3 Technology Link |
- Cybernet ZPC-D5
- PCD Wrangler (U.S. Cellular)
- Nintendo could open an eBook store for the Wii U console
- Twitter index: things your mom always told you, Cody Simpson reveals he’s single
- Social media threat to adopted children grows in UK
| Posted: 05 Jan 2012 11:01 AM PST Cybernet ZPC-D5
Compact. Built-in keyboard. Energy efficient. Built-in DVD burner. Built-in touchpad. HDMI. Inexpensive.
Weak integrated graphics. Only supports 1,024-by-768 resolution from the HDMI port.
If you have a need for an inexpensive system for your undemanding business users, the Cybernet ZPC-D5 nettop delivers a full PC for not a lot more than what you’d pay for a tablet. The Cybernet ZPC-D5 ($384 direct) is a very inexpensive, very compact nettop. The ZPC-D5 line starts at $349, so the only difference between the base model and this review unit is $35 for an extra 2GB of system memory. It has an attractive price point for the business owner who has to outfit a bunch of office users on a tight budget, especially if their actual needs are sparse. Sure, it’s kind of weak on the benchmark tests, but it’s adequate if your daily workload consists of checking email and utilizing business web apps, social media, and IM. It’s not for every business user in your company, but if you absolutely, positively need to spend as little as possible on your business PC and need it to fit in a small space, then take a look at the ZPC-D5. Design & Features Like most compact systems (though let’s face it, this is essentially netbook without a screen), the ZPC-D5 doesn’t have too much internal expansion space. However, there is an easy to open access panel on the bottom of the unit to get to the notebook class 2.5 inch hard drive and the single memory slot. Our unit came with a 250GB 5,400rpm WD drive and a 4GB DDR3 SO-DIMM. The system has four USB 2.0 ports, a HDMI-out port, a VGA port, SD card reader, and an Ethernet port. These are sufficient for a system in the nettop class, since nettop users likely won’t need huge storage and the requisite high-speed ports like USB 3.0 or eSATA. The VGA and HDMI ports allow simultaneous use for dual display. Note that the HDMI port is limited to 1,024-by-768 resolution, so the system isn’t suitable for HD video output to a large screen via HDMI. Strangely enough, the VGA port will output 1,920-by-1,080 (1080p HD) resolution graphics. Chalk the limitations up to the integrated Intel GMA 3150 graphics, which can handle 1080p HD, but not on simultaneous displays in this system. Not a problem for a business user, but a consumer user would want the resolution capabilities reversed. The nettop is designed as a business system, since Cybernet has years of experience building systems for vertical markets (like hospitals and warehouses). The ZPC-D5 is the latest in a long line of “zero footprint PCs,” so called because they take up as much desk space as an external keyboard. As such it is pretty free of any extraneous programs or bloatware—a good thing for IT folks and users, since there’s nothing to clean up off the hard drive. The system comes with a one-year warranty. Performance The Intel Atom D525 is a dual-core nettop processor made more for energy saving than performance. Therefore, it’s no surprise that the ZPC-D5 got us some of the lowest scores on our benchmark tests. It managed to encode a video in Handbrake in 8 minutes 41 seconds and took 20:51 on our Photoshop CS5 test script. If multimedia performance is important to your business, you’re better off buying our business Editors’ Choice HP Compaq 4000 Pro ($549 direct, 4.5 stars) (2:38 Handbrake, 5:04 CS5), even our consumer nettop EC, the Acer Revo RL100-UR20P ($569.99 list, 4 stars) is faster, thanks to an AMD dual-core processor (5:43 Handbrake, 13:69 CS5). That said, this lack of performance could be a good thing for some businesses: business apps for line workers (email, accessing inventory databases computed on a server, point of sale, etc.) usually don’t need a lot of computing power, so there will be very little incentive for your workers to waste time with web-based games or working on editing YouTube videos. If you consider this system to be the equivalent of the VT100 terminal from 1980s computing, then you’ll be alright. The Cybernet ZPC-D5 is a niche player in the business PC field. It’s not very powerful, but it’s also not very expensive. Our current EC for midrange business desktops the HP Compaq 4000 Pro is $165 more expensive, but also has a lot more expandability and performance. Likewise on the consumer side, our nettop EC the Acer Revo RL100-UR20P is also more powerful and more capable. For the money, the ZPC-D5 isn’t a bad buy, especially if you’re outfitting users that have limited needs or are abusive to their PCs. The $349-$384 isn’t a lot to spend to replace a system, and it’s powerful enough for basic business use. Call it recommended with reservations, but if you have a need for a cheap, compact PC for your business users, the ZPC-D5 is a decent buy. Spec Data
 Cybernet ZPC-D5 : Angle
Cybernet ZPC-D5 : Drive
Cybernet ZPC-D5 : Right
Cybernet ZPC-D5 : Left
Cybernet ZPC-D5 : Back
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| Posted: 05 Jan 2012 10:24 AM PST PCD Wrangler (U.S. Cellular) PCD Wrangler (U.S. Cellular)
Scratch-resistant. Decent internal screen.
Horrid battery life. Very poor call quality. Stiff, poorly designed keypad. Gets uncomfortably warm.
The PCD Wrangler on U.S. Cellular is one of the worst cell phones we’ve tested in a long time. The PCD Wrangler is one of the worst cell phones I’ve tested in recent memory. It’s a leftover from 2006, an electronic Venus flytrap at the retail counter, waiting quietly to ensnare unsuspecting U.S. Cellular shoppers. The PCD Wrangler’s $19.99 entry price, when coupled with U.S. Cellular’s eminently reasonable monthly plans, makes it seem like a good value. But if PCD wants its new brand to gain a foothold in America, it needs to do much better than this. Design, Call Quality, and Apps The external 1.2-inch OLED display is color, and looks slightly brighter than the average passive matrix external display. It’s still pretty faded, though. Inside, the 2.2-inch, 240-by-320-pixel TFT active matrix screen exhibits average brightness and sharpness for its class. It’s also the one clear giveaway this phone is new, and not a five-year-old model (which would have had a dimmer, 128-by-160 or 176-by-220-pixel LCD). Things go downhill quickly from there, starting with the flat, membrane-style keypad. It features slightly bubbled, reflective keys that feel unusually stiff and cheap, if well separated. The keys are also backlit, but dimly and unevenly. Combine that with the soft gray used for the markings, and this isn’t a phone you’ll want to use in poor lighting (or with poor eyesight, for that matter). The five-way control pad isn’t large enough and requires careful aim to use properly. The tiny function keys to either side—including the much-used Send and End keys—are much too small and close together. The Wrangler is a dual-band, 2G 1xRTT (850/1900 MHz) device with no Wi-Fi. Voice quality was awful, with a piercing, almost unintelligible tone in the earpiece that became tiresome to listen to within a few minutes. Transmissions through the handset mic sounded like a medium-quality Bluetooth headset: understandable, but overly computerized. Reception was below average. The display also emitted an annoying, high-pitched tone with my ear next to it while talking, and the handset became uncomfortably warm during use, even after just a minute or so. On our continuous talk time test, a fully charged PCD Wrangler lasted just 2 hours and 21 minutes before shutting down; that’s one of the worst showings we’ve ever seen, if not the worst. Apps, Multimedia, and Conclusions There’s a built-in music player and a standard-size 3.5mm headphone jack hidden behind a stiff, rubberized cover. Buried underneath the battery is a memory card slot with no rubber insulation, that only accepts 4GB cards (2006 again!); there’s also 159MB of free internal storage. The 1.3-megapixel camera has no LED flash or auto-focus; it’s fine for throwaway shots, but why bother? There’s no camcorder or standalone video player. PCD preloads two games, one of which is Snake. Anyway, you get the point. There’s no shortage of cheap phones available, so you can easily do better than the Wrangler. Our current Editors’ Choice is the LG Wine II ($39.99, 4 stars); for an extra $20, you get great voice quality, good looks, a real music player, much better battery life, and fast 3G data speeds. Otherwise, you can take your pick of the LG Envoy ($9.99, 2.5 stars),Samsung Chrono ($0.01, 2.5 stars), or Samsung Stride (Free, 3 stars); each will give you good call quality and reasonable battery life. All three are also less expensive than the Wrangler. Spec Data
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| Nintendo could open an eBook store for the Wii U console Posted: 05 Jan 2012 10:12 AM PST Nintendo could open an eBook store for the Wii U console
Following news that Nintendo will introduce an application store with their forthcoming Wii U console, a rumor has appeared that they'll introduce an eBook download service too. This builds on the speculation that Nintendo wants their next console to be more than just a games machine. Quoting an unnamed software developer who has been working with Nintendo, Forgetthebox.net was told of a complete eBook download service, featuring not only books, but comics, magazines and newspapers too. One of the Wii U's unique features is its 6.2-inch touchscreen controller, and it's here that the eBooks would be read, using the standard page turning swipes to browse through them. Nintendo will also make the publications available on the 3DS handheld console, emulating Apple, Amazon and Google's approach to adding benefits to those who show brand loyalty. In addition to third-party publications, Nintendo will possibly dig into its own back-catalog by releasing its official strategy guides. These guides covered games on the NES, Gameboy, SNES, Gamecube and so on, and many are out of print now, but they'd be offered for free via Nintendo's Wii U eBook store. That's not all either, as any games you download would have an electronic instruction booklet included too. Finally, there's a chance the company will reprint every issue of its Nintendo Power magazine inside the store, providing fans of older Nintendo products a great opportunity to revisit old reviews and articles. Like the console itself, there are still plenty of unanswered questions here, such as pricing, agreements with publishers and the amount of zooming one would have to do to read a magazine on a 6.2-inch screen. Nintendo is likely to be showing off the Wii U at CES next week, so perhaps it won't be long before we get the official word on this interesting development. Share and Enjoy• Facebook • Twitter • LinkedIn • Digg • Delicious • StumbleUpon • Reddit • Google Buzz • FriendFeed • MySpace • Add to favorites • Email • Print • PDF | ||||||||||||||||
| Twitter index: things your mom always told you, Cody Simpson reveals he’s single Posted: 05 Jan 2012 10:05 AM PST Twitter index: things your mom always told you, Cody Simpson reveals he’s single
 Microbloggers are tweeting their favorite "mom quotes." Twitter users are reminiscing about the past and remembering the advice their mother gave to them with the two top #hastags on Twitter: "#momquotes" and "#ThinkingBack." Microbloggers tweet that their moms always used to say: “go ask your dad,” “If you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all” and “I am a mother, it’s my job to worry.” Sports are a popular topic on Twitter on the morning of January 5. The names of American soccer player "Tim Howard," Australian cricketer "Michael Clarke" and freshman basketball player Jordan "Tolbert" all appear in Twitter's top trending topics. For the fifth day running, Tweeps are counting down the 366 days of 2012 with the term "Page 5 of 366." Twitterers are penning "Dear Cody" letters to Australian singer Cody Simpson with their 140 characters, letting him know they are available to date, after he tweeted "dear twitter, I'm single." "#SomeWhereInTheGhetto" appears in third place, "ChrisLeaoNoBBB12" is in seventh place and "Hustle Man," a character from the TV show Martin, is in ninth place. The top 10 most talked about topics on Twitter on January 5 at 7:30 AM GMT are:
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| Social media threat to adopted children grows in UK Posted: 05 Jan 2012 10:00 AM PST Social media threat to adopted children grows in UK
 The Facebook logo is displayed on a computer screen in Brussels April 21, 2010. … British youngsters adopted after abusive childhoods are at risk of fresh emotional turmoil as some birth parents turn to Facebook and other social networking sites to track them down, adoption agencies said on Thursday. The ease with which birth parents can use technology to get in touch with their children without warning and without following established safeguards has alarmed adoption agencies. Families who have been contacted have described the experience as like being in a “slow motion car crash” leaving them “battered and bruised.” Some families have been torn apart. “Social networking sites have blown things open — you can’t keep things secret,” said Julia Feast, consultant at the British Association for Adoption and Fostering (BAAF), which campaigns for children in care. “It really unsettles the whole family,” she told Reuters. “It’s like a bomb being thrown inside it and you don’t know how you are going to pull the pieces together again if children are not being prepared.” Under law, birth parents cannot access the adoption records of their children and usually, in the days before social networking, it was very difficult for them to make contact. Since 2005, adopted adults and their birth relatives have had the legal right to ask for intermediary services from an approved agency to help them make contact with each other, but this can be turned down if there are concerns following an assessment. It is not known how many birth parents are using social networking sites to get around this, but the BAAF said it was receiving “more and more cases.” “We have heard some horror stories, but how frequently it is happening we just don’t know,” Feast added. “I think we have to accept that this is the way people communicate these days and that more and more people will resort to this as a way of trying to find relatives. “We can’t ignore it but we have to be pro-active so people can manage it if it does happen.” The BAAF wants the government to put in place a system where agencies and adoptive parents can get in touch and share their experiences, learning from each other. It is not just birth parents who are getting in touch. Adopted children, especially if they are at the age when they begin to suffer angst and are looking to rebel, are logging on. Another agency, Adoption UK, which supports parents who adopt, suggests adoptive parents be honest with children, and not allow their previous history to be seen through “rose-tinted glasses.” “First and foremost, we need to be more open and honest with adopted children about the reasons for their adoption and reality of the abuse and neglect they experienced within their birth families,” said Jonathan Pearce, chief executive of Adoption UK. “Currently such life story work tends to be a sugar-coated or rose-tinted version of what really happened,” he added. “Something closer to the truth will better protect and prepare adopted children for the destabilising effects of unplanned contact, which often happens at a key stage in their adolescence.” Share and Enjoy• Facebook • Twitter • LinkedIn • Digg • Delicious • StumbleUpon • Reddit • Google Buzz • FriendFeed • MySpace • Add to favorites • Email • Print • PDF |
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