Entries Tagged 'Input Devices' ↓

Did you know your smartphone’s accelerometer can be used to steal keystrokes from a nearby keyboard?

Using an iPhone 4 and some pirate software they wrote, a team of researchers at Georgia Tech has managed to capture complete sentences from a nearby keyboard with up to 80 percent accuracy.

“The way we see this attack working is that you, the phone’s owner, would request or be asked to download an innocuous-looking application, which doesn’t ask you for the use of any suspicious phone sensors,” team member Henry Carter, a PhD student in computer science and one of the paper’s co-authors, explains. “Then the keyboard-detection malware is turned on, and the next time you place your phone next to the keyboard and start typing, it starts listening.”

The team initially tried to use an iPhone 3GS in their experiments, but the results were too difficult to read.

“But then we tried an iPhone 4,” says Georgia Tech School of Computer Science Assistant Professor Patrick Traynor, who is a member of the team along with Carter, Georgia Tech grad student Arunabh Verma, and MIT Lincoln Laboratory’s Philip Marquardt.

“[The iPhone 4] has an added gyroscope to clean up the accelerometer noise [and] the results were much better. We believe that most smartphones made in the past two years are sophisticated enough to launch this attack.”

Other researchers have attempted to steal keystrokes using a phone’s microphone, but there are drawbacks to that method. For example, microphones have a sampling frequency of 44,000 vibrations per second. this is much more difficult to analyze than an accelerometer, which samples at just 100 times per second.

Also, handset makers typically restrict app access to phone microphones. when an app tries to grab hold of the mic, your phone will usually ask you if you want that to happen. Such protections aren’t placed around accelerometers.

How it Works

The malware creates a model based on probability and keyboard pairs. it determines if a pair is on the left or right side of the keyboard, and then it determines the distance between the keys in the pair–are they far apart or close together? After analyzing that data for a series of pairs, it compares what it’s hearing to a pre-loaded dictionary that classifies words based on left-right, near-far characteristics.

For example, the word “canoe” would consist of four pairs: C-A, A-N, N-O and O-E. The malware would interpret those strokes into Left-Left-Near, or LLN, LRF, RRF and RLF. when that data is compared to the entries in pre-loaded dictionary, a statistically probable result would be produced. in this case, “canoe.”

For the technique to work reliably, words must be three letters or more. Working with a 58,000 word dictionary, the researchers found their word recovery rate was as high as 80 percent.

Should you start being paranoid when a colleague places their cell phone by your keyboard? Not really. “The likelihood of someone falling victim to an attack like this right now is pretty low,”Traynor says. “This was really hard to do. But could people do it if they really wanted to? We think yes.”

Carter, Traynor, Verma, and Marquardt will present their findings in a paper entitled “(sp)iPhone: Decoding Vibrations from Nearby Keyboards Using Mobile Phone Accelerometers” on Thursday at the ACM Conference on Computer and Communications Security in Chicago.

Follow freelance technology writer John P. Mello Jr. and Today@PCWorld on Twitter.

October 12, 2011 02:00 AM Eastern Daylight Time 

AS364X series family ranges from industry-leading, highest light output 2000mA flash LED drivers to cost-efficient 320mA flash LED drivers

UNTERPREMSTAETTEN, Austria–(BUSINESS WIRE)–austriamicrosystems (SIX: AMS), a leading global designer and manufacturer of high-performance analog ICs today announced its new AS364X family of LED flash drivers for mobile phones, cameras and other portable devices. The high level of integration and 4 MHz operation of the DC-DC boost converter enable the industry’s smallest device sizes, yet still maintains the highest accuracy to ensure the best picture and video quality. Expanding the company’s extensive photo-flash offering, the new driver family supports output currents from 320 mA up to 2 a providing optimal solutions for entry-level cell phones to high-end smartphones, tablets, DSCs and VCRs.

“The mobile phone has migrated to a multimedia device bringing together a high resolution, digital camera with the capability to directly upload pictures to the web”

The new family provides highly accurate I2C programmable output currents and timings. It also provides a variety of security features as well as features for improving the picture quality in a mobile environment that enables the flash to operate down to very low battery levels. This is accomplished through a combination of intelligent built-in features and proprietary process technologies. overall, the AS364X series enables stable picture quality, faster design-in cycles, highest flexibility and best system protection and safety.

The LED driver AS3648 flagship product drives up to 1 a each into 2 LEDs enabling the highest light output available today for directly battery powered LED flash solutions. Providing a complete flash solution (excluding LED), it requires less than 22 mm2 of PCB board space, the smallest in the industry. Additional high-end features include LED balancing, fully programmable flash, torch and autofocus modes, flash timing programmable in 8 ms steps and LED short circuit 8 kV ESD protection for the LED pins.

with the industry’s highest light output and smallest size, the AS3647 offers the best quality for a high-end, cost- sensitive camera system, driving up to 1.6 a through a single LED. a number of features make the device the best tradeoff between system cost and quality for smartphones and feature phones. These features include programmable TxMask current, pre- and main flash with system shutdown protection, coil current limitation, thermal protection and reliable LED open and short security.

The entry-level devices (AS3644 and AS3642) are the industry’s smallest flash drivers at 11 mm2 and bring new differentiating features to the market such as programmable flash current and duration, video light, torch and autofocus light. These devices provide LED flash currents up to 320 mA (AS3644) and 500 mA (AS3642), making them ideally suited for photo-flash applications in cost-sensitive mobile phones and tablets and for front-facing cameras for social video conferencing in high-end smartphone platforms.

The photo-flash LED driver AS3643, providing up to 1300 mA of flash current for one LED, is well suited for mid-range mobile phones, DVRs and tablet PCs and delivers picture quality improvement features, highest flexibility and programmability and system safety.

“The mobile phone has migrated to a multimedia device bringing together a high resolution, digital camera with the capability to directly upload pictures to the web,” said Oliver Weber, austriamicrosystems’ marketing manager for mobile lighting products. “Taking high quality photos in low-light situations using the camera-flash is becoming more and more critical to the consumer who now wants the best quality pictures with their mobile device. The photo-flash used in most phones is migrating from a simple LED light to a high quality flash. We specified our new AS364X series flash-driver family with the end-customer view in mind and are based on our extensive experience working with leading OEMs. This family supports the next generation of mobile products with enhanced features and improved picture quality.”

Price and availability

each member of the series is available in a space-saving WL-CSP and operates directly from a Li-Ion battery between 2.7 and 4.4V over a -30 to +85 °C temperature range. Available in volume now, each device is priced under $1.00 in 1000 piece quantities and demonstration boards are available.

austriamicrosystems.com/LED-flash-driver/AS364X

Download Press Picture or Block Diagram at

austriamicrosystems.com/eng/Press/Release-Archive-2011

Nissan has confirmed that it is building the rumored 'Super Juke.'

(Credit:Nissan)

(Credit:Nissan)

Last week, we reported that Nissan was rumored to be building a “Super Juke” variant of its already oddball Juke small crossover. Today, we have confirmation from Nissan that it is building the Juke-R, as the vehicle has come to be known, creating the first-ever super crossover. this is the same automaker that built a convertible crossover; why are we still surprised?

The formula is simple: take the Nissan Juke and wholesale import the Nissan GT-R’s power train into its chassis. the official release specifies that the Juke-R will be powered by a version of the GT-R’s 3.8-liter, twin-turbocharged V-6 that sends 480 horsepower through the GT-R’s six-speed gearbox and a shortened version of the ATTESA-ETS Pro dual driveshaft AWD system and to the ground through four 20-inch Rays forged wheels, also from the GT-R.

Inside, the Juke-R will also benefit from a GT-R cabin tech transplant in the form of a 7-inch touch-screen display with customizable digital gauges for monitoring nearly every aspect of the vehicle’s performance. Nissan specified that the Juke’s motorcycle-style center console will remain, but that’s likely one of the only stock bits that will, as the Juke-R’s interior will mostly be stripped to make room for an FIA-compliant roll cage and dual racing bucket seats with five-point harnesses. Nissan expects to actually race this thing, although likely not in any official capacity.

Which brings us to the reason for that clever asterisk is this article’s headline. Although Nissan is building the Juke-R, it will be “a one-off, road-legal conceptcar.” Technically, it’ll be a two-off since Nissan will actually be building a pair of them–one in right-hand drive and another in left-hand drive (presumably as a gift to Wayne Cunningham, CNET’s resident Juke enthusiast).

When asked why it is creating such a mad machine, a representative replied, “Nissan is building the Juke-R because we can.” Who can argue with that logic?

Remember the good old days when a bulky machine called a PC was something meant only for geeks. The 8086, 286, 386, 486 and the Pentium revolutionized the world of computing, but only for a short period of time.

Then came in the laptops, notebooks or mobile computing which took technology a step ahead. It’s fair to say laptops have come a long way since the early 1990s, LCD displays have been replaced with sleek HD screens and the once plus-size machines are now zero sized models. If laptops have evolved so much in that space of time, where can they go from here; especially in this so-called post-PC era where tablets PCs are all set to take over computing world?

One important element of the laptop design has stayed persistent during the past 20 years, the conventional flip lid, protecting the screen and providing a sturdy base for a the keyboard it’s the back-bone of any laptop. But with the emergence of the tablet market, advances in technology and changing materials this could be about to change.

The rise of tablet PCs means laptops must adapt, while tablets and laptops are both suited to particular environments, each could learn from one another. While the clam-shell laptop is tried and tested it does have its drawbacks and limitations, in the future it is very likely that we will see new types of laptops moving away from the clam-shell design. Dual screen and sliding laptops have already made an appearance these early concepts will undoubtedly see many iterations in the coming years, which could see them grab back some of market share tablet PCs have recently taken.

Power, the Achilles heel of laptops, we’ve all been there desperately trying to complete a task before the life in your laptop drains away. Wouldn’t it be amazing if laptops could hold their charge for days on end, unfortunately that’s not going to happen anytime soon. However smarter technologies such as inductive charging could soon put AC adaptors into retirement. for this to happen charging pads will need to be widely adopted, just imagine sitting on the train using your laptop while it charges via the surface you’re using.

The last two years have seen growth and rapid expansion of the Tablet PC market. A record 19.7 million of these devices were shipped worldwide in 2010. The future looks bright in any case for the manufacturers of these devices. Critics of both are quick to dismiss this trend and hype are quick to point out that these devices offer nothing new to the consumer. so what is the future of Tablet PCs on the market?

A tablet is not a smartphone or a personal computer. Most of these devices do not have video cameras as the smartphone and cannot make calls. It also lacks the devices which came with a PC, mouse and keyboard are associated. However, you may want plug-in devices such as accessories, if necessary. The screen may be larger than a smartphone, but it is smaller than a PC. Basically, the main outlets for appliances slate ultra slim elegant touch screen, wireless Internet access and ingenious applications.

Other features of computers, such as Notepad, games, music and videos can be easily achieved with other gadgets. It is difficult to identify the unique aspects of Tablet PCs that are not available to other high-tech tools. However, these devices are in fashion among consumers. What is driving the demand for equipment tablet? Analysts say the ease of obtaining the content is the most important factor that stimulates the sale of Slate PC. The majority of users are consumers of shale content. Listen to people who are interested in movies, reading online magazines, books, newspapers, music and exchange tips on social media. The makers of the pills on specific niche, which consists of a large number of adolescents, young adults and working class people. Most of these people find it easier to access their favorite content with the tablet PC.

On the other side of the divide are the creators of content. they are individuals who need software like word processing, spreadsheets, databases and working with slides. these people cannot see the need for Tablet PCs that do not meet these functions effectively.

It has enormous growth of the PC market slate in the last two years. although coverage in the media industry, contributed to their popularity, design and applications are important selling points for Tablet PCs. However, there are many features that you cannot do with Tablet PCs. In such cases, your old laptop or PC will prove to be useful to finish the job.

Let’s take a look back in time on technology that made tablet PCs possible.

Light pens

A light pen is a means of input to a computer that relies on a light sensitive device that is capable of detecting positions on a CRT based display. This technology was not used with portable devices, but is a predecessor to later technology.

Passive Digitizers

Screens such as that found on the original PalmPilot utilizes resistive input screen and a simple plastic pen. This same type of digitizer is found on some lower cost Tablet PCs. This type of input is very limited and does not allow the user to rest their hand on the screen without interfering with the input.

Active Digitizers

Active digitizers such as that developed by WACOM are a more advanced form of pen input that is very common in many modern Tablet PCs. Motion Computing also provides a means for pen based input that is notably used by Dell based Tablet PCs.

Touch and Multi-touch

The two main types of touch interfaces are resistive and capacitive touch. Capacitive touch has become popular mainly as a result of the iPhone. Resistive touch is considered an older type of technology that requires pressure to be applied to the screen. Capacitive screens are capable of detecting touch based input in a more user friendly method. An additional benefit is the ability to track multiple points. Current technology on Tablet PCs is limited to two points and commonly referred to as duo-touch.

What is a Tablet

Newton

The Newton was a personal digital assistant consumer electronic device introduced in 1989. The Newton was capable of handwriting recognition which is a core component of Tablet PCs.

Modbook

While most Tablet’s run a Microsoft operating system, drivers and software are available to use the same hardware with a Linux Operating system. Additionally, the Axiotron: modbook is a modified Macintosh that supports pen based input.

Palm

The PalmPilot, a personal digital assistant, was a pocket sized device that was able to organize information. Early models relied on a specified area of the screen for writing in a Graffiti input zone. This form of writing used a modified character set that made recognition of characters easier. The touch sensitive screens relied on the input of a plastic stylus.

Microsoft

The term Tablet PC typically refers to the product released by Microsoft in 2001. The “Windows XP Tablet PC Edition” of the Microsoft operating system was the first natively pen enabled version of Windows. Windows Vista added pen support to the entire line of operating systems, not typing it down to a special version. Windows 7 went further building in support for touch and multi touch into the operating system.

Evolution of Technology

Going a little back in time on January 27, 2010, Apple CEO Steve Jobs’ introduced a thin, always-on tablet device that would let people browse the Web, read books, send email, watch movies, and play games. It was also no surprise that the 1.5-pound iPad resembled an iPhone, right down to the single black button nestled below the bright 10-inch screen. But there was more to it that what met the eye. In addition to the lean-back sorts of activities one expects from a tablet, there was a surprising pitch for the iPad as a lean-forward device, one that runs a revamped version of Apple’s iWork productivity apps. In many ways, Jobs claimed, the iPad would be better than pricier laptops and desktops as a tool for high-end word processing and spreadsheets. If anyone missed the point, Apple’s design guru Jonathan gushed in a promotional video that the iPad wasn’t just a cool new way to gobble up media – it was blazing a path to the future of computing.

Even though the iPad looks like an iPhone built for the supersize inhabitants of Pandora, its ambitions are as much about shrinking our laptops as about stretching our smartphones. Yes, the iPad is designed for reading, gaming, and media consumption. But it also represents an ambitious rethinking of how we use computers. No more files and folders, physical keyboards and mouses. Instead, the iPad offers a streamlined yet powerful intuitive experience that’s psychically in tune with our mobile, attention-challenged, super-connected new century. Instant-on power. Lightning-fast multitouch response. Native applications downloaded from a single source that simplifies purchases, organizes updates, and ensures security.

Apple has even developed a custom chip, the A4, that both powers the machine and helps extend its battery life to 10 hours. But don’t call it a netbook, a category Steve Jobs went out of his way to trash as a crummy compromise. The iPad is the first embodiment of an entirely new category, one that Jobs hopes will write the obituary for the computing paradigm that Apple itself helped develop. If Jobs has his way, before long we may be using our laptops primarily as base stations for syncing our iPads.

The fact is, the way we use computers is outmoded. The graphical user interface that’s still part of our daily existence was forged in the 1960s and ’70s, even before IBM got into the PC business. Most of the software we use today has its origins in the pre-Internet era, when storage was at a premium, machines ran thousands of times slower, and applications were sold in shrink-wrapped boxes for hundreds of dollars. With the iPad, Apple is making its play to become the center of a post-PC era. But to succeed, it will have to beat out the other familiar powerhouses that are working to define and dominate the future.

There’s a lot to love about Apple’s vision. As we start to establish the conventions made possible by advanced multitouch, we’ll perform ever more complicated tasks by rolling, tapping, and drumming our fingers on screens, like pianists tickling the ivories. The iTunes App Store model gives us a safe and easy means to get powerful programs at low prices. Rigidly enforced standards of aesthetics will ensure that the iPad remains an easy-to-navigate no-clutter zone. and since we’re obligated to link our credit cards to Apple, micropayments are built in, providing traditional media companies with at least a hope of avoiding the poorhouse.

But there’s also a lot to worry about. It’s a pain to lug around an external keyboard, which many people will require if they’re serious about banging out documents. Apple’s system is closed in a way that the Mac (and even Windows) OS never was – all apps are cleared through Cupertino, and developers and publishers are a step removed from their users, who make transactions through the App Store.

That Apple-centric vision assures a nasty fight ahead. In particular, the iPad represents a head-butt to another bold new model for computing: Google’s Chrome OS.

In some ways, Chrome is even more radical than the iPad. Spawn of a pure Internet company, it is itself pure Internet. While Apple wants to move computing to a curated environment where everything adheres to a carefully honed interface, Google believes that the operating system should be nearly invisible. Good-bye to files, client apps, and onboard storage – Chrome OS channels users directly into the cloud, with the confidence that the Web will soon provide everything from native-quality applications to printer drivers. Google hopes that a wave of Chrome-powered netbooks set for release this fall will hasten that day, and its designers are already sketching out the next generation of Chrome OS devices, including touchscreen tablets.

Google vice president Sundar Pichai contends that having an iTunes-like app store is unnecessary, because desktop software is just about dead. “In the past 10 years, we’ve seen almost no new major native applications,” he says, ticking off the few exceptions: Skype, iTunes, Google Desktop, and the Firefox and Chrome browsers. “We are betting on the fact that all the user will need are advanced Web apps.” (Pichai acknowledges that the Web can’t currently handle powerful games but says that new technologies like Native Client and HTML5 will fix that problem.)

Though critics of Google worry about the company’s power, Chrome OS is an open source system, and the Web apps Google encourages will, unlike Apple’s, be available on any device or browser.

Apple won’t talk on the record about Google’s browser-centric approach, but Jobs did address the notion when I interviewed him about interfaces several years ago. “While we love the Web and we’re going to have the best Web browser in the world, we do not want to make our UI look like a Web page,” he said. “We think that’s wrong.” Clearly, he still thinks so. Apple favors the pristine orderliness of autocracy to the messy freedom of an open system.

While Google and Apple are each positioning themselves as pioneers of the next paradigm, Microsoft – the company that dominates the current one – has a more iterative approach. It’s taking an evolutionary path that integrates the seismic changes in the digital world into its flagship products, without any jarring leaps. Three years back, Microsoft introduced Surface, a technology that lets people use their fingers and objects to interact with table-sized displays.

Incremental change, however, can ultimately mean no change. A decade ago, Microsoft came up with its own vision of a tablet computer. But the company tried to have it both ways: a new category of device that ran an old style of software – specifically, a modified version of Windows. The Tablet PC, introduced in 2002, was a flop. meanwhile, advances from Microsoft’s labs can approach bar mitzvah age before finding their way into products. Surface is the most exciting product out of Redmond in years, but the company has been shockingly timid in pushing it into the marketplace. Almost three years after it was announced, Surface is still a novelty in a few hotel lobbies and retail stores. Apple all but announced that the iPad could damage its own desktop and laptop business, but Microsoft never seems to put all its weight behind groundbreaking products – especially if success may come at the expense of its Windows and Office cash cows.

The miniaturization technology has come a long way.  from heavy, bulky computer gadgets, we have come to an age where everything has become handy.  The people of the new generation would take a glance back to see how the Tablet PC developed.  from super slow desktops to laptops, notebooks, netbooks to very handy and slim Tablet computers.

The flatness of this gadget seems to somehow suggest that there are certain patterns and trends in which a Tablet computer manufacturing company is pressured to ride on.  The super slim, ultra thin feature of the gadget from the ideas of Apple has descended all the way to the Far East like Compaq.  This industry is not yet totally dominating the computer market.  and although companies like Samsung and Apple are doing great in certain models in terms of sales and distribution, this doesn’t mean that their products are the most visible in countries like the third world, which seem to always get the last hand in accessing cutting edge gadgets.

It is pretty clear now that in the near future, these companies will be expanding, and will absolutely need to strengthen their base or center of gravity if they want to have the edge in the tough competition. With Apple and Samsung smoothly on course, things can shift abruptly; nobody knows what’s going to happen.  The only thing certain is that this industry would still be existing for a number of decades unless there’s a new brilliant idea that would replace it.

Why Apple is still ahead of the pack

When Steve Jobs took to the stage in San Francisco last January to announce the iPad he presented the world with a device he called “magical”. Apple fans were enraptured but the sceptics dismissed the new tablet computer as merely ‘a big iPod touch’.

On the face of it, that’s what the iPad is but to truly understand what makes it ‘magical’ you need to get your hands on one. It responds so perfectly to the touch that it really feels like you are moving objects around with your fingers. It’s seamless; at no point do you sense the computer that sits underneath, drawing pixels in response to your touch. That’s the real genius of the iPad – the way it feels – and it’s clear from looking at some of the weaker tablet competitors that such responsiveness is no mean feat.

And this time around are many competitors. The iPad quickly surpassed expectations and by the end of the year Apple had sold almost 15 million iPads worldwide. It’s no surprise that the competition wanted to get in on the act.

A year on from the launch of the iPad there are tablet computers everywhere. Toshiba, Asus and even Next – yes, the clothes people – have jumped into the tablet market.

The problem for the competition is that Apple is about to deliver a new iPad while many of them are on their first version. The new one is likely to be slimmer, lighter and faster than its predecessor and come with a camera too, for videoconferencing.

The new iPad will certainly raise the bar, perhaps only a little, but it will be a higher bar nonetheless. Carolina Milanesi, of analysts Gartner, said that Apple still leads the tablet market. “The experience that you get is a different experience,” she said.

She added that the new iPad “will put more pressure on competitors”.

What does the future hold?

As we know, tablet may be the most datable theme recently. Lots of people believe that it may possibly replace pc. even though tablet pc is really a super star who acquired much concern and expectations from people, it’s just a little to show off before smart phones, since which have higher acceptance.

Currently, the newest smart phone has also used dual-core processor, so its configuration is without a doubt excellent as a tablet pc. part of the customers believes that the improvement of tablet personal computers won’t impact the samrtphones since the samrtphones are a lot more portable and would likely attract a lot more customers.

But, other people believe that tablet personal computers are the most crucial device for most customers. all the functions of a smart phone, except for communication, may be realized by a tablet pc. Consequently, a thin common smart phone with a tablet pc will be a good choice. 65% of consumers stated that they will no longer need any computing product excluding tablet personal computers. even 37% customers believe that tablet pc has replaced samrtphones.

Therefore, what’s the future of tablet personal computers?

Due to the essential distinction in portability and operation methods, we believe that tablet pc won’t be a transitory device just like netbook computers. However, it’ll grow to an equally essential product as notebook computers. But the problem is that just a few suppliers would likely make money from it and many suppliers definitely will exit the market. and from now, the actual winner is only Apple.

Even though the competition of tablet personal computers would likely let’s recall the past times of competitions between Netbook computer and MP3, this time is quite distinctive from the prior. because MP3 and Netbook computers mainly depends on their hardware and there will be no value-added services after the selling of hardware. While the essential of a tablet pc is actually that make the hardware slimmer and slimmer and more and more software. Remarkable user experience and abundant applications will require high technology and strong integration ability of industrial chain, which couldn’t be imitated effortlessly by others.

From tablet Pc’s to Ultrabooks

Laptops are a vast and complex category, and as such, there are subcategories (i.e. ultraportables, netbooks, desktop replacement) that the tech industry creates to differentiate the small from the large, thin from the fat, and weak from the powerful. It’s like putting a plant or animal in its proper taxonomic rank.

Processor giant Intel has decided to rearrange the laptop landscape, so to speak. It has come up with a new category it calls “Ultrabooks,” which it feels will be the most dominant type of laptop in the coming years. so the obvious question is: What is an Ultrabook?

First, let’s be clear: Ultrabooks aren’t a new breed of mutant laptops. rather, they’re part of an evolving category of incredibly thin and battery-efficient laptops that use low-voltage processors. for a while, they were categorized as “CULV” (Consumer Ultra Low Voltage) laptops before Intel realized how terrible the name was from a marketing standpoint. even the slicker ones, like the Apple MacBook Air 13-inch (Thunderbolt) and Samsung Series 9, which were technically members of the CULV family, are now being considered part of the Ultrabook category. But are they Ultrabooks? according to Intel’s Ultrabook tech specifications, not really.

What makes an Ultrabook?

Intel has outlined what the Ultrabook specs are on its blog. The company says that the spec is still evolving, and it will carry out that evolution in phases. some of the stricter guidelines include a low-voltage Intel Core processor, a frame no thicker than 21mm (0.83 inches), at least five hours of battery like, and lightning-fast boot times. The fast boot times will rely on an Intel technology called “Rapid start,” which makes use of flash storage embedded in the laptop’s motherboard. It’s an odd piece to this puzzle since Rapid start has yet to ship in any laptops, so technically there aren’t any Ultrabooks out there. The first Ultrabook that will purportedly ship with Rapid start is the Asus UX21, which is slated for a September 2011 release.

Affordability

Affordable pricing is sort of an unspoken guideline and critical to the category’s longevity. Intel would like prices for Ultrabooks to come in well below the $1,000 mark, which makes you wonder how the Apple Air 13-inch ($1,299) and Series 9 ($1,799) could be considered as such. The Asus UX21, the first official Ultrabook, is expected to ship for $999. Integrated batteries are also preferred by Intel since they don’t elevate the laptop from the bottom or bulge from its back. and obviously, an optical drive is frowned upon because it promotes thickness.

Touch Screens Needed

Intel also expects touch screens to be an integral part of the Ultrabook spec, with all eyes on Windows 8 and how Microsoft’s forthcoming operating system will drive this segment. Touch screens are perceived as a much later addition to the Ultrabook spec, since Windows 8 isn’t expected to launch until later next year. by including touch, though, Intel is essentially anticipating that its Ultrabooks will be tablets as well, which might dilute the category.

Thunderbolt-That is the Question

Thunderbolt, a technology that can be found in Apple desktops and laptops, could be an Ultrabook spec in phase two or three of its roadmap, if Intel has its way. It’s a high-speed transfer technology that’s roughly 22 times the speed of USB 2.0 and can drive external displays as a mini-Displayport. unfortunately, Thunderbolt is also in the early stages, and the lack of third-party Thunderbolt devices speaks to that sentiment.

Will Ultrabooks Last?

The big question now is whether the term Ultrabooks will stick and play out in the way that netbooks and tablets revolutionized their respective categories. one thing you can count on is that Intel will not make the same mistake as it did with the CULV segment. Intel announced a $300 million dollar Ultrabook fund intended to help companies achieve this vision. The Ultrabook spec isn’t merely a list of hardware requirements that Intel hopes its partners will follow. It’s keen on delivering a great user experience as well, which is why the company has put together an army of anthropologists, experimental psychologists, and a Project-Runway-like design team to make all of this come to fruition. and with the amount of effort poured into this category, the CULV section might just be renamed to Ultrabooks.

Published in @Internet Magazine, September 2011

With the ever growing popularity of the Internet and the World-Wide-Web, many people are now incorporating digital camera and scanned images into their web pages. They are also being widely used for album covers and other promotional material. This is an interesting area as no two monitors or viewing environments look the same. that is, the appearance of an image on one computer doesn’t look the same on another computer. being that this is the case, how does one know that their image looks correct? many people just scan in an image and assume that everything is OK. This is usually not the case. in this third Cybergrass part of the Cybergrass Education Series, we address how to get close to accurate color management with your digital color devices.

This article is a follow up to the earlier article on Photographing Bands and Artists. in that article I discussed some of the problems associated with creating a good original photo. in this article, I will discuss what to do with it to prepare it for presentation through the electronic media. I am assuming that you are starting with a quality photograph and that you desire to maintain that quality on the Internet’s World-Wide-Web.

In order to create better images, it is necessary to first understand some of the techie stuff about imaging and images. you have probably already seen the effects of miscalibration and color errors but didn’t know what was at play. Have you ever used outdoor film to take a photograph indoors? when you received your nice pictures back from the photo lab, you probably noticed that they all had an orange tint to them. This is especially true if you took the photograph in the evening or at night.

Just as it is impossible for any person to acoustically equalize a room by ear, it is also impossible for a person to visually equalize an image by eye. with sound or audio, one uses an instrument called a spectrum analyzer so that one sense (sight) can measure what the other sense (hearing) is actually doing. We need a similar method to deal with images. the problem is that with our 5 senses (sight, touch, hearing, taste, smell), we can’t really use another sense for sight. To illustrate this, think about how you would describe a color, red for example, to a blind person. with no frame of reference, this would be impossible. Yet, with sound, one can show both the volume and the frequency on a spectrum analyzer. with photographs and images, this just isn’t feasible so, we must use sight to measure sight.

When scanning an image it is extremely important to scan at a reasonably high resolution and with as many bits-per-pixel as your scanner will allow. Although the final image won’t contain all this data, it is essential to have it in order to make some of the corrections which will be described later. I realize that this may mean your scanned image may be hundreds or thousands of kilobytes but, the resultant image produced for the web won’t be this complex or large. We can reduce the file size later but we must first have as much information as possible to work with. I scan at 32 bits per pixel and 300 spots per inch which, I find to be very satisfactory for achieving the desired web image results which I desire.

There are many factors which come into play with both the original image and, the scanned resultant image. Skin-tones are probably the hardest to deal with. you surely don’t want green or red faces yet, you also need to maintain some other qualities in the image you plan to present. What are the primary factors? Here is a list which defines some of them.

BrightnessThe brightness of an image is the overall light to dark ratio of the image. the brighter the image, the lighter the overall tones of the image. in extremely bright images, there may not be a solid black but, rather, a dark gray.ContrastThe contrast of an image is the amount of extreme range between light and dark. For example, at infinite contrast, everything is either white or black with no gray. with no contrast at all, everything would be a neutral gray. What one wants to achieve is an even progression of black to white with smooth grays in between.HueHue is the color balance of an image. Just as on a television set where you can adjust your color, the hue ranges from a form of red to a sense of green. somewhere in the middle, the image becomes neutral.SaturationSaturation and Intensity are closely related but have slightly different meanings. Saturation is the overall amount of color being applied. by turning up the red saturation of a pink image, the image may actually become red.IntensityIntensity doesn’t change the color’s appearance as it is increased. that is, pinks do not become red. What they may do is become white or black but the foundation color remains pink.GammaThis is a techie term to describe what is called a function. We use this because the correction this performs is not equal to all colors or shades of gray within an image. This function is a curve and not a straight line as the others mentioned above. the gamma function adjusts the variances between the two extremes (white and black) to achieve a non-linear balance and to correct for conditions which have ultimately affected the image.Color TemperatureThis term has to do with artificial lighting. Sunlight has a different color temperature than does a regular light bulb. Florescent lights have yet a different color temperature. This is why photographs taken indoors with out door film look orange. Because the color temperature from regular incandescent light bulbs is redder than is that generated by the sun. Florescent lights are more green as a rule. Computer monitors also have a color temperature. Humans don’t notice this much because they are used to it and they correct for this automatically. Machines, on the other hand, do not.

Photographers who must use outdoor film indoors, employ a series of filters to compensate for the color temperature of the indoor lighting. They may use various intensities of blue filters on their camera lenses to correct for this difference and thus, the photos they get back from the photo lab, no longer have the orange tint to them. with digital imaging, we have the same ability to apply corrections after the fact. Both the digital camera and the image editing software have the ability to make the corrections — the camera adjusts while taking the image and the software for after the image is taken. We can scan in an orange image and apply the blue filtering electronically to the digital image. We can also do many other adjustments.

Anybody may scan in an photo or drawing and make a digital image of the result. Rarely do the two look the same. If the photo and what appears on you computer monitor look the same in all respects, it probably still won’t print properly. Thus, if one was to scan a photo and then print it on a color printer, the original photo and the print would not be the same.

The problem is that every step in the process, the human eye is the final judge and, unlike perfect pitch for music tuning, color isn’t that easy. What is red or green or beige? Based on what? there are all kinds of red, green and beige. with music, you can say Concert Pitch A is 440 Hz and see it on a chromatic tuner. with color and light, you can do the same however, the instruments to do this are expensive and not really of much use outside the laboratory.

This is a problem just as with recording music. the band sounds great but once they have been recorded and then put on some media (cassette, CD, vinyl disk, etc.), they don’t quite sound the same as before. the reason has to do with proper calibration of every step of the process. with audio, engineers and technicians have calibrated their equipment, applied proper equalization, and adjusted monitors to achieve an extremely close environment to what the source material sounds like. Because human ear and hearing is the judge, what you get depends on who’s ear was making the judgement call. the same holds true with photographs.

With imaging however, this same care to detail is rarely applied outside of a graphics art shop of some sort. Thus, digital images generally do not have proper balance, gamma, color, etc. the primary reason is that many people don’t know they can do something about it. also, what is the “perfect” skin tone hue? A person’s skin generally doesn’t change color quickly but just walking from outside to inside, the hue changes. Turn on a florescent light and it changes again. the skin color didn’t change however, the perception of the color is not the same.

In order to adjust digital images properly, some basic calibrations must first be established. two of these are very easy. Solid black always has a digital value of 0 (zero) and white always has the maximum value allowed (255 for 8-bit or 65,535 for 16 bit). These are the number of steps between black and white. there is also a step for Red, Green and Blue which is where RGB gets its name. obviously the more steps you have, the greater control you have in getting the desired result. Its what’s in the middle that always gets messed up. getting a particular color such as a skin tone requires precise adjustments of all 3 colors and the full range of steps for each.

If you ever watch a television during sign-off or before sign-on, you may often see a screen with various colors on it. Some may also have various levels of white to black. What you are seeing is a color chart or a calibration chart. the studio tries to get black as black as possible and white as white as possible and to have a linear transition from one end to the other. the same with each color.

If you look at an image on a screen, you may realize that there is something wrong with it but often, you may not be able to tell just what. the reason is that it is usually multiple elements which are off at the same time. any or all of the above variables may be out of adjustment. What is needed is a method to put them all back where they belong. To do this, we use a series of standard color charts and calibration images.

Many printers and scanners and even some cameras have what is called an ICC profile. These are a file with the pre-defined sets of data that represent the characteristics of the device for either input or output. They are unique to the specific device. the standard is based on the International Color Consortium (ICC). These ICC profiles describe the color attributes of a your device to your computer or editing software to try and approach a proper balance.

Before we go off and start making random adjustments to images and equipment, it is absolutely necessary to first get our own environment calibrated as close as possible. To do this, we must employ some more techie stuff. the idea is to get what you see on your monitor to represent something close to “normal.” you will probably never get perfect but you should be able to get close. Before proceeding, make a note of where everything is set before you start so that you can easily get back to where you started from.

Calibrating your Imaging system and Software

Color Temperature First, it is essential that we adjust our color temperature variable. various monitors come with different phosphors in the picture tube which are used to display color. there are different tube manufacturers which incorporate different phosphor techniques and composition. Some of the more common are the Trinitron, Hitachi, and regular TV tubes called NTSC. there are others however most computer screens are either Hitachi or Trinitron varieties.

Even the new Plasma, LED and LCD monitors have options for color temperature. Generally, the factory defaults are good but it doesn’t hurt to check and make sure you are properly set for your application.

Some monitors such as Samsung and Sony allow you to change the color temperature of your screen. Others are fixed at some value between 5000°K and 9300°K. These numbers represent a temperature on the Kelvin scale where absolute zero is the point where motion of molecules stops and has no energy at all. Think of these as the surface temperature of the Sun or the filament of a turned on light bulb. These are very hot temperatures. most monitors usually have a value of either 6500°K or 7500°K. Your book on the monitor will usually indicate this. If your software has a place to select this value, you should do so. many packages do not allow any correction for the color temperature so, if yours does not, you will have to live with what you have.

gamma To get us in the basic ball park of imaging, we must now calibrate both our scanner and our image editing tool with the appropriate corrective gamma function. Luckily, this is possible with carefully made calibration images made especially for this purpose. the images are presented below.

You may save this image to your disk by having your browser save the image. you do not want to ever edit these actual caqlibration images but, rather use them to determine the proper settings for your system and adjust your system or software tools. make a note of these settings so that you can adjust your system whenever you need to. most web browsers do not have the ability to adjust this imaging feature so you will need to correct your image prior to putting it in your web page. you will probably not be able to correct your display to show these images properly. Remember also that once you get the image looking proper on your screen, another screen may not present it properly.

If, in this image, the gray box in the middle of the frame next to 1.0 isn’t the same, your gamma is off. Find the value where both the frame and the little box inside of it are the closest and you will have a very close approximation of your correction factor. Adjust both your scanning software and your image editing software so that inside box for the 1.0 value is the same level of gray as the frame around it. This corrects your gamma for all images. If you can save this permanently you will probably want to do so. If you cannot save it, write the corrective value down and always make this correction before any others. This achieves the proper gray balance for your image.

Once this adjustment has been made, the color gamma chart below should now be very close. it is exact when the bars inside each of the colored frames completely disappear. you may adjust each of Red, Green and Blue to fine tune your gamma settings and achieve the proper balance. by looking at this chart, you may notice that some colors are much closer than others. This is normal. Picture tubes usually operate with the three colors shown. This calibration chart is designed to be used with computer monitors.

At this point, the hard part is done and your system should be extremely close for correcting variances in your scanner, scanner software, and image editing software. you may want to bring up an image which you have scanned prior to making these adjustments and apply the proper corrective gamma to it and I believe you will see a noticeable improvement over the original image. you are now on your way to creating excellent images for the web!

Other Adjustments

Now that your system is adjusted properly, we can begin to make other adjustments to photos and scanned images. in order to get the most out of this part of this article, it is important that you first familiarize yourself with your image editing software. almost all programs have the same functionality and features but they are not called the same thing nor are they in the same place. I will attempt to use generic industry terms for this article.

Each of the following editing functions may be applied to the entire image, a single color, or just the black & white portion. you will need to experiment with these to get the feel of what they do and when you will want to use each.

Brightness and Intensity have almost the same visual impact to your digital image. Increasing either of these will make your image appear brighter. Which or the combination you use depends upon the problem you are attempting to correct. If you have a photograph of a person and the skin tones appear correct but the color of their shirt appears faded, you may want to reduce the brightness and increase the intensity of the entire image. If the faces appear to be washed out but the clothes appear correct, you may want to decrease the intensity and increase the brightness. you will need to play with this to achieve the desired result.

Think of the brightness applying to the image if it is black and white only and the intensity as applying to colors only. in reality, white is comprised of all the colors so this isn’t really a true statement but should help you decide which function to use and when.

Contrast and Saturation achieve a different role in image processing. Just as mentioned above where brightness is primarily a black and white function, contrast is also. Saturation is a color function just as intensity was above. What is generally desired is a smooth transition from black to white through each individual color as well as the grays. These are the functions used to adjust images which may require either an increase or decrease in the graduations. the gamma curves above did most of the work already however, there are times when an image needs a little help in this area.

If a photograph was shot in bright light and is over exposed, the ability to resolve features in faces or textures in fabrics may be lost. in other cases, the photo was taken in a shadow of a building or other object and the detail is also lost due to sharp transitions from light to dark. To some extent, we can recover from these errors by adjusting the contrast and/or saturation of the image.

Skin isn’t solid white. with black and white images, especially with fair skinned people, it is easy to create an image where the skin tones are actually almost pure white. when this happens, the contrast which defines the fine features in the face are lost or washed out. it is possible to darken the image and then increase the contrast to attempt to bring these features back.

Here, the higher the number of bits per pixel, the easier this is to achieve as there is more digital information (number of levels and/or colors) to work with. as was mentioned in the beginning of this article. you need to scan with as many bits-per-pixel as possible. Here is why. with 256 colors, only about 8 levels of white are possible. the information required to increase contrast is lost and cannot be recovered. when scanning at 32 bits you end up with millions of colors and generally have over 65,000 levels of white. Thus, even though you may not be able to perceive the differences on your screen, they are within the digital data of the image and can be used to our advantage. We can increase the contrast to bring out these subtle differences in white levels and recover the data to the screen.

Unless your software will allow you to select a region to work with, you will probably need to adjust the entire image’s contrast which may result in other parts of the image being altered in an undesirable way.

Colors may be individually adjusted by modifying the saturation level of the color or the entire image. when we increase the saturation, we are actually pouring more electronic ink into the picture. the result is richer and deeper color. by reducing the saturation, we electronically remove ink from the image. Thus, the color saturation impacts the amount of color and not the brightness of the color. it is with saturation that you can make faded colors come alive again. Just as was the case in bringing out subtle changes in texture or skin tones with contrast, we may also bring out subtle changes in colors by adjusting the saturation. Adjusting the blue may make it possible to return a sky to a bright blue from a gray blue yet retain the other qualities of the overall image.

Tone Maps, Equalization, and Histograms offer yet other ways to adjust an image. Sometimes you want to eliminate shadows, increase background detail or only alter a small region within the photos range of graduations without altering the entire image. you may want to apply a bit of digital Visine to get the red out of indoor photos. you need to shift the black or white a bit. there are numerous functions available for this type of control over your digital image.

The tool used is a function of what it is you’re trying to achieve. Not all the tools are linear and many allow the creator to adjust just a portion of the Tonal Reproduction Curve (TRC) without modifying other aspects of the image. Changing of thresholds and color balance are all available with most commercial digital imaging editors today. many allow you to save a color pallet or TRC file for use with other images.

The best way to improve your images is to play with them. make a copy of one and play with it. there is a lot of flexibility in digital imaging to allow even the worst photograph to be made exciting and bright. This article just scratches the surface but should help get you on your way to making great images for the web.

Tablets have a long history in business sector — back in the day, they ran Windows and were divided into ‘slates’ and notebook-like ‘convertibles’. Nowadays, a ‘tablet’ brings to mind Apple’s iPad or one of its many Android-based imitators, although Windows tablets still hang on in there. Intel is on the case too, its new Atom-based ‘Oak Trail’ platform being designed specifically for tablets and other mobile internet devices.

We’ve seen the Oak Trail platform in one tablet to date — the Atom Z670-powered Fujitsu Stylistic Q550, which couples Windows 7 with a bespoke finger-friendly overlay. ViewSonic takes a different approach with its ViewPad 10pro, a 10.1in. dual-OS Oak Trail tablet with Windows 7 with Android 2.2. In theory this could be all things to all people — but does it stack up in practice?

Design The ViewPad 10pro weighs 800g for the Wi-Fi-only version, or 850g for Wi-Fi plus 3G, and feels quite heavy when held in one hand for any length of time. Both the Windows-based Acer Iconia Tab W500 (970g) and Fujitsu Stylistic Q550 (870g) are heavier, although the Android-based Asus Eee Pad Transformer (680g) and the iOS-based Wi-Fi/3G iPad 2 (613g) are considerably lighter.

In landscape mode, the ViewPad 10pro measures 26.3cm wide by 17.4cm deep by 1.49-1.65cm thick, which makes it fairly easy to carry around. as with several other tablets we’ve seen recently, the 10.1in. screen looks a little lost thanks to a large bezel.

at 800g-850g, the 10.1in. ViewPad 10pro is on the hefty side for a tablet; it feels robust, but less classy than some of the competition — notably the iPad 2

The build materials are plastic throughout, and although the ViewSonic ViewPad 10pro feels quite robust it lacks the sophisticated feel we found in the Asus Eee Pad Transformer, which uses a combination of metal and plastic in its chassis. And it can’t hold a candle to the classy and svelte iPad 2.

ViewSonic’s branding sits on one long edge of the screen bezel, with a tiny lens for the 1.3-megapixel camera in the centre of the other long edge. One of the short edges houses an ambient light sensor, while the other carries touch-sensitive shortcut buttons for Android’s Home, back, Search and Menu functions.

there are small volume and power buttons on the top, along with a Hold button that turns off the screen. Connections are mostly on the left short edge: a small round-pin power jack, a headphone/microphone combo jack, HDMI port and USB 2.0 ports, a microSD card slot and a SIM card slot.

The bottom long edge carries a microphone and a connector for an optional docking station offering two USB 2.0 ports, an Ethernet (RJ-45) port, a 4-in-1 card reader for Memory Stick and SD-compatible media plus headphone and microphone jacks.

The USB 2.0 port allowed us to attach a small notebook mouse that we use regularly, along with the Logitech Wireless Solar keyboard. These were usable in both Windows 7 and Android modes. It ought to be possible, then, to connect a unified wireless mouse and keyboard. you can also read files from a USB stick.

The 10.1in. screen has a native resolution of 1,024 by 600 pixels and is a capacitive TFT with multitouch support. It could do with more brightness, though, and we found its highly reflective surface irritating in almost all lighting conditions — it’s almost impossible to view outdoors in bright sunlight.

Features The ViewSonic ViewPad 10pro is powered by Intel’s 1.5GHz Atom Z670 processor, which forms part of the platform codenamed Oak Trail. The only other device we’ve seen to use this processor is the aforementioned Fujitsu Stylistic Q550.

According to ViewSonic are three versions of the ViewPad 10pro: a 3G+Wi-Fi version with 2GB of RAM costs £490 (inc. VAT; £408.33 ex. VAT); there are also two Wi-Fi only versions — one with 2GB of RAM at £450 (inc. VAT; £375 ex. VAT) and a 1GB model costing £405 (inc. VAT; £337.50 ex. VAT). We found the 1GB version hard to come by online, and prices rather higher. Windows 7 Professional is the operating system in both the versions we found for sale.

What’s really interesting about the ViewPad 10pro is that after booting into Windows, you can switch out to Android 2.2 and back into Windows. There’s a desktop icon in Windows that lets you get to Android, and another on the Android home screen that takes you back to Windows.

because Windows is running at the same time as Android, there are some interesting points of crossover. most usefully, Windows device drivers work in Android, which means that the keyboard and mouse mentioned above were recognised and usable in Android.

also, when using Android, putting a readable device into the USB slot or inserting a microSD card calls up the Windows user interface, from where it’s easy to access files. Windows takes precedence, so that files written using Microsoft Office open into their associated Office applications, while videos and music play in Windows Media Player. When you quit out of whatever activity you’re in, Android remains underneath all the opened Windows applications and bits of user interface.

It looks a little incongruous in terms of visual style, but does mean you don’t have to leave Android to get to files, making data access very convenient.

In Android mode there are clickable shortcuts at the top of the screen for back, Menu and Home functions, and for returning to Windows. When you’re in Windows, the Android touch buttons on the right side of the bezel take on the following functions: the Search button launches Internet Explorer; the back and Home buttons are unchanged; and the Menu button opens an app called the Control Centre, from where you can adjust system settings.

Android 2.2 is actually a virtual version, provided by BlueStacks. The most noticeable issue is that you don’t have access to the full Android Market — just to a subset of apps that have been preselected and tested as compatible. The full Android Market is currently only available in the US.

Here we hit a snag. ViewSonic had informed us that some elements of our ViewPad 10pro review sample were not fully functioning; in fact, neither the 3G nor Wi-Fi connections were working. this prevented us from exploring what apps were available via BlueStack. however, any system that only offers a subset of the full Android Market is a real problem, as in many ways it’s the apps that make Android popular.

Performance & battery life The ViewPad 10pro’s Windows Experience Index (WEI) was a lowly 2.0 (out of 7.9). interestingly both the WEI and the individual component scores are exactly the same as those for the Oak Trail-based Fujitsu Stylistic Q550: Processor (calculations per second) 2.0, Graphics (desktop performance for Windows Aero) 2.9, Gaming Graphics (3D business and gaming graphics performance) 3.0, RAM (Memory operations per second) 4.1; and Primary hard disk (Disk data transfer rate) 5.9.

as with the Stylistic Q550, the ViewPad 10pro felt slow in general use — although, as noted above, ViewSonic did alert us to some system issues and final retail units may run a little more smoothly.

Intel’s low-power Atom Z670 processor has a maximum TDP (Thermal Design Power) of just 3W, and VewSonic claims that the ViewPad 10pro will deliver up to eight hours of life from a single charge of its 2-cell 5,000mAh battery.

We chose the balanced power scheme and played movies continually from a USB stick for 3 hours 47 minutes before the battery was fully depleted. That’s disappointing, as it’s about an hour less than we got from the Fujutsu Stylistic Q550 on its Eco Setting power setting.

Conclusion The idea of a dual-OS Windows 7/Android tablet is alluring, and the way that the ViewPad 10pro runs Android from within Windows is impressive.

still, there are some serious issues. We found the highly reflective screen difficult to see in bright lighting, battery life is relatively poor, and the Android apps available are only a subset of the full Android Market catalogue.

Audio Microphone yes Audio connectors microphone/headphone combo Battery Battery technology Li-ion (2-cell) Battery capacity 5000 mAh Estimated battery life (mfr) 8 h Cabinet (chassis) Case form factor slate-style tablet Dimensions (W x H x D) 26.3×1.65×17 cm Weight 850 kg Display Display technology capacitive, multitouch colour TFT Display diagonal size 10.1 in Maximum resolution 1024×600 pixels Expansion slots Flash card MicroSD Hard drive storage Hard drive interface type SATA Hard drive type solid state Hard drive size 32 GB Interfaces & networking USB 1 x USB 2.0 Ethernet on optional dock Video out HDMI Bluetooth 2.1+EDR Docking station port 1 Wireless LAN 802.11b/g/n Wireless WAN optional Memory RAM installed 2048 MB Miscellaneous Accessories power cable, quick-start guide, user guide, CD System Recovery for Windows Driver, CD System Recovery for Android other 1.3-megapixel webcam, G-sensor, ambient light sensor Motherboard Chipset Intel SM35 Express Data bus speed 800 MHz OS & software Operating system Windows 7 Professional and Android 2.2 Processor Processor manufacturer Intel Processor model Atom Z670 Clock speed 1.5 GHz Video Graphics processor Intel GMA 600 Graphics memory technology Dynamic Video Memory Technology Expand « Previous Photo 1 of 2 Next »

Acer laptops more often than not provide great value for money, as far as comparisons with similar priced laptops are concerned. This is particularly true for notebooks priced around and under the Rs. 40,000 price range. Acer has just launched the Aspire TimelineX 5830TG as a part of their Aspire series. but, is this notebook worth your money? Read on to find out. 

Design and Build Quality

Upon opening the box, we were extremely impressed by the Aspire 5830TG’s sleek looks and minimalistic design. it comes off as an extremely slim notebook and has a matte navy blue exterior and silver interior design. it weighs 2.49kg with the 6-cell lithium-ion battery. The screen has a glossy surface and hence reflections do become a bit prominent. Connectivity on the left side includes the Kensington lock, RJ-45 port, VGA port, HDMI port, USB 3.0 and the audio and microphone jack. The right-side consists of three USB 2.0 slots, the optical drive, and the power supply slot. The laptop has a chiclet-styled keyboard with a good tactile feedback that facilitates long hours of typing. 

While the design is great, the build did have a few flaws. The lid of the laptop, as well as the area above the optical drive didn’t seem to be reinforced too well and could have had a much stronger panel. besides that, the chassis build seemed okay. This laptop receives full marks, as far as its design is concerned, but Acer definitely could have done better with the build quality.

Features

The 5830 comes with an Intel Core i5 processor running at 2.3GHz, which can be turbo-boosted upto 2.9GHz, according to Acer. it runs an NVIDIA GeForce GT 540M graphics card, with up to 2229 MB of TurboCache and comes bundled with Windows 7 Home Premium (64-bit). it comes with a 15.6-inch LCD screen, 3GB DDR3 memory and 640GB hard disk. Acer claims that its Nplify Wi-Fi technology allows users more bandwidth while transferring files via Wi-Fi. it also comes with NVIDIA’s Optimus technology that saves battery life by switching off the power of the GPU when not needed.

Consists of one USB 3.0 port

The laptop comes bundled with Microsoft’s Office Starter Edition. it also comes with Acer’s USB power off charging mode that allows users to charge external peripherals, inspite of the laptop being powered OFF. 

Performance

Ergonomics, as well as aesthetics of the 5830 are top-notch. Track pad quality and key feedback is good, as well. The heatsink is located on the side and hence the laptop doesn’t get too hot. Charging doesn’t heat up the laptop, too. There’s equal heat distribution on the surface and the circular hinges on the side look sturdy as well. Audio and video quality is good and the laptop seamlessly plays HD media and the high-resolution screen is good enough to watch videos. The sound, too, fares well and the laptop has a fairly high volume.

The laptop did pretty well in the tests we pitted it up against and compared to the Dell Inspiron 15R, it had much better results. Acer’s Nplify also worked fairly well as data transfer speeds via Wi-Fi were much better than the other laptops we’ve tested. here are the results of the tests we’ve conducted. 

Performance Chart: Dell Inspiron 15R vs Acer Aspire TimelineX 5830TG

Battery Life

The laptop cranked out a battery life of 1 hour and 50 minutes with high performance in Battery Eater Pro, which is good especially with a dedicated graphics card running on the six-cell Li-ion battery. As mentioned earlier, the extended battery life is due to the NVIDIA’s Optimus technology. 

Acer 5830TG – A worthy buy

Verdict

Acer’s Aspire TimelineX 5830TG is priced at Rs. 42,229. The only drawback of worthy mention was the build quality. it comes with all the features you’d require in your notebook – good looks, performance and more so, at an interesting price. As compared to the Inspiron 15R , this one definitely packs more of a punch. 

For work I'm using a program that requires me to push apple (or command) and the function keys – the other hand on the mouse. my hands are smaller and the reach is killing my hand after a few hours. anyone have any ideas for an alternate keyboard?

I don't think an ergonomic keyboard will help since the reach is still the same between function-control.

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i spilled some water on my macbook and now a couple of the keys don't work and some letters are typed on their own when i clicked certain keys. besides that the computer functions completely fine…if i were to order a new keyboard such as the one in the link below would the problem be fixed?
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