WD ships Industry’s first 1TB Mobile Hard Drive
July 30, 2009 by Abbas Jaffar Ali
Filed under News
WD today announced two new mobile hard drives that reach new capacity extremes. The highlight is a one terabyte model – the industry’s highest-capacity 2.5-inch drive available. Industry-leading 333 GB-per-platter technology enables the new WD Scorpio® Blue™ SATA 2.5-inch hard drives to offer mobile storage device and notebook users an enormous 1 TB capacity. A 750 GB WD Scorpio Blue model also will be available.
The WD Scorpio Blue 750 GB and 1 TB hard drives have a 12.5 mm form factor1 and are ideally suited for use in portable storage solutions, such as the newly released My Passport™ Essential™ SE Portable USB Drives. Other applications include select notebooks and small form factor desktop PCs, where quiet and cool operation are important. Both WD Scorpio Blue drives deliver high-performance with 3 gigabits per second (Gb/s) transfer rate.
“The convergence of the growing mobile computing and digital media trends produces demand for desktop-like capacities in portable devices,” said Saif Khwaja Sales Director, Western Digital, Middle East & Africa. “Our new WD Scorpio Blue drives enable people to take even more of their digital collections with them wherever they go and, realizing the value of their data, back up their notebooks on their My Passport drives.”
WD Scorpio Blue hard drives offer high-performance, low power consumption and cool operation in portable applications. They are designed with WD features to be reliable and shock resistant while also delivering industry-leading capacity and performance.
WD Scorpio Blue Features
* WhisperDrive™ – WD’s exclusive WhisperDrive technology combines state-of-the-art seeking algorithms to produce one of the quietest 2.5-inch drives available.
* ShockGuard™ – Leading-edge ShockGuard technology combines firmware and hardware advancements to meet the highest combined shock tolerance specifications required for mobile and notebook applications.
* SecurePark™ – Parks the recording heads off the disk surface during spin up, spin down and when the drive is off. This ensures the recording head never touches the disk surface, resulting in improved long-term reliability due to less head wear and improved shock tolerance.
Price and Availability
WD Scorpio Blue 750 GB drives (model WD7500KEVT) are available now through select distributors and resellers; the 1 TB capacity (model WD10TEVT) is available now configured into My Passport Essential SE USB drives. The manufacturer’s suggested retail price (MSRP) for the WD Scorpio Blue 1 TB drive is $249.99 USD and for the 750 GB version it is $189.99 USD. WD Scorpio Blue hard drives are covered by a three-year limited warranty. More information about WD Scorpio Blue mobile hard drives may be found on the company’s Web site at http://www.wdc.com/en/products/Products.asp?DriveID=685
Transparent LG Phone now available in the GCC
July 29, 2009 by Abbas Jaffar Ali
Filed under News
LG Electronics (LG), a worldwide technology and design leader in mobile communications, today announced the launch of the world’s first transparent designer phone the LG GD900 Crystal across the GCC.
The LG GD900 Crystal is a trendsetting touchscreen phone based on the motif of transparency. The Crystal Touchpad, the keypad of the LG GD900 Crystal, slides out effortlessly from under the display and emits a soft, warm glow. The Crystal Touchpad is made of highly durable tempered glass and is framed and reinforced by a band of Liquidmetal, a composite alloy that is ultra-strong and able to absorb shock and vibration.
Not only stylish, the LG GD900 Crystal also stands out with its advanced navigational functions. The Crystal Touchpad can be used in the same way as a touchpad on a laptop computer or with a Gesture Shortcut, a new way to experience touch navigation. Gesture Shortcuts reduce the amount of steps required to access multi-tasking features. For instance, users can immediately jump to the web browser in the middle of writing an e-mail by tracing a symbol on the Crystal Touchpad with their finger.
The LG GD900 Crystal also features the vivid and content-rich S-class User Interface (UI) and an additional chipset dedicated to multimedia and graphics content. The S-class UI, together with the touch features and additional processing speed makes the LG GD900 Crystal a multimedia powerhouse.
The LG GD900 Crystal features an 8 megapixel autofocus camera that displays photos on a high resolution 3-inch WVGA LCD touchscreen and with the auto-rotating display, photos look great every time. The handset also has a MP3 player and can hold up to 32GB of music, photos or data using the expandable memory card slot. The LG GD900 Crystal is Wi-Fi enabled, allowing user to connect to the internet via wireless hotspots and it also supports Bluetooth 2.1 for secure, high-speed connectivity to other devices.
The phone is available in eye-catching Chrome or Titan, both finishes highlighting the transparent keypad’s subdued beauty. The phone launched in June in select markets in Europe, Asia and other countries around the world and launches across the UAE this August, retailing at AED 2,799.
Samsung announces their App Store for Mobiles
July 29, 2009 by Abbas Jaffar Ali
Filed under News
Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., the global leader in consumer electronics and advanced technology solutions, announced today that it will launch an application seller site (http://seller.samsungapps.com) on July 30.
The Seller Site is a bridge for developers and content providers to connect to end-users. When developers register relevant content or applications at their anticipated price on target markets, the applications are filtered through a backend system and are then promoted on the Samsung Application Store. All developers and content providers who want to promote and sell applications or content for the Symbian or Windows Mobile operating systems can sign up as members of the Samsung Application Seller Site for only one U.S. dollar.
The Samsung Application Seller Site will be an important part of the Samsung Application Store along with Samsung Mobile Innovator, a support program for developers, and the application store itself.
Kanghyun Kwon, Vice President of Samsung’s Content Service Team, Media Solution Center, said: “We launched a Samsung Application Store beta service in January in the UK and have been collaborating with developers and content providers through Samsung Mobile Innovator, a developer program for Symbian, Windows Mobile, and Java from October, 2008. With the launch of Samsung’s Application Seller Site, we can complete the total eco-system for better, easier, and more exciting mobile experiences ranging from compelling mobile phones to content and applications. We are aiming to achieve a win-win business model for end-users, mobile operators, and industry influencers, such as developers and content providers.”
A member of the Seller Site will be able to purchase a sales contract online and check the certification status in real-time. The site provides essential statistics such as sales records, revenue, and popularity of the content to end-users. Billing and payment is also handled online.
Samsung plans to launch and expand an official Application Store in Europe during 3Q of this year.
Geekfest not Geeky Enough?
July 28, 2009 by Abbas Jaffar Ali
Filed under Blogs
The Geekfest is happening at Shelter this upcoming Wednesday. What is that you ask? why, its a gathering of geeks. Or is it? Read more
Nokia E52 arrives in the UAE
July 28, 2009 by Abbas Jaffar Ali
Filed under News
Nokia announced that the latest in the company’s Eseries portfolio, the Nokia E52, has arrived in the UAE. “The Nokia E52 is for people that need efficiency in both their professional and personal lives. People who require great phone features like outstanding talk time, voice quality and slim design,” said Ms. Trude Gajland, Head of Eseries Marketing, Nokia Middle East and Africa. The new arrival follows on from the successful Nokia E51, and was engineered with similar priorities. The Nokia E52 excels in the area of talk time and voice quality with nearly a month standby time and noise cancellation, and adds features such as HSPA, A-GPS with Nokia Maps and a 3.2 Mpix camera.
The new device also integrates seamlessly with corporate telephony systems, effectively complementing or replacing the need for a desk phone. Solutions like Call Connect – which integrate Nokia mobile devices with PBXs from industry leaders like Cisco and Alcatel-Lucent – allow people to be reachable through one number, help companies have less devices and voicemail boxes to manage, and enable cost control through features like least cost routing.
Whilst being very competent in voice, the Nokia E52 also boasts upgraded email capability with a new email user interface that integrates perfectly with available Nokia Messaging, a service that pushes the world’s leading consumer email accounts straight to your device, and Nokia’s corporate email solutions Mail for Exchange and IBM Lotus Notes Traveler. With direct access to either Microsoft Exchange or IBM Lotus Notes email servers, companies can potentially save up to a third of their operating costs for mobile email and personal information management as there is no need for middleware or additional servers.
“2008 was a great year for Nokia Eseries, with more than 10 million units shipped. 2009 has started very well with our strongest quarter ever, as well as the launch of the Nokia E75 and the Nokia E55. With the continued traction our corporate and consumer email services are getting with both customers and operators, the overall email solution from Nokia is becoming one of the industry’s most compelling,” concluded Ms. Gajland.
The new Nokia E52 is estimated at 1,375 AED.
New Samsung N120 Netbook Comfortably Lasts Longer
July 27, 2009 by Abbas Jaffar Ali
Filed under News
Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., the global leader in consumer electronics and advanced technology solutions, today launched the innovative Samsung N120 netbook. Although slim at just 10.1″, the N120 is designed for optimum usability and performance, with its full-size 12″ notebook style keyboard, larger touchpad and an ultra-lightweight and robust slim line casing.
“Netbook sales are booming everywhere, including in the UAE. IDC has predicted that in 2009, world wide sales of netbooks will be up 127 percent from 2008. To cater to this growth we will continue to provide consumers with the most innovative products available.” said Madhav Narayan, General Manager, IT division, Samsung Gulf Electronics. “With the addition of the N120, we have expanded our lineup with enhanced battery life, multi-media speakers and a larger keyboard and touchpad. These key features will satisfy the needs of users looking for audio video capabilities, while also supporting the road warriors needing extended battery life.”
With the N120 consumers can enjoy high-quality sound anywhere using its integrated SRS 2.1ch system, featuring 2 x 1.5 Watt stereo speakers with a dedicated sub-woofer. It also features a larger touchpad and a full-size 12″ notebook style keyboard with optimised key spacing, so you can type faster and make fewer mistakes. Its ergonomic design places less stain on your wrists, which all adds up to a more enjoyable and productive experience.
Shielded by the robust Samsung Duracase, this mini notebook is more than capable of rolling with the punches. Having passed a grueling series of quality assurance tests, ranging from rapid temperature change to electrical surges, it sets new standards for survivability and resilience, giving consumers much less to worry about when travelling.
As well a being extremely portable, the N120 also delivers a significantly longer battery-powered performance of up to 10.5 hours with a long-life 6 cell battery, independent of any power supply, for maximum freedom and mobility. The unique combination of its power efficient LED display and optimised processing performance coupled with Samsung’s class-leading engineering ensures that you’re always ready to go anywhere and do anything thanks to the N120’s vastly improved battery life.
To make it as simple as possible to exchange data, including documents, pictures and music, between almost any modern camera, peripheral or audio-visual device, the N120 incorporates a range of advanced connectivity tools, including a 3-in-1 memory card reader, 3 built-in USB ports and optional Bluetooth 2.0+EDR (Enhanced Data Rate).
As well as safeguarding your data, the N120 also uses the latest medical technology to protect your health by providing a more hygienic computing environment. Its anti-bacterial keyboard is coated with a special finish that successfully eliminates virtually all bacteria by making it almost impossible for them to live and breed.
“Now everyone can afford to experience exceptional portability and usability with the full sized keyboard and advanced communications tools of the ultra-light Samsung N120 netbook. It’s the perfect choice for anyone who needs to stay in touch on the go, “added Narayan.
Western Digital 2TB GreenPower HD
July 26, 2009 by Abbas Jaffar Ali
Filed under Components, Reviews, Storage Devices
The Terrabyte storage race is so on. Just a few months after Seagate released their controversial 1.5TB drive, along comes Western Digital upping the ante in consumer desktop space with their 2TB Green Series. As expected, it rotates at 7200RPM and has a 3Gb/s SATA interface along with a 32 MB Cache.
Being a Green Drive, it supposedly consumes lesser power and is quieter. While we don’t have any equipment to measure the energy savings from this drive, I can tell you that it is reasonably quiet. Not much else to say about this 3.5″ drive that hasn’t been said before so lets head straight to the numbers starting with HDTach
To give you a bit of a comparison, here is the data from other drives in the same range under HDTach.
| Burst Speed | Average Read | |
| WD GreenPower 2TB | 228.9 MB/s | 82.2 MB/s |
| WD Caviar Black 1TB | 224.2 MB/s | 89.3 MB/s |
| Seagate Barracuda 1.5TB | 233.3 MB/s | 107.9 MB/s |
| WD Velociraptor 300GB | 252.5 MB/s | 109.9 MB/s |
As you can see from the table above, the GreenPower drive doesn’t score very high under HDTach. Lets see if things are any different with PCMark Vantage’s Hard Disk tests.
Performance isnt something that the GreenPower will pride itself upon. Its the capacity that’ll make it sell. Ideally, you would want a fast drive like an SSD or the Velociraptor as your boot and applications drive along with a high capacity drive like this one in RAID mode to act as your data drive.
Priced at roughly around AED 900, you are getting about 45 fils per GB which is a bit higher than what you would get from a 1TB or even a 1.5TB drive that sell at AED 400 and AED 550 respectively.
Wi-Fi -enabled Epson Stylus TX550W Series all-in-one printer unveiled in the Middle East
July 23, 2009 by Abbas Jaffar Ali
Filed under News
Epson has announced the launch of its Wi-Fi -capable Stylus TX550W Series all-in-one printer in the Middle East. The new high speed compact printer supports sharing among multiple users and wireless printing or scanning from several desktops or laptops around the home. It includes an Ethernet connection for wired networking and is designed for people who want quality, speed and flexibility.
The new printer features a 6.3 cm LCD viewer, in-built Pictbridge and memory card slots, thus eliminating the need to turn on a PC to print photos. The LCD viewer also enables users to view all menu functions and photos with ease. Producing lab-quality photos in addition to high-quality documents is easy thanks to Epson’s DURABrite Ultra Ink – an advanced pigment-based ink technology that encapsulates the ink particles in a protective resin coating. This makes the ink resistant to water and smudging and can be used with highlighter pens. It also produces superb text definition and lab-quality photos which can last over 200 years when stored in an album.
The Epson Stylus TX550W Series comes with the added benefit of individual ink cartridges, saving money as only the colour used needs to be replaced. These individual ink cartridges are easily identified by the “Cheetah” image and are also available in a convenient, cost-saving multipack. The printer uses Epson’s industry leading Micro Piezo print head technology for superb quality prints and encompasses a high-speed print engine which produces print speeds of up to 36 pages per minute. Additionally, the new push-scan button can be used to automatically scan documents and photos to a PC. It can be used to scan to PDF or to email and uses Epson Easy Photo FixTM to restore colour, remove dust and correct backlight when scanning old faded photos.
The latest addition to Epson’s Stylus line also features ABBYY FineReader® Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software, which makes it easy to scan text into editable documents. In addition Epson PhotoEnhance and Epson Easy Photo Print software are included to enable users to adjust the colour and contrast of images and remove red-eye with the click of a button. For the best quality photos, Epson recommends its range of glossy photo papers. Available in three finishes – Photo Paper, Glossy Photo Paper and Premium Glossy Photo Paper – the 3, 4 and 5 star rating makes choosing the right photo paper simple. An Epson Photo Paper Pack is included in the box, so users can start printing high-quality photos at 10x15cm, 13x18cm and A4 sizes straight away.
The Energy Star –qualified Epson Stylus TX550W Series reflects Epson’s ongoing focus to reduce the carbon emissions associated with the use of its products.
“The Middle East’s highly discerning consumers recognize the importance of mobility even in the home setting. The Epson Stylus TX550W Series provides a fast, convenient, reliable and multifunctional hub for Arab families to source their printing tasks, be they personal or business in nature. Moreover, the Stylus TX550W Series incorporates Wi-Fi which allows multiple users to print and scan wirelessly from around the home, eliminating the need to have more than one printer,” said Khalil El-Dalu, General Manager, Epson Middle East.
Sony DSC-HX1 Digital Camera
July 22, 2009 by Abbas Jaffar Ali
Filed under Digital Photography, Gadgets, Reviews
The Sony DSC-HX1 is a fine “Prosumer” camera that features a 9.1 Mega pixel CMOS Sensor and an incredible 20X Optical Zoom. There are other, cheaper cameras available with a higher mega pixel count, but really, people need to learn that more MPs doesn’t really translate into a better camera. If you need something more than 10MP, I suggest you look at an SLR.
Coming back to the HX1, it comes packaged in a nice squarish box with an Arabic and an English Quickstart manual as well as a battery charger and a cable that allows you to connect the camera to a computer via USB or TV with composite input. An adapter for HDMI output is also included which is probably the better way to display your pictures on your big screen. Also included is a CD with applications for both Windows and Mac along with a soft copy of a more comprehensive manual.
The body of HX1 is a bit smaller than the Canon Powershot SX1 that I recently purchased. I’ve been a long time user of the Nikon D40X which has a bigger body that both these cameras, however, I prefer the Sony over the Canon in size as anything bigger makes me want to rotate the lens to zoom in and out which is not the case with these Prosumer cameras. Looking at the camera from the back, you have almost all the controls on the right side and instead of explaining every single one of them, I’d rather just show you a picture. Almost all the controls are self-explanatory for anyone that has used a Digital Camera.
The back side has a 3.0″ LCD screen which can be moved along the vertical axis but is not as flexible as the Canon SX1 which moves horizontally as well. On the left side, you have a button to switch between the screen and the electronic view-finder which isn’t really that good- neither is the one on the SX1. Of all the electronics view finders I’ve used, the Panasonic G1 proved to be the best. The left side of the HX1 also has all the connectors while the bottom houses the battery and the Memory Stick Duo card. Last, but certainly not the least, the flash and stereo mics reside on the top of the unit.
The HX1 takes about two seconds to power up which feels a tad bit longer than the Canon SX1 which is under 2 seconds. However, focusing seems much faster on the HX1 than the Canon. Where the SX1 would take a second or slightly more, the Sony focused under a second which felt almost as fast as my Nikon D40X. Focusing speed wasn’t effected much under a darker environment either.
Picture quality and zoom on the HX1 is on par with the SX1, however, due to the faster focusing on the HX1, I was able to get a better rate of focused shots with the Sony than with the Canon. This was when both the cameras were set to Auto mode. The burst feature of the HX1 allows you to take ten shots in a second which is great for capturing an image in sports. Here is a shot of five of these together taken at night. Keep in mind that this is Sheikh Zayed Road with cars traveling at about 120km/h.
There are quite a few pre-set scenes on the HX1 such as Twilight, Snow, Beach, Fireworks etc., along with an iA Intelligent Auto) and manual modes. I’m not much of a photography buff and other than ISO settings, I barely play around but the HX1 does allows you to adjust the FSTOP and exposure settings giving the professional a fair amount of tweaking. I took a few different shots at different ISO levels and until 800, the camera is passable but anything above and beyond that produced quite a bit of a grain- something that is similar to my Canon SX1. The following two pictures are at ISO800 on the left and 1600 on the right.
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The Zoom on both these cameras is pretty amazing at 20X and instead of talking about it, let me show you a couple of pictures I took. What you see in the picture below is that squarish building called “The Gate” at DIFC or, Dubai International Financial Center. What you dont see is a ticker below the building that is visible but not readable from the naked eye from where I’m standing.
Next, I used the 20X zoom to its maximum and took this picture.
As you can see, it is impressive to say the least. Moving along, the battery life on the HX1 is pretty decent. Sony claims it at about 200 minutes although I didn’t get a chance to completely test that. It takes quite a bit of time to charge as well- almost 200 minutes so make sure you st it for charging the night before you decide to travel. I like the SX1 in this aspect as it uses standard AA batteries. While this does not produce as long of a battery life as the Sony, you can very easily buy these standard batteries anywhere in the world allowing you to travel a bit lighter.
Another “standard” that I would like Sony to adopt is to build a mini-USB connector on the body of their cameras. Memory sticks aren’t as popular as SD cards so finding a way to get your pictures from the Camera to your PC should not relay on a proprietary connection.
Overall, I was pretty impressed with the HX1. Its quite speedy as far as auto-focusing is concerned which is where you need the speed. Ease of use is also something Sony should be complimented for- while I’m still struggling to find some settings on the Canon SX1, everything is just so easily reacha
ble on the HX1. The picture quality, as you can see from the shots above, is pretty good but doesn’t beat an SLR- even an entry level one like my Nikon D40X but that’s not the market that Sony is targeting with the HX1.
Priced at AED 1999 and available easily, the HX1 is a pretty good buy considering I paid AED 3500 for the Canon SX1. Its a great camera for someone who wants to move beyond the Pocketable point and shoot but does not want to invest in an SLR.
Samsung Jet achieves record pre-order with more than 2 million units
July 22, 2009 by Abbas Jaffar Ali
Filed under News
Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd., a leading mobile phone and telecommunication provider, announced today that the Jet, the mobile smarter than a smartphone, achieved the fastest ever market expansion in Samsung mobile’s history by achieving a record-breaking pre-order with more than 2 million units.
“I am very pleased that Samsung Jet is proved and well accepted in the market with being expanded at fastest-ever speed in the markets. Thanks to strong anticipation and demands from operators and end-users, Samsung Jet would become another landmark mobile of Samsung’s history.” said Sandeep Saihgal, general manager of mobile phone at Samsung Gulf Electronics.
Samsung Jet was unveiled at the magnificent global launching ceremonies in London, Dubai, and Singapore on June 15th. The mobile phone has actively been launched in global markets, becoming commercially available in more than 70 countries by end of July. Samsung Jet has also
Samsung Jet takes the meaning of performance in full touch mobile phones to another level with its revolutionary speed, which is all thanks to the 800MHz Accelerated Application Processor. Packed with features, Samsung Jet delivers the very best in power, speed and brilliance, all housed in a sleek and stylish design, to produce a unique touch experience.
The Samsung Jet has a display which offers unrivalled quality and brilliance for its users. The 3.1” Samsung WVGA AMOLED display is four times sharper than a WQVGA screen. Samsung Jet’s screen provides stunning, super bright and vivid images in perfect natural colours, with the very best high resolution display for viewing multimedia on the go.
Samsung Jet is produced in the company’s home town manufacturing facility in Gumi, Korea. Currently, Samsung Gumi manufacturing center is fully operated for Samsung Jet production to meet the rushing demands from all around the world.