the story will take the hero next. In The
Two Thrones, the game begins with the
Prince returning home to Babylon with
Kaileena (in her mortal form as seen in the
alternate ending of the previous game—
Prince of Persia: The Warrior Within), only
to find the city in flames. With his ship
destroyed and Kaileena captured, the
Prince sets on an adventure fit for the
grand finale of this glorious trilogy.
The Sands of Time—the first part of
this trilogy had brilliant puzzles and an
excellent combat system that did true
justice in resurrecting the appeal of this
ancient franchise. Warrior Within, the
sequel, was more an action game with the
typical multi-hit combos and guitar riffs
from Godsmack. Though it did have some
great moments and a few plus points,
many felt that the game did not truly do
justice to the Prince franchise that had
its biggest appeal in its puzzles. With The
Two Thrones, the Prince is back on the right
track with the perfect mix of puzzles as
well as action.
Unlike the previous versions, the Prince
performs most of his acrobatics not just to
move on to newer levels but to strategically
place himself at a vantage point against
the enemies. This is exactly where the new
‘quick kill’ feature comes to play. Instead
of getting into a button mashing session
every time you encounter a foe, you have
an option to strategically sneak up and go
for a quick kill or go head-on for an upfront
combat. The choice is yours.
RATINGS 8 / 10
For: Great visuals and world design; quick
kills and engaging action modes; fitting
end to the trilogy.
Against: Ill-fitting voice acting; relatively
short play-time.
Vishwanath Vanjire
Price: Rs 2,999 Publisher : Ubisoft Distributor: e-xpress Interactive Software Pvt Ltd Tel: 022-28870016
MARCH 2006 | INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP
FEATURE | UNWIND 135
The game wastes no time in carrying
forward the story. Showing the killing of
Kaileena unleashes the dark side of the
Prince, ensuring a change not only in the
way he looks but also in the game play.
As the Dark Prince, he is more powerful in
combat with his special whip-like weapon
(the Daggertail), which also assists him
in swinging around to get to otherwise
unreachable places. Though the whole
“split-personality anti-hero” gig has
been done before by various other game
franchisee, it still works out pretty well in
this case, very evident during game play.
Graphically, the game has pushed its
engine to perform as well as it can on the
PlayStation 2, which is quite commendable.
The world design is linear in nature so
you usually know where to go next; the
challenge is how you get there. The voice
acting is passable with the usual “everyone
in the world speaks with a Yankee accent”
syndrome, but at least the guitar riffs have
been replaced back by the Persian themes
that seem fit for the game.
Overall, The Two Thrones is a great
finale to the Prince of Persia trilogy on the
PS2. If you liked the previous two games,
there is no way you’ll be disappointed
with this one. Ubisoft in all probability
will come up with a new iteration of
this extraordinary franchise for the new
generation of consoles. Till then, this game
will successfully leave you nostalgic about
the Prince trilogy in the days to come. ■
| Gagan Gupta
System: PlayStation 2
Gaming Glitz
A slew of new game releases will set all gamers into a flight path of excitement
T
he past two months have been
a pretty dull period for gaming
enthusiasts around the world with
no new noticeable game release. But gung-
ho gamers will love the fact that there are
lots of games lined up for release in the
months of February and March; hence it’s
the right time for us to give you an insight
into these games and tell you what to
expect from them. The release dates just
mentioned here are the US release dates.
These games will hit the Indian shores
approximately a month after their release
in the US. However, some of the games
would have released in India by the time
you read this preview. Read on to find what
these upcoming games have to offer.
[01] Star Wars: Empire at War
This new game in the Star Wars series from
Lucas Arts bridges Episode III and Episode
IV. Wars are fought to gain control of the
galaxy after the devastation caused by the
Clone Wars and also as a result of the Jedi
slaughter that has disrupted the balance of
the force. This game will allow you to fight
battles in air as well as on ground. It will
also let you experience the formation of the
Rebel Alliance, strengthening of the Empire
and the initial stages of the Civil War. The
game play is unique because the strategic
as well as tactical elements from the
previous events cause a permanent effect
on the galaxy. The demo for this game has
been included on the CHIP DVD and after
playing it you will realize that Empire at War
offers you a mix of tactical and strategic
game play and certainly aims to be the best
Star Wars game till date.
Released in February 2006
[02] TimeShift
TimeShift is different from other
FPS games in which you only run
around and shoot your enemies. In
fact, TimeShift promises to take FPS
Vishwanath Vanjire
games to an entirely new level. This game
grants you the ability to perform time
manipulation and at the same time lets
you slow down, stop and rewind the world
around you. The most interesting feature
of this game is when you perform time
manipulation your enemies will be frozen
in time but you will be able to move as well
as shoot freely. You can do this as you are
equipped with a specially prepared suit that
makes you immune to any kind of changes
in the flow of time. There is also a fun
aspect associated with the game wherein
you could finish off your last enemy and
then you could reverse the time and shoot
him again. Experience the game by playing
the demo present on the CHIP DVD.
Slated for release in March 2006
[03] Hitman: Blood Money
Agent 47 is back! This game is the fourth
installment in the Hitman Series. This time
around he finds himself caught in war
between two contract agencies.
After many of his colleagues are
assassinated by the rival agency, Agent 47
begins to think he is next on their target
list and escapes to the US.
Unlike the previous games, in this game
he is paid in cash and how he spends this
money will affect what weapons he has
and what he does next. A new graphics
engine and a completely new soundtrack
[04] Commandos Strike Force |||||||||||||||||||||
composed by Jesper Kyd definitely makes
it seem like this game has all the right
ingredients to appease the fans of the
Hitman series.
Slated for release in March 2006
[04] Commandos Strike Force
If you are a fan of the Commandos series
then you will be surprised to see that the
developers (Pyros) have done away with
the top-down strategy game play of
the previous games. This game is a
first-person shooter—the first one for the
Commandos series.
But this does not mean that you will
be confronting the Nazis directly, you will
still have to do a lot of sneaking around,
the only difference is that you will get to
experience the action from a first person
perspective. You can take control of one
of the three members of the ‘Strike Force’
namely Green Beret, Spy and Sniper. You
will then have to execute the plans of
attack by combining the Commandos’
unique skills.
Slated for release in April 2006
[05] The Lord of the Rings:
The Battle for Middle Earth II
A follow up to EA’s popular strategy game,
The Lord of the Ring: Battle for Middle Earth,
this game will allow you to experience epic
battles involving the Elven and Dwarven
[06] Rainbow Six: Lockdown ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 armies along with heroes and creatures
that were never seen in the three Lord
of the Rings movies. The game features
better lightning and shadowing effects
as compared to the earlier game. Like its
predecessor, The Battle for Middle Earth II
will let you play as either the good or bad
guys as you attempt to lead your forces to
victory. In additon to the campaigns, there
is also a Risk-style mode that will give
you a chance of conquering the whole of
Middle Earth the way you would like.
Released in February 2006
[06] Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six:
Lockdown
The console version of this game that was
released last year didn’t offer anything
new to the legions of the Rainbow Six
series fans. But you will be wrong to think
that the PC version of this game will be
a direct copy of its console counterpart.
This is a new version that has been built
specifically for the PC. In this game you
will be leading Team Rainbow to battle a
bio-terrorist threat. The action really
heats up when you and your team
members are targeted by a terrorist
organization. You will then have to embark
on a new mision to ensure the safety of
your life as well as the life of your team
members. For more check out the demo
of this game that has been inlcuded in the
CHIP TOYS CD.
Released in February 2006
[02] TimeShift ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
[07] The Godfather of life as a double agent. You will have to
Join the Corleone family and earn respect make your decisions in a matter of few
through loyalty and fear and rise through seconds. With this game Ubisoft aims to
the ranks to become the don in the late expand the story of Sam Fisher as well as
1940’s New York. The game will allow you give his character more depth.
to solve the family’s problems through Slated for release in September 2006
violence, skillful diplomacy or a mixture | Anup Pillai
of both. You will stepping into the mafia
world where you will need to intimidate as
well as negotiate with your rivals so that
you can reach the top. Also, the decisions
that you will make will have long lasting
consequences. The game features GTA-style
game play, a new story line and voice-acting
by original cast members. The highlight for
this game definitely has to be the virtual
[01] Star Wars: Empire At War ||||||||
Marlon Brando.
Slated for release in March 2006
[08] Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell:
Double Agent
Sam Fisher faces his most difficult
test this time. He has to infiltrate
into a dangerous terrorist group
and destroy it from within. You
will get to experience the dilemas
[03] Hitman: Blood Money |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| [07] The Godfather ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
[08] Splinter Cell: Double Agent ||||||||||||||| [05] LOTR : Battle for Middle Earth II |||||||||

Price: Rs 499 Publisher: Ubisoft
CPU, 256 MB RAM, 8x or faster CD/DVD drive, 350 MB of free hard disk space, DirectX 9.0 compatible video card.
Move over FPS, RPG, puzzle games. Try word play
for a change
I
t goes without saying that Scrabble is the
world’s best word board game. Scrabble is
played between two to four players on a board
with a 15x15 grid having certain premium letter
and word squares. Players battle it out taking
turns to score maximum points by strategically
forming words in a crossword fashion using letter-
tiles drawn blindly from a sack initially having 100
tiles. A high-scoring word not only depends on
the length of the word, but more importantly,
it depends on the skill of the player in taking
maximum advantage of the premium
squares. At times, using a single letter can
yield a score a couple of times more than
using multiple letters. Scrabble has strict
rules and doesn’t permit forming proper nouns,
abbreviations and slang.
The Scrabble Interactive 2005 Edition is the
PC version of the classic word game, which has
the official ‘Scrabble Words International List’
built into the game engine. Installation is quick
and occupies merely a third of a GB
on the hard drive. Before playing,
the game prompts you to create
a profile that includes your name,
age, gender and level of experience.
Based on the profile, you are assigned
a rating that gets affected with wins
and losses in rated games. It also
displays statistics like the number of
wins, losses and draws, highest game
score and highest-scoring word made.
After logging in using your profile,
you can either choose to play or learn the
basics. First timers can refer to the tutorial
that exhaustively explains the rules of the game
with examples. Help topics are categorized and
listed in a neat tree structure. Even if you aren’t a
first-timer, it’s worthwhile going through the list
of hints included in the tutorial section to improve
your strategy. After going through the hints you’ll
be surprised to know that ‘U-less’ Q-words like
Distributors: e-xpress Interactive Software Pvt Ltd Tel: 022-28870017
Qi, Qadi, Talaq, Qwerty and Qanat and vowel-less
words like Brr, Hmm, Psst, Shh and Tsk exist in the
official Scrabble words list
Scrabble Interactive offers a lot more than
the standard game. There are multiple game
modes like Anagram where you’ve got to solve
anagrams and Conundrum where players take
turns to make the longest word from a series of
random letters. If you don’t have a partner, you
can compete with a virtual player who you can
select from a list of 20 AI players having varied
levels of experience. You can also challenge
people on the network or the Internet who have
a licensed copy of the game.
Scrabble begins with choosing the number
of players and virtual players. If you like racing
against time, there’s also an option to set duration
per move and the entire game. The interface is
neat—the board with colored premium squares
dominates the screen and the letter rack with
options to shuffle and exchange letters sits at the
bottom of the screen. Score, timer and move-list
panels are also present to keep track of scores
and the words made. Words can be formed by
dragging the letters to the board or by clicking a
position on the board and by typing the word.
The on-screen Mentor and the Dictionary
panels are the most interesting features of this
game. The Mentor suggests the most scoring
words, which can be made from the letters
present in your rack—a good feature for learners
or if you’re in a difficult situation. Using the
Dictionary panel, you can search for words and
their anagrams existing in the Scrabble words list.
If you are a Scrabble lover, don’t miss out on
this one! For its price, this game is a steal! ■
| Anand Tuliani
RATINGS 8.5 /10
For: Multiplayer support; excellent interface;
exhaustive tutorial; extremely addictive!
Against: It would be an added bonus if the
dictionary displayed meanings of the words.
System: Windows All, Pentium II 350 MHz or faster
Pramod Jadhav

Watch out for improved enemy AI and multiplayer
options much required in a World War II genre game
T
rust me, this FPS offers you a
lot more action than what its
predecessor did. The game tells the
story of Joe ‘Red’ Harstock, the character
introduced in the prequel, Brothers in Arms:
Road to Hill 30. The game is set against the
backdrop of World War II, where you get
to step into the shoes of Joe. Joe, in this
game, like thousands of American airborne
troopers, had been dropped behind the
enemy lines the night before the Normandy
landing in France.
While the prequel was lauded as an
innovative FPS concentrating on the
tactical aspect of combat in World War
II, this version features improved AI and
multiplayer options. The campaigns are
based on the experiences of Hartsock and
his colleagues as they battle through the
French countryside. You can easily master
the controls of the game even if you
haven’t played Road to Hill 30, thanks to the
tutorial. A large chunk of the game is played
in flashback as Hartsock is debriefed by a
superior officer.
Gameplay is similar to that of Road to
Hill 30. Those who have played the prequel
will know that in Brothers in Arms you
simply can’t rush out and finish off your
enemies with headshots. Instead, you will
have to make use of the four “F”s—find, fix,
flank and finish to complete your mission.
You can suppress your enemies by firing
at their positions—the indication of which
you get in the form of small red and white
circles above their respective positions.
The circle is red initially and as you and
your team open fire, it slowly turns white
telling you about the suppression. With
much improved AI in Earned in Blood, you
Price: Rs 1,299 Publisher: Ubisoft Distributors: e-xpress Interactive Software Pvt Ltd
CPU, 512 MB RAM, 8x or faster DVD drive, 3.5 GB of free hard disk space, video card with 32 MB or more memory, Broadband connection required for multiplayer option.
FEBRUARY 2006 | INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP
FEATURE | UNWIND 139
will find that as soon as the enemy soldiers
spot you or your team flanking they start
retreating to another position even though
they are suppressed. The new feature
called ‘Situational Awareness’ allows you
to pause the game and then inspect the
surroundings to find out where the enemy
soldiers have taken cover and then plan
the best possible method to flank them.
You can also use grenades to kill the enemy
soldiers. But it’s difficult to throw these
grenades to the exact spot where you want
them. Also, you can’t manually save the
game in between; there are checkpoints
within the missions where the game saves
automatically.
The new Skirmish mode allows you
to play any of the single player missions
cooperatively. Timed assault is another
interesting mode in which you will have
to have to kill all your enemies in a specific
amount of time. If you consider yourself to
be a very good tactician then you can try
your hand at the ‘Tour of Duty’ mode. It’s a
series of five consecutive missions that you
need to complete without dying.
The modeling of the characters in the
game is very good. Sound effects is also
commendable. However, we must say that
the sequel leaves you with the
feeling that you have played
Pramod Jadhav
an expansion pack rather
than a full sequel. ■
| Anup Pillai
RATINGS 8.5 / 10
For: Improved enemy AI and multiplayer
options; the game brings into focus the
tactical aspect of WW II combat.
Against: This game is more an expansion
pack rather than a sequel.
Tel: 022-28870017 System: Windows 2000/XP, 1.0 GHz or faster
140 Classifieds
144 Classifieds

Banlgore 09845028869 Hyderbad 09848052085 Shop No.16,Laxmi Building Compound,

390,Lamington Road, Mumbai-400004
Calcutta 09830045322 Mumbai 09821035100 Phone: 23896600,23855500 Fax: 022-23885500
Chennai 09840077334 Kolhapur 09890690655 Email-primeservices@vsnl.com

Thriving on 3D
Planning a career in computer graphics? Grab this book then
T here’s something about a book with
‘animation’ in its title that appeals to virtually
any computer buff out there. If you’re a graphics
enthusiast yourself, or if you’re vying to make
inroads into the field of computer graphics, you’d
most probably want to lay your hands on every
computer graphics book out there. That’s what
happened when I came across the book.
This is the first practical book on 3D
animation that I have come across. Sure, it
does talk about modeling techniques using
applications like 3D Studio MAX, Lightwave and
Maya, but it extends itself by providing a wealth
of insightful information on the ‘soft’ aspect
relating to the psyche of a 3D artist. Setting
the pace for the book, the author first touches
upon very practical aspects related to what it
takes to be a 3D artist and what you should be
considering before you get into the field.
The author describes the various types of jobs
an animator could search for in the industry and
what each of them entails in terms of experience
and skill requirement. This includes practical
insights such as pitching the project, contracting
and billing, storyboarding, objects, scenes and
characters, motions, testing, rendering and also
how to get paid! There’s a very interesting section
within the first chapter which offers practical
tips on how to get employed, where he illustrates
aspects as granular as résumé creation, formats for
tracking contacts while planning interviews with
companies and even tips on how to answer the
phone when calling an animation studio for a job!
The second chapter gets into the meat of things
where the author uses a case study of a typical
60-second animation project required by a client.
Marked with live examples, he describes how
to plan the animation storyboard, the kinds of
questions to ask clients, adding dialog, acquiring
voice and music talent, presenting your work to the
client, etc. He then talks about the actual systems
used to create special effects from motion capture
systems to non-linear editing tools, to network
computer rendering configurations to wearable
sensors for character animation.
Chapter three goes on to describe the
different equipment needed in an animation
MARCH 2006 | INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP
BOOK REVIEW | UNWIND 147
environment—a mission-critical rendering
workstation, selection for peripherals like
scanners and printers to audio editing software,
amplifiers, speakers, cabling, video acquisition
gear, etc. While this is insightful information for
beginners, it will also be helpful for those looking
to setting up an animation studio themselves.
From chapter four onward, the book gets
technical and dives into explaining the capabilities
of the three animation applications listed above.
The author elucidates various 3D creation
concepts such as the various modeling methods,
rendering light (using radiosity, rendering
engines, volume lights, shadows, lighting effects)
etc. The final chapter deals with character
animation where aspects such as rigging,
skinning, kinematics and bones are described.
Throughout all of these examples, the
author concentrates more on
describing the 3D concepts,
other than delving too deep
into a particular modeling
software. Therefore,
various examples
are illustrated
using different
animation software
throughout the book. The book also bundles a CD
that contains a working copy of Lightwave and
Maya along with several other trial versions of
modeling applications to get you started off.
The author’s deep experience and practical
knowledge in the field of 3D animation shows
clearly through this book. With a friendly yet
articulate style, he effectively describes both the
functional as well as the psychological aspects
of a successful 3D animator. This book is highly
recommended to those aspiring to get into the
field of 3D modeling as well as users looking for a
deeper insight into the industry. ■
| Marco D’Souza
| Digital Animation Bible
Author : George Avgerakis
Price : Rs 595
Publisher : Tata McGraw-Hill Publishing Co
Phone : 011-25882935
E-mail : marketing_india@mcgraw-hill.com
148 LAST WORD
The Last Word
D
uring the long hours of daily commute I
sometimes reflect on the early stages of my
career. You see, I was a computer instructor
before pursuing journalism. It was a tough job that
called for a lot of learning and patience; but there
were oodles of fun too. It’s those humorous (and
embarrassing) moments that I’d like to share with you.
In the early Nineties the masses in India were just
being introduced to PCs and applications. In those
days people had diverse reasons for signing up for
computer courses. Some enrolled just to keep up with
the Joneses; for others, it seemed a guarantee for a
job; but the wise ones were serious about making a
career in the then ‘happening’ IT industry.
I’m glad I took the plunge because it gave me
the freedom to explore and learn. And believe me, I
learned much more in the role of teacher than as
a student.
My students were from all walks of life. I taught
corporate executives, bank officials, home makers,
college students, and even senior citizens. My day at
the computer institute began at 7:30 am. So I had
to boot myself at 5:45 am. Booting the machines
came next. The PC-XTs and PC-ATs (as they were then
known) would take a full 3 to 5 minutes to boot. Much
of that time was spent for the Power On Self Test
(POST). And so students would sit back, twiddle
their thumbs and watch all the cryptic
POST messages on the screen, in
complete befuddlement.
The incrementing figures
that appear on the screen
during the memory test look
like the digital tape counter on
a VCR machine. So a student
observing the memory test
during the POST asked me if the
PC was “rewinding”. With much
effort I contained my laughter,
saving it for the staff room and
the coffee break.
In those days Lotus 123
was the de facto spreadsheet
application. Creating graphs
(charts) was a highlight of Lotus.
To create a chart, you need to first
select data in a table to “define
ranges”. There was this guy who
defined too many ranges for his bar graph and then
got thoroughly confused. His chart looked like the
Mumbai skyline. I put his mind to rest by suggesting
the use of “legends” for the graph. And then
everything made sense.
There were those moments when we had to
explain funny-sounding terms like WYSIWYG and
‘Zapf Dingbats’. The very mention of these terms
generated a war of laughter in the classroom.
When the mouse (and Windows) arrived,
there were those moments where one learned to
use the mouse. Someone once interchanged the
position of the mice for two adjacent computers.
The unfortunate victim was a lady, who moved her
mouse in all directions, and couldn’t figure out why
the pointer refused to budge on the screen. I later
discovered that this was the handiwork of a prankish
student—the mice were deliberately interchanged!
The first day of a course was always memorable
because something unusual always happened. I
remember how someone spent the first 5 minutes
struggling to insert a 3.5-inch floppy disk into the slot
of a 5.25-inch drive (now extinct).
Then there was this elderly gentleman who had to
leave early. So he switched off his monitor and system
unit, just the way he was taught. Thoughtfully, he also
switched off the master switch (near his terminal)
as well. And all the machines were turned off in the
process. In that moment no one quite understood
what was happening. And then realization dawned as
the student at the next terminal burst into peals of
laughter, much to the embarrassment of the elderly
gentleman. I sympathized with the gentleman,
assuring him he couldn’t have known, since it was the
first day.
From what you’ve just read, it may appear
that being an instructor is a fun job with a lot
of excitement. On the flip side, it is also a very
challenging role. The biggest problem is technical
obsolescence. What’s ‘hot’ today is outdated
tomorrow. There are so many computer packages
and languages. If you’re a multi-role instructor who
teaches several subjects then it is difficult to master
them all. On the bright side, an instructor learns new
things all the time. There is that special feeling of
authority, the respect you get from students and the
opportunity to meet people from all walks of life. ■
| | Brian Pereira
INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP | MARCH 2006
 2006
03

Technology in Sports | 35 laptops tested | Free storage RNI Registration No MAHENG/2003/12687

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