Android 2.3.4 Update for Nexus S brings Video Chat

Google has released a new Gingerbread update that brings Google Talk with video and voice chat support for Android smartphones. Finally, Android devices get Gtalk with video or voice chat over 3G/4G or Wi-Fi. Only Nexus S devices are blessed with the new Android 2.3.4 update while others will receive it later. That means if you have an Android device with a front facing camera, then you'll have to wait for this update for a couple of months more or until enthusiasts manage to pull out the new Gtalk app for rest of the devices.

Three months ago, Google demonstrated Android 3.0 Honeycomb with video and voice chat in Gtalk. We don't see many Honeycomb based tablets in use these days. However, we do see loads of Android 2.3 Gingerbread based phones out in the market now. Recently, a number of Android apps from Oovoo, Skype, Fring and Tango have been coming up for the video and voice chat services.

Now Google has formally introduced the video and voice chat functionality with the Android 2.3.4 update. At present, only Nexus S will get this update over-the-air. Once the Android 2.3.4 update is installed on the phone, you'll get to see video or voice chat buttons in the Gtalk friend list.

On initiating a video chat with a contact, the text part would be overlaid over the video so that one doesn't have to keep switching between the video chat and the text messages. In case there's a link that will take the user out of the video chat, the chat pauses in the background.

Earlier today, Skype released Qik Video Connect app that will let users have live video chats between Android phones and iOS based devices.

Now, we'll have to wait and see if the new Android 2.3.4 update would be available for all smartphones with front facing camera or not. It may have some limitations and might not work smoothly on devices with less RAM.

Check out the video demonstrating Gtalk with video and voice chat for Android 2.3.4 update below:

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Iomega ScreenPlay TV Link MX HD Media Player

The Iomega ScreenPlay TV Link MX HD media player is a compact device, which when connected to the television, can play all your media files from your portable drive.

It supports all major formats in Full HD and works with all types of external storage devices. The player has an HDMI out, composite AV out and coaxial audio out. It also sports a single USB port on the front for connecting external storage devices.

The ScreenPlay TV Link MX comes with a wireless remote control as well. The device is pretty small, about the size of a CD, and has a nice brushed metal finish with good build quality.

The UI of the player is pretty decent; it isn't as attractive as the UI on the WD players, but is simple to navigate and gets the job done.

The ScreenPlay TV Link MX supports almost every format that we know of, and it played all of our test files. The only issue we had was with files with DTS audio in them. In this particular case, the player would just play the video and not the audio. The audio and video quality of this player is good. The default brightness and saturation is set a bit too high but it can easily be fixed from the settings menu.

The Iomega ScreenPlay TV Link MX HD media player is priced at Rs. 3,999, which is pretty good value considering the features and performance that you are getting. In comparison, the WD TV costs Rs. 6,499 while not being substantially better.

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Hackers put up PSN Credit Card Info for Sale

Last week hackers, purportedly from the Internet collective Anonymous, managed to hack into the PlayStation Network - Sony's online portal for PS3 and PSP consoles. The serious security breach saw the hackers harvest personal information and password details of the 77 million odd PSN accounts, in addition to unsettling rumours of the users' credit card info being compromised. The credit card info leak was until now, a matter of conjecture, with Sony neither admitting nor denying the possibility. If TrendMicro's online security expert Kevin Stevens is to be believed, "low-level cybercriminals" are shopping around for databases containing credit card information of 2.2 million PSN members.

According to Stevens, the credit card data is up on illegal forums and holds enough information for anyone wielding it to siphon money off the card holder. Although Stevens didn't provide a link to these forums for obvious reasons, he claims the credit card data peddled there includes card holder's names, addresses, phone numbers, email addresses, dates of birth and also the CVV2 numbers. According to Sony, the PSN credit card details were encrypted. That may sound reassuring, but encryption doesn't always prove to be a deterrent to seasoned hackers. For all we know, the credit card details up for sale may just be a scam, but recent reports of PSN users falling prey to credit card fraud may not be a mere coincidence.

Sony's laxity in informing its users about the security breach is most damning, as it took almost a week for Sony to warn its 77 million PSN users that their personal information, password and credit card details may have been compromised. A class action lawsuit accusing Sony of not taking "reasonable care to protect, encrypt, and secure the private and sensitive data of its users" was filed in the American courts. The suit claimed that Sony deliberately withheld information of the PSN security breach and read, "[Sony] has been aware for a substantial period of time that PSN was prone to catastrophic loss of data from a security breach. Nevertheless, [Sony] failed to warn its customers of the problem or tried to prevent them from suffering system suspension from security breaches and data loss." If you have your credit card details linked to your PSN account, it will be prudent to keep a close eye for any suspicious activity.

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RIM launches BlackBerry Style 9670 in India

Research in Motion has launched the new BlackBerry Style 9670 in India. This CDMA based smartphone runs the new BlackBerry OS 6.0. It has 360 x 400 resolution internal display and 240 x 320 resolution external display. The 9670 has a 5 megapixel camera with auto-focus and flash and can record videos in VGA resolution. It has the standard BlackBerry full QWERTY keypad and the optical trackpad, along with Bluetooth, Wi-Fi and GPS.

The phone has 512MB internal memory and comes with an 8GB microSD card. The 9670 is priced at Rs. 24,999 in India and is available on Reliance and Tata networks.

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Corsair SP2500 Review

2.1 speaker systems have been in existence for a long time, but even today it is hard to come across a set that sounds really good. The cheaper ones are often built to a budget and produce passable sound, while the more expensive ones sound decent but are no match for a pair of bookshelf speakers from a respected brand at the same price. Bookshelf speakers also take up a lot more desk space and often require amplification, which a lot of people will see as an additional headache. Hence the popularity of the 2.1 speaker systems. Their space saving design and plug and play nature is what made them so popular. It is also the reason why people choose to buy them despite the quality compromise.
 

But sometimes you have manufacturers that take up the task of creating truly good sounding 2.1 speakers that will challenge the stereotype. Most of the top desktop speaker manufacturers have tried this and few have succeeded. This time we have a new entrant in this segment, a name we are all familiar with, thanks to their quality storage devices and power supply units.

The SP2500 is Corsair's first speaker system and it seems they have pulled all stops to make sure it is the absolute best in the segment. We hooked it up to our PC to see how good it sounds.


Design

While the online pictures leave no doubt that the SP2500 is a physically large set, we were a bit shocked when we actually saw it for the first time. The subwoofer could easily pass off as a stool and the satellite speakers were as large as our face. Visually, the speakers are moderately attractive. They have a very safe design that doesn't stir any extreme emotions in the viewer. Corsair has left that to speakers size.

The massive subwoofer turned out to be lighter than we thought. It uses a fourth-order bandpass enclosure design. What this means is that the driver is completely inside the enclosure and is mounted on a partition within, with its backside facing a sealed compartment with a fixed quantity of air, and the cone facing a ported compartment. This arrangement requires a lot of space, which explains the large size of the subwoofer.

The satellite speakers are traditional boxes with a no nonsense design. Each of them has a 3-inch mid-range driver and a 1-inch ferrofluid cooled silk diaphragm tweeter. The satellite speakers are completely non-adjustable but they come with plastic stands that you can place under either the front or the rear feet of the satellites depending upon whether you want the firing angle to be higher or lower. Still, despite this, we would have preferred adjustable speakers as that allows a finer control over the firing angle.

The 8-inch subwoofer is powered by a 120W amplifier. The satellites are bi-amped, which means there is an amp for each of the drivers. The mid-range drivers get 40W of power each and the tweeters get 16W each, which is more than the combined power of most low-end systems. The total power rating of the system is 232W RMS, which is measured by the FTC method. The FTC rating is obtained by measuring across both the channels across the audible range (20-20,000Hz) at 0.1% THD.

Most other manufacturers state the EIA rating, which is obtained across a single channel at 1KHz with 1% THD. Due to this power output obtained using the EIA method is often larger compared to the FTC method, but less realistic. None of us listen to 1KHz sounds from a single channel and 1%THD is too high to dismiss. Had Corsair used the traditional method their total output would have been closer to or more than 300W RMS.
 

On the back of the subwoofer you will find the line in input, which uses standard RCA jacks and auxiliary input. The output to the two speakers is through unconventional (for a speaker system) ATX connectors. The reason for this is because the speakers are bi-amped and ATX cables allow Corsair to send the two dedicated streams without having multiple ports per channel. They are also easy to replace and extend if necessary. Lastly, you have the VGA connector to the remote controller.

The remote on the SP2500 is pretty awesome. It has a large display, a volume control knob that also serves as navigation control through the on-screen UI and three backlit keys below. One of the keys controls the master volume, the other lets you adjust the subwoofer level. The third buttons lets you enter the menu. From there you can select various sound effects and equalizer presets as well as the input. You can adjust the duration of the backlight and the color.
 

The remote also has another auxiliary input and a headphone out. There is also a mini USB port, which allows you to connect it to the PC. This function is reserved for future firmware upgrades, which may add additional functions or alter existing ones. 

Performance

We first hooked up the SP2500 to our PC with a Creative SoundBlaster Audigy 2 sound card and later on to an Xbox 360 for gaming and movie sound testing.

When we first started testing with the PC, we set the volume on the sound card to maximum as we usually do and controlled the final volume through the volume control on the SP2500. But then we realized that the system was unable to handle the output of the sound card at max volume and so whenever bass came into the picture the DSP in the system would tone down the sound, which made it muddy.

We then set the sound card output to 50%, which reduced the strain on the speaker system and made them work properly. The culprit here was the DSP, which was clearly overwhelmed by the input signal. Lesser speaker systems that cannot afford the luxury of having a dedicated DSP built-in had no problem whatsoever in our tests.

Once that was settled we tried our usual batch of uncompressed audio files. Now the first thing that strikes you about the sound is the bass response, which is immensely powerful. Once you get over the subwoofer, you will realize that the satellites also do a fine job of rendering mids and highs.

Music on the SP2500 sounds good. The voices sound natural and the instruments are played back with the kind of accuracy that would fool you into thinking they are playing right in front of you. The tweeters render the high end beautifully with perfect clarity without being too harsh. The mid-range too is very good but a little more clarity would have made it excellent.

The powerful bass, once put under a tight leash comes across as dynamic and full bodied. It fills in the low end effortlessly and can go fairly deep. But it lacked somewhat in terms of definition. In some tracks we were overwhelmed by the boomy bass, while the tight punch we expected wasn't there. Reducing the bass reduced all impact and hence was pointless.

Because of this, some tracks sound less than stellar. The subwoofer makes its presence felt, which might be great in movies and gaming, but it sounds odd in music. This is even more apparent in a small room, where the subwoofer seems too big for its own good. If you are in a big room, however, the subwoofer is unlikely to overwhelm you as much. Still, that punch is missing.

The speakers have excellent stereo imaging. The satellite speakers are able to position sounds all around you in a way that almost makes you turn around as if it came from behind you. Soundstaging is brilliant as well and you can easily distinguish one instrument from another.

Movies and gaming are a completely different ball game altogether and this is where the SP2500 truly excels. The satellites ensure all the dialogues come through clean and clear and the subwoofer ensures all the explosions are delivered with aplomb. But at the end of the day, this is still a 2.1 speaker system and no matter how good the stereo imaging is, it cannot replicate a proper surround sound speaker system. Those heavily into movies and gaming would do better by investing in a 5.1 channel speaker system, such as the Logitech Z-5500, which is slightly more expensive than the SP2500.

Due to the presence of a DSP, the SP2500 offers multiple sound effects for you to choose from. Our favourite was the Late Night mode, which cuts off the subwoofer and boosts the bass output of the satellite speakers, so you get a balanced sound without waking up others in your house. The other effects were not so impressive. In fact, their very presence raised questions in our mind.

Corsair claims that the SP2500 delivers life-like stereo sound yet they have provided these sound effects that alter the original sound. Any audiophile worth his salt would never touch any of these and stick to the Reference setting, which disables all the equalizers.


Verdict

The Corsair SP2500 is priced at Rs. 12,500 plus taxes. For that price you get a very powerful speaker system that also comes with a lot of bells and whistles, but more importantly sounds good. Still, to be honest, what we heard was nowhere near as impressive as we thought it would be. Corsair is marketing these as audiophile grade speaker system and we think that's stretching the truth a bit too far. A true audiophile wouldn't even bother with a 2.1 speaker set, no matter how good it is. But for an average user this would be perfect. But then again, an average user won't spend that much on a speaker system.
 

Music sounds good but not great and definitely not worth the price. Movies and games sound best on the set but then these are the things that are best enjoyed on a surround sound speaker set. In the end, we would only recommend this set to those who want something for movies and gaming but don't have the space to set up a surround sound speaker system. Those who love music would do well to invest in a pair of bookshelf speakers and amplifier combo for the same price.

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Apple iPhone 6 to get Sharp LCDs

Rumors of the iPhone 5 continue to rife and images of purported prototypes are already soaring on the web. Amidst that craziness, Japanese news daily Nikkei, reported that Apple will partner with Sharp to create next-generation low-temperature poly-silicon LCD displays for the iPhone 6. That means the iPhone 6 would have thinner and lighter display compared to the iPhone 4 and also offer more durability, higher aperture ratios and few connection pins.

Even in the past, Apple employed the Retina Display technology in the iPhone 4 providing crisper images, bright and improved contrast ratio. However, Apple seems to be trying out another option for the iPhone 6 scheduled to hit production floors in mid-2012.

For iPhone 6, Apple will use Sharp's LCD displays with Thin Film Transistors made from polycrystalline silicon (p-Si). These p-Si LCD displays are thinner, lighter and consume less power compared to the traditional LCD display screens. Apart from that, the p-Si LCD displays have high aperture ratio, more durability and less number of connection pins.

Apple is expected to make use of these p-Si LCD displays as the technology allows putting optical sensors and other components on the glass substrate. So there's no need to add any additional layer of 'touch panel' to the device. In short, it will be part of more compact and slimmer iPhone device which we're currently referring as iPhone 6.

According to the images of iPhone parts circulating online, loads of assumptions can be made about the form factor, size and display technology to be used in the iPhone 6. However, nothing can be confirmed beforehand since Apple may just change the plans/designs for iPhoen 6. Take it with a pinch of salt.

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PSN Hacked; Credit Card Data may be Compromised

The PlayStation Network has been down since last Wednesday, eerily close to Anonymous' recent open threat to Sony. After waiting almost a week for the online service to resume, Sony finally issued a statement on through a blog post officially announcing that the PSN and Qriocity, its on-demand digital music service have been affected by a security breach. Nearly 77 million PSN users have been affected by the breach. Although the number of individual subscribers may be smaller due to the existence of alternate IDs, the total figure is still estimated in the millions. The PSN intrusion is especially concerning because the hacker(s) seem to have plundered user privacy data of the several million PSN users, according to Sony's official statement:

"Although we are still investigating the details of this incident, we believe that an unauthorized person has obtained the following information that you provided: name, address (city, state, zip), country, email address, birthdate, PlayStation Network/Qriocity password and login, and handle/PSN online ID. It is also possible that your profile data, including purchase history and billing address (city, state, zip), and your PlayStation Network/Qriocity password security answers may have been obtained."

What's enraged Sony customers is the fact that it waited six days before acknowledging the security breach and warning users about it. If you have a PSN account, you must immediately change the password and do the same for any accounts which share the same password. Additionally, if your credit card has been attached to the PSN account, it would be prudent to keep a watch on the same. While Sony states that there's no evidence of credit card data being compromised, it still claims that such an eventuality cannot be ruled out.

The blog post explains, "While there is no evidence at this time that credit card data was taken, we cannot rule out the possibility. If you have provided your credit card data through PlayStation Network or Qriocity, out of an abundance of caution we are advising you that your credit card number (excluding security code) and expiration date may have been obtained."

The worst hit are games that require online access for in-game features and anti-piracy security checks. With PSN down, these games will not work even in the offline mode. Sony claims to get the service back on track within a week, but the situation seems to be grim because Anonymous is suspected to be behind the attack. Knowing their relentlessness, Sony better shore up its defences before letting the hackers have another go at PSN. The Anonymous angle has also been posted by Sony in the official FAQ. Here's an excerpt:

"Is the attack by 'Anonymous' or another party?"

We are currently conducting a thorough investigation of the situation. Since this is an overall security related issue, we cannot comment further at this time."

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How Tech Company Logos Evolved: Part II

A company's corporate logo is something that becomes a symbol of the company and the company starts getting identified by that logo. It is this power of identity that makes us instantly recognize a brand by just glimpsing at its logo. Corporate logos of almost every technology company have changed over the course of years and that is what we are going to have a look at today in part 2 of this series.LG

The Korean company we know today as LG had its humble beginnings as a merger of two different companies owned by Koo In-Hwoi - Lucky (Lak-Hui), which was a chemical cosmetic company, and Goldstar, which was a radio manufacturing plant. Known as Lucky Goldstar since then, the company was renamed as LG Electronics in 1995.

The LG logo in use today is of symbolic importance to the company. According to LG, the letters "L" and "G" in a circle symbolize the world, future, youth, humanity and technology. The red color represents friendliness along with a strong impression of the company's commitment to the best.

The circle symbolizes the globe, the stylized image of a smiling face conveys friendliness and approachability, while the one eye conveys goal-oriented, focused and confident. The LG Grey represents technology and reliability. The logo is asymmetrical and it has been deliberately created thus to represent the creativity and adaptability to changes of this company.

While it is a well-known fact that LG stands for Lucky Goldstar, the company now denies it and rather states that it stands for "Life is Good" or simply LG.Microsoft

When Microsoft was founded in 1975 by Bill Gates and Paul Allen, the first product of this company was the computer language BASIC. Being a software company and since the software runs on hardware based on a microprocessor, they named this company taking the first few letters of the word microprocessor and software to create Micro-Soft (with a hyphen separating the two words). The company logo was also designed to reflect the name of the company at that time.

They decided to drop the hyphen in the same year and rename the company Microsoft, and in the process also changed the logo accordingly. The new green Microsoft logo with an artistic O (nicknamed "Blibbet" by company employees) was used till 1987 as the company logo.

Microsoft decided to introduce a new corporate logo in 1987 and did away with the "Blibbet" (causing Dave Norris to run an internal joke campaign called "Save the Blibbet"). Nevertheless, the company had made up its mind to get a new logo designed by Scott Baker using Hevletica italic typeface. The slant was an indicator of motion and speed. This came to be known as the "Pacman logo" because the O in this logo looked like the video game character Pacman, with a distinctive cut, to subtly differentiate between the Micro and Soft part.

Microsoft added the tagline "Where do you want to go today?" to this logo below the original logo in 1994. Microsoft retained the logo design, but opted to change the tagline in 2006 to "Your potential. Our passion" with the tagline also written in italics typeface. In 2011, Microsoft yet again changed its tagline to "Be What's Next." and this tagline is in normal typeface.Mozilla Firefox

When Dave Hyatt and Blake Ross first created the open source browser in 2001, they named it Phoenix and this is visible in its first logo. But there were some trademark issues which forced them to change the name of their browser to Firebird, which allowed them to retain the original logo since the meaning is the same.

When it was later found out that even the name Firebird was already trademarked, they had to quickly find an alternative name. They decided to name it Firefox in 2003 and that name was the final name of this browser. Accordingly, they got the logo changed by professional interface designer John Hicks to a Firefox engulfing the blue globe representing the world. Was it a play on the Microsoft Internet Explorer logo getting engulfed by this new promising browser? We do not know.

Nevertheless, this has remained the logo of the Firefox browser since then and has changed very little, save for some colors of the continents using a lighter blue color to be able to differentiate the oceans from the land mass.

Nokia

In Finnish, the word "Nokia" means a dark and furry animal called the Pine Marten weasel. The name of the company Nokia came from the company set up on the banks of the river Nokiavirta in the town of Nokia in 1868 by Knut Fredrik Idestam as a second groundwood pulp mill in his new business established in 1865. Nokia has therefore been in the communication business right from the start as this company manufactured paper, which was a major means of communication back then.

It is not exactly known if it is really true, but it is generally believed that since the company was situated on the banks of the Nokiavirta river, the first Nokia Company logo was that of a diving salmon fish, possibly from that river.

Finnish Rubber Works was founded in 1898, which would eventually become part of Nokia and along with Nokia Ab and the Finish Cable works, would form Nokia Corporation in 1967.

The current slogan of Nokia - "Connecting People", which is part of its present logo, was invented by Ove Strandberg.Xerox

At its inception in 1906, the company Xerox Corporation was known as The Haloid Photographic Company, which manufactured photographic paper and equipment. In 1938, Chester Carlson invented a technique called xerography, now known as the photocopy technique. Despite his persistent efforts, he could not find a financer for his invention. Being turned down by the big giants such as IBM, GE and RCA, Carlson turned to The Haloid Photographic Company, which decided to back his invention. The company made the first photocopying machine named Haloid Xerox 14.

The company's name was later changed to Haloid Xerox in 1958. You will notice in the company logos, that the original word Haloid, which used to be prominent in earlier logos, was gradually replaced in prominence by the word Xerox in the 1948 logo and in the 1949 logo. Haloid Xerox made a brief appearance in the logo in 1958, but was dropped three years later when it was completely replaced by Xerox in 1961. This was due to the unprecedented success enjoyed by the photocopying machines named thus.

Xerox retained this logo from 1961 to 2004. In 2004, Xerox decided that it does not want to be associated just with photocopy machines as had been happening over the years; they wanted to diversify. They changed the logo just a little bit by removing the words "The Document Company", while retaining the rest of the logo.

Since they had already decided to get away from the complete association with photocopying machines, in 2008 they changed the font of the logo and added a ball with a stylish X.

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Philips 192EL LED Monitor Review

Philips used to be quite popular back in the day with CRT monitors right alongside Viewsonic and Samsung. However, once the LCDs invaded the market, they kind of fell off the grid. I bet you didn't know that despite its low profile in India, Philips actually has a wide range of PC monitors right from a 15-incher all the way to 27-inches. Today, we have its budget series LED based monitor called the 192EL. This is an 18.5-inch screen with a 1366x768 resolution and a brightness level of 250 candelas. Response time is good low 5ms so ghosting should be a non-issue in gaming or movies.

The first thing you'll notice is the design which is very appealing and the glossy black frame makes it stand out. The circular stand is a little small but manages to sustain the monitor fine. The neck of the stand allows you to pivot the monitor backwards and forwards.

The menu buttons are all touch sensitive and there's a small power LED in the center. The buttons have good sensitivity but they should have been backlit as it becomes quite difficult to use them in low light. The 192EL features dual connectors, DVI-D and VGA. The former is HDCP compliant, should you feel the need to connect a PS3 to it. The monitor is fairly slim from the sides and there are VESA mounting holes on the rear. Overall, we were quite impressed with the build and finish of the monitor. Now let's see if the performance is as good as it looks. 

Performance

We first calibrated the monitor using the Lagom tests to find a balance between the contrast and brightness. With both set to 50 percent and the color mode set to 'Standard', the brightness was adequate for a well lit room and the colors were just right as well without any noticeable blooming in Windows. Along with the Lagom tests, we also ran Display Mate v1.25 to check for abnormalities in the panel. It passed the grayscale tests without any hiccups and even the color spectrum, the 192EL could distinguish the lower values well. We did run into some trouble at higher values especially in the blues and there was very slight banding noticeable as well.

The menu is very simple to navigate with all the options clearly labeled. There isn't any Eco mode, but then again this being an LED backlit monitor, you don't really need one.

The monitor isn't ideal for working on spreadsheets due to the size and resolution but for everything else, it gets the job done. Movies (SD or HD) look good with a decent color reproduction. There isn't any visible ghosting or trailing during action sequences or even in gaming for that matter. The lower resolution actually lets you max out current games in case you're packing older hardware and it still looks very good.

Pricing and Verdict

The Philips 192EL is available for a street price of Rs. 5,500 which is a pretty sweet deal. Considering it has LED backlighting as well as dual inputs not to mention good performance, it makes a good buy. Viewsonic has something similar in this price range with an LED option but only single VGA connector. Overall, we really liked the build and ergonomics of the 192EL and while its display performance wasn't mind-blowing, we aren't complaining at this price.

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Viewsonic VP2655wb LCD Monitor

After a long time we have one of Viewsonic's professional series monitors with us for review, the VP2655wb. Based on IPS technology, the monitor measures 25.5" diagonally and sports a full HD resolution of 1920x1200 resolution. Thanks to the IPS panel it boasts of a 118% NTSC color gamut and a very good viewing angle of 178-degree horizontal and vertical. The typical contrast ratio is 1000:1 and comes with a 400cd/m2 brightness, which is just what you need from a professional series monitor for graphics and multimedia. There are a couple other features as well which we'll see in a bit.
Bundle
The bundle includes the following;

• Instruction leaflet
• Power cable
• VGA cable
• DVI cable
• USB upstream cable
• Driver CD

Design

The VP5526wp sports the typical Viewsonic design we've seen over the years for their professional series monitors. In fact it does not look all that different from the old one that we tested over a year back. The bezel from the front is not very wide with the panel recessed a bit. All the buttons are lined up in the front with a blue power LED.

Like all VP series monitors, this one is also fully adjustable. You can adjust the height, pivot and swivel.

The stand is rock solid and very heavy but occupies quite a bit of space on your desk. The tripod like stand is very wide and provides good support with no wobble. The height adjustment is very simple once you remove the safety pin from the back. You can easily lift the stand with two fingers.  There are two loops in the rear for cable management.

There are just two display ports, VGA and DVI, and four USB downstream ports. The funny thing is that Viewsonic has chosen to place all of them underneath, where it's out of reach, instead of the sides.









Performance

Display Mate  

After lowering the brightness and contrast to acceptable levels we ran Display Mate to check for abnormalities in the panel. Apart from the usual HCR issue, the monitor breezed through all the color gradient tests and grey level test. In the multi color spectrum we did notice very slight banding issues among the yellow and red colors. This ideally shouldn't be present since it has a very wide color gamut.

General and Multimedia usage
When we first took the monitor out of the box, the contras and brightness was really high and we had to tone the settings down. Toning the brightness and contrast down to 50% made everything a lot more pleasant while still retaining the picture quality. The menu is really frustrating to use though, as it's too small and hasn't changed for the past five years or even more. The buttons are a bit stiff and cause the entire bezel to move when you try to press it. 
Since the size of the monitor and the resolution is not too high, Viewsonic has increased the pixel pitch a bit (which isn't mentioned on the site), so text doesn't appear that smooth, which is especially noticeable in Windows. Not to say it's blurry or anything; perhaps they should have kept the pixel pitch the same as a smaller sized monitor.

We tried a bit of gaming and HD movies as well, all of which was rendered beautifully. We have no idea of the response time of the monitor, as it's not mentioned on the site, but we didn't find any sort of ghosting or blurring in movies and games.

Power Consumption
IDLE -  01W
Default mode (70% Contrast, 100% Brightness) - 105W
Eco mode (Optimise) - 81W
Eco mode (Conserve) - 64W
Pricing and Verdict
At a price tag of Rs. 43,999, the Viewsonic VP2655wb is quite expensive. In this range, in fact for a lesser price, you can find Dell's ever popular 2408WFP monitor. It shares the same specs but offers better connectivity options including HDMI, DisplayPort, Component and so on. It's even got better aesthetics.

Viewsonic has a very solid performing monitor in terms of picture quality and viewing angles, but the asking price is a bit too much. They need to really work on the presentation of the menu and change the overall boring looks of the monitor. If you have to get a full HD IPS panel then Dell has better options.


Test unit sourced from Mutual PR

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Viewsonic VA2431wm

Viewsonic has been off the LCD monitor radar for some time now and seemed to have given up hope of breaking the market which is now hogged by Dell, Samsung and BenQ. The last impressive monitor that we reviewed was the VP2655wb, which was a bit expensive since it had an IPS panel and all but it was good nonetheless.  Viewsonic has sent across their budget 24-incher for review and we take a look at what's hot and what's not. The bundle includes the power cable, VGA cable and audio cable along with some manuals and drivers. Design and Build

The VA2431wm is built well and comes in a full glossy finish. Although this is a nightmare for neat freaks, it makes the monitor attractive and appealing to buyers when placed in a store. The design hasn't really changed much from their previous lineup. The VA2431wm has got nice curved edges all around including a matching oval stand. There's a single LED light in the center followed by the OSD buttons below.

The monitor isn't exactly slim since it's not LED based, but it's quite lightweight and doesn't have a very large footprint on your desk. Connectivity includes VGA and DVI only, but no HDMI, which is quite disappointing. Also, all the ports face downwards, so hooking it up to the PC is quite painful. The monitor also has built in speakers that you can connect using the bundled 3.5mm cable.

The stand is very easy to fix, simply slide the monitor in and it snaps in place. It's not very large but still manages to easily support the weight of the monitor. 
Performance
We ran Display Mate v1.25 first to check for abnormalities in the panel. This being a TN panel, we encountered some of the traditional problems that plague it, like the HCR color mismatch and quite a bit of banding in the color spectrum tests. We played around with the brightness and contrast and found 60% contrast and 70% brightness to be ideal. We also noticed a bit of backlight bleeding towards the bottom edge of the screen.

The OSD hasn't really changed much from the nineties; it still has the same 8-bit color palette and really tiny icons which Viewsonic needs to do away with. We have the standard color modes, brightness, contrast and also Eco mode, which dims the brightness depending on the mode you select. The second button on the monitor allows you to quickly switch between the two sources. The VA2431wm has a good level of brightness, which you'll have to turn down unless you want to go blind.

HD movies look good on the screen and the color banding is not really visible, especially in animated flicks. There's no semblance of any ghosting or anything during playback. SD movies look good even though a bit pixilated when seen up close.

Pricing and Verdict
The VA2431wm is priced at Rs. 11,500 and comes with a three-year warranty. This is the MRP of course, so the actual street price should be a bit lower. Overall, the Viewsonic is a decent monitor in terms of build quality and style. It even performs well with a good level of contrast and brightness and no ghosting, thanks to the low response time. The pricing seems a bit steep though given that you can find a Dell LED based monitor for about 10.5K. There's also no HDMI port, which is something we expect these days. It's a good buy as long as it's available for less than 9K.  

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Viewsonic VA1931wma LED Monitor

While we were quite impressed with the Philips 192EL LED monitor, it's now Viewsonics turn to take the hot seat. The VA1913wma is Viewsonics budget LED monitor, which happens to fall in the same price bracket as the Philips. This 18.5" screen comes with a resolution of 1366x768, 250 candelas brightness and a 5ms response time. The build quality is good and so are the aesthetics, you can think of it as a miniature version of the VA2431wm, which was also LED based. Design and Build

The full glossy bezel and stand help it stand out, but also attracts a lot of dust and fingerprints. The stand is wide enough and offers a good base for the monitor. There isn't much of a wobbling effect even when nudged from the side. It also has a tilt feature (about 30 degrees backwards and forwards) for optimal viewing angle.

The monitor isn't as slim as the Philips for whatever reason. There's quite a bit of protrusion at the back. Here you'll also find the VESA mounting points. The monitor comes with two built in 2W speakers as well for those who care. There's only one VGA port facing downwards.

The physical buttons are lined up in the front but don't have any backlight. They are also placed a bit too close to each other, so when navigating the menus you do hit the wrongs button.

Performance

We first ran the Lagom test to calibrate the monitor. Despite a lot of tweaking of the Contrast and Brightness levels, the monitor wasn't able to reproduce the lower end values very well. It fared well in the response time tests although the grayscale tests did show some discoloration in the transition from light to dark. Display Mate also showed some level of banding in the color spectrum. Compared to the Philips monitor the Viewsonic has a warmer color tone by default. So in order to achieve a more neutral color, you'll have to switch to 'User Color Profile' instead of the default 6500K.

This is one thing that Viewsonic simply refuses to change. The menu is very outdated and lacks any refinement. Also, the buttons are placed a bit too close to each other; a little more gap between them would have been nice.
In our multimedia tests, HD as well as SD movies looked good with no noticeable ghosting or excessive banding. However, in dark scenes you'll notice some amount of noise due to the analogue connection. The monitor also did well in our gaming tests with no visible lag. Colors were bright and vivid with no blurring or ghosting.  

Pricing and Verdict

You can find Viewsonic VA1931wma LED for a street price of Rs. 5,600, which is similar to the one from Philips. This is still a decent price for an LED backlit monitor, but we feel Philips has a slight edge over this one due to the DVI port. As far as picture quality is concerned the Viewsonic does a slightly better job with the whites, but overall the Philips feels like a better package. One thing going for the Viewsonic is the built-in speakers which are useful for those not looking for a separate system on their desk.

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HP's New Workstations, Plus More DreamColor Offerings

When HP invited me to attend a press reception for their new mobile workstations, I was understandably confused. I'd just been out to San Francisco to see the new mobile workstations a little over a month before, what could possibly be so new that it needed to go under NDA? As it turns out, HP was saving the best for last.

We had the opportunity to review the HP EliteBook 8740w last year, complete with DreamColor IPS display, and it was...well, a monster. It's expensive, but it's the most powerful workstation-class notebook with the best quality screen you're ever going to find in a portable. The refresh of the 8740w, indeed the entire EliteBook w-series line, only amps up HP's game that much more. This entire line enjoys a gunmetal finish, strengthened glass touchpad, and ISV-certified graphics, and they've all been updated with Sandy Bridge processors, the latest mobile graphics from AMD and NVIDIA, and USB 3.0 connectivity. They're all expected to be available in May.

Starting small and working our way up, there's the EliteBook 8460w. HP offers this notebook with dual-core Intel i5 and i7 processors, up to 16GB of DDR3, and 14" matte screen resolutions at either 1366x768 or 1600x900. The 8460w also comes standard with the AMD FirePro M3900 with 1GB of GDDR3 and supports EyeFinity with up to four screens. MSRP starts at $1,299.

When we get to the EliteBook 8560w, we see our first big improvement: a 15.6" 1920x1080 DreamColor display option. The 8560w also doesn't even offer a 1366x768; it comes standard with a basic 1600x900 display, and all the displays are matte. The 8560w can also be configured with quad-core processors, and in those configurations can support a staggering 32GB of DDR3. Graphics options include an AMD FirePro M5950 with 1GB of GDDR5, an NVIDIA Quadro 1000M with 2GB of DDR3, and an NVIDIA Quadro 2000M with 2GB of DDR3. MSRP starts at $1,349.

Finally, the big daddy: the EliteBook 8760w. The largest refresh of the EliteBook line also sees the least change. Users will be disappointed to know that while DreamColor is still available, the 8760w loses the 1920x1200 resolution of its predecessor in favor of the more common 1920x1080. That said, there are improvements: the 8760w supports all of Intel's new mobile i7 chips, allows for up to three internal hard drives (two bays plus the optical drive bay can be converted) in RAID 0, 1, or 5 configurations, and offers the fastest mobile workstation graphics on the market. It starts with an AMD FirePro M5950 with 1GB of GDDR5, but can be upgraded to an NVIDIA Quadro 3000M with 2GB of GDDR5, NVIDIA Quadro 4000M with 2GB of GDDR5, or an NVIDIA Quadro 5010M with an incredible 4GB of GDDR5. MSRP starts at $1,899.

HP was also showing off their entry-level desktop workstation, the Z210. There are two flavors of Z210: the CMT which is a more standard-sized mid-tower, and the SFF, a tinier and in some ways more impressive machine. We're hoping to get one of these in for testing soon; the black box is fairly bland, but the cooling design in these towers (particularly the SFF) is smart, and HP is offering these towers with either Xeon E3 or desktop-class Sandy Bridge processors. These should be available now, with the CMT at an MSRP of $659 and the sleeker SFF at an MSRP of $569.

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MSI Sandy Bridge Notebook Winner

First I want to thank everyone who entered and MSI for suppling a GT680R Sandy Bridge notebook for the contest. And second, I'd like to congratulate AT reader gamefreakgcb - you're our grand prize winner!

MSI will be sending me 25 coupons for Mafia 2 which I'll distribute to the first 25 commenters who entered the contest.

And if you didn't win this time, don't worry - we've got another big contest coming up soon...

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Apple iPad 2 to Hit India later this Week

This comes as a surprise to all of us. Apple will launch the second generation iPad 2 in India at a price starting at Rs. 27,900 later this week. OnlyGizmos blog claims to have been tipped by a trusted source about this launch. It's surprising because hardly three months ago, Apple introduced the first generation iPad in India.

The second generation iPad 2 has a dual-core processor, dual-cameras, speaker mesh at the back, Gyroscopic sensor, accelerometer, and faster graphics. In a way, iPad 2 is a step up and refreshed version of iPad but nothing so phenomenally different. You can go through our iPad 2 preview.

Apple launched the iPad in India on January 28 and now the iPad 2 is expected to be launched on April 28. Within the span of 12 weeks, Apple slashed the price of iPad and now will introduce iPad 2 in India.

The price of Apple iPad currently in India is:

- iPad with Wi-Fi (16GB): Rs. 24,500
- iPad with Wi-Fi (32GB): Rs. 29,500
- iPad with Wi-Fi (64GB): Rs. 34,500
- iPad with Wi-Fi+3G (16GB): Rs. 31,900
- iPad with Wi-Fi+3G (32GB): Rs. 36,900
- iPad with Wi-Fi+3G (64GB): Rs. 41,900

Based on that, I assume that the price of different iPad 2 models might be:

- iPad with Wi-Fi (16GB): Rs. 27,900
- iPad with Wi-Fi (32GB): Rs. 32,900
- iPad with Wi-Fi (64GB): Rs. 37,900
- iPad with Wi-Fi+3G (16GB): Rs. 34,900
- iPad with Wi-Fi+3G (32GB): Rs. 39,900
- iPad with Wi-Fi+3G (64GB): Rs. 44,900

Well, these are the same prices at which the iPad was introduced and that's why I think would be applicable for iPad 2 as well. Don't count this as the final prices until we confirm.

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Micromax M2 Review

The micromax M2 is a handset that is centered mainly on music. It has a very useful and helpful collection of the technical attributes that offer the users extraordinary options.  It is integrated with a fine quality camera, a WAP browser, a multiple format supporting music player, SMS options, ample storage space, good battery back up and GPRS connectivity. However, these applications are still not announced. It is expected to have a support to dual SIM cards. The package of the Micromax M2 has the handset, battery, headphones, charger, user manual and the warranty card.

Specifications

• Dimensions: 113 x 44.8 x 10.8 mm
• Form factor: Bar
• Display: 2 inches, TFT screen, Touch wheel, 240 x 320 pixel resolution
• Camera: 2 mega pixels, 1600 x 1200 pixel resolution, digital zoom, video recording
• Colors: Grey, silver
• Memory: 2 GB internal memory, micro SD card slot
• Connectivity: GPES Class 12, Bluetooth, micro USB port
• Battery: 850 mAh, 152 hours stand by time, 8 hours talk time
• Price: INR 2,500

Design

The Micromax M2 measures 113 x 44.8 x 10.8 mm in dimensions. The handset has a rectangular bar shaped design profile that makes the device to be quite handy. But the design is not pleasing to look and feel. The handset has a highly glossy enclosure on the exterior. The appearance of the handset is more or less like an iPod and it has a touch wheel too. The music centric handset has a 2.0 inch TFT display. The display has a resolution of 240 x 320 pixels. The display produces the images with accurate clarity and good color contrast. The handset is available in a couple of colors such as Grey and Silver.

Camera

The Micromax M2 has a 2.0 mega pixel camera with a camera resolution of 1600 x 1200 pixels. The camera has the digital zoom feature too. The camera also captures videos in the MP4 format. It produces excellent quality with amazing clarity and good color combination.

Multimedia

The Micromax M2 is a music centric handset basically. It is the best choice as far as the music lovers are concerned. It is integrated with a multiple format supporting music player and a FM radio application. It supports the audio files with the MP3, WAV and MIDI formats. The handset has the in built Yamaha Audio Amplifier and the SRS WOW high definition sound. The videos with the MP4 and the 3GP formats are supported by the player.

Conclusion

The Micromax M2 is a good budget handset that is focused on the low end consumers who prefer to listen to music most of the time. It is a good music oriented handset with the useful features. It has basic connectivity features also. Moreover it is expected to have dual SIM feature which is very useful for the current generation users. Pros – music player supporting multiple formats, WAP browser and digital camera. Cons – limited messaging features and connectivity options.

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Your iPhone Records Your Whereabouts Secretly

Location based services are making the best of the GPS and A-GPS capabilities of modern day smartphones. The secret of those who've faking locations to win FourSquare Checkins to earn the Mayor batch using iPhones could be unleashed any time. Two Security Researchers - Pete Warden, Founder of Data Science Toolkit and Alasdair Allan, Senior Research Fellow, University of Exeter, have discovered that the Apple iOS 4.x mobile operating system keeps a log of user's location for iPhone and iPad. Even if you haven't been any using any of those location based services, the device still keeps a secret log of your locations along with timestamps on the device itself.

Nothing sounds creepier than the fact that you are being watched, secretly. According to Warden and Allan, the iPhone and iPad keeps a secret log file inside the iOS 4.X operating system with a log of user's location - latitude and longitiude co-ordinates along with the timestamp. According to both, the user's location datalog is stored in a file called consolidate.db and the entire location logging started from iOS 4.X update.

Allan wrote:
What makes this issue worse is that the file is unencrypted and unprotected, and it's on any machine you've synched with your iOS device. It can also be easily accessed on the device itself if it falls into the wrong hands. Anybody with access to this file knows where you've been over the last year, since iOS 4 was released.

As of now, both aren't openly speaking about how the device keeps a track of the location - using GPS or on cell-based triangulation.

Almost a Security Researcher Stefan Esser talked about the Address Space Layer Randomization to jailbroken iPhones and brought to light that jailbroken iOS devices were more prone to remote exploits than a non-jailbroken one. As Allan mentioned, the consolidated.db is unencrypted and unprotected so any nefarious hacker could get a copy of that file to track user location.

Apple iOS 4.3.2 did come with some security updates but as of now, there's no word on whether the consolidated.db file is encrypted/protected or not. Its not sure if Apple intends to store such data on the user's device.

It's not just Apple because even Android by default keeps the Location API for your Android turned on whenever the device is booted. Those who wish to check, can go to Settings>Applications>Services (common for most Android phones). Over there, you'll find Google's Map service active in them. Over here, premise is that the Android device supports A-GPS.

Take a look at the video where Warden and Allan talk about the iPhone's location logging.

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