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October 2006 Volume 3 Issue 11 Rs 100

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On the cover disk:
Webaroo packs of our role in design than ever. From
website’s Know-How car modeling to architecture to
fashion, find out how tech tools
Win ten 1 GB thumb
make a difference
32
drives from Buffalo!

 88 Damn Small Linux

FEATURE
24 TFTs reviewed  56
Your next monitor has got to be a TFT. Find out why
A distro tiny enough
to fit on a USB drive
FEATURE
Compared: Disk tools 
From partitioning to imaging, check out the best
92

 90 Cellphone tools
Spruce up your mobile
with cools apps
Build a Media PC  112
Watch movies, record programs, play games & more
Also available in Bangladesh
Nepal, Bhutan, Sri Lanka, U A E Blu-ray: Two exclusive reviews!

Consumers today
have lesser time to get
used to technology
waves
OCTOBER 2006 | INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP
EDITORIAL 7
Time Compression
O
ut of all the queries we receive each month, the classic favorite is: “Is this the right
time to go in for…?”Be it dual core computers, DVD drives, TFT monitors, next-gen
game consoles or broadband Internet connections, consumers are relentlessly
bamboozled by the gnawing guilt associated with getting onto a technology bandwagon
either too early or too late. Such are the questions that first movers disregard and general
consumers dread. Let’s take a little journey back in time and recount some of the most
famous technological trends and more importantly, how they’ve been adopted.
Guglielmo Marconi’s invention of the radio in 1895 (later credited to Nikola Tesla after
the Supreme Court overturned Marconi’s patent in 1943) didn’t see public acceptance until
the 1920s. It was the invention and use of vacuum tube that sparked the radio ga-ga back
then—before that, radios were too bulky and expensive to be commercially viable. The radio
phenomenon brought together entire communities, cities and nations and it changed the
way people communicated and received information. Then came the moving pictures.
Though the television was invented in 1926 by John Logie Baird, records showed that even
by 1939 there were hardly 200 television sets across the world. It took a solid two decades for
the television to become a widespread appliance. Of course, contributing to the sales of the
television were the parallel strides in broadcasting—in 1954, NBC was the first broadcasting
company to introduce coast-to-coast color broadcasts across 21 stations in the US.
Up until then, consumers were still getting used to the idea of television programs in their
very own home. There was no concept of choosing the video you wanted to see. Not until the
invention of the VHS (Vertical Helix Scan) video standard was introduced by JVC much later in
1976. Video cassettes became all the rage—some of the fondest memories I have are that of
watching recordings of TV shows and movies on our National VCR back in the 80s.
The VCR flourished between the 80s and 90s. That was around the time an interesting
gadget appeared—the personal computer. The VideoCD standard was born in the early
1990s, allowing 74 minutes of MPEG-1 encoded video to be stored on an affordable CD.
Shortly afterward, the DVD disk (and along with it, the DVD video standard) was introduced
in 1997. The step up from 700 MB to 4.7 GB on a 12 cm disk was a big step indeed. But
wait—HDTV is here as well. This is happening just when we were getting used to the idea of
DVDs on our computers or home theaters. And I’ll bet the next-generation standard will be
upon as much sooner than we can anticipate.
So let’s see—it took over 30 years to transition from radio to television, from television to
video cassettes it was 20 years. Video cassettes to VCD took 15 years and VCD to DVD a mere
six years. Clearly, new technologies are approaching fast and frequently. Virtually every piece
of information around us—audio, video, pictures or text—has transitioned from the analog
world to the realm of the ones and zeroes.
This much is clear—whether you are wondering if now is the right time to buy a DVD
player or jump onto the Blu-ray bandwagon, questions will get increasingly difficult to
answer. And that’s because consumers today have lesser amounts of time to get used to
technology waves.
We will have to collectively brace ourselves for the impending torrent. Bring it on, I say!
| Marco Angelo D’Souza
marco.dsouza@chip-india.com
Contents
OCTOBER 2006
22 Watch what you Want!
NEWSWIRE
22 Watch What you Want!
With Satellite TV services picking
up, your TV viewing experience will
change, offering you with lot more
choice, comfort and convenience.
30 One Solution, No Confusion
McAfee works on its own philosophy
of providing a single, proactive
solution to a customer to safeguard
from intrusions and vulnerabilities.
COVER STORY
32 Technology in Design
A look at how technology has
enabled exploring new areas
in design—in the automotive,
architecture and fashion industries
HARDWARE
42 Top Gear
An interesting mélange of hardware
and gadgets—from the sleek Lenovo
3000Q media center PC to the Altec
Lansing inMotion 9 to keep you
entertained on the move, and lots
more...
56 Picture-perfect Pixels
Time you adorned your desk with a
TFT monitor! Take your pick from the
best we have brought you.
68
68 Blue-eyed Babies
This month we were part of another
breakthrough in optical storage
technology—Blu-ray. Check out our
comprehensive reviews on products
based on this technology.
72 PC Configs
A new list of best configurations
this month for your home, office,
productivity and gaming needs.
75 The Physics of PhysX
The new physics engine from
Ageia has been unleashed. Get
more firepower in your games and
experience the fun of improved
in-game effects.
78 Gorgeous Graphics
In our Technology Landscape section
this month, we present a guide to
32
56 Picture-perfect Pixels
Blue-eyed Babies
graphics cards across all categories
starting from the affordable to
the expensive.
80 Satellite TV
In Infographics, we elucidate how
you can watch DVD quality movies,
bypass the cable operator, get all
your favorite channels and pay
almost the same as you do now.
APPLICATIONS
82 Software Center
A mix of some splendid applications
and tools reviewed to cater to your
different computing needs.
88 Damn Right Distribution!
A review of DSL-N—a lightweight
and fast distribution based on Damn
Small Linux that runs off a USB
thumb drive.
90 Symbian Gear
A plethora of Symbian applications
are available to transform your Series
60 phone into an instant messenger,
remote or a music player. We look at
the noteworthy ones.
92 Alternative Backup
Check out our two different sets of
tools that help you partition your
hard disk and save its image for an
INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP | OCTOBER 2006
 108 The
90 Symbian Gear
exact restoration in case of a hard
disk failure.
98 Chat Security
With hackers turning their attention
to IMs, threats like viruses, spyware
and phishing abound. Find out how
chatting can be harmful to your PC.
HANDS ON
108 The Third Eye
If you like to keep an eye on things
in and around your house while
you’re away, find out how you can
monitor your home with the help of
an IP camera from this step-by-step
workshop.
110 Image Makeover
You don’t have to make do with
bad, unclear photographs anymore.
Photoshop allows you to change any
annoying details and it’s really simple.
Lenovo 3000Q
…43
OCTOBER 2006 | INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP
Third Eye
126 Down to the Core
112 One-Stop Recreational Zone 131 Reservoir Dogs
Turn your computer into a living room If you’ve got what it takes to be a
entertainment spot. Instead of opting part of the Mob, here’s where you
to buy a media center off the shelf, get to prove it. In this remake of
learn how to build one all by yourself the classic movie, Reservoir Dogs
from this workshop. has plenty of language, plenty of
mayhem and loads of attitude.
UNWIND 132 Trainz
126 Down to the Core For railroad buffs, here’s a chance to
Ever wondered what it takes to step into a locomotive and take full
create those visually stunning control, model your dream railroad or
games? Check out our listing of the simply take a ride by the countryside.
best ever game engines out there
and how they have helped create
some of the superb games.
| Products Tested
Hardware Standalones 42
130 Pirates of the Caribbean Lenovo 3000Q, Nokia 6130, Kingston
K-PEX 100, Altec Lansing inMotion 9,
You can sail the high seas and
pretend you’re a pirate with this
Gigabyte 945G-S2, Canon Pixma MP550,
CoolerMaster Elite 330, Level One WCS-
remarkably senseless hacking and 2030, Pinnacle To Go, Vantec NexStar 3
slashing game which will take you NST-360SU, Samsung Super-Write Master
deep into the world of the legendary SH-S182D
pirate Jack Sparrow.
TFT Monitors 56
LG Flatron L1515S, LG Flatron L1520B,
BenQ FP51G, Samsung SyncMaster 540N,
Regulars TCL H582B, AOC LM525, ViewSonic
Town Square 16 VP720B, Samsung SyncMaster 740N,
Letters 17 AOC LM725, Zenith Z17, BenQ FP71G +S,
Asus PM17TU, TCL 7005L12, Asus PW201,
Technology Landscape 78
ViewSonic VX2235WM, ViewSonic
Dr. CHIP 104 VP920B, ViewSonic VA 1912WB, TCL
Tips and Tricks 116 983A, AOC LM925, LG Flatron L1950SQ,
Game Reviews 130
ViewSonic VG2021M, Samsung
SyncMaster 940BW, HP L1906, VU 19W1
Last Word 148
 Disk Contents
OCTOBER 2006 | VOLUME 3 | ISSUE 11

Multimedia Game Demos

AHEAD DVD RIPPER WARHAMMER 40,000: DAWN OF WAR –
GVIDEOFIX Game Demos DARK CRUSADE
KARAFUN KARAOKE CAESAR IV MYSTERY CASE FILES-PRIME SUSPECTS
COMPANY OF HEROES
Productivity JUST CAUSE Game Trailers
FONTS CALL OF DUTY 3
SMARTDRAW Linux TEST DRIVE UNLIMITED TRAILER
WORDTOYS FEDORA CORE 5 - CD2
DAMN SMALL LINUX Game Add-ons
Internet HALF LIFE 2 COASTLINE TO
GOOGLE TALK Must Haves ATMOSPHERE MOD
µTORRENT ATI CATALYST DRIVERS
NVIDIA FORCEWARE DRIVERS Movie Trailers
Mobile ADOBE AUDITION DISTRICT B13
IM+ BLUETOOTH AUTOPATCHER XP AUGUST (FULL) RED EYE
OXYGEN PHONE MANAGER AUTOPATCHER XP SEPTEMBER UPDATE
FEXPLORER MEDIA PORTAL
PSILOC TOTAL IR REMOTE

Developer
INSTALL CREATOR
PHPMAKER

Security
TREND MICRO OFFICESCAN
KASPERSKY INTERNET SECURITY
CALLINGID
Quick Quote
OCTOBER 2006 | VOLUME 3 | ISSUE 11
GENERAL MANAGER - PUBLISHING Hyderabad
Krishna Tewari Vasudevan Iyer
viyer@infomediaindia.com
EDITOR Phone: (040) 55622211 Fax: (040) 23393488
CHIP is consumer- Marco Angelo D’Souza
Kolkata

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hafeez.shaikh@infomediaindia.com Copyright 2004 INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP

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www.chip-india.com INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP | OCTOBER 2006

OCTOBER 2006 | INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP
16 TOWN SQUARE
THIS MONTH ON chip-india.com
Town Square
Greetings dear Websters,
Over the years, we have seen several users come to
our website and contribute in their own little (or
large) way. Chief among the segments that power
out website are the Know-How and the Town
Square sections. As it is so evident from the quality
of the feedback and the depth of knowledge
and understanding seen in the majority of the
questions, our forums have always been a place
where like-minded techies can meet and exchange
ideas.
To further enhance the functionality and
access of the information on our website, we are
glad to announce some exciting enhancements
that is born our of an association with an
interesting company called Webaroo. Founded
in 2004, Webaroo pioneered an innovation that
facilitates offline web searching on laptops
and mobile devices. That’s right—with it you
can search and browse web content anywhere,
anytime even without an Internet connection!
After downloading the Webaroo client, you can
access real Web pages with real search results on
a variety of topics like travel, technology, lifestyle
etc. Webaroo’s innovative algorithms analyze
web pages, selecting pages that are relevant, of
high quality and with broad coverage, providing
abundant information in small downloadable
‘Web packs’. You can either download the Webaroo
application and save the Web packs onto your
laptop or mobile device (PDA/smart phone) for
free, or purchase a range of devices with Webaroo
bundled on it. Best of all, this content isn’t
static—it is updated on your device each time you
are connected to the Internet.
In association with Webaroo, we at CHIP are
pleased to bring you a series of Web packs of
all the archived content from the Know-How
section of our Forums, all the way from January
2006 to October 2006! By installing the Webaroo
application, you will be able to browse and search
through any one of these Web packs that contain
information ranging from operating systems,
application software, security, games, hardware
components—everything that you would find
on our website’s forums. Best of all, you can
search through all of our forum’s contents over
the last six months—all offline! And this is just
the beginning—along with Webaroo, we plan to
bring you regular updated versions of these Web
packs. On our cover disks, you will also find Web
packs relating to other tech topics. To start using
these Web packs, head over to our website and
download the applications and packs from the
Webaroo link provided. You will also find these
Web packs included on the cover disks bundled
with our this issue. We look forward to hearing
your feedback on this. And happy offline searching!
On our forums, we have seen a steady rise in
the number of registered users—we have crossed
26,600 this month. ‘sumit_ind’ has posted an
interesting tip on opening Gmail faster—simply
use the URL m.gmail.com and you will open a
much lighter versions of Gmail, minus all the
bells and whistles. Primarily intended for mobile
users, this site does not look all that good, but is
functional and extremely quick to load—great
when you’re pressed for time! ‘georgy786’ has
also started a pretty interesting discussion on the
upcoming PS2 game console versus the Xbox 360.
If you need a spec-by-spec comparison on how
these consoles stack up against one another, this is
a good read. With the impending release of Sony’s
new console, it will be interesting to see if this
gaming device lives up to the hype surrounding its
Cell architecture. We also came across some neat
discussions on hosting free websites and choosing
the right web hosting plans from ‘maheshmic88’
and ‘tiger0412’ respectively. Here you will find
plenty of real-world suggestions on web hosting.
Be sure to check out these new offerings on
our website and look out for many more such
enhancements over the following weeks. ■
| Marco D'Souza
INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP | OCTOBER 2006

Letters
Dear CHIP,
The reason I bought CHIP magazine this month is to
read more about the AMD-ATI deal, so that I could
find the answers to several questions that I have such
as whether it would be wise to buy ATI chipset-
based motherboards instead of motherboards from
other brands using ATO processors. However, to my
dismay, there was nothing about the AMD-ATI deal.
I did, however, find the PC configuration guide really
interesting. I will be assembling a computer shortly
and therefore it is really relevant to me. I am planning
to opt for the budget configuration However, I must
say I don’t agree with the motherboard mentioned
in the guide. I need a motherboard with a DV port
so that I can connect my Canon camcorder and
copy digital video to my computer. Can you suggest
a motherboard with an onboard DV port? I will be
using a socket 754 AMD Sempron CPU. Also can you
suggest a computer dealer in Lamington Road where
I can get all my computer peripherals? I am looking
forward to your feedback.
Regards,
Mark Pinheiro
Hello Mark,
Thanks for writing in. Regarding your query about
the ATI-AMD deal, we intentionally excluded carrying
a news item on it in our magazine. With a monthly
frequency, we believe it would not make sense to
cover a subject which, by then, would have been
dealt with extensively by every daily newspaper
and online technology web site. What we will be
doing is to monitor the fallout of this merger and
carry articles related to the repercussions it will
have on products and technologies in their related
fields of platforms, processors and graphics. Do
look out for these in our subsequent issues.
We’re glad that you liked our PC configuration
guide. The choice of motherboard in the guide
was one that reflected a general usage scenario.
In your case, you have a specific need that needs
to be fulfilled and might not be applicable to
readers at large. Therefore, we selected a board
that offers a good set of general features, adequate
performance and priced well. In your case, you
might want to consider a XXX motherboard, which
would suit your processor and which also includes
an onboard Firewire interface which you can use
to transfer digital video from your camcorder.
Team CHIP
OCTOBER 2006 | INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP
LETTERS 17
Hi Marco,
I am an ardent reader of your magazine. Being
a computer buff, I love reading anything and
everything related to computers. And I must say your
team does a great job of producing amazing editorial
content. Through it, I receive a lot of knowledge
about the latest technologies. The news section is a
good melange about everything new and happening
in the world of technology. I especially liked the
news snippet about how scientists have developed
a wrist-top computer in the US. I am waiting for the
time it will hit the commercial market, which I’m sure
is bound to happen in the near future as you have
stated—“technology is getting personal” (editorial,
‘Small is Big’, August issue). I am waiting to have my
hands on it...quite literally!
Regards,
Sumit Rodda
Dear Marco,
No, you are not dreaming or watching too many
movies (with reference to “Of Movies and Evolution”,
Editorial, September issue). What you say makes a
lot of sense—viruses are indeed a blessing and do
result in making better and stronger software. What
appears to be a problem from one angle can actually
prove to be beneficial from the other—clearly a case
of “a hammer shatters glass but also forges steel”.
The possibility of machines becoming more and
more intelligent does exist, but I don’t believe they
can gain consciousness. For example, it’s easy to build
a machine that has the ability to print colors but can
it accompany the emotions that we undergo when
we see red, white, black or orange?
The Perfect World is indeed a distant possibility—I
think this could be attributed to greed. Greed
results in apathy for the next person who might
be suffering. We’ve also seen numerous instances
where greed has brought about immense havoc
and damage to humanity in the form of wars and
strife. As the Mahatma once said, “Earth provides
enough to satisfy every man’s need, but not every
man’s greed”. We’ve seen it happening so often
through history—men like Hitler and Napoleon
though considered great personalities,
were responsible for untold misery due to
their insatiable greed. Sorry if I sound too
philosophical, but that’s the way of the world.
Regards,
Darshan Shinde
Umesh Dahiwalkar
 20 LETTERS

Letters
Dear Darshan,
Those are interesting viewpoints you’ve raised on the
subject. However, I would beg to differ with you on
the possibility of machines not being able to achieve
for home users such tips become quite boring as
there are several dedicated resources to answering
these questions. Also, it’s been a while since we’ve
seen a software shootout in CHIP. So I request you

Now you can

some level of consciousness. Classically, consciousness to carry a security application shootout. At present,
has been a difficult human trait to peg. Scientifically, you carry standalone application reviews (such as

SMS us!
its description has always been elusive. But going by PC-cillin) each month and it isn’t easy to judge the
principles of the Swarm Theory, I believe there exists a best from reviews on security applications spread
possibility of a day dawning upon us, where there will across several issues.
Since we like knowing what’s
be so many logic elements packed on a processor and One last suggestion—please provide more
on your mind and what you
think about our magazine, we so many channels of communication existing between goodies like wallpapers and movies on your Toys
now bring you another way them that it will come startlingly close to what already CD. Also, I think your choice of games makes them
to get in touch with us. Have exists within the human brain. What is the brain more suited to the younger audience. I am sorry if I
something to say about a test after all, if not a set of billions of processing elements sounded harsh in this letter, but nothing makes me
review? Liked a feature story?
Was the workshop useful? connected via a network of high-speed links? The rate happier than to read a fully satisfying issue of CHIP!
SMS us your feedback! at which technology is evolving, I believe we are going Regards,
Here’s how: to see numerous instances of billions of transistors on Amit Patnaik
processors that drive future computers and appliances.
For comments on a story,
Couple this with the proliferation of high-speed wired Hello Amit,
create the following message:
ICCO <Your comments here> and wireless networks and there is bound to be an We’re glad you liked our cover. The level of the tweaks
Example: ICCO The cover instance of distributed processing system reaching in the cover story was intentionally chosen to be basic
story was very useful such a zenith of power that a machine might just as we like our covers to be ‘approachable’. Since it is
transcend into that elusive realm of self-discovery. meant to reach out to as wide an audience as possible,
You can write as much as you
want in your comment! Sounds fantastic, I know. But I’m inclined to believe we stay away from keeping it too technical—we
that the day may be upon us sooner than we expect. do that in other sections of our magazines like
To rate a story, product Regards, Hands-on, Hardware and Applications. But thank
review, etc look out for the Marco you for the feedback anyway—you can look forward
story tag at the base of each
article and use it as follows: to interesting, in-depth articles on a variety of
ICCP <Story tag> <Rating> Dear CHIP, technologies and products that will be more suited to
Example: ICCP PWS 5 The September issue was super to say the least. your level of understanding in the forthcoming issues.
Brilliant magician on the cover too! Although I think Your request for a shootout on security
The “Story tag” is mentioned
the theme of the cover story was good, I believe applications is an interesting one. Reviewing an
at the base of every story
in the magazine and the it could have been implemented better. I thought anti-virus of firewall applications is one of the most
“Rating” is on a scale of 1 the tricks especially on speeding up Windows and complex software tests, requiring the use of special
to 5. startup programs were a bit too ‘basic’—something I test resources that are not generally available
imagine almost every normal PC user already knows outside of the anti-virus laboratories. However, we
Finally, send your messages
to 7007. about. There were no registry tweaks and no tweaks are working on the modalities on how to conduct
for Nvidia-based graphic cards either. I understand such a test in conjunction with external resources.
Cheers! that you cater to the not-so-geeky folks, but the And yes, do let us know how you liked our
tricks you provided were known to me since the time in-depth test on Intel’s Core 2 Duo processor
I was in the eighth standard. (“Crowning Conroe”, September issue). We are
Besides, these tricks are easily available on any eagerly looking forward to your feedback.
Windows web site; you should therefore have Best regards,
provided some expert tweaks on Windows like Team CHIP
70 07
n co v
er s to
ry changing registry settings to speed up your Internet
at w as a fu
CO Th
IC connection or to speed up menus and change the With hundreds of SMSes sent to us, this new feedback
more advanced settings in Window XP. system has evoked tremendous response. Going
I have also noticed feel that you include too many ahead, we’re using what you’re saying to incorporate
changes into our content. Keep it coming!
articles on Office. True, MS Office is important but

INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP | OCTOBER 2006

22 NEWSWIRE
Watch what you want!
Satellite TV is all set to change your viewing experience, so you can watch your
favorite programs any time you want or even repeatedly should you feel like it
M
ost of us still remember the rotating
Doordarshan logo we saw on our
televisions a few years ago. It’s
been a while that we have graduated from
Doordarshan’s six to nine pm broadcasting to
24x7 cable broadcasting. Soon you will shift
from the cable operator’s controlled program
distribution to satellite TV, where you will get
to choose your own channels with DVD quality
image, CD quality sound clarity and a whole lot
more. Many already have.
The world has been familiar with satellite TV
for a long time now but it took a while for it to
arrive in India. The reason was slow penetration
of the television, lack of proper infrastructure
and lack of proper technical know-how.
However, the situation has changed now.
Currently, there are 110 million TV viewers in
our country out of which 67 million subscribe to
cable TV and 43 million still receive terrestrial
broadcast. Besides, now we even have better
hardware like plasma screens and dish antennas
that can digital signals. Also, today’s viewers are
more demanding in terms of picture and sound
quality. They can differentiate between CD
and DVD quality images, radio and CD quality
audio. Considering all these factors, the launch
of satellite TV services couldn’t have come at a
more perfect time.
To avail the satellite TV broadcast service,
you need to install a personal dish antenna and
a set-top box, both of which are offered by the
service provider. After that adjust the antenna
to match the broadcast frequency offered by the
service provider and the entertainment content
will be streamed to your TV. The dish receives
the signal sent from the service provider and
passes it to the set-top box. The box has a
computer chip, which first decodes the signal
and displays the content on your TV screen.
In India, Tata Sky and Dish TV are two of the
service providers currently offering this service.
You can contact the service provider and place
your preferred list of channels to view them.
There are plenty of benefits—you get up
Jagdish Limbachiya
to 160 channels although you pay the same
amount as you are paying now. You can choose
your language from a channel which offers
multilingual broadcasting— you can make
a choice between Hindi and English while
watching Cartoon Network as it broadcasts in
both languages.
Satellite TV services also offer a bundle
of interactive games. You can shift from TV
viewing to gaming and play games with just the
remote.
Interactivity is one of the key features
offered by satellite TV. For example, if you are a
Tata Sky subscriber, you can watch Star News,
Aaj Tak and NDTV India—all on a single screen in
four separate grids. All you need to do is select a
grid to watch a particular channel.
As Tata Sky service is a joint venture between
Tata and the Star network, you can view Star
News similarly. In four grids you can watch
‘Current News’, ‘Top Stories’, ‘Headlines’ and
‘Features’, all broadcast by Star News. Out of
these four grids, the ‘Current News’ is Live and
the others are 30 minutes behind schedule.
Tata Sky has collaborated with ESPN to offer
an interactive sports experience as well. Named
‘Active Sports’, this service will allow you to
watch a live match, highlights and a virtual
screen at the same time. You can watch the
history of a tournament, statistics of a player,
team and even choose commentators.
Tata Sky’s interactive news section also lets you
check your horoscope while watching news
INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP | OCTOBER 2006

Dish TV lets you download games and
transfer them to the receiver through USB
On the other hand, Dish TV offers
services like storing TV programs on your
external hard disk which you connect to
the receiver. Dish TV offers digital video
recording service allowing you to extract
images, music and videos from the TV
programs and store on the hard disk. You
can also pause live TV and watch your
favorite programs at your own leisure. You
can record programs to a maximum of six
channels simultaneously. The channels
can be either six free channels or three
free and three pay channels. To record,
you need to specify the date and time
of your desired program to the Digital
Video Recorder (part of the receiver). On
the specified date and time, the recorder
automatically will start recording all the
desired programs.
Satellite TV is mostly about
convenience. It offers you a program guide
for all the channels you have chosen, one
week in advance. If you are a Satellite TV
user, you get to know about the program
schedules, which comprise the program
name, program channel, date, day, time
You can order a movie of your choice to
broadcast at your specified time
OCTOBER 2006 | INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP
and program synopsis. You can create a
list of your favorite programs scheduled
in advance to watch them when they will
be broadcast.
If you get tired of surfing the entire
gamut of channels, you can even create
a customized surf list of the channels
you watch most. This way you can create
multiple customized surf lists and store
them with different names. For example,
you can create a surf list by selecting only
the sports channel and name it ‘Sports’.
Similarly, you can select only the English
movie channels and create another list
with the name ‘English movies’.
You can enjoy the “Movie on Demand”
service offered by the available satellite
TV providers. To watch a movie of your
choice, you need to check the list of
current movies that are available with
Tata Sky service lets you create a favorite
channel list comprising 20 channels
your service provider and then call and
order them, stating the movie name and
your preferred time. You have to pay an
addition amount for this service. The
amount varies between providers. For
example, Dish TV charges you Rs 40 for
Hindi movies and Rs 50 for English movies.
Subscription
To subscribe to Satellite TV, you need to
call the service provider. On receiving
your request, they will send their trained
technicians to install the dish antenna
and the set-top-box at your place. If you
are looking for a connection for multiple
TV sets, you will need multiple set-top-
boxes—one for each set.
The cost for installation may be more
than what you are paying for cable TV.
To subscribe to Tata Sky’s service, you
SMS us!
NEWSWIRE 23
have to pay an initial amount of Rs 2,999
for the dish and the box, Rs 1,000 for
installation and activation of the service
and an additional Rs 200 for subscription
to one TV set. If you want to add more
sets, then you need to pay another Rs 100.
Monthly charges are Rs 200 for which
you need to buy a prepaid card similar to
a mobile prepaid card. Scratch it, call the
help desk number, spell out the 16 digit
number and get your account refilled. If
you want to check you account balance,
you can even do that on your TV, where
you will get a complete and detailed
account information. Besides, for any sort
of technical problems, you can call the
helpdesk number and get account related
information or report problems.
If you want to subscribe to Dish TV’s
service then you have the option of
selecting from their bouquet of packages
ranging from Rs 3,090 to Rs 3,490. Once
the service is activated, you can customize
the charges for every month by selecting
the channels. For example, if you choose
to view only the news channel, you
can do that at a monthly cost of Rs 60.
Alternatively, if you want to watch only
movies, you need to pay only Rs 55—
channels such as Zee Premier, Zee Action
and Zee Classic will be included only.
For monthly payments, you can choose
between sending an SMS and paying by
credit card. If you want, you can even pay
by cash, cheque or money order.
Satellite TV is slowly picking up in
India. While it offers you convenience,
comfort and choice of what you want to
watch, it is too early to tell whether it will
be everybody’s cup of tea. The primary
challenge it may face is the counter move
from cable operators—this is because any
viewer would be thrilled at being able
to avail of the service with its additional
benefits and still pay the same amount
they’d been paying their cable operators.
Also, the initial installation cost may still
be very high for a lot of users. We have
yet to see how service providers are going
to face these challenges. As of now it is
for us to wait and watch how the flotilla
of unique services offered bring about a
change in the viewing experience. 
| Pradosh Mitra
Story code: NFS (See Page 20 for details)
24 NEWSWIRE
The mobile vendor
I f you thought only canned coke could
tumble down a vending machine, think
again. Motorola has come up with their
“Instantmoto”, a vending machine for cell
phone handsets.
These machines work like automated
selling machines. In terms of size they are
three times the regular vending machines
and house 12 different types of models
and 18 accessories.
Instantmoto, works on the principles
of robotics and has a robotic arm.
Company
spokesperson,
Juan Campbell said
that this is going
to be the future
of convenience
purchasing, a new
concept of purchase
from the house of
Motorola.
As a buyer, you
do not need to wait
in a store to get the
Jagdish Limbachiya
attention of one
of the sales persons. You can select the
model of your choice and use your credit
card to buy it. You can make a choice
between anything from mid-range to
high-end models including the Razr and
the Q and you need not worry about the
service. You can purchase any model and
then decide on which service provider’s
service you’ll be using. If you are starting
a new service then you can go online and
sign up with any package of any service
providers, which includes T-Mobile,
Verizon and Cingular. You generally need a
dedicated handset for the stated service.
But these service providers have loosened
their strategy to promote Instantmoto,
so even if your handset is not a dedicated
one you’d still be able to sign up with
their services.
All you need to do is pick a phone
style using the touch screen and make
your payment. Motorola started this
pilot program which it will expand in the
future should it turn out to be successful.
Currently one such machine is installed at
one of the shopping malls in Chicago.
A phone environment
D on’t forget to unplug your charger once
the phone battery is full. Influence your
neighbor to do the same. And if the chain
continues then it will save enough electricity
to light up a thousands homes. So states
Nokia as they unveiled a new industry group
that aims to make mobile phones more
environmentally friendly.
This group is a joint effort
of Motorola, France Telecom,
Vodafone Group, TeliaSonera,
and others. It is created as part of
a European Commission project
aimed at uniting members of
different industries to work on
reducing the environmental impact
of their products.
As a part of the program this
group will impart education to their
phone users on how to use their cell phones
in an environmentally friendly way. The
group will also conduct research on the
different ways to do this. They will display
reminders on the phone to unplug the
Get your Office free
M icrosoft is now mulling over plans to
offer its application Microsoft Works
for free. It has up until now steered clear
of this area but with the recent increase in
freely available software it has decided to
jump on the bandwagon.
The application is a basic suite of
business software that often comes
preloaded on inexpensive
consumer PCs. So far plans
include a number of options to
woo entry-level users; so says
Alan Yates, general manager
of Microsoft Information
Worker Business Strategy.
This application package
will have email client, a
calendar, a word processor,
spreadsheets and a web
browser. The application also
has a library of creative presentations like
projects and will allow you to edit digital
photographs. If you want to do some
research for school or even for personal
interests the application assists you with
chargers once the battery is full.
Apart from educating the consumers
the group will have to examine the current
recycling strategy and will increase the
number of used phones that are returned
for recycling. The new recycling strategy
that the group will come up with will have
an incentive structure, which the group
feels will increase the recycle rate.
The program also includes a
reduction in the use of hazardous
material, used to manufacture
phones. For example Nokia decided
to stop using any components in
its phones that contain a certain
type of environmentally harmful
chemical flame retardant.
Hemali Gandhi Environmental organizations
including World Wildlife Fund,
the Finnish Environmental Institute, the
European Consumers’ Organization and
the UK’s Department of Environment, Food
and Rural Affairs are also part of the new
initiative.
updated information.
The company is putting in a lot of
plans to get ‘Works’ to work out for them
so that they can give fair competition to
Google’s online free applications. To keep
it free Microsoft is planning to pull in
advertisements and display them on the
platform of this application. Alternatively,
they are planning to make
it subscription-based.
Currently, the application is
distributed to users at a price
of $50.
They are already
experimenting with Office
Live, an application for
small businesses, which will
enanle them to create e-mail
accounts, web sites and
collaborate on projects.
However, they are bit worried on how
to position this application. They fear that
Works might hamper the revenue that the
company currently earns from the licenses
of Office and Windows.
INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP | OCTOBER 2006

Movies on wheels
Y ou won’t have reason to crib about
the image quality on your mobile video
player anymore. Archos’ new Generation
4 line of portable media is set to take your
mobile video viewing experience to a new
level. Their products Archos 604, 504, and
404 portable media players can record and
display DVD-quality digital video.
The Archos 640 has a
4.3 TFT wide-screen LCD,
with a screen resolution
of 480 X 272 and can
display at 16:9 aspect
ratio. It weighs 9 ounces
and measures 5.1 x 3.0
x 0.65 inches. The Archos 604 can play
MPEG-4, WMV, and MPEG-2 video files
stored on its 30 GB hard drive. The control
buttons for managing tracks and programs
are located at the right, with full battery
charge, it can continuously play video at
low brightness for 4.5 hours and music for
17.5 hours.
Archos 504 differs only in storage sizes.
The Archos 504 will come in 40 GB, 80 GB
OCTOBER 2006 | INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP
and 160 GB versions. This will make the
504 heavier than the 604. The Archos web
site states that the 40 GB model weighs
11.2 ounces.
On the other hand the 404, differs in
screen size. The size of its screen is 3.5
inches and displays video at a 320 X 240
resolution with a 4:3 aspect ratio.
The Archos product line can be attached
with an optional digital video
recorder that lets the device
record TV programs in
MPEG-4 format. The
digital video recorder
station will transfer
contents onto the hard drive of the Archos
604 and 404. The product supports the
Macrovision DRM found on DVDs, this
allows a user to record and play back a
program on the Archos itself.
Archos also plans to announce a Wi-Fi-
enabled version of the 604, with a touch
screen and wireless networking capabilities
for web browsing, media sharing, and
e-mail.
SMS us! Poll: Do you play games on a console? (See Readers’ Letters for details)
NEWSWIRE 25
Games phones play
F orget about the virtual games that
you’ve been playing on your mobile
this far. The GMAE
phone is the latest
type of phone
on the scene
where your game
content will not
be restricted to
the screen. The
phone has a unique
key pad where the buttons can move
and change positions. This feature of the
phone has generated a completely new
type of gaming experience.
The phone allows you to play the 15
grid puzzle, a game where you need to
arrange the number 1 to 15 in order on a
16 squared field.
The right positions of each button are
marked underneath the button so that you
do not have to struggle to find the right
place for the right button.
The phone has been designed by Dima
Komissarov of plusminus.com.
26 NEWSWIRE
The fabric farm
I f you consider yourself an environmentalist
and you fancy nylon, rayon or polyester
outfits you may have to think twice about
your choice of clothing. All these materials
are by-products of petroleum which add on
to the consumption of the fuel.
But take heart, two engineers have come
up with a feasible alternative. Narendra
Reddy and Yiqi Yang, both textile researchers
at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, have
suggested using farm waste to manufacture
these fabrics. They stated that stems from
rice plants and feathers plucked from
chickens can be used for the process.
Fabric can now be created using
alternative materials like rice straw and
chicken feathers
Reddy said that every year four thousand
pounds of feathers are produced in the
United States alone. But there aren’t too
many uses for them. Projects like converting
farm waste to fabric will make the fiber
industry more sustainable.
The engineers said that chicken
feathers and rice straw actually have many
similarities to existing natural fibers. Rice
straw, like cotton and linen, is mainly
composed of the dense plant fiber cellulose
and chicken feathers resemble wool which is
made up of keratin, a hard structural protein
that is also found in hoofs and fingernails.
Like other conventional fibers, feathers and
rice straw can be treated with chemicals
and enzymes to break down unessential
components, and then spun into thread with
existing textile machinery.
The production costs of these fibers
will be much less. Each fiber needs to be
processed chemically and spun to make the
threads. Rice straw and chicken feathers can
also be treated in chemicals, for which the
existing infrastructure will work just fine.
Times is a-changing
W hile the debate continues about the
existence and necessity of news in
print, newspaper readers have something
else to talk about. “Times Reader” a new
application parented by The New York Times
and Microsoft lets you read the same news
but only on a standalone digital reader. The
application attempts to provide an onscreen
reading experience that is as familiar as
the printed page, only more versatile and
interactive.
Microsoft used its new Windows
Presentation Foundation technology, a
feature of the next version of Microsoft
Windows that improves the graphics
handling and user
interface behaviors of
desktop applications.
The application
tries, as far as possible,
to stick to the print
paper layout. On
screen, artwork and
photography run
A malware greeting
T he greeting card you received in your
inbox may not necessarily be sent with
good intentions. It may be a disguised
malware. Such is the inference of Roger
Thompson, chief technology officer at
the security software maker, Exploit
Prevention Labs.
After checking a few dozen emails,
Thompson found out that apparently these
mails looked like regular greetings from
services like Yahoo or Blue Mountain. When
users clicked on such e-card links, the way
they generally do, the link sends users to
malicious sites. The site silently downloads
a malware that is capable of capturing
the user’s key strokes. Once the software
within the text (with The Times’ proprietary
font) as integral elements, navigation
options are more like you find on a paper
than on a web site.
The most impressive aspect of the Reader
is its navigation. Tom Bodkin, The New York
Times’ design director, headed the design
team to retain the narrative form which is
so typical of The Times. The narrative form is
entirely an editor’s choice. The editor decides
which story comes on the front page and
which comes at the rear, and the stories
on the digital reader are given the same
amount of importance as they would receive
with a printed paper.
The contents are
downloaded from the
web, but users do not
need to be online all
the time to use the
application. The Reader
uses the web site’s feed
and updates the news
throughout the day.
download gets complete the card appears
on the screen.
The download of the software happens
so fast that a user fails to realize that he has
been redirected first. Only if he scrutinizes
the link, will he be able to make that out.
The attacker, yet to be found, exploited
a flaw in Microsoft’s Windows operating
system to drop the spy software and a
rootkit to hide it on PCs. Only those users
who have installed a MS06-014 patch,
released in May, are not vulnerable to this
particular silent drive-by installation of
malicious software.
This attack appears to have started in
April, and the attackers send a new set of
emails every week. Each week the attackers
appear to collect a 200MB file with freshly
captured information from a server.
Thompson, however managed to identify
the server and reported the matter to the
Australian and U.S. authorities.
Exploit Prevention Lab has identified
that nearly every Australian bank were
compromised since April.
INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP | OCTOBER 2006
28 NEWSWIRE
Playing it safe
W atching American football has
become so much easier with
technology having infiltrated all aspects of
the game. This means that we can easily
make out computer-generated yellow lines
or scroll through scores or get myriad other
statistics of the players and the game. Now
it’s about to get easier on the field as well.
Joseph (Trey) Crisco, director of the
bioengineering laboratory at Brown
University along with Rick Greenwald an
analyst with Oracle Corporation, developed
the HIT (Head Impact Telemetry) System,
based on tiny sensors made by Analog
Devices, where six miniature air bags inside a
helmet will record how often, how hard, and
where the helmet has been hit.
These helmets send signals to a sideline
computer, which keeps track of the number
of hits and their severity. The computer also
alerts a coach or trainer if the helmet has
been struck especially violently.
Crisco’s company Simbex Inc of
Lebanon, N.H., has partnered with sporting-
goodsmaker Riddell to offer the safety
system. Simbex maintains a national
database that has recorded some 250,000
head impacts. By keeping a track of helmet
hits, Greenwald hopes to find insights
that could lead to modified rules, coaching
techniques and better equipment.
Another hazard involves intensive drills
conducted during hot weather, which can
lead to serious overheating. So Florida-
based HQ Inc has developed the CorTemp
monitoring system. The system comprises a
hand held receiver and small pill like sensors,
powered by a hearing aid sized battery.
Players can swallow these pills which
track body temperature extremely
accurately. The pills emit radio signals which
are received by the handheld device, where
the temperature is read.
Fashionable fit
H ere is something for the fashion
conscious, a body scanner to measure
your body so that you get the best fit.
Lenda Jo Connell, apparel product
development specialist from Auburn
University, said that the scanners
take body measurements that
are converted into patterns from
which the garments are cut.
Connell added that the scanners
help save a lot of time because
otherwise it is a one-on-one,
hands-on process. The scanners
line up with mass customization,
that are beginning to link
together so that you can get
scanned, and that information is
used to produce a garment.
These scanners, developed by TC2, and
used in a two-year survey found that the
women’s fashion industry is shifting from
its hourglass-figure paradigm. Research
findings showed that the hourglass figure is
the least dominant shape for women. Only
Ring in the cards
Y ou can keep your set-top box aside,
the Cable Card is here and it is going
to replace the box that you have been
using so far.
These cards are just like the regular PC
cards that fit into newer television sets
and allow you to watch all cable channels
without the box. The card has both the
hardware and the software to decrypt the
broadcasting signal. One of the benefits
of the card is that it is a sleek piece that
can easily fit into your television. Also it is
less expensive compared to a set-top box.
There is no hassle with installation and
finally the electronics manufacturers can
sell devices capable of tuning in to your
full cable lineup directly.
However, these cards do have
their own disadvantages. They are
completely a one-way system, which
implies that you will not be able to
get the interactive screen of listings or
order any pay-per-view program. The
good thing is that these cards will allow
you to communicate with your cable
8.4 percent of the 6,318 women scanned
possessed that shape.
Cynthia Istook, a North Carolina State
University textiles professor and lead
researcher identified nine body shapes,
before boiling it down to four dominant
types, which are, rectangle, spoon,
inverted triangle and hourglass to
represent the main body shapes .
Brooks Brothers has been using
TC2 in its stores for almost three years.
Custom-tailored suits are fitted for
customers within minutes of their
stepping inside the device’s chamber.
The scanners are being used by
custom pattern-making fashion
designing firms. Nova Scotia-based
Unique Patterns, recently opened its
first Fit Place in Hudson, Ohio. Located inside
a retail Jo-Ann Store, Fit Place is the first
permanent installation of a Unique Patterns
bodyskanner, which captures a person’s
measurements and uses them to custom
draft sewing patterns.
A cable card offers the same functionality
as that of a set-top box
service provider where users can provide
feedback, take part in online contests
and so on.
The cards that are deemed to be
released early will have these features; till
then you can install two cards so you can
watch a program with one and use the
other for recording.
In order to use the card a user needs
to have a new television as well. Since all
new television sets do not have such slots
ready, only the ones which are marked
“Digital Cable Ready” can be used for
this purpose.
INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP | OCTOBER 2006
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30 NEWSWIRE
One solution, no confusion
A concept that has been adopted by McAfee to address the consumer’s need for a
one-stop solution for security
M
cAfee has been providing security
solutions in the country for many
years now and its products have
pervaded so many desktops, workstations and
servers that I really do not need to explain what
they are into. But even though you may be
aware of the fact that McAfee is the company
that “sells anti-virus software” for your desktop
or workstation, it does not just stop at that.
| Kartik Shahani
Director Sales, India & SAARC Kartik Shahani (Director Sales, India & SAARC)
explained how the thought process of a
company that is totally focused on providing
AV solutions has evolved over the years as
intrusions have become more sophisticated.
Total Protection Mr Shahani stressed on these changes that
is not a suite of have helped make what McAfee is today.
products. It is a Virus Growth Trend
single product KS: Initially there was an exploratory phase
wherein viruses were pure nuisance value. This
moved on to create real trouble, usually done
by sending mass mails. Now it has taken a
serious turn with financial gain as the objective.
Anti-phishing, spyware, adware are all made
for financial gain. There are more instances of
tools like key loggers that try to gain sensitive
information. There are many more avenues
to attack because of the kind of devices,
which have changed. The number of devices
connecting to a network has increased. This
results in innovative forms of attacks targeted
at these devices (access points).
Earlier, an attack was effective only when
involved some sort of interaction. Today,
intrusions do not require any interaction at
all. Blended attacks—where a Trojan and bot
is combined—have increased steadily. These
might not even activate on the PC immediately.
This has been the scene on the desktop front.
It might gradually take on a similar pattern for
the mobile users also.
The Proactive Approach
KS: We found that virus attacks were getting
faster in terms of its implementation
worldwide. The timeline when a vulnerability
is exposed, to the point when it is exploited
has started shrinking. A signature file could
not be generated fast enough if an attack was,
say, a 3-minute one. By the time any vendor
creates an antidote it will be an hour since the
attack and there will probably be ten versions
of it. This was when AV was very reactive
in nature. The only way to solve this was to
block the ‘root’ and this was done with IPS. IPS
(Intrusion Prevention System) has become a
very general term today but we were the first
ones to come up this system. We did that using
two companies—Introvert and Entercept. The
former came up with IPS technology on the
network side. But that was not good enough
because attacks like an SQL injection, which will
look valid when you go through the network.
It was required to have a ‘host-based’ intrusion
prevention also and Entercept provided this.
Now we have a host-based and a network-
based IPS.
IPS actually blocks the vulnerability. We took
the IPS technology and moved it into the AV
making it proactive. The minute a vulnerability
is blocked then any virus variants will not affect
the machine. In December 2005, we detected
vulnerability for the 32-Gen virus, it was
patched and early this year the MyWife virus
struck. Machines installed with our IPS-based
AV products were the only ones that were
not affected. The technology of signatures
was also implemented in IPS because it is the
fastest way to removing any infections in files
that are to be scanned. This cross-pollination
of technologies has improved the AV’s
throughput.
Enforcing Policies
KS: McAfee then acquired a vulnerability
management and analysis company called
Foundstone. The next thing that we did
after making Foundstone our vulnerability
management tool, was introduce the McAfee
Policy Enforcer (MPE). This is an “end point
INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP | OCTOBER 2006

protection” product. This is meant for users
who plug-in to an office network. This is very
essential if you have a large number of visitors
(working on a contract basis) logging into
your network. You cannot allow them to log
in if their machines do not comply with the
organization’s security policies. But they have
to have access to network so that they can
do the work the organization has employed
them to do. The system is first checked to
see if it complies with the requirements of
the organization. If it does not, it goes into a
“quarantine” mode. Only after it is completely
patched up it is allowed out of quarantine.
Simplified Administration
KS: SiteAdvisor (protects your browser from
spyware and phishing sites) is integrated with
the rest of our products. If you have it on a
gateway then you - as a corporate - can decide
that employees should not access any file/site
that is assigned as “red”. A system like this can
be easily enforced at the gateway with the help
of a network-wide policy. The policy template is
provided by PreventSys (a risk and compliance
management company McAfee acquired
recently). This is not domain-based or IP-based,
therefore it becomes easier to administer.
Let’s take an example of a company that
needs to adhere to certain security guidelines
in order to achieve an objective. The rules
that need to be followed are set by using a
‘compliance template’ – made with policy-
enforcing and management software like
Preventsys or Foundstone. The products are able
to audit systems constantly so as to make sure
that the desktops continue being compliant to
the template that was created. If a user/desktop
does not comply to a parameter in the policy,
then a report will be generated stating the
vulnerability and the reason for the lapse.
McAfee is not only looking at detection only.
We are looking at providing solutions that have
prevention attached to it – IPS does exactly that.
A trusted network solution
KS: Cisco has been stressing on the “trusted
networks” concept for a while now. It is about
OCTOBER 2006 | INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP
NEWSWIRE 31
NAC (Network Access Control). The problem was
that it required recognition on a hardware level.
If you had a router from 3Com and a switch McAfee is
from Cisco—it would not work. 3Com router
did not support the solution. You needed to not looking at
have hardware that supported Cisco’s solution detection only.
for trusted networks. Trusted networks would
only work on Catalyst switches over 6500-series.
We are looking at
This meant that customers who liked the idea solutions
of a trusted network were confronted with
a huge expense because of the prospect of a
complete hardware upgrade. We came up with
a software-only solution called NAC—which is
agnostic to whatever switch/router is used in a
network. It can be implemented at a fraction of
the cost that would otherwise have to be spent
in the scenarios mentioned above. You can have
a mixed network environment and NAC will still
work well along with MPE.
A single product
KS: We noticed a lot of customers had one
grouse – every time they approached us there
would be one more product to buy and install.
So if you need an anti-virus you would install
an AV and if it was spyware then you would
have to install anti-spyware. The list could go
on—when would it end? At the end of all this
the PC will full of these “anti-solutions”, eating
up system resources leaving the user with no
space to run other applications. This was a
cause for concern.
We released Total Protection (in April this
year)—one agent which included anti-virus/
malware/spyware/adware/phishing, etc. Total
Protection is not a suite of products —it is a
single product. It collectively uses 40 percent
less resources than all the separate products
installed on a system. If you were to buy any
McAfee product it would communicate with
ePO (ePolicy Orchestrator). Every technology
that we procure is pushed into this reporting
module. This is better than having different
consoles for the gateway, host, signatures, etc.
Effectively, you have a single “agent”. This
means to keep your system secure all you need
to do is download a single “DAT” file to update
the firewall, AV, anti-spyware, etc. 
| Ashutosh Desai
SMS us! Story code: NFM (See Page 20 for details)
32

Technology in
Dign Good design is something
that has timeless appeal,
striking a resonant chord
not just in designers, but with
consumers at large. We take a
look at how creative folks are
increasingly using technology to
better their art
Coverstory

Jagdish Limbachiya

INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP | OCTOBER 2006

 TECHNOLOGY IN DESIGN | COVERSTORY 33

A
rt and science are generally considered diametrically
opposite on the intellectual plane. Art is generally
associated with aesthetics whereas science or technology
is generally associated with gadgets and other physical
implementation. But today the difference can be easily spotted
in our day-to-day lives. According to the dictionary, one of the
definitions of art is, “A nonscientific branch of learning; one of the
liberal arts”. This clearly states that art and science have always
been considered to be completely different disciplines. However,
things are changing—with technology being an increasingly
integral part of our daily lives, the artistic caliber behind the
products we use today are becoming as important as the
technology that drives them—a kind of a Yin and Yang between
two hitherto disparate worlds. Besides technically advanced
products incorporating greater amounts of design in them, we can
also see several examples of technology being used in the design
process itself—and to good effect.
Take the case of the cellular phone—there was a time when
the most important characteristic of a mobile device was the
audio quality and the strength of the signal. Less than 10 years
ago, cellular phones were sold on the basis of signal quality and
features. Today, while these parameters are still of importance,
there is another factor that has worked its way into the buying
process—design and ergonomics. Two closely related fields,
they have come to the fore solely because technology has
moved from the science labs to the end user. Most consumers
today take performance and technical features as a given; it is
the overall design and usability of products that swing most
buying decisions. Look around, you will chance upon several
such examples where design often takes precedence over
technology. Even in the automotive industry, car design is perhaps
as important a selling point as the power of the engine or the
fuel efficiency. This trend shows no sign of abating—the more
technology reaches the masses, the greater will be the need for
products to be designed to appeal to humans.
Coupled with the strides in desktop computing technology,
the act of designing products has also undergone a drastic
change. Falling prices and easy availability of hardware and
software have resulted in computers now being used at every
stage of the design process. Best of all, you needn’t own a design
firm to be able to access these technologies—many of them are
commercially viable even for smaller enterprises. The playing
field has certainly been leveled.
Let’s take a look at some of the most popular disciplines of art
and delve into how technology is making a difference in bettering
work of the artists in these fields.

OCTOBER 2006 | INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP

SMS us! Story code: CRS (See Page 20 for details)

 34 COVERSTORY | TECHNOLOGY IN DESIGN
Have you ever experienced the thrill of
driving a fast car? Ever gone out on a long
drive after you are stressed out due to
work? Or did you ever whistle when you
saw a sports car whiz by? There are a myriad
of emotions that come to the fore while
driving or beholding a piece of automotive
art. We explore the birth of such exotic cars.
Automobile design is an applied art
dedicated to the design of transport
vehicles like cars, bikes, trucks, buses,
etc. People used to travel in carriages
that were pulled by horses as a mode
of transportation before automobiles
were invented. Ever since the Internal
Combustion Engine was invented in 1806,
Automotive
design
the concept of self-powered carriages
was only a dream. Karl Benz constructed
an automobile powered by the Otto
gasoline engine in Germany in 1885; he
was later credited with the invention of
the modern automobile.
In the early days, cars were generally
a conversion of a horse carriage and even
looked like one; the only difference was
an internal combustion engine mounted
on the rear end of the carriage replaced
the horses. This was the veteran era of
automobiles. Cars designed during the
1890s to the early 1900s belonged to this
era. These vehicles were designed more
with functionality in mind rather than
aesthetics. One of the first production
cars designed with aesthetics in mind was
the Benz Velo. Its body was designed with
distinct curves—a definite deviation from
the angular construction characteristics
of other cars at the time. Leather was a
prevalent medium for designing seats.
Aesthetics was now beginning to take equal
footing as functionality.
Fast forward a few years and we saw
the brass age in car design. This age
basically saw cars whose radiators, lights
and wheels were designed using this
alloy. This design gained popularity as
it was more functional than iron (it was
more resistant to corrosion). Besides,
brass has a close resemblance to gold but
is fractionally priced. These improved
aesthetics tickled the fancy of buyers of
that era. The Ford Model T, awarded the
most exemplary car design of the century,
belonged to this era. Also, the Model
T was the first American car that was
made up of vanadium steel. Vanadium
steel had three times the strength of
the alloys used by other American car
manufacturers. Best of all, even though
these cars used vanadium steel and brass
fittings, they were affordable for the
masses. It was during this time that Henry
Ford introduced the assembly line concept
in automobiles, forever changing the way
in which cars were built and cutting down
chassis assembly time by a factor of ten.
The engine was positioned from the rear
to the front and the concept of a bonnet
came into the picture.
The cars during the World War period
used a design where all parts of the
automobile were neatly incorporated into
the body chassis. Their body designs did not
change much in this era but changes to the
internal combustion engines made them
more powerful. Cars of this era looked more
or less like boxes. But during the same era
the automobile design industry witnessed
a revolution with the Volkswagen Beetle
car. This was the first car that had a
curved shaped body as it broke away from
conventional car designs. The curves helped
its aesthetics; this concept is being used in
many modern day cars. It was also speedy
and had plenty of features for its size at a
great price point.
The post-war period saw the making
of cars that emphasized an aerodynamic
body design. Designers also started to
experiment with different shapes and
sizes while designing a car. The mini
car concept of the Beetle also gained
popularity leading to compact cars like
the Mini Cooper and the Fiat 500. The 60s
saw a race for raw power with cars like the
Ford Mustang and the Chevrolet Camaro.
During the time, many European car
manufacturers blended the aesthetics and
performance of a car into one body—
INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP | OCTOBER 2006

especially the Jaguars and the Ferraris.
Today most cars are manufactured
for utilitarian purposes but with an
accent on the design as well. Body styles
have changed in the modern era. Four
types—the hatchback, sedan, minivan, and
sport utility vehicle—dominate today’s
market and are relatively recent concepts.
All originally emphasized practicality but
have now mutated into vehicles that are
styled across the various segments with
the consumer in mind.
A modern-day car is not only designed
for great aesthetics but also features safety,
fuel economy and most importantly the
audience or purpose the car will be used
for. Technology has certainly played a
significant role in the development of these
cars—the ability to create more products
and alternatives with a given time, cost
and available resources. Let’s take a peek at
how technology is used in the design of a
modern-day car.
A car design artist first receives a brief of
what a target audience requires in the car.
This would include the purpose of the car,
the price, application, driving conditions,
etc. Then a car design artist first creates a
2D design on paper to create a skeletal idea
of how the vehicle would look. This stage
includes several iterations and alternates.
2D design software like Corel Painter or
Adobe Photoshop are also used to create 2D
OCTOBER 2006 | INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP
TECHNOLOGY IN DESIGN
perspective sketches of a car. Devices like a
Wacom tablet or other such input devices
are often used to draw this 2D perspective.
This facilitates easy digitization of
sketches. The advantage of working
in the digital ream are manifold—it
allows designers to incorporate changes
to images in real time, colors can
be auditioned on images and many
parameters can be changed. Thus subtle
modifications to the sketch can be
visualized in a very short time allowing the
designer to better visualize the product
and come up with prototypes quicker.
The drawing is taken to the third
dimension where a 3D surface model is
created to get a basic idea of how the car
will look like. If any changes in design are
required, a designer falls back to the pen
and paper technique for optimization,
sensitivity and customization. Various 3D
modeling software like 3D Studio Max,
Maya, Cinema4D, LightWave, etc are used
for creating the model. Specialized software
like Alias Auto Studio is also used for car-
specific 3D modeling and design. Customers
can preview the model design with a very
high level of detail, made possible by the
excellent capabilities of these modeling
software. Almost all of the automotive
projects today are accomplished using
this methodology.
The 3D model can be imported using
| COVERSTORY 35
other CAM/CAE software and with the
help of specialized equipment where
a prototype model of the same can be
created at any scale required. High-end
peripherals like 3D scanners are capable
of converting live models into 3D meshes
that can be imported into 3D application
software. This saves plenty of time during
the prototype creation process. According
to Dilip Chabbria, a typical headlamp
of a car typically has 35 components.
Through the use of computers, the
process from the ideation stage to CAD
stage and then to the rapid prototyping
route is completed in about 15 days as
opposed to two months without the use
| Dilip Chabbria
Founder, DC Design
Technology
usage has granted
designers more time
to concentrate on
the actual design
rather than its
implementation
of technology. “Over the last seven years,
all our projects have been facilitated by
computers. To give you an example, a
breakthrough milestone was the Aston
Martin project—the design was not just
in CAS form (Computer Aided Styling),
but our USP was the fact that we could
integrate the hand crafting steel process
with the digital data, ensuring very
precise and high quality surfaces through
our in-house CMM (Computer Measuring
Machine) which works in 3D,” said he.
The use of computers not only cuts
down the number of iterations needed,
but evaluation of quality also no longer
remains a subjective issue since it is
digitally measured.
 36 COVERSTORY | TECHNOLOGY IN DESIGN
In his book, The World is Flat, Thomas
Friedman clearly enunciates how different
the world is today from what it was
20 years ago. Shorter distances, easy
accessibility and new discoveries—it’s a
world which has place for the fastest, the
most competent and the most cost-
effective—where web-enabled workflow
tools enable utilization of the best talent
available regardless of where you are.
Modern architecture is not an exception
to Friedman’s theory—computers have
indeed changed the face of architecture. It
is possible to visualize and execute projects
faster than one could imagine years ago.
We spoke to architect Sanjay Puri, who
1 2
Architecture
& 4
interiors
recounted work methods 14 years ago.
Every morning began with assembling
the paraphernalia for the drawings first
before getting down to the task of actually
drawing. Cutting sheets of “gateway”
tracing paper, sharpening pencils, cleaning
T-squares and Set-squares would be
followed by aligning the paper before
architects launched into their day’s work
of drawing. The final drawings would then
be inked with the requisite pens to achieve
the desired thickness of the lines, which
corresponded to the types of architectural
drawings needed.
Drawing on paper was a laborious
task indeed. Whenever there was a need
to change the designs, the drawings had
to be modified on paper—a massively
time-consuming process. After finishing
the drawings, architects hand delivered
the blueprints to structural and service
consultants who suggested the requisite
changes, all of which would, once again, be
modified by hand. Clients were required to
place their complete faith in the architect’s
vision—the actual concept remained
imperceptible to them as they couldn’t look
at anything tangible like the appearance of
the whole structure, indoor spaces, lighting,
color and so on. There was no choice but
to wait until the construction finished. But
by then, it was too late to reminisce about
how other materials could have imparted a
different feel to the construction. That was
not all; architects would often have to take
a jaunt to the site and ensure the structure
is built exactly as they had envisioned. Many
a times, it became imperative for them to
make on-site modifications because the
construction was not in tandem with what
they had in mind.
With the advent of computers and the
developments in hardware and software,
life drastically changed for architects.
Application of specialized software has
rendered it easy for them to visualize spaces
in and out, gauge the relationship between
spaces, experiment with materials, colors,
textures and study the effects of both
natural and artificial lighting. It is possible to
virtually evaluate how every material used
enhances the design in its totality. Best of
all, this happens before a single brick is laid.
A panoply of software ranging from
3DS MAX, Softimage, 3DS Viz, Photoshop,
Premiere, Form Z, Sketchup, Autocad, etc
enable architects to explore every facet
of their designs. 3D animation software
enables them to walk through their designed
structures, even climb up to the roof, take a
stroll around the rooms, perceive how much
light penetrates through the windows—a
virtual look and feel. Executing designs after
a first-hand 3D experience is quicker; designs
can be exchanged with consultants over
e-mail, inputs shared, changes implemented
3
and approved for construction over the
Internet itself. Obviously, this results in
huge saving in time and effort. Software
not only enables successful translation of
complicated designs into actual structures
but also offers the scope to explore new and
innovative designs.
The Bombay Art Society project
(construction not yet started) demanded
a complex comprising art galleries, an
auditorium, cafeteria and an office area
on a tiny plot of land. The mandate was to
conform to the ‘art’ theme while making
optimum use of the little space before
venturing on the designs. Architect Sanjay
Puri elucidated, “While creating a sculptural
form for the building (refer to pictures 1&2),
INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP | OCTOBER 2006

we wanted to achieve a series of fluid spaces
for the volumes to be perceived larger
and also to create fluidity that remains
uninterrupted within. Without 3D Max and
an array of advanced software, it would
take way too long to build physical models
and modify them to achieve the desired
results. Thanks to technology, we were able
to finalize the design within a month”.
The Eta Hotel project in Dubai (see
pictures 3&4) looks like a structure straight
out of a 3D movie—designed in 3D, the
abstract folded concrete skin of the building
punctuated by a series of openings gives
it a way-out-the-ordinary appearance.
However, this super-futuristic look has a
5
6
purpose—these openings allow natural light
into the hotel room balconies, creating a
skin that reduces heat absorption from the
outside while in the night it glimmers like a
mammoth lamp. Experimenting with such
a unique design concept couldn’t have been
possible without advanced software.
Talking about interior architecture,
Thanks, a luxury retail space designed
by architects Kapil Gupta and Chris
Lee completely redefines the shopping
experience. A hotbed of the biggest names
in fashion and catering to the society’s bon
ton, Thanks houses drop-dead designer
ensembles and six exclusive designer brand
outlets. It was only natural for it to sport an
unusual garb that would be inviting enough
OCTOBER 2006 | INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP
TECHNOLOGY IN DESIGN
to urge fashionistas to stop over and look
around. Four basic elements—lowered
ceilings, gradated floor shades, skewed
pedestals and curved columns—combine to
guide the visitors to the various sections of
the store, establishing a unique identity for
each section.
The anatomy of the curved multi-brand
display section (see pictures 5&6) was
conceptualized in the form of 3D drawings
on CAD software. According to Kapil, since
3D surfaces were part and parcel of the
design, 3D plywood moulds were created
by hand-tracing the drawings onto chunks
of fiber-board before getting them hand
sculpted by local craftsmen. This is perhaps
the most unique example of transforming
technology into an art form.
Technology is being extensively used
in designs to impart the much-needed
value addition to the retail segment. The
Xylus store (Mumbai), designed by Lotus
Design Services is an example of this
trend—shoppers walking into the store
will ineluctably have to take a look at
‘river of time’ flowing by—their curiosity
piqued already! Being a watch store, the
philosophical perception of time has
been used to generate interesting trivia
on it. Ankur Choksee of Lotus Design
Services shed light on how they integrated
interactive devices (in this case, the
river of time) to impart customers with
| COVERSTORY 37
the feel-good factor and intensify their
shopping experience. This tap-device is
made of tactile material and projected on a
table-like surface, allowing you to touch the
different aspects on the river. The backdrop
of the river has been designed in Maya and
authored on Flash.
Choksee, while illustrating another
example of retail value-addition spoke
of the history wall that added another
dimension to the interiors of the Levis
Store in Bangalore. This wall integrates
an electronic book, which lets customers
interact by browsing through the history
of the brand. Programmed in Flash, such
an interactive design builds a relationship
| Sanjay Puri
Architect
Exploring
new ideas and
creating unique
and complicated
designs is easy now
thanks to advanced
software
between the customer and the brand that
few other design elements can achieve.
But this is just the present; next-
generation architecture could very well be
functional systems swaying with the wind
and altering their shapes—this is the vision
of a new breed of architects who believe
that “responsive structures” is the future
of architecture. These structures will
ascertain outdoor weather conditions such
as cloudy weather, wind mood swings,
climbs or drops in temperature, indoor
conditions like a sudden throng of visitors
and calibrate the environments while
making adjustments in their forms and
shapes. The concept known as adaptive
construction will bring about a fantastic
 38 COVERSTORY | TECHNOLOGY IN DESIGN
era in architecture, comprising functional
and self-changing robot-like structures.
The Office of Robotic Architectural
Media and the Bureau for Responsive
Architecture employs the concept of
tensegrity in their designs to increase
robustness, minimize mass, reduce
embedded energy, transportation and
construction costs while also stepping up
their capabilities to respond to manifold
environmental conditions.
So while we reap the benefits
of technology to return to natural
environments and herald the era of
adaptive architecture, we might soon have
a Friedman-Part II on our desks…
Fashion
&
jewelry
Fashion and jewelry
Fashion and jewelry design are two domains
that are indelibly based on aesthetic sense.
Along with the inherent artistic sense, both
these domains demand quality in execution
in order to make the products stand out
in the crowd. Although art plays a vital
role in designing a fashionable dress or
jewelry, a designer stills needs to use several
domain-specific technicalities—in fashion,
measurements of different body parts and
cloth, while for jewelry it requires angles
and curves of a gold pendant and the like.
Years ago, these measurements were
executed manually. Designers were required
to spend enormous amounts of time to
create their works of art using traditional
modeling techniques. This resulted in an
obvious lack of time for a designer to think
about the aesthetic value of their products,
as much of the effort was being channeled
into its execution.
The case is different today. With
technology-driven tools, software
applications and even hardware that
impart digital perfection to the process of
measurement and structure, designers are
now able to concentrate more on the design
other than bother with the nitty-gritties of
maintaining physically accurate dimensions
as digital tools take care of this. This has
also translated into quicker execution of the
design, allowing more space for designers
to impart their own creativity and signature
style into their creations. Even the execution
time has drastically fallen.
In the field of fashion, a designer
needs to monitor myriad factors starting
from conceptualizing a design, sketching
and creating illustrations, choosing
the right fabrics, selecting colors,
constructing patterns, all the way to
the final creation of the garment. This
includes plenty of allied factors like quality
control for measurements, production
planning, production control and design
management. If managed singularly, this
would rob a designer of quality time—time
that could otherwise be used to create. To
prevent this, fashion designers now use
technological tools like design and inventory
management application along with
specialized hardware like Crease Recovery
Testers (to check how fast a textile can
recover from creasing) and Launderometer
(to check how fast a textile can recover
from stains).
It all starts from creating a pattern for
a particular garment. Next in priority is to
design the blocks for the pattern—popularly
known as slopers. Using present-day tools,
slopers can be designed by specialized
CAD-based applications such as Apparel
CAD and ModaCAD. These applications
feature vast libraries from which users
can select numerous types of slopers and
further tweak these to their individual
requirements. These are primarily library-
based 2D applications. This saves time and
enables designers to create technically
accurate designs, while allowing for plenty
of creative leeway to tread new ground and
explore entirely new patterns.
Once the outfit is designed, the software
even allows you to drape it on to a virtual
model, animate the model and find out how
it will actually appear, how the fabric will fall
and react to movements. Applications like
OptiTex 3D Runway are able to realistically
simulate cloth movement in accordance
with the physical movement of a model.
Depending upon the texture and the weave
of the cloth, the garment will respond in a
INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP | OCTOBER 2006

physically accurate manner—for example,
heavy woolen cloth will fall differently
compared to lighter chiffon materials. This
application even helps in creating a product
documentation sheet (PDS). While creating
the PDS, you can choose any model from the
application’s model library and drape your
designed pattern or you can create models
of your own required specification and body
type, depending upon the garment being
designed. Such applications even have
the option of changing the texture of the
textile, apply lights on the textile to view
whether it will have a glossy or matte finish
and more importantly have the model pose
in various positions to perceive how the
designed dress will fit their potential buyers.
Fashion designing is not just about the
attire—it is also about the accessories. 3D
applications like ‘Poser’ assist to a great
extent with its inbuilt library of props
and options to change a model’s look. For
example, if you want to dress your model
in retro style, it is possible to team this up
with a correspondingly retro hair style,
retro bags, retro hats and whatever else you
might want to impart to the scene—even
retro cars and props! With such applications,
you can even adjust the movement of the
models on a virtual ramp, including the
hand sway, hip sashaying, footsteps, etc.
Similar to fashion, jewelry design is another
field that banks heavily on individuality
OCTOBER 2006 | INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP
TECHNOLOGY IN DESIGN
and innovation. To address echnical issues
underlying jewelry design like dimension
of stones, designs of filigree work, clamps
and clasps, there are applications which
you can mold and enhance your designs.
Applications like Digital Goldsmith are
primarily used to create motifs and 2D
designs to understand how an ornament
would appear once it is completely
designed. This application is also library
driven—designers can select a motif from
the library and then infinitely customize it
according to their needs. Characteristics like
color, types of precious stone and variations
can all be modified and auditioned before
the design is finalized. This application also
allows the creation of entire sets of jewelry
product lines consisting of pendants,
earrings, bangles, rings and so on. Apart
from using the motif library, custom motifs
can also be created.
Dolly Minawalla, head of design at
the Indian Institute of Design states, “2D
applications are generally used to create a
catalog for presentation purposes. It saves
time with its ability to help generate a
number of complete product lines in a short
time span”. She added, “Technology is used
in this domain to enhance the design skills. It
is used to create designs that are technically
accurate. The applications used take care
of issues like dimensions, comfort and
edge softness. They are also used so that a
| COVERSTORY 39
designer can experiment with a number of
options before arriving at a desired result.”
To see a life-like replica of a product,
3D application like Matrix is used. This
application can help create a virtual model
of an ornament, where it is possible to
view it from any angle during the creation
process—much like what a goldsmith
would while crafting an ornament. The
application will show you a ‘profile ready’
product, allowing it to be viewed across a
cross section. This view helps understand
the thickness of the metal, the roughness
at the edges or corners, the desired angles
of the embellishments in the product.
Allowing designs to be quickly created, the
| Dolly Minawala
Head of Design,
Indian Institute of Design
Computer tools
supplement our
creative vision by
speeding up the
process of creating
technically correct
products
application can accept pre-defined technical
specifications of the product and go on
to create that product in an automated
routine mode. Once done, designers can
further tweak and tune the ornament,
making intricate or large changes.
3D applications such as these can
also generate compatible files that work
directly with the hardware used to create
the mould. Designers generally use Rebo
540—a specific hardware for creating the
mould from their design. Rebo 540 is akin
to a CNC lathe machine, consisting of a
cutter that moves across four axes: X for
length, Y for height, Z for depth and A
for rotary. The design that you create in
Matrix can be saved as Rebo-compatible
 40 COVERSTORY | TECHNOLOGY IN DESIGN
file. After loading the file, the machine
reads the information and accordingly
uses its cutter to cut a piece of wax to
create an exact model of the design. This
saves enormous amount of time while
auditioning different designs for jewelry
product lines. In this market, where
individuality and quality spell the success
or failure of a product, tools such as
these enable craftsmen to translate their
skills into actual products faster than
they ever could before. While the core of
human creativity can never be replaced
by machines, these applications certainly
help in realizing dreams quicker and with
greater precision.
Design
education
Academia
In the field of design, perhaps the most
important aspect is the training. Be it
automotive design, architecture, fashion
or any of the hundreds of fields where
design manifests, it is the formative years
of learning the trade where individual
styles and skills begin to emerge, and these
culminate into the fantastic products of
design that we see all around us. Or does it?
Teaching design is an art in itself. From
the myriad variety of design academies all
over the country, there is apparently no
dearth of design training institutes. Sadly,
the vast majority of these institutes do a
paltry job of breeding good designers. To
gain insights into the sensitive subject of
teaching design, we had a freewheeling
chat with G V Sreekumar, who teaches
at the Industrial Design Center (IDC) in
Mumbai. IDC is an institution that offers
post-graduate courses in the fields of
industrial design and visual communication.
The center also interacts with industries
and other institutions for the promotion
and awareness of design through seminars,
short-term courses and workshops.
CHIP: How best can a student learn the art
of design?
GV: Students who eventually select
the field of design generally display the
inclination at an early age. This generally
takes place in the form of a hobby like
sketching, sculpting or other such creative
areas. However, before students even
enter a training institute, there is often a
problem with the guidance itself—even
after a person completes his higher
secondary school, there are times when
parental influence diverts their choice
toward ‘conventionally popular’ careers like
medicine, engineering and finance. Art and
design is still not considered a commercially
viable option. The significant cause of
this is the lack of awareness about the
stream. This is why India produces very few
designers—there are just two reputable
design institutes here in India equipped
to arm a person for the world stage. We
produce less than 15 good designers a year;
so there is clearly a problem.
At IDC, we follow a different
methodology as compared to other
institutes when teaching the art of design.
We primarily concentrate on and hone in
to the thinking abilities of the designer.
We do not really teach software. Since we
offer post-graduation courses, most of the
students who enroll with us have already
had a background in application software
and have fairly advanced knowledge of
application software.
However, in the hands of a designer
the computer only comes in much later.
A computer is actually a very dangerous
tool in a person’s hands when used to
achieve hurried results. In India, computer
institutes teach applications like 3DS Max,
Photoshop or Illustrator, after which they
hand out a diploma that certifies a student
as a designer. This is a rather serious issue
as they teach nothing about the field of
design itself. Students, on the other hand,
assume that since they know Photoshop,
they automatically become designers. Most
often, this is never the case. At the end of
the day, the quality of design across the
country plummets.
At IDC, the initial six months of the first
semester consist purely of foundations.
Here, the students are taught the very
basics of design like color theory and
INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP | OCTOBER 2006

the underlying principles of art. At this
point, there is very little dependence on
computing tools. Of course, there are
parallel courses that use computers but
computers do not form the core of the
instruction process. So long as the thought
process behind the design process is clear,
the computer only becomes a tool just
like any other—it merely facilitates the
creation of good design. Unfortunately,
most students have a preconceived notion
where computers, the Internet and Google
can solve all of their problems. A lot of our
efforts involve debunking these fallacies
and instiling a philosophy of design. Many
of my students appear disappointed when,
for a particular assignment, I tell them that
computers are not allowed!
CHIP: How has computing translated into
time savings and has this impacted good
design?
GV: The biggest advantage with computers
and related technologies in the field of
design is the amount of control it lends to
the designer. With the final output in mind,
the designer now has complete reign over
how a particular project can pan out. In
the pre-computing era, there were several
waypoints in the process of design where
the designer had little or no control over
the influence on the output of his or her
work. There generally were other people in
OCTOBER 2006 | INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP
TECHNOLOGY IN DESIGN
the assembly line, and most of the time the
designer was only the director of workflow.
Therefore, the final output would be largely
influenced on the caliber of the people
working on the project.
For example, in the field of print and
publishing, if I were designing a magazine’s
cover, I would have had to instruct the
person responsible for color corrections over
several iterations before the final output
was to my satisfaction. This process would
invariably stretch across several days. With
the advent of Photoshop, I can do this under
an hour. The designer now has control of
the complete end-to-end process of design.
With the removal of the intermediate stages
involving other people, work moves faster.
Today, the number of people involved in the
design process is far lesser.
CHIP: Can technology hamper creativity?
GV: As I mentioned before—the computer
can be a dangerous tool in the hands of a
poor designer. For example, when given a
theme, he would first type the topic name
in Google, download a load of information
and photographs on the subject, create a
cover in a couple of hours and hand it over.
Earlier, there was a process involving the
creation of a scribble along with several
iterations of ideas—the actual design of the
cover was executed only after the ideation
process was complete. This was in the
| COVERSTORY 41
pre-Mac and the pre-PC era. This was a time
when designers used to grab a pencil and
paper and sit down to ideate. This imparted
a significantly higher level of quality to the
overall output. Sadly, this is missing today.
That’s because designers immediately start
working on a computer the moment they
receive an assignment. Worst still, many
designers go to the extent of allowing
the computer to make the decisions
for them—by allowing applications to
select pre-defined options (fonts, grids,
alignments, color schemes, materials, etc).
Very little of the designer’s input shows up
in the final output.
Just as good designers exercise the
| G V Sreekumar
Associate Professor, IDC
Designers give so
much importance
to computers that
they often do not
spend enough time
to THINK over a
design problem
right to choose the tools before them—be
it a paintbrush, a marker, a pencil or a
charcoal stick—a computer should be
viewed as but another tool. Other than
falling into the trap of using pre-created
wizard-driven steps that result in
packaged designs devoid of inspiration
and creativity, artists should be able to
call the shots and use the tools they deem
appropriate. Visceral sensitivity toward
design is something that no computer can
impart to a prospective designer—it needs
to be born out of experience with design
fundamentals and methodologies that
train him to think and create. 
| Kunal Rupera, Sharmistha Dey,
Pradosh Mitra and Marco D’Souza
42
Top Gear
Jagdish Limbachiya
G eeks and gadget freaks rejoice! This
month there’s something for everyone
out there. You must surely have seen the
gorgeous Lenovo 3000Q media center PC
during television commercials by now. We
got our hands dirty with the hottest and
highest-end PC in the Lenovo 3000Q series.
With a 20-inch widescreen display and
great aesthetics, this PC is a perfect fit for
your living room. If gadgets are your thing,
there’s the Kingston K-PEX 100 and the
new Nokia 6130. The K-PEX 100, Kingston’s
first portable media player is packed with
2 GB of flash memory and a wide gamut of
features and a whole lot of goodies.
Want to share the music and videos on
Hardware
| The Ratings Explained
The products in the individual and
comparison tests share exactly the same
test procedures.
Each product in Top Gear is rated on
a scale of 5 for different key parameters:
Performance, Build Quality, Features,
Ergonomics and Warranty. These vary
according to the characteristics of the
hardware. For instance, ergonomics (ease
of use) is not important in a graphics
card and therefore, it will not be evaluated
for this.
A product’s Overall Rating is calculated
by assigning weightages to each evaluation
your iPod? Check out Altec Lansing’s best
speaker dock for the iPod, the inMotion 9.
It’s rugged, it can charge your iPod and it
comes with a backpack!
We also managed to squeeze in the latest
in computer hardware ranging from the
first 18x DVD writer by Samsung to the
best external hard drive case, the Vantec
NexStar 3. If you’re planning to build a new
system, don’t miss out the Cooler Master
Elite 330 PC case that combines great looks
with a splendid performance all for a sweet
price. And with the Gigabyte 945GM-S2
mainboard you can build a great Intel
Conroe PC. So we’d suggest you sit back
and enjoy the ride!
parameter—the more important a parameter,
the higher is the weightage allotted to it.
In addition, there is a Value for Money
rating, which is calculated from the
performance and the features of the product
in relation to the price. High performance
and lots of features at a low price translates
into a better Value for Money rating. This
rating is calculated using current prices.
Note: The prices mentioned here do
not include taxes. Hence, they will vary
according to the taxes applicable in
the city or state where you buy the
product from.
INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP | OCTOBER 2006
 TESTED | HARDWARE 43

Media Center PC
Lenovo 3000Q
Specifications: Processor: Intel Pentium 4 640 3.2
GHz, Chipset: Intel 945G, Memory: 512 MB DDR2
533 MHz, Hard drive: Western Digital Caviar 160
GB, Optical drive: 16X DVD combo, Graphics: Nvidia
GeForce 6200 TC, Display: 20-inch widescreen TFT,
OS: Windows XP Home SP2, Misc: webcam, 2.0
speakers, TV Tuner, 8-format card reader

Price Rs 88,990
Contact Ravi Gulati
Phone 1800-425-3353
E-mail pc@in.lenovo.com
Website www.lenovo.com/in
Warranty 1 year
RATINGS
Build quality
Ergonomics
Performance
Features
Overall Rating
Value for money

A PC for your living room

T he stylish all-silver Lenovo 3000Q is
powered by the Intel Pentium 4 640 3.2
GHz processor on the Intel 945G platform.
Being a mainstream PC, it sports 512 MB of
DDR2 memory, a 160 GB SATA hard drive
and a 16X DVD combo drive. Even though
the motherboard has integrated graphics,
the PC comes fitted with a 128 MB GeForce
6200 graphics card for better gaming
performance. The gorgeous 20-inch 16:10
widescreen display with a native resolution
of 1680x1050 will allow you to enjoy high-
definition content and wide-screen gaming.
The most striking feature is the Digital
Media Platform and the Jog Dial which allow
the user to switch between music, movies,
games or live television. The Digital Media
Platform integrates all the features of the
Windows Media Center including the looks.
Apart from the Jog Dial with its illuminated
ring, the base of the monitor sports audio
and mic jacks, along with 5 USB ports on its
sides.
The case features a state-of-the-art
design; the entire PC is cleverly packaged
in a tool-free small form factor. The front
of the case has a flap which opens to reveal
the optical drive, Firewire and USB ports,
front audio jacks and an 8-in-1 card reader.
The power and reset buttons are located on
top of the case. In addition to this, there’s
a button at the centre which can bring up
the Digital Media Platform without having
to boot into the operating system. A set of
If you’re looking out for a sleek media center
PC, the Lenovo 3000Q deserves serious
consideration. But remember—good things
stereo speakers, webcam, keyboard and come at a premium.
optical scroll mouse rounds off the features. For: Feature packed; excellent ergonomics
You even get a fancy 128 MB USB flash drive and build quality; gorgeous screen.
with the system. Against: The keyboard doesn’t feel good; no
FM radio; no DVI output for display.
Performance
Considering the system configuration, the Scores
performance of the system is very good. SiSoft Sandra 2007
But there are quirks which need serious Processor arithmetic
attention. Since the graphics card doesn’t Dhrystones : 7745 MIPS
feature DVI output the video interface is Whetstones iSSE3 : 9458 MFLOPS
analog, even though the monitor has DVI Memory bandwidth : 3695 MB/s
input. Also, the TV tuner card doesn’t have
an integrated FM tuner and there is no Hard drive
bundled IR remote control either. Drive index : 55 MB/s
Sequential read and write : 63 MB/s
PCMark 2005
Overall : 3026
HDD XP startup : 7.928 MB/s
Multithreaded test 1:
Audio compression : 1150.4 KB/s
Video encoding : 185.43 KB/s
3DMark 2005: 1198
Gaming – Doom 3
USB ports on the side of the base 640x480 @ low : 39 fps
1024x768 @ medium : 18 fps

OCTOBER 2006 | INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP

SMS us! Story code: HWS (See Page 20 for details)

44 HARDWARE | TESTED

Mobile Phone
Nokia 6131
Specifications: Dimensions (WxHxD mm): 48 x 92 x 20,
Weight: 102g, Network: GSM 850/900/1800/1900,
Display (pixels, colors): 240 x 320, 16 million
(Internal)/128 x 160, 256K (External), Ringtones: 64
channel polyphonic, System Memory: 11 MB, Storage:
microSD, GPRS, EDGE, Bluetooth, Infrared, FM Radio,
Audio Output: Pop-port, 1.3-megapixel camera

Price Rs 13,739
Contact Nokia
Website www.nokia.co.in
Warranty 1 year
RATINGS
Build quality
Ergonomics
Performance
Features
Overall Rating
Value for money

Press to flip-open
A “flip open” always adds a bit of style
to one’s persona and Nokia’s 6131 will
certainly earn you a few brownie points.
rather unsophisticated “click” when
you do that.)
The phone comes equipped with a
Soccer 3D and Sudoku are a welcome
change from the usual Nokia fare.

The phone might not be as sleek or feature
packed as the Motorola Razr or Nokia’s N-
series but its simplicity will also get noticed.
Features and applications
The Nokia 6131 is a Symbian Series 40
(3rd edition) which comes with a decent
set of features. Though this phone looks
like a higher-end version of the 6101 it
is the successor to the Nokia 6125. The
6131’s special feature is the button near
the hinge on the top right hand corner of
the phone. Pressing it opens the clamshell
phone instantly, making it easier for
single-handed use. (But you will hear a
vibrant internal LCD display, capable
of reproducing 16 million colors. The
external 256,000 display is also sharp
and text is legible. There is 11 MB of
phone memory available to enter up to
1000 contacts so there is no way you will
ever run out of address space. Additional
memory in the form of a microSD slot is
provided, which can be inserted/removed
without switching off the phone. You can
transfer files via the Pop-port to the PC
or bluetooth/infrared. Audio formats like
AAC, MP3 and WMA can also be stored on
the phone or on microSD as the built-in
media player supports them. Games like
Ergonomics and build quality
The phone’s shell is made up of plastic
and metal. The rear panel is composed of
textured rubber giving it an excellent feel.
The camera, power and volume controls
are placed along the edges of the phone for
easier access.
Performance
The Nokia 6131’s user interface is quick
and intuitive. Since this phone runs on the
Series 40 platform, there is no way to keep
any application running in the background.
Audio playback over the speakerphone is
good while the earphones could have been
better, as they have a tacky appearance.

The microSD card can be removed without
switching the phone off
Verdict
The phone will make for an adequate
companion if you need something easy to
use, light and small—though the price tips
over the ten thousand mark, making it a
little over priced.
For: Compact design; supports the
Pictbridge standard allowing for direct
printing to a compatible printer.
A profile view of the Nokia 6131 cell Against: LCD display not protected;
phone earphone quality is average.

INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP | OCTOBER 2006

 TESTED | HARDWARE 45

CHIP New logo

An Exclusive 1 Year SUBSCRIPTION OFFER

Colour codes for logo
C M Y K

Tenure Pay 0 0 0 100

Offer
Battlefield Worth Rs. 1300 Free
0 0 0 45
Subscribe Get the0 Latest
Rs. 1200 95 100 PC
0 Game
1 year Battlefield 2 is a thrilling action game that immerses you in the chaos of combat like never before.

Yes! I would like to subscribe to CHIP for Date of Birth: Card Expiry Date:

1 year (12 issues) Date: Signature

Pay Rs. 1200 and get Latest PC Game Battlefield Worth Rs. 1300 FREE Student Professional Self-employed Other

Please send this form in the envelope provided. Fill this coupon and mail it with your Cheque/DD to: CHIP, Subscription
Department, Infomedia India Limited, ‘A’ Wing, Ruby House, J. K. Sawant Marg,
(Please fill the form in capital letters )
Dadar (W), Mumbai - 400 028. INDIA You can also fax your credit card orders to
Name: Mr. /Ms. (022) 2430 2707 or e-mail us at subscriptions@infomediaindia.com. Please allow one month
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Mailing Address: subscription will not be entertained.This offer is valid only in India.
International subscription charges - US$ 84 or Rs. 3750 (12 Issues)
The subscriber hereby authorizes Infomedia India Limited, to use the information contained
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Fax: E-mail: may deem fit. Publisher reserves right to change the gift / model if sold out or out of stock
Please find enclosed Cheque/DD No. (Add Rs. 30 for outstation
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For further details contact
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Or charge my Credit Card VISA MasterCard Amex @: subscriptions@infomediaindia.com, Website: www.chip-india.com,

Card No.: Subscribe online http: //eshop.infomediaindia.com

OCTOBER 2006 | INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP

46 HARDWARE | TESTED

Portable Media Player

Kingston K-PEX 100
Specifications: Dimensions (WxHxD): 94 x 45 x 14 mm,
Weight: 65 gms, Screen size: 5 cm, Memory size:
2 GB, Video formats: MPEG 1 and 2, ASF, WMV and
AVI, Audio formats: MP3, Wav, WMA, OGG and Audio
ASF, Other features: Picture viewer, FM Radio, USB
on-the-go, miniSD slot, Li-Ion battery, Rated battery
life: 17 hours

Price Rs 11,990
Contact Kingston Technology
Phone 022-26592961
E-mail techsupport_india@kingston.com.tw
Website www.kingston.com/asia
Warranty 1 year
RATINGS
Build quality
Ergonomics
Performance
Features
Overall Rating
Value for money

Entertainment on the go
A fter PC and flash memory solutions,
Kingston has now leapt into the
portable media player market with its
latest offering – the K-PEX 100. Let’s see
how much punch this player packs in a
palm-size form factor.
Features
The K-PEX 100 may remind you of a hand-
held gaming device. You can play games
on it, but you can do a whole lot more
besides—you can listen to songs, watch
videos and movies, share photos, listen to
the radio and even read text files.
To squeeze in all your media files, the
player packs in 2 GB of flash memory. If
that’s not enough, you can slide in a miniSD
card and boost its storage capacity. The
The K-PEX 100 is bundled with all the
accessories including a 256 MB mini SD card
player supports most of the popular audio
and video formats. Apart from MP3 and
Wav which all players support, it can also
handle WMA, Ogg and Audio ASF formats.
Video formats include MPEG-1 and 2, ASF,
WMV and AVI. The K-PEX 100 also boasts of
support for line-in and voice recording, as
well as an integrated speaker. If you have
media files on a USB flash drive, you can
play them off the drive using the USB host
feature. Finally, you can enjoy the show on
its slick 5 cm TFT display.
Like its feature set, the list of accessories
runs long! The player comes with a
protective silicone case, USB host cable,
line-in cable and lanyard. To top it off, you
get a bundled 256 MB miniSD card with a
miniSD adapter free.
The four-way navigation buttons make
the K-PEX extremely user-friendly
Performance and ergonomics
The player scores high on ergonomics. With
a great button layout and intuitive user
interface, you can get used to the player
without referring to the manual. The only
difficulty is adjusting the volume as the
buttons are tacky.
Coming to performance, the audio
and video output were terrific. However,
that’s probably because we used our own
earphones—the ones which came with the
player don’t do it justice.
The K-PEX 100 does, however, have its
share of rough edges. Surprisingly, it
doesn’t support recording from FM, so you
can forget about capturing songs aired
on your favorite radio stations. Secondly,
if you wish to watch videos, you have to
transcode them into the player’s native
format (.mpx) before transferring it using
the bundled software.
The player is great for casual listening
and video watching. But if you’re serious
about buying a good portable music player,
there are better ones out there like the
Sony PSP and Creative Zen Vision M.
For: Good form factor, intuitive interface,
great feature-set, expandable memory
Against: Tacky volume control buttons;
awful earphones; cannot record from FM
radio; videos require transcoding.

INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP | OCTOBER 2006

48 HARDWARE | TESTED

iPod Speakers
Altec Lansing inMotion 9 iPod
Specifications: Dimensions (WxDxH mm):
280x76x198, Amplifier: High Efficiency class D type,
Frequency Response: N/A; Output Power: N/A,
Weight: 1.8 kgs

Price Rs 11,800
Contact Rashi Peripherals Pvt Ltd
Phone 022-67090909
E-mail navinderc@rptechindia.com
Website www.alteclansing.com
Warranty 1 year
RATINGS
Build quality
Performance
Features
Overall Rating
Value for money

Share your music and videos

I t is inconvenient for two people to share
a single set of ear plugs if they want
to listen to music or watch a movie on a
compromising the shape and build quality.
However, it does include a backpack for
carrying it around. A rear flap is provided
connect your iPod video to a television set
as well.

portable media player. If you’ve ever been
in such a situation, you need a set of good
portable speakers to carry on your picnics,
trips, journeys, etc. Altec Lansing has just
the solution for you with the inMotion 9.
Build quality and design
The Altec Lansing IM9 is a portable speaker
system designed with the iPod in mind.
The USP of this device is its compact form
factor—it is only 76 mm thick which makes
it slimmer than most speakers in this
category. The jet black color with silver
corners lends the device an understated
appeal. It is almost as small as a notebook
but slightly thicker. The center of the
speaker system contains a recessed area
into which the iPod can dock. The top of
the speaker system features the power
button, volume controls and the eject
button which opens out the iPod tray.
The buttons were seamlessly integrated
into the speakers, but the volume controls
failed to impress as they were hard and
not so responsive. Although the speakers
are lightweight and portable, we strongly
missed a handle that could have been fixed
on the rear side of the speakers without
which helps the speakers stay vertical. They
can be placed flat as well.
Features
The inMotion 9 speakers feature a 2.5-inch
driver for low and mid-range frequencies
and a 1-inch driver for high frequency
sound. The speakers can also operate
through four C-sized batteries. This means
you can use these speakers any place
you like, even on the go where an electric
point is not available. Additional plates are
provided if you own an iPod nano or an
iPod video so that they can be adapted to
the iPod bay. The rear bay consists of an
auxiliary input jack to attach MP3 players
of brands other than the iPod. It even has a
3.5 mm headphone jack for silent listening.
A composite video out jack enables you to
Different attachments can be used to
connect different iPod products
Performance
The battery in the speaker system lasts for
almost a day. This should get you through
your entire picnic but if you’re planning to
take it on a long trip, be sure to carry extra
battery packs along. As far as the sound
quality is concerned, the lows and the mid-
frequency ranges are not up to the mark.
With its compact design, these speakers
do compromise on the bass owing to the
absence of bass ports, thereby muffling the
overall sound quality. So, if you are planning
on grooving to the drums, you will be
disappointed. The treble was crisp and clear
though and the speakers packed enough
of punch to regale a group of friends in a
coffee shop.
Verdict
Although these speakers have a compact
design, they could have been more portable.
They retail for Rs 11,800 which is too steep
for casual listening. We would suggest you
also take a look at the Altec Lansing IM7 as a
buying alternative.
For: Small form factor; good treble.
Against: Average bass; not very portable;
expensive.

OCTOBER 2006 | INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP | OCTOBER 2006

Mainboard for offices
T he first thing that struck us about the
Gigabyte GA-945GM S2 is that this
motherboard supports the Intel Conroe
processor. Also, this was the first 945G-
based motherboard that we were testing
with a Conroe processor.
Features
This board supports up to 2 GB of
maximum memory which should be more
than sufficient for most practical purposes
whether you are a designer or a power user.
The board also supports one IDE connector
for your optical drive and 4 x 3 Gbps SATA
connectors which provide ample growth for
your storage needs. This setup would only
be ideal if you used a single optical drive
on the IDE connector and a SATA hard drive
for storage. This board does not support
RAID so if you are a casual user, it won’t
make too much of a difference. Although
the motherboard has onboard graphics, it
also has a single PCI-E 16x slot for adding an
additional graphics card which would keep
gamers happy. The motherboard comes
with two additional PCI slots and a single
PCI-E 1x slot as expandability options. You
can easily plug an additional TV tuner card
into the extra PCI slot. A Realtek 8111B
GbE chip provides network connectivity
and ensures that your motherboard
OCTOBER 2006 | INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP
integrates seamlessly into your gigabit
Ethernet office network. An ALC883 sound
processor provides 7.1 channel audio to
ensure that users can make full use of
your multi-channel speaker system. As
far as adding peripherals are concerned,
this motherboard supports the RS232 and
the parallel port. So, if you are still using a
modem over a telephone line or a parallel
port printer, you can be sure that it will still
work on your brand new system. It also has
a single PS/2 port and 4 x USB 2.0 ports,
providing ample connectivity options for
your USB peripherals. This motherboard
also supports front USB headers.
Design and layout
The Gigabyte GA-945GN S2 motherboard
features the compact MicroATX form
factor design. The placement of the
processor is neat and uncluttered. The
stock heat sink fits perfectly and there is
enough space to add larger heat sinks. We
feel though that this motherboard may
not be designed for gaming enthusiasts
but could definitely satisfy entry-level
gaming. The PCI-E and the PCI slots are so
closely packed together that given current
generation graphics solutions, the graphic
card would occupy the PCI-E as well as a
nearby PCI slot. You will probably need a
TESTED | HARDWARE 49
Motherboard
Gigabyte GA-945GM S2
Specifications: Socket: LGA775; Processor supported:
Intel Pentium D / Intel Pentium 4 / Intel Core 2
Duo; FSB: 1066/800/533 MHz; Chipset: Intel 945G;
Maximum memory: 4 GB; Network interface: Realtek
8111B GbE; Audio: ALC883 7.1 channel audio
Price Rs 6,750
Contact Gigabyte Technology (India) Ltd
Phone 022-26526696
E-mail sales@gigabyte.in
Website www.gigabyte.in
Warranty 3 years
RATINGS
Build quality
Performance
Features
Overall Rating
Value for money
thinner graphics solution if you want to
make use of the PCI slots.
Performance
The performance of this motherboard
can be termed as average at best. The
Sisoft Sandra CPU benchmarks were
slightly lower than its 865P counterpart.
Its memory bandwidth benchmark was
limited to 4675 MB/s which is slower than
many of the newer AMD platforms and
is definitely slower than the 965 and 975
series motherboards that are currently
available in the market. The hard drive
throughputs were at par with other similar
motherboards. Its 3D Mark 2005 score was
only 669 3D marks considering the onboard
graphics solution. Therefore gaming
without an external graphic adapter is not
recommended.
Verdict
The Gigabyte GA-945GM S2 provides
a decent set of features and enough
performance for most processor hungry
applications due to its support for Conroe
processors. However, it is recommended
against hardcore gaming applications.
For: Supports the Intel Conroe processor;
GbE and 7.1 channel audio.
Against: No RAID; no support for FireWire.
50 HARDWARE | TESTED

Multi-Functional Device
Canon PIXMA MP530
Specifications: Dimensions (WxDxH mm): 468 x
263 x 467, Weight: 12.8 kg, Interface: USB 2.0,
Print Resolution: upto 9600 x 2400 dpi, 5 Inkjet
cartridges, Scan Resolution: 1200 x 2400 dpi, Bit
Depth: 48-bit, Fax Transmission Speed: 33.6 Kbps,
Copier: Auto Duplex, Magnification/Reduction

Price Rs 20,995
Contact Canon India Pvt Ltd
Phone 1-800-3453366
E-mail info@canon.co.in
Website www.canon.co.in
Warranty 2 years
RATINGS
Build quality
Ergonomics
Performance
Features
Overall Rating
Value for money

Multiple personality
T he MP530 succeeds the MP500 in
Canon’s Pixma series of ‘all-in-one’
multifunctional device. The MP530
multifunction device differs from the latter
in size and weight (it is larger and heavier).
It has an automatic document feeder and
doubles as your fax machine but lacks a
flash media reader. It also has support for
cameras that are PictBridge or ExifPrint
compliant. So, you can connect your digital
camera directly to the printer.
This bulky printer comes fitted with
foldable input/output trays, while the
ADF and CD/DVD tray (if you want to print
on the face of the disk) needs to be fixed
manually prior to software installation.
Driver CDs for Windows-based and Mac-
based computers are also provided.
The control panel is replete with most
of the functions you will need to get a
document copied, scanned or printed with
minimal interaction with the computer.
In addition to the printer driver you can
also install software like Easy-Photo Print,
scanning tools like ScanSoft and a CD-Label
printing application.
Build quality and ergonomics
The MP530 occupies some serious desktop
real estate. Apart from the manual sheet
feed and output tray, you will also have to
consider the ADF and the rear panel. The
control panel has all the controls you need
to fax, copy, scan or print a document. You
can dial a number using speed dial, choose
your paper type, print quality and even the
input tray from this panel. The scanner’s
hinge can be raised vertically by 10 mm to
accommodate a book. Most of the panels
and hinges in the device are spring loaded,
reducing the impact whilst opening and
closing. The printer’s overall build is solid,
the trays are sturdy, the print head/cartridge
assembly is perfect and the quality of the
plastic used is good.
Performance
The MP530 is a silent printer though due
to its weight and the speed at which
Print labels on CDs by fitting the CD/DVD
tray under the MP530’s hood
it prints documents it will need to be
placed on a stable surface to avoid undue
sideways movements. It was able to print
ten sheets of text in 57 seconds while a
standard quality print pushed the time to
1 minute 20 seconds. There were no signs
of ink smudging and the grey scales were
accurately reproduced.
Photo printouts have become Canon’s
forte ever since they started using their
new printing technology (Microfine Droplet
Technology). A high quality A4 print took
just under three minutes. It manages to
print details in a high-res image very well.
The color reproduction seems to be deeper
than the ones produced by the MP500. The
MP530’s photo printouts tend to impart
a mild reddish tinge to skin tones, making
them appear visibly warmer.
Scanning a page and printing it directly
without the use of the computer was simple
and the quality was stellar. It took all of 17
seconds to scan a B5-size photograph.
The MP530 is a silent worker and is
suited to a small office that requires a
quality as well as a fax machine.
For: The 48-bit depth scanner produces
quality scans. Photo quality prints are
excellent. The copier can be controlled
completely via the control panel.
Against: Lacks media card reader slots.

INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP | OCTOBER 2006

 TESTED | HARDWARE 51

PC Case
Cooler Master Elite 300
Specifications: ATX Cabinet, Dimensions (w x h x d)
mm 203 x 413 x 486, Thermal Master 350 watts
power supply unit.

Price Rs 3,900
Contact Matrix 3D
Phone 022-23084511
E-mail sales@matrix3d.com
Website www.matrix3d.com
Warranty 2 years
RATINGS
Build quality
Performance
Features
Overall Rating
Value for money

Elite and cool

W hen it comes to products related to
cooling, Cooler Master is a relatively
well known brand. They have introduced
a new ATX cabinet which keeps up with
Cooler Master’s motto of cooling. The
Cooler Master Elite 300 is a sleek black ATX
cabinet which has a 350 Watts Thermal
Master Power supply unit installed in the
cabinet. The front bezel of the cabinet has a
black mesh which gives this cabinet a very
interesting look.
This cabinet is built solidly and is very
sturdy in design. The Elite 300 provides you
with a tool free design which allows for
quick assembly and maintenance for all your
peripherals. Since the front panel is designed
with a steel mesh, this provides you with
superior airflow which in turn enhances your
cooling performance. The front panel has a
sexy blue power light which improves the
overall look of the chassis. The cabinet has
two 120 mm fans one in the front and the
other at the back, these fans are pretty quiet
and provide ample cooling. Another USP
of the front panel is that it makes it easier
to clean the front air filter. This drive has
another good feature, the mounting of all
your removable drives like your floppy drive,
hard drive and CD/DVD drive has been made
very easy. Just slide in your drive and attach
the tool-less clip to the drive’s screw holes,
twist it around and you are done installing
your drive. This cabinet has provided
you with a lot of drive bays for installing
different drives, it has four exposed 5.25”
drive bays and five exposed 3.25” drives. If
you want to add an extra card like an audio
or a TV Tuner card then just pull the clip of
the add on card bay, slide in your card and
push the clip back in.
The 350 watts Thermal Master PSU is a
pretty good power supply for low power
requirements. This PSU is a SATA ready
PSU although it’s got only one SATA power
connector; it doesn’t have a graphics card
power connector which is a must for a
powerful graphics card. We tested the PSU
with load and without load; the load we
used to completely stress the PSU was the
application RHTDRIBL. The PSU was pretty
stable when it was loaded. We also used a
benchmarking application, Everest to check
the PSU for voltage variations.
If you are looking for a sleek cabinet with
an average power supply then this cabinet is
a good bargain.
For: Great looks; tooless installation; ample
cooling; good power supply unit.
Against: Only one SATA connector; no
graphics card power connector.

Using MultiMeter Without Load With Load

12 Volts 12.19 12.02
5 Volts 5.24 5.21
3.3 Volts 3.39 3.38

Everest Without Load With Load

12 Volts 11.97 11.78
5 Volts 5.13 5.13
3.3 Volts 3.33 3.3 Tooless mounting of drives

OCTOBER 2006 | INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP

52 HARDWARE | TESTED

Wireless IP Camera
Level1 WCS-2030 wireless IP camera
Specifications: Interface (wired): 10/100 Mbps
Ethernet; Interface (wireless): 802.11b/g wireless;
Censor type: CMOS; Resolution: 640 x 480 (VGA);
Dimensions (WxDxH mm): 72.8 x 28.6 x 115.2;
Weight: 215 gms

Price Rs 13,500
Contact MINDS(India) Pvt Ltd
Phone 011-26312095
E-mail Jerry.albert@level1.co.in
Website http://www.level1.com
Warranty 1 Year
RATINGS
Build quality
Performance
Features
Overall Rating
Value for money

Cost-effective surveillance
T he use of CCTV cameras and other
video surveillance systems is generally
associated with government security
agencies, banks, large corporations,
etc and they can generally be seen in
spy movies. Such security systems are
generally quite expensive and one has to
pay a huge premium to avail the features
of such a system. For all those home users
as well as small and medium businesses
on a limited budget, the Level1 WCS-2030
wireless IP camera is an ideal solution.
Features
The WCS-2030 is basically a video
surveillance system which transmits
images using the TCP/IP protocol. It
basically uses a digital sensor to capture
data unlike a CCTV camera which typically
uses the analog mode of data capture. It
uses a 10/100 Mbps high speed Ethernet
as well as an 802.11g based wireless
system to transmit captured data. This
leads to seamless integration with an
existing computer network system.
Although the camera is capable of
recording VGA-quality video, it can only do
so at 10 fps. So objects that move really
fast and really close to the camera, even
if they are captured, will only show up as
a blur. The frame rates can be increased
by lowering the resolution to 320 x 280.
The device features a 4 mm lens with an
aperture size of F/2. This implies that the
camera will be able to take in a wide field
of view. It also implies that the camera
should be able to capture images in low
light conditions. Lets check later if this
translates into real-world performance.
It also features an omni-directional
microphone for recording audio.
Setup and ease of use
The USP of this device is the software
that comes along with the package. It is
capable of displaying 16 live feeds at any
given moment. It can also be used to set
up and configure the camera. The camera
has a built-in web server that facilitates
remote setup. It also supports features
All areas of the house can be monitored
simultaneously with the 16 screen output
like motion detection, snapshots as well
as scheduled recordings. The motion
detection system is particularly useful
since it does not record the image to the
hard drive when the camera does not
detect any movement. The output is 24-bit
audio with 320x 280 MPEG-4 video which
allows you to save on hard disk space as
well as network bandwidth.
Performance
The image quality of this camera was
above average though not exceptional.
It picked up details even in low light
conditions, although it did have some
trouble detecting motion in those
situations. Its in-built microphone showed
very little background noise and it could
pick up conversations at ranges of about
10 meters. Beyond that, the audio was not
discernable. The recorded video takes up
considerably less space on the hard drive.
The snapshots were VGA quality and could
discern sufficient amount of details.
The Level1 WCS-2030 retails for Rs 13,500,
which seems extremely high, but the
software available with it alone will justify
investing in this IP camera
For: Great bundled software; omni-
directional antenna; wireless connectivity
Against: No zoom; no swivel.

INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP | OCTOBER 2006

54 HARDWARE | TESTED

External TV Tuner
Pinnacle PCTV Pro USB
Specifications: High Speed USB 2.0; TV RF-in,
Remote Control; Capture analog video; Pinnacle
Media Center; Pinnacle Studio QuickStart.

Price Rs 4,990
Contact Pinnacle Systems
Phone 011-41608211
E-mail adey.extern@pinnaclesys.com
Website www.pinnaclesys.co.in
Warranty 1 Year
RATINGS
Build quality
Performance
Features
Overall Rating
Value for money

Tiny Media Center

P innacle has released its latest
innovation in the external TV tuner
card category, the Pinnacle PCTV Pro
USB. The PCTV Pro is small enough to sit
comfortably in the palm of your hand and
its silver body will look perfect on your
desk. The PCTV Pro can be connected to
your PC using a USB cable; it supports
high speed USB 2.0. You can connect your
antenna or your cable connection, to the
port on the rear of the Tuner. At the front
you will find the audio connector, two
video connectors (the S-Video input and
the composite ports) and the video input
(an RCA connector). The S-Video input can
be used to connect your camcorder, video
recorder or DVD Player, from which you can
view your videos or even edit them. You
The audio, S-video, Composite ports are
at the front.
can use any video device that delivers an
S-video signal or a composite video signal
in PAL, NTSC or SECAM irrespective of the
video system used as input to that device.
The PCTV Pro has an Infrared
remote that gives you access to all your
entertainment needs from a comfortable
distance (approx. 10 meters). The PCTV
Pro comes with the Pinnacle MediaCenter
software that offers features like
TimeShifting and direct-to-DVD or hard
drive recording. This tuner supports
formats like MPEG-1, MPEG-2, MPEG-4 and
DivX. The PCTV also allows you to record
video clips that will run on your iPod or
PSP. The MediaCenter lets you schedule
your recordings using a feature called the
Electronic Program Guide or record on-the-
The USB and the anntenna connectoins
are at the back of the card.
fly with a one-button operation. You can
listen to Internet radio or watch live TV
from anywhere on your laptop. It allows
you to view video in either full screen or
windowed mode—this is especially useful
if you are working on other applications
simultaneously.
This External TV Tuner can be used as a
media center PC as it gives you the option
to pause, rewind or play your television
shows, so you can watch your favorite
programs or even a cricket match the way
you want to. You can create your own DVD
collection with Direct-to-DVD recording
as well. Also, you can capture images,
videos or shows from most consumer
devices with analog outputs (such as VCRs,
camcorders, DVD players, etc.). The PCTV
Pro bundles the Pinnacle Studio QuickStart
which helps you create your own movies,
complete with special effects, titles and
music; where you also have the option
of editing out the boring stuff from your
video creations.
Finally this TV tuner has all the power
required to turn your boring old PC into a
media center PC.
For: Doesn’t need external power supply,
extensive recording format support,
portable.
Against: Software provided is complicated.

INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP | OCTOBER 2006

 TESTED | HARDWARE 55

The fast and the fancy Hard Drive Case

T oday, there are a multitude of hard drive
cases available in the market. Most of
them take in a 3.5-inch parallel ATA hard
drive and interface with the PC through
the Hi-speed USB 2.0 interface. Other than
this, they are pretty much head-to-head in
performance. The only way manufacturers
can add more value to these devices, is by
throwing in a couple of extra features.
The NST-360SU is Vantec’s latest
Vantec NexStar 3 NST-360SU
it. If your motherboard doesn’t feature
an eSATA port, you can still enjoy blazing
transfer speeds using the bundled SATA to
eSATA bracket. With the eSATA interface,
it’s even possible to install Windows on
the drive and use it as a secondary boot
device. A stand to keep the drive standing
vertical is the icing on the cake.
Specifications: Dimension (WxHxD): 123x206x33
So if you want the best external hard mm, Interface: Hi-speed USB 2.0 and eSATA, Body
drive case, grab the Vantec NST-360SU. material: Aluminum

addition to their NexStar series of external There’s nothing to beat this one!
Price Rs 3,500
hard drive cases which have always For: Terrific build quality, support for Contact Apical Impex
been a class apart. It features a glossy eSATA, bundled SATA to eSATA bracket. Phone 9821349177

“Onyx Black” body with a mirror finish. Against: If you don’t keep it clean, there’ll E-mail tejas@apical.in
Website www.vantecusa.com
Unlike most cases which are meant for be fingerprints all over! Warranty 1 year
parallel ATA hard drives, this one supports Scores RATINGS
SATA hard drives. To use the drive, you eSATA interface Build quality
simply need to power up the case with Sequential Random Performance
a power adapter and connect it to a USB Read: 64.3 52.5 Features
port. What sets this drive apart from its Write: 64.3 52.3 Overall Rating
counterparts is the inclusion of an eSATA Hi-speed USB 2.0 interface Value for money
port on the rear panel. This means you Sequential Random
can even connect the device directly to an Read: 64.3 52.5
eSATA port if your motherboard supports Write: 64.3 52.3

Speed up Optical Drive

S amsung is the first company to
release a DVD writer with a write
speed of 18X. The DVD writer uses the
OCTO edge technology which allegedly
delivers improved performance. This
writer supports all the CD/DVD media
available in the market including single
layer and dual layer media. It has a write
speed of 18X for both DVD±R and 8X for
Dual Layer DVD±R which is the highest
for any writer at present.
Samsung SH-S182
We had to use the 16X media to test
the drive because there is no 18X media
available in the market as yet and
Samsung did not bundle any 18X media
with this drive.
In the read test it took the drive 7.57
minutes to read an entire 4.34 GB DVD.
It clocked 2.05 minutes to extract a 1 GB
Specifications: Read/Write Speeds: CD 48 X, DVD+/- R
VOB file using DVD Decrypter during the
18X; Media Supported: CDR/CDRW/DVDR/DVD+R/
DVD video file extraction test (where DVD-R/DVD-RAM/ Dual Layer DVD+R/-R; Interface:
we extracted a VOB file). In the audio IDE; Buffer Size: 2MB.

This drive also has a DVD-RAM write ripping test it took just 86 seconds to Price Rs 3,000
speed of 12X. In addition to all these, rip three tracks from an audio CD. The Contact Samsung India Electronics Pvt. Ltd
Samsung has incorporated plenty of Nero CD-DVD Speed Tool also delivered Phone 011-41511234
E-mail hari.pandey@samsung.com
new technologies like the SAT (Speed impressive results, clocking an average
Website www.samsung.com/in
Adjustment Technology), TAC (Tilt speed of 12.2X.. Warranty 1 year
Actuator Compensation) and Double In the absence of 18X DVD media, it RATINGS
OPC (Optimum Power Control) into this would not make much sense to go in for Build quality
drive. It also has the mandatory buffer this drive, given the fact that its overall Performance
under run protection which is a norm in performance isn’t significantly greater Features
all drives these days. than the rest in its category. Overall Rating
The drive delivered very good results For: Excellent write speed, supports all Value for money
for our entire gamut of tests. It took a CD/DVD media.
spiffy 7.27 minutes to write 4.34 GB of Against: No 18X media available in the
data using Nero at a 16X write speed. market as yet.

OCTOBER 2006 | INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP

 Picture-perfect pixels
With plummeting prices and great visual quality, there
is very little reason not to take home one of these
displays. We put the best of them through our wringers

Jagdish Limbachiya

N
o matter how high-end your
computer, there is nothing quite
like flaunting a TFT monitor on
your desktop. A clear sign of being one of
the few who are on the leading edge of the
display evolution, your decision to go in
for a TFT—be it at home or at office—will
significantly upscale your image. However,
until not too long ago it was practically
unthinkable for the majority of computer
shoppers to even consider one of these
displays. As opposed to spending so much
on them, the choice of spending extra
was usually in favor of other system
components like a faster processor,
additional RAM or a better graphics card.
The good old 15-inch CRT monitor (and
subsequently the 17-inch monitor) was
the mainstay in practically every home
and office computer purchase. Until now,
the ‘luxury’ of a TFT monitor was reserved
exclusively for the affluent home user or
the CEO of the company.
Times, however, have changed. Over
the past year, we have seen a tremendous
upheaval in TFT fabrication technologies,
many of which have directly contributed
to a drastic 30 percent drop in prices.
How drastic? An entry-level 15-inch TFT
monitor can be bought today for about
Rs 8,900. For just 3,000 bucks more, you
can get a 17-inch TFT. At these price levels,
we are now beginning to see TFTs making
their presence well within the realm of
entry-level consumers. Most computer
manufacturers are now beginning to
configure their desktop ranges exclusively
with TFT monitors.
With the advancements in
manufacturing technology today, it
actually makes more sense to create
larger TFT panels as they turn out to be
more economical to produce compared
to their smaller counterparts. Due to
this, the TFT monitor that strikes a great
OCTOBER 2006 | INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP
SMS us!
TFT COMPARISON | HARDWARE 57
deal today is not the 15-inch variants but
the 17-inch versions. Not just the price,
even the technology driving these panels
has seen drastic leaps—they deliver
crisper colors, greater contrast ratios,
increased brightness, higher resolutions,
all translating into a superb viewing
experience. One of the pet peeves in
working with previous-generation TFTs
was the naggingly high pixel response
time which often resulted in discernible
blurring and streaking during use. But
all of that has changed—almost all TFT
monitors today boast a pixel response
time of under 8 milliseconds. This means
you can play the most intense of games or
watch the most exciting car chase movie
sequences with no loss in video quality.
More that just being a computer display,
several TFT manufacturers even integrate
TV tuners into their monitors, making
them devices around which all the family’s
entertainment needs can be met.
TFT technology is also ushering in
an era of high-definition video and
television—with their support of
increasingly high resolutions, many
of these devices are now HDTV-ready.
Therefore, when you do finally decide
to go in for that Blu-ray drive or high-
definition video signal later this year,
you will certainly be ready for it on the
display front. Even though the displays
we’ve reviewed here are not the home
theater variants (with inputs for DVD
players and the like), they can certainly
be used to view high-definition content
from your computer as their resolutions
well encompass the requirements for
demanding gaming and serious movie
watching. To further sweeten the deal,
almost all TFT monitors above 19-inch
boast the widescreen form factor, fitting
right in for all you movie and gaming buffs
out there.
Story code: HCT (See Page 20 for details)
58 HARDWARE | TFT COMPARISON
Test Process
It wouldn’t be fair to compare a 15-inch
monitor with a 20-inch widescreen one.
To create a fair ground for comparison,
we grouped the monitors based on the
screen size. Thus, we have three distinct
categories—15-inch, 17-inch and 19-inch
& greater. We evaluated the monitors on
the basis of their features, performance,
ergonomics, build quality, and warranty
and support. Let’s move on to what went
into each of these parameters.
Features
We began with noting the dimensions,
weight and screen size of the TFT monitor.
Here, note that the depth of the monitor
is not the depth of the display panel,
but the footprint. Next, we noted the
technical specifications that directly
translate into performance. For a TFT
monitor the response time, pixel pitch,
brightness and contrast ratio are the
most important factors. Viewing angle
is equally important especially when you
are watching a movie together with your
family and friends. Presence of a DVI port
in addition to D-sub is preferable since
you can take the advantage of digital
video signal rather than analog signal.
Additional video inputs like component,
composite and S-video were awarded extra
points. Integrated features like speakers,
headphone jack, FM radio, USB hub and
card reader extend the functionality of the
monitor. We took note of all these features
and awarded points accordingly. The menu
functions were checked for controls like
brightness, contrast, screen position, color
temperature and auto-adjustment. Finally,
we frisked through the package contents.
It’s essential that the monitor comes with
the required DVI and D-sub cables, driver
The rear panel of the Asus PW201
features all types of video inputs
10% Warranty & Support 25% Features
10% Build
Quality
10% Ergonomics 45% Performance
CD, quick setup guide and the user manual.
The features made up for 25 percent of the
overall score.
Performance
Being the most important section of
the test, this section carries an overall
weightage of 45 percent. For ascertaining
the performance of the monitors, we
evaluated the viewing angle, reproduction
of color gradients and response time.
To assess the viewing angle, we viewed
red, green, blue and greyscale blocks at
the center of the screen from 40 and
80 degree angles. Points were given
depending on the visibility of the colored
blocks. Reproduction of color gradients
is one of the serious weaknesses in most
TFT monitors. To ascertain the quality of
gradation, we viewed and analyzed full
screen gradient images transitioning from
black to red, green and blue diagonally.
The monitors were graded depending
on the smoothness of transition without
any banding along the gradations. The
response time was evaluated by analyzing
the clarity of image and text in lateral
motion. The monitors were graded
according to the intensity of “Ghosting”.
Points were deduced for the presence of
Working with portraits is more convenient
with vertical screen orientation
dead pixels on black or white screens.
Ergonomics
The TFT monitor should be easy to use. The
menu buttons should be easily reachable
and functions should be well-described
in the OSD so that adjusting the settings
is easy for the user. Previous and next
buttons for menu choices, separate
brightness and contrast adjustment
buttons, clarity of OSD, etc were all taken
into consideration.
Build quality
Apart from good performance and
ergonomics, a monitor should also be
robust with a sturdy screen frame, stand
and hinges. The base of the monitor should
be stable in all the extreme positions.
Usage of metal in body construction was
given extra points. We also evaluated the
aesthetic appeal of each TFT display.
Warranty and support
Since TFT monitors are expensive and
delicate devices, they must be backed by
robust warranty and support. Should a
problem arise, a service center must be
present close to where you live. For this
purpose, there should be adequate number
of service centers spanning across as many
cities all over the country. We noted the
warranty period, number of service centers
in India and the number of cities in which
these centers are present.
We concluded the roundup with the
“Value for Money” index which was
calculated by stacking up the features and
performance against the price. The better
the features and performance with respect
to price, the higher this index. Based on this
we have the “Best Value” product in each
category in addition to the “Best Performer”.
USB hub and headphone jack positioned
at the side of the TFT monitor
INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP | OCTOBER 2006

15-inch TFT
LG Flatron L1515S
Specifications: Dimensions (WxHxD): 350 x 318 x 133
mm, Screen size: 15-inches, optimal resolution: 1024
x 768, Aspect ratio: 4:3, Brightness: 250 Cd/sq.mt,
Contrast ratio: 400:1, Response time: 12 ms.
Price Rs 10,490
Contact LG Electronics India Pvt. Ltd
Phone 0120-2560900
E-mail shopping3@lgindia.com
Warranty 4.5 years
RATINGS
Features
Ergonomics
Perfomance
Build Quality
Overall Rating
Value for money
The LG Flatron L1515S is quite a performer,
in spite of being fairly thin and light,
weighing in at just 2.5 kg. This TFT monitor
has the lowest response time of 12 ms
as compared to other monitors in the
category which have a response time of 16
ms. As a result the L1515S had very little
ghost trails in fast moving videos making
it suitable for movies and gaming on a
small screen. Being a 15-inch monitor this
monitor has a pixel pitch of 0.294 which
effectively translates into an optimal
resolution of 1024x768. The monitor
features a brightness level of 250 Cd/m2
and a contrast ratio of 400:1.
The monitor also features good
ergonomics with amply spaced buttons and
an OSD with functions clearly explained.
As for performance, the image quality was
excellent with vibrant colors. If you want
a monitor that fits in cramped space and
doesn’t compromise on performance then
this monitor is the one which you should
look out for.
For: Good image quality; very good response
time; light in weight.
Against: No swivel.
OCTOBER 2006 | INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP
15-inch TFT
BenQ FP51G
Specifications: Dimensions: (WxHxD) mm 331 x 338 x
136, Screen size: 15 inches, optimal resolution: 1024
x 768, Aspect ratio: 4:3, Brightness: 250 Cd/sq.mt,
Contrast ratio: 400:1, Response time: 16 ms.
Price Rs 8,900
Contact BenQ India Pvt Ltd
Phone 9312378705
E-mail sudip.de@benq.com
Warranty 2.5 years
RATINGS
Features
Ergonomics
Perfomance
Build Quality
Overall Rating
Value for money
The BenQ FP52G definitely has the looks
when it comes to sleek features—this
is exemplified with its silver black color
combination which will fit snugly with
your desktop. It’s the best-priced monitor
in the 15-inch category with a pricetag of
just Rs 8,900 and is an average performer.
Considering its size, it weighs a bit more
than expected at 3.7 kg and has an average
response time of 16 ms. As expected, this
monitor supports a maximum resolution
of 1024x768 at a 32-bit color depth. The
brightness of the TFT was 250 Cd/sq.mt.
This TFT comes with a D-Sub connector,
but there were no DVI connections.
The color gradations were near
average except for the gray gradations
which were visibly bad. While viewing
colors at an angle, the screen display
quality was reasonably good. If
performance is not to important a
criterion, this TFT is a great choice for
basic home and office use.
For: Nicely priced, good-looking, easily
accessible menu buttons.
Against: Shallow viewing angle, no DVI
connection.
TFT COMPARISON | HARDWARE 59
17-inch TFT
ViewSonic VP720B
Specifications: Dimensions: (WxHxD) mm 376 x 463 x
229, Screen size: 17 inches, optimal resolution: 1280
x 1024, Aspect ratio: 4:3, Brightness: 280 Cd/sq.mt,
Contrast ratio: 500:1, Response time: 4 ms.
Price Rs 15,999
Contact Roop Technology
Phone 022-26681921
E-mail roop@vsnl.com
Warranty 3.5 years
RATINGS
Features
Ergonomics
Perfomance
Build Quality
Overall Rating
Value for money
The ViewSonic VP720B comes in with
best-of-class performance in its category
with its good specifications. This TFT has
a superb response time of 4 ms, which
was the best across all categories. This
was apparent from the lack of errors in
fast moving video. The monitor offers
both D-Sub or a DVI connectivity options
(the latter offering excellent video quality
when used with a compatible graphics
card). This monitor weighs in at 5.5 Kg and
stands on a robust base which provides
adequate support. In spite of tilting,
swiveling, adjusting the height, and
pivoting, it remained firmly in place. The
portrait viewing mode especially comes in
handy for designers who do not want to
scroll down when working on documents
or images.
All this translated into good viewing angles
and color reproduction. If you are looking
for a great 17-inch TFT, the VP720B would
suit even the most demanding of tasks.
For: Excellent response time and color
reproduction; portrait screen orientation;
DVI interface.
Against: Expensive.
60 HARDWARE | TFT COMPARISON
17-inch TFT
AOC LM725
Specifications: Dimensions: (WxHxD) mm 407 x 215 x
423, Screen size: 17 inches, optimal resolution: 1280
x 1024, Aspect ratio: 4:3, Brightness: 250 Cd/sq.mt,
Contrast ratio: 450:1, Response time: 16 ms.
Price Rs 9,600
Contact AOC Monitor
Phone 0124-2806116
E-mail jeetika@in.aocmonitor.com
Warranty 3 years
RATINGS
Features
Ergonomics
Perfomance
Build Quality
Overall Rating
Value for money
The AOC LM725 has a slew of features and a
great price to go along with it, making this
monitor the best value TFT in the 17-inch
category. It is elegantly designed so it
doesn’t take up much space on the desk.
It has a pretty good contrast rate of 350:1
along with a response time of 16 ms. The
maximum brightness that can be achieved
with this monitor was 250 Cd/sq.mt
which was average when compared to
other 17-inch TFT’s which are about 20%
brighter. The maximum resolution this
TFT could display was 1280×1024 pixels
which is normal for a panel of this size. The
menu buttons were pretty well described
and nicely placed, making them easily
accessible.
There was no DVI connection which was
surprising for a 17-inch monitor, although
it did have integrated speakers. The color
gradations were pretty good except for
green. With its sub-10,000 price, this
monitor hits a very sweet spot for entry-
level applications in homes or office.
For: Great price; good color gradations;
speakers.
Against: No DVI.
19-inch TFT
ViewSonic VX2235W
Specifications: Dimensions: (WxHxD) mm 524 x 482 x
244, Screen size: 22 inches, optimal resolution: 1680
x 105, Aspect ratio: 16:10, Brightness: 280 Cd/sq.mt,
Contrast ratio: 700:1, Response time: 5 ms.
Price Rs 29,999
Contact Roop Technology
Phone 022-26681921
E-mail roop@vsnl.com
Warranty 3.5 years
RATINGS
Features
Ergonomics
Perfomance
Build Quality
Overall Rating
Value for money
The ViewSonic VX2235W is one TFT that
delivers great visual performance, a
widescreen form factor and blazing fast
response times. Weighing in at just 6 Kg, it
stands on a solid foot which supports the
TFT even in extreme positions. This monitor
has a diagonal screen size of 22-inches and
a stunning resolution of 1680 x 1050 while
led to plenty of screen real estate.
The brightness of this monitor is 280
Cd/sq.mt and it has a commendable
contrast ratio of 700:1 which is the highest
across all categories. The menu buttons
were not placed comfortably though, you
would need to exert a bit of dexterity to
push them. Sporting both the D-Sub or
the DVI interface, it can be used at the
highest of quality levels. You also have the
audio connector for the speakers provided
with the monitor. If your needs involve
high-end 3D graphics, page layout or
video processing, this monitor is the ideal
complement to a fast computer.
For: Excellent screen resolution and image
quality; quick response time, built-in
speakers.
Against: Expensive.
19-inch TFT
AOC LM925
Specifications: Dimensions: (WxHxD) mm 425 x 418 x
207, Screen size: 19 inches, optimal resolution: 1280
x 1024, Aspect ratio: 4:3, Brightness: 270 Cd/sq.mt,
Contrast ratio: 500:1, Response time: 8 ms.
Price Rs 14,500
Contact AOC Monitor
Phone 0124-2806116
E-mail jeetika@in.aocmonitor.com
Warranty 3 years
RATINGS
Features
Ergonomics
Perfomance
Build Quality
Overall Rating
Value for money
Coming in at under Rs 15,000, the
AOC LM925 is the most affordable
19-inch monitor available in the market.
In fact, there are several 17-inch monitors
available at this price. This monitor gives a
maximum resolution of 1280 x 1024 which
is pretty low for a screen this size.
The TFT stands on a solid foot which
allows you only one degree of freedom and
it can withstand the weight of the monitor
even at extreme angles. The LM925 has
a commendable response time of 8 ms
which makes it worth the buy for normal
home and office users. The red and blue
gradations were really good but the green
and gray gradations were visibly washed
out. The color performance was below
par when viewed at extreme angles—this
could translate into a visible image quality
loss. If you need to be entertained and play
games without shelling out too much, and
are willing to settle for a slightly lower
performance, the LM925 is a good choice.
For: Nicely priced; good response time;
built-in speakers; DVI connector.
Against: Color reproduction at extreme
angles was sub-par.
INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP | OCTOBER 2006

| Buying guide
When out on a quest to buy a TFT monitor
most people base their buying decision
on the size of the screen and the brand
name. There are others who simply want
the cheapest TFT monitor or have a fixed
budget. This way you may overlook some
of the critical parameters such as the
response time, brightness, contrast ratio,
pixel pitch, viewing angle and so on. As a
result you may end up buying a monitor
that doesn’t match your requirements.
As the saying goes “it’s better to be safe
than sorry”, it’s crucial that you make the
right decision rather than repenting later.
After all a TFT monitor is a long-term
investment that will stay on your desk till
the end of its life.
The right way to make a buying
decision is first fixing on your
requirements or application area before
jumping to the specifications. This
buying guide is based on some of the
most common application areas. From
the range of TFT monitors that we have
evaluated, we will suggest certain models
that deserve serious consideration. Even if
you come across a model that isn’t a part
of this roundup, you can use the theory to
make your buying decision.
Entertainment (Movies and gaming)
When it comes to movies and games, size
matters! It’s more fun to watch movies
or play games on a large screen. If you’re
planning to build a home theatre PC keep
in mind that you will need a widescreen
display to enjoy DVD movies as most
of them are available in widescreen
format. A TFT monitor with a screen size
of 19-inch or greater having an aspect
ratio of 16:9 or 16:10 should really hit
the sweet spot. If you want to connect
a DVD player to your monitor, it should
have the provision for all the necessary
inputs, namely composite, component
and S-video connections apart from the
standard DVI and D-sub inputs. Coming
to picture quality look for high brightness
and contrast ratio as they directly
translate into vibrant colors. Finally, make
sure the horizontal viewing angle is at
least 160 degrees so that people viewing
the screen from an angle get a clear view.
OCTOBER 2006 | INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP
If you’re looking towards gaming, you
can stick to the conventional aspect ratio
of4:3. Most importantly don’t overlook
the response time. If the response time of
the TFT is high the trailing in fast moving
scenes will be very evident. Don’t even
consider any monitor having a response
time greater than 8 milliseconds.
Recommended models
ViewSonic VX2235WM, Asus PW201,
TCL 983A
Price range: Rs 16,000 – Rs 40,000
Design (Imaging, 3D modeling and
desktop publishing)
If you fall into this application area you
will need a large display with extremely
rich picture quality. Find out the optimal
resolution of the TFT monitor, as this
is what you will work at. With a high
resolution you will get more workspace
on your screen. Look at the pixel pitch
too. A tighter pixel pitch means that more
pixels are packed into the same amount
of space. This will significantly increase
the details in an image. Also look for good
brightness levels and high contrast ratio
for accurate rendering of color levels and
contrast.
Recommended models
ViewSonic VP920B, ViewSonic VX924,
ViewSonic VA1912WB
Price range: Rs 16,000 – Rs 25,000
Home and office (Office suites,
web-browsing, e-mail, etc)
Here, the primary objective of the TFT
monitor is to substitute the bulky CRT
monitor. The viewing angle in this area is
not of any importance since you will be
the only one working most of the time.
Also there’s no need for a display greater
than 15-inches for basic applications
like word processing, web browsing,
e-mailing, etc. But if you want a larger
display, you can stretch your budget by
a few thousands for a 17-inch screen.
If you’re on a strict budget, first take a
look at the products which won the ‘Best
Value’ award.
Recommended models
TCL H582B, BenQ FP51G, LG Flatron L1515S
Price range: Rs 8,500 - Rs 10,000
TFT COMPARISON | HARDWARE 61
| Personal Take
Faheem Sayed
faheem.sayed@chip-india.com
The first thing that came to my mind when
I saw the ViewSonic VX2235WM 22-inch
TFT monitor was that size does matter.
What with its sleek black and silver
color, it looks way bigger than a 21-inch
television.
This monitor was the best performer
across all the categories and beat every
other model hands down. It delivers a
resolution of 1680x1050 while skimping
on power consumption. At this resolution,
locating icons on the huge screen was
a tad difficult. Watching movies and
playing games on this screen was a
marvelous experience with its 16:10
widescreen aspect ratio, its razor-quick
response time and an absence of any
visible blurring. The screen exhibited
good brightness and contrast ratio.
There was no sign of any ghosting even
when viewed up close.
The other monitor that left me floored
is the ASUS PW201—a 21-inch monitor
which tilts in almost all the directions you
want it to. It’s got a camera on top of the
screen which can be moved up and down.
As for the colors it delivered great visual
quality even at extreme angles. It gives
you a slew of connectivity options at the
rear of the screen like composite video,
component, audio inputs and also a USB
connection. With such an array of video
inputs, it is possible to use this display
not just with your computer, but with your
home DVD player as well. You also have
the option of using the speakers provided
with both the above models. The colors in
this monitor were pretty sharp and crisp
and there were almost no gradations in
any of the hues.
These monitors, coupled with a good
surround speaker system, will prove to be a
great addition to your home entertainment.
Although both these monitors are quite
expensive they are well worth the
price if you crave the performance.
62 HARDWARE | TFT COMPARISON

SpecScan

1 2 3
CATEGORY 15-inch
Name LG Flatron L1515S LG Flatron L1520B BenQ FP51G
Contact LG Electronics India Pvt Ltd LG Electronics India Pvt Ltd BenQ India Pvt Ltd
Phone 0120-2560900 0120-2560900 9312378705
E-mail shopping3@lgindia.com shopping3@lgindia.com sudip.de@benq.com
Price* Rs 10,490 Rs 10,490 Rs 8,900
Overall
Features (out of 25) 13.39 13.03 12.70
Performance (out of 45) 30.90 26.18 29.63
Ergonomics (out of 10) 7.21 7.21 8.36
Build quality (out of 10) 7.50 8.09 5.88
Warranty and support (out of 10) 8.75 8.75 4.72
Overall (out of 100) Total: 67.75 Total: 63.26 Total: 61.29
Value for money (out of 5)
Features
Dimensions (WxHxD) (mm) 350 x 318 x 133 364 x 331 x 220 331 x 338 x 136
Weight (Kg) 2.5 3.2 3.7
Pixel pitch (mm) 0.297 0.3 0.297
Diagonal screen size (inches) 15 15 15
Scanning freq (Hor. KHz/Vert. Hz) 63 / 75 63 / 75 63 / 75
Screen aspect ratio 4:3 (Conventional) 4:3 (Conventional) 4:3 (Conventional)
Optimal resolution 1024 x 768 1024 x 768 1024 x 768
Brightness (Cd/sq.mt) 250 250 250
Contrast Ratio 400:1 400:1 400:1
Response time (ms) 12 25 16
Video input (DVI, D-sub, RGB, S-video, Composite) ✕|✓|✕|✕|✕ ✕|✓|✕|✕|✕ ✕|✓|✕|✕|✕
HDTV capable ✕ ✕ ✕
Integrated TV Tuner ✕ ✕ ✕
Performance
Viewing Angle (out of 5)
40 degrees (right/left) 3.0 / 3.0 3.3 / 3.3 4.2 / 4.2
80 degrees (right/left) 1.8 / 1.8 3.0 / 3.0 2.5 / 2.5
Colour Gradation (out of 5)
Red Gradation 5 2.5 3.5
Green Gradation 3.5 2.5 3.5
Blue Gradation 5 3.5 5
Black to White Gradation 3.5 2.5 2.5
Response Time (out of 5)
White bouncing square 2.5 2.5 2.5
Horizontally moving RGB blocks 2.5 1.5 2.5
Pixel Persistence Analysis 2.5 2.5 2
Ergonomics
Functions clearly described ✓ ✓ ✓
All buttons and switches easily reachable Good Poor Good
Brightness/contrast separate from OSD ✓ ✓ ✓
Concealed cables ✕ ✓ ✕
Feathertouch buttons ✕ ✕ ✕
Build quality
Ease of swivel ✓ ✓ ✕
Presence of sharp edges ✓ ✕ ✕
Sturdiness of stand and hinges Good Good Good
Slide-resistant base ✓ ✓ ✓
Warranty & Support
Period of warranty (years) 3 3 3
Number of authorised service centres 250 250 40
Number of cities where service centres are present 120 120 38
* Prices are indicative and are subject to change, taxes extra
INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP | OCTOBER 2006
 TFT COMPARISON | HARDWARE 63

4 5 6 7 8
17-inch 17-inch
Samsung SyncMaster 540N TCL H582B AOC LM525 ViewSonic VP720B Samsung SyncMaster 740N
Samsung India Electronics Pvt Ltd TTE Corporation AOC Monitor Roop Technology Samsung India Electronics Pvt Ltd
011-41511234 022-40080619 0124-2806116 022-26681921 011-41511234
v.mittal@samsung.com akhtar.khan@tcl.com jeetika@in.aocmonitor.com roop@vsnl.com v.mittal@samsung.com
Rs 9,300 Rs 8,700 Rs 8,500 Rs 15,999 Rs 11,000

12.90 11.56 12.89 16.87 15.09

20.70 24.98 21.98 33.68 30.23
7.21 8.57 6.79 7.57 9.43
6.62 5.29 3.97 5.88 6.18
7.83 4.20 5.50 7.02 7.83
Total: 55.27 Total: 54.60 Total: 51.12 Total: 71.02 Total: 68.75

337.5 x 333.8 x 180 439 x 450 x 125 432 x 440 x 198 376 x 463 x 229 366 x 378 x 201
3.65 4 3 5.5 3.4
0.297 0.297 0.297 0.264 0.264
15 15 15 17 17
61 / 75 83 / 75 60 / 75 82 / 85 81 / 75
4:3 (Conventional) 4:3 (Conventional) 4:3 (Conventional) 4:3 (Conventional) 4:3 (Conventional)
1024 x 768 1024 x 768 1024 x 768 1280 x 1024 1280 x 1024
250 250 250 280 300
450:1 400:1 400:1 500:1 600:1
16 16 25 4 8
✕|✓|✕|✕|✕ ✕|✓|✕|✕|✕ ✕|✓|✕|✕|✕ ✓|✓|✕|✕|✕ ✕|✓|✕|✕|✕
✕ ✕ ✕ ✕ ✕
✕ ✕ ✕ ✕ ✕

2.5 / 2.5 2.5 / 2.5 2.2 / 2.2 5.0 / 5.0 4.2 / 4.2
2.5 / 2.5 1.5 / 1.5 1.5 / 1.5 4.2 / 4.2 4.2 / 4.2

1.5 2.5 3.5 3.5 2.5

1.5 3.5 1.5 2.5 3.5
2.5 3.5 2.5 5 3.5
1.5 2.5 1.5 2.5 2.5

1.5 2.5 2.5 3.5 3.5

2.5 2.5 2.5 3.5 2.5
2 2 2 3 2.5

✕ ✓ ✓ ✕ ✓
Good Good Good Good Good
✓ ✕ ✕ ✓ ✓
✓ ✕ ✓ ✕ ✓
✕ ✕ ✕ ✕ ✕

✓ ✕ ✕ ✕ ✓
✕ ✕ ✕ ✕ ✕
Good Good Average Good Average
✓ ✓ ✕ ✓ ✓

3 3 3 3 3
140 24 60 102 140
120 24 60 102 120

OCTOBER 2006 | INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP

64 HARDWARE | TFT COMPARISON

SpecScan

9 10 11
CATEGORY 17-inch
Name AOC LM725 Zenith Z17 BenQ FP71G +S
Contact AOC Monitor Zenith Helpdesk BenQ India Pvt Ltd
Phone 0124-2806116 1800-22-2004 9312378705
E-mail jeetika@in.aocmonitor.com info@zenith-india.com sudip.de@benq.com
Price* Rs 9,600 Rs 11,500 Rs 10,750
Overall
Features (out of 25) 14.19 15.04 14.92
Performance (out of 45) 33.30 32.55 29.25
Ergonomics (out of 10) 8.14 8.71 8.79
Build quality (out of 10) 5.59 5.88 5.59
Warranty and support (out of 10) 5.50 1.58 4.72
Overall (out of 100) Total: 66.72 Total: 63.77 Total: 63.26
Value for money (out of 5)
Features
Dimensions (WxHxD) (mm) 407 x 215 x 423 380 x 402 x 214 362 x 378 x 135
Weight (Kg) 4.5 4.3 3.8
Pixel pitch (mm) 0.264 0.264 0.264
Diagonal screen size (inches) 17 17 17
Scanning freq (Hor. KHz/Vert. Hz) 83 / 75 81 / 75 83 / 76
Screen aspect ratio 4:3 (Conventional) 4:3 (Conventional) 4:3 (Conventional)
Optimal resolution 1280 x 1024 1280 x 1024 1280 x 1024
Brightness (Cd/sq.mt) 250 300 250
Contrast Ratio 450:1 500:1 500:1
Response time (ms) 16 8 8
Video input (DVI, D-sub, RGB, S-video, Composite) ✕|✓|✕|✕|✕ ✕|✓|✕|✕|✕ ✓|✓|✕|✕|✕
HDTV capable ✕ ✕ ✕
Integrated TV Tuner ✕ ✕ ✕
Performance
Viewing Angle (out of 5)
40 degrees (right/left) 5.0 / 5.0 4.2 / 4.2 4.2 / 4.2
80 degrees (right/left) 2.5 / 2.5 2.5 / 2.5 3.3 / 3.3
Colour Gradation (out of 5)
Red Gradation 5 5 2.5
Green Gradation 3.5 3.5 3.5
Blue Gradation 5 5 3.5
Black to White Gradation 3.5 3.5 1.5
Response Time (out of 5)
White bouncing square 1.5 2.5 2.5
Horizontally moving RGB blocks 2.5 2.5 3.5
Pixel Persistence Analysis 3 2.5 3
Ergonomics
Functions clearly described ✓ ✓ ✓
All buttons and switches easily reachable Good Good Good
Brightness/contrast separate from OSD ✕ ✓ ✓
Concealed cables ✕ ✕ ✕
Feathertouch buttons ✕ ✕ ✕
Build quality
Ease of swivel ✓ ✓ ✕
Presence of sharp edges ✕ ✕ ✕
Sturdiness of stand and hinges Average Average Good
Slide-resistant base ✓ ✓ ✓
Warranty & Support
Period of warranty (years) 3 1 3
Number of authorised service centres 60 13 40
Number of cities where service centres are present 60 13 38
* Prices are indicative and are subject to change, taxes extra
INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP | OCTOBER 2006
 TFT COMPARISON | HARDWARE 65

12 13 14 15 16
19-inch
Asus PM17TU TCL 7005L12 Asus PW201 ViewSonic VX2235WM ViewSonic VP920B
ASUSTeK Computer Inc TTE Corporation ASUSTeK Computer Inc Roop Technology Roop Technology
022-40058891 022-40080619 022-40058891 022-26681921 022-26681921
media_india@asus.com akhtar.khan@tcl.com media_india@asus.com roop@vsnl.com roop@vsnl.com
Rs 18,000 Rs 11,200 Rs 38,000 Rs 29,999 Rs 18,999

17.04 13.82 18.64 17.62 17.41

20.78 21.38 37.24 41.14 34.16
6.64 8.36 10.14 6.29 7.57
4.12 2.35 8.82 6.32 5.88
3.80 4.27 3.80 7.02 7.02
Total: 52.38 Total: 50.18 Total: 78.64 Total: 78.39 Total: 72.04

390 x 416 x 180 210 x 455 x 460 496 x 560 x 280 524 x 482 x 244 416 x 479 x 238
4.5 7 9.7 6 6.3
0.264 0.264 0.258 0.282 0.294
17 17 20 22 19
60 / 75 80 / 75 81 / 75 82 / 85 82 / 85
4:3 (Conventional) 4:3 (Conventional) 16:10 (Widescreen) 16:10 (Widescreen) 16:10 (Widescreen)
1280 x 1024 1280 x 1024 1680 x 1050 1680 x 1050 1280 x 1024
500 300 300 280 250
600:1 500:1 800:1 700:1 500:1
4 7 8 5 4
✓|✓|✕|✕|✕ ✕|✓|✕|✕|✕ ✓|✓|✓|✓|✓ ✓|✓|✕|✕|✕ ✓|✓|✕|✕|✕
✕ ✕ ✕ ✕ ✕
✕ ✕ ✕ ✕ ✕

5.0 / 5.0 2.5 / 2.5 5.0 / 5.0 5.0 / 5.0 5.0 / 5.0
3.3 / 3.3 2.2 / 2.2 5.0 / 5.0 3.3 / 3.3 5.0 / 5.0

1 1.5 3.5 5 3.5

1 1.5 3.5 5 2.5
1 2.5 5 5 5
1 1.5 3.5 3.5 1.5

3.5 2.5 2.5 5 3.5

3.5 2.5 3.5 5 3.5
2 2.5 4.3 4.3 3.8

✕ ✓ ✓ ✕ ✕
Poor Good Good Average Good
✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓
✓ ✕ ✓ ✕ ✕
✕ ✕ ✓ ✕ ✕

✕ ✕ ✓ ✕ ✕
✕ ✕ ✕ ✕ ✕
Average Average Good Good Good
✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓

3 3 3 3 3
13 26 13 102 102
13 26 13 102 102

OCTOBER 2006 | INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP

66 HARDWARE | TFT COMPARISON

SpecScan

17 18 19
CATEGORY
Name ViewSonic VA 1912WB TCL 983A AOC LM925
Contact Roop Technology TTE Corporation AOC Monitor
Phone 022-26681921 022-40080619 0124-2806116
E-mail roop@vsnl.com akhtar.khan@tcl.com jeetika@in.aocmonitor.com
Price* Rs 15,999 Rs 16,000 Rs 14,500
Overall
Features (out of 25) 16.56 14.86 15.37
Performance (out of 45) 30.08 35.93 33.15
Ergonomics (out of 10) 9.86 8.57 8.14
Build quality (out of 10) 5.00 4.85 5.88
Warranty and support (out of 10) 7.02 4.27 5.50
Overall (out of 100) Total: 68.51 Total: 68.48 Total: 68.04
Value for money (out of 5)
Features
Dimensions (WxHxD) (mm) 451 x 391 x 197 440 x 365 x 150 425 x 418 x 207
Weight (Kg) 4.5 4.8 5.9
Pixel pitch (mm) 0.285 0.289 0.294
Diagonal screen size (inches) 19 19 19
Scanning freq (Hor. KHz/Vert. Hz) 82 / 85 80 / 76 83 / 75
Screen aspect ratio 16:10 (Widescreen) 16:10 (Widescreen) 4:3 (Conventional)
Optimal resolution 1440 x 900 1440 x 900 1280 x 1024
Brightness (Cd/sq.mt) 280 300 270
Contrast Ratio 700:1 500:1 500:1
Response time (ms) 8 8 8
Video input (DVI, D-sub, RGB, S-video, Composite) ✓|✓|✕|✕|✕ ✓|✓|✕|✕|✕ ✓|✓|✕|✕|✕
HDTV capable ✕ ✕ ✕
Integrated TV Tuner ✕ ✕ ✕
Performance
Viewing Angle (out of 5)
40 degrees (right/left) 4.2 / 4.2 3.0 / 3.0 5.0 / 5.0
80 degrees (right/left) 3.0 / 3.0 2.2 / 2.2 3.3 / 3.3
Colour Gradation (out of 5)
Red Gradation 3.5 5 5
Green Gradation 1.5 5 3.5
Blue Gradation 5 5 5
Black to White Gradation 1.5 5 2.5
Response Time (out of 5)
White bouncing square 3.5 3.5 2.5
Horizontally moving RGB blocks 3.5 3.5 2.5
Pixel Persistence Analysis 3 3 2.5
Ergonomics
Functions clearly described ✓ ✓ ✓
All buttons and switches easily reachable Good Good Good
Brightness/contrast separate from OSD ✓ ✕ ✕
Concealed cables ✓ ✕ ✕
Feathertouch buttons ✕ ✕ ✕
Build quality
Ease of swivel ✕ ✕ ✓
Presence of sharp edges ✕ ✕ ✕
Sturdiness of stand and hinges Good Average Average
Slide-resistant base ✕ ✓ ✓
Warranty & Support
Period of warranty (years) 3 3 3
Number of authorised service centres 102 26 60
Number of cities where service centres are present 102 26 60
* Prices are indicative and are subject to change, taxes extra
INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP | OCTOBER 2006
 TFT COMPARISON | HARDWARE 67

20 21 22 23 24
LG Flatron L1950SQ ViewSonic VG2021M Samsung SyncMaster 940BW HP L1906 VU 19W1
LG Electronics India Pvt Ltd Roop Technology Samsung India Electronics Pvt Ltd Rashi Peripherals Pvt Ltd VU Suite
0120-2560900 022-26681921 011-41511234 022-67090909 022-64502424
shopping3@lgindia.com roop@vsnl.com v.mittal@samsung.com navinderc@rptechindia.com info@technologies.vu
Rs 18,990 Rs 19,999 Rs 16,500 Rs 19,990 Rs 13,000

15.48 16.26 16.85 14.64 15.64

29.25 31.13 28.88 25.05 24.68
8.14 6.00 7.57 8.64 7.07
5.59 5.88 5.15 5.88 2.50
8.75 7.02 7.83 9.44 3.80
Total: 67.22 Total: 66.28 Total: 66.27 Total: 63.66 Total: 53.69

413 x 421 x 230.5 458 x 465 x 205 439 x 327.3 x 200 422 x 427 x 203 445 x 373 x 185
5.7 8.4 5.6 5.3 5.3
0.294 0.264 0.285 0.294 0.285
19 20 19 19 19
83 / 75 82 / 76 81 / 75 83 / 76 81 / 75
4:3 (Conventional) 16:10 (Widescreen) 16:10 (Widescreen) 4:3 (Conventional) 16:10 (Widescreen)
1280 x 1024 1400 x 1050 1440 x 900 1280 x 1024 1440 x 900
300 300 300 250 250
700:1 500:1 500:1 500:1 500:1
8 8 4 12 8
✕|✓|✕|✕|✕ ✓|✓|✕|✕|✕ ✓|✓|✕|✕|✕ ✕|✓|✕|✕|✕ ✓|✓|✕|✕|✕
✕ ✕ ✕ ✕ ✕
✕ ✕ ✕ ✕ ✕

5.0 / 5.0 5.0 / 5.0 5.0 / 5.0 3.3 / 3.3 2.5 / 2.5
2.5 / 2.5 5.0 / 5.0 3.3 / 3.3 2.5 / 2.5 2.2 / 2.2

3.5 2.5 3.5 1.5 2.5

2.5 2.5 2.5 1.5 2.5
2.5 3.5 3.5 3.5 3.5
2.5 2.5 2.5 1.5 2.5

2.5 3.5 2.5 3.5 2.5

2.5 2.5 2.5 3.5 2.5
3.5 3 2 2.5 2

✓ ✕ ✕ ✓ ✓
Good Poor Good Good Average
✕ ✓ ✓ ✕ ✕
✓ ✕ ✓ ✕ ✓
✕ ✕ ✕ ✕ ✕

✓ ✕ ✕ ✕ ✕
✕ ✕ ✕ ✕ ✕
Poor Good Average Good Average
✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✕

3 3 3 3 3
250 102 140 400 13
120 102 120 100 13

OCTOBER 2006 | INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP

68 HARDWARE | PRODUCT OF THE MONTH
Blue-eyed babies
Our products of the month this time are based on the new optical drive
technology—Blu-ray. We take a look at how it works and follow it up with
comprehensive reviews
T
he need to archive large amounts
of data is a common requirement
for organizations and individuals
alike as access to data becomes simple
and speedy. While organizations have a
distinct need for large capacity storage
for backup of server as well as client data,
such storage requirements are not always
justified for casual users. With the increase
in broadband penetration as well as
significant changes in the entertainment
industry, high storage space requirements
are slowly going to become mainstream.
Optical storage consisted only of CD
media in a not so distant past and the use
of DVD media is getting common with
the decrease in prices of DVD writers
and media. This month we were part of
another breakthrough in optical storage
technology with Sony’s launch of Blu-ray
enabled devices in India—an optical
storage writer and a notebook featuring
Blu-ray technology.
Jagdish Limbachiya
What is Blu-ray?
Blu-ray is the next-generation technology
in optical storage after VHS, CD and
DVD. The Blu-ray standard was jointly
developed by a group of consumer
electronics and PC companies called
the Blu-ray Disc Association (BDA),
spearheaded by Sony. It is designed
for high-density storage of high-
definition video and data. It is currently
competing with the HD DVD format for
wide adoption as the preferred next
generation optical standard.
How Blu-ray works
A Blu-ray drive looks and works in
traditionally the same way as any other
optical drive. The difference is that
Blu-ray drives use a violet-blue laser to
read data from an optical drive media
rather then the infrared light that is used
by CDs and red laser light used by DVD
writers. The violet-blue color falls into
the higher frequency segment in the
visible spectrum of light, thus resulting
in a lower wavelength (refer to box).
The wavelength of the laser used in
Blu-ray drives is 405 nm. To put it into
perspective, a CD drive uses an infrared
laser operating at a wavelength of
780 nm while a DVD drive uses a red laser
operating at a wavelength of 650 nm.
So, as we can see, using a light source
that has a lower wavelength causes a
smaller laser beam. This is advantageous
because it can focus better at a point on
the media surface from a fixed distance
as the wave travels faster and hits the
surface before it disperses. Thus the
light ray used in a Blu-ray drive is more
accurate in pinpointing a particular
area on the media surface. As the
focusing capability gets finer, media
manufacturers can increase the track
pitch (refer to box) on the media thus
increasing the media’s storage capacity.
INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP | OCTOBER 2006

Advantages of Blu-ray
Size
The Blu-ray drive comes in a five-and-a
quarter inch form factor which is the same
as other optical storage devices like CD or
DVD. This means that your Blu-ray drive
will look and feel the same as any other
optical drive. It will seamlessly integrate
itself into the drive bay of PC cabinet or
even a laptop. A Blu-ray media supports
the 12 cm form factor and also has a
thickness of 1.2 mm, the same as a CD or
DVD media.
Storage capacity
Even though the Blu-ray disc supports the
same form factor as a CD or a DVD disc, it
supports a whopping capacity of 25 GB on
a single layer disk. This means that you can
store up to 5 DVDs or 32 CDs worth of data
on a single Blu-ray disc.
Copy protection and digital rights
management
The movies that are distributed on a DVD
media use an encryption system called
CSS (Content Scrambling System). This
encryption system has been defeated
thus allowing users to decode (rip) the
contents of a DVD movie. This has been
taken a step further in Blu-ray which uses
AACS (Advanced Access Content System)
which makes use of stronger encryption
algorithms like AES (Advanced Encryption
Standard). The AACS standard provisions
each individual player with a unique
set of decryption keys which are used
in a broadcast encryption scheme. This
approach allows licensors to “revoke”
the decryption keys associated with the
player. Thus, if a given player’s keys are
The transition from infrared to blue laser
leads to higher storage capacity
OCTOBER 2006 | INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP
compromised by an attacker, the licensing
authority can simply revoke those keys in
future content, making the keys/player
useless for decrypting new titles. So you
cannot rip the BD content like a DVD
content unless the encryption scheme is
compromised. Blu-ray discs will also have
the capability to add information at a
physical level (called ROM-Mark in case of
Blu-ray) which makes it difficult to make
carbon copies of the media. This helps
reduce piracy.
Performance
With the use of a violet-blue light, the
track densities can be increased and more
data can be stored in the same form factor
of an optical disc. Blu-ray drives perform
the read/write operations using Constant
Linear Velocity allowing them to sustain a
constant throughput rate. This would not
result in any artifacts or distortions while
watching a Blu-ray movie, for example.
Disadvantages of Blu-ray
Costs of drive and media
Just like it happens with any new
technology, the initial costs are always
high. The Blu-ray drive includes two lasers
instead of the single laser system used in
CD and DVD drives. This is done in order to
facilitate backward compatibility with the
existing CD and DVD optical media. This
increases the production cost due to the use
of additional hardware. The production of
Blu-ray disc will involve more cost, because
the companies will have to add equipment
for the cover layer. Also, because the Blu-ray
media use a completely different design,
their production is not on the lines of a CD
or DVD media.
The distance between two consecutive
troughs or crests is called Wavelength
SMS us!
PRODUCT OF THE MONTH | HARDWARE 69
| Jargon
Wavelength
We all know that light is a form of
electromagnetic waves. Like any other
wave, light travels in the form of a sine
wave. The distance (measured in the
direction of propagation) between two
points in the same phase in consecutive
cycles of a wave is called wavelength.
Track Pitch
The data track of an optical disc is a
spiral starting from the center of the
disc; The distance (in micro meters)
between the two intersection points on
the concentric rows starting from the
center of the circle is known as track
pitch. When the track pitch is reduced,
it means that the distance between the
concentric rows is lower and that the
resulting track is much longer, thus you
can store more data.
Disc and data reliability
The cover layer of the Blu-ray disc is very
thin measuring 0.1 mm compared to the
0.6 mm coating of a CD or DVD media.
This makes the Blu-ray discs more prone
to damage from scratches and smudges.
To overcome this limitation, an extra layer
of protective material needs to be added
to the Blu-ray disc, which in turn increases
the cost of the media.
Last word
Blu-ray drives are the next step in optical
storage. Now that the Blu-ray drives are
a reality, we will be able to see 1080p
high-definition movies on our computer
systems. Also, with HD cameras becoming
more mainstream, a two-hour movie can
be recorded on the Blu-ray medium. This
can be used in Blu-ray players and you can
view high definition movies on your plasma
or LCD TV. We would also like to add that
Blu-ray media is not as easily available as a
CD or a DVD disc. Also, the cost of the media
is Rs 1,000; instead one can buy six DVDs
at a total price of Rs 120 to store equal
amounts of data. In future when prices
of the drives and media plummet and the
media becomes mainstream, Blu-ray might
be a good storage alternative.
Story code: HPM (See Page 20 for details)
70 HARDWARE | PRODUCT OF THE MONTH
Sony VAIO VGN-AR18GP
Notebook
The Sony VAIO VGN-AR18GP desktop
replacement notebook is the first to
use the next generation Blu-ray optical
drive.
Features
Powered by the dual core Intel Centrino
Duo T2600 processor (Yonah) running
at 2.16 GHz, it has enough horsepower
to play your high-definition movie
content. It features 1 GB of DDR2
memory which is pretty much standard
for all entertainment desktops. Another
striking feature of this laptop is the
Nvidia Gforce Go 7600GT graphics card
that comes with 256 MB of memory
making it a complete gaming system.
The 1920x1200 high resolution
facilitates playing 1080p HD video.
With three USB 2 ports, a mini FireWire
and an ExpressCard/54 slot catering
for modern peripherals. A media card
reader supporting memory stick and SD
formats are in the front, and a 0.37-
megapixel webcam is hidden in the top
bezel of the screen. The HDCP-compliant
HDMI output is welcome, and there’s
also S-Video in/out and a VGA output.
Connectivity options include a 10/100
Ethernet, a 56K modem, Bluetooth
and an 802.11a/b/g wireless LAN. We
were not so impressed with the audio
capability of the speakers built into this
notebook. It lacked in quality sound
effects like bass, treble; considering it is
an entertainment notebook, Sony could
have done better.
A red and a blue laser ensures the Blu-ray
drive is backward compatible
Sony VAIO VGN-AR18GP
Specifications: Processor: Intel Core Duo T2600,
Memory: 1 GB PC4200, Hard drive: 75 GB, Optical
drive: 2x Blu-ray writer, Graphics: Nvidia Gforce Go
7600 256 MB, Display : 17-inch TFT, Dimensions
(WxDxH mm): 416 x 300 x 44, Weight: 3.8 kg
Price Rs 1,99,900
Contact Sony India
Phone
E-mail
1800-11-11-88 (Toll Free)
sonyindia.care@ap.sony.com
Website www.sony.com
Warranty 1 year
RATINGS
Performance
Value for money
Build quality
The first thing that catches your eye
when you look at the notebook is
its massive size. The size is justified
considering its massive 17-inch TFT wide
screen. Picture quality on the LCD is crisp
and crystal clear. The notebook is black,
complemented with a glossy finish.
Although this provides for good looks,
it is prone to smudges. It weighs a good
3.8 kg, so you will have a good exercise
carrying it around. The expansion slots
are neatly covered with a series of flaps
coated with a metallic finish.
Performance
We were quite impressed with the
performance of the VAIO. In our
performance tests, the Sisoft Sandra CPU
arithmetic benchmark score was at par
with that of most high-end notebooks
(it recorded scores of 14,732 Dhrystones
and 10,864 Whetstones). The heavy
duty processor underperformed in the
battery mode, which made watching HD
movies a impossible task. The filesystem
benchmark crossed the 50 MB/s mark—a
result of two 5400 rpm drives configured
in RAID 0, which was pretty impressive.
A record score of 5126 3D Marks ensured
top spot in graphics. It meant that we
could play Doom 3 at decent framerates,
at 1600x1200 resolution with 4x anti-
aliasing enabled. It provided about an
hour and 10 minutes of battery life—way
too low for watching HD movies.
Verdict
The Sony VAIO VGN-AR18GP retails
Sony BWU-100A Blu-ray writer
Specifications: Interface : Internal ATAPI/E-IDE,
Read/Write Speed: BD-R/BD-RE/BD-ROM (2x),
DVD+R/DVD-R/DVD-ROM (8x), DVD+RW/DVD-RW :
(8x/6x), DVD-DL/DVD-RAM (4x/5x)
Price Rs 44,300
Contact Rashi Peripherals Pvt Ltd
Phone
E-mail
022 67090909
navinderc@rptechindia.com
Website www.sony.com
Warranty 1 year
RATINGS
Performance
Value for money
for Rs 1,99,900. Like most other Sony
notebooks, it is priced very high.
However, it is future proof and you are
left in awe the moment you see a HD
movie on it.
Sony BWU-100A Blu-ray
writer
Features
The BWU-100A drive supports recording
both 50 GB and 25 GB BD-R (write once)
and BD-RE (rewritable) discs, as well as
4.7 GB DVD+R/+RW/RAM, 8.5GB DVD+R
Dual Layer, and CD-R/-RW discs. Sony
bundles the Cyberlink suite along with
the drive that can be used to view HD
quality movies and a Blu-ray mastering
software to write to the Blu-ray writable
and rewritable disks.
Performance
The drive was able to copy 23.3 GB data
on a single sided Blu-ray disk in about 47
minutes at 2x speeds. This means that
the drive can write at a speed of about
8.44 MBps which is equivalent to that of
a 12x DVD writer but slower than recent
writers that can write to DVD media at
speeds of about 12 MBps.
Verdict
At a whopping price of Rs 44,300, we feel
this writer is not meant for the average
user. It instead aimed at studio editors
who need lots of storage space for
editing HD movies. 
| Kunal Rupera
INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP | OCTOBER 2006
Gaming
No matter what your budget, arm yourself with these configurations for firepower
to enjoy your favorite games
CATEGORY ENTRY-LEVEL PRICE (Rs) MID-RANGE PRICE (Rs)

Processor AMD Athlon 64 3200+ (Socket AM2) 5,750 AMD Athlon 64 X2 3600+ (Socket AM2) 8,600

Motherboard ASRock AM2V890-VSTA 3,800 MSI K9N NeoF 4,900

RAM 512 MB Transcend DDR2 533 MHz 2,900 2x512 MB Transcend DDR2 533 MHz 5,800

Hard Disk Samsung SpinPoint HD160JJ 3,350 Western Digital WD3200KS 320 GB 6,000

Graphics Card Forsa 7600GS PCI-E 256 MB 7,500 BIG 7600GT-T2D256E 256 MB 10,700

Optical Drive Lite-On SHW-1635S Dual Layer DVD Writer 2,300 Lite-On SHW-1635S Dual Layer DVD Writer 2,300

Network Card Onboard 10/100 Fast Ethernet Nil Onboard 10/100/1000 GbE Nil

Monitor Samsung SyncMaster 740N 11,250 ViewSonic VP920B 18,999

Keyboard Microsoft Wired Desktop 500 - Combo 825 Microsoft Internet Keyboard 650

Mouse — Nil Logitech MX510 2,500

Speakers 2.1 Logitech X-230 3,300 Altec Lansing MX5021 7,100

Speakers 5.1 Logitech X-530 5,900 Logitech Z-5300 11,000

Soundcard Creative Sound Blaster Live 5.1 1,550 Creative Sound Blaster Audigy 2 Value 24-bit 2,000

PC Case Blues MF-421 Case and Power Supply 1,375 Cooler Master Elite 330 3,000

Power Supply — Nil PowerSafe 400 Watts 1,600

Disclaimer: We’ve mentioned the lowest street prices here. These prices are indicative and subject to change.

INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP | OCTOBER 2006

 Workstation
No animation or imaging application is too
strenuous for this configuration
HIGH-END PRICE (Rs) CATEGORY PRODUCT PRICE (Rs)

AMD Athlon 64 X2 4200+ (Socket AM2) 14,500 Processor Intel Core 2 Duo E6700 27,500

Asus M2N32 SLI Deluxe 18,000 Motherboard Gigabyte GA-965P-DQ6 16,400

2 x 512 MB Kingston KHX6400D2K2/1G 800 MHz 14,500 RAM 2x1 GB Transcend DDR2 533 MHz 5,800

Seagate ST3750640AS 23,200 Hard Drive Western Digital Raptor 1500ADFD 150 GB 15,000

XFX GeForce 7950GX2 38,000 Graphics Card Leadtek Quadro FX 540 128 MB 9,750

Optical Drive Lite-On SHW-1635S Dual Layer DVD 2,300

Lite-On SHW-1635S Dual Layer DVD Writer 2,300
Writer

On-board 10/100/1000 GbE Nil Network Card Onboard 10/100/1000 GbE Nil

ViewSonic VG2021M 19,999 Monitor Viewsonic P97F+ 18,600

Logitech G-15 Gaming Keyboard 4,850 Keyboard Microsoft Internet Keyboard 650

Logitech MX518 2,500 Mouse Logitech MX510 2,500

Klipsch Promedia GMX A-2.1 11,150 Speakers 5.1 Logitech Z-5500 Digital 23,000

Logitech Z-5500 Digital 23,000 Soundcard Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Elite Pro 27,000

Creative Sound Blaster Audigy 4 5,800 PC Case Antec Performance P180 Silver 9,950

Antec Super Lanboy 5,500 Power Supply Cooler Master iGreen 500W 6,900

Cooler Master iGreen 500W 6,900 Input Device Wacom Graphire4 Tablet 6 x 8 9,000
(Optional)

OCTOBER 2006 | INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP

SMS us! Story code: HPC (See Page 20 for details)

74 HARDWARE | PC
PRODUCT
CONFIGS
OF THE MONTH

Home
This is your no-frills, wallet-friendly
HTPC
If it’s home theater you crave, this
configuration for basic home computing system will deliver serious thrills
CATEGORY PRODUCT PRICE (Rs) CATEGORY PRODUCT PRICE (Rs)

Processor AMD Sempron 64 2800+ (Socket AM2) 3,100 Processor AMD Athlon 64 3200+ (Socket AM2) 5,750

Motherboard ASRock AM2V890-VSTA 3,800 Motherboard MSI K9NGM2 with SPDIF In/Out 4,350

RAM 512 MB Transcend DDR2 533 MHz 2,900 RAM 2x512 MB Transcend DDR2 533 MHz 5,800

Hard Drive Hitachi DeskStar 7K80 80 GB 2,300 Hard Drive Western Digital WD2500KS 250 GB 4,650

Graphics Card XFX GeForce 6200 TC 256MB 2,500 Graphics Card Onboard Graphics Nil

Optical Drive Lite-On SHW-1635S Dual Layer DVD Writer 2,300 Optical Drive Lite-On SHW-1635S Dual Layer DVD Writer 2,300

Network Card Onboard 10/100 Fast Ethernet Nil Network Card Onboard 10/100/1000 GbE Nil

Monitor Samsung SyncMaster 793S CRT 5,000 Monitor ViewSonic VX2235WM 29,999

Microsoft Wireless Optical Desktop

Keyboard Microsoft Wired Desktop 500 - Combo 825 Keyboard 1,600
1000 - Combo

Mouse — Nil Mouse — Nil

Speakers 5.1 Logitech X-530 5,900
Speakers (Entry-level, Logitech Z-5300e 11,000
Creative SBS240 500
Stereo 2.0 Mid-range, Logitech Z-5500 Digital 23,000
High-end)
Speakers
Creative SBS370 1,250
Stereo 2.1 Soundcard Creative Sound Blaster Audigy 2,100
Value 24-bit
Soundcard Onboard Nil PC Case Cooler Master Media 260 8,950

PC Case Blues MF-421 Case and Power Supply 1,375 Power Supply Cooler Master Extreme Power 350 2,100

Power Supply — Nil TV Tuner Compro VideoMate Gold Plus II 3,500

| Anand Tuliani and Kunal Rupera

INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP | OCTOBER 2006

The physics
of PhysX
We put Asus’ Ageia PhysX P1 card to the
grind to find out whether it spices up your
gaming experience
A
step ahead of graphics cards, PhysX cards
enhance the visual aspect of games with
more realistic details. As of now there
are only two players offering these cards—BFG
Technologies and Asus in partnership with Ageia.
We got our hands on Asus’ PhysX P1 Physics
Processing Unit (PPU) with 128 MB of memory. The
256 MB version is yet to be launched.
So what is a PPU and how do we use it? The
Central Processing Unit (CPU) or the processor
takes care of all the complicated computations
for any application to run smoothly. The Graphical
Processing Unit (GPU) or the graphics card was
invented to take the load off the CPU and make
it a standalone controller for graphics. The GPU
comes handy in running all graphics-heavy
| Specifications Chart
Processor Type
Bus Technology
Memory Interface
Memory Capacity
Memory Bandwidth
Effective Memory Data Rate
Peak Instruction Bandwidth
Sphere-Sphere collision/sec
Pramod Jadhav
Convex-Convex collision/sec
OCTOBER 2006 | INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP
FEATURE | HARDWARE 75
applications such as games, video and photo
editing software. It accelerates memory-intensive
work such as texture mapping and rendering
polygons. It adds units to accelerate geometric
calculations such as translating vertices into
different coordinate systems to control the
physics aspect of games. But now with the advent
of the PPU, the physics aspect is taken care of and
the load on the GPU is lessened.
The PPU has approximately 125 million
transistors and is based on the 130nm
manufacturing process. The memory used is the
GDDR3 RAM with 733 MHz speed. It has 20G
instruction/second data transfer speed and 2
Tbps internal memory bandwidth, which is way
higher than a high-end GPU with not more than
AGEIA PhysX
32-bit PCI 3.0 Interface
128-bit GDDR3 memory architecture
128 MB
12 GB/sec
733 MHz
20 billion instructions/sec
530 million max
533,000 max
SMS us! Story code: HFP (See Page 20 for details)
76 HARDWARE | FEATURE

xxxxxxxxx | Upcoming Games

Here are the games based on the Ageia
Physics engine:
Joint Task Force
Rise of Nations: Rise of Legends
xxxxxxxxx
Diabolique
Alpha Prime
Cell Factor
Fallen Earth

x
xxxxxxxxxxxx Bet on Soldier: Blood Sport
Thanks to the PhysX card, controlling Blow away all the objects and watch the
Gunship Apocalypse
objects is a cakewalk in Cell Factor superb effects
Sacred II
With PhysX Card (fps) Without PhysX Card (fps) Crazy Machine 2
GRAW 48.36 48.2 Unreal Tournament 2007
F.E.A.R 75 75 Arena Online
Eye of the Storm
Doom 3 130.2 130

350 Gbps internal memory bandwidth. It
occupies one PCI slot of your motherboard.
While testing we realized that there was an
increase in the total power requirement of
the test rig with the physics card. The test rig
we used consisted of an AMD Athlon 64 FX
60 processor with 2 GB DDR2 RAM and an
Nvidia GeForce 7800GTX 256 MB graphics
card. The card has pretty good cooling
features with a 2.5 cm fan and a heat sink
directly placed on the PPU.
When it comes to graphics, this card is
a delight—whenever an explosion occurs,
you can see flying debris all around. While
it would be great to navigate through the
debris created, here it disappears quickly
enough so as to reduce the load on the GPU.
The card bundles two games, Tom
Clancy’s Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter
(GRAW) and a demo of Cell Factor. It is
mandatory to have the physics accelerator
card to play Cell Factor, which has some
really good particle effects and mind-
blowing graphics. The game is a futuristic

INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP | OCTOBER 2006


Visual effects are enhanced with the PhysX
card as you can see in this shot from GRAW
shooter whose one demo map is replete
with boxes, pipes, and other objects that
behave like their real-life counterparts.
Boxes scatter and explode when hit by
grenades, heavy rolling pipes attack you;
thanks to the telekinetic abilities, you can
hurl yourself and plenty of objects around
the map. What really catches your attention
in this game are not effects, but the number
of objects that are in your control; it’s a big
leap in game developing, undoubtedly.
In case of the other game GRAW, you can
play it with or without physics acceleration.
OCTOBER 2006 | INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP
In-game explosions look tamer without
the PhysX card
In-game explosions look more realistic, with
bricks falling off buildings and exploding
cars with physics acceleration turned on.
Without physics acceleration, the explosions
look a little tamer (see screenshot below).
Except for this little detailed effect, there’s
not much to talk about this card as of now.
We calculated the fps with and without the
card for this game and from the readings
we obtained, we came to the conclusion
that there’s hardly any difference between
the two. Without the card, the average fps
was 48.2 and with the card it was 48.4.
FEATURE | HARDWARE 77
We tested the PPU at different resolutions
(the highest resolution that the 7800GTX
card supports is 1360x786 at 75 Hz), at
1250x1024 and 1024x768 at 75 Hz and the
game ran without any hitches. However, we
noticed that there were lags in the game
with the card rather than without.
We tried testing the card with some
older games like Doom 3, F.E.A.R., etc. But
since these games don’t support the physics
engine of this card, there was no visible
difference in the gameplay as is evident
from the table below, which shows the fps
of the games we tested, with and without
the PhysX card. However, a slew of games
tailor-made for this card are in the pipeline
(refer to box above).
As this card is pretty expensive
(Rs 16,950 with the game bundled and
Rs 15,500 without it) and requires you to
have a high-end graphics card installed
along with a game that supports the card’s
physics engine, we don’t recommend as it
does not make any tangible difference to
your gaming experience. 
| Faheem Sayed
78 HARDWARE | TECHNOLOGY LANDSCAPE
Gorgeous Graphics
Want a more realistic gaming experience? Pick from this guide to graphics cards
Entry-level
Models: ATI Radeon X1300 Pro, Nvidia GeForce 7300
GS, S3 Graphics Chrome S27
Budget: Rs 3,500 – Rs 5,500
T his category of graphics card is mainly
aimed at users who are casual gamers
and who don’t want eye candy and enhanced
performance for the games they play. The
cards here don’t have support for DVI-I and
have a lower number of pipelines, which
are not more than four in this category.
Most of these cards support Direct X 9.0c
and so will play most of the games but at
a lower resolution. In this category the
GeForce 7300 GS is the best option as this
card uses the GeForce chipset. For its price it
pumps out a lot of power with good cooling
options and overclocking capability.
This card supports Microsoft’s DirectX
9.0 and uses Shader Model 3.0 which enables
stunning and complex special effects.
If you are a die hard ATI fan then the ATI
Radeon X1300 Pro is what you should
look out for. In the performance quarters
this card lags all the way even with
256 MB of memory. It does not support
video capture.
So if you a casual gamer who doesn’t
want to spend too much then go ahead and
give the Nvidia 7300 GS a chance, you will
not regret it.
SMS us! Story code: HTL (See Page 20 for details)
Mid-range
Models: XFX 6600GT, PowerColor X800GTO,
Gainward 1980PCX Ultra.
Budget: Rs 5,500 – Rs 15,000
T he mid-range category of cards will
give you good performance and some
features at a reasonably good price. This
category normally has 12 or more pipelines
with Shader 3.0 version support. These cards
also have support for D-Sub/DVI/S-Vid. Of
all the cards in this category, the Nvidia
6600GT delivers a superb performance.
The 6600 GT is one out of a handful of
cards to support Nvidia’s SLI technology. SLI
stands for Scalable Link Interface and allows
boards which support the technology to
utilize two similar video cards in tandem
to improve the graphics performance.
The 6600GT supports Shader version 3.0
and supports GDDR3. This is a PCI-e card
with ample cooling. The other card in
this category is the PowerColor X800 GTO.
Also a PCI-e card, it is based on the X800
GTO chipset.
The core speed of the card though is just
400 MHz. It supports the Shader version
2.0 and has support for only DDR memory.
The XFX 6600GT is the best card for under
Rs 15k. If you want great performance
at a reasonably good price, this is the card
you need.
High-end
Models: XFX GeForce 7950 GX2, GeCube Radeon
X1900 XTX
Budget: Above Rs 18,000
A modern high-end graphics card is an
extremely complex device as it consists
of an immense number of transistors
and has to provide stable operation at
frequencies above 500-600 MHz. The
power consumption of such a card should
also be as minimal as possible. These cards
have commendable cooling features not
present in the entry-level and mid-range
cards. These cards also offer a wide range
of overclocking options.
The XFX GeForce 7950 GX2 is the newest
entrant in this category. It possesses
tremendous power and comes at a more
jaw-dropping price. The card comes
factory-overclocked and has a completely
different design. It is actually two GeForce
7950 video cards coupled together. So it has
two GPUs and a total of 1 GB of DDR3 video
memory. Each GPU found on GeForce 7950
GX2 normally runs at 500 MHz accessing its
memory at 1.2 GHz.
So if you are an avid gamer and
price is not an issue and you like your
cards overclocked then go for the GeForce
7950 GX2. ■
| Faheem Sayed
INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP | OCTOBER 2006

Lost in modulation
S
ony ex-chairman Akio Morita enjoyed
listening to his Walkman while playing
tennis. Back in 1979, the Walkman player
was a hit because it offered both portability and
hi-fidelity audio. But the late Mr Morita wouldn’t
have enjoyed his music on an airplane.
On a flight to Europe in 1978, Dr Amar Bose was
trying hard to appreciate the music on his standard
issue airline headphone. But the soft notes were
overwhelmed by the roar of the engines. And Bose
wondered if headphones could actually reduce
noise. Back-of-the-envelope calculations on that
flight indicated it was possible. That led to Bose
Corporation to set up an entire research group
dedicated to noise reduction technology. It was
only after a whole decade of research that the first
Bose Acoustic Noise Cancelling headset was ready.
When products with such technology emerged
from research labs and went commercial, prices
were prohibitively high. But in recent months prices
have steadily fallen. If noise canceling headphones
challenge your budget, then consider the more
affordable earphones with sound-isolating designs.
Serious music enthusiasts are investing in noise-
canceling technology. In fact, the technology is
aimed at those who listen to music while traveling.
Some airlines have taken note and offer noise-
canceling headphones on-board.
Noise canceling technology is available in two
forms: Active and Passive. Active noise-canceling
headphones are obviously more expensive.
Headphones with active noise cancellation
have special circuitry that generates a counter
signal to cancel surrounding noise. Naturally,
these headphones are battery-powered.
Light, rechargeable batteries ensure that such
Signal cancellation
Ambient noise
Phase-inverted signal
Signal cancellation
A 180 degree inverted signal is created to
neutralize the low frequencies or noise
OCTOBER 2006 | INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP
PERSONAL TECHNOLOGY | HARDWARE 79
headphones are comfortable to wear over
extended periods. But it’s the circuitry within the
ear piece that deserves all the credit.
Here’s a technical explanation of how active
noise cancellation works. Miniature microphones
in the headset pick up both ambient sounds as
well as music coming through the headphones.
It is assumed that most noise occurs at the low
frequencies. So the mid- and high-frequency
sounds are immediately filtered out of the signal,
| Brian Pereira
allowed to pass through, and you hear them. brian.pereira@chip-india.com
The circuitry in the headset analyses the low
frequencies in real time, and applies a technique
called ‘phase inversion.’ A 180 degree inverted
signal (see graph) is created. This neutralizes the
frequencies, though not entirely, because you do
Earphones with
need to listen to low frequencies in the music (bass sound isolating
sounds). And that’s how the noise in the headset
technology can
cancels itself out. The Bose Quite Comfort series
and Sennheiser’s PXC series of headphones employ block 70 - 80
active noise cancellation. The Bose Quite Comfort percent of ambient
3 headphone (US$ 350) is now smaller and lighter
than its predecessors. It uses a rechargeable sounds. So you’ll
lithium-ion battery. The kit includes a battery hear more music
charger, case, ¼-inch stereo plug adapter, and a
five-foot extension cord.
while traveling in
Passive noise cancellation or sound-isolating an aircraft and less
technology is used in special earphones that have a
modified in-ear design. The nozzle on the ear piece
of its engine
goes deep into the ear canal. Effectively this is a ear
plug that blocks out ambient sounds, but directs
sound from its tiny speaker deep into the ear canal.
So you only hear the music. The Shure E series
earphones (see picture on the right) have sound
isolating designs. Earphones with sound isolating
technology can block 70 - 80 percent of ambient
sounds. This means you’ll hear only the music while
traveling in an aeroplane, and less noise from its The Shure E5c earphone
employs sound isolating
engine. But be ready to spend anything between
technology to keep out
US$ 100 - 550 for these high-tech earphones. ambient sounds
Noise cancellation and sound-isolating
headphones cannot block out 100 percent ambient
sounds. But they significantly improve the listening
experience, especially while commuting. These
products are not yet mainstream; for now they are
only for enthusiasts. The Bose Quite Comfort 3
The writer has been tracking personal technology headphone employs active
noise cancellation technology
for the past 12 years
80 HARDWARE | INFOGRAPHICS

Satellite TV
You won’t need cable operators to watch your
favorite TV shows anymore, which means no
disturbance and no deprivation

I t’s rare to find a home today without a

television. For those of you who want
more than what the television offers
can choose the alternative broadcast
system—satellite TV. Today you can bypass
your cable operator and still watch your
favorite soaps or news or sports channels.
Programs can directly reach your TV set
from satellite TV service providers and
enjoy shows without compromising on the
picture and sound quality.
You might still remember television
broadcast containing fuzzy images and
unclear sound decades ago. Those were
the days of analog broadcasting (where
electromagnetic waves travel in a straight
line beamed from a distant location in a
city). Here in India, this transmitting tower
as well the content generated from it was
under the control of Doordarshan. The
problem that Doordarshan encountered
very frequently then was interference
and long distance transmission, due
to which the analog signal lost out in
quality. Besides, Doordarshan was the
only content provider, so the channels 1
were limited and there were virtually no
options to choose from.
Gradually, cable TV was introduced
and the transmission quality became
better. This was because the long distance
distribution of data was carried out with
the help of a direct cable connection to
your television sets. This experience is
poised to be further enhanced with the
advent of satellite TV.
In case of satellite TV too you receive
electromagnetic signals, but these signals
are far clearer being digital and not analog.
You will also have your own small satellite
dish which is powerful enough to accept
data beamed from a satellite in space!

1 Programming Sources 2 Compression 3 Downloading

If you follow how cable operators work,
you will realize that they don’t create any
content for broadcasting. It is channels like
HBO, Star TV or ETV who are sources for the
content you view. Your cable operator only
receives these programs and distributes
them to different homes. Similarly, in the
case of satellite television, channels like
HBO, Sony and the rest will create the digital
content and upload it to a satellite through
their own arrays of dish antennas. These
content streams are then downloaded at
the processing centers of satellite TV service
providers like Tata Sky or Dish TV. It is not
feasible to broadcast the video data directly
in an uncompressed format—the data
needs to be compressed to make optimum
use of the available bandwith and then
encrypted to ensure security. Both of these
functions happen at the processing center
of the service provider.
The data, received by the service provider,
is compressed using MPEG2 compression.
This compression procedure can bring
down the size of data stream from 270
Mbps to 5 or 10 Mbps. The compression
is done using an application called MPEG
encoder. (very similar to the process used
to encode videos on to DVDs). This encoder
scans and analyses video data, determines
irrelevant and redundant data and deletes
them to bring down the size. All of this
happens without any discernable loss
of video quality. The encoder generally
applies one of the three types of encoding
techniques to compress video data
depending upon the type of the video
content and the available bandwidth. The
satellite picks up the data signal with an
onboard dish set at receiving frequencies
that fall within the Ku band (see box). The
satellite beams back the signal to your dish.
Your home dish antenna is a regular
antenna that has just been designed in a
special way. The surface of this antenna
is parabolic in shape and has a central
receiving unit known as the feed horn.
The data signal hits the surface and
gets reflected inward due to its parabolic
shape. It is similar to the reflection of
light on a concave mirror. The reflected
signal converges towards a single
point. In this case the point is the feed
horn. The feed horn has an element
placed in its center known as low noise
breakdown converter or LNB. This LNB
amplifies the received signal and filters
out the noise (radio signals not carrying
any information). Once the signals get
amplified and filtered, the LNB sends
the signal to the receiving equipment (like
a set-top box) which is placed beside
your television.

INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP | OCTOBER 2006


Pramod Jadhav
4 to an analog signal so that the signal
The Receiver
Finally, the receiving equipment or the
receiver gets the signal and enables
the display by decrypting the signal. All
receivers have decoder chips which are
in sync with the encryption settings of
the service provider. A service provider
can even communicate with the receiver
through this decoder chip to make
necessary adjustments. This even allows
the service provider to change the
encryption settings without hampering
your viewing experience. A service provider
also sends signals to this decoder chip with
the purpose of blocking illegal usage.
Such signals disrupt the broadcasting,
if the chip used is not authorized by the
service provider.
If you connect your receiver to your
analog TV, then the receiver reads the
digital MPEG 2 format and converts it
OCTOBER 2006 | INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP
becomes compatible for viewing on
an analog device. Some receivers even
support the HDTV format. Apart from
this, the receiver even picks up program
schedule information and displays that on
the screen.
It is also capable of extracting
information from the received signal. The
signal that your dish antenna sends to your
receiver holds composite information of all
the channels that you have subscribed to.
The receiver extracts every program of the
individual channels separately and stores
them within. For example, when you
change from Star Movies to Set Max with
your remote, the signal hits the receiver
box. As the information regarding the
channel is already stored in the box, the
change takes place immediately.
However, you need to keep in mind that
your receiver can transmit only one type
SMS us!
INFOGRAPHICS | HARDWARE 81
| Ku Band
It is a portion of the electromagnetic
spectrum and it falls within microwave
range. The frequency of the waves within
this range falls between 12 GHz to 14 GHz.
Being electromagnetic, it supports
satellite-based communications.
This band allows a larger number of
transponders within an orbit. In an orbit,
360 transponders with K u band can be
placed. This allows for more data transfer.
of signal at a time. If you have two TVs
and want to watch different programs, or
want to record a program from one while
watching another, then you need to install
an additional receiver.
Many receivers have a parental lock
feature and video recorders to pause live
broadcasting and allow recording. 
| Pradosh Mitra
Story code: HIS (See Page 20 for details)
82
Software Center
I n this month’s selection of software,
we have a bouquet of some interesting
applications maintaining a fine balance
between shareware and freeware. The
collection consists of an image editor, a
sound editor, an anti-virus, a designing
software and so on. The freeware reviewed
this month are some of the best in their
respective categories and would meet your
Applications
application needs without you having to pay
a paisa for it.
The software of the month is Ulead
PhotoImpact 11, a splendid image editor
allowing you to modify images the way
you want; it even allows you to create a
new picture by adding certain tweaks. For
all you music lovers out there, we have
Adobe Audition 2.0, a sound editor that
| The Ratings Explained
The parameters used for evaluating
software are assigned a graphical rating
out of a scale of 5. These measures include
performance, features and ease of use. The
overall rating shown in the reviews is based
on all these factors.
In addition, there is a value for money rating
for each application. This rating is obtained
Jagdish Limbachiya
lets you customize your music files. On the
multimedia front, we have KaraFun—a
free karaoke application that lets you sing
while it plays music without the vocals.
SmartDraw 7 requires a special mention
as with it you can design anything from
flowcharts to certificates to scientific
diagrams. While we have given importance
to entertainment and fun this month, we
have not ignored security. Kaspersky Internet
Security is a complete security package
that ensures your computer is free from
the threats of cyberspace. Those who want
their web browsers to do more than just
browsing, we have the SeaMonkey, an all-in-
one Internet suite consisting of a browser, an
e-mail client, an IRC instant messenger and
HTML editor, all built into one.
by compiling the features and the utility of
the application against its price.
In case of freeware and shareware tools
available for downloading from the Internet,
we replace the price with the download size
(and therefore, the time taken to download
the application) for arriving at the value for
money rating.
INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP | OCTOBER 2006

For that perfect picture
T here was a time when people used to
hand-paint pictures and portraits. Then
came the printing press, which translated
hand-painted pictures into prints. But it
lacked the personal touch. Fast-forward to
the 19th century and the invention of the
camera gave photographs the much-desired
personal touch. Today with the availability
of high-resolution digital cameras and
camera phones, the concept of photography
has been revolutionized. Today every digital
camera user has a repository of pictures, but
once you have such an archive, the need to
manage all of them and also edit them the
way you want arises. Ulead PhotoImpact 11
is your answer to these needs.
To begin with, the main interface has a
simple design, with all the required menus
Object Extraction being performed on an
image to select a specific portion
OCTOBER 2006 | INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP
and tools aligned in a very user-friendly
manner. The My Workspace tab offers you
a variety of options to choose from—the
Basic Photo option displays a minimum set
of tools, the Advanced option displays all
the tools available and yet manages to keep
the workspace spacious. One of the new
features included is the Object Extraction
Wizard with the help of which you can
extract part of an image, for instance you
have a photograph of you and your friend,
crop your face in the image and paint the
area surrounding you. You can then paste
your photograph onto a different one.
Another feature worth a mention
is SmartCurves—an automatic image
adjustment that compensates for camera
response curve anomalies by using
Modify your image using the Creative
option
SMS us!
TESTED | APPLICATIONS 83
Image Editor
Ulead PhotoImpact 11
System requirements: Win 2000/XP, Pentium III
compatible or faster, 128 MB RAM (256 MB
recommended), 600 MB available hard disk space,
True color or hi-color display adapter with 800x600
resolutions or higher, CD-ROM drive
Price $89.99 (Approx Rs 4,140)
Contact Ulead Systems Inc.
Website www.ulead.com
RATINGS
Ease of use
Features
Performance
Overall Rating
Value for money
advanced HDR (High Dynamic Range)
imaging technology. PhotoImpact allows
you to use various effects on the picture,
including a slew of animation effects from
the choices available. The various choices in
the Special Effects option let you spiff up
your pictures—you can try an artistic look,
a distorted appearance and so on; basically
it lets you explore your creative skills to the
fullest. It has an improved photo browser—
as it only rescans images after they have
been edited since the last time the file was
opened, the pictures open very quickly.
The menu tools are also worth a mention
especially the undo tab allows you to undo
all of the options performed randomly
unlike the usual sequential mode. Also,
combining photos of a single scene having
dissimilar exposures can be performed. For
instance, if you have two photographs of
the same scene but shot in different lighting
conditions, you can combine both into one
using PhotoImpact 11.
PhotoImpact 11 allows you to import
pictures directly from your scanner or digital
camera onto your computer. It also allows
importing of RAW files, which is useful if
you want to work on a lossless image.
For: Simple interface; loads of features.
Against: Object extraction not up to
the mark.
Story code: SWS (See Page 20 for details)
84 APPLICATIONS | TESTED
Audio Editor
Adobe Audition 2.0
System requirements: Win XP with SP2, Pentium III
compatible processor or higher, 512 MB of RAM (1
GB recommended), 700 MB of available hard-disk
space (5.5 GB recommended), 1,024x768 display
(1280x1024 recommended), soundcard with
DirectSound or ASIO drivers
Price $299 (Approx Rs 13,800)
Contact Adobe Systems Incorporated
Website www.adobe.com
RATINGS
Ease of use
Features
Performance
Overall Rating
Value for money
Find it on
Spice up your music
“M usic is food for the soul’—If your
life revolves around this adage,
then at some point in time you are bound
to get world-weary if the food (in this case
music) is the same day in and day out. So
how about flavoring it a bit? There are
various audio applications that can make
a lot of difference to your music. But the
one that stands out in the crowd is Adobe
Audition 2.0. This application from the
Adobe stable assists you with its set of
splendid tools in adding the much-needed
spice to your music.
Also known as Cool Edit Pro, Adobe
Audition 2.0 is a complete audio
production application. It can be used
to edit, mix and process sound. It has a
flexible and user-friendly interface; you
can resize, dock, hide and recall panels
on the interface, which in turn gives you
a spacious environment to work around
with. The most interesting feature of
Audition 2.0 is its ability to display the
sound in three spectral forms (frequency
display, pan display and spectral phase) as
also in the usual waveform display.
Creating multi-track sessions is possible
in Audition 2.0. You can select tracks,
which are pre-installed and alter them or
even add new files. You can also extract
audio from video files of formats like AVI,
MPG, WMA, MOV, etc and change them
from the array of tools available.
A lot of options are available to alter the
music as per your wish. The Mastering Rack
is relatively new and is a mind-blowing
feature in Audition 2.0. It has a set of Rack
Presets, wherein you can select the plug-in
of your choice from the dropdown menu
and accordingly alter the various aspects
of the sound. In all, there are sixteen
plug-in slots provided. Additional controls
are present on the Rack interface including
Power, Pre/Post routing, Freeze Track and
Effects. Master Rack also features Dynamic
Processing, which lets you preview the
sound even while making changes to
it. The sound is graphically represented
wherein the sound can be altered by
Use the multi-band compressor to
emphasize certain parts of the track
varying the slope of the graph.
Editing and recording sound is an
effortless task in Audition 2.0. Along with
the regular clipboard and fading features,
there are others like mix paste, trim and
the mute process. But it is the effects
integrated into Audition 2.0 that had
us floored. The Time/Pitch effect offers
numerous options such as the Doppler
Shifter effect which provides various
acoustic upshots transforming the overall
sound. Another sound effect called Delay
offers a variety of options such as Chorus,
Echo and Reverb effects. The Chorus effect
offers a couple of interesting presets—for
instance, the Chaos Pits effect adds a sort
of spooky touch to the sound while the
Broken Stereo effect lends a distorted feel.
You can also create personalized presets
in all of the above mentioned effects and
save them along with the other presets.
Once you’re done with this, you can sort
the effects you regularly use and save
them under Favorites.
Overall, Adobe Audition 2.0 meets all
your expectations on sound and is a good
choice for professionals. But remember, it
is heavy on system resources.
For: Loads of features. It is very easy to
configure this application.
Against: Expensive.
INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP | OCTOBER 2006

Defragment logically
I f you create and delete files and folders
on a regular basis, it wouldn’t be
surprising if your computer’s performance
deteriorates gradually. The only way
to rectify this problem would be to
defragment your hard drive. However, if
you have a massive hard drive brimming
with data, it will take you ages to
defrag using the good old Windows
defragmenter. But with Auslogics Disk
Defrag, this task can be achieved in a
comparatively less time.
The striking feature of Auslogics Disk
Defrag is its simple interface and support
for FAT 16, FAT 32, and NTFS partitions.
Using this software is a cakewalk. The
pilot screen has a dropdown menu from
where you can select the fragmented
partition. This menu also gives you the
basic details of the partition such as the
format and the space details of the hard
drive. Once the partition is selected, the
next screen displays the operation being
Secure in cyberspace
T his is an age where everyone is
dependent on the Internet. But the
Internet is not a safe place anymore with
zillions of viruses doing the rounds of
cyberspace. Therefore there is a constant
need to keep this threat at bay. This is
where an anti-virus comes to the fore.
There are numerous Internet security
applications available but only a few have
proved their reliability. Kaspersky Internet
Security 6 is one such application. Though
it is a relatively new Internet security
application, it has strong virus, spyware,
spam, and firewall tools to compete
against established names such as Norton
Internet Security 2006 and McAfee
Internet Security Suite 2006.
Kaspersky Internet Security 6 is a
combination of an anti-virus program
and a personal firewall, along with an
anti-spyware protection program, which
makes it an excellent security suite. The
Anti-spyware succeeds in detecting and
blocking web sites that contain malware
even before the site is loaded. There is
also an anti-spam plug-in for Outlook
OCTOBER 2006 | INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP
TESTED | APPLICATIONS 85
System Utilities
Auslogics Disk Defrag 1.0
performed and the entire partition space
is explained by colored legends. There are
a couple of options, one being to pause
the defragmentation and the other to stop
it altogether. Once the defragmentation
is over, you get a detailed report of the
entire process, including details of the
fragmented files and other miscellaneous
System requirements: Windows 2000/XP, Pentium III
fragmentation details.
compatible or faster, 128 MB RAM, 10 MB available
The features of Auslogics Disk Defrag hard disk space
are quite limited. For instance, there
Price Free
is no option to analyze the disk before
Contact AusLogics Inc
defragmentation and no auto shutdown Email info@auslogics.com
after it. Website www.auslogics.com
In our tests, the application gave us RATINGS
an 8 percent increase in the computer’s Ease of use
performance. Note that this application Features
utilizes less system resources as compared Performance
to the usual Windows defragmentation Overall Rating
tool—about 8 MB memory was utilized.
Find it on CHIP CD
For: Speedy defragmentation and a simple
and easy-to-use interface.
Against: Limited features.
Internet Security
Kaspersky Internet Security 6.0
Express and The Bat!, which blocks spam
mails without any flaws.
Installing it is a cakewalk; once
you’re through with the step-by-step
wizards, it offers the option to run a virus
scan. The suite’s interface is designed
intuitively—the main screen displays the
numerous options wherein you can easily
configure the settings of the anti-virus,
System requirements: Win 98SE/Me/NT/2000/XP, Intel
anti-spyware, firewall and anti-spam. Each Pentium 300 MHz or higher, 128 MB RAM, 50 MB
of these settings have numerous options available hard disk space
under them, for instance under the firewall Price Rs 1,400
settings you can select the level of priority Contact Communication Links
you desire for any application installed Phone 022-26736767
in your PC. Overall, Kaspersky Internet Email comlinks@vsnl.com
Website www.kaspersky.com
Security is not only fast and reliable but it
also offers more updates than application RATINGS
Ease of use
suites like Norton Internet Security and
Features
McAfee Internet Security.
Performance
With loads of features, a large virus
Overall Rating
database, easy configuration, and a
Value for money
comparatively low price tag, Kaspersky
Internet Security 6 is an excellent security Find it on CHIP CD
application that you can try your hands on.
For: User friendly and reliable.
Against: None.
86 APPLICATIONS | TESTED
Internet Suite
SeaMonkey 1.0.4
No monkey business
T here existed a time when Internet
power users needed to open multiple
windows in order to surf various web sites
simultaneously. This of course resulted
in a cramped taskbar. Then came the age
of tab browsing which eased the task of
surfing. But then again there are many
users who want their browsers to do more
System requirements: Win 9x/Me/NT/2000/XP/2003,
than just basic navigation. This specific
Intel pentium class processor (233 MHz or faster
recommended), 64 MB RAM, 100 MB of free hard need has given birth to the all-in-one
disk space Internet application suite, SeaMonkey. If
Price Free
you use Mozilla products such as Firefox
Contact Mozilla Foundation web browser or Thunderbird e-mail client
Website www.mozilla.org frequently, then SeaMonkey is just the
RATINGS application you need.
Ease of use It is a multi-platform application
Features integrated with the features of a web
Performance browser, an e-mail client, an IRC chat
Overall Rating
client, and a HTML composer. Although it
Find it on CHIP CD has a lackluster interface, the navigation
features are pretty much the same as
that of Firefox; it also has the popular
Tab Browsing feature along with the
Multimedia
Sing out loud!
KaraFun 1.10
O ften while listening to our favorite
number, we begin to sing along
with the artist. But then we don’t get the
pleasure of listening to our voice only, no
matter how well our rendition is. With
KaraFun, this is possible. It is a feature-rich
karaoke application capable of displaying
the music and the lyrics of the song without
System requirements: Win 9x/Me/NT/2000/XP/2003, the vocals.
Intel pentium class processor (233 MHz or faster
Features are numerous with voice
recommended), 64 MB RAM, 100 MB of free hard
disk space
recording, Key and Tempo control in order
to control the pitch and the pace of the
Price Free
music respectively. The presence of Vocal
Contact Recisio Sas
Email support karafun.com
Reducer for MP3 files alters the vocal
website www.karafun.com effect of the music. Playlist management
RATINGS and fullscreen or windowed display is also
Ease of use present. It supports various audio and video
Features file formats such as MP3, MIDI, OGG, WMA,
Performance MPEG, AVI, KAR and KFN. The settings
Overall Rating window of KaraFun offers quite a number of
options especially associating files that are
Find it on CHIP CD
required by KaraFun in either the Karaoke
mode or the KaraFun mode. There are
settings for microphone and display as well.
The most interesting option is the Training
mode, wherein you can select the type of
easily accessible Cookie Manager and
Image Manager. Browsing experience
with SeaMonkey is comparable to Firefox.
However, it lacks many extensions and the
themes feature available in Firefox.
The e-mail client and newsgroups
features of SeaMonkey are similar to that
of Thunderbird. There is a tool to detect
phishing. Accessing mail from several
accounts in a single inbox is possible. You
can import address books mails and settings
from other e-mail clients such as Outlook,
Outlook Express and Thunderbird. ChatZilla
(an Internet Relay Chat) program is built into
SeaMonkey, which comes handy for those
who use IRC programs frequently.
The HTML editor of SeaMonkey known as
Composer provides various tools to edit the
HTML code of a web page and also to create
new ones. The inclusion of HTML tags and
HTML source makes the work easy.
For: Multi-platform; ease of use.
Against: Lackluster interface.
fonts and color so that you can get familiar
with the lyrics.
Recording sound in KaraFun is very
simple. For instance, once you connect
the microphone to the computer, you can
record your voice by simply clicking on the
record button. The recorded sound is saved
as a WAV file in the designated folder. The
built-in KaraFun editor has some excellent
features namely importing of KOK, KAR, LRC
files, support for MP3, OGG, MID and KAR
files and real-time rendering, etc. KaraFun
supports the KFN file format, which is a
compressed file containing all information
and files of the karaoke song. A single KFN
file can contain all the karaoke information
such as music, lyrics, images and sounds.
You can download KFN files for you favorite
numbers from the Internet. However, these
files are not very easily available.
Despite its glitches, KaraFun is must try
software for all music lovers, who want
to try a hand at karaoking with a little bit
of assistance.
For: Easy usage; loaded with features.
Against: KFN files not easily available.
INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP | OCTOBER 2006

Smart ideas
L ogical communication is very essential
in every aspect of life. Naturally then,
you must apply the same rule in your
presentations as well—a step-by-step
explanation of the idea you want to sell. So,
is there an application that gives you the
liberty to express your ideas logically? Yes,
SmartDraw 7 does and very aptly indeed.
It is a feature-rich drawing application
which lets you create flowcharts,
certificates, calendars, floor plans, maps,
scientific diagrams, marketing graphs,
family trees, software designs and much
more! Working with SmartDraw 7 is an
effortless task—the interface is simple to
maneuver; by selecting from the array of
built-in templates, you can simplify the
task of drawing. For instance, to create a
flowchart all you need to do is select the
Flowcharts tab and select the appropriate
template of flowchart you wish to design.
You can also make changes in the flowchart
with the help of the tools available such
Unlimited downloads
T orrent is the latest buzzword in file
sharing, fast replacing the good old FTP
clients. The latest entrant in the BitTorrent
client’s space is µTorrent 1.6. Other than
its name, which has been derived from the
Greek letter µ (spelt ‘mew’), this torrent
proves to be anything but Greek to its users.
µTorrent 1.6 has a straightforward
interface with most of the basic features
required by a BitTorrent client. It is small in
size, free and requires low system resources.
Its features include multiple simultaneous
downloads, global and per-torrent speed
limiting and easy configuration that lets
you make appropriate usage of the available
bandwidth. If a file transfer is interrupted, it
can rapidly resume the process.
The main interface of µTorrent 1.6 is
divided into three parts. On the left hand
side, the files are categorized according to
their status. For instance, it displays the
files that are currently being downloaded or
completed or whether their status is active
or inactive. The center window shows the
list of torrents in the queue and the third
window displays the information of the
OCTOBER 2006 | INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP
TESTED | APPLICATIONS 87
Presentation Tool
SmartDraw 7 Suite Edition
as the various geometrical figures. In case
you’re lost within the interface, which is
nearly impossible, the wizard on the left
hand side guides you through the usage
of the various tools. If you still encounter
problems, the ‘Show Me’ button provides
an animated illustration.
After SmartDraw 7 is installed onto your
System requirements: Win 2000/ XP, Pentium III
computer, it installs plug-ins for Microsoft
compatible or faster, 128 MB RAM (256 MB
office applications. Therefore it is possible recommended), 600 MB available hard disk
to access SmartDraw directly from Word, space, True Color or Hi-Color display adapter with
800x600 resolution or higher, CD-ROM drive
Excel or PowerPoint and import the design,
which has previously been worked upon Price $197 (Rs 9,086 approx)
in SmartDraw. You can also easily copy Contact SmartDraw
Email mail@smartdraw.com
and paste text and graphics from other
Website www.smartdraw.com
programs into your SmartDraw drawings.
RATINGS
SmartDraw 7 is an excellent design
Ease of use
application for engineers, programmers,
Features
architects, accountants, and for all those Performance
who need to communicate information Overall Rating
graphically. Value for money
For: Feature rich; user friendly.
Against: Expensive. Find it on CHIP CD
Torrent Client
µTorrent 1.6
file, the peers, and allows you to monitor
download speeds, peers and other details of
the active downloads. The download speed
is also displayed graphically.
The toolbar provides various options
such as including the torrent file in the list
and adding a torrent from an URL. It also
allows you to create your own torrent. An
RSS downloader is also present. When you System requirements: For Windows 95 (Winsock2),
98/ME, NT/2000, XP and above, Intel Pentium III
open µTorrent 1.6, it opens a speed guide
class processor or higher, 128 MB RAM, 100 MB of
wherein you can run the speed test at free hard disk space
www.dslreports.com. Also, it has loads
Price Free
of advanced features like associating with
website www.utorrent.com
.torrent files and automatically taking over
RATINGS
whenever a torrent is open. Other features
Ease of use
include skin support, file management, proxy
Features
support, UPnP port mapping and more. Performance
The Preferences window offers a Overall Rating
number of options to configure µTorrent
1.6 such as selecting the destination folder Find it on CHIP CD
for all your downloads. The configuration
for the connection can also be done from
this window.
For: Easy usage; requires low system
resources.
Against: Low on features.
 88 APPLICATIONS | FEATURE

Damn right distribution!

A minimalistic distribution that runs off a USB thumb drive and surprises you with
its super fast speed—DSL-N can make your decrepit PCs come back to life

H
aving tried our hands on Live CD
distributions like Knoppix and
Ubuntu, we became well aware of
their limitations. Such operating systems load
themselves into memory and all the data that you
have worked on is lost as soon as your system is
rebooted. If you want to store data, you will have
to connect a USB thumb drive or your hard disk.
Although storage of data is possible using a Live
CD, it does not allow you to retain your network
and application settings, browser bookmarks,
themes, desktop wallpapers, custom changes
made to configuration files, etc. It is also generally
Want to slow and takes up a large amount of system
try out resources to run with decent response times. It
provides ease of use in terms of getting used to
DAMN SMALL the system without touching your existing hard
Setup and installation
To get started with Damn Small Linux - Not, you
can either download the latest version of the .iso
from http://www.damnsmalllinux.org/dsl-n/
download.html or find it on this month’s DVD.
The entire distribution is only about 95 MB in size
and can easily fit on a 128 MB flash drive. Unlike
Feather Linux, you cannot install DSL-N directly
to a USB flash drive. Burn the iso file that you
just downloaded with your favourite CD writing
software to convert it into a Live CD. Booting off
the newly created Live CD takes you to DSL-N’s
default desktop interface system. Right click to
invoke the main menu and select “Tools | Install
to pen drive”. To install this on the USB flash
drive, select “USB ZIP pen drive”.
The Install to thumb drive menu is invoked.

LINUX?
There are ten 1 GB drives to be
won! Simply answer this question:
Who was the creator of Damn
Small Linux?
Send in your replies to
contests@chip-india.com
drive. Our quest for a solution that is not only easy
to use but can also store enough data ended with
a distribution that could run off the USB thumb
drive. After analysing a couple of options, we
zeroed down to DSL-N (Damn Small Linux-Not)
that is not only lightweight and easy to use, but
also provides a decent set of features, flexibility
and speed of an installed operating system.
Make sure that your flash drive has two
partitions for your applications, settings and
data. Also make sure that your USB flash drive
is formatted with the FAT32 file-system and
inserted directly into a USB port and not into a
USB hub. Once you are done, boot up from your
shiny new USB flash drive.

A menu inside the operating system facilitates a

easy install to the USB flash drive

Pramod Jadhav

INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP | OCTOBER 2006


The distribution booted off perfectly
on our 2.0 GHz Celeron system with 256
MB of memory. All hardware including
the graphics, network and sound was
detected and worked flawlessly. The scroll
function of the mouse worked perfectly
too. We installed it on a 500 MHz Celeron
system with 128 MB of memory and
the operating system was responsive.
Although this distribution should work
on most Intel and VIA hardware, don’t
expect it to work on your latest AM2
platform—like most other Linux
distributions, ATI chipset support is
still missing.
At the desktop
Damn Small Linux-Not features
a neat image of the sea as the
default wallpaper. The first thing
that catches the eye is the graphical
system monitoring system. The
system monitor sits on the right side
of the desktop and provides real time
information about all aspects of your
PC. Some of the information provided
includes network bandwidth, number
of active processes, CPU usage
(percentage), memory and swap
file usage, file system usage, system
uptime and battery life if the system in
question is a laptop. It also displays the
current kernel version, hostname and IP
address of the system. This information
can be particularly useful in analysing
how your system is being used. In the
lower right corner lies the master volume
control as well as the mount feature. The
mount feature is particularly useful if
you want to access storage devices like
| Note
Only get into this whole exercise if your
PC BIOS supports booting of a USB flash
device. Most motherboards will recognize
our Flash drive as an external USB ZIP
device.
OCTOBER 2006 | INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP
floppy, CD/DVD drive, another flash drive,
internal or external hard drive if attached,
etc. The lower left corner displays the
complete desktop workspace and how
objects are placed in the workspace.
Objects like forms, applications, etc can
be dragged and dropped into different
work spaces and can be accessed with
the click of a button. The top half has
easy access to a command terminal
for manual system control. It also
has shortcuts to programs that
facilitate easy management of
hardware as well as software.
The ‘mydsl’ extension tool provides
an easy way to install additional
software contributed by users.
The DSL panel is like a control
panel system that can be used to
set networking, printing, wireless,
broadband connection, X server,
backup and restore of data, etc. The
lower panel at the bottom of the
screen shows the current time and
date as well as holds the taskbar.
Applications
DSL-N although being a
minimalistic distribution, does
not skimp on the basic necessities. It
features a fully featured web browser
and a mail client called the Mozilla
SeaMonkey suite. This suite even includes
an IRC chat client system. Its office
productivity software includes AbiWord,
a fully featured word processor and
Gnumeric, a fully featured spreadsheet
software that you can open, edit
and save in Microsoft Office
format. But don’t expect these
office productivity tools to run
all your VB macros although
they would sufficiently run all
your formulae. For audio
and video enthusiasts,
it includes a version of
mplayer that plays almost
FEATURE | APPLICATIONS 89
any audio/video file format. However, it
is not as simple as double clicking on the
file. We got the DivX movies and MP3
audio working by invoking mplayer at the
command line.
The distribution even includes an
all-in-one messaging system called Gaim
to keep in touch with your online buddies.
Most documentation out there on the
Internet is in the PDF format and the Xpdf
viewer does a good job of displaying PDF
documents and files.
Performance and usability
When we first used DSL-N, we were
very impressed with its minimalistic
installation process and super fast speed.
In fact, for normal office applications,
we saw no visible decrease in system
response even on a low-end P3 system.
So it’s time to make use of the older
computers that you were perhaps
prepared to dump as you thought they
were not worthy of running Windows
XP. To cite you an example, the research
work for this review as well as writing
it was done using DSL-N off a PQI 256
MB USB flash drive. The CUPS printing
system seamlessly integrated into our
office network while also being able to
print perfectly to the HP 4100 mono laser
printer. Its Samba shares also integrated
seamlessly into our Windows network
although it was not as simple as a double
click in LinNeighbourhood.
Verdict
Damn Small Linux-Not satisfies most
basic application requirements. For a
distribution that is under 100 MB and
runs entirely out of RAM, it provides
blazing fast performance and a
decent set of features. Don’t
believe us? Fire up DSL-N on
your computer and find out
for yourself. 
| Kunal Rupera
90 APPLICATIONS | FEATURE
Symbian Gear
If you use your smartphone only to send and receive phone calls then it’s about time
you used some of these tools to extract the most out of it
A
ll smartphones usually need some
additional application to spice
it up in some way. It could be a
visual feature or some application that
increases your productivity. I came to
realize the potential of these third party
tools through a series of events that I am
going to share with you. Two years ago,
I owned a Nokia 3350 and at that point
in time it served my purpose, which was
namely, to be reachable at all times of the
day, set reminders and use the stopwatch
during hardware reviews. As time went
by, the phone started to seem a little
outdated in the palm of my hand. I gave
in to temptation and opted for the ‘candy
bar’ Sony Ericsson T630. It looked good,
fit my budget and had enough features
to keep me happy. Unfortunately, it
turned out to have a mind of its own so
it would momentarily lose control of its
‘motor functions’ and vibrate incessantly
until I physically removed the battery. I
exchanged it for a Nokia 6600 (I had to
cough up extra, of course) hoping this
would future-proof my phone for a while.
I was doing quite well with the phone
until the day I had to run a printer test. I
took my phone out to use the stopwatch
only to find out that there is no such tool
in the 6600! The phone has image editing
software and a wireless presenter but
no stopwatch. This made me scour the
Internet for an alternative solution. The
search resulted in my installing “Pocket
Counter” – a free timer tool. While
searching for a Symbian stopwatch, I
came across many other applications that
allowed the phone to do much more than
just remember notes, buzz at a particular
time and send multimedia messages.
Here are some of the tools available for
download, both free and shareware.
All these tools will work across a range
of Symbian Series 60 phones. It also
depends on the Symbian OS version your
phone uses. A quick way to find that out
is to look up www.gsmarena.com against
“OS” to know the version and series it
belongs to. However, most of the tools I
have mentioned will work on a Series 60
phone running Symbian version 7.0. You
should also visit the “Support” section of
www.nokia-asia.com to look for software
specifically for your phone. If you receive
an error while trying to run a newly
installed application then it could be
because it is loaded on the memory card.
Uninstall the application and install it on
the phone memory.
FExplorer – File Browser
Type: Free, OS: Symbian version 6.1
Smartphones have their own built in file
manager, which lack basic “cut/copy/paste”
functions. It only allows users to browse
through some fixed folders created on the
phone or card memory. FExplorer (or File
Explorer) for Symbian phones makes it
easy to travel through folders on the phone
or card easily and quickly. This free utility
makes saving files received via Bluetooth
a breeze—simply because it allows you
to browse the “Inbox” and move the files
within it to another folder. Apart from the
user interface, the functions are similar
to Windows Explorer and the keypad
shortcuts are helpful too. It even has a
Pramod Jadhav
screenshot utility, ideal for transferring
files via Bluetooth.
CellTrack - (Signal Strength)
Type: Free, OS: Symbian version 7
If you are wondering why you experience
network outages or patchy reception
it is probably because of a weak signal.
CellTrack will tell you how strong or weak
the signal strength is in a particular area.
If you are not interested in knowing your
service provider’s signal strength then
you can just use “PhoneInfo”. Make sure
this one is installed on the phone memory
instead of the card. This tool will display
your phone’s IMEI number (unique to
each phone), CellId, processor speed and
memory details.
BlackList
Type: Shareware, OS: Symbian version 7
There are times when you want to avoid
somebody’s calls—your landlord’s or your
boss’, maybe. BlackList can be configured
to disconnect calls from certain numbers
in your contact list. You can even add
groups you have created in your address
book. BlackList will not disconnect the call
unceremoniously. The caller will get a busy
tone every time he dials your number and

your phone will not even ring. The BlackList
logs will also inform you of the number of
calls it has thwarted for you.
Oxygen Phone Manager
– (Backup)
Type: Shareware, Symbian OS: 7
Always make sure you have taken a backup
of all your contacts on the PC. When you
decide to upgrade your phone, you’ll have
to transfer all your contacts, messages and
notes to your new phone. This is where the
Oxygen Phone Manager will save you from
the pain of losing any data. OPM works
in conjunction with a client file installed
on the phone to transfer your messages
and contacts to the PC. It is a good idea to
keep these details backed up regularly in
case of any eventuality. “Pro Backup” can
also be used in place of OPM if you want a
one-stop solution in phone backup.
Media Safe – (Folder Security)
Type: Shareware, Symbian OS version: 7
Media Safe is for the paranoid and for
those who don’t like people getting nosy
with their personal files stored on the
phone. It provides advanced security with
256-bit encryption (Blowfish method) for
audio and video. It can be used to encrypt
files on your memory card too.
Dictaphone – (Voice Recorder)
Type: Free, Symbian OS version: 7
You won’t have to carry your Dictaphone
everywhere if you install “Dictaphone” on
your Series 60 phone. It can be set to record
phone conversations automatically or
with the press of a preset button. Offline,
it will even record regular conversation
and store it on your memory card in
AMR or WAV format. It will even record
multiple conversations serially instead of
overwriting. For AMR playback you can
install “Nokia Multimedia Player”—it is
simple and light. “Total Recall” is another
application that offers the same features
as Dictaphone.
ETI Camcorder Pro – (Video
Recorder)
Type: Shareware, Symbian OS Version: 7
The video recorder on a Nokia phone
captures only a minute’s worth of video
and also offers a limited set of features.
The Camcorder Pro extends the shooting
period by making it depend on the amount
of available free space. The footage can be
saved in AVI or 3GP format, whichever you
find convenient. You can edit these files
later with Acala 3GP movies—a free video
editing software.
MSDict Concise Oxford English
Dictionary – (English Dictionary)
Type: Shareware, Symbian OS Version: 7
This dictionary will occupy approximately
5 MB on your phone because it contains
240,000 words and phrases. Not only will
you understand the meaning of the word,
you will also be taught where to use it. If
you are interested, MSDict will also tell you
the origin of the word you looked up.
StudyME – (Educational)
Type: Free, Symbian OS Version: Java-
enabled phone
StudyME is apt for students who are
SMS us!
FEATURE | APPLICATIONS 91
studying for their GRE. To be able to use
this tool you need to subscribe to a GPRS
connection, access the Internet and
register on www.studystack.com to create
your flash cards. These flash cards can be
made public as well so that other can also
download them onto their phones for
reference. The web site already contains
material on history, math and geography.
PDF+ - (PDF Reader)
Type: Shareware, Symbian OS Version: 7
If you don’t want to create flash cards
out of your study material, you can try
making PDFs of your documents (or use
QuickOffice on Nokia phones). Adobe also
provides a free PDF reader for Symbian
phones but it is mainly for phones running
Symbian OS 8.0a (Nokia 6680).
Opera 8.60, Agile Messenger
and IM+ Bluetooth (Online
Applications)
Type: Free, Symbian OS Version: 7
If you are going to use your phone to surf
the Internet then you need to have the
Opera Mini installed on your phone. It is
free and very configurable. You can set
cached images to load on a page, saving
your surfing time. Agile Messenger can get
you chatting with your friends on MSN,
ICQ, Yahoo, AOL and Google.
Quite honestly, the list is endless. Some
of the applications are a little rough around
the edges but they will only get better with
time as they proliferate across handsets. I
will leave you with a few more applications
that will surely interest you.
Additional Tools
IM+ Bluetooth: Bluetooth IM tool.
ZScreencapture: A free screenshot utility.
OggPlay: A free player that accepts OGG
and MP3 files.
Control Freak2/Nokia Wireless Presenter:
A Bluetooth remote control to control your
computer and its applications.
Web sites to Visit
http://www.allaboutsymbian.com
http://www.softpedia.com
http://my-symbian.com 
| Ashutosh Desai
Story code: AFS (See Page 20 for details)
92 APPLICATIONS | FEATURE
Alternative backup
It is important to maintain a copy of your hard disk partition for exact restoration in
case of a hard disk failure. There are numerous tools that help you achieve this. Here
are a few...
A
nyone who has lost data once
knows exactly how it feels when
a doctoral thesis or your only tax
return sheet that you had taken so much
time and effort to prepare is irretrievably
lost. According to a survey conducted by
Maxtor (now Seagate), about 73 percent
of users suffered due to hard disk failures
at least once. The survey revealed that
users are generally not in the habit of
taking regular data backups. In several
case, the hard disks were not even
partitioned. Therefore, a virus attack or
a system crash invariably resulted in a
complete data disaster.
The only way of arming yourself
against such disasters would be using a
hard disk suite that comprises a partition
tool and a drive image program. The
drive image program is your insurance
against data loss while the partition
tool provides for the logical formating
and administration of the hard disk.
Unfortunately, there is no single package
that boasts both these features but what
we do have are individual products. After
testing the latest programs, we bring
you a selection of the best out there.
We did not limit ourselves to simple test
scenarios like creating partitions and
images. Instead, we used the example
of a power user who uses networks
and runs Windows XP Professional. We
looked out for special features such as
image encryption and backup over LAN.
The partition tool should also recognize
external USB drives. In case of special file
systems used in Windows 2000 such as
software-based RAID controllers. In the
following test you will find out whether
these tools support special features
like these.
Partition tools
All three contenders—Disk Director,
Partition Manager and PartitionMagic—
are almost perfect when it comes to
delivering basic feature such as creating
partitions, formating, deleting, moving,
copying and resizing images without
any difficulty. However, as far as special
operations is concerned, these programs
are sometimes inflexible to work with.
For instance, if you want to move a
partition from a hard disk that is already
partitioned, only Partition Manager
from Paragon is trouble-free as it does
so without you having to implicitly
create free space on the drive. In case of
PartitionMagic from Symantec and Disk
Director from Acronis, you first need to
create space before creating a partition.
However, creating a partition using
Partition Manager is unnecessarily
complicated because it does not mount
a newly created partition in Windows.
This may not be a problem for experts,
but it is definitely a major drawback for
general users who expect it to happen
automatically. Also, the partitions are
hidden—so when you restart Windows,
the partition is not displayed in Windows
Explorer.
If you have a large number of
multimedia files that you want to
INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP | OCTOBER 2006

reorganize, it is preferable to split the
partitions or merge them. This is faster
than copying the files individually. Disk
Director performs both these operations
without much of a problem, but there
is a snag here. The program displays an
empty merged partition in the preview.
However, all data actually remains intact.
However, this is not the same with the
other tools. The split partition feature is
absent in Partition Manager and although
PartitionMagic does offer both these
features, partitions can be merged in
this program only if they have the same
file system.
If you want to merge your hard disk
partitions, for instance, update the old
FAT partitions to the NTFS partitions (this
does not result in any data loss). In this
case, only Partition Manager delivers a
satisfactory result—it not only converts
FAT 16 to FAT 32 but also FAT 32 to NTFS.
Also, the old NT systems can be updated
by converting the outdated NTFS 1.02 to
NTFS 3.01. While PartitionMagic converts
FAT to NTFS partitions, Disk Director is
limited as it can only convert FAT 16 to
FAT 32.
However, Disk Director and Partition
Manager can hide partitions and delete
them as well, so the data you don’t want
to share is safe. The old data in such
a shredded partition can no longer be
restored, even in laboratory conditions.
But when you look up the old partition
tables in the hard disk, both the programs
can conjure up partitions that have been
deleted accidentally.
Only PartitionMagic does not offer the
restoration feature. Large external USB
drives of over 120 gigabytes are getting
more and more affordable and serve as
additional practical storage carriers. If you
want to partition such disks, Disk Director
and Partition Manager can be used
without any problem. PartitionMagic has
been in the market for a couple of years
now but we do not recommend it for this
purpose. When using the program in DOS
mode, it does not recognize USB drives.
Due to this reason PartitionMagic cannot
find the hard disk in the first place. The
problems just seem to increase when one
uses a software-based RAID controller to
OCTOBER 2006 | INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP
work with partitions.
For experts, a major highlight of the
Disk Director is its editor which lets you
view the partition content on a code
level and even manipulate it. These are
features for which one normally needs an
additional tool. Most of the times, these
are not free.
Fortunately, all the three programs
prepare you for emergencies like system
crashes. Disk Director boots from the
program CD. You can create a boot CD
in Partition Manager. As opposed to
that, PartitionMagic still relies on a boot
floppy to start the system in case of
emergencies. This is disadvantageous as
most new PCs exclude the floppy drive.
The OS selection capabilities of Disk
Director has the most to offer when it
comes to the boot manager. It comes
along with its own small operating
system which includes the partition tool.
The boot manager’s interface has been
designed to adapt itself with XP and
offers a multitude of features. It does not
however recognize an operating system in
a dynamic volume. So we deactivated the
boot manager to boot the system with
the regular Windows boot manager. The
boot managers of both Partition Manager
and PartitionMagic are no better than the
Windows boot manager, and in fact while
using them, dynamic volumes cannot be
| Free system suite
Partitions and backup in Windows
If you are looking for unsophisticated
partition and backup features, then the
Windows Tools is a good option. We help
you find the corresponding tools.
Partition tools: It is more useful to use
the Windows feature for the initial setup,
considering that with Windows you can
only create and delete partitions. To access
“Computer Management”, go to “Start |
Control panel | Administrative tools”. Click
on “Data carrier administration” to open the
partitioning option.
Right click on the “Free storage
location”, which is shown graphically in
green. Select “New logical disk drive” to
create a partition.
In the object menu, a number of options
FEATURE | APPLICATIONS 93
| Test results
The winners: It was difficult to pick the
the perfect solution for safeguarding
and managing your PC. When it comes
to partition tools and image programs,
every manufacturer has a serious weak
point. However, from our tests, we can
pinpoint the ideal tools for the perfect
system suite. We recommend Norton
Ghost 10 from Symantec as the image
tool and Acronis Disk Director 10 as the
partition tool. No other system suite apart
from Ghost restores an image without any
problem. It also works perfectly well on a
local network. While rival programs throw
up errors, this program partitions without
any hitches.
seen in Windows XP. And if that wasn’t
complicated enough, PartitionMagic
reinstalls the boot manager from the
CD, but only on a FAT partition. If you are
using XP, and have completely changed
over to NTFS, then you first have to create
a primary FAT partition before loading the
boot manager. This is disadvantageous
as neither of these programs can create
partitions in dynamic volumes. When we
tried this, Disk Director led to a system
crash. Only Partition Manager converts
logical drives into physical partitions
without data loss. This can also be used
like the following are given: “Change disk
drive designator and disk drive path”,
“Format” and “Delete logical disk drive”.
Backup: Before starting, you need to
reinstall the corresponding tool from the
program CD to your Windows XP Home.
You will find it under “VALUEADD\MSFT\
NTBACKUP\ NTBACKUP.MSI”. After
installation, you can find the backup option by
clicking on the Start menu and following the
given directorial structure - “Accessories”>
“system programs” >”backup”- in the
program list. With the help of an assistant,
you can either provide a backup for
individual files, an entire disk drive or even
the most important Windows system files.
The backup can be time controlled and even
incremental as you wish.
94 APPLICATIONS | FEATURE
Expert tool: The Editor of Disk Director
allows experienced users to change entries
in the boot sector manually
to undo a software RAID system. This
feature is also present in Windows XP
Professional but after the operation, it
removes all data from the disk.
After all of these scenarios, it is
essential that the partitions remain stable
because if they crash, it will result in a
complete data loss. Through the tests
we conducted, only Disk Director proved
to be resilient against system crashes
but only as long as it had nothing to do
with logical drives. In this case, Partition
Manager failed to redistribute free space
on the drive—a rather easy operation.
The progress bar was stuck on 0 percent
and we had to end the task by rebooting.
Partition Manager returned the same
results even after restarting.
Then, we also tried to restore deleted
NTFS partitions using PartitionMagic. The
program kept throwing up “error 117” and
repeatedly shut down. Only Disk Director
could detect the lost NTFS partitions
and restore them. Disk Director was also
successful in making other applications
on the hard disk accessible.
When it comes to usability, Disk
Director far outperforms PartitionMagic
and Partition Manager. For additional
hard disk related functions, Partition
Manager offers the best set of options.
It features a file explorer, which opens
all supported file systems. In addition, it
offers the capability to edit the Master
File Table (MFT). This is very practical
because a lot of small files are directly
saved in the MFT under NTFS.
Drive image programs
All the three tools—Norton Ghost, True
Image and Drive Backup perform the
basic features of creating a partition
image, compressing and restoring it
over a network. Therefore, if one PC
which is part of a home network fails,
you can restore a backup from another
PC connected to the same network.
However, differences would arise in the
partition depending upon the system
configurations.
First up, Symantec Ghost 10 uses a
special Windows version (Windows PE)
for its restoration console. No problems
arose during restoration and there were
no hitches in the connection to the
network. However, we did not get the
same results with Paragon Drive Backup
7, which uses a Linux system for its
console and takes a while to configure to
a network. Restoring a network backup
with Acronis True Image 9 was even
tougher as it does not have an input
window for a network password; so
access was denied to the backup on the
network. An external storage device like a
The interface of Paragon Drive Backup 7 drive image tool is very complicated especially for
beginners
USB hard drive is a useful storage location
for the backup data. The advantages are
evident—the configuration is not only
faster and easier, but it also lets you carry
your image with you. During the tests, all
the three tools provided a backup to the
external USB drives and even restored the
data from these drives later.
Acronis goes a step further with its
True Image, which not only saves on a
network drive or a USB drive, but also
offers an option to create a protected
and hidden partition in a local disk. It
is here that the images are stored. This
prevents users from deleting images
accidentally. Although this is a neat
feature, it contradicts an important rule
of backups—never create a backup on the
same drive.
It is a myth that each backup must
contain the complete data of the
partition. Incremental backups provide
a backup of only the changes made
since the last image. This is a feature
offered by all the three tools, resulting
in efficient use of space. However, this
is only useful if you don’t restore a basic
system frequently, and would instead like
to add important data like pictures, MP3s,
documents and so on a regular basis.
Encrypted partitions were supported
by all of these programs during the tests.
Protection is top priority not only for
backup but for other features as well. It
is thus important for each program to
provide an option of backing up the
image with a password, which in
turn protects the image against any
unauthorized access, a feature supported
by all the three.
INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP | OCTOBER 2006

Next, we tested the ability to restore
individual files from an image. This
feature is helpful when you require a
small Word document from the backup. In
addition, all these programs offer a tool
with which you can check and extract
the contents of a backup set. This feature
is particularly impressive in Acronis True
Image. Here, the application temporarily
assigns the letter of a drive to the image.
With this, you can access the backup files
through Windows Explorer or through
any other application. In case of the other
programs, you first need to extract the
data, which is indeed time consuming.
The image creation feature should
ideally be quick and easy. The Symantec
and Acronis tools offer an option of
creating backups in the background, thus
allowing you to carry on with your work
without any difficulty. This feature is
absent in the Paragon tool (ranked third
by us). As with other programs, users can
set the CPU utilization for this program.
However, this feature is missing in
Paragon. For instance, if you want to edit
a picture in Photoshop, you can change
the amount of CPU usage during the
backup process and alleviate load for your
tasks at hand. In addition, the program
should be able to execute image related
tasks as per a user-defined schedule in
the background. This works very well with
tools like Ghost 10 and True Image 9. In
fact, in True Image you have the option
of starting a program before or after the
backup process. However, this timetable
feature is absent in Drive Backup 7.
Unfortunately, it is not possible to
operate all tested products easily and
The Symantec Ghost 10 application displays the available backup size very clearly in a
window
OCTOBER 2006 | INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP
FEATURE | APPLICATIONS 95
| KNOW HOW
Partitions in the hard disk well as the identification of the file
When you boot your computer, the system and a specification stating
BIOS first controls the Master Boot whether an extended partition is
Record (MBR). The MBR is always in involved.
the first sector of the hard disk and the If a primary partition is marked
first 446 bytes mainly contain the Boot as ‘extended’ then more than four
Loader. The MBR polls the start partition. partitions can be created in the hard
It later calls a partition table of 64 bytes, disk The extended partition has its own
which allows a maximum of four partition sector and its size corresponds
entries. This also means that only four to the MBR.
of such so-called primary partitions are Since a BootLoader is not present
possible. there, this partition table offers space
The entries in the primary partitions for further 23 so-called logical disk
comprise the start and end points as drives.
Hard Disk
1st 2nd 3rd Extended partition
primary primary primary Logical drive Logical drive Logical drive
partition partition partition
A maximum of four primary partitions are allowed in a hard disk. One of those—the
expanded partition contains additional contain drives
intuitively. Above all, in case of add-ons is that features have not been explained
like backup over the network drive, substantially. Another drawback of this
they hardly assist the user, irrespective program is that its task planning icon is
of whether the assistant features are not easily recognizable.
in-built or not. It is especially irksome for The Symantec Ghost interface
beginners, who would be expected to be emerges a winner. After launching, it
acquainted with jargon. offers an overview of all its features and a
The Paragon program is an ideal detailed description of each of the tasks.
example of this case—it does a sub- Additional features can be accessed using
standard job of offering any usable tabs. Users can quickly and easily create
assistance to new users. On the other a backup with the help of step-by-step
hand, the Acronis True Image interface wizards. Thanks to the special Windows
is pleasant and actually assists the PE version, users feels at home even while
user even during difficult tasks like restoring data. 
planned backups and using the network | Markus Mandau
functionality, etc. Its only shortcoming
96 APPLICATIONS | FEATURE

This is how Chip tested

Partitioning and image tools were
installed on a logical drive in Windows XP
Partition tools
professional. In addition, we connected 1 2 3
an external USB drive to a 2.55 GHz P4 Product Disk Director Partition Manager Partition
Suite 10 7.0 Pro Magic 8.05
computer.
Price (approx) $49.99 (Rs 2,293) $70 (Rs 3,211) $69.95 (Rs 3,209)
Internet www.acronis.com www.paragon.com www.symantec.com
Partition tools
Overall placing
The programs must create, delete, transfer,
1 50 100 1 50 100 1 50 100
copy and convert partitions. We paid
Partitions (50%)
special attention to complicated operations
Ergonomics (30%)
like dividing, merging and restoring. We Functionality (20 %)
additionally tested the performance
of the tools with USB drives, which are Price/performance Very good Satisfactory Fair
Conclusion A robust partition with A powerful partition, Outdated software with
increasingly being used. Besides, we took powerful professional but not stable and not only basic features
into consideration the fact that the test features very comfortable included
candidates should be able to deal with Partitions
dynamic disks. Creating/deleting/ •/ • / • •/ • / • •/ • / •
formatting
Splitting/merging •/ • –/• •/ •
Ergonomics Moving/copying •/ • •/ • •/ •
How robust are the partition tools? In case Resizing partition • • •
something goes wrong, can the user stop or Converting • (FAT 16 to FAT 32) • (From FAT to NTFS, • (FAT to NTFS)
NTFS 1.02 to NTFS 3.01)
cancel the action? Besides, during the tests
Hiding/deleting •/ • •/ • •/ •
we also paid attention to error messages Restoring • • –
displayed by the programs and whether the In external hard disk Works when rebooted Works even without Works only if rebooting
features offered by these programs are of rebooting is not required
Working with dynamic Does not work; leads to Converts dynamic in Does not work
any further help to users. Additional points
data structures * a system crash basis data carrier
were given for functionality and usability. Ergonomics
Assistant features Has integrated the Has start assistant Has integrated the
Functionality assistant feature assistant feature
Usability Well-designed interface Simple interface Well-designed interface
What is the use of the accompanying boot
Reliability Stable, but the system When an action Does not function at
manager and does it display Windows on crashes in case of cannot be executed, it all when it detects an
the logical drive? The partition tools should dynamic data structures freezes error
at least master the operations of the latest Help Detailed help Well-structured help Detailed help
Error report, Reports when an Partly incomprehensible Partly cryptic error
file systems along with additional tasks like
hard disk state operation cannot be messages in case of messages
changing the drive alphabet or the cluster executed failed tasks
size. They should have alternate mediums, Functionality
ideally a CD at their disposal. File systems NTFS, FAT, Ext2, Ext3, NTFS, FAT, Ext2, Ext3, NTFS, FAT, Ext2, Ext3,
ReiserFS, LinusSwap ReiserFS, LinusSwap LinusSwap
This can be helpful in case of an
Boot manager Starts OS from all Starts OS only from Starts OS only from
emergency and a user can boot a backup partitions, finds deleted primary partitions, primary partitions,
system to undo the damage. A Disk Editor OS entries, comprises can invoke old MBR, requires FAT partition
offers users additional advantages for the Disk Director, does and does not have a for installation
not have a good de-installation routine
task partitioning. de-installation routine
De-fragmenting hard • (Uses Windows •(Separate even the • (Uses Windows
| How CHIP assessed disk
Testing hard disk
defragmentation)
Easy check
MFT)
Intensive check
defragmentation)
Easy check
Functionality Partitioning Boot medium Program CD Recordable recovery Recordable disks
CD
20% Additional options Extensive Editor for Data protection during Rearranges references
experts with an access power failure, complete to delayed files,
50% to MBR and partitions physical copy of a determines the boot
table creates a backup partition, has script partition newly
30% copy from MBR control
CHIP assigned score boxes as per this grade key: 100–90 points = 5 boxes,
Ergonomics 89–75 = 4 boxes, 74–60 = 3 boxes, 59–45 = 2 boxes, 44–20 = 1 box, 19–0 = 0 c. [• = ja – = nein]
* Used in external drives

INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP | OCTOBER 2006

 FEATURE | APPLICATIONS 97

This is how Chip tested

Partition and image tools were installed
Image programs on a logical drive in Windows XP
1 2 3 professional. We connected another
Product Norton Ghost 10.0 True Image 9.0 Drive Backup 7.0 external USB drive to a 2.55 GHz P4
Price (approx) $69.99 (Rs 3,209) $49.99 (Rs 2,293) $70 (Rs 3,211) computer.
Internet www.symantec.com www.acronis.com www.paragon.com Mentioned below are some of the few
Overall placing factors we kept in mind before going
1 50 100 1 50 100 1 50 100 ahead with our tests.
Images (50%) 100 90 65

Functionality (30%) 95 98 55 Images

Ergonomics (20 %) 100 58 56 Till now, saving and restoring was never
as simple as this. The programs must
Price/performance Satisfactory Good Fair
support backups on the USB and network
Conclusion An excellent image The program is Although the basic
drives. The process of incremental image
tool that is easy to use. convincing thanks to features work fine, the
Does a good job with its pleasant interface. tool neither supports saving should exist on the feature list.
the network report, However, the absent the backup in the Additionally, we took the stability factor
which is optimal and network report background nor a time into consideration—the programs must
easy to handle is met with some table
disappointment secure the system and not cause it to
Images crash or create faulty backups.
Creating images on • With its own network • Difficult installation of • Without password
network drive possible report the net driver Functionality
Creating images on • • • Compression and safety of the images
USB dives possible are two crucial factors. Besides that, it
Creating incremental •/ • • • was important for us to know whether a
image possible
backup process can run in the background
Support for dynamic • – •
and whether it can be compatible with the
data carrier available
system capacity. The Hot-backup feature
Functionality
is of great importance especially in case
Compression stages Four stages (standard, Four stages (standard, Four stages (standard,
middle, high not middle, high not middle, high not of new versions of image programs. In this
present) present) present) case, the tool saves the data in an image
Automatic backup Possible Possible Absent during a Windows session. The programs
(time table) should also have an image explorer.
Adjustment of backup Adjustable through Adjustable in three Absent
speed as per the elevator bar stages
system resources
Ergonomics
The programs should be easily functional,
Encryption through • • •
password must be efficient, easy to find and operate
Restoring individual Possible Possible Possible easily beginners. Above all, we focussed on
files from image the assistant features, because beginners,
Backup in the • (Adjustable through • (Adjustable through the – in particular, should be able to work with
background elevator bar) option menu) the tools without any problem. Programs
Backing up system Without problems Without problems Without problems with detailed descriptions of jargon were
partition without
restarting given additional marks.
Displaying image – • (Integrates the images • (Integrates the images
as disk drive in the through a virtual disk through a virtual disk | How CHIP assessed
Explorer drive) drive)
Ergonomics Ergonomics Images
Assistants Has integrated Has integrated No assistant 20%
assistant assistants
Usability Simple interface with Simple interface but Complicated interface 50%
tab not always clear (task
planning) 30%
Manual Detailed manual with an Brief manual with Brief manual with
in-depth insight into the the most important the most important
Functionality
program features questions explained questions explained

OCTOBER 2006 | INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP

98 APPLICATIONS | FEATURE
Chat Security
Chatting online is dangerous. After tormenting e-mails and browsers, hackers have
now turned their attention to instant messengers. With ICQ and other IMs installed,
is your PC well protected from viruses, spyware and phishing?
“H
ey, I’ve found a picture of
you.” If you were conned into
clicking on this link, then you
won’t get an image file instead an I-Worm.
NewPic file instead. Any guesses what kind
of a file this is? A classic backdoor spoof,
it prepares an entry point for hackers to
retrieve data from victims.
The Internet mafia has made instant
messenger applications its new target and
has started spreading malicious programs
through them. According to research
conducted by ‘FaceTime Security Labs’, the
number of attacks on chat programs have
increased 20-fold in the last year alone.
The hacker’s current favourite is
Microsoft’s MSN Messenger although
ICQ, Yahoo, and AOL are all experiencing
increasing attacks as well. A poll recently
revealed that nearly 50 percent of online
chatting via instant messaging is done in
the office, thereby allowing attackers to
slip through enterprise networks, firewalls
and other available protection.
CHIP has tested six instant messengers,
including the latest Beta versions from
Microsoft and Yahoo. We bombarded test
accounts with infected links in an attempt
to penetrate firewalls and exploit chat
sessions and the results were astonishing.
The security holes left open by instant
messengers were extremely dangerous.
Worse still, not one messenger managed
to offer protection for child users. In this
article, we discuss the methods used by
Internet hackers and how you can avoid
potential threats while chatting online.
Phishing and spyware
Hackers exploit the natural curiosity in
humans in order to plant Trojans and steal
passwords. Usually, users are sent a short
message which contains a link to a ‘photo’
or ‘video clip.’ When the user clicks on this
link, an embedded micro-program will
put a stop to any safety and protection
program that may be running.
After the programs are suspended,
the hacker is free to enter the system and
download any information or file which
is of particular interest to him. If that
isn’t bad enough, hackers usually insert
a backdoor which leaves the victim’s PC
open to attacks in the future.
Phishing in messengers works in
pretty much the same way as in the case
of phishing-mails. A common phishing
practice would be to lure a victim to
a false web site and thereby lead him
into providing personal online banking
information. The recent case of AOL
and MSN messengers being attacked by
the ‘Maniccum’ worm provides further
evidence of the increasing rate of phishing
attacks through instant messengers.
Dangers: Advice not to open files from
unknown senders is already outdated with
newer worms choosing to directly take
advantage of a user’s contacts list. Expect
to receive messages asking you to ‘click on
this image link to view a photo’ from your
INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP | OCTOBER 2006
 FEATURE | APPLICATIONS 99

Security through encryption: Encrypt your chat conversations with SimpLite to prevent
hackers from getting access to them
friend or colleague listed on your contacts
list. More impressively, there are worms
which can participate in chat sessions and
answer basic questions accurately leading
users to believe that they are chatting with
real people.
Solution: As currently there are no existing
tools to filter spam or phishing effectively,
the most important safety principle
would be NOT to open ANY links sent
through chat windows. If you really need
to click on that link or receive a sent file,
confirm whether the sender wants you
to do so first. Formulate your question in
a way that worms will not be able to give
questions with standard replies. You can
also try installing basic protection from
new Internet security suites available in
the market.
Bugs open doors to hackers
targeted as much as other programs all
this while, it doesn’t mean they are safe
from attacks. Most of the time users
chat using a specific instant messenger.
When this becomes a hacker’s target, it
becomes your main cause for concern. To
attack a chat client through the Internet,
hackers need to penetrate security holes
open to them. For a chat program, that
defence breach is in the form of ports
used for sending or receiving Internet
packets. The typical scenario would be a
buffer-overflow attack when the packets
start transferring. Here, the hacker sends a
packet which gets misinterpreted by
the target’s PC and therefore allows a
Trojan to run.
Dangers: Half of the messengers tested by
CHIP did not offer any software updates
even with known security threats. The
dangers of not plugging these holes have
| Security Check
 Be cautious with links and download
Don’t accept files from unknown
senders. If the file is sent from a
friend, verify this with them before
downloading the file.
 Installing updates
Spyware and Trojans may gain access
to your PC through any messenger
program. It exploits the same security
hole that Windows has. Remember to
frequently run automatic updates to
cover these holes.
 Activate firewall and virus scanner
Without a firewall, the PC is more
vulnerable to attacks from hackers.
Virus scanners may also provide extra
protection for your PC.
 Don’t allow others to spy on you
Each conversation you have could be
recorded. You should encrypt your chat
conversation with a tool like SimpLite.
How we test IMs
Phishing filters, child protection, update
functions, and encryptions merit extra
marks. Facilities to block unknown senders
and the messenger’s ability to work with
a firewall or virus scanner are important
factors as well.
Survey
Which chat program do you use?
40
35
30.43 %
30 35.59 %

Source: www.chip.de
25
Any program that connects to the Internet already been made known to many web 20 14.70 %
has a possible risk of being attacked. sites that offer hacker tools. Exploiting 15 14.49 %
10 1.03 %
Even if instant messengers have not been this security could not only cause the
5 2.93 %
messenger to crash, but might affect 0.83 %
| Test Summary Windows as well. For script-kiddies
0
AOL Google
Messenger Talk
ICQ Microsoft
Messenger
Trillian Yahoo
Messenger
Others

We seldom get so many negative results
from one batch of programs, but this is
indeed a fact. Microsoft Live Messenger
which won the test also faltered at two
important Security Check points. The
or a newbie this might be a tad too
complicated, but for expert hackers, this is
a cakewalk.
Solution: Maintain the quality of your
From this global survey, we can see that
ICQ is still the hot favorite.
Attack Watch
Attacks on Messenger
PROGNOSIS
Source: FaceTime Security Labs

900
test showed that chat clients created messenger program. It’s best to use an
800
a hole in the firewall which could be IM with automatic update functions 700
600
exploited as an entry point for hackers. such as the one found on Microsoft’s 500
Before fixing or upgrading, we advise Live Messenger. Other tools such as AOL 400
300
you to stop using Internet messengers and Trillian also have their own update 200
if your PC or network contains sensitive functions. If you are chatting through 100
0
information. Not only at workplaces, Yahoo Messenger, Google or ICQ, you Q1 ’05 Q2 ’05 Q3 ’05 Q4 ’05 Q1 ’06 Q2 ’06
users at homes should also learn to should regularly check their web sites to Since early 2005, the number of attacks on
protect themselves. download the latest versions. The lack of IMs has increased dramatically.

OCTOBER 2006 | INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP

100 APPLICATIONS | FEATURE
an automatic update feature is an
obvious weakness and should be
made compulsory for all instant
messengers.
Children targeted
“They act like children to
gain the kid’s trust”, said
Joerg Pecanic, an authority
from Coalition Against Child Pornography
when asked about paedophiles on the
Internet. Despite severe criticism from
security experts, many chat programs
have still not adopted any security
mechanism such as having a master
password for required for setup. ICQ,
for instance, has an option to block
any unknown contacts from sending
messages. However, curious children will
not find it difficult to deselect a checkbox.
All other IMs have also failed in this child
protection test.
Dangers: Instead of coming up with a
solution for providing security for children,
providers dodge the responsibility and
cover their own ignorance with a special
clause found on their End User License
Agreement (EULA) which states, “Kids
under the age of 12 may not use this
service”. If it comes to attention that a
registered user is a child under 12 years
of age, the provider cancels that user’s
account. This is not a measure to prevent
kids from creating accounts. There are
Phishing: Links or file names like Humor.txt
intend to deceive the curious user. Little do
they know the ‘humorous’ joke is on them
several instances where children
below 12 years of age chat on the
internet without any restriction.
Our tests proved that none
of the instant messengers
prevent this from occurring
either. If the date of birth is
not provided by a registering
user, there is no way providers
can identify their age. Moreover, even if the
date of birth was keyed in, there still isn’t
any mechanism in place to verify whether
the provided age is true or not.
Solution: Parents should explain the
dangers of chatting online to their kids.
They should realize the importance of
setting clear guidelines and should tell
their kids not to meet other chat users
in person.
Who knows your secrets?
Technically, chat providers can spy on
your conversations but no one actually
pays attention to this fact. In ICQ’s
EULA, it is stated that instant messenger
providers are legally allowed to read your
conversations. Any information sent
through the provider may also be publicly
published. The EULA from ICQ says clearly,
“You agree that ICQ Inc has the rights
to use any material sent… including
publishing it”.
Dangers: Regardless of which instant
messenger you are using, data transfers
between participants are not encrypted.
Besides that, any chat session can be
stored in a log file which may be read by
other users of the PC. It’s not only the
providers you should be worried about
but hackers too. Usually hackers attack
hotspots and cybercafes. To spy on one’s
conversation, the hacker has to be within
the same network as that of the IM user.
Tools such as Ethereal or Cain & Abel
allow the hacker to record all of the con-
versation data and proceed to filter out
sensitive information such as passwords
or home addresses.
Solution: You can prevent hackers from
reading your conversations by encrypting
your chat and log file. The easiest way is
not to save a conversation log file in the
first place. Most programmes allow this
feature to be turned off.
On Microsoft, AOL, and ICQ, the
logging function must be activated
manually. As long as you didn’t turn it
on, you’re safe. For other messengers,
the log file setting can be done during
setup. If you fail to turn this feature
off, the program automatically creates
unencrypted log files.
Google Talk gives an extra line of
defence for protection against hackers.
By default, all your conversation logs are
saved in your Gmail account server. This
means, your log files will not be obtained
even if a hacker gains access to your PC.
If you’re conscious about saving a copy
of your conversations in spite of these
risks, then use an open-source tool called
TrueCrypt. With the help of this tool, you
can create an encrypted drive and install
messenger there. Every time you start up
the PC and want to start a conversation,
you will be prompted to access the drive
with a password. That’s not all. Whether
your private conversations are being
recorded or not, you still have the lurking
fear that the messages you are sending
over the Internet are being read. To solve
that problem, you should install a plugin
or tool such as SimpLite, which can
encrypt the data while it traverses.
SimpLite can be used on any
messenger program which supports a
firewall. It allows you to create a strong
cryptographic key which protects
messages traveling in and out of chat
programs from being attacked. In case
of most chat clients, the configuration is
automatically set. However, lesser known
chat programs need to be configured
manually.
Trojans posing as chat programs
The first voice-chat program to have
become popular with users is VoIP Skype.
It’s been a while that users around the
world have been communicating over
Skype and ever since then security experts
have warned of the possibility of attacks
by Trojans and bots pretending to be
normal chat or VoIP programs. The MyTob
bot is one such example.
INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP | OCTOBER 2006
 FEATURE | APPLICATIONS 101

Overview Position1 Position2 Position3 Position4 Position5 Position6

Developer Live Messenger AIM Trillian Basic ICQs Google Talk Yahoo Messenger
Freeware/Hardware Microsoft AOL Cerulean Studios ICQ Google Yahoo
Internet http://ideas.live.com www.aim.com www.ceruleanstudios.com www.icq.com http://talk.google.com www.yahoo.com
Security Test
Security Score 74 Points 67 Points 67 Points 61 Points 48 Points 47 Points

Phishing Filter ● (only filter links) ●

Anonymous User Block ● ● Plus reminder ● ● ● —
User Authorization ● ● ● ● ● ● (ignore mode)
Auto-Update ● via Win-Update ● ● — — —
Child-protection — — — — — —
Chat encryption — — — — — —
Deactivate log file ● ● — ● On Google Server —
Virus scanner: ● ● ● — — —
Firewall support Proxy only Proxy only Proxy only Proxy only Proxy only Proxy only
Other features
VoIP Support Only in America Direct Connection Direct Connection Direct Connection Direct Connection Yahoo via-Voice
Video Chat ● ● Pro version only ● — ●
Themes Wallpaper+icon ● ● ● — ●
Conference Chat — — ● ● — ●
File sending 1 folder per user General folder, General folder, General folder, — Direct sending
direct sending direct sending direct sending
Email support Live/Hotmail AIM and POP3 Pro version only — Google Mail Yahoo Mail
SMS ● — — ● — —
Extra functions Games support, City map service, Pro version only Games support, — Games support,
MTV stock-market-ticker partner-finder newsticker
• -yes no Excellent (100-90) Good (89-75) Average (74-45). All scores are calculated based on points (maximum 100)

Dangers: Malware infects the system and
allows the hacker to assimilate all the
conversation data without letting the user
know about it and therefore the firewall
is not able to prevent these packets from
entering your system.
Solution: Security experts have warned
against the use of chat programs. If
administrators decide to block all chatting
activities, surely the Internet will be
a safer place. However, this can only
be realistically implemented in offices
rather than home users. So if you intend
to continue chatting online, it’s best to
use a proxy or firewall with password
protection. However, if a Trojan gains
access to the data stream then passwords
will also be of no help. The best form of
protection is offered by security suites,
firewalls and updated virus scanners.
Needless to say, even with the latest
updated protection programs (Recently,
Symantec released an enhanced security
suite catering specially to instant
messengers) there will always be newer
Trojans and viruses released by hackers. 
| Loh Ken Wei

Hacker’s paradise: Programs like Ethereal allows a hacker to easily spy on a chat
conversation over the Internet

OCTOBER 2006 | INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP

102 APPLICATIONS | FEATURE

Dddddddddd

INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP | OCTOBER 2006

 FEATURE | APPLICATIONS 103

OCTOBER 2006 | INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP

104
104

Dr. CHIP
Dr. CHIPGarbled display memory that is failing – if you have two
Mobile screenshotsmodules (of 128 MB each) then
Q> I own an Intel 865- until you move it som
either
based computer with one or both are faulty. If it isn’t the RAM
Q> I use a Symbian-based cellular instance to a memo
a Pentium 4 running then it could be the memory slots on
phone.
at 2.4GHzIt andalso
512has anthe in-built
motherboarddigital memory.
that is the reason. The
camera.
MB of memory.I have tried only
I have takingway screenshots
to find out is to actually remove
been intermittently your RAM modules and try them one at
of my phone’s screen but when I
experiencing a strange a time in different RAM slots. This will
take a look
problem with my at the result,
isolateitthealways
problem area. If swapping
appearsThere
computer. completely slots different.
does notIthelp
is as
and you only have a
are times when my single 512 MB memory module then try
if the phone’s capture utility ‘sees’ totally
computer’s display replacing your memory with a working
different colors!
goes berserk. The graphics The image
one. is neither
If you cannot get hold of one
smooth
become totallynor accurate
illegible and in terms
module of its colorthen you will need
temporarily
gets transformed into gibberish. to give your memory/motherboard to a
reproduction. Are there some tweaks or
It looks like something out of technician.
some
a movie. The settings
problem seems that have been overlooked?
to be worsening as the display XP Activation Problem -Atul
has started getting garbled right Q> The strangest thing happened the
Just like the times when you need
after initial boot screen. When other day. I had to reinstall Windows XP
to capture
the problem wasn’t thatan entire
bad I PC screenProfessionalandbecause
you hitof a virus. After the
the ‘PrintScreen’
had reinstalled the video drivers button,reinstallation
there is a similar
I tried activating my copy
thinkingutility
that it would help. But it of
for the mobile phone. Download Windows XP but it refused to do so. I
did not. What could the problem be? kept getting an error saying, “exceeded
‘ScreenTaker’ from www.symbianware.
- Sanjay number of installations”. I have reinstalled
com. After installation, you only need
and activated tothe past but
XP in The
thisentire
is image dis
You are experiencing
run it and read a hardware the firstClick
the directions. time I ‘Hide’
have ever receivedcanandbe captured usin
related problem. If the video is getting SymbianWare
an error like this. I never knew there was
to hide the application before
garbled even before Windows XP boots
capturing
such a thing as an “activation limit”. What
onHands on

screenshots.
then it has nothing to do with the Now videoall youdohave to do is
I do now? Remove old restore
drivers installed in Windows. You will
run the application that you would like to Q>- IMaheep
am running out
need to check the memory installed
capture from or any other items
on your motherboard. It could be the
displayed. my computer. After
Yes, disappointing as it sounds
By pressing the combination there isofan‘ABC+
activation limit thataround
MicrosoftI found that
| How to Read the Code
Menu Key’ or ‘ABC+ *’, ScreenTaker has set to thewilloperating
snapsystem. After
“_restore{05BB0736
installing the operating system you need
All code lines theandscreen. On Nokia
commands are phones, the ABC key D92F52FD225C}”. W
to activate the installation within 30
written in the following manner:
has a pencil icon. If donedays. correctly, youofwill delete this folder? It
A maximum three activations
netsh•int•ip•reset•tcpreset.txt
can be carried out in these 30 days.MB!
700 ApartSomeone t
where the •get a menu
symbol denotes toanamespace. the image captured.
from this, Microsoft allows only eight to
This code
Hence, the above image linewill then
should be be stored (default scr. something to do wit
eleven activations per product – which
typed as utility
jpg). When the text ‘Image Saved’
is what appears,
you might have exceeded. It in XP and rem
netsh<space>int<space>ip<space
press ‘Back’. You can seecould
>reset<space>tcpreset<dot>txt
also happen
the results if you change
in the your
advisable. What sho
hardware. For this you should get in touch
‘Images’ folder on your phone. ScreenTaker
will store the image in the phone’s memory
INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP | OCTOBERYes,
2006 the folde

Restore. Each partiti


Select the location to obtain country-
specific toll-free numbers so as to change
your product key
with Microsoft on the toll free number
and get yourself a new product key. The
old product will work to complete your
installation since there is no limit to the
number of times you reinstall Windows
XP. But it will not help during the
activation.
You can call Microsoft India’s toll-
free numbers for this. BSNL/MTNL lines
can call 1800 111100. You will find the
numbers at, “http://www.microsoft.
com/india/connect/tollfree.aspx”
You will get a computerized phone
service, which will request you to enter
the “Installation ID”. Make sure you punch
the entire ID without the hyphens.
Alternatively, you can also get the toll-
free number from the activation window
when you choose to “activate by phone”.
Select the country and you will get the
numbers you need to call.
USB Malfunction
Q> I use an Windows Pocket PC-based
HP iPaq handheld. Sometime ago when
I connected it to my notebook via the
cradle I got an error stating, “USB Device
has malfunctioned and Windows does
not recognize it”. Ever since this problem
has started I have not been able to use
my handheld. I have other USB devices
connected to my notebook at the same
time too – this is via a USB hub. Could
that be the problem or is this related to
my iPaq?
- Jo
Does your USB hub obtain power
from the notebook? It should be able to
OCTOBER 2006 | INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP
Prevent Windows from shutting the USB
root hub down so that other devices can
connect to it
obtain power from an outlet and not from
the notebook’s port. Or make sure your
handheld is connected to a power source
so it does not require the hub’s power. It
could also be that your handheld device
is not communicating all the time since
your external USB hub is going into a
“power save” mode. This causes the hub
to close down all communication to the
ports. Your laptop may have “Allow the
computer to turn off this device to save
power” enabled for the “Root Hub” in
the Device Manager. This sets the hub to
power down when not in use resulting in
its ports to go stop communicating with
the devices connected to it. Have you
tried connecting your handheld directly to
your notebook? Try it. Alternatively, turn
off power saving on USB in the Device
Manager. You can do this by opening
the Device Manager (from “System” in
“Control Panel”), right click on “Root hub”
(under Universal Serial Bust controllers)
and select “Properties”. Click on the
“Power Management” tab and uncheck
“Allow the computer to turn off this
device to save power”.
New Hardware Wizard
Q> I use an HP printer to print most of
my project work and other personal
things. These days, whenever I restart
my computer the “Found New Hardware
Wizard” will start. What do I do? I have
reinstalled the drivers many times over.
- Pradhan
This might be because the device
is not “Plug and Play” or it does not use
SMS us!
DR. CHIP | HANDS ON 105
“Plug and Play” for its installation. It could
also be because of a damaged registry key.
First of all try to resolve the problem by
downloading the latest HP printer drivers
from the main website. If that does not
work then restart the computer. If you still
get the “Found New Hardware Wizard”,
don’t worry. Uninstall the drivers from the
Device Manager, disconnect your printer
and open the Registry Editor to delete the
damaged key. Click on Start | Run, type
“regedit” and click on Ok. Navigate to
the following registry key in the Registry
Editor,
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\
CurrentControlSet\Enum\LPTENUM]
Right-click the registry key and Delete
it. Confirm the removal and close the
Registry Editor. Restart your computer.
Windows XP will detect the printer once
again. Install the drivers again and the
next time you restart XP will not ask you
for the drivers again.
Zlob malware
Q> I have Spybot – Search ‘n’ Destroy
installed on my machine. It has detected
“zlob.downloader” on my computer but it
is unable to remove it. It also mentions a
file name “stdole3.plb”. How do I remove
this piece of malware?
- Suboddh
To remove Zlob you will have to
download and install the fix file from
http://siri.geekstogo.com/SmitfraudFix.
php. It is a zip file so you will need
to extract it to another folder. After
extraction, run the “SmitfraudFix.cmd”
Story code: HDC (See Page 20 for details)
106 HANDS ON | DR. CHIP
Use the SmitfraudFix file to locate and
remove the Zlob.downloader malware.
file. In the command prompt window
that appears, press [1] and then [Enter].
This will run a search and create a report
in the root drive as “rapport.txt”. Restart
your computer in Safe Mode. This involves
pressing the F8 key after the memory
test till the Advanced Startup Menu
appears – select Safe Mode and press
[Enter]. In the Safe Mode double click
on the file “SmitfraudFix.cmd” again
and then press [2] and [Enter]. This will
remove the infected files. Press [Y] and
[Enter] to confirm a registry cleanup.
This will remove the desktop background
and remove the infection left behind in
the registry keys as well. You might also
be asked if a “wininet.dll” file can be
replaced. This might appear if the file is
found to be infected. Press [Y] and [Enter]
to confirm and restart the computer.
(The option 3 in the fix command prompt
window is to restore the Trusted Zone
settings in IE. If you want you can run that
command also.)
CHIP-INDIA KNOW HOW | (www.chip-india.com/knowhow)
Host a site
I want to host a site. What would be the
cost for 100 MB of hosting space?
- Vipin Radhakrishnan
You can take up the Rediff 100 MB
package. It offers the following for Rs
3200 per year, No. of Subdomains – 5,
ODBC Data Source Support – 5, MySQL
Free for Linux (Using Microsoft’s SQL
Rediff offers three web hosting packages depending on the storage space required
Mobile Videos
Q> I own a Motorola L7 camera phone. I
have some video files stored on the phone
that I transferred to my computer. The
files do not play in Windows Media Player.
I have the latest version of the player
but it refuses to play. There aren’t any
additional codecs provided by Motorola
on their CD. The files have a “.3gp”
extension. What sort of files are these?
- Surendran
Media Player cannot play the
3GP (or 3GPP) format simply because
it does not provide support for it. This
format supports the MPEG-4 standard
of compression and is mainly used in
3G phones – both GSM and CDMA2000
handsets. Quicktime player will play the
3GP files. You can also install K-Lite’s Mega
codec pack and view the files in Media
Player Classic.
Cannot check DMA
Q> I have been able to burn CDs on
my machine easily all this while. Lately
will cost you extra), Microsoft .net
Applications 1.1, Active PERL, Free Web
based Control Panel, Hosting platform
- Windows and Linux.
You can read more about the
packages they offer at: http://
hosting.rediff.com/hosting/scripts/
HostingSolutions.phtml
- sunny1552
whatever I copy onto any brand of optical
media, it is not read properly on my
machine. I do not get any errors while
copying and when I try to access the
media later on, it just does not respond.
Even the icons of the files on the CD are
not displayed correctly. They are just blank
boxes (like the displayed for batch files).
Accessing my drive also has been quite
slow. I decided to check the DMA settings
of my optical drive from its properties in
the Device Manager. To be able to see the
DMA mode it is working in there should
be an “Advanced Settings” tab but it does
appear on my computer. What could the
problem be?
- Rajat
You have not mentioned the
motherboard you use. You will have to
uninstall and reinstall the IDE controllers
from the Device Manager. In the Device
Manager (click on Start | Settings | Control
Panel | System and then on the “Hardware”
tab) expand “IDE ATA/ATAPI Controllers”
and right click on the ATA Storage
INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP | OCTOBER 2006

Select the Standard Storage Controller if the “DMA
Settings” tab is not visible.
Controller (it will be above the Primary/
Secondary Channel”. Depending on your
motherboard’s chipset, the controller
will be Intel, nForce or VIA. Right click on
it and select “Update Driver”. During the
update wizard, choose “Install from a list
or specific location” and then “I will choose
the driver to install”. Click on “Next” and
select “Standard Dual Channel PCI IDE
Controller” and click on Next. Restart your
computer and now check to see if the
DMA Settings tab re-appears. If you have
an Intel-based board then try uninstalling
Intel’s Application Accelerator first before
trying the above steps. Only if uninstalling
IAA does not help, update the storage
controller.
SLI Multi-GPU pop-up
Q> I own a PCI-Express motherboard,
which is fitted with an NVIDIA-based
graphic card. Windows XP Professional
is the operating system that has been
installed on my computer. Every now
and again a little balloon pops up from
the system tray saying, “SLI multi-GPU
rendering has been disabled.” As far as I
know I do not own an SLI motherboard
The DWORD value is Hexadecimal and
contains eight zeros to disable the Multi-
GPU notification
OCTOBER 2006 | INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP
and even if I have one, I am
not using it. This pop-up is
extremely annoying. How
do I get rid of this?
- Dhruv
This pop-up is a known issue
with NVIDIA older video
drivers – version 91.31,
to be precise. The issue is
harmless but nonetheless, it
is annoying. You can either
edit the registry to disable
this notification or you
can just install the latest
video drivers from NVIDIA’s
website (you will get the
latest drivers on the CHIP DVD). To edit the
registry click on Start | Run, type “regedit”
and click on Ok. Navigate to the following
key,
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\
NVIDIA Corporation\Global\NVTweak]
Right click in the right hand pane and
select “New | DWORD Value”. Rename
it to “NvCplEnableMultiGPUConfigura
tionPage” and double click on it. Make
sure the “Base” is “Hexadecimal” and the
Value is “00000000” (8 zeros). Click on Ok.
Close the Registry Editor and restart your
computer.
Mobile Anti-virus
Q> I own a Series60 Nokia phone. I do not
have any anti-virus software for it. I use Bit
Defender as my anti-virus solution on my
computer. I was wondering if I can connect
to my phone via a data cable and scan my
mobile phone for viruses. Is it possible to
scan the multimedia card that is installed in
the phone also? Is it a safe way to do this?
- Nilesh
You can scan the memory card
in your phone with Bit Defender if it is
detected as a “Mass Storage Device” in
the Device Manager. But you cannot use
Bit Defender to scan a mobile phone
simply because the software does not
contain signature files with which it
can detect any infections on your Nokia
phone. The anti-virus you are using is
specifically meant for PCs and does not
offer additional protection to handheld
devices. This is because an infection built
DR. CHIP | HANDS ON 107
Need a hand with your PC travails?
Log on to www.chip-india.com/
knowhow and post your query. Voila!
You’re on your way to a glitch-free
future.
Info | For Accurate Diagnosis…
1. Mention system specifications.
2. Mention new hardware or software
installed recently.
3. Note the error message, including the
action or event that triggers the error.
For instance, the error message comes
up only during startup or shutdown, or
when starting a particular application
and so on.
4. Mention any changes you’ve made
just before you started getting the
error. For instance, have you deleted
some files recently or uninstalled
some applications?
for a Symbian phone will only affect
devices that run the OS. For example,
viruses affecting the Windows platform
have no effect on a Linux machine. If you
want to scan your mobile phone then
install an anti-virus solution on it. After
installing the software just make it run
in the background so that it will detect
infectious files in real time. It will also
scan your memory card. Here are a few
you can consider installing on your phone:
F-Secure: www.f-secure.com
SimWorks: www.simworks.biz
Symantec Mobile Security for Symbian:
www.symantec.com 
108 HANDS ON | WORKSHOP
The third eye
Play James Bond—with a few devices up your sleeve you can monitor your home
even in your absence
I
t has become very important to keep an
eye on your house considering the stories
we hear frequently on how easily houses
are broken into. Also, it is necessary to keep
a watch over all the happenings inside
your house, be it keeping an eye on your
children or the servants or the front door for
instance to see if anyone has meandered in
the premises. Also, keeping an eye on the
surroundings is something you have to do
if you live alone or spend most of the day
alone in the house. In this workshop we tell
you how to monitor your home easily.
Pramod Jadhav
We all know security cannot prevent any
crime from being committed but at least
you’ve the satisfaction that the accused
will not be scot free. Today with terrorism
on the rise, devices like CCTV cameras and
monitoring devices like proximity detectors,
motion detectors, metal detectors, etc are
being used extensively. These devices are
easily available in the market. These can be
connected easily to your PC or notebook
and can record videos and take pictures of
intrusions if any, while you’re away.
In this workshop, we used the WCS-2030
wireless IP camera from Level1. We opted for
this camera as it best suits the requirements
of home users and small businesses. It is also
quite affordable when compared to other
devices in the same category. This camera is
a video surveillance device that makes use of
Internet Protocol (IP) to transmit images. It
also supports the 802.11g standard, enabling
wireless transmission for video surveillance.
It can be connected to a high-speed 10/100
Mbps LAN.
You can record VGA quality video at 10
fps at the highest resolution of 640x480
and directly save it as a MPEG4 file. Being
entry-level, this cam doesn’t have a zoom
or swivel feature present in other expensive
CCTV cameras. However, this feature
is not required for home or small office
surveillance. The built-in microphone records
audio at 24-bit; it can also capture audio
within a range of 10 meters with very little
background noise.
The surveillance software bundled along
is capable of letting you view 16 different
live feeds at a time. You can view these
feeds in a 4x4 matrix simultaneously. The
motion detection system takes pictures
only when there is a movement in the line
of sight of the cam and thus doesn’t take up
unnecessary space on your hard drive. You
can also schedule recordings.
What you need
To use the WCS-2030 wireless IP camera as
a wired device, you need:
A PC with an Ethernet card and sufficient
storage space on you hard drive.
IP cam with the surveillance software.
Ethernet cable.
To use it as a wireless device, you need
A PC with a PCI wireless card or a
laptop with Wi-Fi built in or a wireless
access point.
IP cam with the surveillance software.
Sufficient amount of hard drive space.
INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP | OCTOBER 2006

Step 1 Connecting the camera
First configure the camera while
it is connected to your PC via an
Ethernet cable. Connect one end of
the Ethernet cable to the PC and the
other end to the camera’s Ethernet
port. After connecting the Ethernet
cable, connect the power adapter to
the camera otherwise the camera
won’t get detected. Plug the adapter
into an electrical outlet. A blue LED will
flash while the camera is initializing
after which you are ready to set up the
software for the camera.
Step 4 Authentication
The next step is to click on “Launcher”.
This step walks the user through the
process of configuring the camera.
The first things it will ask you for is the
username and password. This is known
as the Root username and password and
is used to authenticate users once the
camera is connected. To further configure
the camera, you will need to log in using
these details. You can then proceed to
configuring the Server/Network Camera
in the “Camera Configuration” option, as
shown in the figure in step 2.
OCTOBER 2006 | INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP
Step 2 Installation
Insert the installation disk into the
CD-ROM drive. In case it doesn’t run
automatically, click on “Start” on the
lower left corner of your screen and open
“My Computer”. Then double click on
the CD-ROM icon and the IP surveillance
recorder installation window will appear
as in Figure 1. Click on “Install Software
DVR”. Next, set a password and confirm
it—this will be your administrator
password. Select the location where
you want to install the files and click on
“Next” and then on “Finish”.
Step 5 Monitoring window
A new window will open up which asks
for the camera’s IP address and once the
PC detects it, the monitoring window will
open up. If you want to use more than
one such camera, then use the “Insert”
option to insert a remote Network
Camera to the camera list. Click on the
“Insert” button, and you will see the
“Insert New Channel” dialog popping
up. Specify the IP address, port and root
password of the remote Network Camera
series product, and click on the “OK”
button to close the dialog box.
SMS us!
WORKSHOP | HANDS ON 109
Step 3 Changing IE settings
After you have finished installing the
surveillance software, you will need
to change one of the IE settings so
that you are ready to start running
the Monitor program. Enable the
option for submitting non-encrypted
data after clicking on “Start | Settings
| Control Panel | Internet Options |
Security | Custom Level”. After the new
window opens up, search for the “Run
component signed with Authenticode”
and then click on “Enable” as shown in
the above screenshot.
Step 6 Alerts and recording options
On the top of the monitoring window,
you have the alert and recording
window. In the alert window settings,
enable motion detection and specify
the recording time or recording type i.e.
whether you want to record video or
voice or both. Here you can also configure
the video input—for example, specifying
alerts for motion detection and also the
type of triggering you want for the digital
input. Once this configuration is over, the
camera is ready to record. 
| Faheem Sayed
Story code: HWM (See Page 20 for details)
110 HANDS ON | WORKSHOP
Image makeover
If all the scanned images of your last trip seem blurred,
dull and lifeless, you can color-correct them with a little
help from Photoshop
H
ave you ever compared a scanned
image with the original source?
You’ll notice that the scanned
image is never as accurate as the source
with regard to details like sharpness, color,
contrast, brightness, saturation and so
on. The results will be close to accurate
only if you have a high-end scanner which
is properly color-calibrated. However,
for most of us who own neither a multi-
functional device nor a conventional
flatbed scanner, getting accurate results is
a distant dream.
The accuracy of a scanner depends on
the quality of its CCD sensor and the lamp
present on the carriage assembly. The
better the CCD sensor, the more details it
can register and hence, higher the output
quality. Other than the scanner itself,
the output also depends on the post-
processing done by the imaging application
that comes bundled with the scanner.
Since, most of the factors that determine
the output quality cannot be controlled,
you have no other option but to save the
scanned image as it is.
If you haven’t yet bothered to check the
difference between the scan result and
the source try this—scan a photograph
and compare the scanned image with the
actual photograph and note the difference.
Set the scan resolution to 300 dpi for
good image quality
Pramod Jadhav
The most visible difference will be a slight
loss of sharpness and mismatch in color
levels, brightness and contrast. In some
cases you will even notice the presence of
noise in the scanned image.
The only way to correct scanned images
is using a power imaging application like
Adobe Photoshop. You can eliminate noise,
sharpen the details, manipulate color
levels, adjust the brightness and contrast
and do much more to bring your scanned
images nearer to the original.
The reason that most people hesitate
to correct scanned images is because they
feel that Photoshop is tough to use or
they’re afraid they might do more damage.
But in reality, it’s very simple. You don’t
have to be a wizard at Photoshop. It takes
just a few minutes to correct an image. This
workshop will guide you through the entire
process of correcting scanned images from
scratch and achieving the best results.
| Note
Before trying this workshop, make sure
you first calibrate your monitor so that
it displays colors accurately with right
levels of brightness and contrast. You
can use the Adobe Gamma Tool which is
a part of Photoshop, for calibrating and
profiling your monitor.
Before you hit the scan button, here are a
few tips that will help you achieve better
scanning results.
The default scan resolution in some
scanning applications is 150 dpi. For
better details step up the resolution to
300 dpi.
When saving a scanned image, set
the image format to TIFF. If you want
to save images in JPEG format, make
sure you set the image quality to
maximum.
INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP | OCTOBER 2006

1 2
If your scanned image is tilted, first
rectify the tilt:
Right-click on the image and select
“Fit on Screen” after selecting the
Zoom tool from the Tools sidebar.
Keep pressing “Shift+i” until the
Eyedropper tool located above the
Zoom tool changes to Measure tool.
Now, drag a line across the border of
the scanned image and select “Image
| Rotate canvas | Arbitrary”.
Click on “OK” to rectify the tilt.
4 5
Applying the Gaussian Blur results in a
slight loss of details. To compensate for
this, you need to sharpen the image.
Go to “Filter | Sharpen” and select the
“Unsharp mask” filter.
In the filter’s dialog box, set the
radius to 2 or 4 pixels with the
threshold set to 0.
Now drag the amount slider to 25
percent and note the difference using
the “Preview” option. The value
should be between 25 to 30 percent.
OCTOBER 2006 | INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP
After fixing the tilt, crop the required
area using the Crop tool from the Tools
sidebar. The actual image correction
process starts now. In the first stage, get
rid of the noise in the scanned image.
Go to “Filter | Noise” and select the
“Dust and scratches” filter
Set the Radius to 1 pixel keeping the
Threshold to 0 level.
You can check and uncheck the
“Preview” option to view the effect.
Click on “OK” to apply the filter.
If you have Photoshop CS2 installed,
you can go a step further and use
the “Surface blur” filter. This filter is
useful for further eliminating noise and
graininess. It uses the blur effect while
preserving the sharpness of the edges.
Go to “Filter | Blur” and select
“Surface blur”.
Set the radius to 1 pixel and set the
threshold value to 27.
If you aren’t satisfied, you can further
increase the threshold by 3 to 5 levels.
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WORKSHOP | HANDS ON 111
3
The “Dust and scratches” filter gets rid of
most of the noise. However, if you take a
closer look at the image, you’ll still see a
little bit of noise. To get rid of this, use the
Gaussian Blur filter.
Go to “Filter | Blur” and select
“Gaussian Blur”.
Set the radius between 0.3 to 0.5
pixels. Check and uncheck the
“Preview” option to notice the effect
of the plug-in. Keep the radius low or
else it may affect image details.
6
Before Auto Contrast After Auto Contrast
Finally, it’s the overall tone of the image
which has to be corrected. The easiest
way to correct the colors is by using the
“Auto contrast” feature. To do this go to
“Image | Adjustments” and select “Auto
contrast” or simply use the keyboard
shortcut “Alt+Shift+Ctrl+L”. You’ll
immediately notice the increase in
vibrance. If you’re familiar with Adobe
Photoshop you can even try adjusting
the color levels manually. 
| Anand Tuliani
Story code: HWI (See Page 20 for details)

One-stop recreation zone
Get a kick out of your system... build a media center PC. This workshop tells
you how
G
one are the days when a television set
and a DVD player were considered the
best home entertainment devices.
Today, the entire scenario is beginning to take a
sharp turn with media center PCs being the most
powerful entertainment platform. It’s true that
DivX players can play diverse audio and video
formats. Most of them even have provision for
digital multi-channel audio and digital video
outputs. But at the end of the day, there’s
nothing to beat a PC that integrates hundreds of
other functions.
The biggest advantage that a PC enjoys is
the presence of a storage device on which you
can store hundreds of movies and thousands
of songs and photographs. A television set only
allows you to surf channels or connect your
gaming console. But a computer gives you the
flexibility of pausing live TV and capturing your
favorite programs at the press of a button. What
if you feel like tuning into your favorite radio
station? With a media center PC, there’s no need
for a separate radio set – all the functions are
integrated in a single box. If you wish, you can
Jagdish Limbachiya
even grab songs playing on the radio to MP3
format. Last but not the least, a media center PC
is a full-fledged PC. Apart from entertainment
you can use it for gaming, surfing the net,
imaging, video editing, burning CDs and DVDs,
office suite and so on.
Media center PCs are available off the shelves
in the market. But you have to stick with what the
manufacturers offer. If you don’t want to settle
for a branded media center PC, the only option
you have is to build one yourself. In fact, building
a media center PC is the best option because
you have the choice of components such as the
graphics card, hard drive, processor, motherboard,
monitor and so on. You can build a media center
PC that can double up as a gaming machine. Or
you can build a PC with a fixed budget in mind.
The reason why most people refrain from
building a media center PC is the availability of
suitable hardware and Windows XP MCE. The
reality is, you can build a powerful media center
PC using standard hardware without the need for
Windows XP MCE. Read this workshop to find out
how it’s possible!
INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP | OCTOBER 2006
 WORKSHOP | HANDS ON 113

What you need
There are various components that go into
builing a PC. But in case of a media center
PC, you need a collection of certain specific
components.
In case of the processor, memory, hard
drive, optical drive, monitor and speakers,
you can take your pick depending on
your requirement. But with regards
to components like the motherboard,
graphics card, and TV tuner card, you are
restricted to very few models as they
should fit into the case.
The table below elaborates what
specific components you need and why.

Components Recommended models Price (Rs) Why you need

PC case Cooler Master C Media 260 8,950 If you’re going to keep your media center PC in your living room,
you’ll need a sleek case which looks more like a player than a PC. We
recommend this case as it doesn’t require special hardware. If the PC is
not going to be placed in your living room, go in for an ATX case of
your choice.
Motherboard Gigabyte GA-945GM-S2 6,750 The Cooler Master C Media 260 case supports only micro-ATX boards. Also,
Asus A8N-VM CSM 5,300 it makes more sense to opt for a motherboard that offers onboard DVI
Asus M2N-PV-MX 4,800 output and high-definition audio. AMD users, stick to the Nvidia GeForce
MSI K9NGM2 4,200 6150 chipset. The Intel 945G chipset is recommended for Intel users.
Graphics card BIG 7600GT 11,000 Are you going to use your media center PC for gaming? If your answer
(Optional) XFX GeForce 6600 4,300 is ‘Yes’, then spend some extra cash for a good graphics card. However,
BIG 7300GT 5,000 keep in mind that the C Media 260 only takes in a single-slot PCIE card.
TV tuner card Hauppauge WinTV-PVR-150 For compatibility with Media Portal or Windows XP MCE, the TV tuner
Hauppauge WinTV-PVR-350 card must comply with certain hardware requirements. So far, TV tuner
cards by Hauppauge are best suited for media center PCs.
Wireless Microsoft Wireless Desktop 1000 1,600 If you want to control your PC from afar, you’ll need freedom from
keyboard and Logitech Cordless Desktop LX 300 2,000 cords. Hence, we strongly recommend a desktop combo comprising a
mouse wireless keyboard and mouse.
Power supply Cooler Master Extreme Power 350W 2,000 A regular 350 watt power supply unit will suffice for a basic media
unit Cooler Master Real Power 450W center PC. But for a high-end PC with multiple hard drives and a
graphics card, you’ll have to invest in a better PSU that will provide
enough juice for the components.

Optical disc drive

Standard ATX Power
supply with a
120 mm base fan

A compact case calls

for serious cable
management

40 mm side fan

Outlet for the power cord Standard PCI & PCIE cards can be IGP-based Hard drive mounted
fitted using the riser card Micro ATX motherboard in the rack

OCTOBER 2006 | INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP

SMS us! Story code: HWM (See Page 20 for details)

114 HANDS ON | WORKSHOP
Media Portal
If you thought using the features of
a media center PC is difficult, you are
mistaken. The brilliant interface of
Windows Media Center will let you
use the basic functions of a media
center PC with ease. The interface is so
intuitive that one can switch between
live television, radio, music, pictures and
movies at the press of a button.
You don’t require a copy of Windows
XP Media Center Edition to build a media
center PC. There are many applications
which offer all the features that Windows
Media Center does. These applications
also sport a similar interface. One such
application is Media Portal. And you don’t
have to have to pay a paisa for it as it is
available free of cost! The look and feel of
the interface is also completely similar to
that of Windows Media Center!
After installing Media Portal, you have
to configure it at the first run. You have
to specify the different locations of your
music, video and picture files so that
they get displayed as items under the
respective sections.
Here are the list of things you can do
with the Media Portal:
Watch TV
Apart from watching live TV, you can
record what’s being aired on TV. If you
don’t want to miss the show but have
to uproot yourself from your couch for a
compelling reason, you can hit the “Time
shifting” button to pause live TV and then
resume the program when you get
back to your seat. Using the scheduler,
it is possible to schedule recording at a
specified time.
View and capture live television; you can
schedule recordings using the scheduler
Listen to the radio
If you’re in a mood to listen to the radio,
you can tune in to your favorite radio
station. You can switch between the
various stations using the “Previous” and
the “Next” buttons.
Watch videos
If you have movies or video clips on your
hard drive, you can select and watch what
you want. You can view VCDs and DVDs
and even create video playlists.
Groove to the music
Do you have thousands of songs on your
PC? Add all of them and your music library
is complete! Sort the songs by artist,
album or genre. You can create playlists,
listen to audio CDs and do a lot more.
View pictures
After specifying the location where all
your pictures are stored on your PC, click
on the “Create Thumbs” buttons to create
a thumbnail of all the images. Once done,
you can view the images as thumbnails
along with the preview or view them
in full screen. If you have photographs
to share with your friends and family,
you can create fancy slideshows with
transition effects.
Weather forecast and games
Don’t underestimate the capabilities of
Media Portal. It’s much more powerful
than Windows Media Center. It allows you
to view weather forecasts and also play
games through plug-ins. So transform
your PC into a complete entertainment
hub by install Media Portal. You can find it
on the CHIP DVD.
View pictures and create slideshows with
transition effects
The interface of Media Portal is similar to
that of WIndows Media Center
Organize your music library by defining
artist, album and genre
What you miss out on
As I mentioned earlier, a media center
PC should look more like a player than
a system especially if it’s for your living
room. If you’re willing to shell out extra
bucks you can build a powerful system.
However, you will encounter some
shortcomings only because of the case.
Firstly, the cases available for media
center PCs are very few. If you want to
buy a case, they you will have to spend
as they come at a premium. Some cases
are so expensive that they cost nearly
four times as much as a regular PC case,
excluding a power supply unit. Secondly,
since the case is compact, it can only take
in bare minimum components because of
the space constraint within. You cannot
have more than one optical drive and
two hard drives. Furthermore, it is not
possible to throw in a full-fledged ATX
motherboard. This means that you have
no choice but to stick with a micro-ATX
motherboard. And finally, even though
provision has been made to add a PCIE
graphics card, it’s difficult to fit in a
powerful mammoth graphics card that
will occupy two slots. 
| Anand Tuliani
INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP | OCTOBER 2006
 WORKSHOP | HANDS ON 115

OCTOBER 2006 | INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP

116 HANDS ON | TIPS & TRICKS

Tips&Tricks OCTOBER 2006

WINDOWS 117
1. Windows XP Removing Shared Documents 117
2. Windows XP Removing My Sharing Folders 117
3. Windows XP Preventing auto-run of CDs/DVDs 117
4. Windows XP Commands & shortcuts 117

APPLICATIONS 117
5. Microsoft Word Batch print Word documents 117
Umesh Dahiwalkar
6. Microsoft Word Customizing dropdown menus 117
7.
Tip of the month | Hardware Microsoft Word Text animation 117
8. Microsoft Word Increasing the recently used file list 118
Front audio connection 9. Microsoft Word Obtaining the file size of current document 118
My PC’s case has a front audio panel, but it 10. Microsoft PowerPoint Package your presentations 118
doesn’t give any output. This causes a lot of 11. Media Player Reducing cache for Winamp 118
inconvenience when I want to hook up my
headphones to the PC. How do I get the front
INTERNET & COMMUNICATION 120
audio working? 12. Adobe Acrobat Speeding up Acrobat reader 120
13. Download Manager Optimizing Flashget 120
For the front audio panel to work, it 14. Download Manager Auto virus scan in Flashget 120
must be connected to the front audio header 15. Web Browser Removing Thunderbird from the taskbar 120
of your motherboard. If your front audio 16. Mozilla Thunderbird Accessing Gmail through Mozilla Thunderbird 120
doesn’t work, it means that the front audio 17. Mozilla Thunderbird Viewing message headers 121
panel of your case isn’t interfaced with the 18. Opera Sorting downloads by file types 121
motherboard. 19. Opera Reading mail in full browser window 121
To get the front audio panel working, first 20. Outlook Accessing Gmail via Outlook 122
open your case and locate the front audio 21. Internet Explorer Disabling automatic resizing of images 122
22. Internet Explorer Removing username/password
header on your motherboard by referring to
for a site 122
the user manual. By default, the front audio
23. Internet Connection Sharing Sharing your Internet connection in
header has two jumpers fitted. Remove these
Windows XP 122
jumpers and then refer to your motherboard’s
24. Adobe Illustrator CS Applying colors on multiple outlines 123
manual for the front audio panel connection.
25. Adobe Illustrator CS Reducing anchor points 123
Since the connectors of the case’s front audio 26. Adobe Illustrator CS Editing images on a layer 124
panel are labelled, connecting them shouldn’t
be a problem. If done correctly, both the
HARDWARE 124
rear and the front panel audio should work
27. Storage Optimum use of the IDE channels 124
without any problem.
28. PC Handling internal PC components 124

INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP | OCTOBER 2006


Windows
1 | Windows XP
Removing Shared Documents
How do I remove the “Shared
Documents” folder from My Computer?
To eliminate the Shared Documents
folder from My Computer:
Launch the registry editor by typing
“Regedit” in “Start | Run”
Now navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_
MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\
Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\
MyComputer\NameSpace\
DelegateFolders
“DelegateFolders” has a subkey:
{59031a47-3f72-44a7-89c5-
5595fe6b30ee}. Once you delete this
subkey, the Shared Documents folder
displayed in My Computer will be
gone. The effect is immediate. You
don’t need to reboot your PC.
2 | Windows XP
Removing My Sharing Folders
After installing Windows Live Messenger,
a new item called “My Sharing Folders”
has appeared under My Computer. How
do I remove it?
Go to “Start | Run” and type the
following command and press [Enter]:
regsvr32 -u “C:\Program Files\MSN
Messenger\fsshext.8.0.0xxx.00.dll”
where “xxx” is the version of MSN Live
Messenger (found in “Help | About
Messenger”)
If you get a message saying,
“DllUnregisterServer in ... succeeded”, it
means everything went fine.
3 | Windows XP
Preventing auto-run of CDs/DVDs
How do I prevent CDs and DVDs from
auto-running when I insert them into the
optical drive?
It is very irritating when CDs and
DVDs auto-run particularly when you
don’t want them to. So the next time you
insert a disc into the optical drive, close
the drive tray keeping the “Shift” key
pressed and release it after the drive’s LED
stops flashing.
OCTOBER 2006 | INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP
4 | Windows XP
Commands & shortcuts
Can you give me a useful list of “Run”
commands for Windows XP, and shortcuts
for Microsoft Word?
Useful Run commands for Windows
XP are:
devmgmt.msc – Device Manager
fsquirt - Bluetooth Transfer Wizard
desk.cpl – Display Properties
main.cpl – Mouse Properties
gpedit.msc - Group Policy Editor
compmgmt.msc - Computer Management
Some of the useful Word shortcuts are:
Ctrl + Shift + W - Underlines the words but
not the spaces in the selection.
Shift + F7 - Finds a synonym for the
selected word (Thesaurus).
Ctrl+D - Brings up the “Format | Font”
dialog.
APPLICATIONS
5 | Microsoft Word
Batch print Word documents
I mainly work on Microsoft Word
documents. There are times when I
need to print a whole bunch of Word
documents at a go. Is there a way I can
quickly send all files to print without
having to open each one separately?
Making multiple Word documents
print with a single command is quite
straightforward.
All you need to do is open Windows
Explorer, select the files, right click and
select “Print”. This is one way of doing
things. Multiple Word files can also be
printed with the help of a VB script.
When this script is run, it references a
particular folder (which you set in the
script) and prints all the files in it.
To create the script, open “Notepad”
and copy these lines,
set shApp = createobject(“shell.
application”)
set shFolder = shApp.namespace(“C:\Test”)
set shItems = shFolder.Items()
for each shItem in shItems
shItem.invokeverb “&Print”
next
“C:\Test” can be replaced with the path
where the Word files you want to print are
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TIPS & TRICKS | HANDS ON 117
saved. Make sure only the files you want to
print are placed in that folder.
Click on “File | Save As”. In the “File
Name” field, enter the file name along
with its extension—all within quotes.
For example, if this script is to be
named “Print All” then this is what you
should type (with quotes): “Print All.
vbs” and click on “Save”.
Now, whenever you want to print files
from the “Test” folder (for example),
all you need to do is double click on
“Print All.vbs” and it will run the print
command on all the files without you
having to manually select and right
click on them.
6 | Microsoft Word
Customizing dropdown menus
Can I animate the dropdown menus in
Word?
To customize dropdown menus:
Click on the “Tools” menu and choose
“Customize”.
On the multi-tabbed dialog box that
follows, select the “Options” tab.
Next to “Menu animations”, you will
find a pulldown menu. Click on the
pulldown menu and select from the
options “Random”, “Unfold”, and
“Slide”. Then, press the “Close” button.
7 | Microsoft Word
Text animation
How do I use different underlines and also
animate text in Word?
To animate text in Word:
Highlight the text with your mouse,
then right-click and select “Font”.
Now, underneath the “Underline
Style” pulldown, select your desired
underline type. You can use a solid line,
dashes, waves, and more. Underneath
“Underline Color”, you can turn
underlines into a different color other
than the normal text color.
Check out the “Preview” section to see
how your underline will look.
To animate your text, select the font
you want to animate and right click on
the text.
Click on “Font” on the multi-tabbed
Story code: HTT (See Page 20 for details)
118 HANDS ON | TIPS & TRICKS
dialog box that follows, and select
“Text Effects”.
Now, select an effect for the text and
press “OK” when you’re done.
Note: These animated effects will not be
visible while printing.
8 | Microsoft Word
Increasing the recently used file
list
Can I make Word remember more number
of files that I opened in the file menu?
Normally, when you click on “File”,
Microsoft Word 2003 will show you the
names of the last four files used. If you
want, you can increase this list up to 9.
Select “Tools” and then on “Options”.
When the multi-tabbed “Options”
dialog-box appears, click on the
“General” tab.
Next to the text “Recently used file
list”, enter 9.
Click on “OK” to close the dialog box.
9 | Microsoft Word
Obtaining the file size of current
document
How can I obtain the current document’s
file size without going back to Windows
Explorer?
To obtain the current document’s file
size, save the current document.
Use “File | Save” or “File | Save As”
if you haven’t already given the
document a name or want to save a
backup copy.
Once the file has been saved, choose
“File | Properties”.
When the “Properties” multi-tabbed
dialog box appears, select “General”.
Next to “Size”, you can view the current
document’s file size on disk.
10 | Microsoft PowerPoint
Package your presentations
I need to take my PowerPoint
presentation to my college. I am worried
that the campus computer might not
have the fonts and styles that I have used.
Should I take the font types with me also?
There is a way you can take your
PowerPoint presentation with you
wherever you go without the fear of
unavailable fonts or even the application
itself. PowerPoint has a feature known
as Pack and Go (in Office 2000/XP) or
Package for CD (in Office 2003), which lets
you do this.
10 Select PowerPoint Viewer if the
destination computer does not have it
installed
In Office 2000/XP:
Open your presentation and click on
“File | Pack and Go”. You will, in all
probability, be prompted to install this
feature. Go ahead with the installation
and keep the Office CD, just in case.
The Pack and Go wizard will appear.
Follow the wizard and select the
presentation you want to take with
you to another location.
Select the destination folder for the
packaged files. Make sure you have a
folder created specially for this. It is
better to use a USB storage device or a
CD instead of spanning a presentation
across many floppies.
If you are using linked files and True
Type fonts in your presentation, check
“Include linked files” and “Embed True
Type fonts”.
If the destination computer does
not have PowerPoint, include the
“Viewer” in the package. This will
require the Office CD or download it
from the Microsoft web site. That’s
all; the folder is ready to be saved on
CD or external storage. Now you will
need to unpack it on your destination
computer. Any changes made to the
presentation after the packaging
means you will have to repeat the
process again.
Unpacking the presentation:
There are multiple files in the folder
where the packaged presentation has
been stored.
Double click on “pngsetup.exe”. The
unpacking begins with the Pack and
Go setup.
Select the destination folder where
the presentation should be unpacked.
Once the unpacking is complete,
you only need to double click on the
presentation to start it. If you have
to use the PowerPoint viewer, then
double click on that first to install it.
If you use Office 2003 then it is
referred to as the Package for CD
feature. If you use Windows XP then
it directly allows you to package
the presentation on to the CD. The
CD will auto-run the PowerPoint
viewer to display the presentation. It
also provides the option to save the
package to a folder on the computer.
11 | Media Player
Winamp
When I use Winamp for a long time my PC
becomes sluggish. Is there any way I can
use Winamp and still make my PC work
faster?
While playing files on Winamp, your
PC slows down because Winamp starts
using the cache to save up all your MP3 files
being played in your Winamp player. You
can reduce the amount of cache you want
Winamp to use while saving these files.
Open up your “system.ini” file, which
can be found in the Windows directory.
Find the line entitled “[vcache]”, and
add these lines given below:
[vcache]
MaxFileCache=X
MinFileCache=Y
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OCTOBER 2006 | INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP

120 HANDS ON | TIPS & TRICKS
Where X and Y are the largest and smallest
sizes, you want to allow for the file cache
(in kilobytes) respectively. I suggest
putting in a value that is about 25 percent
of your system’s RAM. Restart Windows
for these effects to take effect.
12 | Adobe Acrobat
Speeding up Acrobat reader
My Adobe Acrobat files (PDF) take a long
time to open. How do I speed up the
process?
PDF files take time to open because
Adobe Acrobat reader loads all the plug-ins
at the startup. However, you can disable
the plug-ins from loading in order to
decrease the time required for Acrobat
reader to start. For this purpose, you can
use a utility called Adobe Reader Speed-Up
available on this month’s CHIP Tools CD.
On running Adobe Reader Speed-Up for
the first time, you will be presented with
a dialog box with an option saying “Speed
Up”. Check the radio button next to it and
proceed.
In the next dialog box, set the speed-up
mode as “Speedup – Fast”, which is the
recommended setting and click on “Start”
Click on the “Finish” button after the
settings are applied.
Now PDF files will open as quickly as
Word documents, not taking more than a
few seconds!
13 | Download Manager
Optimizing Flashget
It takes ages to download large files on a
dialup Internet connection. At present I
am using Flashget to manage downloads.
Besides pausing and resuming downloads,
what are its other useful features?
When using a dialup connection,
what worries you the most is the thought
of getting exorbitant telephone bills.
Downloading in parts by pausing and
resuming downloads is the best way to
download huge files. Other than this,
you can instruct Flashget to hang up
the telephone line when downloads get
completed. To enable this feature:
Go to the “Tools” menu and select the
option “Hang up when done”. This way you
need not be at your computer when your
files are downloading.
You can also tell Flashget to shut down
the computer after the download is
complete by selecting “Shut down
when done” from the “Tools” menu.
14 | Download Manager
Auto virus scan in Flashget
How do I automatically scan downloaded
files for viruses in Flashget?
To protect your computer from viruses,
it’s recommended to scan files for viruses
as soon as they get downloaded. Flashget
has an option to automatically scan
downloaded files for viruses. To enable this
feature:
Go to the “Tools” menu and select
“Options” to bring up a dialog box.
Under the “File Manager” tab, check
the option “Use virus scanner to scan the
downloaded file(s)”.
Click on the “Browser” button next to
the empty field and specify the path to
the executable file of your anti-virus. The
executable file resides in the folder where
your anti-virus software is installed.
Internet and Communication
15 | Web Browser
Removing Thunderbird from the
taskbar
I use Mozilla Thunderbird as an e-mail
client. Since it automatically checks for
mails every few minutes, I have to keep
it running at all times. Is there a way I
can minimize Thunderbird to the system
tray instead of it occupying space on the
taskbar?
Thunderbird doesn’t have a built-in
option to minimize it to the system tray.
But there are some third party utilities
with which you can do this. One such nifty
utility is Thunderbird-Tray, which you can
find on this month’s CHIP Tools CD.
After installing Thunderbird-Tray, it
sits in the system tray. You can launch
Thunderbird.
Now, when you minimize Thunderbird,
it will minimize to the system tray
instead of the taskbar. The context
menu also gives an option to instantly
compose an e-mail message.
16 | Mozilla Thunderbird
Accessing Gmail through Mozilla
Thunderbird
Having been invited recently for the
popular Gmail account, I decided to give
it a shot and was quite happy using it. I
have lots of important mails on my Gmail
account but I would like to have a copy
of them on my hard drive. I use Mozilla
Thunderbird as an e-mail client. Can I
configure Thunderbird as a mail client for
my Gmail account?
Yes, it is possible. Here is a step-
by-step guide to setting up Thunderbird
to access your Gmail account. First of all
make sure that POP3 is enabled in your
Gmail account.
Log into your Gmail account and click
on “Settings”.
Select the “Forwarding and POP” tab
followed by “Enable POP for all mail”.
Click on the “Save Changes” button to
enable pop access.
Select “Tools | Account Settings” from
the menu in Thunderbird mail client.
Click on “Add Account”.
16 POP has to be enabled on the server first
so that it is accessible to the client
INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP | OCTOBER 2006

Make sure “E-mail account” is selected
and click on “Next”.
Type your name under “Your Name.”
Enter your Gmail address under “E-
mail Address” and click on “Next”.
Make sure POP is selected under
“Select the type of incoming server”
you are using.
Type “pop.gmail.com” under
“Incoming Server” and click on “Next”.
Enter your full email address
(“abcdef@gmail.com”, for example)
under “Incoming User Name”.
You’ll just have to append “@gmail.
com” to what Mozilla Thunderbird has
already entered for you and click on
“Next”.
Give the Gmail account a name
(something like “Gmail”, for example)
under “Account Name”.
Now click on “Done”.
Highlight “Server Settings” under the
new Gmail account.
Make sure SSL is selected under “Use
secure connection”.
To setup SMTP in Thunderbird,
Select “Outgoing Server” (SMTP) in
the list of account on the left and click
on “Add”.
Type “smtp.gmail.com” under Server
Name.
Type “587” under Port.
Make sure “User name and password”
is checked.
Type your Gmail address under “User
Name”.
Make sure TLS is selected under “Use
secure connection” and select “OK”.
Highlight the Gmail account that we
created beforehand.
Under “Outgoing Server” (SMTP),
make sure “smtp.gmail.com” is
selected.
Open “Server Settings” under the
Gmail account.
Select TLS under “Use secure
connection” and click on “OK”.
17 | Mozilla Thunderbird
Viewing message headers
I use Thunderbird as my e-mail client. By
default, Thunderbird only shows short
message headers. How do I get it to
display full headers for all messages?
OCTOBER 2006 | INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP
17 Enable detailed headers to get complete
information about an e-mail
Detailed mail headers help you
troubleshoot mail problems as well as give
you more information about a particular
e-mail. In order to view detailed mail
headers in Thunderbird:
Select the “View | Headers | All option”
in the main window.
18 | Opera
Sorting downloads by file types
I use Opera as my default web browser. Is
there any way I can save all the files that
I download to different folders based on
the file type? For example, all the .zip files
should be downloaded to a zip folder and
the .exe files to an executable folder.
If you have downloaded files off the
Internet using Internet Explorer or Mozilla
Firefox, you will often find managing the
downloaded files a cumbersome process.
You have to select the destination manually
in IE while Firefox downloads all your files
in a single folder. The process of sorting the
files becomes a time-consuming process,
especially if your download requirements
are very heavy. Opera web browser has
a neat little feature that will allow you
18 You can also manage other file types by
adding additional extension types
TIPS & TRICKS | HANDS ON 121
to sort all your files into different folders
according to the type of file in question.
To setup this feature in Opera, go to
“Tools | Preferences” and click on the
“Advanced” Tab.
Select “Downloads”, followed by the
appropriate file type.
Also make sure that the “Save to disk”
option is checked.
Select the “Do not ask for folder, but
save directly to” option.
Choose the folder to download
the particular file type and click on “OK”.
19 | Opera
Can I read my mail in the full browser
Can I read my mail in the full browser
window in Opera?
Yes you can read mail in the full
browser window. First eEdit the following
three files. Close Opera before editing any
.ini file
Edit the Menu.ini file,
Item, “View in browser” = Go to page, “%s”
Edit the Toolbar.ini file
Button, “In browser” = Go to page,
“%s”,,,View
Edit the Input.ini file
m = Go to page, “%s”
Open Opera, and your mail folders
or newsgroup lists will have “view in
browser” in the context menu, and there
will be a button “In browser” on the folder
toolbars. Use the menu, or click on the
button to have the mail items open in
full browser windows. An added bonus is
you can now also refresh a web page by
pressing ‘m’.
122 HANDS ON | TIPS & TRICKS

20 | Outlook
Accessing Gmail via Outlook
How do I access my Gmail account using
Outlook?
It is very simple to access your
Gmail account in Outlook. You can do this
using the POP3 server. You can specify if
you want to keep the mail read in Outlook
in your Gmail account or delete it. The
following steps will guide you as to how
this can be done:
Turn on POP access in your Gmail
account.
Open Outlook and select “Tools |
E-mail Accounts”.
Select the option “Add a new e-mail
account” from the new window that
opens up.
Click on “Next”. Choose POP3 as the
server type and click on “Next”.
Enter your Gmail account details in
the Internet e-mail settings
(POP3) dialog:
1. Put in your full name under the option
“Your Name”.
2. Type in your Gmail email address
under “E-mail Address”.
3. Type your full Gmail address under
“User Name”.
4. Type your Gmail password under the
option “Password”.
5. Type pop.gmail.com under “Incoming
mail server (POP3)”.
6. Type smtp.gmail.com under
“Outgoing mail server (SMTP)”.
Click on “More Settings”.
Go to the “Outgoing Server tab”.
Make sure “My outgoing server”
(SMTP) authentication is checked.
Select the option “Use same settings
as my incoming mail server”.
Go to the “Advanced tab”.
Make sure “This server requires
an encrypted connection (SSL)” is
checked under both Incoming server
(POP3) and Outgoing server (SMTP)
Type 465 under Outgoing server
(SMTP). Check if the number under
Incoming server (POP3) is changed to
995 automatically; if not then enter
995 manually there.
Click on “OK”. Then click on “Next”
and finally on “Finish”.
21 | Internet Explorer
Disabling automatic resizing of
images
Each time a high-resolution image loads
in Internet Explorer, it automatically gets
resized to fit in the browser window. To
view it in its actual size, I have to manually
expand it. How do I disable automatic
resizing of images?
Disabling automatic resizing images
is easy! Here’s how you do it:
Launch Internet Explorer and go to
“Tools | Internet options” to bring up the
“Internet options” dialog box.
Select the “Advanced” tab and scroll
down to the “Multimedia” section.
“Enable automatic image resizing” is
the first option. Uncheck it and click on the
“OK” button to apply the changes.
22 | Internet Explorer
Removing username/password
for a site
Is there any way I can remove the saved
username and password of a single
web site and keep all of my other saved
password data of other web sites intact?
Press the down arrow until the name
to be removed is highlighted and then
press the “Del” key. Internet Explorer
will ask whether you want to delete the
username and password information.
Click on “Yes” and it’s gone.
23 | Internet Connection Sharing
Sharing your Internet connection
in Windows XP
I have just installed a broadband Internet
connection at home and want my PC
as well as laptop to access the Internet
simultaneously. How do I connect both?
If you have a broadband connection,
chances are that you are connected to the
Internet either by a USB DSL modem, a
cable modem or you have a direct Ethernet
line to your PC. Many Internet service
providers provide an ADSL router that
allows you to share the Internet connection
off the shelf. If you don’t have a router,
you can use Windows XP to share your
Internet connection with some additional
hardware.
To share your Internet connection
using Windows XP, make sure the PC that
is connected to the Internet directly has
23a Enabling ICS allows you to effectively
share your single broadband connection

It’s really simple to remove a stored

username/password for a particular site:
First navigate to the site. When
Windows prompts you for the
username and password, click on the
username box and press the down
arrow. This will show all the usernames
23b Change the IP address on the client
stored for this particular site (usually
system to enable access to the Internet
just one).

INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP | OCTOBER 2006

 TIPS & TRICKS | HANDS ON 123

two network cards. The PC and the laptop

can be connected to each other via a hub or
a switch or if you want to save costs, they
can be connected directly via a cross over
cable. Once you have established physical
connectivity, follow these steps to share
your Internet connection. [Note: You cannot
share your Internet connection if you are
running Windows XP Home Edition.]
Open “Network Connections” in
Control Panel or right-click on the “My 24a Change the thickness of a stroke either 25a The Autotrace tool creates a graphic by
Network Places” desktop icon and select by selecting a preset or by typing a value selecting similar colored pixels
“Properties”.
Here, you should have at least two
connections listed: one for your Internet
connection, and one for your local area
connection.
Right-click on the entry corresponding
to your Internet connection, and select
“Properties”.
Choose the “Sharing” tab, and turn
on the “Enable Internet Connection
Sharing” option. Click on “OK” to finish
setting up ICS. 24b Apply complementary colors to your 25b The Simplify window lets you reduce the
strokes to create a glow effect number of anchor points
On the client side,
Open “Network Connections” in from the menu bar. This will create the shape of the image is a tedious and
Control Panel or right-click on the “My separate outline for each and every complex process. To reduce the number
Network Places” desktop icon and select text character. of these anchor points, follow the steps
“Properties”. Apply a stroke color and then increase mentioned below:
Right-click on the Local area network the stroke weight. Make sure the stroke Place an image on the art board by
connection and select “Properties”. is really thick. clicking on “File | Place” from the menu
Select TCP/IP and click on “Properties”. Next, to convert this stroke to a graphic bar.
Change the IP address to 192.168.0.2, so that you can apply a color to its Select the “Autotrace tool” from the
subnet mask to 255.255.255.0 and the outline, click on “Object | Path | Outline toolbar, the third one from the bottom,
gateway system as 192.168.0.1 and click Stroke” from the menu bar. Reduce the and click on the image. The Autotrace
on “OK”. stroke weight to half of what it was tool will select all the pixels with similar
Fire up the web browser and you should earlier. Apply a different stroke color colors and apply one single fill color to
be ready to access the World Wide Web. and you will get an object or text with give a flat appearance. In the process
multiple strokes or outlines. it creates numerous anchor points.
24 | Adobe Illustrator CS You can repeat the last step. Remember
Applying colors on multiple outlines that every time you apply “Outline
How can I create a logotype with multiple Stroke”, reduce the stroke weight to
outlines and apply different colors on them? half the last value.

There may be occasions when you 25 | Adobe Illustrator CS

need to add multiple strokes or outlines
to a logotype or headline, which add a
certain weight to the graphic. Below are
the steps to get the desired effects:
Type a headline with a big font size, so
that you have the space for bigger text
on the artwork.
Convert the text into graphic by
clicking on “Type | Create Outlines”
Reducing anchor points
Whenever I trace an image in Illustrator, it
creates numerous anchor points. Is there
a way I can reduce the number of these
anchor points?
It is really cumbersome to work with
an image, which has numerous anchor
points. Adjusting the points to modify

OCTOBER 2006 | INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP

124 HANDS ON | TIPS & TRICKS
All these anchor points eat up a lot of
virtual memory, which eventually leads
to your machine slowing down.
To reduce the number of the anchor
points, click on “Object | Path | Simplify”.
This will open the Simplify window;
check the “Preview” and the “Show
Original” box for the shape of the new
path when you adjust the settings
against the original path that got
created while using the Autotrace tool.
Adjust the “Curve precision” slider to
reduce the number of anchor points.
When you decrease the curve precision
percentage value, the number of anchor
points gets reduced and along with it
even the path loses the details.
Once you are satisfied with the number
of anchor points, click on “OK” and
return to the path to get better details.
26 | Adobe Photoshop CS
Editing images on a layer
My artwork has two images on a layer. I
want to edit them separately but as they
overlap, it is difficult. What is the way out?
In case of such an artwork, you don’t
have any option of editing the images on
one layer separately. However, you can try
out the following option:
Create images on two layers separately.
Next, select both the layers and click
on “Layer | Smart Object | Group into
New Smart Object” from the menu
bar. This will bring both the images on
one special layer known as the “Smart
Object layer”.
To edit the images separately, double
26a The Smart Objects Layer clubs the two
objects in one layer but allows you to
edit them separately in a different file
26b Save to apply the changes on the Smart
Objects Layer
click on the “Smart Object layer”. When
the dialogue box appears, click on the
“OK” button. This will treat that layer as
a separate file, and will open it showing
two layers with your created images
separately.
The canvas size of the new file will be in
proportion to the objects. You can also
adjust the canvas size from the menu
bar by clicking on “Image | Canvas size”.
Remember to increase or decrease the
canvas size proportionately. Once you
are done with setting the proper canvas
size, you can edit the images without
any problem.
Crop the images proportionately
otherwise they will appear distorted
and you might have to resize them.
Finally, save your file and you will have
two images in one layer in your artwork.
Hardware
28 | Storage
Optimum use of the IDE channels
When I try to burn a DVD or copy data from
a DVD media to the hard drive, data access
is slow. What do you think is causing this? I
have a 7200 rpm IDE hard drive with 8 MB
cache and a fast 16x DVD writer.
The reason you could be facing this
problem is because you have probably
linked up the IDE hard drive and the optical
drive on the same IDE channel. When both
the devices are on the same channel, the
bandwidth gets divided between them.
The same amount of data needs to travel
through the bus in both the directions
thus causing a bottleneck. Under such
circumstances, put the IDE hard drive and
the Optical drive on seperate channels
if your motherboard supports 2 IDE
Channels. If not, consider investing in a
SATA hard drive. They cost the same as
their IDE counterparts and provide better
performance when simultaneous access
to he hard drive and the optical drive is
required. If you only have a single cable
but two IDE ports, consider investing in a
seperate IDE cable for each device and it
will pump up the performance of your hard
drive and the optical drive.
27 | PC
Handling internal PC components
I am about to assemble a PC for the first
time. I have heard that static electricity can
harm the internal components. Can you
also tell me what precautions I need to take
while assembling a PC?
Static electricity is created when there
is friction and separation between certain
types of materials. When two materials
are separated, a transfer of electrons takes
place from one to the other. The amount of
static electricity generated depends on the
type of material and the amount of friction
generated. Conductors like metals easily
transfer electrons and get charged unlike
in the case of non-conductors like plastic.
When a conductor is charged, the less
number of free electrons gives it the ability
to rapidly discharge when it comes in close
proximity to another conductor. Plastics
generate a high amount of static electricity.
Follow these steps when you plan to
assemble a PC.
Before installation, always store the
components in anti-static bags.
Wear an anti-static wristband attached
to a metal part of your case.
Hold internal parts by their edges. 
INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP | OCTOBER 2006
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OCTOBER 2006 | INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP

126 UNWIND | FEATURE
Down to the Core
Take a ride on our trivia train that brings you to the very source of next-gen gaming
W e have seen a huge transition
in computer gaming in the past
few years—the seventh generation of
console gaming is a reality now. Thanks to
supercharged hardware, we have high-
definition games that look realistic and
provide for a fantastic experience replete
with fun and thrill. In our past issues, we
have talked about how advanced hardware
has enhanced gaming. In this feature, we
will narrow down to game engines and how
they affect gameplay.
Today there are more than thousand 3D
engines, but only the special few like Unreal
Engine 3, Doom 3 Engine, CryENGINE2,
RenderWare and Gamebryo provide
abundant visual development tools in
addition to reusable software components.
Take a look at our mapping on seven such
extreme game engines.
The Cry Series
CryENGINE
The engine developed by Crytek was initially
Pramod Jadhav
used as a demo platform for upcoming
Nvidia graphics cards. Running graphic
demos, this engine was way before its
time—its intricate coding and multi-tasking
capabilities were awesome for a first version
engine. Nvidia and Crytek made use of this
kernel to develop the real-world first person
shooter, Far Cry. The engine has multi-
platform support for the PC as well as for
consoles like the Xbox, Xbox 360, PS2, PS3.
The sequel to this game, Far Cry: Instincts
Predator was released next for the PC and
then for the Xbox 360. But the immovable
in-game physics was a big glitch. The engine
had to be modified further too boost
gameplay. Crytek having mastered real-
world levels wanted to step up and this is
how CryENGINE2 was born. The CryENGINE
engine has been licensed to NCSoft for their
forthcoming MMORPG, Aion.
CryENGINE2
In 2004, Crytek in cooperation with ATI
spawned the v2 engine. The latest core is
a heavily extended version of the original
CryENGINE supporting Shader model
2-based HDR (High Dynamic Range), depth-
of-field and motion blur. No official details
of the engine’s capabilities and features
have been released, but the demo of
Crytek’s next-generation game Crysis slated
to be released in March 2007, will prove its
credibility. The engine supports features
like volumetric clouds, dynamic ambient
lighting, soft shadows and extremely
detailed models. Crysis will raise the FPS
bar with its player-defined environmental
reactions, which means when you shoot a
leaf, it will drop to the ground. Keep an eye
out for this one!
Renderware
RenderWare, developed by Criterion
Software is committed to game
development—having powered over 500
games till date. This engine is home to
titles like Burnout 3: Takedown. Call of Duty
Finest Hour, Grand Theft Auto as well as
INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP | OCTOBER 2006

Black. Boasting multi-platform support, the
engine did not really seem to be a next-
generation engine and went through three
facelifts since v1. The latest RenderWare
release is the v4.x engine, taking over its
predecessors—the v2.x and v3.x kernels.
Thanks to its active GUI, this tiny engine
gave its competitors a run for their money.
Its biggest advantage is its rendering
capabilities. Its power lies in the fact that it
allows computers with lower configurations
to run games at high frames per second.
Some of the hot releases based on this
engine are:
Burnout: Revenge PlayStation
Call of Duty: Finest Hour
Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas
Black
Doom 3 Engine
Doom 3 is one of the most sophisticated and
highly modified engines. Developed by id
Software, it was designed by John Carmack
who also created the previous Doom and
Quake engines. Although the Doom 3
engine was originally modeled on that
of Quake 3, the current one hardly bears
any resemblance to it. In fact, the Doom 3
engine filled up for several effects absent
in Quake 3 such as bump mapping, normal
mapping and so on.
The original version of the Doom 3
engine needed high hardware requirements
to run it optimally. The engine’s texturing
did not support quality outdoor scenarios
and the need for detailing was apparent.
The Mega Texturing technology solved the
problem of outdoor scenes with the help of
a single massive texture covering the entire
OCTOBER 2006 | INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP
FEATURE | UNWIND 127
map. Hence the desired effects were
achieved. Another flaw was overtly
detailed shadows in Doom 3, for instance,
the edges were too sharply defined. This
was corrected in subsequent releases of
the engines as seen in the game Prey. Apart
from this game, the other hot releases based
on this engine are:
Doom 3
Doom 3: Resurrection of Evil
Quake 4
RAGE
RAGE, short for Rockstar Advanced
Game Engine, is a game engine
crafted by Rockstar Games poised
to unlock the potential of the
Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3
consoles to the fullest. The
Grand Theft Auto IV is going
to use the RAGE engine and
if the visuals seen in the new
Rockstar Table Tennis game
are in any way indicative, we
could well be in for a surprise.
The previous Grand Theft Auto
games were however powered
by the RenderWare engine. GTA
IV is slated for release in October
2007. So will all future Rockstar
games released on the Xbox360
SMS us! Story code: UFG (See Page 20 for details)
128 UNWIND | FEATURE
and PlayStation 3 be also powered by the
RAGE? Watch this space.
Gamebryo
The Gamebryo engine is one of the
most flexible engines present today and
supports a variety of game types. It is
a successor to NDL’s (Numerical Design
Limited) NetImmerse engine. This engine
takes game development to a new
level—now the scenes appear as if they
are in the high definition format. This is
a multi-platform engine supporting PC,
PS3, PS2, Xbox 360, Xbox and GameCube.
Gamebryo has been around for quite
a while now and has powered loads of
arcade, simulation, action and strategy
games as well as 3D software. Some
of the multi-genre games built on this
engine are:
Empire Earth II
The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion
Zoo Tycoon 2
Sid Meier’s Civilization IV
The Unreal Engine
This powerful engine developed by Epic
games was first used in the 1998 first
person shooter Unreal. It lay the foundation
for many such games since then including
Unreal Tournament and Tom Clancy’s
Rainbow Six 3: Raven Shield. The engine
is truly versatile as it has been used in
myriad areas other than gaming such as
construction simulation, design training
simulation and driving simulation. The
engine’s blistering speed has been raved
about. The 3.0 core in Unreal
Tournament 2007 enables
terapixel graphics and
high-speed vehicular
battles against three
story monsters. The
engine supports
HDR, soft-shadows,
depth-of-field,
rag-doll dynamics
and volumetric
environments. The
INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP | OCTOBER 2006

engine has gone through two transitions
from v1.0 to v2.0 and v3. Unreal technology
is currently working on the v4.0 version to
power next-generation consoles. Some of
the games powered by this engine are:
Postal2
Unreal Tournament 2007
XIII
Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six 3: Raven
Shield
Source Engine
Source Engine has been developed by
Valve Corporation. Basically coded in C
and C++, it boasts of all the best features
such as HDR2, soft-shadows, depth-
of-field, rag-doll dynamics, buoyancy,
volumetric environments, lip sync and
facial expression technologies. Games
running on this engine are superb to play
because of its powerful and efficient
physics system. Advanced characteristics
seen in CryEngine such as motion blur and
depth-of-field are present in Source. Half-
life: Episode Two, powered by this engine,
will in all probability come packed with
the HDR2 feature. It is being speculated
that it will support DirectX 10 as well.
Landscape is depicted more realistically
with open gorge-like environments in
Half-life: Episode Two, unseen in Episode 1.
Soft particle systems will be seen as well,
OCTOBER 2006 | INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP
FEATURE | UNWIND 129
along with in-game cinematic physics.
Scenes depicting a two-story building or a
large bridge collapsing without animation
will be an experience worth waiting
for. As part of this engine’s transition to
next-generation consoles, multi-processor
optimizations have been added. This
has resulted in faster processing in PCs
and the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3
consoles that run dual core processors. A
significant advancement in Half-Life 2’s
Xbox release was file streaming, in which
a map’s resources could be loaded as the
player moved around in it. One of this, the
loading time was reduced to as little as 15
seconds. This is one the most widely used
game engines today. Here are some of the
titles powered by Source:
Counter-Strike: Source
Day of Defeat: Source
Half-Life: Source
Half-Life 2
Half-Life 2 Episodes (One, Two
and Three)
SiN Episodes
You must have played all or some of
these games mentioned in this article
and we can bet at least one of these titles
would be your favorite. So the next time
you witness an in-game effect, you have
the game-coding geniuses to thank! 
| Erick Rustomji
130 UNWIND | REVIEW

Slash, cut, hack and loot this sunday afternoon...

P eople who have sworn allegiance to

the legendary pirate Captain Jack
Sparrow, have one more thing to rejoice
about with Bethesda Softworks’ recently
released game, based on the much talked
about movie Pirates of the Caribbean. It’s a
little late though, considering the sequel to nothing waiting for you to cut him to bits
the movie has already been released.
The game starts off with both our
pirate heroes Captain Sparrow and
blacksmith turned pirate Will Turner,
hunting down a valuable jewel hidden in
a Spanish fortress off the Spanish coast,
only to find themselves double-crossed,
captured, and getting ready for a public
hanging. While standing at the gallows,
Jack attempts to buy some time by
recounting past exploits and this is when
the game really gets going. The game
can be played as a single player or with
a friend, with player two taking on the
role of Will Turner or Elizabeth Swann,
depending on the story Jack is currently
thinking of in flashbacks. You can easily
swap between the characters you want to
play with just the click of a button. Though
it seems to take the friendly AI a few more
slashes to cut the enemy down to size,
RATINGS 6.0 / 10
For: Good storyline, superb soundtracks from the
movie.
Against: Stupid AI, stale gameplay, tough controls.
they generally stay out of the way, and you
never have to worry about them dying on
you.
The enemy AI is nothing to write home
about. It is as stale and bland as it can get.
Your enemy stands right beside you doing
and pieces. At some point in the game you
have to use a ram to open a huge door.
Now in order to do that you have to keep
pressing a particular button that will show
up as an icon on the screen, but if you
don’t manage to do it in time, you start all
over again.
In addition to the lackluster
gameplay, the game has a series of
glaring programming flaws. For instance,
when playing alone, you’ll notice the AI
controlled allies get stuck behind barrels
and walls. When not trying to sprint
through a doorway, they’ll sometimes
just stand and stare while your enemies
tear you to shreds. The good part is your
enemies don’t fare any better either. They
also just wait and watch even when you’re
walking right next to them. The swordplay
is the same with just two basic sword
slashes that you can later string together
into three-hit combinations. You
can block attacks, perform rolling
dodges, and toss objects around
with absolutely no idea how or
where it’s going to end up. There
are Molotov cocktails, hand axes, and fish
to use as grenades or just to cut or break
something. There is this bit of interactivity
in each of the game’s environments
where you can slash at pillars and support
beams to bring down evil pirates. You can
also place explosive barrels throughout
each stage to unlock secrets, and certain
objects like lifts and mine carts can be
manipulated in different ways.
The graphics aren’t anything special—
except for some environments, most of
it looks pretty dull. The characters look
pretty much the same as in the movie.
Jack, for example, is instantly recognizable
in his drunken stupor, and he remains his
crafty, cunning self . It would have been a
lot more convincing, however if Elizabeth
didn’t fight quite so much like a man.
The storyline is pretty good considering
the fact that you experience it from Jack
Sparrow’s point of view. You get to travel
to China, Spain and lots of other places
which were not featured in the film.
Come and join in the thrill of hacking,
slashing, cutting and looting to your
heart’s content. If you have nothing better
to do on a boring afternoon and would
like a little action or a throwback to your
childhood when you played pirates with
makeshift swords, then this is the perfect
game for you. 
| Faheem Sayed

Price: 1,299 Publisher: Bethesda Softworks Distributor: e-xpress Interactive Phone: 022-28843736 e-mail: info@e-xpressindia.com System: Windows XP,
Pentium III 800 MHz or Athlon 800 MHz or higher, 256 MB RAM, DirectX 9.0c compatible graphics card with 32 MB, hard disk with 3.5 GB free space, 4X CD/DVD drive.

INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP | OCTOBER 2006


Joinin’ the Mafia ain’t exactly a walk in the park. The
shootin’ and cursin’ is cool, but will you live to tell the tale?
T
here are some people who love Quentin
Tarantino’s movies and others who don’t.
Me? I’m one of the former. Modeled on
the cult-inspiring Quentin Tarantino movie
in ’92, Reservoir Dogs promises a lot. After
spending time with this PS2 title, we found that
it delivered on some counts but disappointed
on others.
Fans of the movie will appreciate the
various nuances that went into defining this
groundbreaking movie—from the snappy wit,
funky soundtrack (all of which you hear as the
game’s background score) and of course the
characters. However, with the movie’s cult
status primarily emerging out of the snappy
dialog sequences in the warehouse, the
developers needed to take obvious liberties
from the original storyline to impart the
requisite amount of action sequences in
the game.
It all starts off in the warehouse where
you, as a new recruit need to prove your
mettle in displaying competence for joining
the group. This serves to introduce you to the
various weapons like the pistols, shotguns
and submachine guns, and provides a training
ground in learning to use them correctly. More
than just shooting, your survival depends
heavily on the ability to take hostages and use
them to disarm security personnel along the
way. From guards to cops to SWAT teams, the
amount of coercion you need to exercise varies,
but if you do it right, you can have them drop
their arms and back up against a wall—just the
RATINGS 7 / 10
For: Engaging gameplay, entertaining voiceovers
and funky retro soundtrack.
Against: Linear level flow.
Price: 2,499 Publisher: Eidos Interactive, SCi, Volatile Games Distributor: Milestone Interactive
com System: Playstation 2 console, 128 KB free space on memory card for saving games, controller
OCTOBER 2006 | INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP
REVIEW | UNWIND 131
way you want. To drive home your point with
especially hardened opponents, butt-whacking
your hostage with your weapon will make them
take you seriously.
True to the movie, the game begins from
the diamond heist that went wrong. You get to
play each of the characters in the movie where
you will proceed through alleyways, deserted
garages and industrial complexes. Depending
on the ferocity with which you plough
through the levels, you will either be rated as
a professional, a criminal or a psycho! At the
zenith of your adrenalin rush (this is visible from
an on-screen indicator) you can unleash a ‘Bullet
Festival’ which takes you into a Matrix-inspired
slow-motion sequences of bullets. Besides
moving around on foot, there are regular
opportunities to hop into a car to get across a
level. The in-game driving largely consists of
either getting between two points within a
predefined time or staying above a speed limit
to shake off pursuing cops and is functional
more than exciting.
However, it isn’t difficult to get accustomed
to the scripted nature of the game. A generous
number of checkpoints let you save your
Jagdish Limbachiya
progress at regular intervals. The
banter, along with the signature
mafia one-liners are fun, but
remember to turn down the
volume as the profanity-
studded humor might not
appeal to all at home. 
| Marco D’Souza
Phone: 022-28203319 e-mail: sales@milestoneinteractive.
SMS us! Story code: URR (See Page 20 for details)

Model railroads and control realistic locomotives in a lifelike
simulation
I
f you’re a fan of simulations, by now you
surely must have driven a Ferrari or flown a
Concorde at full throttle. But if you haven’t
yet jumped into the cab of a locomotive, here’s
how you can! Trainz is an all round railroad
simulator that has something to offer every
railroad junkie right from modeling railroads to
controlling your dream train.
To begin with, the complete installation of
the game takes around 700 MB of drive space
after which you don’t require the game disc to
play. The game is very light on resources and
doesn’t require a fancy graphics card. Even a
decent graphics card like the Nvidia GeForce
6200 can run it at the highest settings—at a
resolution of 1024x768.
Trainz can be played in three modes—
Surveyor, Driver and Scenario. In the surveyor
mode you can model railroads. With a complete
set of tunnels, bridges, buildings, vehicles and
flora and fauna, you can create a fully featured
layout with great details. With an easy-to-use
interface, creating lavish landscapes featuring
rolling hills, lakes, mountains, beaches and
other geographical formations is a breeze. It is
possible to model the railway network of your
city also if you have a railway map!
The Trainz ‘Driver’ module provides an
opportunity to step in the cabin of a locomotive
and take complete control of the train. You can
build trains of your choice using locomotives,
passenger cars, tankers, wagons and hoppers
RATINGS 6.5 / 10
For: Great details and realism.
Against: No in-game tutorial; the interface isn’t
intuitive.
Price: 399 Publisher: Auran Distributor: Aladdin Multimedia Pvt Ltd Phone: 022-56936795
XP, Intel Pentium III or above, 128 MB RAM, 8x CD/DVD Drive, DirectX 9.0c compatible graphics card, 600 MB free HDD space, soundcard
SMS us! Story code: URT (See Page 20 for details)
Ultimate Collection
from a list of over 130 different engines and
cars! When driving a train, you have complete
control over the degree of realism. You can set
the control mode as DCC or Cabin. While in the
DCC mode, you only need to control the speed,
in the Cabin mode, you have to control the
pressure brakes, throttle and speed. For those
who wish all rules to be similar to that in real
life, the level of derailment can be specified.
With the derailment level set to maximum, you
dare not speed up at turns and bends!
Finally, there’s a Scenario mode wherein
the gameplay is mission based. The easy
missions are the ones where you’re in charge of
passenger trains. Signals and speed limits have
to be obeyed failing which the scenario comes
to an end. Complex missions involve manually
switching tracks and carrying out complex
shunting maneuvers.
While the game is enough to thrill any
railroading buff, it does have its share of quirks.
The interface isn’t intuitive at all. You cannot
master the controls without referring to the
manual. Apart from the manual, there isn’t any
way you can learn the controls—the control
map is missing from the game! And since the
controls are mapped on the numeric pad, it will
be difficult playing this game on a laptop.
If you’re a fan of railroad
simulation, you shouldn’t
miss this game. 
| Anand Tuliani
Pramod Jadhav
e-mail: aladdin@vsnl.com System: Windows 98 SE/ME/2000/
INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP | OCTOBER 2006
Post: J2EE Developer
Company: Liquid Hub
Profile: Should have experience working on
J2EE Technologies with experience in JSP,
Servlets, JSP and JDBC.
Exp.: 2-5
Location: Hyderabad
Email: indiajobs@liquidhub.com
Post: Technical Specialist- UAS
Company: CSR India Pvt. Ltd.
Profile: Candidate must have experience in
developing UMTS RLC/MAC Layer protocol.
Knowledge of Configuration and Process
Management tools.
Exp.: 7-12
Location: Bangalore
Email: bangalore@csr.com
Post: Testing Practice Head
Company: JK Technosoft Ltd.
Profile: Should be a team player with
excellent people management skills &
experience in managing full scale projects.
Exp.: 9-14
Location: Delhi/NCR
Email: bhavnidhi.sharma@jktech.com
Post: Solutions Architect- Embedded
Company: Adya Systems & Software (P) Ltd.
Profile: Should have understanding of OS
Kernels, device drivers, embedded system
hardware, software architecture for
networking applications. Strong coding
experience in C++.
Exp.: 8-10
Location: Delhi
Email: jobs@adyasystems.com
Post: Sr. Developer
Company: Ventrum India
Profile: The candidate should be a BE/
BTech/ MCA with mandatory Skills C, C++,
MFC, Active X, Windows Programming,
good grasp on OOAD UML principles is plus.
Exp.: 4-8
Location: Bangalore
Email: rohit.misra@ventrum.com
Post: Project Leader- Mainframe
Company: HSBC Software Development
(India) Pvt. Ltd.
Profile: Should have lead a team of 50 - 80
members that would comprise of software
engineers, team leaders and senior
software engineers with 8 to 11 years
experience in the related field.
Exp.: 8-11
Location: Pune
Email: gltjobs@hsbcglt.com
Post: Technical Specialist
Company: Wipro Infotech
Profile: Candidate should have knowledge
of TCP/IP with basic understanding and
familiarity of oracle database.
Exp.: 5-9
Location: Gurgaon
Email: pallavi.kapoor@wipro.com
Post: Associate Head- IT
Company: DS Group Ltd.
Profile: The Candidate must be an
Engineering Graduate in Electronics or
Computer Science. CCNA & MCSE will be
preferred, with an experience of more than
7 years in the IT administration field.
Exp.: 6-8
Location: Noida
Email: amit.kumar@dsgroupindia.com
Post: Project Manager
Company: Conexant Systems (PB) Pvt. Ltd.
Profile: Candidate should have embedded
system development experience in
Linux2.4/ Linux2.6, kernel or any other
RTOS with knowledge in broadcasting
standards like DVB, ATSC/ ARIB.
Exp.: 6-11
Location: Noida
Email: karishma.chandna@conexant.com
Post: Solution Architect- Domain Expertise
Company: Satyam Computer Services Ltd.
Profile: The Candidate should have 6 to 15
years experience with Domain expertise.
Exp.: 6-11
Location: Mumbai
Email: deeptiyogi@gmail.com
Post: Sr. Developer
Company: Aithent Technologies (P) Ltd.
Profile: Should have 5+ Years Experience with
Unix , DB2 with good Communication Skill.
Exp.: 4-7
Location: Mumbai
Email: careers@del.aithent.com
Post: Sr. ASIC Engineer
Company: Portal Player Pvt. Ltd.
Profile: The candidate should have Master’s
Degree in engineering with over 6 years
of experience or a Bachelor’s Degree in
Engineering with over 8 years of experience
with project management skills.
Exp.: 6-10
Location: Hyderabad
Email: indiacareers@portalplayer.com
Post: Sr. Test Engineer
Company: Xansa
Profile: The candidate should be BE / BTech
/ MCA / M.Sc with 60% and above and 5.5
to 9 years experience of functional and non
functional testing using tools.
Exp.: 5-10
Location: Noida
Email: india.rec@xansa.com
Post: Unix Administrator
Company: Unisys India Pvt. Ltd.
Profile: Candidate must be a graduate in
computer science/ IT or equivalent with
4+ years of experience and knowledge of
Administration.
Exp.: 4-7
Location: Bangalore
Email: recruitindia@unisys.com
Post: Java Specialist
Company: ACL Wireless Ltd.
Profile: Candidate will be responsible for
timely development of all services, work
with client team for client server protocol
refinement and definition.
Exp.: 5-7
Location: Delhi/NCR
Email: sanjaysadana@acl-wireless.com
Post: SAP Portal Developer
Company: Kanbay Software (India) Pvt. Ltd.
Profile: Candidate should have implementation
experience with excellent communication skills.
Exp.: 4-7
Location: Hyderabad
Email: alad@kanbay.com
Post: System Analyst
Company: Southern Ocean Software
Solutions (P) Ltd.
Profile: The candidate will be responsible
for business analysis, functional
verification and validation of the
deliverables.
Exp.: 4-6
Location: Chennai
Email: chennai@southernoceansolutions.
com
Post: General Manager- Software
Company: TVS Infotech Ltd.
Profile: Candidate must be a Senior
Management person who is technically sound
and has good people management skills.
Exp.: 12-22
Location: Chennai
Email: padma@tvsinfotech.com
Post: Tech Lead- Software Engineering
Company: Yahoo Software Development
India Pvt. Ltd.
Profile: Candidate must have a B.Tech
degree or better and a minimum of 7 years
experience in developing high quality C++
applications in a UNIX environment.
Exp.: 7-9
Location: Bangalore
Email: ta-jobs@yahoo-inc.com
Post: Project Manager
Company: CLC Technologies Ltd.
Profile: Incumbent should be competent
enough to handle a team with complete
knowledge of ERP, VB 6.0, SQL Server, &
Crystal Report. Experience on CODING is a
must.
Exp.: 4-8
Location: Gurgaon
Email: hr@clctechnologies.com
Post: Sr. Software Engineer
Company: AOL Bangalore Development
Center
Profile: Candidate should have experience
in designing and developing back end
systems.
Exp.: 4-6
Location: Bangalore
Email: sanjuktahr@aol.com
Post: ASP.Net Professional
Company: Blue Star Infotech Ltd.
Profile: Candidate should have knowledge
of ASP.Net and C#.
Exp.: 4-7
Location: Bangalore
Email: amitabh.bhakri@bsil.com
Post: Project Leader- J2EE
Company: Polaris Software Lab Ltd.
Profile: Should have 5+ yrs in IT with 4+
yrs exp in Java/J2EE with atleast 1+ yrs
TL/PL Exp in Struts, EJB, JSP is mandatory.
Sun Certified Professional will have an
added advantage.
Exp.: 5-7
Location: Chennai
Email: annie.wilson@polaris.co.in
Post: Team Leader
Company: Aspire Systems India (P) Ltd.
Profile: Should be highly proficient in
atleast one of the following technology
streams: - ASP. Net, VB.Net, C#, Core Java,
JSP, Servlets, EJB, RMI, CORBA.
Exp.: 4-9
Location: Chennai
Email: work@aspiresys.com
Post: UDB Professional
Company: Syncata (a ProQuest Co.)
Profile: The candidate must have 5 years
of DBA experience using UDB, logical and
physical design of database, ETL tools and
OLAP tools.
Exp.: 5-9
Location: Delhi/NCR
Email: indiajobs@syncata.com
Post: Sr. Software Engineer- .Net
Company: Procentris India Pvt. Ltd.
Profile: Candidate should have knowledge
of .Net Framework with strong knowledge
of caching mechanism, .Net data
providers, server and user controls,
validation etc.
Exp.: 4-7
Location: Mumbai Suburbs
Email: jobs@procentris.com
Post: Quality Manager
Company: Adobe Systems India Pvt. Ltd.
Profile: Should have Quality Manager/
Testing Manager with strong testing skills
& experience on all kinds of testing. Prior
experience in Product testing would be
desirable.
Exp.: 8-12
Location: Delhi/NCR
Email: kunal@adobe.com
Post: Lead Software Engineer- Dot Net
Company: Interglobe Technologies (CMM
i Level 5)
Profile: The candidate should lead team
of Dot Net Professionals. Design and
implement small to large size projects.
Exp.: 5-8
Location: Delhi/NCR
Email: igt@interglobe.com
Post: BI/DW Analyst
Company: Agile Software Enterprise Pvt.
Ltd.
Profile: The candidate should have 5+
years of technical/systems analysis, 3-5
years experience in Database, Process
Mapping / Diagrams, Data warehouse
architecture , ETL experience.
Exp.: 5-8
Location: Bangalore
Email: gayathri.navaneethan@agile.com
Post: Sr. Software Engineer- Java Script
Company: Corbus India Pvt. Ltd.
Profile: Should have 4 years of
Development experience using Java, JSP,
Servlets. Must be familiar with Onsite-
Offsite Model.
Exp.: 5-7
Location: Delhi/NCR
Email: mchopra@corbus.com
Post: Sr. Java (J2EE) Engineer
Company: Bebo Technologies Pvt. Ltd.
Profile: Must be a BE/MCA with
relevant experience in JAVA/J2ee/EJB/
JMS/WebLogic/IBM MQ Workflow/
Webmethods. Should know script
programming, with ability to take
initiative.
Exp.: 4-7
Location: Chandigarh
Email: chdjobs@qasource.com
138 Classifieds

INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP | OCTOBER 2006

140 Classifieds

TO BOOK SPACE HERE CONTACT

Mumbai
Hafeez Shaikh
Phone: (022) 24232872
Bangalore
Harish Kamat
Phone: (080) 5597282/83/84
New Delhi
Pranav Saran / Jitendra Gupta
Phone: (011) 55303287/79/80/82
Hyderabad
Vasudevan Iyer
Phone: (040) 23392226
Chennai
O. K. Gurumurthy
Phone: (044) 28295050/54
Kolkata
A. K. Roy
Phone: (033) 2468637/2468638
Pune
Yogita Vaidya / S. Naidu
Phone: (020) 56031234

www.chip-india.com

INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP | OCTOBER 2006

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INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP | OCTOBER 2006
 Classifieds 145

OCTOBER 2006 | INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP

146 Classifieds

INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP | OCTOBER 2006

 Classifieds 147

OCTOBER 2006 | INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP

148 LAST WORD
Intelligence where?
A fter being surrounded by geeks and
mind-boggling technologies right through
the week, and with deadlines squeezing every
ounce of life out of me, I was left desperately
seeking a weekend. Though the weekend
seemed light years away, it finally arrived,
though it seemed to me it was I who rushed
towards it with lightning speed!
Whatever the case was, all that matters is
once Friday beckoned, I was out of the office in a
jiffy. I wanted to run away from the clutches of
technology and sink in the serenity of nature. But
when one is so used to the maniacal demands
of city life, getting away from it is a tad difficult;
also nature seemed far far away.
So it struck me that the perfect thing to
do would be to hang out with friends, who
were free men unlike me—a faithful slave to
technology. But this seemingly temporary detour
from this world of technology proved to be an
unforgettable and enlightening experience.
20 GB PATA + 60 GB = 80 GB SATA!
I met this friend (whose identity I dare not
reveal, since I don’t want to risk personal injury),
an engineering student with a tech handicap.
He recently shifted his loyalty from Intel to
AMD. The new PC he purchased has an AMD
Athlon 64 processor while the old one had an
Intel Pentium 4 processor. When I heard about
it, I couldn’t resist asking him about his PC’s
configuration. While he answered most of the
obvious aspects like brand of the monitor and
speakers, answering queries about the internal
components made him a tad uneasy. The
blank look on his face was discouraging; so
instead of bothering him, I decided to take a
look at the computer myself.
I figured that an 80 GB SATA hard drive
was installed in his computer; so I asked him
what he had done with his older 20 GB PATA
hard drive. I of course had an ulterior motive
here. My hard drive was brimming with
data and getting a second-hand drive for
a friendly price would be a blessing. But
his reply left me dumbfounded. His exact
words were, “The computer assembler
added 60 GB of space to the older hard
Jagdish Limbachiya
drive, which resulted in a new 80 GB disk”. I
concealed my laughter and explained to him
calmly that a hard drive cannot be upgraded to
a higher capacity; it needs to be replaced. The
appreciation I received in return was equivalent
to the accolades a person would receive had he
managed to avert the Third World War!
Head-spinning experience
The next day, the same friend who by now
regarded me his Gadget Guru, urged me to
accompany him to purchase a Discman he so
wanted to possess. I agreed. We checked out a
reputed electronic store in our vicinity.
The sales personnel at the store were so
presentable that I got an inferiority complex.
Forget about being immaculately dressed,
I looked like something the cat dragged in.
Anyway, I inquired about the various brands of
Discman available, in the most impeccable
manner possible.
After browsing through a fairly large number,
we narrowed down to a Panasonic Discman
featuring a transparent panel and capable of
reading audio CDs, MP3 CDs, and VCDs. My
friend noticed something peculiar about the
Discman—when the music played, the disc
would rotate for a brief period and then come
to a standstill even though the music continued
playing. So he inquired about this rather odd
feature. Before I could explain that the music
was buffered in a RAM chip from where the
music was played even though the disc did not
rotate, the salesman’s prompt reply made my
jaw drop. His masterpiece quote, “While playing
the disc, initially the disc is spun and later the
lens is spun and that explains why the CD is
stationary after a while.” Before yours truly—
crusader of technology could strike the salesman
in frustration, I decided it would be wise to pay
for the Discman and get out of there.
When we stepped outside the shop, a
Motorola banner caught my attention. It proudly
proclaimed, ‘Intelligence everywhere’. I looked at
my friend next to me and thought of the tech-
challenged salesman and sighed. To me, only
‘Intelligence nowhere’ seemed more apt! 
| Sharon Lobo
INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP | OCTOBER 2006
 Technology in Design | 24 TFTs reviewed | Build a Media Center PC
2006

Rs 100
11

RNI Registration No. MAHENG/2003/12687