Smartbuy Business Line
G A D G E T S
|
Wednesday, September 14, 2011
A U T O |
L U X U R Y
www.blsmartbuy.com
Finally... the Brio is here Honda’s big small car bet, driven Page 8
+
Motorola Xoom reviewed
WHAT’S HOT this week
Team Smartbuy Editorial Archana Achal archana.a@thehindu.co.in
Ketaki Bhojnagarwala ketaki@thehindu.co.in
Mahananda Bohidar mahananda@thehindu.co.in
S.Muralidhar muraliswami@thehindu.co.in
Design Bryan Gaughan aqua@thehindu.co.in
Balakrishnan designkbala@thehindu.co.in
Advertising Contact R.Diwakar ramdiwakar@thehindu.co.in
Web Advertising Contact N.Amarnath amarnath@thehindu.co.in
www.blsmartbuy.com
Smartphone ‘Evo’lution
Become a fan of our Facebook page: BL Smartbuy Follow us on Twitter
Cover photo: S. Muralidhar
HTC EVO 3D
Based on the Snapdragon S3 mobile processor, the HTC EVO 3D combines a brilliant QHD 3D 4.3-inch display and an Adreno 220 GPU for a truly powerful smartphone experience. Running on Android 2.3 Gingerbread, the phone lets you view content in 3D without the need for glasses. Additional features include 5-meg rear camera with dual-LED flash, 1.3-meg front camera for video chats, 3G mobile hotspot capability and 4GB internal memory. Rs 35,990
Right on track
Microsoft Express Mouse
Desktop symphony
If you don’t want to be bothered by the hassle of charging your wireless mouse every time you travel, Microsoft’s Express Mouse might be the perfect solution. Equipped with Microsoft’s patent Blue Track technology, the mouse can track virtually any surface. Its sporty finish in Dahlia Pink looks great too! Rs 675
Bose Companion 20
This two-piece computer speaker system from Bose lets you enjoy life-like sound without the need for a separate subwoofer. You can operate the Companion 20 with a small, circular control pod that lets you adjust volume and access one-touch muting. It also has a headphone jack and an input for additional audio sources such as an iPhone, iPod or other portable devices. Rs 14,513
Smartbuy
2
September 14, 2011
It’s all in the voice
Plantronics M1100
Dubbed the ‘Savor’ headset, the Plantronics M1100 provides effective noise-cancellation through its AudioIQ3 Technology and an internal, adaptive 20-band equaliser. A dedicated voice button for voice commands and alerts make it a truly ‘handsfree’ device. At just 9 grams, it’s virtually weightless in your ear and the battery life offers standby time of up to 7 days. Rs 4,790
The icing on the cake? Android’s series of delicious upgrades just got a little sweeter, with Google CEO Eric Schmidt revealing that the next version of Android would be called Ice Cream Sandwich. This version of Android will be compatible with tablets as well as smartphones, making it easier for app developers to create apps for a uniform operating system. Google has also revealed that Ice Cream Sandwich will be an open source software, unlike Honeycomb. The OS will include the app launcher and new homescreen widgets in smartphones. Android smartphones running version 2.3 Gingerbread should be able to upgrade to Ice Cream Sandwich, which is slated for release sometime in October-November this year. Last week, a few images of the operating system were leaked on the web, and it seems to feature a new launcher and app drawer, revamped notification bar and a panorama mode for the camera. The interface has adopted a blue-ish colour scheme. And as if the rumours on Ice Cream Sandwich aren’t enough, Google is already said to be working on the next version of Android, Jelly Bean!
Samsung to take a path less travelled Classy connection
While we were twiddling thumbs thinking that Microsoft will have something interesting up its sleeve only next year (the rumoured launch of the Windows OS 8), it turns out that things might be stirring up real soon. Rumours are afloat about what could be the first Samsung tablet running on Windows since ‘Korea Economic Daily’ published that “this new product manufactured by Samsung will be the company’s first collaboration with Microsoft in its hardware devices”. WSJ also reported on the matter saying that Samsung plans to bump up its tablets portfolio (by including Windows) to counter the ban by Apple Inc. After the huge success of its latest Android device, the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1, it’s hard to tell if Windows will also be a winning factor for the Korean company.
TAG Heuer LINK
The latest range of luxury smartphones from TAG Heuer feature a 3.5-inch display, quick connectivity and a 5-meg HD auto-focus camera. The battery lets you listen to up to 11 hours of music. The handset runs on the Android operating system, giving you access to over 2,50,000 applications. Rs 3.06 lakh onwards
Smartbuy
3
September 14, 2011
TABLET review
n
indra
.Rav os: R Phot
Does the Xoom pan out well? Mahananda Bohidar hy would I want to buy a tablet? So that I can avoid dragging myself home to check mail on my PC? To catch up on ‘The Simpsons’ while I’m on a long-haul flight? To satisfy my FB-stalker urges without my co-workers thinking I’m a creep? Check all of the above, and more. Tablets are eating into personal computer and laptop shares by avoiding the loopholes of the former and making a killing of it. For a niche that is relatively nascent, it’s no wonder that every gadget brand wants a slice of the tablet pie. But who has what it takes to make a tablet really desirable? Motorola’s first tablet – the Xoom – was the very first tablet to run on Honeycomb. Will it make the cut?
hold it up to play ‘Drunk Man’ or ‘Lane Splitter’ you’ll have to give your arms a rest almost immediately. The situation was only too familiar when I was reading an e-book on the Amazon Kindle app. A couple of pages into ‘The Grapes of Wrath’ by John Steinbeck and I feel the strain, and am inclined to prop it up against something. Maybe the Portfolio Case or the Dock (both accessories) on the Motorola web site have been listed there with good reason. However, the 10.1-inch screen was a decent display to read e-books on. Trying out the Xoom, it felt like the tablet was made to be held in the landscape mode due to its uncommonly long-ish screen (24.9 cm). The almostwidescreen aspect ratio of the Xoom, however, lends itself better to watching movies than reading digital books.
Time to shed some!
Sound strategy
Having earlier carried around the iPad 2, the Motorola Xoom feels a little bulky. It’s almost 200 grams heavier than the other tablet that has been receiving rave reviews – the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1. This means it is fine as long as you have it propped up on your lap but the moment you
And that brings me to one of the best features on the Motorola Xoom. It aces the multimedia department. I kept myself entertained for a few hours with multiple episodes of ‘The Office’ (yes, our team’s obsessed with the show) on the Xoom and my only complaint was the rather glossy
W
Smartbuy
4
September 14, 2011
screen which gave off a lot of glare. High-res videos look great on the wide display, and videos appear detailed thanks to the high-res 1280x800 pixel screen (a standard on most 14 or 15-inch laptops). And it’s not just the screen, but also the remarkable sound quality by which the Xoom manages to impress. The stereo speakers (lodged on the dual-tone back panel) deliver crisp, clear sound without even a hint of distortion at the highest volumes.
Commonplace clicker Even if you were Moses reincarnated, it’d still look ridiculous holding a 10.1-inch tablet to your face to click pictures. And the 5-megger on the Xoom, in any case, isn’t a clicker that’d make you want to sacrifice your dignity to get that awesome FB profile-worthy pic. A couple of portraits that we clicked were reasonably sharp, although the colours were underwhelming. The results are slightly better outdoors if you can see past the swipe-smudges that are the most visible thing on the screen when right under the sun. The camera seemed to have trouble focusing
especially in low-light conditions.
Dainty design Xoom keeps up with the rivals like the iPad and Asus Transformer TF101 when it comes to a classy design. Although the fascia is just plain glass and a thin bezel, the back panel looks elegant with its anodised aluminium and soft rubberised finish. The power button lodged in the back panel - sharing a strip with the camera, dual-LED flash and one grille of the stereo speakers – makes for an easy press when you hold the tablet in both hands. You can use your 3G SIM card in the slot created on the top of the tablet, next to the headphone jack. The micro-HDMI slot at the bottom allows you to stream HD content from the tablet onto HD-tellys.
Performance Xoom runs on a dual-core 1GHz Nvidia Tegra 2 processor. The tablet never froze while I was handling it but once in a while it seemed to be taking it’s time to catch up. Running a bunch of apps and widgets in the background seemed to sap the battery quicker than usual. However, the Xoom offered one of the better battery runs we’ve seen. Constant connection to the Wi-Fi, occasional compulsions to play Angry Birds, checking mails and downloading apps every once in a while, the Xoom gave me company almost throughout my worktime – about 9 hours.
comb does justice to the system. The user interface may seem, to first time users, a bit of a winding process. But it’s not too long before you realise that Honeycomb offers you tons of personalisation and convenient features at hand. A one-touch access to all programmes running at the moment saves you a lot of time. The 10.2-inch gives you enough space to load all your favourite apps on to the screen. However, all these goodies and more might not, at the moment, completely make up for the dearth of dedicated Honeycomb apps. Motorola wasn’t able to comment on exactly how many dedicated apps were available in the Android Market but chances are it has not crossed the 200-mark.
OS: Android 3.1 (Honeycomb) Final word The Motorola Xoom had the advantage of being the first tablet to be graced by Honeycomb. But despite the head start, there’s little that makes it an exclusive tablet to own. The power specs, multi-pixels and memory are something that a handful of other tablets in the market also boast of. However, the superior sound quality and overall entertainment capabilities give the Xoom an extra edge.
Size: 249.1 x 167.8 x 12.9 mm Display: 10.1-inch, WXGA (1280x 800 pixels), HD 720p Weight: 708 grams (WiFi); 730 grams (3G) Camera: 5 MP (rear), 2 MP (front) Memory: up to 32 GB Connectors: Micro USB; HDMI out, 3.5 mm headset jack Format support: AAC, H.263, H.264, Mp3, MPEG-4, AAC+
Rs 35,590 (3G) Rs 29,990 (Wi-fi only)
Enhanced, OGG, MIDI, AMR NB, AAC+ Connectivity: WiFi 802.11 a,b,g,n, Stereo Bluetooth
Love – Great sound quality, long battery life Hate – Not the fastest tablet, average camera
Combing through Honeycomb
technology 2.1+EDR+HID
mahananda@thehindu.co.in
It’s no surprise that the first device that took to Honey-
Buzzing Apps!
Specifications
Processor: 1GHz Dual Core Battery: 24 W-hr
Great Battles Medieval
Google Body Displaying an interactive 3D model of the human anatomy, Google Body is one of the most useful apps in the Market. You can view different anatomical layers, zoom in, and navigate to parts that interest you. Click to identify anatomy, or search for muscles, organs, bones and more. Free
Great Battles Medieval is a unique blend of real-time strategy and roleplaying that allows you to develop your army and gain experience, abilities and equipment to customise your troops during the Hundred Years War. The game is optimised for TEGRA 2 chips that deliver great detail on your tablet Rs 322.72
A handful of Honeycomboptimised apps to keep you busy as a bee
Cordy
Dolphin Browser HD
Cordy is a little robot with a big job to power up his world! Help Cordy run, jump, push, pull, lift, throw, bounce, swing, and hover in this beautiful console-quality 3D puzzle platform game. Free
Dolphin displays web pages as a series of thumbnails and lets you open one with just a tap. You can say goodbye to typing with Dolphin Gesture as you can draw a sun to go to a weather web site or ‘G’ to access the Google home page. Free
Pulse News Pulse integrates your favourite web sites and transforms them into a colourful and interactive mosaic. You can tap on an article to see a clean and elegant view of the news story and save it for reading later on any platform of your choice. Free
Plume for Twitter A highly customisable Twitter client, Plume fixes a colour for each person that appears in your timeline. The app features a smart discussion reader and displays timeline, mentions and DMs in the same screen. Free
Basic bytes Dell Inspiron One 2310
The Power Of ONE
Dell’s machine is the cheapest on test – and it shows. While the brilliant, 23-inch, HD LED-backlit screen gives a good first impression, and audio from the THXcertified speakers is also nifty, the touchscreen software bundle is limited, as is the spec. Getting 4GB of RAM, Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit and a 500GB wedge of storage is not to be sniffed at, but the 2.66GHz dualcore i5, and ATI’s entrylevel, 1GB Mobility Radeon HD 5470 start wheezing if you ask them to play new games. Otherwise this spec is enough for multitasking apps. Love: Great screen. Good audio. Low price Hate: Most users would be better off paying more Rs 52,065
Sleek sophistication HP TouchSmart 610-1030UK With a high-end spec and responsive touchscreen on a brilliantly vibrant, 23inch, LED-backlit, HD display, this bad boy is worth its price. The 64-bit version of Windows 7 Home Premium runs smoothly on the 3.2GHz dualcore i5 650 and 6GB of RAM. Connectivity is not lacking with six USBs, and there’s a humongous 1.5TB hard drive. The sound is better than anything else on test, too. The only corner cut is a mid-range mobile 1GB ATI Radeon HD 5570 graphics card which limps through Crysis2. Love: Excellent screen. Comprehensive and responsive touch experience. Groovy audio Hate: Graphics aren’t quite gaming-ready Rs 87,000
Cutting-edge innovation Sony Vaio VPCL21S1E/B L-SERIES Sony’s Edge Access technology makes this touchscreen PC great to play with. It involves using a touch interface on the side, so you don’t have to slide your fingers over the whole screen for navigation. It’s a unique feature that works well. With a 2GHz dualcore i7 and 8GB of RAM, this is speedy indeed. The 1GB Nvidia GeForce GT 540M isn’t amazing, but it will manage Crysis 2 on mid-range settings. Factor in a brilliant, 24-inch, 1080p, LED-backlit screen connectivity including HDMI and 1TB of storage and you have a very fine PC. Love: Edge Access touch interface. Excellent multi-media. Great HD screen Hate: Expensive. Graphics are sub-par for gaming Rs 1,08,000
This material is translated or reproduced from T3 magazine and is the copyright of or licensed to Future Publishing Limited, a Future plc group company, UK 2011. Used under license. All rights reserved
TOP picks Monitor, tower PC, mouse, keyboard, wires, tangles and frustration – the perfect PC doesn’t do much to keep your desktop tidy. Many tech brands have decided to forego clutter and offer all-inone PCs instead. With impressive spec sheets and great performance, here’s our pick of the top 5 all-in-ones in the market. Makes the cut Acer Aspire Z5763 Acer has put together an impressive budget all-in-one here. The HD touchscreen isn’t glossy but colours are brilliant for movies and Acer has made it 120Hz, added an IR port and thrown in a pair of Nvidia’s 3D glasses, so it’s 3D-ready. We could only run Crysis 2 in 3D on low settings at HD quality but it still looked pretty ace. Cutting corners to keep the cost low, you only get 4GB of memory, a 2GB Nvidia GeForce GT435M and a dual-core i3 at 3.1GHz but Acer throws in a 1TB hard drive, six USBs and a digital TV tuner, so it’s not too budgety. Love: Cheap. Excellent 3D gubbins. Great colours Hate: Non-gloss screen. Spec lacks oomph Rs 62,000
Power games Apple iMac 27-inch An iMac so powerful it’s practically sentient, this runs OS X on Intel’s flagship 3.4GHz Core i7 Sandybridge dualcore, with AMD’s powerful 1GB Radeon HD 6970M handling HD video editing and the seven or so games currently available for Mac. Two Thunderbolt ports offer superspeed data and double-up as Display Ports. You get a respectable 1TB hard drive, but doesn’t Apple offer more than 4GB of RAM on base units? No clue about that. That said, this is very powerful, while the screen and overall aesthetics are still the best on the market. Love: Powerful CPU and graphics. Beautiful screen. Superb looks Hate: Very expensive Rs 91,900
AUTO focus
Brio-lliant! S. Muralidhar onda cars had been in the news for all the wrong reasons till last month, when car sales numbers started to look more respectable. For a brand which was a market leader in every segment that it was present in, I found it quite disheartening when its pricing strategy for the Jazz and the City seemed to be the reason for their underwhelming performance. A quick repositioning and re-pricing strategy later, the Jazz is finally finding its foothold in the premium hatch category and the City’s August sales number also indicates a strong revival in demand. But for Honda to truly strike it out and get more buyers under its umbrella it needs to be in the mass market segment. And like Toyota, Honda Cars too has waited more than a decade to enter India’s largest passenger car segment. However, the wait is finally over with HSCI (Honda Siel Cars India) all set to launch the new Brio. And importantly, from the initial impressions I get after driving the funky Brio, I think this hatch feels like it is better finished and more urbane than the Toyota Liva.
H
can all be traced back to other Honda hatches. Yet, the Brio is distinctive and very unique in the brand’s line up. A number of simple, relatively straight lines that are meant to enhance the perception of length and width of the Brio have been integrated. There is also a lot of clarity and purpose with merging lines that give the Brio’s design a lot of sophistication – like the front bumper lip that seems to merge into the shoulder line and the aerodynamic profiling for the door mirrors that merge with the base of the windscreen. The rear design of the Brio is the most simplistic. Triangular tail-lamps that have been peeled back and into the side panels try to offer some relief with a circular, cutaway, integrated stop lamp. The hatch door is frameless and all glass and it ends just a couple of inches above the base of the tail-lamps. The glass hatch door sports the Honda logo and Brio badging. The oversized rear bumper gives the Brio a squat, wide stance, as does the more prominent rear wheel arch. A rear wiper option is not offered with the Brio.
Construction Design The Honda Brio was showcased as a futuristic concept in the previous, 10th edition of the Auto Expo held in Delhi last year. Of course, the final production version of the Brio doesn’t quite have all the sci-fi features that the concept featured, but it has carried forward much of the design concept. The Brio’s design is classically Honda. Starting from the shape of the headlamps to the aerodynamic profile, to the broad bonnet grille with the H logo in the middle and the character lines, the Brio’s design features
Like the Honda City and the Jazz, the Brio too incorporates the company’s G-Force Control (G-CON) technology. There has also been extensive use of high tensile steel in all the key areas of the frame and chassis. Dampers, trailing arms and the rear hatch area have been bolstered with enhanced rigidity to contribute to a steady chassis performance. Though the rear glass doubles up as the hatch door, it is made of high strength safety glass and will be as safe as a regular metal frame and windscreen. The ground clearance has been raised to 165mm for the
Smartbuy
8
September 14, 2011
India-spec Brio, up from 150mm in the Thai-spec model. The rear roof spoiler has been changed and is smaller than the Thai version. Though the front doors are larger than the rear doors, the centre pillar has actually been placed further towards the front of the Brio. The rear doors also open wide and are almost perpendicular to the body when fully open. So, the rear seat-to-door clearance is said to be a class leading 285mm, making entry and exit easy. Similar focus on practicality, a typical Honda trait, is also evident in the tailgate (hatch) height being set to create a boot that is enclosed on all four sides, that is meant to prevent stored luggage from shifting during the drive. As a result, the loading lip is higher. The available boot space is also deceptively less, though two medium sized suitcases should fit comfortably. The front body structure along with the bonnet slab is equipped with Pedestrian injury mitigation technology, which is designed to absorb and reduce impact forces so that injury to the pedestrian is reduced. The Brio is 3,610mm in length and 1,680mm wide, and though this compact does not feature a tall-boy design, it is still 1,500mm tall (compared to the bigger Jazz’s 1,535mm). The roof line only tapers off marginally at the rear, so passengers will still get enough headroom at the rear. There is almost no rear overhang and at the front too the overhang is small, enabling a wheelbase of 2,345mm.
Interior The first impression I got when I opened the doors of the Brio is that it feels roomier than its compact dimensions would seem to allow it. It is due partly to some clever packaging and also due to Honda engineers managing to
liberate the most space from the available 2.3 metres of the Brio’s wheelbase. The other reason for the roomy feel in the cabin is the amount of light that comes in from the large glass area. The steeply raked windscreen, the large front windows and the all-glass rear hatch gives the cabin an airy, well-lit feel, even on a cloudy day, as was the case during my test drive. The other feature of the Brio’s interior that has enabled Honda to free up more space, especially knee-room, is thinner seat backs. By optimising the S-spring, Honda officials claim that thinner squabs were constructed without any compromise on the support provided to the passenger. The seats at the front are bucket-type with impact mitigating integrated headrests. The dashboard layout also bears the Honda signature – simple, focused on practicality and uncluttered. The interior has a two-tone theme, but is dominated by light beige. The top half of the dash is grey, as is the centre console and steering wheel. Good fit and finish and quality plastic used gives the interior an upmarket feel which is free of compromises. Triple analog 3D instrument meters, the trio of airconditioner controls on the centre stack and the exclusive 2-DIN audio system with USB and aux-in are noteworthy features. The chunky steering wheel fits neatly into ones hands and also offers audio system controls in the top-end variants. The glove box is narrow and a bit cramped, but there are a number of cubby holes to store all sorts of stuff on the go.
Performance Inside the bonnet of the new Brio is the same 1.2-litre petrol engine from the Jazz. The 1,198cc, 16-valve, i-VTEC engine from the Jazz has just been tweaked to deliver marginally better low speed performance. It also helps that the Brio is about 125 kg lighter, weighing in at 930 kg (compared to the Jazz). The engine in the Brio now produces 65 kW of peak power (about 88PS) at 6,000rpm and the peak torque of 109Nm is available at 4,600 rpm. Valve timing changes have been incorporated, and the gear ratios of the 5-speed
manual gearbox, which is also a carry over from the Jazz, have also been tweaked for better low speed performance in the Brio. Driving the new Honda small car in city traffic, empty straights and windy, hilly roads, I found that the Brio has a fairly wide power band to handle all these conditions without the need for changing gears frequently. It feels amazingly comfortable at low speeds, managing to get down to about 15 kmph on second and about 22 kmph on third without any semblance of knocking setting in. In fact, I set the Brio on first and let it roll up what seemed to be a 15-degree incline (part of a deserted section of the road) and just took both my feet off the pedals. The Brio kept rolling up, with the ECM clocking up the revs every time the sensor sent it feedback that the vehicle slowing down could lead to engine knocking. The extent of low-end torque available and to the extent that the engine and gearbox together make it behave like an automatic are features that will delight city users who are going to be crawling in slow moving traffic more often
than zipping on the highway. There is also ECO lamp that glows when the Brio is being driven in fuel-efficient driving mode.
Bottomline The Brio is said to be capable of delivering fuel efficiency of 18.4 kmpl, compared to the Jazz’s 16.7 kmpl. So, one key buyer need in the segment has been taken care of well. The cabin is roomy and fairly well insulated for a car in this segment. Suspension set up includes McPherson struts at the front and H-shape torsion beam at the rear. The ride is not the most pliant, but is fairly dynamic again for a car in this segment. The Brio is likely to be offered with four variants, with the top two variants featuring all the safety features like ABS, EBD and dual front airbags. I hope Honda will price the Brio aggressively within the Rs 3.8 lakh to Rs 4.8 lakh price band. For buyers who are waiting in the wings to buy Honda quality in the small car segment, here is the best option. muraliswami@thehindu.co.in
Photos: S. Muralidhar
Clockwise (from top left): Large diameter cylinders would be ideal for Indian conditions Logo and badging on the glass hatch at the Brio’s rear are eyecatching 175/65 R14 tyres and 14-inch rims are a bit dimunitive but ideal for Indian roads The Jazz engine has been packed tight into the relatively cramped space of the Brio’s bonnet Boot design may be pracical but could cause a few buyer complaints
Smartbuy
10
September 14, 2011
MELANGE luxury redefined
Indian influence The Italian fashion brand Etro embraces the enchanting influence of India in its new collection of jackets. The “India Jacket” comes in four forms, each made out of rich velvet or wool and carrying the iconic paisley pattern. Choose from deep midnight blue or dark black colours. Available at its boutiques in Mumbai and Bengaluru. Rs 66,500
Uniquely you Forest Essentials introduces its range of ayurvedic facial kits, each designed for one of the three doshas - Kapha, Pitta and Vata. Each kit comes in a compact bag with a mixing bowl, facial mist, cleanser and aloe vera juice to brighten and moisturise the skin. Pick the one that matches your dosha and skin type to get the best results. Available at its stores in select cities. Rs 975
The best tonic Cast away your fashion woes with the new range of clutch handbags from toniQ. These bags come in jewelled, rope, studded and lace styles, each one named after a fashion icon to match your mood and personality. Be it a night out or a casual brunch, these clutches can jazz up your outfit. Available at all lifestyle stores. Rs 1,249 onwards
Superhuman scent Unleash the superhero in you with Only the Brave Captain America, the newest limited edition fragrance for men from Diesel. The unique fist shaped bottle comes painted with Captain America’s shield and encloses a heady mix of lemon, mandarin, rosemary and cedar. Available at its boutiques. Rs 3,500 (75ml)
Saunter in style This autumn, take a walk in the new range of penny loafers by Crocs, the Crocs Cobbler collection. Featuring a Croslite footbed, trendy flannel and plaid linings and hints of suede and leather, these shoes will keep your feet warm and comfortable no matter where you tread. Available at its stores in New Delhi, Bengaluru and Mumbai. Rs 2,495
Smartbuy
11
September 14, 2011
HAUTE homes
8
2 1
5
4 3 9
6 7
Serene sit-out 1. A traditional Kutchi pankho (hand fan) rests peacefully against a brocade cushion. The fan has a leather base and sports an edging of colourful threads. The handle has been hand-painted with vibrant lac hues. Available at Bayaa Design. Rs 850 2. Old is gold! The dye and gold zari of an old brocade saree were painstakingly restored to create this cushion cover. Available at Peacock Life. Rs 450 (small) and Rs 1,200 (medium) 3. A traditional material in contemporary lines, the bench is crafted out of a single piece of natural rainbow sandstone. Available at Fusion Access. Rs 14,500 onwards 4. The bandhani or tie-and-dye technique is always in fashion! Seen here is a dupatta using this traditional art form from Gujarat and Rajasthan. Available at FabIndia. Price on request 5. Bandhani blooms: flowers created out of tie-and-dye fabric. Stylist’s own.
This charming sit-out sees hints of the old and the new. Be it sandstone planters filled with marigolds, the beautiful pankho or the brocade cushion... every accessory lends a traditional Indian touch to the setting. A stunning accompaniment is the cascade of Moroccan lanterns.
6. Bright marigolds are heaped on elegant planters made out of a single piece of natural rainbow sandstone. The planter has a drainage outlet which can be plugged for easy conversions into a water feature. Use them as a standalone piece or place them in a group of three in varied sizes to make a statement. Available at Fusion Access. Rs 14,500 onwards 7. The verdi gris patina of the brass Bikaner bowls complements the happy hues of the yellow and orange marigolds. Available at Viya Home. Price on request 8. The jewel-toned Moroccan lamps create magic over this compact ledge. The detailed craftsmanship is evident in the metalwork of the lantern. Available in varied designs and colours. Available at Fusion Access. Rs 850 onwards 9. The tall and stunning Tanjore Finials can add character to any drab corner. Made of brass, one sports a verdi gris finish, while the other is nickel plated. Available at Viya Home. Price on request - Better Interiors
TASTER’S choice
Arid Arizona’s avid vintners John Mariani learned two things by staying in my room at The Hermosa Inn to avoid the 107 degrees Fahrenheit temperature outside in Scottsdale, Arizona. First, daytime TV is much worse than I imagined. Second, a bottle of Arizona wine will help you get through it till dinner. Of course, it is surprising that Arizona makes wine at all, given the withering heat and arid conditions. In fact, the state has 45 federally bonded and licensed wineries, many with fine western names like Tombstone, Bitter Creek and Broken Glass. While Spanish missionaries made wine here in the 18th century, modern viticulture with European vinifera grapes like Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon and Grenache only started in 1973 in Sonoita. Today there’s even an Arizona Vines & Wines quarterly magazine, whose current edition concentrates on Arizona women involved in the industry, including Deb Wahl of Oak Creek Vineyards & Winery, which produces 1,500 cases a year of Zinfandel, Syrah, Merlot and Chardonnay. Wahl says she moved to Sedona after 9/11, looking for “somewhere quieter, somewhere safe to raise my son.” There are three wine trails to tour, Verde Valley northeast of Phoenix, Sonoita south of Tucson, and Wilcox southeast of Tucson. They are all in high desert, at elevations between 3,800 and 6,000 feet - similar to those of Mendoza, Chile - where temperatures are 20 to 30 degrees lower than in Phoenix and Scottsdale. Even so, the few bottles sent out of state, sold via the Internet, can only be shipped in cooler months.
I
The wine I drank in my room was a Page Springs Cellars Vino del Barrio 2009. This family-owned winery is just fifteen minutes south of Sedona, with a tasting room and weekly tours. Labelled simply “Arizona Red Wine,” it is a reserve blend of the winery’s best barrels and varietals. At a friendly 13.6 per cent alcohol, it has a grapey flavour and an undercurrent of sweetness that would be very good at an Arizona pork barbecue or with soy sauce-based dishes. A wine like this loves salt and sweetness. One night, when the temperature dropped to the chilly 90s, I went to FnB, one of Scottsdale’s most popular new restaurants, where Chef-owner Charleen Badman and partner-sommelier Pavle Milic are committed to introducing guests to the breadth of Arizona wines. The ebullient Milic, who kept calling me “My dear sir,” arrayed flights of Arizona bottlings that were all clean and well made, the reds tending to be dense and very fullbodied.
Bages, my dear sir,” he said as he poured a KeelingSchaefer Three Sisters Syrah 2008. I asked who did the tasting, and he said chefs and wine experts. I wasn’t entirely surprised. Big, dense reds tend to dominate more refined Bordeaux in tastings. Still, the Keeling-Schafer, made “on the western slope of the Chiricahua Mountains,” was very good - rich but not cloying - and went well with smoky items on FnB’s menu like lamb tenderloin with summer tabouli, mint and pomegranate. I also enjoyed a 2008 Dos Cabezas Toscano Red Blend from Cochise County, a mix of Sangiovese, Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc, which was nice and loose and pretty velvety on the palate, with a strong finish. Owned by Todd and Kelly Bostock since 1995, the winery moved to Sonoita in 2003 and now makes 3,000 cases of wines a year. At an alcohol level above 15 per cent, however, more than one glass of the Dos Cabezas might require a designated driver for the night.
The tasting
The Back Lot blend
The Arizona Red
“In a blind tasting of red wines from Arizona, California and Europe, this wine won out over a Chateau Lynch-
Photos: Bloomberg
As the scent of a mesquite grill floated in the air of the restaurant, I tried a Callaghan “Back Lot” Red Blend 2008 from Cochise County, an unusual combination of Mourvedre and Zinfandel that had the flavours of deep cherry and a hint of chocolate. My favourite of the whites, “Ann’s Blend” from the same winery, was an outstanding accomplishment made with 45 per cent Grenache Blanc, 35 per cent Verdelho and 20 per cent Symphony (a hybrid of Muscat and Grenache Blanc created at the University of California Davis). Kent Callaghan’s winery started in 1990, the year Phoenix’s Shy Harbor Airport was shut down by a 120-degree heat wave. Even at 4,800 feet in Callaghan’s vineyards up in Elgin, the temperature rose to 105, killing thousands of his vines. He replanted with hearty varietals that could take the high temperature during the day and the cool desert nights. Next time I’m in Arizona, I hope it will be in winter. I’ll light a fire, watch the steaks grilling, pop the cork on an Arizona wine and wait for the moon to rise over Cochise County. (The author writes on wine for Muse, the arts and leisure section of Bloomberg News. The opinions expressed are his own.)
EVENT meter
Goan gastronomical delights S
ea, sun and sand. These aren’t the only factors that bring visitors to Goa year after year. Goa’s zesty cuisine is a clear winner with tourists, and to offer Chennai lovers a treat for their taste buds is Taj Club House’s Goan Food Festival. Chef Urbano de Rego from Goa, who presents the food fest all over India, brings 42 years of knowledge and technical expertise to the table. The menu created by him is a handpicked platter of dishes and drinks unique to the region. Those who like to start the meal with a drink can choose from cocktails like the Goan Mellow (a mix of Cachaca, vodka and crème de menthe), Colva Beach Colada and Goan Sangria. Teetotallers have options like Goan Merry, a delightfully spicy drink with guava juice and lime, among others. The soul-stirring Sol-kadi, a heady concoction of coconut milk, kokum and green chillies is presented to us before we embark on the culinary extravaganza. Goan staples such as Pork Vindaloo, Chicken Xacutti and Goan Fish curry are part of the menu. But one can also go along the less travelled path with the Galinha Cafreal, a peppery preparation of pangrilled boneless chicken in a chilli and tod-
dy vinegar marinade. This dish is the perfect accompaniment to the par-boiled Goan rice brought by the Chef himself all the way from Goa. A must-try dish is the Camarao Frito which is semolina-dusted and fried prawns served with a sweet yet tangy chilli mango dip. The Mushroom Mardol starter whetted the appetite with its spicy and coconutty hit. The traditional, Goan Hindu-style vegetable curry was subtle in flavour but big on taste, as was the side-dish of baby potatoes in a chilli and coconut milk sauce. For those with a sweet-tooth, Bebinca is the ultimate Goan dessert to dig in to. The Chef’s customised creation here did not disappoint with its layers of coconut with a dash of nutmeg. The caramel flan flavoured with port wine leaves an impression with its strong caramel streak. The sweetness of the caramel is given depth with the use of port wine. To end the sumptuous feast you can sample Bolo Chocolate Con Caju, a hot mud pie with nuts, served with ice cream and hot chocolate sauce. You can savour the delights of Goan cuisine at the Taj Club House, Chennai from 9 -18 September 2011.
Checks in Chennai L
overs of the British high-fashion label Burberry in Chennai can rejoice as the brand opened its doors for the first time in the city. Spread over 230 square feet, the store is located in the luxury section of Express Avenue mall, and is based on the design concept of Christopher Bailey, the brand’s Chief Creative Officer. The store houses popular collections like Burberry London, Burberry Brit and Burberry Accessories. The winterwear selection includes a variety of coats and jackets in bright colours as well as some of the more classic styles with iconic checks with a soft lining. The store also stocks smart casual wear including shirts and dresses. Catchy eyewear, trendy watches and heady fragrances on were on display. Gold and bronze-tinted purses and clutches featuring the check design are available. The menswear section includes stylish cufflinks and leather belts. Also on offer is the Burberry Childrenswear collection which includes colourful dresses for girls and smart shirts for boys. This is the 6th Burberry store to be launched in India.
Smartbuy
15
September 14, 2011