Ultrabooks are mostly about trade-offs. You typically need to ditch a few niceties in order to cram everything into such a small package, so components like optical drives and capacious spinning hard drives tend to fall by the wayside. Not so with the Acer Aspire Timeline Ultra M5-481TG-6814. It packs an impressive array of features into a svelte, attractive chassis and is an exceptionally nimble performer at most tasks. Factor in a price tag below that of other systems in its class, and the Aspire M5 is an easy choice for those who are looking for a powerful ultrabook but don't want to burn holes in their pockets.
Design and Features
The Aspire M5 measures 0.79 by 14.43 by 10.05 inches (HWD), and at 4.16 pounds it's on the heavy side for an ultrabook, although its slim profile reduces any unnecessary bulk. That said, it does weigh more than other systems in its class, including the 4.08-pound Dell Inspiron 14z (Summer 2012) . The Aspire M5's chassis is decked out primarily in a handsome brushed-aluminum finish, but the black plastic underside feels somewhat cheap by comparison and detracts from the overall polished aesthetic. Fortunately, the Aspire M5 compensates for these shortcomings by packing features not typically seen on ultrabooks, like a built-in tray-loading DVD burner; aside from the Inspiron 14z, systems with an optical drive in this category are few and far between.
The 14-inch display has a maximum resolution of 1,366 by 768, which, though not as crisp as the Editors' Choice?winning Asus Zenbook Prime UX32VD-DB71 , is good enough for 720p video. But its attractively bright and glossy finish is marred by Acer's decision to inexplicably allocate only 14 inches of viewing area on the 14.6-inch screen, resulting in a distracting black bar around the display's edges. To Acer's credit, the display is advertised as 14 inches, so this doesn't come as a total surprise, but it's difficult to think of a reason why Acer wouldn't opt to simply cover this black portion with a slightly larger bezel.
The top row of the Aspire M5's chiclet-style backlit keyboard features shortcuts for toggling Wi-Fi, switching between displays, controlling system volume, disabling the touchpad, and turning off the display; the right side of the keyboard sports media playback buttons. Typing is a breeze, and we noticed no flexing during testing. The palm rest is generously sized and offers plenty of hand real estate, although your thumb may occasionally brush the touchpad. The touchpad itself is responsive, and provides a good amount of tactile feedback for two-finger scrolling and pinch-zooming. The left- and right-click buttons are integrated into the touchpad, not separate buttons; this looks nice, but it resulted in my clicking the wrong button on more than one occasion.
The Aspire M5's built-in speakers are fairly loud, and though the bass is somewhat flat, movies and music alike can easily be heard in small- to medium-size rooms. Of course, you won't be shaking the floor, but by the standard of ultrabooks the Aspire M5 pumps out decent volume levels.
Aside from the optical drive on the system's left side and the multiformat card reader (SDHC/SDXC/SD/MMC) and headphone jack on the right side, most of the action on the Aspire M5 can be found at the rear of the system. There, you'll find two USB 3.0 ports, an Ethernet port, and a full-size HDMI port. The last is particularly useful, letting you hook up the system to a larger display without having to faff about with any dongles. You will, however, have to use an HDMI cord: Unlike the Zenbook Prime UX32VD-DB71, Lenovo IdeaPad U310 , and HP Envy 4-1043cl , the Aspire M5 does not feature Intel Wireless Display (WiDi) technology, so wirelessly beaming audio and video to a larger screen isn't an option.
A 500GB 5,400rpm hard drive and a 20GB flash cache in the Aspire M5 provide both decent storage capacity and a speedy boot time. The 20GB solid-state-drive (SSD) is invisible to the user, working in the background during repetitive tasks and when you wake the system from sleep mode. The 500GB hard drive has plenty of room for storing data, though it comes loaded with a decent amount of preloaded software. As is often the case, the programs range from useful (Microsoft Office Starter 2010) to total bloatware (the Bing Bar and desktop links to Netflix, eBay, and Skype), with a few sprinkles of proprietary software (Acer ePower, Backup Manager, USB Charge Manager, and the like) and trial versions (30-day trials of Norton Online Backup and NTI Media Maker 9). That said, the slew of included software is forgivable because it ultimately contributes to the Aspire M5's affordable price tag.
Performance
The Aspire M5 outshined others in its class nearly across the board. This doesn't come as a major surprise considering its potent CPU/GPU combination. In addition to its third-generation 1.7GHz Intel Core i5-3317U processor, the Aspire M5 comes equipped with both integrated Intel HD Graphics 4000 and discrete 1GB Nvidia GeForce GT640MLE graphics processors; the system switches between the two GPUs depending on available power, although the user has the option of manually tailoring the configuration down to specific programs. At any rate, the Aspire M5's Futuremark PCMark 7 score of 2,985 bettered the Zenbook Prime UX32VD-DB71 (2,523) but not the IdeaPad U310 (3,570) and, to a greater extent, the HP Envy 4-1043cl (3,962). As far as 3D rendering is concerned, the Aspire M5 screamed past the competition. Its impressive 3DMark06 scores (10,294 at medium detail settings and 1,024-by-768 resolution; 8,501 at native resolution with 4x anti-aliasing) left the Zenbook Prime UX32VD-DB71 in distant second place (8,627 at medium detail settings and 1,024-by-768 resolution; 5,148 at native resolution with 4x anti-aliasing).
The Aspire M5 pumped out equally impressive results in the gaming arena and barely broke a sweat while crossing the playability threshold of 30 frames per second (fps). Ultimately, few other systems did as well as the Aspire M5 in both Crysis (55fps in medium quality at 1,024-by-768 resolution; 25fps in high quality at native resolution) and Lost Planet 2 (50fps in medium quality at 1,024-by-768 resolution; 31fps in high quality at native resolution). The sole exception is the Zenbook Prime UX32VD-DB71, thanks to its discrete 1GB Nvidia GeForce GT 620M GPU (52fps in medium quality at 1,024-by-768 resolution and 6fps in high quality at native resolution for Crysis; 34fps in medium quality at 1,024-by-768 resolution and 10fps in high quality at native resolution for Lost Planet 2). No other system even came close to the Aspire M5.
The Aspire M5 wasn't as sure-footed in our multimedia tests. It completed our Handbrake video-encoding test in 1 minute 59 seconds, tying with the HP Envy 4-1043cl and outperforming the IdeaPadU310 (2 minutes 3 seconds), but falling short of the Zenbook Prime UX32VD-DB71 (1 minute 43 seconds). Its CineBench R11.5 score of 2.10 sputtered behind its entire class, and lagged behind the third-place-finishing HP Envy 4-1043cl (2.38). Conversely, the Aspire M5 completed our Photoshop CS5 test in a brisk 3 minutes 7 seconds, or 51 seconds quicker than the second-place Zenbook Prime UX32VD-DB71 (3 minutes 58 seconds). The Aspire M5's 54Wh battery lasted 7 hours 54 minutes in MobileMark 2007, longer than the rest of its class. Although the next-best system, the HP Envy 4-1043cl (7 hours 45 minutes) came very close, the others exhibited significantly shorter battery life. Still, this excellent result does little to mitigate the fact that the Aspire M5's battery is sealed into its chassis, so swapping it out can be something of a warranty-voiding, MacGyver-esque endeavor.
No, the Acer Aspire Timeline Ultra M5-481TG-6814 isn't perfect. Yes, it's loaded with bloatware, is somewhat heavy, and has a distracting black bar around its display's viewable area. But these missteps are outweighed by its nimble performance in both everyday computing applications and gaming. It's also an excellent value, costing less than the very systems it handily outperforms. It may not pack the sizzle of our current Editors' Choice ultrabook, the Asus Zenbook Prime UX32VD-DB71, but the Aspire M5 is nonetheless an easy choice for anyone looking to buy a powerful ultrabook but not burn holes in their pockets.
BENCHMARK TEST RESULTS:
COMPARISON TABLE Compare the Acer Aspire Timeline Ultra M5-481TG-6814 with several other laptops side by side.
More laptop reviews: ??? Acer Aspire Timeline Ultra M5-481TG-6814 ??? Samsung Series 9 15-inch (NP900X4C-A02US) ??? Acer Aspire S5-391-9880 ??? DirAction NL3 Classmate PC ??? Samsung Series 5 Ultra NP530U3B-A02 ?? more
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Sunday Highlights:The Melbourne Age reports on Apple and Microsoft both refusing to appear before an Australian governmental inquiry into IT pricing; Forbes questions why Apple's iPad margins are half those for the iPhone; Patently Apple reports on a new audio-sharing network feature for iPhone; in OS X, positive reviews for Mountain Lion continue to pour in.
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News
"Chitika: OS X Mountain Lion sees quick adoption in first 48 hours"?Digital Trends?7/28
"Mountain Lion Roars, Captures 3.2% Share in First 48 Hours"?Chitika?7/27
"Apple's Mountain Lion Off to a Roaring Start"?AllThingsD?7/27
"Mountain Lion now on 3.2 percent of Macs, firm says: According to Chitika, more than 2 million Mac users are now running Apple's newest version of OS X, which came out earlier this week."?CNET News?7/27
"Cat power: Apple's Mountain Lion is quickly marking its territory"?VentureBeat?7/27
"Mountain Lion Penetrates 3.2% of Mac Market in 48 Hour"?The Mac Observer?7/27
"Mac OS X Mountain Lion Already on 3.2 Percent of Macs"?PC Magazine?7/27
"Retina MacBook Pros get Power Nap"?MacNN?7/27
"MDM moves beyond mobile devices into Macs: MobileIron now supports OS X Mountain Lion, a sign of growing adoption of non-Windows devices"?Computerworld?7/27
"New Trojan besieging Apple's MacOS"?V3?7/27
"A Bunch of Updates to Get Ready for Mountain Lion (Safari 6, iWork, Aperture, iTunes etc)"?Mac Amour?7/27
"Hurrah! Wonderful .Mail Email Concept Is Coming To Your Mac"?Cult of Mac?7/27
AppleCare/Troubleshooting
"Safari 6: Can't connect to server/No setting for default font"?Betalogue?5:55 PM
"Mac 101: Safari 6 in OS X Mountain Lion"?Apple Support?2:28 PM
"Apple updates high quality OS X speech with Voice Update 2.0"?AppleInsider?7/28
"Apple Up-to-Date Program woes continue"?CNET Reviews?7/27
"Q&A: MacFixIt Answers/We answer questions about 64-bit management and questions surrounding the OS X Mountain Lion release."?CNET Reviews?7/27
"Lotus Notes and OS X Mountain Lion" ["Lotus Notes 8.5.3 has some challenges running on Mountain Lion, which we have documented in IBM technote 159984. IBM has been working with Apple for several months in an effort to address these issues, but unfortunately there was no simple path to resolution prior to Apple's release."]?Ed Brill?7/27
Reviews/How-To/Tips
"Server, simplified: A power user's guide to OS X Server/Mountain Lion Server trades power for user-friendliness."?Ars Technica?6:50 PM
"Server, simplified: A power user's guide to OS X Server/Mountain Lion Server trades power for user-friendliness."?Ars Technica?5:56 PM
"In like a lion ...: Apple's Newest Operating System, Os X 10.8 (Aka Mountain Lion) Makes It Easy To Switch Among iPhone, iPad And Your Computer"?Associated Press?7:05 AM
"The best Twitter clients for Mac"?Stemmings?8:10 AM
"How To Do A Clean Install Of OS X Mountain Lion 10.8 On Your Mac"?Redmond Pie?7/28
"Top 10 Secret Features of OS X Mountain Lion"?Lifehacker?7/28
"Apple Mountain Lion And iOS: Living In Sync/Now that Mountain Lion offers iMessage and iOS-like notifications, is keeping everything in sync really all it's cracked up to be?"?InformationWeek?7/28
"Baldur's Gate Enhanced Edition coming to iOS, OS X in September"?The Loop?7/27
"Growl 2 and HardwareGrowler 2 for Mountain Lion Now in Beta"?iClarified?7/27
"Launchbar, Mountain Lion and 1Password"?Macdrifter?7/27
"Chronos Announces Spotlife -- A calendar for your desktop"?Chronos?7/27
"ConceptDraw Office v2 Updated for Mac OS X Mountain Lion"?PRWeb?7/27
"Paragon Software Group Introduces Industry's First NTFS for Mac OS X 10 with Full Support for Apple's New Mac OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion"?Paragon Software?7/27
"Red Giant and CrumplePop Launch Vintage Camera Looks for FCP X"?prMac?7/27
"New Tattoo Font Can Be As Individual As You Are"?prMac?7/27
"Fighting the iCrime Wave: Device theft has exploded. New solutions are on the way. Is the industry doing enough about 'Apple picking'?"?WSJ.com [Paid Membership Required]?7/28
"Apple Wants Amazon Executive To Testify In Appstore Case"?redOrbit?7/28
"Apple's Black Hat presentation on iOS security disappoints, rehashes old white paper"?9 to 5 Mac?7/27
"How all your iPhone apps could be hacked at once"?CNNMoney?7/27
"Apple U.S. margins for iPad about half of iPhone: filing"?Reuters?7/27
"Apple makes 58% profit from sales of iPhone: iPad sees profit margin of 32%, demonstrates importance of iPhone to Apple's bottom line"?Macworld UK?7/27
"IDC: Samsung and Apple ship almost half of all smartphones, but Korean manufacturer maintains lead"?Engadget?7/27
"Samsung Completely Destroyed Apple In Smartphone Shipments Last Quarter"?Business Insider?7/27
"The Mother of All Design Tablets: I've asked before whether Apple could woo designers over to its iPad--a question that rests partly on whether anyone can figure out how to make a great iPad stylus."?Technology Review?7/27
"Apple's new Barcelona retail store opens tomorrow [Gallery]?9 to 5 Mac?7/27
"Apple Wants Amazon Executive's Testimony in App Store Name Dispute"?The Mac Observer?7/27
"Apple's iOS 6 mapping won't put an end to Waze's days, says its president"?ZDNet?7/27
"Obama outspends Romney on Apple products; Democrat-leaning states have higher iPhone usage; Apple employees donate $15 to Obama for every $1 to Romney"?MacDailyNews?7/27
"Google adds 3D maps and virtual 'tour guide' to iOS"?AFP Relax News?7/27
"Samsung Galaxy S3 search foul-up was a mistake, not Apple"?Crave @ CNET?7/27
"Olympics Test Network As IPhone-Toting Visitors Clog U.K."?Bloomberg?7/27
"Best Buy drops price of the iPhone 4 to $49.99 with plan"?9 to 5 Mac?7/27
"Financial Times: Our Digital Subscribers Now Outnumber Print, And Digital Is Half Of The FT's Revenue"?TechCrunch?7/27
Non-Apple News
"RSA offers simple tips for serious cyber-security ahead of 2012 Olympics"?ZDNet?7/27
"Blizzard patches Diablo III Wizard 'God Mode' exploit"?TG Daily?7/27
"$48 mini Android PC is out in the wild"?TG Daily?7/27
"Nokia Confirms Close Of Last Finnish Handset Factory: 780 Job Cuts To Follow"?TechCrunch?7/27
"French System Lets You Write With Your Eyes"?PC Magazine?7/27
"Google Doodle Celebrates Tonight's Olympic Games Opening Ceremony"?Wired?7/27
"Google Handwrite Pits Mobile Search Against Your Withered Penmanship"?Techland?7/27
"ISPs Poised to Battle Google's 'Fiberhoods'"?PC Magazine?7/27
"Twitter's Opulent New Offices: Exclusive Micro-Tour and Photos"?Wired?7/27
"Twitter Hit With 'Is This You?' Photo Malware"?PC Magazine?7/27
"CEO Turnaround Has Kept Yahoo! in the Headlines and Perception High"?Forbes?7/27
"Chip industry undergoing structural shift, says UMC CEO"?DigiTimes?7/27
"RIM Marketing Head's Secret Weapon: Current BlackBerry Fans"?New York Times [Free/Paid Registration Required]?7/27
"Ouya game console adds OnLive, outs controller"?CNET News?7/27
"Ahead Of Olympics, Samsung Supports Team Great Britain With Union Jack Galaxy S III"?TechCrunch?7/27
"Smartphones power record Samsung profit of $5.9 billion during Apple lull"?Reuters?7/27
Publications/Podcasts
"2 Reel Guys Goes Back Into Production"?Larry's Blog?9:21 PM
"eXtensions Podcast #2012 7 -The Bangkok-based eXtensions podcast based on the week's Cassandra columns and whatever else I throw in."?eXtensions?8:10 AM
"TUAW Origin Stories: Model Release"?TUAW?7/27
"The MacJury Enter Their First Impressions of Mountain Lion Into Evidence"?MacVoicesTV?7/27
"Gene Steinberg meets Stephen Baker, of the NPD Group, Daniel Eran Dilger, of Roughly Drafted Magazine and AppleInsider, and Nelson Hudes, representing NetTALK.com, this week on The Tech Night Owl LIVE"?The Tech Night Owl LIVE?7/27
"Architosh talks to Francois Levy about Small-Firm BIM"?Architosh?7/27
"The Opinion Cast: The Future of Smart Watches"?Tech.pinions?7/27
"Engadget Podcast 303 - 07.27.2012" ["01:47 - Apple OS X Mountain Lion 10.8 review; 06:51 - Mountain Lion hits the Mac App Store, is one $20 credit card deduction away; 25:50 - Apple announces Q3 2012 earnings: $35 billion revenue, $8.8 billion in net profits"]?Engadget?7/27
"New purported next-generation iPhone parts photos show fully assembled device"?9 to 5 Mac?2:19 PM
"Photos alleged show fully-assembled next-gen iPhone"?AppleInsider?3:09 PM
"Apple's iPhone 5 out... smuggled from factory, pics on internet: Report says shortage of chips could result in delay of launch"?Emirates 24/7?7:48 AM
"Samsung Struggles to Match Apple's Retina Display Quality"?Patently Apple?9:15 AM
"MacBook Pro with Retina display gets Power Nap via firmware update"?The Verge?7/28
"Apple files another patent for wearable computing device"?iDownload Blog?7/28
"Behold, Early iPhone and iPad Prototypes"?TechCrunch?7/27
"Early iPad prototypes surface in Apple v, Samsung"?Electronista?7/27
"iPhone and iPad prototypes reveal Apple design process"?Crave @ CNET?7/27
"iPhone and iPad prototypes show Apple's roads not taken"?TUAW?7/27
"Apple prototypes show iPhone 'inspired by Sony', and kickstand iPad"?Electricpig?7/27
"Apple wants to control everything in your home via NFC"?CNET News?7/27
"Apple's continued interest in heads-up displays may hint at showdown with Google Glass"?The Next Web?7/27
"One dead, four hurt at Apple supplier China plant"?MarketWatch?7/27
"Gas leak hits Apple supplier in Taiwan"?Financial Times [Paid Membership Required]?7/27
"Gas Leak at Apple Supplier's Plant Kills 1"?WSJ.com [Paid Membership Required]?7/27
"Apple Hires AMD Chip Engineer, 100W USB Coming, SSDs for 2012 MacBook Air, and More"?Low End Mac?7/27
"iPad 68% of Tablet Market, Nexus 7 Gets Lots of Love, IKEA Catalog for iOS, and More"?Low End Mac?7/27
AppleCare/Helps
"MacBook Air SMC Updates 1.5 and 1.6"?TidBITS?7/27
Price Trackers/Deals
"Reflexions For iPhone and iPad Is Temporarily Available For Free (Normally $0.99)"?Apple Sliced?10:40 AM
"Can You Match? For iPhone and iPad Is Free Right Now (Previously $0.99)"?Apple Sliced?10:40 AM
"Squarescape For iPhone Is Free Today (Was $0.99)"?Apple Sliced?10:40 AM
"Burn The Corn For iPhone Is Temporarily Available For Free (Normally $1.99)"?Apple Sliced?7/28
"Germz For iPhone and iPad Is Free Right Now (Previously $0.99)"?Apple Sliced?7/28
"Warmongers For iPhone Is Free Today (Was $0.99)"?Apple Sliced?7/28
"There are no new item in The US Apple Store, four were restocked , 64 were unchanged, and two were Sold Out."?While Supplies Last?7/28
"Robot Bros For iPhone and iPad Is Temporarily Available For Free (Normally $1.99)"?Apple Sliced?7/27
"Around the World in 80 Days HD (Premium) For iPad Is Free Right Now (Previously $4.99), The iPhone Version Is Also Free"?Apple Sliced?7/27
"Escape The Ape For iPhone and iPad Is Free Today (Was $0.99)"?Apple Sliced?7/27
"MacBook Air Prices & Sales"?MacPrices?7/27
"MacBook Pro Prices & Sales"?MacPrices?7/27
"Apple refurbs: MacBook Air from $759"?MacNN?7/27
"PadGadget Daily App Deal ? 26 iPad Apps on Sale"?PadGadget?7/27
Deal Brothers Daily Deal: Mac mini 2.5GHz dual-core Intel Core i5:? $1189.00 Delivered
"Cassandra -Monday Review: It will soon be Friday"?eXtensions?9:28 PM
"Visualized: the iDevice influence on Apple's bottom line"?Engadget?9:19 PM
"Breaking Down the Apple-Twitter Investment Rumors"?Yahoo! News?6:46 PM
"Apple debuts three new Mac ads: 'Basically,' 'Labor Day,' and 'Mayday' (with Video)"?MacDailyNews?10:40 AM
"Apple's new adverts are far from genius"?Crave @ CNET?7:48 AM
"Applesauce: All Things Apple ? July 29, 2012"?redOrbit?7:47 AM
"What to Expect From Apple in the Second Half of 2012"?The Motley Fool?7/28
"MacOS KenDensed: MacOS KenDensed: Apple Q3 Earnings & Plugging App Store Holes"?The Mac Observer?7/28
"Genius ads: These new ads seemed to have provoked a response not seen since Apple made the menu bar in OS X translucent and initiated Ragnarok."?John Moltz's Very Nice Web Site?7/28
"New Apple ads make Mac owners look inept, foolish"?Digital Trends?7/28
"New Apple 'Genius' Ads: Hit, Miss, or Insulting?"?PC Magazine?7/28
"Apple's new Mac ads face criticism"?Stemmings?7/28
"Apple may buy stake in Twitter in Facebook leverage play, as Tim Cook takes hold"?Beatweek Magazine?7/28
"Rumor: Apple Not Really Considering Hooking Up With Twitter"?AppleBitch?7/28
"Rumor: Apple to Invest Hundreds of Millions in Twitter"?Tapscape?7/28
"Zuckerberg says no Facebook phone, wants deeper iPhone and Android integration"?Tap For Mobile?7/28
"Soulja Boy Takes On The iPad With His Ridiculous Tablet"?TechCrunch?7/27
"iPhone 5 rumor roundup: CNET tracks all the iPhone 5 rumors: from the likely to the crazy: that we've heard so far in 2011 and 2012."?CNET Reviews?7/27
"Apple's Ridiculous Patent"?Forbes?7/27
"Have Smartphone Sales Hit the Saturation Point?"?ReadWriteWeb?7/27
"How Steve Jobs Almost Leaked The Original iPhone's Existence"?Business Insider?7/27
"Samsung says that Apple stole iPhone design from Sony"?Neowin?7/27
"Samsung: 'Apple's proto-iPhone Jony is a Sony phone phoney'"?Register Hardware?7/27
"Long Live The Mac: Why The Mac's Golden Age Is Coming To An End"?Mac 360?7/27
"Has Apple 'Overscrolled' Its Case Against Samsung, And What To Do About Tech Patents?"?Forbes?7/27
"Apple iPhone 5 Vs. Samsung Galaxy S III: What We Know" [Slideshow]?InformationWeek?7/27
"Ad for Apple's Siri gets poison oak wrong, report says"?CNET News?7/27
"Kodak Has Its Moment: Judge Denies Apple's Bid to Move Patent Suit to New Court"?AllThingsD?7/27
"Thanks to iOS 6, MetaWatch outs Strata smartwatch ? Mobile Technology News"?GigaOM?7/27
"Apple Provides Lessons for RIM's BlackBerry Comeback Bid"?Bloomberg?7/27
"IPad Remains Best Used As A Supplement To The Mac"?MacNews?7/27
"The Latest iPhone Leak: Fact Or Fiction?"?App Advice?7/27
"If This Is What The New iPhone Looks Like, Are People Going To Be 'Disappointed'?"?Business Insider?7/27
"Is the iPad Really That Expensive?"?PadGadget?7/27
"Apple Claims Google Warned Samsung About Copying iPad"?Tom's Hardware?7/27
"What Is Apple Up to This Time? Is Apple's AuthenTec deal motivated by patents or to bolster the security on its devices?"?WSJ Blogs?7/27
"Apple Acquires AuthenTec: A Fingerprint as a Key?"?Forbes?7/27
"Apple Pays $356 Million For AuthenTec In Possible Prelude To Mobile Payments"?Forbes?7/27
"Why Apple wanted AuthenTec: Thwart Samsung, Android in BYOD: If Apple didn't buy AuthenTec, a cash strapped mobile security player, it's likely another rival would have. Apple's courtship of the enterprise via the bring your own device continues."?ZDNet?7/27
"Apple's AuthenTec Deal: A Shot At Samsung?"?TheStreet?7/27
"Apple scoops up secure fingerprint sensor maker AuthenTec for?$356M"?GigaOM?7/27
"Who's suing Apple this week? Mobile patent lawsuits round-up/In courts this week: Apple, Samsung, Google, Microsoft & Motorola"?Macworld UK?7/27
"Apple granted stay on 'Samsung didn't copy us' ads"?SlashGear?7/27
Non-Apple
"YouTube might be the best place to watch the Olympics (if it doesn't break)"?I, Cringely?7/28
"Google+ and 'ghost town' are a contradiction"?BetaNews?7/27
"5 Black Hat Security Lessons For CIOs: Beyond the bearded coders and men in black suits was a trove of security best practices for enterprise IT."?InformationWeek?7/27
"How software can learn a lot from the way nature works"?ZDNet?7/27
"If OEMs aren't committed to Windows, where are they to go?"?ZDNet?7/27
"Widespread outages underline the need for IT backup plans"?V3?7/27
"Top 10 technologies powering the Olympic and Paralympic Games"?V3?7/27
"No slowdown in sight for cyber attacks"?USA Today?7/27
"The week in tech: 5 must-know things"?USA Today?7/27
"No: it isn't you, it's Twitter malware"?TG Daily?7/27
"The best prepaid smartphones: In many ways a cheaper, financially safer alternative to standard pay-by-the-month phones"?Techlicious?7/27
"The data center you dream of is in the cloud: New high-performance public cloud offerings deliver what IT can't afford to implement in-house"?InfoWorld?7/27
"The easy, low-cost, secure plan for enabling BYOD: A rise in vendor and consultant fearmongering endangers user productivity and IT budgets alike"?InfoWorld?7/27
"What Will the Internet Look Like in 5 Years?"?Forbes?7/27
"BT: Almost every Android device is infected with malware"?ZDNet?7/27
"Google Is Now America's Most Awesome ISP"?Wired?7/27
"Is Google Fiber Key to Cloud Happiness?"?Wired?7/27
"Five Cool Things About Google Fiber (and One Not So Cool Thing)"?Techland?7/27
"Why it's not easy being Mark Zuckerberg"?GigaOM [Free Registration Required]?7/27
"Sight: A Short Film About The Future ? [Video, Nsfw]?RazorianFly?7/27
Humor/Cartoons
"Bill & Melinda Gates: You can't take a photo with an iPad! [Video]?Yahoo! News?7/28
"How To Compose Texts Or iMessages On iPhone With Drawings, Handwriting And Sketches"?Redmond Pie?11:20 AM
Don't we all want those perfect blues and greens in our pictures and feel anxious to see the results only to find that the camera failed you? The blues don't come out as blue as you thought nor does the exposure strike the right chord.
Thing with digital photography is that there is so much of post processing done these days that it has raised the expectations of a common amateur photographer and one wants to settle down for nothing but the best colors and tone.
Fortunately in the digital cameras world, it is possible. Here is how:
* For that perfect blue and deep color it is important that your white balance is set perfectly. If you are uncertain about how to do it, your best bet is still the auto white balance mode although do not have high hopes then. There are times when it screws up the pictures. Alternatively try to dial through the different White Balance modes and see which tones suits your taste. Try this when you know that the lighting conditions are same such as outdoors or under white florescent lights.
* Spike up the colors a little. If you want to completely avoid post processing, you can try to work on the colors a little and increase their saturation levels by few notches. This would enable brighter and deeper colors, straight from the camera. No need to Photoshop or Lightroom your images.
* Avoid flash. While there are times when you have no option but to click using a flash, it is always good to play with camera settings to avoid such situations. This can be done with aperture, shutter speed and ISO settings. Using flash otherwise spoils the depth and leaves the picture looking very flat.
* Explore modes. The beauty about DSLR and digital cameras is that they understand light better than humans and when you dial into the right mode such as AV, TV or Auto, the camera lets you control just the bare minimum features and computes the rest on its own. AV suits the best when you want to control the depth in the photograph, TV works the best when you are shooting motion and Auto is the ideal one when the shooting conditions are too difficult for amateurs to control. By leveraging these inbuilt modes, you can capture good photographs even in difficult situations.
Other settings that one can look into are the Picture modes. They let you control various factors such as the Color Saturation, Picture Sharpness, Contrast, Tints et al. Many cameras let you define each factor independently. You can try to play around with the settings there and find a combination that works the best for you.
In the end, never stop reading about photography. Many a times, a simple trick and tweak in colors and contrast deliver such amazing results that even the photographers wonder how come they missed the trick for so long! So read try and experiment and you soon may find the best setting for your shooting style.
Aaditya Tanwar is a Home Appliances industry insider and frequently blogs about Home Appliances and consumer electronics. In his latest series of articles, he shares insights on leading digital cameras and digital cameras
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It would be hard to name anything that can have a more profound effect on your life than the regular practice of physical activity and exercise. There is no debate on that point due to decades of research and clinical experience. Increasing your level of activity is almost always beneficial, so it?s recommended to everyone. Your body can become fitter and stronger in numerous ways.
No matter how old you are, a fitness program can be good for you. You can have it done anytime as you planned. It?s been discovered that it?s helpful to start exercising no matter how old you are. The following is some of the main benefits that physical activity and exercise can bring you.
These muscles are the reasons why mean are often able to lose more fatter than women. There are other healthy benefits such as improving the quality of skin with regular fitness workout like doing it at home with an exercise bike or performing an indoor cycling. Some people won?t consider the fact that our skin will become healthier, perhaps that makes sense from the fact that our skin is the largest organ we have.
Regular exercise also acts to boost the immune system making it more resilient and better suited to fend off viruses and common cold and flu symptoms. It?s no doubt that the process is highly complicated. But just one factor is your blood circulation increases to a higher level with regular exercise. This extra oxygen in the bloodstream makes your body better able to protect itself from foreign pathogens.
The reality as researchers are saying is that exercising and fitness programs will help prevent many kinds of age related health problems and diseases. If you want to significant delay or prevent various diseases, you need to start an exercise and fitness program now. Diseases can be prevented or in many cases significantly delayed.
Ariel Williams is a great consultant when talking about physical exercises. He is not only expert about bike exercises, but he is also knowledgeable on how to avoid back pain as well as preventing lumbar pain while doing this cycling bike or by having a bike tour as part of your workout routine.
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The Advantages Of Body Sculpting And Weight Training While Pregnant
The contemporary world in which we live in is a far cry from what it used to be a few years back in terms of social media.?Many years back only the rich and affluent could afford telephones?but today, primary school kids have cell phones.?The global village in which?we live invloves children and so it is not?unusal that children have become the cust
We no longer know MEDIA to be TV and Radio? the options have been spiced up and what is called social media is the new order for communication on the go. This new style of communication has no doubt come to stay.
Life is much more interesting as social media has bridged many a gap but be that as it may, we need to excersise caution particularly when the kids are concerend. We need to keep abreast of the kind of virtual relationships our children keep because those are the hardest to monitor. You can easily invite your kid?s friend over to the house to judge/test his/her character but it will be difficult to request a chat with your kids? friend on facebook.
There are so many potential risks associated with social media use for tweens and teens. Even if your children will be responsible, the people they connect with might not be. That?s one of the the main problems, especially with high school kids. They have no idea of all that can go wrong or how they put themselves at risk.
If you have a plan to monitor your child?s page, keep in mind that FB?s new privacy settings let us select who sees what we post. So if children want to keep you from seeing something, they can exclude you, and you would never know. The same thing goes for people who post to their wall. They can select who sees it.
It is best to have a rule to never share or make public any information that would identify where you live, where they go to school, their age, phone?number or email address and when you are away from home (because their friends will know where you live).?It would?be good to avoid posting pictures, with possible exception of with friends. I would suggest not allowing other people to tag your child in photos or ?check in? to places.
Additionally, your child should be made aware of the seriousness of cyber-bullying. It?s a really huge problem and we all should come up with plans to deal with it if it happens.
Nichole Brown, Corporate Communications Manager at Ogilvy & Mather advises that?we should have our children?s passwords until?we are?comfortable with their interactions with others.
Parents how do you monitor your children?s use of the internet and social media?
Ready for the latest bout of XDA Recognized goodness? If you own a Nexus 7 or global Galaxy Note (oh yeah) then you'll find official preview builds of CyanogenMod 10 for each device at the source links below. They'll bring some added sparkle, like an almost-buttery version of Jelly Bean on the Note and USB storage on the Nexus 7, but neither build is ready for daily dependence -- so tread carefully or just consider them proof that the CM and Team Hacksung folks are almost there.
Manaf Tlas, a defector from the Assad regime, has it all: money, foreign friends, and a secular outlook. Now he's being pushed forward by foreign groups as Syria's strongman in waiting.
By Dan Murphy,?Staff writer / July 26, 2012
Syrian Brig. Gen. Manaf Tlass walks with Turkey?s Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, unseen, before a Ramadan fast-breaking dinner at Davutoglu's residence in Ankara, Turkey, Thursday, July 26. The general, who defected from Syria, made a surprise visit to Turkey.
Burhan Ozbilici/AP
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One of the problems of supporting revolutions in sharply divided societies, riven by sectarian tension and with much of the population furious after decades of abuse by their central government, is it's hard to put a strong stable government in place once the head has been cut off of the?ancient?regime.
Skip to next paragraph Dan Murphy
Dan Murphy, who has reported from Iraq, Afghanistan, Egypt, and more than a dozen other countries, writes and edits Backchannels. The focus? War and international relations, leaning toward things Middle East.
Click Here for your FREE 30 DAYS of The Christian Science Monitor Weekly Digital Edition
One popular method for trying to deal with this problem (rarely successful) is to promote an exile who promises to be BFFs to take control of the nation. For the US, in the case of Iraq, that was Ahmed Chalabi, a man who turned out to have very little popularity in Iraq and ended up aligning his political fortunes with Iran and being blacklisted by the US intelligence establishment that once hung on his every word (oops).
Influential supporters of the Iraq war are already calling for round 2 in Syria.?
And today, a lonely foreign policy establishment is turning its eyes to Manaf Tlass, a recent defector from the Syrian regime. Mr. Tlass was a brigadier general in Bashar al-Assad's republican guard, and yet a member of the country's Sunni Arab majority (his father had served Assad's father Hafez as minister of defense). His family has profited handsomely from sweetheart business deals under Assad, yet this week he's promised to help usher in a new democratic era. And even better, the former regime henchman has a penchant for red wine and Cuban cigars; no Muslim Brotherhood supporter here! (He also has ties to some far-right groups in France.)
In the past few days after weeks of quiet in France, where he fled three weeks ago, he's been giving interviews and making videotaped statements. Today he traveled to Turkey, where he met with the foreign minister and promised to try to unite Syria's opposition.
Yesterday the Wall Street Journal cited unnamed US officials as saying they were "discussing ways to place Syria's highest-ranking military defector at the center of a political transition in the Arab state... the officials said Gen. Tlass is one of the few figures in opposition to the regime who could potentially help restore order in Damascus and secure Syria's vast chemical-weapons stockpile."
Most people who follow Syria doubt the rebels who have been fighting since early last year against the Assad regime will have much time for Tlass. But those interested in the man and what he stands for should have a look at this essay by researcher Bassam Haddad, who met the man a few years ago.
"That night, I was introduced to Tala?s husband, Manaf Tlass, as a ?Syria researcher? working on the ?Syrian economy.? At the time, Manaf was one of the regime?s top strongmen, working side by side with Mahir al-Asad (the president?s younger brother) as a commander of elite units in the Republican Guard. It was too dark to make out his features. Most of what I saw was the big round flame at the tip of the cigar that seemed surgically attached to his fingers, if not his lips. He asked a few questions. I answered politely. I knew who he was, and thought it was odd that he mingled so freely... On a subsequent trip, at a birthday party in another of those restaurants, I met Manaf again. This time, he asked someone to ask me to come to his table. Usually, that is not a good thing... Manaf was quite candid and seemed more interested in conversation than surveillance. Still, I hesitated for some time before friends advised me not to skip out on the meeting. At the time, Manaf was a rising star, quite close to the Asad family. Regime strongmen had regained their swagger after several years of ?consolidation? that took place after the succession of Bashar to the presidency. It was a day to begin making Syria anew, with a younger and more contemplative, though less seasoned, leadership. The theme was less ?reform? than ?modernization,? less ?change? than ?continuity."
To be sure, some argue (like Joshua Landis, who lived in Syria for years and has good regime contacts) that he fled Syria after he favored more velvet glove, and less iron fist, in dealing with the uprising.
But in the end, Tlass is a child of wealth and privilege, closely associated with the abuses of the Assad regime, who only recently jumped ship. His star is unlikely to rise as quickly among Syria's rebels as it did among the Baath regime he served for so long.
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The contemporary world in which we live in is a far cry from what it used to be a few years back in terms of social media.?Many years back only the rich and affluent could afford telephones?but today, primary school kids have cell phones.?The global village in which?we live invloves children and so it is not?unusal that children have become the cust
