SecureMac is reporting that it has discovered multiple variants of a new Trojan horse in the wild that affects Mac OS X 10.4 and 10.5.
The Trojan horse is currently being distributed from a hacker website, where discussion has taken place on distributing the Trojan horse through iChat and Limewire.
The Trojan horse runs hidden on the system, and allows complete remote access to the system. It can also transmit system and user passwords, and can avoid detection by opening ports in the firewall and turning off system logging.
The Trojan horse, named AppleScript.THT, can log keystrokes, take pictures with the built-in Apple iSight camera, take screenshots, and turn on file sharing. The Trojan horse exploits a recently discovered vulnerability with the Apple Remote Desktop Agent, which allows it to run as root.
Saturday, January 31, 2009
Access Gmail Offline
The folks at Gmail Labs have been busy and they're now dishing out offline access to Gmail.
On enabling offline access, Gmail will load in your browser even if you don't have an Internet connection. You can read messages, star, label and archive them, compose new mail and messages ready to be sent will wait in your Outbox until you're online again.
It's built on the Gears platform, which has already been used to offline-enable Google Docs, Google Reader, and other third-party web applications.
To get started with offline Gmail -
- Sign in to Gmail and click 'Settings'.
- Click the 'Labs' tab and select 'Enable' next to 'Offline Gmail'.
- Click 'Save Changes.'
- In the upper righthand corner of your account, next to your username, there will be a new 'Offline' link. Click this link to start the offline synchronization process.
Standard Edition users can follow these instructions immediately, while Premier and Education Edition users will first need their domain admins to enable Gmail Labs from the Google Apps admin control panel.
On enabling offline access, Gmail will load in your browser even if you don't have an Internet connection. You can read messages, star, label and archive them, compose new mail and messages ready to be sent will wait in your Outbox until you're online again.
It's built on the Gears platform, which has already been used to offline-enable Google Docs, Google Reader, and other third-party web applications.
To get started with offline Gmail -
- Sign in to Gmail and click 'Settings'.
- Click the 'Labs' tab and select 'Enable' next to 'Offline Gmail'.
- Click 'Save Changes.'
- In the upper righthand corner of your account, next to your username, there will be a new 'Offline' link. Click this link to start the offline synchronization process.
Standard Edition users can follow these instructions immediately, while Premier and Education Edition users will first need their domain admins to enable Gmail Labs from the Google Apps admin control panel.
AOL Launches New Version of Web Mail
AOL has launched an enhanced version of AOL Web Mail that offers users one-click access to Gmail, Yahoo! Mail and a variety of third-party sites and destinations directly from the AOL Web Mail page, http://mail.aol.com.
Over the past year, AOL has added more than 30 new features and a variety of new functionality to Web Mail in an effort to make it more open to third-party content and to offer more monetization opportunities to advertisers. The new version is being released globally, making it available in more than 38 countries and locales around the world.
"Web Mail is an integral part of the AOL experience and at the heart of our product offerings," said Ted Cahall, President, AOL Products and Technologies. "With this new release, we can showcase the important role AOL products continue to play in the company. Enhancing products that already attract a large, engaged audience is a key goal for our organization."
Key features of AOL's new Web Mail product include:
- Access to Third-Party E-mail Accounts: The third-party mail plug-ins allow users to preview Yahoo! Mail and Gmail within the AOL Web Mail experience, as well as take advantage of one-click access to Yahoo! Mail and Gmail.
- Faster performance: Using updated technologies, AOL has increased the speed and performance of its Web Mail experience, and enhanced the user interface to make it more intuitive.
- Themed Skins: More than 45 new "skins" or themes let users personalize their page, and offer advertisers the ability to work with AOL to create themes that will appeal to key audiences.
- Plug-in Gallery: Users can customize their Web Mail page by choosing from a variety of new plug-ins offering one-click access to favorite sites, content, Gmail and Yahoo! Mail. The Gallery also offers access to all of the AOL gadgets currently stored in the myAOL Gallery. In addition, AOL is inviting third-party developers to create new gadgets for Web Mail via http://dev.aol.com.
- AOL Sync: Users can make real-time updates to AOL Calendar and Address Book from their desktop or a variety of wireless devices, including the Blackberry and iPhone. In addition, users around the globe can enjoy a completely mobile AOL Mail experience from virtually any device.
Over the past year, AOL has added more than 30 new features and a variety of new functionality to Web Mail in an effort to make it more open to third-party content and to offer more monetization opportunities to advertisers. The new version is being released globally, making it available in more than 38 countries and locales around the world.
"Web Mail is an integral part of the AOL experience and at the heart of our product offerings," said Ted Cahall, President, AOL Products and Technologies. "With this new release, we can showcase the important role AOL products continue to play in the company. Enhancing products that already attract a large, engaged audience is a key goal for our organization."
Key features of AOL's new Web Mail product include:
- Access to Third-Party E-mail Accounts: The third-party mail plug-ins allow users to preview Yahoo! Mail and Gmail within the AOL Web Mail experience, as well as take advantage of one-click access to Yahoo! Mail and Gmail.
- Faster performance: Using updated technologies, AOL has increased the speed and performance of its Web Mail experience, and enhanced the user interface to make it more intuitive.
- Themed Skins: More than 45 new "skins" or themes let users personalize their page, and offer advertisers the ability to work with AOL to create themes that will appeal to key audiences.
- Plug-in Gallery: Users can customize their Web Mail page by choosing from a variety of new plug-ins offering one-click access to favorite sites, content, Gmail and Yahoo! Mail. The Gallery also offers access to all of the AOL gadgets currently stored in the myAOL Gallery. In addition, AOL is inviting third-party developers to create new gadgets for Web Mail via http://dev.aol.com.
- AOL Sync: Users can make real-time updates to AOL Calendar and Address Book from their desktop or a variety of wireless devices, including the Blackberry and iPhone. In addition, users around the globe can enjoy a completely mobile AOL Mail experience from virtually any device.
AOL Launches New Version of Web Mail
AOL has launched an enhanced version of AOL Web Mail that offers users one-click access to Gmail, Yahoo! Mail and a variety of third-party sites and destinations directly from the AOL Web Mail page, http://mail.aol.com.
Over the past year, AOL has added more than 30 new features and a variety of new functionality to Web Mail in an effort to make it more open to third-party content and to offer more monetization opportunities to advertisers. The new version is being released globally, making it available in more than 38 countries and locales around the world.
"Web Mail is an integral part of the AOL experience and at the heart of our product offerings," said Ted Cahall, President, AOL Products and Technologies. "With this new release, we can showcase the important role AOL products continue to play in the company. Enhancing products that already attract a large, engaged audience is a key goal for our organization."
Key features of AOL's new Web Mail product include:
- Access to Third-Party E-mail Accounts: The third-party mail plug-ins allow users to preview Yahoo! Mail and Gmail within the AOL Web Mail experience, as well as take advantage of one-click access to Yahoo! Mail and Gmail.
- Faster performance: Using updated technologies, AOL has increased the speed and performance of its Web Mail experience, and enhanced the user interface to make it more intuitive.
- Themed Skins: More than 45 new "skins" or themes let users personalize their page, and offer advertisers the ability to work with AOL to create themes that will appeal to key audiences.
- Plug-in Gallery: Users can customize their Web Mail page by choosing from a variety of new plug-ins offering one-click access to favorite sites, content, Gmail and Yahoo! Mail. The Gallery also offers access to all of the AOL gadgets currently stored in the myAOL Gallery. In addition, AOL is inviting third-party developers to create new gadgets for Web Mail via http://dev.aol.com.
- AOL Sync: Users can make real-time updates to AOL Calendar and Address Book from their desktop or a variety of wireless devices, including the Blackberry and iPhone. In addition, users around the globe can enjoy a completely mobile AOL Mail experience from virtually any device.
Over the past year, AOL has added more than 30 new features and a variety of new functionality to Web Mail in an effort to make it more open to third-party content and to offer more monetization opportunities to advertisers. The new version is being released globally, making it available in more than 38 countries and locales around the world.
"Web Mail is an integral part of the AOL experience and at the heart of our product offerings," said Ted Cahall, President, AOL Products and Technologies. "With this new release, we can showcase the important role AOL products continue to play in the company. Enhancing products that already attract a large, engaged audience is a key goal for our organization."
Key features of AOL's new Web Mail product include:
- Access to Third-Party E-mail Accounts: The third-party mail plug-ins allow users to preview Yahoo! Mail and Gmail within the AOL Web Mail experience, as well as take advantage of one-click access to Yahoo! Mail and Gmail.
- Faster performance: Using updated technologies, AOL has increased the speed and performance of its Web Mail experience, and enhanced the user interface to make it more intuitive.
- Themed Skins: More than 45 new "skins" or themes let users personalize their page, and offer advertisers the ability to work with AOL to create themes that will appeal to key audiences.
- Plug-in Gallery: Users can customize their Web Mail page by choosing from a variety of new plug-ins offering one-click access to favorite sites, content, Gmail and Yahoo! Mail. The Gallery also offers access to all of the AOL gadgets currently stored in the myAOL Gallery. In addition, AOL is inviting third-party developers to create new gadgets for Web Mail via http://dev.aol.com.
- AOL Sync: Users can make real-time updates to AOL Calendar and Address Book from their desktop or a variety of wireless devices, including the Blackberry and iPhone. In addition, users around the globe can enjoy a completely mobile AOL Mail experience from virtually any device.
Gadget of the Year 08 - Multimedia Handsets
We've already showcased our choices of the year's best Business and Touchscreen handsets. In this final segment for mobiles we're showcasing our selections for the best multimedia handsets that are well equipped for those who love their music, videos and of course are avid shutterbugs as well.
Here's what we've picked for the Best multimedia mobile of 2008
Mutimedia Phone of the Year - Nokia N82
The N82 gets top billing simply because it’s one of the most fully functional devices in this range. With a 5 megapixel camera with a Carl Zeiss lens and Xenon flash, images look really good. It’s also equipped with a 2.4-inch display that sports a 240 x 320 pixel resolution with a built in accelerometer for auto-screen rotation. Other features include microSD card support, 3G (HSDPA), Stereo Bluetooth, Wi-Fi and internal GPS. It offers a 3.56mm standard earphones socket that doubles up as a TV Out slot as well. The Symbian OS with a Series 60 UI is smooth and ‘lag-free’ and all thanks to the 3D Dual ARM 11 332 MHz CPU and with the assistance of a 3D Graphics HW Accelerator, videos, games and the net experience also enhanced.
Runner up – Samsung INNOV8
Let’s leave the INNOV8’s outrageous pricing out of the picture and talk about just the handset and it’s features. Yes it does have a few bugs but it still fares quite well altogether. The handset may seem a bit bulky but is very well designed with a very responsive slide operation with a large 2.8 inch TFT LCD, an optical navigation pad and an accelerometer. It runs on a Symbian OS with an S60 UI on an ARM 11 330 MHz CPU so it’s provides quick and painless navigation and smooth functioning of applications. It’s loaded with connectivity options – Wi-Fi, Bluetooth (A2DP), 3G, EDGE/GPRS, GPS and of course USB. The INNOV8 comes in 2 capacities 8/16GB and Samsung is providing a 16GB microSD card as part of the packaging. That’s a total of up to 32GB of storage. The 8 megapixel camera (LED flash) features Face and Smile detection technology as well as an image stabilizer. All of this is very enticing but one does need to consider the hefty price.
Best Value – Sony Ericsson F305
One of the better value mobiles we had the opportunity to test is Sony Ericsson’s F305 gaming mobile. It features ‘x’ and ‘o’ dedicated gaming keys and Sony has included quite a few games that have been specifically designed for this handset. It also incorporates a few motion sensor games like bowling and fishing that enable the handset to be used like a Nintendo Wii controller to simulate the actions for the games. Other than it’s gaming capabilities the F305 is smooth slider with a 2.0-inch display with a 176 x 220 pixel resolution. It supports external memory via M2 cards, Bluetooth with A2DP and GPRS. It also has media players for videos and music, an integrated FM radio and a 2 megapixel camera with image editing and uploading to blogs. It even manages a very decent battery life.
Here's what we've picked for the Best multimedia mobile of 2008
Mutimedia Phone of the Year - Nokia N82
The N82 gets top billing simply because it’s one of the most fully functional devices in this range. With a 5 megapixel camera with a Carl Zeiss lens and Xenon flash, images look really good. It’s also equipped with a 2.4-inch display that sports a 240 x 320 pixel resolution with a built in accelerometer for auto-screen rotation. Other features include microSD card support, 3G (HSDPA), Stereo Bluetooth, Wi-Fi and internal GPS. It offers a 3.56mm standard earphones socket that doubles up as a TV Out slot as well. The Symbian OS with a Series 60 UI is smooth and ‘lag-free’ and all thanks to the 3D Dual ARM 11 332 MHz CPU and with the assistance of a 3D Graphics HW Accelerator, videos, games and the net experience also enhanced.
Runner up – Samsung INNOV8
Let’s leave the INNOV8’s outrageous pricing out of the picture and talk about just the handset and it’s features. Yes it does have a few bugs but it still fares quite well altogether. The handset may seem a bit bulky but is very well designed with a very responsive slide operation with a large 2.8 inch TFT LCD, an optical navigation pad and an accelerometer. It runs on a Symbian OS with an S60 UI on an ARM 11 330 MHz CPU so it’s provides quick and painless navigation and smooth functioning of applications. It’s loaded with connectivity options – Wi-Fi, Bluetooth (A2DP), 3G, EDGE/GPRS, GPS and of course USB. The INNOV8 comes in 2 capacities 8/16GB and Samsung is providing a 16GB microSD card as part of the packaging. That’s a total of up to 32GB of storage. The 8 megapixel camera (LED flash) features Face and Smile detection technology as well as an image stabilizer. All of this is very enticing but one does need to consider the hefty price.
Best Value – Sony Ericsson F305
One of the better value mobiles we had the opportunity to test is Sony Ericsson’s F305 gaming mobile. It features ‘x’ and ‘o’ dedicated gaming keys and Sony has included quite a few games that have been specifically designed for this handset. It also incorporates a few motion sensor games like bowling and fishing that enable the handset to be used like a Nintendo Wii controller to simulate the actions for the games. Other than it’s gaming capabilities the F305 is smooth slider with a 2.0-inch display with a 176 x 220 pixel resolution. It supports external memory via M2 cards, Bluetooth with A2DP and GPRS. It also has media players for videos and music, an integrated FM radio and a 2 megapixel camera with image editing and uploading to blogs. It even manages a very decent battery life.
Gadget of the Year 08 - Touchscreen Mobiles
In this edition of GOTY (Gadget of the Year) we're showcasing Tech2.0's selections of 2008's best Touchscreen mobile handsets. Just to be crystal clear, these choices are strictly handsets that we’ve tested and won’t include handsets yet to be launched.
Here are our selections for the best Totally Touchscreen mobiles of 2008 -
Touchscreen Phone of the Year - iPhone 3G
It’s not really something to think about. When you’re discussing touchscreen mobiles the first name to pop into your head is the Apple iPhone. What it lacks in features, it more than makes up in functionality. The truly remarkable feature is its touch screen, from the smooth accelerometer to the multi-touch feature for pinching in and out of pages and images for zooming, to an intuitive ambient light sensor to save battery power, the iPhone is a technological marvel. The large 3.5 inch display sports a 320 x 480 pixel resolution and makes watching videos a real treat. The iPod like audio player is also one of its better features as well as the addition of internal GPS receiver and of course Wi-Fi capabilities that was prevalent in the first gen model too. It’s still has a few bugs that hopefully will be ironed out over time, but this is definitely still our choice for the years best touchscreen mobile handset.
Runner Up - Samsung F480
The F480 TouchWiz is equipped with a 2.8 inch TFT touch screen display sporting a 240 x 320 pixel resolution. The typical Samsung OS is accentuated by the total touchscreen UI so using a stylus would a rare occurrence. Not unlike the iPhone the F480 also makes use of what I like to call ‘flip’ technology for scrolling though the gallery or viewing one image at a time. You need but to swipe your hand across the screen to move from one image to the next. To add to its appeal it also has a 5 megapixel camera with features like anti-shake and face detection. Support for Stereo Bluetooth and microSD cards for external memory are also available.
Value - LG KP500
The KP500 Cookie is one of the cheapest if not the cheapest totally touchscreen handset available on the market. It employs a lot of functionality with good looks, just like the iPhone. With the choice of a decently designed on screen QWERTY keypad for typing or a normal mobile keypad and handwriting recognition tossed in, the Cookie is even more enticing. The 3 megapixel camera is loaded with is non-autofocus but that doesn’t really matter. This handset is designed for multimedia with plenty of editors for video and images. It also uses ‘flip’ technology for browsing through images or even for switching between the two unique desktops. You’ll again hardly ever require the use of the stylus, so this is our choice of the best value totally touchscreen handset. With price tag of just Rs 13,990 you can’t go wrong.
You’re probably wondering why isn’t the Xperia or the new Nokia 5800 or even the HTC touch HD included? The reason is because the 5800 and HD haven’t hit the shelves yet and we haven’t finished reviewing the Xperia hence we can’t really justify it as a years best. But stay tuned for more on the Gadget of the Year – Mobiles when we cover the best all round handset.
Happy New Year Mobile maniacs, have a great year ahead!
Here are our selections for the best Totally Touchscreen mobiles of 2008 -
Touchscreen Phone of the Year - iPhone 3G
It’s not really something to think about. When you’re discussing touchscreen mobiles the first name to pop into your head is the Apple iPhone. What it lacks in features, it more than makes up in functionality. The truly remarkable feature is its touch screen, from the smooth accelerometer to the multi-touch feature for pinching in and out of pages and images for zooming, to an intuitive ambient light sensor to save battery power, the iPhone is a technological marvel. The large 3.5 inch display sports a 320 x 480 pixel resolution and makes watching videos a real treat. The iPod like audio player is also one of its better features as well as the addition of internal GPS receiver and of course Wi-Fi capabilities that was prevalent in the first gen model too. It’s still has a few bugs that hopefully will be ironed out over time, but this is definitely still our choice for the years best touchscreen mobile handset.
Runner Up - Samsung F480
The F480 TouchWiz is equipped with a 2.8 inch TFT touch screen display sporting a 240 x 320 pixel resolution. The typical Samsung OS is accentuated by the total touchscreen UI so using a stylus would a rare occurrence. Not unlike the iPhone the F480 also makes use of what I like to call ‘flip’ technology for scrolling though the gallery or viewing one image at a time. You need but to swipe your hand across the screen to move from one image to the next. To add to its appeal it also has a 5 megapixel camera with features like anti-shake and face detection. Support for Stereo Bluetooth and microSD cards for external memory are also available.
Value - LG KP500
The KP500 Cookie is one of the cheapest if not the cheapest totally touchscreen handset available on the market. It employs a lot of functionality with good looks, just like the iPhone. With the choice of a decently designed on screen QWERTY keypad for typing or a normal mobile keypad and handwriting recognition tossed in, the Cookie is even more enticing. The 3 megapixel camera is loaded with is non-autofocus but that doesn’t really matter. This handset is designed for multimedia with plenty of editors for video and images. It also uses ‘flip’ technology for browsing through images or even for switching between the two unique desktops. You’ll again hardly ever require the use of the stylus, so this is our choice of the best value totally touchscreen handset. With price tag of just Rs 13,990 you can’t go wrong.
You’re probably wondering why isn’t the Xperia or the new Nokia 5800 or even the HTC touch HD included? The reason is because the 5800 and HD haven’t hit the shelves yet and we haven’t finished reviewing the Xperia hence we can’t really justify it as a years best. But stay tuned for more on the Gadget of the Year – Mobiles when we cover the best all round handset.
Happy New Year Mobile maniacs, have a great year ahead!
Gadget of the Year 08 - Laptops
In this final list in Gadget of the Year series, we pick out the very best laptops, from among the many that we have the pleasure of reviewing over the past year. To compile this list, we have cut across segments and pricing and simply decided to go with machines that were impeccable performers overall. So here is our list.
Laptop of the Year: Apple Macbook 13.3
2008 was a very good year for laptop aficionados, as there were multiple releases which were simply delightful to work with in every respect of the term. While we were drawing our list however, there was only one laptop that actually leapt out at us for its impeccable design and feature-set overall – the Macbook 13.3.
Now people may argue what is so special about this entry-level Mac? Well the answer is very simple. Apple who has often been accused of not being generous with its entry-level machines, simply rebooted the segment with the introduction of a spanking classy new design, that allowed Apple to manufacture the laptop and its entire range of components using a new process simply called 'Unibody'. The body was carved from a solid block of aluminum and this allowed it to shed its dowdy, plastic finish in favor of a sexy sleek aluminum finish.
Apart from just making it look good, Apple also upgraded the new 13.3-inch machine to a backlit LED panel that offered brilliant performance, a great keyboard/touchpad combo and powerful specifications that allowed it to sail through all kinds of performance tests without any issues. When you consider its price of Rs. 79,700 and the segment it’s placed in (13.3 inch ultra-portables), its combination of great looks, amazing performance and unique styling rightfully allows it to claim the tag of "Laptop of the year".
Runner-Up: Dell XPS M1730
The inclusion of a Dell in this lineup should hardly come as a surprise. The XPS M1730 that we have selected as runner-up here was easily the most powerful machine we have reviewed this year and this showed in both its design and performance. The M1730's design was a radical departure from the slim lines of its younger brothers. It was a behemoth of a laptop, with its measurements of 406 x 302.6 x 50.7 mm and its weight of 4.81 kg. Its sense of styling and finish were top-notch too, with a beautiful dull-gloss black finish which was accentuated by a series of LEDs housed on the lid.
Since it is a gaming machine, it came loaded to the hilt with an incredible set of specifications which included an Intel Core 2 Extreme 9000 CPU clocked at 2.8 GHz (overclockable to 3.4 GHz), 4 GB of DDR2-667 RAM, a pair of Nvidia 8800M GTX cards in SLI, a 17-inch full-HD LED panel, and a Creative Sound Blaster Audigy HD audio chipset. This kind of specification allowed it to achieve segment leading scores.
The Dell XPS M1730 costs Rs 1.71 lakh. At this price it’s a brilliant purchase as it scores over other laptops in this range, as it's the only one that's SLI-Ready and offers playable frame rates at very high resolutions (HD/Full HD). This kind of performance and styling is what allows it to easily claim the title of being our runner-up of the year, in laptops.
Best Value: Dell Inspiron 1525
This segment was perhaps the most competitive, when it came to making a selection. There were several excellent choices from virtually everyone here including Acer Gemstone series, HP’s DV series, Lenovo with its Y series and ultimately Dell with its Inspiron Range. If that was not daunting enough, Dell decided to further complicate matters by introducing a new range called Studio that stood between the higher end XPS line up and the entry-level Inspiron range. Ultimately after a lot of brainstorming, arguments with colleagues and taking price into factor, we decided to declare the Dell 1525 as the winner of the title “Value laptop of the year”.
Even though as we have mentioned there were several excellent value laptops, the Dell 1525 ultimately emerged as the winner purely because of the number of positives that came attached with it. Firstly Dell re-invented the Inspiron range by giving it a more tapered streamlined look, with an improved finish that gave it a touch of class and style only found in the more expensive XPS range. Dell also worked on user complaints that the LCD panel of the Inspiron range was a little too bland and fixed this problem by offering its tru-life screens in the new Inspiron 1525. Furthermore the company retained the strong points of previous Inspiron models such as the sturdy build quality, excellent keyboard /mouse duo and enhanced it by introducing a huge variety of hardware options as its specifications.
As we had said in our review earlier this year
“The Inspiron 1525 is a true VFM notebook
. It offers solid build, plenty of features, good connectivity options, and great battery life, and is matched by what can easily be termed as the industry’s best after-sales/support network and a very competitive price. A glance at Dell’s website showed our test configuration to cost around Rs 41,000 + taxes. To sum up, the 1525 offers so much value in its price range that other manufacturers can only watch and hope to emulate the feat. “
That was an undeniable fact then and the passage of time has done nothing much to change this.
Laptop of the Year: Apple Macbook 13.3
2008 was a very good year for laptop aficionados, as there were multiple releases which were simply delightful to work with in every respect of the term. While we were drawing our list however, there was only one laptop that actually leapt out at us for its impeccable design and feature-set overall – the Macbook 13.3.
Now people may argue what is so special about this entry-level Mac? Well the answer is very simple. Apple who has often been accused of not being generous with its entry-level machines, simply rebooted the segment with the introduction of a spanking classy new design, that allowed Apple to manufacture the laptop and its entire range of components using a new process simply called 'Unibody'. The body was carved from a solid block of aluminum and this allowed it to shed its dowdy, plastic finish in favor of a sexy sleek aluminum finish.
Apart from just making it look good, Apple also upgraded the new 13.3-inch machine to a backlit LED panel that offered brilliant performance, a great keyboard/touchpad combo and powerful specifications that allowed it to sail through all kinds of performance tests without any issues. When you consider its price of Rs. 79,700 and the segment it’s placed in (13.3 inch ultra-portables), its combination of great looks, amazing performance and unique styling rightfully allows it to claim the tag of "Laptop of the year".
Runner-Up: Dell XPS M1730
The inclusion of a Dell in this lineup should hardly come as a surprise. The XPS M1730 that we have selected as runner-up here was easily the most powerful machine we have reviewed this year and this showed in both its design and performance. The M1730's design was a radical departure from the slim lines of its younger brothers. It was a behemoth of a laptop, with its measurements of 406 x 302.6 x 50.7 mm and its weight of 4.81 kg. Its sense of styling and finish were top-notch too, with a beautiful dull-gloss black finish which was accentuated by a series of LEDs housed on the lid.
Since it is a gaming machine, it came loaded to the hilt with an incredible set of specifications which included an Intel Core 2 Extreme 9000 CPU clocked at 2.8 GHz (overclockable to 3.4 GHz), 4 GB of DDR2-667 RAM, a pair of Nvidia 8800M GTX cards in SLI, a 17-inch full-HD LED panel, and a Creative Sound Blaster Audigy HD audio chipset. This kind of specification allowed it to achieve segment leading scores.
The Dell XPS M1730 costs Rs 1.71 lakh. At this price it’s a brilliant purchase as it scores over other laptops in this range, as it's the only one that's SLI-Ready and offers playable frame rates at very high resolutions (HD/Full HD). This kind of performance and styling is what allows it to easily claim the title of being our runner-up of the year, in laptops.
Best Value: Dell Inspiron 1525
This segment was perhaps the most competitive, when it came to making a selection. There were several excellent choices from virtually everyone here including Acer Gemstone series, HP’s DV series, Lenovo with its Y series and ultimately Dell with its Inspiron Range. If that was not daunting enough, Dell decided to further complicate matters by introducing a new range called Studio that stood between the higher end XPS line up and the entry-level Inspiron range. Ultimately after a lot of brainstorming, arguments with colleagues and taking price into factor, we decided to declare the Dell 1525 as the winner of the title “Value laptop of the year”.
Even though as we have mentioned there were several excellent value laptops, the Dell 1525 ultimately emerged as the winner purely because of the number of positives that came attached with it. Firstly Dell re-invented the Inspiron range by giving it a more tapered streamlined look, with an improved finish that gave it a touch of class and style only found in the more expensive XPS range. Dell also worked on user complaints that the LCD panel of the Inspiron range was a little too bland and fixed this problem by offering its tru-life screens in the new Inspiron 1525. Furthermore the company retained the strong points of previous Inspiron models such as the sturdy build quality, excellent keyboard /mouse duo and enhanced it by introducing a huge variety of hardware options as its specifications.
As we had said in our review earlier this year
“The Inspiron 1525 is a true VFM notebook
. It offers solid build, plenty of features, good connectivity options, and great battery life, and is matched by what can easily be termed as the industry’s best after-sales/support network and a very competitive price. A glance at Dell’s website showed our test configuration to cost around Rs 41,000 + taxes. To sum up, the 1525 offers so much value in its price range that other manufacturers can only watch and hope to emulate the feat. “
That was an undeniable fact then and the passage of time has done nothing much to change this.
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Technology-Tiny motors may be big in surgery
Surgical procedures could soon be helped along with tiny robots, according to researchers.
Miniaturisation of motors has not kept pace with that of electronics, leaving such tiny robots with no means to get around in the body.
Now, research reported in the Journal of Micromechanics and Microengineering has demonstrated a motor about twice the size of a human hair.
The motors could be used to power mini robots to fly around inside the body.
Some surgical procedures are hindered by the size or inflexibility of current instruments. For example, the labyrinthine network of blood vessels in the brain prevents the use of catheters threaded through larger blood vessels.
Researchers have long envisioned that trends of miniaturisation would lead to tiny robots that could get around easily in the body.
The problem until now has been powering them.
Conventional electric motors do not perform as well as they are scaled down in size; as they approach millimetre dimensions, they barely have the power to overcome the resistance in their bearings.
This has been the significant bottleneck in the development of microtechnology such as tiny surgical robots, according to James Friend at the University of Monash in Australia.
"If you pick up an electronics catalogue, you'll find all sorts of sensors, LEDs, memory chips etc that represent the latest in technology and miniaturisation," he says.
All the other concepts to do this are very complex
Mettin Sitti
Carnegie Mellon University
"Take a look however at the motors, and there are few changes from the motors available in the 1950s."
Push to turn
To address that, research in recent years has seen the use of so-called piezoelectric materials. These are typically crystals that expand and contract when a voltage is applied to them.
That makes "linear motors" - which simply move back and forth at high frequency - easy to produce, and Professor Friend published work last year about a motor the size of a grain of salt.
But for real motion within the body, the micro-motors need to be able to rotate.
Many kinds of bacteria, for instance, have tail-like structures called flagella. Rotating the flagella at their base whips them into a helical structure that propels them through fluid.
The new research leverages this same approach, by transforming the linear motion of tiny piezoelectric motors into rotation.
That is accomplished by coupling the motors to a structure with a helix-shaped cut in it. Because the structure is held in place along the helical groove, a push at one end is turned into a rotation.
Light bulb (BBC)
The reverse case: rotation of a helical thread drives a bulb into a socket
The researchers' prototype measures is a quarter of a millimetre wide - not much more than a couple of hairs side-by-side, and 70% smaller than the previous record holder.
And the fact that it is a conceptually simple, self-contained approach is promising for future applications, says Metin Settl, who heads the NanoRobotics Laboratory at Carnegie Mellon University.
"All the other concepts to do this are very complex," he says.
"We can already use electromagnetics and external coils to spin them inside a liquid, but then you need all these off-board coils.
"The advantage of this concept is having an on-board rotary actuation," he says. "This could make for a mobile robot with no other equipment."
However, experts in such microelectromechanical systems from QinetiQ told BBC News that while the prototype provides impressive performance in a lab, its efficiency in moving through fluids is yet to be demonstrated.
If it proves successful, however, the approach could be used in applications outside the body, according to Professor Setti.
"These are high-frequency, lightweight motors, and those are specifications that would be advantageous for flying robots too.
Miniaturisation of motors has not kept pace with that of electronics, leaving such tiny robots with no means to get around in the body.
Now, research reported in the Journal of Micromechanics and Microengineering has demonstrated a motor about twice the size of a human hair.
The motors could be used to power mini robots to fly around inside the body.
Some surgical procedures are hindered by the size or inflexibility of current instruments. For example, the labyrinthine network of blood vessels in the brain prevents the use of catheters threaded through larger blood vessels.
Researchers have long envisioned that trends of miniaturisation would lead to tiny robots that could get around easily in the body.
The problem until now has been powering them.
Conventional electric motors do not perform as well as they are scaled down in size; as they approach millimetre dimensions, they barely have the power to overcome the resistance in their bearings.
This has been the significant bottleneck in the development of microtechnology such as tiny surgical robots, according to James Friend at the University of Monash in Australia.
"If you pick up an electronics catalogue, you'll find all sorts of sensors, LEDs, memory chips etc that represent the latest in technology and miniaturisation," he says.
All the other concepts to do this are very complex
Mettin Sitti
Carnegie Mellon University
"Take a look however at the motors, and there are few changes from the motors available in the 1950s."
Push to turn
To address that, research in recent years has seen the use of so-called piezoelectric materials. These are typically crystals that expand and contract when a voltage is applied to them.
That makes "linear motors" - which simply move back and forth at high frequency - easy to produce, and Professor Friend published work last year about a motor the size of a grain of salt.
But for real motion within the body, the micro-motors need to be able to rotate.
Many kinds of bacteria, for instance, have tail-like structures called flagella. Rotating the flagella at their base whips them into a helical structure that propels them through fluid.
The new research leverages this same approach, by transforming the linear motion of tiny piezoelectric motors into rotation.
That is accomplished by coupling the motors to a structure with a helix-shaped cut in it. Because the structure is held in place along the helical groove, a push at one end is turned into a rotation.
Light bulb (BBC)
The reverse case: rotation of a helical thread drives a bulb into a socket
The researchers' prototype measures is a quarter of a millimetre wide - not much more than a couple of hairs side-by-side, and 70% smaller than the previous record holder.
And the fact that it is a conceptually simple, self-contained approach is promising for future applications, says Metin Settl, who heads the NanoRobotics Laboratory at Carnegie Mellon University.
"All the other concepts to do this are very complex," he says.
"We can already use electromagnetics and external coils to spin them inside a liquid, but then you need all these off-board coils.
"The advantage of this concept is having an on-board rotary actuation," he says. "This could make for a mobile robot with no other equipment."
However, experts in such microelectromechanical systems from QinetiQ told BBC News that while the prototype provides impressive performance in a lab, its efficiency in moving through fluids is yet to be demonstrated.
If it proves successful, however, the approach could be used in applications outside the body, according to Professor Setti.
"These are high-frequency, lightweight motors, and those are specifications that would be advantageous for flying robots too.
Technology-Mozilla Firefox Download Day June 17th
Mozilla Firefox is a one of best free to download internet browsers available for the internet users. Mozilla Corporation always targets towards the development and marketing of open source products. Their technology is aimed to improve the online experience for net savvy people anywhere in the world. Recently, Mozilla has set a world record for largest number of software downloads in 24 hours, as per Guinness World Record
Technology-Nokia and Samsung up for the Challenge
The Apple iPhone 3G launch has taken the Indian mobile phone industry by storm. Now we are hearing noises from the Nokia, Samsung, and Motorola camp that they are planning to launch cheaper full touchscreen phones in competition to the iPhone.
They plan to launch similar Multi-touch interface phones and that too at a lower price. There is also word from top managements that the companies are working on an online store for music to compete with the prevailing iTunes from Apple Inc.
A study done shows that over 40% of the phones will be touchscreen phones by the start of the year 2012. This has put every mobile manufacturer on their toes and they are all out to outdo each other.
Currently Nokia has a 70% market share in the Indian mobile phone industry and the company are looking to keep the figures that way.
They plan to launch similar Multi-touch interface phones and that too at a lower price. There is also word from top managements that the companies are working on an online store for music to compete with the prevailing iTunes from Apple Inc.
A study done shows that over 40% of the phones will be touchscreen phones by the start of the year 2012. This has put every mobile manufacturer on their toes and they are all out to outdo each other.
Currently Nokia has a 70% market share in the Indian mobile phone industry and the company are looking to keep the figures that way.
Technology-Windows worm numbers 'skyrocket'
Infections of a worm that spreads through low security networks, memory sticks, and PCs without the latest security updates is "skyrocketing".
The malicious program, known as Conficker, Downadup, or Kido was first discovered in October 2008.
Anti-virus firm F-Secure estimates there are now 8.9m machines infected.
Experts warn this figure could be far higher and say users should have up-to-date anti-virus software and install Microsoft's MS08-067 patch.
In its security blog, F-Secure said that the number of infections based on its calculations was "skyrocketing" and that the situation was "getting worse".
Even having the Windows patch won't keep you safe.
Graham Cluley
Sophos
Speaking to the BBC, Graham Cluley, senior technology consultant with anti-virus firm Sophos, said the outbreak was of a scale they had not seen for some time.
"Microsoft did a good job of updating people's home computers, but the virus continues to infect business who have ignored the patch update.
"A shortage of IT staff during the holiday break didn't help and rolling out a patch over a large number of computers isn't easy.
"What's more, if your users are using weak passwords - 12345, QWERTY, etc - then the virus can crack them in short order," he added.
"But as the virus can be spread with USB memory sticks, even having the Windows patch won't keep you safe. You need anti-virus software for that."
Method
According to Microsoft, the worm works by searching for a Windows executable file called "services.exe" and then becomes part of that code.
It then copies itself into the Windows system folder as a random file of a type known as a "dll". It gives itself a 5-8 character name, such as piftoc.dll, and then modifies the Registry, which lists key Windows settings, to run the infected dll file as a service.
Once the worm is up and running, it creates an HTTP server, resets a machine's System Restore point (making it far harder to recover the infected system) and then downloads files from the hacker's web site.
Most malware uses one of a handful of sites to download files from, making them fairly easy to locate, target, and shut down.
But Conficker does things differently.
Right now, we're seeing hundreds of thousands of [infected] unique IP addresses
Toni Koivunen, F-Secure
Anti-virus firm F-Secure says that the worm uses a complicated algorithm to generate hundreds of different domain names every day, such as mphtfrxs.net, imctaef.cc, and hcweu.org. Only one of these will actually be the site used to download the hackers' files. On the face of it, tracing this one site is almost impossible.
Variant
Speaking to the BBC, Kaspersky Lab's security analyst, Eddy Willems, said that a new strain of the worm was complicating matters.
"There was a new variant released less than two weeks ago and that's the one causing most of the problems," said Mr Willems
"The replication methods are quite good. It's using multiple mechanisms, including USB sticks, so if someone got an infection from one company and then takes his USB stick to another firm, it could infect that network too. It also downloads lots of content and creating new variants though this mechanism."
"Of course, the real problem is that people haven't patched their software," he added.
Technicians have reverse engineered the worm so they can predict one of the possible domain names. This does not help them pinpoint those who created Downadup, but it does give them the ability to see how many machines are infected.
"Right now, we're seeing hundreds of thousands of unique IP addresses connecting to the domains we've registered," F-Secure's Toni Kovunen said in a statement.
"We can see them, but we can't disinfect them - that would be seen as unauthorised use."
Microsoft says that the malware has infected computers in many different parts of the world, with machines in China, Brazil, Russia, and India having the highest number of victims.
The malicious program, known as Conficker, Downadup, or Kido was first discovered in October 2008.
Anti-virus firm F-Secure estimates there are now 8.9m machines infected.
Experts warn this figure could be far higher and say users should have up-to-date anti-virus software and install Microsoft's MS08-067 patch.
In its security blog, F-Secure said that the number of infections based on its calculations was "skyrocketing" and that the situation was "getting worse".
Even having the Windows patch won't keep you safe.
Graham Cluley
Sophos
Speaking to the BBC, Graham Cluley, senior technology consultant with anti-virus firm Sophos, said the outbreak was of a scale they had not seen for some time.
"Microsoft did a good job of updating people's home computers, but the virus continues to infect business who have ignored the patch update.
"A shortage of IT staff during the holiday break didn't help and rolling out a patch over a large number of computers isn't easy.
"What's more, if your users are using weak passwords - 12345, QWERTY, etc - then the virus can crack them in short order," he added.
"But as the virus can be spread with USB memory sticks, even having the Windows patch won't keep you safe. You need anti-virus software for that."
Method
According to Microsoft, the worm works by searching for a Windows executable file called "services.exe" and then becomes part of that code.
It then copies itself into the Windows system folder as a random file of a type known as a "dll". It gives itself a 5-8 character name, such as piftoc.dll, and then modifies the Registry, which lists key Windows settings, to run the infected dll file as a service.
Once the worm is up and running, it creates an HTTP server, resets a machine's System Restore point (making it far harder to recover the infected system) and then downloads files from the hacker's web site.
Most malware uses one of a handful of sites to download files from, making them fairly easy to locate, target, and shut down.
But Conficker does things differently.
Right now, we're seeing hundreds of thousands of [infected] unique IP addresses
Toni Koivunen, F-Secure
Anti-virus firm F-Secure says that the worm uses a complicated algorithm to generate hundreds of different domain names every day, such as mphtfrxs.net, imctaef.cc, and hcweu.org. Only one of these will actually be the site used to download the hackers' files. On the face of it, tracing this one site is almost impossible.
Variant
Speaking to the BBC, Kaspersky Lab's security analyst, Eddy Willems, said that a new strain of the worm was complicating matters.
"There was a new variant released less than two weeks ago and that's the one causing most of the problems," said Mr Willems
"The replication methods are quite good. It's using multiple mechanisms, including USB sticks, so if someone got an infection from one company and then takes his USB stick to another firm, it could infect that network too. It also downloads lots of content and creating new variants though this mechanism."
"Of course, the real problem is that people haven't patched their software," he added.
Technicians have reverse engineered the worm so they can predict one of the possible domain names. This does not help them pinpoint those who created Downadup, but it does give them the ability to see how many machines are infected.
"Right now, we're seeing hundreds of thousands of unique IP addresses connecting to the domains we've registered," F-Secure's Toni Kovunen said in a statement.
"We can see them, but we can't disinfect them - that would be seen as unauthorised use."
Microsoft says that the malware has infected computers in many different parts of the world, with machines in China, Brazil, Russia, and India having the highest number of victims.
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