And that’s it  - it does no calls, no texts, no music, no games, no photography….just e-mail.

Convergence fans are going to frown at a device that is dedicated only to e-mail, but it could prove to be a very economical deal for those who like to send and receive mail on the go, without busting a hole in their pockets. And there is something to be said for simplicity too - as the Peek is dedicated to e-mail, it has a staggering battery life that runs well into three days. So you can have your mails in a pocket-friendly QWERTY device that weighs around a 100 gms, has great battery life, costs about Rs 3000 (and Rs 299 per month), and looks sleek as hell in the bargain.

Hmm…we can see people being tempted. We certainly are.

You play Virgil, a warrior from the third Crusade, and battle through nine levels of Hell to save the soul of Beatrice, his lover who has been dragged by the Dark Lord Lucifer himself. Of course, Lucifer wants to get the Hell out of Hell (we could not resist that pun!) and take over the throne of God. And equally of course, you have to stop him from doing just that. What are heroes for, after all?

In brutally blunt terms, this is basically a large scale hack and slasher with elements of magic thrown in (you tote around a Holy Cross too), but it is the sheer scale of the game that has us impressed. The different levels of Hell, the bosses at different levels (which include Anthony and Cleopatra, incidentally), the numerous enemies (including one which generates babies with razors instead of hands) the special effects, the music - it all has an absolutely grand feeling to it.

Followers of Gandhi might find it way too violent for their tastes, but we must confess to being utterly enraptured.Hell never felt this spectacular.

The game is available in two flavours for the PS3 - the Divine Edition (Standard edition) for Rs 2499 and the Death Edition (includes a lot of extras like full game soundtrack, 3D lenticular cover art and Wayne Barlow digital artbook) for Rs 2999. It also comes for the Xbox 360 in a Divinee Edition for Rs 2499 and for the PSP at Rs 1599.

We played the Xbox 360 version but would recommend the PS3 one, if you happen to have the console. The special effects deserve HD treatment!

It is better known as the Bold 2 and has been making headlines all over the media, given that it is the successor of one of the most charismatic devices from the RIM stable. But does the new BlackBerry 9700 really cut it, or is it just riding on a whole lot of hype and a very successful predecessor? There was a time when BlackBerry ruled the roost in the enterprise phone space, but of late, the brand has had to face some very stiff competition. How does the Bold 2 measure up in that regard? The folks at RIM lent us a unit for a few weeks and here is our pennyworth on the subject in a simple pros, cons and verdict format.

Pros:

1. It is a lot slimmer and sleeker than the earlier Bold and while we still think the Tour looked better, this one does not do too badly in the looks department either with the chrome edges and the faux leather behind (we would have preferred an all-leather backside, mind you, and did they have to write ‘Bold’ on it?!)

2. The replacement of the trackball with a trackpad is pure magic and makes navigation a cinch.

3. The 480×360 resolution screen is not just the best we have seen on a BlackBerry but on any QWERTY smartphone. Period!

4. The phone runs the new OS, 5.0, which is a lot easier on the eye than its predecessor.

5. In terms of speed, the 624 MHz processor under the hood does a fine job. We never felt any lags, of which there were quite a few in the original Bold. This is one of the fastest BlackBerries we have ever used. And it has every connectivity option you would wish to see from Wi-Fi to Bluetooth to GPS.

6. The battery is a colossal improvement over the original Bold. We used it for three days with push mail running and lots of browsing thrown in, before it finally gave up.

7. The phone handles mail in best BlackBerry fashion - brilliantly and intuitively, with hardly any problems.

Cons:

1. The screen may be higher resolution than the original Bold, but we wish it had been as big as the original one, as it does affect readability.

2. The Bold 2 is not as wide as the original Bold and the keypad has paid the price for this compression. Those used to the huge hunky keypad of the Bold will find the keypad of the Bold 2 a bit cramped in comparison. Yes, the keys seem to be more prominent, but in our meaty paws, that did not compensate for the smaller size.

3. The rubberised keys on the side do detract a bit from the appearance of the device. The metallic ones on the original looked far more classy.

4. Thanks to the smaller screen and rather awful default browser, Web browsing is not a strength of this device. We recommend getting Opera Mini on it for best results.

5. The new OS might be a huge improvement over the previous one, but it still lags behind the iPhone OS and Android when it comes to ease of use and Web-friendliness. Mind you, we still think it very much holds its own against the likes of Windows Mobile and Symbian Series 60, who are much bigger players.

6. While we love the Bold 2, we cannot help but admit that at Rs 31,990, it is priced way too much on the higher side, especially when we consider that devices with largely similar specifications like the Nokia E72 are priced more than Rs 10,000 below it.

Final verdict:

In terms of features and performance, this has got to be alongside the Tour as one of the best BlackBerries ever. We just wish that RIM would get bigger displays and do something about the price. Original Bold users might cling to their devices purely because they had bigger screens and keypads and well, looked a lot hunkier, but if you are looking for a smart e-mailing phone with terrific performance and battery, and budget is not a constraint, the Bold 2 is the device for you.

One of the biggest decisions any person wanting to get into photography has to make is about which camera to choose. There are no end of options in the market today, ranging from basic point and shooters to DSLRs. All of which makes for a very confusing mix indeed. Which is why we really love PCWorld’s slideshow on the art of choosing a camera, which explains the different features and facets one has to keep in mind while going for a camera. A must-read for all aspiring shutterbugs. And for some established ones too, we daresay. We do wish they would not keep plugging their own listings, though. Still, no one’s perfect, we guess.

Read it here.

The 1201 T has an AMD MV-40 CPU and RS780MN chipset for graphics and processing power that is well ahead of what most netbooks today serve up. It supports 1080p HD video and even has a larger than usual 12.1 inch widescreen display with HD (1366×768) resolution. More screen real estate means more keyboard space and the 1201T does have a larger than usual keyboard, even though it sticks to the chiclet  design that is becoming a staple netbook feature. There are three USB ports, a card reader, a VGA connector….and in spite of all this, still serves up upto six hours of battery life.

And all at a staggering price of Rs 21,490! Of course, there is a catch - the specs we saw in the press release showed a DOS operating system, so if one goes for Windows, one will end up with an additional expenditure of Rs 4,000-7,000, depending on the OS and version one uses. But even after that, one still ends up with a very decent netbook for less than Rs 30,000, with a great screen and very good specs. Mind you, we do wish it looked as good as the Seashell series and weighed a tad lesser (1.46 kg is high for a netbook).

Watch this space for a review…

Now, that’s something, especially when you consider that Google Maps also has the Latitude feature which lets you see your friends online (provided they are logged in), chat with them and even map a route to them.

Now that it is official that the Apple iPad will be hitting stores in the US on 3 April (no news of an Indian release yet, alas), interest in the device is reaching new dimensions. Every person with the slightest interest in technology is full of questions about Apple’s latest gizmo. If you too have a query or two about the iPad, we suggest you pay a visit to CNet’s All About the iPad (FAQ) in the Circuit Breaker section, written by Erica Ogg and Donald Bell. It pretty much answers most queries, barring that one about an Indian launch (and price). But then, ah, no one is perfect. Definitely worth a look for everyone interested in the iPad.

You know you really need a netbook when:

1. You need to do lots of word processing and Web surfing, including staying connected with your social networks and blogs
2. You are constantly on the move and often have  to work in temporary or makeshift locations like cafes.
3. You need lots of battery life, as the places you go to do not have power outlets.
4. You either hate lugging around heavy machines or are already burdened with a lot of luggage.
5. You do not deal much (or at all) with multimedia.
6. You do not do much multi-tasking on the computer
7. You do not have very large fingers (most netbook keyboards are a real pain to use)

All said and done, this is definitely a move in the right direction at a time when battery lives of phones are dipping across all segments. Now, if only we could find some similar way of keeping the battery of power-guzzling phones like the iPhone and Nokia N97 going.

We love the facility that portable hard drives offer, allowing us to lug stacks of data - literally everything on our computers, in some cases- from place to place. But one major complaint we have had about them is that we have to plug them into a machine to find out what’s on them or even how much space they have left. Well, Western Digital have now come out with the My Passport Studio portable drive which comes with a customizable e-label that’s always visible, even when the drive is unplugged.

Called the Smart Display, it reminds users of what is stored on the drive and provides available capacity and security status at a glance even when the drive is not connected to a computer. It can be changed as often as desired using the included WD SmartWare software. Now, that’s really useful! There are a number of other goodies in there too, including FireWire connectivity and encryption facilities, but it is the label that has got us really intrigued.

The drives come in capacities of 500 GB and 640 GB and are priced at Rs. 9,600 and Rs. 10,750, respectively. We do not have a review unit yet, but it sure seems very good value for money.