tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21466967467062041862024-02-21T02:24:36.194+05:30The GadgetCratThe main intention of this blog is to communicate the latest developments in technology to people in a language that they can understand without breaking a sweat.RagzVamzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18177968726113637421noreply@blogger.comBlogger30125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2146696746706204186.post-63805360386776980352012-06-24T18:02:00.000+05:302012-06-26T23:20:13.360+05:30Windows Phone 8: A BIG Step in the Right Direction<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">So, the latest announcements
from Microsoft: the 'Surface' tablet and the 'Windows Phone 8' seem to be
pointing to one single thing: Microsoft wants to catch up and if possible
supersede both ‘Google’ and ‘Apple’. Both the announcements are equally
important in a way that Microsoft is betting its future on. While it might seem
that Microsoft wants to take advantage of the constantly growing tablet market,
if we observe carefully, we can figure out the real thing that the company is
concentrating on is its ‘Windows OS’.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">The reason is quite simple and
pretty obvious from its latest announcement: “Windows Phone 8”. The reason that
this is very important is that ‘Windows Phone 8’ will be running on the same
kernel that ‘Windows 8’ runs on which will allow it to support a lot of
features detailed below:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b><span style="line-height: 115%;">a.<span style="font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span></b><b><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; line-height: 115%;">Support
for Multiple Platforms<o:p></o:p></span></b></span></div>
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<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">Developers shall be able to
easily port apps from ‘Windows Phone 8’ to ‘Windows 8’ due to the ‘Windows NT’
kernel. Not only that, the kernel will also support native C and C++ Code which
will make it easy for them to port apps from Android and iOS as well<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b><span style="line-height: 115%;">b.<span style="font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span></b><b><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; line-height: 115%;">Support
for Multi-Core Architecture<o:p></o:p></span></b></span></div>
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<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">‘Windows NT’ kernel will also
allow ‘Windows Phone 8’ to not only support dual-core and quad-core
architectures but to also offer support up to 64 cores theoretically<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b><span style="line-height: 115%;">c.<span style="font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span></b><b><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; line-height: 115%;">Support
for HD Screens<o:p></o:p></span></b></span></div>
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<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">Most people want their displays
to be very crisp as they have to read text out of small screens. While the ‘800
* 480’ resolution on the ‘Lumia 800’ was good it was nowhere near the industry’s
best. Thankfully, this problem has also been addressed in the underlying
architecture as the ‘Windows NT’ kernel will allow ‘Windows Phone 8’ to support
HD resolutions like WVGA, WXGA and 720p<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b><span style="line-height: 115%;">d.<span style="font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span></b><b><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; line-height: 115%;">Support
for Full SD Cards<o:p></o:p></span></b></span></div>
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<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">The earlier architecture that
‘Windows Phone 7’ was based on, didn’t allow full SD card support which meant
that users had to use only some manufacturer recommended SD cards which severely
limited users’ ability to store more data in the form of music or photos or
videos etc. in their devices by using other SD cards. Microsoft has also rectified
that by using ‘Windows NT’ kernel which allows Full SD card support.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b><span style="line-height: 115%;">e.<span style="font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span></b><b><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; line-height: 115%;">Support
for NFC<o:p></o:p></span></b></span></div>
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<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">‘Windows NT’ kernel also allows
‘Near Field Communication’ to be enabled which means that Microsoft can design
its own ‘Wallet’ service which will not only allow users to store sensitive
information related to ‘Credit Cards’, ‘Debit Cards’ and ‘Coupons’ but also will
allow them to transact instantly by swiping their smartphones. In fact,
Microsoft will be designing the service in such a way that information can be
seamlessly sent across its own Operating Systems: ‘Windows Phone 8’ and
‘Windows 8’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">Apart from the above features,
Microsoft is also planning to put to good use, the companies that it has acquired
and has partnered with. ‘Windows Phone 8’ will have ‘<b>Deep Skype (VoIP) Integration</b>’ and ‘<b>Better Navigation features</b>’ through the use of ‘<b>Nokia Maps</b>’. The User Interface will
also be revamped to allow the users to see more information through smaller ‘<b>Live Tiles</b>’. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">There was a big uproar from user
community who stated that Microsoft hasn’t done the right thing by not allowing
the existing ‘Windows Phone 7.5’ users to get upgraded to ‘Windows Phone 8’. Well.
How will it? Most of the sweeping changes that Microsoft is proposing are tied
to hardware. What Microsoft should ensure is that it allows all the ‘Windows
Phone 7.5’ users access to all the features in ‘Windows Phone 8’ which are not
tied to hardware. It has already said that existing ‘Windows Phone 7.5’ users
will get another update: i.e. ‘Windows Phone 7.8’ which will visually look
similar to ‘Windows Phone 8’.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; line-height: 115%;">So, while ‘Windows Phone 8’ is
definitely a step in the right direction for ‘Microsoft’, people will not stop
wishing if only the company started with ‘Windows Phone 8’ as its entry OS for
smartphones. Well, better late than NEVER.</span><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; line-height: 115%;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">Stay Tuned..!!</span></div>
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</div>RagzVamzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18177968726113637421noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2146696746706204186.post-64555889998293411672012-05-27T02:19:00.001+05:302012-05-27T02:26:04.582+05:30NovaThor: Is it a Worthy Competitor to Tegra, Exynos and Snapdragon?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="text-align: justify;">So another SoC (System on Chip)
is slowly but surely making its way into the market and is aiming to become the
top dog that mobile manufacturers would turn to. It is none other than the ‘</span><b style="text-align: justify;"><i>NovaThor</i></b><span style="text-align: justify;">’
SoC. So, is it a force that established SoCs like ‘</span><b style="text-align: justify;"><i>Tegra’</i></b><span style="text-align: justify;">, ‘</span><b style="text-align: justify;"><i>Exynos</i></b><span style="text-align: justify;">’
and ‘</span><b style="text-align: justify;"><i>Snapdragon</i></b><span style="text-align: justify;">’
have to reckon with? Let’s find out!</span><br />
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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<u>Introduction<o:p></o:p></u></div>
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‘<b><i>NovaThor</i></b>’ is a
product of ‘ST-Ericsson’, a joint venture of ‘ST Microelectronics’ and ‘Ericsson’.
The joint venture company has lined up many variants out of which 4 have come
into focus. They are ‘U8500’, ‘U9500’, ‘L8540’ and ‘L9540’. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<u>The Insides: CPU and GPU<o:p></o:p></u></div>
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There is a reason why the ‘<b><i>NovaThor</i></b>’
SoC has got such popularity and it has partially got to do with the components
of the SoC: the CPU and the GPU. All the 4 ‘<b><i>NovaThor</i></b>’ SoCs outlined
above have CPUs manufactured on the basis of the designs licensed from ARM.
These are dual-core cortex A9 microprocessors that have gained popularity over
the past year and have now become the standard in most of the high end mobiles
that are being manufactured by companies such as ‘Samsung’. Now here ends the
commonality among the 4 variants. The differences are what make each of them
unique:</div>
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<ul>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">While
the ‘U8500’ and the ‘U9500’ have the A9s clocked at a frequency of around 1
Ghz, the ‘L8540’ and the ‘L9540’ will have the A9s clocked at a frequency of
around 1.85 Ghz. This implies that the 'L Series' SoCs will be more powerful</span></li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">While
the ‘U8500’ and the ‘U9500’ have GPUs from ‘ARM’ (‘ARM Mali 400’), the ‘L8540’
and the ‘L9540’ have GPUs from ‘Imagination Technologies’ (‘Power VR SGX 544’). This implies that the 'L Series' SoCs will perform much better as far as graphics are concerned as we have already seen from the innumerous fights between the above mentioned GPUs where 'Power VR SGX 544' comfortably trumped 'Mali 400' in this department</span></li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">While
the ‘L9540’ and ‘L8540’ provide 4G capabilities (LTE), the ‘U9500’ and ‘U8500’
will work to provide 3G capabilities. This implies that the 'L Series' SoCs will provide better download and upload speeds</span></li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">While
the ‘U9500’ and ‘U8500’ are manufactured using 45 nm semiconductor technology,
the ‘L9540’ and ‘L8540’ are manufactured using 28 nm semiconductor technology. This implies that the 'L Series' SoCs will be power efficient as compared to the 'U Series' SoCs</span></li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">The
‘U9500’ will have an edge over ‘U8500’ as far as download and upload speeds are
concerned</span></li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">Similarly, the ‘L9540’ will have an edge over ‘L8540’</span></li>
</ul>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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<u>Mobile Manufacturers: What do
they think?<o:p></o:p></u></div>
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While the ‘<b><i>NovaThor U8500</i></b>’ has
already found its way into mobiles being manufactured by companies like ‘HTC’ (‘Sensation’)
, ‘Samsung’ (‘Galaxy S Advance’, ‘Galaxy Ace 2’, ‘Galaxy Beam’) and ‘Sony’ (‘Xperia
U’ and ‘Xperia P’), the rest of the three (‘U9500’, ‘L8540’, ‘L9540’) are not
far behind. Another major player like ‘Nokia’ is also looking at integrating
this SoC into its models. This will be the first time that ‘Nokia’ is looking
at partnering with another chip manufacturer since all of its ‘Windows Phones’ released
until now are based on ‘Qualcomm’s’ SoC (‘Snapdragon’). <o:p></o:p></div>
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<u>The Competition: ‘Tegra’, ‘Exynos’
and ‘Snapdragon’<o:p></o:p></u></div>
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If you are an avid reader and
follower of tech news, you would probably have noticed that some of the
specifications of the ‘<b><i>NovaThor</i></b>’ SoC match another SoC very
closely. Yes, as you would have probably guessed by now, it is the ‘<b><i>Exynos</i></b>’.
The ‘<b><i>Exynos</i></b>’
SoC, used in ‘Samsung Galaxy SII’ and ‘Samsung Galaxy Note’, contains exactly the
same components that the ‘<b><i>NovaThor U8500</i></b>’ SoC does: a ‘Dual-Core
Cortex A9’ CPU and ‘Mali 400’ GPU. The only difference is that while the ‘Dual
Cortex A9s’ in ‘Samsung Galaxy SII’ ‘<b><i>Exynos</i></b>’ SoC are clocked at 1.2 Ghz,
they are clocked at 1.4 Ghz in ‘Samsung Galaxy Note’ ‘<b><i>Exynos</i></b>’ SoC and at around
1 Ghz in ‘<b><i>NovaThor U8500</i></b>’ SoC. Though the ‘U8500’ appears to have a
disadvantage here, the rest of the capabilities like 1080p HD Video recording,
HSPA capabilities, Extensive video format support are what put it in
competition. In fact, the LTE equipped ‘<b><i>NovaThor L9540</i></b>’ and ‘<b><i>NovaThor
L8540</i></b>’ are definitely going to be stars in their own rights and will
guaranteed, match what other SoCs like ‘<b><i>Tegra</i></b>’ and ‘<b><i>Snapdragon</i></b>’ are offering.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<u>Something is amiss….??: Yes, Quad-Core!!<o:p></o:p></u></div>
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Yes, ‘ST-Ericsson’ hasn’t
outlined the Quad-Core roadmap for its ‘<b><i>NovaThor</i></b>’ SoC. The scene in the
market is rapidly changing and the roadmap gains all the more significance as ‘Nvidia’
and ‘Samsung’ are already out with their Quad-Core offerings in the form of ‘<b><i>Tegra
3</i></b>’ and ‘<b><i>Exynos 4</i></b> <b><i>Quad</i></b>’ respectively. ‘Qualcomm’ is
also going to be out with its Quad-Core ‘<b><i>Snapdragon</i></b>’ offering very soon. So, ‘ST-Ericsson’
has a lot of work to do. It has to first impress the customers with the first 4
variants and then it has to manufacture and market its Quad-Core offering very
rapidly to take advantage of the growing smartphone and tablet market.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<u>The Bottom Line: Yes, ‘This
means War’!!<o:p></o:p></u></div>
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The mobiles in which the ‘<b><i>NovaThor U8500</i></b>’ is fitted have already gained attention in the market. While the ‘Galaxy
Beam’ is Samsung’s first offering which is coming out with an integrated
projector inside it, ‘Sony’ is hoping to return to profitability with offerings
such as ‘Xperia P’ and the ‘Xperia U’ and hence it is investing heavily on
marketing the ‘Xperia’ models. If people accept the above phones, then
ST-Ericsson can challenge market leaders like 'Nvidia', 'Samsung' and 'Qualcomm'.</div>
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Stay Tuned..!!</div>
</div>RagzVamzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18177968726113637421noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2146696746706204186.post-11054351604374794912012-05-13T20:50:00.000+05:302012-05-29T23:25:38.712+05:30Samsung Galaxy S III: Features which make it Unique<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
The <i><b>Samsung Galaxy S III</b></i> has been announced with much fanfare. So what has changed in <b><i>Samsung G</i></b><i style="font-weight: bold;">alaxy S III</i> that is
different from Samsung Galaxy S II? The Display? The Processor? The OS? Yeah..
Yeah.. All of those have changed. The <b><i>Galaxy S III</i></b> now sports a ‘Super
AMOLED HD’ display. The processor is now quad-core and the phone now comes with
‘Ice Cream Sandwich’ as the default OS. <o:p></o:p></div>
</div>
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<br />
All of these are fine and yes
they represent an improvement over the previous Galaxy. But, the real
improvement shows up in the following <b>features</b>:<o:p></o:p></div>
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<b><u><br /></u></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<b><u>Smart Stay<o:p></o:p></u></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
More and more smartphones are
being manufactured with 4.5+ inch displays that have made many people want to
read articles, magazines or books on their smartphones. The <b><i>Samsung
Galaxy S III</i></b> is no exception as it has a 4.8 inch display that will
enable people to read them without any problem. But, how many times have you
been faced with the following situation: You are reading an article and
suddenly the display turns off. You had to press a button or touch the display
each time to wake the screen up. Samsung has taken note of such a situation and
has come up with a smart solution. It has put the front camera to work. If you
have enabled the ‘Smart Stay’ option, the display doesn’t turn off while you
are looking at it<o:p></o:p></div>
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<b><u><br /></u></b></div>
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<b><u>Pop-Up Play<o:p></o:p></u></b></div>
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You are watching an interesting
video and you just remember that you have to send out a short e-mail urgently
but you do not want to stop watching the video. While previously this wasn’t
possible, worry not, as Samsung has addressed this situation too with ‘Pop-Up
Play’. This feature allows you to play a video in a pop-up window that can be
dragged around the screen while you are interacting with other apps. So you
want to continue watching a video while you are browsing through that photo
gallery, you can happily do it now!<o:p></o:p></div>
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<b><u><br /></u></b></div>
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<b><u>Direct Call<o:p></o:p></u></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
You are sending an SMS to a
person and suddenly you feel that it is better to talk to them. Now, how many
times has this happened to you, courtesy: Your Girlfriend!! Now, you can just
hold your phone to your ear and the phone will automatically dial their number.
This makes you avoid cancelling the message, going to the contact list and
dialing their number. Pretty handy, isn’t it?<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<b><u><br /></u></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<b><u>Buddy Share<o:p></o:p></u></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
You have gone on a trip to a
place with your friends and you have captured many photos using your
smartphone. If your friends want those photos too, you normally upload it on a
cloud storage site and give your friends the link to download the photos. But,
the buddy share feature lets you avoid that complicated process. When you have
tagged your friends in the photos, you can send those photos instantly<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<b><u><br /></u></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<b><u>Social Tag<o:p></o:p></u></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
You are browsing through the
photo gallery and you suddenly want to view what the current status messages of
people in the photo. Woah! This is one feature that even many people wouldn’t
have even thought about. With the help of the Galaxy S III, it is now possible.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
All the above features, which the
<b><i>Samsung Galaxy III</i></b> comes integrated with now, present an indisputable case that
smartphones are increasingly becoming smarter. It now remains to be seen how
much smarter they can become in the coming future.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
Stay Tuned..!!</div>
</div>RagzVamzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18177968726113637421noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2146696746706204186.post-72172530474994072352012-05-12T14:02:00.000+05:302012-05-27T02:49:32.315+05:30Exynos 4 Quad & Tegra 3: The Quad-Core age is here!!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Lo and Behold!!! The quad core devices are here and it's most definitely their year. While 2011 was a great year where we saw the tablets and smartphones graduating from using a single-core processor to a dual-core processor, 2012 will be the year when gadgets will start coming integrated with quad-cores which will perform much better as compared to their dual core counterparts.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<i>ARM</i> has been licensing its designs to companies like <i>Nvidia</i> and <i>Samsung</i> for a while now and these companies have been very successful in manufacturing the processors designed by <i>ARM</i>. This shows in the success of single-core 1 Ghz smartphones that companies like <i>HTC</i>, <i>Samsung</i> came out with and it had got reiterated with the success of dual-core smartphones. Now, <i>Nvidia</i> has started manufacturing quad-core processors with <i>Samsung</i> not far behind.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
The <i>HTC One X</i> and the <i>Samsung Galaxy S III</i> are the most talked about devices currently each sporting a quad-core processor System on Chip, although these do have a different architecture compared to one aonther. The <i>HTC One X</i> sports an <b><i>Nvidia</i> Tegra 3</b> and the <i>Samsung Galaxy S III</i> sports an <b><i>Exynos</i> 4 Quad</b>. While Tegra 3 is an evolution of Tegra 2, the <b><i>Exynos</i> 4 Quad</b> is an evolution of Exynos 4 Dual.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
The major highlight of <b><i>Nvidia</i> Tegra 3</b> is that it doesn't have 4 processors but it has 5! The extra 5th core is actually a companion core, clocked at a lesser frequency as compared to the other 4 cores, that takes over in the case of low intensive tasks that doesn't require running the other 4 processors. With this companion core, <b><i>Nvidia</i> Tegra 3</b> will make the device consume lesser battery and consequently make the device run much longer. Performance is obviously better than <i>Nvidia</i> Tegra 2 and that is pretty much expected</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
The <b>Exynos 4 Quad</b> also attempts to differentiate itself on the basis of the battery life factor. It is built using 32nm HKMG (High K Metal Gate) process that allows the device to consume battery at a much lesser rate than compared to Exynos 4 Dual which is built using the 45 nm process. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
What is common to both the processors however is that both of them deliver excellent performance with enhanced graphics and superb processing power (The 4 cores in both the System on Chips are ARM Cortex A9s). Although, the initial reviews have suggested that Exynos 4 Quad has an edge as compared to Tegra 3 due to its 32nm process build. The <b>Eyxnos 4 Quad</b> also allows you to play most of the video formats thanks to the <i>ARM</i> Mali 400 MP GPU unit in it.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
The Exynos 4 Quad has also impressed another company: <i>Meizu</i>. <i>Meizu's MX Quad Core</i> phone also uses the Exynos 4 Quad System on Chip and the initial benchmark tests on this device have rated it at the top of the current crop of android devices. While benchmark tests do not necessarily indicate real world performance it nevertheless indicates the level of performance one can expect.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
So, going by the initial indications it seems that both the SoCs: <b>Nvidia Tegra 3</b> and <b>Exynos 4 Quad</b> are highly capable of delivering excellent performance. We'll just have to wait for the devices and see the extent to which we are going to like them.<br />
<br />
Stay Tuned..!!</div>
</div>RagzVamzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18177968726113637421noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2146696746706204186.post-42689934569721253532012-02-17T01:58:00.000+05:302012-02-17T01:58:56.198+05:30Why the ‘Motorola Droid Razr Maxx’ is a harbinger of better things to come in Smartphones?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
If
you rewind the clocks by about 8 years, the only mobile that was on people’s
minds and undeniably on their tongues as well was the ‘Motorola Razr’. The
general population was so head over heels in love with the mobile that even
today, it remains one of the largest selling devices in the history of
smartphones and the characteristic that made it stand out from the regular
run-of-the-mill phones was: it’s SLEEKNESS.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
Back
to the present, and you are again greeted by the same company trying to
recreate the yesteryear’s magic by releasing an entirely different beast
sporting the same appellation. Yes, the ‘Motorola Droid Razr’ is that phone,
which for a brief period of time justified the title ‘World’s thinnest
smartphone’ awarded to it. So, did it meet with the same fate as its
predecessor namesake? The initial results: Not Quite.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
Now
if you analyze why, you will eventually get to know that though the smartphone
has the build quality unmatched by any other phone and its internals match the
internals of the best phones available on the market, the main factor that let
it down a bit was only one: Battery Life. Is it that Critical? Yes, it is and
there are no doubts and second thoughts about it. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
The
reason is pretty simple and straight forward. Smartphones are getting
increasingly smart and increasingly capable and they are being integrated with
functionalities that can guzzle battery much in the same way as SUVs guzzle
fuel. Yes, I am talking about you LTE!!! So, what good is a phone that lets you
do numerous things but which requires the user to charge it once every half-a-day
if used extensively?<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
So, what
has Motorola done about it? Simple. They went back to the drawing board,
figured out what </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
people wanted, designed and brought out an upgraded version:
the ‘Motorola Droid Razr Maxx’ and if you think they only changed the name.
Well, think again. The ‘Motorola Droid Razr Maxx’ has a 3300 mAh battery tucked
in its back that lets the phone have a talk time of around 21 hours!!!
Stunning, isn’t it? Initial reviews suggest that though the phone isn’t coming
close to the claimed talk time it is still beating every other phone’s talk
time capacity by a HUGE margin. Now, why is this relevant?<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
As I
mentioned, today’s smartphones let the users do numerous things like Watch
Videos, Browse the Internet, Listen to Music, Read books, Write notes and last
but not the least Make and Receive Calls. To support all these functions, the
phone needs to have battery-life so that user is able to do all the functions
listed above on a typical day. Now, the 3300 mAh battery is so good that it
gives the ‘Droid Razr Maxx’ enough juice to let you watch videos continuously for
up to 15 – 16 hours. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
The ‘Droid
Razr Maxx’ isn’t the first phone that has broken the non-imposed thresholds of
battery capacity that a smartphone today has got. Samsung got to the party
first, with their super-sized smartphone: the ‘Galaxy Note’. When all the
smartphones being released into the market were sporting batteries with
capacities ranging around 1500 mAh – 1800 mAh, it went ahead and included a
2500 mAh battery to power its beast. But, the important difference between the ‘Galaxy
Note’ and the ‘Droid Razr Maxx’ is that a 2500 mAh battery is powering a 5.3
inch screen loaded ‘Galaxy Note’ whereas a 3300 mAh battery is powering 4.3
inch screen loaded ‘Droid Razr Maxx’. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
It
is a known fact in the electronics industry that once a manufacturer comes out
with a feature or a technology, the competitors improvise on it at such a pace
that it even amazes the company that has introduced the technology in the first
place. So, if the 3300 mAh battery sporting Motorola Droid Razr Maxx is
regarded as the starting point, you can foresee where the middle and the ending
points are. Can’t you?</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
Stay Tuned..!!!</div>
</div>RagzVamzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18177968726113637421noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2146696746706204186.post-23301665092541080662012-02-05T01:21:00.000+05:302012-05-25T11:39:15.876+05:30Intel Medfield: The new CHIP on the block<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Nowadays, you guys must be hearing the term 'Medfield' a lot. So, what is Medfield?</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
If you even have a vague idea of the 'Chips' and 'Microprocessors' market, you would know that Intel is one of the principal market leaders. Laptops and PCs from leading manufacturers like Toshiba, Dell, Lenovo etc. use Intel's chips to power their bodies which has made Intel one of the undisputed leaders in this segment. So, what about the smartphone market then?</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Intel, for some reason, hasn't really focused on the smartphone market, which had thrown up a huge opportunity for companies like ARM and Qualcomm to make their mark in this segment. Today, they are one of the undisputed leaders in this market and have even for the last quarter earned huge revenues and also made huge profits by selling smartphone chips. The reason obviously is people's increasing preference towards buying smartphones. ARM and Qualcomm had probably forecasted this then and now are reaping its rewards. So, what about Intel?</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
It seems that Intel have finally realized their mistake and are now focused on gaining a slice of the 'Smartphone Chip' market pie. They are going to be out with their first SoC (System-on-Chip) in this year. The platform for this SoC is named 'Medfield' and the SoC itself has been named 'Penwell'. So, is the 'Penwell SoC' ready to take on established players like Exynos and Tegra? Let's find out.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Intel has demonstrated the power of their new SoC by pitting it against devices like Samsung Galaxy Nexus and have won the appreciation of everybody. The SoC seems to have a 1.6 Ghz single-core Atom Z2460 processor (CPU) and a 400 Mhz Power VR SGX 540 (GPU). In benchmark tests like 'Sunspider Javascript' and 'Browsermark', Intel's SoC has defeated the current leader (TI OMAP 4460 in Galaxy Nexus) by quite a good margin. While the 'Galaxy Nexus' scored 97381 on 'Browsermark', Intel's Penwell SoC scored a better 116425. As you already know, the CPU is entirely responsible for the remarkable performance on these tests and by the demonstration of such performance, it seems that Intel's single-core 1.6 Ghz Atom processor (also called 'Saltwell') is better than TI OMAP's dual-core 1.2 Ghz processor. Guess that the old man did have some wise tricks up his sleeve!!!!</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Anyways, what feels like a kind of blip in this amazing SoC is the choice of GPU that Intel has made, a Power VR SGX 540. It's actually surprising why manufacturers like Samsung and Intel are opting to go for this GPU from 'Imagination Technologies' as it has almost been 2 years since it initially debuted in the market. But what actually makes the Power VR SGX 540 in Intel's SoC better than the other Power VR SGX 540s is that the GPU here is clocked at a higher frequency: 400 Mhz. Hopefully, this should make it perform better in Intel's SoC.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
So it is pretty clear that if Intel had debuted with this offering for the smartphone market a year ago, it would definitely had a huge advantage and would probably have been rubbing shoulders with the current leaders like ARM and Qualcomm as far as 'Smartphone Chip' market is concerned. Anyways, as the saying goes, 'Better Late than Never'. Initial reviews suggest that Intel's first offering is most definitely not bad and it will only get better when the company comes out with their dual-core offerings. That might actually be the beginning of a new era as far as Intel is concerned.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Stay Tuned..!!</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
</div>RagzVamzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18177968726113637421noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2146696746706204186.post-83194072099049850692012-01-17T23:46:00.001+05:302012-01-21T02:04:55.182+05:30Why do Android Phone Manufacturers Need to Update their Phones?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; font: normal normal normal 13px/19px Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; overflow-y: hidden; padding-bottom: 0.6em; padding-left: 0.6em; padding-right: 0.6em; padding-top: 0.6em;">
<div _mce_style="text-align: justify;" style="text-align: justify;">
The other day, my roommate wanted to know how he could connect his 3G enabled android phone to his laptop in order to just surf the internet. I asked him to go the 'Settings' application on the android phone and enable 'Tethering'. When he went to the 'Settings' application, he couldn't find the option. So, I immediately checked out the android version he was using and I found that it was <strong>Android 2.1</strong> (Eclair). As you guys would be knowing, tethering capabilities have been enabled in <strong>Android 2.2</strong> (Froyo). So, I had to look up the internet to find out what were the alternative options that I could adopt to enable tethering. While some websites prescribed me to root the phone (which my friend was dead against. Obviously, since that nullifies your warranty!!!), one other website prescribed me to download a simple application to enable wireless tethering on an Android 2.1 (Eclair) phone.</div>
<div _mce_style="text-align: justify;" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div _mce_style="text-align: justify;" style="text-align: justify;">
There are a lot of people out there who wouldn't go through this painful process of finding out what their smartphones in fact offer and what they do not. They wouldn't know whether their smartphone would be capable of tethering or not. If the phone is updated to a better version which provides more features they will easily spot it and use it. If the phone isn't updated, they just accept the fact their smartphone is in reality, not that smart!!! It was decided at a Google I/O conference that manufacturers will support devices until 18 months after their release, but I hardly see that happening. A case-in-point is my roommate's phone. He purchased his android phone one-and-a-half years back and it still hasn't been updated from 'Eclair' to 'Froyo'. In the age of '<strong>Ice Cream Sandwich</strong>' such news sounds like blasphemy!!!.</div>
<div _mce_style="text-align: justify;" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div _mce_style="text-align: justify;" style="text-align: justify;">
You don't need an expert to tell you that what's going is on not right. People purchase their smartphones investing a lot of money and they expect it to get updated to the latest versions at least for a reasonable period of time. I had a '<strong>Nokia E71</strong>' previously (I have an Android now!!!) and even 2 years after purchasing that phone, I used to receive updates (Long live Nokia!!). I still have a sense of attachment with that phone and even today, my father uses it and he is very happy.</div>
<div _mce_style="text-align: justify;" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div _mce_style="text-align: justify;" style="text-align: justify;">
Let's look at the whole issue from 2 perspectives: the 'Customer' and the 'Mobile Manufacturer'. As far as the customers are concerned, the example I quoted above is what makes them develop a sense of 'TRUST' towards a brand. This is what makes them 'LOYAL' to a particular brand. There are plenty of people, even today, who will swear by a Nokia phone even though other manufacturers have surpassed it in terms of features integrated in their smartphones. When customers become loyal to a brand due to the immense satisfaction they have had from using it, in the future, if they want to purchase a phone, they will consider the same brand from where they had purchased earlier.</div>
<div _mce_style="text-align: justify;" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div _mce_style="text-align: justify;" style="text-align: justify;">
As far as the mobile manufacturers are concerned, they can derive a lot of value from the customers due to the sense of loyalty that they develop in people. Just to make this point more clear, movies like '<strong>Avatar</strong>' and '<strong>The Dark Knight</strong>' haven't become 'Top Grossers' just due to the high ticket rates or the movie being watched by more people. The reason that they became 'Top Grossers' is because they had attracted 'Repeat Audience'. That is the exact reason why they had become so commercially successful. If you want an analogy with respect to the 'Smartphone' industry, you can always remember the company from Cupertino which has shown that it will take care of its customers who had purchased its phones even 3 years back. That is where the current crop of android phone manufacturers should aim. Otherwise, it is a known fact that smart people will buy only those flagship phones from the android phone manufacturers, that they believe would be updated in the future.</div>
<div _mce_style="text-align: justify;" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div _mce_style="text-align: justify;" style="text-align: justify;">
Stay Tuned.!!</div>
<div _mce_style="text-align: justify;" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div _mce_style="position: absolute; left: -10000px; top: 0px; width: 1px; height: 1px; overflow-x: hidden; overflow-y: hidden;" class="mcePaste" id="_mcePaste" style="height: 1px; left: -10000px; overflow-x: hidden; overflow-y: hidden; position: absolute; top: 0px; width: 1px;">
<strong></strong></div>
</div>
</div>RagzVamzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18177968726113637421noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2146696746706204186.post-24804757423699099772011-12-26T12:08:00.000+05:302011-12-26T12:08:55.792+05:30What does a Google Tablet mean?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">“In the next 6 months, we plan to market a tablet of the highest quality” – Eric Schmidt</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">The above move from Google had to come sooner or later. Most of us will agree that the year 2011 was the year when Google pushed really hard to bring out a competitor to the hugely successful iPad. Has Google been successful? Let’s look at some numbers for finding out answers.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">According to a recent report that was published by IDC (International Data Corporation), Apple’s iPad leads the tablet market share with about 61.5% while Google’s Android tablets took the second place with 32.4% and Samsung having the highest market share (among Android) with 5.6%. So, a group of big names like Samsung, Motorola, HTC, Asus etc. who supported Android couldn’t quite match up to Apple’s iPad which continues to dominate the tablet market even today. From the start of 2011, when everybody witnessed the much awaited XOOM tablets from Motorola to the end of 2011, when everybody saw the latest Galaxy Tabs from Samsung, Google has never been able to produce a worthy competitor. Why?</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">The answer mainly lies with respect to ownership of hardware and software. As I already said in my previous posts, Apple is always in control of both of its components that make up the tablet: Hardware and Software. So, it precisely knows how to produce a tablet that contains software that can take the maximum advantage of the underlying hardware. This was what was lacking in Google’s tablet strategy. The fact is that Google has always been producing software (with not much of a great idea regarding the hardware’s cohesiveness with the software) which was being modified extensively by other android-tablet manufacturers who put that software onto the tablets. Google never really worked closely with any of the manufacturers as far as tablets are concerned when it ideally should have, as Google is not responsible for the hardware part of the devices. The reason that people can see a great phone like Google’s Galaxy Nexus today is because Google hasn’t left any stone unturned in its desire to produce a phone that can take the user experience to a next level. It has coordinated really well with partner companies like Texas Instruments, Samsung etc. and the result now is there for everybody to see.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">So, does it now make sense for Google to produce its own tablet? Absolutely. Many experts have always believed that the stock ROM offered by Google is always better than the modified ROMs like Touchwiz and Sense in terms of general zippiness. There is some truth in these opinions as evidenced by the benchmark scores that the devices get and the kind of lag that some people experience in tablets being produced by manufacturers. The latest truth comes in form of stock Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich) running in the Galaxy Nexus. Thankfully, Google has realized this and is now wasting no time in bringing to market as what Eric Schmidt said "the tablet of the HIGHEST quality". Go Google.!!</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">Stay tuned..!!</div></div>RagzVamzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18177968726113637421noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2146696746706204186.post-19917533213621975272011-12-13T12:02:00.000+05:302011-12-13T12:12:38.490+05:30LCD TVs and LED TVs: Are they really different? (Contd.) - 1<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
Yesterday,
we discussed about the truth behind the LED TVs. Today, we’ll go further into
the various categories of ‘LED backlit LCDs’ available in the market today.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
Currently,
‘LED backlit LCDs’ are available in the market in 2 varieties: ‘<b>Edge-Lit</b>’ and ‘<b>Full-Array</b>’.
In an ‘<b>Edge-Lit LED backlit LCD</b>’, LEDs (Light Emitting Diodes) are present in
the entire perimeter (periphery) of the television. The backlighting of the
screen is achieved with the help of what are called ‘Light Guides’. These ‘Light
Guides’ direct the glow towards the center of the screen. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
The
following are the advantages of these kinds of televisions:</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
</div>
<ol>
<li>They
are very thin (as much as 40% thinner) when compared to ‘CCFL backlit LCDs’</li>
<li><span style="font: normal normal normal 7pt/normal 'Times New Roman'; text-indent: -24px;"> </span>They
consume much less power (as compared to the ‘CCFL backlit LCDs’</li>
<li>They
are also very much lighter in weight (In fact, most of them could be wall
mounted)</li>
<li>They can produce a bright image with very nice
colors and deep blacks</li>
</ol>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
The following
are the disadvantages:</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
</div>
<ol>
<li>The entire screen may not be lit uniformly (The
edge of the screen may be brighter than the middle of the screen)</li>
<li>True blacks may not be achieved consistently
across the entire screen</li>
</ol>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
In
fact, both the varieties: ‘Edge-Lit’ and ‘Full-Array’ LED backlit LCDs have the
capacity to produce deep blacks as the LEDs could be simply turned off when no
color is being reproduced on the screen.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
Now,
for the ‘<b>Full-Array LED backlit LCDs</b>’: In these kinds of televisions, several rows
of LEDs are placed behind the entire surface of the screen. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
The
following are the advantages of these kinds of televisions:</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
</div>
<ol>
<li><span style="font: normal normal normal 7pt/normal 'Times New Roman'; text-indent: -24px;"> </span>They are thinner (as compared to the ‘CCFL
backlit LCD’ variety)</li>
<li>They consume much less power (as compared to the
‘CCFL backlit LCD’ variety)</li>
<li>They are lighter in weight (Again, as compared
to the ‘CCFL backlit LCD’ variety)</li>
<li>They can produce ‘True Deep Blacks’ (as compared
to both ‘CCFL backlit LCD’ and ‘Edge-Lit LED backlit LCD’)</li>
<li><span style="font: normal normal normal 7pt/normal 'Times New Roman'; text-indent: -24px;"> </span>The brightness and colors are better (as
compared to both ‘CCFL backlit LCD’ and ‘Edge-Lit LED backlit LCD’)</li>
</ol>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
The
following are the disadvantages of these kinds of televisions:</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
</div>
<ol>
<li>‘Blooming Effect’ (described below) affects the
picture quality a little bit</li>
<li>Slightly thicker and heavier (as compared to the
‘Edge-Lit LED backlit LCD’)</li>
</ol>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
The
reason that ‘Full-Array LED backlit LCD’ can achieve truer blacks is because whenever
blacks have to be reproduced on a significant portion of the display, an entire
section of LEDs can be turned off without affecting the display properties of
the other LEDs. This property is widely known by the name: ‘<b>Local Dimming</b>’. So,
local dimming leads to better blacks but also leads to an effect called ‘Blooming’.
If a bright color (LEDs turned on) is being displayed inside a black section (LEDs
turned off - Local Dimming), the bright color creeps slightly into the adjacent
black portion (like a halo). This effect is called ‘<b>Blooming</b>’. But hey, it is
ever-so-slightly-noticeable.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
So,
there are 4 kinds of ‘LED backlit LCDs’:</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
</div>
<ol>
<li>‘Edge-Lit LED backlit LCD’ without ‘Local
Dimming’<span style="font: normal normal normal 7pt/normal 'Times New Roman'; text-indent: -24px;"> </span></li>
<li>‘Edge-Lit LED backlit LCD’ with ‘Local Dimming’</li>
<li><span style="font: normal normal normal 7pt/normal 'Times New Roman'; text-indent: -24px;"> </span>‘Full-Array LED backlit LCD’ without ‘Local
Dimming’</li>
<li><span style="font: normal normal normal 7pt/normal 'Times New Roman'; text-indent: -24px;"> </span>‘Full-Array LED backlit LCD’ with ‘Local Dimming’
(Usually, the best of the lot)</li>
</ol>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
I’ll
again reiterate. There is no ‘True LED TV’ available commercially in the market
right now. A '<b>True LED TV</b>' can be defined as follows:</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
“<i>Each
and every individual pixel should have the capability of being independently
brightened or turned off. For this to be achieved, an LED has to be present for
each and every pixel. Currently in the market, a ‘Full-Array LED backlit LCD’
with ‘Full HD’ (having a resolution of ‘1920 * 1080’), has only a maximum of
2000 LEDs. If it has to qualify for being a ‘True LED TV’ there should be 2073600
LEDs.</i>”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
So,
go get your TV right now.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
Stay Tuned..!!</div>
</div>RagzVamzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18177968726113637421noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2146696746706204186.post-29725991794860917952011-12-12T16:07:00.000+05:302011-12-13T12:02:41.397+05:30LCD TVs and LED TVs: Are they really different?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
Nowadays,
you can see a lot of people spending hours and hours together shopping for the perfect television which would occupy the center-stage of their respective
living rooms. With the ubiquitous presence of ever-confusing marketers of the
television-manufacturing companies, the decision is becoming all the more
difficult. So, let us understand the technologies before you splurge your hard-earned money on them.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
Earlier,
you used to find televisions with only one kind of technology. They were called
‘<b>CRT TVs</b>’ (<b>Cathode Ray Tube</b>). With
the help of electron guns, coils and a fluorescent screen, the CRT TV was able
to produce a viewable image. Now, there were problems with this technology</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
</div>
<ol>
<li>A number of components were used to manufacture
the television which made the processes of production, repair and maintenance
difficult</li>
<li>The individual components were also bulky which
made the television quite heavy<span style="font: normal normal normal 7pt/normal 'Times New Roman'; text-indent: -24px;"> </span></li>
<li>Some of these televisions had a problem of
‘<b>Image burn-in</b>’ (Permanent discoloration of areas on electronic display) and a
problem of ‘<b>Image Loss</b>’ at the boundaries of the display</li>
<li>These televisions produced noticeable flicker at
low refresh rates</li>
<li>They consumed high power and generated a lot of
heat</li>
</ol>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
To
overcome the drawbacks of this technology, manufacturers started producing LCD
(<b>Liquid Crystal Display</b>) televisions. An LCD is a flat-panel display that makes
use of light modulating properties of liquid crystals. Now, these liquid
crystals do not emit light by themselves, so a backlighting source is required
in cases where there is higher power consumption. To understand this, you need
to take note that there are two kinds of LCDs: ‘<b>Passive Matrix LCDs</b>’ and ‘<b>Active
Matrix LCDs</b>’. In ‘Passive Matrix LCDs’ like ‘Alarm Clocks’ and
‘Calculators’ where the power consumption is less, a backlighting source is
usually not required. Contrast this with ‘Active Matrix LCDs’, where some sort
of backlighting mechanism is required. Now, this backlighting has been
traditionally achieved with a ‘Cold Cathode Fluorescent Lamp’ (CCFL) in an LCD
Television. So, the ‘<b>CCFL backlit LCD</b>’
television overcomes the problems of CRT in the following fashion</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
</div>
<ol>
<li>They don’t use phosphor. So, the problem of
‘Image burn-in’ is eliminated</li>
<li>They can be configured to run at high refresh
rates. So, the problem of flicker is eliminated</li>
<li>When compared to the CRT television, the
components used are lighter in weight, so the heaviness of the television is
reduced</li>
<li>They consume lesser power and generate lesser
heat while lighting the entire screen uniformly</li>
<li>There is no ‘Image-Loss’ at the boundaries and
the entire screen is viewable</li>
</ol>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
Consequently,
manufacturers found out that they could improve upon these televisions too by
changing the backlighting mechanism. They found that they could bring about the
following changes</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
</div>
<ol>
<li>Reduce the power consumption even further</li>
<li>Reduce the thickness of the display even further</li>
<li>Increase the image quality even further</li>
<li>Increase the brightness of the display even
further</li>
<li>Reduce the weight of the display even further</li>
</ol>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
The
manufacturers used LEDs (<b>Light Emitting Diodes</b>) as a backlighting source
instead of the conventional CCFL sources and were able to achieve all-the-above
stated objectives. So, this gave birth to the ‘<b>LED backlit LCD</b>’ televisions. Currently, if you go shopping for an
LCD television, <b>you won’t find a true LED TV</b>. The only things you will find are
‘LED backlit LCDs’. So, don’t expect to see a radically different picture
altogether as compared to a ‘CCFL backlit LCD’, albeit the images produced by
the ‘LED backlit LCD’ televisions are in fact much better. Even these
televisions can be further classified into 4 different categories. I'll explain these categories in the next post</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
Stay Tuned..!!</div>
</div>RagzVamzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18177968726113637421noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2146696746706204186.post-6841190908834122272011-12-06T19:29:00.001+05:302012-05-29T23:23:37.275+05:30AH-IPS, LTPS and ASV: Decoding the Smartphone Display<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; font: normal normal normal 13px/19px Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; overflow-y: hidden; padding-bottom: 0.6em; padding-left: 0.6em; padding-right: 0.6em; padding-top: 0.6em;">
<div _mce_style="text-align: justify;" style="text-align: justify;">
Well... If you would have read my first two posts of this blog, you would have by now become familiar with most of the display technologies being used today. Here are 3 more:</div>
<div _mce_style="text-align: justify;" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div _mce_style="text-align: justify;" style="text-align: justify;">
<span _mce_style="text-decoration: underline;" style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong><a _mce_href="http://www.ubergizmo.com/2011/08/lg-ah-ips-4-5-display/" href="http://www.ubergizmo.com/2011/08/lg-ah-ips-4-5-display/" target="_blank">AH-IPS</a></strong></span></div>
<div _mce_style="text-align: justify;" style="text-align: justify;">
This display technology has been invented by LG. It is an abbreviation for <strong>Advanced High performing - In-Plane Switching LCD</strong>. It is being touted as the actual competitor to Samsung's 'Super AMOLED' display. In a competition held by 'Intertek', LG's <strong>AH-IPS</strong> display actually defeated Samsung's Super AMOLED in 2 parameters: Color-Accuracy and Power-Efficiency. You can find this display in the recently released <strong>LG Nitro HD</strong>.</div>
<div _mce_style="text-align: justify;" style="text-align: justify;">
<span _mce_style="text-decoration: underline;" style="text-decoration: underline;"><br /></span></div>
<div _mce_style="text-align: justify;" style="text-align: justify;">
<span _mce_style="text-decoration: underline;" style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong><a _mce_href="http://www.toshiba.com/taec/adinfo/lcd/" href="http://www.toshiba.com/taec/adinfo/lcd/" target="_blank">LTPS</a></strong></span></div>
<div _mce_style="text-align: justify;" style="text-align: justify;">
This is an abbreviation for '<strong>Low Temperature Poly Silicon</strong>' <strong>LCD. </strong>One of the important characteristics of such displays is that, the drive circuits are directly integrated onto the glass surface which contributes to reducing the number of component parts designed on the outside substrate. This leads to the display's durability being enhanced. The reduced size of the TFT section leads to a crisper display and also leads to lower power consumption. You can find this display in the <strong>Lenovo LePad S2005</strong>.</div>
<div _mce_style="text-align: justify;" style="text-align: justify;">
<span _mce_style="text-decoration: underline;" style="text-decoration: underline;"><br /></span></div>
<div _mce_style="text-align: justify;" style="text-align: justify;">
<span _mce_style="text-decoration: underline;" style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong><a _mce_href="http://sharp-world.com/contents/aquos/products/c.html" href="http://sharp-world.com/contents/aquos/products/c.html" target="_blank">ASV</a></strong></span></div>
<div _mce_style="text-align: justify;" style="text-align: justify;">
This is an abbreviation for <strong>Advanced Super View</strong> display. The important characteristic of this display is that it offers excellent viewing angles and competes with the In-Plane Switching (IPS) LCDs. You can find this display in the<strong>Meizu MX</strong>.</div>
</div>
</div>RagzVamzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18177968726113637421noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2146696746706204186.post-78374812556169207132011-11-29T17:52:00.001+05:302012-05-29T23:21:48.428+05:30Benchmark Tests for Android Devices: Browsermark, Neocore, AnTuTu and Vellamo<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; font: normal normal normal 13px/19px Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; overflow-y: hidden; padding-bottom: 0.6em; padding-left: 0.6em; padding-right: 0.6em; padding-top: 0.6em;">
Let's get to know the remainder of the benchmark tests that can gauge the performance of your smartphones/tablets.<br />
<span _mce_style="text-decoration: underline;" style="text-decoration: underline;"><br /></span><br />
<span _mce_style="text-decoration: underline;" style="text-decoration: underline;"><b>Broswermark</b></span><br />
<div _mce_style="text-align: justify;" style="text-align: justify;">
Rightware, recently spun off from Futuremark, has introduced the '<a _mce_href="http://browsermark.rightware.com/browsermark/index.action" href="http://browsermark.rightware.com/browsermark/index.action" target="_blank">Browsermark</a>' benchmark test in order to compare the browsers of various smartphone devices. The test measures a browser's performance in JavaScript and HTML rendering. The test results are reported in numbers. If you want a reference point for your device, currently, among the smartphones, the 'Samsung Galaxy Nexus' has the highest reported browsermark score of 98272.</div>
<span _mce_style="text-decoration: underline;" style="text-decoration: underline;"><br /></span><br />
<span _mce_style="text-decoration: underline;" style="text-decoration: underline;"><b>GL 2.1</b></span><br />
<div _mce_style="text-align: justify;" style="text-align: justify;">
The 'GL Benchmark' is a 3D benchmarking program designed to test how well your phone can reproduce 3D scenes and images. So, this benchmark test is actually a test of the strength of the GPU of your smartphone/tablet device. Currently, the Power VR SGX 543 MP2 is the leader in the GPU department and its stamina is reflected in the GL Benchmark tests. Please note that the GL Benchmark test is a combination of several other benchmark tests whose results are reported in 'FPS' (Frames Per Second) and 'mS' (milli Seconds).</div>
<div _mce_style="text-align: justify;" style="text-align: justify;">
<span _mce_style="text-decoration: underline;" style="text-decoration: underline;"><br /></span></div>
<div _mce_style="text-align: justify;" style="text-align: justify;">
<span _mce_style="text-decoration: underline;" style="text-decoration: underline;"><b>Neocore</b></span></div>
<div _mce_style="text-align: justify;" style="text-align: justify;">
Neocore is another GPU benchmarking test which benchmarks the Open GL ES-1.1 graphics performance. The results of this benchmark test are reported in FPS. You can download it from here: <a _mce_href="https://market.android.com/details?id=com.qualcomm.qx.neocore&hl=en" href="https://market.android.com/details?id=com.qualcomm.qx.neocore&hl=en" target="_blank">Neocore for Android</a></div>
<div _mce_style="text-align: justify;" style="text-align: justify;">
<span _mce_style="text-decoration: underline;" style="text-decoration: underline;"><br /></span></div>
<div _mce_style="text-align: justify;" style="text-align: justify;">
<span _mce_style="text-decoration: underline;" style="text-decoration: underline;"><b>AnTuTu</b></span></div>
<div _mce_style="text-align: justify;" style="text-align: justify;">
<a _mce_href="http://www.antutu.com/software.php" href="http://www.antutu.com/software.php" target="_blank">AnTuTu</a> can run a full test of a key project, through the "Memory Performance", "CPU Integer Performance", "CPU Floating Point Performance", "2D 3D Graphics Performance", "SD card reading/writing speed", "Database IO" performance. A Total score is reported once you run this benchmark. If you want a reference point for your device, "Asus Eee Pad Transformer Prime" with a score of 12872 has the highest score till date.</div>
<div _mce_style="text-align: justify;" style="text-align: justify;">
<span _mce_style="text-decoration: underline;" style="text-decoration: underline;"><br /></span></div>
<div _mce_style="text-align: justify;" style="text-align: justify;">
<span _mce_style="text-decoration: underline;" style="text-decoration: underline;"><b>Vellamo</b></span></div>
<div _mce_style="text-align: justify;" style="text-align: justify;">
<a _mce_href="http://www.qualcomm.com/blog/2011/07/14/vellamo-mobile-web-browser-comparison-android" href="http://www.qualcomm.com/blog/2011/07/14/vellamo-mobile-web-browser-comparison-android" target="_blank">Vellamo</a>, a benchmark test originally developed by Qualcomm, is a mobile web-browser benchmark that provides a holistic view into browser performance by measuring each component systematically, providing results for CPU and memory, scrolling, JavaScript, HTML 5, canvas rendering speed and network access. So, it is similar to the 'Rightware Browsermark' test.</div>
<div _mce_style="text-align: justify;" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div _mce_style="text-align: justify;" style="text-align: justify;">
So, that's some of the benchmark tests that you need to be aware of. Click on the links below to download benchmarking applications or visit sites for testing your smartphone and/or tablet.</div>
<div _mce_style="text-align: justify;" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div _mce_style="text-align: justify;" style="text-align: justify;">
-> <a _mce_href="https://market.android.com/details?id=com.aurorasoftworks.quadrant.ui.standard&hl=en" href="https://market.android.com/details?id=com.aurorasoftworks.quadrant.ui.standard&hl=en" target="_blank">Quadrant</a></div>
<div _mce_style="text-align: justify;" style="text-align: justify;">
-> <a _mce_href="https://market.android.com/details?id=com.greenecomputing.linpack" href="https://market.android.com/details?id=com.greenecomputing.linpack" target="_blank">Linpack</a></div>
<div _mce_style="text-align: justify;" style="text-align: justify;">
-> <a _mce_href="https://market.android.com/details?id=se.nena.nenamark1" href="https://market.android.com/details?id=se.nena.nenamark1" target="_blank">Nenamark 1</a></div>
<div _mce_style="text-align: justify;" style="text-align: justify;">
-> <a _mce_href="https://market.android.com/details?id=se.nena.nenamark2" href="https://market.android.com/details?id=se.nena.nenamark2" target="_blank">Nenamark 2</a></div>
<div _mce_style="text-align: justify;" style="text-align: justify;">
-> <a _mce_href="http://www.webkit.org/perf/sunspider-0.9.1/sunspider-0.9.1/driver.html" href="http://www.webkit.org/perf/sunspider-0.9.1/sunspider-0.9.1/driver.html" target="_blank">JavaScript</a> (Not an Application)</div>
<div _mce_style="text-align: justify;" style="text-align: justify;">
-> <a _mce_href="http://browsermark.rightware.com/" href="http://browsermark.rightware.com/" target="_blank">Browsermark</a> (Not an Application)</div>
<div _mce_style="text-align: justify;" style="text-align: justify;">
-> <a _mce_href="https://market.android.com/details?id=com.glbenchmark.GLBenchmark20" href="https://market.android.com/details?id=com.glbenchmark.GLBenchmark20" target="_blank">GL 2.1</a></div>
<div _mce_style="text-align: justify;" style="text-align: justify;">
-> <a _mce_href="https://market.android.com/details?id=com.qualcomm.qx.neocore" href="https://market.android.com/details?id=com.qualcomm.qx.neocore" target="_blank">Neocore</a></div>
<div _mce_style="text-align: justify;" style="text-align: justify;">
-> <a _mce_href="https://market.android.com/details?id=com.antutu.ABenchMark" href="https://market.android.com/details?id=com.antutu.ABenchMark" target="_blank">AnTuTu</a></div>
<div _mce_style="text-align: justify;" style="text-align: justify;">
-> <a _mce_href="https://market.android.com/details?id=com.quicinc.vellamo" href="https://market.android.com/details?id=com.quicinc.vellamo" target="_blank">Vellamo</a></div>
<div _mce_style="text-align: justify;" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div _mce_style="text-align: justify;" style="text-align: justify;">
Stay Tuned..!!</div>
</div>
</div>RagzVamzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18177968726113637421noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2146696746706204186.post-29990293062663043162011-11-28T11:45:00.001+05:302012-05-29T23:21:04.269+05:30Benchmark Tests for Android Devices: Quadrant, Linpack, Nenamark and Sunspider Javascript<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
<div _mce_style="text-align: justify;" style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px; text-align: justify;">
A few days ago, we got to know the basics of benchmark tests. Let's see what they are in detail:</div>
<div style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px; text-align: -webkit-auto;">
<span _mce_style="text-decoration: underline;" style="text-decoration: underline;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px; text-align: -webkit-auto;">
<span _mce_style="text-decoration: underline;" style="text-decoration: underline;"><b>Quadrant</b></span></div>
<div _mce_style="text-align: justify;" style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
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'Quadrant' is a product of '<a _mce_href="http://www.aurorasoftworks.com" href="http://www.aurorasoftworks.com/" target="_blank">Aurora Softworks</a>'. It is nothing but a series of tests performed on a mobile device which benchmark the CPU, Memory, I/O and 2D/3D graphics. The 'Standard Quadrant' is free for Android Users who can download the application from the 'Android Market' and run it on their devices. The benchmark provides an overall score which can be compared with the benchmark scores from the other devices. If you overclock your CPU, this will obviously get reflected in the benchmark test in a better score. If you want a reference point for your device, the 'Samsung Galaxy Note' has one of the highest, or probably, the highest Quadrant score of 3624 (without overclocking).</div>
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<span _mce_style="text-decoration: underline;" style="text-decoration: underline;"><b>Linpack</b></span></div>
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The <a _mce_href="http://www.netlib.org/linpack/" href="http://www.netlib.org/linpack/" target="_blank">Linpack</a> benchmark is a measure of the system's floating point computing power. Introduced by Jack Dongarra, it measures how fast a device can solve a dense N by N system of linear equations. This benchmark was originally designed to run on supercomputers in the 1970's. So, you can imagine how advanced the device in your hand is today. You can download this application from the 'Android Market' and check the strength of the CPU in your device. The results are designated in MFLOPS (Millions of Floating Point Operations per Second).</div>
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<span _mce_style="text-decoration: underline;" style="text-decoration: underline;"><b>Nenamark 1</b></span></div>
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The first iteration of the '<a _mce_href="http://nena.se/nenamark" href="http://nena.se/nenamark" target="_blank">Nenamark</a>' benchmark test was designed to test the strength of the GPU (The above two tests, Quadrant and Linpack, measure the strength of the CPU). Nenamark 1, designed to run around 10-15 fps (frames per second), uses programmable shaders for graphical effects such as reflections, dynamic shadows, parametric surfaces, particles and different light models to push the GPU to the limits. Results are designated in FPS.</div>
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<span _mce_style="text-decoration: underline;" style="text-decoration: underline;"><b>Nenamark 2</b></span></div>
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Nenamark 1 had been released an year ago and since then, the smartphones have become a lot more capable with refresh rates of their screens crossing 60 fps. So, the Nenamark 1 was not deemed very effective to test such devices and hence Nenamark 2 had been conceptualized. Results are designated in FPS.</div>
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<span _mce_style="text-decoration: underline;" style="text-decoration: underline;"><b>JavaScript</b></span></div>
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'<a _mce_href="http://www.webkit.org/perf/sunspider/sunspider.html" href="http://www.webkit.org/perf/sunspider/sunspider.html" target="_blank">Sunspider JavaScript</a>' is a benchmark that aims to measure the JavaScript performance on tasks relevant to the current and near future use of JavaScript in the real world, such as encryption and text manipulation. In other words, the test simulates real-world usage of JavaScript on Websites. The results are reported in milliseconds (ms). If you want a reference point for your device, the 'Samsung Galaxy Nexus' has one of the best scores: 1879 ms.</div>
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Just remember that the more you score on 'Quadrant', 'Linpack', 'Nenamark 1' and 'Nenamark 2', the better. The lesser you score on 'JavaScript', the better.</div>
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<br /></div>
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We'll talk about the rest of the benchmark tests in future post. Stay Tuned..!!</div>
</div>RagzVamzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18177968726113637421noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2146696746706204186.post-31801749321572569552011-11-27T19:28:00.001+05:302012-05-29T23:19:54.512+05:30Comparing Ultrabooks: Asus Zenbook, Toshiba Portege, Lenovo Ideapad and Acer Aspire<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; font: normal normal normal 13px/19px Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; overflow-y: hidden; padding-bottom: 0.6em; padding-left: 0.6em; padding-right: 0.6em; padding-top: 0.6em;">
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So, let's discuss the other 'Ultrabooks': The 'Toshiba Portege Z830 / Z835' and 'Lenovo Ideapad U300S'.</div>
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Parameter ---------- <a _mce_href="http://us.toshiba.com/computers/laptops/portege/Z830" href="http://us.toshiba.com/computers/laptops/portege/Z830" mce_href="http://us.toshiba.com/computers/laptops/portege/Z830" target="_blank">Toshiba Portege Z830 / Z835</a> ------------<a _mce_href="http://www.lenovo.com/products/us/laptop/ideapad/u-series/u300s/" href="http://www.lenovo.com/products/us/laptop/ideapad/u-series/u300s/" mce_href="http://www.lenovo.com/products/us/laptop/ideapad/u-series/u300s/" target="_blank">Lenovo Ideapad U300S</a><br />
<br />
Thickness <span mce_style="white-space:pre"> </span>0.31 - 0.6 inches <span mce_style="white-space:pre"> </span> <span mce_style="white-space:pre"> </span>0.6 inches<br />
<br />
Weight 1.12 Kg <span mce_style="white-space:pre"> </span>1.315 Kg<br />
<br />
Battery Life <span mce_style="white-space:pre"> </span> 6 - 7 Hrs <span mce_style="white-space:pre"> </span> 6 - 7 Hrs<br />
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Storage <span mce_style="white-space:pre"> </span> 128 GB SSD <span mce_style="white-space:pre"> </span> 256 GB SSD<br />
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Processor <span mce_style="white-space:pre"> </span> Core i7 / i5 / i3 <span mce_style="white-space:pre"> </span> Core i7 / i5<br />
<br />
Pricing <span mce_style="white-space:pre"> </span>Starting From 929$ Starting From 1095$<br />
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Display Panel <span mce_style="white-space:pre"> </span>13.3 inches <span mce_style="white-space:pre"> </span> 13.3 inches<br />
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Resolution <span mce_style="white-space:pre"> </span>1366 * 768 1366 * 768<br />
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Sound <span mce_style="white-space:pre"> </span> <a _mce_href="http://www.maxx.com/content.aspx?id=739" href="http://www.maxx.com/content.aspx?id=739" mce_href="http://www.maxx.com/content.aspx?id=739" target="_blank">Waves MaxxAudio 3</a> <a _mce_href="http://www.srslabs.com/premiumsound/sound.html" href="http://www.srslabs.com/premiumsound/sound.html" mce_href="http://www.srslabs.com/premiumsound/sound.html" target="_blank">SRS Premium Surround Sound</a><br />
<br />
Connectivity 1 USB 3.0, 1 USB 2.0, HDMI, VGA 1 USB 3.0, 1 USB 2.0, HDMI<br />
<br />
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The battery-life times that have been quoted here are based on real-time testing done by many enthusiastic tech specialists and not the actual manufacturer quoted battery-life times (which are obviously higher). So, some of the categories in which the ultrabooks slugged it out: </div>
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<span _mce_style="text-decoration: underline;" style="text-decoration: underline;">Best Audio: Asus Zenbook</span></div>
<div _mce_style="text-align: justify;" style="text-align: justify;">
Bang & Olufsen ICEpower is a Danish research and development company specializing in audio applications. They have worked closely with Asus and have integrated fantastic sound performance inside the Zenbook. Previously, audio performance in one of the Acer's other laptops, the <a _mce_href="http://www.asus.com/Notebooks/Multimedia_Entertainment/NX90Jq/" href="http://www.asus.com/Notebooks/Multimedia_Entertainment/NX90Jq/" mce_href="http://www.asus.com/Notebooks/Multimedia_Entertainment/NX90Jq/" target="_blank">NX90JQ</a>, was also highly appreciated. So, it is a no-brainer that the best performance in the audio category had to go to Asus Zenbook. The audio performance in the other ultrabooks is certainly good for everyday listening, but as I said earlier, the standout performer is the Asus Zenbook.</div>
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<span _mce_style="text-decoration: underline;" style="text-decoration: underline;">Best Connectivity: Toshiba Portege Z830</span></div>
<div _mce_style="text-align: justify;" style="text-align: justify;">
The Portege Z830 just manages to steal the crown in this category from the Asus Zenbook. Both of them come with a similar set of connectivity options. But, the Asus has a mini HDMI and mini VGA connectors (adapters are supplied in the box) and a single USB 3.0 and another single USB 2.0 connectors where-as the Toshiba Portege Z830 has a single USB 3.0, Two USB 2.0, a HDMI and a VGA connectors. So, with an extra USB 2.0 connector and a regular sized HDMI, VGA connectors, which do not require any other adapter to be plugged-in, the Toshiba Portege Z830 out-does the rest of the competition.</div>
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<span _mce_style="text-decoration: underline;" style="text-decoration: underline;">Best Price: Acer Aspire S3</span></div>
<div _mce_style="text-align: justify;" style="text-align: justify;">
The 'Acer Aspire S3' is priced the least among ultrabooks. Although, you get less features when compared to the other ultrabooks, it certainly satisfies all the mandatory eligibility criteria for being an ultrabook. That is enough for the Acer to walk away with the prize in this category.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div _mce_style="text-align: justify;" style="text-align: justify;">
<span _mce_style="text-decoration: underline;" style="text-decoration: underline;">Best Battery-Life: Toshiba Portege Z830</span></div>
<div _mce_style="text-align: justify;" style="text-align: justify;">
In real world testing, the 'Portege Z830' has managed to beat the other ultrabooks in battery-life, although not by a huge margin. It has sacrificied performance, which is lower than that of the Ideapad U300S or Asus Zenbook, for achieving this feat. </div>
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<br /></div>
<div _mce_style="text-align: justify;" style="text-align: justify;">
<span _mce_style="text-decoration: underline;" style="text-decoration: underline;">Best Display: Asus Zenbook</span></div>
<div _mce_style="text-align: justify;" style="text-align: justify;">
While all the displays contain the latest technology (being LED back-lit LCDs), the 'Asus Zenbook' offers a better resolution. In fact, it offers 1600 * 900 along with 1366 * 768 resolution. The 1366 * 768 resolution is offered in the 11.6 inch zenbook while the 1600 * 900 resolution is offered in the 13.3 inch zenbook. So, the best-display crown goes to the Zenbook.</div>
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<span _mce_style="text-decoration: underline;" style="text-decoration: underline;">Best Touchpad & Keyboard: Lenovo Ideapad U300S</span></div>
<div _mce_style="text-align: justify;" style="text-align: justify;">
Step aside from the specifications, and you have consider this factor, as there are people who type lengthy reports and spend considerable amount of time resting their palms, typing away to glory. The device has to make sure that the user doesn't feel uncomfortable while spending much time and that the touchpad is neither under-responsive nor over-responsive and this is where the Ideapad U300S scores. </div>
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<br /></div>
<div _mce_style="text-align: justify;" style="text-align: justify;">
<span _mce_style="text-decoration: underline;" style="text-decoration: underline;">Best Performance: Asus Zenbook</span></div>
<div _mce_style="text-align: justify;" style="text-align: justify;">
Yes. The Asus Zenbook offers the best performance of all the ultrabooks with the Ideapad U300S coming in at the second position. The reason for this is that the Zebook contains a high performing SATA III disk that not only makes the laptop boot-up in a very short time but also allows it to transfer data in and out of the device at lightning speeds.</div>
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So, there you have it. All the 4 ultrabooks currently in the market compared. If you still think that you don't have enough options, wait for the '<a _mce_href="http://www.cesweb.org/" href="http://www.cesweb.org/" mce_href="http://www.cesweb.org/" target="_blank">Consumer Electronics Show</a>' in January, 2012. A barrage of new ultrabooks are expected to be showcased there and they will soon make their way into the market.</div>
</div>
</div>RagzVamzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18177968726113637421noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2146696746706204186.post-39942075746407025572011-11-24T11:35:00.001+05:302012-05-29T23:17:32.939+05:30Benchmark Tests for Android Devices: Quadrant, Linpack, Nenamark<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Of
late, you would have been hearing about benchmark tests like ‘Quadrant’, ‘Nenamark’,
‘Linpack’, ‘Browsermark’ etc. being performed on smartphones and tablets and
avid tech enthusiasts eagerly comparing how all these latest devices are competing
against each other. We’ll explore what these benchmark tests are, the reason
for them becoming popular and the various benchmark tests in this article.</div>
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<ol style="text-align: left;">
<li><i><b>What are benchmark tests?</b></i></li>
<ul>
<li style="text-align: justify;">In computing, a benchmark is the act of running a set of computer programs for the purpose of assessing the relative performance of an object. So, benchmarking in smartphones and tablets is usually associated with assessing the performance characteristics of the smartphones' and tablets' hardware. But, that doesn't mean there aren't any software benchmark tests. So, please understand that these tests are being performed only to compare the relative performance of the devices and in no way can be used to conclude how smooth or how fast the actual user experience will be.</li>
</ul>
<li><i><b>Why have these benchmark tests become popular
for smartphones and tablets?</b></i></li>
<ul>
<li style="text-align: justify;">Each
and every smartphone and tablet that is being released into the market today
has almost the same components: a CPU (Central Processing Unit / Microprocessor
/ Core), a GPU (Graphics Processing Unit), an Instruction Set, RAM (Random
Access Memory), Display containing a particular amount of resolution, Internal
Flash Memory etc. Almost all the benchmark tests can run successfully on these
devices and gauge the performance of these in-built components. The relevance
of some of these tests significantly gains weight when we factor in the ‘Operating
System’ that is run on the devices.</li>
</ul>
<li><b><i>What are the various benchmark tests that are
relevant to the smartphones and tablets?</i></b></li>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; text-align: justify; text-indent: -24px;"> </span>The
following list of tests are relevant</li>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; text-align: justify; text-indent: -144px;"> </span><b>Quadrant</b></li>
<li><b>Linpack</b></li>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: -144px;"><b>Nenamark 1</b></span></li>
<li><b>Nenamark 2</b></li>
<li><b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; text-align: justify; text-indent: -144px;"> </span>Javascript</b></li>
<li><b>Browsermark</b></li>
<li><b>GL 2.1</b></li>
<li><b>Neocore</b></li>
<li><b>AnTuTu</b></li>
<li><b>Vellamo</b></li>
</ul>
</ul>
</ol>
<div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
We’ll explore in detail what these tests are and how each of
them conveys more information about the inner characteristics of the device in future posts.</div>
</div>
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</div>
</div>RagzVamzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18177968726113637421noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2146696746706204186.post-91729870399620997892011-11-21T23:14:00.001+05:302012-05-29T23:34:38.066+05:30Comparing Ultrabooks: Acer Aspire S3 and Asus Zenbook<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
It is an open secret that the success of 'Macbook Air' had prompted Intel to explore the area further which has led to Intel convincing its business partners to explore the category further. Acer and Asus take the opportunity of being the first entrants to this market. Acer came out with its 'Aspire S3' model and Asus has made its launch with the 'Zenbook'. This is how they compare with each other as far as technical specifications are concerned</div>
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
Parameter -------------------------- <a href="http://www.acer.co.in/ac/en/IN/content/series/aspiresseries" target="_blank">Acer Aspire S3</a> -----------------------------------<a href="http://www.asus.com/Notebooks/Superior_Mobility/ASUS_ZENBOOK_UX31E/" target="_blank">Asus Zenbook</a></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
Thickness 0.51 - 0.6 inches 0.1 - 0.7 inches</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Weight 1.406 Kg 1.4 Kg</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Battery Life 4 - 5 Hrs 5 - 6 Hrs</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Storage 20 GB SSD + 320 GB HDD 128 / 256 GB SSD </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Processor Core i5 Core i7 / i5 / i3</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Pricing Starting From 899$ Starting From 999$</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Display Panel 13.3 inches 11.6 inches / 13.3 inches</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Resolution 1366 * 768 1366 * 768 / 1600 * 900</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Sound <a href="http://www.dolby.com/us/en/consumer/technology/pc/dolby-home-theater-v4.html" target="_blank">Dolby Home Theatre</a> <a href="http://www.icepower.bang-olufsen.com/en/news/news?id=40" target="_blank">Bang & Olufsen ICEpower</a></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Connectivity Two USB 2.0, HDMI, VGA 1 USB 3.0, 1 USB 2.0, mini HDMI, mini VGA</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
So, as you can see 'Ultrabooks' have some very good specifications and also offer mostly comparable performance. The specifications list is just to show you the kind of power contained in something so slender and light. There are 2 other ultrabooks that are currently available in the market: Toshiba Portege Z835 and Lenovo Ideapad U 300S. We'll discuss the same parameters for these ultrabooks and then study their reviews to find out which one is the best among them.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Stay Tuned..!!</div>
</div>RagzVamzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18177968726113637421noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2146696746706204186.post-53507355944500595252011-11-20T14:04:00.001+05:302012-05-29T23:16:44.270+05:30Ultrabooks: Features & Specifications<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Let's learn about a new category of devices making their way into the market. They are called '<a href="http://www.intel.com/en_IN/consumer/products/ultrabook.htm?cid=apac:ggl|ultrabook_in_ultra|jb119F5|s" target="_blank"><b>Ultrabooks</b></a>'. 'Ultrabooks' are primarily a product of the initiative being undertaken by Intel. Intel has put down the specifications that these new devices have to adhere to:</div>
<br />
<ol style="text-align: left;">
<li style="text-align: justify;">Thickness</li>
<ul>
<li style="text-align: justify;">Less than 20 mm (0.8 inches)</li>
</ul>
<li style="text-align: justify;">Weight</li>
<ul>
<li style="text-align: justify;">Less than 1.4 Kg</li>
</ul>
<li style="text-align: justify;">Battery Life</li>
<ul>
<li style="text-align: justify;">Should be at least 5 hours</li>
</ul>
<li style="text-align: justify;">Storage</li>
<ul>
<li style="text-align: justify;">Use flash-based SSDs (Solid State Drives) instead of HDDs (Hard Disk Drives).</li>
</ul>
<li style="text-align: justify;">Processor</li>
<ul>
<li style="text-align: justify;">First Phase: CULV (Consumer Ultra Low Voltage) <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sandy_Bridge" target="_blank"><b>Intel Sandy Bridge</b></a></li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">Second Phase: CULV <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sandy_Bridge#Ivy_Bridge" target="_blank"><b>Intel Ivy Bridge</b></a></li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">Third Phase: CULV <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haswell_(microarchitecture)" target="_blank"><b>Intel Haswell</b></a></li>
</ul>
<li style="text-align: justify;">Pricing</li>
<ul>
<li style="text-align: justify;">Around 1000$ US (50,000 INR)</li>
</ul>
</ol>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
The above parameters 1,2,3,6 are obvious and self-explanatory. Let's explore the parameters 4 and 5.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<u>Parameter - 4 (Storage)</u></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
For the past many years, all Personal Computers have come with Hard-Drives (Hard Disks). The technical definition of a Hard-Disk or HDD (Hard Disk Drive) is as follows:</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
"HDD is a Non-Volatile Random Access Data Storage Device. It features rotating rigid platters on a motor-driven spindle with a protective enclosure"</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Basically what the definition tries to tell you is that there are flat circular disks mounted on top of one another. These are called platters. They store the actual data. The spindle (in the middle of these disks) rotates the platters and the data is read and written with the help of read/write heads. So, when you want to access data, these heads help you. So, the important things to take away is that</div>
<div>
<ol style="text-align: left;">
<li style="text-align: justify;">The HDDs have moving parts (Platters, Read/Write Heads)</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">In HDDs, the speed of read/write access is limited by the speed of read/write heads and also the speed at which the platters are rotated</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">The HDDs are noisy (due to the moving parts)</li>
</ol>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
The <b>Solid State Drives</b> (SSDs) overcome the limitations and problems that are traditionally faced with the HDDs.</div>
</div>
<div>
<ol style="text-align: left;">
<li style="text-align: justify;">SSDs do not have any moving parts. Hence they generate no noise at all.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">The read/write performance is dramatically enhanced. For example, 'Ultrabooks' having SSDs can boot up an operating system within seconds and transfer data between them and other devices at very fast speeds as compared to the HDDs.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">They produce very little heat and consume very little power as compared to the HDDs.</li>
</ol>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<u>Parameter - 5 (Processor)</u></div>
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<u><br /></u></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
As you all might be knowing, Intel's latest processors are 2nd Generation (Sandy Bridge) Core i3, Core i5, Core i7 processors. These processors are built for normal laptops whose performance and power requirements are entirely different from that of the 'Ultrabooks'. 'Ultrabooks', being very thin and very light, needed a separate computing platform which can make them deliver a better battery life while not overly compromising on performance. To meet such requirements, Intel has developed the <b>CULV</b> platform which uses less power and gives similar or better performance as compared to the traditional processors.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Many manufacturers including <b>Asus</b>, <b>Lenovo</b>, <b>Toshiba</b> and <b>Acer</b> have dived into this category. Expect a slew of 'Ultrabooks' to be announced by other leading manufacturers at next year's 'Consumer Electronics Show (CES)' scheduled to take place in January. We'll discuss more about the 'Ultrabooks' already released into the market in future posts.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Stay Tuned..!! </div>
</div>RagzVamzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18177968726113637421noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2146696746706204186.post-79719175138892431782011-11-19T10:17:00.001+05:302012-05-29T23:15:24.364+05:30Milking the Galaxy: Journey from Galaxy S to Galaxy S II<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
I bet
that reading the title would have made your mind wander off to the ‘Milky Way’
galaxy in which our planet Earth is a teeny-tiny part. Well, let me bring you
back to it. I am talking about the ‘Galaxy’ range of smartphones and how Samsung’s marketing and operation teams worked together in
a cohesive fashion to generate mind boggling revenues for the company.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
It
all started when Samsung announced the ‘<b>Galaxy S II</b>’ smartphone at ‘<b>Mobile
World Congress</b>’ at Barcelona in February 2011. Samsung declared that the
smartphone would be released in the world markets starting from its homeland in
April and yes, true to its word, the ‘Galaxy S II’ has been released in almost
every major world market till date and it has been a resounding success
everywhere. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
Almost
all of you know that the smartphone has redoubtable specifications and has
gained the approval and praise of almost every tech enthusiast in the world.
But, if you view the whole ‘Galaxy S II’ exercise from the business point of
view, you will get to know the real thing.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
Understand
that there are two technologies that are most prevalent in the market today:
GSM and CDMA. While the GSM versions of the phones work on different carriers by
just changing the SIM card, the CDMA versions are locked down to a specific
carrier. Samsung originally released the ‘Galaxy S II’ bearing the model number
GT-I9100 with the ‘Android’ operating system, a GSM version. On May 9, 2011
they announced that they had received 3 million pre-orders for the smartphone. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
Samsung
was very quick to foresee that it wouldn’t be able to meet the huge cumulative demand
from all the markets. There is a very good reason for it. As you would have
already got from my previous posts, The ‘Galaxy S II’ uses two important
components manufactured by Samsung itself. The display ‘<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Super_AMOLED#Super_AMOLED_Plus" target="_blank">Super AMOLED plus</a>’ is
manufactured by Samsung and the SoC (System on Chip) i.e. <a href="http://www.samsung.com/global/business/semiconductor/productInfo.do?fmly_id=844&partnum=Exynos%204210" target="_blank">Exynos 4210</a> is also
manufactured by Samsung. So, Samsung had taken the help of Nvidia. It launched a
Tegra-2 powered version (GT-I9103) of the ‘Galaxy S II’ and named it ‘<b>Galaxy R</b>’
also called the ‘<b>Galaxy Z</b>’ in Sweden. This European version of the ‘Galaxy S
II’ didn’t get a ‘Super AMOLED plus’ screen and instead settled for an ‘SC-LCD’
display and a reduced 5 megapixel camera instead of the 8 megapixel camera that
the original came with. But it was also priced lower as compared to the ‘Galaxy
S II’ GT-I9100 version.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
In
order to compete well in the relatively lesser priced smartphone section,
Samsung released another version called ‘<b>Samsung Galaxy W</b>’. This doesn’t have a
dual-core processor but instead settles for a single core 1.4 GHz Qualcomm
processor with an ‘SC-LCD’ screen and a 5 megapixel camera. It was also priced
lower as compared to the original ‘Galaxy S II’ version in order to compete
well.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
In
many of the world markets, 4G technologies had already been in place and
Samsung also saw an opportunity there. The originally released ‘Galaxy S II’
did not have LTE (Long Term Evolution – A 4G Technology) baked into it. So
Samsung released a variant of the ‘Galaxy S II’ called ‘Galaxy S II LTE’ and
‘<b>Galaxy S II HD LTE</b>’ on August 28, 2011. While the ‘Galaxy S II LTE’ has a 4.5
inch Super AMOLED display, the ‘Galaxy S II HD LTE’ sported a 4.65 inch <a href="http://www.oled-info.com/super-amoled-hd-real-samsung-developed-improved-process-and-uses-new-materials" target="_blank">SuperAMOLED 720p</a> display.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
Samsung
saved the Canadian and the American markets for the last. In America, Carriers
(Service Providers) tie up with mobile companies and sell CDMA versions at
subsidized rates. Normally the contracts have duration of 2 years after which,
the user gains ownership of the phone. Samsung tied up with ‘Sprint’,
‘T-Mobile’ and ‘AT&T’ carriers and offered ‘SPH D710’, ‘SGH T989’ and ‘SGH
I777’ respectively. All of these are variants of the ‘Galaxy S II’ smartphone.
The ‘T-Mobile’ version was released with a 1.5 GHz dual-core Qualcomm processor
instead of the Exynos CPU as the Exynos CPU wasn’t compatible with T-Mobile’s
network. There are other differences between the models but they are minor.
Samsung was able to bring the entire ‘United States of America’ under its
purview with this release strategy. Currently, Samsung is also selling the
‘<b>Galaxy S II Skyrocket</b>’ for ‘AT&T’ (SGH-I727) which is an improvement over
the original version that the carrier originally got. Similar to the strategy
followed in the US, Samsung also hooked up with carriers like ‘Rogers’, ‘Bell’
and ‘Telus’ to cover the Canadian market. Samsung also launched a ‘<a href="http://www.ti.com/general/docs/wtbu/wtbuproductcontent.tsp?templateId=6123&navigationId=12843&contentId=53243" target="_blank">Texas Instruments OMAP 4430 SoC</a>’ powered ‘Galaxy S II’ which most people feel might be
due to a deficiency of the ‘Exynos 4210’ SoCs. The ‘<b>OMAP 4430</b>’ chip offers a
relatively similar performance as compared to the ‘<b>Exynos 4210</b>’ chip.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
The
point to be noted is that, Samsung has successfully been able to penetrate all
the major world markets with the myriad variants of the ‘Galaxy S II’
smartphone while not compromising majorly on any of the original
characteristics that had made the phone such a popular device. If we consider
the BCG matrix, when the ‘Galaxy S II’ was released in April, it was a ‘STAR’
and it has now become a ‘CASH COW’ which Samsung is looking to milk. This also
reaffirms the relevancy of a popular proverb: ‘Make hay while the sun shines’. <span style="font-family: Wingdings;">J</span><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
As
we approach the end of another eventful year, one of the Samsung
representatives has said that the world will witness the successor to the
‘Galaxy S II’ which, as you might have already guessed by now, is the Galaxy S
III’ (to be released at Mobile World Congress at Barcelona in 2012). Samsung
has surely had a hell of a lot of fun with the ‘Galaxy S II’ this year.
Hopefully it will deliver again with the ‘<b>Galaxy S III</b>'.<br />
<br />
Stay Tuned..!!</div>
</div>RagzVamzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18177968726113637421noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2146696746706204186.post-69861866605677982642011-11-18T23:10:00.001+05:302012-05-29T23:14:22.352+05:30Gorilla Glass, Wi-Fi Direct, DLNA: Smartphone Features<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Let's get to know about some more terms today.<br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
</div>
<ol>
<li><b><a href="http://www.corninggorillaglass.com/" target="_blank">GorillaGlass</a></b></li>
<ul>
<li>In
order to provide a tough cover glass for electronic devices, which not only
provides damage resistance but also has a thin form factor, ‘<b>Corning</b>’, a world
leader in specialty glass and ceramics, developed ‘<b>Gorilla Glass</b>’. It is an
alkali-aluminosilicate thin sheet glass engineered specifically to be thinner,
lighter and more damage resistant. Today, most of the high-end smartphones use
this glass to shield their screens from scratches while not hampering the
quality of the displays. </li>
</ul>
<li><b><a href="http://www.wi-fi.org/Wi-Fi_Direct.php" target="_blank">Wi-Fi Direct</a></b></li>
<ul>
<li>‘<b>Wi-Fi
Direct</b>’ is a technology that allows Wi-Fi devices to talk to each other without
the need for any wireless access points (hotspots). Recently, there was news that 'Wi-Fi Direct' has been included as part of DLNA specifications.</li>
</ul>
<li><b><a href="http://www.google.co.in/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=dlna&source=web&cd=2&ved=0CDwQFjAB&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.dlna.org%2Fdigital_living%2Fhow_it_works%2F&ei=lejNTtmyGMTmrAeinf3LDA&usg=AFQjCNG7SL4eF47FFFrKdunRfhkW52wJWQ" target="_blank">DLNA</a></b></li>
<ul>
<li><b>DLNA</b> or<b> Digital Living
Network Alliance</b> is a non-profit collaborative trade organization established
by Sony in June 2003, and has more than 250 member companies in the mobile,
consumer electronics, and PC and service provider industries. Many electronic devices
including TVs, Smartphones, and Portable Media Players are ‘<b>DLNA Certified</b>’
which means that they can interconnect with each other effortlessly. For
example, if your TV and smartphone are ‘DLNA Certified’, then you can display
photos from your smartphone on your Television.</li>
</ul>
</ol>
<div>
Stay Tuned..!!</div>
<br /></div>RagzVamzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18177968726113637421noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2146696746706204186.post-42578289772707287112011-11-17T20:38:00.001+05:302011-12-06T20:19:32.624+05:30Samsung & Apple: Are they Competitors or Co-Operators?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
Do you
know what has been powering Apple’s iPhones, ranging from the original iPhone
released in 2007 to the latest iPhone 4S in 2011: SoCs manufactured by Samsung.
Not only for the iPhone, but also for Apple’s Macbooks, Samsung is one of the most
critical component supplier as it supplies parts like DRAM (Dynamic Random
Access Memory) module and SSDs (Solid State Drives). But do you know who has been suing
‘Samsung’ all over the world for the past few months: Apple. So, are they Competitors or Co-operators?? Let's find out.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
Before
Samsung, Apple already had a long list of lawsuits filed against Android device
manufacturers like Motorola (who actually was the first to file a lawsuit against
Apple), HTC etc. as it believed that the technologies being used by the devices
seemed to infringe a number of Apple patents. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
I
believe that the actual fillip for Apple to file a patent lawsuit came when
Samsung came out with the ‘<b>Samsung Galaxy S2</b>’ which was touted by the reviewers
of many gadget websites, as the best Android Smartphone available at that point
of time and they foresaw that it would sell in millions. Also, many tech
enthusiasts believed that the <a href="http://www.samsung.com/global/microsite/galaxytab/10.1/index.html" target="_blank"><b>Galaxy Tab 10.1</b></a> is one of the best Android tablets that
have come closest to dethroning iPad in the tablet category. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
Apple
had a filed a host of patent infringement cases: 7 utility patents, 3 design
patents, several iOS system application icons case and a host of trade dress
registrations and packaging that each of Samsung's devices come with. I am not
going to detail what each and every patent infringement case was but some of
the bottom-line things that you need to take note of are as follows:</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
</div>
<ul>
<li style="text-align: justify;">Apple believed that Samsung’s Galaxy range of
phones like the Galaxy S 4G and the Nexus S were awefully similar looking to the iPhone.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">The way Samsung had modified the vanilla Android OS
with its ‘TouchWiz’ skin to display application icons also had an overwhelming
resemblance to the way Apple was displaying icons on both the iPhone and the
iPad.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">Apple also had a problem with the way Samsung
had packaged its phones. It said that the packaging was also very similar to
the way in which its iPhones were packaged.</li>
</ul>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -.25in; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
On a
funnier note, there was a recent incident where a Judge had held the iPad 2
(Apples’ tablet) in one hand and a <b>Galaxy Tab 10.1</b> (Samsung’s tablet) in the
other and asked Samsung’s group of lawyers to distinguish both the devices from a distance of 10 feet away. Samsung’s lawyers did pick their own device correctly but not
before an aweful lot of time had passed. This shows that there is a lot of
similarity between the iPad 2 and the Galaxy Tab 10.1 and when you have a look
at their external design and specifications it is not hard to fathom why. This might be
the reason why Apple has been able to get a temporary injunction on Samsung
selling the Galaxy Tab 10.1 in Australia and <a href="http://www.samsung.com/global/microsite/galaxytab/7.7/index.html?type=find" target="_blank">Galaxy Tab 7.7</a> in Germany.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
Samsung
has also filed some lawsuits against Apple citing that Apple’s iPhone violates
patents related to wireless communication: 3G. Samsung claims that Apple can’t
sell a 3G compatible device without using Samsung’s Technology.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span class="apple-style-span">The irony is that even as
Apple and Samsung are trading blows against each other, Apple has reportedly
awarded Samsung the contract to supply the next-gen Quad-Core A6 CPUs which are most
probably going to be used in iPhone 5 (or whatever the next generation iPhone
is going to be called) and the iPad 3. Apple had reportedly considered other
options like the ‘Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company’ (<a href="http://www.tsmc.com/english/default.htm" target="_blank">TSMC</a>) but had found that TSMC hasn’t quite stabilized its foundry good enough to manufacture
the A6 CPU.</span><o:p></o:p></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="apple-style-span"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="apple-style-span">So, are they Competitors or Co-Operators? The Question still remains..!!</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="apple-style-span"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="apple-style-span">Stay Tuned..!!</span></div>
<br /></div>RagzVamzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18177968726113637421noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2146696746706204186.post-44611221032334708062011-11-16T20:40:00.001+05:302012-05-29T23:13:55.375+05:30Accelerometer, Proximity Sensor, HDMI Mirroring: Smartphone Features<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div style="background-color: transparent;">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
Today, let's get to know the various features that today's smartphones come bundled with.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
</div>
<ol style="text-align: left;">
<li style="text-align: justify;"><b>Proximity Sensor</b></li>
<ul>
<li style="text-align: justify;">A
Proximity Sensor is a sensor that is able to detect the presence of nearby objects
without any physical contact. This is possible through emission of an
electromagnetic radiation while looking for change in the field or return signal.
In some of the HTC phones, proximity sensor is being used very well. When the
phone rings and you turn the phone over, it automatically goes into a silent
mode. The other famous application of ‘Proximity Sensor’ is in car bumpers
where the distance to nearby cars is sensed in order to facilitate parking.</li>
</ul>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><b>Accelerometer</b></li>
<ul>
<li style="text-align: justify;">In
the context of mobile phones, accelerometer was primarily used as a tilt-sensor for
tagging the orientation of photos taken with the built-in camera. Thankfully, it
has been extended to other applications like messaging where tilting the phone
changes the layout of the keyboard from either landscape to portrait
orientation or portrait to landscape orientation. The presence of an
accelerometer also allows people to play games with amazing ease especially in
racing games where tilting the mobile phone can make cars move from right to
left or left to the right.</li>
</ul>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><b>HDMI Mirroring</b></li>
<ul>
<li style="text-align: justify;">Most smartphones today come with an HDMI port or mini-HDMI port or a micro-USB port. An HDMI cable is used to connect the smartphone and the HDTV (Most of the HDTVs being manufactured today also come inbuilt with an HDMI port). After successfully connecting the smartphone you can view content (like games, video) that is being played on the smartphone on the big-screen TV. This feature is called HDMI Mirroring. If the phone has a micro-USB port and doesn't have an HDMI port, an MHL (Mobile High-definition Link) adapter can be used to connect the smartphone and the HDTV.</li>
</ul>
</ol>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Stay Tuned..!!</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<ol style="text-align: left;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 17px;"><br /></span></span></ol>
</div>
</div>RagzVamzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18177968726113637421noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2146696746706204186.post-72337546445935465362011-11-15T20:19:00.001+05:302012-05-29T23:12:35.776+05:30The Truth about the 'Core'<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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So,
do you absolutely have to have a dual-core phone to enjoy the best experience on a smartphone? The
question might be a one-liner but the answer is not quite simple.</div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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You need to take note of the fact that most of the dual-core phones that are being
launched in the market right now are actually running the same operating
system: <a href="http://www.android.com/" target="_blank">Android</a>. Is it a coincidence?? Probably Not. For knowing the reason, you
need to get to know about the companies a little deeply.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Most
of you opine that Apple’s phones are cool. I know many of you use it for the
kind of oohs and aahs that it draws from the surrounding crowd rather than
truly knowing why you need it. But the kind of image that Apple has developed
in the minds of consumers has a good grounding. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Apple
is responsible for both the components of its smartphone and tablet devices:
The ‘Hardware’ and the ‘Software’. Yes!! Apple manufactures its own hardware
(Though it procures individual components from other manufacturers, it is
consequently responsible for its own hardware) and also software: the iOS
operating system. The software isn’t Open-Source. It is Proprietary and only
controlled by Apple. So, Apple, in control of both the components that make up
its smartphones, knows how to design its software to complement its hardware or
how to design its hardware in order to complement its software. So, it is able
to offer a complete package and hence you can feel that in all of its phones.
Usually, you can see zero lag while operating Apple’s phones as the software is
optimized for the underlying hardware and that hasn’t warranted a more powerful
smartphone. Hence you did not find a dual-core processor in an Apple phone
(until iPhone 4S) when other manufacturers were going hammer and tongs
releasing dual-core smartphones. In summary, you have only 1 kind of software
i.e. iOS and it only runs on one kind of hardware i.e. Apple’s devices. This
approach works for Apple as they have full control over the final output. They
have generated, are generating, and will generate huge profits with such phones
but the market reach is going to be less.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Now,
take the example of Android. It is an open-source operating system and the
stock-build of Android is delivered by Google. Google is only responsible for
the software part. Android is an open-source operating system and manufacturers
are free to customize ‘Android’ to suit their own phones. Samsung has its own
skin called ‘Touchwiz’, HTC has its own skin called ‘Sense’ and Motorola has
its own skin called ‘Motoblur’ and so on. These different flavors of android
are not being optimized extensively for the underlying hardware. In fact, ‘<a href="http://gizmodo.com/5543853/what-is-froyo" target="_blank">Froyo</a>’
(Android 2.2) and early versions of ‘<a href="http://blogs.computerworld.com/17479/android_gingerbread_faq" target="_blank">Gingerbread</a>’ (Android 2.3) don’t even recognize
the true power of dual-core smartphones. It is only the latest version: Android
2.3.5 which can actually take advantage of dual-core power being offered by the smartphones.
The other build of Android: ‘<a href="http://www.engadget.com/2011/01/06/googles-android-3-0-honeycomb-for-tablets-a-guided-tour-of-the/" target="_blank">Honeycomb</a>’ (Android 3.0) also supports dual-core but
that operating system is for tablets. The latest build of Android: ‘<a href="http://www.techradar.com/news/mobile-computing/android-4-0-ice-cream-sandwich-everything-you-need-to-know-954464" target="_blank">Ice Cream Sandwich</a>’ (for both smartphones and tablets) will hopefully have plenty of
dual-core optimizations.<o:p></o:p></div>
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But,
there are problems for ‘Android’ which is actually making it compulsory for
manufacturers to make dual-core smartphones:</div>
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<ul>
<li style="text-align: justify;">The software is being run on low-power hardware (some low-powered smartphones) which is allowing lag to creep in.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">Very few manufacturers are using the vanilla
version that Google releases and developing their own versions with heavy customization
which, according to most of the experts, is actually slowing down the
performance of ‘Android’. This is also leading to the problem of
‘Fragmentation’ due to which ‘Android’ is not presenting a consistent
user-interface across all the smartphone devices.</li>
</ul>
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In
summary, there are several versions of the software: Various ‘Android’ flavors
and there are several kinds of hardware: Various smartphone manufacturers. This
is not to say that such phones are bad. Manufacturers are releasing their own
flavors of android because they are adding extra features to make their phones
unique. For example, you can find beautiful 3D transition effects in ‘HTC
Sense’ that is unavailable in stock-builds that Google releases. In fact, such
beautiful effects are even absent in the iPhone. But, it is just that with such
a whole lot of varieties of hardware and software, ‘Android’ is not able to
actually utilize the single-cores fully which is warranting manufacturers to go
for dual-core smartphones.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Similar
to the iOS, Microsoft’s OS for mobiles:
<a href="http://www.microsoft.com/windowsphone/en-us/default.aspx" target="_blank">Windows Phone</a>, also doesn't mandate a dual-core smartphone. Microsoft is
not exactly responsible for the hardware on which it runs its software but it
has stringent requirements for the underlying hardware and all the companies which use this OS have to adhere to the requirements. It also has designed its OS in
such a way that the OS does not necessitate a dual-core smartphone for providing a
high-quality end user experience. Eventually, Windows Phone will also get
dual-core processors but that will be mostly for providing extra features.<o:p></o:p></div>
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In all
the mobile operating systems, ‘Applications’ or ‘Apps’ as they are being popularly
called, are the core. Absence of applications is what led to the downfall of
‘Web OS’ which is another great operating system. Thankfully, developers are
also realizing the fact and they are developing games that can actually take
advantage of the dual-core power of the smartphones. So, you won’t be able to
play HD games on your single-core smartphones as they are being designed
keeping in mind the raw power of dual-cores. Also, features such as shooting 1080p video @ 30
fps and the ability to connect smartphones to HD Televisions and play 1080p
content are also only available on dual-core smartphones. <o:p></o:p></div>
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So,
if you are going to use a mobile phone and do not value ‘Geeky’ features like
those listed above, single-core smartphones will be more than enough to satisfy
all your wants. If you want proof, you can check out the latest Nokia Windows
Smartphone: The ‘<a href="http://www.nokia.com/in-en/products/phone/lumia800/" target="_blank">Lumia 800</a>’. It is powered only by a single-core 1.4 Ghz
Qualcomm processor but it has a very-fluid and gorgeous user interface. But, if
you do buy a dual-core Android smartphone, you know that it is not going to go
waste. <span style="font-family: Wingdings;">J</span><o:p></o:p></div>
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Stay
Tuned!!!<o:p></o:p></div>
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</div>RagzVamzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18177968726113637421noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2146696746706204186.post-7120951804512670982011-11-14T21:05:00.001+05:302012-05-29T23:12:15.985+05:30Quad-Core Smartphones: Exynos 4212, OMAP 4470 details<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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If you have been following my blog closely, I said that I would discuss the '<a href="http://www.anandtech.com/show/4413/ti-announces-omap-4470-and-specs-powervr-sgx544-18-ghz-dual-core-cortexa9" target="_blank">OMAP 4470</a>' in another post in conjunction with the 'Nvidia Tegra 3' (in 'The 'Core' Enigma (Contd.) - 1' post). As we are done with the 'Tegra 3' let's now get down to the '<b>OMAP 4470</b>' processor.</div>
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As you already know by now, I had mentioned that 'Texas Instruments' manufactures 3 SoCs: OMAP 4430, OMAP 4460, and OMAP 4470. Well, it actually manufactures another SoC: OMAP 4440, but it is only a minor upgrade from the OMAP 4430. So, why is '<b>OMAP 4470</b>' special??</div>
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The '<b>OMAP 4470</b>' uses an architecture which is very similar to the one found on the 'Tegra 3'. The 'OMAP 4470' is actually a dual-core processor (2 ARM Cortex A9s) but in addition to these 2 cores, it contains 2 other cores (2 ARM Cortex M3s). While the Cortex A9s are clocked at a maximum frequency of 1.8 Ghz, the Cortex M3s are clocked at a maximum frequency of 266 Mhz. The 'Cortex M3s' kick-in when less CPU intensive tasks are running like 'Playing Music', 'Editing a document' or 'Checking E-Mail'. But once you start playing 'HD games' on the smartphone device (inside which the SoC is present) the 'Cortex A9s' make their presence felt. Very Impressive architecture indeed..!!! :D</div>
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As far as the GPU is concerned, Texas Instruments went with the leader in the GPU space: '<a href="http://www.imgtec.com/" target="_blank">Imagination Technologies</a>'. I have already mentioned that currently 'Imagination Technologies' produces one of the best GPUs in the market. The GPU inside the 'OMAP 4470' is '<b><a href="http://www.imgtec.com/powervr/sgx_series5XT.asp" target="_blank">Power VR SGX 544</a></b>' (Surprisingly this is a single-core GPU). Supposedly, it offers tremendous improvement in the GPU performance as compared to the other OMAP SoCs. Now as in the CPU, there is an additional 2D graphics core that kicks-in when less graphic intensive tasks are performed, it is only when applications which demand better graphics performance are run does the 'Power VR SGX 544' actually kick-in. So, there is a by-pass for the GPU too. Wonder what all crazy steps are being taken by SoC makers for saving battery life. :-|</div>
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Anyways, the 'OMAP 4470' is actually being touted as a competitor to the 'Tegra 3' and given it's architecture it's hard to conclude why it won't offer performance similar to the 'Tegra 3'. And don't worry Samsung is out to compete with both of them with the '<b>Exynos 4212</b>' and Qualcomm won't be far behind in its development of '<b>Snapdragon S4</b>'.</div>
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With this post, I will be shutting up on CPU and GPU :). In the next post, I will tell you whether you absolutely need to have a 'Dual-Core' smartphone to enjoy it's features completely.</div>
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</div>RagzVamzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18177968726113637421noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2146696746706204186.post-60896451261725125922011-11-14T20:47:00.001+05:302012-05-29T23:11:19.078+05:30Quad-Core Smartphones: Nvidia Tegra 3 Details<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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So,
we have talked about ‘Single-Core’ and ‘Dual-Core’ smartphones and tablets. You
might be thinking ‘These are soooo Yesterday!! Tell us something that we don’t
know’. Well, I’ll oblige by telling you that 2012 will be the year of
‘Quad-Core’. Yes!! You heard it right!!! Most of the market leading SoC
manufacturers will come out with their ‘Quad-Core’ creations in the next year
and these SoCs will have performance that is multiple times their previous
generations’.<o:p></o:p></div>
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If
you would have followed this blog closely, you might have seen the mention of
two devices: the ‘<a href="http://www.asus.com/Eee/Eee_Pad/Eee_Pad_Transformer_Prime_TF201/" target="_blank">Asus Eee Pad Transformer Prime</a>’ and the ‘HTC Edge’. Both will
be sporting an ‘<b><a href="http://www.nvidia.com/object/tegra-superchip.html" target="_blank">Nvidia Tegra 3</a></b>’ (<b>Project Kal-El</b>) CPU which is, as you rightly
guessed, a quad-core processor. I have also highlighted about the display
panels used in both of them in ‘The Display Dilemma’ blog posts below: a ‘Super
IPS+’ panel in the ‘Transformer Prime’ where as an ‘SLCD-2 optically laminated
display’ in the ‘HTC Edge’. So, they
both have industry-leading displays and also processors. So expect these to get
sold as fast as cakes. The ‘Transformer Prime’ will be hitting stores next
month and the ‘HTC Edge’ will make its presence in Q1 2012.<o:p></o:p></div>
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So,
let’s get down to the actual dirt: the ‘<b>Nvidia Tegra 3</b>’. The ‘<b>Nvidia Tegra 3</b>’
is, as you rightly expected, a successor to the highly successful ‘Nvidia Tegra
2’ and ‘Tegra 3’ has received a significant performance boost over the ‘Tegra
2’. Nvidia has detailed that the Tegra 3’s processor is 5 times as fast as the
Tegra 2’s and the Tegra 3’s GPU is 3 times as fast as the Tegra 2’s. So, let’s
find out how this is possible!!<o:p></o:p></div>
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Tegra
3 has got 4 ARM Cortex A9s (a step up from the 2 ARM Cortex A9s in Tegra 2) and
therefore has got its name as the ‘Quad-Core’ SoC. Nvidia actually had a surprise for the
general audience when it announced the ‘Tegra 3’ SoC. It not only had the above
mentioned 4 ARM Cortex A9s (which can run at a maximum clock-speed of 1.3 Ghz when
running simultaneously and at a maximum clock-speed of 1.4 Ghz when only one of
them is active), but also had another ARM Cortex A9 clocked at a lower
frequency of 500 Mhz. So actually, ‘Tegra 3’ has got not 4 but 5 cores. The
reason for including an additional ‘Companion Core’ (ARM Cortex A9 at 500 Mhz)
was simple. Normally, when you increase the cores on the SoC, it tends to draw
in more power which leads to loss of battery life. Most basic tasks like
‘Playing Music’, ‘Editing a document’, ‘Checking e-mails’ etc. do not require
the power delivered by 4 cores. So utilization of 4 cores in such scenarios
would be pointless. Nvidia thought that they could take care of these tasks
with the ‘Companion Core’ and let the other ‘Quad Cores’ come into picture only
when the applications demanded it. For example, if you are trying to watch a HD
video or trying to play a game on your TV by connecting your smartphone or
tablet to it, the performance of ‘Quad Cores’ is required. So in such
scenarios, the ‘Companion Core’ would quietly hand over the control to the
other 4 cores. So, as you would have got by now, at any point of time only one
of them would be active: either the ‘Companion Core’ or ‘The other Quad Cores’.
This type of functioning has been branded ‘<b>Variable Symmetric Multi Processing
(vSMP)</b>’ by Nvidia. I remember using such terms to impress my professors while
taking exams in MBA. ;-)<o:p></o:p></div>
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Right.
The other major difference between the Quad-Core processor cores in Tegra 3 and
the Dual-Core processor cores in Tegra 2 is that each of the cores (in the Quad-Core
architecture and not the Companion Core) is equipped with a ‘<b><a href="http://www.arm.com/products/processors/technologies/neon.php" target="_blank">Media Processing Engine</a></b>’ (MPE) part. This MPE part is absent in the dual-core CPUs of Tegra 2.
This MPE not only will allow users to watch any video in any format but also
will support voice recognition.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Nvidia
claims that it has been able to significantly improve the battery life of the
smartphone or the tablet using such architecture. The other important thing to
be noted is that even the GPU has 12 cores. But the actual meaning of ‘Core’ in
a GPU is different from that of a ‘Core’ in a CPU. The only thing to be remembered
is that the GPU in ‘Tegra 3’ is clocked at a higher frequency and delivers more
performance than the GPU in ‘Tegra 2’, which will allow you to play games, that
necessitated a graphic card in your laptop or desktop, with consummate ease.</div>
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So that is it about the CPU and the GPU of Tegra 3 SoC. At the time of writing this post, I have also got to know that 'Lenovo' and 'Acer' also planning to come out with their Tegra 3 offerings very soon. Looks like 'The Transformer Prime' won't be alone after all. Stay tuned..!!!</div>
</div>RagzVamzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18177968726113637421noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2146696746706204186.post-88541987365349930732011-11-13T15:46:00.001+05:302012-05-29T23:00:04.938+05:30GPU in Smartphones: Mali, Power VR, ULP Ge-Force and Adreno<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Well... By now, you guys must have got to know that CPU or Microprocessor or 'The Core' is one of the most important things to know about while finalizing your smartphone purchase. But, CPU only takes care of the normal processing functions for example, rendering Web Pages in a browser and it has a minor say in rendering Images, Video and Graphics, most importantly in Games. The thing that takes care of these functions is the GPU or 'Graphics Processing Unit'. So, if only the CPU is class-leading and the GPU is not, you won't be able to get the best experience from the smartphone you are about to buy. The presence of a very good GPU in today's smartphone devices is the exact reason you are able to play high performance games like 'Riptide GP' and 'Shadowgun' on a device like the smartphone.</div>
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
So, the role of a GPU is primarily to not only provide hardware acceleration to 3D games and applications but also to draw the main user interface in mobile operating systems.So, while your switching screens inside your iPhone or Windows Phones and you find the transitions from one screen to another silky smooth, you have to thank the GPU for it.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Right. So who are the market leaders in manufacturing high performance GPUs. Oh!! We have a list here too. Let's dig in.</div>
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</div>
<ol>
<li>ARM</li>
<ul>
<li style="text-align: justify;">Ah! Yes!!, one of the market leader in manufacturing mobile CPUs is also the one of the market leader in manufacturing mobile GPUs. It markets it's GPUs under the brand name of '<b>Mali</b>'. ARM has recently revealed '<a href="http://www.arm.com/products/multimedia/mali-graphics-hardware/mali-t658.php" target="_blank">Mali T658</a>' GPU for next generation smartphone devices. </li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">The GPU that has brought ARM the most recognition in the recent times is the '<b>Mali 400 MP</b>'. You have this GPU in the 'Samsung Galaxy S2'. The GPU is one of the reasons the smartphone has become so popular as it is one of the best GPUs to be found on an SoC.</li>
</ul>
<li>Imagination Technologies</li>
<ul>
<li style="text-align: justify;">You might find this company new, but it definitely is NOT new in the GPU space. Imagination Technologies manufactures world class GPUs and markets them under the brand name of '<b>Power VR SGX</b>' which has been used in a plethora of smartphones till date.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">The '<b>Power VR SGX 543 MP2</b>' is the best GPU currently in the market and you can find it in none other than 'Apple iPad 2'. Now, you can see why Apple's devices get the best ratings not only on the external smooth-running software but also the internal rugged-hardware.</li>
</ul>
<li>Nvidia</li>
<ul>
<li style="text-align: justify;">Ya!! Nvidia sources the CPU to be used in it's Tegra SoCs from ARM but uses it's own GPU. It markets the GPU under the brand name of '<b>ULP Ge-Force</b>'. The ULP stands for Ultra Low Power. Most of you would remember that the Ge-Force GPUs manufactured by Nvidia were used in PCs. Well, Nvidia went back to the drawing board and figured out how it could fit the same performance while consuming lower power and generating lesser heat in a device as small as a smartphone and that wondering led to the ULP Ge-Force GPU being born.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">You can find this GPU in all the 'Tegra 2' SoCs like in the 'LG Optimus 2X'.</li>
</ul>
<li>Qualcomm</li>
<ul>
<li style="text-align: justify;">I already mentioned in my previous posts that Qualcomm is the company which manufactures the CPUs and the GPUs used in it's SoCs by itself. Qualcomm had actually purchased the GPU business from ATI Radeon but nevertheless, it's got its own GPU business right now. It markets its GPUs under the brand name of '<b><a href="https://developer.qualcomm.com/discover/chipsets-and-modems/adreno" target="_blank">Adreno</a></b>'</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">The '<b>Adreno 220</b>' GPU is the best GPU from the Qualcomm stable in the market right now and it can be found in smartphones like 'HTC Sensation' and 'HTC Sensation XE'.</li>
</ul>
</ol>
<div>
So, that's it for today. Stay tuned!!!</div>
</div>RagzVamzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18177968726113637421noreply@blogger.com0