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BUDGET CLICKING

Another budget newcomer from the Kodak stables, the EasyShare C653 is solely for the extremely price conscious

Features and Specifications

This point and shoot model can take videos at 20 fps with audio at QVGA resolution, and store them in its 32 MB nternal memory. Expansion options come in the form of SD and MMC slots. Newbie features like scene modes ease shooting in challenging situations like sun glazed beach shots or candle lit dinner parties The camera sports a 3x zoom, which will satisfy the needs of most casual users It still sports the now rarely seen optical viewfinder but the feature is welcome in

situations with low battery power. The camera does not feature a Manual mode, so modes like Aperture Priority, Shutter Priority go out of the window. Strangely, has an option for longer exposure times, up to 4 seconds

The 2.5-inch CCD takes shots at 6.1 effective megapixels at ISO 80 all the way up to the highly grainy 1250. In our daylight test shots we saw a lot of color fringing at the edges. The colors were a tad over saturated and the greens were a bit emphasized. Camera startup takes about 3.7 seconds and at 1.5 seconds, it takes a while for the camera to translate button presses into shots. The review mode displays basic information like file name, date taken, ISO setting, Scene mode, Focusing, and Metering settings

Build

Build quality is good though the squarish

and boxy shape makes it look dated Button layout is comfortable, though the design ergonomics could be better. The camera features dedicated buttons for Picture review, Menu, Flash, Timer/ Shooting mode selection, Monitor on/off and a button for deleting pictures The camera has slots for the standard DC adapter, and a USB A/V port, an EasyShare dock simplifies connectivity with compatible printers. An insert dock adapter is included in the kit for some CX and LS series printers and docks The package includes a pair of LR-6 batteries, and a USB cable for computer connectivity. The user manual is pretty detailed with good screenshots of most functions

Verdict

In all it’s a good buy if you are on a tight budget and still want to show off a six megapixel camera with features like Anti blur, Multi-Pattern Metering and Multi Zone focus. The design is a bit passe but then you get ease of use features like one button EasyShare and 20 scene modes FOR: EasyShare, Optical viewfinder, Anti-Blur feature

AGAINST: Color Fringing and Oversaturation, Box type build

PAPERLESS HOME

In this day and age when everything is digitally recorded and stored, from your images to audio and video, why should your documents be in black and white? We all know the advantages of using a digitally recorded medium. Large files can be stored in your computer, archived on CD or DVD media and can even be shared easily by putting the data on a website or sending it off as an e-mail. Even though we cannot truly eliminate the requirements of paper yet, your old documents, bills, etc can be scanned to be digitally archived and even the photographs that you took from your old 35 mm film camera can be scanned to be archived or shared using the Canon CanoScan 4400F scanner.

Features

The Canon CanoScan 4400F features a CCD scanner element unlike many other scanners that use the CIS scanning element. This gives the scanner a slight advantage in terms of quality. This gap is slowly being diminished. This scanner boasts of an optical resolution of 4800×9600 dpi which is amongst the highest in its category. This should allow the scanner to pick up the minutest details in an image. Such insanely high resolutions

are generally required to pick up the small details in the 35 mm film that is capable of capturing more details then most mainstream digital cameras can deliver. It is also able to scan transparencies and 35 mm film thus allowing you to convert your paper based assets into digital format It can scan images at a colour depth of 48-bits which is standard for all high end scanners. It can scan documents of the size of A4/Letter at the maximum

Layout and Design

The scanner is provided with seven one-touch shortcut buttons to perform various tasks like creating PDF’s and making a copy, scanning to e-mail, etc. The Canon is provided with a C shaped-lid which makes it easier to scan fat books, novels, encyclopedia’s etc

Software

The USP of this scanner is the bundled software. With the software, you can almost eliminate the need of a professional mage editing program like Photoshop unless you want to run some advanced filters on the image. The software can remove the effect of dust and scratch marks on the glass and can even do backlight correction. The ScanGear

software can also revive images that have faded overtime. The grain correction feature gives images a natural look. Shadows created by book gutters can be eliminated by Gutter Shadow Correction

Performance

As far as performance is concerned, the CanoScan 4400F delivered spot on quality. In our magazine scan test, the details in shadow regions were maintained and the colour reproduction was almost up to the mark. We had no trouble scanning text and the bundled OCR software picked up text flawlessly. This scanner is no slow coach as far as scanning speeds are concerned. A preview took as quick as 8 seconds at 300 dpi while a complete scan lasted about 44 seconds

Verdict:

At a price of Rs 8,995, this scanner is a steal to buy. It provides a decent set of features, great performance and a software bundle that can provide all basic image manipulation needs

FOR: High resolutions, Good colour reproduction, support for transparencies and 35 mm film AGAINST: None

MULTIMEDIA JUKEBOX

Sansa e200 series is SanDisk’s answer to Apple’s iPod Nano. But does it pack in enough punch to be a Nano killer? Take a look at our findings on the e260

Features

The Sansa e260 is the 4 GB variant of the e200 series. Other available capacities are 2 GB (e250) and 6 GB (e270). This solid state gizmo has a footprint identica to that of the Nano, but it measures twice in depth. The reason for this is simple-it packs in oodles of features that will keep you entertained for hours Apart from listening to music, you can tune into your favorite radio station, share photos with your friends, watch video clips and even use it as a voice recorder. Although transferring music is as easy as dragging and dropping, you will need to use the bundled software called Sansa Media Converter to transcode videos and images before transferring them to the player. Supported video formats nclude MPEG-I, II and IV, Quicktime and WMV. The software converts media and directly copies them on to the player while connected. Thanks to the Hi-Speed USB 2.0 interface, the file transfer speeds are good-it took about 204 seconds to

transfer 850 MB of music. 4 GB can hold around a thousand songs. However, if you want more entertainment, you can bump the memory capacity by sliding in a MicroSD card

Ergonomics

The Sansa e260 borrows a few design elements from the iPod. The navigation system is dominated by an illuminated ring which functions somewhat like the Clickwheel. You can scroll through songs or menu options by rotating it, and the center button is meant for selection. The ring is surrounded by fast-forward, rewind, play and options button. Coupled with the GUI interface, it’s quite intuitive even for a

first timer. A record hotkey is placed at the side if you want to start recording voice or FM radio broadcasts instantly.

Performance

For a portable media player, the most mportant performance parameter is sound quality. The earphones sound great with a good balance maintained across all frequencies. Although we don’t recommend, watching video clips on the tiny 45 mm display is fun while you’re on the move. However, poor viewing angle can be a hitch while sharing the experience with a partner. Another disappointment is the lack of support for direct encoding. You cannot record voice directly into MP3 format. As a result, recorded sound clips hog considerable amount of disk space as they get saved in WAV format. Other than these tiny glitches, the overall performance is stellar.

Verdict

Considering additional functions and a larger display, the Sansa e200 series is definitely a Nano killer and the e260 is a high scorer on its own FOR: Great feature set, memory expansion, ntuitive navigation, good earphones

AGAINST: No direct encoding

1- Open a new Document(700*300px) Fill the background with black color.

2-Make a new Layer.(Ctrl+shifr+N)  Using Rectangular Marquee tool, Fill about 1/4 th part in the bottom with white color.

3-Apply Gaussian Blur (around 12px)

4-Duplicate this layer 4 times. Use Ctrl + J (total 4 blured layers)

5-Among this 5 layers, Select one and hide 4 other layers. We are starting work in this layer.

Now select the smudge tool. Make strength 70%

Make Flames with smudge tools as shown. Use Different Brush sizes(less than 50 px) to make the flames.

6-Repeat same in other 4 layers.

7-Now the animation part starts. Open Animation palette : Window>animation

8-Male four frames By clicking in the new frame button.

9-Select Each frame and make only 1 layer each visible in each frame.

10-Click on the Play button in the animation Pallet to see the effect.

11- Adjust color balance.

Midtones:
+60 0 -15
Shadows:
+100 0 -30
Highlights:
+50 0 -30

12- select File>Save for Web and Devices.
Save as GIF

PSD

Steps
1: Create a new Photoshop Document with size: 400×400
2: Create A new Layer (empty layer)
3: Apply filter as following: Filter->Render->Clouds

4: Apply Gausian Blur(Set: 6) and Motion Blur (Angle: 90, Distance: 80) from Filter-> Blur ->

5: Decrease width of the layer
6: Apply Plastic wrap Filter
Filter->Artistic->Plastic Wrap
and adjust Strength: 15, Detail:10, Smoothness:10
Then Apply Filter->Sketch->Chrome
Set: Detail:0, Smoothness: 8

7: Then change Fade chrome mode: Edit->Fade Chrome
Set: Opacity:100%, Mode: Hard Light.

8: Stretch the layer Horizontally, or increase height to about 1000px (Image size-> Height)
9: Apply Wrap: Edit-> Transform-> wrap Then move the anchors to inward to as water flow.

Apply gradient or a picture to background layer. And change the blending mode of the liquid flow layer to ‘hard light’

Using Shortcuts will save our time. Here is some useful photoshop shortcuts:

1- Create a New layer: Ctrl+Shift+N
This shortcut creates a newlayer over the current active layer.
Create a new layer: Ctrl + Alt + Shift + N
This command will make a new layer without dialog box.

2- Copy merged: Ctrl+Shift+C
For copying layers merged. This command copies all layers within the selection as a single layer.

3-Merge all visible layers: Ctrl+Shift+E
This will Merge all the visible layers.

4-Increase Brush size: ]
pressing ] key will increase the brush size
This can be used to change size of brush, Eraser, Clone Stamp etc.

5-Decrease Brush size: [
pressing [ key will increase the brush size

6-Change brush Softness: Shift+] and Shift+[

Shift+] for increase softness by 25% and Shift+] for decrease softness by 25%

7-Tool Opacity: This can be changed by Using the no keys 1 to 0 will change opacity from 10% to 100%

8-Zoom to 100%: For making Zoom 100%, Double click on the Zoom tool

9-Hiding All other layers: Alt + click in the Layer show/hide button of the required layer.

10-Transforming Proportionally: Shift + dragging from corner will transform object proportionally

be surpYou will be rised at what you can accomplish with just a browser!No doubt you’ve heard of-if not actually used-the many online office suites that claim to threaten Microsoft Office’s position in the office application category. Google recently added Presentation to its offering, completing the Holy Trinity of documents, spreadsheets and presentations. Zoho’s been around for a while, and new features are added every day. Not as prominent is ThinkFree, which impressed us nonetheless. In the first chapter, you’ll get what you need to start using these applications.Once you’re done with business, you can indulge in a pleasure that so many people are-blogging. Blogging engines give you a platform to create a spiffy new blog in minutes, and if you still can’t come to terms with them, Chapter 2 will reveal All. We’ve also looked at the new “microblogging” engines, that don’t demand as much of your time-just a short quip about what you’re up to, and that’s it!

There’s been a lot of talk of an online version of Adobe Photoshop lately, but while we wait for that, other players have started offering us easy-to-use, free, online image editors that’ll even send your photos to services like Flickr or Picasa when you’re done editing them!That done, you can participate in the activity that’s hogging the majority of the world’s collective bandwidth-file sharing! Whether it’s BitTorrent, eMule, Gnutella or Direct Connect-if it’s controversial activity you hanker for, this is your primer.And finally, from the deep, dark trenches of the Web, we’ve dug out services and Web sites that’ll give you software advice, reviews, and even a friendly hand when things go wrong.So get that browser window open now!

Spreadsheets have literally been controlling our lives for long. Either directly or indirectly, we have all been associated and affected by them. Project management, budget and resource allocation, attendance sheets, payrolls, household expenses… spreadsheets are inevitable. Besides, the numerous formulae incorporated into professional spreadsheets that have made the lives of those who use them a lot easier all this while, are now difficult to do away with. Now picture this. Your spreadsheet is shared among a team, with each team member entering data fields relevant to him / her. This would significantly expedite the time required for updating data. Similar to Google documents, you need to get to the Google Docs homepage with your Google account.

The brainchild of a faction of PhD graduates and their professor Dr. Monica Lam, all from the University of Stanford, is a virtual PC which they have tagged moka5. This is based on the platform of VMware Player and is available as freeware! Their objective was to radically evolve the consumer’s experience of personal computing and simplify it and make it as easy and comfortable as watching television! Their research which has spanned five years has resulted in moka5 which is a platform that is apparently free of all troubles of security, maintenance and can run software without installations o the host system and simplify computinc as far as possible for the end user. Although, there are many similar virtual PCs around, moka5 seems to have taken the lead in terms of the features, security and ease of use beating its competiton hands down. If you don’t believe us, try it out for yourself on moka5.com and get easy.

KING SIZE ENTERTAINMENT

While having a big screen display TV is good, it cannot even remotely reach picture sizes as those used by a projector With one of these, you can have the mov ‘experience’ in your own house

Features

The ZEN master uses the LCD technology to project the image on a screen. It consists of 3 different for each of the red, green and blue components. As light passes through the LCD panels, ndividual pixels can be opened to allow light to pass or closed to block the light. This is how an actual image is projected on to the screen. The ZEN master is an entry level home entertainment projector that supports a resolution of 800×480 pixels. This resolution is enough to play NTSC DVD’s at their native resolutions but not PAL. This resolution is enough for watching digital television broadcasts The projector supports a contrast ratio of 500:1 which is rather low compared to other projectors that are available in the market. The brightness is rated at 1200 umens which is again only average at best. What makes this projector a truly home entertainment system is that it has built-in stereo speakers and a TV tuner

for viewing television directly through this device. The projector can project a picture that is at 200 cm diagonal length. This is approximately equal to about 78.7 inches size of screen which is larger then most LCD or pasma TV avaiabe n the market.

Layout and Design

You can adjust the focus by rotating the front lens in the required direction. On the sides are the different connectivity options ike tv tuner, S video, VGA, component video, etc. Using these options, you can connect devices like your PC, game consoles, television cable, your DVD player, etc to the projector. A 80 mm fan exhausts the heat from the projector. The top also has built-in stereo speakers. The height of the projector can be adjusted through the screws provided on the bottom while keystone correction is in the

form of a rotating knob provided on the side of the projector.

Performance

The performance of this projector can be rated as average at best. It was almost mpossible to differentiate about 5 blocks in the colour shade test. The resolution test distinctly showed moire patterns Although, we must say that its response times were very good. We observed no streaking and ghosting effects while watching high speed action in movies Some of the details, though, in the bright and the dark areas were lost in our movie watching test

Verdict

At a price of Rs 42,000, this home entertainment projector offers all the basic features required to watch TV and movies If you don’t mind the average performance and you want a projector that will not burn a hole in your pocket, the ZEN master PTV-01 B is the projector of your choice that’s cheaper then many LCD TV’s that are smaller in size

FOR: In-built TV tuner, low on price, can play NTSC DVD’s, in-built stereo speakers

AGAINST: Low brightness, Low contrast ratio, average colour reproduction