LG G3 3GB Ram Review

LG G3 3GB Ram Review. LG's flagship smartphone, the G3, has finally landed. With a huge, 5.5in Quad HD display and a host of upgrades over its predecessor, the G2, the G3 is gunning for its top-flight Android rivals.

The big news is the display. LG has opted for a 5.5in, 1,440 x 2,560 IPS panel — the highest resolution we've seen on a smartphone. It delivers unearthly levels of detail — snap a picture with the rear-facing 13-megapixel camera and it's possible to see almost every speck of detail without the need to zoom in.

Tested with our X-Rite colorimeter, the G3's display is technically capable, too. Brightness peaks at 457cd/m2, and colour accuracy is largely on target. Only the modest contrast ratio of 788:1 disappoints; the G3 fails to dredge up as much detail in darker images as its rivals.

Disappointingly, once the phone warms up, the display brightness is automatically reduced to prevent overheating. This reduces the screen brightness from 457cd/m2 to 310cd/m2, which is far less legible in sunny conditions. After a few minutes more, it dims further; to 269cd/m2, although the indicated brightness percentage level doesn't change. Clearly, LG is using aggressive power-saving measures to cope with the demands of the pixel-packed screen.

The G3 gets all the essentials spot on, though. The plastic rear mimics brushed metal, and it doesn't feel cheap: the smooth, curved body is great to hold. At 149g, it's reasonably light, too. There's 16GB of onboard storage, plus a microSD slot hidden behind the removable battery, and the phone's punchy 1W speaker is loud enough for both music and hands-free phone calls.

Android 4.4.2 has received a tasteful LG makeover and a heap of new features. Knock Code makes a reappearance, allowing you to unlock the phone with a sequence of finger taps, and the G3 can be "knocked" into life by double-tapping the display, rather than reaching for the power button. The familiar interface has been tweaked to employ simple, pastel-coloured shades and rounded icons, and garnished with a sprinkling of apps and widgets.

Like Samsung's recent handsets, the G3's Dual Window feature allows a selection of apps to be run simultaneously side by side. The QSlide feature allows certain apps to be run as resizable floating windows, too: it's possible to have two split-screen apps in the background and a third QSlide app floating on top, for instance.

There's one area where LG has made a serious misstep. Despite the phone's pixel-dense screen, an image-sharpening filter is applied to all onscreen content. Everything — including text, icons, web pages and snaps taken by the camera —is fringed with halos. Annoyingly, this feature can't be disabled.

The pixel-dense display causes other problems, too. Despite being powered by the same 2.5GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 CPU as the Samsung Galaxy 55 (web ID: 388234) and sporting 3GB of RAM, the G3's benchmark scores aren't quite on par with those of its flagship rivals.

Our usual suite of benchmarks saw the G3 finish the SunSpider test in 692ms, ahead of the Sony Xperia Z2 (web ID: 388717) — 920ms — but well off the 391ms pace of the Galaxy 55. Oddly, the G3's Geekbench 3 results were around 19% behind those of its key rivals, with a single-core score of 829 and a multi-core score of 2,205.

The G3 also lagged behind its Full HD counterparts in our gaming tests. Although it has the same Adreno 330 GPU, the G3 has to power 77% more pixels. In the GFXBench T-Rex test, the LG struggled to an average frame rate of 19.9fps.

Behind the gorgeous metal-effect rear lies a 3,000mAh battery. In GFXBench's battery test, this lasted 2hrs 58mins, putting the G3 only 11 minutes behind the long-lasting Xperia Z2. The display took its toll in our video-rundown test, however: the G3 consumed 9.1 % of its battery capacity per hour; the Galaxy 55, Xperia Z2 and HTC One (M8) (web ID: 387769) used between 5.2% and 6.5%.

The G3's camera is a high point. The 13-megapixel sensor has a laser autofocus system for taking quick-draw snaps, and it certainly delivers — crisp shots are captured almost instantaneously. Given the potential for split-second photo opportunities, we were pleased with the results: the G3 captured some great action shots.

It's not infallible, of course —there were still plenty of photos featuring a blurry subject framed by a pin-sharp background — but the G3 is capable of taking cracking snaps. The 30fps 4K video recording is impressive, too, with near-photographic levels of detail and smooth motion.

On paper, the G3 looks like it's capable of landing some knockout blows on its premium smartphone rivals. In reality, however, the pixel-packed screen is of no practical benefit, and LG has had to compromise brightness and battery life as a result.

The LG G3 remains a good handset, but, with rivals delivering a more balanced performance for similar money, this isn't the Android giant-killer we've been waiting for.

Key Specs
2.5GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 CPU, Adreno 330 GPU, 3GB RAM, 16GB storage, 5.5in 1,440 x 2,560 display, 4G Bluetooth, 4 NFC, 802.11 ac Wi-Fi, microSD, 13MP/2.1MP rear/front cameras, 4K video, 3,000mAh battery, 1 yr RTB warranty, 146 x 8.9 x 75mm (WDH) 149g

Check price at newegg.com

How To Build An EMC Test Kit

Electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) testing, also referred to as EMC immunity testing, has become an important part of product design all over the world. Electronic equipment should meet certain mandatory EMC immunity criteria to be eligible for use in most countries. This ensures that the equipment will operate

well when working in its intended application. Satisfying EMI/EMC safety standards, according to correct regulations, at design stage of the product can help pass the tests in one shot.

EMC testing

Let’s start with a quick primer on EMC testing before moving on to selecting equipment for it. There are two types of emissions that are tested: conducted emissions (CE) and radiated emissions (RE).

CE test determines the radiations propagated along connectors and cables, causing noise in the system. A designer needs to check the susceptibility by choosing proper filters in conduction path. Emissions of all equipment need to be arrested, ensuring there are no disturbances to other equipment running on the same connectors and cables.

RE test is conducted to determine the di sturbance caused to the device under test (DUT) in the presence of any radiation source. These can be arrested at the design stage. Radiated susceptibility testing is done to safeguard the device’s immunity to strong radio transmitters in its vicinity. Product immunity testing is conducted to ensure human-machine safety.

How standards decide your equipment

Different types of equipment have different needs depending on factors like (a) operating environment (military equipment are used in harsh environments compared to consumer electronics), (b) reliability (medical devices that monitor vital signs should be more reliable than a personal computer), and (c) safety (if the operator has to be near the equipment, the radiation levels should be low). On the basis of these, the designer has to consider which specific industrial or military (MIL) safety standards should be fulfilled.

However, simply knowing that you need to test for a specific industrial standard is not good enough.

Manufacturers of electronic equipment, unfortunately, have a big issue to face: These standards do not remain the same. They evolve to keep up with the pace and a requirement of modern technology on a continual basis. Some of these changes might be relatively minor, while others are withdrawn or completely re-written and superseded. It is important to keep up with all these changes and timelines for making sure

a product reaches the market.

Why this trouble? The goal of the changing standards is to make the equipment become least intrusive for

other devices, and more immune to hostile electromagnetic environment.

One issue is the increase in number of electronic devices that use advanced semiconductors. Electronic products are tending towards becoming more non-linear. The direct effect of this trend is seen as increased corruption of AC mains, which is a shared public utility.

Another problem faced is when previously discrete technologies converge in a single product. One example

is the case of multimedia equipment for which a previously separate CISPR 32 standard was introduced. In order to maintain safety and best performance, the standards should be rewritten or replaced accordingly.

Additionally, with the evolution of technology for radio receivers (Bluetooth and its variants, Wi-Fi and its variants, cellular radio, etc) or electronic transmitters (FM transmitters, radars, etc), EMC standards should also change accordingly to cope up with the changing levels of EMI.

Keeping up with changing standards

Designers, test labs and test equipment manufacturers should be very well aware of, and up-to-date, with the

changing technology and standards.

Test equipment users must be familiar with the equipment provided by the vendors and their limitations. It is best to buy an instrument that offers programmability for test parameters. This helps you adjust the testing process to minor revisions of standards. Programmability also serves some customised, non-standard requirements that the customers would have adopted to make their products more reliable in a typical

operating environment.

Test facility vendors may have to strengthen their equipment as per standards for the safety requirements.

Most of the required upgrades would be with respect to sensitivity of the antennae, range of antennae, software updates of the test equipment and periodical calibrations.

“Specifically for the changing compliance standards, we proactively reach out to the designated authorities

to know about the likely future compliance changes,” says Raghu Rao, manager of application engineering

team of Tektronix India. “This helps in being ahead in the market with future ready solutions.”

Building a basic EMC troubleshooting kit

Troubleshooting is the process of isolating a problem and applying appropriate fixes. A test engineer diagnoses an EMI/EMC problem the same way a doctor diagnoses the medical condition of a patient. The diagnosis involves several stages: looking at clues, examining the equipment, gathering additional information (usually through tests) and finding a suitable solution.

An EMC troubleshooting kit is of great help to both independent and inhouse EMC consultants. The essential tools for EMC troubleshooting depend on the kind of industry compliance the customer is looking for. But here is a brief guide that would help you assemble the most basic equipments required for basic troubleshooting, depending on your requirements, at minimum possible cost. The kit can be used for limited pre-compliance testing and assessing radiated emissions.

Spectrum analyser. The heart of an EMC troubleshooting kit is a spectrum analyser. Look for an instrument that is not bulky, preferably a handheld analyser, as it would be easier to carry around. It should have good external command support, fast triggering speed and a capability to buffer many triggered measurements (gated sweep). More useful, if you can afford, is realtime spectrum analyser. Conventional EMC testing involves analysing events that are repetitive. The need for today’s equipment is to be able to catch sporadic and rarely occurring events.

Probes. These include near-field probes and current probes. Probes can be constructed in lab with a little

expertise in the field. Hfield and E-field probes are near-field RF probes, constructed from semirigid coaxial cables, that are used to identify the source of electromagnetic interference emissions and potential radiation

frequencies around circuits, cables and enclosures.

H-field probes are made basically from a conductive loop, and they detect magnetic fields produced by clock signals, control signals, serial data streams and switchers. A voltage is produced in the loop proportional to the magnetic field perpendicular to it. With larger size of loops you get higher sensitivity, but

lower resolution. E-field probes, which make direct contact with the circuit, are used to find emissions on individual pins or PCB traces.

Poorly-bonded cables are said to be the major cause of radiated emission failures. A current probe, one of the most used accessories in troubleshooting, lets you measure the commonmode current flowing in wires or cables and identify a bad termination, which causes current leakage. Probes let you predict whether the given object will pass the emission test or not. For troubleshooting, high accuracy is not necessary, so you may go for low-cost probes or make your own current probes.

Antenna. A simple TV antenna positioned one or two metres away from the DUT would pick up harmonic signals. Connect it to the spectrum analyser to assess radiated emission. Changes below 2dB could be considered as measurement or setup error. Fixing the antenna in place using tape will reduce additional variables in measurement.

Preamplifier. A broadband preamplifier is used when the signal measured by the probes (particularly the smaller H-field probes) needs to be boosted in order to observe changes in emission levels.

ESD simulator. Electrostatic discharge (ESD) simulator or ESD gun generates ESD pulses that help verify the immunity of a particular device to static electricity discharges. While an actual ESD simulator can be expensive, you can create a rather simple ESD generator using a zipper storage bag with several coins inside. Shake this bag near the circuit to get several volts of ESD pulses at rise times of about 100 picoseconds.

ESD detector. Issues like loss of data and unusual circuit reset can be due to ESD in the circuit. Commercial ESD detectors are available in the market for higher accuracy applications. But an AM broadcast radio tuned off-station can act as a good ESD detector. If it has an FM receiver, you can even tune in product

harmonics from radiated emissions.

Radiated immunity testing. Nothing can replace the test lab equipment for accurate radiated immunity levels.

But a variable-RF signal generator would allow the simulation of radiated immunity test to some degree and give you an idea of whether the object is immune or not. Once the susceptible region is identified, you can implement potential fixes. This can save time and money as opposed to performing troubleshooting at test labs.

Other contents. Some of the other things include digital multimeter, screwdriver kit, pencil soldering iron, solder, SMA (subminiature version A) connector wrench, flash light, magnifier, tweezers, wires of different lengths and sizes, 10dB and 20dB attenuators, aluminium foils, coaxial adaptors, insulation tape, copper tape, measuring tape, EMI gaskets, ferrite chokes, common-mode chokes, and a range of I/O cables, BNC coaxial cable, SMA coaxial cable, resistors, capacitors and inductors.

“At a compliance lab level, the list of test instruments and test infrastructure can be exhaustive,” says Rajneesh Raveendran, the project manager of Tarang Test Lab, Wipro. But to get a product certified in accordance with the appropriate and latest test standards you always need to seek help of an EMC testing lab. “Semi/fully anechoic chamber, EMI receivers, antennae and antenna masts, turntable, signal generators, RF amplifiers, line impedance stabilisation networks, coupling/decoupling networks, RF current probes, various immunity test generators, etc are provided to cater to the various radiated and conducted emissions/immunity,” adds Rajneesh.

Three design elements that influence testing

The size of the DUT decides the measurement method and test duration for radiated emission and radiated immunity testing. As size of the object increases, the mechanical structure needs a good number of additional screws and holes to fix it. The additional slots and angles that come up to support the structure act as source of radiation, increasing the challenge faced by the engineer during compliance testing.

The complexity of its antenna pattern also increases with the size of the test object. “ The antenna pattern complexity affects the number of orientations necessary to determine minimum immunity and maximum emission,”says Vishal Gupta, application expert at Agilent Technologies India. This also has implications for EMC standards.

If your system’s power consumption increases, it might result in the system requiring an active cooling system. This, in turn, demands for ventilation, creating openings that cause the radiation levels to increase, making it difficult to identify the source of radiation.

Similarly, with more number of cables, the tests will have to be done on each cable. Hence, for larger devices, more exposure is needed to measure gauge susceptibility and emissions. Moreover, the turntable or test chamber needs to be large to accommodate bigger equipment.

Very-near-field technique of EMC testing

The terms far-field, near-field and verynear- field describe the fields around an antenna. Near-field is less than one wavelength (λ) from the antenna and far field begins at a distance of 2λ and beyond. With the right implementation, any antenna can be successfully measured on either a near-field or farfield range. Ideally, far-field ranges are a better choice for lower frequency antennae and where simple pattern-cut measurements are required, and nearfield ranges are better for higher frequency antennae and where complete pattern and polarisation measurements are required. The near-field is generally divided into two areas, the reactive and the radiative. The reactive region is what we call the very-near-field.

Quick, repeatable, real-time data. According to Erkan Ickam of EMSCAN, a leading developer of fast magnetic very-near-field measurement applications, “Traditional EMC far-field techniques measure the emissions levels; they are not useful for small, printed circuit board assembly (PCBA) level diagnosis as they can’t point at the source of emissions on the PCB.” The very-near-field technique is fast and repeatable; interaction with DUT is unavoidable in this area. “It can measure the entire PCB continuously to make sure intermittent events are captured even when they occur in areas of the board that are not expected to radiate,” he adds.

In other words, very-near-field technique is a good method to quickly identify localised hot spots at a PCBA level. It lets you identify frequency content of emissions and make spatial maps of the currents at each frequency as they occur on DUT. These spatial maps give information to test engineers about where the ultimate source of EMC emissions are, at the PCB level. These very-nearfield spatial maps cannot be directly compared to any existing EMC standards like IEC and ANSI; they, however, provide insight into troubleshooting or root-cause analysis for any standard.

Complementary to all standards. Very-near-field testing is a pre-compliance tool and there are no standards for EMC pre-compliance. An example is the EMxpert by EMSCAN. Regardless of the standard, when current EMC chamber measurements indicate a failure, the test results do not generally indicate what the cause of the problem is. This is where a quick measurement utilising very-nearfield is extremely valuable. It will indicate the source of emissions, coupling paths, resonant points, shielding issues as well as many other potential problems. This can help the engineers track down the problem quicker and make proper changes to the design.

Indoor testing. Another advantage cited for near-field measurement techniques is that testing can be accomplished indoors, eliminating problems due to weather, electromagnetic interference, security concerns,

etc.

Drawbacks. Each hotspot seen in very-near-field probing is an independent vector by itself. Unless the magnitude and polarity of these independent vectors are quantified, convergence to reallab measurements cannot be assured. Another issue is that the DUT must be smaller than the scanner for precompliance.

The device should be disassembled for testing.

Testing at the component level

P. Chow Reddy suggests that, to test at component level, make a simple loop probe with a coaxial cable that

could be connected to the spectrum analyser. One end of the cable can be stripped and centre wire extended to the braid of the shielded wire. This forms a complete loop with respect to the shield. This arrangement picks up radiations in the loop and transfers to spectrum analyser and hence gives a rough picture of the radiation level.

To specifically identify the radiating component, strip a thin-shielded wire with braid, make the centre wire into a small loop and solder it on to the braid. Then drop silicon sealant on the loop. This forms a mini probe. With one end connected to a spectrum analyser, this probe can be brought close to the specific components to analyse the pickup radiations.

Antennae tuned to particular range of frequencies and resonances are readily available in the market. These can be used to get a very brief picture of the radiations in open labs.

Golden-i Smart Glasses Review

We all have seen the media frenzy that surrounded Google’s Glass, a wearable computer that integrated a lot of Android functionality, while making you look like an Android at the same time.

Golden-i is a mobile wireless wearable headset computer with 38cm (15-inch) near-eye virtual display, which enables the users to carry out general computer functions without using their hands. It allows the users to access six independent devices or networks simultaneously (including PCs, cellular phones and industrial and enterprise servers). The device supports more than 38 languages. It is operated by voice-user interface and head-tracking system.

Technology

The device has an embedded 14MP camera that can record and/or send full-colour images or streaming video in real time, in resolutions ranging from 240p to 1080p, at the rate of 2fps to 60fps. In addition, it is equipped with a head tracker, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, ambient-light sensor, USB on-the-go and other peripherals. The design also includes a low-power, ultra-small form factor micro-display that integrates advanced voice and gesture recognition technology.

The latest version of Golden-i, the Gen 3.8 system, is built around TI’s powerful OMAP4 processor and runs on Android 4.2 operating system. A Windows Embedded Compact 7 version of the product is also supported. An automated test suite is available for hardware design validation and manufacturing test.

Applications

Golden-i is a finished product and is being adopted in various fields, such as fire brigade, police department,
construction, maintenance, repair and general professional applications. It is used in healthcare by doctors and nurses, and for emergency medical services. Product developers can also use Golden-i as a development platform.

Since this gadget is highly customisable, it can be used in a variety of applications, and robust solutions and
support are provided to the clients by the firm.

Here is an example of how Golden-i Gen 3.8 is used in a fire brigade. The application used here is the Firefighter Pro, which helps improve time efficiency and safety. It allows firefighters to access vital information while dealing with an emergency situation. They could call up floor plans and GPS coordinates on their wearable computer, giving them real-time understanding of the layout, assisting navigation through unknown structures efficiently (using assisted-GPS inertial navigation) and hence enabling quick evacuation/
rescue operations. It helps the firefighter see through smoke, mist, dust and thin materials using an optional
IR camera.

The firefighters can monitor the vital signs of individuals and the crew (which is an application in healthcare field too). Live, on-site video streaming is also possible to and from the affected environment.

Development

The Golden-i is a global multinational endeavour that was developed with the goal of improving productivity,
efficiency and safety in all professional and industrial sectors. It supports and guides the user at any moment without interruption.

The US-based Kopin Corporation’s portfolio includes designing, building and deploying lightweight, power-efficient, ultra-small liquid crystal displays. They entered into a partnership with Bangalore-based Mistral Solutions to design the headset computing and communications system. Mistral also manufactures compact hardware electronics required by Golden-i.

The concept of handsfree, wireless, headset computer was first discussed in August 2006. The first actual Golden-i headset development started on July 1, 2007, and in January 2008, the first handsfree computing wireless Golden-i headset was demonstrated streaming 480p video at 25fps over Bluetooth 2.0 EDR. It used a speech recognition user interface with approximately 85 per cent efficiency.

Kopin Corporation has over 200 issued patents covering various aspects of Golden-i. Apart from this, the company also has an additional 100+ patent disclosures open, and approximately 60 additional patents
filed since 2007, which are being processed.

The team is currently working with the world’s leading cellular service providers (such as Verizon Wireless)
for bringing the Golden-i Gen 3.8 headsets in various global geographical markets this year.

Design challenges

“The major challenge while developing this product was fitting all the interfaces into a small form factor design,” according to Selvaraj Kaliyappan, general manager - Delivery (PES), Mistral Solutions. The product should offer multiple technologies, such as cameras (infrared, SWIR, near-IR, visible light and terahertz), Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, 4G LTE cellular, 9-axis head tracking and numerous sensors while also ensuring sleek, lightweight and compact design. Space optimisation was achieved by using microBGA and package-on-package (PoP) technology. The Mistral team also addressed multiple routing and layout challenges.

The overall power consumption and heat dissipation in the system was also successfully reduced, thus ensuring longer duration for system operation.

Since Golden-i relies much on voice commands, implementation of a stable voice recognition and active noise cancellation in ambient environments with as much as 120dB of noise was yet another challenge. The algorithm integration was to be performed to the desired level to meet the specific market demographics and ambient environments that are typically encountered.

Best of its kind

Google Glass is a similar product that made huge headlines last year. But original Golden-i had reached the market ahead of Glass.

“Golden-i is not a single device, but a family of devices leveraging similar hardware and software,” says Jeff Jacobsen, senior advisor to CEO, Kopin Corporation, “but significantly differing in headset size and peripherals, depending on the market being addressed.”

The initial version of Golden-i 3.8 had been designed for use with hard hats and helmets, for industrial use and applications. Smaller, sleeker and more stylish models of Golden-i are expected to hit the market by 2015.

Machine-Brain Interface - A Giant Step for Mankind

Jan Scheurmann was paralysed from neck down more than a decade ago due to degenerative brain disease. But thanks to the brain-computer interface (BCI), now she could grab and eat a chocolate with her robotic arm and even hi-five her doctors! With two aspirin-sized electrodes implanted to her brain and a few months of training, she was able to successfully manipulate a mindcontrolled robot arm with seven axes of movement (front-back, up-down, left-right, wrist yaw, wrist pitch, wrist roll and hand grasp). After grabbing her first bite of chocolate she declared, “One small nibble for a woman, one giant bite for BCI.”

“This is a spectacular leap towards greater function and independence for people who are unable to move  their own arms,” the senior investigator of the University of Pittsburgh’s Pitt School of Medicine, Andrew Schwartz, said in a release. “This technology, which interprets brain signals to guide a robot arm, has enormous potential that we are continuing to explore. Our study has shown us that it is technically feasible to restore ability; the participants have told us that BCI gives them hope for the future.”

In an earlier independent study by the BrainGate Implant, another paralysed woman, Cathy Hutchinson, was
able to use the arm to pick up a thermos of coffee and drink it from a straw.

What is BCI

BCI, also known as a brain–machine interface (BMI), mind-machine interface (MMI) or direct neural  interface, is a method by which the brain signals are used to control an external device. In simple terms, this technology helps you to control machines with thoughts. BCI has become one of the important areas of research in medical field as it can restore and augment human sensory, motor and cognitive functions.

The BCI System

A long-term goal of the BCI projects is to develop a neurotechnology that could convert thoughts into  actions, thereby helping people with limb loss or paralysis to restore their movement and control, making them independent to a great extent.

The current BCI system comprises three main segments:

Sensor. A device implanted in the brain, usually multi-electrode arrays (MEAs), that records signals directly
related to imagined limb movement.

Decoder. A set of computers and specialised programs that can interpret the neural signals collected by the sensor, and which turn them to corresponding commands for an external device.

External device. A communication device like computer or a robotic limb on which the decoded brain signals are converted to required actions.

How It Works

The first step is to associate raw neuronal signals with their corresponding movements. The magnetic resonance imaging mapping is used to find out the regions of the brain that are active when performing certain functions. This helps to place the electrode in the right target.

The sensors are smaller than a square centimetre and are implanted in the primary cortex of the brain. Each of these MEAs has around hundred contact points that record the response of individual neurons as well as populations of neurons.

The microchips are first implanted in brain. The patient is made to think about doing something, like moving the hand forward or rolling the wrist. Each activity triggers a unique set of neurons. When a neuron is excited, a potential difference is developed between the inside and outside of the cell membrane and an ion current is developed. This ion current is converted into electron current by the sensors and sent to the decoder.

The difficult task is to interpret and associate the brain signals to their respective movements. With the help of revised filtering, processing and complex computer programs, and after many trials, the signals related to each activity can be figured out. The specially designed embedded softwareis programmed so as to receive each signal and make the connected external device (like a prosthetic hand) physically perform the activity associated with that particular signal.

Commercial Viability

Though extensive researches are going on in this field, only a very small number of products are available in the consumer market; even lesser belonging to medical industry. High cost of production and unavailability of participants for clinical trials are a few reasons for their reduced popularity.

Some of the medical devices based on neurotechnology are discussed in brief below:

BrainGate implant. It is a brain implant developed by Cyberkinetics and is one of the most important BCI
systems.

Deep brain stimulator. It is manufactured by Medtronic and is used to treat Parkinson’s and dystonia. It is also researched for treatment of epilepsy and depression.

Hearing aid. The medical device company Otologics has made this product available in Europe.

Bionic eye. An artificial retina by Second Sight Medical Products, going through the first phase of trial.

Vagus nerve stimulator. It is used for treating epilepsy, depression and obesity. Cyberonics, MetaCure and
EnteroMedics are the major manufacturers.

Powered exoskeleton. A robotic exoskeleton that can help the elderly and the disabled to walk and lift  objects, developed by Cyberdyne.

Implanted defibrillator. This device is meant for people who have problems with irregular heartbeat. It  prevents sudden cardiac arrest. It is developed by Medtronic, St. Jude Medical, Boston Scientific, Sorin Group CRM and Biotronic.

Ventricular assist. It helps the heart chamber pump blood. Thoratec, Abiomed, Inc. and World Health  Corporation manufacture this product.

Breathing pacemaker. It helps people with spinal cord injury to help them breathe on their own by pacing diaphragm. The device is produced by Synapse Biomedical, Inc.

PillCam. A capsule with miniature camera that can be swallowed and is used for endoscopy. Given Imaging is the manufacturer of this capsule.

Dr*g delivery to spine. This dr*g delivery system is meant for patients with chronic pain. It is produced by Medtronic and MicroCHIPS.

Artificial arm. Prosthetic arms with 18 degrees of freedom, developed by DEKA Research and Development Corporation.

Bionic hand. This product designed by Touch Bionics can perform more hand functions than a normal prosthetic hand.

Sacral nerve stimulation. Developed by Medtronic to control some bladder functions.

Smart leg. Most advanced lower limb prosthetic by Otto Bock Healthcare.

Robotic foot. It has many added features over prosthetic foot. Ossur is the manufacturer of this product.

What Future Holds

As the next step of this technological advancement, researchers are planning to introduce feedback potentials to the electrodes, which can result in the interpretation of sensations like grip strength. They are also working on miniaturisation of equipment and introduction of wireless technology. It may even be possible to avoid the robotic devices by directly bypassing the appropriate signals to the corresponding motor nerves in the damaged section of the spinal cord. This means the paralysed patient will be able to move his/her own body.

The field of BMI has made a considerable development in the past decade. Though only few products are available in the market, extensive research and lab works are going on in this field. What was once just an interesting science fiction theme is now growing very close to reality. Neurotechnology has developed from just a figment of imagination to monkeys moving cursors on computer screen to humans controlling prosthetic
limbs in three-dimensional space with dexterity. In coming years, we can expect BCI to not only restore human functions but also augment it and improve the quality of living.

3D Printers to Print Lunar Base and Living Tissue

The International CES is an indicator of promising technologies, and this year 3D printing was an extremely popular theme, along with the Internet of Things, wearable devices, 3D televisions and other emerging tech. As Avi Reichental, president and CEO of 3D Systems wisely pointed out at the event, “3D printing is an overnight success 30 years in the making.” But then, it is true that a few years ago MakerBot was perhaps the only 3D printing player at CES. Today, there are several players vying to capture this growing market, including XYZ Printing, 3D Systems, MakerBot and more.

It is also interesting to note that these printers are getting more and more versatile and cost-effective too. There are sub-$500 models such as Printbot Simple and Da Vinci 3D Printer. There are those like Replicator Mini, Solidoodle and Cube3, which are priced quite effectively for their capabilities. And, there are also innovative, awe-inspiring ones like the ChefJet 3D Pro that can print edible food models in full colour!

The trend is rather strong, and it is obvious that today it is technically possible to create anything from food and toys to weapons and prosthetics using these 3D printers. While currently 3D printers have not captured the fancy of home users due to the lack of simple and user-friendly software tools, a research report released this April by Juniper Research says that sales of 3D printers for home-use will exceed one million units by 2018, thanks to killer apps, expansion of use cases and entry of established players like HP.

The industry and academia are also in tune with this trend, and are gearing up with improved technologies, materials and processes to take 3D printing to greater heights. Here is a sample of some such R&D activity in the 3D printing space and innovative applications of the same.

Building dream homes. Kamermaker, which means ‘room builder,’ is an open source 3D printing pavilion

developed by Ultimaker. The six metres tall printer builds large plastic-based building blocks that can be used in construction. And these building blocks are nothing like the rectangular bricks used in construction. They are large chunks of the building itself—say a quarter of a room or a staircase—which just need to

be patched together to make the house.

A Dutch architectural firm is now working on building a canal house in Amsterdam using the Kamermaker. The project is apparently an experiment that applies 3D printing to construction, and so the architects have left the construction site open to public viewing. They believe that they might have to re-build parts of the house several times till they arrive at the perfect design. This demonstrates the flexibility that 3D printing

offers. The canal house might mark the beginning of an era where people can buy architectural designs off stores and have their house printed within weeks.

Space stations too. Last year, the European Space Agency (ESA) teamed up with architects to test the use of 3D printing for more efficient lunar base construction using materials like moon dust. The lunar base, designed by Foster+Partners, has a multi-dome design with a cellular structured wall as protection against micrometeoroids and space radiation. It has inflatable structures to accommodate astronauts. The lunar base is being 3D printed using a special printer supplied by UK-based Monolite. As a demonstration, they have printed a 1.5-tonne building block using lunar soil. The block has a hollow closed-cell structure inspired by bird bones, to provide the right balance of strength and weight.

Lord Brahma has competition. Bioprinters are capable of 3D printing human tissue too. Using bio-ink made of living cell mixtures, human tissue can be printed layer by layer. Layers of hydrogel applied between layers of cells work as a scaffolding. Once the cells fuse, the hydrogel is removed. This structure is then transferred to a bioreactor for Nature to work her magic. The tissue grows naturally into its final form.

Today, scientists are able to print tissues such as skin and cartilage but there is hope that life-saving organs will be printed in the future. In a recent breakthrough, Harvard researchers have applied micro-scale 3D printing to create tissue containing skin cells and biological structural material interwoven with blood-vessel-like structures. Using a customised four-head 3D printer, they have created hollow, tube-like structures within a mesh of printed cells using special ink that liquefies as it cools.

This is considered a disruptive innovation because although several scientists have had success in building

organs using varied techniques in the past, they have always been stumped by the lack of blood vessels. This recent development achieves precisely that, using 3D printing!

Picture perfect. One of the winning inventions at this year’s Innovation Days at the University of Wisconsin-Madison was Spectrom, an attachment for 3D printers that enables users to incorporate ‘seamless, on-demand colour’ into the 3D printing process. Developed by two chemical engineers, Spectrom is designed to work with fused deposition modelling (FDM) 3D printers, which are the most common amongst consumer printers due to their ease of use and relatively low cost.

Current FDM colour printing technology simply makes use of pre-dyed plastic filament, limiting opportunities

for the user. Spectrom on the other hand delivers solvent dyes directly to clear plastic filament in a continuous, on-demand process. This allows the user to print colourful 3D models easily, just as we print colour pictures using an inkjet printer. The inventors think that colour-matched prosthetics is one of the most useful applications of Spectrom.

Currently, doctors mould parts such as noses and then have an artist paint them to match the patients’ skin tones. But, with Spectrom and a 3D printer, it is possible to scan someone’s face, build an exact face profile and easily print perfectly-matched parts.

3D printed skull helps patient regain vision and normal activity. Early this year, a team of Dutch surgeons led by Dr Bon Verweij successfully replaced the skull of a 22-year old with a custom-made, plastic, 3D printed

skull. After a three-month observation, the doctors announced the success of the surgery in March. The 3D printing technology used was developed by Anatomics of Australia. The researchers said that similar surgical techniques could be used to treat several other bone abnormalities.

Beating hunger pangs, even in outer space. Several food printing solutions are in the market today, to print out food structures using raw material in powdered form. Today, most of them are busy churning out fancy stuff using raw materials such as cocoa powder and sugar. Like the figurine atop a wedding cake for example! However, there are also certain models that take protein powders or other nutrient molecules as input and print out balanced diets. Electrolux Design Labs’ Atomium 3D Food Printer, starts with nutrient

molecules, and fuses them layer by layer to create customised nutritious foods in various shapes. The printer

will apparently solve the problem of serving healthy food to kids.

NASA too is working on a solution  to 3D print nutritious food for astronauts in space.

US start-up Modern Meadow is working on a 3D printer that is capable of printing raw meat. The process

starts with stem cells from the animals. The cells are then made to multiply and, once they reach large enough

numbers, they are placed in a cartridge to act as bio-ink. The ink is squirted out of a nozzle to create desired shapes, after which the bio-ink particles naturally fuse to form real living tissue similar to natural raw meat. The team is working to address quality and food safety regulations. Once the technology is ready for the market, it would consume 96 per cent less water and 45 per cent less energy than the meat production

methods prevalent today, and also reduce greenhouse gas emissions from this sector by 96 per cent, according to the company.

This obviously is just the tip of the iceberg. With ongoing innovations in electronics and material sciences, newer 3D printing technologies and inks for the same are cropping up, making it possible to print not just models but real-life objects and even living tissues. What we still hope for is more user-friendly software to design and print objects so 3D printing will catch up amongst home users as well, rather than remaining the preserve of scientists, technologists and expert doit-yourself enthusiasts.

3D Printing: The Technology That Changes Everything

The main benefit of 3D printing is the reduction in time, effort and energy taken to convert a design into a prototype. In a way, you can now build your products at home.

Older technologies like stereolithography (SLA or SL), selective laser sintering (SLS) and fused deposition

modelling (FDM) or fused filament fabrication (FFF) are now available risk-free for use and sharing because

their patents have expired. This has helped the open source community to increase their role in the enhancement of 3D printing technology.

Some time ago, the open source community took up a project called RepRap and popularised FDM 3D printers. Next in line, SLA and SLS are seen as the future of advanced technologies as their patents lapsed this February.This means that these technologies can now easily get into the hands of hackers or tinkerers, enabling them to develop their own software and technologies, and then sell these printers at a lower price, popularising them to a much greater extent than at present.

Priya Kuber, managing director, Arduino India says, “I have used an open source 3D printer, Prusa Mendel, which is something on the lines of RepRap. What I found interesting was the software side of the 3D printing.” Priya explains that Slicer is a highly mathematical tool to represent geometry of 3D printing. It slices the complete drawing into small layers and then converts them into a 3D printable format (.stl). “I also used the online tool called TinkerCAD that allowed me to feed an image and create a 3D image file out of it. Now you can feed that file into Slicer and then 3D print it,” she says.

Form 1 and B9 Creator are two open source 3D printers where the latter is completely open source. Form 1 from Formlabs “uses stereolithography techtechnology to achieve a professional print quality that plastic extrusion printers just can’t match. A high-precision optical system directs a laser across a tank of liquid resin, solidifying layers as thin as 25 microns. The build platform pulls your model upwards, out of the tank,”

according to the company. 

3D printing goes mobile

You can now get your designs fabricated without even being physically close to a printer. It is done through an ‘app.’ The app takes over the designing part, enabling a preview of the final product, and then gives the print command to the 3D printer available nearby. This is like enabling Google’s Cloud Print functionality on your 3D printer.

Karan Chapekar, director, KCbots says, “Autodesk recently launched an app called 123d Catch for IOS7. It captures multiple pictures (about 40) that can be shared online or 3D printed.” Engineers do not have to be near the 3D printer any more. They can prepare the code on their app even when they are travelling and give a print command to their 3D printer kept in their lab or at office. The only requirement is that the mobile phone running the app should be connected to the printer and the printer should be, in turn, connected to Wi-Fi.

Printing technologies with a twist

Certain 3D printing technologies have evolved with specific changes based on environment. Let us take a look at the most popular of these:

Carbon fibre. Carbon fibre can usually be incorporated into objects only by hand, so working with them is time consuming and proves expensive too. 3D printers use carbon fibre material in the form of composites, which cuts down waste by providing the exact physical length needed without any requirement to trim.

Light-directed electrophoretic deposition (EPD). EPD is an old technology that is unable to allow selective depositions at certain spots. A combination of photoconductive electrodes with a DC electric field allows spot deposition to produce accurate composites in a process called light-directed EPD. EPD being a faster deposition technique, the addition of light to it allows the creation of accurate void areas, thus helping the

engineers to come up with all types of designs in a shorter span of time.

The interesting point in this technology is that it uses laser-cut aluminium mask, which is likely to be replaced

soon by a digitally-projected mask that would make it a completely automated deposition system. Being a resin-type 3D printing system, it provides better finish to the object being printed.

Biomimicry. Biomimicry is a new science that studies nature’s models and then uses these designs and processes to solve human problems. 3D printers can be a great boon in making products similar to those found in nature. The best thing about this technology is that the final products can get different colours

without any extra cartridge attachment to the 3D printers. This lets us create new prototypes of different colours and shapes without any extra tools and cost.

Sensor and data analysis in 3D printing. Sensors are the key source for inspection in data analysis. They play an important role in improving the additive manufacturing process in 3D printing. If we take the example of selective layer sintering (SLS), the sensor would allow the engineers to identify the optimal coupling between the powders and the laser by helping them to analyse the right amount of energy transferred into the powder layer. It helps to prevent overheating during the process.

New 3D printers in the market

The 3D printing industry can be seen as a growing industry with developments being made at every stage. No wonder newer technologies are emerging. But there is requirement of new 3D printers that can be used for multiple platforms with multiple filaments.

There is a 3D printer MarkOne, created by a start up named MarkForged, at Boston, which can print carbon fibre. As mentioned earlier, though carbon fibre can be used to make things manually, it is tough to work with and time consuming as well. MarkOne can make working with carbon fibres easy and less time consuming, without the requirement to trim the object as only the required amount of carbon fibre is laid

down. Thus a strong object can be created in less time with least effort. This printer not only works with carbon fibre but also has the ability to work with other types of composites like nylon, fiberglass and PLA (polylactic acid).

Then there is another printer called Duplicator 4, which is an assembled dual-extrusion 3D printer available in

India. Although it is capable enough to be compared with MakerBot’s Replicator 2x, it is almost one third in price. It can 3D print in two colours and also has the capability to use one extruder to print the actual object and the other to print the dissolvable material. It uses the FDM technology and can use both plastics and composites for the filament. Karan says, “Duplicator 4 is a blatant copy, a clone or a duplicate of MakerBot design made in china and imported by some people in India.” Usually, the printers are not something you can assemble at home, but with 3D printers this is not the case. Besides buying a low-cost 3D printer you also have the option to assemble your own 3D printer. There are many online global communities like RepRap that offer the do-it-yourself kits for assembling your own 3D printer.

Daniel Hutchison, co-founder, HYREL LLC says, “We have come up with Mk1 filament extruder and EMO-25 extruder, where EMO-25 can print precious-metal clay on all platforms and uses most of the emulsified filaments like PMC and silicon. “Biotz is introducing a disruptive portable 3D printer which would be affordable for each and every home by 2015,” says Paul.

Want to try 3D printing?

New technologies require new tools, software and training to support it. Some companies like Redd Robotics, Cycloid System and Kurukshetra are organising workshops in India to help people understand the concept of 3D printing and to encourage this technology for the growth of the Indian market. Leading firm like Ultimatum and SAP Labs are working with experts in this industry to explore new opportunities for on-demand development of new technologies and software anywhere and anytime.

The software plays an important role in the designing and development before actual printing takes place. The 3D models designed are first verified and tested to ensure that the final product to be printed would meet the requirements of the customers. Karan says, “The major supplier of 3D printing software is Autodesk with their key software being AutoCAD. They are also releasing a number of free software related to 3D printing, one such example being 123D Design that is used for 3D modelling.”

Then there are other software like Meshmixer that allows the designers to mix and match, stamp, script and

paint one’s own 3D printed designs. The user-friendly online tool like TinkerCAD allows the designers to convert their ideas into a CAD models for 3D printing. Harshad Karmarkar, research analyst, Patent insight Pro says, “Although CAD/CAM software forms a base for 3D printing, companies have developed their own printers for specific applications. For example, 3D Systems has come up with a printer which prints on pizza.”

Varying price

The main focus of the Indian market is low-priced 3D printers. Even though the consumers are apprehensive about quality, the main concern of the market is to ensure that the low-priced 3D printers meet the customers’ requirement. Daniel Hutchison says, “The current price trends that we can see in the FDM or FFF market have been more towards making the cheapest printer possible for the consumer-level marketplace. SL has been price trending the same way although SLS is still an enigma at the moment.” He opines, “It will be interesting to see how HP and other large companies would affect the 3D printing marketplace when they make their entrance in the near future.”

Best Mid Range Over The Ear Headphones

Best Mid Range Over The Ear Headphones. If you want to enjoy music on the move and don't like in-ear headphones then a compact closed-back over-head model is the obvious alternative. But just how well do they perform?

Much as we espouse a purist approach to hi-fi at HFN we are not insensitive to the fact that many people today don't have the time or the space – or perhaps the wherewithal – to realise the archetypal vision of enjoying a pair of loudspeakers and a separates electronics system from the comfort of an optimally positioned armchair.

For a large number of music enthusiasts listening time is mostly restricted to car journeys or to the use of mobile devices. In the latter case you'll want a headphone that is compact enough to carry around but sacrifi ces little in ultimate sound quality so that, ideally, it can cut the mustard if occasionally hooked up to a proper hi-fi system.

Given that requirement, your eyes might well alight on the headphones we've assembled for this group test. All fi ve make plain their intention for use with portable music sources by having short connecting leads and closed-back capsules to block out ambient sound. But all are costly enough – and have received plaudits of suffi cient enthusiasm – to be expected to eliver high quality sound whatever the context they are used in.

Four of the models we've assembled come from headphone manufacturers of long standing – Audio-Technica, Beyerdynamic, Philips and Sennheiser – and use supra-aural ('on-ear') capsules to help reduce size. But they are nothing like the supra-aural capsules of the iconic Sennheiser HD414 with earpads of open-cell foam. To exclude external sounds these supra-aurals don't just have closed-back capsules, they have conventional squishy earpads, albeit of small enough size to rest on the ear rather than around it. This can pose sealing problems that affect bass response.

DIFFERENT GENES
Our fifth headphone, by contrast, is from a relative newcomer to headphone manufacture – B&W – whose reputation was of course established making loudspeakers. Aside from this different set of genes, B&W's offering also opts for larger earpads that, if our ears are small, are just big enough to be circumaural rather than supra-aural.

Whatever its intended usage, any headphone reveals its ultimate capability only when driven by a top-quality headphone amplifi er. So I used a Teac HA-501 for the listening tests – the best headphone amplifier I've heard to date. It was fed analogue signals from a Chord Electronics QuteHD DAC, and digital signals via S/PDIF from a TC Electronic Digital Konnekt x32 FireWire interface downstream of a Mac mini running Windows XP and JRiver Media Center v17.

MUSIC CHOICES
Four disparate pieces were chosen for the listening comparisons: the 24-bit/96kHz download of Daft Punk's disco tribute Lose ourself To Dance'; the 'Miller's Wife's Dance' from Falla's Three Cornered Hat – the classic Ansermet/Decca – a 24-bit/ 88.2kHz conversion from a rip of the Japanese import SACD; 'Hold Your Head Up' ripped from Argent's All Together Now; and 'Dreaming', from the CD Duo by Wesseltoft and Schwarz.


Audio-Technica ATH-ES88 (Sound Quality: 80%)

Audio-Technica claims a sensitivity of 103dB per milliwatt for the ATH-ES88, equivalent to 117.7dB per volt at the specified impedance of 34ohm. We measured 120.6dB at 1kHz, so the spec. is conservative. Over the audible range (20Hz-20kHz) the impedance varied from 35.2-40.4ohm, equivalent to negligible frequency response changes of 0.3dB/0.5dB with a 10ohm/30ohm source impedance. Little if any carry-over of sound from the left to the right capsule was heard on the impedance test but in he frequency response measurements the ATH-ES88 proved very sensitive to positioning on the artifi cial ear. Despite this, capsule matching error was good at ±3.3dB. The diffuse-field corrected frequency response [black trace] is one of the flattest here but bass roll-off begins at 100Hz.

Audio-Technica ATH-ES88

Bowers and Wilkins (B&W) P7 (Sound Quality: 74%)

B&W claims a sensitivity of 111dB per volt at 1kHz for the P7 but we measured a much more competitive 117.6dB. Impedance is specifi ed at 22ohm, with a range of 21.4-26.3ohm measured on the left capsule (20Hz-20kHz). This is suffi cient to introduce frequency response changes of 0.5dB on a 10ohm source or 1.0dB on a 30ohm source. Clear carry-over of sound from the active to the inactive capsule was heard. The small circumaural earpads proved their worth on the artifi cial ear by keeping the LF response very consistent but disparities at higher frequency gave rise to a capsule matching error of ±7.0dB (40Hz-10kHz) – a typical fi gure for a headphone. Diffuse-fi eld corrected frequency response [black trace, below] is pretty good from 300Hz upwards but below that the bass shelves up by around 6dB.

Bowers and Wilkins (B&W) P7

Beyerdynamic T51p (Sound Quality: 76%)

Beyerdynamic offers no specifi cation of sensitivity for the T51p but we measured a competitive 117.3dB for 1V/1kHz. This is achieved without recourse to unusually low impedance: 32ohm is specifi ed and we measured a range of 33.6-53.3ohm (20Hz-20kHz). Still, this is suffi cient to introduce response changes of 0.8dB with a 10ohm source impedance and 1.6dB with a 30ohm source – both on the high side. Earpad sealing proved variable during the response measurements but the ±6.9dB capsule matching error is nothing untoward. However, on the impedance test the T51p had the group's most obvious carry-over of sound from the active to inactive capsule. Diffuse-fi eld corrected frequency response [black trace] shows a ising response below 1kHz followed by early bass roll-off below 100Hz.

Beyerdynamic T51p

Philips Fidelio M1 (Sound Quality: 70%)

Philips specifi es 107dB sensitivity for the M1 but not the input. If we assume 1mW then that equates to a high 125dB for 1V at the specifi ed 16ohm impedance and the M1 doesn't fall that far short at a measured 121.8dB at 1kHz. The low impedance explains this, and it's maintained consistently enough at 17.2-19.7ohm (20Hz-20kHz) that frequency response change is 0.4dB for a 10ohm source impedance and 0.8dB for a 30ohm source. Carry-over of sound via the headband from the active to the inactive capsule was obvious and the M1 also proved reluctant to form a reliable seal with the artifi cial ear during response measurement. Capsule matching error was fair at ±5.3dB despite this but it was partly responsible for the diffusefield corrected response tailing off below 120Hz.

Philips Fidelio M1

Sennheiser Momentum (Sound Quality: 60%)

Sennheiser specifi es the Momentum's sensitivity at 112dB for 1V/1kHz, and although we measured better at 113.5dB this is easily the lowest in this group. High impedance would have explained this but we measured a range of 25.0-28.3ohm (20Hz-20kHz) – higher than the specifi ed 18ohm but lower than others here. With a source impedance of 10ohm the resulting frequency response change is 0.3dB, rising to 0.6dB for a 30ohm source. Carry-over of sound from the active to inactive capsule was perceptible but at a low level. The Momentum's earpads didn't seal well to the artifi cial ear but ±7.3dB capsule matching error is down to disparities at high frequencies. Diffuse-fi eld corrected frequency response [black trace] shows a bass shelf that raises output below 100Hz by about 11dB (re. 1kHz).

Sennheiser Momentum

Conclusion

I have to say I was hoping for somewhat better from this group of headphones, each of them from a prestigious marque. Although they are all primarily intended for use with handheld music sources, I thought there was a fair chance – not least because of the positive receptions they have achieved elsewhere – that they might also cut it in the listening room. Well, they don't quite.

My advice is to reserve them for their intended use, where their compact dimensions and sound isolation are essential assets, and buy yourself a good circumaural open-back 'phone for use with your hi-fi system: you'll be rewarded with sound that's a notch or two superior.

But let's assume, as we must, that you have these models in your sights because on-the-hoof listening in noisy environments is what you have in mind. Which of them delivers the best inherent sound quality?

First to fall by the wayside for me is the Sennheiser. All these headphones have too much bass to my ears but only one of them takes low frequency excess to a tragi-comic level and that's the Momentum On-Ear. It's passably good in other respects but I can only imagine it appealing to bassobsessed listeners who mistake LF quantity for quality.

While none of the other models here has the bass 'generosity' of the Sennheiser, as 've said they all have over-egged lower frequencies to some degree. This might seem odd in the Philips' case given its measured response but sealing issues on the artifi cial ear probably explain that.

Unquestionably there is a surfeit of LF when you listen to the M1, and it isn't particularly adroit either. This contributes to its somewhat softened, muffled sound but lack of presence band energy is to blame too, and additionally bleeds spaciousness from the imaging.

Deciding between the Beyerdynamic and the B&W I found more diffi cult on the basis of sound quality alone. The Beyerdynamic is disappointingly bass-heavy and has a quality to it that, depending on source material, can make it sound rather closed-in and matter-of-fact, almost bland. (I'm also amazed that it has no channel identifi cation on or about its capsules – you have to refer to the Beyerdynamic script on the headband to be sure to wear it the right way round.)

The B&W P7's bass can also be obtrusive and, like the T51p, it lacks pizzazz. I wouldn't argue if you preferred one or the other on the basis of their sound quality but there's no question that the P7, with its additional weight, undersized circumaural earpads and vice-like head clamping force, is distinctly less comfortable to wear. As it's also considerably more expensive, I would therefore choose the T51p.

FINAL CHOICE
If the Audio-Technica ATH-ES88 wins this test, and it does, it is to an extent by default. It doesn't have the transcendent sound quality of the ATH-AD700 or ATH-A900X but in the context of this group it succeeds by adopting the essence of the Hippocratic Oath. 'Do no harm' seems to be the ES88's guiding principle, and it's enough to secure it victory. But that's not to say that it succeeds in blurring the distinction between compact, portable headphones and larger models intended for the listening room. The best of the latter group – yes, even price-competitive ones – simply deliver more

Panasonic Smartphone with octa-core Processor Review

Panasonic has announced the launch of P81 smartphone with octa-core processor.

The Panasonic P81 packs a 14cm (5.5-inch) 720p HD display. The device offers dual-SIM support and is powered by a 1.7GHz octa-core MediaTek processor. It packs 1GB of RAM and runs on Android 4.2.2.
The P81 has a 2500mAh battery, 8GB of on-board storage, microSD card slot and the usual connectivity
options.

On the camera front, it has a 13MP rear camera with autofocus and LED flash, along with a 2MP front shooter. Panasonic has added quite a few software tweaks in the device, including the device cleaner, dual window support, Pop-i Player and gesture support.

Panasonic P81 is packed with freebies worth ` 11,900, including six-month subscription to Evernote premium, free downloads from Hungama for a month, and accessories such as flip cover and screen protector.

Cubix Music Powerhouse Review

Portronics is proud to present Cubix, a compact and powerful speaker that is stylish and ultra portable. It is an extremely bag-friendly portable speaker that will make up for that distinct lack of audio quality that your devices’ speakers cannot provide.

The sound output of Cubix is very powerful and pure. It not only amplifies the sound but also makes it more melodious and audible. So whether you are in the comfort of your home, a garden or in a hotel room, Cubix will give you pristine and clear sound.

Cubix offers great adaptability and can easily be played with your smartphones, tablets, MP3 players,
notebooks, desktops, hand-held gaming consoles, or any other audio-enabled device. The most unique feature of Cubix is that it needs no separate power source to run. Just connect the speaker to an Aux port
of the device and you are ready to enjoy.

Cubix comes in three silicon casing colours of blue, orange and yellow. Being small, it can easily be accommodated in the palm of your hand, or fit comfortably in your pocket, purse or your laptop bag. The play time of the speaker in a single charge is more than five hours at full volume.

Samsung’s New Curved TVs with 4k Resolution Review

Samsung Electronics has launched its curved TV range in India. Amongst the devices showcased recently was the world’s first curved UHD television.

With the launch of world’s first curved UHD TV, Samsung is blending its innovative curved form factor with

its UHD TV technology. Samsung’s new curved televisions have four times the resolution and pixels of full HD, which means 4k resolution.

In addition, the TVs support HEVC, HDMI 2.0, MHL 3.0 and HDCP 2.2. The devices launched include the Samsung 105 Curved UHD TV, HU9000 Curved UHD TV, H8000 Curved Smart LED TV, HU8500

UHD TV and the HU7000 television.

Micromax Unite 2 Review

Micromax recently launched its Micromax Unite 2, the world’s first smartphone to support 21 different languages.

The device is powered by a 1.3GHz quad-core processor and runs on Android KitKat 4.4.2 operating system. It will be available in grey, white, red and green colours.

The smartphone has an 11.9cm (4.7-inch) Bright Graph IPS display with a resolution of 800x480. It runs on a 2000mAh battery and has a 5-mega-pixel rear camera with flash. In addition, it has a 2-mega-pixel front
camera as well.

BenQ XL-Z series - Full-HD Gaming Monitors Review

BenQ has launched XL-Z series of firstperson shooter (FPS) purposebuilt gaming monitors: the 68.6cm (27-inch) XL2720Z and 61cm (24-inch) XL2420Z and XL2411Z widescreen full-HD displays.

Featuring BenQ's exclusive Revolution Eyes technology for exceptional monitor performance, the displays feature motion blur reduction, Low Blue Light technology, zero flicker, gaming refresh rate optimisation

management (GROM), and 1ms GTG response times. In addition, the new models offer BenQ's latest

firmware, which enables third-party utility support for further optimisation options. The end result is striking visual clarity, seamless motion fluidity, and added viewing comfort for hours of action-packed game play.

The FPS mode featured in XL- Z series lets players tap into the fundamental  insights of pro gamers and

view the game the way a gaming legend would see it. This feature automatically adjusts monitor calibrations

to provide users with optimal brightness, contrast, sharpness and colour tint.

Featuring Low Blue Light technology, the XL-Z monitors successfully manage the exposure of blue spectrum light emitted, resulting in more comfortable viewing. To help gamers protect their eyes during extended periods, the monitors provide several adjustable low blue light levels that automatically adjust emission without affecting quality.

With the GROM management system, gamers also gain the freedom to custombuild their personal gaming experience according to viewing preferences such as refresh rates (100/120/144Hz), display resolutions and screen sizes.

Apple iPhone 5S Review

For some, the fact that the iPhone 5s looks like the iPhone 5 with a few cosmetic changes was proof that Apple had lost it. Where was the big Full HD screen? After all, the Samsung Galaxy 55 and HTC One (m8) show that large Full HD phones are in vogue.

First impressions can be wrong, though. The iPhone 5s defies naysayers by managing to be a better phone in practically every single way than its predecessor, and more than capable of standing up to its high-end Android rivals.

Apple iPhone 5S (White)

The iPhone 55 isn't an improvement over the iPhone 5 when it comes to build quality, but this isn't a problem as its predecessor was so well made. Its precision-cut aluminium rear sits flush with glass panels at the top and bottom. Its neat bevelled edges are perfectly formed, and it's more compact than top-end smartphones from other manufacturers, so it's generally more comfortable to hold and use one-handed. The phone weighs just 112g, which is incredible considering its build quality.

The metal-rimmed home button contains Apple's new fingerprint reader, called Touch ID. Rather than having to tap in a PIN to unlock your phone, you can simply hold your finger over the sensor. If that sounds like a gimmick, it's actually not: it's really a brilliant time saver and helps enforce security.

Touch ID can be programmed to recognise up to five fingers (they can be just yours or yours and those of trusted others). All you have to do is hold your finger to the sensor repeatedly, while the iPhone 5s builds upon image of what your print looks like. You're prompted to move your finger around, to get full coverage, and even to use the side of your finger so that you can use Touch ID from pretty much any angle. It works pretty much flawlessly at any angle and, impressively, any rotation, so you can even tap Touch ID with your phone upside down to get it to work.

The same 1,136x640-pixel, 4in screen remains from the iPhone 5. Put it next to big-screen Full HD Android phones and the iPhone 5s starts to look a little small, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. There's plenty of resolution for web browsing and apps, and everything looks incredibly sharp and detailed, as you'd expect from a Retina display with a high pixel density of 326ppi. There's also the excellent image quality. The high-quality IPS panel makes this one of the best smartphone screens. It's evenly lit, bright, produces excellent whites and vibrant colours, and excellent viewing angles mean you can see what's onscreen from anywhere.

For the real changes, you have to go under the surface. Inside, the iPhone 5s is a brand-new phone with a new System on a Chip (SoC), the Apple A7, the first 64-bit consumer-based smartphone SoC. 64-bit chips can address more memory than 32-bit chips. Given the amount of RAM in smartphones now, this doesn't make much difference today, but it will do in the future when smartphone RAM climbs above 4GB.

Apple's figures say the new chip is up to double the speed of the iPhone 5's processor for graphics and system apps. Our tests bore out these claims. In the SunSpider JavaScript benchmark, the iPhone 5 completed the test in 709ms, while the iPhone 5s did it in 416ms. This was the fastest result we'd seen until the Samsung Galaxy S5 came along, with its 391ms, but it still means the iPhone won't have any problem with complex web pages meant for PCs.

The phone's 3D performance is up there with the best phones available. When running the 3DMark Ice Storm Unlimited test, we saw a score of 14,506. The iPhone 5s has now been overtaken in 3DMark by top-end Android phones such as the Samsung Galaxy Note 3 and HTC One (m8), but we still haven't found a 3D game that is anything less than smooth on the iPhone 5s. The same goes for iOS 7; it runs smoothly on the iPhone 5s with none of the slowdown, lag or jerkiness you tend to see even on high-end Android devices.

Rather than increase the pixel count for the new iSight camera, which is still an 8-megapixel model, Apple has fitted a sensor 15 per cent bigger than the iPhone 5's. This means that the sensor's pixels are bigger, which means more light per pixel and better low-light performance. Add in the new f/2.2 aperture lens, which lets in more light than the iPhone 5's f/2.4 lens, and the new model should be able to shoot more detail in low light. In bright light the new sensor makes less of a difference, with both phones producing similarly detailed shots. We'd say the colours and exposure on the iPhone 55 are better, and you get more dynamic range, but there's little to tell between the two in terms of detail. In bright lighting the higher pixel count of cameras in Android smartphones such as the Galaxy 55 means there will be more detail overall, particularly when you zoom in.

In low light we found that the iPhone 5 generally struggled and noise became a big issue. With the iPhone 5s things are a tot better. In very dark rooms, noise was reduced considerably, and the sensor still managed to capture plenty of detail.

If you already have an iPhone 5 there's probably not quite enough here to make you upgrade, but if you're after a new phone and like the look of i05, it's a superb handset.

KEY SPECS
Apple iOS 7.1.3GHz
Number of cores: 2
RAM: 1GB
4G, Display 41n 1,136x640 LCD
Camera 8-megapixel
Storage 16GB 123.8x25.6x7.3mm, 112e (Full specs)