Web Of Intrigue

The internet has shrunk the world. Your prose can be pondered in Pakistan, your brand offerings bought in Bolivia, your actions analysed in Azerbaijan.

Once considered the domain of IT geeks, web-page creation isn’t difficult. In fact, acquire the right tools and in true cyber style, most of the work will be done for you.

HARDWARE

Faster chips mean there is no real advantage to sticking with a desktop computer, so go portable and update your site with one hand while gripping a latte with the other. Lenovo’s X220 laptops and tablets come with the option to extend to a 24-hour battery, so there’s even less incentive to go to the office. Despite weighing less than 2kg, the units come with second-generation i5 or i7 dual processors, so you won’t be staring in frustration at an image of a clock as you update.

If you’ve left your computer at the office, mobile handsets such as Nokia’s E7 let you do simple updates on the road, although using it for more than basic updates is likely to be infuriating as the keyboard and screen are so small.

If you are using Twitter or Facebook as part of your web strategy, the handset makes it easy to integrate with social networking sites. And you can answer your blog’s fan mail with the easy-to-use e-mail application.

POSTING CONTENT

Images and video will tell a more vivid tale – and nurture buyers’ enthusiasm. Faster bandwidths and quicker processors on your targets’ computers also means clips are less likely to slow someone’s connection and encourage them to surf another site.

The BenQ S11 video camera is cheap, fits in your back pocket and doesn’t require the use of the kind of headache-inducing after-shoot software that is typical of more advanced cameras.

For better stills production, use an Ortery Light Box for deep-etched images from a variety of angles. The box uses bright light from every side to cut shadows from your images. The company also sells a software application that can render three-dimensional images of your products.

TEMPLATES

If you are more interested in content or commerce than programming, there are plenty of templates from which to choose. With sites, such as www.blogger.com, there is nothing to pay – sign up and start writing. For commercial sites, applications such as XCart come with templates into which you slot product pictures and descriptions, with prices and other options at your fingertips. You can even upsell your customers to other parts of your store.

GET THE GOODS

● Lenovo X220 laptop From S$899, www.lenovo.com/sg

● Lenovo X220 tablet From S$TBA, www.lenovo.com/sg

● Nokia E7 S$988, www.nokia.com.sg

● BenQ S11 S$250, www.benq.com.sg

● Ortery Light Box From S$2,500, www.ortery.com.tw

● Blogger www.blogger.com

● XCart From US$265, www.x-cart.com

Take Two

It’s often worth waiting for the second release of blockbuster products, when bugs are ironed out, speeds souped up and grams shaved off the body, says Jason Mountney

iPad 2

The Apple iPad 2 features two built-in cameras and, thanks to Apple’s iMovie application for the tablet, is a useful tool for budding Spielbergs.

GarageBand, a music- editing program that has been bundled with Mac computers since 2005, is available for iPad users. But it is the lighter body that will please e-book fans, particularly if they use the device on long journeys or rarely nab a seat on the train or bus. It is about 5mm thinner, too.

And, of course, if you waited this long to buy an iPad, the Apple Store now has more than 350,000 apps from which to choose. Time to start souping up your toy. While not breaking much new ground, the iPad 2 will surely add more names to the growing list of Apple worshippers, making it all that much harder for competitors to find a foothold in the emerging tablet market.

US$499, www.apple.com/sg or www.apple.com/au

APPLE TIMELINE

● 1976 No joking matter: Apple is formed in California on 1 April by three computer engineers.
● 1978 The Apple II personal computer features the use of colour, which differentiates it from its rivals.
● 1984 The Mac is born. Apple releases the Macintosh – a personal computer with excellent graphics-handling capacity – just in time for the coming boom in desktop publishing.
● 1991 The highly portable PowerBook laptop is launched. By placing the trackball in front of the keys, Apple revolutionises portable computing design.
● 1993 Powered by Apple’s Newton operating system, the MessagePad personal organiser is launched. Its impact is minimal, and Apple struggles over the next few years.
● 2001 The iPod is born and Apple is back. Better yet, it is no longer just a computer company.
● 2003 The iTunes Store is launched, pretty much putting paid to the CD format.
● 2010 The iPad, merging much of the iPod and personal computer’s functionality, is launched.

Panasonic Lumix TZ20

Amid a duel with the camera phone over the consumer’s back pocket, is it premature to sound the death knell for the digital camera?

Panasonic’s latest Lumix range is aimed at tourists, so perhaps the Japanese electronics’ giant is playing it safe in a depressed market. But motivation aside, it’s well worth packing one less pair of socks to tote a Lumix along on your next trip. The big selling point is the greater capacity to zoom in on your subject – ideal for shooting in unfamiliar environments or where people or animals are unlikely to be welcoming. The camera’s 16x zoom range is more than three times that of your average point-and- shoot, yet the camera is still a manageable 190g, with a body that is just over 10cm across. There is also a video-capture function that does its job at 30 frames per second with 1920x1080 screen resolution, not that anyone should buy one solely as a video camera. While not quite video-quality speed, the 10-shots-per-second capture rate means you can grab a great set of stills in high- speed situations.

The camera’s 3D functionality combines two images for three-dimensional playback on compatible TVs. It’s a fun feature, but it becomes old fast. There’s also a GPS marking device so you can retrace your journey simply by reviewing your holiday images. This lacks the wow factor of the 3D feature, but you’ll use it more. Rounding out the features are those that are standard on most better brands – face- recognition, image stabilisation and an intelligent scene selector.

A$599/S$500, www.panasonic.com.au or www.panasonic.com.sg