TechSmart 80, May 2010, The Old vs New Issue

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ISSUE 80 May 2010 ISSN 1726–3358

SONY ERICSSON X10i How Android is helping SE

3D IN SA Samsung talks about their new 3D TV

WIN WIN WIN A Verbatim “Modern Survival” Goodie Bag A Lexmark printer

Asus UL30J notebook

Sony Ericsson X10i

METRO 2033

OLD VS NEW ISSUE SA’s LARGEST TECH MAGAZINE

www.techsmart.co.za

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EDITORIAL

CONTENTS Well done MWEB

ast month Smart Publishing moved to MWEB’s affordable 4096 kbps uncapped ADSL offering. While tardy at times, the fact is there was no point during the month where we had to pull out the credit card when the bandwidth ran dry. Unlimited bandwidth changes the way you think about the internet since there’s no such thing as wasting bandwidth or “budgeting” usage to stay below your cap. Therefore MWEB’s move to “free the web” with their well-priced uncapped ADSL offer is highly commendable, and I hope it forces the cellular providers to rethink the ridiculous pricing on their bandwidth (their recent adjustments simply aren’t enough). At the same time if SA is to make the most of what the web has to offer, some serious questions need to be asked about Telkom’s line-rental prices which remain a considerable barrier to entry for some. Enjoy this month’s issue.

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Mike Joubert <michael@techsmart.co.za> I am standing next to Standing Cat which you can find standing at http://tinyurl.com/thestandingcat Copyright © 2010. All rights reserved. No material, text or photo graphs may be reproduced, copied or in any other way transmitted without the written consent of the publisher. Opinions expressed are not necessarily those of the publisher or of the editor. We recognise all trademarks and logos as the sole property of their respective owners. TechSmart shall not be liable for any errors or for any actions in reliance thereon. All prices were correct at time of going to print.

TechSmart 80

Regulars 6 7 8 9 24 28 30

Feedback Tech News Sci News Industry Expert: Samsung DIY Dude: How to play games in 3D The PC Medic Web Time Wasters

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Mobiles 10 Nokia X6 11 Sony Ericsson X10i

PC Hardware 12 12 16 18 18 18 19 19 19 23 23 23

Asus UL30J Notebook Sony VAIO CW25FG Notebook NComputing U170 USB Virtual Desktop Evetech Custom Built Extreme Gaming PC Holux M-1000C GPS Logger Verbatim portable eSATA combo hard drive Billion BiPac 7402X 3G/ ADSL2+ VPN Firewall Router LM-I56A 56K PCI Modem EnGenius ESR7750 Dual-Band Router HP Laserjet P1606dn Oki Mono Printer B2200 Samsung Laser Printer ML-1910

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Telephony 22 3CX PBX systems 19

Services 25 Cartridge Depot 25 SiSence PrismCubed 32 TechSmart.co.za Online Business Directory

Internet 24

26 NetSmart: The evolution of connectivity 26 Virus safe and secure: Staying safe from phishing

Gaming 38 Metro 2033 38 Command and Conquer 4: Tiberian Twilight

Competitions and Give-aways 6 Lexmark INTERACT 3-in-1 Printer 30 Verbatim “Modern Survival” Goodie Bag Editor Mike Joubert > 083-290-2889 michael@techsmart.co.za Business Manager George Grobler > 083-460-0402 Key Accounts Suzanne Grobler > 083-742-6370 suzanne@smartpublishing.co.za Advertising Anneke Kirchner > 083-301-9134 anneke@smartpublishing.co.za Head Designer Brett Wilson Contributors Mike Joubert [MJ], Thomas McKinnon [TM], Linda Pretorius [LP], Hanleigh Daniels [HD], MJ Stephenson [MS], Online Editor Mike Joubert Accounts & Subscriptions Ronel Keet > 012-362-2732 Distribution Renier van Vuuren > 073-166-1515 renier@smartpublishing.co.za

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98 513 copies per month Consumer: SciTech [Oct – Dec 2009] Published by

SMARTPUBLISHING MASS MEDIA SPECIALISTS

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FEEDBACK

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User replies

Comment on the news and reviews on TechSmart.co.za and you might win the incredible Lexmark INTERACT 3-in-1 printer, scanner and copier with touch-screen. It includes Eco Mode and a threeyear guarantee with lifetime phone support.

TECHSMART FEEDBACK Dear TechSmart, I would like to convey my appreciation and encouragement on such a well put together publication. I literally read it from cover to cover right from the word go, and have learned and followed much more in three months than I did in computer classes at high school. Thanks to your articles I’ve learned to ask specific technically related questions whenever I have interest in something on the shelves. Keep up the good work and may you be rewarded for all the contributions that you are making towards a more informed and digitally adept South Africa!!

Regards, Linton Dube, Sunnyside

Letters / Email shortened due to space restrictions.

WE WANT YOUR FEEDBACK!!!

Hi Linton, thanks for the kind words, we are glad to keep you up to date. You’ll find even more info and reviews at www.techsmart.co.za. Enjoy the Lexmark 3-in-1 printer.

Mike.

Hi Mike, Your April editorial brought quite some good memories! I also remember buying vinyl records (at least one per month) and recording some music onto cassettes during my school days. It also reminded me of a chap we nicknamed “Speed 33” because he spoke – very slowly.

Regards, Norman Pariza

FEEDBACK FROM TECHSMART.CO.ZA

Gavin Schoonbee on the Nokia E72: I took the E72 coming from the E71 and I have to honestly say BRILLIANT!!! This is a bred business phone which in my opinion has no rivals in the business phone world.

Almost Not Amused on our April Fool’s article “Fibre optic cable cover-up”: Ha-ha! You got me for a minute....! I realised something was wrong when I read about the “super fast 56Kbps dial-up.”

From our Facebook Fan page: On the Apple iPad feedback buzz: Chillas Ntuli: Can’t wait to lay my hands on it.

Benedict Thapelo Moeti: Just remember the price tag it will come with Chillas.

PRINT LESS SAVE MORE

Did you know? 1 in 6 pages printed in the workplace are never used!

Let’s protect the planet together. Let’s stop printing waste!

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Ask your administrator to show you how to print in duplex and multi-up, it saves paper Tips from Lexmark for those of us looking to improve our printing practices, for the benefit of the environment.

Give us your feedback on any of the articles by emailing us on info@techsmart.co.za or leave comments on our website or Facebook page. The Feedback of the Month wins the incredible Lexmark INTERACT 3-in-1 printer, scanner and copier with touch-screen. It includes paper saving Eco Mode and a three-year guarantee with lifetime phone support.

techsmart.co.za l May 2010

100. Cyber attacks suffered by the world’s PCs every second.

Vrdeath on the Nokia X6: I tried this phone while it was in the office as I have a Nokia 5800 and thinking of upgrading to the X6. VERY VERY NICE PETER, a nice upgrade from the Nokia 5800 and the screen is a lot more responsive, plus the Comes with Music is worth its weight in gold. The only things I didn’t like were that it is very heavy and it doesn’t use a stylus.

Titbits

Apple’s new iPhone leaked pple is well known for being extremely tight lipped about any upcoming product ranges, but a few German beers put an end to that. Apple software engineer, Gray Powel,l was having a tipple at Gourmet Haus Staudt, California, when he left a cleverly disguised new Apple iPhone test model behind. The phone found its way onto tech site Gizmodo, and more than 8 million hits later, the iPhone 4G was all across the internet. Apple in the meantime sent a letter asking for their phone back.

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Telkom goes Ayoba fter selling their shares in Vodacom last year, Telkom has now buddied up with MTN, announcing that they have signed a national roaming agreement that will result in Telkom entering the mobile voice and data market in South Africa. The deal means that Telkom will be able to launch its mobile service later this year by offering its customers access to MTN’s SA network, while at the same time continuing to ready its own mobile base stations.

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TECH NEWS

Hot new Products • New Office 2010 here Office 2010 should be available in-store from June, with the latest suite paying a lot of attention to online collaboration and sharing. For example, 2010 users can share documents online, with fellow contributors being able to edit with an interface that looks almost identical to the regular Word and Excel setup. PowerPoint presentations can now also be posted online with the presentation being done remotely, meaning Death-by-PowerPoint can now be executed via the net.

• Three new HTCs appear HTC has launched the long awaited Desire in SA. Hailed as the best Android phone currently available, the Desire sports the ultra-speedy Snapdragon processor and ticks all the current feature wishlist boxes, including Wi-Fi and aGPS. Also available is the smaller HTC Desire which also doesn’t shy away from features, and the less expensive Smart which should retail for under R2500. All three come equipped with HTC’s excellent Sense user interface.

1 in 3. US teens that send over 100 text messages per day via their cellphones.

• Motorola is back Motorola has introduced the Android based Milestone to SA. Known as the Droid in the US, the phone received glowing reviews when it was released there last year. Featuring a slideout QWERTY keyboard with a 3.7" capacitive touch-screen, the Droid looks set to break the drought Motorola has been experiencing in cool new phones since releasing the ultra thin RAZR in 05.

TechSmart.co.za online poll results

Will you buy an Apple iPad? • • • •

Yes, but I’m expecting to be overcharged.

No, I’m waiting for HP’s Slate.

Nope, my PC suits me just fine.

What’s an iPad?

FOLLOW US

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May 2010 l techsmart.co.za

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S C I N E WS

Titbits

Flocks in flight

Heat without the hurt

No laughing matter

irds of a feather flock together, but how?

According to a study published in the journal Nature, birds in a flock of homing pigeons were each fitted with a tiny GPS that updated their positions five times per second. By matching the time of a direction change and the position of a bird, the researchers found that a bird’s flight position is based on a well-defined social hierarchy within the flock. Although all birds in the flock are free to suggest a direction change, the relative importance of a suggestion depends on the bird’s actual position in the flock. The important decision makers were usually nearer to the front of the flock. A pecking order indeed.

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cientists may have solved the burning question of why heat hurts so much.

According to a report in a recent issue of the Journal of Clinical Investigation, skin cells produce their own chilli-like substance when subjected to excessive heat. The burning sensation, however, is caused when the substance binds to a specific receptor on neurons. When the researchers subjected skin neurons from mice with and without the receptor respectively to water heated to more than 43 °C, they found that only those cells with the receptor showed heightened activity. Their findings suggest that a new type of painkiller may be developed based on blocking the receptor for the heat-induced substance.

Hot stuff.

or hyenas giggling is a serious thing.

According to a report in a recent issue of the journal BMC Ecology, hyenas use giggling sounds to determine social rank. Acoustic analysis of hyena calls showed that the pitch of a giggle reveals the age of the animal, while the pattern of pitch changes signals whether it holds a dominant or subordinate position in the pack. Scientists think that these calls are usually voiced during food contests by animals that cannot access the kill, and so are thought to be a sign of submission. A giggle may also be a call for help by a frustrated animal who had its kill hijacked by stronger predators like lions. A solitary hyena will stand no chance against a lion, but with the help of backup summoned by a giggle the hyena may be able to scare off the lions and get its food back. [LP]

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Other cool reads • Faith healing: Brain shuts off in response to healer’s prayer. http://tinyurl.com/faithbrain • Depressed people eat more chocolate. http://tinyurl.com/morechocolate

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• New machine improves athletes’ performance by optimising hydration levels during training. http://tinyurl.com/sweatbaby

• Elephants emit “bee rumble” to warn others of bees. http://tinyurl.com/elebee

$1bn. Amount HP paid for smartphone manufacturer Palm.

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Acer Extensa 5635

HP 4310s

Dell Vostro A860

Intel Dual Core 2.2GHz 2048MB RAM 250GB Hard Drive Built in Webcam Wifi Bluetooth 15.6" LED Screen 7-in-1 Card Reader Windows 7 Home Premium 64bit

Core 2 Duo 2.1 GHz 4096 MB RAM 500 GB Hard Drive DVD-Writer Wireless Lan Bluetooth 15.6" LCD Display Windows 7 Professional

Core 2 Duo 2.2 GHz 2048 MB RAM 160 GB Hard Drive DVD-Writer Wireless LAN Bluetooth 13.3" LCD Display Windows Vista Business

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HP Compaq 610

HP Compaq 610

Lenovo U350

Celeron M 2.1 GHz 1024 MB RAM 160 GB Hard Drive DVD-Writer Wireless LAN 15.6" LCD Display Built in Webcam Windows 7 Basic

Core 2 Duo 2 GHz 2048 MB RAM 320 GB Hard Drive DVD-Writer Wireless LAN Bluetooth 15.6" LCD Display Windows 7 Professional

Intel ULV723 1.2GHz 2048MB DDR3 RAM 250GB Hard Drive Built in Webcam Wifi Bluetooth 13.3" HD LED Screen 4-IN-1 Card reader Windows Vista Home Basic

R4890

R6650

R3999

Terms and Condi ons apply. Stocks are limited. E&OE. Product may vary from picture. Prices may change without no ce due to Rand Dollar fluctua ons. All prices quoted are cash or EFT only and Incl VAT.

3 Fan Cooling Pad

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HP, Acer, Compaq, IBM, Dell, Fujitsu Siemens, Mecer, Sony, Asus, Toshiba, Packard Bell, LG, Lenovo, Proline, Gigabyte, Apple Mac, BenQ, Sahara, and many more….

Samsung

INTE RV IE W

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The first 3D televisions are hi ng the SA market this month, and according to Samsung’s TV product marke ng manager, Corrie Labuschagne, 3D can in future become a standard feature. He tells us more about the 3D offerings Samsung is bringing to market.

Is 3D a fad or the way we’ll be watching television in the future?

Corrie Labuschagne (CL): If we look at the trend of 3D releases and theatres investing in 3D projection equipment as well as major studios investing in releasing 3D Blu-ray content, we expect 3D technologies to become an “expected” and “standard” feature when consumers shop for televisions. The active 3D technology is relatively new and will still evolve and enhance and will ultimately improve our viewing experience over time.

Martin Cooper. Inventor of the first cellphone, made by Motorola in 1973.

R900 for the entry level pair of 3D glasses seems a bit steep, especially if you have a family to cater for. Any comment?

CL: This is the price for purchasing the 3D glasses as an accessory. For this reason Samsung has taken the decision to include two 3D glasses with a 3D TV purchased as a bundle.

MultiChoice commented that 3D glasses might be a barrier to entry. Will we see 3D glasses being made redundant in future?

CL: That technology is already available, however, it does have various drawbacks. We believe that the shutter based technology with glasses offers the best Full HD 3D viewing experience.

With MultiChoice not really committing to 3D broadcasting soon, 3D content seems a bit slim. Do you think your 2D to 3D converting of regular content will fill the gap?

CL: The 2D to 3D conversion technology of Samsung allows consumers to watch all content in 3D, this means you can watch programs/ sport/ movies in 3D by pressing a button, allowing consumers to watch anything and everything in 3D. Only Blu-ray players would be able to handle 3D DVDs. How many 3D titles will be making their debut on Bluray this year?

CL: We will probably see around 200 titles in the market over one year, increasing the number of titles to choose from.

What’s the price consumers will be paying for 3D, say for example on a 40" screen?

CL: The 40" C7000 will retail for approximately R30 000.

techsmart.co.za l May 2010

Smartphones

Nokia X6

Music’s way Nokia has launched its new X series of phones, and in the same vein as the E series is all about business and the N series about high-end, the X series is designed for music and entertainment.

Capacitive touch-screen eleased a year later than the excellent XpressMusic 5800, the Nokia X6 steps out as Nokia’s first capacitive touch-screen Symbian phone. The X6 consequently offers a far more responsive touch experience than the 5800, most notable when typing.

The overall navigation process is also improved by the better touch experience, but Nokia missed a capacitive touch trick, as pinch to zoom and other multi-touch gestures are missing. To zoom in on webpages you need to double tap the screen – which is a little archaic in a multi-touch environment.

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Features The X6’s spec sheet reads like a smartphone wishlist. It comes with a whopping 32 GB internal storage, a full complement of connectivity options including 3G HSDPA and WLAN, GPS with aGPS and a 5 megapixel camera. Also included is Nokia’s excellent Comes with

Music, which is an all access licence to Nokia’s Music Store for a year. The X6 is an impressive music device offering decent audio quality, a 3.5 mm jack and FM radio beyond its enormous storage and Comes with Music license. Managing your media is now a little easier as well, with Nokia updating its Ovi Suite, which has gone some way to making downloading and syncing easier.

No love Despite these great features we never fell in love with the phone. It is often frustrating to use due to sluggish and erratic performance.

For some reason, either the ARM 11 434 MHz processor or the OS decides it needs a time out every so often, so the phone slows down to a crawl.

Applications for the device are also rather thin, with the volume on Nokia’s Ovi Store not on par with the offers from Android or the iPhone. Other oddities include the fact that you can’t charge the phone via USB. Conclusion The X6 failed to blow us away. It looks impressive on paper, but there are a few niggles that get to you; performance speed being a key issue. It also lacks the charm the 5800 had when it was first launched, but its screen is far more responsive, which goes a long way to making the Symbian OS bearable.

The X6’s camera, Comes with Music access and capacitive screen make it worth considering though. If you were a fan of the 5800 XpressMusic you’ll probably love the X6. Available from Altec Autopage Cellular, see p3 for your nearest shop. [TM]

Symbian^3. Open-source OS featured on the Nokia N8.

M O B I LE S

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M OB IL E S

Smartphones

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Sony Ericsson X10i

Welcome Back SE Let’s get this straight – we were big fans of Sony Ericsson (SE) here in the office. Their phones used to be well thought out tech, full of excellent extras that made for a very enjoyable user experience. But for almost two years we saw a steady decline. ow thanks to the Android OS and the speedy 1 GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon powering the X10i, Sony Ericsson seems to be back in the game.

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1.5 GHz. Speed of Qualcomm’s Dual-Core Snapdragon processor appearing later in 2010.

All you need The X10i includes all you expect from a smartphone – GPS, WiFi, email integration, a very decent and feature rich 8.1 megapixel snapper, document viewing (but not editing unfortunately) and HSDPA. All this in a stylish, but big, body with a suberb 4" capacitive touch-screen. The screen might not be as big as the 4.3" monster on the HTC HD2, but it contains more pixels per inch for a crisper display. That said, the X10i is only slightly smaller than the huge HD2 and actually a bit thicker (11 mm vs. 13 mm).

Timescape Just like HTC’s Sense UI, SE builds extra functionality into the phone, utilising their Timescape interface in much similar fashion. Timescape makes easy work of integrating Twitter and Facebook, with these, alongside new SMSs and emails, being displayed on the homescreen almost like cue cards.

Calling problems While typing SMSs or emails wasn’t a hassle, we struggled calling with the X10i. Part of the problem is getting use to the fact that the X10i doesn’t carry physical buttons for “answer” and “end call”, or onscreen alternatives situated at the correct place, i.e. at the bottom left and right corner. It makes your initial dialling experience difficult, since you need to find the appropriate buttons on-screen, and trying to make a quick call while driving will almost certainly end up being your last one.

Almost as frustrating as this, is the maximum volume of incoming calls. In the office it’s fine, but go outside and you’ll find yourself struggling to hear what the other person is saying.

Switching to speakerphone doesn’t help, since it’s also not up to standard.

Conclusion The X10i puts Sony Ericsson squarely back amongst the big guns of the smartphone market. It looks sleek, the Snapdragon processor is as always stunning and thank heavens they decided to drop Symbian. For a first attempt at the Android OS, it’s an excellent effort and we can’t wait to see what SE will do with a bit of experience under their belt. Available from Altec Autopage Cellular, see p3 for your nearest shop. [MJ]

techsmart.co.za l May 2010

PC H A R DWAR E

Notebooks

Asus UL30J notebook

Thin and Bright We love thin-and-light notebooks. They generally cost more than regular notebooks, but that kilo or so less that you put in your Notebook bag at the end of the day makes a big difference. Asus’ UL30J brings yet another element to the party: good ba ery life. or the tests we conducted the UL30J provided battery life in the range of 5-6 hours with the Wi-Fi switched on and average usage. It also has one of the best screens on a notebook we’ve come across, so viewing photos or movies on this 13.3" 16:9 HD ready (1366 x 768) screen was a pleasure.

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Ports On the side of the notebook you’ll find a nice array of ports including three USB ports and an HDMI connection. A memory card reader is also present, which makes the ports on par with what you’ll find on other recent notebooks. The nature of the thin-and-light beast calls for the jettison of the DVD drive, which we think is a fair trade-off for its reduced weight; a rather manageable 1.5 kg. Compared to other thin-and-lights

we’ve reviewed, such as the Acer Travelmate Timeline 8471 and the Samsung X460, it compares favourably in size and weight, but is simply much more powerful, since it includes the latest Core i5 processor and a very efficient 4 GB of DDR3 RAM. Its 640 GB of hard disk space is more than enough for job related data, plus some extra movies.

Keyboard and trackpad The chiclet styled keyboard is in vogue right now, and it was hassle free to work with, but the trackpad had a few kinks.

One of the problems is the keypad is flush with the palm rest with only tiny little dimples identifying it. A trackpad with a slightly raised border usually works better. We also found it very difficult to pinch and zoom into webpages or documents, or use Asus’ strange two fingered approach to scrolling up or down.

Conclusion The Asus UL30J thin-and-light notebook seems like the perfect choice for road warriors, since lugging this machine around isn’t a hassle, while above average battery life will eliminate the need to have a power plug as the essential requirement of any coffee shop. If you’re happy enough to buy a mouse to get past using the difficult trackpad, you’ll have yourself one top notch notebook, thanks to the powerful i5 processor, lots of RAM and a really excellent screen. Price TBA. Call Asus 011-783-5450 [MJ]

Sony VAIO VPCCW25FG laptop

Up for a game Sony’s latest VAIO CW25FG notebook runs on the Core i3, Intel’s entry level to their new Core range of processors. While the new Core range handles graphics and HD much be er, what Sony included as an extra is what really impressed us. nside you’ll find the NVIDIA GeForce GT 330M graphics card with 512 MB of dedicated video memory.

It enhanced the graphics to such an extent that we were very happily playing the new Command & Conquer 4 (see p38 for review) on the highest settings.

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Specs Just to get a few specs quickly out of the way – the Sony CW25FG’s i3 CPU runs very comfortably at 2.13 MHz, and is stocked with 3 GB worth of RAM. Its 320 GB worth of hard disk space should deal with your growing video collection at least for a little while. (The unit that we received for review was a pre-release test unit, so actual setup might differ.)

techsmart.co.za l May 2010

Workspace The chiclet styled keyboard was work friendly and we found it hassle free to type on. Ditto for the smart touchpad – it was spacious, not too smooth and it supports multi-touch gestures such as pinch and zoom. As far as size is concerned the VAIO is pretty much average, weighing 2.4 kg with a 14" LED backlit screen. Average also applies to the unit’s battery life, standing at about 2½ to 3 hours; as well as sound, which was adequate, but should have been better.

Above the keyboard you’ll find three shortcut buttons – one for VAIO Assist, one to turn off the display and another that will lead you to VAIO’s Media Gallery. Depending on how much you like the included VAIO software you’ll find these shortcuts either very handy or merely a waste of a potentially useful button.

Ports Apart from a DVD drive, three USB ports and memory card readers on the side, you also get a HDMI connection to hook the PC up to an HDTV, plus Sony’s i.Link port to connect it to AV equipment that supports this type of port. An ExpressCard slot rounds off the port offering nicely.

Conclusion The Sony VAIO CW25FG left us very impressed.

Although it’s nothing special in regards to size, battery life or speaker quality, the VAIO’s 3D performance was excellent. As always you pay a premium for a Sony product, with the CW25FG marked with a RRP of R9999 – more than we expected for an i3 machine. It includes an international warranty. [MJ]

50%. Increase in speed for the new generation Macbook using a Core i7 processor compared to the previous generation using Core 2 Duo.

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PC HARDWARE

Virtual Desktops

NComputing U170 USB Virtual Desktop

The Global Leaders in “ultra low cost and ultra green desktop virtualization”

U get 10 for One NCompu ng has been advoca ng cost saving measures for more than a decade via their easy to set-up virtualisa on devices like the X (PCI) and L (Ethernet) series. The idea behind their products is pre y simple – one machine, many users.

Put 30 users on 1 computer from as little as R785 a user

L – Series

1 WATT PC LOWEST COST PCi connected – 11 users per PC

4 WATT PC GREATEST SCALABILITY Ethernet connected – 31 users per PC

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“NEVER before has a single technology connected so many people at such a low cost”

Save money, time, and aggravation Official importer and distributor of NComputing Products CALL: 011 465-7952 Email: info@ncs.co.za Web: www.ncs.co.za • E&OE • Prices are ex VAT and subject to the Rate of Exchange ruling at the time of invoice

heir latest offering, the U170, is a great addition to the range as it’s easier to setup than the X or L series and allows you to add a single user at a time for groups of users that work in small clusters, like small call centres or school computer rooms.

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Benefits The U series allows you to connect up to nine U170s (and therefore nine users) to a host PC. You can then plug in a mouse and keyboard, headphones, mic and monitor (via VGA) to each U170 device in use. The U170 is very compact with dimensions of 125 x 80 x 30 mm and can be neatly attached to VESA compliant monitors. In a smart move NComputing designed the U170 to be powered by the host PC via USB, but to connect more than one U170 to a host you will require a powered USB hub.

Software To manage multiple clients on a host PC you need NComputing’s very useful vSpace software. It’s an incredibly simple bit of software to use and it allows you to create and customise independent workspaces for each user of the host PC. Once you register each new user, you can adjust their display, login and remote access options.

Issue While we were generally impressed by the U170, two issues stood out. Firstly the device cannot support 64-bit operating systems, something that isn’t mentioned anywhere on its packaging. But a 64-bit beta is now available for Server 2008 R2 and Windows Multipoint Server.

Conclusion The U170 is a fantastic little device. We were thoroughly impressed by how easy it is to setup and manage. The cost benefit that the U series offers is also impressive; you could feasibly save as much as 50% on hardware costs per cluster setup with the U170, as it cost just R785 (excl. VAT) per unit (excluding mouse, keyboard etc.). For more information contact NC Solutions on 011-465-7952. [TM]

techsmart.co.za l May 2010

Nearly 4x. Increase in Intel’s net income for Q1 2010.

X – Series

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P C HA RDWAR E

Gaming | Gadgets

Evetech Custom Built Extreme Gaming PC

Holux M-1000C GPS Logger

Gaming as it should be

All your routes logged

he ATI Radeon HD 5870 graphics card is a monster, both in size and performance.

This encased GPU is two stops away from being top of the current ATI line-up, and you’ll find this DirectX 11 supporting GPU tucked very neatly into Evetech’s Extreme Gaming PC. The emphasis here is indeed on extreme, since the PC’s performance was simply excellent.

We tested the machine with Metro 2033 (see review on p38) and it ran the highest graphical setting without a glitch. The fact that Evetech overclocked the already powerful AMD Phenom II Black Edition X4 965 processor to 4 GHz, of course also helped greatly with the performance (with it running at an acceptable 60°C). One issue we had was noise from the top fan which kicked up a racket at around 85 – 90° C. There’s also not much place for expansion on the motherboard, but hey, you’ve asked for a high-end gaming machine and you’ve got it. From Evetech.co.za for a good R12 699 if you pay by EFT (no OS included).

Holux’s M-1000C logger is a matchbox sized device that requires only for you to switch it on, in order for it to start tracking your movements.

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t’s a hassle free method to log routes while travelling by car, keep track of training while cycling or running, or pop it into a backpack when going on a hike.

Afterwards you can download the data to view the route on Google Maps or Earth, or export it for SARS inspection.

The M-1000C makes use of the world class 66 channels MTK MT 3329 chipset. It consumes very little power which makes the battery last longer than, say for example, when using your cellphone as a GPS. The battery is rated at about 20 hours and can be recharged via USB or the included travel power supply. A Bluetooth connection enables connection to your notebook, so you can navigate on there since HandyMAP Ai Standard navigation software for PC and Pocket PC is included. Available from www.pdashop.co.za for R950.

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Verbatim portable eSATA combo hard drive

SiSense Prism.

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For more information visit: www.sisense.co.za or contact SiSense’s approved reseller for South Africa

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Speed for your transfers erbatim’s portable eSATA & USB 2.0 combo hard drive offers 500 GB of storage and two connectivity options. You can connect your USB cable to transmit data to the drive at a maximum transfer rate of 480 MB/s, or if you have an eSATA connection you can hook up the powered eSATA cable to transfer or backup your data at a maximum speed of 3 GB/s (more than six times faster than USB 2.0).

The Verbatim includes Nero BackItUp 4 Essentials. With Nero you can back-up and restore all your important data for that always unforeseen circumstance when your PC crashes.

Nero is easy to install and configure, plus, you can also use it to automatically sync folders every time you connect the device to your PC. The drive is not as stylishly designed as the InSight though, but it’s just as compact, measuring 130 x 80 x 17 mm and weighing a very manageable 205 g.

The Verbatim will set you back in the region of R1500. For more info on the product contact Gwen Nkambule on 011-253-4940. (Also see our Verbatim competition on p30.)

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techsmart.co.za l May 2010

Routers l Modems

PC HARDWA RE 19

Billion BiPac 7402X 3G/ ADSL2+ VPN Firewall Router

The right route f you are concerned about your internet connection dropping and want the back-up of a 3G connection, Billion’s BiPac 7402X 3G/ ADSL2+ VPN Firewall Router should be on your short list. With support for both ADSL (supporting 2+) and a wireless 3G/ HSDPA connection, the Billion is handy in the office and on the road if you want to connect a number of PCs to a wireless connection. The 3G modem isn’t included and the Huawei e220 and e270 and Bandluxe c100 modems (all available in SA) are the only modems supported by the 7402X. Just remember that the 7402X isn’t a wireless router, so PCs can’t connect to it via Wi-Fi. For this you actually need its brother – the 7402GX. The 7402X sports a 4-port full-duplex 10/100 switch that enables you to connect it to other ethernet devices such as computers, additional hubs or switches in order to produce a larger network. It also features SOHO firewall security with DoS prevention and SPI boasts to protection against hackers as well as other internet-based threats. Parents and business owners can also control the access that the users at home or in the office have to the internet, when they employ the device’s URL content filtering as well as packet filtering functionality. You can pick one up at PC Pro Shop (012-348-4000) for R1950.

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LM-I56A 56K PCI Modem

Old School Connectivity ith high-speed uncapped broadband recently receiving a major price drop, it’s easy to forget internet connection’s humble origins (see p26 for more info). For those who that want a reminder, go pick up this 56K PCI Modem with a 56 Kbps download speed at PC Pro Shop (012-348-4000) for R150.

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EnGenius ESR7750 Dual-Band Router

Media streaming in the home?

No problem. $5000. Amount Gizmodo.com paid for a possible iPhone 4G prototype.

Home networks are moving beyond just sharing an internet connec on wirelessly across the house. More and more tech savvy users are using their routers to also stream pictures, music and movies wirelessly from a home server. t’s here that the more powerful capabilities of a dual-band router come into play. The EnGenius ESR7750 router simultaneously makes use of two wireless N access points, in effect offering double the amount of bandwidth than a single band router.

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Two Access Points The two wireless access points separate different types of data traffic. The first, operating on the 2.4 GHz frequency, takes care of all the low impact applications such as surfing the web, email and regular file sharing. The second 5 GHz access point plays a central role in streaming traffic that

is “latency sensitive”, basically ensuring that all your multimedia files, VoIP applications like Skype, gaming and other P2P applications and HD content (1080p movies), get priority on the network. Apart from this functionality you can also set a certain IP address (or ports) to get priority in bandwidth allocation, ensuring that certain high priority users get preferential treatment on your network.

Security On the security front the EnGenius ESR7750 router includes a firewall as well as WEP, WPA and WPA2 security. Also onboard is basic URL filtering which can be used to filter out keywords and adds an element of parental control to the home network.

Set-up The Engenius router also doesn’t require a lot of set-up, since all you need to do is connect your ADSL modem to the WAN port, while plugging your network printer or home server to one of the four available LAN ports. Switch it on and you are good to go.

The EnGenius ESR7750 router with its dualband media streaming capabilities is most suitable for home or small office usage. It comes with a RRP of R1211, for more info call Miro Distribution on 086-123-6476.

May 2010 l techsmart.co.za

TELEPHONY

22

Advertorial

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3CX PBX systems

While the open source Asterisk phone system for the Linux opera ng system made big inroads in opening up low cost Internet Protocol (IP) telephony for companies, a large and increasing number of IP telephony service providers are making the switch to 3CX, the leading Windows IP PBX system. 3CX is a scalable, so warebased PBX system and the company is cer fied as a Microso Gold Partner.

What does 3CX do? s an integrated IP telephony and unified communications platform, 3CX makes use of the internet as well as regular telephone lines to make calls. Companies that run the 3CX IP based communication solution not only save on call costs but also on the financial investment since a traditional, and costly, PBX system isn’t needed. So instead of investing in traditional proprietary hardware, 3CX runs all the calls through their software on any standard Windows operated machine (XP, Vista or 7, Server 2003/2008) plus regular IP phones or PC based “soft” phones. 3CX allows for the same functionality as a regular PBX system, including the allocations of extension numbers, call transfers, conference calling and the ability to dial other colleagues. There are a number of added extras including digital call recording, the forwarding of voicemail via email, integration of the system with Skype and a digital receptionist. The digital receptionist allows for the typical “tree branch” welcoming message (Welcome, for sales press 1, for accounts press 2, etc.).

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Other features Two other features worth mentioning are the integration of customer relationship management (CRM) software into 3CX, so you can call people from your PC directly from Salesforce.com or Outlook. Certain cellphones can also be adopted into the office PBX system. For example, if your cellphone has Wi-Fi and your office runs a wireless network, your cellphone can be used as a regular IP phone with the ability to make and receive calls via the company’s network and not the cellular companies.

Reseller Partners You can download a limited 3CX version at www.3cx.com, which will make you one of 30 000 people who does so monthly. The sole distributor of 3CX in SA is Centurion-based ICTGlobe who supply and support total solutions exclusively to authorised channel partners. Currently they are looking for potential partners who want to add IP telephony to their list of services. Partners will receive free training, sales and technical support, plus leads provided by ICTGlobe (received through the 3cx.com site). Call them today on 012-940-0250 if you would like to sign-up to become a partner.

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Printers

PC HARDWA RE 23

Monochrome Printer Face-Off HP Laserjet P1606dn

Oki Mono Printer B2200

he P1606dn, nicknamed the Mantis, is an average sized (387 x 284 x 246 mm) printer, churning out a good 25 pages per minute. The quality of the print jobs at either 600 dpi or HP FastRes 1200 resolution are very good, with the paper tray holding an average 250 (A4) sheets.

To save paper the HP includes duplex mode (automatic double-sided printing) and the Mantis also saves power with a special low energy mode. HP’s P1606dn can be connected to the network via an Ethernet port at the back of the printer. The P1606dn will only go on sale from about June, so there are no details on pricing available yet.

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58%. Revenue for Apple due to sales outside of the US.

ki printers are known for their reliability, with their B2200 the best suited for high volume print jobs.

Conservatively styled with the most compact dimensions of the bunch (320 x 204 x 181 mm), the Oki also boasts the best duty cycle by far (15 000 sheets) and a claimed 2 000 pages from its toner cartridge. The B2200 packs a printing speed of 21 ppm, but its loading tray only takes 150 A4 sheets.

Unlike the P1606dn, the B2200 doesn’t offer duplex printing, but it does deliver the same good quality printouts as the HP in its High Quality setting of 1200 x 600 dpi. Get it from Computer Corporation (08616-08616) for R700.

Samsung Laser Printer ML-1910 he Samsung ML-1910 might take up slightly more desktop real estate than the HP (360 x 389 x 197 mm), but is more stylish. Its printing is a little off the HP’s pace though, printing up to 18 A4 ppm.

We liked the Print Screen button that appears on the printer itself, allowing you to print out the info displayed on your monitor. Samsung’s AnyWeb print also boosts your productivity since the software enables you to drag and drop content (such as diagrams and tables) from various webpages onto a blank page (with a customised layout). The duty cycle of the ML-1910 is a good 10 000 pages per month (2 000 more than the P1606dn’s). You can pick one up at Computer Corporation (08616-08616) for R788.

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NATURAL POWER Betta.Life.Light 6 Volt, DIY Kit, Solar Power (5x LED Lights)

Single

3 light package - upgradeable to 8 lights

R2 800 8 light package complete

R4 400

Solar Security Solution From

R10 000

Double

5 light package upgradeable to 8 lights

R3 300

Application: Low Cost Housing, Informal Housing, Farming Communities or any off-grid lightning requirements.

Betta 144 is a robust external flood light to illuminate external areas and perimeters. It can replace gridpowered lighting or be installed as a green fields solution and compares favourably with the lifecycle cost of on-grid solutions.

Application: Security fencing, Parking Grounds or Garages, Walkways, Buildings, Billboards, Any off-grid areas.

083 403 8056 / 012 656 8467 info@naturalpower.co.za

TH E D I Y D UD E

3D

How to: Play games in 3D With the resurgence of 3D technology last year, 2010 has a variety of new gadgets for us to play with. HDTVs and projectors that are 3D capable have already been released by the major brands but, as with most new technology, if you’re not hi ng 50 it’s probably not in your budget.

VIDIA recently released their 3D product, called NVIDIA 3D Vision, which enables a regular PC to effectively provide a full stereoscopic 3D experience.

For this though you need their 3D active shutter glasses, a Samsung 3D Vision LCD display and the correct graphics card.

This isn’t cheap however, you can expect to pay between R2000 and R3000 for the glasses alone, and most gamers probably won’t cash out the R7000 needed for a complete setup. Luckily the hackers have saved us again.

What you need: • • • • •

The correct NVIDIA GPU Red and Blue cellophane paper Cardboard Scissors Glue

Correct NVIDIA card After some clever geeks on the net got the technology working with old multicoloured glasses, NVIDIA took notice and made it a free feature available for anyone with the correct NVIDIA GPU. To check if your card supports 3D go have a look at http://tinyurl.com/3dnvidia. If you have a compatible card make sure you have v186.18 or above of the GeForce driver installed.

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NVIDIA’s 3D Vision Discover Glasses Glasses needed NVIDIA uses their 3D Vision Discover glasses for this, but they are simply the blue and red type used years ago for old school 3D. I found some by simply asking around, but making them is not that difficult since you basically just need to head over to a stationary shop to find red and blue cellophane paper and cardboard. Another alternative, which also gives you a pretty cool excuse to stock up with some snacks, is to pay a visit to your local candy store and get a bunch of candy with different shades of blue and red wrappers. You’ll have to try different combinations to find the ones that work best. The rest is Grade 1 stuff – simply cut out some cardboard glasses and stick on your wrappers for lenses or just clip the wrappers over your normal glasses.

GPU setup Activate “Enable 3D VISION Discover” in the NVIDIA settings and complete the setup wizard and you’re ready to go, currently more than 350 games are supported from Left 4 Dead to Far Cry 2 and lots more to come. To be fair it’s easy to see why the coloured glasses were abandoned, you lose a bit of quality and suffer a rather huge refresh rate drop. Of course both of these can be avoided with the full R7000 package. [MS]

techsmart.co.za l May 2010

40. Governments around the world that sensor info on the web today, compared to four in 2002.

24

Consumables l Business Intelligence 1 in 3000. PCs monitored by a security firm in the UK and US infected by the Zeus banking virus.

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Your ink-saving Depot The future of Business Intelligence In recent years a new trend has emerged in the Business Intelligence (BI) environment.

Any person owning a printer knows that buying replacement printer cartridges can be very expensive, o en cos ng more than the ini al cost of the printer. artridge Depot offers very competitive pricing on either original printer cartridges or on their own Eclipse branded products. Eclipse printer cartridges are remanufactured to global standards and rigorously tested before being packed for resale. With savings of up to 30%, compared with original cartridges, Eclipse cartridges are affordably priced and offer high quality printouts with good page yields. Eclipse printer cartridges are also recycled, so they offer an environmentally friendly option for the consumer.

With a vast range of products for most printers in stock, Cartridge Depot specialises in obtaining hard-to-find consumables for their customers. They also offer a recycling initiative where empty printer cartridges can be returned for recycling.

Cartridge Depot Stores have grown to eight outlets, and are conveniently located on arterial roads and shopping centres in Pretoria, Witbank and Vanderbijlpark.

For more information or to locate the nearest Cartridge Depot store visit www.cartridgedepot.co.za.

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one are the days where the focus was placed on collecting, manipulating and managing data. Today the focus is on how business users interact with the data, and what business circumstances they are trying to improve via this interaction.

Enter the so-called Business Analyst Business Intelligent Applications. These are applications aimed at empowering business users to build their own BI applications in more sophisticated ways than spreadsheets, but without having to rely on a team of full time IT resources to operate and support the application.

Sisenseâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s PrismCubed is an example of such an application.

PrismCubeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s integrated environment enables businesses users to collect and connect to data, define screen layout, add interactive visualisation widgets and bind them to data using nothing but drag-and-drop operations.

To download a free demo, please visit www.sisense.com.

For additional information or case studies visit www.sisense.co.za or www.sakhu.co.za. You can also contact Sakhu (a SiSense approved reseller) on 012-997-3791, or email info@sakhu.co.za.

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NETSMART

PABX

The evolution of connectivity

VIRUS SAFE & SECURE

Staying safe from phishing Jonathan Holton, general manager of Holton and Associates, distributors of BitDefender, con nues his series on PC security by taking a look at modern day phishing a empts.

Martin van Dyk has 20 years experience in the IT industry, of which six include work on international communication networks. He is currently director of internet service provider XDSL.

or the average South African 56 kb/s analogue dial-up is an outdated technology, but quite a few users are still stuck with it due to Telkom’s inability to provide better infrastructure in many areas. Many South Africans will (fondly or otherwise) remember the noise these modems made while negotiating the best signal, similar to that of a fax machine. As memorable was the sizable chunk of your monthly telephone bill dedicated to internet browsing, since normal call charges applied when you dialled-up to surf.

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DigiNet Historically, Telkom’s connectivity option which was targeted at businesses, consisted of a leased-line product called DigiNet. A fixed copper line, DigitNet initially offered starting speeds of 64 kb/s, which was only slightly faster than a 56 kb/s dialup connection. Businesses looking at a permanent fixed line solution had no other options but to pay a premium price for this product, which was simply not affordable for smaller businesses.

ADSL More recently, things have started to change and connectivity options available to end-users have increased. ADSL (Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line) provides faster data transmissions over the same copper line infrastructure used by analogue dial-up modems, with Telkom offering 384 kb/s, 512 kb/s and 1024 to 4096 kb/s ADSL coverage on 92% of its network (according to its 2008 operational review) as a “besteffort” service. Higher speeds (10 mb/s and 12 mb/s) are currently being trialed in specific areas. On the cellular side 14.4 mb/s 3G HSDPA (a mobile telecommunications standard) is offered by Vodacom and MTN. Fibre Recently MetroEthernet – a metropolitan area network based on the Ethernet standard with fibre speeds of up to 1 gb/s for the time being, with the probability of 10 gb/s in the future – became available from Neotel, Vodacom Business and Telkom.

The aforementioned operators also provide fixed-line optical fibre connectivity for those lucky enough to be close to their provider.

FTTC In future, FTTC (Fibre to the Curb) will replace all or part of the local loop – the demarcation point of the customer’s premises to the edge of the telecommunications provider’s network – with an optical fibre line, allowing for up to 10 gb/s connections. To put this in perspective, this is a technology aimed at end-users and is roughly 163 840 times faster than the starting speed of Telkom’s old DigiNet offering aimed at businesses!

The future At the rate in which telecommunications technology has advanced over the past few years (roughly keeping to Moore’s Law), it is not surprising that there is talk of a totally connected world where everything from your cellphone to your automatic dogfeeder will be connected at truly affordable broadband speeds.

techsmart.co.za l May 2010

Security

or conservative and careful computer users, phishing is a name that is synonymous with scammers trying to hook private data and banking details. For those that have been caught in this deceitful net, phishing is a name that will never be forgotten after losing private savings lodged in their bank account in a matter of seconds.

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How is it done?

Phishing is typically carried out by email or instant messaging.

The message directs users to legitimate looking but fake websites to enter bank account details and personal information. Even experts find that it takes tremendous skill and experience to detect whether the website is in fact fake.

These phishing emails always contain clever words and phrases, alerting you that “routine maintenance” is being done to your bank’s servers, asking you to “verify your account” or “confirm billing information”. Often the mails are designed so well that they will feature the bank’s logo and include the bank’s name in the email address.

Other Forms of Phishing Recently I’ve started receiving many emails congratulating me on becoming an instant millionaire. I’ve won the Canadian Lottery ($1 500 000) twice and the UK lottery (£2 000 000) four times. I’ve also succeeded in winning lotteries, strangely enough from Microsoft and Yahoo. Of course in order to claim the prizes I had to send my banking details.

There are also some more harrowing emails coming through suggesting I’ve made a very “shady” purchase on my credit card. “You bought product X online and it costs $1 000. Click here to confirm the transaction and enter your credit card details in order to cancel it”. This can send shivers down the innocent reader’s spine since it can be easily mistakento be true. The user immediately cancels the transaction and give all the relevant info the scammers require.

What to do Victory is in the bag for the phisher as soon as you bite, so never click on the links inside of these emails.

Banks will never send you an email or call you requesting your pin, bank details and especially the last three numbers on the back of your credit card. The best advice is to never send or share these via the web or phone. If you are unsure always call your bank or antivirus supplier to check with them whether the call or email is either legitimate or illegal.

Send your Security related ques ons to info@techsmart.co.za. The best ques on will win BitDefender Internet Security 2010 for one year, courtesy of Holton & Associates.

8.75 million iPhones. 10.89 million iPods. 2.94 million Macintosh computers. Sold by Apple during their fiscal Q2 of 2010.

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Business Solu ons Business Edi on – adopts a defence in depth strategy to be er protect school networks against diverse threats.

• BitDefender provides state-of-the-art malware detec on technology and proac ve protec on against new and unknown viruses • Unique to BitDefender is the WMI Scrip ng feature to audit your hardware, so ware, install and uninstall so ware from the control centre • Powerful An Spam protec on against unwanted emails

28

THE PC MEDIC

Q&A

PC Medic once again swoops in to answer your PC related ques ons, faster than Julius Malema can kick a foreign journo out of a news conference.

Dear PC Medic. I have recently invested in a new PC and I have found someone to whom I can sell my old PC to. I wanted to know how I can wipe the harddrive clean of all my personal and business info, so that no one will have access to it. I know I could just format the PC and re-install the OS, but I’ve heard that that doesn’t mean people can’t still access the data.

– Concerned Seller

Q

PC Medic (PCM): What you’ve heard is correct, it is not enough just to format the drive, as tech savvy people can use forensic software tools to retrieve that data.

One good way of ensuring that your data is completely removed from a disk is to delete the info and replace it with useless data.

There are a couple of programs that write rubbish data to the hard-drive, one of which is BCWipe from Jetico, which you can try out for free for 21 days (4.6 MB download). BCWipe complies with the U.S. Department of Defense security standards, but you might want to let the program do its thing overnight, as it’ll repeatedly write to the disk to ensure that your data is completely removed.

Hi PC Medic. There are such a lot of ads on websites. Is there a way for me to prevent my browser (Firefox) from loading these ads? – Leanne Fourie

Q

PCM: The AdBlock Plus add-on for Firefox is the most popular ad-blocker. You can go to http://tinyurl.com/2cd87q to download and install it, in order to block adverts, banners and the like. For those of you who use Google Chrome, you can download AdBlock for Chrome from the Google chrome extensions site (https://chrome.google.com/extensions) just search for Adblock on the extensions page. Just remember that sites rely on adds to make money, so think about that when browsing.

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Hey PC Medic, is there a quick, easy way to create a repair disk in Windows 7 to have in case something goes wrong? – Thomas Noah

Q

PCM: The quickest way I can think of is to type [system repair disc] in the start menu form of Windows 7, which will take you to the “Create a system repair disk” window. You just select the drive on which you want to create the system repair disk and click “Create disc”.

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Send your PC related questions to info@techsmart.co.za.

techsmart.co.za l May 2010

> R10k. Amount spent by a British boy playing FarmVille, using £288 of his own savings and charging £625 to mom’s credit card.

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Kaspersky

Internet Security

2010

Kaspersky Internet Security 2010 automatically protects you and your family at all times – whether you work, bank, shop or play online.

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Kaspersky Anti-Virus 2010 provides the basic tools needed to protect your PC.

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Tel: 012-665-2513 l Fax: 012-665-0509 Email: info@africasd.com

Website: www.africasd.com

IN T E R N ET

Websites

May 2010 Web Time Wasters Pangloss Widom

Totally looks like

www.pangloss.com

http://totallylookslike.com/

n the age of electricity hikes

by Eskom, petrol price increases and potholes, we all occasionally need a couple of inspirational thoughts to keep us from becoming completely disillusioned. This simplistic website offers short quotes as well as comments aimed at putting you in a positive frame of mind, inspired by the literary character called Dr. Pangloss created by the famous French philosopher Voltaire. If this sweetness gets too much there’s a link to a section where you can find various Shakespearean insults.

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People of Wal-Mart http://www.peopleofwalmart.com/ e might not have a Wal-Mart in South Africa, but that doesn’t preclude us from enjoying a look at some of the craziest, wacky and funny people to ever have graced this American store.

You can look at the feature creature (the sites featured choice) or browse through the many pics, stories and videos that the blog has on offer. There are also some pics of the odd vehicles that have been parked at the store’s parking lots. These have definitely not been tricked out by the dudes from “Pimp my ride”.

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his website presents you with a selection of visual comparisons between two things, one which is a well known person or object and the other being its visual twin.

Comparisons can be made between anything from celebrities (like Will Farrell and his look-a-like), cartoon characters (like Squidward from SpongeBob Squarepants and his visual double) to the iPad. You can also create and submit your own comparison by using the site’s Lol builder. To construct your very own comparisons to submit.

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Sci-Fi Movie Page http://www.scifimoviepage.com/ ci-fi fans can beam over to the Sci-Fi Movie Page, which boasts a plethora of scifi, fantasy and horror movie reviews, movie trailers, scripts that you can download and news on upcoming science fiction films. Although it gives you access to all the latest news, info and interviews, by employing the talents of writers and reviewers based in the US, the site is owned and run by South African James O’Ehley.

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Verbatim “Modern Survival” Goodie Bag Competition Win this excellent Verbatim Goodie Bag consisting of the following: 1x Verbatim drive 1x Verbatim drive 1x Verbatim Mouse 1x Verbatim 1x Verbatim

Store ‘n Go 8 GB USB Store ‘n Go 4 GB USB Wireless Laser Nano 100 CD-R Spindle Desktop Mouse Pad

Go to www.techsmart.co.za to enter and read more about Verbatim products.

October 2010. Reported release-date for Nintendo’s DS replacement, the 3DS.

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info.sa@iomega.com

32

BUSINESS DIRECTORY

To advertise in the Business Directory please call Anneke 012-362-2732

TechSmart.co.za Online Business Directory

Our website, your business If you are a owner of a PC Shop or online store that currently sells any of the long list of products featured on www.techsmart.co.za, our Online Business Directory needs your immediate a en on.

laptop and you have it in stock, you can join our OBD to have your company’s name and price listed below the review as a recommended retailer. It gives you the opportunity to list your best price and benefit from leads our articles generate.

P C HARDWARE

What is the OBD? The OBD featured on www.techsmart.co.za allows consumer electronics retailers to list their price on the review pages of products we’ve written about. So, if we review a new

Our website With over a thousand articles published with more than a million views shared cont p33...

Cnr Gerhard / Vonwilligh, Centurion Tel: 012-663-8389 l Cell: 079-4979-933 / 079-4979-955

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INTERNET CAFÉ l SPECIAL RATE l R8.00/15MIN SERVICES: IT CONTRACTS, NETWORK INSTALLATIONS, DATA RECOVERY, PC SALES, IT SUPPORT

SAME DAY REPAIRS techsmart.co.za l May 2010

7.5%. Percent of the first people to buy an iPad, bought it as a replacement for their Amazon Kindle.

Plus a business listing Apart from being able to list your details under products we review, OBD customers also get a business listing on www.techsmart.co.za, where information such as contact details, physical address, webpage address and operating hours are listed. Current specials that you’re running can also be published complete with pictures of the product.

t the TechSmart office we receive a lot of phone calls from consumers asking if we sell certain products featured on our website. We don’t, but we know you do. So, to make our life easier (no more pesky phone calls), we decided to create the Online Business Directory (OBD).

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To advertise in the Business Directory please call Anneke 012-362-2732

BUSINESS DIRECTORY

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Our website, your business cont...

iBoss Pro R1795 Monthly Subscription of R265 or Annual Subscription of R2315

Browse easily by category between them, you are sure to find a product to attach a price to. Currently TechSmart.co.za garners more than 2000 visitors a day.

iBoss Home R795 Annual Subscription of R585

Dealers Wanted Your business listing

CONSUMABLES

The price?

The OBD is totally selfmanaged, allowing you to update info at your own convenience. Give our Online Business Directory a try at a special rate of R285 incl VAT per month. To subscribe call Anneke on 012-362-2732.

Powerful filtering technology puts you in control of Internet usage on your network.

FEATURES

AUDIO VISUA L

• Easily Block Websites by Category • Same Protection Used by Fortune 500 Co. • Block Chat, Gaming and more • Built-In Wireless-N Firewall Router • Schedule Internet Access Times • 1 Unit = Entire Network Protection • Monitor & Log Internet Activity • Installs Easily on Existing Networks • View Detailed Reports • Absolutely No Software to Install • Automatic E-mail Notifications • Simple User-Friendly Interface • Set Rules for Different User Groups • Remote Monitoring and Administration

For your nearest dealer contact TEL: 011-463-8530 l sales@cortechsa.co.za www.cortechsa.co.za

012-348-0336 iboss@icdsa.co.za www.icdsa.co.za Prices subject to USD/ZAR fluctuations.

May 2010 l techsmart.co.za

PC HARDWARE

Your product price here

The iBoss is a complete enterprise-level Internet Content Filtering solution for both home and business networks

BUSINESS DIRECTORY

To advertise in the Business Directory please call Anneke 012-362-2732

62. Apps can be run simultaneously on a Samsung i8910 HD using a customised ROM from HyperX.

PC HARDWARE

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techsmart.co.za l May 2010

To advertise in the Business Directory please call Anneke 012-362-2732

BUSINESS DIRECTORY

GA D G E T S

SAVE 90% or more

CONSUMABLES

Refill your own ink cartridges and

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Top quality ink for refilling: desktop, large format (digital), sublima on and edible inks Chip Rese ers: Canon, HP & Epson Refillable Cartridges with Auto Reset Chips for various brands Original brand Cartridges 100% new, generic replacements Business start-up training and consul ng 8 years industry experience Cash for your empty cartridges – T&C apply

www.thefillingstation.co.za or www.greenink.co.za Richard 084-770-0602 (office hours) ink@thefillingstation.co.za

AUDIO VISUAL May 2010 l techsmart.co.za

BUSINESS DIRECTORY

PC HARDWARE

M12

To advertise in the Business Directory please call Anneke 012-362-2732

The best companion for business travellers and people on the move

R999 (incl VAT) • • • •

Scan Business cards Scan to Microsoft Office Suite Scan to PDF Scan to printer

While stocks last. E&OE. All names and trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

Available from

imageTEK

Tel: (011) 608-1964

andrew@imagetek.co.za

1.8 Gigapixel. Sensor size of a camera built by DARPA to be used for surveillance operations.

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BUSINESS DIRECTORY

To advertise in the Business Directory please call Anneke 012-362-2732

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PC HARDWARE

WE BUILD COMPUTERS FOR • Home • School • Office • Gaming

INTERNET EXPERTISE • Network set-up • Modem set-up • Skype set-up We can solve all your internet-related problems

I NEED A PC STARTER SPECIAL • • • • •

Intel Dual Core 2.6 Mhz 1 GIG ram 250 GIG HDD DVD-RW ATX case with PSU

INSTORE TECHNICIANS CALL OUTS • UPGRADES BEST PRICES ON CARTRIDGES

R2300 VAT INCL

TRADING HOURS Monday - Thursday: 09.00 - 19.00 Friday: 09.00 - 21.00 Saturday: 09.00 - 19.00 Sunday: 09.00 - 17.00

May 2010 l techsmart.co.za

XBOX 360 GAMING

PC GAMING

FPS

RTS

Metro 2033

Moscow Metro Madness Command and Conquer 4: Tiberian Twilight

This is the end Command & Conquer has kept us company for 15 years.

How will Tiberian Twilight bring an end to one of the most popular gaming franchises in history?

It’s 2033. An apocalyp c event has turned the earth’s surface into a nuclear wasteland. Survivors, ba ling mutant creatures topside, have made the murky Moscow underground system their home. s Artyom you are sent on a mission to Polis, the largest and most powerful of the underground metro stations. Here you must request help from elite soldiers known as Rangers, to protect your home station against a new and terrible threat known only as the Dark Ones.

A

Gameplay and atmosphere Whether you’re in the subway or making your way through eerie, badly lit tunnels, Metro 2033 delivers some gorgeous graphics and level designs, helping to add to its immersive storyline. You get the feeling the developers watched a whole bunch of M. Night Shyamalan as well as Alfred Hitchcock movies for some added inspiration.

The gameplay is fairly similar to what you expect from FPS games, but it does have a few elements of stealth gameplay and economy. The stealth gameplay is not just another way of finishing the game though, since going in guns blazing at every opportunity versus stealthily avoiding encounters (by staying in shadows for instance and watching your chosen path to avoid broken glass) will present you with a different ending to the game. There is no money in the game, instead military grade bullets are used as currency. These are bullets that were manufactured prior to the nuclear fallout and thus more valuable. You can also use these bullets in combat as well because they pack more stopping power than the dirty, rusty bullets used by most metro residents.

Occasionally though, the immersive atmosphere is spoiled by some bad sound glitches. While walking around accompanying one of the other characters you can not only hear your conversation, but also that of other characters in your immediate environment. This can be distracting and annoying.

Final Thoughts Metro 2033 is up there with the best of them with its engrossing storyline and post apocalyptic atmosphere. But its mostly average gameplay elements and frustrating sound glitch keep it from reaching the cream of the crop of our choice of must-buy titles for 2010. Being so engrossing makes the short length of the game also a bit disappointing, as it takes about six hours to complete.

t’s 2062 and humanity is teetering on the edge of extinction. Enter Kane, leader of the Brotherhood of Nod, who claims to not just have developed a system to control the extra terrestrial Tiberium crystal and exploit its power, but to put an end to the seemingly endless conflict between Nod and the Global Defense Initiative (GDI). Fast forward 15 years and the questions now is what does Kane want in return for his earth saving efforts?

I

Gameplay Within the game you are given a maximum of 90 command points which you use to build units. There are no resources used in the game, the only limit to building units is the limited number of command points plus the time it takes. The main focus of a game is to be the first to, or closest to, 2500 points after the allotted time-frame is over. Scattered throughout the map are control points, of which the more you hold, the faster your point count increases, bringing you closer to victory. At the same time you need to upgrade your units, for which you need to collect Tiberium crystals.

Tiberian Twilight also introduces the Crawler – a huge, mobile base that allows you to pack up and move your base along with your army. This, together with the time factor, translates into never ending action, since even if your Crawler is destroyed, you will be able to bring in a new one to rejoin the fight after a bit of time.

New Features In Tiberian Twilight you can tackle the campaign by yourself or hook up with a friend and play cooperatively. You also have access to the largest C&C multiplayer available, choosing to play as your favourite class in 5 vs. 5 objective-based battles.

Verdict Overall, the game is well polished with just a few niggles. The new gameplay style is fresh and exciting and you’re never left bored waiting for something to happen. Command and Conquer 4 brings a fitting end to one of the most popular gaming series ever. Farewell Kane, it has been many many years for you!

The Good

The Bad

The Good

The Bad

Excellent storyline and immersive atmosphere.

The annoying sound glitch in the game.

Without a doubt the new gameplay.

Your units have an annoying tendency to bump into each other.

May 2010 l techsmart.co.za

> R230 000. Amount a copy of the classic Air Raid for the Atari 2600 sold for on EBay.

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e-Studio 212

UNBELIEVABLE COMBO DEAL: FREE BLACKBERRY CURVE

copy print scan fax (option)

FREE

From

R595 * Subject to credit approval. Terms and Conditions apply.

FREE BlackBerry CURVE 8520 with • unlimited internet • FREE sim card • 2 years monthly subscription • 120 weekend minutes • client only pays for calls after free minutes

Contact Jayson Mac Gregor TEL: 011 796 4889 | CELL: 082 557 6490 EMAIL: jmacgregor@toshiba-sa.co.za

www.toshibasa.co.za

per month on rental* EXCL VAT

Uncapped ADSL from

R199pm

Name James Olwen 74 Handle: LadiesMan74 Occupation: Pensioner Favourite Quote: Of course I’m 47 :)

Name Cliffard Olwen 22 Handle: DestroyerOfWorlds Occupation: Student Favourite Quote: Grandpa! Get off Facebook!

Name Jeffrey Olwen 54 Handle: Jeffol Occupation: Business Owner Favourite Quote: Hey stop fighting you two!

GENERATION GAP? Not with the new Webonline hassle free, easy to setup ADSL Broadband solution 1 gig bandwidth including monthly ADSL line (384kb/s) Free ADSL modem Free Email address Free telephonic technical support

pm all included!

Benefits of ADSL: • MUCH faster than dial-up • Always on (don’t pay for time you spend online) • Fixed monthly fee (no more surprises on your phone bill!)

IMPORTANT TO NOTE: • R399 setup fee includes Telkom ADSL line activation as well as shipping of the modem.

• You need to have an existing Telkom line before we will be able to provide the service.

For full details visit www.webonline.biz or call us on 0861-666-555 * All services are subject to terms and conditions.

E & OE. All names and trademarks are the property of their respective owners.