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Big B likely to undergo another surgery?

Posted by Akhil on February 17th, 2012

Big B likely to undergo another surgery? Amitabh Bachchan is still in pain. Within a week of undergoing two abdominal surgeries, the megastar is likely to go under the knife for his abdominal pain at the Seven Hills Hospital here; as he indicated that more doctors have been called for consultation over his condition, which he isn’t ready to reveal.

According to sources, the surgery might take place Friday.

The 69-year-old was admitted to the seven-star facility for an abdominal surgery Saturday, but doctors ended up performing two operations, leaving him in a lot of pain. Due to his complaints of pain, doctors decided to keep the actor under observation, and his discharge was said to have been shifted from Monday to Friday or Saturday.

However, as the latest update indicates, his condition seems to be grave — a fact cemented by Amitabh’s blog post Thursday.

“The night started off with great apprehensions, what with the temperature of the fever going up – always a dangerous signal. But the mercury fell during the night, or in today’s terminology the digital reading in these modern contraptions, showed improvement and by the morning there was a freshness and hope of repair,” he posted late Thursday night.

“Soon afterwards though, the additional pain that has developed in the abdomen, apart from the surgical, kept doctors busy and going into a huddle. Whenever they do that, I always surmise there is something more than normal in the patient. Heavy dosages of even more antibiotics were pumped in, and to facilitate this operation they had to wheel me into the OT again to put a ‘central line’, through an incision on the neck.

“There are more doctors now being called in for consultation, for second opinion… hmmm… a lapse of some time, friends drop by inquiring after and then the doctors again… they do not differ in the analysis of the earlier doctors… so treatment remains, pain remains and I remain with you – my sincerest of well-wishers,” Big B added.

This time, Big B chooses to keep his condition rather private, even as hospital authorities and his family are tight-lipped.

amitabh_akshay_big “I refrain from giving greater details of my condition… in the west patient has the right to not disclose – even to family!! I realise anxious members of EF and TwFmXt need to know…whenever there is some important procedure, will inform,” Big B tweeted Thursday.

Amitabh’s recurring abdominal condition is a result of an injury on the sets of “Coolie” 30 years ago. It was nearly fatal. Since then, he has made several visits to hospitals for treatment.

After “Coolie” accident, he was reportedly attacked by the life-threatening disease Myasthenia Gravis, a neuromuscular ailment that causes muscle weakness.

In November 2005. Big B was back in the hospital — first he was admitted to Escorts Hospital in the capital and later shifted to Mumbai’s Leelavati Hospital with diverticulitis of the small intestine – when the walls of the large or small intestine tend to get weaker leading to an inflammation.

On Nov 30, 2005, he was operated on for the problem and he had to be in the hospital for two months.

Three years later, on his birthday, Oct 11, he complained of pain and was rushed to hospital. He was suspected to be suffering from incisional hernia, a recurring problem that has been troubling him since the near-fatal accident on the sets of “Coolie”.

Napoli coach Mazzarri banned from Chelsea matches

Posted by Akhil on February 17th, 2012

Napoli coach Walter Mazzarri has lost his appeal to UEFA challenging a two-match touchline ban, and is barred from the Champions League round-of-16 matches against Chelsea.

UEFA increased Mazzarri’s punishment for “improper conduct,” after he pushed Villarreal forward Nilmar to protest time-wasting tactics during a group match in December.

UEFA says its appeals panel added a third match to the sanction. The additional ban was deferred for a two-year probationary period.

Napoli coach Mazzarri banned from Chelsea matches

Napoli host Chelsea next Tuesday and the return match in London is scheduled for March 14.

Mazzarri can watch from the grandstands but cannot communicate with his players and coaches in the stadium.

Review: Micromax A75 Superfone Lite

Posted by Akhil on February 17th, 2012

‘Big things at affordable prices’ seems to be the Micromax motto when it comes to budget phones. The company has set a trend in the below Rs.10,000 category with phones running the Android OS like the A55, A60 and A70. Tagged as the Superfone Lite, the A75 is a cheaper version of the A85. Sporting quite an appeal on the outside, we put the device to test and find out if it has what it takes to steal the thunder in its category.

Design & Build

Unboxing the device felt like awakening a black knight from a white coffin! We couldn’t help but reminisce the Google Nexus S when we first saw the device. The unit we received was charcoal black, weighing in at 135 grams. Though it is a bit heavy, the phone offers a firm grip and feels very comfortable to hold. The device came neatly packed in a white cardboard box along with a USB Charger, a pair of earphones, a user guide and a 1 year warranty card.

The build is plastic-y with a glossy finish at the back supported by metal on the sides. The display screen and the device overall, act as a fingerprint magnet owing to its glossy finish.

Staying true to the android tradition, the phone has four main capacitive touch buttons at the bottom: Menu, Back, Search and Home. The volume rocker is on the right (which seemed very inconvenient while pressing) while the USB port is on the left. The top panel has the power/sleep button along with a universal 3.5mm headphones jack.

The phone supports Dual GSM SIM functionality with the slots being located under the rear panel. They can be accessed only by removing the battery from its place. There is a microSD card slot located just adjacent to the 3MP camera. The device seems well-constructed and does have a distinctly unique charm to it that adds to its overall appeal.

Display

The phone features a 3.75′ TFT capacitive display with a resolution of 320×480 pixels which is decent enough, though nothing to be too proud of. The screen is a bit reflective of background objects which is quite distracting.

The colours appeared bright enough but reading in broad daylight can be quite a task despite increasing brightness levels to the maximum. The screen size is big enough for viewing videos and gaming at ease.

Camera Quality

The device houses a 3MP rear camera with LED flash and a 0.3 MP front facing camera for video calling. There isn’t much to expect from the camera since the resolution is quite low. Having said that, the image quality is very dull and it just about gets the job done. If you don’t really get into the specifics or if the camera isn’t something that interests you in a phone, it’s a decent feature to have.

The camera menu is fairly simple with features such as Flash, Zoom (up to 4x), White Balance, Picture Size and Quality, Scene Mode, Capture Mode, ISO settings et al. Each category has various settings to choose from as per one’s requirement.

We tried a couple of settings but they did little to improve the image quality. Despite the sharpness being set at high, the pictures still looked blurry. Also, the shutter lag while taking a picture with flash is ridiculously long at about 5 seconds!

Videos didn’t fair too well either. They also appeared quite dull and grainy. Well, expecting a 3MP to shoot good quality videos is stretching it a bit too far. YouTube videos however appeared sharp when viewed in the HQ setting.

OS & Interface

The device runs on Androidv2.3.4 and what is disturbing is the sluggish UI over Gingerbread. The 650 MHz processor just isn’t beefy enough when it comes to performance. The device has an internal memory of 190MB which is expandable up to 32GB.

There are up to 9 customizable home screens which you can add one-by-one as and when you need them.The device comes with a pre-installed Theme Manager that allows you to choose from a set of 5 colourful themes that look beautiful and vibrant. The icon representation changes with each theme.

You can view the Notifications and Toolkits option by swiping the screen from top to bottom. Toolkits basically gives access to a quick menu with 12 options including power off, reboot, auto brightness settings, Wi-Fi, lock screen settings etc. The Phone, Menu and Messaging icons are located at the bottom of the screen for quick access. The Menu has all the apps listed in alphabetical order. You can choose to add these apps for quick access on your home screen.

Pre-loaded software

The phone comes with a whole bunch of pre-installed apps like TOI, Polaris Office (for accessing MS Documents), Quikr, eBuddy, WhatsApp along with Facebook, Twitter and of course the Google bundle which includes Gmail, YouTube, Gtalk and Maps. There’s also a stock market app called InStocks updating you with the latest BSE/NSE figures. UMPlayer is an in-built video player app with a simple interface while you also have a Music Player for songs on your phone.

Saavn is an app that helps you find your favourite songs in Hindi, Punjabi and even Tamil. It also gives you a weekly top songs playlist. You can save them in your very own playlist which can be created by logging in with your Facebook account or with a separate Saavn account itself. Then there’s Teen Patti, which is a fun gaming app. Besides these, you have extras like a sound recorder, a post card app and a File Manager as well (Phew!).

Apart from the Android Market, the company has added Mi-Apps which lists a selection of various other apps under three main tabs namely: Applications, Games and Themes, giving the user plenty of options to choose from.

Performance

With smart phones getting smarter each day, functionality and performance now take precedence over beauty. Starting with battery life, the phone performed decently, running an entire day on a full charge though the 1300mAH Li-ion battery does drain out on prolonged usage with multiple tasks at hand.

The foremost purpose of any phone still remains to make and receive calls and this is where the A75 fails miserably. Call drops were unusually high even in high network areas. The worst experience was that the phone hung while multi-tasking and removing the battery was the only way to regain functionality. Texting is more comfortable in landscape mode since the keyboard seems more spaced out as opposed to the portrait mode.

The gaming experience was also ruined to quite an extent. Angry Birds, which has now become a benchmark in gaming for every Android phone, was very slow in loading and hung a couple of times before it finally crashed. Opening and closing applications also consumed a considerable amount of time.

The audio quality is again decent enough on the loudspeaker. While listening to songs on the headphones (that came with the phone), the levels tend to peak quite a bit. The built-in FM Radio was really disappointing as the device had frequency issues and was unable to catch popular stations like Fever 104.0 FM (Our Nokia X2-01 did better than this!).

The Dual SIM feature is one thing we could vouch for. The setting allows you to select the purpose for each SIM and also set preference of usage (whether to operate one SIM at a time or both simultaneously). The SIMs are colour coded and easily distinguishable from each other. Once you insert the second SIM, the screen prompts you for setting your default SIM to make voice calls, video calls, messaging and data connection. You can always deactivate the SIM you don’t want to use. When making Voice calls or Messaging, the device gives an option called Always Ask so that you can choose which SIM to use for outgoing calls or messages.

Overall, the performance isn’t as satisfying as you’d expect mainly due to the slow processing speeds.

Verdict

The device doesn’t quite really justify being nicknamed as the Superfone Lite. Though there are a couple of good features, including the bundle of handy apps and the dual SIM service feature, the phone completely loses out on slow processing speeds. Though it is competitively priced among its peers like the Samsung Galaxy Y and the Motorola Fire XT311 and appears to be a strong contender, it still fails to perform as a ‘Superfone’. You ought to miss this one while considering your options for a budget Android phone.

Pros
Great Price
Attractive Design
Good Display Size
Dual SIM

Cons
Sluggish UI
Poor Camera
Slow Processor

Price: Rs. 8,900

Ratings
Performance: 3
Features: 4
Ease of setup: 4
Ergonomics: 3.5
Wow factor: 3.5

Overall: 3.5

AMRI director gets bail, pleas of 4 others rejected

Posted by Akhil on February 17th, 2012

The Calcutta High Court on Friday granted bail to AMRI director RS Agarwal but rejected similar pleas of four other board members of the private hospital, where over 90 people suffocated to death in the December 9 fire tragedy.

A division bench, comprising Justice Asim Roy and Justice Tarun Gupta, granted the bail prayer of Agarwal and rejected those of RS Goenka, Manish Goenka, Prasant Goenka and Ravi Todi.

The division bench directed that the bail prayers of the four were being rejected at this stage but gave them liberty to move the court again after conclusion of the investigation into the fire.

AMRI director gets bail, pleas of 4 others rejected

The accused, charged with culpable homicide not amounting to murder, have been in custody for the last 70 days.

With the chargesheet in the case yet to be submitted, state counsel Kalyan Banerjee assured the court that it would be done within the stipulated 90 days from the date of registration of the case.

Agarwal’s counsel had submitted that his client had not attended any board meeting of AMRI Hospitals in 2011 since he has been ill for a long time and as such could not be held responsible in any manner.

Agarwal is at present admitted at the state-run SSKM Hospital.

Banerjee had opposed the bail prayers and submitted that the AMRI authorities had deliberately violated norms and stored cotton and medical supplies in the basement of the building, where the fire occurred.

He had also stated that there was a fire in October last year, before the one on December 9, when an employee was suspended for having informed the fire brigade.

Banerjee claimed that the employees on duty on the fateful night had not informed the fire brigade because of fear of action by the authorities.

He also claimed that if released on bail, the accused could try to influence witnesses in the case.

Balai Roy, counsel for all the five accused, had submitted that day-to-day affairs of the hospital was not run by the board and as such its members could not be held responsible for the fire.

Roy submitted that the AMRI board of directors had not taken any resolution to keep cotton and other materials in the basement of the seven-storied, centrally air-conditioned building.

Neither was there any resolution to take action against any employee if the fire brigade was informed, he submitted.

A total of nine directors and four employees were arrested in the case, of whom only octogenarian Moni Chetri, director and in whose name the hospital’s license was given, was earlier granted bail by a lower court on medical grounds and due to his age.

Dhoni, Gambhir ease India’s nerves

Posted by Akhil on February 17th, 2012

“There were quite a few shots that we shouldn’t have played,” said MS Dhoni after helping India chase a target of 270 with two balls to spare, “and we need to work on that.” On an evening in which several shots from India’s batsmen would have left their captain frustrated, it was Dhoni who stamped his authority on the result with a restrained, calculated innings that consisted of just one boundary shot: a six down the ground reminiscent of his World Cup-winning shot in Mumbai last April.

That shot came after Dhoni had played 56 deliveries, and the nonchalant power packed into that six could serve as a lesson for Virender Sehwag, Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma, each of whom fell to their own bravado. Amid the madness that surrounded their dismissals, Dhoni’s application stood out. Dhoni, the modern day iceman in limited-overs cricket, refrained from any audacity until the final over.

At the WACA, against Sri Lanka, India’s win came down to an unbeaten fifty partnership between Ravindra Jadeja and R Ashwin. Under lights at the Adelaide Oval, Dhoni ensured he was there until the end. Against Sri Lanka his silly attempt a pull shot had exposed the lower order, and it was apparent that he wasn’t going to let that happen again.

Dhoni arrived in the 35th over and showed more patience than a dutiful husband in his first 34 balls as he scored 14. India manage just 18 off the batting Powerplay, and soon after Dhoni watched as Suresh Raina yorked himself for a 30-ball 38 and Jadeja slogged to deep midwicket for 12, the second wicket leaving India’s requirement at 13 off eight balls. Until then he had hardly hit a ball in anger, never mind attempt to hit anything in the air.

But after a slow start, Dhoni opened his shoulders and timed his assault to perfection, striking the third ball of the final over, bowled by Clint McKay, for a big six and then following up with pull shots for two and three runs off the last two deliveries bowled. Dhoni is a proven chaser – he averages over 100 in 49 successful chases for India – but rarely have there been such restrained innings that have, at the last minute, succeeded in sealing tense chases. The calm demeanour for the first 55 deliveries of his unbeaten innings no doubt helped him judge the time to tee off against McKay, and on this day it all worked wonderfully for Dhoni.

Of course, this chase would not have been possible without the Man-of-the-Match Gautam Gambhir’s well-paced 92. Like he did during the World Cup final, Gambhir controlled the chase after an early wicket and appeared unfazed by the dismissals of Kohli and Rohit. His driving was a treat and his footwork against spin a throwback to days when Gambhir regularly bossed slow bowlers.

Unlike Sehwag, Kohli and Rohit, he tempered his aggression to produce smart cricket shots that were the result of placement more than power. Gambhir did not hit down the ground or try to take on the quick bowlers, instead relying on his ability to nudge the ball around. It was unfortunate that he missed a century, when he was adjudged lbw to a ball that replays suggested had pitched outside leg stump.

Chasing a target of 270 for victory, India were forced to work hard for their win after slipping to 178 for 4, eventually winning by four wickets in nerve-wracking manner. This was the kind of win that can turn India’s fortunes around in Australia. It was far from perfect but as Gambhir and then Dhoni showed, controlling one’s aggression can often result in success.

Market next week: It’s time to be cautious now, say experts

Posted by Akhil on February 17th, 2012

Moneycontrol Bureau:

Looking at the market screen, investors have many reasons to rejoice. The level at which the Indian market is today, no one would have even dreamt of it at the beginning of 2012.

Today, the Nifty touched a seven-month high surging past the 5,600 level. However, profit taking in the last hour of trade took some gains off the index.

The Nifty closed well above the 5,500 mark with a gain of 42 points. The Sensex too ended in the green and comfortably so at 18, 289, up 135.36 points or 0.75%.

The experts are getting wary now. After the recent run up, they are expecting the market to take a breather and consolidate, if not correct.

Amisha Vora, joint managing director of Prabhudas Lilladher is cautious. According to him, the market might hold up and the expiry maybe positive, somewhere closer to 5,550 to 5,600. “We will be heading into March with two months of strong run. We have a lot of events in March- election results, economic survey and then the Budget. So, March compared to both these months will be a dull and volatile month. One needs to be cautious from hereon,” he explains.

David Pezarkar of Daiwa Mutual Fund is worried too. “Since we have had such a sharp rally, I would think that the market needs to consolidate just a little bit before making its next move. So, I would expect a little bit of a correction or a consolidation,” he adds.

Although Pezarkar is still optimistic on the market per se, he feels it’s going to be more of bottom-up approach. “I think investors will have to be a little cautious now and pick the right stocks rather than the high beta sectors per se,” he advises.

Ajay Bodke, head of investment strategy and advisory of Prabhudas Lilladher holds a similar view. ”The rally could take a shallow breather from now, because the fundamentals and valuations are still trying to catch up with sentiment,” he explains.

However, on a positive note, Sudarshan Sukhani, s2analytics.com says, the trend will not change till the benchmark index is above 5,500. “The trend has not changed. Nothing will change till we stay above 5,500,” he asserts.

But one should keep in mind that the markets don’t go up or down in a straight line, they have to pause or consolidate. One should not get carried away.

Sri Lanka thrash Australia by 8 wickets for first win

Posted by Akhil on February 17th, 2012

Mahela Jayawardene smashed an unbeaten half-century to lead Sri Lanka to a commanding eight-wicket win over Australia and back into limited-overs tri-series finals contention on Friday.

Australia were bowled out for just 158, their lowest ODI total at the Sydney Cricket Ground since 1997, after the match was reduced to 41-over innings due to a two-hour rain interruption.

Faced with an amended victory target of 152 after adjustments made under the Duckworth-Lewis Method, the Sri Lankans wasted no time in aggressively chasing down their first win of the tri-series.

Jayawardene carried his bat for 61 not out off 67 balls as the Sri Lankans reached the winning total in just the 25th over.

“We needed a start,” Jayawardene said. “I have done opening before, and thankfully it worked today. We knew we had to win today.”

India lead the series by a point from Australia, while Sri Lanka, with a bonus point, are only two behind the host side.

Jayawardene and Tillakaratne Dilshan shared an almost run-a-ball 74-run opening partnership as the Australia bowlers failed to make an impression.

Dilshan made 45 off 41 balls before Clint McKay (1-23) finally make a breakthrough when he had the opener caught at slip by David Hussey in the 12th over.

Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara then shared 59 runs until Sangakkara was caught by Xavier Doherty at mid-on off Brett Lee (1-42), leaving Sri Lanka requiring 21 runs with 20 overs remaining. Sangakkara had 30 off 29 balls, and became the 10th man to pass 10,000 ODI runs, and the third Sri Lankan.

David Hussey’s aggressive 58 off 64 balls was the sole highlight for Australia’s innings as the hosts were dismissed two balls short of their 41 overs.

Man of the Match Thisera Perera returned figures of 2-29, as well as being responsible for a run-out. Farveez Maharoof had 2-18 and took the important catch of opener David Warner.

“The pitch didn’t have the sort of pace we thought it had, and their bowlers capitalized,” stand-in captain Ricky Ponting said. “Full credit to Sri Lanka, they bowled and fielded really well, and played their shots in the chase.”

Hussey shared a 49-run, ninth-wicket partnership with tailender Mitchell Starc (17) which saved Australia from total capitulation.

Warner made just 13 before being caught by Maharoof off Lasith Malinga (1-42) and Ponting faced just 10 balls before being caught and bowled by Maharoof for 2.

Wade was run out on 15 in the next over thanks to some athletic fielding from Perera at short-cover.

Michael Hussey was caught behind off Angelo Mathews (1-26) for 13, before Maharoof claimed his second wicket when he had Peter Forrest caught by Mathews for 16.

Perera trapped Dan Christian lbw for 6 to leave Australia at 81-6 when rain interrupted play.

Clint McKay faced just eight balls after the resumption of play before he was out lbw to Rangana Herath (1-12) for 3 and Brett Lee failed to score before he was run out.

Australia meet India on Sunday in Brisbane.

Mard ko dard nahin hota, Abhishek says for Big B

Posted by Akhil on February 17th, 2012

Mard ko dard nahin hota, Abhishek says for Big B Abhishek Bachchan feels his father Amitabh’s famous dialogue “Mard ko dard nahi hota” from the movie “Mard” couldn’t have been more pertinent than now, when the megastar is battling severe medical conditions, and is still in his fun spirits.

“Morning spent with pa at hospital, then at NASCOMM in the afternoon. Back to hospital where, despite his pain, SrBachchan is cracking jokes. Guess he said it true in his film ‘mard ko dard nahin hota!’ Legend,” Abhishek posted on his Twitter page Thursday night.

Amitabh is currently admitted to the Seven Hills Hospital, where he underwent two surgeries Saturday.

The 69-year-old is still in pain. Though the Bachchan family and hospital authorities are tightlipped about the further procedures, sources have informed IANS that Big B is likely to go under the knife again Friday.

Amitabh indicated through his Thursday night blog post that more doctors were called in for consultation on his condition, but for now, he has chosen to keep details of his condition to himself. However, he is finding solace in the company of his wife, Jaya, children — Abhishek and Shweta, and friends.

“Wonderful feeling to see old friends drop by the hospital… we may not meet at work, but when either in trouble… they are there… To those who pray and wish recovery for me, god bless and thank you for thinking of me so fervently… Shweta’s wedding anniversary today, but she stayed back to be by my side… daughters are the best… Abhishek returns from Jaipur shoot to be with us…greatest joy for parents is the love of their children…all else comes afterwards,” tweeted Amitabh.

Review: Dell Latitude ATG 6420

Posted by Akhil on February 9th, 2012

Laptops built for rough and tumble use are fairly niche and not ideal for everyday use. Their rugged build hinders portability and, unless you are a hiker or adventure sportsman, you will get better value for money elsewhere. Nonetheless, if you are the sort who spends most of your time outdoors and are looking for a laptop that will not be damaged with a fall, then there is a whole category of hard use fdevices you should consider.

Today we have with us the Dell Latitude ATG which looks like it’s built more for combat than computing. Will this be your next adventure sport gadget?

Build/design and ports

The build of the Dell Latitude ATG is fantastic. It’s strong, rugged and made out of some very hard plastic with a black rubberized finish around its border. The top of the lid is brushed aluminum grey with black rubberized bordering and the device is so strong that we actually stood on it for a bit and it didn’t even flinch under our weight.

Keep the device closed and it looks just like a briefcase thanks to its handle and square design. Since the device is heavy, this isn’t a flimsy briefcase either. It is strong enough to be swung at someone and cause some damage.

Adding to the overall look and outdoor utility is the fact that all the ports on this laptop have a rubberized cover. These covers help prevent the device from exposure to dust and dirt in an outdoor open environment. The device even has a DVD drive. This adds a little to its weight and size but it’s a fair trade-off considering now you don’t need to carry that external CD drive.

One of the biggest drawbacks of the device is that the ports are all over the place. The SD card reader rests on the front panel. Its position is a little inconvenient as it is very close to the briefcase style handle. To the right of the device you have two USB 2.0 ports along with an e-SATA cum USB 2.0 port. The right also has the CD drive along with a Wi-Fi on/off toggle. The left of the device houses a VGA out, one USB 2.0 port and the headphones jack. To the left rear of the device we have an Ethernet port along with the DC in. To the right rear of the device we have the HDMI out.

The overall placement of the ports is convenient but fell scattered. The design of the device isn’t eye candy and resembles the bombing PC found in the Call of Duty video games, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing.

Keyboard and track pad

Open up the device and you are greeted with a compact and well laid out keyboard. It isn’t chicklet style but is surprisingly comfortable to type on. The keys are springy and feel well-built. We bashed our fingers real hard on this rugged machine only to find out fingers hurt but keyboard stays intact. Laughs apart, the keyboard is seriously one of the best in the business.

Controlling the mouse however is a mixed experience. You have the pointing stick (why do they still make that? It’s horrible!), which isn’t the best way to control the mouse. The pointing stick rests between the G, H and B button whereas the left and right click rests under the spacebar. The other is a standard track-pad with a dedicated left and right click. The track pad isn’t as large as the one you’d find on a MacBook but it’s enough to get the job done. Made out of plastic, the trackpad is fairly smooth and comfortable to use. The same cannot be said about the pointing stick, which we just hate.

Display and audio

The device has a 14-inch display with a resolution of 1366×768 and is a touchscreen. The screen has a rugged black border surrounding it. The best part about the screen is that its brightness and contrast is quite high making it ideal for use in an outdoor situation. The colours look rich and vibrant and the screen is susceptible to very little glare.

The audio on the device is what you can expect from an average laptop. The speakers are loud, lack bass and have a high midrange. The speakers are located on the front panel of the device. Its placement is pretty ideal if the device is used on as the sound bounces off the table enhancing the volume a bit.

You could listen to music and enjoy a 720p HD movie on this device with absolute ease. Just remember to turn down the brightness a bit when you are indoors or you’re in for one hell of a headache.

Performance

Apart from being able to survive an accident, a drop and some insane amount of torture, this device also needs to be capable of doing mundane tasks like email, MS office and browsing the Internet along with the occasional gaming needs of the user.

In terms of the hardware under the hood, the device shows off some impressive specs. It has a 2.7GHz Intel core i7 processor, 4GB of RAM running a 64-bit Windows 7 OS and a 320GB HDD. It also has dual graphics i.e., Intel integrated and an Nvidia NVS 4200M graphics card. The 3D mark score was a bit disappointing at 2441 which means that you can’t expect it to run all the latest games smoothly. If gaming is your focus we suggest you look at a much more delicate Alienware laptop.

On the PC mark score, the device scored 5462. That’s an above average score and you can do all your everyday tasks along with a bit of heavy software use with ease.

The battery life of the device is a bit of a disappointment. Especially since the device is built to be used outdoors. Run the device to its fullest potential and it will last you a little over an hour and a half. Used sparingly however and the device may just carry on a bit more.

Verdict

The power under the hood along with a great keyboard, fantastic display and rugged build make this device ideal for your camping trips. Just be prepared to endure the extra weight and space of the device. For around Rs. 1,00,000 this is targeted at the adventure sport hungry businessmen who needs access to a notebook all the time. The rest of us can do with a Mac or a high end Windows based gaming notebook for the same price.

Pros:
Fantastic build
Great Keyboard
Great display for outdoor use

Cons:
Pointing stick is bad
Heavy
Battery life

Score:
Performance: 3
Price: 3
Ease of setup: 4
Ergonomics: 4
Wow Factor: 3
Overall: 3.5

Review: Bose Bluetooth Headset series 2

Posted by Akhil on February 9th, 2012

If you’re in the market for a Bluetooth headset, then you are undoubtedly looking at the array of offerings from Plantronics, Nokia, Motorola, LG, Jabra, Logitech, so on and so forth. The price of good, reliable headsets with some show off brand value range from Rs. 2,000 to Rs. 10,000. Today we have with us a Bluetooth headset from a little company called Bose, a name quite famous in the speakers and audio industry. Does this device pack a punch or is it another branded beauty?Packaging and Design

True to Bose tradition, the device comes packed in a nice compact black box with prominent Bose branding. Rip the box open and the contents are a handful. You get the headset along with three silicon tips to suit your ear size — small, medium and large. You also get a small carrying case for the device along with the manuals and a USB charger. The charger doesn’t fit in the carrying case.

The headset is black with a matte finish on the outside and a glossy finish on the inner side. The inner side of the device has two LED indicators. One represents connectivity while the other, the battery level. The top of the device has the call receive button along with the volume controls and the bottom has the on/off toggle. The Micro USB charging port rests at the rear of the device. Overall, the device is eye candy and really light, weighing just 12gms. It is also really small – barely 5 cm long (4.6cm to be precise)!

Performance

Considering the fact that the device is a Bose, we expected nothing less than top quality output from the device. Starting with the fit. Purchasing the Bose Bluetooth headset is like setting up a monogamist relationship between one of your ears and the device. Unlike most other Bluetooth headsets out there that can fit in either of your ears, the Bose fits in just one – either the left or the right. And you have to make this decision while buying the device. The bad thing is you can’t switch the device to your other ear if you feel fatigue. The good part – the fit of the device is very good. The medium size silicon tip fit perfectly in our ear and refused to fall off even when we vigorously shook our head, ran a mile or even jumped off a bunch of stairs.

Moving on, the performance of the device is very good. The device will last you for around 4 hours of active use on a full charge. We used the device to make a few calls and listen to the occasional song from our phone.

Pairing the device was as simple as switching it on, switching on the Bluetooth on our smartphone and hitting pair. Voila! You are all set to talk to thin air.

The call quality at both ends was really good. We positioned ourselves at the speaking and receiving end of the device. Even at full volume, audio didn’t distort and was very clear. The people on the receiving end of the line too said our voice to with them was clear and well audible. We used the device in a crowded mall and near a noisy highway and we must admit the device performed very well.

Bose claims that the device uses adaptive audio adjustment technology, which automatically adjusts headset volume depending on surrounding noise.

Music

We played a bit of music on our smartphone and the audio from the Bluetooth headset was really good. If we really wanted to carp, we could complain about the balance and a bit of hitch in the frequency, but the truth is, the device did better than we expected. The only downside was that the music was enjoyed by just one ear; the other was idle.

Verdict

For a price tag of Rs. 8,888, it’s a little hard to recommend this product for two reasons. One – you marry the device to one ear for as long as you own it. Two – there are Bluetooth headsets available in the market for a cheaper price that offer similar if not better call quality and functionality.

Price: Rs. 8,888

Pros:
Great sound quality
Perfect fit
3 silicon options for different ear sizes
Carrying case

Cons:
Device can only be paired with one ear (the left or the right)
Expensive