Windows Middle East - July 2010

06 VOL 15

THE REGION’S FAVOURITE PC & CONSUMER TECHNOLOGY GUIDE An ITP Technology Publication JUNE 2010

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U J NE 2010

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CONTENTS 1

CONTENTS WINDOWS MIDDLE EAST

14

10 COMMENT

HOME NETWORKING

10 COMMENT The iPad has not been officially launched in the Middle East yet, which has resulted in some retailers out there selling the device for overinflated prices. Gareth van Zyl asks why people would pay over $1000 for an iPad.

14 NETWORKING 14 HOME NETWORKING WINDOWS offers a a quick guide to setting up your home network, getting past the jargon and getting your routers, access points and other bits working in perfect sync. Follow our guide to understand the quick basics of setting up that network of yours.

19 PRINT FOR LESS 23 SAVE YOUR MONEY WINDOWS runs you through nine things you can do today to reduce your printing costs. From using draft mode, to using genuine and recycled cartridges and to knowing how to print effectively from the web; we show you how to save your cash.

24 HONG KONG

19

24

PRINT FOR LESS

HONG KONG TRADE FAIR

24 ELECTRONICS FAIR Every year, the Hong Kong Trade Development Council hosts what it calls 'the world's biggest electronics fair', and Vineetha Menon was there to report on all the latest developments at the event.

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60

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2 CONTENTS 6 6 7

NEWS

31

APPLE IPAD HAS LESS THAN STELLAR LAUNCH NVIDIA LAUNCHES F ‘ ERMI’ GPUs

37 HOT KIT REVIEWS 31 32 33 34 37

CANON LEGRIA HFM306 GARMIN-ASUS NUVIFONE M10 SONY ERICSSON XPERIA X10 YOYOTECH FI7EPOWER MK3 INTEL X25-V SSD

46 BUYER'S GUIDE THE BIGGEST TECH REFERENCE GUIDE 42 42 44 44 45 45 46 46 47 47

COMPONENTS DESKTOPS DIGITAL IMAGING HANDHELDS MONITORS NOTEBOOKS PERIPHERALS PRINTERS SOFTWARE STORAGE

48 GAME ON 54 57

J ST CAUSE U MOTO GP 09/10

60 REGULARS 60 62 64

COMPETITIONS CD CONTENTS LOGGING OFF

32

36 66 37

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4 REGULARS

Editor’s letter An ITP Technology Publication

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WINDOWS MIDDLE EAST JUNE 2010

3D TV HYPE WANES I recently had the opportunity of going to a Samsung event where the Korean company was showing off their new lineup of 3D television sets.

To say the least, I didn’t quite know what to think. First of all, the 3D effect wasn’t what I thought it would be like. Characters in films didn’t really jump out at me as the concept has been adveritised, and it left me thinking that perhaps it’s only the film Avatar that’s really taken advantage of this tech.

It also seems to me as if the hype around 3D technology has died down since the beginning of this year, when it was all that people could talk about during CES. And then there's the fact that there's also just a dirth of 3D content out there at the moment. Granted, this situation will sort itself out over time - HD and Blu-ray took years to become established mediums, so 3D might still take some time to establish itself.

Those who have been behind the development of 3D TV will then most probably be looking to this year's football World Cup to kickstart a wider adoption of 3D TV sets.

According to ITP.net, Sony have been working on enhancing the 3D capture of football action since the FIFA Confederations Cup last year in South Africa and has already conducted a number of 3D filming trials in Europe.

The company now plans to have seven pairs of Sony's professional HDC cameras on rigs at the 2010 FIFA World Cup matches to capture the action in 3D quality. Twenty five matches will be filmed and broadcast in 3D, including the opening game on 11 June at Soccer City and the final game on 11 July.

Niclas Ericson, Director of FIFA TV, was quoted as saying,"The 3D feed from these 25 matches will be made available for broadcast on 3D channels, which can be enjoyed by consumers on their 3D-compatible TV sets in the comfort of their home, almost as if they were in the football stadium themselves. Whilst discussions with major broadcasters are ongoing, I am very pleased to announce the first confirmed partners for the 3D live broadcast, who are ESPN in the US and Sogecable in Spain. We expect further announcements to be made shortly."

Perhaps this could be the catalyst that will help 3D TV go a little more mainstream, but time will tell. On another note, other new tech that I had the chance of taking a look at recently is the iPad, and to say the least, I was just so very impressed.

When reading and writing about it, I don’t really see how it will add any sort of value to my life. But once I held it in my hands, I could understand the hype around it.

It just looks cool, feels cool, and the way it renders applications is something that is astounding. It’s almost as if you forget that it doesn’t have Adobe Flash or even a USB port; the design and aesthetics around it are so good. I still maintain my stance that it’s better to wait until the tablet market becomes more competitive, but I was tempted to change my mind for a moment, albeit a brief moment…

Gareth van Zyl gareth.vanzyl@itp.com

Registered at Dubai Media City PO Box 500024, Dubai, UAE Tel: 0097 1 (0)4 210 8000 Fax: 0097 1 (0)4 210 8080 Web: www.itp.com Offices in Dubai & London ITP Technology Publishing CEO Walid Akawi Managing Director Karam Awad General Manager Peter Conmy Publisher Natasha Pendleton EDITORIAL Group Editor Mark Sutton Tel: +971 4 210 8225 e-mail: mark.sutton@itp.com Deputy Editor Gareth van Zyl Tel: +971 4 210 8682 e-mail: gareth.vanzyl@itp.com Senior Technical Editor Jason Saundalkar Tel: +971 4 210 8635 e-mail: jason.saundalkar@itp.com ADVERTISING Advertising Executive Rami Akawi Tel: +971 4 210 8158 e-mail: rami.akawi@itp.com STUDIO Senior Designer Michel Al Asmar PHOTOGRAPHY Director of Photography Sevag Davidian Chief Photographer Khatuna Khutsishvili Senior Photographers Efraim Evidor, Thanos Lazopoulos, G-nie Arambulo Staff Photographers Jovana Obradovic, Isidora Bojovic, Rajesh Raghav, Ruel Pableo, Lyubov Galushko, George Dipin PRODUCTION & DISTRIBUTION Group Production Manager Kyle Smith Deputy Production Manager Ali Fahmi Production Co-ordinator Basel Al Kassem Managing Picture Editor Patrick Littlejohn Image Retoucher Emmalyan Robles Distribution Manager Karima Ashwell Distribution Executive Nada Al Alami CIRCULATION Circulation Manager Shadia Basravi MARKETING Marketing Executive Martin Chambers Event Manager Preeta Panicker ITP DIGITAL Assitant Editor Vineetha Menon Tel: +971 4 210 8579 e-mail: vineetha.menon@itp.com Group Sales Manager ITP Digital Business Websites, Ahmad Bashour Tel: +971 4 210 8549 e-mail: ahmad.bashour@itp.com Senior Sales Manager, ITP.net, Nathalie Akl Tel: +971 4 210 8520 e-mail: nathalie.akl@itp.com Internet Development Manager Mohammed Affan Content Manager Asad Azizi Web Advertising Manager Meghna Jalnawalla Creative Director Craig Willers ITP GROUP Chairman Andrew Neil Managing Director Robert Serafin Finance Director Toby Jay Spencer-Davies Board of Directors K M Jamieson, Mike Bayman, Walid Akawi, Neil Davies, Rob Corder, Mary Serafin Circulation Customer Service Tel: +971 4 286 8559 Printed by Emirates Printing Press L.L.C.Dubai.

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6 NEWS

NEWS

WINDOWS MIDDLE EAST JUNE 2010

APPLE IPAD HAS LESS THAN STELLAR LAUNCH Apple’s new iPad has had a less than stellar launch compared to the company’s iPhone, which was launched in 2007.

According to a Reuters report, only a "smattering of customers" lined up at stores in New York, Washington, Boston and San Francisco compared to the thousands that lined in streets when the much-hyped iPhone was launched a few years ago. It's being argued however that since pre-orders were being accepted for the gadget since mid-March, there was little reason for people to pick one up on Saturday.

The iPad, which starts at US $499 (AED 1,800), was made available in the United States for Wi-Fi models while the Wi-Fi + 3G models will only hit American shelves later this month.

In addition, the company revealed that all iPad models would also be available in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Spain, Switzerland and the UK in "late April".

While electronic retail stores in the Middle East are still awaiting shipments and an official launch date for the region, online retailers including Souq.com and AlShop.com are cashing in by accepting early orders for Wi-Fi models at comparatively higher prices. The 16GB Wi-Fi only iPad is being sold at AlShop. com for AED 2,779 but says delivery is possible only around April 20th, while the cheapest price for the same model being accepted by a seller on Souq.com is AED 2,200 with delivery promised before the 10th of April.

Arab Business Machines, the official marketing arm and distributor of Apple products in the region, says there is no launch date or local pricing information confirmed as yet.

The iPad, which was first announced at a special event in San Francisco in January, is billed as a ‘magical and revolutionary product' that lets users experience the best of the web, multimedia and e-mail while on the go, and can use most of the 150,000 apps already available for the iPhone.

Gartner analyst George Shiffler recently predicted that Apple's iPad could drive total tablet sales for the year to as high as 10.5 million devices.

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NEWS 7

NVIDIA LAUNCHES ‘FERMI’ GPUS Graphics titan nVidia officially launched its new flagship graphics processors last month. The GeForce GTX 480 and GTX 470 are the first ‘Fermi architecture’ products to hit the market.

‘Fermi’ is the next generation CUDA architecture that is said to help deliver supercomputing features and performance at 1/10th the cost and 1/20th the power of traditional CPU-only servers.

The GTX 480 and GTX 470 Fermi line of GPUs are said to offer 27% faster performance than any other GPU on the market when running DirectX 11 software. The GeForce GPUs also bring a host of new gaming features such as support for real-time ray tracing and nVidia 3D Vision Surround for widescreen, stereoscopic 3D gaming. nVidia also says the GeForce GTX 480 was designed to deliver the “most potent tessellation performance”, which is the key component of Microsoft’s DirectX 11 development platform for PC games. Tessellation allows game developers to take advantage of the GeForce GTX 480 GPU’s ability to increase the geometric complexity of models and characters to deliver more realistic and visually compelling gaming environments.

“The GeForce GTX 480 is something we’ve been eagerly anticipating,” says Mike Angiulo, General Manager of Windows planning and PC ecosystem at Microsoft Corp. “Microsoft designed DirectX 11 for Windows 7 with native support for GPGPU, tessellation, and improved multi-threading. nVidia clearly embraced this and designed the GTX 480 with a scalable tessellation architecture in a multi-core environment to bring game development to a new level. And, we think developers will be impressed to see how they can truly take advantage of the power of DX11 to create compelling games, as well as other multimedia applications.”

MISSING E-WASTE IS A CAUSE FOR CONCERN IN THE UAE Electronic waste that is imported into the United Arab Emirates with proper documentation becomes untraceable once it leaves the country, according to the Middle East's only governmentendorsed e-scrap recycling and management firm EnviroServe.

EnviroServe warns that hundreds of tons of electronic waste across the Middle East end up in landfills every year, but that estimation is generous compared to the recent United Nations Environment Programme report that revealed Morocco alone throws away 13,500 metric tons of PC and 15,100 metric tons of TV e-waste annually.

Here in the United Arab Emirates there are several recycling campaigns to deal with old cellphones and computers, but Zornitza Hadjitodorova, Division Manager at EnviroServe, believes that more needs to be done in terms of specific e-waste laws and greater accountability.

"E-waste keeps entering the country, whereby proper (import) codes are introduced - however, when e-waste leaves the country, there are no more codes so it becomes increasingly hard to trace where e-waste eventually lands.

There are huge quantities leaving on ships from Sharjah and we do not have any data on those shipments," she says, adding that there are several scrap dealers in the country who are free to do as they wish with the e-waste they collect, including just dumping it in landfills instead of seeing if any of the material can be reused or recycled.

"In the region, e-waste is a new topic. Hence, there is no legislation, regulations or general municipal rules on specifically e-waste. Legislation makes it compulsory for OEMs to collect end-of-life equipment, which is not the case here. There are hundreds of tons of e-waste ending up in landfills, which is a waste of space and money, not to mention the severe environmental damage," Hadjitodorova adds.

Precise e-waste figures however are impossible to obtain due to "the lack of reporting" but Hadjitodorova estimates that substantial quantities are in Saudi Arabia, based on its population size, and the United Arab Emirates since it is a key trading port in the GCC. "This region faces many environmental challenges that need to be addressed and understood but every week we sign agreements with major institutions across the UAE and that gives us the confidence that the region does want to be more environmentally responsible," concludes Hadjitodorova.

WINDOWS MIDDLE EAST JUNE 2010

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8 NEWS

PANASONIC UNVEILS 3D HDTV SETS Panasonic has introduced their 2010 line of VIERA Plasma High Definition (HD) televisions, which includes Full HD 3D television along with their new DMPBDT300 3D Blu-ray player for the Middle East.

The first two models of Full HD 3D VIERA Plasma will be available in the coming weeks with the VT20 line-up initially consisting of the 50-inch TH-P50VT20. Both lineups will incorporate a sophisticated design with a frame in bronze metallic colour. One of Panasonic’s 3D glasses will also be included with the above models.

Panasonic says that it has developed its 3D technology by using new, faster screen phosphors coupled with Full Time Full HD drive technology with the result that the brain combines the images and perceives them as 3D. By enhancing the video reproduction capability of PDP, thanks to Full Time Full HD, the technology enables crisp and clear, high-quality 3D images.

Panasonic’s new Blu-ray player, the BDT300, is capable of playing standard Blu-ray discs, DVDs and CDs. The DMP-BDT300 utilises technologies incorporated in Panasonic’s proprietary UniPhier LSI chip, enabling the player to flawlessly process the large quantity of visual information necessary to create a Full HD 3D image at a resolution of 1920 x 1080 pixels.

“Panasonic, the industry and technology leader in High Definition televisions is targeting a market share of 50% for large screen 3D TVs by 2012, and 25% market share for over 37-inch televisions in the Middle East region” said Seiji Koyanagi, Managing Director, Panasonic Marketing Middle East “Thanks to a large number of technological innovations, television has undergone a constant evolution over the years. While at the start it was merely regarded as a means for reproducing images, its significance increased when connectivity with other audio visual devices was added," said Kenji Yasuhara, Group Manager, AVC Networks Company, Panasonic Corporation.

“With the growing popularity of HD TVs and the availability of high quality content, TV was yet again taken to a new level. Now, with Full HD 3D technology, it has turned into a device that delivers an immersive viewing experience and literally moved into an era of the next dimension," he added

WINDOWS MIDDLE EAST JUNE 2010

ADOBE LAUNCHES CREATIVE SUITE 5 FAMILY Adobe Systems Incorporated launched its new creative suite software last month, known as Creative Suite 5 (CS5). This new release is the successor to Creative Suite 4, which the company October Dubai Internetreleased City has on collected over 15ththousand 2008. pieces of IT equipment one is a collection as Creative part of itsSuite recycling drive. of graphics design, video editingcampaign and web The ‘DIC Recycle - Reuse' development applications that can collects a variety of used hardware, be used by creative laptops, professionals to including desktops, printers, produce various forms ofwhich content. monitors and scanners, is The complete Creative Suite 5 to lineup then refurbished and distributed includes Creative 5 Master Collection, educational, socialSuite and charitable institutions.Creative Suite 5 Design Premium,isCreative Suite Web Premium, Creative Suite The campaign carried out in 5association with Dubai 5 Production Mohammed Premium andBin Creative 5 Design Standard, Municipality, RashidSuite Al Maktoum as well as 15 point products, associated technologies and Humanitarian and Charity Foundation and Microsoft Middle integration with new Adobe CS Live Services (CS Live Services East. are complimentary for in a limited time). Recycling Drive' DIC is also involved an ‘Envirofone "While Creative Suite 5 continues Adobe's storied history developed

by Envirofone, which collects e-waste such as of delivering new creative release old mobileastonishing phones, accessories andfeatures, batteriesthis which are first and foremost addresses the challenges facing publishers and

creatives worldwide-how then sent for safe recycling to in build otherprofitable businesses around digital content," said Shantanu Narayen, President and Chief countries.

Executive OfficerExecutive at Adobe. Director, "By coupling sophisticated online Malek Al Malek, business analytics with "The dazzling creative tools, we're ensuring Dubai Internet City, said: large that publishers, designers and marketers can create, deliver and number of equipments collected from DIC's business optimize high-impact digital experiences across media partners is abeautiful, strong reflection of the increasing awareness devices." of and ‘corporate citizenship' within the community. I believe it The flagship of us theallnew lineour is Creative Suite 5 Master is incumbent upon to do part for the environment, Collection, includes the full of range of Creative Suite regardless ofwhich the area of operation a business. applications such as Photoshop CS5, Illustrator CS5 and more.

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NEWS 9

SAMSUNG INTRODUCES 2D-3D CONVERSION WITH 3D SETS

WINDOWS MIDDLE EAST JUNE 2010

Samsung Electronics has launched its new line-up of 3D LED 8000, 7000 and 6000 series TVs in the United Arab of Emirates, whilst also introducing their 2D-3D conversion technology.

Samsung’s 3D TV LED, LCD and PDP TVs ship with sizes of 40 to 46, 50, 55 and 63-inches. The 3D LED TVs come with the ability to stream content using AllShare and Internet@TV. AllShare allows content stored on a PC to be directly streamed to a compatible Blu-Ray player. Internet@ TV offers several benefits of downloading widgets and apps like Yahoo!, Facebook, Twitter and more. The new Samsung 3D TV line-up will be available in all major electronics stores across the UAE, later this month. Samsung will also offer a 3D Blu-ray disc player and 3D glasses as a promotion during the launch.

The new line-up includes innovative 2D to 3D conversion, one of Samsung’s key features for the Middle East line-up.

With a combination of hardware and software, Samsung 3D TVs are able to convert the 2D content in real time that are translated by the glasses as a 3D image.

“In the history of television there have been many improvements. The first was black and white TV. Then came colour, stylish designs and bigger screens. Now we have the next breakthrough with the introduction of the revolutionary Samsung 3D TV line-up,” said Ram Modak, General Manager, Digital Media Business, Samsung Gulf Electronics.

“Since its introduction at CES earlier this year, 3D has been regarded as next big thing in TV, and as always, Samsung is on the forefront of bringing the vision to life. As of mid-May, consumers in the UAE will be able to enjoy 3D entertainment in their own living room,” concluded Modak.

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10 COMMENT

VIEWS IPAD MADNESS BEGINS

WINDOWS MIDDLE EAST JUNE 2010

Gareth van Zyl is amazed by a report on Arabian Business that there are people in Dubai who paid over US $1200 for an iPad. The iPad has not been officially launched in the Middle East yet.

However, a particular retailer (mentioned in a recent article on ArabianBusiness.com) managed to get hold of a few iPads recently; and they had carte blanche on pushing up the price to whatever they wanted to charge.

Even after Apple officially unveils the iPad in the Middle East (and people pay the actual price of around US $400 for it); I still think it’ll be a good idea to wait a while before getting this latest gadget craze. I know it’s getting rave reviews and there’s an incredible amount of hype surrounding it, but there will be competitive alternatives in terms of both price and features.

You might have already heard about Microsoft and its Courier tablet. The Courier is looking like it’s being built on the basis of being a digital journal with a stylus, and this combination will be particularly geared towards, for example, graphic designers and even those who just want to make digital notes.

According to reports circulating the internet, the Courier is built on Tegra 2 and runs on the same OS as the Zune HD, Pink and Windows Mobile 7Series, which is apparently taken to mean Windows CE 6.

Other vendors such as HP have also developed a tablet, the Slate, which supports Adobe’s flash. According to Engadget, it will cost US $549 in its base configuration. Engadget further say that it will have a 8.9-inch 1024 x 600 capacitive multitouch display,

Nobody should pay over US $1000 for an iPad

a 1.6GHz Atom Z530 processor with UMA graphics and an accelerator for 1080p video playback, 32GB of flash storage and 1GB of non-upgradeable RAM. There's also conjecture that there will be a $599 version with 64GB of storage, and both models will have a five-hour battery life, an SDHC slot, a USB port, a SIM card slot for the optional 3G modem, and a dock connector for power, audio, and HDMI out.

The thing that I find most interesting about all this is how this seems to be different to what I think is the current

saturation point in the mobile phone market, where every touch screen phone looks just about exactly the same. At least there seems to be some sort of differentiation emerging in the tablet market space.

I will also be waiting for the market place to become more flooded with these devices and then get my hands on a tablet that offers the best features.

I also really hope that I won’t read anymore stories about consumers allowing themselves to get ripped off by those who have limited stock of these devices.

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12 COMMENT

VIEWS TWITTER IS A FULL-TIME JOB

WINDOWS MIDDLE EAST JUNE 2010

After stubbornly avoiding social media, Etisalat are finally on the social media scene with a Twitter account.

The story of telecommunications companies using social media in the United Arab Emirates is really one of two tales.

Du have, to some extent, embraced social media. They were the first of the two telco companies out here to get a Twitter account.

If you’re a Du subscriber, and you have a Twitter account, it might be wise to take a look at @dutweets. Seemingly, if you’re a customer and you have a problem or issue, it would be a matter of tweeting @dutweets and they then give you a response where they might tell you that they're going to solve your problem.

Now, I’m sure that a company the size of Du wouldn’t setup something like that without using it to interact on some level with disgruntled customers.

Etisalat are now clearly trying to achieve exactly the same result as Du with their social media strategy. But one needs to seriously question as to whether this kind of approach is actually intended to establish communication between customers and the relevant companies, or is it just a glorified form of PR? Clearly, the intention is to serve both purposes, but can one realistically

achieve that sort of customer satisfaction in a country where the population is so transitory.

With expats primarily making up the most of the population here, people quite simply aren’t here long enough to complain. Furthermore, even those who are here might have that mindset of “oh well, I’m not going to be here for much longer, so why should I really bother with all this bad service”.

People really do take Twitter to heart and they do complain about Du and Etisalat to these companies directly on Twitter now. Some of those complaints are quite passionate, but you have to ask yourself whether they will have any

sort of resonance.

After all, the cost of bandwidth in this country is still high. International phone costs are still high. Even local phone costs are still high as compared to what Etisalat, for instance, did when they opened up a company in India and basically charged next to nothing for phone calls. The companies are very protective when it comes to VoIP as well, as seen by their rather medieval approach towards Skype.

The question now is as to whether Etisalat will be as equally protective when it comes to its Twitter feed – regardless of them now finally appearing to be proactive…

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COMMENT 13

VIEWS GOOGLE VS. GOVERNMENT CENSORSHIP I've always loved Google, even if I've never completely understood why. Like a student so in awe of that one teacher who has the ability to make a subject come alive. Google's mission statement is to ‘organise the world's information and make it universally accessible and useful' and I have no doubt that they will achieve this, but I admit to being rather intimidated by it.

Imagine a world where Google rules because everything gets connected to its magical servers, and that we all become Google people with a screen stapled on our bodies, displaying everything there is to know about us as organised by G. Silly, I know. But all paranoia serves a purpose, even if it's just to find a relation with something Google complies with many countries' desire to censor information real. If Google knows everything about us and the world, I want to know more about Google and how it works.

Most people don't realise that Google censors all its products globally, including Search, YouTube and Blogger, regardless of where you are in the world. Google Search, for example, gets rid of child pornography and links to copyrighted material and known malware. All good things in my opinion but Google's policies are constantly evolving.

Rachel Whetstone, the VP Global Communications and Public Affairs, recently stated in a blog post that: "Decisions to allow, restrict or remove content from our services and products often require difficult judgment calls". In other words, Google decides what is acceptable or not, regardless of who comes down on them.

And many have. Including those from government agencies around the world. Some of the leading democratic countries including the United Kingdom and United States, that are known to be staunch supporters of the right to free speech and fair play, have asked them to remove specific content and even to disclose private user data. Google independently analyses each request and then decides whether to comply or not. Privacy is in the eye of the beholder after all.

While the Arab world has come under criticism for its control over the WWW, no Middle Eastern countries (save for Israel) made it on to Google's list of baddies. It may be because those governments already have sufficient controls in place so that controversial content remains inaccessible, or the fact that emerging markets are still learning the ropes and tend to go about achieving the same results in other ways. But government censorship and surveillance are two sides of the same coin, and no country can claim to not want or have it in their pockets.

Google's admission that it makes ‘judgement calls' on what should be allowed online through its products is not alarming but the realisation that it will undoubtedly affect their mission to organise the world's information is, because it involves censorship based on their rules.

In the end, it might just come down to this - do I want the government to control and dictate my online experience....or Google?

WINDOWS MIDDLE EAST JUNE 2010

Vineetha Menon provides here insight on how Google cenors its products in different countries.

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14 FEATURE

Home Network

WINDOWS MIDDLE EAST JUNE 2010

A quick guide to setting up your home network, getting past the jargon and getting your routers, access points and other bits working in perfect sync.

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Home Network

FEATURE 15

GET CONNECTED Setting up your home network obviously has many benefits, from allowing you to video stream, to being fully connected throughout your home. With these kinds of advantages there's a big incentive then to getting that network of yours setup right. Understanding the basics thereof is then crucial.

From the outset of setting up your network, one of the things you will need to consider is whether to go with a wired or a wireless network. Now, having a lot of Ethernet cables lying around the house might give you faster and more reliable internet and network connections, but too many cables, more often than not, also means that there will be a lot of messiness. A wireless network, on the other hand, has numerous advantages, especially when considerring that so many devices from our phones to even our TV sets have wireless capabilities these days. This too, however, also has disadvantages as the design and layout of your house might just have those wireless signals bouncing off the walls.

It’s a good idea then to map your network, before going out and buying all your equipment. Many advise actually

Streaming video: one of the many reasons for setting up a home network.

drawing out a diagram of your home, in which you map out how each room looks, so that you can connect it properly. You’ll also have to establish the kind of devices you have, such as printers, desktops, and laptops. Doing this will help to make it clearer about whether or not you need to go wired or wireless.

It's a matter of choice and preference about whether you go with a wired or wireless network, but your next consideration involves the connection standards you're using, whether it be IEEE 802.11b or IEEE 802.11g. Both have different speeds, with IEEE 802.11b being 11 Mbps and IEEE 802.11g being 54 Mbps.

This is important when you need to routers and access points to match each other’s connections types so as to work effectively.

The latest standard IEEE 802.11n, however, is compatible with both IEEE 802.11b and IEEE 802.11g, so, it elimates these compatibility concerns altogether.

WINDOWS MIDDLE EAST JUNE 2010

It's necessary to decide whether you will use a wired or wireless network.

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16 FEATURE

Home Network

Get to buying all your components once you’ve laid out a map of the floor plan.

WINDOWS MIDDLE EAST JUNE 2010

KIT AND SECURITY Setting up your network will require quite a few devices from routers, access points, network attached storage, media centres and security software. There are a number of vendors out there that produce the above-mentioned products, from Western Digital to NETGEAR and more. So, there is a lot of choice, and it all depends on what suites your budget and needs.

However, before going out and buying your network products, you should first have some idea of your network type, the speed and range, hardware support, firewall features and, of course, security.

A wireless network, in particular, can offer a great deal of convenience, but it also poses a security risk. In theory a lot can go wrong in terms of others potentially accessing your network from the outside. There are encryption measures in place, and these days these networks are pretty house safe, but there’s always the chance that somebody might gain unauthorised access to your network.

The two main kinds of encryption are WEP (Wired Equivalent Privacy) or WPA (Wi-Fi Protected Access). Both use a system that prevents any wireless device without the correct authentication key from accessing the network.

WPA is newer and slightly stronger, as it scrambles the encryption key. You will need to however check that all the devices on your network can use it before choosing this option.

Switching on encryption on your wireless router usually involves going to the configuration utility, locating the wireless security settings on your computer and following the instructions there. You will need to make a note of the authorisation key and type this in when asked during the set-up for each of your other wireless devices.

But if you're intent on going with a wireless network we also seriously suggest that you consider implementing some sort of a firewall. It’s a good idea to always ensure that your wireless network is encrypted, but having that extra layer of security with a firewall will help you sleep better.

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o Hme e Ntwork

FEATURE 17

WIRELESS JARGON BUSTER Jargon buster Today's networking equipment is easy to set up, but there's still a lot of jargon to decipher out there. The rAgus Buying Guide has this useful 'jargon buster'.

Adaptor: Aplug-in device that gives computers and laptops wireless capabilities.

G or 802.11g: The standard WiFi connection speed, 4 5megabits per second (mbps). It refers to the speed at which data moves between devices on the same network, O NT the speed of your Internet connection.

G+ 802.11g: Afaster WiFi connection speed, over double that of G at 125 mbps.

Hotspot: Public access point allowing wireless connection to the Internet, often located in places like airports, hotels and bars.

MBPS: Megabits per second. Ameasurement of how fast information is transmitted on a computer network.

N1 or N+: The fastest current WiFi connection, at m 0 3 bps.

NAS: e Ntwork tAtached Storage. Ahard disk (or other storage device) that's linked to your computers via the wireless network, rather than plugged into your computer directly. The advantage is your computers can share it.

Network: Aseries of computers or devices linked together by wires or wirelessly.

Print server: Anetwork device that enables multiple computers to share and operate a network printer wirelessly.

Range: Distance and ability of the network signal to travel around the home. Measured in either Standard or Wide radius. Wide is preferred if the building has thick walls or if the user intends to be further away.

Router: The heart of a wireless network, a box through which your computers and printers connect to each other and to the Internet. If you receive your internet service by cable, a cable router plugs into the cable modem;if you get broadband over the phone line, a modem router connects to your phone socket. Both allow the connection to be shared.

VoIP: oice V ‘ over internet protocol’ allows you to make phone calls via your boardband connection.

WiFi: The generic term for wireless networking. The area within which you can connect to a WiFi network (its range) is called a 'hotspot'.

Wireless laptop card:Acredit card-sized card that can be installed in most laptops to facilitate wireless communication (Source:rAgos Buying Guide)

WINDOWS MIDDLE EAST JUNE 2010

USB: iH gh-speed multipurpose connection on your PC, used by wireless adaptors.

S UB2.0is best;the older S UB1.0still works, but is slower.

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18 FEATURE

Print Less, Save More

PRINT LESS, SAVE MORE

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FEATURE 19

WINDOWS runs you through nine things you can do today to reduce your printing costs. From using draft mode, to using genuine and recycled cartridges and to knowing how to print effectively from the web; we show you how to save your hard-earned cash. The likes of HP have many useful tips to offer consumers when it comes to saving money and we touch on some of them in this feature.

WINDOWS MIDDLE EAST JUNE 2010

Print Less, Save More

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20 FEATURE

Print Less, Save More

SPELL-CHECK BEFORE YOU PRINT Before you rush off and printing something, be sure to have your spelling in order so that you don’t end up endlessly printing stuff over and over again. It's a quick and easy way to save yourself on both paper and ink. It’s also a good idea to ask yourself as to whether you really need to print something or not.

PRINT WHAT YOU NEED We all know that Microsoft Word has a feature that allows you to preview documents prior to printing them. It's a good idea to then use this tool to see if you have all the information you need. lAso, when you click on the print dialog box you can then select the desired page range and avoid wasting paper and ink on pages that you don’t need.

WINDOWS MIDDLE EAST JUNE 2010

USING PRINT PROPERTIES EFFECTIVELY u Jst by clicking on the properties button when you print something, you can control a wide range of factors that can dramatically improve your printing savings. You can choose the print quality mode, as to whether it will be draft, normal or best. You can then also choose as to whether you want to print in colour or black and white. You can then go about setting the print quality, choosing the paper size and type and so on. Asimple but effective means on saving on print.

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Print Less, Save More

FEATURE 21

DRAFT MODE Draft mode requires less ink for printing, and for this reason, it’s motivation enough to use it. It’s also quicker to use. To use this feature, Click "Start", then "Printers and Faxes". When the "Printers and Faxes" window appears, right-click on a printer and choose "Properties". When the "Properties" multi-tabbed dialog box appears, click the button "Printing Preferences". From here, your printer's preference multi-tabbed dialog box should appear. Look through the various tabs, such as General or Main for a "Draft Mode" option. This may involve moving a Printer Quality slider towards "Speed" or "Fast Printing". When done, press "OK" to close the dialog boxes.

You might not know this, but your printer can run out of ink without you even printing a single page. This is because your print cartridges can run routine tasks whilst your printer is just switched on thus getting rid of your ink quite rapidly. Your best bet in terms of controlling this is to print regularly (at least once a week) or to just switch your printer off altogether. By printing regularly, this keeps your print-heads clean. The danger of keeping your printer switched off though means that your print heads can then accumulate a lot of dust.

PRINT IN BLACK AND WHITE With colour ink being much more expensive than black ink, it’s a good idea to save on your ink where you can, and rather print in black and white. To do this is quite simple in so far as you merely click on properties and then choose grayscale. Black and white is also referred to as Grayscale, economode or monochrome, depending on the printer you have.

WINDOWS MIDDLE EAST JUNE 2010

CONTROLLING PRINT HEAD CLEANING

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22 FEATURE

rPint eLss, Save o Mre

USING GENUINE PRINTER CARTRIDGES u Bying genuine printer cartridges might be much more expensive than getting cartridges that are not genuine. u Bt the fact is that buying fake cartridges is against the law, and it can in fact cost you more money in the long term in case something goes wrong and if it's not really compatible with your printer.

BUYING SUPPLIES IN BULK u Bying your paper and ink cartridges in bulk will definitely save you a lot of money in the long run when it comes to printing. A number of vendors out there offer combo packs that combine both black and white and colour printer cartridges.

WINDOWS MIDDLE EAST JUNE 2010

PRINTING EFFECTIVELY FROM THE WEB When printing web pages there are a number of ways in which you can save money.ou Y can print web pages by clicking what will be a link that offers you a print-friendly version of a page. This allows you skip out all the ads and other elements that can take up too much space on a web page, and u j st print exactly what you need.

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2010 HONG KONG ELECTRONICS FAIR Every year, the Hong Kong Trade Development Council hosts what it calls 'the world's biggest electronics fair', and Vineetha Menon was there to report on all the latest developments at the event.

FEATURE 23

In terms of numbers, it certainly is Asia's largest, with the October edition of the Hong Kong Electronics Fair last year attracting nearly 56,000 visitors while the younger April edition saw 50,000 interested buyers, exhibitors and industry professionals walking around the halls of the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre.

I recently attended the 2010 Spring edition of the show, which took place from April 13th to 16th, and got a taste of Asia's drive for innovation.

The Fair crammed in more than 2,200 worldwide exhibitors showing off audio-visual products, in-vehicle electronics, gaming and imaging devices, eco-friendly devices, personal electronics, smartphones, accessories and more.

While some of the local exhibitors were keen on focusing only on the Asian market, there were more than a few looking at breaking international ground. That makes sense. After all, electronics

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Hong Kong Electronics Fair

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24 FEATURE

Hong Kong Electronics Fair

was Hong Kong's biggest export market last year, having exported more than $169 billion in products around the world, including the Middle East where the United Arab Emirates is now considered to be the 17th largest electronics export market for the country.

But keeping the stats aside, here's my selection of products at the Fair that made me want to click, tap and connect.

GROOVE TO THE RYOMA There are thousands of DVD players and radio receivers and CD players out there. But how about one that combines it all?

JVC Kenwood's ‘Ryoma' device acts as a HD digital TV tuner, a DVD/CD/Blu-ray player and recorder, and a radio receiver as well. This all-in-one product is set to hit the Japanese market later this year but I can't wait for an international release. I'm sure there'll be copycats announced soon enough since it reflects the future of consumer electronics - convergence.

pany is licensed to use the Pierre Cardin brand name and logo on electronic products including GPS navigation systems, telephones and tablet PCs. The products are sold across Europe, Asia and America with the 7" tablet PC now costing about $290 and the 8.9" model setting you back $320. Here in the Middle East, Hawash Group in Egypt already sells Pierre Cardin GPS systems, and Sam revealed that the firm will probably start selling the branded tablet PCs in the local market later this year.

SUNSHINE BAGS Solar-panel bags are absolutely perfect for the Middle East where the sun loves to shine almost every day of the year.

Hong Kong-based Mascotte Industrial Associates Ltd. manufactures is keen on global retailers for their bags, and I personally can't wait to see their messenger bag designs here in the Middle East. All their bags include solar panels that are capable of charging devices that have a mini-USB connector.

USB MICROSCOPE CAMERA Ever wanted to take microscopic images of the hair on your arms? Or of a dead fly? (I know, me too!) Well, the lovely guys at Zhuhai Witson in China have come up with a 2MP handheld USB microscope camera that can magnify anywhere between 20x to 400x depending on the display size.

According to Freeman Fan, security products division manager at the firm, the device stands out because of its built-in software that has a micro measurement and skin analysis tool, making it ideal for science, education and engineering purposes. The device costs about $40 each, and while there are already distributors in place in both Europe and America, the Middle East hasn't got in on the microscopic USB camera action just yet...

VINYL MP3 TRANSFORMER

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I love it when the old becomes new. If you place your old vinyl record on a Lenco USB turntable, you can directly record the music (MP3 format) on to a flash drive or SD card.

And, yes, I'm aware that not many people own vinyl records these days but for those that do, and want to take the bold leap into the 21st century, this device from Lenco is the answer to your prayers. The best bit? They are sold in stores right here in the UAE - check out Sharaf DG and Emax!

PIERRE CARDIN'S TABLET PC Perfect for the brand-conscious, the Pierre Cardin multitouch tablet PCs operates Windows 7 with WiFi, Bluetooth as well as 3G connectivity features. The tablets come in a handy case, which embeds a keyboard on one of its internal sleeves so you don't have to surrender completely to the touchscreen. According to Sam, the head of overseas marketing and sales at China-based Shenzhen Vogue, the com-

e LncoruTntab le ip (ctu redab ove)andthe iPerre Card in tab let e b ( low )

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Hong Kong Electronics Fair

FEATURE 25

UAE: BIG ELECTRONICS MARKET FOR HONG KONG According to K.B. Chan, chairman of the Hong Kong Trade Development Council's (HKTDC) Electronics/Electrical Appliances Industries Advisory Committee, the country exported more than $169 billion in electronics products last year, with statistics showing that $951 million came from the UAE. It represents an encouraging 2% growth over 2008 figures in terms of electronics trade with the Middle Eastern country.

The UAE is now the 17th major electronics export market for Hong Kong, with the largest being China, followed by the United States of America.

While Hong Kong's economy can't claim to have escaped the global financial crisis since 2008, signs of improvements have been observed over the last few quarters.

In 2009 as a whole, the country's GDP only fell by 2.7%, with the government predicting that its economy will grow by 4-5% this year and, with the electronics industry considered to be the country's largest merchandise export earner, much attention is centred around the Spring and Autumn editions of the Electronics Fair.

Scenes from the Hong Kong Electronics Fair

K. B. Chan, chairman of the Hong Kong Trade Development Council Electronic and Electrical Appliances Industries Advisory Committee, says that 3D televisions are a 'gimmick' and will be slow to take off.

Speaking to itp.net at the 2010 Spring edition of the Hong Kong Electronics Expo taking place from April 13 - 16, Chan said that 3D TVs is a fad right now with all the TV manufacturers saying they must have one, and that there are serious challenges to be considered aside from the high price factor and the additional 3D glasses needed.

"The difficulty is the content because there's very few real 3D content. When you make the movie or the TV serial, it's made the 3D way.

So a lot of content will be 2D computer converted into 3D, but that is not a very good picture because in a 2D picture the depth information is not there and you have to use a computer to guess that," he said.

K.B.Chan says K K.B B.Chan Chan say ys 3D 3D ttelevisions ele l vis visi i ion ions are ions are a ‘‘gimmick’ gi mic gim mick’ i k’ k Predicting that the 3D TV trend will take off, but slowly, Chan says that the first major shift in the television industry will be LED backlit TVs, which also brings in the new concept of Dynamic TVs which will basically see a front LCD screen backlit by 1,000 LED, each responsible for specific colours offering an unbeatable contrast ratio of 2 million to 1.

WINDOWS MIDDLE IDDLE EAST JUNE 2010

TECH EXPERT CALLS 3D TELEVISIONS 'A GIMMICK'

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Reviews

HOT KIT 27

32 PRODUCT OF THE MONTH

Awarded to outstanding Awarded to the most products that have excelled in outstanding product we've both value and performance. encountered during the month.

CONTENTS 30

New Additions

31

Canon LEGRIA HFM306

32

Garmin-Asus Nuvifone M10

33

Sony Ericsson Xperia X10

34

YoYotech FI7EPOWER MK3

36

Buffalo USB SSD / Imation Odyssey

37

Intel X25-V SSD / Kingston LoVo

38

Panasonic Lumix / WD Scorpio Blue

39

Head-to-Head: Asus Crosshair IV / Giga byte 890GPA-UD3H

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39 WINDOWS MIDDLE EAST JUNE 2010

Reviews

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28 HOT KIT

Reviews

HOTKIT

WINLABS TESTIN G EX L PAIN ED

when dealing with old and new game titles. As all three tests involve playable games, they are real world tests rather than synthetic and thus provide an accurate view of a graphics card’s performance.

Each graphics card is tested at three different test resolutions; 1024 x 768 pixels, 1600 x 1200 pixels and, finally, 1920 x 1200 pixels. All of the games are run on the maximum settings with the exception of full screen anti aliasing, which we leave at 4x setting.

Then, depending on the price and positioning of the graphics card, performance scores are awarded based on how well, or not, it has performed at a specific resolution. For example, low end or entry level graphics cards are graded mostly on their performance at 1024 x 768 pixels whereas expensive, ultra-high-end cards are graded based on their performance across all three resolutions.

HARD DISK TESTING

WINDOWS MIDDLE EAST JUNE 2010

WINDOWS MID MIDDLE EAST is the definitive for PC and consumer electronics Buyers’ Guide fo products in the region. We strenuously test products in our dedicated Dubai WinLab in order to highlight the very best models for our readers.

Here we explain just how we test new kit in order orde or derr to ooffer ffer ff er ttruly ru authoritative and objective recommendations, helping us keep WINDOWS recommendatio most relevant technology magazine. the region’s mos

CPU TESTING

GRAPHIC CARD TESTING

Testing processors is a time consuming process because there are a number of different tests that we employ. Depending on the CPU that has to be tested, we construct a testbed using a compatible motherboard. However, the 2Gbytes of OCZ memory, Gigabyte GeForce 8800 GTX graphics card, Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 1Tbyte hard drive and optical drive remain as standard components.

All benchmarks are run at 1024 x 768 pixels and we employ the following benchmark tests; Cinebench 9.5, PCMark 2005 CPU and memory tests, 3DMark 2003 and 2005 CPU tests and POV-Ray to test raw processing performance. To test multimedia performance, we run a Lame 3.97 WAV to MP3 encode test, a TMPGENC video encode, MPEG to DivX conversion test in addition to running F.E.A.R and World in Conflict. With the exception of POV-Ray and all the encode tests, higher numbers mean a faster processor and thus a higher performance score.

Our graphics card testbed comprises an Intel Core 2 Q6700 quad-core processor that runs at 3GHz, an Asus Maximum Extreme motherboard, 2Gbytes of Corsair DDR2 RAM, Western Digital’s 300Gbyte Raptor X SATA drive, a Serial ATA optical drive and a 750-watt PC Power and Cooling power supply. All of these components are housed in Thermaltake’s Armour+ chassis and we use Microsoft’s Windows Vista operating system. To test a graphics card, we hook it up to this machine and this is then connected to our Viewsonic VX2835wm 28-inch LCD screen.

The screen offers a maximum resolution of 1920 x 1200 pixels, which means it allows us to test graphics cards at all the major resolutions. To test graphics cards, we use three specific benchmarks; F.E.A.R, Company of Heroes and World in Conflict. The first benchmark uses older DirectX 9 rendering technology whilst the latter two game titles use DirectX 10. This enables us to gauge a graphics card’s performance

To test hard drives, we use our graphics card testbed.

The drive in question is hooked up to the motherboard’s Serial ATA II controller (or USB or Firewire port if it’s an external hard drive) and tested using a combination of real world and synthetic benchmark tests.

For internal hard drives, we rely on a copy test to ascertain real world performance. The test folder is stored on a SSD drive, ensuring that this drive won’t bottleneck the drive being tested and, to gauge write performance, we time how long it takes for the 4Gbyte folder to be transferred from the SSD drive to the test drive. To test read performance, we do the opposite and time how long it takes for the test drive to transfer the data to the SSD drive. Lower times in both cases equate to better performance. Next we call into action HD Tach3, a synthetic benchmark. This tests a drive in terms of its access time, average read and write performance, burst speed and CPU utilisation. In terms of access time and CPU usage, lower numbers are better.

With external drives we use the same real world read/write test methodology but instead of using a 4Gbyte folder only, we also test the drive with a single 238Mbyte test file. Again, lower times give a drive higher performance scores.

OTHER PRODUCTS Products such as MP3 players, PMPs, mobile phone etc are tested for a period of one or two weeks.

During this time we use the products as someone who purchased it would and this helps us gauge performance, features and value for money. In most cases the brunt of the testing is subjective and the testing always focuses on real world usefulness.

4_ME Windows Advertori

20.5x27.5cm

[ A Story about Quality ]

The Pursuit for Premium Quality GIGABYTE Ultra Durable Motherboards With Japanese Solid Capacitors While its competitors were looking for new ways to reduce production costs, GIGABYTE was more concerned with better quality, more durable motherboards for its customers.

Back in 2006, the FIFA World Cup drew worldwide attention with heated debates everywhere about which country would be the next champion. At the GIGABYTE Technology headquarter in Taiwan, however, another debate was taking place between leading engineers: the next revolution in motherboard design – Ultra Durable.

One team of engineers was concerned about production costs while the other team was concerned about building a more durable and efficient motherboard. “Lowering production costs to increase profits should be our highest priority”, commented one engineer. “The average user upgrades their PC every 3 years, so it’s not necessary to use more costly Japanese solid capacitors when electrolyte capacitors were still the industry standard.”

“That doesn’t solve the quality problem,” a senior engineer disagreed. “Our motherboards must still be able to function even if other components such as the CPU, Memory, hard drive, etc… are out of date. The spirit of our design quality should focus on durability.” That senior engineer is currently GIGABYTE’s VP of R&D, Mr. Richard Chen. “We should be less concerned about the initial production costs of using quality components and focus more on producing better quality and more durable motherboards that have lower return rates over our 3 year warranty period,” he continued.

During Computex 2006, GIGABYTE introduced the first Ultra Durable motherboards with the launch of the GA-965P-DQ6 featuring all Japanese solid capacitors. The response from the media and customers was overwhelmingly positive as they acknowledged that better quality products were the way forward. GIGABYTE, with its Ultra Durable motherboards set itself apart from the competition as the new leader in motherboard innovation, establishing the new industry standard for quality motherboards.

GIGABYTE went on to see huge benefits in terms of improved branding as a leader in quality products as well as customer benefits in the distribution channel that lead to increased profitability. Four years have passed and the next World Cup is around the corner. Solid capacitors are now the industry standard for premium quality motherboards.

GIGABYTE Ultra Durable motherboards continue to feature Japanese solid capacitors for the stability, reliability and longevity required by the high performance processors preferred by the most demanding professionals and PC enthusiasts.

Manufacturers of Japanese Solid Capacitors

GIGABYTE Ultra Durable 3 Motherboard 333 Onboard Acceleration

X58A-UD7

Many solid capacitors look alike. The following are four representatives of well-known Japanese solid capacitors for your reference:

333 Onboard Acceleration

P55A-UD7

CHEMI-CON 0GVGTKYK 9UROJ )GVGIOZUX

SANYO OS-CON 0GVGTKYK 9UROJ )GVGIOZUX

FUJITSU 0GVGTKYK 9UROJ )GVGIOZUX

NICHICON 0GVGTKYK 9UROJ )GVGIOZUX

Why are Japanese solid capacitors the best choice?

1. Ultra long lifespan e 2. Vastly improved stability at high temperature 3. Lower impedance at high frequency 4. Improved high ripple current tolerance http://arabic.giga-byte.com

USB 3.0 Onboard Acceleration

H55-USB3

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30 HOT KIT

Reviews

NEW ADDITIONS

This month saw a wealth of new product releases including a hot new laptop from Asus and a high-capacity SDHC memory card from Kingston...

Asus N61JA The Asus N61JA comes from the Taiwanese manufacturers ‘Multimedia Entertainment’ line and aims to offer ‘Splendid “Super-Sonic” Multimedia Enjoyment. In line with this the notebook boasts some brilliant specifications under its attractive hood.

The biggest feature however is that this notebook offers USB3.0 support. This new interface type is said to be 10 times faster than the older USB2.0 interface and Asus is one of the first companies to integrate it onto their notebook. Beyond this the desktop replacement also packs an ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5730 GPU, which gives this notebook DirectX 11 abilities. This GPU is hooked up to a large 16-inch LCD that runs at a native resolution of 1366 x 768 pixels.

The notebook also features 4GB of DDR3 memory and there’s ample storage on offer in the form of two 320GB hard drives. Processing power comes from Intel’s new Core i7-620M processor which offers dual 2.67GHz cores and HyperThreading technology.

The N61JA also features integrated WiFi, Bluetooth and Gigabit Ethernet network support, so regardless of where you are, connectivity won’t be a problem. The notebook also features a 6-cell battery for extended battery life.

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Kingston SDHC Class 10 Gadget lovers that depend on Secure Digital High Capacity (SDHC) memory cards have something to celebrate because Kingston has just released its new line of SDHC Class 10 memory cards.

The new cards are available in 16GB and 32GB capacities and both are said to be enhanced and offer performance figures of 22MB/sec (read) and 18MB/sec (write). The memory cards are designed to meet the SD Association Specification 3.00 and so are guaranteed to offer a minimum data transfer of no less than 10MB/sec. Kingston says this makes the SDHC Class 10 cards ideal for use in devices such as camcorders, digital SLRs and advanced point-and-shoot cameras.

The 16GB card can hold 2708 12-megapixel digital images or 166 minutes of 13Mbps HD Extended video, while the 32GB can hold 5416 12-megapixel images or 251 minutes of 13Mbps HD Extended video.

The cards are covered by a lifetime warranty and feature a built-in write protect switch, so you can protect data from accidental loss. Both memory cards feature a wide operating and storage temperature range, so you don’t have to worry about extreme temperature conditions.

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HOT KIT 31

CANON LEGRIA HFM306 Ready to film

PRICE $817 CONTACT +9714 391 5050 WEB www.canon-me.com

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he HFM306 is Canon’s latest LEGRIA camcorder and the firm reckons it packs 'awesome' image quality despite its small demeanor.

In terms of size and weight the HFM306 lives up to Canon’s claims because it is one of the smallest HD camcorders we’ve tried. As such it is easy to travel with and despite its compact size it could be used by even those with large hands. That said users with small- or medium-sized hands will have the best experience. Weighing just 320g with the battery installed the Canon is a featherweight; in the absence of a tripod you won’t tire too quickly whilst holding this camcorder.

Users of Canon’s digital cameras or past camcorders will quickly get to grips with the HFM306 thanks to the familiar interface and menu system. Interaction with the LEGRIA is accomplished via the responsive and precise 2.7-inch touch screen or via the few buttons dotted across the camcorder’s body.

The HFM306 packs 1/4 type CMOS sensor and it packs a video capture resolution of 3-megapixels. In use we found this camera proved very responsive despite us making relatively fast movements and playing back the

T

footage, we were impressed with the camcorders realistic colours and crisp captures. Thanks to the sensor’s high resolution capabilities we were able to make out finer details such as the wrinkles on a person’s forehead.

With 15x optical zoom on offer the Canon proved flexible when capturing distant footage though we recommend using a tripod if shooting via zoom, as even slight movements make footage jump around quite severely. Like other camcorders we’ve tested the Canon offers digital zoom - 300x – but as we’ve noted before, the best results are obtained using standard optical zoom. Going with digital we noticed slight muddiness and artifacting in our captures. The camera’s microphone system also does a good job of capturing audio. That said the microphones aren’t very sensitive so we advice shooting up close where possible.

The battery offers somewhat limited life; we were able to record video continuously for only one hour and 32 minutes on a full charge. This limits the HFM306’s flexibility because you’ll have to stop shooting so you can replace the battery for a fully charged one or pause shooting until the battery is charged

again. This suggests the camera is best for grabbing photos and videos around the house, rather than outdoors where stopping recording could mean missing out on unique, time-critical footage.

Canon offers a bigger battery at an additional cost and the company says this battery will keep the camera rolling for approximately five hours. Given that a 32GB SDHC card could give you 12 hours of video, we recommend opting for this if you intend to shoot for long periods at a stretch.

PERFORMANCE FEATURES VALUE FOR MONEY

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SPECIFICATIONS HD camcorder, 1/4 type CMOS sensor, 3-megapixel movie resolution, 3.3-megapixels still image resolution, 2.7-inch touch-screen LCD, 15x optical zoom, 300x digital zoom, auto/manual focus, Canon DIGIC DV III image processor, self-timer, PictBridge port, SD/SDHC memory card compatible, headphones port, USB2.0 port, mini HDMI connector, built-in video light, wireless remote control, 320g, one-year warranty.

PROS Excellent video captures, responsive 2.7-inch touch screen, portable, easy-to-use, great optical zoom.

CONS Standard battery offers limited shooting time, digital zoom is a gimmick.

VERDICT The Canon offers quality captures and easeof-use but it needs a better standard battery to shine.

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HD CAMCORDER

Reviews

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GPS-ENABLED SMARTPHONE

32 HOT KIT

GARMIN-ASUS NUVIFONE M10 Does this union work?

PRICE $700 CONTACT +9714 299 3873 WEB www.garminasus.com

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his first time we came across this particular smartphone was at the 2010 Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain. With so much revenue being generated globally by the touch phone industry, it shouldn’t come as too much of a surprise that many a company will try its best to grab a share of this very lucrative market.

And this is where companies Asus and Garmin come in. One doesn't immediately associate either of these two companies with smartphone manufacturing, so our interest was piqued when we got our hands on the Garmin Asus Nuvifone M10.

Garmin, of course, is known for its vast variety of Global Satellite Positioning (GPS) products, whilst Asus is known for many a hardware wonder but especially its foray into mobile computing in recent times with the Asus EeePC. The mash up is intriguing, to say the least, and the M10 therefore sports some interesting features.The GarminAsus Nuvifone M10 features Windows Mobile 6.5.3 and it further includes a 3D Task Manager that allows you to switch between running applications. The phone also has something called Billboard, which displays a user's most important

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WINDOWS MIDDLE EAST JUNE 2010

Reviews

information at a glance.

Further to that the phone also has a decent 5-megapixel camera, which gives you the capability to share your photos via Facebook or Picasa. The smartphone also features quad-band, HSDPA phone functionality and integrated WiFi. The 3.5-inch LCD provides bright visuals and being a touch screen, it acts as the interface between you and the M10.

Storage-wise the phone features 4GB of flash memory in total.

But of course one of the main features of this phone is its GPS capabilities.

This aspect of the phone allows you to find addresses and get voice-prompt directions to get you to where you’re going and the tracking also gives you details on upcoming exits along your route. Part of the whole idea of having a phone that has GPS capabilities is that it can then have the ability to have location-based services; here clicking on any address from a contact, text message, email, task or webpage is all you need to do to start navigating.

We found this to be quite on the mark with regard to tracking our current locations and desired locations but the phone’s touch screen lets it down. The touch sensitivity of this device is not

very responsive, so multiple stabs are needed to evoke a response. This is not ideal when you’re trying to get help from the phone when you’re on the move. In terms of style the phone looks similar to Apple’s very successful iPhone and while this isn’t exactly original, the design works well.

The M10 has interesting features, chief of which is its GPS. This is a hugely useful features for on-the-go users and while the touch screen does retard usability a little, it does work in the end.

PERFORMANCE FEATURES VALUE FOR MONEY

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SPECIFICATIONS Qualcomm 7227 600MHz processor, 512MB RAM, 512MB ROM memory, 4GB eMMC Flash memory, Bluetooth 2.0+EDR, WLAN 802.11b+g, USB v2.0, Micro-USB, Qualcomm GPS (AGPS supported), 5-megapixel camera, HSDPA DL:7.2Mbps UL:384Kpbs, UMTS 2100 / 900 EDGE / GPRS / GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900, Windows Mobile 6.5.3 Professional.

PROS Comprehensive GPS feature, 5-megapixel camera takes good quality photos.

CONS Touch screen lacks responsiveness, unoriginal overall design.

VERDICT The Nuvifone M10 boasts sharp, if unoriginal looks and some very useful GPS features.

Great for on-the-go users.

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HOT KIT 33

SONY ERICSSON XPERIA X10 Google's Android comes to Sony Ericsson PRICE $816 CONTACT +9714 3919 880 WEB www.sonyericsson.com

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oogle Android has made its way into many a smartphone these days, and it’s this operating system that the Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 sports. So, it has a decent operating system (OS) but apart from that, this newly released touch screen phone also has slick aesthetic appeal with regards to its exterior.

We were handed the superblooking Luster-white (black pictured) coloured model and from there we were immediately impressed with its attractive, touch screen interface. The buttons at the bottom of the smartphone are also quite intuitive as they clearly label how you can navigate your way through the phone's Android OS. Beyond this, an obvious draw for this Sony Ericsson model for those looking for an alternative to the iPhone and BlackBerry is the fact that this phone is shipped without any region-lock.

However, its size might be a turn off for consumers. It measures in at 119mm long by 63mm wide by 13mm deep.This means the X10 is larger than Apple’s famous iPhone. That said its design is quite ergonomic in so far as it has a curved back that sits nicely in one's hand and on one's table.

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The touch screen is 4-inches in size and it sports a decent resolution of 480 x 854 pixels. As a result the graphics, photos, and colours look quite impressive, even in direct light.

In addition, the touch interface is very responsive and works like a dream on this phone's large LCD size.

Another neat feature about this phone is the virtual keyboard. In landscape mode it takes advantage of the display's full size so you have plenty of room for typing. There are three rows of alphabetic/punctuation keys with separate keyboards for numbers and symbols and other punctuation. You also get a special pop-up keyboard above the alphabetic buttons that includes smileys and other symbols. That's particularly convenient since it puts oftused characters, like a dollar sign and parentheses, right on the main screen.

The space bar is conveniently located in the center of the bottom row.

Another interesting feature in terms of the phone is that the Xperia X10 recognises up to five faces in a photo and automatically stores them under your friends in your phone. The camera itself is a gem with a lofty 8.1-megapixel image sensor and 16x digital zoom.

While the latter isn’t too great the former was responsible for some great photographs. This is easily a camera that can be used in place of a standalone point-and-shoot digital camera.

Overall, the large screen size and Android OS are a good combination on the Sony Ericsson phone and thanks to the X10's 1GHz Snapdragon processor, the handset is also quick off the mark.

You don't wait for applications to open and it takes no time at all to pull up a main menu from the home screen.

PERFORMANCE FEATURES VALUE FOR MONEY

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SPECIFICATIONS 1GHz Snapdragon processor, 256MB onboard RAM, 4-inch touch screen LCD running at 480 x 854 pixels natively, 65,536 colour support, 8.1-megapixel digital camera, 16x digital zoom, 8GB microSD memory card, 1GB onboard phone memory, built-in 802.11b/g WiFi support, 3.5mm audio connector, microUSB data port, headphones output port, 119 x 63 x 13mm (L x W x D), 135g, Android 1.6, oneyear warranty.

PROS Sleek user interface, great digital camera, decent memory.

CONS Somewhat expensive, bulky body.

VERDICT If you’re looking for an alternative to the typical iPhone or BlackBerry, then this phone is a good choice for you.

WINDOWS MIDDLE EAST JUNE 2010

TOUCH SCREEN SMARTPHONE

Reviews

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HIGH-END GAMING PC

34 HOT KIT

YOYOTECH FI7EPOWER MK3 The world’s fastest PC?

PRICE $8175 CONTACT +9714 800 344357 WEB www.yoyotech.co.uk

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oYotech reckons its FI7EPOWER MK3 is the world’s fastest PC. In line with this claim, the rig is being sold through Sharaf DG with an otherworldly price tag.

Before you get the MK3 out of its box you get the idea the PC is massive because the box it ships in is enormous.

Unpacked, the machine lives up to expectations and as far as shock and awe value is concerned, the YoYotech is killer. The MK3 uses a Thermaltake Level 10 chassis, which is jointly developed

by Thermaltake and BMW Group Designworks USA. The case (pictured) uses individual cavities to house the power supply, motherboard and storage devices and, from a cooling perspective, this is brilliant; heat from the storage drives or power supply is isolated from the motherboard, CPU and graphics card.

This makes the Level 10 ideal for overclocking and YoYotech has indeed fiddled with the machine’s processor.

The CPU is Intel’s Core i7 975 Extreme Edition, which boasts four 3.33GHz cores and Hyperthreading. This chip is a beast at standard frequencies but YoYotech has pushed it from its default 3.33GHz to a hyper 4.2GHz. As

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WINDOWS MIDDLE EAST JUNE 2010

Reviews

our FI7EPOWER MK3 is a prototype machine it was equipped with only 6GB of DDR3 RAM (production versions will have 12GB).

The MK3 uses ATI’s Radeon HD 5870 with 1GB of RAM for graphics power.

Another area where this rig packs some serious punch is storage. YoYotech has opted for a two pronged approach in that there’s a massive 2TB 7200rpm Western Digital hard drive for your data and, for rip snorting game and app load times, two 64GB SSDs running in RAID 0.

Running our World in Conflict and H.A.W.X game benchmarks on the machine at 1920 x 1200 pixels with every setting dialed up, the PC returned framerates of 55fps and 74fps. Impressive figures. Moving to applications the YoYotech continued to impress us, its PCMark Vantage PCMark Suite score of 15840 is one of the highest figures we’ve seen. The machine also produced superlative scores in all of the other PCMark Vantage tests.

Although the FI7EPOWER is exceptional, it isn’t without issues. The Level 10 while brilliant for overclocking can be difficult to work with. Adding drives requires that you open up the case's side panel in addition to the

power supply, storage and motherboard cavities individually. This is simply so you can add the drives and then connect the necessary cables. And because the case is massive you’ll need longer cables than regular or they simply won’t reach.

Another issue is the price tag. At US $8175 it is one of the most expensive rigs we’ve tested and unfortunately the machine’s cost is far greater than the total cost of each of its components. We suspect the MK3's size and weight tack on heavy freight duties.

PERFORMANCE FEATURES VALUE FOR MONEY

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SPECIFICATIONS Intel Core i7 975 Extreme Edition CPU running at 4.2GHz, Asus P6TD Deluxe motherboard, 12GB of G.Skill DDR3 memory (6GB tested), ATI Radeon HD 5870 graphics card, two 64GB SSD drives running in RAID 0 (boot drive), 2TB Western Digital hard drive, Blu-ray / DVD writer combo drive, Razer Lycosa keyboard, Lachesis Mouse, Thermaltake Level 10 chassis, Destructor Speed Mat, Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit, one-year warranty.

PROS Killer looks, dedicated cavities for components, brilliant application and gaming performance.

CONS Expensive, very heavy.

VERDICT YoYotech’s PC has oodles of character and packs some serious performance under its distinctive hood. The only real issue is its price tag.

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USB SSD DRIVE

36 HOT KIT

Reviews

BUFFALO

MicroStation 32GB SSD Does this make sense?

PRICE $170 CONTACT +9714 214 9667 WEB www.buffalotech.com

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REMOVABLE HARD DRIVE SYSTEM

WINDOWS MIDDLE EAST JUNE 2010

PERFORMANCE FEATURES VALUE FOR MONEY

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SPECIFICATIONS Portable drive, USB2.0 connection interface, 32GB storage capacity, USB Mini-B

IMATION Odyssey

Removable HDD

Can it really protect your data?

PRICE $99 (drive only) CONTACT +9714 397 8035 WEB www.imation.com

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PERFORMANCE FEATURES VALUE FOR MONEY

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SPECIFICATIONS Removable hard disk, USB2.0 interface, horizontal operating mode, 320GB maximum

uffalo’s MicroStation is a strange device.

Despite its positioning as a ‘mini portable storage solution with the latest technology’, it didn't quite make sense.

The Buffalo is small, light and easy on the eyes and this is primarily because it features solid state disk (SSD) underpinnings.

The Buffalo can be bought with capacities of 32GB or 64GB but because of its SSD basis, the drives cost a startling US $170 and $300. This works out to a cost of $5.31 and $4.68 per gigabyte, making both drives very expensive compared to standard USB hard drives.

While being based on SSD technology makes the MicroStation less prone to crashing on the go - as there

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connector, Memeo Autosync software, Buffalo TurboUSB software, USB Bus powered, 62g, two-year warranty.

he Odyssey is designed to help SOHOs protect data with precision and minimal effort.

The drive can be purchased as an internal or external device though our test sample is the latter and uses the USB2.0 interface.

If you’re looking for the best performance however, we recommend the internal drive because the external's performance is capped by the USB2.0 interface.

This showed when we ran our benchmarks; the Imation produced HDTach3 average read and burst speed results of 26.7MB/sec and 25.6MB/ sec using a 120GB cartridge.

Reasonable figures but we think internal Odyssey drives would perform better.

Performing our real world

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cartridge size, external power supply, 858g drive weight, 168g cartridge weight, threeyear warranty.

are no moving parts - you don’t get the full SSD bang in terms of performance because of the drive’s USB 2.0 interface.

Performing our 4.2GB file transfer from PC to drive and vice versa the Buffalo took two minutes and 43 seconds and three minutes and 23 seconds. In comparison Toshiba’s SecuRed 200GB drive (reviewed last month) took two minutes and 37 seconds and three minutes and 19 seconds. Running Buffalo’s TurboUSB software helped improve performance but the MicroStation was still slower than Toshiba drive.

The Buffalo is only faster if you’re running seek-intensive software directly from the drive and this is thanks to the MicroStation’s 0.6ms random access time.

VERDICT A high price along with limited performance and capacity make the MicroStation hard to recommend.

file transfers the Odyssey was again held back by the USB interface as it took a long three minutes and three seconds to complete our 4.2GB write test. The drive also took three minutes and 28 seconds to complete the read test with this same amount of data.

The Imation ships with its own Media Manager software and EMC’s Retrospect, the latter is key to creating backups of vital data. The Odyssey is compatible with cartridges as large as 320GB, so depending on your needs and budget you can shop appropriately. That said the drive and a 160GB cartridge still work out to be an expensive proposition at an eye-opening US $296.

VERDICT A sturdy removable hard drive system backed up by solid backup and recovery software. Not cheap though.

www.itp.net/reviews

INTEL

X25-V 40GB

Potent performance for less PRICE $130 CONTACT +9714 369 2666 WEB http://www.intel.com

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LOW-VOLTAGE DDR3 MEMORY KIT

PERFORMANCE FEATURES VALUE FOR MONEY

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SPECIFICATIONS Internal SSD drive, 2.5-inch form factor, 40GB storage capacity, Serial ATA interface,

KINGSTON

HyperX LoVo KHX1866C9D3LK2

High mileage, low consumption PRICE $200 WEB www.kingston.com

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PERFORMANCE FEATURES VALUE FOR MONEY

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SPECIFICATIONS Dual channel DDR3 memory kit, two 2GB modules (4GB total capacity), 1866MHz

ntel’s high-end X25-M SSD drives offer tremendous performance but also carry a steep asking price that target money-no-object enthusiasts. With the X25-V drives Intel is targeting users that want SSD performance at a value price.

The X25-V is only available with a capacity of 40GB at the moment (higher capacities are expected later in the year) and carries an asking price of US $130. In this price range it competes with drives such as Kingston’s $116 40GB SSD Now V Series (reviewed in our January issue).

In terms of features the X25-V can’t compete with Kingston’s offering because whereas the latter ships with drive cloning software, 3.5-inch mounting rails and

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3.5-inch mounting rails, TRIM support, installation CD, 32MB cache memory, threeyear warranty.

hen this reviewer heard Kingston would be introducing low voltage, HyperX RAM it sounded like trouble because low voltage and high performance don’t really mix.

After putting the HyperX LoVo KHX1866C9D3LK2/4GX memory kit to the test however the Windows team was happy to eat its words.

Kingston offers a number of LoVo HyperX kits at present though ours is a 4GB, dualchannel DDR3 kit designed to operate at 1866MHz. It is supposed to run at this speed with memory timings of 9-9-9-27, whilst requiring only 1.35volts.

Fitting the memory kit to our Gigabyte P55A-UD7 motherboard and selecting

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operating frequency at 1.35volts, CAS latency 9, integrated heatspreader, lifetime warranty.

HOT KIT 37 cables, Intel’s drive only ships with mounting rails.

Moving on to performance however Intel’s 40GB X25-V doesn’t pull any punches. In our HDTach 3 benchmark test the Intel SSD managed average read and burst speed figures of 220.6MB/sec and 249.6MB/sec. Kingston’s drive on the other hand managed figures of 155MB/ sec and 170MB/sec. In our real world tests the Intel SSD stole the show again, as it completed our Company of Heroes and F.E.A.R level load tests in 17- and nine-seconds.

While the Kingston matched the Intel's F.E.A.R load time it was three seconds slower in the Company of Heroes test.

Value-wise Kingston’s drive gets the nod as it has more features and costs $2.9 per gigabyte to the Intel’s $3.25.

VERDICT The X25-V is a great boot drive but lacking features and a high-price steal some of its thunder.

‘XMP Profile 1’, the memory ran at the aforementioned settings. To test for stability we ran several looping benchmarks for a day only to find that the system was rock solid. Brilliant. The second XMP Profile is also quite impressive because it runs the sticks at 1600MHz at timings of 9-9-9-27 at an even lower voltage of 1.25volts. Running our suite of benchmarks, the sticks proved solid once again.

Dabbling in overclocking the LoVo blew us away again. We were able to push the kit to 2035MHz whilst maintaining a voltage of 1.35volts, with the same timings. Kingston is no doubt using high quality memory and this is reflected in the somewhat high retail price.

VERDICT Kingston’s LoVo HyperX kit offers tremendous performance at an unbelievably low operating voltage.

WINDOWS MIDDL MIDDLE EAST JUNE 2010

INTERNAL SERIAL ATA SSD DRIVE

Reviews

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POINT-AND-SHOOT CAMERA

38 HOT KIT

PANASONIC

Lumix DMC-TZ10

Clever camera

PRICE $490 CONTACT +9714 800 7262 WEB www.panasonic.net

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NOTEBOOK SERIAL ATA HARD DRIVE

PERFORMANCE FEATURES VALUE FOR MONEY

WINDOWS MIDDLE EAST JUNE 2010

Reviews

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SPECIFICATIONS 12.1-megapixel resolution, 1/2.33-inch CCD image sensor, 25mm ultra wide-angle LEICA

WESTERN DIGITAL

Scorpio Blue 750GB It will end your notebook storage woes PRICE $149 CONTACT +9714 881 3234 WEB www.wdc.com

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PERFORMANCE FEATURES VALUE FOR MONEY

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SPECIFICATIONS Internal notebook hard drive, 2.5-inch form factor, 750GB storage capacity, 5400rpm

anasonic’s Lumix DMC-TZ10 is a highend point-and-shoot and retails for $490.

The biggest feature on this Lumix is its built-in ‘Travel Mode with GPS’. The feature takes advantage of GPS and a built-in database, so that pictures you capture are tagged with the name of the location. Unfortunately, when we tried this the camera couldn't lock on to any GPS satellites and therefore failed to tag our photos.

The camera features a CCD sensor with a 12.1megapixel resolution and this returned fantastic shots in-conjunction with the camera’s 25mm ultra wide angle LEICA DC lens.

In natural light we found skin tones were natural and accurate to the original

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DC lens, 12x optical zoom, 16x intelligent zoom, 3-inch LCD, 15MB built-in memory, three-year warranty.

estern Digital’s notebook line consists of two lines, the Scorpio Blue and Scorpio Black. The Blue line offers ‘Big capacity for portable computing’ whereas Black drives offer ‘Desktop-class performance for notebook computers’.

Our test sample Blue offers 750GB of capacity though the highest offered is 1TB. Being a notebook drive the Scorpio features a 2.5-inch form factor and packs a spindle motor with a rotational speed of 5400rpm.

Installing the notebook in our Dell XPS M1210 notebook we found the drive offered impressive performance. Running our synthetic HDTach3 benchmark the Blue returned

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spindle speed, Serial ATA 3Gb/s interface, WD ShockGuard technology, three-year warranty.

subject whilst colours were vibrant and well contrasted.

Photos captured in low light using the camera’s flash and ‘iA’ mode (automatic) were also quite good though close scrutiny showed visible grain.

The TZ10’s zoom capabilities are excellent, it offers no less than 12x optical zoom and in-conjunction with digital zoom, the camera offers 16x intelligent zoom or 23.4x extra optical zoom. The zoom works like a charm but you'll need a tripod to take blur-free shots about 6x zoom. In hand the Panasonic feels solid and weighty, the interface is easy enough to use and there are ample buttons and switches for easy navigation. On a full charge the camera managed 270 photographs before the battery was completely flat.

VERDICT While the TZ10 is somewhat expensive it delivers in terms of quality and features. A decent buy.

an average read speed of 79.8MB/sec and a burst speed of 224.1MB/sec.

These are healthy results that keep up with mainstream desktop drives. Running our real world Company of Heroes and F.E.A.R level load tests the drive completed both operations managing times of 39 seconds and 24 seconds. Competitive times once again.

Owing to its 5400rpm spindle motor however the drive managed a random access time of just 17.9ms.

In the real world this showed when multitasking, the drive felt a little sluggish. In use the Scorpio is inaudible and free from vibrations. At US $149 the drive is aggressively priced, it works out to just $0.20 per gigabyte.

VERDICT The Scorpio Blue offers quick performance, vibration and noise free operation for an attractive price.

www.itp.net/reviews

ASUS

Crosshair IV Formula

Games and tweaking are zeroed in its crosshair PRICE $295 CONTACT +9714 299 3873 WEB www.asus.com

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SOCKET AM3 MOTHERBOARD

PERFORMANCE FEATURES VALUE FOR MONEY

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SPECIFICATIONS Socket AM3, AMD 890FX chipset, four DDR3 DIMM slots, dual-channel memory support,

GIGABYTE

890GPA-UD3H All for applications

PRICE $223 CONTACT +9714 886 3330 WEB www.giga-byte.com

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PERFORMANCE FEATURES VALUE FOR MONEY

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SPECIFICATIONS Socket AM3, AMD 890GX chipset, four DDR3 slots, dual-channel memory, 128MB

ike the Gigabyte 890GPA-UD3H (below) the Asus Crosshair IV Formula is designed for Socket AM3 processors.

The Crosshair IV is flexible expansion-wise because it offers no less than four PCI-E x16 slots. You can use these to build a multi-GPU rig and because PCI-E x16 slots are backwards compatible with PCI-E x1, x4 and x8 devices, you can also fit other expansion cards.

If you have legacy cards the Crosshair also offers two PCI slots. The only issue here is that each PCI slot sits directly beneath the first and second PCI-E x16 slots.

If you were to build a multiGPU rig using two dual-slot GPUs, both PCI slots would become useless.

The Formula is future-

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four PCI-E x16 slots, two PCI slot, USB3.0, ATI CrossFire X technology, six 6Gb/sec SATA ports, three-year warranty.

hereas the Asus Crosshair IV Formula uses AMD’s high-end 890FX chipset, Gigabyte’s 890GPA-UD3H uses the mid-range 890GX. As a result the Gigabyte is cheaper than Asus’ offering by US $72.

However because the 890FX and 890GX chipsets aren’t hugely different from each other, the Gigabyte performed competitively in our benchmarks. While the Formula was faster in both gaming tests the Gigabyte was actually faster overall in our application and multimedia tests.

As the Gigabyte isn’t designed primarily for gaming and overclocking the board’s BIOS isn’t as comprehensive as the Asus’ BIOS. The

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DDR3 SidePort memory, two PCI-E x16 slots, three PCI-E x1 slots, 2 PCI slots, USB3.0, six 6Gb/sec SATA ports, three-year warranty.

HOT KIT 39 proof packing 6Gb/s SATA and USB3.0 support. It also boasts an extremely tweak-friendly BIOS, every relevant overclocking setting is covered and the ranges on offer are massive and easily trump what the Gigabyte offers. The maximum CPU voltage offered by the Asus is 1.85volts to the Gigabyte’s 1.75volts for example.

Performance-wise the Asus seemed more of a gaming motherboard as its World in Conflict and Street Fighter IV benchmark results were higher than the Gigabyte’s figures.

With Street Fighter IV the difference in figures was a massive 14fps. In terms of applications however the Asus finished at second place though the differences were minimal.

VERDICT If games and overclocking are your thing, the Asus is a well-rounded 890FX board to build your rig around.

Gigabyte includes all the necessary overclocking but falls short in terms of ranges; whereas the Asus offers a maximum front side bus speed of 600MHz, the 890GPA tops out at 500MHz. Beyond the BIOS the board is packed, it features USB3.0 and 6GB/sec Serial ATA support. On the expansion front the board features two PCI-E x16 slots, three PCI-E x1 slots and two PCI slots. This combination along with the physical arrangement on the board allow you to build a multiGPU rig using two dual-slot GPUs while retaining the use of one legacy PCI slot. The Gigabyte is also more legacy friendly because whereas the Crosshair lacks an IDE ports, the Gigabyte features one.

VERDICT An aggressively priced board that offers great application performance and solid expansion options.

WINDOWS MIDDL MIDDLE EAST JUNE 2010

SOCKET AM3 MOTHERBOARD

Reviews Head-to-Head

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40 BUYERS GUIDE

BUYERSGUIDE HOW TO USE THE GUIDE The Buyers’ Guide is a fully comprehensive guide to the best products that WINDOWS MIDDLE EAST has reviewed, and is intended to act as an effective resource for buyers of such products in the Middle East market. The Buyer's Guide is updated with new products each month, and out of date products removed.

Each of our ten product categories contains ten recommended product buys. For each product we’ve included vendor (or local distributor) contact details, our Windows Middle East overall rating, our verdict on the product and details of which issue we reviewed it in (alternatively you can find all our product reviews - in full - on www.itp.net).

Each of the products shown scored either 4/5 or 5/5 in its respective review, so instead of listing products in score order we have arranaged these by price, with the most expensive at the top of the page. This makes it quick and easy for you to find the product you can best afford.

We also offer advice on how to go about buying products within each particular product category. This gives you, the reader, the ability to make a better-informed judgment about what kit is suitable for your needs.

RATINGS EXPLAINED Awarded to outstanding products that have excelled in both value and performance.

WINDOWS MIDDLE EAST JUEN 2010

Awarded to products that offer you the most bang for your buck.

Awarded to products that offer impressive amounts of power and speed.

PRODUCT OF THE MONTH

Awarded to products that offer impressive amounts of power and speed.

42 42 44 44 45 45 46 46 47 47

COMPONENTS DESKTOPS DIGITAL IMAGING HANDHELDS MONITORS NOTEBOOKS PERIPHERALS PRINTERS SOFTWARE STORAGE

AWARDS are basically presented to products for their outstanding performance and value. A Performance or Value winner must have received five stars in that particular category. An Editor’s Choice award goes to outstanding products that have excelled in both value and performance.

FEATURES: What value-add features are included? Do they benefit the user? Are they innovative?

PERFORMANCE: Does the product perform well? Is it quick?

EASE OF USE: How user-friendly is the interface? Does it require expertise?

VALUE FOR MONEY: Does the price represent a fair return on performance?

DESIGN: Is the product well designed?

Are buttons easy-to-access? Are ports and connections well-placed?

EXCELLENT VERY GOOD GOOD AVERAGE POOR

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COMPUTING / ELECTRONICS / IMAGING / GAMING / MOBILITY

18th -20th MAY 2010 Fujairah, UAE

15

60

150

1,000+

Countries

Vendors

Retail Executives

One-on-One Meetings

Vendors at the ‘sold out’ 2009 exhibition included:

Top retailers attending in 2009 included:

… and 160 other Retailers

Learn more about DCC MEA at www.dcc-mea.com MEDIA PARTNERS

… and 60 other Vendors RESEARCH PARTNER

T: + 971 4 391 35 26 E: sales@distree.com

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24/02/10 11:24

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42 BUYERS GUIDE Components RATING CONTACT WEB REVIEWED

+++++

RATING CONTACT WEB REVIEWED

+++++

+9714 299 3873 www.asus.com July 2009

+9714 886 3300 www.giga-byte.com April 2009

RATING CONTACT WEB REVIEWED

+++++

RATING CONTACT WEB REVIEWED

+++++

+9714 369 2666 www.intel.com May 2010

+9714 397 8035 www.xfxforce.com November 2009

Asus ENGTX295 Dual-GPU high-end PCI-Express VGA card

$700

This card sports two fast nVidia GPUs and awesome performance to boot. If you’ve got the cash, it’s got the performance.

Gigabyte EX58-Extreme High-end LGA1366 motherboard

$512

If you’ve got a Core i7 processor and want the best performance or you intend on overclocking, this motherboard offers all you’ll ever need.

Intel Core i7 980X LGA1366 six-core processor

$999

This super-chip features six 3.33GHz processing cores and a ton of cache memory. There’s simply no better choice for multi-threaded software.

XFX Radeon HD 5870 Ready to dance with DirectX 11

$470

The XFX Radeon HD 5870 offers excellent gaming performance, brilliant multi-screen technology and is ready for next generation DirectX titles.

GIGABY TE GV D 7 5 R -1 -5GD-B PCI-E Graphics Card If you want to run the latest and greatest games in full splendor and you’re on a budget, then this is the card for you. At 1920 x 1200 the card returned framerates of 41fps, 31fps and 53fps in our Tom Clancy’s H.A.W.X, World in Conflict and Company of Heroes tests.

CONTACT WEB REVIEWED

+9714 886 3330 www.giga-byte.com January 2010

$235 Desktops

WINDOWS MIDDLE EAST JUNE 2010

RATING +++++ CONTACT +9714 351 7666 WEB www.skyelectronics.com REVIEWED November 2007 RATING CONTACT WEB REVIEWED

+++++

RATING CONTACT WEB REVIEWED

+++++

+9714 299 1000 www.benq.com November 2009

+9662 664 446 www.zai.com.sa June 2009

RATING +++++ CONTACT +9714 351 7666 WEB www.skyelectronics.com REVIEWED June 2009

Sky Electronics Annihilator High-end gaming PC

$7,500

The Annihilator is the biggest and baddest rig your money can buy.

BenQ nScreen i91 All-in-one PC

$517

While the nScreen i91 isn’t able to seamlessly playback Full HD content it is ideal for browsing the web, dealing with e-mails and working on office applications.

International Computer Company ZAI Mid-range gaming PC

$1,200

An attractive machine that can tackle apps and games with ease thanks to a balanced set of internal components.

Sky Electronics Expeditor Sub-$1200 gaming PC

$1,125

If you’re looking for a rig on a budget and want to run applications and games, the eXPeditor will give you the best bang for your bucks.

O Z TAC MAG HD-ND01 I0N NETTOP The MAG (short for ‘Mini All-In-One-Giant’) is a complete package that offers attractive pricing, a sleek frame and full HD video playback. This mini-PC is incredibly compact and with a black and silver finish, it is quite a looker. You can bolt it to the back of your PC’s LCD or even a Plasma or LCD TV.

CONTACT WEB REVIEWED

+9714 266 3774 www.zotac.com January 2010

$299

www.itp.net/reviews

44 BUYERS GUIDE Digital imaging RATING +++++ CONTACT +9714 391 8400 WEB www.sony-mea.com REVIEWED January 2010

Sony Bravia VPL-VW85 Full HD projector

RATING +++++ CONTACT +9714 391 5050 WEB www.canon-me.com REVIEWED August 2009

Canon Legria HF20 Full HD camcorder

RATING +++++ CONTACT +9714 364 8600 WEB www.samsungmea.com REVIEWED November 2009

Samsung ST550 12.2-megapixel digital camera

RATING +++++ CONTACT +9714 391 5050 WEB www.canon-me.com REVIEWED February 2009

Canon EOS 5D Mark II Digital SLR camera

$7,357

While the Sony isn’t exactly cheap at US $7,357 it actually offers a cost-effective solution if you’re looking for a way to go Full HD with a massive screen size.

$980

While the Legria HF20 forces you to use Canon peripherals only, it offers excellent Full HD video captures and is intuitive to use.

$354

The ST550 is an easy-to-use touchscreen digital camera that offers highly-detailed and colour accurate photographs. It also makes it very easy to take self portrait shots.

$3,133

An aggressively priced full-frame SLR camera that excels at producing high resolution images with little or no visible noise.

OP TOMA ES 2 56 Multimedia Projector The ES526 doesn’t put a foot wrong as far as its projection performance and value are concerned. The projector offers a ‘Bright mode’, which boosts brightness noticeably, whilst the lamp will last for 3000 hours. We were also impressed by the sharpness and crispness of fonts projected through this device.

CONTACT WEB REVIEWED

+4419 236 91800 www.optoma.com January 2009

$531 Handhelds

RATING +++++ WEB www.blackberry.com REVIEWED October 2009

BlackBerry Curve 8900 Business smartphone

RATING +++++ WEB www.samsungmena.com REVIEWED October 2009

Samsung Jet Touchscreen smartphone

WINDOWS MIDDLE EAST JUNE 2010

RATING WEB REVIEWED

RATING WEB REVIEWED

$512

The Curve 8900 offers excellent features in a package that’s aggressively priced and intuitive to work with.

$613

The Jet performs exceptionally well, offers great features and looks fantastic in hand. A thoroughly impressive buy.

+++++ LG KM900 Arena

$653

http://ae.lge.com October 2009

Touchscreen smartphone

+++++

Nokia E75 Business smartphone

www.nokia.com October 2009

While the KM900 Arena offers solid features and a great looking interface, its touchscreen hinders overall usability.

$490

If you’re after a tough smartphone with a long lasting battery, the E75 has your name on it. Not the best buy if you demand speed however.

LG CHOCOLATE BL4 0 Smartphone Distinctive looks, great features and intuitive usability are the BL40s strong points. The phone sports a minimalistic design, so the front only shows a speaker, a camera, the 4-inch LCD and LG’s logo. It also features a standard 3.5mm audio jack so you can use most headphones without worry.

CONTACT WEB REVIEWED

+9714 800 54 http://ae.lge.com January 2010

$735

www.itp.net/reviews

BUYERS GUIDE 45 Monitors Samsung Series 6 UN40B6000 40-inch LED LCD

TBC

Although the initial outlay is high, this Series 6 model will ultimately prove less expensive in the long term due to its lower power consumption. It also packs killer visual punch.

Philips Cinema 21:9 56-inch LCD TV

$5,449

Although 21:9 content isn’t widely available as yet, the Philips is still worth having because of its impressive video-scaling.

LG Flatron W2261V 22-inch wide-screen LCD

RATING CONTACT WEB REVIEWED

+++++ +9714 335 3666 www.phillips.com December 2009

$217

RATING CONTACT WEB REVIEWED

+++++

$195

RATING CONTACT WEB REVIEWED

+++++

The Flatron W2261V offers killer visuals, an elegant and attractive design and won’t necessarily break the bank. A great buy.

BENQ E2200HD 22-inch wide-screen LCD

RATING +++++ CONTACT +9714 362 7500 WEB www.samsung.com/ae REVIEWED June 2009

BenQ’S E2200HD has aged very gracefully and is now an even better value buy than when it was originally launched.

+9714 881 2191 www.lge.com September 2009

+9714 299 1000 www.benq.ae September 2009

LG M229 A 4 22” Flat-screen wonder LG’s latest 22-inch screen is flexible in every sense of the word as it can function as a TV screen or as a computer monitor. It offers great visuals on the whole and, as we’ve come to expect from LG, looks the part too. The included remote will also make sure you never have to get off the couch again.

CONTACT WEB REVIEWED

+9714 881 2191 www.lge.com August 2009

$326

Notebooks TBC

A heavy-duty desktop replacement that does most things right. A high-end GPU plus a better trackpad would make it perfect.

FTS M2010 Netbook

$408

A handsome netbook that boasts quick performance and lengthy battery life. The M2010 is competitively priced too.

Dell Adamo Ultra-portable notebook

$2,043

The Adamo is a classy ultra-portable that’s great to travel with. It’s also reasonably swift when dealing with everyday applications and is covered by a strong warranty package.

Toshiba Qosmio X300-130 High-end desktop replacement

$2,178

If you’ve got the cash, this desktop replacement monster can tackle applications and games without breaking a sweat.

RATING CONTACT WEB REVIEWED

+++++ +9714 391 6000 www.hp.com/me November 2009

RATING +++++ CONTACT +9714 501 5716 WEB http://ts.fujitsu.com/ REVIEWED November 2009 RATING CONTACT WEB REVIEWED

+++++ +9714 391 1860 www.dell.com November 2009

RATING +++++ CONTACT +9714 351 3771 WEB www.toshiba-gulf.com REVIEWED May 2009

AP L PE MACBOOKO R P Desktop replacement notebook The MacBook Pro boasts a large 17-inch LED backlit LCD and despite its large, desktop replacement dimensions, it weighs less than 3kg. The LCD is a stunner when it comes to visual quality; videos look superb and photos are vivid and look very accurate when compared to the original subject.

CONTACT WEB REVIEWED

TBA www.apple.com May 2009

$3351

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HP HDX18 X18-1070EE Blu-ray desktop replacement

www.itp.net/reviews

46 BUYERS GUIDE Peripherals RATING WEB REVIEWED

Wii +++++ Nintendo Gaming console www.wii.com April 2007

RATING +++++ CONTACT +9714 883 6244 WEB www.microautomation.ae REVIEWED December 2008

$559

This console transforms gaming from being a geek's pastime into a fun engaging activity for all the family. Ingenious.

Powermatic PE4G-25 Power protection strip The PE4G-25 offers a cost-effective way to protect your electricial hardware from all types of electricial damage.

RATING WEB REVIEWED

+++++

RATING CONTACT WEB REVIEWED

+++++ Belkin Washable Mouse

www.apple.com February 2010

+9714 391 7000 www.belkin.com March 2009

$23

Apple iPod Touch 64GB Media player

$477

An improvement over its predecessor but while it’s great to use every day, it isn’t quite perfect just yet.

$32

Waterproof mouse Belkin’s Washable Mouse works as claimed, so you needn’t ever worry about buying a new mouse when the next liquid-disaster strikes.

A SNDIS KA SNS A FU E Z 2GB Slick and efficient It’s sleek design and surface means it is one of the best looking players out there that works like a dream. Better still, it can be expanded into a player with a formidable storage space with the purchase of a microSD card.

CONTACT WEB REVIEWED

+9714 217 0741 www.sandisk.com October 2008

$125

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Printers RATING CONTACT WEB REVIEWED

+++++

RATING CONTACT WEB REVIEWED

+++++

+9714 883 5878 www.brother.ae May 2010

+9714 427 6302 www.lexmark.com April 2009

Brother HL-3070CW LED-Colour printer Lively performance, compact dimensions and flexible connectivity make the HL-3070CW a worthwhile buy.

Lexmark x544dn Multi-function printer

+++++ OKI B430dn

RATING CONTACT WEB REVIEWED

+++++ +9714 883 8838 www.xerox.com September 2009

$773

When you take into account the X544dn’s many features and super quick printing, it is seriously good value.

RATING CONTACT WEB REVIEWED

+9714 204 5810 www.oki.com June 2009

$360

$323

Monochrome laser printer The B430dn is a reasonably priced printer that packs tremendous performance and functionality into a compact package.

Xerox Phaser 6280N Colour laser printer

$495

A well-priced workgroup colour laser printer that offers high print speeds, top-notch quality and features that adapt to your demands.

E XO RXH P AS ER1 630N Ready to serve Xerox says its Phaser 6130N is an ideal solution for workgroups of up to seven people that deal with small but frequent print jobs - and it’s right; the printer offers snappy performance. We also found text to be sharp and free of any anomalies. Overall, a well priced colour laser that performs well and also packs in solid features.

CONTACT WEB REVIEWED

+9714 883 8838 www.xerox.com March 2008

$424

www.itp.net/reviews

BUYERS GUIDE 47 Software Abbyy PDF Transformer 3.0 PDF conversion software

$96

A feature-packed PDF tool that does it all with minimal fuss. It’ll run well on low end machines as well.

ESET Smart Security Security suite

$69

While Smart Security lacks a very strong antispyware component it is very easy-to-use, packs a decent scan engine and a tough firewall.

+++++

RATING WEB REVIEWED

+++++

www.abbyy.com

August 2009

www.adaox.com March 2010

$77

RATING +++++ WEB www.symantec.com REVIEWED March 2010

$60

RATING +++++ WEB www.kaspersky.com REVIEWED March 2010

Norton Internet Security 2010 Security suite A fast, slick and good-looking internet security platform that does a good job of protecting your PC with its wide-variety of features.

Kaspersky Internet Security Security suite

RATING WEB REVIEWED

With its vast number of features, brilliant performance and US $60 price tag, Kaspersky Internet Security is excellent value-for-money.

AP L PE ILIFE 09 Apple’s iLife suite is a multimedia package that is designed to help you organise and manipulate content such as photos, movies, music, DVD and web-based content. A new feature is one known as ‘Faces’ and is part of the iPhoto 09 application. This is essentially designed to help you organise photos without burdening you with sifting through hundreds of pictures.

$106 WEB REVIEWED

www.apple.com April 2009

Storage $104

A massive USB stick that offers slick performance and good value-for-money.

Western Digital Velociraptor Internal SATA hard disk

$325

A super-quick internal drive. As the Velociraptor is still the only SATA drive on the market to feature a 10,000rpm spindle speed, it’s unlikely to be dethroned by another SATA contender very soon.

Intel 160GB X25-M SSD Internal SSD drive

$440

Although performance hasn’t sky-rocketed compared to its predecessor, the second generation Intel X25-M SSD offers better value and reliability.

Western Digital AV-GP WD20EVDS Internal SATA hard disk

$260

A great drive for audio video use thanks to its balanced performance, low noise and miniscule appetite for power.

RATING CONTACT WEB REVIEWED RATING CONTACT WEB REVIEWED

+++++

RATING WEB REVIEWED

+++++

RATING CONTACT WEB REVIEWED

+++++

HPISMP LES AE VD S 320A Portable USB Hard Drive The sd320a is a no-brainer for novice users interested in data backups. The SimpleSave CONTACT software is aptly named because it makes data backups supremely simple. The software WEB is also able to perform incremental backups, so you don’t need to worry about selecting REVIEWED new files after the first backup process completes.

+++++ +4401 932 738888 www.kingston.com July 2009

+9714 391 6000 www.hp.com/me January 2010

+9714 881 3234 www.wdc.com November 2008

www.intel.com October 2009

+9714 881 3234 www.wdc.com September 2009

WINDOWS MIDDLE EAST JUNE 2010

Kingston DataTraveler HyperX USB memory stick

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48 GAME ON

News

GAME ON NEWS EA GETS INTO WORLD CUP MOOD WITH FIFA WORLD CUP 2010 EA has released its FIFA 2010 World Cup game in April. It comes with a tweaked version of FIFA 10’s gaming engine, but also with easier gameplay intended to attract novice gamers.

This kind of easier gameplay has what its creators call the“dad-pad”, something that will allow novice players to get to grips with the game and just steer the player with a stick, whilst using just one button to pass and one button to shoot.

Also, the game has a feature whereby the players sprint or jog automatically depending upon their position and how much pressure is being put on them. Players will even react to certain situations with an appropriate shot, a pass or a lofted shot.

All 199 teams that could have qualified for the tournament, but which failed to so, are present in the game. Gamers can then choose to take their teams to the qualifying tournaments, or, if they prefer, straight through to the World Cup itself.

WINDOWS MIDDLE EAST JUNE 2010

GEARSOFWAR3TOBE GEARS OF WAR 3 TO BE RELEASED APRIL 2011 RELEASEDAPRIL2011 Epic Games and Microsoft have announced that the latest in the Gears of War series, Gears of War 3, is set to be released on April 8 2011.

In conjunction with this announcement, Microsoft and Epic Games have launched a trailer called Ashes to Ashes, which shows how the last human city has fallen and how people are struggling to survive.

Cliff Bleszinski, the game’s design director, said in an interview on the Late Night with Jimmy Fallon show that the trailer "outlines the world you're going to see in Gears of War 3." The clip portrays a rugged urban setting, with ash raining down on figures turned to ash. The figures are pictured as trying to escape the city and a COG soldier runs through the ruins.

He then falls and it becomes clear that it's Dom. Just then a Locust soldier approaches, and just before Dom fires, a gunshot rings out from off screen and the Locust falls to the ground dead with Marcus Fenix actually firing off the shot.

The camera then pans to a large firefight between the Locusts and COG. The action cuts back to the Locusts just as they're attacked by a very large, tentacled Lambent. Bleszinski calls them "Crazy tentacle monsters that can mutate while you're fighting them."

The COG soldiers are making a final stand, taking out the remaining Locust and holding strong as the Lambent approaches. The trailer fades to black and the words "Brothers to the end" appear on the screen.

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News

GAME ON 49

MSI LAUNCH NEW GAMING LAPTOPS MSI is rolling out its GT660 gaming notebook series in the Middle East with it already being available in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and Kuwait.

MSI’s all new G Series of gaming notebooks are equipped with Intel’s Arrandale notebook platform. MSI says the System performance and 3D image processing capabilities have been vastly enhanced and these laptops come with SRS Premium Sound for superior audio and video.

The GT660 also comes with nVIDIA GeForce GTX 285M (1 GB GDDR3 display memory) and top end discrete graphics cards for clear, smooth, true to life, real time 3D game images coupled with a world-class sound system to amplify your enjoyment, whether you are gaming, listening to music, or watching a movie.

According to a press statement, Ubisoft have announced an environmental initiative to eliminate paper game manuals, and replace them instead with an in-game digital manual for all titles on PlayStation 3 (PS3) system and Xbox 360 platform.

The program, which is the first initiative of its kind in the video game industry, launches worldwide with Shaun White Skateboarding this autumn 2010.

Ubisoft's reason for the move is that Ubisoft's internal data has shown that producing one ton of paper used in Ubisoft’s game manuals consumes an average of two tons of wood from 13 trees, with a net energy of 28 million BTU’s (equivalent to average heating and energy for one home per year), greenhouse gases equivalent of over 6,000 lbs of CO2, and wastewater of almost 15,000 gallons.

“It’s pretty cool that Ubisoft is making a conscious effort to go green with its new video game packaging,” says Olympic Gold Medalist Shaun White. “I’m excited for my new skateboarding game to come out and stoked that it will be the very first Ubisoft game to be part of their green packaging initiatives.”

In addition to Ubisoft’s efforts to decrease paper usage in its game packaging, the company has also partnered with Technimark, Inc. to release the entertainment industry’s most environmentally-responsible DVD case for all of its future PC titles in North America.

The 100 percent-recycled polypropylene “ecoTech” DVD case will make its debut with Ubisoft’s Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell Conviction PC video game on April 30, 2010. Ubisoft has featured digital game manuals in its PC titles distributed in North America since March 2010.

“Ubisoft is often recognized for making great games, but it’s a special privilege to be the industry leader at saving trees,” said Laurent Detoc, president of Ubisoft North America. “Eco-friendly initiatives are important to the global community and introducing in-game digital manuals on Xbox 360 and PS3 is just the latest example of Ubisoft’s ongoing commitment to being a more environmentally conscious company.”

WINDOWS MIDDLE EAST JUNE 2010

UBISOFT GOES GREEN BY ELIMINATING PAPER GAME MANUALS

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50 GAME ON

News

WINDOWS MIDDLE EAST JUNE 2010

RECORD SALES OF CALL OF DUTY: MODERN WARFARE II RECORDSALESOFCALLOFDUTY:MODERNWARFAREII Guinness World Records, the global authority on recordbreaking, has officially confirmed that Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 became the most successful entertainment launch of all time when it released on November 10th, 2009.

With verified one day sales totaling more than $401.6 million worldwide, the action-packed first-person shooter video game was the fastest selling entertainment product in its first 24 hours on sale. Interestingly, the previous record was set by another video game - the much talked about launch of Grand Theft Auto IV. Shattering all entertainment launch records set by box office, book and album sales, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 blew past the record-setting video game launches of Grand Theft Auto IV, which grossed $310 million in its first day on sale in 2008, and the previous record-holder, Halo 3, which took in $170 million its first 24 hours on sale.

“Video game releases such as the Call of Duty series have outperformed the launches of major Hollywood blockbusters for several years and the day-one sales for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 proved once again that video games have become cultural events in their own right,” said

Guinness World Records Gamer’s Edition Editor, Gaz Deaves.

“The fan movement and hype surrounding this game in the run-up to launch was almost unprecedented in scale; we acknowledged early on that the big question wasn’t if it would break all-time entertainment records, but rather by how much.”

“This achievement is a reflection of the support from our community of fans around the world,” said Creative Strategist, Robert Bowling from developer Infinity Ward.

“The Call of Duty series and Modern Warfare have been our passion – we’ve dedicated our lives to giving our best, so it’s an honour to be recognised by setting a new standard among all entertainment properties.”

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 is rated “M” by the ESRB for Blood, Drug Reference, Intense Violence and Language.

The title was developed by Infinity Ward and published by Activision Publishing, Inc. Ever since the game launched there has also been the introduction of the first series of new multiplayer maps, the Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 Stimulus Package is now available on Xbox LIVE online entertainment network.

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News

GAME ON 51

JAPAN'S VIDEO GAME VISIONARY: THE CONSOLE IS DYING Hideo Kojima, creator of the Metal Gear Solid game series, has been quoted in a Reuters news report as saying the future of video gaming is on networks that will free players from consoles supplied by the likes of his long-time partner Sony Corp.

"In the near future, we'll have games that don't depend on any platform," Kojima said at a news conference announcing the latest installment in a game saga that began in 1987.

"Gamers should be able to take the experience with them in their living rooms, on the go, when they travel -- wherever they are and whenever they want to play. It should be the same software and the same experience," he said.

Kojima was speaking at an event in Tokyo to detail plans for the late April launch of "Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker," a video game he developed and directed and Konami Corp is launching for Sony's portable PSP device.

"It's a bold prediction," Sony Computer Entertainment Japan President Hiroshi Kawano told reporters with a nervous smile. "We hope he continues to develop for platforms, but we deeply respect his sense of taking on a challenge."

The latest instalment in the Metal Gear Solid series, MGS: Peace Walker, goes on sale in Japan at the end of April 2010 and in the United States and Europe in June 2010.

The latest instalment features Metal Gear's mercenary hero, Snake, as he and a group of soldiers of fortune set off to save Costa Rica from invasion in 1974 by a mysterious army.

The game's creator, Hideo Kojima says players are rewarded for cooperating and encouraged to stun and capture -- not kill -- enemy soldiers they encounter in order to put them to work. "This is software that develops management skills," Kojima said. "You can even fire workers, something that you can't really do in real life. In the game, I couldn't stop doing it."

Kojima has said he hopes to develop movies as well as video games. Like recent Hollywood productions, his latest game is packed with product placements to bring in additional revenue, including AXE bodywash from Unilever and Doritos corn chips and Mountain Dew from PepsiCo. Kojima said he hoped the release of the new game on Sony's PSP device would give his development team a sense of what works in portable gaming in preparation for his vision of gaming on demand over the Internet.

"I looked at this in part as an experiment aimed at the future," he said.

WINDOWS MIDDLE EAST JUNE 2010

METAL GEAR SOLID: PEACE WALKER IS LAUNCHED

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52 GAME ON

Command & Conquer 4

PC

✪✪✪✪✪

Who are you and what have you done with the real C&C?

Prrice: $48 Price: Contact: Co ontact: +9714 299 7980 Web: http://www.commandandconquer.com/ Requirements: AMD Athlon 64X2 or Intel Core 2 Duo processor, 1GB of system memory, DirectX 9 compatible graphics card with 256MB of memory, 10GB of hard disk space, DVD-ROM drive, Windows XP/ Vista/7.

Best Bit: Cutscenes have great atmosphere, the darkest and most serious for a C&C game to date.

Verdict: As a Command & Conquer title Tiberian Twilight struggles to excite. Other than the storyline this game doesn’t really have much in common with its predecessors. And, as a new game it fails to live up to the standards of its predecessors.

If you want to win battles you’ll have to carefully pick what units you order or things could go awry in the blink of an eye.

Tiberian Twilight’s graphics engine can produce some great visuals but you’ll need a fast machine with a hefty CPU and GPU to keep it running smooth.

he Global Defense Initiative (GDI) and the Brotherhood of Nod have been at each other’s throats since 1995, when the first Command & Conquer (C&C) was released. Today the franchise is one of the best known in the world of real time strategy (RTS) gaming and while there have been times where the series took some missteps, the games have generally been - on the whole - enjoyable.

Unfortunately this reviewer, who is a long-time fan of the series, cannot say the same about Command & Conquer

WINDOWS MIDDLE EAST JUNE 2010

T

4: Tiberian Twilight.

Tiberian Twilight (TT) offers radically different game play mechanics when compared to its predecessors. While the idea behind this is sound – freshen up a long-running game series by changing game play – its timing is far from ideal considering TT is the last game to focus on the Kane story arc. Had the developers chosen to implement these game play changes with Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars (C&C 4’s predecessor), it would have made much more sense.

The biggest difference in terms of game play is that Tiberian Twilight no longer focuses on base building, resource gathering and broad assault and defense strategies with units.

Instead you have to make do with a small group of select units which you’ll have to buy using a predetermined number of command points. Each unit costs a different amount of command points so if you opt for heavy units, you’ll have a smaller force to use than if you had picked lighter units. All-in-all the game features about 90 units, some of

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Command & Conquer 4

annoying given that you’ll have to tieup your landline for hours, even if you just want to play through the game’s single player campaign. Unfortunately even with a broadband connection this copy protection system got in the way because on a few occasions our game just lost its connection to EA’s servers and this bought game play to a grinding halt.

On the presentation front C&C 4 doesn’t really raise the bar when compared to its predecessor. Sure the visuals in TT look great but they’re not that much better than the visuals that C&C 3 put to screen. On the audio front Tiberian Twilight fares better than Tiberium Wars because the voice acting and music give the game a darker more sinister feel.

Like its predecessor Tiberian Twilight features full motion video (FMV) cutscenes and it is here where the game redeems itself somewhat. The videos fit the dark theme of the game perfectly; scenes are filled with dark lighting, the actors look and speak with intensity and seriousness, particularly the always cool Kane, and the scenes themselves convey the sense that Tiberium has

actually wrecked the world. While these videos carry the storyline and finally close the book on the long running Kane story arc, this reviewer wished that there was more occasion and drama because when you do complete both campaigns, you’re left asking ‘is that it?’

Although GDI and NOD held a truce for a few years it was ultimately just the calm before the storm.

WINDOWS MIDDLE EAST JUNE 2010

which long time players will recognise are updates to units that appeared in past games.

The units themselves have to be ordered from special crawlers, which while similar in appearance to the mobile construction vehicles (MCVs) of old, only let you order a specific set of units. So depending on whether you have ordered an offense, defense or support crawler, your choice of units will differ; whereas using an offensive crawler will give you access to the GDI Mammoth tank or the NOD Scorpion, a defense crawler will give you access to turrets and infantry, the latter of which you can garrison in buildings. Support crawlers on the other hand grant you access to aircraft such as Orcas and other support and repair units.

In the game’s campaign and multiplayer segments this new game play while certainly different limits Tiberian Twilight’s appeal. Battles are vastly smaller than in past games and at times, game play becomes downright frustrating because it ultimately becomes a case of building exactly the right units, so you can counter your opponent’s forces. As you play through TT, more and more upgrades and abilities become available to you and these can play a vital role in battles.

The good thing here is that upgrades unlocked in the campaign are also available for use in multiplayer battles.

The biggest issue with C&C 4 is the copy protection system that Electronic Arts (EA) has implemented. Essentially the game requires that you be online and connected to EA’s servers at all times regardless of if you’re playing the single-player campaign or if you’re engaging in multiplayer. If you’re a dial-up user this will prove incredibly

GAME ON 53

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54 GAME ON

Just Cause 2

You’ll never kknow now w wh where her e e th tthe he tti time im went

XBOX

✪✪✪✪✪ Price: $73 Contact: +9714 299 7980 Controller: Xbox 360 controller Best Bit: Endless possibilities. Just Cause 2 can be as much fun as you can think up.

Verdict: Just Cause 2 is an extremely addictive title and this is all down to its open-world, action-packed game play. You’ll easily lose a fair few hours of your life to this game and you’ll be smiling all the way. ust Cause 2 (JC2) is the sequel to 2006’s Just Cause (JC) and while this reviewer wasn’t blown away by the original, developers Avalanche Studios and Eidos Interactive have turned the sequel into a time-munching, fun-filled ride.

JC2 see Rico Rodriguez return as the game’s protagonist but this time around his mission is set on the fictional island of Panau in Southeast Asia. Dare-devil Rico’s charge in JC2 is to overthrow dictator Pandak ‘Baby’ Panay using whatever means he deems necessary.

This premise is similar to the original and like its predecessor, JC2 also features open-world game play that gives you to freedom to play the campaign or ignore it entirely and indulge in some seriously insane stunts. The latter ended up being

WINDOWS MIDDLE EAST JUNE 2010

J

the cause for several hours of lost time We’ve also dealt with deadly helicopters because JC2 offers virtually endless by simply tethering them to a vehicle game play possibilities. and watching the fun thereafter.

The chief reason this game is so much The grappling hook also makes it better than its predecessor is because possible to commandeer cars, planes of the new dual-grappling hook that’s and ships because you can simply pull fitted to Rico’s arm. With this awesome yourself up close, kill anyone that’s firing device Rico can tether objects together, back at you and then, after a fairly easy pull himself up tough terrain, perform keypad sequence, take control. crazy car, ship, air stunts and more. The only thing limiting you in Just Cause 2 is your imagination; on one occasion a pursuing bike-soldier met a very violent end because we tethered his bike to the tarmac and, when the slack on the grappling hook was Skydiving is one of Rico’s many talents and every time you do it, you’re expended, we watched him guaranteed a rush. fly face-first, clear off his bike.

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The game’s play area is massive so when you want a break from all the madness you can potentially cause, you can just grab a supersonic jet and visit any part of the map whenever you wish.

Luckily there’s plenty to see and do so you’ll never find yourself wondering what’s next.

JC’2 storyline is fairly basic but this doesn’t really matter because you end-up having loads of fun. The basic idea is that you have to cause chaos around the island and get into the good books of the various factions on the island in order to overthrow Panay. There’s good diversity in terms of what the missions ask you to do but you’ll find yourself repeating certain types of missions through the game; the most annoying is helping a faction spread its area of influence by taking on a military base.

The game features an adaptive difficulty system and this gradually makes JC2 harder as you progress; enemy soldiers become tougher to shake off (when you’re being pursued), soldiers on foot duck behind cover and use the environment and landscape to their advantage where possible. The game will also throw a greater number of soldiers at you when it deems it necessary, so you’re always on your toes.

The game includes hundreds of controllable cars, bikes, ships, planes and choppers and there are also new weapons such as a laser controlled rocket launcher, remote-triggered C4 and, this reviewer’s favourite, a detachable mini-gun. You can easily spend hours just trying out the game’s different vehicles and weapons.

Visually Just Cause 2 looks fantastic running in Full HD 1080p mode. Graphics are crisp and clear and the island has tons of detail in terms of different environments and areas. That said the graphics engine isn’t completely glitch-free; while flying we noticed graphics anomalies on the terrain below but these cleared on their own, as we flew closer to the ground. Audiowise the various weapons sound great with just the right amount of bang to them while the different vehicles, ships and planes all have unique engine noise and more. The voice-acting and dialogue aren’t great but because JC2 is so much fun to play, this won’t put you off in the least.

While the game is fairly solid in terms of what it offers it does have a few bugs. On one occasion the car we were in simply ‘fell’ through a bridge and plummeted straight into the sea below.

This effectively ended the mission because the mission objective also happened to be sitting in the car. Rico also became trapped within vehicles from time-to-time though this mostly happened when the vehicle itself became jammed between two objects.

Here we were simply unable to get Rico to exit the vehicle and the only way to recover was to exit and reload a past save game.

GAME ON 55

Rico’s new grappling hook is bad news for his enemies, this chopper came crashing down just a few seconds later.

Sometime realism takes a backseat in Just Cause 2 but you just don’t care because you ultimately end up having a blast.

One of Rico’s main objectives is to create chaos on the island.

Guess who caused this massive explosion?

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Just Cause 2

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56 GAME ON

Moto GP 09/10

XBOX

✪✪✪✪✪

Price: $70 Contact: +971 4 261 811 Controller: Xbox 360 controller Web: http://www.playmotogp.com/ Best Bit:Once you finally get a grip of how the 800cc class works, it’s one of the most exhilarating racing game experiences.

Verdict: Get this game if you’re a hardcore Moto GP fanatic. Stay away from it if you’re not willing to learn how to ‘ride’ the bikes. his reviewer was fairly excited when he got his hands on the new Moto GP 09/10 release from CAPCOM. And after trying it we can safely say that this particular title should be a serious consideration for any racealigned gamers.

Moto GP 09/10 in many ways then doesn't dissapoint. It is a challenge to play as you can start off on the easier to control 125cc bikes and make your way up to 250cc. Then there's of course the Moto GP class, which consists of the mad 800cc bikes.

The latter is challenging to ride. In fact, if you've only ever been a car games fanatic, then you'll find riding motor bikes in a game a unique challenge. It took this reviewer some time to adjust to the sheer speed of the bikes and the fact that you have to control the player so as to ensure that he doesn't go veering off into the side panels of the track.

The controls have been made a lot easier for the more novice motorbike racing game fanatics amongst us, after you understand how the brake and the accelerator and the synergy between them is meant to work.

Visually, Moto GP looks good, and it's replications of existing Moto GP tracks in places such as Malaysia, Italy and even Qatar, are quite on the mark.

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T

The race assist lines do help a lot in terms of getting to grips with Moto GP.

But it's at this point that the game becomes a difficult one to crack in as far as much of the content is, annoyingly, locked. You have to progress through the game quite substantially before even accessing the likes of Valentino Rossi. Before the 800cc top tier class is available, it's necessary to complete both a season in the spindly 125cc class and the slightly beefier 250cc bikes – no easy feat given both the length of a campaign and the fact that players must place in third or higher in the overall standings in order to progress.

A big drawcard in the game though is career mode. As you progress in your career, you will find yourself needing to

hire engineers and even press officers who are responsible for securing sponsorship opportunities. This nuance then introduces the fact that different sponsors have different requirements that you will need to meet (such as finishing 8th or above in qualifying or in a race). Don't live up to the task and you will find your team slowly being wittled down in what can only be compared to the 1920s depression.

However, one of the main things that you will be concerned with will be handling your engineers and getting them to work on various aspects of your bike. Different engineers have different mechanical specialties, with

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higher-level engineers being available as you move up through the different bike classes in Career mode. All of this hiring and firing and sponsorship signing means a lot of heavy menu navigation, but it's all attractively organised and easy to understand.

Another challenging aspect to this game is the time limit. In many ways it demands exacting precision in order to progress. A restart button would perhaps have served well in this instance as many a reviewer has noted.

There is a rewind feature, but it's far from perfect in its implementation and it doesn't really make things any easier in terms of tracking back your gameplay.

There are also four different skill levels in MotoGP 09/10: gentle, moderate, severe, and insane. The opponent riders are a challenge at any level of this game, even gentle and then there's the fact that all bikes occasionally make mistakes, going too deep into corners or running into one another. And if you're technical team doesn't get things right, there's always the risk that if you haven't been taking care of your tires, you might seriously find yourself falling further behind in the racing pack.

All in all, MotoGP 09/10 is an entertaining racing game to have a bash with on the weekend. It's not flawless but what it offers is fun and fairly engaging.

GAME ON 57

From 125 cc to 800 cc, Moto GP 09/10 has varying racing modes available.

It took this reviewer a while to learn to take control of the bikes in this game.

WINDOWS MIDDLE EAST JUNE 2010

Moto GP 09/10

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58 EXPERT SPEAK

FIREWALL…FIREWHAT? Antoine Harb, Business Development Manager for Kingston Technology Middle East explains what firewalls are and why you need them.

Apparently it’s important to have one but what do they do? We help you to understand what a Firewall is so that you can keep safe and sleep easy (and look clever to your friends).

Put simply, a firewall is a cunning barrier to keep Internet nastiness from attacking your computer, thus protecting your PC and the sensitive information on it. Firewalls filter the information zooming through your web connection to your computer so anything suspicious does not reach you.

WINDOWS MIDDLE EAST JUNE 2010

WHY BOTHER? Your computer is pretty vulnerable to attacks with experts estimating a standard PC connected to the internet without a firewall can be compromised in less than 20 minutes! They believe a firewall is essential if you have a permanent connection, such as cable or DSL, to the Internet.

A firewall is an effective way of guarding information about you and your internet habits. Without a

firewall, if you have financial records on your machine you could help criminals cash in by giving them access to your credit card and money info. Fraudsters 1, wallet 0 so to speak.

SOUNDS INGENIOUS, BUT HOW? Firewalls use various methods for controlling information flowing in and often out of your computer network; here’s the science bit. There are two main access denial methods used; either allowing all traffic through unless it meets a particular criteria or blocking all traffic unless it meets certain specifications.

Let’s dig deeper now. Your handy computer firewall can use packet filtering by analysing small chunks of data, known as packets. It lets good packets through the choosy filters, while slightly dodgy ones are sent to a requesting system for you to okay and others are binned completely. Firewalls might use a

‘stateful inspection’ where instead of examining each individual packet, it compares key parts to a database of trusted information that travels from you, inside the firewall. If incoming information looks similar, it is allowed through. Clever eh? Finally, you might have a customisable firewall, which are popular in offices. Your fastidious firewall can detect if a certain IP address or website outside the company is reading too many files from a server and consequently block all traffic to and from that address. This might explain why you can’t access Facebook anymore!

WHAT TYPES OF FIREWALL ARE THERE? Hardware firewalls are commonplace as most of us use a router with a built-in firewall to connect to the web.

They deal with incoming traffic before data even hits your PC and outgoing data after leaving your machine. Make sure you set yours to a higher level of security and ensure your router

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EXPERT SPEAK 59

SCARE ME WITLESS. WHAT ARE THE ATTACKS? Remote logins are used by unscrupulous individuals to connect to your computer and control it. It may sound like something from a sci-fi film but people can view or access your files or even run programmes on your machine.

SMTP session hijacking is used to steal a list of email addresses so

very boring people can send junk mail and spam to thousands of users.

SMTP is the most common way of sending bulk emails and the hijacking redirects the annoying spam through an unsuspecting host so the real sender is tricky to trace. Operating system bugs are generally created by seasoned hackers and can be pretty serious or at least difficult to fix.

Macros, a way of simplifying complex procedures allowing an application to run can be used by hackers to destroy data or crash your computer…you’d be pretty hacked off.

Viruses are the most wellknown threat and are actually small programmes that copy themselves to other computers. They can spread quickly through systems and can be quite serious, erasing all your precious data.

Spam is generally just irritating but some clever junk mail can persuade you to click on an enticing link such as claiming a prize, providing the information needed for someone to gain access to your machine. Be spam savvy and don’t click on anything you don’t trust.

BUT A FIREWALL STOPS THESE, RIGHT? Sadly some of the attacks are almost impossible to prevent. Unfortunately installing a firewall does not make you completely invulnerable to internet attack and will not usually stop virus

emails, adware or spyware.

While firewalls limit incoming invasions of bad data, antivirus programs look at the effect such data has on the system and searches out and destroys threats that squeeze past the firewall. So, it’s worth installing anti-virus software on your computer to fight back but by setting a high level of security on your firewall you increase the chance of it thwarting a good number of these threats.

SO I SHOULD TOP UP WITH ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE? Definitely; the best software runs in the background monitoring every part of your computer, sniffing out anything slightly dodgy. And you don’t have to pay for such wonders!

Microsoft’s Security Essentials is free if you verify your copy of genuine Windows machines. Kerching!

Techies also love Avira Antivir because it provides fast and very thorough software protection but can be a tad tricky to use. Avast! offers good protection against malware and is a good free all-rounder as well.

If you use internet banking you might be able to get anti-virus software free from your bank. Barclays offers Kaserpsky’s Internet Security, HSBC touts McAfee Virus Plus while RBS and NatWest prefer Rapport, which encrypts data or restrict access to sensitive websites but is not a fullyfledges anti-virus package.

WINDOWS MIDDLE EAST JUNE 2010

password has been changed from its default. You’d be amazed how many connections are hacked just because the password is easily accessible to criminals.

Some operating systems come with a firewall already installed but if not you can nab a software firewall and install it on each computer in your home with an Internet connection.

A simple software firewall like the Windows version in XP and Vista protect you from attacks by making your computer’s ports invisible to outsiders and most come ready built-in to your computer.

It can be set to different levels of protection but always use the highest you can. It’s probable that if you have it set on the highest level you might need to take a little time tweaking it so it doesn’t become annoying, blocking anything and everything! If you’re not a fan of pre-loaded options you could try Output, Online Armour or Comodo Personal Firewall.

www.itp.net/competitions

60 REGULARS

Competitions

COMPETITIONS… As always the Windows team has worked to ensure you have the chance to win some killer, high-tech kit. For your chance to win, just follow the instructions below...

STORAGE ROCKET KINGSTON SSDNOW V SERIES NOTEBOOK UPGRADE KIT

WINDOWS MIDDLE EAST JUNE 2010

If you work on a notebook for hours on end and you’ve realised you’re growing old waiting for its hard drive to meet your requests, this competition is for you.

This month Windows Middle SSD UP GRADE East and Kingston Technology have joined forces to bring you one heck of a competition; we’ve got two of Kingston’s fabulous SSDNow V Series notebook upgrade kits up for grabs. So, if you want to give your notebook’s performance a massive performance boost, read on…

The SSDNow V series notebook upgrade kit is a comprehensive upgrade for your notebook because unlike other SSD upgrade kits, everything you need is included within the box.

You get the SSD drive with 64GB of storage capacity, drive cloning software and a handy 2.5inch USB enclosure that you can connect your old hard drive to, so you can clone your data without any hassles.

Kingston’s SSDNow V Series also offers tremendous read and write performance, so you can expect faster boot and shutdown times in addition to far more lively overall performance. You can also continue to use your notebook when the going gets bumpy because unlike regular hard drives - which can crash when sudden movements are made - SSDs are free from moving parts and so cannot experience data destroying head crashes.

SSDs also consume less power than a standard hard drive, so you should also see an improvement in your notebook’s battery life. All-in-all the SSDNow V Series notebook upgrade kit is a cracking prize for any notebook owner.

For a chance to bag this fantastic competition prize visit our website at www.itp.net/competition and answer this simple question: What does Kingston’s SSD notebook upgrade kit ship with?

a)Just the SSD drive b)SSD drive, drive cloning software and a 2.5-inch USB enclosure c)Cloning software

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Competitions

REGULARS 61

REAL TIME STRATEGY COMMAND & CONQUER 4: TIBERIAN TWILIGHT SUPER STRAT The war between the benevolent GDI and the crazed EGY Brotherhood of NOD first erupted onto computer screens back in 1995 and 15 years later, the series’ long running Kane story arc is drawing to a close with Command & Conquer 4: Tiberian Twilight. If you’re keen on finding out how it all ends this is the competition for you.

Compared to its predecessors Tiberian Twilight is almost a new game because base building, resource gathering and broad offensive and defensive strategy aren’t the main focus of game play. This time around micromanagement is the key to success, so if you’re looking for a challenge, there’s plenty to be found with Command & Conquer 4.

Being a Command & Conquer title Tiberian Twilight packs 90 units, super weapons such as the GDI’s orbital ion cannon and much more, so whether you’re playing by yourself or engaging in multiplayer, you can also expect a fair dose of mayhem.

We have four copies of C&C 4 up for grabs so logon to our website at www.itp.net competitions and answer this simple question: What super weapon does the Global Defense Initiative (GDI) have at its

disposal? a)Nuclear missile b)Orbital ion cannon c)Neutron bomb

USB FLASH DRIVE SANDISK CRUZER MICRO 16GB

Logon to our website at www.itp.net/competitions and answer this simple question, for your chance to win this super-sized flash drive: Which of these is a feature that the SanDisk Micro drive boasts?

a)128GB storage capacity b)A retractable USB connector c)A personal bodyguard

IN A FL ASH

WINDOWS MIDDLE EAST JUNE 2010

In the absence of a very fast network connection USB flash drives are the best way to transport data from one machine to another. And whereas in the past these flash drives were limited to somewhat feeble capacities, today, it’s a different story altogether. Here we have one of SanDisk’s amazing Cruzer Micro USB2.0 flash drives for giveaway and it packs a colossal 16GB of storage capacity.

The Cruzer Micro is a fully fledged flash drive that SanDisk says is easy-touse, secure and reliable. The drive features a retractable USB connector, so not only is it better equipped for rugged use but you no longer have to worry about losing the USB connector cap.

The drive also features SanDisk’s PC-compatible U3 applications and if the apps on offer aren’t enough to quench your thirst, you can always visit www.u3.com for more choice.

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62 REGULARS

CD Contents

WINDOWS MIDDLE EAST JUNE 2010

OUR PICK OF WINDOWS CD

INSTANTSTORM 2.0

XSTUDIO 1.2

InstantStorm is a powerful freeware Flash screensaver creator that turns your Adobe Flash files (SWF) into professional screensavers in no time. n Ulike other similar tools, InstantStorm is free of charge for commercial use and does not add any nag screens to your output files. ou Y can customise virtually anything: the settings dialog, the installer (including all texts and images), the screensaver behavior, and more.

u Q Xal Studio (X Studio) is a FREE 100% graphical and modular in design test management application that handles the complete life-cycle of your A Q/ testing projects from end to end: users, requirements, specifications, development projects (scrum oriented), SU Ts, tests, tesplans, test reports and test campaigns.

In addition, S Xtudio is also a powerful (but easy-to-use) bug-tracking database.

COMODO INTERNET SECURITY 4.0

LINGOES PORTABLE 2.6.2

Comodo Internet Security 4.0 is a suite that includes a Firewall, Antivirus, Wi-Fi Security and LivePCSupport. ther features of the O software includes Virus Diagnosis and Removal, PC Tune p U, rGeen PC optimization, Internet Login Protection and Computer Troubleshooting. It also includes a 'Cloud Scanner' that scans your PC to identify malware.

Lingoes is a dictionary and multi-language translation software providing results in over 0 8 languages. It offers full text translation, capture word on screen, translate selected text and pronouncing text, and abundant free dictionaries as a new gerenation dictionary and translation software. Lingoes offers users the instantest way to look up dictionaries and translation amongst a variety of languages.

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CD Contents

P O T CK PI

REGULARS 63

HOW TO USE CD BROWSER Place your CD in your PC’s CD-ROM drive. If you have disabled autoplay, double-click ‘CDBrowser’ on the CD instead. When CD Browser starts, six buttons will appear listing software categories. Click a category and the software titles will appear in the left window.

Simply choose which title you wish to view and click its name. Program details will appear along with three buttons: Install runs the installation program, Website takes you to the vendor’s site, and Screen displays a larger image of the software in action. In the middle of the window is also an option to change the CD browser’s skin.

CD 158: SUPERB SOFTWARE UTILITIES

GAMES

S UB DEFEN DER 1.0 SY STEM EX PLO RER PO RTABLE 2.1.5 CO DS YAFE 0.9 .0 FREERASER

R OBITER 0.6 WO LFEN STEINEN EMY TERRITO RY ESSEN TIAL FILES DIRECT XC 9 DO TE NT FRAMEWO RK3.0 A JVA RU T NIME MICRO SF OT ACTIVESY C N 4.2

ABIWORD 2.8.3 The latest version of AbiWord supports annotations, or "comments", smart quotes and native SVG s. Furthermore it includes powerful collaboration capabilities allowing multiple people to work on one document at the same time.

These features are tightly integrated with a new online web service called AbiCollab.net, which lets you store documents online, allows easy document sharing with your friends, and performs format conversions on the fly.

IN STAN TSTO RM 2.0 SPIDER PLAY ER 2.4 SQ IRLZWATER REFLECTIO S N 2.6 SILVERX1.2

INTERNET MO IZLLA FIREFO X PO RTABLE 3.6 SU PERAN TISPY WARE FREE 4.3 MESSEN E GR E KY.97 CO MD OO IN TERN ET SECU RITY4.0

PRODUCTIVITY ABIWO RD 2.8 .3 S XTU DIO 1.2 FREEFILESY C N 3.6 LIN E O GS PO RTABLE 2.6.2

WOLFENSTEIN ENEMY TERRITORY Wolfenstein Enemy Territory was originally planned as an addon for Return to Castle Wolfenstein, but soon became its own game. It is a separate entity with full single player, multiplayer, AI opponents and teammates. The game is designed for online play only, but all you need is what you download.

UTILITIES USB Defender 1.0 2.1.5 System Explorer Portable CodySafe 0.9.0 Freeraser MULTIMEDIA InstantStorm 2.0 Spider Player 2.4 Sqirlz Water Reflections 2.6 SilverX 1.2 INTERNET Mozilla Firefox Portable 3.6 4.3 SUPERAntiSpyware Free Messenger Key 9.7 4.0 Comodo Internet Security PRODUCTIVITY 2.8.3 ord AbiW XStudio 1.2 FreeFileSync 3.6 Lingoes Portable 2.6.2 Games Orbiter 0.6 ry WolfenStein Enemy Territo ESSENTIAL FILES Direct x 9c Dot Net Framework 3.0 Java Runtime

ORD 2.8ts .3 ents", ABIW annotations, or "comm ul version of AbiWord suppor

s powerf The latest SVGs. Furthermore it include smart quotes and native to work on one allowing multiple people collaboration capabilities tightly integrated with time. These features are you store document at the same AbiCollab.net, which lets called service web a new online with your friends, and easy document sharing documents online, allows sions on the fly. performs format conver www.itp.net

tion | June 2010 An ITP Technology Publica

IMPORTANT NOTICE: The Windows Middle East free CD, which contains programs and applications, is provided as a free service to readers of Windows Middle East magazine for personal use. You may not rent, lease, assign, re-sell or otherwise transfer the rights to anyone for any product contained on this CD. The contents of the CD-ROM are provided as is, and although every effort has been taken to ensure the disk and contents are virus and defect free, Windows Middle East, nor The Information & Technology Publishing Co. Ltd., accept liability for any loss or damage resulting from the use of this CD-ROM or the programs on it.

We recommend that you make a back-up of all your data before installing any of the software on this CD. Windows Magazine does not provide technical support for this CD-ROM or the programs on it. If your CD-ROM is physically defective, please return it to Reader Services, P.O. Box. 500024, Dubai, United Arab Emirates, so we may issue a replacement.

WINDOWS MIDDLE EAST JUNE 2010

MULTIMEDIA

158

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64 REGULARS

Logging off

LOGGINGOFF BEWARE OF 3D TV! Amidst the hype that surrounded 3D TV this year, there appears to have been a steady word of caution when it comes to those who potentially have health problems when it comes to watching these sets. According to a warning on the Samsung website, “Children and teenagers may be more susceptible to health issues associated with viewing in 3D and should be closely supervised when viewing these images.” According to the particular mentioned page, Samsung has issued a photosensitive seizure warning and other health risks, of which epilepsy is included. Also mentioned are “pregnant women, the elderly, sufferers of serious medical conditions, those who are sleep deprived or under the influence of alcohol should avoid utilizing the unit’s 3D functionality”.

FLIGHT PATH CHAOS The recent volcanic explosion that occurred near Iceland had some interesting effects, but most interesting was how people suddenly began to find those flight path websites that illustrated how numerous planes started to avoid certain areas. And there was no shortage of them either, with one site in particular Flight Radar 24 (www.flightradar24.com) generating a lot of traffic. It's quite a useful site in general though as you can follow certain flights and then see where they’re heading off to.

WINDOWS MIDDLE EAST JUNE 2010

STUCK ON 21:42 Ever wondered why images of Apple iPhone products always display the time 21:42? Well, according to Scott Forstall, senior vice president of iPhone software, “We design the (product launch) keynotes so that the big reveal of the product happens around 40 minutes into the presentation. When the big image of the product appears on screen, we want the time shown to be close to the actual time on the audience's watches. But we know we won't hit 40 minutes exactly."

“And for the iPhone, we made it 42 minutes. It turned out we were pretty accurate with that estimate, so for the iPad, we made it 41 minutes. And there you are - the secret of the magic time," continues Forstall. Mystery solved!