Wisen Up comprises of multiple sections that each feature flash cards containing a piece of trivia, fact or a question. Instead of trying to explain them, I’ll try to give an example so you can decide on your own whether you want this.

The sections are as follows:

1. Myths
   Do you think shaved hair grow faster?
   
2. Weird, Incurable diseases
   Did you know that Face Blindness patients can’t identify anyone by their facial features.
   
3. Amazing Body Facts
   If you yell for around 8.5 years, you can produce enough energy to heat a coffee mug.
4. Types of Doctors
   Well this one is pretty self-explanatory.
5. Name your Fear
   Peladophobia is the fear of being around bald people!
   
6. First Aid mistakes
   Do NOT lean backwards when your nose bleeds. (Weird right? They say it can be dangerous.)
   
7. Personality Quizzes
   Find out whether you are Inspector Clouseau from The Pink Panther.
8. Body Language
   Understand those gestures.
9. Ancient Cures
   Apparently, cow dung can cure baldness.
10. Be a Doctor
    No, seriously!
11. Funny Medical snippets
    First the doctor told me the good news: I was going to have a disease named after me.
12. Tell Me Why
    Why do we you cry? The answer is in there. Really!

Verdict
As surprising as it is, I actually liked the app. Anything that provides me over an hour of light reading (and more if you want to take the quizzes) for less than a dollar is sure worth buying.

woikr Rating: 3.5/5

Wisen Up is brought to you by GlobalDelight and can be purchased and downloaded from iTunes Store for $0.99.
Thanks to GlobalDelight for the review copy!

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• Review: WordDigest English Dictionary, Thesaurus & Spell Checker [iPhone apps]

We all have used a dictionary some time or the other. Be it the old school paperback Oxford dictionary, or one of the new age online ones. A dictionary is a handy tool, not only for students, but for anyone who like to read. Online dictionaries have an advantage of being updated all the time. Most of them now offer an iPhone site, which makes it easy to access them from your iPhone’s Safari browser. However, you need to have a data plan for that and be within coverage area. Plus, they are slow. This gives stand alone dictionary apps an edge over online versions.

The WordDigest English Dictionary, Thesaurus & Spell Checker for the iPhone/iPod Touch is a hefty app at 17.6 MB. But it is definitely worth it. Read on to find more.

Features

• Dictionary containing more than 147,000 words
• IPA pronunciations for 87,000 words
• Built-in hyper linked thesaurus for more than 28,000 words
• Built-in hyper linked intelligent spell checker
• Set bookmarks to favorite words
• History of previously searched words
• Built-in Web search for Wikipedia, Wiktionary and Answers.com
• Option to show the etymology (word origin) for a word. This feature requires active Internet connection.
• Option to alter the text size

The dictionary takes some time when you launch it for the first time, as it unpacks the data onto your iPhone. After that, it starts up pretty quick and directly takes you to the search page:

The search is pretty fast. Even though all the words are loaded onto a contacts like screen, there is no lag in the real time search. However, flicking through the words might have some lag sometimes:

Clicking on the word opens the word page which takes about a second to load:

The page is pretty neat and simple. It has the pronunciation of the word (text only, no audio), the word type and its meaning with a few synonyms displayed at the bottom. There is a star to add the word to your favorites and small blue arrows to go to the word’s Thesaurus page. You can come back to the page using the navigation buttons on the top:

The spell checker is pretty fast and intuitive too.  It doesn’t search in real time though. The correct spelling of the word and a few alternatives are displayed:

The web tab lets you search the word on one of the 3 online dictionaries – Wikipedia, Wikitionary or Answers.com. Here is the best part – when you go to the web tab from the Dictionary tab, it auto searches the word you searched last. You do not have to type it in again:

The More tab gives access to your favorites list (something which should be on the main page), history and settings. Settings page, among other things, lets you configure the text size & the default online dictionary to search from the web tab:

Verdict

A combination of huge local words database with the ability to search the web from within the app, coupled with an intuitive interface makes this app a great buy. People who are in the habit of reading ebooks on their iPhone/iPod touch as well as bookworms will find this app very useful. We give it 4 stars out of 5. The price of the app is $3.99, however, as introductory offer, the app is selling at a discounted price of $ 1.99.  You can download it from iTunes using the link below:

WordDigest English Dictionary, Thesaurus & Spell Checker [$1.99]

We also have 3 promo codes for this app which we will be giving away in a contest soon. Stay tuned.

WordDigest is brought to you by GlobalDelight and can be purchased here for $1.99. Thanks to GlobalDelight for the review copy!

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Aqua Jigsaw, being true to its name, is a jigsaw puzzle game based on aquatic life. It allows you to create puzzles from pictures in categories like fishes, aquatic life and aquatic plants. If you get  bored of all the aquatic life you can use one of the wallpapers in your iPhone or just take a picture and use it. The game allows you to choose the shape of puzzle pieces from rectangle or the standard jigsaw puzzle shape and modify the size of each piece.

What I liked

• Lots of aquatic pictures to choose from. Also the option to choose your own pictures makes the puzzle images practically unlimited.
• Excellent implementation. The blocks have a slight pull from a distance so that you don’t need to align till the last pixel.
• Load/resume works perfectly. Great for quick puzzle solving sessions on the way.
• Soothing background sea soundtrack. It needs improvements though (See the ‘did not like list’)

What I didn’t like

• The UI lags a bit while dragging the pieces.
• Soundtrack should have more tracks. And, PLEASE eliminate the glass shattering sound (noise?) when an image is broken into puzzle pieces.

Verdict

If you like solving Jigsaw puzzles, this is a great game for quick on-the-go time pass. It needs improvements but they can be addressed via software updates. The $1.99 price tag may seem a tad high but if you consider it’s excellent implementation, compared to other app store jigsaw puzzle apps, it’s actually quite decent.

Aqua Jigsaw is brought to you by 99games and can be purchased here for $1.99.
Thanks to 99games for the review copy!

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A few days ago Robosoft released Shri Durga & Shri Vishnu prarthana apps for the iPhone and iPod touch. The apps look pretty neat in the screenshots & the video. But are they worth the price? Read on to find out.

Technical aspects:

Starting with the nicely shaped icons to the awesome backgrounds, the apps follow an elegant and religious color code which is soothing to the eye. You can choose to start the apps in either aarti or chalisa mode. The interface is well designed and is easy to use.

Double tap anywhere and a pane appears at the bottom using which you can control the current activity and switch between aarti and chalisa modes. The settings button will take you to the Settings page which is pretty neat and intuitive:

The Settings page lets you choose the starting mode for the app. You can also choose the language of display for Shlokas and their meanings. 

In the chalisa mode, the chalisa plays in the background and the current shloka and its meaning is displayed on the screen alongwith an accompanying image.  The display changes automatically with each shloka of the chalisa. The common verse is played in between the shlokas.

In the aarti mode, there are touch sensitive items on the screen. Touch the corresponding item to light the diyas and aggarbattis (incense sticks), offer flowers and apply Tilak to the deity. You can also touch the bells to ring them. You can then perform aarti by dragging the aarti diya around the screen. Don’t worry, if you accidently leave it, it won’t drop. It will levitate and slowly come back to the ground. Also, you cannot cover the deity with flowers. Care has been taken that the pile of flowers does not exceed a certain height. You can also shake the phone to ring the bells!

Currently, you will have to purchase a seperate app for each deity. Maybe with in app purchases API in the iPhone OS 3.0, they can offer a generic prarthana app with different deity specific extensions for sale inside the app.

Religious aspects:

Since I have limited knowledge about Hindu religious procedures, I asked a strong theist friend of mine to check out the apps. Here is what he had to say:

Both the apps are awesome and show accurate meaning of the shlokas and use ornamental language which does justice to the Sanskrit words. The music is very good. The photos in Shri Vishnu prarthana app are excellent.

He gave a big thumbs up for both the apps, however, he pointed out that photos in Shri Durga app are not a nice as Shri Vishnu app, and, apparently, do not match the playing verse sometimes.  Another thing that he pointed out was that, usually, chalisa is not recited with the common verse repeating in between the shlokas. These are minor deltas and can be fixed in a future release.

Verdict:

Both the apps do pretty well in technical as well as their religious aspects. They are a must have for people who are constantly on the move and want to offer prayers to the almighty. Also, superstitiously speaking, installing them might keep evil forces like thieves away from your iPhone . Moreover, its good to have your deity always with you.

Here are the links to download the apps from the AppStore:

Shri Durga Prarthana [$1.99]

Shri Vishnu Prarthana [$1.99]

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It seems like Apple doesn’t like people to stay organized. Why else did they not put any To-Do app on the iPhone!

Thankfully there are gazillions of such apps on the AppStore. I personally like this simple app called To Do’s.
But I have always had a problem with all these To-Do apps. They allow me to manage a list of tasks, categorize them and what not, but who’d remind me to look at that list! I want my To-Do list to be flashed to me as many times as possible.

RemindMe provides a simple solution.
It makes your To-Do list your wallpaper. Now unless you’re too stubborn to let go of your favorite Megan Fox wallpaper (or to a lesser chance “M$ sucks” wallpaper) this works great.

You get multiple wallpaper templates to choose from and they look great too.

You can choose from multiple Wallpaper styles

But wait, as always, there’s a catch. Actually, a big one this time. Since Apple does not give access to the Wallpaper setting API, RemindMe just creates a wallpaper and stores it in your Camera Roll. You have to manually select it and set it as a wallpaper. Now that’s unbelievably clumsy. Also, It’s very possible that you update your To-Do list and forget to set the Wallpaper.

There are other little quirks as well. First, there is no actual To-Do list! You just have a blank text area where you can write whatever you like and set it as your wallpaper. Ok, we know you were trying to make the experience like Post It notes but at least one template for a proper list would’ve been nice!
Second, the fonts get all blurry after actually setting the wallpaper. This is probably a scaling issue which can be fixed in some updates.

Your To-Do list as wallpaper (Note the blurry fonts)

Conclusion

RemindMe can be purchased for just $0.99 on the iTunes AppStore. Even if it was a free app, I’d not give it my full recommendation. But, due to lack of alternatives, I’ve been using it. And yes, it helps a lot.

So, if you keep forgetting about stuff you should buy it. It’s not a great experience, but It sure does what it’s meant to do.

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Most people these days prefer to choose the Compaq/Dell counterparts over the Acer laptops (Despite Acer’s insane attempts at publicity by using Hrithik Roshan). But is that always a good decision or should you give Acer a second look? We at woikr review the popular Acer Aspire series of laptops and find out.

The Acer Aspire 5920 is a good  low to mid range laptop aimed at home users and students. The configuration is surprisingly good at this price point and is better than the competitors. Here is the detailed configuration of the model we reviewed:

The laptop performs really well in the mid range section of the notebook market. It runs  most common applications like web browsers, media players, development tools etc. without any hiccups. The graphics performance isn’t much to speak off but the laptop isn’t targetted at serious or even casual gamers.

It scores highly in the multimedia department. The screen is really bright and sharp.  And the refresh rate at 8ms is the lowest I have seen in laptops in this budget. The best part is the speakers. It has a dedicated subwoofer below it! The bass is not even near to the cheap desktop woofers, but it’s much better than other laptop speakers. The sound is loud and clear. If Acer is to be believed the speaker does surround sound to, but I didn’t find it too good. There is an S/PDIF connector if you want to connect the your Dolby speaker set. The thing is actually Dolby certified! Apart from this you have a VGA webcam that takes decent pictures and videos too. So, you don’t need to hookup a webcam the next time you’re in mood for video chat.

The connectivity options are pretty much standard. It has 4 USB ports which is a good number (I always think the 3 USB ports that most Compaqs have are 1 too less).  The 160 GB hard disk may not satisfy all your needs but external disks are cheap and comfortable to carry around so that shouldn’t be much of a problem.

The keyboard is really nice and comfortable. For a change the Quick keys are very accessible especially the Internet/Multimedia keys. The touchpad is decent but the buttons are a tad hard.

In the looks department the laptop is above average. It looks great from the outside but all the stickers on the neat white inside look clumsy. Also, it looks a bit too big when opened up. The weight is well balanced so it never feels heavy although it actually is on the heavier side. One thing I hated about the laptop is the opening latch, it’s clumsy and feels like it’ll break if used roughly.

The biggest issue that you might face is related to software. Acer has officially stopped supporting Windows XP. So, If you’re planning to use Windows XP on this laptop, you’re in for some trouble. After searching for hours we found drivers to almost all the hardware and Acer management software but some of it was unofficial. On the bright side, the laptop is not loaded with the junk that these companies install on there new systems.

Price:
The laptop can be easily purchased for approx 35500 INR at various shops in Bangalore. At this price, it ‘s arguably the most feature packed laptop and a great deal for almost everyone looking for a budget laptop.

Pros:

- Provides pretty much all the features you’ll ever need
- Faster CPU than competition in the same range
- Better speakers than competition
- 4 USB ports
- Good Webcam

Cons:

- Large size
- The Linux OS installed is really basic
- Clumsy opening latch

Here is how I rate it:

Performance: 4
Features: 4.5
Value for money: 4.5
Build quality: 3.5 (4.5 if the latch wasn’t there)
Looks: 4

Overall: 4.5

As you can see I really enjoyed the laptop despite it’s shortcomings. For all those who are wary of the Acer brand, give it a try. It’s good.

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Moto Chaser [iTunes Store URL] is a bike racing game for iPhone and iPod Touch available on the App store for $5.99. The game is getting good reviews by the users lately. The developers reduced the price of the game from $9.99 to $5.99 recently. Is it really worth the price? Lets find out.

The game has a very neat & intuitive menu system. Also, whenever you tap an option, you are confirmed by a feedback flare at the place you tapped. This is a really helpful feature as in some games, you do not know if the menu option was selected if the next screen takes some time to load.

The options menu lets you adjust the sound and music volume in addition to game difficulty.

Once you select Race, you are presented with a screen to select a player out of the 3 available. The touchscreen is very well utilized here as you have to drag the players to scroll through them.

Once you select a player, you can choose the track you want to race through. You can only select from the tracks that you have unlocked. Once you complete one track, the next one gets unlocked and so on.

Gameplay

The controls are pretty simple. There is a gas pedal at the lower left corner of the screen. You keep it pressed using your left thumb. The steering is done using the accelerometer.  Tilt the iPhone left or right to steer the bike. Usually, its not easy to control objects using accelerometer, however, it’s not the case here.

It is extremely easy and fun to control the bike. I guess it’s due to the fact that the developers just restricted the left/right steer controls to be controlled via the accelerometer instead of giving it the full control which is irritating (Try controlling the Audi A4 car and you will know).

The object of the game is to complete all the tracks by racing to consecutive checkpoints in each track within the time alloted. The time reduces when you increase the difficulty under options. If you have any time left over from a previous checkpoint, it gets added to the next one.

Sometimes, during the game play, other bikers will appear. Whenever they come, a small punch button also appears at the bottom right corner of the screen. Go near them and hit this button to punch/kick them. Kinda like Road Rash. Cool eh ?

The graphics are pretty good. The best I have seen in any iPhone game. The sound effects are appropriate and the music is good too. During the game play, a speedometer displays your speed and a countdown timer displays the remaining time you have to reach the next checkpoint. You can tap the timer to pause the game.

Conclusion

The game is great fun and a cool time pass. You will never get bored playing it. Even after you complete all the tracks, you will keep on racing again and again. This is totally worth the price. If you love racing games, this one should be on yoru App Store shopping list [iTunes Store URL].

iTunes rating: 4
woikr rating: 5

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Brain Tuner (Lite) is a free app available for the iPhone and iPod Touch [iTunes store URL]. It is a very simple and intuitive app to get some exercise for your brain.

Upon launching the app, you are given an option to choose the number of questions. The welcome screen also displays your best time.

Once you tap Start Game, you are presented with a series of simple math equations. You have to tap Right or Wrong. The goal is to answer the questions quickly.  Once you answer all the questions, you are presented with the score. The next time, you try to answer in a lesser time. That way you have to keep setting new record. The questions are different each time.

There are options to display a countdown timer before you get the question on the screen. You can also choose which basic math operators you want your question to be based upon. You can also choose to review your answers at the end of each quiz.

The app is great for kids and grown ups alike. You can fire it up and pass your time no matter where you are. Its a pretty addictive game once you start playing it. There is also a premium version [iTunes Store URL] available for 99 cents if you want to compete against players from all around the world.

iTunes Store rating: 4.
woikr rating: 4.

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The Logitech Z – 5500 Digital is currently one of the preferred 5.1 speaker systems in the market. This THX certified speaker system is primarily aimed at gaming enthusiasts and movie buffs. I got a chance to try out this beast at one of the electronics mega store in Noida. Here is a review:

Specifications:

Package Contents:

- Logitech® Z-5500 Digital: 4 satellites, 1 center channel, 1 subwoofer - 6-channel direct cable - Digital SoundTouch™ control center - Wireless remote control, batteries included - User manual - 2-year warranty

Sound Quality (Gaming):

This speaker system seems to be specifically designed for serious gaming.  Hook it up with a PS3 or XBOX 360 and it will simply blow you away. Performance with a 5.1 PC sound card was also mind blowing.

I played a couple of racing games and the experience was leaps ahead of that on a 2.1 speaker system. You can actually hear cars overtaking you from left or right. The excitement doubles when you enter a tunnel.

Score: 5

Sound Quality (Movies):

This is another area in which this speaker system beats all others by several laps. I watched a couple of scenes from The Matrix and it felt like I was watching it in an IMAX. If only I had a 6 storey high screen .

The center speaker is far more powerful than it actually looks. This little wonder reproduces crisp and clear sound so that you do not miss even the slightest of whispers in the dialogues.

Score: 5

Sound Quality (Music):

This is probably one area where Logitech didn’t pay much attention. The speakers sound pretty good compared to the other 5.1 speaker systems in the market when it comes to music. However, the bass is a bit loose. This might not be noticeable while you watch movies as there are no continuous beats or rhythm. However, when you listen to some music numbers, you will notice little delay (microseconds) in beats due to this. Many people might not be able to notice this. However, serious audiophiles will find out immediately.

Score: 4

Ergonomics:

Table Top

Wall mount

The satellites stand serves 2 purposes. It can be used to keep them on a table top and can be swiveled to serve as a wall mount. Cool eh?

The controller’s rear panel has optical and coaxial digital audio inputs as well as three 3.5mm inputs. These 3 inputs can be configured as a group to connect a 5.1 channel PC sound card. They can also be used independently for three separate stereo sources. On the side, there is a 3.5mm headphone out and one 3.5mm aux input to connect an iPod or other portable music player. I think giving so many inputs on a small desktop remote controller will result in cable clutter and make the controller dis balanced.

The controller also has a big volume control knob, a power button and 6 buttons to use the menu system. A 2 line blue backlit LCD displays the menu system.

The wireless remote works pretty well from a distance of 20 feet (that’s as far as I could go). It has extensive buttons to adjust the sound and select different audio input sources.

The 10” sub woofer is probably one of the biggest in this category. You might be surprised by its size as it is much bigger than it looks in the images. WARNING: Do not try to move the sub woofer on your own. It might give you hernia.

Score: 4

Overall Score: 4.5

Conclusion:

The MRP of this speaker system is approx 25k INR. However, you can get it for as low as 17k at many electronics mega stores and even for less at Nehru Place. At this price, this is a great buy for people looking for an integrated Home Theater and Gaming Speaker system with good music performance.

Pros:

- Powerful yet crisp sound output
- Multiple format decoding
- Plethora of input options
- Full functional remote
- Stylish controller

Cons:

- Expensive
- Loose bass. Not good for music enthusiasts.

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So how good are these services and how far are we from a truly branch-less banking experience in India? Woikr reviews and compares for you two of the most frequently used internet banking services available by Indian banks: ICICI Netbanking and HDFC Netbanking.

After State Bank of India, which is unarguably the most widely used bank in India, both ICICI and HDFC banks are amongst the top Indian banks in terms of customer base, infrastructure and facilities provided and both have fairly succeeded in providing powerful Netbanking services.

The common do-it-from-home facilities that both these Netbankings provide to their customers are:

• Viewing of Account summary, current balance, all historic transactions, mini and detailed statements.
• Linking of your multiple accounts like Savings, Current, Credit cards, Demat, Mutual funds and Fixed deposit accounts to a single Netbanking ID.
• Transfer of funds (more on this in subsequent section)
• Requesting a new demand draft or cheque book at your address.
• Online payment of utility bills like Electricity, Gas, Landline and Mobile phone bills, Insurance premiums, Credit card bills, etc.
• Applying for new Fixed Deposits online.
• Download of Account statements in Text, Excel and MS Money formats.
• Online request for a hard copy of your bank statements at your address. ICICI charges INR 50 whereas HDFC charges INR 30 per statement request.
• Viewing status of deposited cheques or stopping the payment of a cheque.
• Both use High-grade Encryptions for secure login and transactions. ICICI uses RC4 128 bit whereas HDFC uses AES-256 256 bit.
• Both have recently enabled Virtual Keyboard logins to stop any software from recording your passwords when you type them. Virtual keyboard asks you to choose the password letters by a mouse.

As a regular user of both these Netbanking facilities since last 3 years, I can say that the above services really do save me the bother of standing in queues at a local branch.

So far so good. Now the what’s-missing-by-whom part! A closer look reveals that both these vary significantly and that ICICI Netbanking is better than HDFC Netbanking by leaps and bounds in terms of facilities.

Here is a comparison of their services feature-by-feature:

Transfer of Funds: This is a major difference. ICICI Netbanking’s Funds Transfer facility is much more hassle-free as compared to HDFC’s Third Party Transfer (TPT) facility. The problem arises not in using the service but in applying to the service. The facility to transfer funds to yours or someone else’s account, at intra or inter-bank branch, comes readily with the ICICI Netbanking subscription. That is, the facility is ready to use and you just need to add-in the new beneficiary for making the first transfer.

However, HDFC doesn’t agree to this simplicity and requires you to apply to this service by filling up a hard copy of the Third Party Transfer Application Form and submitting it to any of their Bank branches or ATM. Now when we are striving for branch-less banking, this looks off-the-road to me. Moreover, user experiences say that the application is not processed promptly if you deposit the activation form at an ATM, and may cause further delays upto weeks. Hence, it is preferred to walk into the HDFC bank and talk to the representative for activation (walking is good for health seems to be HDFC’s hidden motto here!)

Applying for new Accounts: You can initiate the opening of a variety of accounts online through ICICI Netbanking by submitting an online request with the details. For certain accounts like the Recurring Deposits, the request gets completed without the need for you to visit the bank, and the newly created account is accessible at your next login upon approval. On the other hand, in case for HDFC, this becomes possible only on visiting the bank branch. ICICI Netbanking also offers online self-compounding accounts like Recurring Deposits and Money Multiplier Account that HDFC Netbanking doesn’t.

Insta-Alerts Customisation:Though both ICICI and HDFC Netbanking offers the facility of receiving message “Alerts” on your mobile to notify transactions, ICICI offers online customisation of the alerts upto the minutest details. For e.g, you can configure the threshold amounts above which you need an alert for, and also specify whether you need the alert by an SMS or email. You can as well toggle on/off the Insta-alerts for one or more services, say if you don’t want to receive the alerts for fund credits and need them only for debits. Cool, eh? Bravo ICICI

More Limitations: HDFC Netbanking is also lagging behind as it doesn’t allow:

• Premature liquidation of your Fixed Deposit
• De-registration of Bill Pay facility

whereas these are enabled by ICICI Netbanking.

Other way round: So, is there anything which is offered by HDFC Netbanking and not by ICICI Netbanking? Believe me, I had to look hard to find this and, gladly, here are some unique services that HDFC offers but ICICI doesn’t:

• HDFC offers TDS Enquiry facility by which you can instantly check how much TDS (Tax Deduction at Source) was applicable on your current and previous taxable years.
• HDFC also allows re-generation of your IPIN (password) online in case you have forgotten it. However in case of ICICI, you need to call up the customer care to request a new Netbanking password and it will be delivered to you (by post!) in about 5 working days. (Gosh ICICI… you need to be fast and prompt here!)

The User Interface and Ease-to-use: The million dollar question! Who offers a better and more user friendly interface? Well, HDFC Netbanking has a slightly simpler and user-friendly interface as compared to ICICI. However, what use is it if HDFC doesn’t offer as many services as ICICI Netbanking does?

(HDFC Netbanking main screen preview. Click on image for full-size screenshot)

The ICICI Netbanking interface on the other hand, though quite appealing aesthetically, ends up overwhelming the user with its plethora of options. It requires some practice by a naïve user to master the usage of all the options available on ICICI Netbanking, whereas HDFC Netbanking, with its lesser options, is intuitive to use from Day 1.

(ICICI Netbanking main screen preview. Click on image for full-size screenshot)

Having said this, I would still prefer to use ICICI Netbanking anytime as it allows me to do any banking action that I can think of. And am sure that if HDFC starts offering everything that ICICI does, the HDFC Netbanking designers and developers will be seen asking for a big salary raise!

Bill-Pay Charges: The Bill Pay facility is offered free of cost by ICICI Netbanking, whereas HDFC charges INR 25 per quarter for Bill Pay. (Yes, I know it’s a meager amount, but still why should you pay when another is providing the service for free?)

Security process: The ICICI debit cards now comes with a “Grid” feature for increased online transaction security. The Debit cards have a table of 16 numbers at the back, and the online user is asked to enter 3 random numbers from this grid before the funds transfer can complete.

• Pros: This additional process results in increased security.
• Cons: You must possess your debit card at all times for transferring funds (or remember the sequence of the 16 two-digit numbers by heart – not everyone’s cup of tea!). So if you need to make an urgent transaction to a friend’s account and are not carrying the card in your wallet, be prepared to explain the delay to him!

Site Upgrade: Though HDFC Netbanking appears stagnant to me with minimal new offerings, ICICI Netbanking is constantly upgrading and is offering more and more to their customers every few months. It currently offers new services like smsNCash, Bank@Home and Receive Funds, and seems to work hard to retain and grow its customer base.

Rating: So, do I sound like someone who has been paid handsomely to promote ICICI Netbanking? Believe me, that’s not the case and candid facts and user-experience are speaking for themselves. Taking these into consideration these, the woikr rating for these Netbankings is as follows:

ICICI Netbanking

• Graphical Interface: 4/5
• User-friendliness: 3/5
• Facilities and Services offered: 4.5/5
• Upgradation: 4/5
• Closer to Branch-less Banking: 4.5/5

HDFC Netbanking

• Graphical Interface: 3.5/5
• User-friendliness: 4/5
• Facilities and Services offered: 3/5
• Upgradation: 3/5
• Closer to Branch-less Banking: 3.5/5

That’s it folks! Please do share with woikr your views and tell us whether you agree or disagree. We value your feedback for future reviews.

And yes, before I close, I would like to say that the State Bank of India’s Netbanking SBI Online is another potential candidate for review and comparison. But more on this later. Currently, I don’t have an SBI login and password to use! Would you like to share yours with me?

Cheers!

[ Image courtesy: Me! ]

*** Footnote: All review comments are based on the personal opinion of the author as per his own user -experience with the compared products.***

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Bose is known for high class audio products. They have an unparalleled offering of audio solutions ranging from personal audio systems to home and professional audio solutions. Their USP is the technology they have developed after doing solid research in the field of sound. Almost all of their products have a Bose patented technology inside. Hence the steep price.

The Bose QuietComfort 2® Acoustic Noise Cancelling® Headphones aka QC2 are built on TriPort acoustic headphone structure – a Bose exclusive technology which features tiny ports in the earcups to produce a rich audio performance. The headphones also sport the patented Acoustic Noise Cancelling® headphone technology which electronically identifies and reduces unwanted noise while preserving the audio.

So, are these headphones worth the premium price? Let’s find out.

Package Contents:

- 1 pair of headphones - 5-foot detachable audio cable - 5-foot extension cord - ¼-inch stereo-plug adapter - Dual-plug adapter - 1 AAA battery - Carrying case

Noise Cancellation:

These headphones feature the patented Acoustic Noise Cancelling® headphone technology. This technology uses a microphone to receive (read hear) the ambient noise and then adds a negative frequency of the same value to the audio. This way, the noise is negated and you hear pure audio. This technology is far more superior to the other noise isolating technologies used in many headphones and earbuds. The headphones use one AAA sized battery to power the noise cancelling system.

The Bose QC2 perform a pretty good job at identifying and cancelling the ambient noises. When you are listening to music, you won’t even hear the persons standing next to you even if they are yelling. The headphones are optimized for in flight usage. They do a pretty good job in cancelling the loud roar of the airplane engine. They work equally well at beaches, in trains or buses, or even when your boss comes around and asks you for the report he asked you to prepare .

Score: 4.5

Audio Quality:

Despite the complex circuitry involving a microphone to detect and cancel ambient noise, the headphones do not miss a single note or beat of your music. In fact, you will get to hear more, thanks to the TriPort acoustic headphone structure. This structure reproduces every detail in the audio you are listening to.   Be it those little background instruments in the mid – high frequency range or those low frequency bass in your music. You will be surprised to hear more instruments and voices in the same song when heard through these headphones.

The sound equalization is great. All the 7 band frequencies in your audio are reproduced properly. The earcups vibrate when you have an ultra low frequency sound playing. This adds to the listening pleasure.

Score: 4.5

Features:

The headphones are pretty simple to use with just a single switch to turn them on or off. The detachable audio cable has a switch to select the input source type.  You can choose either low amplified source (such as iPod) or a high amplified source (such as in-flight entertainment system).

Sadly, the headphones cannot be used while switched off. It would have been good to provide an option to use them with the noise cancellation switched off. This is helpful when you are sitting in an already quiet location or are running low on batteries.

Score: 3.5

Ergonomics:

The headphones have an adjustable band. They fit well on almost all standard head sizes. The earcup foam is very soft and comfortable and is in no way irritable or itchy. The earcups are molded from inside according to left and right human ears. They fit perfectly on both your ears. Thanks to the light weight, you won’t feel anything even if you wear them for hours on those long international flights.

The build quality of the headphones is excellent. The supplied case comes in handy to carry them around. It is big enough to slip in an iPod 160GB. it also has a zipped pouch to store an extra AAA battery for emergencies. The cable and the pins are made of good quality durable material.

However, if these headphones were foldable, they could have fit into an almost half sized case just like their successors, QC3.

Score: 4

Conclusion:

The headphones are priced at $299 in the US and approx 14500 INR in India. At a lower price you can get a lot of other headphones which offer the same set of features. However, Bose QC2 stand apart in terms of excellent audio quality and ergonomics. The noise cancellation offered is above par and the headphones do great with iPod. Plus you get the snob value of the Bose brand .

With an overall score* of little over 4, woikr recommends these headphones to audiophiles, frequent flyers and avid music listeners.

* value for money criteria was not considered for this product as it is not applicable on any of the Bose products (no offense).

QuietComfort 2, Acoustic Noise Canceling are registered trademarks of Bose Corporation.

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The Compaq Presario V3780TU Notebook is a well balanced mid range laptop aimed at home users and students. The configuration is more than enough for basic home usage and most students needs. Here is the detailed configuration:

The laptop fits well in the mid range section of the notebook market. I ran various applications ranging from different web browsers, media players, development tools etc. and they all worked pretty well. The laptop might not have the fastest processor, but the configuration is balanced enough to handle multiple tasks simultaneously.

There are a plethora of wired and wireless connectivity options. A 250 GB hard drive gives enough space for storing movies and songs. 2 GB of RAM (and scope for expansion up to 4 GB) provides enough juice for memory intensive applications. The 5 in 1 card reader comes in handy when you have to transfer pictures from your phone’s or digital camera’s memory card. The laptop looks great, thanks to the 14.1” screen. This is probably one of the cheapest 14.1” laptops available in the market.

The only setbacks I could notice were that of weight (2.5 kgs) and the basic version of Windows Vista.

Price:
The laptop can be easily purchased for approx 43500 INR at most Compaq and HP dealers. However, you can get it for as low as 42000 INR (with free HP bag) at some shops in Nehru Place, Delhi. At this price, it is a great choice for college students and average home users.

Pros:

- 14.1” screen
- 250 GB HDD
- Number of connectivity options
- Good looks

Cons:

- Heavy at 2.5 kgs
- Basic version of Windows Vista bundled

Here is how I rate it:

Performance: 4
Features: 4
Value for money: 3.5
Build quality: 4
Looks: 4

Overall: 4

Note: In case your budget is tight, you can go for a lighter version – Compaq Presario C752TU available for approx 34000 INR. However, If you are an advanced user and can shell out some more cash, go for Sony Vaio CR35G, now available for approx 51000 INR.

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