New rating system for Mobile chargers introduced

A group of mobile manufacturers has launched a common energy rating system for chargers, making it easier for consumers to compare and choose the one that saves the most energy. The star rating system developed and supported by LG, Motorola, Nokia, Samsung Electronics and Sony Ericsson is one of a series of measures being taken by the industry to reduce the environmental footprint of its products.

Many consumers are unaware that chargers consume electricity when disconnected from the phone but left plugged into the wall socket. Around two thirds of the energy used by mobile devices is wasted in this way. Manufacturers are addressing this by continually improving the efficiency of their chargers and in making it easier for consumers to pick the ones using the least energy.

The new rating system indicates how much energy each charger uses when left plugged into the wall socket after charging is completed. The ratings covers all chargers currently sold by the five companies, and range from five stars for the most efficient chargers down to zero stars for the ones consuming the most energy. If the more than three billion people owning mobile devices today switched to a four or five star charger, this could save the same amount of energy each year as produced by two medium sized power plants.

People will be able to visit the websites of each manufacturer to view and compare the results for every charger. The ratings are based on the European Commission's energy standards for chargers and the internationally recognized Energy Star standards set by the Environmental Protection Agency in the U.S. The ratings will be reviewed regularly and developed further in order to drive constant improvement.

Many of the manufacturers are also working on other ways to reduce energy consumption. Most major producers have begun introducing visual alerts into their devices to remind people to unplug the charger from the mains when the battery is fully charged.

The group of manufacturers was initially created as part of a European Commission Integrated Product Policy pilot project looking at how different industries could reduce the environmental impact of their products and inform consumers of better choices. Nokia proposed the mobile phone sector to the Commission and was joined by a number of manufacturers, operators and others in the industry.

Links

http://www.lge.com/about/sust[....]climate_energystar.jsp#battery
www.motorola.com/environment/chargers
www.nokia.com/chargerenergy
http://uk.samsungmobile.com/greenmanagement/energy.do
http://www.sonyericsson.com/c[....]/company/sustainability/energy

Maya 2009 comes to India

Autodesk, Inc.has announced the India launch of Autodesk Maya 2009, 3D animation and visual effects software, in celebration of the software's 10-year anniversary at Autodesk Developer Day in New Delhi today. Maya 2009 includes a wide range of advancements in modeling, animation, rendering and effects that maximize productivity, optimize workflows, and provide new creative possibilities.

"We are celebrating the work done with Autodesk Maya over the past 10 years by many artists and creative visionaries in film, television production and games, as well as in industrial design and architecture," said Marc Petit, Autodesk's Media & Entertainment senior vice president. "We designed Maya 2009 as a tribute to creative innovation and production efficiency. The new release will allow artists to raise the bar and deliver even more ground breaking computer graphics work."

Commenting on the features of Maya 2009, Vishal Anand, Visual Computing Labs (VCL), a division of Tata Elexsi, said “We are looking forward to the launch of Maya 2009 in India as it will change the way artists think about dynamics, rendering, compositing and pipelines. This new workflow will optimize render times for multiple render layers and, in turn, elevate the quality of work. Maya has an intuitive user interface, which facilitates customization and fine-tuning of effective workflows.”



Key Highlights of Autodesk Maya 2009

Complexity Managed

While the complexity and size of scenes continue to rise, Maya 2009 provides new tools to make them more manageable. These tools include the new Maya Assets toolset, which enables users to encapsulate a set of nodes into a single container and publish a view of the data suited to the artist's task. The release also offers a new Render Proxy feature in mental ray, and additional multi-threading work and algorithmic speedups that boost interactive draw, simulation and rendering performance for even the heaviest scenes.

Accelerated Modeling Workflow

Maya 2009 gives modelers and texture artists unprecedented control over polygon modeling and UV texturing through powerful selection management features, efficient modeling workflows and precision UV unfolding and layout options.

Collaborative, Iterative Projects and Pipelines

Tighter schedules and budgets demand that projects and pipelines take full advantage of available resources. Maya 2009 supports collaborative, iterative workflows and promotes data reuse. The software has a new animation layering paradigm that provides animators with increased non-destructive flexibility, as well as an updated Render Pass toolset that offers precise control over render output and optimizes integration with Autodesk Toxik procedural compositing software.

New Creative Tools

Maya 2009 offers an innovative Maya nParticles dynamic simulation module and an extensive Maya Muscle feature set. nParticles is part of the Maya Nucleus Unified Simulation Framework, a ground-breaking approach to creating complex physics simulations that interact directly with each other. Furthermore, to help studios capitalize on the growing popularity of stereoscopic 3D films, Maya 2009 offers a flexible new stereo camera rig, complete with in-viewport stereo viewing.

For a complete list of new features and enhancements in Maya 2009, visit http://www.autodesk.com/maya.

The above is a press release from Autodesk.

Site moving to new host: Expect downtimes!

The Tech Chronicles is moving to a new host and the transistion might see a few outages with the site being unavailable for extended periods of time. I am working on the transistion to be a smooth one. But you never know!

It might be a while before the site limps back to normalcy as I do this between my work schedule!

Thanks for reading..

First Look at Opera Mini 4.2

Its New, Better and Faster!

read more | digg story

Schmidt says no to Tech Czar post

Google CEO, Eric Schmidt, in a recent television interview has stated that he has no plans to join the Barack Obama administration post the Presidential Inauguration scheduled in January. Schmidt was one of the high-profile supporters of Obama and his involvement in the Obama campaigning had sent rumour mills on fire with some even speculating he might end up in the administration as “Chief Technology Officer”.

The rumours though have been laid to rest now with the confirmation from Schmidt himself. In a television interview with CNBC host Jim Cramer, who had posed the question, Schmidt said, “"I love working at Google and I'm very happy to stay at Google, so the answer is no." As for who will be occupying the coveted post if not Schmidt, there is also a little rumor going on about Internet pioneer Vint Cerf , who has been Google’s chief Internet evangelist. Another prominent name coming up is Reed Hundt, a former regulatory authority official.

Via: Cnet

Gigabyte launches X58 Series of motherboards

Gigabyte has announced their latest X58 Series motherboards, the GA-EX58-EXTREME and GA-EX58-UD5 in India. Designed for Intel’s new Core i7 processors, these high-end motherboards are all set to burn the performance charts.

The new motherboards boast of a host of new features including the new QPI interface, 3 channel DDR3 support, 3 Way SLI and CrossFireX support, Ultra Durable 3 technology and an extensive range of overclocking features. Thw much touted QPI interface is actually a replacement for the Front Side Bus (FSB). The QPI has a transfer rate of 25.6 GB/sec which is double the bandwidth of the 1600MHz FSB thereby eliminating the communication bottleneck between the processor and chipset.

The X58 Series features Intel's Turbo Boost Technology, which is able to power down idle processor cores and dynamically reroute the power to the active cores for significant performance boosts, and at the same time, maintain greater energy efficiency.Additionaly, with 3 PCIe x16 2.0 slots, supporting both ATI CrossFireX™ and 3 Way NVIDIA SLI, this is a gamers dream come true.

Other Features

Visible Overclocking Reminder
OC-Alert LED indicates the level of CPU overclock from low to high.

Visible Temperature Reminder
Two sets of Temperature Alert LEDs indicate the current temperature level of the CPU and North Bridge

DualBIOS - Patented Dual Hardware BIOS Protection
DualBIOS is a GIGABYTE patented technology that automatically recovers BIOS data when main BIOS has crashed or failed. Featuring 2 physical BIOS ROMs integrated onboard, GIGABYTE DualBIOS allows quick and seamless recovery from BIOS damage or failure due to viruses or improper BIOS updating.

EasyTune6
Gigabyte has completely redesigned EasyTune6 to manage and monitor your hardware resources as well as tweak your system settings in order to achieve maximum system performance. It provides all the tools you need to quickly and effortlessly fine tune your system.

Precision OV - Hardware Overvoltage Control ICs
Gigabyte X58 Series motherboards also include Hardware Overvoltage Control ICs which provide more voltage control options than before for the CPU North Bridge and memory

As for the price, the Gigabyte GA-EX58-EXTREME and GA-EX58-UD5 Motherboards are priced at Rs.24650 and Rs.20400 respectively making it a stricly enthusiast -only board!

Sony Ericsson launches the W705 Walkman

Sony Ericsson today announced its latest Walkman device, the W705 at the MTV Europe Music Awards where Sony Ericsson is one of the main sponsors.

The W705 is a compact-slider phone loaded with features. The camera is a 3.2 megapixel unit with 3.2x digital zoom. Apart from this, the phone also supports photo and video blogging.

Other features are listed below:

Accessories
In-Box:

W705
Battery
Battery charger
4GB Memory Stick Micro™ (M2™)
USB cable
Stereo PHF
Sony Ericsson PC Suite
Media Manager
User guide




Facts and Figures

Size: 95 x 47.5 x 14.3 mm
Weight: 98 grams
Colours:
Luxury Silver
Passionate Red
Screen: 262,144 colour TFT
Resolution: 240 x 320 pixels
Size: 2.4 inches
Phone memory: Up to 120MB
Memory Stick Micro™ (M2™) support
Talk time GSM/GPRS: Up to 10 hrs
Standby time GSM/GPRS: Up to 400 hrs
Talk time UMTS: Up to 4 hours
Standby time UMTS: Up to 350 hours
Video talk time: Up to 3 hours
Music listening time: Up to 20 hours
Availability and versions
Networks:

W705 and W705u:
GSM/GPRS/EDGE 850/900/1800/1900
UMTS/HSPA 900/2100
Available in selected markets from early Q1 2009.

Features

2.1 audio (left, right and subwoofer)
Built-in FM radio
Monochrome OLED display
Touch control and music settings for bas and treble
3.5mm line-in
Bluetooth™ A2DP and AVRCP

Website Review: Laptop Community

Laptop community is an India centric website dedicated for all things laptop. As the name suggests, the site is dedicated to laptop reviews -- user reviews to be precise. This is what distinguishes this site from the others.

While there are other websites offering user reviews, there is a dearth of dedicated review sites specifically for laptops. Laptop community aims to be your one-stop shop when it comes to laptop reviews. Yes, there are "expert reviews" out there, however in most cases, a well written user review is far better than reading a review on a tech website which usually concentrates on the specifications and the value for money part while missing out on the actual usage reports. It is the abundance of these kind of reviews that makes laptop community worth a visit prior to homing in on that elusive laptop you were on the lookout for.

So, does the site a deserve a visit before you buy a laptop for yourselves? Read on.

Interface
The website has an uncluttered look to it. The top menu has been intelligently used to list the reviews by brand. The home page lists the latest reviews and shows up to 20 reviews. In case you need a preview of more, there is a dropdown option where you can increase the number of reviews listed.
                                                   Click on the image to enlarge

Pretty neat. Although this might not be a very obvious feature, it does make the navigation much easier.
The left side-bar lists popular laptops by model names listed according to the average user ratings. The good thing about these ratings is that it is category specific.

Sections
While concentrating more on user-reviews, there are different sections as well. These include useful stuff like featured articles, new launches, news and even a QnA section where visitors can post their queries and get answers from the laptopcommunity panel of experts. The video section has a good collection of laptop related videos. The forum though seems to be still in its nascent stages.

Ease of use
The website, with its comprehensive list of reviews does deserve a look before you set out to purchase a laptop. While some of the reviews may not be up to the mark (grammar, punctuation and details), this is to be expected from a site of this nature. This is far better than totally unreadable so called "reviews" I have come across many times on other popular web sites.

Overall
The website loads quite quickly. No complaints on that front. I did come across some dead links though. The Toshiba section for example when clicked upon, gave me a 404 error. Submitting a review is an easy task. All the user needs to do is to click on the prominent "write a review" link seen on all the pages. Pretty neat overall.

So is the website worth a visit? Definitely. The sheer number of user-reviews available should be enough for you to head this way. Who knows this website might just influence your choice next time you head out to buy a laptop!

Aero shake on Windows 7 = Cool!!

While I did report on some of the most prominent changes that Windows 7 will see, there is this nifty little thing we missed out on. This is nothing revolutionary but useful nevertheless. I am talking about the "aero shake" feature that is set to make its debut when Windows 7 finally arrives in 2009.

As for the million dollar question what this is all about, take a look at the video!



The aero shake feature allows you to minimize all open windows with just a shake of the mouse. To reverse the changes, shake the mouse again! Its little stuff like these that made Macs cool to work on. Let us hope this will come minus the bugs.

Via: Gizmodo

Techtree Link

Intex's new Desi handsets launched

Strengthening their entry-level offerings in the mobile phone portfolio, Intex Technologies has announced the launch of four new GSM handsets - INTEX IN 5544, IN 4444, IN 2266 and IN 2010.

Belonging to entry level genre, the range presents consumers contemporary technology, stylish exteriors while retaining simplicity of use. The feature-mix range from FM, 1.3 mega pixel camera to more advanced ones such as video players, GPRS, Bluetooth, etc.

Speaking on the occasion, Mr. Shailendra Jha, DGM & Head, Mobile Phones, Intex, said, “All the phones have a perfect blend of technology, looks & numerous fascinating features in the music and camera phone segment. Entry-level segment being an important part of the total mobile phone market in India, the range is a demonstration of the fact that Intex has always kept the consumers’ preferences and trends in mind to come up with innovative products that deliver high value in cost effective manner. With the launch of these phones, we have a complete bouquet of phones catering to all kinds of segments and thus hope to make the festive season more exciting for our consumers."

INTEX IN 5544 is a smart bar phone with elegant looks and design. It also boasts of Bluetooth and USB port connectivity, supporting 2 GB expandable T-Flash card and possesses a strong battery backup of 200 hrs on standby mode with talk time of almost 3 hours. The phone supports a 1.3 megapixel camera along with 5x digital zoom. This phone also can store upto 1000 contacts (multiple entries).The Phone comes with a price tag of Rs. 5,500 (MOP).

INTEX IN 4444, a sleek candy-bar phone, is an “all in one” Multimedia solution which meets various requirements of the customers. It provides best in class utility & entertainment features. The phone supports a 1.3 mega pixel camera along with 5x1 digital zoom and a video caller ID option. It comes with a 2 inches wide TFT screen with 262k color display and has a memory that can store upto 1000 contacts.

Along with these utility features, there is an assortment of applications for music lovers such as FM, music & video player and 3GP support. Additionally, the users can download and share their favorite content through GPRS, Bluetooth and USB port connectivity. The phone supports 2 GB expandable T-Flash card and comes in cream and chocolate color. The phone comes with a price tag of Rs. 4,999 (MOP)

INTEX IN 2266 is equipped with advance music player and FM supporting multiple languages with the feature to download and share your favorite content through GPRS. This phone supports 2 GB T-Flash card and is elegance personified. . The Phone comes with a price tag of Rs.2999. (MOP)

INTEX IN 2010 is another feather in the crown with the 100 min talk time capability and comes with the standby mode of 150 hrs and a music player with FM. The phone not only supports T Flash card to store the date up to 2 GB and enables multiple languages functions, while you operate and download or share your favorite content through GPRS. The Phone comes with a price tag of Rs. 2,200 (MOP)

The above is a press release from Intex

CNN's spooky hologram tech woos viewers!

Its election time and it’s not just the candidates who seem to be in a campaign to woo the public. Television networks too have been at their innovative best to ensure their viewers stuck to them for complete election coverage. CNN has been at the forefront with these geeky attempts.CNN had showcased its "Magic Wall" display where CNN hosts were able to "poke touch and wave" at the screen graphics earlier this year. The large touchscreen display had a plethora of information, which was easily accessible and could be easily manipulated by touch gestures. Quite similar to the iPhone multi touch gestures, these did leave viewers quite impressed.

With the Presidential polls approaching its last stages, CNN fired another salvo at rival networks with the introduction of what it calls a "Hologram". Now this is not some cheap multi-colored sticker job, but a complete 3D image of a CNN correspondent beamed live to the studio. The 3D image captured by some 35 -odd high-definition cameras placed all around the "scapegoat" correspondent Jessica Yellin was beamed to the studios where users could see Yellin interacting with the host, Wolf Blitzer. While Blitzer did not actually see Yellin in front of him, the viewers could see her and Blitzer together only after the two video feeds were merged together. The result is this eerie ghost image of a person standing in front of the host complete with a blue haze around her body which made the telecast seem more a Star Wars episode, much less a news telecast. The video will keep you engrossed for a while!

Techtree link

Nokia announces slight restructuring, Layoffs

Ok, this seems to be a never-ending saga. Just after I reported about EA laying off 6% of its staff, here comes more (expected) bad news.

Nokia has today announced plans for changes in some parts of its organization. The planned organizational changes would potentially "affect" 450 employees, according to Nokia.

Nokia is aiming for "changes in its sales and marketing activities in the Markets unit". The changes aim to strengthen the customer interface, ensure that resources are well allocated to meet the business needs and de-layer the organization. Nokia estimates that approximately 450 employees, maximum 100 in Finland, in the Markets unit will be affected by the planned changes.

Along with this, the Nokia Research Center (NRC), which specializes in long-term research activities within Nokia, is all set to focus on fewer but stronger research areas. The planned reorganization is estimated to have an impact on approximately 130 NRC employees globally, of which a maximum of 100 are in Finland.

Nokia has also announced that it plans to close off its Turku site in Finland and relocate those activities predominantly to Salo (Finland). Nokia currently has 220 employees working in the Turku office and the aim is that the employees would continue in Nokia's site at Salo or in the capital area in Finland. The closing of the Turku site is estimated to be completed by the end of January, 2009.

Other "global workforce adjustments" too are on the cards. These adjustments are estimated to affect approximately 35 employees, of which almost all are in Finland.

"Today's changes are part of Nokia's constant renewal where it is important to be close to our customers and ensure that our people are able to focus on the key business priorities. Also, our aim is to find alternative work within Nokia for as many employees as possible," said Juha Äkräs, Senior Vice President, Human Resources, Nokia.

Gloomy days, eh?

Nokia goes low-end and how!

Nokia today introduced a range of entry level mobile devices and new services specifically for people in emerging markets. In addition to Nokia's lowest cost handset to date, as well as its first handset for emerging markets with an integrated digital music player, Nokia unveiled a range of services as well for those hooked on to the mobile internet. Estimated retail prices of the new devices range from 25 to 90 EUR, with several models expected to begin shipping in 2008. Nokia's suite of Internet services for emerging markets will be available beginning in 2009.

The seven New handsets to see the light of the day are:

Supernova 7100
The Nokia 7100 Supernova is designed for style and entertainment, the device has a large, high resolution color screen, FM radio and a 1.3 megapixel camera and support for Share on Ovi, Nokia's online photo sharing service, and other photo sharing sites.

The Nokia 7100 Supernova also includes support for Mail on Ovi, as well as a browser for surfing information on the Internet. The Nokia 7100 Supernova is expected to begin shipping in the fourth quarter of 2008 with an estimated retail price of 75 EUR.

5130 XpressMusic
With dedicated music keys, a digital music player, FM radio and a standard 3.5 mm connector for headphones, the Nokia 5130 XpressMusic is Nokia's most affordable music phone to date.

Equipped with an integrated 2 megapixel camera. This too will support the afforementioned web based Nokia applications and is due in Q1 2009 at an estimated price of 90 EUR

Confusing ones!
Nokia 2320 classic, Nokia 2323 classic and Nokia 2330 classic. Thats correct. All these are diffrent models aimed at the same low end segment. There are minor differences though with the the Nokia 2323 classic offering an FM radio with recording and an Internet browser.



The Nokia 2330 classic is equipped with an integrated camera. The Nokia 2320 classic and the Nokia 2323 classic are expected to begin shipping during the second quarter of 2009 with an estimated retail price of 40 EUR. The slightly higher end 2330 will be out in Q2 2009 with a price tag of 50EUR.

Want more? Go further down the price ladder!


Nokia is offering its lowest ever cost handset in the form of the Nokia 1202 which is expected to be priced at a measly 25EUR.

The 1661 is expected to be a tad pricier at 30 EUR (approximately 1800 INR). Expect both these to be out in Q1 2009.

Its Raining pink slips! EA now

The layoffs continue . This time it’s EA, the publishing giant that has decided to lay off almost 6% of its staff. Amounting to a total of about 600 employees, the company announced this decision soon after its declaration of financial results for the quarter ended September 30.

With losses amounting to USD 310 million hitting the company hard, the decision was inevitable says EA. The company aims to save as much as USD 50 million with its newest cost reduction plans. Considering this is before the effects of the current economic crisis have begun trickling in, future prospects do look scary. However, company executives have confirmed that it is too early to determine the effects of the slowdown. They however did confirm a slowdown in their retail sales in October. This could mean more bad news in the future though.

John Riccitiello, EA's chief executive says, "Considering the slow down at retail we've seen in October, we are cautious in the short term. Longer term, we are very bullish on the game sector overall and on EA in particular. The industry is growing double-digits on the strength of three new game consoles and increases in the number of homes with broadband internet connections."

The company also plans to reduce new hires considerably for the time being apart from closing some positions entirely.

Via: Gamesindustry.biz

Obama's Tech Video woos Silicon Valley inhabitants

US Presidential candidate Barack Obama, in an attempt to woo techies released a last minute campaign video which shows him expressing his views on technology and what he aims to do once he is in power. The video contains excerpts from a speech he made exactly a year ago at the headquarters of Google at Mountain View, California.

Obama has promised to double the funding from federal agencies for basic research and implement policies in the speech which is almost three minutes long. Obama also assures broadband access to every American along with putting more government data online. It is a widely accepted fact that California -- especially the Silicon Valley has favored Obama against McCain ahead of todays polls. If thats not all, a recent study by blogger Robbin Harris from ZDNet has revealed that more than 90% of campaign donations made by employees of leading "tech" corporations have gone to the Democrats. These include giants like Apple and Google amongst others.



The US Presidential poll reaches its penultimate stage today when voters all across the US exercise their franchise and start off the Presidential poll process, which is set to culminate with the "Inauguration Day" scheduled for January 20, 2009. Post the voting, there is a rather long two-month gap before the world gets to know who the next US president would be!

Via: AFP

Sony's Break-apart controller patented

Yes, we had rumors about this coming. But here's a confirmation of sorts on what to expect from Sony's controller stables in the near future. The company seems to have been busy patenting its new break-apart controller with motion sensing capabilities.

A member of the gaming community Neogaf has come across diagrams of a potential patent application for one of Sony's future controllers. The one handed controller seems to be equipped with a plethora of "sensors" to determine information. These include an ultrasonic detector (ala the PSEye microphone set up) to gauge relative distances, LEDs to calculate the position of the controller with respect to your body and an accelerometer to determine rotational inertia.

Thats about the technological wizardry these controllers cram in. As for the looks, the responses so far seem to be not very encouraging. With some responses slamming it for looking more like "aboriginal weaponry" than a gaming device, Sony sure need to rethink their design school of thought. This, coming after Sony's "boomerang controller" introduced back in 2005 is criminal! But yes, there are folks who find this cool. Drool on at the pictures (if you can). More images on the NeoGAF website.