SmartbuyWednesday, June 8, 2011

G A D G E T S | A U T O | L U X U R Y www.blsmartbuy.com

Business Line

Right Light!Bring home the glowPage 12

Reviews:Samsung Nexus SAcer Iconia Tab A500+

2 June 8, 2011Smartbuy

WHAT’S HOT this week

Team SmartbuyEditorial

Anushya Mamtoraanushya@thehindu.co.in

Ketaki Bhojnagarwalaketaki@thehindu.co.in

Mahananda Bohidarmahananda@thehindu.co.in

S. Muralidharmuraliswami@thehindu.co.in

Design

Bryan Gaughanaqua@thehindu.co.in

Balakrishnandesignkbala@thehindu.co.in

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R. Diwakarramdiwakar@thehindu.co.in

Web Advertising Contact

N. Amarnathamarnath@thehindu.co.in

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Cover photo: Better Interiors

ASUS has added newPC peripherals to itsRepublic of Gamers(ROG) range of gamingproducts. The VulcanANC gaming headset isequipped with activenoise-cancellingtechnology, whichensures an immersiveaudio experience. Itfeatures a detachableboom microphone incase you’re feelinganti-social whilegaming. Made withtough plastic andleather, the black andred colour combo willleave you raring to go!To be announced

The latest digicam from Samsung sports dual screens - a 1.8-inch LCD screenat the front and a 3-inch touch screen at the back panel. The ST700 comes witha whopping 16.1-megapixel sensor and a 26mm, 5x optical zoom lens. You haveSmart Filters like Soft Focus, Half-tone Dot and Cinema along with capturemodes such as Fish-Eye, Miniature and Sketch. You can also make use of theMagic Frame to instantly create personlised postcards or posters to share withfriends and family. Rs 16,990

Serious gaming

ASUS VulcanANC

Twice as nice! Samsung ST700

Apple has finallylaunched the iPhone 4 inIndia. Chances are you’vealready handled oneyourself in the last fewmonths, but here’s alowdown on what toexpect if you haven’t -FaceTime video calls, anultra sharp Retinadisplay, HD videorecording and editing,folders for apps and a5-meg camera with flash.Rs 34,500 (16GB), Rs 40,900 (32GB)

Worth the wait?

Apple iPhone 4

3 June 8, 2011Smartbuy

One of HTC’s smallestphones ever, the Wildfire Ssports a 3.2-inch HVGAdisplay. The homescreen canbe fully customised withyour favourite apps andwidgets. You can snap yourfavourite moments with the5-megapixel camera withauto focus and record HDvideos with it. The handsetcomes with a microSD slotand supports a variety ofaudio and video formats,making the Wildfire S a greatmultimedia device to carryaround with you. Rs 14,700

This trendy USB drive fromTranscend not only looks good,but also protects your data fromhackers. 256-bit AES hardware-based encryption, JetFlashSecureDrive software and apassword-protected PrivateZone prevent anyone fromstealing your files. It offers amaximum write speed of up to 5Mbps and read speed of 17Mbps. It is available in threestorage capacities to suitdifferent requirements. Rs 910 (4GB); Rs 1,380 (8GB);Rs 2,570 (16GB)

Digital safehouse

TranscendJetFlash 200

The latest webcam from Logitech features autofocus and a built-inmic that make sure background noise won’t spoil your video calls. Italso allows you to capture software-enhanced 8-megapixel images.You can make video calls via Skype, Windows Live Messenger,Yahoo! Messenger and AOL Instant Messenger among others, andeven chat in HD (720p) on Logitech Vid HD. It also features a one-click HD video upload to Facebook, YouTube and Twitter so you caninstantly share your video recordings with others. Rs 2,995

A small spark

HTC Wildfire S

Time to twist it Logitech C525

4 June 8, 2011Smartbuy

SMARTPHONE review

Mahananda Bohidar

When the Nexus One was launched last year,one couldn’t help but compare it to theiPhone. At the time of release, the NexusOne had a better screen, better camera and

did stand up to the mighty Apple iPhone. This year bringshome the Samsung Nexus S, one of the very first to featurethe Android 2.3, coupled with a potent processor, marriedto an ergonomic design and with the lure of future-prooftech like Near Field Communication. Will this take overthe much coveted position right at top of the smartphonepyramid? We had the Samsung Nexus S on a long-termreview and here’s what we have to say.

DesignThe much-hyped ‘Contour Display’ on the Nexus S isbarely discernible but it does provide for a decent palmgrip. Did we mention the screen feels smooth as silk? Andit’s not just the gestures (that register fluidly on the dis-play) we’re talking about here but the physical glass dis-play being delightfully smooth. Like some of the handsetsin the Galaxy series, this too has no physical buttonsexcept the volume rocker and Power button on the sides.The four touch buttons have been re-shuffled a bit but it’snothing you can’t get used to under two minutes.

InterfaceThe Samsung Nexus S is the first high-end smartphonefrom the company to be stripped of the TouchWiz in-terface but with Gingerbread taking care of the user expe-rience, we can’t say we miss the former much. Theimmediate user experience of Android Gingerbread (Ver2.3) isn’t drastically different from its predecessor, Froyo.However, there are a lot of small changes working behindthe screen, targeted at making the Android experiencemore hassle-free. You have access to a task manager di-rectly from the home screen. Part of the new interface isalso a bunch of interesting apps. The first one to deservemention would be Tags, an app based on the Nexus S’sNFC (Near field communication) capabilities that let youorganise and share NFC tags. These ‘tags’ could containpictures, text, internet links etc. You have ‘Car Home’ thatserves as a personal navigation and infotainment app let-ting access to navigation features, control via voice actionsand the like. You also have a dedicated ‘Downloads’ appthat keeps track of all your purchases or downloads fromMarket, a big relief for those who’ve have had to wonderwhich little nook of the phone the app they downloaded ishiding in. Pre-installed apps include the cluster of Googlemobile services such as Google Search, Gmail, GoogleMaps with Navigation, Voice Actions, Google Voice andYouTube. The most ineffective of the lot would have to beVoice search. Google probably needs to run the appthrough a sort of ‘cultural sensitivity workshop’ becausethe long-winding Indian names almost always failed toregister on the app.

Apart from NFC, Nexus S can also be set up to be aportable hotspot. You can tether the handset’s data con-nection via an USB or turn on the Wi-Fi hotspot option tohave other devices connect to the web through the hand-set.

MultimediaWith about 16GB of internal memory, we made the most ofit by downloading a ton of apps from Market. We flaggedoff the experience with some ‘productivity-killer’ apps onthe handset. We went to half-the-world’s favourite - An-gry Birds. Catapulting the red, yellow and black birds to

topple the green pigs looked delightful on the screen,owing to the 4-inch Super AMOLED display. The screen ishands down one of the best lookers in town even if thehandset is not! We played BlastMonkeys, Bomb Toss,Donkey Jump and Drag Racing among others. We playedall games without a hint of a stutter or lag. The same wentwith videos that we played back on the handset fromYouTube. Running on the 1GhZ Hummingbird processor,we barely had any freezes on the Nexus S and despite morethan a handful of apps running in the background thehandset didn’t seem like it was slowing down. We ran theQuadrant Standard benchmarking test on the Nexus S tosee the handset come out right at the top scoring a 1417over the Nexus One.

Snaps taken with the 5-megger camera (with auto fo-cus) didn’t exactly give us stunning results. The coloursweren’t rich enough but we did have a couple of decentresults while trying out the various scene modes. Picturescaptured under low-light were also better than photosfrom other cameras we’ve tried out. Apart from the 5-megger at the rear, you also have a front facing-VGAcamera for video calls.

Voice calls on the Nexus S were quite clear and we neverhad any dropped calls while using the handset. The bat-tery life on the Nexus S was also slightly better than mostsmartphones in the market. With the Wi-Fi switched on,push mail activated, regular app usage and a bunch ofvoice calls, it needed to be charged after almost 24 hours ofkeeping us connected and entertained.

We sayWith an excellent display and operating system, andequipped with promising tech like NFC, WiMax and por-table Wi-Fi, the Samsung Nexus S manages to impressdespite not being the best-looking thing in town. If sub-stance over style works for you, then you need wait nolonger. Love: Brilliant screen, super-fast processor, NFC-enabledHate: Average camera and video, uninteresting hardwaredesign, no external storageRs 29,590

A winning collusion?Samsung Nexus S

Photo: R. Ravindran

mahananda@thehindu.co.in

TABLET review

An ace forAndroid tablets

very smooth and responsive, and we had no problemswhen it came to scrolling or typing. Because of the screensize, the keyboard is comfortable even for two-handedtyping, and we found it easy to tap out long emails orperform a quick search online.

Media usageWith a hefty 16GB of internal memory, the A500 can take afurther 64GB of storage via micro SD card. And that’s notall, you can even hook up your external hard drive via USBand play content directly off it. We connected our 160GBWD hard drive to the A500, but it took ages for videos andphotos to show up on the tablet. We tried Acer’s NemoPlayer, Android’s Gallery and even some third-party appslike QuickPic, but nothing seemed to accelerate the proc-ess. This is more of an Android issue than an Acer one, andHoneycomb still has a lot of limitations when it comes toUSB support, which we hope will be ironed out in futureAndroid versions.

The rear-camera has a couple of scene and colourmodes to choose from, and you can also tweak WhiteBalance and Flash settings. Results were far from satis-factory – our photos looked washed out and the colourreproduction was poor. The front camera wasn’t greateither – we got a lot of flare from light sources – but it’sgood enough for video chats.

The browser was snappy and convenient to use, and letus open multiple tabs easily. The screen also supportsmulti -gesture like double tap and pinch to zoom, so wehad no problems reading web pages.

Acer has its native apps for social networking, ebooksand media which we’ve used on their phones before.These include Social Jogger, the afore-mentioned NemoPlayer, Photo Browser and LumiRead. We preferred the

Android versions of these apps, which are faster and moreintuitive.

We played some high-def (it only supports 720p play-back) videos on the A500, and although the 1280x800screen was clear and colour reproduction was good, therewere a lot of pixels visible to the naked eye, which wasquite a turn off. The stereo speakers located at the rear arebetter than what you get on most tablets, and despite thesound being tinny, were loud enough to watch a moviecomfortably. Gaming on the tablet was an impressiveexperience. We did a few laps on NFS Shift, and weresurprised when the gyroscope kicked into action, lettingus steer and manoeuvre as well as the iPad 2! Of course wetried Angry Birds Rio and Hero of Sparta HD, and graphicsreproduction on the latter was excellent. The touch screenalso made navigating in the game a breeze.

PerformanceThis tablet runs a dual-core Tegra 1GHz chip, so it’sconsiderably snappier than the Samsung Galaxy Tab. Weran a couple of Android benchmarking tests to comparescores. On Quadrant, we achieved a score of 2,090, whilethe Motorola Xoom clocks up to about 1,850. On Linpack,we scored 41.77 MFLOPS, and just to give you an idea, theSamsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 managed only 35.643 MFLOPSas its top score. Multi-tasking is a breeze with the A500,but the tablet takes ages to perform simple tasks likeopening the Gallery once you’ve snapped a photo, which isreally frustrating. Battery-wise, the A500 doesn’t do toowell, giving us only about 4-6 hours of usage with Wi-Fion, even though Acer claims 8 hours of play-back time.

Our verdictDespite being a little rough on the edges, Acer wins pointsfor innovation with the A500. It’s been priced almost onpar with an entry-level iPad 2, so if you don’t really want togo the Apple way, this might just be the Android tablet topick.Love: Good connectivity options, doesn’t freezeHate: Poor battery life, sub-standard screenRs 31,515

ketaki@thehindu.co.in

Ketaki Bhojnagarwala

The Acer Iconia A500 has a lot going for it. For one,it runs on Android 3.0, so that effectively makes itthe only Honeycomb tablet commercially avail-able in Indian stores. Second, it resolves a lot of

the issues surrounding the tablets launched in the marketso far – throwing in two USB ports, an HDMI-out and amicro SD card slot. So does Acer really have a winningformula with this one?

Not another cloneLooks wise, the A500 is like a breath of fresh air – it isnothing like an iPad. With a screen size of 10.1-inches anda net weight of nearly three-quarters of a kilo, it’s gotnetbook-ish dimensions. A shiny black bezel surroundsthe screen, and the back and sides are made of brushedaluminium, an increasingly popular casing material formobile phones and laptops. There are two cameras, thefront cam is a 2-megger, while the rear is a 5-megapixel,with LED flash. The two USB ports we mentioned includea mini USB. Apart from the mini HDMI port, there’s SIMcard and micro SD card slot concealed in a pull-out flap.You also get a volume rocker switch, 3.5mm headphonejack as well as a dock connector (which hooks up to adocking station that ships with an IR remote – sold sep-arately). The device is Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 2.1 enabled.

User interfaceThere’s a transparent grid on the screen which Acer hasincluded to help you arrange your icons on the five cus-tomisable home screens. However, even though we foundit helpful, the grid was visible even when performing othertasks, and ended up disrupting the view.

One thing that’s missing from the tablet is the lack ofdedicated Android buttons. What you get are just somevague arrow keys and an icon that opens up recent apps.The only plus side of course is that the screen can beoriented in any of the four directions. We should add thatauto-orientation was really sensitive, but you can turn itoff via a physical lock switch on the side.

Acer’s outdone itself on the capacitive touch screen. It’s

Docking port Mini HDMI port

Mini USB port USB port

5-meg camera withLED flash

Micro SD and SIMcard slot

Photos: R. Ravindran

GAME review

Crysis was a game well known for itsvisuals as well as its open-ended ga-meplay. As a marine strapped with amillion-dollar Nanosuit on a fictitious

island, players could analyse and approach anenemy encounter any way they wanted to, be itwith deadly stealth or excessive force. Despitethe move to a more concrete jungle, Crysis 2 stillremains a gorgeous and enjoyable shooter thatthankfully will not melt your PC this time round.GameplayCrysis 2 takes place nearly three years after theevents of Crysis, where New York has been hitby a deadly virus and an alien invasion. Most ofthe citizens are dead, and the few that survivedare dying painful deaths. You are Alcatraz, aspecial ops dude sent in to survey the situationand provide backup to a certain scientist. Obvi-ously, things don’t go quite as planned and youend up in a world of hurt. As fate closes one door,it opens up another for you and hands you theNanosuit, leaving New York’s salvation in yourhands. Like its predecessor, Crysis 2 is all aboutthe Nanosuit. Thanks to its plethora of abilities,it allows players to adopt and run with theirvery own style of gameplay, opening the doorfor multiple play-throughs.

Most of the suit’s abilities are back from thefirst game, so you can run fast, cloak yourself,jump real high and hit real hard. Where the firstgame tied it all down to the mouse, Crysis 2allows players to map the suit’s abilities to thekeyboard. So instead of clicking the middlemouse and then choosing cloak from a dial, yousimply hit [E] and bam; invisible man in thehouse. This definitely adds a layer of swiftnessto the game where players truly feel like preda-tory hunters.

Unfortunately, the new system is also a bitimbalanced. Shooting even a silenced pistolwhile cloaked rapidly drains your energy, andunless you get to cover quickly, you’ll soon bevisible to all. Crysis 2’s enemy AI is so dense thatyou rarely felt threatened or challenged. Mostenemies are so clueless that they just stand onthe battlefield as you run around with recklessabandon slaughtering their mates. . Then thereare times during intense firefights when you seecertain enemies running away – into walls.Things do improve a bit when you start battlingthe Ceph, but besides their acrobatic, fast move-ments, they charge at you in a straight line,making it very easy to kill them. Besides therun-of-the-mill grunts, you’ll face some minibosses who, once again, can be killed prettyeasily thanks to their lack of grey cells.

After an hour into the game, you’ll be able toupgrade your suit using nano catalysts droppedby dead Ceph, making you an even more power-ful force to reckon with. GraphicsThere’s a huge hue and cry about the game’svisuals and about how Crytek has let PC gamersdown by not putting in DirectX 11 support in thegame, but the truth is that the game still looks

phenomenal. It’s highly scalable as well. On themodest GTX 280, the game performed flaw-lessly at a 1920x1080 resolution on Very Highsettings. You could nitpick about how Crytekhas used certain low-res textures in the game,but unless you actually zoom into stuff, it won’tbe apparent during the frantic action.

New York looks phenomenal and the amountof detail that has gone into recreating the BigApple is admirable. The game’s score has beenperformed by Hans Zimmer and it grows on youthrough the course of the game. The Xbox 360version obviously doesn’t look as good as its PCcounterpart, but it plays just as well thanks to asolid control scheme.

Multiplayer in Crysis 2 is more Call of Dutythan Battlefield, primarily because of the ab-sence of vehicles. Like Activision’s juggernaut,you play well and earn points that can be used topurchase and enhance upgrades like bettercloaking, faster reloading, stronger armour, etc.Of course, the biggest challenge in multiplayer isbalancing your suit to face real opponents. Bydefault, your suit will have certain abilities likethe ability to cloak or sprint faster and the moreyou use them, the cooler stuff you unlock. Thegame even has its variation of killstreaks, which,if you haven’t played any Call of Duty game inthe recent past, means racking up an ‘x’ amountof kills without dying. Successfully doing so willallow you to call in for radar support (displayingnearby enemies on the map), a devastating laserstrike, and lots more.

But like every multiplayer game in the recentpast, the game’s multiplayer is not without itsissues. For starters, on the PC, you have to enterthe CD key multiple times when the game shouldhave registered it the first time. Even though thegame released here on the international releasedate, there was a dearth of low ping servers forIndians.

Perhaps one of the biggest frustrations stemsfrom the fact that you suddenly lose nearlythree levels out of nowhere along with the un-locks that you earn with them.

Though there are a few apprehensions aboutthe game at first because of all the negativityaround how Crytek ‘sold out’ by developinggames for the console, ditching their die-hardPC gamers in the process, the end product deliv-ers, and that’s what matters.

Besides the dumb AI and a few multiplayerniggles, Crysis 2 is a visual powerhouse backedby lofty production values, solid gameplay andfrantic action across both single andmultiplayer.

Love: Gorgeous visuals, frantic, fast pacedaction, multiplayer is a blastHate: Stupid enemy AI, multiplayer has a fewissuesRs 999 (PC), Rs 2,499 (PS3, Xbox 360)Publisher: EADeveloper: CrytekDistributor: Milestone Interactive

CHIP

CHIP

AUTO focus

Jason H. Harper

City of Malibu, may I introduce the Lotus Evora.Evora, meet Malibu, which, among its manycharms, has miles of magnificent mountainroads curling above the Pacific. The kind of

roads you were designed for. Kismet!The result of this automotive harmony? I’m hurling the

sprightly, two-door sports car up a windy section of tightasphalt, the steering wheel dancing in my hands like aliving thing. Third gear bounces off the engine’s rev limiteras I rage through an L-shaped corner.

I love the smell of burning rubber in the morning.

A small packageLotus does sports cars. Tiny ones. If BMW has veered intoheavyweight territory with oddball fast rides like the X6 Mcrossover, Lotus has stayed true to making two-doorwelterweights.

The scrappy British company got its start racing in the1950s and has seen its share of business ebbs and flows.There are storied models like the 1960s Elan and the 1970sEsprit, which made a guest appearance as a submarine inJames Bond’s “The Spy Who Loved Me.”

Of late, the only two model choices were the two-seatExige and Elise. To say they are driver’s cars is not simply aeuphemism; passengers larger than Kate Moss will beconstricted. Additional storage space is best suited topostage stamps. Two more fun cars you will not find,however.

The $64,000 Evora is the first of many promised newmodels, each with more room. These include the return ofthe Esprit in 2013, the Elite, and eventually a four-doorcalled the Eterne.

Elf seatsIn the meantime you can purchase the Evora, which hasroom for four - sort of. There is a space behind the driverthat can be optioned with seatbelts and what one mightcall sub-seats, which might accommodate Keebler elves.

Otherwise, you can opt for a shelf that fits a backpacknicely.

The reason for this scrunching is both a function of thecar’s dimensions and overall engineering. The 3.5-litre V-6engine is situated behind the cockpit rather than inside thehood. This leaves the car perfectly balanced, like a well-made chef’s knife. It changes directions effortlessly, dicingand mincing pavement.

The downside is that the mechanical components takeup the space where you’d normally fit a backseat. The

Photos: Bloomberg

Driving the Hummingbirdin sunny Malibu

Driving the Hummingbirdin sunny Malibu

4.9 seconds. (A more powerful ‘S’ version will be availablewith 345 hp.)

But get on those narrow Malibu roads (which lead tonot-inexpensive mansions with killer ocean views) andthe Lotus will spank an expensive, high-horsepowersports car. It’s light and easy to manoeuvre.

Falling rocksOccasionally I sweep around a corner to find a large rockhas tumbled into the road from a cliff above. A quicktwitch of the wheel is all that’s needed to sidestep such

obstacles. Throw on the brakes and the front and rearrotors pull you from 60 mph to a stop in a mere 100 feet.

After driving up from West Hollywood and gunningaround for a full day, I still only burned through half a tankof gas. That modest engine gets 18 city, 27 highway.

My test car has the optional sport, technology and premi-um packages. It has heated seats, a leather interior, cross-drilled brakes, a titanium tailpipe, and an Alpine touch-screen navigation system. Total cost, including $1,175 de-livery charge, is $75,920.

At first glance it looks pretty snazzy, but by the end of theday I found that sun glare often obscured the dials, thebuttons could be finicky, and the navigation system hadfrozen - insisting that I was still on the Pacific CoastHighway even as I pulled into my hotel.

None of which bothers me a whit. As dusk falls I pullonto a narrow lookout point high above bustling Highway1. The sea seems to be swallowing the sun and a full moonstands in stark relief above.

My roadside seat sure isn’t big, but it’s the best perch Ican imagine.

(The author writes about autos for Muse, the arts and leisuresection of Bloomberg News. The opinions expressed are his own.)

Evora also has what might be charitably called a smalltrunk. So you can bring your whole stamp collection.

No question that it’s a first cousin to the Exige and Elise,with the same quirky nose and stance. The rear windshieldfolds into an up-raked spoiler and a deep fold in the bottomrocker gives the side view drama. Random air intakes andoutlets along the body make it even more toylike.

I wouldn’t call it classy; just fun.

HummingbirdMy test car is an eye-searing yellow and doesn’t includethe optional back seats. The roof is only as high as the doorhandle of the average SUV, and motoring around heavytraffic can be intimidating. You’re a hummingbird dartingamong flocks of geese. (No wonder the paint job is sobright - it’s a safety feature.)

It feels like you’re almost sitting on the ground, and anyhard jounces travel straight through the lightly cushionedseats and into your spinal column. Comfort and practical-ity are not key in Lotus’s world. Performance is.

The engine is actually sourced from Toyota, with 276horsepower and 258 pound feet of torque. Modest bytoday’s standards. Top speed: Only 162 mph. Zero to 60 in

The 2011 Lotus Evora at a GlanceEngine: 3.5-litre V-6 with 276 horsepower and 258 pound-feet of torqueTransmission: Six-speed manualSpeed: 0 to 60 mph in 4.9 secondsGas mileage per gallon: 18 city; 27 highwayBest feature: The brilliant handlingWorst feature: Let’s be honest, those back seats won’t fit anybody happilyTarget buyer: The driver who prefers the long and winding roadPrice as tested: $75,920

10 June 8, 2011Smartbuy

BLING corner

Sparkling diamonds and rare rubies are an intrinsic part ofCERES’ Royale collection for the gorgeous summer bride.Available at its flagship showroom in Mumbai.

Rs 5 lakh onwards

Wedding glamour

The opulence of the Nizams takesthe form of this exquisite collection

from Ganjam in brilliant cutdiamonds, lustrous gem stones,

cultured and South Sea pearls, all setin yellow gold. This ‘sarpech’, is as

royal as it can get. Available at itsstores in New Delhi, Mumbai and

Bengaluru.Price on request

Regally yours

Elegant cuffs and peacock motifs, the World GoldCouncil has predicted some fab trends for this year.This is one eye-catching cuff from Tre-Spighe,capturing marine life in yellow gold and redenamel, we absolutely loved.Price on request

Golden trends

This elegant pair of colouredand white diamond ear pen-dants from Nirav Modi createda flutter at Christies, Hongkong.Rs 6 crore (auction price)

At the auction!

Jewellerydesigner PoonamSoni and artistNawaz Singhaniahave cometogether to createthe S2 range oflimited editionsignaturejewellery,beautifully wovenaround miniaturepaintings byNawaz. Thesesautoirs arestylish andcrafted withprecious gems,stones andleather. Price on request

Two totango

11 June 8, 2011Smartbuy

MELANGE luxury redefined

Alfred Dunhill Sidecar SketchPencil is an artist’s delight! Itboasts a black matte finishlacquer on the barrel for aperfect grip and a neatlyhidden sharpener within the‘AD’ branded cap. Availableat its outlets.Price on request

Artist edition

Gucci has launched a new version of its best-selling Sukey bag as a support for UNICEF. Thesoft calfskin top handle bag has gentle ruchesand a detachable leather charm and is an idealbag for a day at work. Available at Gucci stores.Price on request

Bag for a cause

Suneet Varma’s Russian inspirations take theform of gorgeous cutlass and crystal clutches,in rich textures and interesting motifs, andform part of Judith Leiber’s Fall ’11 collection. Price on request

Classic clutch

This classy orange bag is for the busy headhoncho. Porsche Design’s French Classiccollection is striking in its purist design, highquality cow leather and solid-hand brushed metalparts. Available at Emporio Mall, New Delhi.Price on request

Luxe luggage

Exchangingglances

Fossil’s sunglasses for‘her’ and ‘him’ aredominated by sleekdesigns, innovativematerials and a widerange of styles andcolours. Available atLifestyle and ShoppersStop outlets.Rs 2,795 to Rs 4,795

PREMIUM interiors

Most people do not realise the impact of well-planned lighting in a given space. Putting alight fixture on every wall of every room willonly create, simply put, a lit room. Yes, there

is no substitute for natural light but when the sun goesdown, we all need a little help from some man-madelighting devices.

There are four key aspects to remember while creatinga lighting plan: Place the right ‘type of light’, with the ‘rightintensity’ and ‘colour’, in the ‘right location’. The overalllook, mood and feel of the room depend on the kinds oflight you use and their positioning. Different techniques

and types of fixtures can change the feel of the space.Here’s a look at different aspects of lighting and a fewsimple solutions to help you create the right setting.

IntensityWhile some spaces need bright clear light, it could proveharmful for others. Did you know that indirect and low-level lighting protects the vulnerable eyes of prematurechildren from blindness in the paediatric ward of hospi-tals? Designers keep lux levels down to between 30 and 50per cent in such areas. While we need around 350 to 400lux (lx) for long working hours and 250 lx for regular use,

mood lighting in low isolated spots would be around 100 lxwhile that in highlighted areas would be around 250 lx.

Types of lightingLighting is classified by its intended use as general, local-ised or task lighting, depending largely on the distributionof the light emitted by the fixture.

TASK LIGHTING is mainly functional. Usually the mostconcentrated, this type of lighting is used for purposessuch as reading.

ACCENT LIGHTING is mainly decorative, and intendedto highlight pictures, plants or other elements of interior

LET THERE BE LIGHT

13 June 8, 2011Smartbuy

design or landscaping.GENERAL LIGHTING bridges the gap between task and

accent lighting and is intended for general illumination ofan area. Indoors, this would be a basic lamp on a table orfloor or ceiling fixture.

ANGLE OF LIGHTING is just as important as its quality.It changes the total character of the object under displayjust like placing a torch under the chin changes a pleasingface into a scary one.

DOWNLIGHTING is a common method of lighting withfixtures on the ceiling, casting light downwards. It tends tobe the most efficient. The 1 watt/square foot rule worksbest with this type of lighting. With a good reflector, thistype of lighting makes for maximum efficiency.

UPLIGHTING is less efficient than direct lighting. How-ever, it is common in offices where contrasting dark andbright spaces are undesirable. It is often achieved bybouncing light off a ceiling. It can also be effectively usedfor dramatic effect with indoor and outdoor plants oracross textured surfaces of brick or stone.

FRONT LIGHTING is used to highlight artwork on thewalls or artefacts. Tracks on the ceiling or spotlights helpin achieving this lighting. This type of lighting tends tomake the subject look flat as its casts almost no shadow.

SIDE LIGHTING is less popular. It tends to give off glareat eye-level, but does wonders at increasing the visualdepth of a 3D object.

BACKLIGHTING either around or through an object ismainly for accent.

Types of fittingLet us have a quick look at the types of light fittings andhow best they can be placed to get the best results.

Wall fittings or wall pendant lights and ceiling lights orchandeliers are available in every shape and size with alltypes of fixtures. These are best used for ambient lightingand in large halls.

Electronic dimmers for wall and ceiling lights set theright intensity but they are expensive, prone to frequentbreakdowns and induce a low frequency humming soundsin the fixtures.

Table top and floor lamps are still the most versatilefittings to create mood lighting in a room. An articulatedlighting system around foliage can bring your mundaneplants into focus. Be it small indoor shrubs, creepers oroutdoor trees... light can help highlight shades of greenthat you wouldn’t notice in daylight and accentuate thetextures of wood.

Light, naturally!Daylighting can be defined as the act of illuminating roomsnaturally (i.e. anytime you are able to light a room with awindow or a skylight instead of flipping on a light switch,you are daylighting). It’s that simple! Though the conceptof daylighting is as old as the window, recent advances inlighting research, window and glazing technology haveopened up new horizons for daylighting.

To make the most of the natural light available in yourhome, you need to know how to use it.

Enlarge windows by dropping sills and removing a sec-tion of the wall below. This won’t affect walls structurally.Add a window on a flanking wall.

Change a non load-bearing wall or stud a partition into aglass-brick wall.

Small skylights can be very helpful in bringing naturallight into a dark room. But be careful, during the summer,when you don’t want heat and have the sun directly over-head, they let in an abundance of heat. In the winter, whenthe sun is at a low angle, you get the least amount of

available sun. As an alternative to skylights, one can also construct

clerestory windows (part of an interior wall rising abovethe adjacent roof with windows admitting light) or roofmonitors.

Today, there is a variety of high-performance glazingwhich makes it possible to use more glass while min-imising heat loss, heat gain and glare. If you’re building ahouse, remodelling or replacing windows, you can choosefrom a wide range of options, selecting glazing best suitedto a particular window.

If you work from home, you’ll need good task lighting aswell as natural light. Avoid putting your desk near thewindow, as the light will be too intense — about 1 m awayis the ideal distance.

If you want to get more natural light into areas that areaway from windows, clerestories, atria or skylights, thereare a few of these daylighting techniques can help:

Try to bounce natural light off the ceiling. A windowlocated close to the ceiling works well. Louvres or operableblinds can direct light, too.

Hang mirrors, particularly opposite windows. Takedown unnecessary window dressings and replace withfilmy materials, such as voile and muslin, to diffuse light.Block out harsh sunlight with perforated roller blinds.Turn an inner door into a glazed panel, or replace it withstained or clear glass.

Trim trees or bushes that overshadow windows. Uselight-reflective surfaces, and pale carpets and furnishings.

Navneet Malhotra (Better Interiors)

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Weddingspread

Italsofa, from theNatuzzi Group hasintroduced the Lusonrange of modular sofaswith terminals that notonly offer comfortableseating but add to thecontemporary look ofyour interiors too.Available at ItalsofaGallery, Gurgaon andBengaluru.Rs 2.75 lakh (five-seatversion)

Modern touch

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Happyseating

14 June 8, 2011Smartbuy

John Mariani

Mention the term “Super Tuscan” to wine-makers from the Italian region like AxelHeinz and you’ll get either a wince or, morelikely, a shrug.

Heinz has been a winemaker since 2005 at Ornellaia, anestate long in the company of other illustrious single labelslike Sassicaia, Solaia, and Tignanello that inspired theSuper Tuscan label, but also came to include many inferiorwines that merely appropriated the name.

The classification has no standing under Italian winelaw, which by regional tradition dictates which grapes areallowed in typical Tuscan wines like Chianti and Brunellodi Montalcino.

The term Super Tuscan, concocted in the 1980s by themedia and promoted by the industry, refers to wineriesthat don’t play by those rules and who, as a result, may onlylabel their bottles “I.G.T.” (typical regional wine), just astep up from the lowest appellation “vino da tavola” (tablewine).

Thus, over lunch at Lincoln Ristorante at Lincoln Cen-ter, Heinz, 39, ignored all the hype and concentrated onthe enviable reputation that Ornellaia’s 26-year old wineryhas achieved on its own, using a Bordeaux blend of Ca-bernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Merlot, and, since2003, a little Petit Verdot. To that end, much like Bor-deaux’s Mouton-Rothschild has done for decades, thewinery has commissioned artists to illustrate its vintages.Under a program called Vendemmia d’Artista, large for-mat bottles with labels by an artist are auctioned off tosupport the arts, as when a Salamanzar (12 regular bottles)of the 2006, entitled “L’Esuberanza” with a design byLuigi Ontani, was sold for €17,000 ($24,255) to fund resto-

ration work at the Museo Poldi Pezzoli in Milan.

HIGH ALCOHOLAt the luncheon, I asked Heinz, who looks like actionmovie star Jason Statham with wild hair, about his wines’high, 14.5 per cent alcohol level.

“The higher the alcohol level, the harder it is to make agreat wine,” he said, a comment that flies in the face ofmany winemakers around the world who deliberatelyboost alcohol content. “If you are actively trying to make ablockbuster, you will not have a good wine.”

Part of the problem, he said, is global warming. “Just inthe last decade, alcohol levels have accelerated 1 to 1.5 percent because of the heat,” he said. “A winemaker has to bevery careful in monitoring how the grapes grow througheach season and figuring out the best time to pick them.”

Ornellaia has always been a big, bold, luscious wine thatshows enormous finesse and an Italian refinement thatcan be amiably pleasing even when young. The wines wetasted, 2006 through 2008, including Ornellaia’s second,less expensive wine from younger vineyards, Le SerreNuove dell’ Ornellaia, made since 1997, showed just howdifferent vintages can be yet still show the unique charac-ter of terroir.

PERFECT WEATHEROf the 2006 L’Esuberenza ($150-$175), Heinz said, “Thewine made itself,” from a harvest that was near perfect,with uniform ripeness. The wines were aged in barriquesfor 12 months, when the final blend was made, aged sixmore months, then bottled and kept for 12 months beforerelease. I thought it was a truly magnificent expression ofthe Ornellaia style with several levels of complexity and

tight but wondrous fruit qualities. The 2007 Harmonia ($130-$150), with a label by Ghada

Amer and Reza Farkhondeh, was very tight, even after anhour with food, with a modest nose, needing a long time toemerge from its glass cocoon. It was definitely not madefrom over-ripe grapes, so its virtues are going to take timeto develop.

The 2008 L’Energia ($155-$170), with a design by Re-becca Horn, lives up to its moniker: it’s got a big nose witha woody, but not oaky, bouquet, and a remarkable herb-aceous content of violets and mint. The tannins are alreadyloose, and I enjoyed this youthful wine enormously, know-ing it will get better and better over the next decade.

‘BRUTAL DROP’Heinz said it had the “lushness of the Mediterranean,”which is an apt description of a vintage that began wet, hada dry, hot summer, whose temperatures were lowered bythe northerly tramontana winds. At harvest, a “brutal dropin temperature” turned out to be a blessing to preventover-ripening.

The equivalent vintages of Le Serre Nuove showedexactly the same characteristics but in a lighter, moreapproachable style.

Although the 2009 was not available for tasting yet,Heinz called it a “very difficult vintage to make. Thegrapes were picked early and the tannins are soft and thewine will only be of medium weight.” No name for that oneyet, but maybe he’ll call it “mal di testa,” which is Italianfor headache.

(The author writes on wine for Muse, the arts and lifestyle sectionof Bloomberg News. The opinions expressed are his own.)

Rediscovering theSuper Tuscans

TASTER’S choice

Photo: Bloomberg