Friday, October 25, 2013

Samsung Galaxy S4






Samsung Galaxy S4 is a 4.2.2 Android Jelly  Bean operating system mobile uses the vibrant touch wiz user interface has been able to generate good demand. It has a full HD super ambled at a pixel resolution of 1920 by 1080 which gives a pixel density of 441 pixel per inches protected by Corning Gorilla glass. It has 13 megapixel duel camera, sound and shoot mode and dram shot. It has also Air Gesture, Air View, Group Play, etc.
The Korean company had earlier launched a 0 percent 12 month EMI scheme for the Galaxy S4. Now the company has launched an exchange offer along with a lot of freebies with the device. The new Galaxy S4 doubles down on the formula of its predecessor, slim package, big screen and tons of features.
Hardware:
Galaxy S4 next to a Galaxy S III and you'd be hard pressed to pick them apart-until you turn them on. 5 inch screen on the S 4 is even larger than the S III. It is nearly on par with the extraordinary crisp screen on the HTC one but far brighter and with better contrast and color saturation.
It has a plastic back, a single hard home key on the bottom and an illuminated menu and back capacitive keys that disappear when not in use. Samsung is sticking with a designed that has worded for them and company executives claim that the plastic back allows them and their customers greater flexibility for removable batteries and memory and accessories such as the S-View cover, which serves as a replacement for the original back panel with an integrated screen protector,thus shielding the front glass without significantly increasing the thickness of the device. The S III had a similar cover but this new one has a transparent panel that allows you to see information such as the time, the number of messages you have and incoming call.
Samsung has not at all abandoned the race for more megapixels. The Galaxy S 4's camera has a 13megapixel sensor, which really does take some stunning still shots.
Samsung also has the other must have halo feature of 2013: an infrared blaster that allows it to function as a remote control for your television and other AV gear.
Software:
Galaxy S 4 keeps with its successful software strategy: Pack in more feature than any customer could discover in a human lifetime. It has 13 mode camera app, including automatic animated GIFs that let you select the parts of the picture that are in motion, a drama mode that composes multiple action shots into one image and an eraser mode that turns multiple exposures image, removing anyone who is in motion.
Samsung Galaxy S4 has Air Gesture function uses infrared sensors that can detect sweeping gestures of your hands a few inches above the screen. You can use these to answer the phone, move between photos in the gallery or move up and down on a web page. Samsung has used  this type of interaction in its Galaxy Note series of tablets and phablets but those devices used an electromagnetic resonance pen.  If you look away from a playing video, that video is paused. The screen will stay on as long as you are looking at it. Web pages will scroll up and down in response to the tilt of your head. Samsung's new features are in consistently applied and after a few days you  find  yourself turning  a lot of it off.
When Samsung introduced  its phone to phone content  sharing features, called Group Play, in the Galaxy S III, we loved the idea but thought it was a bit strange to presume all your friends would have Samsung phone. Samsung has expanded Group Play to support collaboration on Power Point presentations, PDF and Word document and even games.
Samsung also invested time and effort in cleaning  up and reorganizing its touch wiz user interface that sits atop Android Jelly Bean. The most immediately useful change is an expanded set of instant setting icons in the drop-down notification panel. Now you can easily turn on off without digging  through the settings menu.
Conclusion
The Galaxy S 4 can do things out of the box that no other phone can do. But it's worth nothing that much of the functionality built into the S 4 can be added to other smartphones through apps. Samsung can continue cramming more features into its next generation devices.
Galaxy S4 is a satisfying  device for using. The size and clarity of the screen alone give it  uncommon than the other smartphone.
 


Friday, October 11, 2013

Belkin Plus 7-port USB2.0 Hub






If there’s one universal truth to personal computers, that you can never have enough  USB ports. Doubly so when the front USB ports o your computer suddenly crash from overuse.  That’s why today we bring you an in-depth review of Belkin’s  7port USB 2.0 Hub.
Hub Design
The Belkin Plus Hub bears a rather unique design. Measuring 6”*3.5”, the hub is rather thin but a bit on the long side due to the USB ports being arranged horizontally instead of vertically. The end result is slightly more desk space being used but when combined with the slim profile it makes the hub much more manageable when it’s being stacked. You’ll notice that in the center of the hub next to the two top-mounted USB ports is a small rectangular hole, meant for stacking on top of another 7 port plus hub’s two USB ports for a snug fit. The hole is surrounded by a large section of blue molded rubber that contrasts with the hard white plastic that makes up the rest of the hub.
If the hub isn’t being stacked however, the hole can make the overall appearance somewhat awkward. The molded plastic turns into a cable management clip on the right side of the hub for keeping your PDA and iPod data cable handy.
Hub Performance
As a technology enthusiast, gamer and over clocker, I have never been one to go easy on my hardware. I expect things to run at full capacity without any crashes of hiccups. thankfully Belkin passed with flying colors. The Plus USB was fully loaded with managing Logitech G15 gaming keyboard with a gaming mouse plugged into the keyboard, handling the video stream from USB monitor, playing back the video from USB 2.0 web camera, synchronizing iPod while charging it as well as cell phone. The Plus Hub managed to get a little warm throughout the ordeal, but not nearly as hot as a laptop or hard drive can get. This device include a USB sound card with playback controls, an MP3 player, a webcam, a game pad and two external hard drives. Using 2.0 Hub introduced no slow-downs when the drive was the only device connected, peaking at 23.5MBps. considering the hub must maintain internal communication between 7 devices including a game pad that uses an interrupt protocol, these results are actually pretty.


Wednesday, October 9, 2013

Lenovo ThinkPad x220 Review






Lenovo's Think Pad x200 series has a long history of combining lightweight portability,
epic battery life and uncompromising performance.
Design:
Comparing favorably to last year's Think pad x201 and the HP Elite book 2740p. However, the 13 inch Mac Book Air is much lighter and thinner. The standard six- cell battery takes 1 off the depth of the notebook and 0.2 pounds off its weight. The optional battery slice, which attaches bottom of the system, adds 0.6 inches of thickness and 105 pounds of weight. 
Think pad aesthetic complete with a rubberized lid and a metallic Lenovo logo and raven black sides. Perhaps the most noteworthy departure from other high end Thikpads is the absence of a latch on the lid.
Keyboard and Touchpad

Think Pad x220 keyboard offers the kind of amazing tactile feedback and concave shaped keys that allow touch typists to input quickly and accurately. The keyboard also has a full array of extended keys such as Scroll  Lock and Pause for  users who need them. Unfortunately while the keyboard itself feels great, the short 2.5 inch palm rest will leave many users wrists hanging over its edge, which can be uncomfortable and  can place added strain on the shoulders and wrists.
Who prefer touch pad will appreciate the x220’s 3*1.75 inch textured click pad. Though we have been critical of previous button less touchpad because they were jumpy, the x220 synaptic powered pad was accurate and comfortable to use.
Display and Audio
12.5 inch 1366*768 matte display on the think pad x220 offers bright, sharp images and amazingly wide viewing angles. We were able to watch video without noticing a significant loss of color fidelity. Our only complaint is that Lenovo chose to go with a 16:9 ratio after offering 16:10, 1280*800 displays on the Think pad x201.
Ports and Webcam
For a notebook, x220 has plenty of port. On the right side are SD card reader. An audio jack and a powered USB connection that can charge devices even when the notebook is off. On the left are VGA port, display port, two USB ports and an express card.
The 720p webcam, which support Skype HD calls, provided crisp but washed out image. Under bright overhead lighting, details were sharper, but had way too high of white balance at both auto modes. The webcam even stopped working and displayed a black block instead of an image. This problem persisted until we finally powered of the system completely for a few seconds before booting again.
Graphics
It comes with Intel HD Graphics chip which is good enough for playing videos and performing most tasks, though you can forget about serious gaming. On 3D Mark06,which measures overall graphics prowess, the x220 scored a respectable 3494, which is more than double the category average of 1611 and far better than the 1900 that last year’s. However, the 13 inch Mac book air has a discrete Nvidia GPU, managed 4611.
Verdict
The Think pad x220, Lenovo has combined epic battery life, strong performance, bright screen, responsive keyboard and powerful security features to make one of the world best ultraportable even better. User who want an even lighter notebook with a better screen and larger palm rest might prefer the 13 inch Mac Book Air. If you want something that packs a ton of power into a tiny package, the x220 is an best choice.




Friday, October 4, 2013

Logitech G13








Logitech G13 is a separate gaming keypad that give you all of your WASD controls,
programmable macro keys and quick-fire commands, without the bulk of a keyboard and with the added comfort of a use-specific design. The whole device of this keypad measures 1.3 by 7-10 inches and weighs 1.3 pounds. With   rubber feet, the G13 is very stable, so it would not slide or tip from the frantic pounding it might take in the midst of a match. It connects through a wired USB 2.0 connection and the 7 foot cable should be more than enough, even if you need to snake it down and around and behind to plug into an out of the way CPU tower. The keypad portion of the G13is well designed with 22 programmable macro keys arranged so that your fingers will naturally fall into the correct playing position. In addition to the sculpted key-caps, the entire keypad is curved to match the arc of relaxed fingers. Following the curved contours of the keypad is built in wrist and palm rest. Coated with a textured soft-touch rubber surface, the palm rest should be comfortable during longer gaming sessions and stave off the carpal tunnel that regular keyboards can inflict on heavy users. The joystick may just what you've been looking for, but never could manage the complex task of simultaneously using the joystick with thumb and the keypad with fingers.
G13  has a small  LCD display that is used for on the fly macro recording, monitoring system data, including CPU and RAM usage. you can use it as an RSS reader.  You have a back light on/off button and mode button for the LCD. Three button are for saved programmable key maps letting you save three separate sets of functions for all 22 keys and the fourth is a Macro Record button.
Pros
Programmable button keypad with swappable maps and profiles, on-board memory, extra long cable.
Labor intensive setup, not plug and play. Click-able joystick is difficult to click.
Bottom line
The Logitech G13 advanced game pad is definitely a niche product but with  a comfortable design and wide array of features.