You don't need to be an audiophile or into sound engineering to feel the need to use Audio editing software. You can use it for simply cleaning up your tracks, converting bit-depth of your tracks, and getting rid of the annoying pop clicks in the song. Basically, these applications offer a lot more for you to enjoy your music better. Check out how and which applications will let you get the best of your music buds.
Audacity
Publisher: Open Source
File Size: 3MB
Download Link: 1
Audacity is a great tool to have, of course it does have its fair share of drawbacks. But one of the best things about Audacity is that it's free. It's convenient for simple editing or even multi track mixing. To begin with, you can control the bit-depth of your tracks by clicking on Quality and choose between the bit rates depending on what you need to with the edited files. One of the most useful tools that Audacity provides, especially if you're looking to clean your tracks, would be the Draw tool. Through this you can simply zoom into the waveform and alter/re-draw the waveform data to take care of the distortions or pop clicks in your tracks. This level of editing control can usually be found in pro tools.
Audacity is also a good application to for editing sound. Its claim-to-fame here would be the unlimited undo options, so you can always back-trace your steps to start building again. When compared with other freeware audio editing tools, I would always like to mention the number of effects and filters that Audacity offers. For instance, Amplify, bass boost, high pass filter, Echo, delay, click removal etc. One of the reasons why I like Audacity is that it allows you to load VST plugins. This is usually available in professional applications like Dexter Audio editor etc.
You can even align your tracks by using Audacity. You can simply import your tracks and mix them together, with a varying amount of control over them all. Also while importing, you can choose the Import Raw data option to open an uncompressed file format. With a wide range of file support it will surely read almost everything there is. Also while starting a new project you can choose between the sample rate that you wish to use. If you have a fast computer and enough disk space you can select the 32-bit float samples while editing, and is more flexible. 16-bit takes up the least space and is equivalent to audio CD quality. You can even change the pitch without altering the tempo.
Wave Pad
Publisher: NCH Swift Sound
File Size: 387 KB
Download Link: 1
If you have experimented with audio editing software in the past, it's quite likely that you have had your share with Wave Pad. What I like about Wave Pad is that it's a no-frills editing tool, and is very light. It's a full featured sound editor, which allows you to edit your music in a very simple manner. Very recently I used Wave Pad to save some of my old music on cassettes. These songs had a noticeable amount of artifacts; things like white noise, weird snipping sounds, basically a whole lot of glitches. Using Wave Pad I managed to remove a considerable amount of white noise and vocal distortion. If you are looking for an application mainly for this purpose, then Wave Pad comes real handy. Its audio restoration features, although not as broad-based as Audacity, are still worth giving this Wave Pad all the credit for being here in the list. If you believe me on this one, do try out Wave Pad for click pop removal.
Wave Pad allows you to not only record audio but also improve your existing tracks, and at the same time also give you a broad platform to add audio effects. You can amplify, normalize, use reverb, echo and also use it for sample rate conversion. Apart from your regular MP3 and WAV tracks, Wave Pad also supports other file formats like vox, gsm, real audio, au, aif, ogg and even flac. If you want to play around with your tracks, you can even select portions of your songs and add a wide variety of filters and effects. Although the list of effects provided with WavePad isn't as exhaustive as Audacity. It still allows you to have a great amount of control over the effects. One thing missing from WavePad is the preview option before adding the effect. This means you will have to undo the effect if you don't like the way it's done.
WavePad also includes its own CD ripping tool, plus it also works as a decent encoding application. While using WavePad is quite easy, I suggest you read up the help topics if you ever get stuck while doing something. A lot of people I know have shrugged it off saying it's difficult to manage, although in reality WavePad works in a peculiar way. WavePad also supports batch processing with up to 32000 files allowing you to apply effects or convert your files as a single function. This is a very organized and easy to use application, and in the near future when faster broadband connections become a reality in India, we'll see a lot of these coming to use with things like broadcasting your own radio station. In fact, apart from editing sound files to make it broadcast friendly, through Wave Pad you can also make use of its BroadWave Streaming Audio Server.
Wavosaur
Publisher: Open Source
File Size: 183 KB
Download Link: 1
Wavosaur is a basic application and doesn't offer as much as the other two do, but it's a real boon for users who are not comfortable with too many options and are just looking at elementary editing tools. Why I like it is because it's a lightweight editing application that also comes with VST support. Not only this, it also covers support for multitrack audio files, effects and even creating loops. You can work with your files in batch with things like removing silence. One of the most useful bit about this software is the vocal removal preset that goes through music files and removes vocals. This is the simplest way I can suggest to make your own Karaoke tracks, all in a batch. Also it's a standalone executable, so you don't need to install it every time you need to use it on different computers. It comes in a folder that can be easily carried in a let's say a portable drive or a pen drive. Brilliant!!
I use this file mainly if I need to work on all my files in a batch for normalizing and/or amplifying. The way it works will make you want to use Wavosaur more regularly, and it makes for a brilliant companion to worked with other more serious freeware applications like WavePad or Audacity. You can always use the latter two for more serious bit of effects. On a more serious note you can use Wavasaur to resample and bit depth conversion. In fact, if you are keen to go below 16bit, you can even choose 8bit. Wavosaur can import, save and edit loop points & markers informations in wav files. It can even be used to export files as text for using in software such as Matlab, Excel or PSpice.
Tuesday, September 4, 2007
Top 3 Audio Editing Software
Top 3 Codec Packs
Digital media has come a long way since the early days, when all one had to wonder about was the MP3 format. Today we have to deal with innumerable audio/video formats. The scenario has gotten so bad, that there are 6 versions of one common codec which offer virtually the same functionality i.e. codecs based on the MP4 format. If that was not bad enough, developers often come out with new “version numbers” of an existing codec that will break functionality with older products and cause all sorts of other problems such as garbled video and missing audio.
To combat this, a new breed of software programs commonly called “codec packs” came up. These programs often bundle all the required codec’s into a single installer and combine it with existing media player software. Though this takes the guesswork out of which codec is needed to play a file, it gives arise to another problem. Most users who install these Codec packs are cluttering their systems with software libraries, they will never need. In some cases, these codec packs have actually been known to compromise system stability or cause lockups/slowdowns.
Thankfully all is not lost. A few enthusiasts recognizing these problems came up with well designed installers that only integrate codecs that you will actually require. At the same time many companies who have commercial products in this space, have started offering individual codecs for free of charge use.
Keeping this in mind we have selected 3 different bundles for our feature. The first pack offers just a basic set of codecs for the casual movie watcher. The second pack is a little more comprehensive and offers a wider selection of codecs. It is aimed at the user who regularly watches movies and recreational videos. Our final selection is a mega collection pack. It comes with everything you will ever need and more.
Here is our list:
DivX Codec Pack
Publisher: Divx
File Size:23751 kb
Download Link: 1
This one really needs no introduction. No other codec/format has had such a world-wide impact (outside MP3) on AV players, PMPs, mobile phones and a host of other devices, like DiVx has. So much so, that it is often credited as having ushered in the digital media as a legitimate alternative to TVs, given birth to a whole new era of piracy and led to the creation of DRM and organizations like the MPAA (in America). Furthermore its success has led to industry heavy-weights developing their own competitors in the form of Microsoft’s WMV format, RealVideo from Real Networks and Apple’s QuickTime.
Now in its 6th generation, the current DiVx free package offers support for full HD playback and easy encoding. It offers a free version which is fully backward compliant and can play other MP4 formats too (This is possible by enabling it from within the Directshow Tab). Furthermore it allows dvd authoring now and is fully capable of generating custom menus and author tabs.
Combined Community Codec Pack (CCCP)
Publisher : Combined Community Codec Pack
File Size: 6066 Kb
Download link: 1
As content download has become more popular over the years, it has led to the creation of a new
generation of fans who not only appreciate Japanese anime content but take existing works such as Hellsing or Naruto and translate them into the English Language allowing a whole legion of fans to enjoy these works. This practice is simply called “fansubbing”
The CCCP pack was created by people who are active in the “fansubbing” community. It was designed to eliminate a lot of the problems that other codec packs caused by disabling unneeded codecs, be light-weight and flexible by offering a selection of the most commonly used formats and generally be usable by people even with limited technical knowledge.
K-Lite Full Codec Pack
Publisher: Codec info
File Size: 12518
Download link: 1
The grand-daddy of them all, K-Lite codec pack is one of the oldest and generally well-known packs. It offers the largest collection of decoders and as compared to the other packs featured here also comes with a selection of encoders and image resolution “tweakers”. The full codec pack also utilizes Media player classic and is optimized around it.
This pack fills out a variety of roles as it is aimed at the multimedia enthusiast and for people who are either looking into getting into their own encoding or power users who like to customize the viewing quality of a certain codec by means of the various customization programs. It is around this codec pack that freeware encoders such as Virtual Dub have sprung up.
Toshiba Releases Regza 'Z' series LCD
Toshiba's most technologically advanced collection of LCD TV panels to date has advanced a bit more with the introduction of the Regza Z series, which will be their new high end LCD offering.
Available from September 2007, the REGZA Z series arrives with high specifications. In addition to Full 1080p HD display, which comes as a standard feature across the entire range, each Z series panel also comes equipped with Toshiba’s acclaimed Active Vision M100HD 100Hz Picture processing. Complementing the 1080p image clarity by inserting an intermediate image between frames and doubling the overall image refresh rate, Active Vision M100H makes it the ideal TV for fans of fast-moving sports action.
The REGZA Z series also utilizes the latest in image-enhancing technology to propel visual performance. By introducing full 10-Bit color processing, mid-color tones are managed using Dynamic Gamma Curve Correction technology, which ensures a smoother transition of the color tones between black and white, without impacting the appearance of either color. Further image enhancement is taken care of by Dynamic Contrast Ratios ranging from 6,500:1 to 15,000:1. A Wide Color Gamut also takes color palette display capabilities up to 98% of required colors being reproduced, compared to the 85% color reproduction ratio of a standard LCD TV.
Audio is provided courtesy of an Onkyo Speaker System, which enhances audio projection to guarantee consumers a first-class sonic experience to match the vibrant, crystal clear images. The entire range also comes with an integrated digital tuner as standard, allowing instant access to free-to-air digital broadcasts out of the box. The Z series is available in five screen sizes, starting at 37” and ranging through to a 57”, with each model encased in a gloss black exterior.
Toshiba's Launches Digital Photo Frame
Digital imagery is catching on big time and Toshiba has no intention of taking a back seat with their latest endeavor the DPF7XSE Digital Photo frame. This frame has a 7 inch TFT display with slots for using Secure Digital, Multimedia Card, Memory Stick and Compact Flash cards.
The DPF7XSE Digital Photo frame comes with an inbuilt Flash memory of 256MB. It has USB 2.0 connectivity so that that data can be transferred directly to the device from the PC. Like other Digital frames it also supports DivX and MPEG4 file format playback for video. Another feature that this frame has are the two inbuilt speakers for playing music. It accepts MP3 and WMA file formats. It’s designed out of a textured aluminum.
The price and availability of the DPF7XSE Digital Photo frame is not yet disclosed.
Via Pocketlint.
Guitar Hero III (Wii) won't go Online Initially
In an interview with Kai Huang, president and co-founder of RedOctane, Pro-G revealed some interesting facts about Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock on the Wii. It turns out that the online mode will be available for the PS3 and Xbox 360 versions of the game at launch, and the Wii will be left out; that’s only for a while though, the Wii will get an online version eventually. Here’s the Q & A that got them the info –
Pro-G: What systems will gamers be able to venture online with? Anything planned for the Wii?
KH: There is online for the PS3 and Xbox 360. There won't be online initially for the Wii, but we are working with Nintendo to see how we can get those features in.
Does this mean that the game will sell less on the Wii? (lol) Hell no! Got Wii… Gotsa have GHIII! I cannot wait to buy the game for my 360, and shred that gorgeous guitar on some killer Metallica tracks.
[Via EvilAvatar]
Free Games from FilePlanet
For the broke gamer out there, here’s an offer you can’t resist – if you make an ID (for free) on FilePlanet, they’re offering you 3 games completely free. I’m not talking about some crappy half-assed titles; you can download FarCry, Rayman Raving Rabbids and Prince of Persia: Sands of Time from here! There is a catch however – the games come with ad-support. If that is the price you have to pay to play a game for free, I sure as hell don’t mind the ads.
Sony Ericsson P1i (Review)
Business phones are in a class by themselves but there’s no way that even the best business phones of today aren’t equipped with multimedia features of some sort. Their appeal, as business class models however, also greatly depend on their appearance and not just the business functions they can perform. The ergonomics of the phone itself are a vital reason for people to choose the device. The P1i for some strange reason is said to be the upgrade to the P990. In reality it neither looks nor feels anything like it but is a design and functioning copy of the M600.
Form Factor
Like I said it looks identical to the M600. The P1i has a 2.6 inch, TFT touchscreen display with a resolution of 240 x 320 pixels and 256k colors. There’s a secondary VGA camera near the earpiece for video calls. Underneath the screen is a bit of an awkward QWERTY keypad. Why awkward? Because it has 2 alphabets on each key. Each key has a concave design to it so you can distinguish the alphabets. It may be tricky to start off with if you’re not a old M600 user. But trust me, you will get the hang of it. On the right side of the P1i is the dedicated internet key at the top; followed by the M2 card slot underneath and at the bottom is the dedicated camera key. On the other side is a steel loop for the strap, followed by the scroll wheel and return key.
The Power key and Infrared sensor can be found at the top of the phone and the stylus is conveniently positioned on the left corner near the power key. The bottom is where you’ll find that darn Sony Ericsson proprietary slot for the earphones, USB and charger. What I do like about the P1i is that it’s quite light at 124g and is really easy to handle. With or without the touchscreen. The rear is where you’ll find the 3.2 megapixel camera with a flash. It’s just below a silver bar, where it would seem the speakers are located.
What I do need to mention is that the material the screen is made of, is a little too soft. My recommendation is that you don’t use anything else that includes your nails ladies, to maneuver through the menus on the touchscreen. If you don’t get used to using the stylus, you can severely scratch the screen. The P1i also comes a universal stand that will allow you to prop it up and has 3 separate slots for the charger and USB (rear) as well as a separate port on the side for the headphones.
Tech and Interface
I have to say that even though this phone may be horribly sluggish, considering that it has 128MB RAM, the touch screen technology it uses is quite good. When it comes to typing or should I say, writing messages, it’s a cinch. It’s smooth and the handwriting recognition is really very good. If you’re using the web browser, much like the iPhone, you can scroll either up or down by simply moving your finger over the page. You needn’t use the stylus and use the scroll bars. It has a whooping 160MB of internal space with support from M2 cards for additional space if needed.
The interface I’m afraid is painfully plain and boring, so I found just one theme some wonderful soul created and in order to make this article a bit more interesting I’ve used this theme in all the product shots instead of the default theme. Wallpapers can be adjusted to fit the screen, but if it’s a full sized wallpaper from you’re PC you’re going to have to zoom in a lot to make sure the image doesn’t get distorted when you place it as a wallpaper. The Scroll dial on the side is excellent for navigation. This is the one thing I really liked about the Sony Ericsson phones. It’s an extremely handy tool to have for quick navigation and selection of options.
Business
The P1i runs on a Symbian Operating System version 9.1, UIQ 3.0. But unfortunately is not very fast at all. In fact it’s downright slow! Perhaps it could be some odd problem with this piece, but I can’t confirm that for sure. It’s way too sluggish when it comes to opening up applications or pages or anything actually. However, as a business phone the P1i serves it’s purpose very efficiently. It has Quickoffice preinstalled so you can easily view and edit your word, excel and PowerPoint documents. There’s also a PDF reader that takes unimaginably long to load a file though. Presentations can be views remotely via Bluetooth on your PC. However, that's not as easy as it sounds. 
Sony Ericsson has also incorporated Blackberry applications into the P1i to simplify the use of the phone for those users who prefer that service. Since the P1i has a 3.2 megapixel auto-focus camera, it also comes with a Business Card reader application that works really well. You will need a sufficient amount of light though, but it’s quite accurate most of the time. Other business functions include PC syncing to back up your emails, contacts and settings and also for transferring data to and from the device.
The calendar option also allows you to save schedules and reminders. There’s also a Tasks application with an alarm function. Of course there are also options for notes and also for leaving voice memos with the voice recorder. The P1i also has basic applications like an easy to use calculator, a converter for various measures including currency, a stopwatch and a timer. The World clock is rather boring when it comes to the interface, or lack of one thereof. You simply find and click the city you wish to know the time of. No jazz.
One of the issues I had with the P1i is that unlike other Sony Ericsson phones it didn’t allow me to use my SIM card contacts as default. So anytime I had to call or message someone I had to go to the contacts and then the View Folder option and select the SIM card option.
Connectivity
The P1i is a Tri-band, GSM, 3G enabled phone that supports UMTS as well. It’s quite well equipped for connectivity. Although for some reason it doesn’t support EDGE. But with Wi-Fi support it’s great as is. The problem is if you need to set up your connections, it’s fairly simple, it’s the options that makes it a bit problematic to do. There are way too many options and drop down boxes which are not coordinated well with the touch screen system. But once you get down on it, it’s a cinch to figure it out. The P1i also supports Push Mail so that’s another Plus point.
This phone is also equipped with Bluetooth v2.0 with A2DP compatibility. It even has an Infrared port and of course you can hook it up to your PC using the proprietary USB cable provided. Even though it uses only GPRS there’s no problem whatsoever with the speed of connectivity. What’s a real pleasure to use is the internet. There are various viewing modes from full screen to landscape. I wouldn’t recommend zooming in too much as the images tend to get a bit distorted. It’s quite odd, but at 100% it’s very clear. Especially in landscape mode. The best part is the browser allows you to open multiple pages at a time.
Fun and Games
First off let me just say, it seems like Sony Ericsson is not making their earphones like they should. The ones bundled with the P1i suck! Big time! Using them is as useless as Superman not being able to fly. They’ll still work to get the job done, but that’s it. No Pizzaz. The out put is just way too low. In a normal room it’s hard to hear. The EQ, even with the MegaBass preset is futile when it comes to adjusting the levels. But it’s a totally different ball game when it comes to using it via A2DP with a Stereo Bluetooth headset. If the headset’s a good one, you’re in for a great experience. So there seems to be no problem with the player, my guess is it’s the earphones that are the problem.
Considering the large screen the P1i has, it’s also great when you’re watching videos. Full screen mode will give you quite a good experience. The problem is when in full screen mode in order to navigate the file it needs to be paused. Or you’ll have to go back to the normal mode and then figure out which part of the file you want to view. In Normal mode though the file doesn’t need to be paused.
The FM radio is great when you’re stationary. The pickup is not too clear while traveling too much though. So you can imagine what it’s like commuting in Mumbai. But it takes just about 8 seconds to find store all the channels. You can even use Sony Ericsson’s Track Id option to figure out what the name and who the artist of the track that’s playing is. Just don’t count it to work. The PlayNow application unfortunately kept taking it’s own sweet time connecting and loading so I took a pass on that. The voice recorder works just fine with good range on the microphone.
Considering the large screen the P1i has, it’s also great when you’re watching videos. Full screen mode will give you quite a good experience. The problem is when in full screen mode in order to navigate the file it needs to be paused. Or you’ll have to go back to the normal mode and then figure out which part of the file you want to view. In Normal mode though the file doesn’t need to be paused.
The FM radio is great when you’re stationary. The pickup is not too clear while traveling too much though. So you can imagine what it’s like commuting in Mumbai. But it takes just about 8 seconds to find store all the channels. You can even use Sony Ericsson’s Track Id option to figure out what the name and who the artist of the track that’s playing is. Just don’t count it to work. The PlayNow application unfortunately kept taking it’s own sweet time connecting and loading so I took a pass on that. The voice recorder works just fine with good range on the microphone.
Camera
The 3.2 megapixel camera on the P1i is one of the things I really did like about the phone. I just wish that the zoom function didn’t have to be via the touch screen. The camera starts up quickly and even the images are captured quickly so you don’t waste time if you’re on a roll (pun intended). There are plenty of settings to use for various adjustments including switching to Macro for close ups, settings for white balance and there’s even a night mode. The flash is great too.
Macro images are bit of a problem even though the camera has auto-focus. You’re still required to hold the phone steady or the images tends to come out a bit unfocused.
The colors are picked up will with not too much of grain on the images. If you make the right adjustments with the settings, you can take some really great shots.
Power
With regard to the battery the P1i, in that category, wasn’t too bad. Unfortunately it wasn’t too good either. To be fair it was just about as average as it gets. Considering it uses a 1120mAh Li-Po battery I did expect big things. I wasn’t too disappointed though. I managed to squeeze a good day and a half out of the phone on a single charge with normal usage of calls, a little music, video and internet connectivity. But I have to say I was hoping for more.
The Bottom Line
The P1i on the whole is a good phone that I quite enjoyed using. The few kinks it has aren’t too minimal though. Not supporting EDGE for one. But it’s not something you can’t work around. The keypad could be an issue with first time users, but like I said, you can get used to it. The camera is the best part of course. The battery may not be all it’s cracked up to be either but it gets the job done well enough. So, for the price of Rs. 22,750 as a business phone with a lot of media options as well, it’s good. I wouldn’t pay so much but should it fall to around 20K (or less D-Uh) I’d jump at it. But don’t get me wrong I still liked using it. And I’m hoping the sluggishness was only a problem with this one piece, or I’m going have to take this all back.
Network:UMTS, GSM 900/1800/1900, GPRS, 3G
Physical: 106 x 55 x 17 mm, 124g
Display:240 x 320 pixels, 256k colors, 2.6 inch
Memory: 160MB internal, 128MB RAM, M2 external support
Media: MP3, AAC+, 3GP, voice recorder, FM radio with RDS
Camera: 3.2 megapixels, auto-focus, flash, video, secondary VGA
Connectivity: Bluetooth v2.0 (A2DP), USB Proprietary v2.0, Infrared
Battery:440hrs stand by, 5.25 mins. talk
Street Price:Rs. 22,750
HTC Touch (Review)
With the planned rumors and later on with the official hype (iPhone does seem to have set a new standard for hypes surrounding a product) that buzzed around, industry analysts did set their eyes on the launch of the HTC Touch. We did too and although there is lot of the the Touch, there seems to be little to give HTC credit for. You will love the new Windows Media 6, but will hate the machine its on. Read on.
Design
We had only seen it on the internet, and the Touch looked so avant-garde and like everything you ever wanted with its ultramodern form factor, that we had to call it in sooner or later. This goes without saying that you are more likely to gasp a loud ‘wow’ when you undo the packaging than when you actually get down to using it.
The Touch comes very light and compact in a Black rubber finish throughout. A handful of buttons are so placed as to simply deck the phone with tiny light green and red lights. There’s also the five-way D-pad made of a thin squared line of steel. And of course, you have the screen leveling the front to give the Touch its candy bar look. The phone measures 99.9 x 58 x 13.9 mm and weighs 112g.
We have learnt from past experience that no product comes without its own set of follies. This one too, if you depart from the scrutiny of a casual onlooker, features a major design flaw, which otherwise could have meant nothing but outright innovation — the Hot Swap Slots. I have mentioned earlier the brilliance in the idea of building a phone with hot swappable ‘everythings’, right from the memory card to the SIM card. The Touch does just that. The hot swap slots are housed on the left side, but you will require long nails or sharp objects to dislodge the cover. In fact, with the piece that we had, I hated accessing any of the cards.
Features / Performance
The phone has a 2.8-inch TFT touchscreen that displays 65K colors with 240 x 320 pixels. While HTC has been compared with the iPhone by many, I see otherwise. Whether HTC aims at cutting into the iPhone market is unsure with HTC diplomatically maintaining that they aren't. Then there is the TouchFLO finger swipe navigation that sort of makes you want to think - Is it so? Whatever the company's stance, the TouchFLO navigation system fails to impress anyone beyond the initial oohs and aahhs!! What HTC has tried to do, is to make the otherwise drab Windows mobile experience a little richer. The TouchFLO can be activated by simply swiping your finger upwards from the bottom of the screen. This will enable the users to use the phone functionalities selectively without the need for a stylus. Although this allows you to get to your music, photos, messages etc. faster, every time you launch TouchFLO, it will give you a feeling that something is just not right. It's slow, not very responsive and to top it all doesn't work when the screen orientation is changed to landscape.
Personally, it may all have worked fine, but the problem is that having an innovative feature like that needs an equally powerful machine to run it. Sadly, the Touch works ona 201MHz TI OMAP850 processor and 128MB ROM/64MB RAM, and if isn't bad enough that we got the first glimpse ever of Windows Mobile 6 on such a slow machine, to make things worse the phone is plagued with a latency of issues and a slow interface. Even while accessing data from the memory card. Iit takes a long time to do anything.
The phone features Windows Mobile 6 professional, and going by my past experiences with WM 5, I was really keen on reviewing the Touch. If you have enjoyed a Windows Mobile phone before, you are more likely to notice the subtle changes that WM 6 brings in. One of the main reasons that you should probably consider buying this phone would be the offerings for business class personnel. To begin with, Outlook Mobile now supports the use of follow-up flags on email messages. So you can flag outgoing mails, and these properties can be synchronized between the Exchange Server and the HTC.
Personally, I found messaging quite difficult with the tiny keypad, and this makes typing messages while on the move quite a painful ordeal. What has improved though, is the new improved auto-completion functionality. The phone will not only give you a list of four possible words you might want to use while keying in letters, it also intelligently grasps all the previous frequently used words to offer more usability.
The phone also offers Windows Live that will allow push mail, synchronization with Windows Live Contacts, voice IM, selectable home screen plug-ins, presence information, Windows Live Spaces, and Office Live e-mail compatibility. One of the most useful features of the phone is that it allows you to encrypt your data saved on the memory card. So if ever your mobile gets stolen or left behind, you know no one can access the information without your permission.
The phone supports Wi-Fi, and more importantly VoIP. So you can place and receive VoIP calls. Additionally, Internet calling settings allow the user to specify when to call over cellular and when to call over VoIP. The Wi-Fi works pretty well and the phone also allows HTML support in emails. So you can directly launch a website link from your mail. The phone also supports Bluetooth v2.0 with A2DP/HFP profiles.
The HTC Touch has a launcher tool that's like a desktop and can be edited to your convenience. You can keep your essential functions here and launch it at anytime without having to get lost within the phone. It's pretty useful, but is pretty drab to look at.
AV / Camera
You can play music through either Windows Media player or the Music player that can be accessed through the TouchFLO system. Either way, the music quality of the phone is below average. To begin with, the volume is too low and the frequencies are all jumbled. Also, WMP failed to recognize and build the library of songs saved on the external memory card. This, I think, is a major drawback. You can listen to songs on the additional music player provided, but the sound quality will just disappoint you. It plays MP3 and AAC. And No, there is no FM radio! It also supports video playback through the Windows Media player.
The camera is 2 megapixels with up to 1600x1200 pixels with video capabilities. Quite frankly, I like the camera, and the largish screen helps too. There is a fair amount of settings for you to experiment with. You may, however, find the camera a bit slow while saving on external memory. The night mode works pretty well for a phone camera and if you like shooting pictures you will like the color balance options. Also the camera has no flash.
Conclusion
The phone is supposed to give you approximately 5 hours of talktime according to the manual. But it manages only 2 1/2. This is bad considering it's a business phone. However, you can reduce the backlight and save some battery.
It's a well known fact that HTC has been behind the scene for good Windows Mobile phones in the market, especially in the OEM segment. Why then, should one contend with something like the Touch? If you are seriously looking for a better option, then the Asus P535 would be a better. With a couple of grand more and an option for free upgrade to Windows Mobile 6, you stand a better chance. HTC gives you a feeling of great innovation, but a slow machine makes it all seem worthless.
Specs
Network :GSM 900/1800 /1900, EDGE
Physical :99.9 x 58 x 13.9 mm, 112g
Display :240 x 320 pixels, TFT touchscreen, 65K colors, 2.8 inch
Memory:64MB RAM, 128MB ROM, microSD
Camera: 2 Megapixel, video
Media Mp3, AAC, voice recorder, Video playback
Connectivity:USB (mini), Bluetooth v2.0,A2DP, Wi-Fi
Battery :Up to 200 hours stand by, 2.5 hours talk time
Street Price:Approx. Rs 19,000
Samsung Launches New 1080p Projector
Samsung Electronics introduces two home theater projector models at IFA 2007, announcing it's active participation in the projector market.
Samsungs’ new Projector SP-A800B is an ultra high-end model targeted to the content creation industry and home theater enthusiasts who demand the most superior and ultimate picture quality with Full HD 1920 X 1080p resolution. To create the experience, SP-A800B with Texas Instrument’s latest 1080p DLP chip combines Samsung’s technological prowess with expert consultation from Joe Kane Productions. In addition, 24 frame true film mode delivers the accurate representation of the filmmakers’ artworks, making customers’ experience more true to life.
SP-A800B allows users to select the color coordination for the three broadcasting formats: SMPTE-C, HDTV, and EBU. Selected color coordination values which are consistent to the broadcasting format offer accurate color projection.
LG Demonstrates 24" Flatron LCD Panel At IFA
24” inch monitors are rapidly becoming the rage with virtually everyone know offering a model in this size. The latest to jump on this bandwagon is, LG who has demonstrated its latest flagship monitor the Flatron L245WP at IFA. The L245WP is a 24” monitor and is aimed at graphics professionals, gamers and multimedia users. It comes with a native resolution of 1920x1200 (Full HD), 8ms response time, 1000:1 contrast ratio, 500 cd/m2 brightness and a viewing angle of 178/178.
The monitor also supports a pivot function that allows it to be parked in either landscape mode or portrait depending on the use. Price and availability is unknown as of now.
Samsung Launches Blu Ray HT system
After Samsung’s BD-P1000 (the world’s first Blu-ray player) and the second-generation BD-P1200, Samsung Electronics expands its lineup of high-definition optical disc players, with the launch of the BD-P1400, BD-P2400 and BD-UP5000, as well as the first Blu-ray Home Theater system.
The HT-BD2 7.1 channel HD receiver speaker system provides richer and powerful sound with its Dolby TrueHD and dts-HD Master Audio format support. A fully powered subwoofer, accentuated by four towers, a center channel, and two satellite rear speakers, gives the HT-BD2 1,100 Watts of total output power to keep movie and audio fans satisfied - all from a single component system that makes operating any function easy.
For a truly cinematic home theater viewing experience, the HT-BD2’s Blu-ray player offers full compatibility with 24 movie frames per second playback. As most movies are filmed at 24 frames per second, the HT-BD2 will be able to playback movies in their native format, significantly reducing unwanted artifacts. Setting the player’s Movie Frame (24Fs) feature to ON allows the consumer to adjust the HDMI 1.3 output to 24 frames per second for a crisp, theater-like experience. The HT-BD2 also supports 60Fs for enhanced compatibility with many of today’s HDTVs
IBM Adds Promise for Nano-Computing
Imagine cramming 30,000 full-length movies into a gadget the size of an iPod.
Scientists at IBM said on Thursday they had moved closer to such a feat by learning how to steer single atoms in a way that could create building blocks for ultra-tiny storage devices.
Understanding and manipulating the behavior of atoms is critical to harnessing the power of nanotechnology, which deals with particles tens of thousands of times smaller than the width of a human hair.
"One of the most basic properties that every atom has is that it behaves like a little magnet," said Cyrus Hirjibehedin, a scientist at International Business Machines Corp's Almaden Research Center in San Jose, California.
"If you can keep that magnetic orientation stable over time, then you can use that to store information. That is how your hard drive works," Hirjibehedin said in a telephone interview.
"What we are trying to understand is how this fundamental property works for a single atom."
Hirjibehedin and colleague Andreas Heinrich studied this property -- known as magnetic anisotropy -- in individual iron atoms using a special microscope developed at IBM.
"What we've been able to do is to look at an iron atom on a copper surface and to move that magnetic orientation around," Heinrich said.
Now they are looking for an atom that remains stable over a long time. "We have a couple of ideas but we don't really know which ones will work out," Hirjibehedin said.
"In the very long run, we're shooting for data storage on a very tiny scale," he said.
IBM colleagues in Zurich, Switzerland, meanwhile, have stumbled on a way to manipulate molecules to switch on and off, a basic function needed in computer logic.
They had been evaluating the vibration of a molecule when they noticed it had distinct switching capabilities.
Heinrich, who is familiar with the work, said the discovery is especially important because the switching action did not alter the framework of the molecule.
Switches inside computer chips work like a light switch, turning on and off the flow of electrons that ultimately make up the electrical circuits of computer processors.
Molecular switches could be used to store information and would lead to super-fast, super-tiny computer chips.
The two discoveries, which were published in the journal Science, will one day form the basis of future devices the IBM scientists were reluctant to even speculate about.
"Put yourself in the situation of people in the '70s, where they had a roomful of computing equipment that could basically do what you can do nowadays on your cell phone," Heinrich said.
"They would have given you some really stupid answers."