Computica Sales and Service

30/07/2015

Future Laptops

In five years time, laptops will launch apps with the wave of a hand and scroll the web by tracking eye movement.

30/07/2015

College life has changed dramatically in the last decade. Many classes are being offered online, academic research has moved to the digital arena, and now many assignments are turned in through e-mail attachments. Modern college students are increasingly reliant on computers, and that means a laptop…

21/03/2014

Sony's Windows laptops Sony Vaio Pro 13
review: An almost perfect laptop for travellers

Top Features

1. Fantastic IPS screen with FullHD resolution
2. Light and portable at just 1.06kg
3. Very good battery life
4. Good performance

NEW DELHI: Finding a good laptop is not easy. There are too many variables. Hardware has to be good. And when we talk of hardware, there are processors, RAM, screen, hard disk, keyboard and tens of other components. Even if one or two of them are not right, the experience tends to be poor. Then, there is software, especially the applications that are bundled with a laptop. Right applications make the experience so much better while the wrong ones frustrate a user.

Picking any kind of laptop is tricky. But the problem is particularly acute when you are trying to buy a machine with which you can travel.

Laptop companies, which do a poor job of explaining a laptop and its features to a user, only add to the problem. This is one of the reasons why many people nowadays just pick an Apple MacBook Air when they want a lightweight laptop. Air is a good machine. It has impeccable build quality and good hardware. And Apple promises that MacBooks "just work".

Unfortunately, not everyone likes to use or can use OS X, the operating system that powers Apple laptops. There are people who are more comfortable with Windows. Or maybe they need Windows because their company uses software that only runs on Windows.

Sony Vaio Pro is a laptop made for such people. It is a Windows laptop that aims to be at least as good as MacBook Air. After using it for a while, we think it mostly succeeds, even though there are a couple of issues that holds it back from being a home run.

Ultra light, incredibly thin, superb hardware
Vaio Pro comes in two sizes. One model has an 11.6-inch screen while the other one sports a 13.3-inch display. We tested the model with 13.3-inch screen.

Vaio Pro is incredibly thin and light. You notice this as soon as you take out the laptop from the box. The bigger Vaio Pro weighs just 1 kg. This is totally amazing! The smaller one with 11.6-inch screen is lighter than 800 grams. Both machines are lighter than a MacBook Air with comparable screen size. With a thickness of just 0.68 inches, it is also very slim and easily slips into a backpack or a laptop bag you may be carrying on your travel.

Unlike several other ultraportable Windows laptops, which borrow the design and style from MacBook Air, Vaio Pro sports a different look. It has a more boxy design. The laptop lacks the kind of rounded corners that MacBook Air uses. Vaio Pro too has a wedge shaped design - thicker where the hinges connect screen to the laptop and slimmer at the other hand - but the difference between the thickest and thinnest points is not much. With a MacBook Air, you can probably slice an apple using its thinnest side. You can't do that with Vaio Pro. That is alright, though. A laptop is not for slicing apples, you see.

One of the reasons why Vaio Pro weighs so little is because of the material Sony has used to make its body. Unlike aluminum, which is the norm on ultraportable laptops nowadays, Vaio Pro uses a body made of carbon fiber, which is much lighter. The palm rest - area around the touchpad - is covered with a sheet of aluminum but the rest of the laptop has a carbon fiber shell, which feels smooth to touch.

Overall, we like the design of Vaio Pro. The MacBook Air seems to have a cleaner design but there is nothing in Vaio Pro design that affects the experience negatively.

Vaio Pro uses a chicklet-style keyboard, which means there are no gaps between the keys where bread crumbs can fall while you munch on a sandwich in office. This is good. In our use we found the keys in Vaio Pro to be really good. They offer a lot of depth (for a thin ultrabook) and clicking them feels satisfactory. The amount of springy resistance these keys offer is also good and helps a user type fast and accurately. The keyboard is backlit and hence can be used in the dark.

The trackpad is large. It looks good. Unfortunately, it is one of the weakest - in terms of performance - part in Vaio Pro. The touchpad supports multi-touch gestures but the performance is a hit or miss. The multi-touch gestures like two-finger scroll or pinch-to-zoom work erratically. Worse, the pointer on the screen has a tendency to jump when you are using the touchpad.

In terms of core hardware, Vaio Pro is equipped well. Our review unit had a 13.3-inch touchscreen with FullHD (1080 x 1920 pixels) resolution. It is powered by Intel Core i5 4200U processor, which has a base clock of 1.6GHz and a turbo clock of 2.6GHz. The laptop has 4GB RAM and a 128GB SSD. It has two USB 3.0 ports, one HDMI port and a multi-format card reader. Just like many other ultrabooks, Vaio Pro doesn't have a port for Ethernet cable, which means to access internet on this machine, you will have to use Wi-Fi. It also lacks an optical drive.

Fast performer, terrific screen
The best part of Vaio Pro is its screen. We are used to seeing bad screens on laptops, even on those that cost nearly Rs 1 lakh. Almost 95% laptops in the market use TN (twisted nematic) display panels in their screen. And almost all of them have a resolution of 1366 x 768 pixels. TN panels are poor at showing colours. Yet, TN panels have become industry standard because they are cheap.

Sony breaks away from the pack and puts an IPS screen, which shows richer colours, in Vaio Pro. The quality of screen is significantly better than anything found on any other similarly priced laptop, including MacBook Air. The Vaio screen is very bright, has a FullHD resolution that makes the text look crisp on it and shows excellent colours. When you change the angle of the screen on Vaio Pro or tilt your head, the colours don't shift or fade the way they do on other laptops. In our opinion the screen alone makes Vaio Pro a better deal than most other Windows laptops in the market.

On the 13.3-inch model, Sony is using touchscreen. This makes using Windows 8, the OS that powers Vaio Pro series laptops, slightly easier to use. In our using we found the touch response on Vaio Pro screen to be fast and accurate. But given that it runs the full version of Windows, we usually preferred using the laptop with the keyboard and touchpad.

In terms of performance, we didn't encounter any major issues with Vaio Pro. The Haswell processor in the tablet is fast and can handle most of the office-related workload, including Photoshop work, and web browsing with ease. The laptop lacks a mechanical harddrive and uses a SSD, which also makes it feel overall faster.

Though, we did have a few issues with the laptop. Just like other laptops, it comes with a few preloaded applications, including a trial version of anti-virus software. We found these preloaded applications affect the performance. Once we uninstalled some of them, the performance was better. We also had a few issues related to Wi-Fi. There were occasions when the WiFi connection dropped without any apparent reason. It was random and infrequent but it definitely affected the experience.

Another issue is Windows 8, which runs on this machine. This is an operating system with dual-personality and a step back from Windows 7, especially when you are going to work on your laptop and not just watch movies on it. You can always use the desktop mode instead of modern UI mode but the fact remains that Windows 8 has usability issues. We would have liked the option of Windows 7 on Vaio Pro. But it is not offered.

Despite its slim shell, Vaio Pro runs cool. The air coming out of the exhaust vents on the left side of laptop tends to get slightly warm when you use the machine for photo editing or video encoding but compared to MacBook Air and some other similarly priced laptops Vaio Pro never gets uncomfortably hot.

Battery life is another strong point of this machine. Once it was fully charged, we could use Vaio Pro for seven to eight hours. Needless to say, it is one of the few laptops that can last whole day without requiring you to plug in the charger.

Should you buy it?
There is a lot going for Vaio Pro 13. It has an MRP of Rs 84,990, which is not bad. But, this price also puts Vaio Pro in direct competition with the 13-inch MacBook Air, which has an MRP of Rs 88,900.

The touchpad issues on Vaio Pro 13 mean we continue to recommend MacBook Air over it. The Apple laptop also has extra 128GB internal storage, which could be useful to some users.



But if you don't want the Air, Vaio Pro is your second best option. It is lighter than the Air! It has a fantastic screen, which is class-leading in its category. And it runs Windows, even though it is Windows 8, which will help you use your familiar programs.

Vaio Pro is definitely one of the better Windows laptops in the market. It scores high on screen, design, portability, keyboard and performance. But we can't help feel that if it had a better touchpad, it could have been a really great machine!

08/11/2013

Novel Radar Technology Developed

Nov. 7, 2013 — Mine clearing, monitoring of vital signs and robot vision are among the many potential applications for Novelda's innovative radar technology. The company's tiny, unique processor chips are at the core of it all.

Novelda's hard-earned success began with a project on fundamental radar technology using principles developed at the University of Oslo. With the knowledge acquired, the Norwegian company has developed chips that are extremely fast, highly precise, run on very low power, and can be placed directly onto objects rather than metres away -- qualities that are making Novelda stand out on the global market.
The company is now launching its new generation of impulse-based radar chips with ultra-high resolution.
Novelda's radar technology can be applied to product development within a wide variety of sensor application areas.
"Much about our technology is completely new, and it takes lots of long-term planning and methodical work to develop attractive commercial products based on this technology," explains Alf-Egil Bogen, CEO of Novelda AS. "The funding we have received all along the way under the Research Council of Norway's programmes has in turn triggered private investment. This combined funding has been critical, providing us with opportunities we otherwise never would have had for carrying out the necessary R&D."
The Research Council's programme for User-driven Research-based Innovation (BIA) has provided funding support for three Novelda projects.
"The first of our projects with funding under the BIA programme ran from 2006 to 2008 and focused on the fundamental radar technology," recounts Dag T. Wisland, president and co-founder of the company. "Only now have the results truly come together, and we are launching our first proprietary commercial sensor. This illustrates how crucial it is to take a long-term approach when bringing such a new technology to the commercial market."
In addition to the BIA programme, Novelda has also received support from the Research Council's large-scale programme on Core Competence and Value Creation in ICT (VERDIKT) and the EU Commission under EUREKA's R&D programme, Eurostars.
Customers all around the world are using Novelda's technology to develop applications such as measuring asphalt thickness and snow depth. Another example is the collaboration between Novelda and Samsung Thales launched in April to develop a landmine detector mounted on vehicles.
"It's very gratifying for us at Novelda to supply technology that can help to save lives by finding landmines," says Mr Bogen.
"Through projects like these," adds company CMO Aage Kalsæg, "we learn about new kinds of application areas, and at the same time our partners learn about our technology and how it can be used to develop other applications. That combination opens a lot of exciting doors."
Potential medical applications
There is also widespread use for Novelda's radar transceivers in the health care sector, where they can be used in applications such as monitoring heart rate, taking wireless ECG readings, and measuring fluid in the lungs. These were targeted in the company's second BIA-funded project, which ran from 2009 to 2011 and included cooperation with the University of Oslo.
"We get lots of attention from cardiologists who are amazed by what we can do with our radar technology," says CEO Bogen. "Health care is one of the areas with the greatest potential for us, but this is where it takes the most time and effort to come out with a finished, profitable product. We are in the process of working out a business plan and looking at various medical projects to go forward with."
Radar with Superman vision
Novelda's mini-radar will open doors to more and more new application areas, such as building automation, security surveillance, technology for "intelligent homes" and more.
"Our radar can see right through things, so it could be placed out of sight, such as inside a wall," explains Mr Bogen. "It is also very accurate and easy to program to define its range of detection, which makes it ideal for surveillance. It could also control an air-conditioning system, for instance, or count the people in a room, or be used as a parking sensor."
"Helicopter technology is another interesting area," says Mr Kalsæg. "Many unmanned helicopter drones have trouble landing gently in rugged terrain. Conventional sensors see the top of high grass and calibrate for landing on it, and then hit the ground harder. Our radar sees through the grass to the actual ground, facilitating a soft landing."
Robot vision and consumer technology
Novelda is also working to develop robot vision as an application area. A robot using the mini-radar could avoid physical obstacles and navigate optimally by sensing its surroundings, regardless of light conditions. It would also be able to see through curtains and other such light objects. Ultimately, Novelda's developers hope to make the radar capable of mapping a room and laying out its own route to follow.
"The next breakthrough," Mr Bogen predicts, "will be in consumer-oriented radars in televisions, smoke detectors, thermostats, telephones and portable computer devices."
The current project on the mini-radar focuses in large part on determining the proper future course for the company's products. "The NTNU people are helping us to assess user experience and time to market," says Mr Wisland. "They are also involved in the innovation processes and are working on product design as well."

22/09/2013

Intel has launched A1018 CPU processor for education usages

Intel has launched its A1018 CPU processor as a tailor-made solution targeted at tender-based Government deals. Intel will tie up with personal computer manufacturers to have this processor
in-built with laptops to be supplied to State Governments.



Intel® Processor A1018 is a dual core 2.1GHz processor based on the Intel® 3rd Generation Ivy Bridge platform. This processor also supports Intel® HD Graphics, system bus of 5 GT/s and with
a Max TDP of 35 W.

22/09/2013

Soon, PC chip that mimics human brain

Scientists, including one of Indian origin, are developing a computer chip that mimics the human brain. Today'scomputing chips are incredibly complex and contain billions of nano-scale transistors, allowing for fast, high-performance computers, pocket-sized smartphones that far outpace early desktop computers, and an explosion in handheld tablets, the researchers said.

Despite their ability to perform thousands of tasks in the blink of an eye, none of these devices even come close to rivalling the computing capabilities of the human brain. But a Boise State University research team could soon change that.

Electrical and computer engineering faculty Elisa Barney Smith, Kris Campbell and Vishal Saxena have taken on the challenge of developing a new kind of computing architecture that works more like a brain than a traditional digital computer.

"By mimicking the brain's billions of interconnections and pattern recognition capabilities, we may ultimately introduce a new paradigm in speed and power, and potentially enable systems that include the ability to learn, adapt and respond to their environment," said Barney Smith, principal investigator of the study.

The project's success rests on a memristor - a resistor that can be programmed to a new resistance by application of electrical pulses and remembers its new resistance value once the power is removed.

Memristors were first hypothesised to exist in 1972 (in conjunction with resistors, capacitors and inductors) but were fully realised as nano-scale devices only in the last decade.

The team's research builds on recent work from scientists who have derived mathematical algorithms to explain the electrical interaction between brain synapses and neurons.

"By employing these models in combination with a new device technology that exhibits similar electrical response to the neural synapses, we will design entirely new computing chips that mimic how the brain processes information," said Barney Smith.

These new chips will consume power at an order of magnitude lower than current computing processors, despite the fact that they match existing chips in physical dimensions.

This will open the door for ultra low-power electronics intended for applications with scarce energy resources, such as in space, environmental sensors or biomedical implants.

22/09/2013

Keyboard to get rid of Facebook addiction!
Two doctoral candidates fromMIT have created a new keyboard device that is capable of shocking users overindulging online.

Robert R. Morris and Dan McDuff calculated that they were wasting about 50 hours a week on Facebook so to stop that from happening again they turned to Pavlovian method, Discovery News reported.

McDuff said that the keyboard is able to monitors application usage and if it senses that too much time is being spent on a particular website or application it give a shock to its users, asserting that the shock is just unpleasand and not dangerous.

The system that they have devised uses a Mac's UI Inspector for monitoring application usage and a processing code, which routes on-screen alert signals to an Arduino board that activates a relay and initiates a shock circuit.

That current is then passed on to conductive metal strips that is embedded in a keyboard rest pad.

22/09/2013

PCs to 'replace' humans in 20 years?

WASHINGTON: 45% of jobs presently conducted by humans will be handed over to thecomputers within the next 20 years, a group of futurists have warned.
researchers, from University of Oxford's James Martin School, believe that the takeover will happen in two stages where jobs in services, sales and construction may be the first to go.

Other vulnerable fields in the first stage include transportation/logistics, production labor, and administrative support.

In the second stage, scientist think that jobs in management, science and engineering, and the arts will be at risk.

16/03/2013

16/12/2012

Samsung Series 5 (NP-530U4C)