NVIDIA launches $999 GeForce GTX TITAN powered by 'world's fastest GPU'

Anupam Saxena, February 21, 2013

NVIDIA has unveiled its new GeForce GTX TITAN chip which, according to the chipmaker, is powered by the fastest ever GPU and designed for the fastest gaming PCs including personal gaming supercomputers and small form-factor PCs. 

The chip is powered by 2668 graphics cores, which, as per the company, is 75 percent more than the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 680 GPU. It contains 7 billion transistors and claims to delivers 4.5 Teraflops of single precision and 1.3 Teraflops of double precision processing power. It also supports new GPU Boost 2.0 technology which automatically boosts graphics performance and supports unlocked voltage and advanced controls for more gaming control and overclocking customization. 

According to NVIDIA, the GPU harnesses the power of 3 GeForce GTX TITAN GPUs simultaneously in 3-way SLI mode, which allows gamers to max out every visual setting without the fear of a meltdown while playing any of the most demanding PC gaming titles. Just like the GeForce GTX 690, which NVIDIA had launched in July, last year, the GPU sports an aluminum chassis.

The GeForce GTX TITAN GPU will be available starting February 25, 2013 and is expected to be priced at $999.

"GeForce GTX TITAN is a beast of a GPU -- and the only one in the world powerful enough to play any game at any resolution at any time," said Scott Herkelman, general manager of the GeForce business unit at NVIDIA. "And yet, all of this immense power is housed in a sleek, sexy design, so gamers can also build beautifully-designed PC gaming machines about the size of a gaming console, yet magnitudes more powerful and always upgradeable."

The GTX TITAN is built with the same NVIDIA Kepler architecture that powers Oak Ridge National Laboratory's newly launched Titan supercomputer.

 

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PlayStation 4 will let you stream and play games hosted on servers

Reuters, February 21, 2013

Sony Corp unveiled its first video game console in seven years on Wednesday that will let users stream and play video games hosted on servers, hoping the move will help stem user losses, pre-empt the next version of Microsoft's Xbox and propel it back to the top of the videogame hardware industry.The company revealed its PlayStation 4 console, which will succeed the PlayStation 3, at a flashy event in New York with game developers like Ubisoft and Activision Blizzard in attendance.
Sony said the console would be available for the holiday 2013 season. It did not immediately disclose pricing.
The console will be up against the next version of the industry-leading Xbox console, which is expected later this summer.
The controller on the new console dubbed "DualShock 4" will have a touch pad, Mark Cerny, lead system architect on PlayStation 4, said.
Sony purchased U.S. cloud-based gaming company Gaikai for $380 million in July. Using that technology, the new console will offer a cloud-gaming service, the company said.
The 8GB PlayStation 4, which has been in development for the last five years, can also instantly stream game content from the console to Sony's handheld PlayStation Vita through a feature called "Remote Play," the company said.
Sony has also revamped the user interface on the new console that keeps tabs on user preferences and added social networking features.
Sony's announcement comes amid industry speculation that Microsoft is set to unveil the successor to its Xbox 360 later this summer. The market-leading Xbox 360 beats the seven-year-old PlayStation 3's online network with features such as voice commands on interactive gaming and superior connectivity to smartphones and tablets.
Gaining a lead over Microsoft's Xbox and Nintendo Co Ltd's new Wii U could help Sony revive an electronics business hurt by a dearth of hit gadgets, a collapse in TV sales and the convergence of consumer interest around tablets and smartphones built by rivals Apple Inc and Samsung Electronics Co Ltd.
Tablets and smartphones already account for around 10 percent of the $80 billion gaming market. Those mobile devices, analysts predict, will within a few years be as powerful as the current slew of game-only consoles.
After six years, Sony PlayStation sales are just shy of Xbox's 67 million installed base and well behind the 100 million units of Wii sold by Nintendo, according to analysts.
© Thomson Reuters 2013

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PS4 represents the future of gaming: Sony

Agence France-Presse, February 22, 2013

Sony unveiled a new generation PlayStation 4 system Wednesday and laid out its vision for the "future of gaming" in a world rich with mobile gadgets and play streamed from the Internet cloud.

At a press event in New York, computer entertainment unit chief Andrew House said PS4 "represents a significant shift from thinking of PlayStation as a box or console to thinking of the PlayStation 4 as a leading place for play."

Absent from the Sony event was mention of what plans the company had regarding films, music, television shows and other digital content offered on the PS4.

In a move that was not lost on observers, there was no glimpse of a PlayStation 4 at the launch event.

"It was odd that Sony did not show a physical device," said Gartner consumer technologies research director Brian Blau.

"These days, people love beautiful devices, especially because of Apple."

Sony spoke ambiguously about the device, leaving much to the imagination during a two-hour presentation aimed primarily at gamemakers and players.

"They don't want to give it all away, which is the nature of the industry," Blau said. "Sony was really trying to get developers excited about what is going on."

PS4 was designed to get to know players, ideally to the point of being able to predict which games people will buy and have them preloaded and ready to play.

It also allows to gameplay to be broadcast in real time, letting friends virtually peer over one another's shoulders and gamemakers act as "directors" guiding players along.

Sony has also given a green light to building "the most powerful network for gaming in the world," according to David Perry, chief of the Gaikai cloud gaming company that Sony purchased last year.

Gaikai specializes in letting people play videogames streamed from the Internet "cloud" instead of buying titles on disks popped into consoles or computers.

"By combining PlayStation 4, PlayStation Network and social platforms, our vision is to create the first social network with meaning dedicated to games," Perry said during the event.

He spoke of letting people access and play videogames on the Internet using PS4, smartphones, tablets or PS Vita handheld devices.

"We are exploring opportunity enabled by cloud technology with a long-term vision of making PlayStation technology available on any device," Perry said.

"This would fundamentally change the concept of game longevity, making any game new or old available to get up and running on any device, anywhere."

Sony needs to adapt to changing lifestyles while not alienating videogame lovers devoted to its hardware.

Low-cost or free games on smartphones or tablet computers are increasing the pressure on videogame companies to deliver experiences worth players' time and money.

A PlaySation App will let iPhones, iPads or Android-powered smartphones or tablets be used as "second screens" augmenting play taking place on televisions connected to PS4 consoles, according to Sony.

Sony said the PS4 would hit the market in time for the year-end holiday season but did not provide details.

New-generation consoles are typically priced in the $400 to $500 range, and blockbuster game titles hit the market at $60 each.

Using Gaikai streaming technology to let people play PlayStation 3 titles on PS4 hardware was likely aimed at calming worries that fans switching to the new system would be forced to give up beloved older games, according to Blau.

He was unimpressed by word the PS4 would integrate with Facebook, saying that "pretty much everyone else" already has hopped on the trend of syncing with the leading social network.

"I'm a little worried about their integration of social," Blau said. "You would think that a company like Sony would have lots of experience in exposing users to social mechanisms, and I didn't see that today."

He referred to the PS4 as evolutionary rather than revolutionary.

"Sony believes the future will be like the past and has built the game console to prove it," Forrester analyst James McQuivey said in a blog post.

"While the technology that goes into the console is definitely of the future, the idea behind the PS4 is rooted firmly in the past," McQuivey continued. "Specifically, the PS4 yearns for a glory day of gaming."

Sony shares fell in the wake of the presentation, ending down 1.77 percent at 1,331 yen on Tokyo's Nikkei index.

Ratings agency Fitch meanwhile warned the new gadget was unlikely to turn the firm's fortunes around.

It was "unlikely to be Sony's savior," Fitch Ratings said, noting the company lost money on the PS3 for the first several years after its launch until production costs fell.

"The competitive nature of the market may also constrain profitability," the agency said in a note Thursday.

"The key to the product's success will be price, timing, content and how it compares with the yet-to-be-announced next generation Xbox. None of these details are currently available."

 

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Sony seeks head start over Microsoft with PS4

Reuters, February 22, 2013

Sony Corp said it will launch its next-generation PlayStation this year, hoping its first video game console in seven years will give it a much-needed head start over the next version of Microsoft's Xbox and help revive its stumbling electronics business.The new console will have a revamped interface, let users stream and play video games hosted on servers, and allow users to play while downloading titles as well as share videos with friends. Its new controller, dubbed DualShock 4, will have a touchpad and a camera that can sense the depth of the environment in front of it.
Sony, which only displayed the controller but not the console, said on Wednesday the PlayStation 4 would be available for the year-end holiday season and flagged games from the likes of Ubisoft Entertainment SA and Activision Blizzard Inc, whose top executives also attended the glitzy launch event.
It did not disclose pricing or an exact launch date.
Sony's announcement comes amid industry speculation that Microsoft Corp is set to unveil the successor to its Xbox 360 later this summer. The current Xbox 360 beats the seven-year-old PlayStation 3's online network with features such as voice commands on interactive gaming and better connectivity to smartphones and tablets.
But all video game console makers are grappling with the onslaught of mobile devices into their turf.
Tablets and smartphones built by rivals such as Apple Inc and Samsung Electronics Co Ltd already account for around 10 percent of the $80 billion gaming market. Those mobile devices, analysts predict, will within a few years be as powerful as the current slew of game-only consoles.
"It looks good and had a lot of great games but the industry is different now," Billy Pidgeon, an analyst at Inside Network Research, said of the new PlayStation.
"It'll be a slow burn and not heavy uptake right away."
Migration to mobile
Console makers will also have to tackle flagging video game hardware and software sales, which research firm NPD group says have dropped consistently every month over the last year as users migrate to free game content on mobile devices.
PlayStation 4 will have an app on Android and Apple mobile devices that connects to console games and can act as a second screen, Jack Tretton, President and CEO of Sony Computer Entertainment of America, said in an interview.
"Playstation 4 ... really connects every device in the office and the smartphone and the tablet out there in the world," Tretton said.
The console, which has been in development for the last five years, will have 8 GB of memory and will instantly stream game content from the console to Sony's handheld PlayStation Vita through a feature called "Remote Play," the company said.
"What Sony is banking on is the ease of the use of this system," Greg Miller, PlayStation executive editor at video game site IGN.com, said.
After six years, Sony PlayStation sales are just shy of Xbox's 67 million installed base and well behind the 100 million Wii consoles sold by Nintendo Co Ltd, according to analysts.
Tretton said it would be a big undertaking to manufacture and distribute the console in Sony's four major markets by the end of the year, adding that it would be a "phased rollout" that starts before the end of the year.
Sterne Agee analyst Arvind Bhatia predicted Sony would probably get a couple of million units of the PlayStation 4 out by the 2013 holiday season and 7 million or 8 million out a year later.
Sony also announced a strategic partnership with video game publisher Activision Blizzard to take its Diablo III game to the PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 3 consoles.
Activision's upcoming sci-fi shooter game "Destiny" in development by its Bungie Studio will also be available on PlayStation consoles.
© Thomson Reuters 2013

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Kindle Fire HD: First impressions

Associated Press, September 07, 2012

Amazon's new Kindle Fire HD boasts a much more vibrant screen than the original tablet that came out about a year ago. That makes buying movies and TV shows to watch on the device a lot more appealing.

The screen is such a major improvement that I can't see why you would purchase the upgraded non-HD older model, even if it means saving $40. The new offering brings the new Kindle Fire HD into closer competition with Apple's market-leading iPad, which introduced a higher resolution screen earlier this year.

By the numbers, the difference between screens on the new and older model doesn't seem that big. The smaller Kindle Fire HD, with a screen measuring 7 inches diagonally has a screen resolution of 1280 x 800. Last year's 7-inch model, and the upgraded version with better innards unveiled Thursday, has a screen with 1024 x 600 pixels.

That doesn't come close to the latest iPad, which has a resolution of 2048 x 1536. Nonetheless, this upgrade feels like a big leap for Amazon. It means not seeing any of those annoying pixels, a welcome relief that feels even better when you consider the price. At $199, versus $499 for the latest iPad, I can see this being a popular stocking stuffer this Christmas.

Amazon has also made a couple of important design changes in its new HD models. For one, the speakers are now on both sides of the device when held in landscape mode, meaning you can watch movies in Dolby Digital Plus stereo sound without headphones. The old Kindle Fire had stereo speakers off to one side when held this way, and that hasn't changed with the upgraded version that now costs $159.

Both the upgraded Kindle Fire and new HD 7-inch models also come with a full suite of new features that are nifty but not game-changing.

Both devices will feature the "X-Ray" series of features that provide insights into the book or movie you're enjoying.

An on-screen tap during a movie will list actors in the scene, with more clicks, you can learn more about them from Amazon's movie information service IMDb. In books, X-Ray has been a popular feature on the Kindle Touch that now works on Kindle Fire. It gives you a bird's eye view of where characters or ideas appear later on in a book.

Amazon.com Inc. has also upgraded its audio book offerings. "Immersion Reading" allows you to read a book while hearing narration from a famous actor. I find this feature to be a distraction, but some book lovers will appreciate it.

For parents, Amazon has added a system that can control how much time a child can spend on various media. So, you could limit how much your kids can watch video and play games, but let them read as much as they want.

The 7-inch models ship Sept. 14. The larger 8.9-inch screen Kindle Fire HD, which costs at least $299 and comes with an even better 1920 x 1200 pixel screen, won't ship until Nov. 20.

Some aspects about the Kindle Fire HD sounded great but weren't testable in the short time that Amazon gave reporters to try out the devices Thursday.

For instance, it was impossible to tell whether Kindle Fire HD's two antennas made its performance in Wi-Fi noticeably faster than the latest iPad or Google's Nexus 7. Or whether its 11-hour battery life held up for real.

In handling the device, though, I found that video played well and images looked sharp. But it was not as responsive as I would have liked. It seemed to lag when swiping through pictures or through the news feed on the custom-built Facebook app.

There was no app that independently controlled the front-facing camera, which is new to the Kindle Fire HD. The Facebook picture I took with the device turned out upside down, even though the camera was clearly meant to be at the top of the device when held in landscape mode. Amazon's representatives said the camera was mainly for use with a Skype app made for the device.

If I were looking to buy a new tablet, I might be able overlook these minor annoyances because of the sharper screen.

Ultimately, the decision to buy a Kindle Fire HD could be determined by the array of content that comes with the device if you join the $79 annual free-shipping program known as Amazon Prime.

Amazon has made plenty of big investments lately that make Prime a more compelling offer. On Tuesday, it announced a deal with the Epix pay TV channel that allows Prime members to watch 2,000 movies like "The Avengers" and "The Hunger Games" for free, on top of some 23,000 movies and TV shows it had already.

Prime members can also "borrow" books from the Kindle Owners Lending Library, including all seven "Harry Potter" books, for no extra charge.

Backstage at Thursday's news conference, CEO Jeff Bezos said in an interview that the company has been investing hundreds of millions of dollars in digital content for Amazon Prime.

"Licensing 'Harry Potter'? Not inexpensive," he said with a belly laugh.

It's that kind of investment in content, paired with a device that can show video in HD, that I think could open a lot of wallets this holiday season.

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Samsung Galaxy Note 800 review

Gaurav Shukla, September 17, 2012

The stylus is back in business and we should give Samsung some credit for this, which released its first S-Pen sporting device, the Galaxy Note last year. The so-called phablet turned out to be a decent success for the company. The Korean manufacturer has since moved forward to reveal the successor and a bigger version of its Galaxy Note in the form of the Note 2 and Note 800 respectively.

Samsung Galaxy Note 2 is yet to reach India, but the Note 800 (called Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 in other markets) has already landed in the country. Packing a quad-core processor and Ice Cream Sandwich, the tablet looks enticing on paper but do the specs translate into real performance? We shall find out in this review.

Hardware
Don't expect any design innovation here. Samsung has played safe and kept the looks of the Note 800 similar to its other tablets. Blame it on the design patent troubles with Apple, or just laziness, there is nothing extraordinary about Samsung Galaxy Note 800's looks. That said, it isn't bad either. The Note 800 is a decent looking Android tablet, but the all-plastic build makes it feel cheap.

You can even the feel the plastic in your hands. The plastic back of the tablet bends if you apply pressure - certainly not Samsung's best work.

At just 0.35 inch thickness, the Samsung Galaxy Note 800 is slim and feels light in hand, so you at-least won't have trouble holding it for long durations.

The front of the tablet is largely taken by the 10.1-inch display, which is surrounded by a huge bezel and a dark silver border framing stereo speakers.

The top of the tablet features the power button, volume rocker, SIM card slot, microSD card slot, infrared sensor and 3.5mm jack, which is pretty much everything apart from the proprietary charging-cum-data port that is present at the bottom. We don't find any sense in why Samsung uses this proprietary port, when a Micro-USB would be much more useful and easily accessible.

Samsung also bundles its S-Pen with the tablet, which fits at the bottom right of the device. The company has made the S-Pen slot smart as it recognises when you pull out the pen and gives you a shortcut menu of apps, which support S-Pen or even wakes up the tablet if it is in the sleep mode.

Display
The 10.1-inch display on the Note 800 comes with 1280x800p resolution, which is slowly becoming obsolete for 10-inch or bigger tablets and the full-HD is the latest trend. Apart from that, the viewing angles are decent and the display is sufficiently bright for indoor as well as outdoor usage. The colour reproduction is also good.

The display is however a fingerprint magnet and loves smudges.

Camera
We aren't the ones who click photographs with our 10-inch tablets and the Galaxy Note 800 doesn't offer anything that'll change that.

If you do plan to click, Samsung has included a 5MP rear camera with LED flash on the tablet, which in no way spectacular. The resulting images are mediocre, at best. Similarly, the recording video quality is just okay and the camera only allows you to record 720p videos.

The tablet also comes with a 1.9MP front camera, which can be used for video chatting or making video calls over 3G network.

The camera app is decent and includes quite a few options to tweak, like effects, focus mode, and white balance.

Software/ User Interface
Samsung has pre-loaded Ice Cream Sandwich on the tablet with its Touchwiz UI on top. Considering that Jelly Bean is already out in the market, we are a little disappointed to see Android 4.0, especially given the fact that Samsung was one of the first manufacturers to get hold of Jelly Bean source code as they are involved with Galaxy Nexus. Anyways, company has promised to provide Android 4.1 before the year-end.

As expected, you will hardly notice any stock Ice Cream Sandwich on the tablet and everything has been completely customised. While some of these customisations are good, others are totally unnecessary.

One of these unwanted customisations is the irritating touch sound, which is enabled by default in the tablet and we are not sure why Samsung thought it was necessary to keep it enabled out of the box.

Samsung has replaced the default Android apps for Calendar, Browser and Email with its own re-worked versions, which in no way seem to add any value. However, the one place where Samsung's customisations do add value are its mini apps. Tapping the ever present small arrow in the bottom of the tablet brings forth the full list of mini apps, which can float on any existing open apps and with a single click; you can even open their full version.

These mini apps are Alarm, Calculator, Email, Messaging, Music Player, Phone, S Note, S Planner (calendar app), Task Manager and World Clock.

Another useful Samsung customisation which we will also like to see in the tablet version of stock Android, is multiscreen mode. It allows you to open select apps side-by-side. But the usability is lowered because multiscreen only works with Polaris Office, S Note, Video Player, Gallery, Email and Browser.

Samsung has also added a Safari like Reader mode in its custom Android browser which allows you to view the vanilla version of a webpage sans all the ads, links, menus and other media. It is especially useful on websites filled with too much of unwanted content.

The company has also bundled quite a few apps including Adobe Photoshop Touch (costs $10 in Play Store), ChatOn, DropBox, My Education (content for students), Polaris Office, and Peel Smart Remote.

Overall, the Note 800 is a mixed bag on the software front, though Samsung has added some useful stuff. The reworked version of the default apps does not necessarily work as well, as the company would have hoped.

Performance/ Battery Life
The Note 800 includes a 1.4GHz quad-core processor and 2GB RAM, which makes it one of the most powerful mobile devices in the market and this raw power is visible in the daily performance of the device. However, there is still some lag in the tablet when working in the multiscreen mode. The tablet takes some time while switching between two apps in this particular mode, which should not be the case in a device with a quad-core processor inside.

It seems the software is not optimised to really make use of all this power. We hope that it changes with the Jelly Bean update, which is due sometime later this year.

On the battery front, the Note 800 comes with a huge 7,000 mAh battery that gives sufficient amount of juice to last through more than two days on normal usage, occasional gaming and 3G usage as well.

The tablet also offers voice-calling and messaging, which is certainly a plus, but not many of you would be making calls from your tablet unless an emergency.

Overall, the tablet works pretty good and unless you open all apps at once, decide to do some really heavy multi-tasking, you will have no problems with the Note 800's performance.

S-Pen

The USP of the Samsung Galaxy Note 800 is the bundled S-Pen and the supported app ecosystem. Since the original Note, Samsung has improved quite a few elements in the stylus and it is more fluid and responsive. Same can be said for the software.

The S-Pen now supports up to 1024 degrees of pressure, not sure how much of these pressure points are going to useful in real life. Hardware-wise, the S-Pen has grown in size, but it is still lighter than the normal pen.

App-wise, Samsung has included support for S-Pen in S Note and Adobe Photoshop Touch. More apps are available in the company's app store. S Note gives you the option to work in pre-defined templates or a blank one. It also supports handwriting recognition, but this one's a bit of a hit and miss.

Verdict
The Samsung Galaxy Note 800 looks great on paper, however not everything is hunky-dory when it comes to practical usage. The tablet has its own share of problems including the user interface and build quality. The software also doesn't seem to be optimized for utilising the raw power of a quad-core processor; however the overall performance of the tablet is still good apart from odd hiccups.

In the end, all of it comes down to whether you want S-Pen or not, then the level of integration the Note 800 offers with it is great and if you are ready to pay close to Rs. 40,000 for the same, then go for it. In case you decide otherwise, we suggest you take a look at other much cheaper options including the company's Tab 2 10.1, which comes with ICS, dual-core processor and 10.1-inch for Rs. 32,000.

Price: Rs. 39,990

Pros

S-Pen support

Cons
Poor Build Quality
Too much customisation from Samsung

Ratings (Out of 5)
Design: 3
Display: 3.5
Performance: 4
Software: 4
Battery Life: 3.5
Value for Money: 3
Camera: 3.5
Ecosystem: 4
Overall: 3.5

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Micromax Funbook Pro review

Gaurav Shukla, October 06, 2012

Since the introduction of the original Funbook in the country, Micromax has unveiled quite a few tablets. While most of these are just variants of the 7-inch Funbook, the Micromax Funbook Pro is a large 10-inch tablet with different internals.

Micromax is clearly targeting the budget tablet market with its Funbook Pro and has no interest in buyers of the Galaxy Tab or the iPad. We find out whether the tablet is a worthy addition to the growing budget tablet offerings and if it offers value for money.

Hardware
One of the first things that you notice about a tablet, or that matter any device, is the overall look and feel and that is surprisingly good in the Funbook Pro. The tablet feels sturdy and fits nicely in the hand despite the full plastic body.

Most of the front has been taken by the display, which is surrounded by a bezel, about an inch in thickness, and apart from that there is the front camera placed in one corner. The back is similar to the original Funbook, clean and coated with faux aluminium.

We found an issue with the button placements on the device. The power button has been unusually placed at the bottom corner, alongside rest of the ports. This means you end up wasting a lot of time while powering on and off the device - we just couldn't get used to this placement, despite spending a decent amount of time using the tablet. Similarly, the volume rocker has also been placed on the right corner, again not the usual place.

Display
The Funbook Pro features a 10.1-inch capacitive touch display with 1024x600p resolution. The display is good, however the viewing angles are sub-par and so is the screen brightness. Even the touch response leaves a lot to be desired.

Overall, if you can compromise with the outdoor usage and poor viewing angles, the display should not give you any major problems, as the colour output is more than average for this price segment.

Camera

There is no rear camera on the tablet, not that it is necessary, but you will get a VGA front camera on the Funbook Pro. As you would expect from a VGA camera, the quality of the front camera on the tablet is just about enough to make it useful for your occasional video chat needs.

Software/ Interface
Micromax has pre-loaded Android 4.0.4 on the Funbook Pro and there aren't any visible software customisations on the device. The company has, however, pre-loaded quite a few apps along with its own app store on the device.

Despite packing 1GB RAM and a 1.2GHz processor, the software experience isn't as smooth as we would have liked from the tablet. That being said, it is still a big improvement over the company's original Funbook.

Micromax has also loaded a lot of education content on the tablet and more can be purchased and used with the apps present on the device. The tablet also offers access to Google Play, where users can download more applications.

On the downside, the default Android Gallery app is missing from the tablet and we don't see any reason for its absence. All the media content opens in a third-party app called Super-HD Player, which is below average. The app also indexes videos and images from the pre-loaded educational content (which takes the amount of images and videos in the app to hundreds) and makes it an impossible task to search for the real media files. Micromax or the educational app provider should have ideally marked those files so that they don't get indexed in the app.

Overall, the software might be an improvement over Micromax's previous tablet, but it clearly still needs some work.

Another point worth highlighting - as we are yet to see Micromax providing Android updates for any of its Android devices, we suspect whether the Funbook Pro will ever get one - Jelly Bean in this case.

Performance/ Battery Life
As we have already noted that the Micromax Funbook Pro tablet is powered by 1.2GHz processor and 1GB RAM, which should ideally be enough to provide decent performance on the tablet.

But does it? Yes and No. Although the Funbook Pro works decently and multimedia playback being the highlight, the interface lag and occasional jitters are a big pain and often frustrate the user.

The web browsing experience is decent, but image heavy websites are a tough task for the tablet. Even when you open multiple tabs in the Android browser, the experience goes from decent to sub-par.

Another negative of the tablet is the missing Bluetooth and GPS, two very important components for a tablet user. For example, the tablet comes pre-loaded with Google's free Navigation app, but it is rendered useless because of the lack of GPS. You can't even find your location in the maps properly because there is no cell tower reception and you are stuck with Wi-Fi for help.

On the connectivity front, similar to other budget tablets, the Funbook Pro gives plethora of options including MicroUSB port, MicroUSB HOST, mini-HDMI (no cable included) and 3.5mm audio jack. There is also a microSD card slot.

The MicroUSB to USB converter packed in the box, allows you to connect USB mouse, keyboard, thumb drives and data card to the tablet, all of which worked perfectly.

On the battery front, the tablet is packed with 5,600 mAh battery, which gives around 7 hours of backup during normal usage, however if you are planning to watch full HD videos, it will last around 3.5 hours. You might get more battery backup depending on your usage.

Verdict
The Micromax Funbook Pro is a mixed bag. On one hand, the tablet is a good multimedia device and works decently, on the other; it lacks GPS, Bluetooth and provides poor touch experience and a laggy interface.

Given the price tag of Rs. 9,999, we can't really expect the polished UI of say an iPad, but again that also does not mean we should settle for a non-performing device.

In the end, all of it comes down to one question - does the Micromax Funbook Pro provide a decent tablet experience? Yes, but with flaws. So, if you can compromise on that to some extent, the Micromax Funbook Pro is a worthy consideration.

Price: Rs. 9,999

Pros
Multimedia Playback
Pre-loaded content
Connectivity options

Cons
Touch experience
Missing Bluetooth, GPS
Laggy Interface

Ratings (Out of 5)
Design: 3
Display: 3
Performance: 3
Software: 3
Battery Life: 3
Value for Money: 3
Camera: 2
Ecosystem: 4
Overall: 3

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Microsoft Surface tablet review

Associated Press, November 03, 2012

I've been conditioned just like any other consumer to expect certain things from certain companies. When it comes to tablets, I expect Apple's to look and feel amazing, Google's to seamlessly blend online services such as Gmail and search, and Amazon's to have easy access to its online store.

So when Microsoft came out with its first tablet computer, the Surface, I wanted and expected a machine that is good for work. After all, its Windows operating system runs most of the world's computers, particularly in corporate environments.

The Surface is Microsoft's first attempt at a general-purpose computer. In the past, it made the software and left it to other companies to make the machines. But to catch the tablet wave led by Apple's iPad, Microsoft felt it needed to make its own device.

The Surface's price tag starts at $499, the same as the latest full-screen iPad, but if you are going to buy one, you'll want to spend the extra $100 or more for an optional cover that comes with a working keyboard.

After several days with it, I felt that Surface comes close to becoming a replacement for my work computer, but it doesn't make it all the way. Some elements designed for "play" make Surface surprisingly good, while others verge on being frustrating.

Interface
There's no doubt that Surface has a split personality, steeped in its very physical design. It's a tablet, but transforms into a personal computer with the keyboard cover, snapped on using its magnetic spine.

Trying hard to be both means compromises. For instance, a kickstand lets you prop up the screen on a flat surface so that it feels more like a laptop with the keyboard attached, but the setup is clumsy for typing on your lap. On the other hand, you can flip the keyboard cover upside down and use the kickstand to form a supportive triangle for the screen. In this position, the device is a comfy companion while watching TV on the couch.

A big aspect of the split personality comes in the software. Surface's start screen has a bunch of square tiles that represent apps - akin to the round icons on iPhones, iPads and Android devices. One touch, and an app opens full screen. But there's also a tile that takes you to a very different operating system called the desktop. Presumably, this is where the "work" begins.

Because the desktop interface takes on the old Windows style of boxes and icons, your suddenly big-seeming fingers become less well-suited to navigating. I had to give up on touch and use the keyboard cover with its trackpad (The pricier Type Cover with real keys is far easier for typing than the soft, flat Touch Cover, by the way). Swiping around on the cover's built-in trackpad quickly brings up the mouse pointer, whose precision you'll both need and appreciate in the desktop world.

Work
The Surface that went on sale Oct. 26 comes with Windows RT, the slimmed-down version of Microsoft's newest operating system, Windows 8. While I understand the need for a slimmer OS to run on low-power chips that extend battery life, RT makes the device clearly not a PC.

Although the device has Microsoft's latest browser, Internet Explorer 10, third-party plug-ins that have helped power the Web for years don't work correctly. I couldn't get behind my company's firewall because a Juniper Networks plug-in couldn't be installed. IE 10 is meant to be plug-in free, but the Web hasn't caught up to it yet. Devices with the full version of Windows 8 won't have the same plug-in problem, Microsoft says. But a Surface with Windows 8 Pro isn't due out for a few months.

Surface gives you free copies of the Office programs Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and OneNote, which is a big bonus. The RT versions of Office operate much like the full versions, but lack some meaningful conveniences such as the ability to email files as attachments with a couple of clicks. Microsoft says that's because Outlook isn't included in the package. Instead, Surface uses a program called Windows Mail, but it makes little sense to me why it can't be integrated with Office.

Still, in my testing I was able to save and access Word and OneNote documents on Microsoft's Internet-storage system, SkyDrive. As a result, I could access those files back on my office computer without the hassles of USB and other storage drives.

Play
Part of the "play" element of Surface should have been the joy of just getting around using the touch screen, but some things made it confusing.

At first, I didn't have a problem with the need to swipe in from the edges to make certain options appear.

Swiping in from the right brings up several buttons including ones for searching, changing settings or returning to the start screen. When you first set up the device, an explanatory graphic pops up to walk you through it. You hold the device with both hands and the screen lengthwise, and you do the swiping with your thumbs. This is very different from the idea of holding the tablet with one hand and touching it with the other, which Apple's iPad seems to favor.

Swiping down from the top lets you either discard an app completely (by swiping through the bottom of the screen) or create a split screen for multitasking (by pushing the app to the left or right until it snaps in place). Swiping up from the bottom brings up app-specific options.

The problem is swiping in from the left. When you do so, it takes you back to the previous app you had open. I was impressed with how snappy the tablet was flipping between programs.

But I got confused sometimes with websites. I wanted to go back a page, not leave the app completely. The difference between these two functions is swiping in from beyond the edge or swiping in from just near it. I often found myself in places in applications without knowing how to return easily.

Also, if you swipe back through apps quickly, you can zip past the one you want, but you can't swipe forward to return to it. As a stopgap, you can swipe in slightly and then back out of the left side to get a list of previous apps. But this is not really intuitive and you have to be careful to touch the one you want when the list comes up.

This painstaking learning takes some of the fun out of having a tablet and makes it maddening to use at times.

Another quirk
The standard font was quite small, forcing me to hunch close to the screen to get a good look. You can scale up the size of everything in the desktop world, but not elsewhere. A function called Magnifier helps make small parts of the screen bigger, but at low resolution. And certain apps let you spread and pinch with your fingers to zoom in and out, but other apps don't. The lack of consistency makes the touch interface less enjoyable.

One other niggling complaint: Even though the screen size should make for perfect widescreen viewing in the 16:9 aspect ratio common for widescreen television, some Netflix movies with wider ratios continued to be shown with big black bars on top and bottom of the screen, wasting valuable screen space.

One big thing Microsoft got right was music. Xbox Music gives you a really clean interface, with beautiful moving graphics, and a "Smart DJ" feature, which plays entire songs in rotation in a genre - much like Pandora. You can also play songs or albums from a catalog of millions; it's free, with ads. In rare cases, you may get only 30-second previews because of licensing reasons, but those songs are also available for purchase from the app.

I liked how Xbox Music plays in the background. When you toggle the physical volume rocker, a little box with pause, forward and back buttons pops up in a corner and fades away quickly. That works with whatever happens to be using the speakers, including iHeart Radio. It allowed me to easily catch up on the morning's news and my email inbox at the same time.

Smart Glass, a feature that allows the Surface and other Windows devices to interact with the Xbox, was interesting but at times confusing. For instance, when I tried swiping through a menu of available videos, games and Xbox apps, I swiped right to left, but the menu on my TV screen went left to right. Same with up and down.

Microsoft says this configuration was intentional based on user research. But for me, it gave the impression that this was not, as CEO Steve Ballmer promised, a delightful product "right out of the box."

Conclusion
The software is far from flawless, but I'm hopeful it will get better over time as apps are developed and software bugs are discovered and fixed.

What's important is that Microsoft got the hardware right - creating a light portable computer that has an ample number of fun features and a decent work environment. That combination could make Surface as addicting and as useful for extending the work day as the BlackBerry once was.

About the Surface
The Surface costs $499 for a version with 32 gigabytes, though about half of it gets taken up by the operating system and pre-loaded software. A Touch Cover costs an extra $100 when purchased with the tablet (It's $120 separately). A Type Cover - with real keys - goes for $130.

For $699, you get the 64 GB version with a Touch Cover included.

The Surface is available only at Microsoft's stores and website.

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iPad mini review

Associated Press, November 08, 2012

I bet the iPad mini is going to be on a lot of wish lists this holiday season. I also bet that for a lot of people, it's not going to be the best choice. It's beautiful and light, but Apple made a big compromise in the design, one that means that buyers should look closely at the competition before deciding.

Starting at $329, the iPad mini is the cheapest iPad. The screen is a third smaller than the regular iPads, and it sits in an exquisitely machined aluminum body. It weighs just 11 ounces half as much as a full-size iPad making it easier to hold in one hand. It's just under 8 inches long and less than a third of an inch thick, so it fits easily into a handbag.

The issue is the screen quality. Apple has been on the forefront of a move toward sharper, more colorful screens. It calls them "Retina" displays because the pixels the little light-emitting squares that make up the screen are so small that they blend together almost seamlessly in our eyes, removing the impression that we're watching a grid of discrete elements.

The iPad mini doesn't have a Retina screen. By the standards of last year, it's a good screen, with the same number of pixels as the first iPad and the iPad 2. The latest full-size iPad has four times as many pixels, and it really shows. By comparison, the iPad mini's screen looks coarse. It looks dull, too, because it doesn't have the same color-boosting technology that the full-size model has.

This is not an entirely fair comparison, as the full-size iPad starts at $499 and weighs twice as much. The real issue is that this year, there are other tablets that are cheaper than the iPad mini, weigh only slightly more and still have better screens.

Amazon.com Inc.'s Kindle Fire HD costs $199 and has about the same overall size as the mini. While the Kindle's screen is somewhat smaller (leaving a bigger frame around the edges), it is also sharper, with 30 percent more pixels than the mini. Colors are slightly brighter, too.

Barnes & Noble Inc.'s Nook HD costs $229 and has a screen that's even sharper than the Kindle HD's. It's got 65 percent more pixels than the iPad mini.

Why do tablets from two companies chiefly known as book stores beat Apple's latest for screen quality?

Sharper screens are darker, requiring a more powerful backlight to appear bright. That, in turn, would have forced an increase in the battery size. That's the reason the first iPad with a Retina display was thicker and heavier than the iPad 2. So to keep the iPad mini thin while matching the 10-hour battery life of the bigger iPads, Apple had to compromise on the display.

This can't last, though. By next year, it will likely be even more obvious that Apple is seriously behind in screen quality on its small tablet, and it will have to upgrade to a Retina display somehow. That means this first-generation iPad mini will look old pretty fast.

The display causes a few other problems, too. One is that when you run iPhone apps on the mini, it uses the coarsest version of the graphics for that app - the version designed for iPhones up to the 2009 model, the 3GS. You can blow the app up to fill more of the screen, but it looks pretty ugly. The full-size iPad uses the higher-quality Retina graphics when running iPhone apps, and it looks much better.

Some apps adapted for the iPad screen don't display that well on the mini screen, either, because of the smaller size. Buttons can be too small to hit accurately, bringing to mind Steve Jobs' 2010 comments about smaller tablets. The late Apple founder was of the vociferous opinion that the regular iPad was the smallest size that was also friendly to use.

In some apps, text on the mini is too small to be comfortably read - the section fronts in The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal apps are examples of this.

Of course, in some other respects, the iPad mini outdoes the Fire and the Nook, so it isn't just the tablet for the buyer who needs the prettiest and the thinnest. In particular, the Mini is a $329 entry ticket to the wonderful world of iPad and iPhone apps. For quality and quantity, it beats all the other app stores. (Oddly, there's an inverse relationship between screen quality and app availability in this category the Nook HD has the best screen and the fewest apps, while the second-best Kindle Fire HD has middling access to apps.)

The Mini also has front- and back-facing cameras, for taking still photos and video and for videoconferencing. The Kindle Fire HD only has a front-facing camera for videoconferencing. The Nook HD doesn't have a camera at all.

In short, the iPad Mini is more versatile than the competition, and I'm sure it will please a lot of people. But take a look at the competition first, and figure that by next year, we'll see something from Apple that looks a lot better.

About the iPad Mini
The base model of the iPad mini costs $329 and comes with 16 gigabytes of storage. A 32 GB model goes for $429 and 64 GB for $529. Soon, you'll be able to get versions that can connect through cellular networks, not just Wi-Fi. Add $130 to the price.

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Google Nexus 10 review

Associated Press, November 15, 2012

When I first turned on Google's new tablet computer, I immediately thought of it as a mere conduit to Google services.

Besides giving you quick access to Gmail and YouTube, the Nexus 10 steers you to digital movies, books and other content available for sale through Google's online Play store.

Because of that, I wasn't thinking of the Nexus 10 as an alternative to Apple's general-purpose iPad - even with a price tag that's $100 cheaper, starting at $399. It took more thought and time with the Nexus to change that perception. After all, apps available for Android smartphones work on the tablet as well.

Still, the Nexus really shines when it comes to media - especially content bought through Google.

For the past year, Google has been trying to challenge Apple and Amazon by selling digital content.

The Play store is Google's version of iTunes for Apple devices. There, you can get a variety of apps, some free and some for a small fee. You can buy or rent movies and obtain books, magazines and music. Google isn't satisfied with building search engines and selling ads. It wants a bigger role in the digital economy.

Over the summer, Google came out with a 7-inch tablet called the Nexus 7. Just as Apple is making an iPad Mini that's about the size of the Nexus 7, Google is now selling a larger version of the Nexus, about the size of Apple's regular iPad. It starts shipping this week.

On the Nexus 10, icons at the bottom of the screen emphasize Google's media products available through Play. Click on a picture of film to watch movies, headphones to listen to music and a book to, well, read books. Another icon gets you to the Play store to obtain more content and apps.

The Nexus has a rubberized back and fits more snuggly on my lap than the metal-backed iPad. In my hands, I don't feel as if the Nexus would slip out and crash on to the hard floor, as I continually do with the iPad.

There are front-facing speakers going up and down both sides of the Nexus, compared with just one tucked in a corner on the back of an iPad. You feel more immersed watching video with sound coming right at you from the entire device. I hadn't considered that a problem on the iPad, but I began to notice it once I played video on the tablets side by side.

The screen measures 10.1 inches diagonally, which is more than the iPad's 9.7 inches. But the screen isn't any larger because while it's about an inch wider in horizontal mode, it's also about a half-inch less in height. This works well for widescreen content, which completely fills the screen. On the iPad, the latest movies and TV shows often have black bars, no matter how you hold the tablet. In some cases, you might see the sides of video cut off to fit the space, as I did watching this week's episode of "Revenge" on Hulu. Again, I hadn't considered that a problem on the iPad, until I began to notice it.

What makes the tablet's shape good for movies makes it less-than-ideal for magazines, though. There's wasted space on the top and the bottom for magazines on the Nexus. But I watch TV shows and movies online more often than I read magazines digitally, so I'll let it slide.

As for books, text on the Nexus' screen comes out sharp. News sites and apps also look nice. The Nexus has a screen resolution of 300 pixels per inches, slightly better than the 264 ppi for the latest full-size iPad (which itself is far better than the 132 ppi on the older iPad 2 model still available).

True, there are other tablets designed as media players, too. Amazon.com Inc.'s Kindle Fire and Barnes and Noble Inc.'s Nook HD come to mind, and both have larger versions out this month. But neither has the diversity of apps available for the Nexus and other full-fledge Android devices (The Kindle and the Nook run on modified versions of Android and restrict apps to what's available through their own online stores).

So what does that mean?

Apps on my Samsung Galaxy S III smartphone automatically appear on the Nexus 10 after signing in with the same Google account. I'll note that the Nexus 10 is also made by Samsung Electronics Co., even though it's branded Google.

Three of my apps, for AccuWeather, Citibank and Dunkin' Donuts, aren't compatible for unknown reasons. But those I use most often - Facebook, Instagram, Foursquare and a slew of other weather apps - all work on the Nexus. The companion app for the TV show "Dexter" also works, allowing me to play trivia games and watch video clips.

Not all apps have been specifically adapted for the tablet's larger screen, but they take advantage of the entire screen, nonetheless, thanks to the way Android lets software programmers build their apps in modules. All the content gets blown up and still looks decent.

Apple's store has a far wider selection of apps, though, including a half-dozen apps for exhibits at the American Museum of Natural History in New York. A search on Play comes up with only one.

The Nexus comes with the latest version of the Android operating system, version 4.2. It introduces a new feature for sharing tablets, the way family members can share Windows and Mac computers while keeping personalized settings. You no longer have to fight with a kid who constantly changes the volume or moves apps around. Now, just sign in as separate users.

The Nexus is a tad lighter, while the iPad promises longer battery life and has an option for cellular broadband for $130 more, plus the cost of data plans. Neither has a slot to expand memory with SD cards. Both have two cameras - 5 megapixels on the back for taking photos and video, and a lower-resolution one on the front for videoconferencing.

The iPad remains king among tablets, with its ease of use, variety of apps and dominance in the market. But challengers such as Google offer choice. The Nexus 10 is a good choice if you already have an Android phone and use a lot of Google services. That's especially true if you also watch a lot of movies and TV shows, but don't want to be limited to that.

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Spice Stellar Pad (Mi-1010) review

Anupam Saxena, January 28, 2013

Although Spice had launched its first tablet, the MiTab as early as September 2011, it wasn't really able to get a foothold in the highly crowded Android tablets market, dominated by players like Micromax, Zync and Karbonn, amongst others. The company's sort of made a comeback with a new 10-inch tablet, which it calls, the Spice Stellar Pad (Mi-1010). The tablet with impressive specs has been priced well at Rs. 12,999 and runs Jelly Bean, the latest iteration of Android. We've been playing with the device and here's our take on the mid-economy tablet.

Hardware/ Build & design
The tablet feels solid although it's a bit on the heavier side but the weight has been distributed well. The tablet has a 10-inch screen surrounded by a black bezel on the front, and a silver back, which is made of plastic, with a matte finish. The back also sports the Spice logo, placed right at the middle, two speaker grills and the camera lens at the top. There's some branding at the lower part as well.

There are no hardware buttons on the front, giving it a sleek look. The materials used don't feel cheap, and we can safely say that it's one of the better designed Android tablets available in the market.

On the right side, there are charging and connectivity ports including a USB on the go port, an HDMI port and 3.5mm headphone jack, in addition to a 2.5 mm custom charging port. Thanks to the USB on the go port, you can connect this tablet to PC in disk mode, just like a regular Micro-USB port and then turnaround and act like a PC when you connect a USB drive or 3G dongle to the tablet.

On the flip side, this implies that you need to carry the tablet's custom charger along, which is a bit inconvenient.A large number of devices support charging through micro-USB, eliminating the need to carry multiple chargers, we don't think devices should come with custom charging ports.

There's also a microphone, a reset button, and a memory card (SD/ TransFlash) slot. There are markings for each on the back of the tablet, albeit in grey colour which tends to reduce the visibility since the back is silver. The top sports a Power/ Sleep button and a volume rocker, all in plastic.

Overall, the hardware appears to be durable and is tastefully done.

Display
The 10-inch TFT display comes with a resolution of 1280x800 pixels, which is pretty decent compared to other budget tablets in the segment. The screen is bright, and although we found that it's reflective to some extent, visibility under sunlight was not bad. The display has an IPS panel that facilitates wider viewing angles, which essentially means that more than one person can view content playing on the screen properly, even from different angles. We found that this holds true in the case of the Spice Stellar Pad, and we were able to view media playing on the screen from different angles. There was a slight backlight leakage from the sides and a blue tint towards the right hand side of the screen, but we're not sure if it's limited to our review unit. The touch sensitivity is good, and we didn't encounter any issues while using the device.

Software/ Interface
The Spice Stellar Pad runs Android 4.1 - Jelly Bean, the latest iteration of the operating system, and doesn't include any custom skin. It's a stock build of the OS bundled with a few third party apps including music streaming app, Dhingana, a file browser, the Economic Times and Times of India news apps, Shark Dash- a game, a video player and a Gravity Calibration utility. We like the fact that there's no bloatware.

The Spice Stellar Pad is one of the few tablets that runs Jelly Bean. Unlike the Nexus 7, the tablet's onscreen controls are on the bottom left instead of the centre, and the notification panel and quick access settings (for Wi-Fi, Screen rotation, brightness, sound and shortcut to settings) are located at the bottom right.

During our use, we didn't notice much lag while navigating through menus, and Google's much touted 'Project Butter'makes the overall experience more responsive than tablets running Ice Cream Sandwich.

The other major feature that Jelly Bean brings is 'Google Now', a voice based information assistant and an extension of Google search. You can ask questions and the tool returns answers or search results. It uses 'cards' which are essentially small boxes that offer different sets of information ranging from weather forecast, directions, traffic information, scores, appointments, and currency conversion, among others. Google Now collects information based on the user's behavior, location and even e-mail to offer information, automatically.

We're not sure if the tablet will get updated to Jelly Bean 4.2, but if it does, features like multi-user accounts (different profiles and access for different users) and lock-screen widgets would also come to the tablet.

Camera
The Spice Stellar Tab comes with a 3-megapixel rear camera and a front facing VGA camera. We found that the pictures taken with the rear camera were a bit grainy. It was worse when we tried clicking them in low light. The rear camera does not have auto-focus. Though we're not sure if someone will use the tablet as dedicated devices for clicking pictures, we found that it's only suitable for casual clicks. The front camera is functional at best and does a decent job when used for making video calls.

Performance/ Battery Life
The tablet is powered by a 1.5 GHz dual-core processor, a quad-core GPU and 1 GB of RAM. We did not encounter any crashes while working on this tablet and multitasking was comfortable. We also did not notice much lag and were able to play tablet optimized games and HD video clips, without a hitch. The tablet comes with the native Android browser and Chrome, and renders all webpages well. Adobe Flash is pre-installed allowing the browser to display Flash videos, banners and other elements. The speakers on the tablet deliver good quality sound at even high volume levels. There's no voice calling but the major omission is Bluetooth connectivity. We're not sure why Spice had to exclude it since all major Android devices offer this feature.

The Spice Stellar Pad comes with a 7600mAh battery and we were satisfied with the backup that it offered, although we had some problems charging it up after the battery was completely drained. It took almost 2 hours to get to 10-15% charge levels delivered but the problem could be limited to just our unit, and we've requested Spice to send a replacement. We'll update our review if we see a difference. We were able to get around 8 hours of video playback, even with the display on full brightness levels. The standby time with push notifications and e-mails on was also decent. With intermediate usage during the day, we were able to get 2 days of backup. The tablet would easily give 8-10 hours of usage on a single charge.

Verdict
As we mentioned earlier in the review, the Spice Stellar Pad is one of the better Android tablets out there in the market. At a price of Rs. 12,999, it offers a good package with decent hardware, a bright screen that supports wide angled viewing and the latest version of Android, Jelly Bean. It's a good value for money proposition. If you're looking for a tablet that also offers voice calling, the Huawei Mediapad Lite is another good option available in the same price range.

Pros

• Runs Jelly Bean
• Good performance
• Display with decent viewing angles

Cons

• Slightly heavy
• Battery charging issues (could be specific to our unit)
• No Bluetooth

Ratings (Out of 5)

• Design: 3.5
• Display: 3.5
• Performance: 4
• Software: 4
• Battery Life: 4
• Value for Money: 4
• Camera: 2.5
• Ecosystem: 4
• Overall: 3.5

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