Prakash Advani's Blog » Gadgets and Deals

The Ultrabooks are here

Prakash — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 02:48:00 +0000

Ultrabooks are thin and light weight Notebooks which has similar look and feel to Apple MacBook Air. Many vendors have started offering these at competitive pricing.

These use standard Intel Core i5 or i7 processor, SSD and 12″ or 13″ Display.

Advantages:

Standard ports:

Many of them have USB 3.0 ports, which are much faster than USB 2.0
HDMI and some may have Display ports as well.

You can load your choice of OS such as Ubuntu.
Light weight around 1 KG

Disadvantages:

No Optical Drive (The mac book air also doesn’t have one and who uses them anyways these days ? If you do you can get an external one.

Only Windows pre-load currently, we need choice of Ubuntu atleast! If you are still using Windows, time to give Ubuntu a try.

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Palm size Media center: Zotac Nano

Prakash — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 03:51:37 +0000

Zotac has come up with even smaller media center the ZOTAC ZBOX nano AD10.

Its a palm size full fledged computer which can be used for computing or can be tucked behind your TV and be a media center. It has limited expandability unlike a PC but still every possible port that you may need.

Here is the config:

AMD Fusion processor: Dual Core 1.6 GHz
DDR3 Expandable memory (1 slot)
WiFi
Bluetooth 3.0
2.5″ hard rive bay (laptop hard drives)
USB IR receiver and remote control

Ports:

Gigabit Ethernet
2 USB 3.0, 1 USB 2.0
HDMI
Display port
eSATA
IR for remote control

Ships with USB IR receiver and remote control to build your media center as well as WiFi Antenna and VESA mount so it can be mounted behind Monitors or TVs. The Nano doesn’t ship with memory or hard drive, you need to add that on your own. If you don’t want the hassle of installing it yourself, go for the Nano Plus. It doesn’t come with an OS, you can install Ubuntu + XBMC and build your media center.

USB size PC for $25 . Raspberry Pi Foundation is offering a $25 Ubuntu PC....

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

iPhone 4s, is it cool?

Prakash — Wed, 05 Oct 2011 03:09:40 +0000

Apple has released the iPhone 4S, here is whats cool.

Supports both GSM and CDMA can be used across the world.
Bluetooth 4
8 Megapixel camera
Front camera
HD Video recording.
Faster A5 Processor, Better late then never, Android phones are already Dual Core.
HSDPA support for downloads upto 14.4 Mpbs

Whats not so cool.

3.5″ Display.. When other phones are 4 inches who wants a 3.5 ?
No expandable memory.
Proprietary cable for charging.
No Near Field Communication support.
No 4G
Less Memory, people were expecting atleast 1GB.
No Steve Jobs

Samsung Galaxy S II coming Samsung has announced the I9100 here is whats new.. 8...
Amazon Fires a Kindle Amazon has launched the Kindle Fire, their to be iPad...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Amazon Fires a price war, HTC flyer now $299

Prakash — Mon, 03 Oct 2011 10:10:06 +0000

The Amazon Kindle Fire has started price war. Since its priced at $199, other similar tablets have to drop prices to stay afloat. Blackberry playbook has already dropped pricing starting at $300. Now HTC flyer is down to $299 from $499, a $200 price drop on Bestbuy. Here is how they compare:

Features	Amazon Fire	HTC Flyer
Processor	Dual Core 1GHz	1.5 GHz
Storage	8 GB	16 GB
Expandable Memory	No	Yes
Size	7 inches	7 inches
Display	Capacitive Touch with IPS	Capacitive Touch
3G	No	No
Camera	No	5MP
Front Camera	No	1.3MP
Bluetooth	No	3.0
GPS	No	Yes
Weight	413g	420g
OS	Android (customised)	Android 2.3

Overall the HTC Flyer looks like a better bet with GPS, 2 cameras, 16GB and expandable memory all fur just a $100 more. Besides it also has full fledged Android rather than restricted customised Android in the Fire.

Note: Both don’t have 3G. If you need 3G connectivity, look elsewhere.

Amazon Fires a Kindle Amazon has launched the Kindle Fire, their to be iPad...
HTC incredible D provides an update to HTC Desire HD HTC has launched the HTC Incredible S, which is an...
Google acquires Motorola Mobility for patents Google has acquired Motorola Mobility essentially for its 24,500 patents....

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Amazon Fires a Kindle

Prakash — Sun, 02 Oct 2011 18:29:08 +0000

Amazon has launched the Kindle Fire, their to be iPad killer. Is is really a killer ? Lets find out.

Here are the key specs:

7″ Screen
Gorilla glass for extra protection
WiFi
8 GB Internal Memory
Dual Core 1 GHz processor

Whats missing:

No expandable memory
No 3G/4G
No camera

While the device looks promising at this price point, if you need a camera or 3G, find another device.

It also has a highly customised Android OS which you can’t add any of the android goodies unless there are 3rd party ROMs like for the Nook colour.

My guess is Amazon will launch another device in the near future with 3G and camera.

11 features Apple copied from Android Congratulations Apple users, you are soon going to have 11...
My Kindle review I have been using the for a few months...
Google acquires Motorola Mobility for patents Google has acquired Motorola Mobility essentially for its 24,500 patents....

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Toshiba R835 an affordable light-weight laptop

Prakash — Wed, 21 Sep 2011 12:54:21 +0000

Toshiba’s Portege R835-P56x is an in-expensive light-weight laptop. Here is what is cool.

13.3″ at 1366 x 768 and LED Backlite
Dual layer DVD burner
Intel i5 (who needs more performance ?)
640GB hard drive
4 GB RAM (enough for atleast us Linux users)
Built in webcam and microphone
Gigabit Ethernet
6-Cell battery
Ample ports: USB 2.0, USB3.0, eSata and HDMI
Can charge USB devices even when the laptop is on sleep mode.
Magnesium allow casing
Multi-touch pad

Whats missing

No bluetooth
No SSD

Final thoughts:

This is a good laptop at this price, the price is attractive because Toshiba is planning to launch the Portege Z830 Ultrabook in November. The Z830 will be lighter and sleeker like the Apple Air but would not be having an DVD drive.

Inexpensive and light weight Netbook Asus X101 Asus has launched the X101 Netbook. This is low cost,...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Inexpensive and light weight Netbook Asus X101

Prakash — Sat, 17 Sep 2011 10:36:52 +0000

Asus has launched the X101 Netbook. This is low cost, light weight netbook. Good for browsing on the go.

This comes with Meego, however you should be able to install Ubuntu or other Linux. May not be able to run Windows.

Here are the specs:

Intel Atom N435 (1.33GHz)
10.1″ LED Backlight WSVGA (1024×600) Screen
8GB SSD (2.5″SATA)
1GB DDR3 RAM
0.69-Inch Thin
0.3M Pixel Camera
2 USB 2.0 Ports
WiFi
Bluetooth 3.0
MicroSD card reader
Weight: 0.92kgs
Colours: Black, Red, White, Brown
Battery 3 Cell
Battery life 4 hours (claimed)

Lenovo X1 is a strong competition for MacBook Air Lenovo has launches the Lenovo X1, which is the slimmest...
My Kindle review I have been using the for a few months...
Comparing the Olympus PENs: E-P3, E-PL3 & E-PM1 Olympus has released 3 micro four-third cameras with interchangeable lens. First...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Comparing the Olympus PENs: E-P3, E-PL3 & E-PM1

Prakash — Thu, 15 Sep 2011 07:39:26 +0000

Olympus has released 3 micro four-third cameras with interchangeable lens.

First lets see what is common in them.

All follow the micro four-third standard which give you small lenses. Being a standard which means you can switch camera body and lens providers easily.
All the cameras are 12.3 megapixel. Which is enough for most users.
ISO 100-12,800 which is sufficient for low light conditions.
Inbuilt image stabilisation.
RAW photo support.
3″ LCD Screen.
Live View.
Electronic View Finder (Optional)
All support shutter speeds up to 1/4000
Full HD Video support 1920×1080.
SD/SDHC/SDXC card support
USB 2.0
HDMI port
Lithium ion Rechargeable battery

What’s missing.

No GPS
No USB 3.0 (I haven’t seen any other cameras having this either).

Here is what is difference between them:

Features	Olympus PEN E-P3	Olympus PEN E-PL3	Olympus PEN E-PM1
White balance presets	12	8	8
Number of focus points	35	11	35
Screen dots	614,000	460,000	460,000
Touch screen	Yes	No	No
Built-in flash	Yes	No	No
Continous shooting	3fps	5.5fps	5.5fps
Weight	369 g	313 g	263 g
Pricing

While the E-P3 and E-PM1 have fixed LCD, the E-PL3 can be tilted to give you some flexibility. It’s not as flexible as some of the other cameras but it still is a nice feature to have.

The E-PM1 is also called the Pen Mini. If you are looking for a really small camera with interchangeable lens, then this is for you. However this is not the smallest in the category, the Panasonic is smaller. However the E-PM1 has built in-body image stablisation.

Samsung Galaxy S II coming Samsung has announced the I9100 here is whats new.. 8...
Olympus E-P3 is here Olympus E-P3, the third generation of Micro four-third camera is...
Motorola Defy + Motorola has updated the Defy with Defy + which is...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Motorola Defy +

Prakash — Thu, 18 Aug 2011 02:53:17 +0000

Motorola has updated the Defy with Defy + which is scheduled to launch in September.

Most of the specs remain the same of the earlier one like Gorilla Glass a 5-megapixel camera with autofocus and LED flash. The size and dimensions also remain the same with 3.7″ screen. Like the Defy, the Defy + is also waterproof, dust proof and scratch proof.

The processor has been upgraded to 1 GHz, a larger 1750 mAh battery and android has been updated to 2.3.3. This should improve the performance and user experience.

Still no front facing camera and HD video recording.

Google acquires Motorola Mobility for patents Google has acquired Motorola Mobility essentially for its 24,500 patents....
Samsung Galaxy S II coming Samsung has announced the I9100 here is whats new.. 8...
Motorola Atrix now available for $599, $129 with 2 year contract Motorola Atix the most powerful Android phone is now available...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Google acquires Motorola Mobility for patents

Prakash — Wed, 17 Aug 2011 11:10:50 +0000

Google has acquired Motorola Mobility essentially for its 24,500 patents.

Google has been bogged down by patent hoarding companies which have put pressure on Android as a platform. They decided instead of focusing on innovating, they would focus on building a patent portfolio.

Google had no choice to pay for patents,else they would end up losing the wonderful Android platform that they built because of patent wars.

What Google in going to do next is anyones guess.

Strip Motorola Mobility of its patents and software talents and sell of the hardware seems like a logical one.

If google decides to continue selling hardware, they would compete with other companies in the Android eco-system such as Samsung and HTC.

However what they would be able to do is tightly integrate hardware and software like Apple does.

The least I expect is to have the latest Android available for Motorola phones.So if you have a Motorola phone, have fun!

Patents hoarders are the new age mafia Earlier Microsoft sued Android phone makers, now Oracle is suing Google...
Motorola Atrix now available for $599, $129 with 2 year contract Motorola Atix the most powerful Android phone is now available...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.