SmartbuyWednesday, September 21, 2011

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Timeless classicThe trench coat marches onPage 12

+Reviews:Bose Wireless SpeakerSony Ericsson Xperia Ray

Exclusive Hyundai Eon preview

2 September 21, 2011Smartbuy

WHAT’S HOT this week

Team SmartbuyEditorial

Archana Achalarchana.a@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

Advertising Contact

R.Diwakarramdiwakar@thehindu.co.in

Web Advertising Contact

N.Amarnathamarnath@thehindu.co.in

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The brand new smartphonefrom Motorola boasts a3.5-inch, extra-bright touch-screen. The rear 5-meggercomes with auto-focus andbuilt-in flash. You canaccess the VGA-camera onthe fascia for video-conferencing. Running onthe latest version ofAndroid, v2.3 Gingerbread,the handset also features theMoto Switch user interfacethat lets you users to switchbetween personal and work-centric modes wheneveryou want.Rs 13,890

This lightweight compact digicam is the latest in Fujifilm’s FinePix series. The T 200 has a 14-meg resolution and ISOup to 3,200, for great low-light shots. There are also a bunch of scene modes available including a motion panoramamode. The camera supports 720p HD recording in a 16:9 format. Available in gun metal and black colour options.Rs 10,999

This luxury Bluetooth headset from Nokia has a smoothstainless steel finish and comes with its very own holster.The headset features DSP noise reduction, adaptivevolume adjustment and automatic call handling. Batterylife gives you three months of standby time and five hoursof talk time. Rs 5,570

Hands off! Nokia J

They started it!

Motorola FIRE XT

A Fine shot Fujifilm FinePix T 200

Cover photo: Esprit

3 September 21, 2011Smartbuy

The latest all-in-one PC from Lenovo features a 21.5-inch Full HDdisplay with multi-touch technology. Powered by an Intel Core i3

processor, the B320 has 3GB DDR3 memory and a HDD with 500GB ofstorage space. Other features include 6 USB ports, a 5-in-1 card readerand HD webcam. The OneKey TV features turns the PC into a TV with

the click of the button, without requiring the PC to be powered on.Rs 37,990

Media magnet

Lenovo IdeaCentre B320

This set-top box provides access to Mediafly, Dailymotion, YouTube,Picasa, Flickr and thousands of internet TV and radio stations. The

O!Play Mini Plus allows easy sharing of photos and videos onFacebook by simply pressing a button. Proprietary technologies like

O!Direct and O!MediaShare enable users to stream media files from avariety of devices straight to an HDTV without complicated setups.

Rs 7,949

Small wonder

Asus O!Play Mini Plus

The successor to the Sony PlayStation Portable (PSP) might soon see thelight of the day. With an OLED display and dual analog sticks, PS Vita willrun on a quad-core ARM Cortex A9 processor. It will support music, videosand pictures while also featuring exclusive spaces like ‘Party’ where you canchat (voice and text) while playing games both online and offline. ‘Near’, alocation-based service will let you find out what PS Vita users around yourareas have been playing. And for those who are new to the PSP experience,the Welcome Park software will guide you through the Vita. While thecompany had earlier said that the release will only be sometime in 2012, itlooks like Japan, a nation with endless numbers of hardcore gamers, mighthave a chance to get their hands on the device in December 2011. Thehandheld is slated to cost €249 for the Wi-Fi version and €299 for the 3G/Wi-Fi version.

Vital gaming

Following the success of social news readers like Flipboard (seen above)and Pulse, Google is reportedly working on its own social app calledPropeller. Applications like Flipboard display news from social networks,publications and other websites of your choice and present them inmagazine format. The apps are optimised for tablets and are designed toprovide relevant content depending on the user’s reading habits.Flipboard was named iPad app of the year in 2010, and Google’s Propellermight see both Apple and Android versions, catering to a wider audience.Google has reportedly tried to buy Flipboard in the past, but the companyrefused to sell. Google’s prowess in delivering relevant news might give ita heads-up in this category though.

Google’s latest project

SMARTPHONE review

Ketaki Bhojnagarwala

All the best Android smartphones today have atleast one or a bunch of distinguishing features –dual-core processor, Super AMOLED display,3D capability, etc. They also tend to be over-

priced. With its latest Xperia smartphone, Sony Ericsson has

dared to think out of the box. The Xperia Ray has none ofthe features mentioned above, but still manages to impresswith its specs. And it’s aggressively priced in the Rs 20,000price bracket – positioning itself midway between dis-appointing budgets and wallet-emptying powerhorses.Will this be a winning formula for Sony Ericsson?

UnboxingOpening the packaging of the Ray, I’m taken aback by itssvelte form factor. After the humungous 4-inchers thathave been landing on my review desk, it takes me a whileto get used to the idea of handling this petite phone.Reluctantly powering up the Ray, I’m surprised at howquickly one can get familiar with it. And ‘surprised’ wasgenerally my reaction the entire time I was testing thedevice.

The screen was amazingly fluid – I was able to scrollthrough my home page on TweetDeck with smooth, liquidmovements, and the phone is intelligent enough to dis-tinguish between gestures. Contrary to my initial appre-hensions, the 3.3-inch screen wasn’t detrimental to theuser interface of the phone. Icons are about the same sizeas that on any Android, with the only difference being thenumber of icons that can fit on the screen. Widgets toolook well spaced out; I particularly liked the Media short-cuts widget which has the music player on top, photos inthe middle and a quick access bar to all your media at thebottom.

great if you download frequently from the Android mar-ket. From the menu screen, you can arrange apps al-phabetically, by most used, recently installed or in anyorder you wish – a really convenient option to get access towhat you want easily. There’s also an easy delete optionwhich highlights apps that have been downloaded fromthe Market.

The phone supports push mail notifications, and I set upa Gmail account in a few easy steps. The email app alsocomes with a handy preview pane which you can pulldown to reveal the entire email.

Sony Ericsson’s Timescape widget is still around for allyour social networking sites, texts and calls, but I muchprefer using apps from the Android market instead. Speak-ing of which, Sony Ericsson has a dedicated AndroidMarket channel, so when you open the Market, the portalreplaces the My Apps tab on the homescreen. It’s prettyconvenient because it lists original apps from Sony Er-icsson, as well as those best tailored to phones from thecompany.

The Ray is quite the media magnet, and is great forwatching videos, listening to music or playing games. Iwatched a few episodes of ‘Wilfred’ in HD, and the detailswere sharp and the playback smooth. Despite Angry Birdsbeing a bit of a let down in the gaming category, I mustconfess that I was addicted to Aporkalypse, which I playedconstantly up to level 19, which I’m still stuck on.

Shutterbugs will love the camera on the Ray, whichdoesn’t have the usual bunch of scene modes but managesto capture great photos, even in low light. It has FaceDetection and Smile detection, and you can tap to focusand shoot.

I took a bunch of videos as well, and the camera recordsfast movement without freezing, and picks up sound reallywell too.

The only time when I felt the limiting pinch of a smallscreen was when I played a few games downloaded fromthe Android Market, like Angry Birds Seasons. It’s just notoptimised for a small screen, and the result was that thebirds looked tiny and I couldn’t enjoy the graphics of thegame as much as I would have liked to.

Build qualityThe Ray’s construction lends itself to being one of thosephones that’s more discreet than flashy. That said, it’s areally elegant handset, and one I wouldn’t hesitate toflaunt. I really liked the black unit that I got for review,although there are a few trendier colour options availablelike white, pink and gold. Thankfully, Sony Ericsson hasnot opted for the standard four-button bezel that’s com-mon on so many Android phones. Instead, what you getare two touch buttons – return and options on either side,and a physical home button in the shape of an arc (which Ithink should have definitely been incorporated on theArc!). I was quite miffed that the touch buttons weren’tbacklit though, even though they’re intuitive enough touse.

The back panel has a nice rubberised feel, and holds the8.1-meg rear camera with LED flash. Other features are afront-facing camera, volume rocker switch, mini-USB portand 3.5mm headphone jack. Unlike the Arc, the Ray doesnot have a mini HDMI port, even though the camera cancapture 720p HD videos.

User interfaceThe Ray runs on Android v2.3 (Gingerbread), which is themost up-to-date software you could hope for on a smart-phone at present. There are five customisable home-screens, to which you can add widgets and shortcuts. Youcan also group your favourite apps into folders, which is

Sony Ericsson Xperia RayIt’s got the shine, but...

Ketaki Bhojnagarwala

The latest Bluetooth headset to come out ofPlantronics’ kitty is the Savor M1100. The

headset has none of the colourful accents of theM100, which I reviewed a few months ago. In-stead, it’s a more discreet, professional device.

The V-shaped M100 has a gunmetal colouredplastic frame, with rubberised front and back pan-els. There’s a mini-USB charging port located ontop, and the sides hold a slider power switch and avolume control button. Unfortunately, Plantronicshasn’t opted for a toggle switch to control volume,

and it’s a bit time consuming to go through powerlevels one by one. The front rubberised panel ac-tually conceals two buttons, but these are welldisguised so you can’t even make out they exist.The top of the panel holds the call button, while thebottom holds the voice recognition button.

The USP of the headset is pretty much its voicecommand functionality. When you get an incom-ing call, the headset prompts you to say ‘Answer’or ‘Ignore’. The M1100 was pretty moody when itcame to recognising voice commands, and often Iwound up shouting ‘answer!’ at my desk and noth-

Gettingvocal

PlantronicsM1100

Smartbuy 4 September 21, 2011

5 September 21, 2011Smartbuy

the volume could have been better, because it wasdifficult to have conversations in noisy environ-ments. There are three embedded microphones inthe headset, which relayed my voice clearly to theother side. Battery life is estimated at 4 hourswith 7 days of standby time.

The M1100 is a good buy only for those who likeusing voice commands. If you’d prefer being morediscreet, you could opt for other Plantronics head-sets like the Voyager Pro or Discovery 975instead.

Rs 4,790

ics silicone gel ear tips, which I’m pretty used tonow, after reviewing a couple of their headsets.They come in three sizes, and were quite comfort-able to wear for a few hours at a stretch. They alsodon’t block the ear like some in-ear gel tips, anddon’t threaten to fall out either.

You don’t require an over-ear support like someother headsets, although there is a detachablesupport provided in the box if you choose to wearit.

Call quality on the headset was average, and Iwas able to hear callers quite clearly. I did feel that

ing would happen, except ten pairs of eyes staringat me like I was crazy. I mostly ended up using thecall button to answer calls.

The voice recognition button performs a coupleof other functions too. If you press the buttonwhen you’re not on a call, you can dictate a numberof commands to the headset. For instance: ‘Am Iconnected?’, ‘Check Battery’, ‘Redial’ and ‘Pairing’.The headset was pretty prompt to follow thesecommands, so I don’t know why it got confusedwhen I tried answering calls.

The M1100 comes with the signature Plantron-

PerformanceThe phone runs a 1GHz Scorpion processor, and despitenot having the power of the dual-cores in the market, itnever froze during the week that I used it. The Ray wasalso really quick to open up applications and multi-task. Iran a couple of benchmarking softwares to test the per-formance of the phone.

On Linpack, I achieved an average score of about 38.5MFLOPS, while the Arc averages out at about 35 MFLOPS.The Quadrant score was a bit more disappointing at 1639 -really average considering the 2200+ scores many smart-phones achieve.

Battery life on the Ray was one of the best I’ve seen on anAndroid phone so far. With average usage, I maxed out thebattery after 38 hours, far more than the power hungrySamsung Galaxies and LG Optimuses. On a day when Ispent long hours gaming and a few hours making calls, thephone lasted me a little more than 26 hours.

Call quality on the handset didn’t disappoint, and mostof the time I didn’t even use maximum volume for calls.

Our verdictDespite its rather average set of features, the Xperia Raymanages to impress because of quality. It runs AndroidGingerbread, has a clear and responsive screen, greatbattery life, good camera and it is fast. To be honest, thatticks most of the boxes in my smartphone wishlist. SonyEricsson’s aggressive pricing strategy could be the clinch-ing factor in making the Ray a great option for any Androidlover.

Love: Overall good performance

Hate: Small screen size could be a turn off for some users

Rs 20,000ketaki@thehindu.co.in

Photo: R. Ravindran

SOUND bytes

Mahananda Bohidar

The guys at Bose know how to protect their se-crets. From the time of short telecon when I hadagreed to review the unnamed Bose productwhich was yet to see light of the day, until I

actually received the package, I kept wondering what themysterious product would be. Would it be a home theatresystem from the Lifestyle series or a new path-breakingpair of earphones? Even when the delivery guy droppedoff the parcel - that looked like a mini-version of those fakeguitar cases in which the mafiosi hide guns – I still had noclue.

The climax of ruthlessly ripping off the package wasquite a revelation. It was the 47-year old company’s plungeinto the world of wireless audio streaming. Sized almostlike a chunky Merriam-Webster Dictionary, the latestfrom Bose carries the company’s DNA – the promise of bigsound packed in a compact device.

Plugged inConnecting the device to the power source, we decided toflag off the testing experience with an Apple iPod Touch.Linking the devices via Bluetooth took under a minute. Allwe had to do was press the Bluetooth button on top of thespeaker panel for SoundLink Mobile to recognise thestreaming device. Starting with ‘Give Me One Reason ToLive’, we listened to Tracy Chapman’s soulful voice andEric Clapton work magic on the guitar. We then switchedto a peppy new-age number ‘Dum Diddly’ by Black EyedPeas, pumping up the volume, much to the annoyance ofthe neighbours. There was no distortion in the soundquality even when the volume was high. We tried on morethan a score of tracks that included songs by Foster ThePeople, Pink Floyd, Florence + The Machine, Ray Charlesand Dire Straits. While for the most part the detail in allthe songs we played was captured, at times the overallquality of music seemed to be underwhelming.

We tried a host of devices with the Bose SoundLinkMobile speakers to check how easily they connected andhow well they streamed music from various sources. So,the devices that took turns, apart from the iPod Touch,were: a tablet - Apple iPad 2 and a smartphone - SonyXperia Ray. Both detected the Bose speakers withoutmuch delay and the quality of music streamed was as goodas with the iPod Touch. With both the devices, we couldlet the music play in the background while being busy withSafari on the tablet or WhatsApp on the handset. Oneexception, however, is streaming videos or music fromYouTube because that itself is an app which will stoprunning once you switch to another programme. Somebasic handsets (Bluetooth-enabled) such as the Nokia C3failed to connect with the speakers.

Tech talkThe Bose SoundLink Mobile speakers combinefour low-profile neodymium transducers forclear high and mid-frequencies. Theseare coupled with dual-oppos-ing passive radiatorsdesigned witha patented waf-fle-shaped sur-round for deep,low notes andminimum vibra-tion at high lev-els.

The system isdesigned in a waythat the six mostrecently used Blue-tooth devices are automaticallystored in its memory. This does away with theneed for you to pair recently connected devices all over

again, which is a big plus. Packed neatly into the small unit is also a rechargeable

lithium-ion battery array, which Bose says provides powerfor more than three hours of audio playback at high vol-ume, and for more than eight hours at normal volume.

Another feature that Bose SoundLink Mobilespeaker wins brownie points for is its potentialfor portability. The device is even smallenough to fit in your satchel bag and islight enough to be carried aroundtown.

Now the partydoesn’t have tobe

where thespeakers are!

We sayWith this device, Bose Corp.

pits itself against contemporarybiggies like Bowers & Wilkins,Harman Kardon and Klipsch.And with the SoundLink Mo-bile, Bose seems to have, some-where, struck the right chordwith its combination of power,price and portability.

Love: Compact, captures detailand handles high volume without distortion

Hate: Sound quality, especially richness, is limited by itsform and sizeRs 19,013 (Standard Model)Rs 23,513 (LX Model)

mahananda@thehindu.co.in

There’s music in the air

GAME review

Every year, Xbox Live plays host to theSummer of Arcade, where every weekfor a month, one of the most promisingnew downloadable game releases is fea-

tured. In the past, we’ve been treated to mas-terpieces such as Shadow Complex, Braid andLimbo. So it seemed strange that this year’sSummer of Arcade features Fruit Ninja Kinect, aconsole motion-controlled remake of Half-brick’s smartphone app.

While this isn’t just a straight port upscaledfor the Xbox 360 - there is a fair amount ofadditional content you won’t find on the smart-phone versions - this is essentially the same,thoroughly basic concept you may have alreadyexperienced on your touch-enabled device(There are also plenty of free knock-offs avail-able on the Android Market under differentnames, like Fruit Slice).

For those new to Fruit Ninja, the game essen-tially involves you slicing fruit. Fruits of allshapes and sizes are tossed up from the bottomof the screen, and you have to slice all of thembefore gravity takes over and sends them plum-meting back down. Slicing multiple fruits in asingle swipe nets you higher points, and to makethings interesting, the game throws up bombsfrom time to time in amongst the fruit, whichyou must avoid.

Big screen adaptationWhat feels instantly accessible and intuitive ona touchscreen, will take some getting used to onKinect, which basically has you slicing in thin air.While you’re quite literally touching the fruityou slice on a touchscreen, there is a cleardisconnect with the Kinect version, becausethere’s no feedback whatsoever, so you’re never

100 per cent sure that you’re swiping yourhands exactly where you need to. The gamedoes project a silhouette of yourself in the back-ground, but that really doesn’t help a lot. It’s allwell and good when all you have on screen is abunch of fruit, at which you can just slice awaywildly, but it’s when a bomb gets thrown up intothe mix that things get tricky. Slicing fruit,while still avoiding the bomb requires precision,and sadly, that level of precision is just notpresent here. It’s not the Kinect at fault here;were the game available for Wii or PlayStationMove, we’d face the same problems there. It’sjust the sort of game that requires a level offeedback to the player that motion controls justdon’t provide. In that sense, this is very much agame best played on a touchscreen device.

But that’s not to say that Fruit Ninja Kinectisn’t fun. It’s immensely enjoyable, particularlywhen played in short bursts with friends. It’salso a great example of how the responsivenessand accuracy of the Kinect sensor has comealong since the launch. You still won’t see one-to-one accuracy, but it’s responsive enough notto make you feel removed from the experience,like some of the launch titles did. Then again,this game doesn’t use full-body tracking likemany of the other Kinect games do. The gameonly tracks from the waist up, which is alsogreat news for those with limited open space.

Player modesThere are plenty of single-player as well asco-op and competitive two-player modes avail-able. From frantic timed events to challengingelimination challenges to simple, mindless free-play modes, there’s plenty to do whether you’replaying by yourself or with friends. But again,

it’s pretty much the same basic concept acrossthe board, so this is a game best enjoyed in shortbursts or you’ll get bored fast.

One aspect of the competitive multi-playerchallenges we didn’t like is that the game artifi-cially makes sure that both players finish closeon points. So if one player gets a big lead, thegame will reduce the amount of fruit that’sthrown up for him/her so the opponent cancatch up. I get that this is a casual party game,but the game is fun enough on its own withouthaving to resort to such cheap (and obvious)tricks to make things exciting.

Our verdictFruit Ninja Kinect is quite a workout and it isway more responsive and accurate than I wouldever have imagined, but at the end of the day,this is pretty much the same game you’ve prob-ably already played on your iOS or Androiddevice.

What goes against the game the most, how-ever, is the price. At 800 Microsoft Points (ap-proximately Rs 450), the Kinect version coststen times more than the $0.99 app available onthe App Store. If you can justify that premiumfor the living room Fruit Ninja experience, go forit. I most certainly can’t.

Love: Responsive, plenty of content, fun withfriendsHate: Expensive, not as precise as thetouchscreen versionPrice: 800 MS Points (approx Rs 450)Rating: 3/5Publisher: MicrosoftDeveloper: Halfbrick StudiosPlatform: Xbox 360 (Kinect mandatory)

CHIP

Polish your Katanas and get ready forsome juicy action on the Kinect version

of this super-popular game.

8 September 21, 2011Smartbuy

AUTO focus

S.Muralidhar

There is always a hysterical amount of interest thata new, affordable small car generates. Rememberthe Tata Nano? The next small car that will whipup similar passions will be the Eon. This new

small car from Hyundai is also likely to generate dis-proportionate interest amongst buyers, because therehasn’t been a modern, new offering in this segment in along time.

But, there will be differences too. For one, the new Eonwill not be an ultra-low-cost car, like the Nano was meantto be. What the Eon is essentially going to be is a stylish,small hatch, and honestly its compact size may not be allthat evident from the digital rendering that you see above.

Also, unlike the Tata Nano, which now seems like anidea that was too early for its time, the new Hyundai Eonwill be just in time to give buyers in the A-segment somemuch needed relief in terms of choice. The Eon will bepitted squarely against the Maruti Alto, the Chevy Sparkand possibly even prove in-house competition for theHyundai Santro Xing.

Fluidic designI got to test drive a pre-production version of the new Eonat Hyundai R&D facility in Namyang in Korea, a sprawlingcampus located a couple of hours away from the capital,Seoul. The first aspect of the Eon, which was internallycode-named the ‘HA’, that strikes you is its design. Sophis-

ticated, futuristic and obediently following Hyundai’s newsignature ‘fluidic’ design philosophy, the Eon could quick-ly shove the rest in the segment down the charts with itsgood looks.

The new Hyundai trademark hexagonal design bonnetgrille and bug-eyed headlamps give the new Eon cheerylooks at the front. Peeled-back headlamps with large re-flectors give the car a strong character and are meant to beboth appealing and practical in Indian conditions. A clam-shell bonnet and a fairly large airdam in the front bumpercontribute to overall aggressive design of the Eon’s front.

At the side, the typical strong character line and thedeep-cut, curvy shoulder line add to the perception oflength for this small car and the over prominent wheelarches are meant to give the Eon a more squat and sturdyappearance. Very similar to the i10 and the i20, the shoul-der line rises sharply towards the end of the rear door andthen merges into the tail-lamp. Large, sedan-like doormirrors should also provide good rear visibility, thoughthey may also be more prone to dings and nicks.

At the rear, the tail-lamps have been set high in keepingwith Hyundai’s tall-boy design philosophy that has beenadopted for the Eon too. It seems like the Eon has beenbuilt using the Santro’s platform, but after some mod-ifications. The tear-drop shaped tail-lamps have clear andelegant combination. The compact hatch door conceals a215-litre boot, with a low loading height.

The Eon’s wheelbase at 2,380mm is identical to the

Santro Xing’s and the former’s overall length is only about70mm lesser at 3,495mm. The Eon will actually be about25mm wider than the Santro Xing at 1,550mm, though itwould be shorter at 1,500mm. But the Eon will be tallerand wider than the Maruti Alto.

With the platform eminently capable of offering suchabilities, in the Eon, the attempt has been to leverage themost space in the car within the limitations of the dimen-sions. Wheels pushed to the extremes, the Eon manages tooffer about 1,010mm of leg space at the front and about835mm of legroom at the rear. With the choice of a lightgrey and light cream dual colour theme for the interior,and the fairly large glass house, the Eon’s interior alsomanages to be well-lit and airy. .

The Eon’s doors feel a bit light and don’t close with ahealthy thump, but that is to be expected from a car in thissegment. But, to improve the ease of entry and exit into thecar, Hyundai engineers have managed to get both the frontand rear doors to open out almost to right angles to thebody.

The most striking aspect of the Eon’s cabin is the strongadoption of symmetry in design and layout. The two-tonetheme for the centre stack and the dashboard finish ex-tends to the door trim with two different types of panelfinishes. A number of interior elements and design seem toreflect the ‘Fluidic’ design character that Hyundai is be-coming synonymous for.

Some of the design strokes, for example, the centre

With the HA, will Hyund

9 September 21, 2011Smartbuy

Overall Length : 3,495 mmOverall Width : 1,550 mmOverall Height : 1,500 mmWheel Base : 2,380 mmEngine Type : 3-cylinder SOHCDisplacement : 814 ccPower : 56 ps/ 5,500 rpmTorque : 7.65 KgM/ 4,000 rpmBoot space : 215 litresKerb Weight : 715 kgs / 795 kgs

dai have the last laugh?stack and control buttons, seem to border on overkill, butstill manage to pull through to offer a unique cabin designoverall. Interesting parts are the ‘deity space’ at the top ofthe dashboard and the bottle storage slots, for whichapparently Hyundai engineers carried as many as 30 waterbottles from India to test and design the spaces. Theinstrument cluster is also fairly unique for this segment. Apoint to remember here is that the picture of the cabintaken with this article is a digital reproduction of theoriginal prototype and hence some of the elements maychange when the Eon is launched finally.

PerformanceTo save costs and to keep the price competitive, someparts from the Santro and i10 have been carried over intothe Eon. Hyundai has also decided to offer a variant with adriver’s airbag and a front passenger airbag will also beavailable, though that might be offered later.

The pre-production Eon that I test drove came with 155/ 70 R13 tyres shod on 13-inch rims, but apparently othertrim levels might be offered with 145 / 80 R12 tyres with12-inch rims.

Though it need not always be the measure of its segmentand the competition that the car will target, in the case ofthe Eon, its size and the new 800cc engine that it will sportposition it bang-on with the competition in the ‘A’ andentry ‘B’ segment cars. The new engine is a 814cc, 3-

cylinder, SOHC unit that has been tuned to provide acombination of peppy performance and frugal habits.

Generating a peak power of 56PS at 5,500 rpm and apeak torque of 7.65 KgM at 4,000 rpm, the Eon’s enginemanages to beat the current benchmark – Alto – convinc-ingly. The Alto’s 800cc engine manages 47 PS of peakpower at 6,200 rpm and a peak torque of 6.3 KgM at 3,000rpm. For a 3-cylinder unit, the Eon’s engine manages to befairly refined under steady acceleration and gets a bitgruffy and audible only at high revs. I felt minor levels ofvibration at the steering wheel and door panels. It is afairly rev-happy engine and there are a number of tech bits

in it to keep weight low and improve performance. Com-ponents like a plastic intake manifold, roller rockers arms,low friction coated piston and rings, and a plastic headcover have been chosen for improving the engine’sefficiency.

Compared to the Alto’s claimed 19.73 kmpl, Hyundaiengineers claim that the Eon’s engine will be capable ofdelivering a fuel efficiency of 21.1 kmpl.

The engine is paired to the same gearbox from theSantro Xing. Gear shifts are quick, but the shift quality wasa bit rubbery. Ratios seemed to have been set largely forurban driving conditions, but I would have liked a bit moreof low-end torque in each gear slot. Again, I would like tomention that the model I test drove was a pre-productionunit.

PredictionsHyundai’s spectacular growth in the small car segmentstarted with the Santro and has been bolstered by the i10and the i20. The Eon will be a strong addition to the lineup. The launch of the car is expected during the secondweek of October this year. Hyundai officials say that theSantro Xing will continue to co-exist alongside the newEon. But, with the inevitability of the Eon’s price beingvery close, if not overlapping with the Santro, some reposi-tioning may become inevitable.

HYUNDAI EON: TECH SPECS

muraliswami@thehindu.co.in

Honda Motorcycle and Scooter India Pvt. Ltd. has re-leased new versions of two of its existing products,

the Aviator and CBF stunner.The New Aviator comes in two colour options - Berry

Purple and Sunbeam White, in addition to the three exist-ing colours of Monsoon Grey Metallic, Rebel Red Metallicand Pearl Igneous Black. The Aviator’s existing 102cc,4-stroke, air-cooled OHC engine generates 7bhp of power.It also offers extra mileage of 15 per cent. The scooter has asnazzy metallic look with stylishly-placed halogen head-lamps and a body-coloured grab rail. The safety measures

on the scooter are parts made of a combination of metaland high impact resistant ABS in the body as well as theHonda patented puncture-resistant tuff-up tube. The in-novative, 12-inch, lightweight alloy wheels are the first oftheir kind in the Indian scooter industry. The Standardand Deluxe variants of the New Aviator are priced at Rs45,300 and Rs 50,400 respectively.

The CBF Stunner has been given a new, more sportyand aggressive look. In addition to the existing colours ofSports Red and Pearl Sorts Yellow, the bike now comes inBlack and Candy Palm Green with the logo and black,

white and grey stripes adorning the cowl. The new CBFStunner ups its compatibility with speed with a 11bhpengine with five gears, offering superior initial acceler-ation and greater pickup while overtaking. The safety ofthe rider is taken care of with tubeless tyres and a 240mm,hydraulic front-disc brake.

The sporty edge in design is provided by a stylish half-chain case, linear rear design, integrated front body cowland sporty muffler cover. The CBF Stunner will be avail-able in a Self-Disc-Alloy version at the same price of Rs54,509.

Honda’s newhighlights

10 September 21, 2011Smartbuy

AUTO news

Mercedes-Benz India has unveiled the all New CLS350 BE. With a bold design, elegant silhouette and

opulent material and equipment, the world’s first four-door coupe also features Merc’s BlueEFFICIENCY tech.Its body looks graceful with its sleek lines and shapelycontours. The muscular rear end with its wide shoulderline gives the coupe its athletic edge. This is combinedwith a shoulder line that develops from the heavilycontoured wheel arches and wide LED tail lights drawnwell into the sides and sweeping around the rear end.The CLS 350 BE is the first vehicle from Mercedes-Benzto have frameless, all-aluminium doors. These are madefrom deep-drawn aluminium panels with extrudedsections, and in comparison with conventional steeldoors, are some 24 kilograms lighter. The classy ride isequipped with a V6 Petrol 3,498 cc engine producing306 hp of power at 6500 rpm and 370 Nm of torque at3500 - 5250 rpm. The robust engine coupled with 7G-TRONIC automatic transmission (7 Speed AutomaticTransmission), offers a high level of responsivenesswherein the car can reach 0-100kph in 6.1 seconds, witha top speed of 250 km per hour. The New CLS 350 ispriced at Rs 67.67 lakh (Ex-showroom, Mumbai).

Merc’s latest addition: New CLS 350 BE

11 September 21, 2011Smartbuy

MELANGE luxury redefined

Feel all the benefits of running barefoot with RealFlex, Reebok’snew range of shoes for men, women and children. There are 76sensors on the bottom of the shoe that help maintain flexibility

and balance. Available at select Reebok stores.Rs 3,999 onwards

A natural fit

Look effortlessly fashionable with Mont Blanc’s latest range ofeyewear, the Mosaic Art Collection, brought to you by EternityLifestyles. The Cathedral enamel details and subtle curved shape adda touch of casual chic to your outfit. Available at select lifestyles stores.Rs 24,200

Perfectly put together

Feel refreshed withthe Green tea withJasmine collectionfrom L’Occitane. Thejasmine flower hasbeen sourced fromGrasse on the FrenchRiviera. Combinedwith green tea, itproduces a light andfresh perfume.Available at its storesand select lifestyleoutlets.Rs 2,995 (100ml)

Frenchfleur

Gucci launches two limited edition evening bags for India thisseason. While one golden clutch carries tassel and bamboodetails, the other has a Swarovski-encrusted double G ornament.Both these “India exclusive” beauties are made with Guccisimaleather. Available at its boutiques in Mumbai and New Delhi.Price on request

Gorgeous gold

L’Oréal Professionnellaunches its range of haircare, the Absolut RepairCellular to repair andprotect hair from the centreof the fibre. Enriched withlactic acid, these productsrestore shine and vitality toyour hair from within.Available at its salons.Rs 475 onwards

Cellular care

FASHION focus

As the season changes from sun-ny to chilly, our wardrobeschange too. Out go the flowerydresses, casual linens and cot-

ton shorts making way for woollens, ankleboots and tough denims. But you need notlet all the heavy material bog down yourfashion sense. Pick up a trench coat tothrow over your outfit as this versatile coatwill keep out the weather even as it helpsyou stay stylish!

Through the agesThe trench coat has a long history in thefashion world, starting in the late nine-teenth-century and continuing up to thisyear’s fall fashion lines. It has moved frombeing a raincoat for soldiers to a trendystaple for all wardrobes.

Around the 1880s, Thomas Burberry, a

dressmaker from England produced andpatented a water-resistant and tough fab-ric which he called gabardine. Gabardinewas initially made out of worsted wool.The fabric was porous despite its tightweave and therefore breathable. He thenused the material to create the tielocken,an overcoat that would cover most of theperson who wore it, making it highly use-ful for military men who braved inclem-ent weather.

The tielocken is the predecessor to thetrench coat as we know it. Thomas Bur-berry then added a few details to the tie-locken, like the shoulder straps and metalD-rings to create the trench coat. The useof gabardine also made the trench coatmuch more comfortable than the rubber-ised raincoats available during thosetimes.

This style was picked up by the Britisharmy in the 1900s as an optional garmentfor the infantry. Worn by the men as theyfought in the trenches in World War I, thecoat proved both necessary and efficient atprotecting them during adverse weatherconditions. After the war, the trench coatcontinued to be seen on the streets of En-gland and soon became a fashion staple.Given its military beginnings, it is no won-der that the trench coat now has an army ofloyalists.

Style factorToday, trench coats or trenches as they arecalled, are made out of a wide array ofmaterials including leather, poplin and oth-er cotton or polyester blends.

The timeless style of the trench coat hasbeen a topic of fascination and much dis-

It’s that time of yearagain to get the trench

coat out of thebarracks and into your

fall wardrobe. Morethan a century-old instyle, the trench coat

is making acomeback…and how!

ARCHANA ACHALguides you through

the history and styleof this garment whichwill take your autumnoutfit from ho-hum to

oh-so wonderful.

Time for

Burberry

cussion for the fashion-conscious. Whatconstitutes a trench coat? Is it the length,sleeves or embellishments that separate atrench from all other long coats? The an-swer is all of the above.

A traditional trench coat is knee-lengthor just a few inches above the knee. It isusually double-breasted with six buttons ormore, has wide lapels and shoulder straps.It might have a buttoned yoke over theshoulders and D-rings on the belt. Full-length, raglan sleeves with cuffs are consid-ered the most comfortable for movementand providing warmth. The coat has awoollen lining which is often removable tomake it versatile.

Modern and fabulousThe biggest trend in trench coat style atpresent is the woman’s trench coat. No

longer considered a man’s garment alone,trench coats in bright colours and varyinglengths have caught the eyes of womenworldwide. Gone are the days of darkbrown, beige and black trench coats.

Fashion labels today brighten up theirfall collections with coats in neon red, yel-low or green. The straight cut is sometimesgiven a miss for a fun flared, ruffled orpleated style.

Plain Jane trenches can be swapped forcoats with checked patterns or bold animalprints. The belt is sometimes skipped togive the coat a mod look.

Even the world of goth fashion has em-braced the trench coat, although gothtrenches are almost necessarily black andmade out of leather. Trench coat dresseswith half-sleeves or no sleeves at all are asassy way to twist the trend!

Men’s trench coats continue to be themust have addition to winter wardrobes.Floor-length trenches add a touch of old-school military charm while shorter coatscomplement the prep-school style perfect-ly. Men can wear the coats casually un-buttoned for a night out or buttoned up fora corporate look. Teamed with the rightshoes or boots, the trench can be dressed-up or tuned-down, depending on the occa-sion.

The trench coat is a sure-fire way to addclass and stylistic appeal to your wardrobe.It flatters most body shapes and can betwisted and tweaked to suit one’s person-ality. With most brands holding on tight tothis trend, one will be spoiled for choice inthe trench department.

archana.a@thehindu.co.in

a Trench

Long Coat LowdownThe trench coat is one among the

many styles of long coatsavailable. Here are two others:

The GreatcoatMore military in style than thetrench coat, the great coat was

the outerwear of choice for armiesduring the early twentieth

century. It is popular in coldregions where the cape, below-

the-knee length and deep pockets keep the wearer

covered and warm.The Duster

This full-length long coat is wornby horseback riders of the WildWest and soon made it onto the

catwalk and into closetseverywhere. Dusters have a longrear slit and a hood or cape. Theyare made from oilcloth or canvasfor protection from rain. Debates

continue about whether theMatrix coat is a trench or a duster!

French Connection UK

Versace

Panmolle (panzanella)

Tomato, cucumber and onion salad with traditionalbread and wine vinaigrette

Ingredients:

• 500 g several-days-old Tuscan white bread, sliced

• At least 6 leaves basil, shredded

• 3 ripe tomatoes, peeled, seeded, and sliced

• 1 small, sweet red onion, sliced and ringsseparated

• Half a cucumber, sliced

• Minced parsley• 60ml vinegar (white wine or red wine vinegaroptional)

• 3 or more tablespoons good olive oil

• Salt and pepper to taste

Preparation:Acidulate the water with the vinegar and soak thebread in it for 20 minutes at least (if you plan ahead,you could even leave it overnight). Squeeze thebread to remove moisture - it should be damp – andcrumble it into a salad bowl. Mix in the remainingingredients and season to taste. Let the panzanellastand for ten minutes to give the bread time toabsorb some flavour, and serve.

Michael Swamy

It was an evening to remember where great winewas paired with excellent food to create an amazinggastronomical experience. Started in 2004, STAX,the restaurant at the Hyatt Regency in Mumbai

originally specialised in serving seafood. It has since slow-ly evolved into a fine dine Italian restaurant.

Through the years, the restaurant has seen three expatchefs at its helm. The newest chef to take charge is ChefLuca who graduated from the Instituto AlberghieroF.Martini in Montecatini, Italy. Since the age of ten, Lucahad developed a passion for cooking by watching hisgrandfather cook and by accompanying him for all thefood festivals around Italy. After having apprenticed atsome of the finest restaurants in Italy, he is now based inPune. Currently, he is in Mumbai to promote STAX’s latestItalian food festival and the new menu. Chef Luca has beenin India for 15 months and is promising a change, in-troducing an array of new delights, while retaining someof the old favourites.

An open kitchenThe advantage of the open kitchen at STAX is that you cansee your food being prepared. Many customers like to sit atthe counter running parallel to it to gain the full experi-ence of being a part of a bustling kitchen. The Romatomatoes on display seem to be in sync with the colours onthe plate, making the meal almost magical. As the openwood fire oven is in the coffee shop area, one may not getserved a typical pizza in the restaurant, but one can get aglimpse of what is on offer. Instead, I experience some-thing new by tasting the freshly made pasta which is thecommon element or rather accompaniment to Italianfood. The rates at the restaurant are reasonable, averagingbetween Rs 500 to 1,500 per dish and the new Toscanobased dishes are different from the Italian fare available.

An Italian feastTo begin any meal one needs to try out the ciabatta bread.The warm, slightly crusty ciabatta is a speciality of thehouse. Eaten with a dip made of tomato paste, vinegar,olive oil and pine nuts, it makes the most basic of foods a

delight. Two traditional soups are highlighted on the me-nu, a tomato soup and a seafood Cacciucco among otherdelights like artichoke hearts cooked with cherry toma-toes and lemon. The beautifully arranged Panmolle, wherediced tomatoes and onions are encased in a cucumbershell and dressed with a traditional bread and olive oilvinaigrette makes for a nice accompaniment to the maincourse. The meat dishes with pork and lamb seem invitingand the main herb used is rosemary whose aroma per-meates the kitchen area. Light and flavoursome from theuse of fresh herbs, the meals are plated beautifully and oneneeds to take a moment to appreciate the visual design asone reaches for one’s cutlery. Dishes of freshly made pastalike Pici alla senese which is pasta cooked in butter andanchovies, gnocchi made with fresh ricotta cheese and myeternal favourite, the tagliatelle which is a flat pasta servedwith roasted zucchini and mint tantalise the palate. Hav-ing stuck to a Chardonnay wine the entire meal, I cannothelp but finish it with dolci, the Italian term for dessert orsweet. While the traditional tiramisu, which is to kill forand looks like it will stay on the menu for eons, is available,other delights like frozen vanilla and chocolate poundcake with a hint of raspberry coulis make for an interestingcombination.

Wine and dineThe restaurant boasts of a well stocked wine table which isvery visible as one enters the single-tiered dining area.Wine has always brought about a union of sorts with foodand the Italians definitely know how to take this union tonew heights. Several well known Italian brands feature onthe menu.

The ambience of STAX is large and inviting. The use ofchrome and mirrors give it a totally romantic and warmfeel at night. The candles in their red holders, tastefullydone napkins and fine crockery and cutlery take the diningexperience to a level above the ordinary. The restaurant isopen for dinner only. So step in and take in the experience.What: A new menu featuring Italian cuisine Where: STAX, The Hyatt Regency MumbaiHow much: Rs 3,000 approximately for a meal for two

(The author is a Cordon Bleu chef and food stylist)

14 September 21, 2011Smartbuy

GOURMET encounters

An old favourite gets a new twist

STAX, Hyatt Regency