Wacom has done it again with the new release in their Intuos series, the Wacom Intuos5. Wacom is promising a productivity increase with the new multi-touch surface along with enhanced features; let us see how the new Intuos5 stacks up with the Intuos4 we reviewed sometime back!

After having a good chunk of time to use the Intuos5 in my overall work day along with in personal design projects, I can now say I have used the Intuos5 enough to write one of the typical full-blown reviews that you all know!

Enough jibber-jabbin’, let’s get on with the all new and snazzy Intuos5!

Design

When I reviewed the Intuos4 way back when, I was very impresse with the overall design. Although, like the recent Photoshop CS6 updated UI, the Intuos4 stood out a bit too much with its black bezel and lit up buttons; a designer wants to focus on his/her project and not the tools they use to achieve such. This is where Wacom realized they had to do something, and boy, what they did was fantastic!

The new Intuos5 features a very slick, matte black finish. With its new eight impressed ExpressKeys on the sides, you can now clearly feel what button you are pressing without looking down to the tablet. Not only did Wacom make the Intuos5 easier to use, they took it one step further; the entire “bezel” of the device is outlined with a rubbery, soft to the touch finish, making the Intuos5 easier to glide your hands across like never before.

One gripe I had with the Intuos4 was the tracking area… it stopped right at the edge of the drawing area, making it so whenever you are at the edge, your hand will be on the very edge of the tablet; quite the uncomfortable feeling if you ask me. Like many other improved features, Wacom has eliminated this in their design with having a bit of a bleed to the tracking area. This in turn allows for a more natural feeling of “drawing off from the edge” like you do on a piece of paper.

With good design, one might think build quality would be lacking… wrong! The Intuos5 features a very solid design when compared with its brother, the Intuos4. Everything thing seems more tightly compacted in the Intuos5, making it a very solid tablet to draw on.

 Input Devices

Just like the Intuos4, the Intous5 features all the same nibs (pen tips), the same pen, and the same styled holder, that feels more soft to the touch compared to the Intuos4′s pen holder. One thing I would like to point out is that Wacom has chosen to not provide the mouse like they did for the Intuos4, instead, replaced with an all new feature… multi-touch!

The multi-touch features work surprisingly well, granted that the implementation is 100% custom. There are very many types of gestures that you can achieve, ranging from one finger all the way up to five fingers. Now that’s what I call options! And with the typical Wacom shortcuts dropdown, you can assign anything that your heart desires. I also have to mention, Intuos4 users might know that when using the TouchRing (which we will get to shortly), zooming in and out was somewhat choppy (at least for me that is). On the new Intuos5, when pinching to zoom in and out, it is as smooth as it can be. It honestly feels so natural to work with your hands on the new Intuos5; some have thought that it is “unprofessional”, but in reality, it is the best feature Wacom could have ever added to the Intuos5. I have four-fingers down set up as a clipping mask; it is now so easy to create a clipping mask on a layer without even moving my cursor or hands! Now that is just awesome! Wacom is da bomb!

However, I have to admit, the multi-touch features are a bit sporadic for me. Throughout daily use of the tablet, the multi-touch features can disable at the most random times along with other odd bugs happening. To re-enable the touch features, I need to turn off and on the tablet. I have emailed Wacom on this one and hope to figure out why I am getting this. I had some speculation it might be the Logitech mouse drivers (the Logitech LX8 is by far my favorite mouse… ever) getting in the way, but I still have to confirm this with the tech guys over at Wacom. Very annoying when the touch features suddenly stop working, but it is most definitely software causing it.

And just like all the other Wacom graphic tablets, the Intuos5 is compatible with all the same extra accessories like the airbrush and art pen. Thank you Wacom for not pulling an “Apple-move” and forcing users to buy new accessories (hey, we know it’s true)!

ExpressKeys and TouchRing

One of the newly updated features, the ExpressKeys, along with the TouchRing, are some of the most important functions of the Intuos5. The layout of these buttons is the same compared to the Intuos4, but what is different is that there is no indication what these buttons do on the tablet (the Intuos4 had an OLED screen next to every button).

Wacom chose an interesting path on this one… they do not want you looking at the tablet, at all. As people using any graphic tablet should focus on the work and not the tools they use, this is a brilliant move on Wacom’s part that adds little distraction (and besides, when you draw on a real canvas on the desk, you do not really stare at one point… you look at the picture as a whole). Instead, when you hover of the buttons with you fingers, an information box will pop up on your screen informing you on what these buttons do. You will most likely remember what all eight of these buttons do, especially when Wacom has labeled them by feel to with the extruding dots and lines.

On the TouchRing, this has not changed at all, except for the fact that Wacom has now placed the indicator lights in all four corners instead of around the right edge, which in my mind, is brilliant as having four LEDs close to each other is just hard to look at.

And besides, this side of the tablet just looks so slick! It is so soft to the touch and your fingers glide across it with ease.

Wireless Freedom

When you just thought that the new multi-touch features are killer, that’s not all folks’! Wacom has decided to take it one step ahead and include a full wireless accessory kit for a mere $39.95. There is not too much to say except, it works and it does it well! If you are the type of designer that loves to work while on the go (I am one of them), the wireless accessory kit is a must for you. With the versatility factor, it is well worth the small investment.

It is also very easy to turn on/off along while storing the mini-USB receiver that plugs into your computer (to the right of the power button on the right hand side)

Despite how little it is, the wireless feature packs a punch:

If you have ever used Photoshop and needed to export certain layers, groups, and slices, you can quickly find out it is the most frustrating process in the design world. Whether you are a developer clipping images out of a Photoshop file to be used in a website or even an application or even a designer sending images over to your developer to use, you know exactly how long it takes to trim everything down… too long.

In fact, I personally have an Wacom Intuos4 to help speed up the process, and with a dedicated trim button (trim is one of my favorite features in Photoshop), it makes the process somewhat easier. Sure, Photoshop may have its slices feature, but to be quite frank, it is not powerful… at all. If you want to clip out a layer, but with a white background behind it, good luck. There is no way (from my knowledge) to set up Photoshop to remove certain layers before exporting your slices via the “Save for Web & Devices” menu (okay, you could set up special actions to do so and then save out, but even that would be tedious and a pain to manage).

This is by far the major downfall in Photoshop that adds a huge burdan on developers and designers. This is why one of my favorite companies who specializes in Mac web-development, MacRabbit, created Layer Cake, an application that can take the misery away from trimming and exporting all your layers.

Now just to let you know, wen I saw this application for the first time, I felt sudden rejoice. I have literally spent hours on end cropping, trimming, and exporting layers in Photoshop. Until Adobe gets their act together and realizes there is a need for a better system, Layer Cake will be here for us. With that said, let’s get on to the full review!

Simple but Powerful

Layer Cake features an incredibly easy to use interface; there are no complicated screens or directions to follow, “it just works”. The only thing you need to do is set up your PSD correctly to work with Layer Cake, and it will do all the work for you.

No mess of configuring the type of PNG to use, quality of the JPEG, or anything else similar. And this, by far, makes this application a critical tool to any Photoshop user.

Exporting Made a Breeze

After Layer Cake processes your PSD(s), it will throw up a screen listing all of your images. Not only will it list your images, you can preview them right in the application and even drag certain images to your desktop or  wherever you wish. If you would like to save all images, you can of course do that too.

Although I do wish these images can be grouped based on any subfolders these images might lay in. Let’s say if I had a layer named “Logo.png” in “Header->Top Section”, it would be nice to have some titles in the application telling me this image belongs to this area. This way, if I wanted to export only the images in the header area, it would be possible to do so whether than picking up every image in the header manually.

Even though Photoshop is quite the complex application, Layer Cake is not and is extremely easy to use; it is nice to have a bit of relief from all the complexity of Photoshop (and if you do not think Photoshop is complex, take a look at all the menus. You’ll get lost. )

So, how does this actually work?

Sadly, you cannot plug in any ordinary PSD and have Layer Cake work its magic; you have to specify what layers/groups you want to export first. If you have any PSDs you made previous to Layer Cake, you will need to go through the PSD again and set it up to use. But no fret, this entire process is entirely simple and easy to do while you are designing.

Simply, while you are designing (or afterwards) name your layers according to what you want to call them and what file format the will be. So for example, an icon may be named “My Icon.ico” and your logo may be named “Logo.png”.

But that’s too simple. Layer Cake took it to the extra step and added an entirely new feature, slices. Simply create an “@slices” group and a rectangle that signifies where you want to slice. And the best part about this, unlike the native slices feature in Photoshop, slices do not work as a “rasterized” image; that means you can have a slice be transparent… just what I wanted! If you are wondering of a real-world use, slices are amazing for repetitive textures; so if you have a gradient that repeats on the X-axis, simply create a 1 x (whatever) slice and you will have a repetitive texture. Awesome!

Let’s face it, this is AMAZING!

I have to say, Layer Cake is just remarkable; just a dream come true for Photoshop users. Not only can it export your layers in ICNS, JPG, PNG, and TIFF, but it can even export images from slices. Even though I do wish it had a bit more features like organizing the exported layers or even being able to specify if the image should be transparent (for PNG and TIFF), I am very impressed with Layer Cake; it is a must for all developers and designers out there as no one wants to spend countless hours trimming down graphics.

One feature that I would personally love being a web developer would be a way to turn all these exported images into a spritemap (an image of multiple images). This way, I do not have to worry about compiling the spritemap myself and have Layer Cake do it all in one application.

You can find Layer Cake on the Mac App Store for a mere $20. At first glance, $20 might be a bit much for such a program, but I will tell you right now, my clients will be much more happier with me now that I do not need to spend numerous hours trimming down their designs and making it into a website. It is well worth the money granted you are going to get more out of it than what you put into it.

Thanks to MacRabbit for letting me do this review. As I am always impressed with their apps, I wonder what they have in store next time around!

To view the Layer Cake website, check it out here:

http://macrabbit.com/layercake/

And to view Layer Cake on the Mac App Store, it can be found here:

http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/layer-cake/id512533449?mt=12

Hardware and Set-up

Sporting two antennas and a few front lights any visitor might mistake this for an everyday wireless router yet it is much, much more. With Composite, S-Video, and Cable inputs the device is capable of streaming from any satellite or set-top  box signal as well as a total of three USB ports (for future use) and an Ethernet jack for initial set-up and those who prefer to stream over a wired network. Also included with the Broadway is the IR Blaster, for programming and sending IR signals. During the set-up the wizard has you program each number key as well as the select and power keys so while using the Broadway it will be able to successfully control your TV and/or set-top box. With that said the wizard is both clear and informational as is guides you through connecting to your wireless network, programming the IR Blaster, and scanning for, or adding, your channel list. These last two steps can be the most tedious; if you have a DirecTV or Dish set-top box you have to individually add each of your channels, or atleast the ones you plan on watching, and without any pre-programmed remote mappings for popular providers (i.e. DirecTV or Dish) the user is forced to map each button for themselves. Though these are both one time operations, they are steps that could have been taken care of and included, especially since the unit will cost you around two hundred dollars.

The Interface

With an option for both H.264 or Flash streams, depending on what device you are using, the stream is truly available on any device. Whether you are on your desktop, smartphone, or tablet by simply going to “distan.tv” you will be automatically redirected to your Broadway unit. The interface is quite simple and furthermore easy to use. You are given three tabs, after you enter your pin of course, Live TV, Settings, and Broadway. Live TV is quite self explanatory, you choose a channel and with a little bit of IR signal and some magic later you are watching TV. The Settings option gives you some more basic options like aspect ratio and stream quality, while the Broadway tab (after entering your separate administrator password) gives you access to everything else including channel lists and port settings. (See Picture 3 Above)

Unfortunately, there is no option to use more advanced remote input options. In other words there is no way to view pre-recorded shows on your built-in DVR, etc. you only have the options to change the channel. Only one person can view the stream at once too, if another person tries to eavesdrop on your TV time they will get an “Already in use.” error.

Summary

Besides the hefty $200 price tag and the lack of some basic features the Broadway box just works. It is as simply as just plugging it in, setting it up and from that point on you can just use it, simple as that. This product makes watching TV much more convenient and allows you to take the content you usually can only watch on your couch anywhere there is an internet connection.  If you would like to check out the Hauppauge Broadway or any of Hauppauge’s other products head on over to www.hauppauge.com.

Last week we wrote about the QuickWeb Supa VZ1 VPS, which sported some amazing results for the price. However, like we mentioned before in the review, we wanted to give you the feeling of how fast their SSD VPSes are. I will tell you right from the start, these VPSes are some of the fastest I have ever used. They’re really fast… and I mean it!

As we already introduced QuickWeb in our former review, let’s just get straight on to the review.

Details

The QuickWeb Supa V8 VM2 VPS is quite the bargain for how much you get. For $15 a month, it will give you 512MBs of RAM with 768 swap, two CPU cores, 8GBs of SSD storage, 500GBs of bandwidth, and a 100Mbit port speed (which is actually less than than the Supa VZ1 I have). Of course, granted the price of SSDs nowadays (okay, they are not as much as they were a year ago, but they are still a good chunk of change), you do see some limitations compared to the hard disk based VPSes, like a lower port speed and less storage.

Although I would say for $15 a month, you are getting a great VPS for the money.

Network Speed

As the SSD can download data very fast to storage, I decided to download to the disk than to sending it off to /dev/null. The results are quite amazing.

wget http://cachefly.cachefly.net/100mb.test

--2012-02-12 05:37:23--  http://cachefly.cachefly.net/100mb.test

Resolving cachefly.cachefly.net... 205.234.175.175

Connecting to cachefly.cachefly.net|205.234.175.175|:80... connected.

HTTP request sent, awaiting response... 200 OK

Length: 104857600 (100M) [application/octet-stream]

Saving to: `100mb.test'

100%[======================================>] 104,857,600 83.2M/s   in 1.2s

2012-02-12 05:37:24 (83.2 MB/s) - `100mb.test' saved [104857600/104857600]

83mb/s is incredible for a VPS! And as there is indeed less storage on a SSD, I am sure these nodes will be a little bit faster overall as QuickWeb cannot fit as many users as they can with the space hard disks offer.

SSD Speed

If you are looking to buy an SSD VPS, you are most likely doing it for the speed. This QuickWeb SSD VPS troops quite a bit!

dd if=/dev/zero of=test bs=64k count=16k conv=fdatasync

16384+0 records in

16384+0 records out

1073741824 bytes (1.1 GB) copied, 5.78825 s, 186 MB/s

root@ssdtest:/downloads/ioping-0.6# ./ioping -c 10 /
4096 bytes from / (simfs /dev/simfs): request=1 time=0.4 ms
4096 bytes from / (simfs /dev/simfs): request=2 time=0.2 ms
4096 bytes from / (simfs /dev/simfs): request=3 time=0.2 ms
4096 bytes from / (simfs /dev/simfs): request=4 time=0.2 ms
4096 bytes from / (simfs /dev/simfs): request=5 time=0.2 ms
4096 bytes from / (simfs /dev/simfs): request=6 time=0.2 ms
4096 bytes from / (simfs /dev/simfs): request=7 time=0.2 ms
4096 bytes from / (simfs /dev/simfs): request=8 time=0.2 ms
4096 bytes from / (simfs /dev/simfs): request=9 time=0.2 ms
4096 bytes from / (simfs /dev/simfs): request=10 time=0.2 ms

--- / (simfs /dev/simfs) ioping statistics ---
10 requests completed in 9009.6 ms, 4281 iops, 16.7 mb/s
min/avg/max/mdev = 0.2/0.2/0.4/0.0 ms

One might say that 186mb/s a second isn’t that much for an SSD compared to RAID, but if you think about it, this is one drive, not four or five drives combined together (RAID)! Not only are the dd results impressive, but the I/O ping is amazing at a nice 16.7mb/s a second (the VZ1 VPS got a low 0.4 mb/s). That’s like 40x faster compared to the RAID config! Hot damn that’s good!

CPU Performance

We know what you’re thinking! How’s the performance on this baby? As there is one more CPU core on this VPS than the VZ1, I’m thinking it’ll do better. Let’s see!

System Information

  Operating System      Linux 2.6.32-274.7.1.el5.028stab095.1 i686

  Model                 N/A

  Motherboard           N/A

  Processor                       Intel(R) Xeon(R) CPU E31270 @ 3.40GHz @ 3.39 GHz

                        1 Processor, 2 Cores, 2 Threads

  Processor ID          GenuineIntel Family 6 Model 42 Stepping 7

  L1 Instruction Cache  32.0 KB

  L1 Data Cache         32.0 KB

  L2 Cache              256 KB

  L3 Cache              8.00 MB

  Memory                15.6 GB

  BIOS                  N/A

Integer

  Blowfish

    single-threaded scalar   2192 ||||||||

    multi-threaded scalar    4699 ||||||||||||||||||

  Text Compress

    single-threaded scalar   3001 ||||||||||||

    multi-threaded scalar    5844 |||||||||||||||||||||||

  Text Decompress

    single-threaded scalar   3256 |||||||||||||

    multi-threaded scalar    6689 ||||||||||||||||||||||||||

  Image Compress

    single-threaded scalar   2464 |||||||||

    multi-threaded scalar    4827 |||||||||||||||||||

  Image Decompress

    single-threaded scalar   2439 |||||||||

    multi-threaded scalar    4987 |||||||||||||||||||

  Lua

    single-threaded scalar   4269 |||||||||||||||||

    multi-threaded scalar    8506 ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||

Floating Point

  Mandelbrot

    single-threaded scalar   2837 |||||||||||

    multi-threaded scalar    5769 |||||||||||||||||||||||

  Dot Product

    single-threaded scalar   4670 ||||||||||||||||||

    multi-threaded scalar    9902 |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||

    single-threaded vector   5565 ||||||||||||||||||||||

    multi-threaded vector   12820 ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||

  LU Decomposition

    single-threaded scalar   3021 ||||||||||||

    multi-threaded scalar    6120 ||||||||||||||||||||||||

  Primality Test

    single-threaded scalar   4885 |||||||||||||||||||

    multi-threaded scalar    7831 |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||

  Sharpen Image

    single-threaded scalar  11411 ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||

    multi-threaded scalar   22952 ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||

  Blur Image

    single-threaded scalar   8862 |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||

    multi-threaded scalar   17800 ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||

Memory

  Read Sequential

    single-threaded scalar   7839 |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||

  Write Sequential

    single-threaded scalar  12333 ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||

  Stdlib Allocate

    single-threaded scalar   5595 ||||||||||||||||||||||

  Stdlib Write

    single-threaded scalar   8842 |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||

  Stdlib Copy

    single-threaded scalar  17438 ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||

Stream

  Stream Copy

    single-threaded scalar   7279 |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||

    single-threaded vector   8554 ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||

  Stream Scale

    single-threaded scalar   7696 ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||

    single-threaded vector   8242 ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||

  Stream Add

    single-threaded scalar   8067 ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||

    single-threaded vector   9028 ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||

  Stream Triad

    single-threaded scalar   8792 |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||

    single-threaded vector   6686 ||||||||||||||||||||||||||

Benchmark Summary

  Integer Score              4431 |||||||||||||||||

  Floating Point Score       8888 |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||

  Memory Score              10409 ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||

  Stream Score               8043 ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||

  Geekbench Score            7547 ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||

As you can clearly see, the score is about 1.4x faster than with one core. Logically, you would of expected 2x faster, but technology isn’t that persistent. Never alas, it’s for sure something to not complain about; that’s a very fast VPS right there! We have to test the UnixBench scores though to see how it can stand up with consistent load. This should be where the differences are.

TEST                                        BASELINE     RESULT      INDEX

Dhrystone 2 using register variables        376783.7 18826207.6      499.7
Double-Precision Whetstone                      83.1     1952.5      235.0
Execl Throughput                               188.3    12461.4      661.8
File Copy 1024 bufsize 2000 maxblocks         2672.0   338868.0     1268.2
File Copy 256 bufsize 500 maxblocks           1077.0    96341.0      894.5
File Read 4096 bufsize 8000 maxblocks        15382.0  2533936.0     1647.3
Pipe Throughput                             111814.6  2404133.8      215.0
Pipe-based Context Switching                 15448.6   774252.4      501.2
Process Creation                               569.3    36065.4      633.5
Shell Scripts (8 concurrent)                    44.8     1986.0      443.3
System Call Overhead                        114433.5  1811852.9      158.3
                                                                 =========
     FINAL SCORE                                                     516.4

With the UnixBench being 1.8x faster than the VZ1 VPS, I’d say the extra processor sped up the VPS by nearly two times, which realistically should happen. The performance for a two core VPS at only $15 a month is not bad at all!

Overall

I am very impressed with QuickWeb’s v8 VM2 VPS; it well exceeded my expectations on a high-performance VPS. If you are looking for a VPS that will handle database heavy applications with consistent load times, QuickWeb’s v8 VM2 VPS is for you! Hard drives might handle sequential reads very nicely, but these SSDs can handle random I/O way better than anything else can!

Overall, I give this VPS an A+ on everything. Despite the slower port speed, it is ironically faster than the one gigabit line as well; I guess that’s an SSD for you!

Application

Overall the guards are a cinch to install. BodyGuardz provides everything you need to install their products will the ultimate ease. Items like microfiber clothes, application solution and a squeegee are all included in the package. As far as actually applying the screen protectors, it is as simple as cleaning your screen, spraying some solution, and squeegeeing your screen protector on. Now, if you have ever applied a wet-install screen protector before you know how much easier it is to reorient before it dries and how much easier that makes the whole process. Also, don’t worry if you aren’t the best at applying screen protectors because BodyGuardz includes two sets of screen protectors so you can either cover two iPod nanos or have a back-up for later.

The Result

Sure, you might be getting a faster network, but for the most part, it is not entirely needed. This is where QuickWeb Hosting comes into play.

Introduction

Not only do the people over at QuickWeb know what they’re doing, they have been around for quite some time, four years to be exact. If a hosting company lasts for even two years, there is a good chance they are going to stick with it. With QuickWeb, you do not have to worry about them shutting down your VPS; I for sure never want to go through the data center to get my data again. I am not once so ever frightened about QuickWeb pulling any move like this, which adds a huge trust factor to the company.

QuickWeb is also very attractive to many VPS buyers as it seems that they always have some sort of sale going on. As for myself, I picked up the Supa VZ1 in Phoenix (512MBs of dedicated ECC RAM, 768MBs burst, 500GB of bandwidth, and 25GBs of hardware RAID10 storage). For $100 a year (when I picked it up) you just cannot beat this deal.

I have been with QuickWeb for a little more than two months now and have been very impressed with their service. But let’s not rush this review, how about a little more detail?

Reliability

Every server administrator out there knows that having a reliable server is more important than other factors. You can spend a ton of money on the fastest VPS with two dedicated cores and 2GBs of RAM, but if the server is not reliable, what is the point of even having it? With QuickWeb, the entire point of reliability won’t even come to your mind: it just works. In fact, I haven’t even rebooted my VPS since the day I set it up… now that is one reliable server!

The VPS itself is not the other thing that’s reliable, it would be their entire network as well! But we will get to that in the next section! But the main point of QuickWeb’s reliability is that it is just perfect. I have absolutely nothing to complain about.

Network

You know what, I think I will let this section speak for itself.

root@mirani:~# wget http://cachefly.cachefly.net/100mb.test
--2012-02-12 05:03:35--  http://cachefly.cachefly.net/100mb.test
Resolving cachefly.cachefly.net... 205.234.175.175
Connecting to cachefly.cachefly.net|205.234.175.175|:80... connected.
HTTP request sent, awaiting response... 200 OK
Length: 104857600 (100M) [application/octet-stream]
Saving to: `100mb.test'

100%[======================================>] 104,857,600 64.0M/s   in 1.6s    

2012-02-12 05:03:36 (64.0 MB/s) - `100mb.test' saved [104857600/104857600]

Yup, that’s right, QuickWeb can download a file from CacheFly at a mere 64MBs a second! Hot damn! That’s all I have to say.. it’s quite amazing. QuickWeb even happens to download this file faster than the Rackspace cloud! That is one fast network they have there… keep in mind this is only for $100 a year!

CPU Performance

One of the most important aspects to me has to be how fast the server can compute all kinds of information. For their lowest end “Supa” VPS package, it is not too shabby. Here are the GeekBench results (32 bit):

System Information
  Operating System      Linux 2.6.32-274.3.1.el5.028stab094.3 i686
  Model                 N/A
  Motherboard           N/A
  Processor                       Intel(R) Xeon(R) CPU E31230 @ 3.20GHz @ 3.19 GHz
                        1 Processor
  Processor ID          GenuineIntel Family 6 Model 42 Stepping 7
  L1 Instruction Cache  32.0 KB
  L1 Data Cache         32.0 KB
  L2 Cache              256 KB
  L3 Cache              8.00 MB
  Memory                15.6 GB N/A
  BIOS                  N/A

Integer
  Blowfish
    single-threaded scalar   2080 ||||||||
  Text Compress
    single-threaded scalar   2699 ||||||||||
  Text Decompress
    single-threaded scalar   3233 ||||||||||||
  Image Compress
    single-threaded scalar   1795 |||||||
  Image Decompress
    single-threaded scalar   1445 |||||
  Lua
    single-threaded scalar   2808 |||||||||||

Floating Point
  Mandelbrot
    single-threaded scalar   2670 ||||||||||
  Dot Product
    single-threaded scalar   4290 |||||||||||||||||
    single-threaded vector   5218 ||||||||||||||||||||
  LU Decomposition
    single-threaded scalar   2852 |||||||||||
  Primality Test
    single-threaded scalar   4593 ||||||||||||||||||
  Sharpen Image
    single-threaded scalar  11566 ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
  Blur Image
    single-threaded scalar   8921 |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||

Memory
  Read Sequential
    single-threaded scalar   7272 |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
  Write Sequential
    single-threaded scalar  11880 ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
  Stdlib Allocate
    single-threaded scalar   5255 |||||||||||||||||||||
  Stdlib Write
    single-threaded scalar   8599 ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
  Stdlib Copy
    single-threaded scalar  16893 ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||

Stream
  Stream Copy
    single-threaded scalar   7470 |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
    single-threaded vector   8336 |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
  Stream Scale
    single-threaded scalar   7294 |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
    single-threaded vector   7876 |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
  Stream Add
    single-threaded scalar   7595 ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
    single-threaded vector   8627 ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
  Stream Triad
    single-threaded scalar   7280 |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
    single-threaded vector   6389 |||||||||||||||||||||||||

Benchmark Summary
  Integer Score              2343 |||||||||
  Floating Point Score       5730 ||||||||||||||||||||||
  Memory Score               9979 |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
  Stream Score               7608 ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||

  Geekbench Score            5582 ||||||||||||||||||||||

But you know what, that’s not enough. 5,582 is a great GeekBench score, but what does UnixBench say? GeekBench is a great performance benchmark, but UnixBench really stresses the entire I/O. How about we view the results below?

TEST                                        BASELINE     RESULT      INDEX

Dhrystone 2 using register variables        376783.7  8821539.9      234.1
Double-Precision Whetstone                      83.1     1827.7      219.9
Execl Throughput                               188.3     6025.7      320.0
File Copy 1024 bufsize 2000 maxblocks         2672.0   189296.0      708.4
File Copy 256 bufsize 500 maxblocks           1077.0    47406.0      440.2
File Read 4096 bufsize 8000 maxblocks        15382.0  1251688.0      813.7
Pipe Throughput                             111814.6  1223865.5      109.5
Pipe-based Context Switching                 15448.6   338243.3      218.9
Process Creation                               569.3    16766.7      294.5
Shell Scripts (8 concurrent)                    44.8     1107.3      247.2
System Call Overhead                        114433.5  1050716.9       91.8
                                                                 =========
     FINAL SCORE                                                     274.6

The UnixBench score isn’t too bad with only one core, but it could get up in the three-hundred range. Then again, I highly doubt you will ever stress the system so much like UnixBench does. In my mind, UnixBench isn’t a good representation of the performance as stressing the entire system for around twenty minutes is quite absurd. If you do that to the VPS, on any provider, I’m sure they’ll wonder why your load averages were so high.

With the performance in mind, I have not seen any struggles in performance; it is clear that whatever QuickWeb is doing, they are doing it right. I am sure they are not being like other hosting companies and cramming as many VPSes as possible.

Overall

I really like QuickWeb for their amazing service. But in fact, Roel, the main guy being it all, is one amazing guy; he is quite active on Web Hosting Talk and just a very kind person. Unlike other companies who are just in the hosting business for the money, I believe Roel is in it just because he enjoys his customers.

Overall, I am very impressed with the service thus far by QuickWeb, They have an A+ in my book and hope they will stay in my “top hosts” list.

More Coming Soon!

Thanks to Roel, he has also given me the chance to review his new Supa V8 Solid State Drive (SSD) powered Virtual Servers. If you’re looking for some of the fastest VPSes out there, these SSD nodes will be part of it! As SSDs are quite expensive (I just installed a 120GB SSD in mine for a discounted price of $200), especially server-grade, SSD VPSes are a bit more than the regular RAID10 VPSes, but the difference is huge. How huge? Wait for our review to find out!

With just a word of warning, Unity 3 Game Development Hotshot is far from a beginners book. You should be familiar with Unity enough and know your way around things.

With that said, let’s get right into the review! But first, I’m sure you want to hear a little of my Unity background. Without boring you, I’ve been a game developer for quite some time and started to use Unity around a year and a half  ago. I was able to pick up Unity very quickly as the way the Unity team implemented scripting is just perfect. I would not call myself an expert, but I would say I know my way around.

Topics Covered

Unity 3 Game Development Hotshot provides a ton of information. With its eight chapters and four appendixes about all kinds of info, this book is one of the most informational Unity books I have ever read.

But then again, in 380 pages, you can for sure cover quite a bit. Here are some of the main concepts that Jate has discussed:

• Basics like creating a camera, 2D, physics, and sound
• Using GUI Skin to create menus and tabs
• Exporting 3D models to FPX from 3D Studio Max
• Creating control scripts
• Forming rockets and particles
• Building a smart AI
• Optimizing code using the profiler
• Constructing a ragdoll
• Loading and saving high school data from and to a server
• Differences between C# and Unity JavaScript
• Explaining all the different ways to write shaders

As you can clearly see, Jate has put a great deal of work into Unity 3 Game Development Hotshot; he really knows his stuff. From artificial intelligence programming to working with particles, this book is massively informational.

The Analysis 

I really have to say, I am quite impressed with Unity 3 Game Development Hotshot. All of the chapters and appendixes fit together so well, that the entire book keeps you interested in the content page after page. Not only is it packed with more than I could ask for, the writing is very professional and organized.

Chapter One

Unlike other Unity books I have read from Packt Publishing, this book does not take the beginning approach at all. Instead, Jate decided to jump right on in on a platformer game, or commonly known as a 2D game. Even though this might not be a beginner’s book, starting of with a 2D game removes the Z-axis, thus virtually disabling the 3D part in Unity. This way, chapter one can focus more on the learning curve and not have to worry about the 3D aspects just yet.

From the basics of creating a camera and a level to creating a special character class to handle certain functions, this chapter is always crammed with helpful, real-world information.

In just forty-one pages, Jate has guided you though with building quite a fun 2D platformer.

Chapter Two

This chapter is all about the user interface tools, specifically the GUI class in Unity. With the chapter being split into five parts, it gives the reader a gist on how to apply GUI Skin into your game.

In fact, I would say that half of the chapter is simply using the Unity inspector to customize all kinds of properties. The other half is simply the code used to control the entire menu that is being built.

With Jate’s amazing guidance, you’ll quickly learn how to populate labels dynamically and to even use the powerful Unity GUI tools to create lists that can scroll.

This chapter is so practical as in every game, you need to have an user interface; you wouldn’t want the gamer playing a game with no UI! However, as there is no set way to create an UI, it can sometimes be a bit confusing on the best way to create the perfect UI. With Jate’s code and directions that just make sense, it just makes you feel so confident that you can build any UI that you see.

Chapter Three

Chapter three takes on an important concept in any 3D game, shaders. Writing shaders is very difficult as the entire concept of Cg/HLSL programming is a bit challenging, but Jate takes you along the path of writing a nice and simple shader.

He starts out mentioning that a shader is built up of six main parts (or textures). After he has all the main textures established, he starts to write about how diffuse/specular lighting work, which are two different algorithms in shader programming that do look quite different.

He then goes on speaking up how to export a 3D model to the FBX format for Unity’s use and then programming the shader itself. The programming isn’t too difficult, but I am quite glad that Jate goes on and discusses how how the vertex and pixel shader programing come together for a full blown shader. If you never knew how shaders really worked (which I’ll be honest, I knew how to create them just not the full on technical aspects of them), I’m sure this chapter will help correct that.

Chapter Four

The next chapter, chapter four, is all about animation to make your 3D character more realistic.

If you’re going to build a 3D character that’s interactive, you will need all kinds of animations to handle running, walking, jumping, and et cetera. Jate guides you the first part adding in all the animations into Unity.

After that, you somehow need to control these animations and adjust their speed based on the current condition, which would be done by a control script. Thing is, you cannot always change an animation on the fly so he used the CrossFade() function to blend the two animation clips together.

This chapter is so useful, that if you are going to buy any Unity book before you create your super-awesome 3D project, I’d buy it for this chapter. You’re most likely going to have some kind of character, and with this chapter, you’ll know exactly how to make you character more realistic than ever.

Chapter Five

We all like rockets in 3D games; it just adds the extra flare and fun to the game. Thing is, there are many things that need to be taken into consideration when adding a rocket into your game. Throughout this entire chapter, Jate will teach you how to set up your character for the rocket launcher, making sure movement is stopped in the character, creating the animations, creating the scope target, making the rocket launcher do its thing, and lastly making an object for the rocket launcher.

Sure, it might just be a few particles and a 3D model of a gun and a character, but in order to control everything and make sure the rocket is fired at the right time is a bit complicated.

All in all, chapter five is one big chapter achieving one solid concept, firing a rocket.

Chapter Six

Artificial intelligence is one extremely rough concept in any kind of game. For most games, using any kind of random function will help mimic artificial intelligence.

To keep things a bit short, this chapter is quite the chapter in terms of learning. Designing any kind of AI is quite tough, but Jate did one heck of a job with this random-based AI

Also, one intelligent think Jate did is create a Jump() function to make sure the enemy will jump when it hits a wall. So essentially, you will create a waypoint for the enemy to travel, whether in order or random, make the enemy follow the path, and if the enemy hits a wall, make the enemy jump. And of course if it comes near the character, start to shoot at it!

Quite a simple concept that really does not use any advanced concepts. And the author even combines some already created scripts together to control the movement of the enemy.

Chapter Seven

This chapter is one of my favorite chapters as it deals with optimizing scripts for ultimate performance and a bit more. Instead of creating one huge capsule around the capsule, it would make sense to create a ray cast (picture it as a line below the character) to check if the character hit something, in this case, the enemy hitting a wall.

As the capsule was being generated on every frame when the AI was walking, it was lowing the FPS quite a bit. Generating a ray cast saves a ton of processing power, which Jate clearly wrote about. Jate also spoke about a bit on Unity Pro’s profiler, which can be used to check how much processing power and resources everything takes.

Not only is optimization a key part of this chapter, there is also an added section about replacing the character’s mesh with a ragdoll prefab, so when the AI/player dies, its body will conform to the ground. And then he even adds in some extra things like making a wall destructible and also making an object, like a wall dynamically break by a trigger action.

Along with chapter four, chapter seven is also one of those chapters I would buy this book for. Knowing why your game is slowing down is critical to every game developer.

Chapter Eight

There is so much discussed in chapter eight, that it might be difficult to review this chapter. But anyways, I’ll try my best!

Chapter eight merges into a whole different subject, creating a high score menu and sending and loading the high scores. As this chapter deals with the internet, you get a slight break from the 3D world and learning how to implement a fully working high score system in your game.

Just a really nice added chapter that is really needed for any 3D game… like you can believe, there is a good portion of code in this chapter to connect with the server in all kinds of ways.

Overall

I really enjoyed reviewing Unity 3 Game Development Hotshot. However, I have to say, this is one of larger Packt book reviews I have ever written; it did take me a good portion of time to write this entire review as there is just so much in Unity 3 Game Development Hotshot.

This is, by far, the best Unity book I have ever read. As Jate is very intelligent in Unity programming, you will learn a ton from this one single Unity book. Even though it is 360 pages, this book packs a punch for how much info you’ll get out of it. Every page you read in this book keeps you connected and almost wants you to stop reading and try it for yourself!

As this is Jate’s first Packt book, I really do look forward to reading any oncoming Unity books of his. Although I do feel that I should mention that some of the grammar throughout the book, especially in his code comments, is a bit off. I am not sure if it’s just a programmer getting lazy, or just bad grammar:

//For toggle the open and close our menu window

Despite some of the grammatical errors in the comments, the overall book is written very professionally. Unity 3 Game Development Hotshot is not a beginner’s book (which is what is mentioned in the book and on Packt’s website), so please make sure you know the ins and outs of Unity first.

With all of that said, Unity 3 Game Development Hotshot is the book for you if you’re looking for a very informational Unity book that builds upon the basic skills that you already know in Unity. There is quite a bit talked about in this book and for the money, this Unity book is very much worth it.

I’ve been using my “new” Logitech MX1100 mouse for several weeks now, and I must say I enjoy it very much, despite a few quirks. It’s the best mouse I have owned so far.

Features

The MX1100 is one of Logitech’s higher-end mice. It features a right-handed ergonomically-shaped body, dual-mode scroll wheel with “Hyper-Fast Scrolling”, Back and Forward buttons, a DPI selector, and a hidden button in the thumb rest. The mouse is wireless, although it is not compatible with Bluetooth or the Logitech Unifying receiver, and is not rechargeable.

Ergonomics

I generally consider myself left-handed, but I’ve grown up using a computer mouse in my right hand. Thus,the “right-handed” design of the MX1100 makes me feel right at home. Although I’ve yet to appreciate all of the ergonomic features, it feels significantly more “natural” in my hand than my venerable LX8 did. The mouse has a good amount of weight to it, which makes it feel like a well-built quality product; my LX8 feels cheap by comparison even though ironically I paid more for my first LX8 than I did for the MX1100.

Hyper-Fast Scrolling

The main reason I upgraded my mouse was because of the “Hyper-Fast Scrolling” feature – which allows the mouse wheel to spin freely for up to 6 seconds, allowing me to quickly scroll all the way through a document with hundreds of pages. The wheel features two modes – the free-spinning mode and the “MicroGear” racheting mode which feels more like a traditional mouse. Modes can be switched instantly by pressing a mechanical button immediately beneath the wheel. The wheel is a high-resolution version, which allows for a silky smooth pixel-precise scrolling experience similar to that on a Mac. In all, I’d rate the wheel a solid 9 out of 10.

Realistically, the smooth scrolling (which must be enabled in the control panel) works great in Chrome and Word (the two applications I use it in most), but it reverts back to “low resolution” mode when using Windows Explorer and Notepad, among others. It also has the annoying tendency to move a few pixels’ worth of scrolling when released, simply due to its light weight, and this is quite noticeable in Chrome when I take my finger off the wheel. Hyper-Fast Scrolling has proven to be extremely useful when scrolling through long programs consisting of many lines of code, despite Visual Studio not supporting high-resolution smooth scrolling.

I also wish there would be a third “smooth scrolling” mode of the wheel – no MicroGear, but with smooth resistance – as it would allow for silky-smooth pixel-precise scrolling without the wheel being overly sensitive.

Wireless range

As with my LX8, the wireless range of the MX1100 is not particularly amazing, though it is slightly better. I can actually use the mouse from my bed 10 feet away, though this still does not even come close to the 30+ range I can achieve with a $15 USB Bluetooth dongle and a generic $16 Bluetooth mouse which I use for my laptop.

Tracking and DPI Selector

Despite touting the same 848nm “Performance Laser” as my LX8, the MX1100 is able to effortlessly track on my glossy desktop (there is a layer of acrylic over the wood veneer) unlike the LX8. This is quite convenient since I can remove the mouse from the keyboard tray and place it on top of the desk if need be. However, the mouse does not track on glass, as is expected from a standard laser design.

This mouse features 7 DPI settings, ranging from 400 to 1600 DPI; two of these can be mapped to the DPI switch on the mouse itself. I set these to the extremes and use the 1600 DPI setting on a regular basis; I switch to the 400 DPI setting to slow down the mouse cursor drastically for more precision when working with graphics. This has proven to be an extremely useful feature as well.

Buttons

The MX1100 has a total of 8 clickable buttons, all of which can be at least partially programmed via the Logitech SetPoint software. There is a “stealth” button built into the thumb rest on the left of the mouse, which was not very obvious initially, but it is in a very useful location once you realize it’s there.

Use without SetPoint

Using this mouse without SetPoint is possible, but most of the buttons cannot be used. Obviously, standard clicking and scrolling functions work, as do the browser Back/Forward buttons, but that’s it. Additionally, high-resolution “smooth” scrolling does not function. Despite my overall dislike of SetPoint, I recommend having it installed for this mouse, as it does in fact add useful features.

Quirks

Smooth scrolling has a nasty habit of turning off every few hours. All it takes to enable is to open SetPoint and click OK, but this can prove to be quite an annoyance. An even worse quirk happens when SetPoint occasionally fails to detect the mouse at all, and resolving this issue involves unplugging the USB receiver, plugging it into another port for about a minute, and then plugging it back into the original port (which happens to be mounted on my Logitech G110 keyboard).

Conclusion

For a list price of $80, the MX 1100 offers a good deal of features despite being a few years old. Would I buy one for $80? Probably not, but for $30 refurbished on eBay, it is one of the best mice money can buy.

Want to get yourself delved right into the 3D gaming world but never had the knowledge to do so? With Packt Publishing’s recent release, Unity 3.x Game Development by Example Beginner’s Guide by Ryan Creighton, it is a great read if you wish to get started in the Unity world.

If you have been following our reviews for quite sometime, you might of realized this is very similar to our previous Unity review we put out not too long ago. To keep the explanation simple, Unity 3.x Game Development by Example Beginner’s Guide is an updated book especially for Unity 3.x. Not everything is all the same (like the writing), but the main parts of the book are very much the same, except edited for Unity 3.x. Some new topics have been added as well, so keep a watch out for that in the review!

Before I start the full on review, I have to give my gracious apologies to Packt on this one. I have always been very adept in reviewing their books, but this review took some more time as I have been bombarded with work for the past two months. Working on school work, physical work, and even client work is extremely hard to manage and when you throw all my other work into it (like writing for Tech Cores), it’s near impossible to find the time. I should of planned this review better… so to Packt, sorry! I love you guys and never meant for this review to take so long.

Enough jibber-jabbin’, let’s just get on to the full review!

What You’ll Get

Unity 3.x Game Development by Example Beginner’s Guide has the similar outline compared to the previous version of the book, in fact, it’s so similar you might as well base the outline on the previous version of the book as well. But to give you a general run down, a basic outline is below on what you’ll get:

• Learning the basics of Unity 3D
• Possibilities of Unity 3D
• Understand the essentials of 3D in Unity
• Taking the built in physics engine to good use
• Adding some sweet sound effects
• Coding in JavaScript for Unity Scripts
• Advanced topics like quaternions, mipmapping, and prefrabs

Introducing Unity 3D

For all of Packt’s books on beginner’s guides, the author always seems to introduce the topic in a very broad way. In Unity 3.x Game Development by Example Beginner’s Guide written by Ryan Creighton, Ryan does an amazing job getting the reader understanding the main essentials of Unity all in the first chapter.

Just like in his previous Unity book, he introduced what has been done with Unity 3D before. As we all Unity developers know, there have been some amazing games developed using Unity, especially on the iOS platform.

Not only does Ryan introduce what can be done with Unity, he also describes what is feasible for a single developer (trust me, I’ve taken on near impossible tasks). As many of the projects he describes have over fifty developers dedicated to that one game, he states what is possible. But as reading Ryan’s previous books, I know he likes to go the extra mile; he even gives recommendations on how to take a game you like that might take a year to develop yourself, and turn it into a nice mini-game that could take a month.

Unlike some other books I have read before on Unity, Ryan does not overwhelm you with introducing all of the features of the Unity interface in the first few chapters. Instead, he takes the “slow but steady” approach and disperses it throughout the book. This method is quite ideal for beginning Unity developers as you’re not bombarded with a ton of information at the start of the book. In fact, Ryan does not even cover the 3D elements of Unity fully until the eighth chapter (there are a total of twelve chapters).

Examples are the Key

As most developers learn by example, having all kinds of examples in an Unity book is the key for success. A total of four games and three main concepts make up the main examples of Unity 3.x Game Development by Example Beginner’s Guide. And as this book is updated for the latest version of Unity, Ryan also decided to add in an extra game from his previous Unity book. So in other words, you are getting a ton of examples in this book.

Ryan covers quite a bit within these examples, but I’ll just list out the main concepts of each:

Ticker Taker (game) – a varient of the keep-up games

• Learning on how to come up with a practical game idea
• Adjusting the default lighting
• Enabling the physics engine and adjusting its settings
• Using the Unity interface to adjust key settings

Robot Repair (game) – a type of matching game

• Understanding the built in GUI tools in Unity
• Adding images and buttons to the game
• Using title scenes and connecting them with the main game
• Learning on how to use arrays the Unity way

Clock/timer (element) – many simple count-down timers

• How to create a simple text clock
• Upgrading that boring text clock to a progress bar
• And taking that progress bar to a flash pie clock

The break-up (game) – very unique, more of a concept

• Using animations from 3D models
• Making flashy particle effects
• Writing prefabs to use over and over again
• Learning how to write Unity scripts to control multiple objects
• Showing things dynamically on the screen

Shoot the Moon (game) – like space invaders but in 3D

• Using all of the concepts from the previous games and taking them in one simple game
• Displaying multiple cameras
• Changing prefabs to dynamically use different models
• Applying a custom mesh collider
• Skinning a different game into an entirely different one

Yes, I know, there are a ton of things covered in a beginners book, but please don’t let that scare you. With Ryan’s funny writing style (the beginning of the book is really funny – take a read of a sample chapter!), it makes Unity 3.x Game Development by Example Beginner’s Guide a smooth but informational read.

I can’t say this enough, but Ryan did one heck of a job taking all kinds of different topics and putting them in an updated book. From the structure of the book all the way to explaining how the code works, everything will be covered eventually. Sometimes, the next part of the chapter will be later discussed in the book as Ryan added in additional chapters to help you get the more advanced parts in an easy manner. The entire flow of the book just feels right and is extremely easily to follow along with.

October 4, 2011 was a day that everyone was anticipating. On that day, Apple held their “Let’s Talk iPhone” event and people were expecting the much hyped, iPhone 5. Based on numerous case leaks and mock ups of the next iPhone, it showed that it could’ve had a significantly thinner design and the bigger screen that everyone wanted. What we got instead was the iPhone 4S, an incremental upgrade from the iPhone 4.

Obviously, initial reactions weren’t that great. People all over the world were disappointed with the 4S, because they were expecting the iPhone 5. Because people were so disappointed, the iPhone’s market share and sales has went down a little bit, making Android phones #1. What’s funny about this is that the iPhone 5 was just a rumor, not something that was confirmed by higher-res graphics in iOS 5, and part leaks.

But when you put the leaks aside, the iPhone 4S is truly not a disappointment. Apple has crammed in a powerful A5 chip to power iOS 5, and the inellegent assistant, Siri. But, is the 4S worth signing your life away with a 2 year contract? Read on to find out.

Hardware / Design

As I stated earlier, this was one the disappointments of the 4S. Compared to an iPhone 4, there is virtually no difference, but to be honest, keeping the design is a positive thing.

Even if the design is a year old, it’s still a work of art. Just like the iPhone 4, you still get the squared-off design with two pieces of glass sandwiched between the aluminum antenna band. With those components, the iPhone has extraordinary build quality. In fact, the iPhone doesn’t feel like a phone, it feels like a piece of jewelry or something luxurious. Unfortunately, the 4S’ design doesn’t come with compromises. Because the iPhone 4S features an all-glass design, you’ll have a significantly higher chance of shattering your phone. Also, the squared off design does take time getting used to, but after a while, you’ll get used to it. The 4S does have one cosmetic change, however. The antenna on the 4S borrows the same exact design from the Verizon iPhone 4. We’ll talk about the antenna more in-depth later in the review.

Retina Display

As time passed by, phone displays have significantly increased in size and it is now a desire for consumers. People want bigger screens and phone companies provides them, except for one: Apple. This is Apple’s fifth iPhone and still, no bigger screen. Obviously, everyone was extremely disappointed with this considering that phone screens are constantly getting bigger. But, there is one feature of the display that makes up for it, and it’s the resolution.

This was one of the hallmark features of the iPhone 4. With a resolution of 960 x 640 packed into a 3.5-inch display, you get a staggering pixel density of 326 pixels per inch. At that resolution, you can’t see the individual pixels even when you bring the phone all the way up to your eye. With this display, Apple has to do system-wide changes to fully support the display. For example, Apple has re-done the icons with much greater detail and has changed the system font to Helvetica Neue, which is a narrower version of Helvetica.

Even to this day, the Retina Display is still one of the best displays in the market right now. One thing to note, however is that the 4S’ display is manufactured by Toshiba, making the viewing angles slightly lower.

Performance

 Something that is completely different from the iPhone 4 are the internals of the 4S. Under the hood, you have a dual-core A5 processor that is clocked at 800MHz and 512MB of RAM. The specs compared to a modern Android phone doesn’t sound overwhelming, but in reality, it’s faster than today’s Android devices.

The chart above shows that the iPhone 4S is faster than the Samsung Galaxy S 2, both in CPU and graphics benchmarks. The thing with this is that the Galaxy S 2 has a 1.2GHz dual-core processor with a full gigabyte of RAM, and yet the 4S beat it.

But, benchmarks are just numbers. What matters the most is the actual performance when using the phone itself. Everything in iOS 5 (startup, animations, loading apps) is buttery smooth thanks to the A5 processor. The performance compared to an iPhone 3GS is night and day, while compared to the iPhone 4, it isn’t that much of a difference. To fully experience the A5 processor, you’ll have to use CPU intense applications like iMovie, or playing Infinity Blade.

Camera

One of the more significant features of the 4S is it’s 8-megapixel camera sensor, which blew me away. The new camera features an updated backside illumination sensor, a fifth lens element, and has increased the aperture to f/2.4. Also, the camera is capable of recording 1080p video, which looks stunning as well. The best way of explaining the camera performance is by looking at some sample pictures and as you can see, it’s stunning. These photos are straight from the iPhone and has not been edited at all.

Antenna Performance and Battery Life

As part of the slightly changed hardware, the iPhone 4S has an enhanced antenna design, which is supposed to end the over-dramatic “antenna gate” issue that the iPhone 4 had. Apple says that the antenna will “intelligently” switch between the two antennas, providing better call quality and signal strength.

After using the phone for a good amount of time, signal strength has been dramatically improved both from the 3GS to the 4. Also, the antenna gate issue as been resolved. One thing that all iPhones lacked from was the call quality. The 4S sounded slightly better compared to the 3GS, but it could still improve.

As far as downloading data, the AT&T iPhone 4S does get one slight advantage over the Sprint and Verizon iPhone. Apple is taking advantage of AT&T’s HSDPA 14.4Mbps network, which is generally faster than normal speeds. The 4S averages around 3Mbps which is pretty quick for a phone network, but nothing can beat LTE with it’s mind-boggling 20Mbps download speeds.

When Apple posted the 4S’ battery performance on the website, something didn’t seem right. Compared the iPhone 4, talk time on the 4S increased from 7 to 8 hours,but from there on, everything get different. Internet browsing on Wi-Fi dropped from 10 to 9 hours and the most substantial difference is in the standby time: 300 to 200 hours. The reason why battery standby decreased is because of the new A5 processor, which is power-hungry. Although, Apple did make a very slight bump in the battery capacity to accommodate the new processor, but it doesn’t seem to make it any better.

Because of the new processor, a good number of 4S users are reporting terrible battery life; some said that the phone dropped 2% after 30 minutes of standby time, which is usually not good. Because there has been numerous reports, Apple took action with the iOS 5.0.1 update, which is supposed to fix all battery issues, but Apple is still investigating the issue. During my use of the iPhone 4S, battery life has been excellent. The phone will last a full day and I’ll usually have about 50% left. Obviously everyone has different usage patterns, so battery life can vary.

With 200+ new features, this has to be one of Apple’s biggest software update ever. Of out of the 200+ features, I’m just going to list my favorite features of iOS 5.

 Notification Center

 Possibly one of the biggest requests that Apple has received was an easy way of accessing your notifications and also have un-obtrusive notifications. Finally, iOS 5 now has an Android like pull down menu that shows your recent notifications, and has two widgets: stocks and weather. The pull down window is certainly a nice addition, but the more significant one are popup notifications.

Gone are the frustrating popup notifications, and now when you get a new text message or email, a small notification will slide down on the top of the screen. Best of all, it doesn’t interrupt you. As of right now, there is one slight problem with this concept. When you do get a notification, you can’t dismiss the notification right away. Instead, you’ll have to wait until the notification fades away, which can be annoying. Though, there is a catch to that. There is an un-official way to dismiss them, and the way you do it is you slide Notification Center down very slightly, and release.

Another improvement that Apple has down are lock screen notifications. When you get a notification, you can just slide the icon to the left and go straight into the application. It’s a really handy feature, especially when you have a lot of them.

         iMessage

Another big addition to iOS is iMessage, which is Apple’s very own BBM like service. Just like BlackBerry Messenger, you can text to all of your iOS 5 devices for free through a Wi-Fi network, or cellular data. Not only you can send texts, you can send pictures, contacts, and videos, though it would be nice if Apple allowed document sharing on iMessages.

     PC Free

Another big addition to iOS 5 is that you can “cut the cord”. What I mean by that is that you can now setup your device without connecting to iTunes, and sync and backup wirelessly. Also as part of the PC Free package, you can change the device name within the settings.                                  

                Photo Editing

With iOS 5, you can now edit your photos right within the camera app. Now, it doesn’t provide you Instagram like filers, but give you basic editing like auto enhance, red-eye removal, and crop. The auto enhance feature does a great job at enhancing photos, but sometimes it wouldn’t work as well. If you want serious editing to your photos, you should use Adobe Lightroom or Photoshop.

 iCloud

Remember MobileMe? It was mostly a “Mobile Mess” because nobody used it. It was $99 per year and it provided services that doesn’t necessarily enhance the iOS experience and it was not integrated well within the OS. When Apple announced iOS 5, they’ve scraped MobileMe and replaced it with iCloud. 

iCloud is a complete revamp of Apple’s cloud services and I believe they’ve finally got it. Gone are the iWeb and iDisk services and have been replaced with services that are actually useful and integrates well into the OS. iCloud does retain some MobileMe services like email, contacts, and calendar sync, but now it’s more than that.

With iCloud, you can have photos, music, apps, and documents backed up and synced across your iOS 5 devices. Also, as part of the PC Free package, iCloud can automatically backup your device (app data, photos, contacts, etc.) in the cloud. Another service that Apple provides is called iTunes Match. For $24.99 a year, iTunes will scan all of your music and match your songs for high quality music directly from the iTunes store.

With all this, you get 5GB of storage for free and it won’t count your music, apps, books, etc. Instead, it stores your backups, Mail, documents, and etc. If you feel that 5GB isn’t enough, Apple will offer you more storage options for a fee. For $20 per year, you get 10GB of storage, $40 for 25GB and $100 for 55GB.

Siri

The biggest feature of the iPhone 4S isn’t the camera or the processor, it’s Siri. As you know the iPhone had some type of voice control that allowed you to control your music, call contacts, and basic stuff like that. The problem with that is it’s very limited and you have to speak commands, not by using regular sentences. Meanwhile, Android’s voice control is more cohesive like asking for map directions, and most importantly, voice dictation.

With the 4S, Apple has completely revamped voice control and made it extremely useful. With Siri, you can use natural language to send texts messages, emails, restaurant suggestions, setting alarms, and tons more. If you ask Siri a more complicated question (like whats the square root of 144), it will use Wolfram Alpha and provide your detailed information about your command. For restaurants, Apple teamed up with Yelp to provide local restaurant data and suggestions. Another added bonus with Siri is that you now have voice dictation. So whenever you bring up the keyboard, there’s a little microphone button next to the spacebar and when you touch it, you can start dictating.

While all of the commands are nice, Siri does have a humorous side. If you ask Siri a silly question, it’s most likely to give you back an answer. Here are some examples above.

Wrap-up

Overall, the iPhone 4S is an excellent phone. The combination of an excellent display, camera, processor, and operating system makes the the iPhone 4S an unbeatable phone. Sure, it doesn’t have LTE or a bigger screen, but it’s something that you can easily ignore when you actually use the device.

But here’s the burning question: should you upgrade if you have an iPhone 4? To he honest, it’s really up to you. If you really want the extra speed and the 8 megapixel camera, go ahead, but you’ll have to fork over $649 for the phone off-contract. If you own an iPhone 3GS, it’s a no brainer. You’ll be experience the features of the iPhone 4, except you get some extra features.

So, is this the “ultimate device”? You decide, but me personally, it’s a yes.

Speed and Video Quality

Digiarty boasts the fact that you can rip a full movie, with their software, in around 5 minutes. While testing it out I found that the average is just a bit over that time at around seven minutes for a hour and a half movie. Of course, these times do depend on the quality of both your processor and DVD drive. The DVD results that I am going to use for this example are from a digitally protected version of Disney’s Sky High. (i.e. The first movie I grabbed.) Not only were the protective barriers no problem for the software, overall the video only took six minutes to rip.

The Interface and Ease of Use

Though easy to navigate and understand the interface looks overly grey and bland. Though, I do have to commend Digiarty on including an option for those who are less savvy to simply press “Start” and have their video ripped without having to mess with, to them, unnecessary toggles. The rest of the program though is a plethora of advanced options allowing you to change everything from video format to audio bit-rate.

Giveaway!

Currently we have two giveaways going on in regards to this software. There is the one here on Tech Cores as well as the Digiarty Massive Thanksgiving Giveaway. First if you want to win a full free copy of WinX Blu-Ray Decrypter, leave a comment below with your twitter handle and tweet one of the following messages below.

If you want to get a free copy of the software reviewed in this post and video you can head on over to Digiarty’s Giveaway Site and grab a copy or two of some free software!

Showdown Time! That’s right. Today I have a video comparing the Zoom H1 Handy Portable Microphone with the Blue Snowball USB Condenser Microphone.

Zoom H1:

This a Handy Portable Microphone that can be purchased from most retail audio stores or online (Amazon) for a retail price of around $99. It is powered on a single AAA Battery and has an XY Stereo Microphone design. It recorded directly onto a MicroSD Card in either .WAV or .MP3

Blue Snowball:

This a USB Condensor Microphone, originally designed for podcasting and targeting the lower consumer at its nice retail price of $60. It has 3 different settings for audio. It has a Plug & Play design, or should I say Plug & Record. It compatible with most PC’s and Macs.

Basically I talk throughout the video, while changing between microphones. I hope you guys enjoy and if you have any questions please feel free to comment bellow, on the video or on Twitter.

Quality and Appearance

The BodyGuardz protectors are touted to be made out of the same material used to protect cars from the scratches and general wear and tear. In comparison to a more common screen protector the BodyGuardz is thicker and made of a softer plastic material. These two factors combine to form a better feeling surface and a higher level of protection. But nothing is ever perfect; the cover forms dimple like creases on the surface of the sheet giving the product an almost cheap appearance. Personally, I couldn’t get a good photo of what I am talking about so I did a little searching around and found a photo by a iPhone 3GS user who also was experiencing the same problem.

Protection and Clarity

On the positive side, the sheet is scratch resistant and, even though it is a clear protector, helps limit the number of finger prints and smudges on your screen. Fortunately enough, the dimples that were mentioned earlier don’t effect the screen clarity and really the only time that you notice the imperfections is when the screen is turned off.

Now, people buy screen protectors to protect their device from scratches but what if your device is already scratched? The BodyGuardz masks it completely. For example, I have a pretty deep scratch in the top right corner of my iPad and after application it is literally undetectable.

Installation

BodyGuardz is one of the only companies to provide an application solution to aid in the, you guessed it, application of their product. Their specific solution is made of water and baby soap to make sure that it not only makes your job easier but at the same time it doesn’t harm your iPad or other device. I have always preferred wet screen protector for the simple reason of being able to re-position the product without having to fully remove the whole sheet. This allows for less of an opportunity for dust and debris to get under your screen protector during installation.

The instructions provided by BodyGuardz, if followed closely, leave no room for error. This is always handy for the more novice users while applying their first or second screen protector as well as those who have a little bit more experience but want to minimize air and dust bubbles.

Summary

Overall, the advanced protection these sheets provide outweigh the slight lines you get after installing the product. Also, the fact that they conceal past damage (term used lightly) only adds to the list of pros. Plus, they come with stickers…

If you would like to pick a BodyGuardz screen protector up for yourself, you can head on over to their website and pick out your device. If you don’t see your device listed, you can also order a custom cut sheet.

Parallels are known for two main things: their high-end server software and their streamline consumer virtualization software. With their current release of Parallels Desktop 7 for Mac announced on September 6th, 2011, we had to get in on the fun.

Our thanks goes to Parallels for making this review possible! We hope you enjoy the full blown review on Parallels Desktop 7 for Mac!

Practical Uses

Virtualization software is there for a reason, but there are tons of practical uses that you can use Parallels Desktop 7 for Mac for! Some good uses (for both high-end techie and casual users) are below:

• Gaming – if you have a fast enough machine, you can play some Call of Duty right in your Windows virtual machine! Try it; it’s not as bad as you may think!
• Productivity – probably the most common use for using virtualization. Let’s say your using Windows software that has no Mac counterparts and you need to use that software, but you need to use OS X at the same time. Parallels Desktop 7 for Mac can fix this issue!
• Development – because I am in fact a developer, this is personally my biggest use of a virtual machine. I have a Debian server installed on Parallels Desktop 7 for Mac and I use it for all kinds of server development. It’s the best way to develop in my opinion. I also have a few pieces of development software that only work on Windows that I need to use.
• For fun! – this one was kind of a given, but who doesn’t want to have Google Chrome OS running as a virtual machine? Of course you want to be that cool guy on the block with Google Chrome OS running full screen on your Mac!

Operating Systems Supported

The most common operating system used with Parallels Desktop 7 for Mac would most likely be Windows. Let’s face it, most Mac OS X users want to stay in their Mac-friendly environment. It’s the main reason why virtualization is very popular among Mac users.

Parallels Desktop 7 for Mac supports all kinds of operating systems. In fact, you can basically install any operating system you can think of! Let’s list out a few below:

• Windows 7, XP
• OS X Lion
• Google Chrome OS
• Fedora
• Ubuntu

That’s only a few of the many supported  uses of Parallels Desktop 7 for Mac! In fact, Parallels just released an update recently (at the time of this writing) for Windows 8 Developer Preview support; they’re really working hard on making Parallels Desktop 7 for Mac awesome.

Not only does Parallels make it so easy to install any OS you like, you can even buy Windows 7 right in the main wizard via their convenience store! This feature is just great for the ones who need Windows but do not want to go out and buy it in the stores.

Installing Operating Systems

Parallels Desktop 7 for Mac makes it very easy to install some of the main operating systems like Ubuntu and Windows. During the set up process, it will do all sorts of things for you automatically:

• Download the operating system if necessary or asking you to select the install source
• Waiting for any product key if needed (Windows!)
• How you want your programs to work
• Customizing it to fit you

For Windows and other operating systems, Parallels Desktop 7 for Mac will actually do everything for you without you needing to press any buttons. So when you need to install Windows, you don’t need to select a partition to install on or enter user info. All of that can be handled with Parallels.

Parallels just makes everything seamless for you, including installing their own Parallels Tools software which makes the integration with the operating system and Parallels Desktop 7 for Mac more seamless.

Migration

The migration feature is what really makes Parallels Desktop 7 for Mac amazing. Parallels Desktop 7 for Mac comes with tools to help you take your current Windows machine, no matter what you have it installed on, and transfer that data to a virtual machine.

Parallels Desktop 7 for Mac has some amazing migration features. During the process of setting up your Windows virtual machine, you can select the “Migrate Windows from a PC” in the Parallels Wizard and use their three migration features:

• Parallels USB cable: This feature is sadly not free, as you need to buy the USB cable, but essentially, it is a cable that you plug in the computer with Parallels Desktop 7 for Mac installed and into your Windows computer.
• Network: The networking migration feature is simply letting Parallels connect to your PC via your network. It is by far the slowest method, as the other two are “direct” links, but it shouldn’t be too slow on one of ‘em fancy N-based routers!
• External Storage Device: if you want to go the easy way, Parallels makes a software called the Parallels Transporter Agent that can copy the data from your Windows PC to and external medium that Parallels Desktop 7 for Mac can read.

Boot Camp

Boot Camp has been such an acclaimed feature ever since it was released back in 2006 with the very first Intel Macs. Since then, Boot Camp has came a long way and with that, so has virtualization.

Parallels has realized the some Mac owners may have a Boot Camp install of Windows on their computer. What Parallels has done is added support to make Parallels Desktop 7 for Mac read your Boot Camp partition (and fully write to it even though NTFS isn’t capable of writing on stock Mac OS X – no idea how the developers solved that issue) and convert it into a fully working virtual machine!

I never had the need to have Windows installed on my computer natively up until doing this review. As I had to test the feature, I grabbed my Windows 7 disc, popped it in, and installed Windows 7 right onto my massive 1TB hard drive.  I then immediately went back into OS X, and  Parallels Desktop 7 for Mac detected the Boot Camp partition and gave me the option to run it as a virtual machine.

I waited for the set up process to complete and was prompted with this dialog that I had to reactivate Windows. It is unfortunant that this needs to be done (as Windows really doesn’t allow for too many activations), but I know this is entirely Microsoft’s fault. So I won’t dock off any points on Parallels parts for this issue. Microsoft: you need to be more like Apple; licensing an operating system is awful!

Either way, the Boot Camp virtual machine ran exactly how I had it before. It only needed to install Parallels Tools during the process, and after that, everything was working great!

Parallels really made it easy to make Boot Camp work fully in Parallels Desktop 7 for Mac!

Free Perks

Not only do you get killer virtual machine software, Parallels even offers you three free perks with your virtual machines!

• Kaspersky Anti-Virus for Mac: Kaspersky offers some great anti-virus software that is extremely simple to use. Parallels Desktop 7 for Mac will give you three months free and after the complementary period, you will need to pay for it. Either way, great way to try out some virus software on the Mac, even though I wouldn’t find myself using it.
• Kaspersky Internet Security for Windows: Just like the Mac version of Kaspersky that Parallels provides, they also provide the Windows version for your virtual machines. Just to note, Kaspersky is my second favorite virus software on Windows; my first is NOD32 if you are wondering.
• Acronis Online Backup: Something that I was not expecting in Parallels Desktop 7 for Mac, but they give you 25GBs for Acronis True Image Online Backup for three months like Kaspersky.

User Interface

Parallels Desktop 7 for Mac has a ton of software running in the background to have your virtual machine up and running, but with all of these features you can change, there has to be a clean and easy to use interface. Thankfully, Mac OS X has some amazing user interface tools to make sure your application will look the best.

When you fire up any virtual machine, it looks almost like a normal window, but with a toolbar at the bottom. This toolbar will be the main breading ground for changing your virtual machine as you see fit.

On the left side of the toolbar, you can do anything in terms of the power state to your virtual machine. You can suspend the virtual macine (saves the state of the virtual machine to the hard drive and closes it down, and of course, shut it down. You can even pause the virtual machine or even stop it. I wouldn’t recommend stopping it, as that’s just like holding down the power button for ten seconds (okay, not exactly, but close).

On the right hand side, you can do all all sorts of things.

• Send all sorts of keyboard commands - makes it easier on the Mac users as some keyboard shortcuts are difficult
• Connect your USB devices to the virtual machine - ever wanted to connect your flash drive to your VM? You can do it!
• Mount any CDs/DVDs you may have or even images - want to install a piece of software? Just pop it in!
• Tell the virtual machine what kind of network you have - very helpful to give your VM its own IP on your network
• Mount floppy images – I like the feature, but who would use it?
• Edit audio settings - allows you to change the input and output sources.
• See what virtual/physical hard drive is connected - I wonder if you could connect more than one physical hard drive to a VM. Can’t test this one…
• Configure sharing – makes it very easy to give your virtual machine access to Mac OS X
• And seeing if Parallels Tools is installed along with the view mode (which we’ll get to soon)

Viewing Modes

Sometimes you may not want your virtual machine in a window (like in the image above). Sometimes, you may want it to be part of Mac OS X itself. Parallels Desktop 7 for Mac offers four main viewing modes that are all useful:

• Windowed: The default view you see when you first start your virtual machine. This mode is quite simply your virtual machine in a window with the toolbar underneath.
• Modality: Simply put, it’s a mode without the toolbar but with an extra feature. The unique feature of this mode is the window will always be above all of your other windows (so you can always see it). If you had the extra screen space and would like to just keep a watch on your virtual machine at all times, you would use this mode. You would use this for if you were waiting for a long task to complete or something like that.
• Full Screen: Parallels Desktop 7 for Mac takes advantage of Mac OS X Lion’s full screen features. To simply make your virtual machine full screen, you can either enter it using a menu item or even the full screen button (the two arrows pointing outwards) in the upper right. This is now a standard of Lion to have the full screen feature like this.
• Coherence: Now this is where the fun begins! This mode will take your desktop and integrate it right into Mac OS X. If you want to open a window, it will add that window right onto your desktop and add it in your dock.

Peripherals

Connecting your external devices, or peripherals, have always been somewhat of a problem for virtual machines. In Parallels Desktop 7 for Mac, it changes everything and makes it a breeze. Every time you plug in a new device to your computer (as long as you di not make Parallels remember the choice), Parallels Desktop 7 for Mac will prompt you for a very user friendly dialog asking what the device should connect to.

In the image on the left, I connected my external hard drive and Parallels detected that I connected it. I can switch between my (native) Mac and my virtual Mac VM. And if I want, I can even tell it to remember what choice I picked so it will never ask again by simply holding down the option/alt key.

This one feature in Parallels Desktop 7 for Mac just made it awesome. I use virtual machines quite a bit on a daily basis, and sometimes, I really need a storage device connected directly into the virtual machine. It’s extremely helpful for me and I am sure it will be for you if you need external devices connected into a virtual machine.

MacLook

For the ones who are just too used to Mac OS X, and really do not want to look at the Windows interface, Parallels has created MacLook that takes care of this problem. MacLook simply applies a theme to Windows XP, Vista, or 7 and makes it look somewhat like Mac OS X.

To be quite honest, I personally did not like it. The bottom edges of every window are not rounded, which makes the window looks very bad (roundness adds a ton of eye-candy), and it just didn’t fit all too well in my opinion.

Support

Just a simple bit of Parallels Desktop 7 for Mac that I thought I would note, but Parallels did a great job with integrating support right into the software. They have added in this nicely styled report screen that drops right from the top of your virtual machine window that will take care of any reports you may have.

Personally, I have worked with software before where something like this was non-existent, and made it very hard to find where I was to submit bugs. I really love it when developers take the time to add this in; Apple is also notorious of adding dialogs like this.

On the flip side, if you do need to speak with support regarding a problem you may have (granted that you want feedback), Parallels has given you a nice support ticketing system built right in the software. This handles all the frustration of the support team at Parallels not seeing all your previous support tickets regarding yourself; I love it when companies build a system like this. You give them one simple number and they can see everything on your account. Saves time and makes suport an ease!

Customizability

Users love customizability. Fortunately, in any virtual machine, there are a ton of settings you can tweak for your benefit. You can tweak the settings of the software itself or even the settings used to run the virtual machine.  Parallels has done a great job providing its users with a ton of settings for the ultimate customizability.

There are plenty of things you can change in the main settings window of Parallels Desktop 7 for Mac, but let’s just list out some of the major ones:

• Changing the virtual machine folder location
• Altering the many keyboard shortcuts used throughout the program
• Tell the virtual machine what should happen when you plug in an USB device
• Connecting Parallels Desktop 7 for Mac with your mobile Apple device (more on this later)
• And some advanced settings that most people will rarely touch

Virtual Machine Customization

You do not only get a ton of settings to change how the application works, you can of couse change how the software interacts with your virtual machine. Some of the key settings to the performance of your virtual machine are lying right in here.

Update Maintainability

With a software that has to work with the latest and greatest operating systems, having it constantly updated is a must. Parallels has done a great job keeping Parallels Desktop 7 for Mac updated. In fact, during the reviewing process, they pushed out a very important update to Parallels Desktop 7 for Mac:

• Windows 8 Developer Preview (a new Windows 8 installation is recommended after updating Parallels Desktop 7) and other versions of Windows
• The Parallels Desktop 7 New Virtual Machine Wizard (select File, New) makes it easy to install new operating systems in just a few clicks including: Windows 7, OS X Lion as a guest, Google Chrome OS, Fedora, Ubuntu

This update also improves the general performance of Parallels Desktop 7 for Mac, including optimized CPU usage when Parallels Desktop 7 is idle, improved compatibility with Quicken 2011 personal finance software, and improved support for Autodesk 3DS Max 2012 3D modeling software.

They’re not only helping to support the new operating systems like Widows 8, but they are also improving support for specific software like 3DS Max. If Parallels puts that much effort to help improve a specific application, I am sure Parallels will have any updates released if there any problems. Now that’s what I call support! A++ on your part Parallels!

Parallels Mobile

Have you ever wanted to access your virtual machine when you are on the go? I know I have! Parallels has came up with a great solution to solve this issue. No longer do you need to set up a special VNC connection to your computer or do something to make it remotely accessible. Now, all you need to do is install Parallels Mobile and connect it with your computer.

As long as your computer is power up, you can access it from anywhere as long as you have access to the internet (whether that is via 3G or WiFi; you choose). This is one huge advantage. No longer do you need to go through your ISP to access your computer (like with a VNC), instead, you can access your computer through the servers of Parallels keeping your computer safe and secure.

So go ahead and fire up that virtual machine remotely! And if you want, you can even access your entire Mac remotely which is sweet!

Hey, Nothing is Perfect

Now I have to say, Parallels Desktop 7 for Mac is nearly perfect, but there are some flaws/annoyances that I have found that I think should be fixed.

• First up on my list would be scrolling in Parallels Mobile. It would be sweet if I took two fingers and dragged it up and down on a scrollable window, it would scroll with me. Just saying, that would be a nice addition.
• One very minor flaw I noticed, which is more of a Windows bug more than anything else, is when you adjust the resolution/window size of a virtual machine, the icons will move around correctly when sizing it down. But when sizing it up, they kind of stick there. I would really like some sort of anchoring system for my icons to tell to have these icons in the top left but these in the bottom left. I really wish Windows could detect the anchoring system automatically that the user creates. Come on you developers; if you give me access to the Explorer.exe code I’ll add it in for you!
• Now this may be asking a lot, but I’m wondering if it would be possible to view the status of a virtual machine (almost like the top application on UNIX) in an organized window. I’m the type of person who likes to have one screen filled with just top windows as I like to keep track of my servers. It would be great if I could have a screen for my virtual machine(s) as well. Almost like an Activity Monitor but explicitly for virtual machines.
• I would appreciate it if Parallels allowed me to set up a Linux server in one click. It would be sweet if it could install Apache/Nginx, MySQL, PHP, and maybe even Pyton on a Debian VM… maybe I can keep on dreaming. But it would help a ton for the web developers out there like myself!

Performance

I know you were asking for this, so I am sure you are wondering how fast Parallels Desktop 7 for Mac really is. The above picture is a GeekBench comparison between the popular VMWare Fusion (version 3) and of course Parallels Desktop 7 for Mac.

The results? Well, let’s just say Parallels Desktop 7 for Mac kicks VMWare Fusion right out the door. And I’ll be honest, I thought VMWare Fusion would be faster. VMWare has been out there for a long time in the virtualization world, so I would of thought they would have faster technology. But it looks like Parallels caught up really quickly! Watch out VMWare; you have one amazing competitor now!

That’s really impressie for Parallels. And yes, I know, those scores are really fast. Let’s just say I love my MacBook Pro 15″ i7 @ 2.0GHz.

Overall

I do not say this often, but Parallels Desktop 7 for Mac is by far one of the best applications I have ever used. Everything is very seamlessly integrated with the entire virtual machine environment. Parallels Desktop 7 for Mac offers so many features but yet it is so fast! With all of the new features in Parallels Desktop 7 for Mac, the support the Parallels team puts into it, and with all of the customizability options, I have to say that Parallels Desktop 7 for Mac is by far the best virtualization software I have used.

If you are looking for a high-class virtualization software for the Mac, look no further as Parallels has your back. You can try Parallels Desktop 7 for Mac for fourteen day, and if you like it as much as I do, I am sure you would be more than willing to spend the mere $79.99 it costs, which is nothing for a high-end software like this. I wish all of my high-end software was only $80… I would even be willing to spend $120 for Parallels Desktop 7 for Mac, it’s just that good!

Now if you still don’t believe me on how awesome Parallels Desktop 7 for Mac is, let’s just say it even earned the right to a permanent spot on my dock; I only put high-end and nicely crafted applications there.

Thanks again to the team over at Parallels for making this review possible!

If you want to take a look more in Parallels Desktop 7 for Mac, check out their product page below:

http://www.parallels.com/products/desktop/

The entire point of Focus is very simply; all you have is a clean interface to add all kinds of blurring to your photo, which in the long run, makes whatever you’re targeting stand out more than ever.

It’s an interesting concept that I’ve never seen a dedicated app for. With that said, let’s dive right into the full review of Focus by Coppertino!

Interface

Without a doubt, the interface of any program is always important, even if it has a ton of features. Granted that Focus is a Mac-only application, Coppertino has done a great job utilizing all of the features that Apple provides its developers.

When you start up the program, Focus will ask you to simply drag and drop one of your images onto the program. One downside is that you cannot open dialog to navigate to your image. Sometimes I personally hate to open another Finder window and would like to use the open dialog instead built into the program.

At the bottom of the window, you have your main features of the program, place, the five blur modes (portrait, nature, architecture, macro, and tilt & shit), and the share button to deliver your images out to your friends and family.

Blurring Modes

As covered briefly above, there are five blurring modes. All five modes are named somewhat generically as they can be used for other reasons as well, but for the most part, they are named in a way that will suit most uses.

Let’s list all of the five blurring modes below while describing what they do and their normal uses:

• Portrait: This mode would ideally be used the give a very smooth blur in the background while showing off an objet  that’s the closest to the camera lens. Think of a picture of yourself… hence where the name came from.
• Nature: This is quite simply blurring something off in a horizontal direction. If you have a batch of flowers in a horizontal fashion, you can focus on the flowers and not the background.
• Architecture: This mode is made for, you said it, the tall man-made creations that live in our city: skyscrapers! Of course, there are plenty of others ways to use this, but it’s just like nature, but instead, it’s blurring vertically instead of horizontally.
• Macro: We all know what macro is, but sometimes, your photos don’t always turn out the way you would like in terms of blur. If you need a little extra blur on one of your macro shots, use the macro mode for additonal blur.

Editing

For every one of the five blurring modes, the sidebar/toolbar on the right will slide in with an aperture slider along with reset buttons to reset both the focus and the aperture to the default settings.

This simple sidebar is very useful in term of editing. The default aperture values seemed a bit high (the higher the aperture, the more you will see the blur and vice versa), so I lowered the blur to around 30% and it made most of the photos look fabulous.

I would really like to see some more settings available in this sidebar though. It would be nice to add some of the main features of Aperture (the photo editing software made by Apple) like the brightness, saturation, along with other features.

I can see Focus turning into a mini photo editing suite; it only offers blurring modes right now, but I would really love to see more features added into Focus.

Support

If you’re going to have any type of photo editing software, it should support all kinds of formats. Luckily, Focus supports all of the major formats so you will not have any problems getting your photos edited.

Focus supports all the main photo image formats like JPG, PNG, and even PSD for it’s import features. So far, Focus will only export as JPG with default quality settings, but Coppertino is planning on changing that to support TIFF and PNG export.

Sharing

After spending a good amount of time creating the photo of your dreams, you of course want to share that image with your family, friends, or maybe even your Twitter followers.

Focus gives you immediate access to save the photo to your hard drive, iPhoto library, or even to e-mail the photo.

But Coppertino didn’t decide to stop there. Just like the sharing features in Wallpaper Wizard, Focus will allow you to upload your photo to Coppertino’s servers at no cost to you and share the link with the rest of your friends. So for example, take a look at this image: http://focus.to/DdoWk

I really love that there is a special domain (focus.to) made only for your shared images. Now that’s exactly what I want in a photo editing software!

Some Slight Issues

(Will update as bugs are fixed.)

Nothing can ever be perfect, and I understand that. I have noticed some slight issues with Focus that have been brought to my attention during the reviewing stage.

The first slight issue that I have noticed was Focus was a bit sluggish. I noticed at first that the CPU usage was exceptionally high and wondered if it was even taking advantage of this very powerful 2011 15″ MacBook Pro. I contacted the developer, Ivan, on this one and he was aware of the error and fixed it promptly.

Now in the new update (all of this happened during the reviewing process), I noticed that Focus locks up quite a bit and becomes very sluggish (and even using quite a bit of memory as well). I contacted Ivan about the issue and he is also aware of it and an update will be available around a week of the original posting of this review.

Overall

I really have to say I love how simple and easy to use Focus is to use. It’s extremely simply to take one of your camera phone’s pictures and turn it into something that looks to be taken with a high-end DSLR camera. Focus supports all kinds of image formats making it useful for anyone with different skill-sets of photography along with its easy to use interface.

Overall, I really enjoyed reviewing Focus by Coppertino despite some of the bugs I have encountered. The developer of Focus is very active and prompt to his work, so I’m sure Focus will be getting updates to make it perfectly stable along with more features.

If you would like to check out the Focus product site, please click on the link below:

http://coppertino.com/focus/

And if you would like direct access to get Focus on the Mac App Store, check out the link below:

http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/focus/id432599692?ls=1&mt=12

As that was nearly a year ago, I thought we should review another jQuery book from Packt Publishing. With the recent release of jQuery 1.4 Animation Techniques: Beginners Guide, the wonderful people over at Packt were more than happy to send out a book for a review!

With that said, let’s get right into the full blown review of jQuery 1.4 Animation Techniques: Beginners Guide! This was quite a hefty book (with 344 pages), so I’ll try to make this review a good wrap-up of the book.

My Experience with jQuery

I’ve been a web developer for just about nine years. Yes, I know, it’s hard to believe it… I even laugh at it sometimes. I first started working on web technologies back in 2002 creating extremely simple websites. Those websites then dived into CSS shortly after, and then I started working on server applications shortly after mastering CSS and HTML. Then not too long after that, I realized I haven’t picked up JavaScript at the time, so like you may assume, I started fiddling around with JavaScript. I picked up the popular client-side scripting language faster than anything else before.

After four years and much more knowledge about web technologies, jQuery was finally released. I didn’t pick up jQuery immediately, as I didn’t even know about it at first, but it didn’t take me long until I started to dabble with jQuery.

I started messing with jQuery just learning how it works and the workings of it. I learned a ton about jQuery, but the biggest problem was, I didn’t want to use it. Computers at the time ran JavaScript not all too quickly (we’re really spoiled with the V8 JS Engine nowadays), so I rarely used any JavaScript at the time. Up until about late 2008, after Chrome was released, JavaScript performance skyrocketed. I dived right back into JavaScript and been using it ever since.

With all of that previous experience out of the way, I’ve been working with jQuery for a long time, and quite honestly, I could never go back to any other framework.

What the Book Covers

jQuery 1.4 Animation Techniques really covers a ton of animation content that you could possibly ever need when creating a website. Just to get you familiar of what’s covered, here’s a create list of some of the significant topics:

• How animation can be used and when best to apply it
• Creating your very own loader (you know, those pinwheels?)
• The many types of fading provided by jQuery
• Working with animations while and after running
• Sliding animations with easing
• Creating one-of-a-kind animations
• Using jQuery UI to extend jQuery’s animations
• Page navigation/scroll with animations
• Pop-up type animations
• Using CSS3 animations to your advantage
• Using the canvas API for speedy rendering
• Graceful degradion when using animations
• Optimizations needed to achieve the best speed

Wow, This Book is Awesome!

I don’t call every book I read awesome, but jQuery 1.4 Animation Techniques really deserves the title! From the very start of the book, everything is finalized extremely nicely. As the book starts of with an introduction to jQuery  animation and some tips on when and not to use it, it makes it a chapter that’s not only an easy read, but also providing a ton of useful information about when and not to use animations.

One other thing that I really liked about jQuery 1.4 Animation Techniques has to all of the pop-quizzes in the chapters. It’s for sure no graded assessment, but it’s very useful just to read them through, get the questions right, and prove to yourself that you really are that jQuery master that you thought you were.

Not only does jQuery 1.4 Animation Techniques provide a ton of information like animating table cells, drop downs, and tons of other elements, Dan has done an excellant job of making sure all of the code is optimized to the fastest code possible. JavaScript can kill an internet browser if not optimized, and because jQuery does rely on the programmer having an understanding of good programming ethics in order for it to run at full potential, knowing the right and wrong ways of doing something is more than enough to the begineer jQuery programmers who pick up this book. In fact, one thing Dan does mention is the PNG transparency issues in the older versions of Internet Explorer and many fixes/workarounds for getting rid of them once and for all, or at least, making it better than before. Not related to animation at all, but can affect your animation a ton if your transparent PNG isn’t looking too good in IE.

Another big plus about jQuery 1.4 Animation Techniques is that all of the code within all the chapters is backed up on full commentary. Dan does one fantastic job of explaining the code being on what makes it work, and sometimes, the explanations can be two or even three pages long! To have that much detail in your explanations really make this book one to pick up if you want to learn some jQuery animation techniques.

Towards the end of the book, Dan has a single chapter on CSS3 animations and even the canvas API. Personally, I was never expecting for CSS3 animations to be covered, let alone the canvas API in HTML5; he really went the extra mile to inform the reader on how other animations can be used along with jQuery animation.

Just Some Slight Issues

There’s really not too much wrong with jQuery 1.4 Animation Techniques, but I really feel I should mention what I have found. During some parts of the book, I noticed seeing some code that was “misaligned” and not “properly” formatted. Basically, some of the code was tabbed in too far or not enough, making the code look somewhat messy in some spots.

Another smaller detail I noticed were some spelling issues. I noticed that an IE (AKA, Internet Explorer) abbreviation was spelled wrong, and made the entire sentence sound funny if you did not know what was supposed to be there.

Overview

All in all, I was extremely impressed with jQuery 1.4 Animation Techniques. Dan covered a ton of information in yet another jQuery book, and I have to say, I really enjoyed all of the content that was provided. Everything was very relevant to jQuery animation and all techniques were being built upon throughout the entire book.

The only thing I could possibly take off a few points would be for the editing errors throughout the book. There were numerous errors I found while reviewing and they easily could of been avoided with just a bit more proofreading.

If you would like to check out jQuery 1.4 Animation Techniques, please check out the link below to Packt’s website:

http://www.packtpub.com/jquery-14-animation-techniques-beginners-guide/book

Way back in April of 2010, we published a text review of ScreenFlow v2 as we knew we just had to review one of the best screen recording software for the Mac. Now, a little more than a year after our initial review, Telestream has done it again with their latest ScreenFlow version, version three.

Now that ScreenFlow v3 has been out the public for around a week now, we just had to get out full review published as we at Tech Cores really appreciate ScreenFlow for all that it can do.

The last review we put out just wasn’t enough because in a text review, we couldn’t target all of the amazing features of ScreenFlow. Instead, we now present you with a feature-length (no kiddin’! ) video review of ScreenFlow v3!

Anyways, we hope you’ll enjoy our in-depth review of ScreenFlow! What do you think about ScreenFlow v3? Please leave your comments in the comment section below!

Build Quality:

The Chromatics Skin that I was reviewing was a Silver Carbon Fibre Skin, this skin was very hard and didn’t scratch easily. It provided good solid protection against objects such as keys in your pocket or if you had a drill out. Tho I don’t know why you would. The front screen was protected with a screen protector, it was very rubbery and absorbed scratches. Personally I found this to be annoying when compared to the Zagg Invisible Shields nano repair technology. There was also an aerial cover included but however it was designed for the verizon version of the iPhone 4.

Pro/Cons:

Overall I would have to say this case is worth the price of $29.95 there is a great choice of colours and different types of styles to choose from. The one con I have to point out is that this case will not provide any protection if your device is dropped from a great height. The skin is designed to provide protection to scratches and low danger objects.

I would give this skin an overall 7 out of 10, its sleek, stylish and sexy. Yet lacks that essential protection.

If you feel like I haven’t explained in enough detail or have any questions please feel free to comment bellow or contact me on Twitter

The Bamboo Paper iPad App

So, with that said I introduce to you the Wacom Bamboo Stylus. Now, if you didn’t already know Wacom manufactures design tablets used by people ranging from Photoshop novices to professional Graphic Designers. Recently Wacom released a free app to the Apple App Store which turned the iPad’s capacitive touch screen into nothing short of a “old fashioned” notebook, a very nice one at that. When you first launch the app you have one notebook which you can change the color of as well as change the type of paper contained inside of the notebook. The app also allows you to, for a one time in app purchase of 1.99 USD, to have up to twenty different notebooks at one time both. Now notebooks, as far as I have seen can been as long as you want them to be so their is no more wondering if you are going to have enough paper to get you through the year. Now, of course the lack of worries isn’t the only advantage of using any digital paper application, you are saving resources as well. So the rain forest thanks you for not, by proxy, kill it.

The Bamboo Stylus

The stylus itself is very well built. It is made out of aluminium just like the rear side of both the first and second iterations of the iPad. With that said, the stylus blends in flawlessly with the design of the iPad; to the point where it looks like it came with the device. Now, Apple is know for their product’s quality and design so when I say the stylus looks like it came with the iPad I am not just talking about visuals. It has a very sturdy feel as well as a decent weight unlike lower end styli. The stylus has a pen clip which allows you to attach it to your pants, a case, or basically anything tin enough but if you find it getting in your way you can just remove it some. The little things like that really show the quality and amount of though put into something as minute as a stylus. Now with that said, the cap can loosen over time but it is as simple as tightening the cap back up to fix it. The tip is made of a soft capacitive rubber tip which allows for a greatly increased amount of accuracy in comparison to just using your fingers to not only write but, in general when using the device. Lastly, after awhile of using the stylus I noticed something was missing, something I am not the least bit troubled by the loss of, fingerprints.

If you would like to watch the video review where I show you some of the features like the removable clip and show the functionality of both the stylus and the app it is embedded below,  if you would like to purchase a Wacom bamboo Stylus for your iPad, or any other iDevice, you can visit the Wacom site by clicking the link in the sources at the top of the article. Lastly I would like to thank Wacom and Douglas Little for providing not only the review unit but for providing very courteous support.

I have always been a big fan of the look, and only the look, of the Apple in-ear headphones; the sound on the other hand left something to desire and that something is coincidentally the sound. Now, don’t get me wrong, I am not framing the headphones in this review as heaven’s answer to this problem but for a replacement that is close thirty bucks cheaper and have better audio I would say they are already a leap ahead.

With that said, let me introduce the Macally TunePal Pro In-Ear Headphones. The headphones come with two sets of memory foam tips meant to be “one-size fits all”. Personally, I have moderately small ears and can say that I have to use extra force to get them in my ears and even then there is an uncomfortable pressure during prolonged use. Now with one side of the spectrum covered, what if you have larger ears? Well, the tips are fairly large but without the offering of larger tips it defeats the purpose of in ear headphones by allowing external noises to sneak in.

The description of these headphones, published on the Macally site, mentions a “rich and deep bass output” which in retrospect to their entry level market couldn’t be more true. The bass in these headphones is noticeable without being overpowering. The built in microphone is also on the same level as the bass. The mic records close to crystal clear audio, which is amazing in the case of it’s surrounding or plastic and your current clothing.

Here is the video review if you prefer video to written reviews!

This is the product that Apple’s been peer pressuring it’s customers when they buy their iPad 2. This isn’t your ordinary case, it’s a cover. It only protects the front, not the back. This is a very unique approach to the case industry because third party case companies (and even first party’s) goal is to create a protective case for that expensive product. What’s interesting that Apple has designed the Smart Cover along with the iPad 2. Because of that, Apple is making the Smart Cover a big deal. Starting at $39 for the polyurethane and $69 for leather, is it a good buy? Read on to find out.

Unboxing

Design

Most of Apple’s cases blends in well with their products; the Smart Cover is no different. On the front side of the Smart Cover, there are these separators and on the back is a nice microfiber lining, which Apple claims will clean your screen when you have it on (more on that later). With the Smart Cover, you have two choices of materials: polyurethane or leather. With the polyurethane model, you have a choice of gray, baby blue, green, orange, or pink. With the leather Smart Cover, you have a choice of tan, navy blue, black, cream, or the PRODUCT (RED) Smart Cover, which will donate some of money to the Africa AIDS Foundation.

I have the black leather Smart Cover and I’ve been using this cover for about a week now. I can tell you right now that I do like the cover, but there are some big concerns with the exterior. On the back of the packaging, it warns you that the dye on the leather Smart Cover may rub off during use. I never thought that would be a big deal, but when some of the color rubs off, it gives the Smart Cover a shiny effect. Another way of the color coming off is when you wipe the cover with a damp cloth. One of the minor issues is the microfiber lining. Apple claims that it cleans your screen, but it turns out that it makes it worse. The microfiber lining will attract lots of dust and grease; when you put the cover down your screen, it leaves crease marks on the glass and lots of dust.

As I said before, Apple designed the Smart Cover along side with the iPad 2. Because of that, Apple was able to make the Smart Cover interact with the iPad’s sleep/wake function. For example, when you lift the Smart Cover, the iPad wakes up and when you put the cover down, it sleeps the iPad. Apple was able to do this by using magnets. Apple also uses magnets to perfectly align the Smart Cover, when installing it. Obviously, this sleep/wake function isn’t unique to the Apple Smart Cover. Other companies are building in magnets to their folio cases to take advantage of that feature. If you’re worried about it falling off, you shouldn’t be because the magnets are fairly strong. It’s so strong, it can lift the iPad up when you’re holding the cover in the air.

Functionality

The iPad Smart Cover does work well as a video or typing stand, using a folding mechanism seen in Speck’s and Incase’s earlier designs. The Smart Cover provides two angles for typing, a reclined angle for video viewing in landscape orientation, and a straight up angle for portrait orientation FaceTime calling. Both of the typing angles felt sturdy and comfortable; the landscape angle was also sturdy.

Conclusion

With no doubt, the Smart Cover is a very interesting approach to the case industry. The magnets that interact with the iPad is something that no company have really thought about. But with such a hefty price tag and the lack of back protection, it’s probably not the case for you. If you really do want to protect the back while using the Smart Cover, you’ll have to fork over another $29 for a hard shell or a film.

Outward appearance

The Iconia is a sleek glass and aluminum device, although it does feel a bit on the cheaper side. Additionally, something about the material and the way it’s curved makes it hard to get a solid grip on the device with one hand – it’s fairly slippery.

Connections are plentiful. There is a proprietary dock connector on the bottom. The right edge contains a reset hole, USB host port (for connecting a flash drive or camera), USB guest port (for connecting the Tab to a computer), standard
barrel jack for charging, micro SD slot, orientation lock switch, volume buttons, illuminated power button, headphone jack, and micro HDMI port. In other words: far more options than the iPad.

Specs

The Iconia features a 10.1-inch capacitive touchscreen with 1280×800 resolution, dual cameras, microSDHC slot, 1 GB of RAM, and a dual-core 1 GHz Tegra 250 SoC CPU. This hardware is mated with Android 3.0 Honeycomb and runs it quite well.

There are no hardware-based buttons, but Honeycomb’s navigation bar on the bottom does a good job of getting around this limitation. With a tablet like this which will never end up in a pocket, there isn’t much of a need for hardware buttons in my book.

Camera

The tablet comes with two cameras, as seems pretty standard nowadays – one front-facing for video chat via Skype, and a rear-facing one for taking standard pictures. Quality is pretty standard, and the rear camera does not have a flash. If anything else, the large screen brings out the imperfections in the images.

Comparisons with the iPad

One thing that struck me about the Iconia is its less “smooth” experience. From the jerky animations to the inconsistent applications, the overall experience isn’t as smooth as one might expect from an iPad. However, the Iconia more than makes up with its bigger screen, Flash support (which makes a world of difference when watching videos and playing games on that spacious screen), and more open development. Hardware-wise, the iPad wins with its build quality, but the Iconia Tab wins with its connectivity options and bigger screen.

Verdict

I did not buy this tablet, but after using for a bit, it’s starting to grow on me. The $450 price tag competes very well with the iPad, giving you more features and power in exchange for the iPad’s smoother experience. Either way, it’s a nice device for first-time tablet users.

Record offers a very visual and flexible display and interface for recording, making this the ideal program for recording professionals.

A look into Reason's synth module, Thor.

Propellerheads  Record Reason Duo is a new software bundle from Propellerheads;  the music-creation software of Reason 5 with the recording and mixing capabilities of Record 1.5 into one affordable bundle.

Installation

While having the task to install 2 products may seem like a daunting task to some, Propellerhead does a great job of making the installation process a breeze. After the program has been installed, the first run will ask for your serial and/or registration number to install the sound library banks for each program .While Reason’s banks install a major portion of the sounds, Record also has a sound bank, including additional brass, strings, synths, and other useful instruments in your recording projects.

Authorization & Anti-Piracy Done Right

I am very impressed by Propellerhead’s approach towards piracy and authorization steps for their programs. While Reason does not feature a dongle authorization, Record requires the use of one of 2 methods for authorizing: using the Propellerhead Dongle or through Internet Verification. Through the Internet verifying process, the user has the ability to use their Propellerheads User Account (If already created) to obtain licence information  from the server. This is especially useful if you are not comfortable with carrying your dongle around every place you go. Additionally, if no Internet service is available and you don’t have a dongle, you can still run the program in Demo Mode, which allows you to create and save your Record project, but cannot open any other record session files. The dongle, can be replaced at a “nominal” fee as well.

Reason vs Record

A common question asked is the difference between the two programs. Reason is a music creation tool that allows you to make songs from Reason Refills or sound banks. However, Reason cannot record or import audio. Record is a music creation tool mixing as well as a to allow recording sessions. Depending on your individual needs and jobs, each of these programs may be of use to you.

What’s in the box?

The box includes:

●     Reason 5.0 Disc & Registration Card

●     Reason 1.5 Disc & Registration Card

●     Propellerheads Dongle

●     Reason Getting Started Booklet/Manual

●     A few fun stickers

Interface & Workflow

Propellerhead’s products are well-known across the music industry for their stunning visual modeling and interaction within the interface. In addition to the sequencer window, Reason and Record offer a “Rack” view to patch and edit effects and instrument parameters both on the front and back patching of the component, just as you would do in a physical situation. This feature is highly useful for musicians and producers that want the ability to make complex combinations  effect chains or instruments for current and later use sessions to create their personal virtual mixing setup.

Block mode is an additional feature included in Reason, to maximize efficiency during sequencing composition. If your song has section that re-occurs numerous times throughout the song, no longer will you need to copy and paste. Block mode will allow you select the pattern and “paint”  the section as often as you need to. This can also be incredibly useful for saving ideas for later use in the song.

REWIRE Compatibility

Another powerful capability in Reason and Record is ReWire, which allows you to connect Reason and ReWire instruments and effects into another computer application, such as Cubase, Nuendo, Pro Tools, Logic, and many more applications. ReWire is very easy to setup, and allows musicians to use Reason as a sound or rack module to create a flexible, organized and visually-appealing workflow.

Instruments

The duo package comes with plenty of instrument patches and manipulation to keep you busy for quite some time. However, a few instruments that you may see in the program might not be especially useful if you’re looking for realistic sounds. Propellerheads offers expandable Refills for instruments such as pianos, drums, and basses.

Expandable Instruments/Effects

Being a film composer, I understand how expensive and difficult it becomes to have the best equipment and sound libraries possible. However, even the best sounds and instruments can become to sound dull due to multiple usage. Propellerheads offers “Refills,” expandable package files that contain new sounds and effects for use in your Reason and Record sessions. The pricing is also reasonably fair (some in which are free), and can also come with free updates to the bank library purchased. Some commercial refills include:

●     Reason Pianos Refill

●     Soul School Refill

The Bottom Line

Propellerheads is one the top companies in music technology, and there’s very good reason for it. Their one-of-a-kind audio interface puts control and creativity back into the hands of the producers and artists, while creating music in a clutter-free environment. Having both programs on your computer can present a clear workflow for your studio sessions or home recordings. While this program lacks VST support, the powerful ReWire features gives the program an even greater edge in other DAW products.

A few years ago in a previous version I worked with this problem, and was surprised from all the features; there was no way I wanted to work the software again. However with the provided Micro-Tutorials and help manual, the transition from a traditional workstation works seamlessly, as still I am learning new features and techniques.

Propellerheads Record Reason Duo costs $390; educational and student discounts are available as well.

Tech Cores Card Rating: 10/10

The DS-90U is one of the main iconic products that made DoubleSight Displays the brand it is today. DoubleSight is known for manufacturing monitors, but when they released their USB Monitor, the market slowly started to take advantage of the new idea.

Design

The DS-90U’s Black matte finish looks very nice and blends in most computer enviroments. Though in coffee shops’ it may seem a little strange. The screen itself is not high-def but has a high pixel density of 1024×600. Now for most screens, this is relatively low, but this is just a 9″ screen.

Usability

The DS-90U has a two stands that are included. The first of which is a stylus stand that acts like the Archos tablets as in it consits of a piece of plastic with some rubber at the bottom to make it not fall down. The second is a stand that you may see on some full size monitors. It pivots at 2 points so you can fold it up and put it away or store it. The second stand is attached to the screen by way of a knob that also can adjust the height of the screen. The monitor can be turned 90 degrees to make things like Chat, IRC, or a stream of news fit better. The actual positioning though is done though their built in software. Currently it only works with 2000, XP, Vista, and even though it dosn’t say it in their installer, 7. To install it on Windows 7 all that is needed is for you to plug it in and it will automatically download the driver.

What’s To Improve?

There are a few things that should be improved in the product before it gets a refresh (in my opinion). First, most netbooks only have 2-3 USB ports. For the few of them that have 2, the monitor does not leave room for other devices such as a camera, thumb drive, or printer. Yes you could use a USB Hub but that is just another thing to buy on top of this. My idea for fixing this would be to either allow the user to put batteries into the device (since it only uses 5-10 volts) or to have an add-on port for an AC adapter. Second, the monitor does not have Linux support. As this is not a huge gripe at the moment, it may become one because of the increasing market of Linux based OS’ (especially the new Chromebooks). Lastly, the monitor is as thick as normal desktop monitors. This makes it so you would need to purchase a new laptop bag for those who wouldn’t have the space in their current one.

The Issues I Had

When I was installing the software on my current PC (Vista Home Pre. 32bit) it wouldn’t work for awhile. I fixed this by restarting a few times. I think the reason behind this was because of how I already had a second monitor on that PC. I did try it on a Windows XP machine (said it would work in the installer). The monitor was recognized but it would not install.

Final Remarks

The DS-90U is a fair price of $129. For the current way it is and what should be improved I will give it a 7. I would like to thank Dario DellaMaggiore of Doublesight Displays for sending the DS-90U over to me for this review.