issue dated september 8, 2010

SmartbuyWednesday, September 8, 2010

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Tablets to give headaches......to laptops and PCs?Page 4

Toyota Corolla Altis Diesel drivenPage 8+

2 September 8, 2010Smartbuy

WHAT’S HOT this week

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The latest addition to the Xperia line is the X8. It sports a3-inch HVGA screen and four customisable shortcuts on eachcorner of the phone. Apart from access to the AndroidMarket, the Sony Ericsson X8 also features the proprietaryTimescape application that lets you integrate your contactsand their virtual presence on social networks and gives you allthe updates at a glance.To be announced

This 3D-enabled projector from NEC is a portable, lightweight DLP allowing users toexperience high-quality 3D visuals. The projector supports a resolution of up to 1024x768 XGA and features an impressive 2500 ANSI lumens output for high contrast images.With the help of Brilliant Colour technology, the projector produces rich colours andbright pictures to enrich the 3D experience. With 7-watt inbuilt stereo speakers, theaverage lamp life of the projector is 5,000 hours.Rs 58,000

The new range of notebooks from Lenovo isavailable in 14 and 15-inch sizes. They are

powered by an Intel Core i3 or i5 processors.Features include One Key Theatre for asuperior cinematic experience, JBL Speakersand Dolby Headphone technology as well as amulti-touch touchpad. These notebooks willalso include Lenovo’s Veriface face recognitiontechnology and One-key rescue system. Rs 46,235 onwards

‘X’tasySony Ericsson Xperia X8

3D unleashedNEC NP216G

Portable hometheatre

Lenovo IdeaPad Y Series

Cover photo: T3 India


Apple’s most awaited announcement since the iPad has seen a new generation ofMp3 players in the form of the revamped iTouch, Nano and Shuffle. The iTouchfeatures Retina Display, A4 chip, FaceTime Video Calling, HD Video Recordingand Game Centre. The new Nano is half the size and weight of the previousmodel, and features multi-touch, a built-in clip, Genius Mixes, FM Radio withLive Pause and up to 24 hours music playback on a single charge. The Shufflecomes in a square design with bigger clickable ring buttons, VoiceOvertechnology and over 15 hours of playback on one charge. Let the music play!iTouch: Rs 15,400 onwardsNano: Rs 10,700 onwardsShuffle: Rs 3,200

The T3 series of speakers from Creativeis a 2.1 speaker system that providesprecision sound in a compact casing. Itsminimalist and clutter-free designmakes it the perfect accessory to yourdesktop or home theatre system. Itincludes a wired remote that has a lowfriction precision volume dial, anddoubles up as a power/standby switch.AUX-in and headphones-out portsmean you can connect it to your musicplayer or headphones. It has LowStandby Power technology giving it agreen edge over other speakers in themarket.Rs 16,699

Aural symphonyCreative GigaWorks T3 Series

Storing memoriesPhilips SPF5010

Juicy byteApple’s music players

The Philips SPF5010 is a 10.4-inchdigital photoframe with touchcontrols on the border, and features a4:3 aspect ratio for optimaldistortion-free display. The frameslot accepts USBs or memory cards. Itadds new glow to old memories withRadiantColor technology. Thanks toits simple intuitive operation, it isenergy efficient too as it saves powervia auto dimming by detectingambient lighting.Rs 11,990

TABLET computing

Is your laptop going to run out of gas?

Photo: T3 India

Tablets looked like they would be a fringe segment, until the Apple iPad was launched and the world woke up to its potential. What started as a trickle will soon turn into a flood, as every gadget maker of repute launches its own tablet. KETAKI

BHOJNAGARWALA forsees the coming tablet revolution and says the days of the laptop are numbered

ics, the company has hopped on the tablets bandwagonand introduced the Tegra mobile web processor whichwill provide low power Flash 10.1 acceleration, 1080pvideo playback, 3D touch screen user interface supportand longer battery life. Tegra will be a dual-core processorup to 1GHz.

Qualcomm is due to ship a dual-core 1.5GHz Snapdrag-on chip which will power tablet PCs, and will support1080p video playback, DDR2, DDR3 and HDMI interfaces.The Dell Streak already has a 1GHz Snapdragon processor,so we can hope to see a lot more outcome from Qual-comm’s planned launch.

Many of the new breed of processors have been de-signed keeping in mind both netbooks and tablets, so in thefuture, the processing power of both these devices willstand on par, leaving consumers with only one choice – thekind of computing device they want.

The other sideWhen it comes to processing power, tablets have more orless caught up with laptops. However, there are a fewfeatures that manufacturers still need to work on for thetablet revolution to really take off.

A big downside would be not having enough storage onthe tablet of your choice. Most tablets, including the AppleiPad and Dell Streak come with only limited memoryspace. The iPad comes in capacities of 16GB, 32GB and64GB whereas the Dell Streak has memory expandable viamicroSD card slot to a maximum of 32GB. While thismight suffice for a few games, documents and photos, it’sreally not enough to replace your computer.

Some tablets, including the iPad, do not feature a USBport, which means you can’t hook up your external harddrive to it to access your files or use it to increase storage.

The lack of a physical keyboard is also hard felt, becausethe virtual keyboard might not be the most comfortable ifyou type for long hours. Apple has tried to make up for thisby offering users a Bluetooth keyboard and a keyboarddock.

However, with more and more tablet manufacturersjumping on the bandwagon (look at our line-up of up-coming tablets on page 6 & 7), we can expect to see a lot ofadditional features put into place. In the future, we will beseeing tablets that will be able to perform every functionthat a laptop can, with the added advantage of being moreportable.

Who needs it?In the computers market, there are a broad range of userswhose computing needs range from basic to specialised,hardcore needs. For people working on heavy-duty stuff, amore powerful processor is required, which means theirmachine of choice will probably be a desktop or a note-book. The same goes for gamers, who will also require anadditional gaming graphics processor like those supplied

by NVIDIA. However, the number of internet users is increasing

every year, and the age band widening – this means thereare a lot of beginners – young users getting an early startand older users getting a late start. For many of them, acomputer is required only for surfing, checking emails,watching movies and playing games. For such users, tab-lets are a viable option. They are easy to operate whichmeans people can learn how to use them faster, and thetouch screen provides a more natural user interface.

Tablets will target two groups – consumers who alreadyown laptops and can be potential tablet owners, and thosewho are new to mobile computing. There is still a largepercentage of the population who have not experiencedmobile computing. Tablets will serve not only to bring in awhole host of new users, but also help people get over theirapprehensions of using a computer.

When it comes to on-the-go use, most people need onlybasic computing options. Tablets like the Dell Streak aregetting smaller, at just 5 inches across, it’s just a littlebigger than your average smartphone. Which means it canfit into your pocket, and you can carry it with you withoutbothering about your bulky laptop. Granted that a tabletmay not be able to function as your sole computing device,but more people are going to invest in one as an additional,always hands-on means of computing to complement to-day’s on-the-move lifestyle.

StorageAnother change users will see in the future is the move-ment of storage from physical hard drives to personalclouds, which means the storage constraints of tabletsmight well be a thing of the past, allowing us to access ourfiles at any place with an internet connection.

We’re also going to see a movement into personal cloudswith Google’s Chrome OS.

The future is going to be all about mobile internet, with3G and 4G networks coming into place and more Wi-Fihotspots being set up. We’re going to be paying for morethings online, and consulting the web before we evenmake simple decisions like which restaurant to head to fordinner. And tablets are going to take advantage of thisinternet boom.

As the competition gets tougher, tablets are going tobecome cheaper, giving more people access to mobilecomputing.

There is also going to be a lot more content generatedfor tablets – Apple, Android and Microsoft already haveapp stores. Websites like Facebook and YouTube also haveapp versions which are in some cases easier to use than theactual sites themselves.

What happens nextWhat we’re going to see with tablets is a completely newuser interface. Double clicks of the mouse button will be

replaced by multi-touch and pinch and zoom, programswill become applications, Windows will have tocompete with Android, and gaming will take on

a more natural user interface. Essentially, com-puting will become a natural physical activity, an

intrinsic part of our being. Carrying a tablet willbecome as commonplace as carrying a mobile phone,

with a pretty line-up of tablets is ready to hit the stores.The stage for the tablet revolution has been set – the

question really is, when will you choose to jump in?Send feedback to [email protected]

When Steve Jobs launched the Apple iPad, itwas almost as if he was unveiling the firstcomputing tablet form mankind has everseen. No wonder it had already sold three

million units within 80 days of being launched. The truth,however, is that long before Jobs and the folks at Cuperti-no began working on the iPad, Bill Gates had alreadyprophesised, “The tablet is a PC that is virtually withoutlimits – and within five years I predict it will be the mostpopular form of PC in America.”

Until a few years ago, desktop PCs were the only basiccomputing option at the common man’s disposal. With theadvent of laptops, the demand for PCs fell and was fol-lowed by a surge in the sale of notebooks.

A couple of years after that, ASUS took the leap with itsEee PC line of netbooks, small inexpensive laptops de-signed primarily for internet usage and basic computing.Netbooks brought in a divide between computer users –people who wanted computers with high-processing pow-er for gaming and heavy-duty applications, and peoplewho wanted computers for simple tasks.

So far, the choice for mobile computing has been be-tween notebooks and netbooks, but with the birth oftablets, a whole new category in computing has beencreated. Ultra-compact and ultra-portable – will tabletsbecome the mobile computing device of the future?

What is a tablet?Most tablets in the market come in the form of a slate withprimarily touch based input, with some versions havingoptions for pen input. Tablets like the iPad come withbuilt-in accelerometers – letting you switch between land-scape and portrait mode.

Some companies like HP and Lenovo have come outwith what they’ve christened ‘convertibles’. A good exam-ple is the Lenovo IdeaPad S10-3t, which we reviewed lastweek.

Processors and chipsetsProcessors for the desktops of yore were sluggish andwere developed to power relatively large machines. Whenlaptops came into the market, processors had to evolve topack in as much performance in a much smaller machine.With tablets, the evolution lead to even greater miniatur-isation, and had to support many functions that were so farunseen in laptops.

An example is the Intel 830MG chipset. It featuresscreen rotation between landscape and portrait modes,hot docking, longer battery life, quick resume from stand-by and built-in Wi-Fi.

At the Computex fair in Taipei, Intel announced its ‘OakTrail’ and ‘Pine Trail’ Atom processors for netbooks andtablet PCs. The Atom processor is specifically designed tocut power consumption by 50 per cent while enabling HDvideo playback. Consumers can also choose from either 3Gor 4G-enabled processors which will let them access theinternet anywhere.

Apple, on the other hand, has gone solo and designed acustom A4 chip (in the iPad, iPhone 4 and the new iPodTouch), which is a single-core processor which runs on1GHz and extends battery life up to 10 hours.

There has been talk of AMD’s Fusion chip for tablets,but the company has dispelled rumours and said that thedual-core processor will only be seen on netbooks andlow-end laptops.

While NVIDIA is mainly associated with gaming graph-

Ketaki Bhojnagarwala

11.6"


TABLETS galore

Extremely portable at just 800 grams and measuring about 17mm at its thickest, theArchos 9 stays true to the promise of portability. The right panel has an opticaltrackpoint as an alternate to using the resistive touch interface . Archos 9 has a 1.3-megwebcam, click buttons, Wi-Fi controller and a button to activate its virtual keyboard onthe left bezel. The tablet has a widescreen aspect ratio and the processor (Intel Zseries) allows you to watch HD videos on the tablet’s 8.9-inch LED backlit display.Archos also unveiled the Archos 10-1 internet tablet that runs on Android Froyo .

What was presented as an enticing teaser for tech enthusiasts during the CES at LasVegas in January, the Slate might soon see the light of day after much speculation aboutwhether HP has shelved the project. The Slate runs on an Intel Atom Z530 processor andhas inbuilt graphics that allow it to playback 1080p high-def videos. While the currentmodels were supposed to be working on Windows 7 platform, there are strongindications that HP might be looking at Palm’s WebOS to base the latest HP Slate on. Thedisplay of the current model is supposed to be an 8.9-inch capacitive screen with multi-touch, a front-facing VGA cam and a 3-meg webcam at the back. The Slate also comeswith a stylus to scribble on the slab with and interact with various programmes.

Back to basics HP Slate

This 11.6-inch slate supports multi-touch gestures and apps and runs on Windows 7. Thescreen is capacitive And the virtual keyboard is what the company calls ‘stroboscopic’,which means you can see virtual depressions on the on-screen keys as you type. ExoPChas stereo speakers (1.5 W each) in its body and comes with a 1.3-meg webcam. The powerbutton is placed on the back panel placed conveniently to switch it on or off with thefingers as you hold the unit. All other buttons are virtual ones stacked on either side of thescreen, thanks to the ExoPC user interface layer. The ExoPC unveiled at the informationtech exhibition, Computex 2010, was shown to have two USB 2.0 ports and an HDMI-out,which means you can use the ExoPC to watch high-def content on the big screen. Thisdevice will be available in 32GB and 64GB versions.

Exit PC? ExoPC

Best of both screens

Toshiba Libretto W100Launched in the US recently, this is the first Windows-based dual-screen tablet in themarket. The Libretto W100 has 7-inch dual touch screens for reading e-books andbrowsing through photos. Either screen can double up as a virtual keyboard with hapticfeedback (in some models) making it convenient to type as fast as you want to on thistablet. An interesting feature is also the split keyboard where the keys are divided withinone screen yet close enough to both hands for typing with ease. The company’s released alimited edition of this tablet which it likes to term as an Ultra Mobile Concept PC, whichmakes one wonder what would be in store as the Libretto W100 is improved upon andupgraded.

7"

The lightweight avatar Archos 9

8.9"

8.9"

Formerly known as the ‘WePad’ (what prompted the name change isn’t difficult toguess), the Germany-based company runs its homonymous tablet on the Linux-basedWeTab OS. With support for multi-tasking, the app store for the WeTab, called theWeTab Meta-Store integrates multiple stores that let you have access to Java, Linux,Adobe AIR and Android applications. The tablet runs on a 1.66 GHz Intel Atom N450Pineview-M processor and has a battery life of up to six hours while you watch videos,read e-books and cruise through town with maps featured on the WeTab 3G model.

What’s in a name WeTab


With focus on the word ‘Revolution’ (we all know what that reminds us of!), the newbieson the tablet block are raring to go with two versions of the Notion Ink Adam. Themodels are differentiated only on the basis of the display. While both are 10.1-inch TFTLiquid Crystal displays, one model will sport a WSVGA 1024 x 600 pixels resolution, andthe other will be based on the new Non-Pixel Qi display. Both variants will have acapacitive touch panel and multi-touch enabled screens. Connectivity options includetwo USB 2.0 ports, a HDMI port, microSD and a SIM Card slot. The unit has a trackpadon the backside, a 3.2-meg auto-focus swivel camera and Assisted GPS capabilities.

The ‘Indie’genous one! Notion Ink Adam

Unveiled at the IFA at Berlin recently, the sleek-looking 7-inch Samsung Galaxy TAB isthe first tablet to feature the SWYPE technology for typing on its touch screen, atechnology that enables you to type as fast as you’d want to without having to lift a finger,quite literally. The company’s promo video says it will support Augmented Reality apps,video calling (1.3-meg front-facing cam with 3-meg cam on the back) and full webbrowsing. One definite USP of this tablet would be the fact that it runs on the latestAndroid Froyo and is the world’s first DivX certified tablet.

The brightest star?

Samsung Galaxy TAB

Aptly categorised in a new ‘Slate Smartphone’ genre, this much awaited device lies in anot-so-grey area between a tablet and a smartphone. Compact enough to fit into yourdenim pockets but big enough a slab for people to do double takes as you talk into the Streakon the roads, this device has been attracting a lot of attention since its June 2010 release inthe UK. A 5-inch multi-touch, capacitive screen, with a WVGA screen and 800 x 480resolution, the Streak is said to have a bright, brilliant screen, ideal for browsing throughwebpages and watching media. The body barely has any physical buttons except the threetouch buttons on the right bezel. Streak has two cameras – one front-facing with a VGAresolution and a 5-megger at the back with a dual LED flash. One potential drawback withthe OS on the Streak is that, as of now, it runs on an outdated Android version, Donut (Ver1.6) although rumour mills are abuzz with an upgrade to Froyo soon.

Dial-A-Tablet Dell Streak

10.1"

11.6"

Words by Mahananda Bohidar

7"

5"


AUTO focus

S. Muralidhar

The Indian obsession for diesel cars is quite under-standable. The fuel is still about 25 per centcheaper than petrol and diesel cars are inher-ently more fuel-efficient than their petrol-en-

gined counterparts. Quite apart from costs, diesel cars are also more drive-

able. Thanks to the availability of a lot of low-end torque, acharacteristic of most diesels, they are easier to drive incity conditions.

Yes, there are issues that need to be tackled whenchoosing diesels, which similar-sized petrol engined carsdon’t throw up. Issues like power delivery, refinementlevels and, of course, emissions. But many of these arebeing addressed and bettered with every new generationof diesel engine technology.

So, it is a telling statistic that across segments, often, it isthe diesel-engine option that trumps over petrol as thepreferred choice. That is if the diesel engine option exists.

The Altis goes dieselToyota has had considerable success in India with itsdiesel-engined vehicles right from the days of the Qualis.The company has also been successful with the Corolla,despite the fact that the car was not offered with a dieselengine option. However, it has also suffered for want of adiesel in this premium family sedan, because there wasalways a latent demand for a diesel Corolla.

Toyota recently plugged that gap in its portfolio byrolling out the new Corolla Altis Diesel. The new car is

nearly a clone of the existing petrol version in terms of itsexterior design. The only changes that are visible are thenew mesh design on the bonnet grille that has replaced thepetrol version’s slatted look and the D-4D badge at therear. Otherwise the two fuel versions are identical ex-ternally and premium features like the HID headlampsand LED turn indicators on the door mirrors have beencarried forward.

Similarly, the interior of the Corolla Altis Diesel is also averitable carry forward from the petrol version. Except forsome small feature changes, the rest of the passenger cabinhas been retained as is. It continues to be one of the mostsimple, yet, pleasing interiors in the segment, though itlacks the bit of the oomph that the Civic has. Qualitydashboard plastic and easy access to all the controls hasbeen a Corolla trademark and it continues to be so in thenew Altis Diesel too.

‘Gear’ing forwardThe only real change in the new model is in the engine andgearbox department. The Corolla Altis Diesel gets a new1.4-litre common rail diesel engine and a six-speed manualtransmission. The engine, which meets the Bharat StageIV emission norms, is said to have been specially devel-oped for the Indian market and is being debuted for thefirst time in any Asian country by Toyota. The EC-65six-speed manual gearbox was possibly chosen to beteamed with this engine to offer two overdrive slots andmight also help Toyota achieve lower average emissionslevels.

The engine sports the similar D-4D nomenclature asdoes the Innova. Slip into the Corolla Altis Diesel andcrank the engine and the familiar, characteristic clatter ofa diesel mill escapes out of the bonnet. But, that is only inthe initial crank cycle, let the engine settle down and idleat a steady 800 rpm level and the rat-a-tat is negligible,making this one of the quietest diesels you’ll find in thesegment.

The 1,364cc engine is an in-line four-cylinder, eight-valve unit. Fuel injection is done directly via a high-pressure common rail and it receives performance assist-ance with the addition of a variable nozzle turbochargerand an intercooler. This new engine is a compact unit andits weight differential with the petrol counterpart is lessthan 50 kgs.

This engine pumps out a peak power of 88.4PS at 3,800rpm, which is not too bad for a sedan that is just a shadeover 1.5 tonnes when fully loaded. The most powerfuldiesel sedan in the size and price segment is the ChevroletCruze with a peak power of 150PS. In terms of sheerperformance potential, the Corolla Altis Diesel does seemto shade in comparison, but it probably will be morepractical under most driving conditions.

Test driveI start out and accelerate the Corolla Altis Diesel and findthat power is not delivered in a hurry. There is a certaindegree of ‘turbolag’ and there is an instant of delay as thecharger spools up and the engine rpm level climbs. Oncethe rpm level crosses the 1,800 to 2,000 mark, the 1.4-litre

Photos: S. Muralidhar

Corolla Altis now sips diesel


D-4D engine starts to come alive, slowly at first, and then itdelivers ample power all the way up to about 4,000 rpm.

The diesel engine is also adequately ‘torquey’ with apeak pulling power of 205Nm that is delivered all the wayfrom as low as 1,800 rpm to about 2,800 rpm. The enginegets its performance boost from a variable nozzle tur-bocharger, which is designed to alter turbo assistance

essentially based on driver demands. After the initial sluggishness is dealt with a firmer stab

on the throttle, torque availability improves and is deliver-ed double quick. Basically, keep the engine on a boil in the1,500 rpm to 2,500 rpm range and there is enough juice toextract and a linear surge in torque is on standby in everygear slot.

VerdictDriving the Corolla Altis Diesel initially left me a bitdisappointed. This is obviously not a performance dieseland apparently that is the message that Toyota wants tosend to the car’s potential buyers too. There is no tearingperformance to be had out of this diesel engine, but it willcarry forward the Corolla pledge of being a refined, easyrunning and economical premium sedan.

Though the suspension set up is the same as in thepetrol version, Toyota engineers have tweaked the sus-pension a bit in the Corolla Altis Diesel to handle themarginal weight difference at the front. Some balancingwould have also been needed due to the smaller, 50-litrefuel tank at the rear.

There is no doubt that the new Corolla Altis Diesel willgo on to fill a need gap. The statistics clearly show thatsedan buyers increasingly prefer diesel over petrol. Theshare of diesels in the C-segment was 41 per cent till earlylast year, now it is close to 55 per cent. And the reason forthis jump is the availability of new diesel-engined cars inthe segment, which have just gone on to fulfill latentdemand.

A big chunk of these may be institutional buyers, butthere are individual buyers too who will switch due to thepressure from the ever-increasing cost of running a petrolsedan.

The Corolla’s design has always been conservative com-pared to competitors such as the Honda Civic. That equa-tion didn’t change even after the Altis was launched. Butwhat the Corolla has always done is to deliver on itspromise of reliability, low running and maintenance costs,and value retention.

Now, with the diesel engine, Toyota has just loaded theCorolla with arsenal that will help it take on the competi-tion and win.


MELANGE luxury redefined

Elixir! Azzaro’s latest brings in the scents of tonkabean, vanilla, benzoin, rockrose, bergamot, oak andsome fruity and lemon notes into a black and ambergold container. This pour homme is spicy andseductive. Available at lifestyle stores.Rs 3,340 (100ml)

Befitting potion

For women who love to glam up with agood ’ol gloss, Colourbar’s LiquidAddiction vouches for a shiny pout andsilky lipstick feel with jojoba oil andVitamin E loaded for creamy lips. Head toits flagship store at New Delhi or otherretail outlets and pick from its range of 10shades. Rs 495

Lip addict

And by that we mean, the sixth element in theperiodic table – Carbon – that takes the shape ofcarbon fibre in Oakley C SIX pair of limitededition glasses. With ace design and technology

and innovative features to its credit (thatexplains the small moolah on the tag), this

one sure gets a high-six! Available atCollective, Ambience Mall,

New Delhi.Rs 1,99,990

The power of SIX

The pretty andfresh lil peonygrabs the limelightin L’Occitane’snewest Paeoniarange whichincludes a beautymilk, showercream, soap andbeauty powder,EDT roll-on andspray. Available atits stores in NewDelhi. Rs 580 to Rs 2,795

Flowerysmells

Mustard yellow, darkbrown, red and forestgreen. The colour palette ofTod’s Autumn Wintercollection for these classypairs of men’s suedepolacco boots with tonallaces and rubber soles isgrabbing hearts…err.. feet!Check out its boutique atNew Delhi and Mumbai.Price on request

Happy feet

It’s arm candy time again andHolii has some yummy onesto offer. From laptop bags toclutches, wallets to bags andbelts too, the vibrant hues andpaisley prints make sure youwant to own at least one ofthem. Available at itsexclusive store inAmbi Mall,New Delhiand selectlifestylestores.Rs 595onwards

Holii Hai!


COLOUR centric

In the disarray of the year gone by, mixed bags ofhopes and fears have been delivered to our door-steps. To make our homes a haven of peace and joyfrom within, the use of colour plays an important

role. A colour that is provocative and interrogative toquestion the here and now, to upturn established predict-able good taste!

Symbolic of celestial light and earthly fire, yellow, theelixir of life, is the colour apt for home interiors thisseason. The hue has always been associated with joy,radiance and intellect. Its mineral associations are with ametal most treasured by humans - gold; and its abstractqualities lead us to creative paths.

In a yellow spotIn homes, yellow is glowing and welcoming. It immediate-ly takes us into its reassuring embrace. Think of the mostrustic adobe lit by tallow candles that have softened thewhite plaster walls; it remains a dream rustic cottage,comforting and snug. Move from there to images of themost opulent palaces, maybe seen only in photographs; aluxurious golden glow has all the undertones of yellow.The colour only improves with age; even eroded andweathered, it gathers a patina of the past that speaks of itsancestry.

Traditional combinations of yellow have always been

mellow. Combined with buttery hues of corn, vanilla,almond and yolk, one can almost taste the textural crunchin this mix! Yellow, as a deep ochre, takes on an artisanalpersona. It is worthy and honest, a reflection of crafts-manship and quality. Combined with materials such asbrick, freshly waxed woods and olive greens of plant andfern, the combination predictably enhances relaxationand a return to home and hearth. The colour is strikingwhen used with masses of turquoise and true berry violet;being split complementariness, they call attention tothemselves. Typically used in sumptuous fabrics anddrapes, they give rooms a sense of grandeur and exotica.Together the colours are rich and full, brimming over withplenitude.

Metallic gold accents and a vivid yellow can be contex-tualised across time in numerous ways with fine examplesacross ceramic-ware like Good Earth’s collection pat-terned with attention grabbing frangipani and peacock inexotic brights of turquoise, fuchsia, cobalt and viridian.Cleverly interlaced with a yellow and subdued with asoftened gold; it neutralises its more ostentatious effect,giving it a more clean and contemporary look.

Occasional furniture is a great way to add colour ac-

Streaming Sunshine

Cheery yellow is the way to go if youwant to add an element of zest andchange to your homes, says LATIKA

KHOSLA

cents. Chests and boxes bring with them stories of jour-neys made and secrets stored. Crossing cultures, yellow inIndo-China accents wends its way to the eclectic collec-tor’s home. These accent pieces can fit into ethnic homeseasily, but are also a talking point in a modern interior.

Textile traditions capture the traditional colours of aculture in the most continuous narrative. At Mother Earth,the appeal is pulled from the past into the present with theinclusion of rearrangements of familiar geometric arraysin the quilted textile. The placement of the pieces isexciting and the colour clash is so unusual, yellow withpurple and green; it is mesmerising.

Spelling optimismA colour conundrum, yellow is often quoted in language asyellow livered and bellied signifying a coward with clearlyno appetite for the rough stuff. Strangely, being optimisticinherently implies being courageous in the face of odds.Effervescent and bubbly, cheerful spaces call out to us. Beit kids’ play areas, dining rooms where the family gathersor gyms and high-activity areas. The colour energisesspaces with a positive and carefree get-up-and-go attitude.There is a lightness of spirit combined with gentleinformality.

Ideal combinations with an optimistic yellow to keepsprits flying are crisp blues and citrus sorbet pastels. Blueand yellow return very often in cycles as favourite colours.The classic primaries of cobalt and yellow are always intrend and look smart and graphic. Orange-lime and lemoncreate that citrus punch that is zesty and youthful. In anew twist, we are seeing yellow in kitschy combinationsand a hip, poly-Asian twist with hot pink, emerald greenand cerulean blue.

In small ways and bigYellow has been a favourite amongst the creative commu-nities as it is the most compelling. Whether it is fine art,graphic design or advertising, the colour sits beautifullywith cool neutrals and gets the message across. It is ashade that is very directional and singularly attention-grabbing as it stands out against any background.

Where interior design, today, is about occupying shellsof a building and creating a transitory interior, this colourwill bind the space together. The great thing about yellowis the proportions it can be used in – be it in productaccents, nut bowls and vases or a lamp or in large portionslike a bedspread and even one whole wall! The trick is to

keep yellow graphic and cerebral with charcoal black andwhite; or kinetic with strong greens and blue.

At Freedom Tree, you find yellow that encapsulates amood of graphic print design and appeals to masculine andfeminine sensibilities. The forms on the vivid textile printsare liquid and organic, and the arrangements and scale of

design follow a simple formality. It is Pablo Picasso who said, “There are painters who

transform the sun into a yellow spot, but there are otherswho, thanks to their art and intelligence, transform ayellow spot into the sun.”

Better Interiors

John Mariani

Bordeaux vigneron Michel Rolland, consultantfor more than 100 wineries in a dozen countries,is blamed by some for fostering the fashion forhigh-alcohol cult wines like those from Cali-

fornia’s Harlan Estate and Staglin Family. Yet a recent tasting of Rolland’s seventh vintage of the

Argentine wine Clos de los Siete shows he is able to make a21st century-style red at the top of its class. And with the2008 vintage, he does it for only $19 a bottle.

Clos de los Siete is a blend of 56 per cent Malbec, 21 percent Merlot, 11 per cent Syrah, 10 per cent Cabernet Sau-vignon and 2 per cent Petit Verdot.

It’s made in the Uco Valley south of Mendoza, Argenti-na’s top wine region, where Malbec is the principal fine-wine grape.

Plenty of sun, high humidity and low rainfall coupledwith sandy soil and clay provide ideal conditions for suchvarietals, and they come together in Clos de los Siete’s softand velvety texture of the Merlot, intense fruit of theSyrah, mild tannins from the Cabernet, and ballast andspice of the late-ripening Petit Verdot.

The blend may change in any vintage and the wines areneither fined nor filtered - processes used to remove solidresidues.

At 14.5 per cent alcohol, Clos de los Siete might bolsterthe characterisation of Rolland as an advocate of redswhose deliberately overripe fruit, high alcohol, and longaging in oak produce “fruit bombs” that win medals incompetitions.

Many critics, myself included, decry such wines as oftenbeing out of balance, headache-inducing and closer to Portthan red wine.

‘Satan or Saviour’A New York Times article on Rolland was titled ‘Satan orSavior: Setting the Grape Standard.’ In the 2004 docu-mentary film ‘Mondovino,’ Rolland is shown advising cli-ents to use a technique called micro-oxygenation that canhelp tame tannins and soften wines.

“That movie is all crap!” Rolland bellowed in a phoneinterview. “In some European wineries micro-oxygena-tion is helpful, but you don’t need it in New World winesbecause there is so much sun to build up the sugars.”

Rolland has six formidable partners in Argentina, in-cluding Rhone Valley vigneron Catherine Pere-Vigne andBenjamin de Rothschild, owner and chief executive officerof LCF Rothschild Group.

With such resources he was able to switch traditionalArgentine “parral” trellising and pruning methods to tra-ditional systems used in Bordeaux.

Drip irrigation keeps the vines “stressed,” to allow thebare minimum of water. Grapes are all handpicked, andthe wines aged for 11 months, 70 per cent in new Frenchoak, the rest in vat.

A winner?Of the property’s 850 hectares, 430 are currently planted.This year the output is a hefty 50,000 cases exported to 57countries, with 30,000 going to the U.S. Rolland thinks

1,00,000 cases is possible, noting “We will follow themarket as to future production.”

Rolland and his partners are aware they may have a bigwinner on their hands with Clos de los Siete, which meansthat consistency is key.

“In many ways it is more difficult to make 50,000 casesthan 10,000 because you have to take care of everythingbefore blending,” he said.

“With small production, a winemaker has the luxury ofselecting from many parcels of grapes and wines; with bigproduction, you have to get the best on a large scale rightaway. And with global export, the labels cannot have anyvariance or mistakes about what’s in the bottle.”

Rolland chose Argentina because of its terroir, labourcosts, and the open-mindedness of the New World. And heloves the sunshine, which builds up the sugars that con-vert into 14-plus per cent alcohol.

“When you have that much sun, you don’t need or wantto manipulate the wine to have more alcohol,” he said. “It’sthe natural way of the fermentation.”

Controversy may yet swirl around Rolland and hismethods, but Clos de los Siete proves that he can make aserious red wine to rival cult wines 10 times the price. Atleast he can with 50,000 cases.

When Clos de los Siete gets to 1,00,000 cases, thingsshould get interesting.

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

Sunny side up for Clos de los Siete


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Reviving tradition

issue dated september 8, 2010

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