Smartbuy issue dated 6th July, 2011

Smartb buy Business Line

G A D G E T S

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Wednesday, July 6, 2011

A U T O |

L U X U R Y

www.blsmartbuy.com

The A6 encounter Testing Audi’s new mid-range killer Page 8

Fujifilm X100 Le Meridien’s gourmet breakfast

WHAT’S HOT this week

Team Smartbuy

The new ‘X’ factor

Nokia X7

Editorial Anushya Mamtora anushya@thehindu.co.in

The brand new entertainment-focused smartphone from Nokia features a 4inch display, ideal for gaming and multimedia. You have an 8-megapixel camera for capturing pictures and highdef video. The handset comes preloaded with Galaxy on Fire HD and Asphalt 5 HD, besides letting you access a range of premium HD games through the Ovi store, free of charge. Crafted in stainless steel and glass, the Nokia X7 is available in shades of dark and light steel.

Rs 22,829

Ketaki Bhojnagarwala ketaki@thehindu.co.in

Mahananda Bohidar mahananda@thehindu.co.in

S. Muralidhar muraliswami@thehindu.co.in

Design Bryan Gaughan aqua@thehindu.co.in

Balakrishnan designkbala@thehindu.co.in

Advertising Contact R. Diwakar ramdiwakar@thehindu.co.in

Web Advertising Contact N. Amarnath amarnath@thehindu.co.in

www.blsmartbuy.com Become a fan of our Facebook page: BL Smartbuy Follow us on Twitter

Cover photo: S. Muralidhar

Portable theatre

Sony HDR-PJ50 With a 220GB hard disk drive, the Sony Projector Handycam HDR-PJ50 comes with an inbuilt, high contrast projector that can project images on any flat surface without using any additional plug-in wires, cables or laptops. The Handycam lets you record HD videos (1920 x 1080) and take photos with a 7.1-meg sensor still camera.

With 12x optical zoom, you can enjoy closeups on video capture and the additional 17x extended zoom offers even greater detail on this Handycam.

Rs 59,990

Time to tab

Motorola XOOM This 10.1 inch widescreen HD tablet runs on Android 3.0 and showcases the Honeycomb user experience – widgets, true multi-tasking, browsing, notifications and customisation. It comes with an 1GHz dual-core processor and 1GB of RAM and also supports Adobe Flash Player 10.2 Beta. Support for HDMI enables viewing of videos and movies on HD displays. A 5-meg rear camera with flash captures HD video, and a 2meg front camera enables clear video chats.

Rs 34,490 (Wi-Fi), Rs 41,490 (3G)

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Shades of summer

Acer Aspire One Happy 2 The second generation of Happy netbooks from Acer are powered by Intel Aton N570 dual core processors and 1GB RAM. A 10.1-inch LED backlit display, 320GB hard drive, multi-card reader and 8 hours of battery life are other features on offer. It operates on a dual OS that offers you a choice between Windows 7 Starter and Android. The netbooks are available in four new exotic colours – Banana Cream, Strawberry Yoghurt, Blueberry Shake and Papaya Milk.

Rs 15,749

Data warehouse

Buffalo HD-PNTU3 The latest in the MiniStation range of storage devices from Buffalo is this USB 3.0 portable hard drive. The slim, lightweight chassis is stylish as well as shock proof. It is backwards-compatible to USB 2.0 and works with most PCs and Macs, offering transfer speeds of up to 5Gbps. Plug and play functionality requires no external power source. It comes with data encryption and power saving features as well. Choose from red, black, pink, silver and blue colour options.

Rs 4,000 (500GB); Rs 6,000 (1TB)

Flying high

HTC Flyer The Flyer is HTC’s maiden tablet launch.

Unlike other tablets, it combines touch and pen interaction. Encased in an aluminium body, it is lightweight and compact with a screen size of 7-inches. It is powered by a 1.5GHz processor and high speed HSPA capabilities. Users will have access to HTC Watch, which is the company’s video download service. It also integrates OnLive’s cloud-based gaming service.

Rs 39,890

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CAMERA review

Classic clicker, modern twist Ketaki Bhojnagarwala have to admit, I was more than surprised when I opened the Fujifilm X100’s packaging. Of course, I’d seen photos and videos right from when the camera was announced at Photokina last year, but I wasn’t prepared to handle this rather small, retro looking camera. For me, a professional camera has until now, looked like a clunky black box with a bunch of buttons.

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Warming up To call the X100 old-fashioned would be unfair. It’s small, but spunky. It reminded me of the metal-bodied beauties from Nikon and Minolta from the 70’s.

Full credit goes to Fujifilm for attempting to create a camera that looks like a rangefinder, yet has an array of manual, professional controls. The body is a piece of art – magnesium alloy and leather fusing perfectly together to create a camera that’s a stunning classic. There’s been a lot of talk about the limitations of the camera – for one, it comes with a fixed 23mm lens. It also doesn’t offer any scene modes, so you won’t be able to use a shortcut to get a great photo. But while these may seem like negatives to some, I think these are precisely the features that force the user to think creatively.

Although it does have a digital menu, the main controls that a photographer requires are all located, physically, on the body. So there’s an aperture ring on the lens, and two separate dials on the top – one to adjust shutter speed and

the other for exposure. There’s a small customisable function button as well, which is pre-programmed to bring up ISO. The idea of course being that you will tweak one or all of these controls to get that perfect shot.

The lens The 23mm Fujinon lens is a 35mm equivalent. While it might seem inadequate as regards focal length, it offers an ultra wide aperture of F2 – perfect for those dreamy portrait shots where the subject is in sharp focus and the background is blurrily unrecognisable. It’s also surprisingly good for macro shots – the lens can focus up to 4 cm away from a subject. Aperture goes all the way up to F16, which is good for landscape shots on really sunny days.

There’s a switch on the side of the camera that lets you toggle between auto and manual focus modes. This isn’t the perfect camera for quick shooting - the auto focus takes its own time. It’s also teasingly annoying at times – it focuses exactly where you want it to, and when you press the shutter button it defocuses and all you get is a blurry haze. There’s another problem – the camera won’t focus on anything that’s less than 2 feet away from it unless you use the macro mode. An annoying quirk is that if you switch to macro mode and then try to adjust exposure, it turns off. This also happens when you switch between viewing and shooting modes.

When you switch to manual focus, which I used mostly for still-life or landscapes, the easiest thing to do was

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frame the shot, use the AFL lock to autofocus and then adjust the focus manually.

The autofocus assist lamp is by default switched on, so it helps the camera focus when the subject is too dark. The wide aperture was also perfect for night shots, because a large aperture allows more light to enter the lens. This means you can take great, non-blurry shots without using the flash. Because you’ll also have to slow down your shutter speed, you can get a nice set of night shots with the subject in focus and wonderfully hazy, streamy light trails as the background. Something you wouldn’t be able to achieve with your DSLR kit lens. For a night shot you will have to amp up your ISO settings, and the camera offers a wide range of 200-12,800. We managed to get excellent low light shots up to ISO 3,200, with barely any discernable noise.

If you want to really exercise the lens, you can choose a burst mode of 3fps or 5fps. Once you focus the lens on your subject, simply depress the shutter button and the camera captures quick frames of either 10 JPEG or 8 RAW images.

Speaking of image formats, there’s a dedicated RAW button as part of the controls – a feature that pros will love.

The camera offers a shutter speed range from 4 to 4,000. There is a Bulb mode as well. Like I mentioned, there aren’t any scene modes, but if you want to go fully auto, you can rotate the aperture and shutter dials to ‘A’, which will put the camera in Program (P) mode.

These controls also let you switch between Aperture

Priority and Shutter Priority modes.

The viewfinder An amazing feature of the X100 is the fact that it has a hybrid viewfinder –a regular optical viewfinder which lets you look directly through the glass, and an electric viewfinder that shows you the actual image you’re about to take, complete with the exposure and white balance settings. The only problem with using the optical viewfinder is that because it’s not located directly above the lens – it’s on the left corner of the camera – you have the problem of parallax. So this means that when you focus on your subject, the frame you capture will be different from what you view. While it’s ok for landscape shots, it simply doesn’t work for close-ups.

There’s even a third option of a live view through the LCD screen. This works better for wide-angle shots.

Modern controls Despite the retro-inspired design, the interface of the camera offers you a complete set of controls that you can tweak from the main menu. Unfortunately, the menu isn’t really intuitive – for one, ISO and Auto ISO are in two completely different sections of the menu. You can make a bunch of other changes from within the menu, including metering, white balance, colour, sharpness and dynamic range. There’s also a film simulation mode that gives you old Fuji options like Provia, Velvia and Astia, as well as a Monochrome (black and white) mode.

Final call The X100 has many limitations, but that’s what makes it so inspiring. It forces you to think out of the box, and the results are photos you would have never thought of taking with your point and shoot or DSLR. It also forces you to use manual controls, giving you the satisfaction of taking a great shot that you’ve composed every detail of. Even though Fujifilm calls it a professional camera, I think it would make a great first camera for an aspiring photographer, because it lets you start from the basics. The downside is that it’s pricey - almost double that of what an entry-level DSLR would cost – a factor that could deter a lot of budding photographers.

Love: Dedicated, intuitive controls, great lens Hate: Takes a while to focus, expensive Price: Rs 66,999

Product photos: R. Ravindran Test photos: Ketaki Bhojnagarwala

Clockwise (From top right) Wide apearture is perfect for taking sharp portrait shots with defocussed background Macro mode allows you to focus up to 4cm away from your subject Images don’t appear grainy even at ISO 3,200. Perfect for night shots.

ketaki@thehindu.co.in

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For a lighter travelbag

Photos: S.S. Kumar S.R. Raghunathan

D. Krishnan f you are an amateur photographer and a regular traveller it can be quite a bummer to lug around a big kit bag full of lenses. It would be a whole lot easier if you could make do with just one primary lens that has good range and can deliver results in varying conditions. We tested Tamron’s latest compact, ultrazoom for APS-C format DSLRs. The Tamron 18-270mm F3.5-F6.3 Di II VC PZD zoom lens is said to be amongst the world’s first lens to use Piezo technology for fast, smooth and noiseless focussing.

The 15X lens (28mm to 405 mm) is the smallest and lightest in this range and is suitable for a wide range of applications from landscape, portrait, sports and wildlife photography.

It has a closest focussing distance of 0.49 metres throughout its ‘b’ range. The lens measures 98.4mm (3.8inches) and weighs 450 grams. It accepts a filter size of 62mm making it the smallest barrelled lens in this range.

The 18 element lens is an attempt by Tamron to lure users who have graduated from super zoom compacts to

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DSLRs. The lens is an all purpose unit as it covers a zoom range from 27mm to 405mm in the 35mm equivalent without having to change lenses, making it a perfect travel lens.

The piezo drive is an innovative ultrasonic autofocus motor based on an advanced piezo-electric design.

We put the lens to a series of tests to study its features and capability. The VC or the vibration compensation as Tamron calls it was very effective. It gave you a clear 2 stops advantage. We shot an image hand held at 1/8 Sec. With the VC activated and off positions and there was a visible difference in the photographs.

The piezo technology hunts a bit when you change focal lengths or where there are multiple fields of focus. It is however, fast, noiseless and accurate in most other situations. The lens functions very well in backlit conditions holding both highlight and shadow details, besides colour and contrast.

The colours and contrast are excellent at the widest focal length supplied to the lens, but tend to get soft as you zoom in. Edge sharpness is good even at full open

The Vibration Correction makes a marked difference as is evident these two pictures.

Zoomed out

Zoomed in

aperture.

The Tamron lens is compatible with Nikon and Canon (Di II VC PZD), and also with Sony (Di II PZD) APS-C DSLRs. Love: Zoom range, vibration control Hate: Focussing at longer focal lengths, slightly pricey for a third party lens Rs 36,000 Ratings Construction - 5/5 Handling - 4/5 Price - 3/5 Overall - 3/5 With inputs from S.S. Kumar and S.R. Raghunathan

GAME preview

D

irt 2 was a great all-round off-road racing game, but it was guilty of one terrible crime; the omission of the very motorsport discipline that had got the franchise this far - rally. Fans were understandably up in arms over Codemasters’ ill-treatment of rally and they made themselves heard on forums and blogs. Fortunately, their complaints didn’t fall on deaf ears, and when Dirt 3 was announced, one of the first details the developers released was that 60 percent of the career would be comprised of rally. We recently had the opportunity to take a pre-release build of Dirt 3 through its paces. It comprised of just the first season of the career mode, and it gave me the opportunity to see if Codies had kept their promise. They have. Most of the events the careers were rally, while the rest were broken up into race types that Dirt 2 players will be familiar with. These include rally cross (standard track-based races), land rush (standard races with pick-up trucks), drift events with a point system like the PGR games’ Kudos, and one-on-one events.

Taking a spin There isn’t much of an overhaul in the way the game plays. The cars still feel floaty as ever, and thanks to the twitchy controls, they drift around corners effortlessly. Gentle nudges of the analog stick and constant feathering of

brake and throttle are vital for success in Dirt 3.

But don’t let that intimidate you because all it takes is 15-20 minutes to come to grips with it.

Speaking of grip, track surfaces now have a more pronounced effect on car handling. Driving on dirt, gravel, tarmac and snow all feel different and you’ll need to make the necessary adjustments when you move from one to the other. Codemasters’ racing games have always had the best damage models, and Dirt 3 doesn’t disappoint either. With every impact with other cars or trackside objects, dents form, panels fall off, and splinters of metal and carbon fibre fly in every direction. There’s performance damage too, but it’s far more forgiving and nowhere near as elaborate, but getting too friendly with tree trunks will end your race prematurely.

Let’s rally!

What we saw of the career events was dominated by rally, even after playing the game, we still weren’t sure of how deep-rooted the rally implementation really is. Yes, the stages look great and the layouts are fantastic, with lush foliage around, appropriate elevation and drops, and a healthy mix of straights and hairpins, but a lot of rally actually takes place off the course. Rallies play out over multiple stages, which often vary in nature from each other.

Switching your car’s setting between stages could prove crucial. Cars also tend to pick up damage progressively over stages and using the

limited time between stages to perform repairs is also vital. But since the rally events in the career so far have only comprised of two stages each, there hasn’t been much scope to see if either of these strategic elements comes into play. That’s not to say that they haven’t been implemented. If anything, the brief intro video did allude to their inclusion, but we didn’t really have the opportunity to test it out. Hopefully the events later in the career will consist of multiple stages for a more fulfilling rally experience.

More than you see If you’re just looking for more of what Dirt 2 brought to the table, don’t let all the rally talk above turn you off. There are still plenty of opportunities to partake in the several other off-road racing disciplines, both in the career and outside it. Dirt 3 also adds a split-screen multi-player mode, something more racing game devs need to implement in their games.

Then of course, there’s the heavily publicised Gymkhana mode, which unfortunately, we didn’t have access to in this build. It’s a freestyle mode that rewards drifting, jumps and basically any form of stylish driving. So if you thought Dirt 2 had a great mix of off-road events, Dirt 3 is set to take things several steps further.

Dirt 3 is available now for Xbox 360 (Rs 2,499), PS3 (Rs 2,499) and PC (Rs 699) CHIP

AUTO focus

Photos: S. Muralidhar

Will give the competition a mid-range crisis!

S.Muralidhar must admit it was quite distracting to be reminded that Bollywood actress Gul Panag was driving the car ahead of mine. Swerving into the turn and exiting wide, Gul, like yours truly, was obviously enjoying our day at the race track.

If the image of Gul’s dimpled smile wasn’t bad enough, there were even more distractions that lay all around. We were testing the all new Audi A6 at the Yas Marina Formula One race track in Abu Dhabi. Located on the Yas Island, a reclaimed patch of land that has been turned into a playground for the rich and famous, the 5.5-km long track is both visually stunning and a sheer delight to test on.

At the circuit, a world-class luxury hotel with a unique façade, imposing grand stands and a marina with luxury private yachts anchored can together be distracting enough to give you a sore neck. But, within the cool confines of the new A6 counter-distractions abound, keep-

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ing me riveted to the task at hand.

Unfortunately though, it was already too late by the time I realise that the new-gen A6 is so loaded up to its gills with safety tech that I could afford to be distracted, while the car’s on-board systems did the driving for me. But, the good news for the enthusiastic driver in us is the fact that the A6 is an equally fun car to drive too.

Design Audi seems to have on purpose built the A6 to be a stronger draw than its competitors in the executive sedan category.

Buyers who are young and new to the segment, and the older buyers currently owning the previous-gen A6 will be equally attracted towards the successor.

There is enough to excite the A6 fan. A design that borrows from the outgoing generation’s philosophy and yet completely alters the image and age of the car, the new A6 stands out despite the Audi DNA, especially from

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bigger brother A8, being all together obvious.

For me it looked like the new A6 had lost some of the puppy fat of the previous-gen and has now become a trimmer, sharper model. Crisp clean lines, sharp edges and the signature front-side design touches like the tapering headlamps, the hexagonal bonnet grille and of course, the LED strips.

The other striking Audi design feature is the low, coupelike greenhouse of the new A6, the visual-effect of which has just been accentuated by the slightly lowered roofline.

The new generation model has also gotten sportier proportions with the overall length being tightened a bit, though, by shortening the overhangs by 8 centimetres, Audi engineers have still managed to increase the wheelbase by nearly 7 centimetres.

Giving it the sharper look, the A6’s shoulder line (Audi calls it the Tornado line) is a deeply creased stripe that runs from the headlamp to the rear of the car. At the rear,

the typical wraparound Audi taillamp design and the twin exhaust pipes catch the eye. The over-square overall design again gives the new A6 a sharper look. The spoiler integrated on to the boot lid adds to a sporty rear end.

The extended wheelbase of the new A6 has enabled Audi to offer more space inside the passenger cabin; felt no where better than at the rear seat. The cabin is also very well lit and offers excellent visibility to all passengers thanks to a really thin construction for the A, B and C pillars, likewise their claddings. Visibility is also better due to the large, nearly flat rear glass.

One of the key positives of the new A6 is its lightweight construction. New materials including composite steel and the extensive use of aluminium, has resulted in significant weight reduction in the new A6 ranging from 30 kgs to 80 kgs depending on the model.

Interiors Inside the cabin of the new A6, the quality and choice of materials used is likely to give it a clear edge over competing models from the other two German brands – BMW and Mercedes-Benz. Some of the most luxurious and unique trim elements like layered wood inserts (for the wraparound inlay) and premium, comfortable leather seats will pamper buyers in this segment like never before. The car’s wide, asymmetric centre console is oriented toward the driver. The sporty seats in the A6 are mounted low, yet most drivers can see the entire engine hood thanks to the low front end.

The new A6 also gets a good helping of top-end features like Audi’s famous MMI (multimedia interface), teamed along with the pop-up information display located at the top of the centre console and the numbered touch interface pad that we first saw in the A8. There is also an option for a head-up display that can be chosen, if the buyer desires. The system projects key information onto the windshield in the form of symbols and digits.

Engine When it is launched in September this year, the new A6 is likely to be offered with a wide choice of four engines. The most attractive for the average buyer in the segment is likely to be the 2.0 TDI – two-litre, turbocharged diesel engine with a peak power of 130 kW (about 174 bhp) and peak torque of 380 Nm. The other diesel engine option – a 3.0 TDI V6 turbocharged diesel engine – will be offered with Audi Quattro all-wheel drive tech and will generate a peak power of 245 bhp and maximum torque of 500 Nm. The petrol engine options will include a 2.8 FSI, which is a V6 with Audi’s own valvelift system, and will put out a peak power of 204 bhp and peak torque of 280 Nm. The other more powerful option that will be offered for buyers in the petrol segment will be the 3.0 TFSI Quattro. This supercharged direct injection petrol engine generates a huge 300 bhp of peak power and 440 Nm of peak torque.

All the engine options come standard with a start-stop system for better fuel efficiency and are also fitted with battery assist and regenerative braking as standard. During the on-track testing I obviously wasn’t experiencing the start-stop system, but while driving the A6 around Abu Dhabi, the system did lead to a bit of jerky acceleration.

The benefits to be had are obvious, but the start-stop can be a bit annoying until you get used to it.

The engines are classically Audi units – refined, quick reacting and quiet. The cabin insulation techniques have also been completely revamped for the new A6, making it extremely quiet inside the cabin. Choice of transmissions is likely to be a CVT multitronic or the 7-speed S tronic with electrohydraulic control.

The new A6 also features a new electromechanical steering system. Together with the new more rigid body structure, you can technically squeeze out a more aggressive on road performance from the new-gen model compared to the outgoing one. The new A6 proves itself to be a

thoroughly enjoyable driver’s car. The only observation here being that the steering could have offered more feel, though it is clearly more comfortable to use in city conditions compared to competing models in this segment.

Feature-rich There are a number of optional additions and other safety features that take the new A6 close to the A8 territory in terms of sheer tech on-board. The new Navigation plus system that integrates the route data to the control units for the headlights for optimal road illumination, the Google maps integration, the Audi pre-sense safety system that can effectively even stop the car if a accident situation is detected in conjunction with inputs from the adaptive cruise control system and the high-tech Bang & Olufsen with the pop-up tweeters that first saw in the A8 are all there in the new A6.

To take safety to new (almost driver elimination) heights, Audi has also integrated the active lane assist and park assist systems into the new A6. These systems will enable you to keep the car within the lane you are driving in and also enable you to park automatically and your hands can effectively not be on the steering wheel for both manoeuvres. Incidentally, don’t try them at home; I tried both the systems on the track.

Audi’s move with the new A8 was clear… make it the most luxurious flagship sedan and bump up its appeal with tech and high-end features. It flanked its flagship with the A7 Sportback and will soon launch the new A6 to straddle the position in between the A4 and the A7.

The seventh generation of Audi’s executive luxury sedan will find its own footing even in the Indian market where the customer has fast matured. Priced upwards of about Rs 40 lakh, the new A6 will prove to be a tough competitor in the segment.

Gul would vouch for it. muraliswami@thehindu.co.in

The interior of the new Audi A6 exudes a more luxurious feel. Favourite additions and carry-forwards from the A8 include the ip-open info display, the MMI with touch interface and the luxury yacht-style layered wood inlay.

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MELANGE luxury redefined

Chilling fashion!

A splattering of semi precious stones for clutches, interesting embossing for shoes, silver and gold drippings to accentuate ensembles – Fendi’s Fall Winter ’11 collection is drool worthy. Available at its stores.

Price on request

Go splash!

It’s time to bring back the flip-flops, clogs and sandals back into your ‘shoedrobe’.

Crocs helps you out with its special monsoon range. This Crocband Flipswitch Radius for men is a neat pick and is available at Metro stores in New Delhi, Mumbai and Bengaluru.

Rs 1,495

Eye spy you Six fun and colourful palettes of eye shadows and liners are the latest to grab eyeballs at Revlon counters. The CustomEyes Shadow and Liner is enriched with a jojoba and shea butter lightweight formula and come in varying finishes.

Available at lifestyle and cosmetic stores.

Rs 625

Line of control Mission! Prevent wrinkles, eliminate fine lines, repair existing damage. Shiseido steps up again with a new and better version of its Benefiance WrinkleResist 24 range.

Softners, cleansing foam, day and night creams and emulsions, the range is available at select lifestyle stores.

Price on request

‘Lead’ing to the past The Perfect Pencil celebrates 250 years of Graf von Faber Castell’s pencil making history. Handmade in Germany from wood sourced from the brand’s private forests, the pencils are embellished with sterling silver and platinum.

Rs 32,500 (desk set)

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PREMIUM interiors

Photo: IDUS leather flooring

W Hide

your floors!

Decking up the floors of your home has taken on a leathery twist. Classic and exotic leather is the new material to ‘tile’ on, says TEAM SMARTBUY

e have had our share of fantasies and woes with pristine marble, exotic granite and old-world wood. While these materials can still floor you, leather has arrived in a quiet, majestic way to change home interiors for good. Imagine your private library dressed in a dark brown leather floor, perfect to match the rose wood furniture and coffee table editions. Or even your new bar, with large mahogany units to display the prized single malts and plush velvet stools, offsetting the tan leather floor with paisley motifs.

Leather does have its way with spreading the oomph into an already splendid setting.

Material talk Leather tiles or flooring are available in an interesting set of varieties. The best however, is full grain leather, which is pure, untouched and is of high quality and cost too. The clearer the hide, the better the grade. This is followed by corrected leather, where the hide is touched to repair flaws. One can choose softer ones for walk-in closets and highdurable leather for areas with more traffic. Apart from being custom dyed, designers offer the choice of giving it an

aesthetic appeal with intricate embroidery, design stamping and inlaid motifs.

What works What makes leather floors a winner is its rich appeal. If used in the right interior spaces and maintained well, it can last long, very long. And the patina that it gains over years of use only adds to its exclusivity. Apart from this, the properties of leather as a material makes it a bad conductor of heat and cold, hence welcoming your feet every time with a warm touch. It works well as a sound insulator too, thus making it an apt choice for home recording studios.

Many companies coat it with a layer of wax or treat it to make it water resistant, making maintenance just a damp mop away.

What doesn’t work Grandeur notwithstanding, the task of taking good care of your leather floors is perhaps its major let down. It is not as durable as hard flooring. Water and moisture are its biggest enemies, making it a complete no-no in wet areas like

kitchen and bathrooms. One has to steer clear of harmful chemical cleaners and only use leather solutions for removing stains. Furniture legs also need to be padded to make sure they don’t damage the leather surface. Ideal places to use leather flooring are dry areas with plenty of sunshine that brings out the best in the material over time. It’s best to wax it twice a year to keep the sheen going.

Environ-friendly Amidst all the excitement around leather flooring, the use of recycled leather is doubly interesting for interior designers who are particular about naturefriendly décor. Recycled from old leather products like jackets, belts and shoes, the tiles and flooring get unique patterns, and are sought after for home offices and media rooms.

>> New launches

Floor talk Action Tesa’s laminated wooden flooring range is the latest to hit the market. Available in a wide variety of decors, designs and styles at select outlets across India.

Rs 75 per sq ft onwards

Movie time!

This and that Theodore Alexander’s occasional furniture collection makes for elegant niches. Coffee tables, end tables, chests of drawers, sideboards, bookcases and more are crafted in mahogany, satinwood, rosewood and other veneers and finishes. Available at International Furniture Brands, New Delhi.

Rs 30,000 onwards

Editions, part of Natuzzi Group, has launched its Home Theatre Sectional Sofa for a pleasureable movie watching experience. The sofa has embedded speakers and iPod and MP3 plug points apart from other technological and aesthetic features. Available at Italsofa Gallery in Gurgaon, Bengaluru and Hyderabad.

Rs 4,03,250

Table dressing Making your gourmet meal more scrumptious is Luminarc’s exclusive dinnerware collection – Decorated Opalware – in summery floral patterns and pleasing hues. Available at select lifestyle outlets.

Rs 2,999 (20 piece set)

Ikat prints The famous Indian print blends beautifully into Portico New York’s new range of bed linen in a vast selection of colours. This bright pink one, is a favourite.

Available at all Portico stores and select lifestyle stores.

Rs 2,299 onwards

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GOURMET encounters

Power meal packs a unique punch Anushya Mamtora Mahananda Bohidar t’s that time of the day. When you are groggy-eyed, reluctant to head to work and are searching for excuses to jump back into your cosy bed. That is, till you take a shot of Honeydew Passion Fruit Chilli.

Looking tame, like a fruit punch in a tequila glass, the sweetness of the fruit is beautifully overpowered by chilli.

It hits you from the very first sip. No wonder, it’s aptly called the ‘Eye Openers’. It literally pops them open with its zesty flavours, gearing you up for a hearty breakfast and a heartier day.

This is just one of the ‘creative works’ of Michelin three-star Chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten. We are at Le Meridien’s restaurant at Chennai, treating ourselves to an exclusive breakfast menu crafted by him for all the Le Meridien hotels across the world. A signature spread that is simple, yet gourmet.

The potent welcome is joined by a list of others like the Carrot Orange Passion, Cherry Lemon Black Pepper, Mango Chilli Lime, Raspberry Pineapple Clove and more.

We gulp down shots, making faces each time we hit a spicy or tangy note. It’s a fun beginning to the day for sure.

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cheese with the cold goat cheese foam topping and black olive and dill puree makes it a divine combination.

Served with toasted bread, the plate was wiped clean in a jiffy.

What got to the table next was a Croque Madame Reinvented - crunchy toast filled with softly fried eggs and slices of bacon. The dish brought along with it an interesting melange of textures, melting in the mouth. It was what one could call gourmet comfort food.

The Espresso-steamed Eggs were presented to us in a coffee cup. Despite the innovative method of steaming the egg in a high-pressure espresso steamer to create a light, fluffy-steamed eggs, the dish lacked flavour and failed to impress. Although, it’s not a bad option for those who just can’t do without their daily dose of proteins. The Smoked Salmon and Silken Tofu again were quite predictable with little to surprise us in terms of flavours.

Coffee and more Global cuisine The Jean-Gorges breakfast has six signature dishes, all of which we try out. Two vegetarian specials included the Spinach and Herb Buckwheat Crepe and Warm Goat Cheese Custard. The former makes for a healthy and wholesome breakfast with an aromatic blend of gruyere cheese, spinach and fresh herbs rolled up in a crepe. But what won us over was the comforting texture of the goat cheese custard. Le Meridien calls it the ‘textural deconstruction of the Provencal quiche’ and the warmth of goat

While breakfast buffet spreads are brimmed with croissants and cakes with exotic fillings, Jean-George has kept his morning dessert nutritious, yet delectable. The Spiced Oatmeal Soufflé is warm, wafting with aromatic spices and satisfies your weighing scale, thanks to the brown sugar. It is accompanied by a bowl of fresh berries and urges you to dig in for a heart-healthy morning meal. And what’s breakfast without a round of coffee? The Jean-Gorges Breakfast has a tie-up with Illy, the Italian coffee-makers, to help you end a satisfying morning meal with a dash of caffeine.

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July 6, 2011

We had to choose from a menu that included Mochachino, Amore, Vodka Expresso, Irish Coffee and Café Royale. We picked Amore, an Illy double espresso with Amaretto and fresh cream and a Vodka Espresso. The former tingled our taste buds with its subtly sweet flavour and the kick of the Vodka Espresso was good enough to get us going for the day ahead.

With the Jean-Georges breakfast at all Le Meridien hotels, you start the day with a pleasant jolt when you sip the aptly named Eye-Openers – each of the six being distinctly unique. However, we wish there were more than just six dishes to choose from the gourmet-style breakfast to add to the experience of a breakfast designed by a Michelin Chef.

What: Jean-Georges Vongerichten’s signature breakfast spread Where: Le Meridien hotels across the globe How much: Gulp down an Eye Opener for Rs 160 Signature dishes range from Rs 250-350