Reaktor Prism is a new “modal synth” created by NI founder and Reaktor creator Stephan Schmitt. Stephan walked me through Prism when I visited him in Berlin earlier this summer, and I have to say, it’s one of the software releases I’m most excited about – Stephan’s ideas about synthesis are always refreshing and inspiring. It makes a lot of use of the new objects in 5.5. It’s hard to describe, so stay tuned for more on it soon.
Reflektor is a “zero-latency” convolution engine for simulating reverbs and other effects.
Traktor’s 12 brings some of the effects from Traktor into producer’s hands. That’s good news, because some of Traktor’s far-out and granular-based timbres seem a natural for non-DJs.
Rammfire is a new amp emulation developed with Richard Z. Kruspe of Rammstein.
While some standalone instruments and effects had been casualties of a trimmed Komplete suite in previous releases — Spektral Delay, Vokator, B4, and Akoustik Piano come to mind — those are replaced in this version by the addition of extensive soundware for the remaining flagship instruments. Scarbee Vintage Keys and MM-Bass, Abbey Road 60s Drums, and the Classic Piano Collection more than make up for the omission of dedicated piano and organ instruments, folding these instead into the consistent interface of the Kontakt and Battery samplers. Vintage Organs becomes the new replacement for B4, or as an NI spokeperson described it to me, a “spiritual successor.”
More interesting, you also get some more unusual instrumental creations: Reaktor Spark (also by Schmitt), Tim Exile’s insanely-brilliant performance effect The Finger, and the sonically-adventurous Acoustic Refractions.
So, that’s what’s new in terms of new stuff. But the new Komplete also represents some shifts in strategy, ones that mean cheaper access to sounds for those who don’t want all of the editing capabilities. That shift goes beyond even previous player and Kore soundware from NI.
Player for Guitar Rig, Reaktor
In addition to the expanded sonic palette, Komplete reflects a different way of delivering instruments. Guitar Rig Player allows effects to be delivered standalone in a “universal” (well, that’s what NI calls it – it’s universal for them) effects platform. Reflektor and Rammfire are delivered on the Guitar Rig Player platform, a bit like the soundware we’ve seen for Kontakt.
More notably, Reaktor Player means that Reaktor patches can finally be distributed without having to buy the full release of Reaktor. Unlike previous Kore versions, these won’t have a crippled UI. You’ll get the full, graphical user interface for some brilliant Reaktor patches, without having to buy the whole Reaktor package if you don’t want to edit them. Depending on how much NI exploits this idea, that could make Reaktor a more compelling tool for artists to create new instruments and effects for the platform, at least for those who work with NI directly.
Pricing and “Elements”
At US$559 for the whole set ($229 update), Komplete is also looking more economical, and I think is competitive with the pack-in instrument bundles in tools like Logic and Live.
If half a grand is steep, there’s also a budget “Elements” edition at US$119, which incorporates the Kontakt, Kore, and Guitar Rig engines plus 12 gigs of sample materials and 2000 sounds. You don’t get the full editing capabilities of the whole packages, but it means a cheap way to get a huge dose of preset sound content. There’s also a $60 voucher for adding on a la carte instruments and effects presets.
Upgrading from standalone NI products appears to be more difficult, unfortunately, say a couple of readers. That’s not great news; I’ll contact NI for clarification. Previous Komplete owners can easily upgrade from any version. Some standalone NI products are covered; here’s the upgrade deal:
Samsung plans on playing Cupid this Valentine’s Day and offering romantic apps that will surely help in strengthening the bond of one’s relationship. These apps are not only available for smartphones, but also for smart TVs. The range of apps available on offer are not only limited to couples, but also for those hoping to find their significant other.
Samsung aims to make your Valentine's day special
Here is a look at some of the apps Samsung has to offer for this year’s Valentines Day:
Mobile Apps: Love Meter – This app allows couples to calculate the percentage of their love and this app is based on astrology. The Love Meter app is available for free from the Samsung app store
Desserts– Samsung aims to provide tips on wooing your better half by offering an app that teaches one to make desserts. There are a range of recipes available in this app and one can have a choice of desserts, such as cake, tart or crepes and many more.
Love Lines – There is no way to a woman’s heart than quoting some romantic lines. Choose from personalized message to famous romantic lines. Deepen your bond and express how you feel this Valentine’s Day.
Partner Search on Mobile– With this app, even if you are single on Valentine’s Day, there is no need to feel down and out. Here is an app that lets you search for a prospective partner through you mobile. Web dating has become the new fad where finding a partner is not a task, anymore. All one has to do is put in their details and start the search and quickly connect with someone in your city café, or nearby area. This app is available on Bada-enabled phones and is priced at Rs.50.
Smart TV apps: Couples stretching – If you and your partner are health freaks, then this is an ideal app as it allows couples to synchronize moves and in the process avail health benefits. Couples Stretching guides you through a fun-filled stretching regime that along with strengthening you muscles, empowers the love bond further, giving you a great head start to a special day.
SICT Mobiles has introduced a new dual SIM handset, iV 168. This dual band offering supports both 900 and 1800 GSM bands and comes with a dual language big keypad (English & Hindi). The new offering also comes with a 2.4-inch (6.1 cm) QVGA (320×240 pixels) screen for videos, dual speakers for better sound and 1.3MP camera. The feature is available for a street price of Rs.1999.
A new phone every week!
The phone is designed in the typical candybar form factor and looks pretty presentable as well. It’s simple, basic and even has a dedicated FM key. “Our endeavor has been to offer best of the technologies and products to our customers across the country. The all new iV168 with 1500mAh battery is a state of the art offering that helps the user to talk for more than 10hours. In addition, its look and feel, style, color combination and shape suits the needs of our urban customers as well,” commented Anil Kaushik, Co-founder and CEO of IVK Mobile.
The phone plays all major audio formats like MP3, WAV, MIDI, AMR and comes with dual 22 x 35mm and 15 x 24 mm speaker for loud sound. It also has an in-built audio and video recorder. Video functionality can play all the popular formats like AVI, MP4 and 3GP with 20 fps (Frames per seconds). It can support up to 16GB of external memory via microSD card. The camera can also be used as a webcam for chatting online on a PC. You also get dual-charging support.
Another interesting feature is that unlike other handsets, with this the user can play FM both with and without the headset. In addition, the user also can protect his call history, messages, phonebook and memory card by putting passwords to each of the applications. This Bluetooth-enabled device supports A2DP, so that the users can listen to music on a Bluetooth headset as well. The phone should be available across the country in your local mobile stores.
iFeelclub decides to blend the digital age with the classic way of greetings on this Valentine’s Day. The website now has now introduced an innovative way of sending Valentine’s Day messages. If you think the usual cards and flowers are passé, then surprise your tech-savvy beloved with an entertaining video greeting. The personalized video greetings could be more vivacious and will help you express your feelings in a cheerful and romantic manner to your loved one, says the company.
Video greeting for V-Day
You can also choose 3D animated story telling video cards that provide utmost creativity. It has several choices, depending upon what message you want to convey to your beloved. There’s a large library of Valentine video greetings, which can help express your feeling, be it care, emotions, passion, and so on.
Users can preview the cards from the iFeelclub site. The site also provides extended trial service for its users who can lay their hands on the latest concepts. On the completion of the trial package, the user can go ahead and purchase a nominal package, beginning at a price point as low as Rs.49. With complete agreement, most of us prefer on-the-go access to data and with the increasing mobile usage trend, iFeelclub has also put across the mobile wap site m.ifeelclub.com. iPhone users can also access it via the iPhone App Greet Hub.
Furthermore, the person doesn’t have to necessarily view the video message on the desktop or laptop to send or receive it. The message can be sent or viewed on mobile phones, anywhere. The high definition video messages are compatible with all phones with activated GPRS service. Click here to send video messages using iFeelclub.
Intex Technologies has announced the launch of their new mobile phone, the Avatar, which is a 3D touch phone. This mobile phone offers users the choice of converting 2D images and video content into 3D with the touch of a button and also the other way round.
A pair of 3D glasses have been provided, free of cost with this phone for consumers to unravel a new world of stronger visual experience and better imagery. The phone allows consumers to store and watch videos at the rate of 30 frames per second. One can also view 10 pre-loaded films available in the 4 gigs multimedia card, which comes for free with the phone. Avatar is priced at Rs. 3,690 and the phone is targeted at entertainment enthusiasts who are price conscious as well. It is a dual SIM phone with a 2.8-inch screen, all packaged in a handy candybar form factor.
The phone has an array of interesting features. In-built games like Crazy Birds, Fruit Ninja, Pentachess, Call of Atlantis, Yumsters and an enhanced experience of accessing social networking sites, such as Google, Yahoo and Facebook are already pre- installed.
The Intex Avatar
Commenting on the launch, Sanjay Kumar, GM, Mobile Business, Intex Technologies (India) Ltd. said, “At Intex, we believe in addressing consumer needs by constantly innovating and developing feature-rich mobile handsets. India has evolved in adoption of 3D technology. Keeping consumer needs in mind we have introduced this novel feature. Intex is poised to provide unique offerings to all the technology enthusiasts with products such as ‘INTEX AVATAR’ that provide an enriched experience to long standing customers in India and abroad.”
The handset supports both English and Hindi languages. Consumers will also get INTEX Zone – which provides additional features and various functions like Answering Machine, Mobile Tracker, Auto Call Record, Google, MSN, Yahoo!, Facebook and Games.
The Intex Avatar is priced at Rs.3,690 and is available across more than 15,000 distributors and reseller outlets, at 70 Intex squares (exclusive retail stores) and several hypermarkets across the country.
Over the course of the last year, a once unheard of segment in cameras took off so fast that virtually all camera manufacturers launched a product. This segment we are referring to is the travel compact or travel zoom. It is virtually a compact camera with a rather large zoom lens. Last year, one of the best cameras in this class was the Panasonic DMC-TZ20. Today, we take a look at the DMC-TZ18, which launched around the same time as the TZ20. Read on to know how it fared against the worthy competition present in the market, these days.
Connectivity option located at the side
Design and Build Quality The Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ18 is very similar in design to the TZ20 and one would be hard pressed to find any physical difference between the two. The only real difference is the removal of the GPS feature and the quick access video recording button, both of which are located at the top of the TZ20. Apart from this, the shape and layout, including the design of both the cameras are pretty much the same.
This camera is a bit larger than most compact cameras available in the market, but the size keeps in line with other travel compact cameras. The front and the back have a matte black finish, while the lens and the sides of the camera are finished in silver. The buttons, too have a silver finish giving it a stylish look. Apart from the lens in the front, which occupies most of this area, the other noticeable features found on this area are the LED flash and the AF assist.
The display is not that great
The rear of the camera features the large 3-inch display, along with the controls. The buttons at the back, include a toggle switch for navigating between playback and shooting modes, an exposure button, a four way navigational pad that is located around a menu/ set button, the display option as well as a Quick Menu button. The top of the camera features control options, such as a shutter release button housed next to the zoom rocker, the E.Zoom button, on/ off switch and the mode dial.
The connectivity option for this camera is located on a bay at the side, which is the USB port. The flap for the bay in which the USB port is housed feels sturdy and features a spring loaded mechanism, which if slightly open, closes. The battery is located in a bay underneath the camera and this area also houses the memory card. The battery bay has a locking mechanism, which helps in securing the battery from accidentally popping out. This is a good design implementation, especially if the camera is used a bit roughly. Sturdiness is a big plus point of this camera, as it feels as though it can withstand more than a few accidental drops. The buttons are well built as well making the overall build quality good. Rounding up the design and build quality, this is a stylish point and shoot camera that is well built and feels like it can battle the wear and tear of daily use.Features
The Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ18 boasts of a load of features with the highlighted one being the impressive zoom features. The camera features a 16x optical zoom, along with an Intelligent zoom that reaches up to 20x, but the quality of the image may drop, while in this mode. This zoom can also be used, while capturing videos. The ability to zoom, while video recording is a feature that is not found on many point and shoot cameras. So for Panasonic to add it, is a good thing, and it helps especially while shooting videos, since it allows one to get up close to a subject easily.
The top features the mode dial as well as shutter release button
This camera features a 14.1MP CCD sensor that measures 1/2.33 inches. This is a common size sensor found on most compact cameras these days. However, when Panasonic announced the Lumix TZ20, this model was launched at the same time. The TZ20 featured a MOS sensor as opposed to a CCD sensor found here. The image quality of a MOS sensor, in most cases tends to be superior than a CCD sensor.
The interface of the camera is well designed and for a camera that has semi manual as well as manual shooting modes, this camera is fairly easy to use. Beginners would not have any problems with this camera, as there is no real learning curve to it. All options can be accessed using the mode dial at the top, which is assisted by the Menu/ set button at the back. The display of this camera is not one of the best we have seen and images onscreen lack the amount of clarity expected.
16x optical zoom found on this point and shoot
Apart from the difference between the sensors, there are some notable absentees found in this camera, as compared to the TZ20. As compared to its sibling with higher specifications, this camera lacks the GPS functionality, touchscreen capability as well as the ability to record videos in 1080p at 30fps. The screen in comparison has half the resolution of the TZ20. Overall, this is a scaled down version of the TZ20, but it does offer some similarities, such as the 16x optical zoom, as close as 3 cms during macro shooting as well as a maximum shutter speed of 1/4000 of a second.
Like most point and shoot cameras available in the market, this camera features a scene mode. But unlike others, the scene mode found here is loaded with presets that allow one to capture images in different environments and effects. Videos shot from the camera can be recorded in HD at 720p. This is not such a great addition, as most cameras in this price range record videos in full HD at 1080p. Media can be stored on this camera by using SD, SDHC and SDXC memory cards. The TZ18 features 23 points of auto focus, allowing one to capture photographs easily with the desired area being in focus.Performance
The performance of this camera was tested on a number of factors. To start off, this camera is lightweight at just 210g with the battery and memory card. Though this camera is on the larger side, one can easily grip it and click pictures using a single hand. The slight addition of a handgrip assists in the handling of the camera.
Navigating through the interface is great, as there was no lag noticed while toggling through the different options. However, we noticed an issue when a picture was zoomed into; panning through it was a bit time consuming.
ISO sensitivity test
ISO Sensitivity Test During the ISO sensitivity test, we noticed that at ISO 100 there was no noise noticed at all. ISO 200 onwards, a slight amount of noise emerges, but this is nothing that should concern anyone. At ISO 400, the noise levels rise drastically and from there on in the proceeding ISO sensitivities, the noise levels rise making images unusable.Aperture Priority Test
In the aperture priority test, we observed that at the widest aperture, F/ 3.3, there was only a slight amount of depth of field. The widest aperture level on this camera is not that much and hence a lot of light does not reach the sensor.
Zoom test
Zoom Test In this test we noticed that at 16x zoom, which is the maximum optical zoom found on the camera, there was no blurring noticed. This allows one to get really close to the subject without the fear of images losing focus as the image stabilizer handles the cameras zooming capabilities well.Performance Continued
In outdoor shots, the camera excels and one can click images without worrying about the accuracy of colours. Another good thing noticed during outdoor shots was that there was no colour fringing noticed as well. However, the same cannot be said about indoor shots as colours appear completely off. This is noticed especially with red, making it appear orange. Green, too appears a little garish, while yellow looks dark. The indoor performance of the camera is not good at all. The colours, however do look accurate on the camera’s monitor, but when transferred on to a PC, the colours are not the same.
While clicking macro shots, a lot of depth of field was noticed and there was a significant amount of clarity in the subject that is in focus. The video recording capabilities of this camera are really good and there were no issues noticed during playback as well. However, the same issue was noticed with the colours appearing off indoors. The flash of this camera is really good and can easily light up an area of 15 feet. Panasonic bundles an 895mAh battery with the camera and the brand rates it at approximately 340 shots.
Verdict The Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ18 is priced in India at a'n MOP of Rs.15,500. This camera does well in its design and has features that can stand up to the competition, especially since it features an incredible zoom capability as well as manual functionalities. As for the performance of the camera, it does really well in outdoor shots as well as macro photography. However, the camera fails badly when it comes to indoor images and this should detract any potential buyer.
Matte finish found on this compact camera
Another thing we did not fancy about the camera was its price and one can get the Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ20 for around Rs. 1400 more and that camera offers better image quality in all environments and comes with a host of other features, which include GPS, 1080p video recording, a display that has touchscreen capabilities, among other interesting features.
Path, the social networking application has been storing your address book in a remote server without you being in the know. Developer, Arun Thampi noticed and published the hitch when he was trying to develop a Path 2 application for Mac OS. When Thampi was using the API to develop the application, he noticed that his entire contact list with phone numbers, names and emails was being sent as a list to Path. When Path CEO and founder Dave Morin replied to Thampi, it was discovered that this was actually an industry practice and most applications access your contact list and store it in a remote server. Morin says, "This is currently the industry best practice and the App Store guidelines do not specifically discuss contact information."
They took entire address books
Point 17.1 of the App Store guidelines says, " Apps cannot transmit data about a user without obtaining the user's prior permission and providing the user with access to information about how and where the data will be used". Point 17.2 of the App Store guidelines says, "Apps that require users to share personal information, such as email address and date of birth, in order to function will be rejected." Which means, essentially what Path was doing went against the App Store guidelines.
Morin replied to Thampi's post explaining, "We upload the address book to our servers in order to help the user find and connect to their friends and family on Path quickly and efficiently as well as to notify them when friends and family join Path. Nothing more." Morin also apologized in a blog post explaining that information that a user shares with Path is stored on their servers over an encrypted connection. He also said that Path released an update to their app, version 2.0.6, which will allow users to choose to share their information, or otherwise with Path, in order to help them find friends and family. They have also deleted all the contact information collected from users from their servers.
We’ve got a slurry of Android tablets in the market with not a lot of difference between most of them and the number isn’t going to decrease any time soon. So, what do you do to get noticed in the crowd? You put in stuff that quite a few manufacturers have omitted (Read: USB OTG, keyboard connectivity, HDMI, larger screen), but still keep the price tag at the lower end. That’s exactly what MSI have done with their WindPad Enjoy 10. But, does that spell success for this tablet over its other Android counterparts? Let’s find out.
On video: MSI WindPad Enjoy 10
Design and Build Quality
The WindPad quite surprised us when we removed our review unit from the box. Thin, smooth finish, rounded edges and a nice steel and matte combo finish at the back, immediately meant that this one was way above the cheap plastic ones, we’ve reviewed in the past. The only glossy bit is along the edges on the front of the tablet and there’s equal amount of bezel on all the sides of this slate.
Connectivity ports
If you’ll glance over to the left, you’ll find a range of connectivity options for the WindPad. Firstly, there’s a power port, two mini USB ports, a headphone jack, an HDMI port, the volume rocker and a lock button. The microSD card slot is located at the back, underneath a rather huge flap. The speakers are located at the back as well. The front consists of an ambient light sensor and four capacitive buttons with haptic feedback, next to the 10-inch display that has a resolution of 1024 x 768 pixels.
From all sides
With bigger tablets, there’s always this worry of dropping them if there’s uneven weight distribution, but the Enjoy 10 doesn’t have any problem, whatsoever. It’s easy to hold with one hand and the ergonomics section has been covered well. At 800g, it’s definitely not the lightest tablet around but they’ve not compromised on the design or the build of this nice looking tablet.
Features and Performance
Interface
The WindPad Enjoy 10 is powered by a 1.2GHz Cortex A8 processor with 512 MB of RAM and 4GB of internal storage. It runs on Honeycomb Android 2.3 and we’re not too sure if this will get an ICS update. They’ve not done too much to the stock Gingerbread interface. With those specs, the Enjoy 10 seems to be able to handle it all on paper, but that’s where the good part ends. The tablet is extremely sluggish. Simply opening up the menu shows a lot of framing and manouvering through the homescreen, the menu is extremely slow. So much that this tablet might just give you a lesson on the important of patience, if you’ve not smashed it to pieces already. We tried putting a third party launcher and things did seem to improve a bit, but again problems started cropping up, while typing on the keyboard. So much lag between a key press being registered on the screen is just not acceptable. Multitasking is an absolute no brainer, out here. We’ll give you an example – a lot of times, music tracks start chopping, if you have music playing in the background and you open another application.
Sluggish interface
We’ll rant a little about the display as well. Poor resolution, poor viewing angles make viewing the screen a sore experience. In all fairness, it’s not the worst out there, but definitely not something you’d want on a 10 incher.
The tablet got a score of 2064 in our AnTuTu benchmark test, which was at least better than 1726 points that the similar priced Swingtel Hello tab got, in our earlier review. In Linpack, the Enjoy 10 got a score of 13.6MFLOPS in the single thread test and a score of 11.8MFLOPS in the multi thread test, which was definitely not impressive and even the cheaper TabPlus Rio got a better score.
Media
The onboard media player may have a bare bones feel to it, but guess what, it’s more than equipped to play a large amount of varied formats. 1080p videos played superbly with absolutely no stuttering or lag. The audio quality via both the headphones and speakers is quite loud and clear. The speakers especially were louder than a lot of the other tablets we’ve seen in the recent past.
Bare bones interface
The sound effects tab allows you to choose from a range of preset equalizers, alternatively you can have your own custom equalizer. LRC has been embedded as well, so the lyrics will appear on the screen as the song progresses. The media player is good, but if you want to use this tablet primarily to view movies, you’ll have to make do with the limited viewing angles.
Browser supports flash
Connectivity
The WindPad comes with Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, but there’s no 3G or GPS. There’s no Wi-Fi hotspot capability out of the box either, but they’ve got a few other interesting connectivity options. There’s HDMI out, mini USB for USB on the go and a second mini USB for connecting a keyboard and mouse. Loading webpages is a tad slower than we’ve seen on other tablets, but there’s support for Flash. USB OTG works quite well and we had absolutely no problems playing back a 1080p video directly from a 32GB pen drive attached to the tablet. Keyboard and mouse work quite well, too and they do help that wee bit in improving the speed of the sluggish interface. There’s a secondary keyboard pre-installed onto the tablet and we found it much more comfortable than the stock one.
Misc. Apps
The tablet comes pre-installed with a host of applications. There’s Yozo Office for your document writing needs; Shelves – that’s similar to iBooks for the iPad; Evernote – for taking notes; Astro file manager and a mysterious app called Fuugo. Mysterious because the application’s license had expired without us even starting it.
A screenshot of Shelves
A few Gameloft games have been pre-installed as well – and they work just fine. Hero of Sparta, Dungeon Hunter, Asphalt 5 and Gun Bros come along with the tablet. There are quite a few number of applications and games, but be warned, you’ll need quite a bit of patience till they actually start after you’ve click on them. Any extra keypresses during the load time, and the tablet will just get stuck. Once, they’ve started however, it’s a pretty smooth experience. Camera
The WindPad comes with dual cameras – a rear 2 megapixel and a front 2 megapixel camera. Somehow, they don’t seem to have the same image quality though. While the rear camera dishes out strictly average pictures, the front camera is quite appalling. Images are hazy and choppy and we had big problems using it for video calls.
Poor camera
Video shooting is a no go as well, because any movement and the camera starts capturing choppy images, it’s not smooth at all. The camera department is another low after the user interface for the Enjoy 10.
Average snaps
Battery Life
The WindPad 10 comes with a 3500 mAh Lithuim-ion battery and according to the company, it’s capable of 6 hours of video playback. However, in our video loop test we were quite pleased to see that the tablet outperformed that listing, it lasted for a full seven and a half hours. What’s impressive is that we had cranked the brightness up to the max and had Wi-Fi active throughout that time period. The battery life is definitely brilliant.
If only it had a faster UI..
Verdict
The MSI WindPad Enjoy 10 is priced at Rs.16,999 (MRP). In our quest for more patience review for this tablet, the only major problem we actually had was the lack of a fluid user interface, which has been one of the crucial factors why we’ve given the tablet this rating. Had it been quicker, our rating would have definitely gone a few notches higher. So, if not this, then what? Well, the 17K price tag hasn’t really been breached by an impressive 10-inch tablet still, so in our suggestion, you’d be better off holding on to your money, than splurging on something you’d regret later on. If you’re hell bent on getting a tablet in a similar price bracket, we’d recommend the Motorola Xoom (Wi-Fi only version) considering it’s selling for Rs.19,990 and has 32GB of inbuilt memory. It's back to the drawing board for MSI.
