/ct_28_aug_11

August 2011

Pixel

Perfect A Snap Happy e Retrospectiv

Myths & Misconceptions Digital Mysteries

Debunked!

Tab le

Tips t ! five to greaso et o ns n e!

ics: Back to Bas

A-Z

of PC Parts

Top

R14.95 incl. VAT

Reviews

hrough t y wa r u o y d in F ... options of d a worl

MONITORS LAPTOPS CAMERAS Tablets SOFTWARE cellphones GAMES

www.connectmag.co.za

VOL02 Issue #16

FEATURES

10

The GPS Guide Stuck in traffic? We help you pick the perfect PND

August 2011

22

14

Back to Basics: FTP A helpful way to share files online

16

PC Parts Do you know your hard drive from your motherboard?

20

Projector Technology The difference between 3LCD and DLP

22

The Tablet Revolution 5 reasons you need a tablet and then some…

26

The History of…

Snap happy digital cameras

28

Computer Myths and Misconceptions We debunk some digital old wives tales

20

16

10

REGULARS 04 06 08 68 70 72

Editor’s Letter News Trouble-free Technobabble Tamsin the Tech Tannie Competition Disconnect

REVIEWS 36 40 48 50 51 52 56 58

First Look Top 5 Digital Cameras Networking Tablets Accessories Software Books

GAMING

PUBLISHER Brett Haggard brett@connectmag.co.za EDITOR Tiana Cline tiana@connectmag.co.za

REVIEWS Deon du Plessis EDITOR deon@connectmag.co.za TECHNOLOGY Christo van Gemert EDITOR christo@connectmag.co.za CONTRIBUTORS Tamsin Mackay Adam Oxford ART DIRECTOR Jason Palmer jason@connectmag.co.za

Reviews

SUBSCRIPTIONS subscriptions@connectmag.co.za ADVERTISING Dorothy Haggard dorothy@connectmag.co.za Contact Hypertext Media Communications (011) 023-8001/4 info@hypertext.co.za FAX 08654 83304

Connect is a joint venture between Hypertext Media Communications and Incredible Connection

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4 | connect | August 2011

have a smartphone and a computer… do I really need a tablet? From the iPad 2 to the Acer Iconia A500 Tab and HTC Flyer, there’s no doubt tablets are trendy. But if you already have 2 devices that can be used to surf the Internet, send e-mail and connect to social networking sites, what else can a tablet offer?

In the August issue of Connect, we look at the top 5 reasons to get a tablet, and then some. You probably already know they’re super-portable and have a number of apps (mini-programmes) that offer anything from productivity to entertainment.

But did you know that they’re becoming teaching tools in schools for special-needs children? Turn to page 22 to read more.

Another must-have piece of technology is a GPS. It doesn’t matter whether you use a mapapp on your mobile phone or have one installed in your car, a lot has changed with this handy little device. TomTom, for example, offer a service called HD Traffic, which gives you the most upto-date incident reports about the length and reason of traffic delays, travel and arrival times, and alternative route proposals… all sent to your GPS. Turn to page 10 and say sayonara to the stress of traffic jams.

This month, we go under the hood of your PC. If you’ve ever opened a computer tower, you

would have seen a mess of cables, fans, electronic circuitry and more. Can you identify the processor from the motherboard, and do you know why each component is there? Deon du Plessis’ “Components for the clueless” piece (page 16) is a great technology eye-opener.

Urban legends, the digital kind, will tell you not to mess with your computer… and that if you don’t have a screensaver, you’ll ruin your monitor.

Defragging will fix every problem, and don’t click on anything, because it could be a virus.

All of these are common computer myths (and misconceptions). Consider them debunked! On page 28, we explore some contemporary computer tales.

From understanding FTP to knowing the difference between 3LCD and DLP, the August issue of Connect is packed with technology knowhow that aims to make your digital life that much easier. Furthermore, we offer up helpful, hands-on reviews and great gaming news: after a 5-year wait, Rugby World Cup 2011 (the game) is finally here! And if you have any niggling questions, don’t forget you can always drop our Tech Tannie a line.

Enjoy the issue!

Tiana Cline Editor

Editor’s photo by Dan Elkabir / www.lightscapespdd.com

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USB 3.0 offers up to 10 times faster data tran sfer speeds compared to existin g USB 2.0 con n ection s - makin g it ideal for both office an d home-based users who wan t to tran sfer large files with the n ewest an d quickest techn ology available.

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in the news...

Entertaining Acers Acer’s new line of entertainmentfocussed laptops, the Aspire 5755 and 4755, have hit the shelves, and boast all the latest technology. Both models are available with a 15” display capable of HD resolutions, and each is available with one of Intel’s new-generation Core i3, i5 or i7 processors. Memory options for each go up to 8GB, while hard drive capacity can be up to 1TB. Finally, it wouldn’t be a personal computer if you couldn’t choose your color - each model is available in an option of four different hues.

App of the Month: AirMusic (iPhone, iPad) With AirMusic, you can stream your iOS Music over Wi-Fi from your iPhone, iPod or iPad to a PS3, XBox 360, a PC running Windows Media Player or any supported DLNA device.

Simply launch the AirMusic app, turn it on and navigate to the Music Library on the Xbox 360 dashboard or the Music menu on the PS3. From there, you can browse by Artists, Albums, Tracks or Playlists and start playback immediately. (You can background the app but you will be prompted to relaunch the app every 10 minutes for the music to keep playing.)

We’ve heard all the hype about AirPlay in South Africa but no longer do we have to miss out because we don’t have AppleTV – all you need is AirMusic! Price: $2.99

6 | connect | August 2011

What do you love?

Google have created a little one tool to make people more aware of all the services the web giant has to offer. Go to www.wdyl.com, input what you love and you’ll see results across numerous Google products (from news to maps, blog search, images, translation, books and more) with one click.

Speedy Sony Vaio Sony’s no stranger to high-end hardware, and its new Vaio Z-series laptop is definitely the best example to date. This ultraportable laptop weighs just 1.16kg, but is packed with high performance hardware - such as an Intel Core i7 processor and solid state hard drive - that help it boot into Windows in 14 seconds. There’s also a Radeon graphics card with 1GB of dedicated memory, for 3D applications, and its standard battery lasts up to 6.5 hours.

An optional power unit extends that to 13 hours. Expect to pick one up some time this month for around R29 999.

techno jargon // by Deon du Plessis

Technology and jargon go hand in hand, and it is our job to make sure that readers are not overwhelmed by technical gobbledegook. Here are this month’s jargon terms.

8 | connect | August 2011

Image Sensor

Desktop replacement

Xbox Live

This is the bit of a digital camera that does all the work. The sensor is a small microchip that it sensitive to light, much like a digital version of the film we used to load in cameras. It captures the light it is exposed to, and transmits that information to the storage used in the digital camera.

Larger laptops, such as those with 17” displays, are often touted as desktop replacement machines because they not as mobile as a 15” or 13” machine. Instead, their large size means they’re usually stuffed with the kind of processing power that makes them as capable as a regular desktop computer, while having a bit of portability in the fact that they can be transported somewhat more easily.

Xbox Live is an online service offered by Microsoft that goes hand in hand with the Xbox 360 gaming console. By connecting to Xbox Live, gamers have access to online multiplayer (the ability to play games with friends and strangers via the Internet), add-ons for their games and even new games. It requires a decent broadband connection for the best results.

To play multiplayer games and to access all of Xbox Live’s features requires an Xbox Live Gold membership, which costs around R600 a year.

Backlit keyboard As the name suggests, this is a keyboard with a backlight. It’s incredibly useful to have in a dark, or less-than-optimally lit, room. No more squinting to see what letters are on the keys, because they glow.

This does affect a notebook’s battery life, but only minimally.

Adobe Flash This is the technology that enables most websites to have clever animations, sound and video. YouTube, for instance, uses Flash to play its videos on our computers, and certain sites (like newgrounds.com) have lots of animated cartoons made in Flash.

Streaming When you stream a video or song from the Internet, it is different to downloading the whole file to your hard drive. Instead, it plays as it downloads, in a continuous stream. This is often used for live radio and video broadcasts on the web.

Media streamer These are the devices that connect to your TV and play digital music, video and show your photos off. They are the modern equivalent of a DVD player, in that they play back your content, but the “streaming” but comes from the fact that they can stream content from the Internet or from a location on your home network.

Optical zoom This is a physical magnification of the image using optics. When using optical zoom, the final image captured by your camera is full sized, and will have no degradation of quality. It’s the same as having a pair of binoculars to zoom in, but for your camera.

Digital zoom Where optical zoom produces a full-quality file, digital zoom takes that full quality file and crops it to a smaller version. It’s the same as cutting out a bit of a picture, and then photocopying it to enlarge it. The resulting file has poorer quality than that of a picture taken with optical zoom.

Duralumin This is a very strong but lightweight metal alloy that has been used to build aircraft. Its light weight means it won’t weigh the plane down, and its strength means it is strong enough that the plane won’t break apart in the air. It’s now been used in the construction of notebooks, most notably the Samsung Series 9 reviewed on page 44 and 45.

Microsoft Points Essentially a form of online money (that only works with Xbox Live), Microsoft Points can be used in the Xbox Live Marketplace to buy game add-ons, items for the player’s avatar (the little figure used to represent gamers), new games and more. The exchange rate varies depending on where the points are purchased from.

PSN The PlayStation Network (PSN) is Sony’s online service that connects PlayStation 3 gamers to each other, the PlayStation Store and paid-for features like Sony’s PlayStation Plus programme. Multiplayer gaming over the PlayStation Network does not require an annual fee.

PlayStation Plus By paying an annual subscription of R489 for access to Sony’s PlayStation Plus programme, PS3 gamers gain access to game demos, beta participation, special content offers and discounts in the PlayStation Store.

Members of PlayStation Plus also get to download at least 4 free, pre-selected PSN games per month: 1 PSN game, 2 minis and 1 PS One classic game.

42.2mbps This is an indication of the speed of an Internet connection and is currently the fastest mobile broadband connection speed available in South Africa. It is theoretically possible to download around 15GB per hour on a connection of this speed – that’s 3 DVDs full of content, in a single hour. In practice, real-world performance will be somewhat slower, especially at peak access times, due to network congestion.

www.connectmag.co.za | 9

buying advice //by christo van gemert

. . . t e g Don’t

lost!

The fast-changing world of portable navigation devices means there are now more models available than ever before, with even more technology than we would have guessed was possible to squeeze into such a small device.

10 | connect | August 2011

T

he portable navigation device (PDN), or GPS as we commonly refer to it, is one of the most popular gadgets around. In the last few years we’ve become more aware of its existence through cheaper models and increasingly accurate mapping technology.

No longer do you have to rely on a R20 000 in-car satellite navigation system to give you directions; you can simply use a R3 000 dash-mounted unit from TomTom, Garmin or Navigon – and 90% of the time they are spot-on with their instructions.

Better yet, these portable devices can be used outside the car, or in other cars. This and other features make PNDs more versatile than the incar solutions, but they have become a bit more complex over the last 18 months. Let’s take a look at what features to consider when buying a new GPS navigator.

All-the-time traffic Car-fitted satnav systems lack one important thing: traffic information. You can take a gamble and rely on the radio traffic broadcasts, but traffic solutions for PNDs are far superior. Here you can have traffic updates up to every 2 minutes, with real-time rerouting so you don’t even have to spend time thinking of an alternate route. If you are on the road a lot, on major routes, it’s essential to get a PND that has traffic reception. Garmin, TomTom and Navigon all offer models with this functionality. Traffic services on the TomTom devices require a yearly subscription of R499 – and the company’s Live Traffic service is available for free online, at www.tomtom. com/livetraffic. Garmin and Navigon offer lifetime traffic, usually as part of the purchase bundle.

Map-mania GPSes are only as good as the maps that are on them. Thankfully, there’s no difficult choice to make here.

All the companies update their maps regularly, with TomTom’s data coming from Tele Atlas, while Garmin and Navigon devices have their maps supplied by Navteq.

In both cases, the map providers are the silent partners. They gather data for roads, shops and main routes, while it’s up to the PND manufacturers to use that data as best they can.

Long story short: they’ll all know about the same streets, but certain devices will let you know about shops and petrol stations along the route, while others could give you different information about the route.

Screen size matters The biggest visual differentiator for GPS devices is their display size. The earliest models had 3” or 3.5” displays, but modern devices can have displays up to 5” big, making a world of difference when it comes to both seeing what’s happening on screen and operating the device.

The input technologies have also moved on. At first we had devices with joysticks that were used to select text on the screen. Touchscreens came along shortly after that. The latest offerings from TomTom and Garmin boast modern capacitive touchscreens, the same, hyper-responsive glass screens you’ll find on smartphones and tablets. Along with rapidly improving user interfaces, the devices are now more responsive to fingertip inputs. At the moment, you’re more likely to find a GPS with an older resistive touchscreen, but if you can afford one of the flagship models, the new touchscreen technology is well worth the price.

www.connectmag.co.za | 11

buying advice

On-the-go apps The big elephant in the room is, of course, the mobile phone. Modern smartphones have builtin GPS receivers and they are almost as accurate as dedicated devices. Not only is it one less thing to carry around, but the navigation software, or apps, for smartphones is cheap in comparison to the standalone devices. In the iTunes App Store, for the iPhone, TomTom’s South African application costs just $60. That’s a lot for an application, sure, but it’s chump change – approximately R450 – for a full-blown navigation service. It’ll do everything that you’ll find on the high-end TomTom devices, right down to traffic and Google searches. Navigon also has a powerful iPhone application available, although it costs a tad more at $80.

In both cases, the applications are being developed by the holding companies and are updated regularly with new maps and features that make getting to your destination as simple as possible.

All the extras If you just want a PND to get you from A to B, life is simple. Buy the cheapest one you can find, and just make sure it supports modern maps – no use being stuck with one that can’t have its maps updated.

If you want a bit more for your money, there are several features manufacturers throw in to sweeten the deal. Some devices come with Bluetooth, making them double up as hands-free kits for your cellular phone. Others are equipped with FM transmitters.

This means you can tune your radio into the “GPS station”, and it will shout out instructions over the car’s audio system. No doubt this is a big boon for those who are hard of hearing.

Traffic features have already been mentioned, but it’s worth pointing out that TomTom’s subscription service has one big advantage: data communication.

In short, a TomTom unit with Live Traffic will also have access to Google searches and live weather information. If you’re just driving around and need to find a pharmacy, search for it on Google and you’ll be given an option to get directions to your chosen search result.

12 | connect | August 2011

Same size, different speed Sometimes it can be difficult selecting a PND, especially when they look very similar on the specifications sheets.

It’s a safe assumption that the pricier devices are usually faster. This means they respond quicker in the menus and also calculate routes far sooner than the cheaper models.

Rock-a-bye iPhone If you’re going to use one of the software packages for your smartphone, it would be wise to also invest in a charging cradle for the phone. GPS functionality drains the battery really quickly, especially if you’re also going to use data and voice features. TomTom has an iPhone cradle available, but you’re not limited to that. Other manufacturers have developed car-charging solutions, with cradles, for all manner of phones, including BlackBerry and Android devices.

advertorial

TomTom LIVE Services Traffic got you down? Fret not, there is help!

W

ithout doubt, traffic is a daily nuisance.

Worse than the traffic itself is not knowing when or where it will suddenly get worse, which alternate routes to take or even just which roads are the most congested.

A GPS device can help TomTom’s LIVE GPS devices grant you access to services that can help you plan your route to take you around congested roads. Using a complicated system that gathers and analyses traffic data, your TomTom can tell you what is happening on the roads in your area, with amazing accuracy. By using that information to avoid clogged routes, you can potentially make it to your destination quicker. If re-routing is not possible, your TomTom will also tell you what sort of delay you’re facing so that you can notify anyone expecting you of how long you will still be.

LIVE Services LIVE services don’t just keep track of traffic, either – for your annual subscription you’ll also get access to the locations of speed cameras. Your TomTom device will then notify you of their presence, and you can drive accordingly. For a relatively modest investment, you can possibly save yourself thousands in traffic fines.

LIVE-enabled devices can also tell you what’s around you with TomTom’s POI (Points of Interest) feature. You can search for restaurants, petrol stations, shopping centres and much more from the device itself, and results are listed according to how far they are away from your current position.

What does it cost?

You get a year’s worth of access to TomTom’s Live services and map updates with your GPS purchase. Once the year is up maps cost R400 and Live services R499, and both must be renewed every year.

You can choose not to purchase new maps every year, but then – surprise – your GPS device won’t display the absolute latest map data, and you might end up turning down a closed road that was open a year ago.

Added Extras Throw in voice commands, weather information and handsfree cellphone controls via Bluetooth and you have fullyfeatured devices that make for excellent travel companions whether you’re going on holiday, or just driving around town.

LIVE-enabled devices: The following TomTom GPS devices are all LIVE-enabled... > Via LIVE 120 > Via LIVE 125 > GO LIVE 1000

back to basics //by Christo van Gemert

This month, we explain what FTP is, how it works and who might need it.

C

hances are, if you’ve been using a computer and the Internet for at least a year, you’ve heard of FTP. It stands for “file transfer protocol”, and as the name so obviously states, it’s a protocol for transferring files.

But that name can be a little bit misleading.

See, FTP is only really used to upload files to a Web server. If you are on Facebook and share a photo album, that’s just regular upload.

FTP is a more powerful and technical system that is used when you want to put content on a Website, for others to access.

Is FTP for me?

The easiest way to answer this question is with another question: do you (want to) create Websites?

Chances are if you said yes, you will need to use an FTP program to transfer files from your computer to the Web server that hosts your Website. Much like a computer, a Web server also stores files. The main difference is that a Web server is capable of displaying Websites via the Internet. Sometimes, depending on the type of site you are creating, you will need to access it using an FTP application. FTP software lets you browse the hard drive of the Web server in order to add the files that need to be accessible from the Internet.

14 | connect | August 2011

There’s an app to FTP that There are many free applications for both Windows and Mac that will let you transfer files via FTP, some free, others premium. Fortunately, the best application for each platform is a free solution. Windows users can try out SmartFTP (www.smartftp.com). Mac users can give CyberDuck (www.cyberduck.ch) a go – it has a Windows version, too!

Basics FTP need-to-know If you’ve established that you’ll need to upload files to your Web server, you’ll need 3 things: the address of that Web server, your login credentials and an FTP application. In your FTP app, enter the details of the Web server; this is where you enter the address – it will more than likely look like ftp.yourwebserver.co.za – and then your login details. After this, you hit the connect button and if all went well, you’ll be able to see the contents of your Web server’s hard drive.

From here, it’s as easy as selecting the files you wish to upload, and then putting them in a suitable folder. For example, pictures and photos should go in a folder called “images”. Just like your computer, no two files can have the same name when they’re in the same folder. After you’ve uploaded the image, it should be accessible at www.yourwebsite.co.za/images.

When won’t I need FTP? As mentioned, certain kinds of Websites don’t need you to get your hands dirty with any FTP technical shenanigans. For instance, if you create a free blog on www.wordpress.com, simply use their visual Web interface to upload the pictures and other files you want to include. Many other sites have similar interfaces, making it easier to get up and running without requiring any technical knowledge.

Share without FTP Don’t be frightened by the technical world of FTP and Web servers if you just want to share files.

Download a free application called Dropbox (www. getdropbox.com), and it will easily let you put files (up to 2GB) on the Internet.

Files uploaded to Dropbox can be made available to only yourself, or to people with whom you choose to share.

Dropbox is different to FTP in that it’s used for sharing files with people, rather than hosting them to be accessed via a website.

Web hosting and domains FTP, Web hosting and domain names go hand in hand. When subscribing to a hosting bundle from a hosting company, you are usually given 3 things for your monthly (or yearly) upfront fee: disk space to store files, a bandwidth cap that determines how much traffic your Website is allowed to transfer, and a domain name. The last is literally the Internet name you choose for your site, and will end in .com, .net, .co.za or any one of the suffixes available for choosing.

www.connectmag.co.za | 15

back to basics //by deon du plessis

Under the hood:

pc parts This month, we look at the insides of a desktop computer and help readers identify the components that go into its making.

I

f you were to open up a computer tower, you’d see a lot of electronic circuitry, at least one fan and one silver box, a power supply and a whole mess of cables. It can be tough to make sense of it all, but with this handy guide, readers will be able to easily identify the common parts that make up the average computer system.

16 | connect | August 2011

Motherboard Motherboards are the big circuits into which all components plug, and they form the basis of every computer system. They are usually coloured green, and have all manner of slots, ports, fans and heatsinks attached.

Hard Drive A hard drive is the part of the computer that stores all data, semi-permanently.

They come in two physical sizes – 3.5” for desktops and 2.5” for notebooks.

Data storage is only semipermanent because after around 5 years, an unused hard drive will start to lose the magnetic charge that keeps the data intact.

Memory (RAM) Memory chips – also called RAM (Random Access Memory) and DIMMs (Dual In-line Memory Modules) – are very easy to spot: they are slender, elongated circuits with a collection of charcoal black microchips on them. Most computers should have at least two of these, situated quite close to the CPU fan.

Bare RAM circuits are coloured green, but it is possible to buy memory that is covered by a heatsink. Memory can also heat up, and heatsinks help draw the heat away from the microchips. Heatsinks on RAM are not essential for the average computer, but they sure do look cool.

Processor and Heatsink The brain of any computer is its processor. Techies refer to this as the CPU, which stands for “Central Processing Unit”, and without one, a computer is just an expensive paper weight. Identifying where it is on the motherboard is easy – it’s located beneath the big fan and heatsink.

A heatsink is nothing more than a piece of copper or aluminium that sits on top of the CPU to keep it cool. The fan that is located on top of the heatsink is there to blow away the hot air that naturally builds up as the heatsink draws heat away from the processor.

Processors need to be kept cool as they operate at their best within a certain temperature range. If they get too hot, their performance drops and processing errors start creeping in. Copper heatsinks offer the best cooling performance as they conduct heat better than aluminium; they are, therefore, also more expensive. The processor itself is a small, square-ish piece of heavy metal with a flat surface.

tip SATA-II is often mentioned in the same context as hard drives. SATA stands for “Serial Advanced Technology Attachment”, and it references the standardised way in which hard drives connect to motherboards. SATA-II and SATA-III are revised versions of the original SATA standard.

www.connectmag.co.za | 17

back to basics

Graphics Card A graphics card is a component dedicated to displaying 3D graphics.

Without one, a computer must rely on a graphics chip built into the motherboard to display visuals, but these built-in chips perform really poorly in comparison.

For a system used to play games, for example, a dedicated graphics card will make games play faster and graphics look better than a built-in graphics chip will. More powerful graphics cards require power directly from the power supply, and can impact the amount of power the overall system draws by hundreds of Watts.

A Power Supply Unit, also called a PSU, is the big grey box with all the wires protruding from it inside a computer case. This is the device that takes power from the mains and distributes it to the rest of the computer. If the system has a graphics card, the PSU will feed power to that, too.

PSUs are rated in Watts; the higher the Wattage, the more power the system has access to (and the higher your electricity bill each month).

Some computers need more power than others because of powerhungry performance processors and graphics cards. Hard drives draw around 15W each, which can also add up if you have more than one.

Optical Drive CDROM, DVD and Blu-ray drives are called optical drives because they use lasers to read and write information to reflective discs. CD, DVD and Blu-ray are optical disc formats; this means they store information in different ways. CDs can store on average 700MB each, DVDs can store 4.7GB and Blu-ray discs can store a whopping 50GB of data.

Rear Ports 1

Here are some of the most commonly used ports that you will find at the back of a computer and what they are used for...

8

2 3

1

2

6

7

9

4 5

4 6 7 8

9 10 11

3

18 | connect | August 2011

5

10

11

12

12

HDMI: A High-Definition display connector.

VGA: This 15-pin plug is for connecting monitors.

DVI: Another monitor connector.

FireWire: A high-speed port, similar to USB but much, much faster USB: Plug in keyboards, mice, printers, game controllers, webcams and more into this slot.

Ethernet: This is where a network cable plugs in.

Audio Subwoofer: Outputs all low-frequency sounds to a subwoofer Audio Satellite Speakers: Outputs sound to rear speakers for 5.1 speaker systems.

Audio Line in: For recording sound from external audio devices.

Audio Optical Out: Outputs digital sound to Home Theatre systems.

Audio out: The main audio connector that goes to your two main speakers.

Audio Microphone: Receives audio from microphones.

CopyrightŠ 2010 Symantec Corporation. All rights reserved. Symantec, the Symantec Logo, Norton, Norton 360, and NortonLive are trademarks or registered trademarks of Symantec Corporation or its affiliates in the U.S. and other countries.

Power Supply

CopyrightŠ 2010 Symantec Corporation. All rights reserved. Symantec, the Symantec Logo, Norton, Norton 360, and NortonLive are trademarks or registered trademarks of Symantec Corporation or its affiliates in the U.S. and other countries.

Microsoft, Internet Explorer, Outlook, Windows, and Windows Vista are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and/or other countries. Other names may be trademarks of their respective owners.

projector technology //by deon du plessis

3LCD

3LCD

vs. DLP

Projector shoppers will encounter two dominant projector types aimed at consumers: 3LCD and DLP. We take a look at each technology and reveal the pros and cons of both.

What is 3LCD? 3LCD technology passes light through 3 liquid crystal displays (LCDs) - each about the size of a R5 coin - to create a projected image that has excellent colour light output. High colour light output means individual colours in projected images are brighter and more realistic-looking than those of competing technologies, like DLP. Did you know?

Each LCD panel is dedicated to 1 of the 3 colours in any given video signal – red, green and blue. Separating the signal into its component colours produces excellent colour saturation when the image is recombined to produce the final projected image.

20 | connect | August 2011

What is DLP? DLP stands for “Digital Light Processing”, and uses a special chip with a reflective surface that is made up of thousands of extremely tiny mirrors. Light is bounced off this chip and through a lens, and the mirrors on its surface vibrate back and forth to direct the light into, or away from, the lens path. A spinning “colour wheel” is used to produce coloured light.

Know this Consumer-grade DLP projectors usually have only 1 DLP chip, but more expensive professional projectors, like those found in cinemas, have 3 DLP chips (red, green and blue); this drastically improves colour intensity.

Conclusion In all fairness, neither 3LCD projectors nor their DLP counterparts do everything perfectly – each technology is better at some things than others.

If colour brightness is important, choose 3LCD, but if you need a portable projector for business presentations and cost is a concern, a DLP projector will get the job done just fine. Both technologies offer good options when it comes to home cinema viewing.

As always, a choice to buy one over the other comes down to the use they will be put to, as well as your budget.

Advantages: Excellent individual colour brightness, also known as “colour light output”.

Projected images have clearly defined edges and thus look sharp.

Uses less electricity per Lumen (brightness rating) than DLP projectors.

Disadvantages: Projected image has a noticeable screen-door effect when viewed up close.

Blacks are not as dark, whites not as bright.

Individual pixels are sometimes visible on-screen.

DLP Advantages: DLP projectors are smaller and lighter and need no filter cleaning/ maintenance.

Excellent contrast levels, so blacks are very black, whites are very bright.

Images appear less pixelated, with fewer visible jagged edges.

Disadvantages: Colours do not appear as rich and vibrant as with LCD. Overall image appears softer, with edges not as clearly defined as with LCD. Spinning colour wheel can produce a “rainbow effect” in moving images.

www.connectmag.co.za

be ready for anything life throws your way Life is full of surprises, that’s why we’ve designed a phone that’s water and scratch resistant as well as dustproof. Pretty much ready for anything life throws your way. Now with over 150,000 apps from the Android Market, you have a smartphone that is not only life proof but also boredom proof.

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Powered by ANDROID™

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Portions of this page are reproduced from work created and shared by Google and used according to terms described in the Creative Commons 3.0 Attribution License.

MOTOROLA and the Stylized M Logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of Motorola Trademark Holdings, LLC. Android and all Google products are registered trademarks of Google, Inc. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. © 2011 Motorola Mobility, Inc. All rights reserved.

taking in the tablet //by Brett Haggard

5 Tablet Reasons to get a

Science-fiction movies released in the early ‘80s were littered with scenes of heroes and villains alike using small, handheld computers and driving them with natural input mechanisms like speech and touch. Thirty or so years later and we’re living in an era that screenwriters and moviemakers of old thought nothing more than an ambitious dream.

T

oday, tablet computers do most of the things those classic sci-fi movies depicted (except, of course, shoot sonic death rays or high-powered laser beams). But, are tablets nothing more than gimmicky toys for techies and geeks?

Tablets are, in fact, better suited to everyday computer users than the technically-proficient. For starters, instead of requiring a keyboard and mouse, users get to interact with icons and on-screen input mechanisms using touch, which is, of course, a much more natural way of doing things.

22 | connect | August 2011

Next up, the operating systems and user interfaces found in today’s tablet computers have been designed for extreme ease of use. Want to launch an application? Touch its icon. Want to switch from portrait to landscape view on a Web page or picture?

Rotate the device. Want to scroll up or down a Web page, e-mail or document? Make a scrolling action with your finger on the touchscreen. It really is that simple.

Tablets have been designed to be so easy to use, even young children can find their way around with little or no existing experience of computers. And often, they do it so much better than their parents or older siblings. The best part about tablets, however, is that they make computing personal again. That’s best illustrated by how great they are for enjoying your digital music and video, the Internet, digital publications, games and social networking.

Reason 1

Gaming glory

Everyone enjoys a bit of rest and relaxation every now and then, and gaming is one of the most effective ways of giving one’s brain some downtime. We’re talking about casual games that leverage tablets’ touchscreen features and accelerometers to make playing computer games more fun than ever before.

Popular titles like Angry Birds, Plants versus Zombies, Monopoly, Lego Harry Potter and Need for Speed: Shift have helped tablets overtake gaming consoles such as the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 as the most favoured and prolific gaming devices on the planet. And with titles that cost somewhere between a ridiculously attractive 99 US cents (around R7) to an extremely reasonable $10 dollars (around R70), it’s no surprise this category is growing at such a pace.

Reason 3

Web wunderkind

So much of what we do with computers today revolves around browsing the Internet, and there’s very little that comes close to the ease of use, simplicity and sheer joy of reading a Web page on a tablet. It’s quite literally like holding the content in your hands.

Natural and intuitive touch-based gestures allow you to navigate through links, zoom in on different elements of the content and even share it with friends, colleagues and contacts.

Tablets prove there’s little or no place for the keyboard and mouse when it comes to using the modern Internet.

Reason 2

Video, music and more

Multimedia has become a non-negotiable part of our computing lives. Today, most people know they can listen to digital music on their computers, phones and personal media players, and enjoy a wealth of YouTube video content served up each day courtesy of their social networks.

And similar to browsing the Web on a tablet PC, video is so much better when it’s playing on a device that’s big enough to show high-definition imagery in all its glory, but small and light enough to not place any strain on the user’s hands.

Tablets allow you to take your video content with you wherever you go and enjoy it on a screen that’s just big enough to create an enjoyable experience.

www.connectmag.co.za | 23

taking in the tablet More uses for tablets Games for your pets While tablets are great gaming platforms, few people know they’re versatile enough to entertain your pets. Friskies (the cat food brand) has cooked up a number of tablet-based games for your cat to sink its teeth into.

Take a closer look at http:// www.gamesforcats.com

Reason 4

Communications king

With the growing amount of spam and other unsolicited digital communication we’re subjected to each day, it’s not uncommon for people to read, file, delete and respond to their e-mail across a multitude of devices. If you’re looking to read, file and delete mail – and let’s face it, that’s what 90% of us do with e-mail today – tablets are a fantastic fit.

They’re also one of the most pleasurable devices you’re likely to encounter when it comes to interacting with social networks like Facebook and Twitter. And with their built-in front- and rear-facing cameras and network connections, they’re fantastic for making long-distance video calls over the Internet using applications like Skype.

Reason 5

App-licious

It doesn’t end with this handful of benefits either. Each brand of tablet is backed by an application marketplace and ‘ecosystem’ that encourages 3rd parties to dramatically extend the raw functionality of the tablet. So for anything between 99 US cents and a couple of dollars per application, you truly have the ability to make your tablet your own.

From fully-fledged word processors, to note-taking applications, interactive children’s literature, personal finance tools, mobile messengers, file synchronisers, photo-retouching applications and tons of games, there are a number of worthwhile applications from which to choose.

ts Tablecial & s pe d s n ee i o n at ed u c

Educational software has been available on the various smartphone and tablet marketplaces for some time now, but few people realise just how valuable many of these tools are in working with special needs children. The Core Group and Think Ahead Educational Solutions recently launched a project with the

24 | connect | August 2011

Key School for Specialised Education (a centre for autistic children), that is doing wonders to spread the word about how useful tablets can be.

By using a Apple’s iPad and free applications downloaded from the local iTunes AppStore as part of its curriculum, The Key School is seeing amazing progress in the children it

works with. Broadly speaking, the Key School says tables are able to focus children with autism, since the devices themselves are interesting, and application developers are able to make use of vivid colours, which appeal to the kids. Because tablets are touch-sensitive, they’re also the perfect tools for autistic children

Doctor in your pocket Don’t have the time or inclination to get to the doctor? Take a look at Web MD’s (http://www. webmd.com) excellent iPad and Android applications.

In among the wealth of medical information available online, there’s also an interactive diagnostic guide that allows you to figure out what could be wrong with you, just by listing your symptoms. While this is cool, it really shouldn’t replace a doctor.

Cook up a storm Recipe books are all fine and well, but unfortunately they’re finite in the number of recipes they house and often call for ingredients you don’t have in your cupboard.

Epicurious (http://www. epicurious.com) and its fantastic Android/iPad applications allow you to search from a massive database of recipes, choose the ones that others have voted as most popular and, rather cleverly, make a grocery list of what you need to cook it.

who generally struggle with motor skills and, more specifically, a strong pencil grip. Applications being used so far reduce the anxiety these children feel on a day-to-day basis, as well as teaches them to follow instructions, which is one of the most important, yet difficult, skills for children with autism to master.

flashback //by christo van gemert

. . . e h t f o y r The histo

Digital Camera

We take for granted the fact that we can capture multi-megapixel images with our phones, tablets and other pocket-sized gadgets, but it wasn’t long ago that a 1-megapixel camera was larger than a Nintendo DS.

W

hile digital imaging is the very foundation of the earliest video-recording equipment, it first started seeing mainstream use, through the first digital photo cameras, in the mid-1990s. Even then, the devices

were chunky, difficult to operate, and took hours to transfer images to a computer. Pictures weren’t even of high-enough quality to print. Here’s a look at important milestones in digital photography, and a glimpse of the future.

1969 Bell Laboratories creates the first chargecoupled device (CCD) for recording digital images. It has a resolution of 100 x 100 pixels, or only 0.01 megapixels.

1991 Kodak releases a professional-level digital camera system that consists of a Nikon F-3 film camera body, with a 1.3-megapixel digital image sensor from Kodak.

1982 The Bell Labs CCD is improved upon over the years, ultimately ending up with a resolution of 1 024 x 1 024 – that’s just 1 megapixel.

26 | connect | August 2011

1992 The Joint Photographic Experts Group (JPEG) forms, and sets an industry standard for image files that will be produced by digital cameras. The JPG file is born, giving us compressed image files that take up less space.

Sandisk also announces the CompactFlash standard, for removable storage in digital devices.

2010 Sony announces the SLT camera, a 16-megapixel SLR that uses a mirror-free shutter. Canon and Nikon both have professional-level cameras with 25+ megapixels, and most pocket cameras have 10 or more, with powerful optical zoom lenses. Many digital cameras are now capable of recording full high-definition video, and 3D photos.

1999 The 2.7-megapixel Nikon D1 is released. It’s a professional digital SLR camera, and sells for $5 580. This is compared to the $15 000 pricetag of the 6-megapixel Kodak DCS500 cameras, which started at $28 000, and then decreased in price.

2001 Canon’s EOS 1D hits the professional market. Its 4-megapixel sensor eclipses the one used in Nikon’s competitor, but the tit-for-tat war doesn’t last long as Nikon announces the 5.3-megapixel D1X.

The future…

2003 – 2005 Canon leads the charge, and introduces the EOS 300D, the first sub-$1 000 digital SLR, for consumers. It has a 6-megapixel sensor, which Nikon also offers in the D50 that releases in 2005.

These are the first “affordable” digital SLRs for consumers, and prices start plummeting for all camera types, from here onwards.

1994 – 1996 Apple, Kodak and Sony all release consumer digital cameras, starting at 0.3-megapixel resolution. They use internal storage, with only enough space to store less than 20 images.

Prices, in the US, start at $750.

In 2011, Lytro announces a new type of camera called a light field camera. It has a special sensor with many smaller lenses, and can take a photo without focussing. Instead, focus can be selected in real time, after the photo has been taken.

2000 Canon releases the first digital Ixus pocket camera, with a 2.0-megapixel sensor. The first SD cards are shown, and start shipping in 32MB and 64MB capacities.

www.connectmag.co.za | 27

demythtifying tech //by deon du plessis

Computer

Mythconceptions Computers can be scary, and so attract their share of myths and misconceptions. Join us as we go through the more common ones in an attempt to dispel some of the mystery that surrounds them.

Screensaver vs.

Desktop Wallpaper In the past, if a screen displayed one scene for hours on end, there was a chance that scene could end up permanently burned into the glass of the screen. Screensavers were invented to prevent that from happening – after a few minutes of inactivity, the screensaver kicks in and displays a moving image or a slideshow of photos that changes every few minutes.

A wallpaper is merely the image that provides the backdrop to the Windows or Mac desktop. We often hear requests from friends and family to set a picture of a cute puppy/ kitten, etc. as their “screensaver”, when, in fact, they want it set as their system’s wallpaper. Knowing the distinction is the difference between free tech support with a smile, and uncontrolled eye-rolling and deep sighs coming from your tech support person when they’re called in to help you.

28 | connect | August 2011

“If I fiddle with my computer, I will break it” We’ve heard this many times over, that people new to computers think if they try to change anything, they will end up causing their computers to stop working. Happily, this is not the case at all, and we are here to tell you that it’s not possible to accidentally do enough damage to a computer by just clicking on things that it’ll no longer work.

The only things the average person can do to damage their computer is to spill liquid inside the computer case, drop the case while it’s in transit, run it over with the car, etc. Spilling liquid on a keyboard won’t ruin your computer, either – just the keyboard. When in doubt, speak to a friend or support person about whatever problem you’re experiencing with your computer, or Google the symptoms – you’ll find that your computer is hardier than you think.

“Open Source means free” Many people think “open source” means free software, and in a way that is correct. But it’s not just free software; it actually means software whose source code can be looked at, tweaked and changed by anyone with the desire to do so. This opens up programs to be added to and worked on by a whole community of programmers, and it’s usually done just for the fun of it and not for profit.

Some Open Source software is sold for profit, but customers are generally paying for technical support, rather than for the product itself. Examples of commercial open source software include Lotus Symphony, an office productivity suite, and more famously Red Hat Enterprise Linux, an operating system for corporate environments.

tip To see a collection of very useful (and free) open source software packages, head over to www.sourceforge.net.

The difference between “downloading” and “installing” These two terms are often confused by first-time computer users to mean the same thing, but they don’t. When installing a piece of software, you are running through the setup process that copies all the necessary files to the hard drive, a process that can also make changes to your computer system needed to let the software work.

Downloading, by contrast, is the process of copying files that are located on the Internet to your computer. The right way to use each term is to say that you download software from the Internet to install on your computer.

If you’re at all unclear about the difference in meaning, think of it this way: when you buy a new washing machine, it first has to be delivered to your home before it can be set up. In the same way, software has to first be delivered to your computer (downloaded) before it can be set up (installed). It’s only after it has been set up that it can be used.

www.connectmag.co.za | 29

demythtifying tech

Memory vs. Storage Technically, all devices in a computer that can store information can be called both “memory” and “storage”, but the physical devices are very different. When a computer is described as having “4GB of memory”, this means Random Access Memory, or RAM. RAM is used by Windows to store frequently-accessed information, and it is very different to the “memory” offered by a hard drive as everything stored in RAM disappears once the computer is turned off.

By contrast, a hard drive is a device that permanently stores information as all data written to it does not vanish when the computer powers down. In human terms, RAM works like short-term memory, while a hard drive records information for posterity. The confusion may come when devices like “memory cards” and “memory sticks” are mentioned. This refers to cards and USB drives that can store information permanently, making them, technically, storage devices.

“Defragging will solve the problem” If we had a Zimbabwean dollar for every time we’ve heard technicians passing on this bit of advice, we’d be able to start our own country by now. Problem is, it’s total rubbish.

Defragging (or “defragmenting”) is the process of physically re-arranging files on a hard drive so that all parts of each file are located as closely to each other on the drive’s platters as possible.

In theory, this should speed up the time it takes for data to be read off the drive, but really, hard drives are so fast these days that even if a file’s fragments are scattered all across the drive, its performance is not noticeably impacted. It’s only once a hard drive gets really full (as in more than 85% of all available storage space is in use) that file fragmentation starts to impact on system performance.

In this case, defragging the drive should help performance, but only slightly.

tip To find out how fragmented the files on your hard drive are, run the Windows Disk Defragmenter. In Windows 7, click Start, Control Panel, System and Security, and you’ll find it under Administrative Tools at the bottom of the screen.

“Everything is a virus” Any time something goes wrong with a computer, novice users are convinced that “it must be a virus”. This is not the case – not all computer problems stem from virus writers living in their parents’ basements. In fact, if you have decent security software installed (we’re fond of Norton Internet Security), you’re pretty safe from even the most malicious attacks.

The best advice we can give is to enter the computer’s symptoms into a search engine like Google and poke around online for a while to establish what the problem is. You may even find a solution from other people who’ve experienced the same thing.

30 | connect | August 2011

scan and deliver //by Christo van gemert

Are you QRious?

Is reading and typing long URLs into your smart phone making your eyes go all square? Say, “hello!” to QR codes and let these genius little boxes do all the hard work for you.

Here’s how...

32 | connect | August 2011

R

eaders with keen eyes will notice that the reviews in this issue of Connect have special barcodes, known as QR (short for Quick Response) codes. These can be scanned using a number of smartphone apps available for Android devices, the iPhone, Windows Phone 7 and other mobile platforms. To download a QR code scanner, simply log in to the app store for your mobile device.

When scanning a QR code in this issue, you’ll be taken to a website with additional information, photos or videos about the product we have on test. For instance, scanning the QR code for the Samsung 3D monitor (see page 40) will bring up a YouTube video with a feature demonstration of that computer.

QR codes will feature in this and future issues of Connect to provide extra information to benefit you, the reader.

All you need is a smartphone with a camera, and the relevant mobile app.

QR Scanners R Us Android users, search the Android marketplace for QR Droid, one of the better scanners for this platform. iPhone users can search for a free app simply called QR Scanner, to read the codes in this issue.

BlackBerry users will have luck using an app called QR Code Scanner Pro, which works perfectly for the kind of codes we’ve used here.

Finally, for those folks using Windows Phone 7, the aptly named QR Reader is what you’ll need. Search for these free apps on the respective app stores for your mobile device, and you’ll be one step closer to QR scanning goodness.

Scan and win!

We’ll be tracking the scans of the QR codes in this and our next issue, and one lucky reader will be selected at random to win an Acer Iconia Touchbook, featuring dual 14” touch screens and running on Windows 7.

The winner of the prize will receive a notification once they’ve scanned the code and loaded the page associated with that code, so keep scanning and you could get lucky.

www.connectmag.co.za

BE AT S A L L V I RUS ES .

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product reviews // by Deon Du PLessis & Christo van Gemert

ONLY HUMAN!

Contents

E

agle-eyed reader Yusuf Khan spotted an error I made on the HTC Flyer review we ran in last month’s issue. The review mentioned that the Flyer has a mini HDMI output, but in fact it doesn’t – it requires the use of an HTC Media Link device, or an MHL cable that plugs into the Flyer’s microUSB port, to output visuals to an HDTV. I apologise wholeheartedly for the error, and thank Mr. Khan for bringing it to my attention.

On to this month, we’ve got a good line-up of cool products for you again.

Christo was really impressed by a PIXMA printer from Canon , while I was blown away by Samsung’s excellent new 3D monitor range. We also finally got our hands on a Samsung Series 9 notebook, and it’s even better up close than it is from afar. I’m really pleased to see notebook technology going in that direction, where smaller and lighter is possible, without sacrificing too much performance.

That’s all from me. Enjoy the issue!

Deon

While we make every effort to ensure pricing is accurate before we go to print, sometimes through circumstances we have no control over, the prices in Connect may differ from those you’ll see on store shelves. In all cases, shelf pricing takes precedence.

34 | connect | August 2011

36 38 40 42 43 44 46 48 49 50 51 52 54 56 57 58

First Look – Lenovo X1 First Look – LG IPS Monitor Samsung SyncMaster SA950 3D Monitor Sony Vaio VPC-EH16EF/G Notebook Canon PIXMA Printer Samsung Series 9 Notebook Roxio Toast 11 Pro Software Samsung SH100 Camera FujiFilm Finepix S4000 Camera Vodacom K4605 USB 3G Modem Huawei IDEOS S7 Tablet Everlast Intelliplug SanDisk Ultra 8GB Memory Stick Kaspersky for Mac Skullcandy Skullcrusher Rasta Headphones Books

© 2011 Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. Screen images are simulated.

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*3D glasses are required and are included with purchase.

product FIRST LOOK

Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Need to Know • Robust, powerful and portable new ThinkPad from Lenovo • Choice of Core i3, i5 and i7 processors • Solid state hard drive • Charges 80% of battery in 30 minutes Availability: September 2011

Since time immemorial there’s been a race on in the notebook market to bring the perfect balance of svelte design, performance, battery life and cost-efficiency to the ultra-portable notebook sector.

The closest anyone has come so far is Apple, whose second generation MacBook Air (released earlier this year) is impossibly thin, offers a substantial battery life and is far more cost effective than one would expect from such a premium brand.

But even this solid attempt from Apple was flawed.

The aging Intel Core 2 Duo processor that allows Apple the portability and meager power consumption means that performance is compromised in more demanding applications. And although the 13” MacBook Air comes with 256GB of Flash Storage (more than most, it must be noted), for some mobile executives it’s just too little.

For all of those mobile executives the arrival of Lenovo’s Thinkpad X1 is a godsend. The X1 is one of the most hotly anticipated notebook releases this year and is positioned as Lenovo’s new power play into the extreme portability sector. On the thinness front, Lenovo says the X1 is its slimmest Thinkpad to date.

It measures 17mm – the same thickness as the 13” MacBook Air at its thickest part and tips the scales at 1.72kg by comparison to the 13” Air’s 1.32kg. When it comes to the overall robustness of the notebook and performance offered up however, the X1 blows all of its competitors clean out of the water.

36 | connect | August 2011

It comes with a solid-state drive, so it can withstand all manner of abuse without being exposed to any data loss or performance degradation. But, unlike anything else in this class, the X1 sports a screen that’s housed behind a sheet of Corning Gorilla Glass, making it scratch proof and able to withstand some serious impact.

Lenovo has also built the next generation of its famed roll cage into the X1, so its innards are well-protected from everyday knocks and bumps. When it comes to performance, things get seriously exciting.

Generally speaking, to get a notebook as thin and light as possible, vendors strip out a ton of features. Most notably, that means processors have to be Ultra Low Voltage (not quite as quick as their fully featured siblings) so that they can cope with the smaller batteries (selected for their massive weight reduction) ultra portable notebooks make use of.

The black magic Lenovo has employed under the hood however has allowed it to put fully featured Core i3, i5 and i7 processors (turbo boost-able up to 3.4GHz) into the X1 and still maintain about 5 hours of battery life.

And if that’s not enough, users can bolt the X1’s battery ‘slice’ onto the bottom of the unit and push capacity up to 10 hours. With thumbs up in the portability/robustness and performance camps you’d think Lenovo would be comfortable to sit back and relax. Instead, it’s added some features into the X1’s mix that make life an absolute breeze for mobile executives.

These include the fact that the X1’s battery can be charged from flat to 80% capacity in 30 minutes (astounding) and the fact that the standard 160GB of Flash storage can be expanded to 240GB by adding an 80GB MicroSATA drive.

Instead of these being viewed by the operating system as separate drives however, some more Lenovo black magic called ‘pattern drive

technology’ combines these two storage volumes into a single logical volume and chooses the optimal physical location for data so there’s no performance trade-off.

The X1 also has worthwhile nice-to-haves, like two USB ports (one of them able to support USB 3.0 devices), an eSATA port and an HDMI out port, as well as the now standard mini Display Port and stereo mini-jack ports.

A first for Lenovo is, however, the inclusion of a backlit keyboard, which makes working in low light, conditions a pleasure.

All of this makes the X1 a well put together, good-looking and seriously powerful little beast, and it promises to be quite cost effective by comparison to its peers when it lands next month.

NOTEWORTHY SPECS • Display: 13.3” Corning Gorilla Glass Screen • Processors: Choice of fully-fledged Core i3, i5 and i7 Processors • RAM: 4GB • Storage: 160GB SDD or 320GB HDD • Graphics: Intel HD • Weight: 1.72kg

Pros

Cons

• Thin, light, powerful and robust • Gorilla Glass screen • Nice extras like a backlit keyboard • Expandable storage

• No optical drive • Intel HD graphics means mediocre 3D performance

Overall rating

related

products

Apple MacBook Air

Apple’s new MacBook Air ultraportables bring Core i5 and i7 processors to the table for a hefty performance boost over first-generation MacBook Airs.

Samsung Series 9 Notebook

Thin, light, powerful and good-looking, the Series 9 would take the lead in this sector if it wasn’t for its price premium.

www.connectmag.co.za | 37

product FIRST LOOK

related

products

LG iPS6 Series IPS236V 24” Monitor Samsung SyncMaster BX2450

If your screen needs are more modest, Samsung’s excellent BX2450 24” LED-backlit LCD screen offers a very good alternative. Its image quality is good and 24” is a nice size for a PC monitor.

perfect companions

nVidia GeForce GTX580 Graphics Card A good screen is even more impressive when it’s displaying amazing visuals, and should your computer have this excellent graphics card from nVidia, your gaming graphics will be as smooth as silk. What better way to show them off than with a decent screen?

38 | connect | August 2011

NEED TO KNOW • 24” LED-backlit computer monitor • Superior viewing angles and true-to-life colours • HDMI, DVI and VGA inputs • Fantastic console gaming screen Available: Possibly October 2010

Screen performance can be measured by how true-to-life colours appear, the smoothness of fast-moving visuals and whether or not the on-screen image distorts in any way when seen from an angle. These are the areas in which a screen’s appeal is either won or lost in the eyes of the beholder.

This is why LG’s new range of screens use a technology called IPS. IPS stands for “In-Plane Switching”, and its strengths are exactly what we listed above. Professional designers, whose jobs involve matching colours in pictures as closely as possible to their real-life counterparts, work on IPS screens wherever possible, purely because of their colour accuracy.

The screen we received for preview, the IPS236V, is a 24” monitor intended for use as a computer screen, using either a VGA or a DVI cable.

To our delight, we discovered it also comes with an HDMI input that allows it to be used as a screen for a gaming console or Blu-ray/DVD player as well. There are no built-in speakers, but it does have a 3.5mm output jack into which you can plug a set of headphones or speakers.

The stand is rather straightforward, offering only a tiny bit of tilt; any swivelling that is required can be achieved by simply rotating the screen, stand and all. A slightly more complicated stand would not go amiss should LG ever redesign the screen. It’s not inconceivable that a professional-level user could make use of a stand that can be adjusted for height, or rotated into a portrait position.

Modern screen design seems infatuated with the idea of touchsensitive controls situated below the main screen, and this monitor

certainly reflects that. While it’s very 21st-century and all to activate buttons with no more than a finger swipe across its surface, it’s also quite annoying – it’s hard to tell when a press has been registered, or if you should try again.

This won’t present a problem to the majority of users, but those who really want to adjust the screen so that the settings are “just right” may well end up pulling their hair out when presses don’t register or the wrong button is pressed because there is no label describing the functions of each. Trial and error will solve that problem over time, but, ideally, issues like these should be solved at the design stage.

But when the image on display is as good as the IPS236V is capable of, any gripes are immediately forgotten. While it’s not as spot-on perfect as some other famous brands are capable of (cough, Apple Cinema, cough), it’s still very, very attractive. And cheap – it may even retail for around R3 000, a completely unheard-of price for a screen of this size and quality.

The bottom line here is that LG’s IPS screens are starting to hit the South African market. If you’re interested in procuring a new monitor for your PC or game console, just know that they present a pretty compelling argument for an upgrade or trade-in of your existing screen.

NOTEWORTHY FEATURES • Super viewing angle with IPS Panel • The LED advantage • Original image exact colour matching • Ultra-slim design • Consistent response time • Eco-friendly Excitement potential

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“We’ve taken the approach to developing a post-PC era Norton that includes introducing new mobile products, expanding our current products with mobile apps and combining our technology with mainstream consumer brands to protect more people in more places. The market reception has been highly positive and in the coming year we’ll continue creating partnerships and technologies that will bring a trusted name in PC security to mobile and Wi-Fi users all over the world,” comments Con Mallon, Director of Mobile Product Management, Symantec Corporation.

Lost property Norton Mobile Security lets you remotely disable your phone, erase all of your personal information, and instantly locate your phone, all with a simple text message.

If your phone is lost or stolen, you can locate it fast and not worry about cybercriminals running up your bill or using

your private information to steal your identity or hard earned money. It even automatically locks your phone if its SIM card is removed, so if thieves try to use it with another SIM card they’re out of luck.

Personal protection Tired of being harassed by unwanted calls and texts? Norton Mobile Security helps protect your privacy - and your sanity - by letting you block calls and texts from specific phone numbers.

“As Android devices become increasingly popular, there is a greater chance they could be targeted by cybercriminals or more commonly, lost or stolen,” says Mallon. “We are delighted to now offer customers the ability to secure their smart phones or tablets from physical and online crime with the powerful protection of Norton security.”

infection free When it comes to viruses and other threats, your phone is just as vulnerable to attack as your computer. Norton Mobile Security detects and eliminates mobile threats before they can infect your phone. It automatically scans all the files and app updates that you download. And it even gives you the option of automatically scanning SD (Secure Digital) memory cards for threats when you plug them into your phone. Weekly updates help ensure you have the most up-to-date protection.

And it only updates when you’re in your home service area, so you won’t have to pay outrageous roaming charges.

Norton Mobile Security is a breeze to use. It installs with a few simple clicks. And we include a step-by-step tutorial that shows you how to use all of the features. Contact information.

Calendars. Text messages. Email. Usernames. Passwords.

Your life is on your phone. Keep both safe with Norton Mobile Security.

Norton Mobile Security is available at select retailers and the approximate recommended retail price is R399

With Norton Mobile Security, you can: > Prevent strangers from

using your phone in case of loss or theft. > Protect your privacy and the

personal information on your phone. > Detect and eliminate mobile

threats before they infect your device.

Operating system: > Android™: 2.x or later.

Device requirements: > Android™ 2.0

with 1.8 MB of storage.

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Samsung SyncMaster 27” SA950 3D Monitor NEED TO KNOW • Stylish 27” LED-backlit monitor • Can also display content in 3D • Supports AMD’s HD3D 3D implementation R5 499.95

The entertainment market is adopting 3D at a very fast rate. Threedimensional movies draw larger-than-normal audiences, which is why most movie studios are rushing to produce as many 3D films as possible.

Gaming in 3D is starting to take off courtesy of the PlayStation 3, nVidia’s 3D Vision and AMD’s HD3D technologies. In order to take advantage of 3D in the home, either to watch movies or play games, you will need a 3D-capable HD TV or computer monitor.

Samsung’s new SA950 series of computer monitors has been designed with this need in mind, and there are two sizes to choose from: 23” and 27”. The two models are identical in all ways but size, and the one we received was the 27” version. It’s an absolute beast to unpack, and requires a lot of desk space, but once we had it set up, it was easy to see just how worthwhile our efforts had been – the SA950 is simply gorgeous.

Before you’ve even turned it on, it’s easy to appreciate the design. The base is wide and flat, providing plenty of support, and it houses all the screen’s connectors. The screen is attached to the base by a piece of curved metal that, at first glance, looks to be fixed, but closer inspection reveals it can actually tilt backwards by a few degrees. As it’s an LED-backlit screen, it’s incredibly thin, and the overall weight of the product is surprisingly light.

40 | connect | August 2011

As a regular computer monitor, the SA950 is brilliant. Colours are punchy, it’s very bright, with a native resolution of 1 920 x 1 080, so it’s a full HD screen. The reason to buy this screen, though, is the fact that it can do 3D. Plug it into a 3D-capable video source like a PlayStation 3, Blu-ray player and a PC, and you can watch movies and play games in 3D. Samsung has included a single pair of battery-powered active-shutter glasses that must be synchronised with the screen before 3D content can be viewed.

Users have several options when it comes to viewing 3D content on a PC. The SA950 has the built-in ability to convert 2D content into 3D, a process that the monitor itself handles. All you have to do is fire up your game or movie, press the 3D button on the screen’s bezel and choose 2D-to-3D conversion, and voilà, the on-screen imagery gains the illusion of depth.

At the moment, the two leading graphics card makers, AMD and nVidia, have their own ways of handling 3D gaming. nVidia has its 3D Vision technology, which requires the purchase of a “3D Vision Kit” consisting of a pair of active-shutter glasses and an infrared transmitter.

Once the glasses are paired with a compatible 3D monitor and an nVidia GeForce graphics card, all games that support 3D Vision automatically activate the feature when they load.

AMD’s 3D solution is done by a third-party company called TriDef. As long as you have an AMD Radeon 5000-series or 6000-series card, TriDef’s 3D software and a compatible monitor, and a pair of active-shutter glasses, you can view game and movie content in 3D.

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AMD Radeon HD6970 Graphics Card You’ll need a really potent graphics card to take full advantage of TriDef’s implementation of AMD’s HD3D technology. This one will do the trick.

This monitor only supports AMD’s solution, so if you own an nVidia graphics card, 3D Vision-enabled games won’t work and all you can do is use the built-in 2D-to-3D conversion. AMD card owners can make use of the included TriDef software to play supported games. The difference between the monitor’s 2D conversion and TriDef’s 3D implementation is very noticeable – TriDef’s 3D really makes objects and environments seem to extend beyond the confines of the screen. It’s so impressive that it’s tempting to reach into the screen to touch what you see. The screen’s 2D-to-3D conversion, by contrast, doesn’t produce nearly as convincing a perspective change. Furthermore, the resulting 3D image is incredibly dark, so the technology isn’t yet 100% perfect.

Gaming in 3D on a PC requires a hugely powerful graphics card. Even top-end cards struggle to keep the frame rate high enough to maintain a game’s playability, making 3D PC gaming something only those with powerful rigs should consider.

So, taking all of this into consideration, what does this monitor bring to the table? Well, it makes a superb 2D screen and is excellent for everyday computing, gaming and movie-watching. Its colours are bright, its brightness is pleasantly intense and the design and size are really eyecatching. The price premium you’re asked to pay is for its 3D capabilities. nVidia graphics card owners will be disappointed that the screen doesn’t support 3D Vision, but AMD card owners will enjoy the fact that it supports AMD’s HD3D technology (courtesy of TriDef). Indeed, the monitor is capable of excellent, deep, convincing 3D imagery this way, but you’ll need a really powerful performance PC to enjoy it to the full.

While Samsung’s SyncMaster SA950 monitor is not what everyone needs, it’s a truly excellent attempt from Samsung to capture the hearts (and wallets) of 3D content enthusiasts.

NOTEWORTHY SPECS • Screen size: 27” (16:9) @ 120Hz • Resolution: 1 920 x 1 080 • Brightness: 300cd/m2 • Contrast ratio: DCR Mega (Static 1 000:1) • Response time: 2ms (GTG) • Viewing angle (horizontal/vertical): 170°/160° • Colours: 16.7 million • Inputs: HDMI, DVI, DisplayPort

Pros

Cons

• Brilliant colour and brightness • Built-in 2D-to-3D converter works perfectly • TriDef software is included for AMD card owners • Huge screen

• Does not work with nVidia’s 3D Vision technology • 3D capabilities come with a price premium • 3D games are very dark • Not all games support AMD’s HD3D technology

Overall rating

Fallout: New Vegas (PC) We tested New Vegas during the review. The 3D effect was impressive, but the game turned very dark and the frame rate dropped to accommodate the additional load. A great game, though, even without 3D.

Sony PlayStation 3 The PS3 has a number of 3D-ready games, and all you need to do is plug in the monitor and let the PS3 do the rest. Definitely a fuss-free way to go about it.

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related

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Grab this netbook if all you need is a portable computer that lets you e-mail, catch up on social networks and write blog posts.

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Golla Bags You’ll definitely need a bag for your notebook, and Golla has a very attractive, stylish range to choose from.

Verbatim Blank DVDs With a writeable DVD drive, you can easily back up your data to DVD and copy CDs on your shiny new Sony notebook. Take that, netbooks.

42 | connect | August 2011

Sony Vaio VPC-EH16EF/G 15.5” Notebook NEED TO KNOW • Entry-level 13” notebook • Powered by an Intel Core i3 processor • Comes with Windows 7 Basic 64-bit Edition • Very good notebook for first-timers and office workers R5 999.95

Make no mistake, this is a very basic notebook, but it’s the kind of notebook we here at Connect would suggest anyone looking for a basic, first-time portable computer should look closely at. The price, hardware and quality are all “just right”, which also serves to make it appealing for anyone shopping for an inexpensive office notebook.

First impressions are of a notebook that’s aware of the “value” segment it occupies, but which is making an effort to rise above its station.

The chassis is entirely plastic, but Sony’s design people have given it a diamond-like truss pattern that gives it a certain charm and a nice feel.

The chiclet-style keyboard uses low-profile keys that have a good, solid feel to them and which are comfortable to type on. Typing on it doesn’t feel cramped at all, and there is even a full keypad.

The screen looks as “budget” as the notebook’s price indicates it is, but this isn’t a deal-breaker. It just lacks the punchy colours, brightness and full HD resolution of Sony’s more expensive screens, which is fine for a notebook intended for very basic use. The 1366 x 768 resolution makes text quite big, which is more important than punchy colours when you’re working on it all day.

This Vaio is more focused on giving consumers what they need than what they may want, which is why it has 4 USB ports, 1 HDMI output, a VGA output, a port for a LAN cable, headphone and microphone jacks and a writeable DVD drive. It’s even got two card readers for SD memory cards and Sony’s own Pro Duo memory sticks.

When it comes to the included operating system, Windows 7 Home Basic is just that – a very basic version of Windows, intended for sale in emerging markets. Many fancy extras like the nice-looking Aero interface, the ability to join a domain, Windows Media Centre, Homegroups, the ability to back data up to a network location are not available in this version, making this Vaio very basic indeed. But for home users and small

office workers, many of those additional extras aren’t actually needed, so the trade-off is justified.

Under the hood lurks an Intel Core i3 processor - pretty much the best processor an entry-level notebook could hope for – 4GB of RAM and a nice 320GB hard drive. N-class Wi-Fi is standard, of course, as is Bluetooth.

Sony includes some software too, like a Trend Micro security package, Webcam tools, WinDVD for DVD playback and the company’s trademark Vaio Gate application that provides easy access to most of these software packages in a menu bar at the top of the Windows desktop.

The notebook’s performance is good for the price, but it won’t break any world records. It’s serviceable, like an old car that gets you where you need to go without wowing anyone with speed and agility.

If your choice is between this and a netbook, don’t hesitate – take this notebook. It’s more powerful than any netbook, it’s bigger, has a DVD drive and lots of RAM, and will make any first-time computer user or office worker happy with its good, if not great performance.

NOTEWORTHY SPECS • Intel Core i3-2310M Processor 2.10 GHz • Genuine Windows 7 Home Basic 64-bit • 15.5 inch wide (WXGA: 1366x768) TFT colour display (VAIO Display, LED backlight) • Simple and stylish design using the unique truss pattern texture • Easy-to-use one click button (QWA, ASSIST, VAIO) • Numeric keypad Pros

Cons

• The ideal beginner notebook • Excellent price for what you’re getting • Much better than a netbook

• Windows 7 Home Basic skimps on a lot of features • Body is made entirely out of plastic • Screen isn’t very bright and colours don’t look wonderful

Overall rating

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Canon Pixma MG6140 NEED TO KNOW • Printer, scanner and copier • High-quality photo prints • Wireless networking R1 999.95

Printers, we’ll admit, are not the most exciting bits of tech.

After all, how technologically advanced can you make something that puts pictures on paper?

Turns out, after playing with this Canon Pixma all-in-one, they can be pretty darned advanced after all. You get a taste of the tech from the moment you set it up: the entire printer ink and print head assembly needs to be put together, so you get your hands on the business end of the thing that puts millions of little ink blobs on paper. It’s all welldocumented, though, so even first-time printer buyers needn’t feel intimidated by the setup.

Once you’ve slotted the six separate ink cartridges into the head, and plugged that into the printer, it goes through a 5-minute setup process.

Canon even provides a few sheets of special paper that help the printer align itself. Navigating the menus is a breeze. Most of the printer’s top panel is touch-sensitive, lighting up with contextual buttons that are useful for each function. When you’re scanning something, the scan buttons show up; when you’re copying stuff, a copy button glows. The touch panel is definitely the best we’ve ever used on any printer, so top marks to Canon for doing this properly. There’s also a pop-out LCD for other visual information, such as print previews and setting up other options.

One of those options is the networking setup. Here, again, the MG6140 excels. Setup will scan for your wireless network (or automatically configure itself on a wired network) and then ask for your password, if applicable. After that, any Windows or Mac computer will see the printer on the network and be able to print to it. Dead-easy, and again, the best we’ve seen on a device like this. Of course, it’s still possible to connect the printer using a USB cable (not supplied), should the networking thing not be for you.

All these clever touch panels and networking features would be pointless if the printer had terrible image quality. Thankfully, that’s where it’s at its best. Firstly, it’s super-quiet compared to other printers we’ve used. You hear a bit of shuffling as paper gets fed, but it’s also so fast that the print is done before you’ve blinked your eyes. Three high-quality photos sent to the printer over a wireless network took just over a minute to print, and about half of that time involves waiting for the print job to be sent over the wireless network. Photo prints always look best when you’re using good photos on good paper, so we used some glossy postcard-sized photo paper. On these, the printed images looked just as good as lab-quality prints.

The scan and copy functions also yield good results, with similar speeds as the print jobs.

Our only real issue with the MG6140 is the overabundance of flaps and panels to hide away the memory card ports and paper trays.

Setting these up is like playing with a Transformer, and makes things unnecessarily fiddly.

NOTEWORTHY SPECS • Functions: Print, scan and copy • Networking: Ethernet and wireless • Ink system: 6-ink: black, grey, cyan, magenta, yellow, pigment black • Connectivity: USB port, compact flash, SD and memory stick card reader slots • Print speed: 12.5 images per minute in black and white, 9.3 images per minute in colour Pros

Cons

• Excellent-quality photo prints • Fast, low-noise printing • Touch controls are perfect

• Too many panels and flaps • Large footprint • Fiddly paper tray

Overall rating

Printer Ink Set The MG6140 is quite frugal with its ink usage, but keeping a spare set of cartridges won’t break the bank, and keeps you prepared.

USB cable Printers are not supplied with the required USB cables for linking them to computers.

If you plan on not using the networking options, you’ll need a USB cable.

Netget DGN 2000 Wireless Router The best way to use the MG6140 is with its network capabilities. The DGN2000 is a fast wireless ADSL router, and will share the printer with your other networked devices.

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Samsung Series 9 13.3” Ultra-thin Notebook NEED TO KNOW • Ultra-thin, incredibly lightweight notebook • Perfect for travelling professionals • 128GB Solid State hard drive R13 999.95

Notebooks are evolving in a really good way, if Samsung’s Series 9 ultra-portable is anything to go by. It’s the thinnest, most lightweight notebook PC we’ve ever had the pleasure of reviewing.

It’s also very pretty, if notebooks can ever be thought of as such. It’s so attractive, in fact, that it makes a seriously strong first impression, even on jaded tech journalists like us.

This is because Samsung have over-engineered the Series 9 notebook so that it’s as thin as current-day consumer-level technology will allow, without sacrificing important things like general performance and battery life. A high-tech material called Duralumin has been used in its construction, which is why it’s as lightweight, yet as sturdy as it is. It also makes use of an “ultra-low-voltage” Intel Core i5 processor that ensures performance is good while power usage remains low. Samsung rate the battery as lasting “up to 7 hours”, but, of course, mileage will vary according to how the laptop is used.

When closed, the Series 9 notebook is just over 1.6cm at its thickest point. When you pick it up, it’s hard to believe you’re holding a fullblown notebook as even with the battery installed, the Series 9 weighs just 1.3kg – absolutely crazy for a portable computer with this much power.

Equally as unbelievable is the thickness of the screen. Modern engineering borders on miraculous, as this wafer-thin 13.3” screen shows, but Samsung’s engineers didn’t stop there – it’s also incredibly bright, with a maximum brightness rating of 400 nits. Considering the average notebook screen has a brightness of between 200 and 250 nits, this is not insignificant. As the screen is also capable of full HD (1 920 x 1 080) and uses LEDs for backlighting, image quality is exceptional.

Performance is where the Series 9 really shines. While not the 44 | connect | August 2011

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fastest notebook out there, it does extremely well in general Windows performance thanks to its Solid State hard drive. Samsung included one because it doesn’t use nearly as much power as a regular hard drive does, plus it’s very fast. Booting into Windows takes less than 30 seconds and loading applications is so quick, even we were surprised.

SSD technology isn’t so advanced that it can offer capacities to rival those of regular hard drives, which is why the Series 9 is limited to only 128GB of storage, but the performance boost that accompanies it is easily worth the capacity cut.

Not everything is superb, though. The notebook’s keyboard is a bit underwhelming – it doesn’t have a number pad and typing feels a little bit cramped, but at least the Chiclet-style keys feel nice under fingers. It lacks a Pause key, but since only techies will miss it (pressing the Windows key and the Pause button brings up the computer status window), we don’t think it’s a big issue.

The track pad is nicely made, offering a silky-smooth surface on which to move your finger, and it’s an entirely flat surface. If you’re looking for right- and left-click buttons, you won’t see them, but pressing on the left and right sides of the track pad’s bottom end will give you the results you’re looking for.

Another minor gripe involves the speakers. They are only rated at 3W, so they’re not very loud, but distortion can be heard when they reach the upper range of their volume capabilities. Headphones will be the order of the day if you desire loud, undistorted volume.

Series 9 notebooks are so thin that Samsung could only include a handful of ports, and no optical drive. There are flaps that fold out on the sides of the notebook with USB 3.0 ports, headphone and microphone jacks and a micro SD card reader, so you can connect an external optical drive via USB if you need to, as well as connect headphones. There is even a mini HDMI port in case you’d like to connect it up to a bigger screen, but no HDMI cable is included.

Samsung have included a number of software packages with the Series 9 that sweeten the deal even further, like a 60-day trial of Norton Internet Security 2010. It also has a program that automatically checks the Internet for software updates and new drivers, which when

found, are automatically downloaded and installed, removing some of the maintenance burden from the user.

In all we were mightily impressed with what Samsung have achieved with Series 9 notebooks. The one we received is so thin, it has to be touched to be believed, and we were pleasantly surprised by how well it performed. There’s no doubt that having an SSD speeds everything up considerably, and it’s clear that everything possible has been done to conserve battery power while ensuring really good performance. The only thing this Series 9 notebook can’t do is play 3D games, but then, when you go ultra-light and ultra-portable, gaming is not high on your list of priorities.

NOTEWORTHY SPECS • Processor: Intel Core i5-2537M @ 1.4GHz • Operating System: Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit • Memory: 4GB (8GB max) • Display: 13.3” LED HD SuperBright Plus Screen, 400 nits anti-glare • Graphics: Intel HD Graphics 3000 • Storage: 128GB Solid State hard drive • Communication: 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi, Ethernet, Bluetooth 3.0 • Inputs: Micro HDMI, headphone, mic-in, 1 microSD slot, 2 USB 3.0 ports • Battery: 6-cell Lithium, 6 300mAh, up to 7 hours • Weight: 1.3kg with standard battery

Pros

Cons

• SSD gives a huge performance boost • Hardware provides a very good Windows experience • Almost unbelievably thin and lightweight • Gives the MacBook Air a run for the money

• Keyboard can feel a bit cramped • Graphics capabilities don’t include gaming • No built-in optical drive • Speakers are quite basic

Overall rating

Samsung USB DVD Writer You will, at some point, need to install a program from a CD or DVD. Your best bet is this portable USB DVD drive from Samsung that installs easily and also burns data to discs.

Microsoft Office Professional 2010 No work notebook is complete without Microsoft’s excellent productivity suite. The Professional edition includes Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, Access, Publisher and OneNote.

Microsoft Wireless Mobile Mouse 3500 Nothing beats a mouse for fine control over your computer’s cursor. This compact wireless mouse is small enough to travel easily, but big enough to sit comfortably in your hand.

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Apple iLife

Apple’s very own iLife suite has a video and sound editor, along with a DVD authoring suite for creating video discs.

Roxio Toast 11 Pro NEED TO KNOW • One-stop interface for creating CDs and DVDs • Video and audio conversion • Includes Photoshop Elements, FotoMagico and SoundSoap R1 399.95

Mac App Store

If you have a capable Internet connection, the Mac App Store has many alternatives available for free download or purchase.

perfect companions

Adobe Premiere Elements Toast 11 only lacks a video editor, and Adobe’s Premiere Elements is one of the most easy-to-use consumer-level video editors around.

46 | connect | August 2011

The Mac is a powerful machine. It comes with many nifty features that are just waiting to be discovered. Sometimes these features make themselves known through regular use, other times they remain hidden, never knowing the pleasure of your clicks.

Insert a blank disc into your Mac and it’ll ask you if you’d like to create a data disc. That’s simple enough, but what if you wanted to create a video disc? Or an audio CD? To get the former, you’d need to use iDVD, an app all new Macs ship with. For the latter, you’d need to open up iTunes and select the songs you want. It makes sense if you know about these features, but the operating system doesn’t exactly openly advertise them.

So even though your Mac has many powerful functions, an application like Toast 11 Pro is a good way to get almost everything you want in a single interface.

Pop a blank disc into your Superdrive, and Toast 11 asks you what you’d like to create: a data, audio, video, photo or backup disc. It even gives the option to copy another disc (if you are legally allowed to, of course). Should you choose to create a multimedia disc with the content on your computer, Toast will let you access your iTunes and iPhoto libraries from within the application window. It’s all intuitive and informative, with Toast describing exactly what each option does: there are even video and PDF tutorials to walk users through the steps of creating their discs.

The functionality extends beyond the main application, though. When you’re browsing your computer and see a folder you’d like to burn to disc, you can simply right-click on it and there’s an option to create a disc using Toast. That’s clever integration, and something Mac OS X doesn’t offer by default (although it is capable of this, if you know what you’re doing).

Even if you’re not convinced the Toast experience is for you, the whole software bundle might be more appealing. Roxio, the developers, have thrown in full versions of Adobe Photoshop Elements, Fotomagico 3, BIAS SoundSoap 2 and Smartsound’s Sonicfire Pro 5. These value-add applications are almost worth more than Toast itself (the retail price for a copy of Photoshop Elements is around R800). Even if you buy the bundle for one of the included apps, you have the bonus of it coming with a great disc-burning suite.

For all its focus on creating video discs (right down to including support for creating Blu-ray discs), the bundle lacks a video editor. We could jokingly point out that this might have pushed up the price of the bundle by quite a bit, but it really is a glaring omission. If you’re going to create video discs, you’ll need a proper video editor to assemble the footage and make it look presentable.

Save for the lack of a video editor, Toast 11 Pro is a great software bundle with some really powerful applications. It’ll convert (but not edit) video, clean your audio and burn all kinds of DVDs, CDs and Blu-ray discs.

It’s excellent value for money.

SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS • CPU: Mac with any Intel processor • RAM: 1GB minimum (2GB recommended) • OS X version: 10.5 or higher • Other: DVD drive for installation, Internet access for updates Pros

Cons

• Powerful functions • Great value with included software • Blu-ray disc authoring

• Replicates functions your Mac already has • No video editor • Video conversion needs a powerful machine

Overall rating

Windows®. Life without Walls™.

Samsung recommends Windows 7.

Introducing the new Samsung Series 9 Notebook. Cast from aviation alloy and powered by a 2nd generation Intel® Core™ i5 Processor, it’s the latest innovation in fast computing performance. At only 16mm, its ultra thin, lightweight streamlined arc design make it more than just a notebook. It’s a true reflection of strength and sophistication. What defines you?

TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS Intel® Core™ i5 Processor 2537M (1.4GHz, 3MB) • Genuine Windows® 7 Home Premium (64bit) Operating System 4GB (DDR3) System Memory • 13.3” SuperBrightPlus© Anti-Reflective HD LED Display • 128GB Solid State Drive (SSD) Up to 7 Hours Battery Life** • Weighs only 1.31kg

www.samsung.com/notebook Copyright© 2011 SAMSUNG Electronics Co, Ltd. Screen images are simulated. Intel, the Intel logo, Intel Core and Core Inside are trademarks of Intel Corporation in the U.S. and other countries. ** Battery life based on Battery Mark test scores that will vary based on configuration.

SAM_SERIES9_7374_CT

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Canon PowerShot ELPH300HS

A simple ultra-compact camera that’s suited to both indoor and outdoor use.

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8GB MicroSD Card As no memory card ships with the camera and it has no onboard memory, you’ll definitely need one of these to get started. We recommend 8GB cards.

GorillaPod If it’s a handy, flexible yet sturdy tripod-like device you’re after, the GorillaPod is for you. Arrange its legs any way you like, and attach your camera to all manner of objects for really cool pics!

48 | connect | August 2011

Samsung SH100 Compact Camera NEED TO KNOW • Pocket-sized portable camera • Can use a Samsung Galaxy phone as a viewfinder • Touch-sensitive LCD screen R2 099.95

Samsung’s new SH100 compact camera is a very small compact camera that fits easily into a pocket. It seems to be aimed at casual users, people who like taking lots of pictures to upload to Facebook, or shooting videos for upload to YouTube, as more emphasis is put on features like these than overall image quality.

At 14.1MP, image quality is not what anyone would call “bad”, but the camera lacks at least one crucial feature needed to take better pictures – an optical image stabiliser. In its place are a handful of new features that try to make up for this, and to Samsung’s credit, they’re not as gimmicky as they sound – they’re actually quite useful.

Up first is Wi-Fi connectivity. Yes, the SH100 can connect to your wireless network. That way, it can upload videos directly to YouTube and update your Facebook profile right from the camera. There is no need to use your computer to download those files and then manually upload them later. All of this is managed using the touch-sensitive LCD screen on the back of the camera, which is the next useful feature Samsung has included.

The menu system works in a similar way to that of a smartphone.

All you have to do is select the function or application you want with a finger press and you can scroll between the different screens with a swipe of a finger. It’s here that you choose the scene mode, or set the camera to automatically choose for you. Among the options are e-mail and Web, which are 2 ways of sending your snaps to friends. The Web option includes a selection of services like Picasa, Facebook and PhotoBucket. All you need to do is input your account details for each and send away.

We’d guess Samsung’s engineers were operating under an order to leverage other Samsung devices, because the next handy feature is the ability to pair the SH100 with a Samsung Galaxy smartphone. Why, you ask? So you can use the Galaxy as the camera’s viewfinder, and remotely press the shutter with the phone once the shot is lined up to your liking.

As sceptical as we are, we had to admit that that is pretty cool. Setting it up is as easy as pie, too – a further bonus.

So the camera itself has some attractive features but, of course, there are a few disadvantages too. Firstly, the SH100 doesn’t take wonderful photos in low-light situations. Once you get above ISO 400, noise (visible artefacts caused by the electronics compensating for the lack of light) becomes very noticeable, and it doesn’t like low-light situations very much. Also, if your hands aren’t absolutely still, the lack of an optical image stabiliser will lead to more blurry shots than with other cameras, so the downsides are fairly serious.

If you can overcome these few flaws, the SH100 is quite a nifty little gadget. It’s tiny, so will fit into most handbags and pockets, and we like the fact that it hints at the greatness the future of technology holds with its inclusion of some really fun, handy features. It’s not going to impress seasoned photographers with its versatility or image quality, but as a fun, small camera that’s great for everyday use, it’s bang on the money.

NOTEWORTHY SPECS • Image sensor: 14.1 megapixels • Zoom: 5 x optical • Screen: 3” LCD touchscreen • Image stabilisation: Digital only • Video: 720p (uploads to YouTube at 320 x 240 only) • Wireless connectivity: Wi-Fi, DLNA • Storage: MicroSD cards • Supported online services: Picasa, YouTube, Facebook, PhotoBucket Pros

Cons

• Neat integration with online services • Impressively small, highly portable body • Wireless networking integration • Using a Galaxy smartphone as a viewfinder is very cool

• Visible noise above ISO 400 • Not great in low-light situations • No optical image stabiliser • Uses a proprietary USB cable to connect to a PC/Mac

Overall rating

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Nikon Coolpix L120

Fujifilm Finepix S4000 NEED TO KNOW • 30 x optical zoom lens • 14-megapixel photos • 720P HD video R3 299.95

Last month, we looked at this camera’s smaller brother, the Fujifilm S2950. On paper they are almost identical. Both sport 14-megapixel sensors and the ability to capture video at 720P high-definition resolution. Both come with great software that lets you share your captured videos and photos with Facebook and YouTube the moment you link the cameras to your computer, and they also have decently functional scene modes. On the face of it, taking photos with either the S2950 or the S4000 is a similar experience. That said, they aren’t exactly the same.

The S4000 improves on its lesser sibling in subtle ways that we’re only able to judge now that we’ve played with both. To start with, it sits more comfortably in the hands. The S2950 was really ergonomic but the S4000 is slightly larger and feels less cramped. A larger design means more space for buttons, so things are a bit more spread out on the rear panel, alongside the 3” display. The reason it’s a bit larger is the lens: a 30 x optical zoom. More zoom means more glass, which requires a bit more space to move back and forth. As a result, compared to the 18 x optical zoom on the S2950, the S4000 has a larger lens barrel. Said barrel has a rubber coating, making it easier to grip and hold still. And hold it still you’ll need to, because that long zoom is going to amplify shake quite a bit, even with a pretty decent image stabiliser built into the camera body.

To visualise why lens shake is a problem with a long zoom, imagine holding a broomstick at its base. If you attach a camera at the base, where it’s being held, it will be very easy to keep still and take sharp photos. But start moving the camera towards the end of the stick and it becomes increasingly difficult to prevent it from shaking. Things could be relatively still at the base of the stick, but at the extreme end, even the tiniest movements are amplified greatly.

Operating a camera with a zoom lens of around 15 x or 18 x is about the equivalent of mounting it on a 1.6m broomstick. A 30 x

zoom, though, is like having a camera at the end of a lamp post. It’s an impractically long zoom. Unless you are taking pictures in very bright daylight – when the shutter speed will be fast enough to minimise any blurring in your photos – a 30 x zoom is going to be useless. This seriously limits the places where you could use the S4000. Perhaps while bird spotting, or driving through a nature reserve, but even then, you’ll be praying for the animals to stay put.

If you keep things at the middle of the zoom spectrum, results are more acceptable. You’ll get usable photos, and it’s here that you’ll see the S4000 has exactly the same performance as its lesser-zoomed sibling.

Photos are good, but not great. If you’re operating in low light, without a flash, the photos are grainy and colours aren’t as accurate as on other cameras. Picture quality, in general, is best described as “about average”.

They look all right when printed on a standard postcard-sized photo sheet, but still lack sharpness.

At the price, though, it’s a decent digital camera. If you’re just going to be e-mailing your pics, it is possible to have decent-looking versions of the resized 14-megapixel photos.

NOTEWORTHY SPECS

If a megazoom compact camera is your thing, Nikon’s Coolpix L120 might fit the bill.

It also has a 14-megapixel sensor, but has a slightly longer 21 x zoom from its lens. Bear in mind that it’s a touch more expensive than your average compact camera.

perfect companions

SD Card Large photos and HD footage end up consuming a lot of space. Get a large memory card for hundreds of photos or hours of footage, without needing to worry about running out of room.

• Still images: 14 megapixels • Video: HD video-recording • Storage: SD card • Lens: 30 x optical zoom • ISO range: 64 – 6 400 • Rear display: 3.0” Pros

Cons

• Comfortable design • Uses AA batteries • Great scene modes

• Lens simply too long • Silly lens cover • Average picture quality

Overall rating

Lowepro Camera Bag Keep your compact camera safe with one of the many bags in Lowepro’s professional range. They have separate, customisable storage compartments for lenses, batteries, chargers and more.

www.connectmag.co.za | 49

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TRENDnet 3G Wireless N Router

Access the Internet using a 3G connection and distribute the signal over Wi-Fi with this 3G router from TRENDnet.

Vodafone Mobile Broadband Modem NEED TO KNOW

Vodafone R201

For about the same money as this high-speed modem, you can get the Vodafone R201.

This is a mobile Wi-Fi hotspot, in addition to being a 3G modem. You can share your Internet access with other devices, wirelessly.

perfect companions

16GB MicroSD Card The modem has a built-in slot for storage, and a 16GB card means you have your modem and important documents with you, everywhere you go.

50 | connect | August 2011

• Speeds up to 30Mbit/s • USB modem for laptops or desktops • Integrated microSD card slot R1 399.95

It wasn’t long ago that remaining connected while on the go was limited to phones with some form of data capability, usually GPRS or EDGE. Nowadays, we’re spoiled for choice. Smartphones can share their data connections with our tablets and laptops, while some laptops have built-in 3G modems that just need a SIM card to work. There are even pocket-sized wireless hotspots that can share their 3G connectivity with nearby devices. And all of these options only need to be used if you can’t find a wireless hotspot in the airport, mall or coffee shop where you’re spending your lunch hour.

Where to next? Well, the answer is simple. If we have fast 3G access almost anywhere we want, the only thing we could ask for is for it to be faster. That’s what the newest Vodafone Mobile Broadband modem is for. Like its predecessors, this is a USB stick that gives you fast access to your mobile provider’s data network. Thankfully, the stick is unlocked, so if you buy one, you can slap a Cell C or MTN SIM card into it without a worry. Where it differs from those that have gone before it, is that it offers support for the latest HSPA+ data network speeds. This means a theoretical maximum download speed of 42Mbit/s, and upload speeds of 14Mbit/s. In reality – and as stated on the box – the maximum attainable speeds are a more realistic, but still frighteningly quick, 30Mbit/s and 10Mbit/s respectively.

Those download speeds are 3 times faster than the fastest ADSL connection, and a 10Mbit upload speed is upwards of 10 times faster than achievable on a landline. Of course, these numbers go lower when not tested in ideal conditions. Take a sunny, wind-free day in the

Sandton CBD, for instance. Here, we struggled to get more than 8Mbit/s on the Cell C network and 6Mbit/s on the Vodacom network, using the same modem. At less congested hours, such as the early morning or later evening, we saw download speeds hover between 12 Mbit/s and 16Mbit/s on the 2 networks. It’s not as fast as claimed, but that’s through no fault of the product. Wireless network performance depends on many things, and the maximum quoted speeds are hardly ever going to be realistic on a daily basis.

Theoretically, this broadband modem is faster than its 21Mbit/s counterparts, but in everyday use, those devices are going to be as quick.

They’re also cheaper, and for the same money as this high-end USB-only device, you could have a 3G portable hotspot, such as the Vodafone R201.

Until network infrastructure improves, we’re unlikely to see the real speeds these devices are capable of and owning one is the equivalent of being stuck in gridlock traffic with your Ferrari.

NOTEWORTHY SPECS • Interface: USB 2.0 • Max. download speed: 30Mbit/s • Max. upload speed: 10Mbit/s • Other: Integrated microSD card slot

Pros

Cons

• Decent software interface • Capable of high speeds • On-board storage

• Chunky design • Speeds aren’t guaranteed • Easy to lose cap

Overall rating

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Huawei Ideos S7 Slim Tablet NEED TO KNOW • Entry level 7-inch Android tablet • Integrated HSUPA Modem • Five-hour battery life R3 599.95

Every industry needs entry-level offerings and judging by the specifications mix Huawei has chosen for its Ideos S7 Slim tablet, the company is clearly looking to appeal to the entry-level, mass-market buyer.

The problem is the S7 Slim isn’t quite cost effective enough to create the kind of impact Huawei is looking to make in the market. And sadly, that will in all likelihood mean it’s destined to remain on shelves as customers spend a bit more on a higher end option.

For example, if a customer is prepared to sacrifice the S7 Slim’s built-in 3G module and save themselves R300 in the process, they could opt for a new first-generation iPad with double the amount of built-in storage (16GB).

But, if always-on Internet is an imperative, they can spend an extra R700 and walk off with a 16GB first-generation iPad with a built-in 3G connectivity.

While it’s true, we are comparing a device that launched a month ago to one that’s been in the market for a little over a year now, the point is, the first-generation iPad still holds it own against a number of tablets and as such, does a great job when compared to the S7 Slim.

The sad part is, the S7 would be a great device if it had a more responsive, higher-resolution screen and a more current operating system.

Instead, users have to contend with a sluggish 800 x 480 pixel screen that doesn’t deliver anything close to high definition video and Android 2.2.2 as opposed to the sleeker, more modern-looking Android 3.0 Honeycomb the vast majority of modern tablets make use of today.

Try to charge the S7 Slim’s battery and you’ll immediately find it strange that even though it has a microUSB port, this cannot be used

Apple iPad 2

for powering the device. Instead, there’s strange multi-wired cable that provides power to the unit, while simultaneously allowing it to be connected to a USB port for data transfer.

While all of these downfalls seem small initially, within a couple hours’ use, they really begin to grate. And it’s sad because in the other departments, the S7 Slim does tick all the right boxes.

It’s well assembled, has a 1GHz processor, 8GB of flash storage (expandable through a micro SD card slot), front and rear facing cameras (2MP and 3.2MP respectively) and has a five-hour battery. It also has an HDMI output, which some other tablets lack.

But in trying to hit a certain price point, Huawei has skimped in a couple of key areas. And we fear that will not bode well for the S7 Slim in the long run.

Noteworthy Specs • 1GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon processor • HSUPA/Wi-Fi/Bluetooth • 800 x 480 pixel touch screen • 2MP/3.2MP cameras • 8GB Flash storage • Micro SD Card Slot • HDMI out Pros

Cons

• Most cost-effective Android Tablet available • Built-in 3G • Doubles as a cellular phone • Expandable storage (microSD card slot)

• Sluggish, non-responsive screen • Low screen resolution • Ageing Android 2.2.2 operating system

Overall rating

Slim, fast, 10 hours of battery life and high definition video playback make this the holy grail of tablets and the perpetual benchmark others measure themselves by.

Motorola Xoom

The most talked-about Android tablet available today, this offering has topend specifications and boasts with Android 3.0 Honeycomb under the hood.

Acer Iconia A500

A crystal clear and responsive screen, Android 3.0 Honeycomb and Acer’s clear. fi wireless media streaming technology make this the Android tablet with the fastest growing fan base.

www.connectmag.co.za | 51

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Surge Protectors

The Intelliplug has a built-in surge protector, but at what cost? A standalone model can be quite a bit cheaper and more effective.

Everlast Intelliplug

LED Lightbulbs

NEED TO KNOW • Reduces power consumption • Powers down devices on stand-by • Ideal for TV or PC setups R499.95

Everlast’s Intelliplug positions itself as a way to save money and energy. It’s an intelligent power strip that can cut electricity to appliances that usually run on stand-by power. A television or satellite decoder on standby can use up to 15 watts of power, while game consoles use around 5 watts. Then there’s your DVD player and audio/video receiver. It all adds up. For the sake of an example, let’s use a figure of around 60 watts for an average home entertainment system.

If just left in standby mode for a month, it equates to consumption of 43.2 kilowatt hours (30 days x 24 hours x 60 watts). The current, average rate for a unit of electricity is about 80 cents, so the total cost of leaving your home entertainment system on standby is about R35.

Of course, it’s easy to write off that amount of money for the sake of convenience. Removing stand-by power from certain devices plays havoc with their settings, and they’ll lose track of the date or time, or might need to be set up from scratch if they’re unplugged for more than a few days. It is a worst-case scenario, but definitely a factor to keep in mind. Paying R35 a month so that you don’t have to wait 5 minutes for your DStv decoder to boot up is something most people can live with.

If you do want to save that money, though, the Intelliplug does a sterling job of helping you. The power strip, with its extraordinarily long lead cable, has a master, 3-prong plug and a few slave sockets.

The master plug is where you’ll plug in the main device – in this case, the TV. Once the TV is switched on, the rest of the power strip is

activated and it’ll provide power to the auxiliary devices such as the game consoles, DStv decoder, DVD player and AV receiver. Power off the TV and those devices get powered off completely. This does present a problem if you want the DStv decoder to remain powered up, should another TV be connected to it elsewhere in the house. Similarly, if you connect a PC to the Intelliplug, it will attempt to intelligently control the power going to things like the fax machine or wireless router – and both of these are things you’d probably want to keep powered up all the time.

It’s not all that intelligent, to be honest. The “one plug controls all” approach is very clumsy and doesn’t provide the granularity that would make it a truly clever and versatile solution. If it were possible to select sockets that could have their power cut, independently, it would already be a far smarter solution. As it stands, though, the monthly savings will only amortise the cost of the Intelliplug after more than a year. That’s a long time to be saddled with its well-meaning, but frustrating, habits.

NOTEWORTHY SPECS • Three-prong sockets: 1 x master, 4 x slave • Two-prong sockets: 4 x slave Pros

Cons

• Multiple power sockets • Built-in surge protector • Long cord

• Limited usage scenarios • Expensive • Minimal savings

LED lightbulbs are the best way to save electricity and money. They last 20+ years and use less than 1kWh per month.

Common sense

With some hard work, you can get into the habit of manually unplugging devices that draw a lot of stand-by power, for no initial cost.

Overall rating

www.connectmag.co.za | 53

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Iomega Skin 500GB Portable Hard Drive

Portable hard drives cost less per gigabyte than a memory stick, but they are bulkier.

This 500GB drive from Iomega combines good looks and portability with plenty of storage space.

SanDisk Cruzer Blade 4GB

If 4GB of portable storage is all you need, the Cruzer Blade flash drive has you covered.

perfect companions

Windows 7 Home Premium ReadyBoost is a standard feature on all versions of Windows 7. It can use a maximum of 4GB of space on a flash drive for ReadyBoosting, and improves system performance by a small margin.

54 | connect | August 2011

SanDisk Ultra 8GB Flash Drive NEED TO KNOW • Pocket-friendly 8GB memory stick • Suitable for use with Windows 7’s ReadyBoost feature • Slow write but fast read speeds R199.95

Today, memory sticks can store gigabytes of data, their size makes for extremely easy transport in pockets, bags, even on key-rings, but more than that, they can be used in new and interesting ways. In addition to letting you carry your favourite TV series and music around with you, they can be used to boost the performance of your Windows Vista and Windows 7 computers. If they are fast enough, that is.

Windows Vista shipped with a feature called ReadyBoost, which carried over to Windows 7; it is a way to use a memory stick as system RAM. Doing this can potentially make a computer more responsive by giving it more memory in which to store temporary data. If your Windows Vista or Windows 7 PC only has 2GB of RAM, for example, plugging in an 8GB memory stick and setting it to work with ReadyBoost will make the computer a little faster.

The only catch is that ReadyBoost requires the USB memory stick to perform at a certain level. Not all memory sticks are created equal when it comes to how fast a computer can write and read data to and from them. ReadyBoost won’t make use of memory sticks that can’t be written to quickly, as that would actually make the computer perform worse than before.

SanDisk’s Ultra Flash Drive is a jack-of-all-trades. It’s fast enough to be used by ReadyBoost, plus it has a capacity of 8GB, more than enough for movies, music files and whatever else you need to carry with you. It’ll even store at least one HD movie, as the average size of a 720p movie file is just over 4GB. This drive has enough storage capacity to be useful in everyday situations, plus it performs well enough that Windows 7 and Vista can use it as a ReadyBoost device. It’s also highly portable, and even has a hole that lets you attach it to a key-ring or lanyard. When not in use, it’s possible to slide the USB connector into the body of the drive; this makes it less likely to be damaged during transport.

It’s not all roses, though. We weren’t wild about a few aspects of the Ultra Flash Drive. Firstly, its overall build quality. Yes, it’s the 21st century and everything is made of plastic, but when that plastic feels so lightweight that it makes you think it won’t survive the rigours of everyday handling, that’s a problem. Secondly, while ReadyBoost is happy with its general performance, copying files to and from the device is not what we consider to be “fast”. A file copy to the drive crawled along at just over 5MB/s, and read speeds (copying files from the drive to a PC) were erratic, dropping from 20MB/s at first and averaging around 7MB/s by the time the copy finished. This is not the performance the “Ultra” moniker hints at, but it’s still good enough for casual use. Just be prepared to wait a while for big files to copy.

This drive will appeal to anyone looking for an affordable memory stick with a decent amount of storage, and which can be used with Windows’ ReadyBoost feature. As long as you don’t expect to be blown away by its copy speeds, it’s a solid purchase.

NOTEWORTHY FEATURES • SecureAccess software (included) can encrypt sensitive data on the drive • Includes 2GB of secure online storage through SanDisk’s backup partner • Slider design offers some protection to the USB plug when not in use • Backed by a 5-year limited warranty • 8GB of storage • Usable on Windows and Apple Mac computers Pros

Cons

• Can be used with Windows’ ReadyBoost feature • Good price for an 8GB flash drive • Retractable USB plug provides protection

• Copying large files to and from the drive is not quick • Lightweight plastic body feels very flimsy

Overall rating

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Norton for Mac

If you believe in always having an anti-virus package (not a bad habit to have), then you could also consider Norton for Mac. It has all the basic features you’d expect, with the familiar yellow tinge that Norton products bear.

Kaspersky Anti-Virus 2011 for Mac NEED TO KNOW Common Sense

If you’re going to wing it and go without an anti-virus package, all you need is some tech common sense.

Don’t download files from dodgy-looking Websites, run your updates regularly and always double check which applications ask for your password.

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Apple iMac 21.5” Apple’s “entry-level” desktop iMac isn’t all that slow to start with – it comes with the latest Intel processors, lots of RAM and hard drive space, and ships installed with the latest version of Mac OS X.

56 | connect | August 2011

• Full protection for your Apple computer • Includes free licence for Windows edition • 1-year subscription to updates R399.95

Whether or not Mac OS X (the operating system that comes installed on Macs) is more secure than Windows is a debate that has been raging for a while. Mac users hang on to the fact that the basis for OS X is derived from BSD, a very security-focussed version of Unix. Windows fans will point out that Mac users are in the minority, and thus enjoy security by obscurity: hackers stand to gain more by targeting millions of Windows computers, rather than thousands of Apple computers.

The truth is a bit of both. Yes, there are far fewer Macs than Windows PCs on the Internet, and this does work in favour of Mac platforms when hackers work on economies of scale. In the same breath, we have to mention that by its very design, OS X is more secure when it comes to dealing with things like computer viruses and malware. In normal operation, applications only have limited access to system files. When an application asks for your master password, it will then be given access to modify files. After all, it asked you and you entered the password. The security flaw lies with users who aren’t tech-savvy – and obviously not everybody is a computer genius.

That’s where Kaspersky’s anti-virus for Mac comes in. Seasoned Mac users will frown at the idea of installing anti-virus software on their beloved Apple machines, but those folks who don’t know the intricate details of how their computer works can simply install this and continue computing without a worry.

Unlike the old anti-virus applications from the ‘90s, modern ones (even Kaspersky for Windows) sit in the background and scan all the files your system accesses. If it sees something awry, it’ll immediately warn you and cut off access from the infected file. No longer do you need to run

scheduled scans that render your computer unusable for a few hours. It just works. And for good measure, Kaspersky for Mac also includes a full 1-year licence for Kaspersky for Windows. If you use BootCamp to run Windows on your Mac, this is the perfect solution.

The efficiency and ease-of-use does come at a price, though. Just sitting in the background, without scanning anything, we found it using up to 250MB of RAM. It might not seem like a lot if you have 4GB of RAM, but there are more demanding programs that use less memory. And that memory footprint might grow when the application is actively scanning, and when more virus definitions are downloaded.

Speaking of virus definitions – if you’re on a very limited connection, you might want to note that the initial update, when installing, can be up to 80MB in size. After that, the downloads are very small, using less data than it takes to send a single e-mail.

If you don’t consider yourself tech-savvy, or would rather err on the side of caution, we can easily recommend this. However, learning how to actively avoid malware and viruses might pay off better in the long run.

System Requirements • Processor: Intel-based Macs only • RAM: 512MB or higher • OS X version: 10.5 or higher • Installation space: 300MB recommended Pros

Cons

• Very fast virus detection • Free Windows licence • User-friendly interface

• Almost not necessary • Uses quite a bit of memory • Large initial update

Overall rating

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Logitech Pure Fi Anywhere

If you’d rather make your sound a bit more public, the Logitech Pure Fi anywhere is a great way to share the party instead of being selfish

Skullcandy Skullcrushers NEED TO KNOW • Dual drivers with bass booster • Adjustable bass level • Travel pouch R 699.95

The good folks over at Skullcandy have built up a solid reputation for products that provide good value, good sound and great looks. Every product of theirs, from the most affordable set of in-ear buds to the highest-end overhead cans are stylishly designed, with quality materials and build quality that’ll take the knocks of everyday life.

The Skullcrushers share all of the latter values. Available in a few eyecatching designs, such as the Rasta design pictured here, these ominously named headphones are all about style. They’re finished in soft-touch plastic, have shiny Skullcandy logos along the headband, soft earcups and good build quality. You get the feeling they won’t fall apart if dropped, and should still be good for use after two years.

Whether you’ll want to submit your ears to 24 months of demolishing bass, though, is another question. See, the Skullcrushers - as their name suggests - have a subwoofer in each ear cup. These bass drivers draw so much current that a separate power source is needed, in the form of an in-line battery pack. This holds a single AA cell and provides controls to fine-tune the bass levels. It’s also a bit bulky, adding an awkward weight to the cord.

To test how effective the bass drivers are, we fired up some dance and rock tracks notorious for their ear punishing low frequencies. In busier music, at medium volume levels, the Skullcrushers sounded pretty good, but the bass system had glaring weaknesses exposed in songs with more testing frequencies. One of the tracks we used has a sweeping bass note,

going from high to low frequencies, and the Skullcrushers would have a very flat sound until the bass abruptly kicked in. The “roll on” performance (where the bass levels should gradually pick up) is terrible. Roll off performance (where bass levels should fade out) is equally abrupt. It completely ruins the song, and is very distracting. Attempting to fine-tune the low-down response, using the controller, is not of much use. The bass is either off, on, or too excessive.

It’s a pity that these headphones rely on a gimmick that attempts to make them sound good. A decent set of full-range drivers would’ve made them far more attractive. Without the bass drivers, the sound is pretty flat at the bottom end, with the upper mids actually enjoying really good clarity. Compared to similarly priced headphones and earphones, though, these suffer in the performance department - we fear at the expense of looking stylish.

Bose MIE2i

These super-comfortable in-ear buds from Bose have all the power and class you’ll need, without any gimmicks to make them sound good.

perfect companions

NOTEWORTHY SPECS • Drivers: 2x 30mm • Frequency response: 20Hz - 20kHz • Cable length: 1.5m • Extras: Bass booster, AA battery, travel pouch Pros

Cons

• Funky design • Solid build quality • Decent trebles

• Erratic bass response • Requires battery • Short cord

Overall rating

Energizer Rechargeable Batteries Since you’ll need a AA battery to keep powering the subwoofers in the Skullcrushers, a set of rechargeables might be a good idea.

www.connectmag.co.za | 57

book reviews

Brain Games for Dummies

NEED TO KNOW • By Timothy E. Parker • 432 Pages

It’s been proven that by challenging your mental muscles, it’s possible to reduce memory loss due to ageing and even minimise the risk of developing diseases like Alzheimer’s in later life. To that end, this little book is a fantastic companion as it’s stuffed to the gills with puzzles of all kinds that are designed to engage your brain in challenging yet fun ways. It has 100 crosswords, 75 Sudoku puzzles, 50 word searches, 25 word scrambles, 25 cryptograms, 15 riddles, and 10 logic puzzles, along with complete solutions, so there’s plenty to keep brains occupied on long trips or even when you’re at home and there’s nothing good to watch on TV. Puzzles are also ranked by difficulty, so you know what’s expected of you when you start. In all, this is an entertaining and useful book if you’re into mental gymnastics, and the skills you pick up over time will stand you in good stead.

Troubleshooting Windows 7 from the Inside Out

NEED TO KNOW • By Mike Halsey • 528 Pages

Gamestorming – A playbook for innovators, rulebreakers and changemakers

NEED TO KNOW • By Dave Gray, James Macanufo and Sunni Brown • 288 Pages

Some parts of the world are moving from an industrial economy to one that is built on knowledge, and this book goes into great detail about the ways that we can change the way we’ve done things up to now to take advantage of this trend. Gamestorming, a play in the words “brainstorm” and “game-changing”, is a toolkit for forward-thinkers, inventors, explorers and pioneers looking for ways to go with the flow, to use the changing economic situation to solve problems more intelligently, work together more productively, inspire groups of people effectively and much more. The book also has a great deal of practical solutions to many of today’s workplace problems, making it a must-read for anyone

in a management position. Gamestorming is a brainbending read, but one we highly recommend for people in management positions and anyone interested in shaping the future in a positive, intelligent manner.

Seasoned Windows 7 users will appreciate this book. It’s all about how to sort out Windows should it start to act up, and it’s structured in a no-nonsense manner that is all substance and very little flash.

Troubleshooting tips and techniques are discussed in depth in an easy-to-follow way, and the author goes so far as to discuss preventative measures to take to help users avoid problems in the future. Should the worst happen, the book also details many of the most useful recovery tools that are built into the operating system that can be used to get a Windows PC out of a jam. Step-by-step guides, prevention tips and troubleshooting techniques are all present and accounted for, making this an excellent resource for anyone interested in gaining more insight into Windows 7’s inner workings.

58 | connect | August 2011

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game reviews

NEED TO KNOW

Rugby World Cup 2011 R599.95 For every sport, there’s a game equivalent. For some sports, there are 2 or 3 a year and even a management simulation to play the game from a coach’s perspective (yes soccer, we’re talking about you). But when it comes to rugby, gamers who love the sport, boots and all, have been waiting for nearly 5 years to scrum, line out and see their top teams in all their virtual glory. Finally, 505 Games are bringing one of South Africa’s favourite sports to the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 consoles. Fans will not be disappointed as Rugby World Cup (RWC) 2011, the game, is an official licensed title. And, for the first time in a rugby game, it features a player editor.

The game will feature all major international squads, including the 20 nations competing in the 2011 Rugby World Cup. HB Studios, the game developers, have signed exclusive licences with the Italian, Irish, Welsh, Scottish, French, English, Argentinean and South African national sides, with other major union licences likely to be announced soon. (Nonexclusive licences have been signed with USA Eagles and Canada.)

Graphically, the attention to detail in both the visual quality of the game and the representation of the gameplay is unmatched. RWC really captures all the thrills and excitement of rugby with its enhanced speed and all-new gameplay mechanics. The game has a number of gameplay options, the most exciting being the Full Tournament mode, which follows the rules of the official World Cup (but with randomised pools of teams, of course). There’s also an International Test mode (essentially a quick match with teams of your choice), Place Kick Shootout and a Warm Up Tour mode (that lets you play a small tournament in the hemisphere of your choice).

Something else worth noting is the online multiplayer aspect of RWC, which adds an entirely new dimension to the (virtual) game of rugger.

What would a next-gen sports title be without the ability to challenge your friends online and host your own international tournaments?

Whether you’re a Springbok supporter or are all about the All Blacks, Rugby World Cup 2011 is the game that fans have been waiting for. You won’t be disappointed.

60 | connect | August 2011

• Pick from the 20 countries participating in the 2011 Rugby World Cup • Lead your team to the prestigious Webb Ellis Cup • Play solo or with up to 3 friends in local multiplayer matches

>>Know this<< Customise your captain!

The player editor in RWC is one of the most advanced seen in a sporting game. Not only can you edit your player’s name, position, height, weight and preferred foot, you can tweak over 20 attributes such as attack, hooking, acceleration, agility and goal-kicking. And if that isn’t enough, there are also special skills that add some interesting elements to the gameplay. Will your player be a tactical kicker or a tackle breaker?

You decide.

>>look out for<<

PES 2012 Rugby not your thing? Konami’s beautiful game is back. The latest iteration of the footie phenomenon is all about teamwork… and creating a truly realistic, immersive and utterly playable take on the modern game.

www.connectmag.co.za | 61

game reviews

Child of Eden

NEED TO KNOW

NEED TO KNOW • Wield superhero powers • Be mankind’s greatest hero or greatest villain • Stylized graphic cutscenes and epic boss battles Didn’t play the first Infamous game? You missed out. It was a highly entertaining gameplay experience to step into the shoes of an ordinary guy who is given a wide range of electricity-based powers. Luckily, the sequel is equally as good, with a new story, more dynamic city, an improved melee fighting system and a host of new superpowers. The question is, are you a superhero or villain? The choices you

make will affect the game’s outcome. Over and above the extra content, a big addition to Infamous 2 is the ability to create your own content and share it online… you’ll definitely play this game more than once.

R599.95

Coming >> soon <<

Infamous 2

Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine A fast-paced third person actionshooter from Relic Games allowing players to don the armor of one of the emperor’s chosen in a battle for the very survival of humanity.

PRE-ORDER YOUR GAMES NOW! Have you been to Gaming Inc? This portal of reviews, news and gaming tournaments is now moving into the pre-order space. So instead of buying games from an online retail specialist, you can now pre-order top titles through Incredible Connection’s Gaming Inc portal.

Why buy online? Gaming Inc members get 10 percent off the Recommended Retail Price (RRP) of the game, 13GB of prepaid bandwidth (worth over R500) with each purchase and the games are delivered to your door free of charge – it’s one of the cheapest pre-order services in the country! To pre-order games, you’ll need to be registered on Gaming Inc and also pay a R50 deposit (via EFT or credit card) to guarantee your copy of the game. Can’t wait for Battlefield 3 or FIFA 12? Pre-ordering means you’ll get the game as soon as it hits the shelves.

To pre-order games, go to http://www.gaminginc.co.za

62 | connect | August 2011

• Works with Xbox Kinect and PlayStation Move • The only next-gen multi-sensory shooter • A kaleidoscopic matrix of synchronised music and mind-blowing visuals If you enjoyed the colourful puzzler Lumines (on PSP), you’ll feel right at home playing Child of Eden. This exclusive title may be short, but it’s a unique experience of sound, shapes and electric gameplay… and it’s a little crazy. The game follows a futuristic story about the first girl born in outer space who is preserved in an Internet world called Eden that gets corrupted.

Using the Kinect controller or PS Move, you’ll save Eden by purifying corrupt data – there no guns or blood. Instead, you’ll find yourself lost in themed multisensory trance levels that are as beautiful to look at and hear as they are to play. R399.95

>>Consider this<< No More Heroes: Heroes’ Paradise Exclusive to the PlayStation Move, 3D all-action title follows Travis Touchdown, a lone hitman, as he hacks and slashes his way through the elimination of ten high-ranking assassins.

>>Get this<< Wii Play: Motion Need an extra Wii controller? Get this bundle which also includes 12 fun games like Wind Runner, Veggie Guardin’ and Spooky Search which use the Wii Remote Plus in interesting ways.

A Distributed Exclusively by Apex Interactive Tel: (011) 796 5040 www.apexint.co.za Email: sales@apexint.co.za All rights and trademarks and logos are copyright of their respective owners.

TM © Rugby World Cup Limited 1986 - 2011. All rights reserved. Published by 505 Games. Developed by HB Studios 2011 ©. All Rights Reserved.

KINECT, Xbox, Xbox 360, Xbox LIVE, and the Xbox logos are trademarks of the Microsoft group of companies and are used under license from Microsoft.

“2”, “PlayStation”, “PS3”, “

” and “À“ are trademarks or registered trademarks of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. RWC 2011 Official Licensed Product.

www.apexactive.co.za

game reviews

Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D

NEED TO KNOW • • • •

A classic adventure reimagined in 3D Cinematic cutscenes, music and memorable characters Great adventuring and engaging side quests An exciting arsenal of weapons

Legend of Zelda is far more than a role-playing adventure – it’s a series that has been around for a quarter of a century, and is an important part of gaming history. It’s the story of elfin boy Link, his wizard nemesis and a princess and kingdom that are in need of a saviour. With over 15 official Zelda games (and numerous more featuring the well-known cast), The Ocarina of Time first appeared on the Nintendo 64 in 1998 to critical acclaim.

Over a decade later, Link is making his 3D début on Nintendo’s portable console in a remake of this treasured title. Does it live up to the memory? Will retro gamers be making a comeback? Are those new to the Zelda franchise going to be enticed? Absolutely.

From the impressive cutscenes to the crisp and colourful graphics, Ocarina of Time 3D is more than an updated port.

For those who played the original, the locations are the same, but only when it comes to layout. Every detail has been lovingly recreated from the ground up, with a melodic soundtrack to match.

It’s easy to be fooled into thinking this is a kid’s title – it’s not. The puzzles can be tricky and the dungeons are tough.

Combat in the game is fast and fun and you’ll often have to learn what it takes to beat the variety of creatures that come your way. Lock-on targeting is a big help, as are the buttons you assign to critical items in your inventory. You can also use the touchscreen to access potions and gear. And while you may start the game with a simple wooden shield and sword, you’ll soon have access to legendary weapons and powerful tools.

Feeling brave? Nintendo have included a tougher Master Quest version of the game. There is also a gauntlet mode where you’ll get to redo the big boss fights for better time.

Ocarina of Time is one of the best, if not the best, game available for the 3DS handheld right now – it’s definitely worth a lengthy trip down memory lane.

R499.95

>>Consider this<<

>>Buy this<<

Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks

Resident Evil: The Mercenaries 3D

Link is on a daring new adventure.

With an original story and even more puzzles, you’ll journey by train and utilise new items and weapons, including the Whirlwind, which you’ll have to activate by blowing into the DS microphone!

Featuring re-mastered stages from Resident Evil 4 and 5, it’s a race against time as you try to defeat as many enemies as possible before the countdown reaches zero.

64 | connect | August 2011

advertorial

Logitech G-Series peripherals

L

ogitech has a long history of producing some of the finest speakers and headsets for a variety of usage scenarios, and 2011 sees a refresh of the company’s excellent audio range. Not only do these new audio products sport a new look, but their internal components have also been overhauled, resulting in speakers and headsets that are not only attractive, but they’re even better-sounding than the models they replace.

G27 Racing Wheel

Full 900 degree rotation, brake and acceleration pedals, user-configurable buttons and high-quality materials are just the start – the G27 Racing Wheel offers full force feedback that communicates every bump in the road to your hands and arms for a close-to-real driving experience.

Gaming Keyboard G510

The GamePanel LCD screen atop this feature-rich keyboard can display key intel in supported games that G510-less opponents will lack, and the addition of a whole host of dedicated macro keys mean you can have up to 54 shortcuts to use at your discretion. If this doesn’t give you the edge in your games, you may want to consider another hobby.

Wireless gaming headset G930

G13 Advanced Gameboard

Wires are so last-century. So is flat, two-dimensional sound. With Logitech’s G930 wireless gaming headphones, both of these issues are non-existent, thanks to the complete absence of wires and their amazing 7.1 surround-sound capabilities that will fool your brain into believing the unreal.

If 54 additional keys isn’t enough for you or you love your existing keyboard but want more functionality, the G13 is what you need! This dedicated keyboard add-on has 25 programmable keys, an LCD screen and a dedicated mini-joystick to enhance your gaming capabilities! It even has a palm rest to ensure your hand is always comfortable.

Wireless Gaming Mouse G700

Incredible 5700dpi sensitivity, individually-contoured buttons for easy identification and Darkfield sensing technology for use on almost any surface including glass and granite are but a few highlights of the G700’s design.

Whether you’re gunning for headshots across a vast map or quickly snapping between units in a strategy title, the G700 has got your back.

game reviews

Call of Juarez: The Cartel Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2

NEED TO KNOW • A modern-day Western shooter • Three-player online co-op • Huge selection of weapons • Big mix of maps and missions

NEED TO KNOW

Hogwarts is on fire, the shield is broken and full-scale battle is the order of day – this is Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (Part 2) The Videogame. EA’s tie-in to the end of the Potter books and movies is a third-person cover shooter with a story that closely follows the plot of the film. For fans, it’s great to see the characters and detailed settings of the

movie come to life – they really look great. All eight characters in the game are playable and even without the original voice actors doing the talking; the game is a fully cinematic experience that combines spell casting, teleporting and extra challenges. R549.95

>>Consider this<< Transformers: Dark of the Moon Another movie-game tie-in, Dark of the Moon is actually the prologue to the Michael Bay blockbuster.

Cars 2: The Video Game

NEED TO KNOW • Choose from more than 20 different characters • Train at C.H.R.O.M.E and become a world class spy • Connect with World of Cars Online 66 | connect | August 2011

Call of Juarez is only one of a handful of popular videogames set in the Wild West.

The much-anticipated sequel, The Cartel, may take place in a modern setting but it keeps all the gun-toting action of the genre, making it an impressive story-driven Western shooter. The Cartel has three main characters: Eddie Guerra (a DEA agent with a chronic gambling habit), Kim Evans (a gang-affiliated street kid-turned-FBI agent), and Ben McCall, a LAPD detective,

Look out >>for<<

• 8 playable characters • Fight the Dark forces • Relive your favourite movie moments

Deus Ex: Human Revolution You play Adam Jensen, a security specialist, handpicked to oversee the defence of an experimental biotechnology firm.

But when a black ops team breaks in and kills the scientists you were hired to protect, everything changes…

Inspired by the Disney film, Cars 2: The Video Game continues the story of the latest film. Choose to play as Lightning McQueen, Mater and some new Pixar-created characters like Finn McMissile and Holley Shiftwell. You’ll first head to the Command Headquarters for Recon Operations and Motorised Espionage (C.H.R.O.M.E) to become a top-secret agent! There’s a lot to do in the game: you can take on dangerous missions or enjoy some adrenaline-filed combat racing against your friends in the multiplayer mode (with up to four players) and unlock new tracks, characters, events and missions. Cars 2 is great fun for the family.

R499.95

war veteran and descendant of Ray McCall, the protagonist from the original game.

Not only can you play the single-player story as any of the characters (who you pick changes the outcome and events of the game), there is also fantastic threeplayer co-op and endless, addictive online multiplayer options. So… what side of the law are you on? R599.95

>>Get This<< Kung Fu Panda 2 From uDraw integration (Wii) to Kinect Kung Fu classes (Xbox), the video game begins where the movie leaves off, as Po and the Furious Five venture out to save kung fu from a new evil threat.

>>coming soon<< The Penguins of Madagascar Skipper, Kowalski, Rico and Private will be waddling onto the DS in November.

WWW.DUKENUKEMFOREVER.COM

18SNLV © 1999-2011 - All rights reserved. Gearbox Software, LLC. Duke Nukem, the Duke Nukem nuclear symbol, Duke Nukem Forever, Gearbox Software and the Gearbox logo are registered trademarks of Gearbox Software, LLC in the U.S. and/or other countries and used here under license. All rights reserved. This Game is published and distributed by 2K Games, a subsidiary of Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. 2K Games, Take-Two Interactive Software and their respective logos are trademarks of Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. Microsoft, Xbox, Xbox 360, Xbox LIVE, and the Xbox logos are trademarks of the Microsoft group of companies. “2”, “PlayStation”, “PS3” , “Ô and “À” are trademarks or registered trademarks of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. All rights reserved. All other marks are property of their respective owners. All rights reserved.

tech tannie

Going hot and cold like a winter’s day in Jozi, Tech Tanny may or may not answer your tech questions.

It depends on her mood…

issue of the month: Q: A:

If you have questions, gripes or just seek some solace, e-mail Tamsin, our friendly tech tannie at techtannie@connectmag.co.za 68 | connect | August 2011

What is Google+?

Anonymous in Grahamstown

You have asked the question that is suddenly on everybody’s lips. What, indeed, is Google+? Well, I guess you’ve heard of MySpace and Facebook (I assume you have, unless you’ve been hiding under a rock) and here we have, entering stage left, Google+. This is, apparently, Google’s answer to social networking. Clearly this Internet giant is not going to stand for anyone else keeping this versatile and profitable part of the Web to themselves (this would be Facebook) and have decided to roll out a shiny new option of their own. Google+ is currently at the “invite only” stage and, according to news reports, even this has been curtailed due to the extraordinary demand. I am not completely convinced Google+ is going to go anywhere. I point to the failed Google Buzz and Google Wave, which have been their previous attempts at snatching the social networking crown. Google, in their blog, said that current options (no names mentioned, of course) for online social interaction are flawed, that they don’t allow people to connect with the same subtleties they have in ordinary life. So, they have gone ahead and created a solution they believe will transcend the boundaries created by technology and amaze us all.

I’m poised by my computer, waiting to see what Google+ has to offer us mortals and will definitely let you know how it goes. Until then, just read the news and stay on Facebook.

Q:

Q:

What’s the difference between Twitter classic and the “new” Twitter? I keep seeing these announcements that the old Twitter is going to be discontinued soon and I’m not sure what it means for me.

Tweeting Thobeka in Umtata

What happened to the Parental Controls in Windows?

I recently upgraded from Windows Vista to Windows 7 and now the controls are nowhere near as detailed.

Controlled Katie in the Cape

A:

Windows Vista was famous for being a bloated system that ate up all your available disk space and moved like an elephant after a large meal. Slooowly. So Microsoft did a lot of surgical trimming with Windows 7, making it leaner and faster and less stuffed with bits and pieces that only a few people used. They took out quite a lot of standard applications and placed them into Windows Live instead, so people could choose what they wanted to install. If you’re looking for more detailed Parental Controls than those that ship with Windows 7, you’ll have to download them from the Windows Live Family Safety site (http:// explore.live.com/windows-live-familysafety?os=other). It’s a fairly hefty download and you’ll need to uncheck extra bits and pieces they try to sneak in (be wary of that). Once it’s installed, you’ll have pretty much the same extras and controls you would have had before.

A:

The new Twitter is really the same old beast but redesigned to make your experience a bit more manageable. If you’re not using a Twitter management tool like Tweetdeck or Hootsuite, you probably find Twitter a bit under- or overwhelming – too much information that isn’t easily read.

With the new Twitter, the creators have added things like @mentions, retweets and searches above the timeline so you can see them more clearly. You can embed images and media content with a few clicks, related content is revealed when you click on a tweet (a very helpful feature that will have you uncovering tons of fascinating information), and mini profiles. Soon this will be the only available version of Twitter so I advise you to spend some time getting used to it. And if you follow a lot of people, I recommend you look into getting a Twitter management tool like the ones I mentioned above as they make the experience far richer. But, be warned, you will find that it becomes a massive time sink – hours will disappear into your exploration and reading.

Q:

My iPhone’s battery life seems to be getting shorter and shorter. Is there any way I can stop this from happening? I have had the phone for two years now.

Recharged in Rustenburg

A:

There are a lot of ways to extend the life of your Lithium-ion battery. Keep it out of the sun (so don’t leave it in the car on a hot summer’s day, for example), don’t leave the backlight on the “always on” position, dim the screen, and reduce your use of things like push notifications or e-mail. You can also help the battery by doing one full charge cycle a month. This means you run the battery down until it is utterly and completely flat and then let it charge up to 100% before using it again. This helps to keep it up to capacity and healthy.

Also, don’t charge it in a case; take it out so it doesn’t overheat. If you have done all these things and your battery is still dying within moments, it’s likely it has started to reach the end of its life. This is a rather unfortunate state of affairs in your case as your warranty expired over a year ago and the cost of a replacement battery rests with you and your wallet. Apple’s batteries are not cheap so if you do find the constant recharging too painful to bear, make sure you care for your replacement so it lasts for longer. You can find lots of advice on how to do this on the Apple website at www.apple.com.

www.connectmag.co.za | 69

Subscribe to

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of plastic money/cards Advertorial

ith the escalation in the level of card fraud taking place globally one needs to ensure that cards are handled and managed carefully to avoid them falling into the wrong hands. Card fraud in South Africa runs into millions of rands every year. Here are some ways to assist you in ensuring that you are in control of your card:

• Always check the balances and transactions on your debit, credit and store cards carefully. Retain vouchers when you make a purchase so that it can be cross-checked against your statement to ensure correctness of the transaction and to make sure that it is a transaction that you are aware of.

• When making internet purchases, always make sure that you are logged onto a secure website. Never choose passwords like 1234 that are easy for criminals to test.

• Double check that you have your card with you after every purchase. Always make sure that the card is in sight when it swiped or inserted into a pin pad. Never allow an attendant

or sales person to swipe the card in your absence.

• Insist on a printed voucher after a purchase is made. If you are cancelling a transaction and a refund to your card is being processed, always insist on a voucher being printed for your records and as proof that your card is to be credited with the amount.

• Never leave your cards unattended. Some people leave them in a drawer at work or in their car. This would be inviting trouble especially if your car is broken into.

• When shopping by phone, only give your credit card number when you have called to place an order (not when the other party initiates the call).

• Destroy unwanted or expired cards immediately. Cut up cards across the numbers so no one can read the numbers.

• Memorize your ATM pin and other access numbers. Don’t carry these numbers in your wallet.

• Report missing cards immediately to your store, Bank or Service Provider. Criminals work fast and can run up

balances very quickly. Your Service Provider can only act and track fraudulent activity if you assist in the process by reporting it as soon as possible.

• Enquire from your Service Provider about the Lost Card Protection and how it works. This comes at a monthly premium but may prove to be of huge benefit.

• Do not answer any emails where you are required to provide pin numbers or passwords. At the same time never access your accounts from a link provided in an email.

• Do not store your personal information relating to pin numbers and passwords on your computer or cell phone.

Having your cards stolen can add stress and frustration to an already busy time. Of course, there is no absolute way to guarantee that you will never be the victim of a card thief.

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M07-68179B CONNECT ADS_FEB.indd 1

2011/01/20 3:09 PM

disconnect //By adam oxford

Gorillas in glass houses...

A hard as stone glass that is worth it’s weight in diamonds!

D

id you see the news about Leica? The German photography firm, the one with arguably the richest history in the evolution of the still image, has updated its M9 digital rangefinder to a newer model, with the suffix P. The cost if you want one? Nearly $8 000, over $1 000 more than a standard M9.

Now, Leicas are astounding cameras. There’s an element of trading on their legacy – this was the tool of Henri Cartier-Bresson, after all – but they do still do things differently than everyone else in the photography industry. They’re loved by many pros for the simplicity of their design, and the stunning quality of their optics.

As a result, the M9 was heralded by some as the best digital camera ever. What could they have done to make it over $1 000 better?

They gave it a new screen coating.

Sure, there were some other cosmetic changes, but the biggest update is putting a layer of sapphire crystals on the glass back – which the company says can only be cut with diamond- tipped tools – on top of the LCD panel, making it scratch-resistant.

Now, as ludicrous as this may seem – for $8 000, I could build a school in Zambia and buy the camera for the class portraits – there is a part of me that understands the logic behind it. For I have the unnerving ability to mark any screen I come across indelibly, within minutes of owning it. I can scratch glass just by looking at it. If I were a superhero, my special ability would be the diamond-tipped stare.

Take these examples.

I bought a brand-new IPS screen at the end of last year. It’s now marred from a deep gouge on the left-hand side, which appeared despite the fact that no hand has touched it or heavy object descended upon it from above. There is no reason for that scratch to exist. And yet it does.

Or the Amazon Kindle my wife bought me as a wedding anniversary present. That night I went to bed reading a book about the banking crisis, and woke up to find the ghost of overdrafts past had etched a small reminder of my balance into the corner.

Watches crumble before they get near my wrist, and laptops go into my bag

72 | connect | August 2011

brand-new and come out looking like battered typewriters.

I once destroyed a touchscreen phone by turning the glass opaque with marks. My first iPhone was returned within a week with the kind of scars most people take years to accumulate.

Fortunately, I don’t have to save up to buy only Leica-grade materials in the future. Not so long ago, I started using an ASUS Eee Pad Transformer, one of a new generation of tablet computers that’s a bit like an iPad but slightly cheaper and with a different operating system.

The Transformer comes with a screen made of Gorilla Glass, by the US conglomerate Corning. It’s not unique, because most new tablets and phones are arriving with Gorilla Glass screens, but it is remarkable. Apparently the strength is down to an ion-exchange process while the glass is superheated. It could be made from Adamantium for all I know.

I’ve been using this touchscreen tablet for a couple of months now, and it’s completely unscathed. No nicks and marks from a wedding ring, no little circular swirls grooved in where it’s been cleaned with the back of a T-shirt. Just a shiny, unblemished surface that’s near frictionless to touch.

If I had my way, every new device would come preserved in a layer of this stuff. If there’s a drawback, it’s that it’s quite reflective, and there’s nothing worse than seeing your own face looking back at you while you’re trying to work.

Still, it’s a small price to pay for the near indestructible nature of this stuff. Much smaller than buying a new Leica, anyway.

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6/29/11 2:48:38 PM

2011/03/02 3:01 PM