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DIGITAL EDITION
FEBRUARY 2014
5 STAGES OF ONLINE LO
THE BEST DATING SIT
69 DIGITAL DATING TI
5 STAGES OF ONLINE LOVE
THE BEST DATING SITES
69 DIGITAL DATING TIPS
THE ROMANCE ISSUE
Valentine’s Day isn’t what it used to be—
thanks to tech advancements of every
type, it can now be better than ever.
5 STAGES OF ONLINE LOVE
From meeting cute to the unlikely
reunion, conducting your romance on
the Internet can be loaded with either
peril or promise.
BEST DATING SITES AND APPS
Whether you’re looking for someone in
your own age range, faith, or interest group,
there’s a dating website or app that’s just
right for you.
69 DIGITAL DATING TIPS
Don’t suffer from bad first impressions,
pre-dinner jitters, or risky dates. These
tips will help you stay safe whether
you’re meeting your e-fling online or off.
FEATURES
COVER STORIES
FEBRUARY 2014
CONTENTS
Sony Xperia Z1s
Apple Mac Pro
REVIEWS
CONSUMER
ELECTRONICS
Olympus Stylus 1
Sony Xperia Z1s
(T-Mobile)
Double Telepresence
Robot
LockState LS-500I
RemoteLock Wi-Fi
Door Lock
HARDWARE
Apple Mac Pro
HP ZBook 14
Afinia H479 Desktop
3D Printer
SOFTWARE
FileMaker Pro 13
DxO Optics Pro 9
PHOTOSYNTH: FOR
TOURING PHOTOS IN 3D
This new technology will put you
into your photos as never before.
HOW THE NEW YORK
SUBWAY LETS THE
SUNSHINE IN
Technology and creativity were
instrumental in bringing the sun
to subterranean Manhattan.
THE BEST MOMENTS
OF CES 2014
Michael Bay, Shaquille O’Neal, and
more made this year’s CES a
show to remember.
TOP GEAR
GADGET LUST
WHAT’S NEW NOW
GET ORGANIZED
Scan Your Old Photos
SHOPPING
10 Ways To Do Valentine’s Day
Digitally
APPSCOUT
Our Favorite Apps For February
DIGITAL LIFE
DAN COSTA
First Word
SASCHA SEGAN
Love, Internet Style
BRIAN WESTOVER
Making Connections In Our
Connected World
SEBASTIAN ANTHONY
The Look Of Lovotics
JOHN C. DVORAK
Last Word
OPINIONS
It always
falls to the
public to
pay the fee.
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FEBRUARY 2014
O
nline dating used to come with a certain
amount of stigma, but not anymore. One
in ten Americans has used a dating site.
Even more impressive, 23 percent of those people
have met a spouse or long-term partner online,
according to research done by the Pew Internet
Research Center. All told, 38 percent of all of the
single people looking for love in the U.S. are using
online services to conduct the search. And that
doesn’t even include the folks who use plain old
social networks like Twitter, Facebook, and even
LinkedIn to meet people.
In this month’s cover story, Chandra Steele
looks at the fve stages of digital dating. That frst,
excited virtual firtation, followed by the dreaded
unfriending, and the potential for rediscovery and
reunion. As it turns out, 31 percent of social
network users have used their networks to fnd out
what their exes are up to. (And I think a fair
number of the other 69 percent are lying.)
We also look at the services themselves. Many
boast custom algorithms that are designed to help
you fnd a compatible match, a hallmark of
“computer dating” for years. The frst record I can
fnd of an actual computer dating service is from
1957, when Dr. George W. Crane launched the
Scientifc Marriage Foundation. Dr. Crane claims
to have arranged 5,000 marriages by using an
IBM card-sorting machine to fnd matches among
individuals who completed punch card surveys
about their interests and personality traits. A few
years later, Lewis Altfest and Robert Ross began
Project TACT (Technical Automated Compatibility
DAN COSTA
FIRST WORD
Data Drive
Dating
Testing), which matched customers by using an
IBM 1400–series computer to process their
answers to more than 100 questions—for $5.
It’s safe to assume that the algorithms used
today are more complex than the logic that ran the
IBM 1400, but the principle is the same—and the
universe of potential matches much larger. Match.
com alone has more than 20 million members.
The rise of dating apps has further blurred the
line between online and real-world dating. Tinder,
Blendr, Grindr, Are You Interested?, and Plenty
are apps designed to leverage your social network
and physical location to fnd love. But you aren’t
sitting in front of your computer doing research;
you’re out on the street living your life. Apps like
these make it possible to digitally date in person
and in real time. What used to simply be “dating”
is now an augmented dating reality with constant
access to a person’s biographical information,
lifetime of photos, and employment history.
It wasn’t always this way. There was a time on
the Internet when no one knew you were a dog.
Your offcial profle could be a simple handle and
your online identity could be written anew in each
open window. Now, a basic Google search reveals
not just what you look like, but also your real age,
weight, occupation, and, in all likelihood, a picture
of you at a party doing something ridiculous. I’m
not saying deception is essential to dating, but the
technology leaves less room for mystery. Makes
me glad I’m not playing that game anymore.
There was a
time on the
Internet when
no one knew
you were a dog.
[email protected]
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New Now
What’s
PHOTOSYNTH: FOR TOURING
PHOTOS IN 3D
HOW THE NEW YORK SUBWAY
LETS THE SUNSHINE IN
THE BEST MOMENTS OF CES 2014
TOP GEAR
GADGET LUST
EXTREMETECH
WHAT’S NEW NOW
Photosynth: For Touring
Photos In 3D BY SEBASTIAN ANTHONY
W
hen Blaise Agüera y Arcas (then of
Microsoft Research, but now at Google)
frst demonstrated Photosynth at TED
2007, it became an immediate hit and has since
become one of the most-watched and most-discussed
tech demos of all time. (As of this writing, it’s
accumulated more than 415,000 YouTube views.)
Although that original iteration was certainly cool, the
new one, Photosynth 3D, is even more guaranteed to
blow your mind and redefne how you think about the
limitations—and possibilities—of photography in 2014.
PHOTOSYNTH
READY
This Photosynth 3D
screenshot shows
London’s Bond Street
and South Molton
Street’s Christmas
lights with light
trails—just a hint of
the technology’s
potential.
NEW DIMENSIONS
The Photosynth project was started almost a
decade ago for the purpose of “reinventing the
whole enterprise of photography for ordinary
people,” says Agüera y Arcas. The original
Photosynth stitched together thousands of
photos from all over the Web to create a seamless
2D image that you could explore. It looked
impressive, but at its core it was basically a clever
computer vision algorithm combined with a
super-slick “gigapixel” panorama builder/viewer.
Photosynth 3D takes that algorithm and
interface slickness into the third dimension.
Photosynth can now take a bunch of photos and
turn them into four different 3D views: Spin,
Panorama, Walk, and Wall. These make it
possible to move in space, rather than just pan
and zoom a 2D plane.
The 3D Panorama and Wall views are actually
very similar to the original Photosynth, but the
addition of 3D parallax makes it feel like you’re
actually there, or that you’re watching a video.
Spin is a new mode that basically turns the
panorama inward, towards an object. Instead of
turning on your feet to shoot a panorama of a
MULTIDIMENSIONAL
In this December 2013
TED Talk, Blaise Agüera y
Arcas demonstrates
Photosynth 3D’s
panorama capabilities.ne
ni
PAN(ORAMA)
AND ZOOM
Photosynth’s three-
dimensional panorama
mode lets foreground
and background
objects move at
different speeds, and
the depth of field
changes as your
perspective does.ni
scene, a Spin view is created by walking around a
subject and taking dozens of photos. The Walk view, as
the name implies, is basically a series of photos
captured while you walk forward, and stitched together
to create a 3D space. For all four modes, remember that
when you stop the camera, you have full access to the
original high-resolution images—it’s still like a gigapixel
panorama in that regard.
Whereas the original Photosynth used computer
vision to align a large number of images in two
dimensions, Photosynth 3D uses the spatial gap
between each image to generate 3D models of the
objects in each scene. Then, depending on your position
in the scene, textures (which have been cut out of the
original photos) are overlaid on those objects. It’s fairly
ingenious, and the new Photosynth viewer really adds
to the experience. Try hitting the “C” key while in the
viewer to reveal the 3D interpretation for each image, or
the “M” key to view the (scarily accurate) reconstructed
path taken by the camera.
PHOTOSYNTH’S NEXT JOURNEY
As exciting as the original Photosynth was, we never
really saw the tech come to fruition. In theory it is built
into Bing Maps, letting it bring up geo-tagged synths,
but it never really hit the critical mass required. For the
most part, the Photosynth website seems to be Yet
Another Gigapixel Panorama repository.
With these new 3D views, however, it’s easy to see the
correlation between these new 3D views and competing
services such as Google’s Street View—especially when
you consider that the Photosynth team moved from
Microsoft Research to the Bing Maps department a few
years ago. For now Photosynth 3D is just a preview of
the possibilities, but hopefully Microsoft can fnd a way
to bring it to the mass market. The tech is simply too
cool to keep hidden away in the vaults. Copyright issues
aside, imagine if, for example, Microsoft just left a few
hundred Photosynth servers running in the
background, joining up all of the photos to be found on
Flickr and Facebook to create a 3D panorama of the
entire world...
THIS CAMERA WAS
MADE FOR WALKING
Capturing photos with
forward motion lets
Photosynth 3D recreate
the walking effect with
stunning accuracy and
detail.i ne ni
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NEWS
WHAT’S NEW NOW
How The New York Subway Lets
The Sunshine In BY GRAHAM TEMPLETON
A
s transit systems get older, they become
exponentially harder to deal with. You can
upgrade tracks, cars, stations, and more, but
you can’t upgrade a big hole in the ground, nor can you
easily adjust that hole later on. As a result, maintaining
and expanding a subway system beneath a fast-
evolving city is not just challenging—it’s often
downright impossible without some seriously
inconvenient allowances.
LET THERE
BE LIGHT
The Fulton Center
Sky Reflector-Net
brings natural
sunlight into a key
station of the New
York subway system.
For instance, the most frequently upgraded portions of New York’s aging
subway system have become more elaborate and arguably harder to navigate
as they’ve progressed. Together with a warren-like underground feeling that
many people fnd unpleasant, the constantly expanding system can seem like
a poster boy for the victory of utilitarian design over comfort and aesthetics.
And so, as the city began an enormous new retail and transit hub in the heart
of downtown Manhattan, the Sky Refector-Net project was born.
The piece is designed primarily to ferry natural sunlight into the
subterranean depths of the transit system. This halfway point between art
and practical design is meant to both arrest the eye and ease the mind, as
unique patterns of light fll the man-made space. No two days will look
precisely the same, and the changing seasons will have a dramatic effect on
the character of the station (located at Fulton Street and Broadway).
To give it the correct shape, construction workers hung an enormous net
tube, mounting their mirrors on the interior of the netting, facing inward.
The curved structure will refect light all over, and act as a polestar for
disoriented travelers looking for a clear indication of where they are within
the great complex, how far they are from the surface—and on a gloomy
enough day, a nice confrmation that they have not accidentally passed on
into purgatory.
Though work on the Sky Refector-Net is now fnished, the rest of the
Fulton Center is still not. The transit hub is slated to be completed later this
year, when thousands of transit riders bound for lower Manhattan will begin
a commute just a little bit sunnier than before.
LIGHTBRINGERS
Dozens of workers
spent two months
constructing the
Fulton Center Sky
Reflector-Net,
ending with them
hoisting the
4,000-pound net
and 952 optical
panels into just the
right positions to
unite the above-
ground and
subterranean
worlds.
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FEBUARY 2014
The Best Moments Of CES 2014
The Consumer Electronics Show, held every January in
Las Vegas, has long been a showcase for the weird and
wonderful, and this year’s was no exception. Here’s a look
at the strangest and most interesting happenings we saw
during the four-day show. BY CHANDRA STEELE
NEWS
WHAT’S NEW NOW
1. The Monster Cable Press Conference
Okay, so Monster’s press conference wasn’t really a monster hit. Founder and CEO Noel Lee
came in on his gold flame-wheeled Segway for a messy, haphazard introduction to a selection
of headphones, a pocket DJ device, and a credit card–size portable electronics charger. But
for pure star power, ranging from basketball legend Shaquille O’Neal to actor-rapper Nick
Cannon and UFC lightweight champ Anthony Pettis (both shown here with O’Neal) and more,
it couldn’t be beat.
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The Best Moments Of CES 2014
The Consumer Electronics Show, held every January in
Las Vegas, has long been a showcase for the weird and
wonderful, and this year’s was no exception. Here’s a look
at the strangest and most interesting happenings we saw
during the four-day show. BY CHANDRA STEELE
NEWS
WHAT’S NEW NOW
2. David Pogue
The tech writer and new editor of Yahoo Tech shared some of the spotlight at Marissa Mayer’s
keynote to introduce the new site, but before he did, he took a hit at some competing tech
blogs. Pogue said the likes of The Verge, Gizmodo, and Engadget, and others like them, do not
cater to the “normals”—people who want easily digestible tech news. Pogue pledged to cater
to these “normals,” but not everyone was impressed. Tech journalism is a small world, Pogue,
so one day the blog you slam may be your own.
The Best Moments Of CES 2014
The Consumer Electronics Show, held every January in
Las Vegas, has long been a showcase for the weird and
wonderful, and this year’s was no exception. Here’s a look
at the strangest and most interesting happenings we saw
during the four-day show. BY CHANDRA STEELE
NEWS
WHAT’S NEW NOW
3. John Legere Crashes the AT&T Party
T-Mobile CEO John Legere is unpredictable to say the least. But his off-the-cuff remarks are a
journalist’s dream, so CNET’s Roger Cheng was eager to snap a pic of Legere when the CEO
crashed AT&T’s CES party. Unfortunately, the photo got Legere bounced from the AT&T
soirée. It did, however, make him a popular topic of discussion on Twitter all night, and Legere
happily retweeted every humorous and congratulatory tweet about the incident. “I just
wanted to hear Macklemore,” he later told Re/code.
The Best Moments Of CES 2014
The Consumer Electronics Show, held every January in
Las Vegas, has long been a showcase for the weird and
wonderful, and this year’s was no exception. Here’s a look
at the strangest and most interesting happenings we saw
during the four-day show. BY CHANDRA STEELE
NEWS
WHAT’S NEW NOW
4. Michael Bay
The only explosion that occurred when film director Michael Bay (the Transformers series)
took the stage for the Samsung keynote was inside his head. When his TelePrompTer failed
two minutes into his appearance, Bay stammered, “We’ll just, we’ll wing it right now.” He didn’t
finish another full sentence except for “Excuse me, I’m sorry,” and walked off the stage shortly
afterward. In a blog post later that night, Bay said he was embarrassed and quipped that he
really isn’t made for live events.
The Best Moments Of CES 2014
The Consumer Electronics Show, held every January in
Las Vegas, has long been a showcase for the weird and
wonderful, and this year’s was no exception. Here’s a look
at the strangest and most interesting happenings we saw
during the four-day show. BY CHANDRA STEELE
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NEWS
WHAT’S NEW NOW
5. Triple H and Sascha Segan
Our favorite moment at CES is one that was shared by the unlikely duo of WWE wrestler Triple
H and PC Magazine’s own lead mobile analyst, Sascha Segan. At the announcement of the
24/7 online streaming WWE Network, Triple H came out and nonchalantly spat all over the
assembled tech journalists, including Segan, who captured the, um, moment on video, a still of
which we’ve shown here.
What We Love Most
This Month
BY MATTHEW MURRAY
TOP GEAR
WHAT’S NEW NOW
PREP PAD
The best way to celebrate Valentine’s Day—or, heck, any other day of the year—is to cook a
meal just for you and the one you love. To make sure everything for your special night goes
just right, start with the Prep Pad. Stylish enough for any kitchen décor, this Bluetooth-
enabled, all-aluminum food scale not only ensures exact measurements, it also connects to
the associated Countertop iOS app to provide key nutritional information, potential
ingredient substitutions, and more. The Prep Pad can hold up to 15 pounds and requires four
AAA batteries (not included).
$149.95 theorangechef.com
What We Love Most
This Month
BY MATTHEW MURRAY
TOP GEAR
WHAT’S NEW NOW
CORAVIN
There’s no better complement to a romantic dinner than a bottle of precisely aged wine, but
what if you can’t finish it all in one sitting? The Coravin system inserts a thin, hollow needle
through the cork and pressurizes the bottle with argon so you can pour out only the wine you
want; remove Coravin and the cork reseals itself, preventing oxidation so the wine’s subtle
flavors remain top-notch. It’s a fine way to enjoy multiple bottles at the same time, too.
$299 coravin.com
What We Love Most
This Month
BY MATTHEW MURRAY
TOP GEAR
WHAT’S NEW NOW
LYRIX SOUNDGLOW
Your filet mignon is flawlessly seared, the
Cabernet is aerating, your best silverware
and crystal are laid out. All you need now are
candlelight and music, and with the Lyrix
SoundGlow you can take care of both at the
same time. This compact light source is just
right for the tabletop, complete with realistic
flickering that comes with no danger of fire or
melting wax, and it lets you wirelessly stream
up to6 hours of room-filling music from any
Bluetooth device. That’s more than enough
time for even the most leisurely dinner, and
hopefully an even more enjoyable dessert.
$49.95 digitaltreasures.com
What We Love Most
This Month
BY MATTHEW MURRAY
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WHAT’S NEW NOW
IMPOSSIBLE INSTANT LAB
If you want the warmest memento you can get of your night to remember, the Impossible
Instant Lab can help you secure it. Just plug your iPhone into the camera-shaped Lab and
snap a picture. The associated app maintains the correct exposure time, and the cradle
keeps your phone steady and protects the developing physical photo from any unwanted
light. You’ll fall in love with photography—and the person you’re shooting—all over again.
$299 the-impossible-project.com
GENEVA SOUND SYSTEM MODEL XXL
Is your home theater too cluttered? Tidy it up with this elegant
combination of a wireless speaker system and TV stand.
$3,499 genevalab.com
GADGET LUST
WHAT’S NEW NOW
Stand And Deliver
BY MATTHEW MURRAY
The Geneva Sound
System Model XXL is
designed to hold an HDTV
as big as 65 inches; you
connect the set via the
usual HDMI cable. Stream
audio with either AirPlay
or Bluetooth.
GENEVA SOUND SYSTEM MODEL XXL
Is your home theater too cluttered? Tidy it up with this elegant
combination of a wireless speaker system and TV stand.
$3,499 genevalab.com
GADGET LUST
WHAT’S NEW NOW
Stand And Deliver
BY MATTHEW MURRAY
Black, white,
and red options
ensure that the
Model XXL will
fit into your
living room,
whatever its
color scheme.
GENEVA SOUND SYSTEM MODEL XXL
Is your home theater too cluttered? Tidy it up with this elegant
combination of a wireless speaker system and TV stand.
$3,499 genevalab.com
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GADGET LUST
WHAT’S NEW NOW
Stand And Deliver
BY MATTHEW MURRAY
Six speakers
and an 8-inch
subwoofer
create room-
filling sound for
any type of
music or movie.
Opinions
BRIAN WESTOVER
MAKING CONNECTIONS IN OUR
CONNECTED WORLD
Modern
romance,
like most
everything
else, has
shifted
online.
SASCHA SEGAN
BRIAN WESTOVER
SEBASTIAN ANTHONY
S
a
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S
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O
nline dating isn’t just for geeks any more.
It never was, in fact, except during that
era when the whole Internet was just for
geeks. But like so many aspects of the online
world, as we transitioned from a land defned by
Usenet to one defned by YouTube, I’m afraid we
might have lost something.
I met my wife online, 13 years ago, on a dating
site. And the girlfriend before her on Usenet. I
was chasing French girls on now-defunct teletext
systems in the 1980s. Meeting online was never
for losers; it was for the literate, and it’s part of a
long tradition. I met that French girl through an
international pen-pal scheme, where we traded
Billy Joel tapes and she sent me long letters in
loopy, light-blue script.
Before that there were letters, of course, so
many years of letters—letters as long as people
have been literate, bundles of love letters found in
dusty attic trunks all over America. In that way,
online dating is nothing new. It’s keeping a very
old, very good tradition alive.
THE TWO FACES OF ONLINE DATING
The Internet has done two things to dating. One
of them is growing. One of them is dying.
The truly new thing that the Internet has
brought to dating is the infnite carousel, the
clickable, dismissable, trading-card world of
profles. (This wasn’t entirely a new idea: there’s a
scene in the 1976 flm Logan’s Run where
Michael York is essentially using Tinder.)
Love, Internet Style
OPINIONS
Sascha Segan is
the lead mobile
analyst for PC
Magazine. His
commentary has
also appeared on
Fox News, CNBC,
CNN, and various
radio stations
and newspapers
around the world.

S
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S
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The well-
turned word
has been
replaced, in our
multimedia
age, by the
pretty face.
Before the Net, your meeting-people chances
were limited. You pretty much had to do it in
person. Then some of us joined Usenet and
realized there were other like-minded people far
away; we chatted and, as can happen, sometimes
fell in love. Then the entire world got on the
Internet, the search-engine model took hold, and
now you can practically custom order a date from
your pick of ages, ethnicities, and interests.
That’s stayed. That’s growing. That’s great, in
that a lot of people can fnd soul mates they
wouldn’t have met before. (It’s not so great in that
some people end up paralyzed by the number of
fsh in the sea, always searching for one who
perfectly fts their checklist.)
Here’s what I don’t like.
The whole Internet has become less literate
over the years, as greater bandwidth and
ubiquitous camera phones have let pictures and
videos triumph over words. (I remember when
porn on the Internet meant alt.sex.stories, kids.
Get off my lawn!) Sadly, I think Internet dating
has, too. Way back in the frst dot-com boom, the
diffculty of getting pictures onto the Net meant
that we still had to rely mostly on words in our
online dating experience. In case you haven’t
guessed yet, I like words.
But now, well, have you seen OKCupid’s latest
layout? Heck, have you even heard of Tinder? The
well-turned word has been replaced, in our
multimedia age, by the pretty face. I’m going to
let my geek fag fy and say that pretty faces have
enough chances to get dates already. For more
than a decade, online dating evened the playing
feld for the not-so-pretty (this writer included). I
hope that doesn’t end under an onslaught of
bathroom selfes.
NOT JUST PRETTY PEOPLE
The absurdity of “online dating” is like the
absurdity of the “online world” and “online
people.” There is only dating, there is only one
world, and we are all just people. Putting that
online just exposes a different facet of who you
are than when you’re in a bar, but it’s still you.
Sure, people can lie on the Internet, but they can
lie everywhere else, too, as you’d know if you’ve
ever had a conversation with a stranger in a Las
Vegas bar.
But in this post-Tinder world, can I mourn the
one where disembodied souls really did try to
touch? I’m thinking of my friend Cam and his
wife Kris, who met on Usenet in the early 1990s.
He was literally, physically, a mess: born with a
degenerative disease and living on borrowed
time, wheezing into a respirator, but his fngers
few over the keys and conjured love. Eventually
Kris moved to the U.K. to take care of him.
Two more friends met on World of Warcraft—
what better way to show someone your soul than
to meet as the heroes you truly are inside?
I’ve been married for more than ten years now.
I know how much of life can’t be whisked away
with words, how much of it is touch, smell, having
a similar mutual attitude towards fnancial issues.
But on Valentine’s Day, singletons, I say from
my comfortable perch married to the best woman
I could ever have met (online or off): Take a
chance on words. Use the Internet to look past
the surface. I hope you fnd something you like.
[email protected]
S
a
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c
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a

S
e
g
a
n
The absurdity
of “online
dating” is like
the absurdity
of the “online
world” and
“online
people.”
PC MAGAZINE DIGITAL EDITION
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W
hat ever happened to romance? Of
the many charges that anti-tech
naysayers have levelled at the
Internet and the digital generation, one of the
most interesting is the idea that social networks
have somehow left us more disconnected now
than in the past. In mild forms, this is simply
poo-pooing digital conversations and
relationships as lacking the genuine aspects of
face-to-face interaction; when put in more
extreme terms, some claim that the Internet is
killing off old-fashioned romance for an entire
generation. Though I’ve been married and off the
market for several years now, I feel completely
safe in saying that this is—to use a term familiar
to the old-fashioned fuddy-duddies—balderdash.
In days of yore, back when words like “yore”
were bandied about with abandon, romance was
(admittedly) a little different. There was a process
to wooing your mate, a formal series of steps that
progressed from formal introductions to
interactions at balls and dances and fnally dating
under the close supervision of a chaperone. But
the majority of the courtship was carried out at a
distance, in the form of letters. For couples that
were truly enthralled with each other, private
correspondence provided the only way the two
could really get any alone time, giving them an
unsupervised opportunity to truly express
passion and desire while at a safe distance and
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Making Connections In
Our Connected World
Brian Westover is
a hardware
analyst for PC
Magazine, and
regularly writes
about laptops,
tablets, external
storage solutions,
and peripherals.
OPINIONS
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In the modern
era, when
parchment and
ink have given
way to screens
and binary
code, it’s easy
to imagine
that the love
letter has
disappeared.
with proper discretion.
Over several centuries, love letters have
provided a glimpse into the romantic lives of
many famous individuals and couples. From
writers (such as Ovid and Goethe) to leaders
(Washington and Napoleon) and musicians
(Beethoven and Mozart), love letters from years
past have shown us the timeless quality of
romance and the universality of love. In the
modern era, when parchment and ink have given
way to screens and binary code, it’s easy to
imagine that the love letter has disappeared. I’m
happy to say it has not.
IN LOVE, ONLINE
Modern romance, like most everything else, has
shifted online. I’m not talking about the
sensational topics you usually see in the news,
such as sexting over SnapChat or hookups
through Tinder or OKCupid. I’m just talking
about all of the normal aspects of meeting people,
determining who might be interested, lining up
dates, and getting to know each other. As more of
our lives are lived out on Facebook timelines and
messages are fred back and forth through the
ether, it’s inevitable that the same process is
happening in the realm of dating.
I spent the holidays with my in-laws, including
my college freshman sister-in-law, and all the
romantic drama that comes with that time of life.
She was navigating both a breakup and a new
relationship with the sort of deftness that only the
young can manage. Whether exchanging sweet
nothings with her new beau or fending off
tortured missives from her previous paramour,
all of her communication (aside from in-person
dates with the new guy) was mediated by

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Technology, if
it can be
defined as any
one thing, is an
augmentation:
letting us do
what we
already do, but
do it faster,
with greater
precision and
broader reach.
technology: text messages, Facebook chats and
status updates, Instagram photos, even old-
school email. Every social platform and
communication service she uses regularly was
brought to bear.
It shouldn’t really be a surprise. Isn’t fnding
love the most central of our social activities? Why
wouldn’t you use the tools at your disposal to
reach out to potential partners, to research that
upcoming date, or to put the kibosh on a failed
pairing? Technology, if it can be defned as any
one thing, is an augmentation: letting us do what
we already do, but do it faster, with greater
precision and broader reach.
PROBLEMS AND OPPORTUNITIES
There are new dangers, to be sure. All of that
access and reach also opens up new vectors for
age-old problems to come into our lives. Being
more accessible to more people all the time—the
euphemistically named friend list—might make it
easier for predators to scope out prey. It’s harder
to disentangle oneself from a clingy ex when
Facebook and Twitter let even the most benign
spurned suitor venture into stalker-ish behavior.
And the disposable romance of the hookup
culture is only magnifed by apps and services
designed to let you churn more quickly through a
digital catalog of potential partners.
But isn’t this simply technology letting human
beings make the same stupid mistakes that
they’ve made for centuries? There’s certainly
something to be said about the pace of life
increasing and the pervasiveness of technology
that magnifes the negative for some of us. But
that magnifcation is equally neutral, letting good
and even great things happen more rapidly, and
making the good parts of life a little better.
For every bad date that’s dodged thanks to a
little Googling or every nosy mother satisfed with
a little Facebook snooping, isn’t that something a
little better? I’d bet my last dollar that more than
a few modern romances have been helped along
by a digital-savvy Cyrano than ever benefted
from his ghostwriting back in the days of quill
pens and inkwells. How about the distant loved
one brought a little closer thanks to a video call
through Skype or a Google Hangout? If the
Internet has done anything, it’s made the world
more intimately connected, and brought together
people who might otherwise have spent their lives
alone. And though it’s different than it has been
in the past, those connections—both digital and
emotional—are worth celebrating.
[email protected]
B
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If the Internet
has done
anything, it’s
made the
world more
intimately
connected.
PC MAGAZINE DIGITAL EDITION
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lowly but surely, robots are replacing
humans. First it was on the production
line, where a standardized environment
meant simple automation was possible, but as
computing power and our understanding of
mechanics and materials have improved, and the
price of components has decreased, robots have
become increasingly fexible. There are now very
few tasks that cannot be carried out by robots. In
most cases, the deciding factor is no longer
whether a robot can do something but whether
we want a robot to do something. Rather than
questioning the physical constraints of a robot
deployment we are starting to consider the ethics.
Is it right to replace a human with a robot?
In the next few years, we will have the
mechanical and material expertise to build robots
that look, move, and feel like humans. They won’t
have the conversational prowess of a human
(mobile computing power just isn’t there yet), but
they’ll still be remarkably lifelike—enough that
they’ll make perfect robot prostitutes.
To some (most?) people, the idea of sex with a
robot is profoundly disturbing. But if the sci-f
canon and rapid pace of modern technological
development have taught us anything, it’s that
sexbots are coming—it’s just a matter of when. It
is entirely possible that society in general will
sneer in derision at the appearance of the frst
sexbots, but due to the massive advantages of
robot prostitution I’m sure that popular
sentiment will quickly swing around.
The Look Of Lovotics
Sebastian
Anthony is the
senior editor of
ExtremeTech.com,
where he regularly
writes stories
about computing,
space, and
emerging
technologies.
OPINIONS
Sex with
robots might
be just about
okay if it’s just
about the sex.
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HOW TO CREATE HUMAN-ROBOT LOVE
When I’ve discussed human-robot sex in the past,
one point always comes up: Sex with robots might
be just about okay if it’s just about the sex, but the
human element—the intimacy, the connection,
the companionship—is still the complete
antithesis of robotics.
Enter lovotics, the science of human-robot love.
Developed by Dr. Hooman Samani at National
Taipai University, lovotics essentially deals with
the complexities of forming an emotional
relationship between a human and a robot. So far,
his work has mostly revolved around
understanding the physics, physiology, and
emotions that a human experiences in a
relationship, and then simulating that in a robot’s
artifcial intelligence.
One of Samani’s frst forays into lovotics was
the creation of an artifcial endocrine system that
accurately models the effects of animal hormones
both emotional (dopamine, serotonin,
endorphins, oxytocin) and biological
(epinephrine, melatonin, and so on). When you’re
in love, a very specifc set of hormones are
released into your body, creating a fairly
characteristic response (the warm fuzzies). The
artifcial endocrine system is programmed to
mirror the effects of love when it receives certain
stimuli (such as repeated exposure, similarity,
and privacy).
This software was then placed inside a furry
robot closely resembling a Star Trek tribble. If
the emotionally intelligent tribble fnds itself
spending time with a human and the human is
affectionate, the tribble starts to fall in love and
makes affectionate movements and displays
certain light patterns to communicate that love to
the human. Perhaps surprisingly, Samani found
that when these robotic tribbles fell in love, the
feelings were somewhat reciprocal; the humans
found themselves developing stronger emotional
bonds with these emotive robots.
The research paper includes this key line: “We
have [successfully] developed an intelligent
robotics system capable of emulating the love
process of a human being, to establish long and
meaningful relationships with humans. This
holds potential for creating robots that can form
meaningful bi-directional bonds with humans
based on a level of emotional intelligence that is
still lacking from robots today.”
THE FUTURE: ROBOT PARTNERS
There are still some mechanical and material
hurdles to overcome. Silicone might feel kind of
real, but it’s still a long way from real skin. Even
simpler organs, such as muscles or bones, or
physiological responses, such as pupil dilation
and sweat, are hard to engineer—especially when
the robot has to be light, fexible, and battery-
powered. Technologically, it would be one of
humanity’s greatest achievements if we could
successfully build a robot that not only had the
emotional intelligence of a human, but also the
look and feel of one.
With that said, given enough reverse
engineering of the physiology and psychology of
sex, love, passion, and companionship, and
continued advances in artifcial intelligence,
mechanics, and materials science, it’s not
unrealistic to think that one day we’ll be able to
build robot companions that completely obviate
the need for a human partner. I’ll let you decide
whether that will be the best or worst day in the
history of humanity.
That’s not quite the end of the story, though.
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Silicone might
feel kind of
real, but it’s
still a long way
from real skin.
The ultimate irony is that, to create the perfect
robot companion we need to create a robot that
looks, feels, and acts human: a robot that you
could happily spend the rest of your life with in
place of another human. And to do that, we must
cross the Uncanny Valley, the feeling of repulsion
that some people experience when something
looks, feels, or acts almost, but not exactly, like a
real human. This will require the aforementioned
breakthroughs in technology and engineering,
and probably neuroscience and psychology as
well. To create such a machine we may even have
to develop an artifcial intelligence that’s self-
aware. At that point, you have basically created a
new race of sentient beings that have feelings. Is
it then really ethical to force these sentient, self-
aware, emotionally intelligent robots into being
our companions and lovers?
[email protected]
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To create the
perfect robot
companion we
need to create
a robot that
looks, feels,
and acts
human.
Reviews
CONSUMER
ELECTRONICS
Olympus Stylus 1
Sony Xperia Z1s (T-Mobile)
Double Telepresence Robot
LockState LS-500I
RemoteLock Wi-Fi Door Lock
HARDWARE
Apple Mac Pro
HP ZBook 14
Afinia H479 Desktop
3D Printer
SOFTWARE
FileMaker Pro 13
DxO Optics Pro 9
EDITORS’
CHOICE
The Olympus Stylus 1 has the look and feel of
a top-end camera, and despite not being an
interchangable lens camera with a huge image
sensor, it is one. It is styled like the excellent
Olympus OM-D E-M5, sharing the same EVF
and tilting touch-screen LCD. At its heart is a
12-megapixel 1/1.7-inch image sensor, larger than those
found in most long zoom cameras, and the integrated
28-300mm f/2.8 lens covers an impressive focal range
at a constant aperture. It’s a solid performer, and even
though its zoom lens doesn’t cover as long of a range as
our previous favorite, the 24x Panasonic Lumix DMC-
FZ200, we’re naming the Stylus 1 as our new Editors’
Choice superzoom.
Olympus Stylus 1
$699.99
L L L L H
Olympus’ New Superzoom
Is A Top-End Shooter
CONSUMER ELECTRONICS
REVIEWS
DESIGN AND FEATURES
Measuring 3.4 by 4.5 by 2.2 inches (HWD) and
weighing 14.2 ounces, the Stylus 1 is a bit larger than
most compact long zoom cameras. The Stylus has a
noticeably bigger lens that doesn’t collapse fully into the
body, and its excellent integrated EVF (the same
1,440k-dot LCD found in the OM-D E-M5, with a good
1.15x magnifcation) and 3-inch tilting rear touch
display (with a 1,040k-dot resolution) also contribute to
the extra bulk. The Stylus 1 has a unique lens cover; the
always-on cap (it can be removed to add a teleconverter
accessory) has four hinged doors that automatically
open as the lens extends. The 10.7x lens is a 28-300mm
f/2.8 design, which is an impressive range for a camera
with a 1/1.7-inch image sensor.
Olympus is targeting serious shooters with the Stylus
1, and as such has included a good array of physical
controls. There’s a programmable Fn2 button up front,
which is nestled inside of a switch that toggles the ring
around the lens to either act as manual focus control or
adjust shooting settings. There’s also a power zoom
control on the front, at the left side of the lens barrel.
Olympus Stylus 1
PROS 28-300mm
f/2.8 zoom lens.
Excellent EVF. Tilting
touch-screen LCD.
Good high-ISO
performance. 7.6fps
burst shooting. Raw
capture support.
Supports Wi-Fi.
CONS Noticeable
color fringing in some
images. Not as wide-
angle as others in its
class. No mic input.
Pricey.
LENS FLAIR
The Stylus 1’s 10.7x,
28-300mm lens is
impressive for a
camera with a 1/1.7-
inch image sensor,
and it features a
unique “always-on”
lens cap.
On top you’ll fnd a standard mode dial, a control dial for quick EV
adjustments, an additional zoom rocker (surrounding the shutter release), a
power button, and a record button for video capture. Rear controls include
buttons to set exposure compensation, control the fash, adjust the active focus
area, and control the drive mode. There’s also a programmable Fn1 button, and
the normal menu and playback controls.
The Stylus 1 has built-in Wi-Fi. The setup is identical for iOS and Android
devices: You scan a QR code that’s displayed on the camera’s rear LCD using
the Olympus Image Share app, and that installs a network profle for the SSID
the camera broadcasts. Once you’ve connected to that network you’ll be able to
transfer JPEG images and QuickTime videos to your phone. There’s also a GPS
function that geo-tags your photos—you’ll need to enable a location log and
make sure that your camera’s clock is set correctly to make this work.
Remote control is also available, and works just as on other Olympus
cameras. Your phone or tablet will show the Live View feed and you can choose
a focus point and fre the shutter. The app provides full access to automatic and
manual shooting modes, so it’s possible to adjust shutter speed, aperture, ISO,
and the focal length of the lens. The Wi-Fi is easy to use and the remote control
is one of the best I’ve seen. What’s missing right now is the ability to post
photos from the camera to social networks when a hotspot is available; you have
to transfer them to your phone and post from there.
IN CONTROL
Plenty of well-
organized physical
controls make the
Stylus 1 a good
choice for serious
photographers.
PERFORMANCE AND CONCLUSIONS
The Stylus 1 starts and shoots in about 1.3 seconds, manages a very short
0.1-second shutter lag at its widest angle, and can focus and fre in just 0.6
second when zoomed to the 300mm setting. Focus does slow a bit in very dim
light; at its wide angle setting the camera requires about 0.9 second to lock and
capture a shot. The Olympus can capture photos at 7.6 frames per second (fps),
regardless of which image format you choose. It can manage that pace for 21
Raw+JPEG, 26 Raw, or 26 JPEG images before slowing. Writing all of those
images to a memory card requires 15.2, 8.8, or 8.4 seconds, respectively.
I used Imatest to check the sharpness that the Stylus 1’s lens is able to
capture. At its widest angle it is just a little bit on the soft side, scoring 1,782
lines per picture height on a center-weighted test at f/2.8; narrowing the
aperture to f/4 gets it to 1,860 lines (1,800 being necessary for a sharp image).
Images at the 28mm setting show 1.8 percent barrel distortion, which causes
straight lines to curve outward in images. That can be removed with some quick
work in Lightroom, but doing so will slightly narrow the feld of view of your
image. At 60mm the lens is sharper and distortion disappears. It approaches
2,000 lines at f/2.8 and f/4. As you zoom in further it maintains about 1,900
lines through 200mm. It’s not until 300mm that images become a little soft,
about 1,500 lines at f/2.8, but narrowing the aperture improves the score there
to 1,840 lines.
TO THE TILT
The 3-inch tilting
display on the back
of the Stylus 1 adds
to the camera’s bulk,
but it’s a sharp and
useful addition.
Chromatic aberration was
an issue for some images. A
few of my test shots showed
quite a bit of purple and green
fringing around trees and
branches. It’s more noticeable in
Raw fles than in JPEGs, and in
most cases is easily corrected in
Lightroom. But I did see some
instances where even Lightroom
struggled to remove the color fringing.
It’s more of an issue at wider angles.
Imatest also checks images for noise,
which can rob detail when shooting in
low light. The camera keeps noise under
1.5 percent through ISO 1600, which is
good. More impressively, even JPEG images
shot at ISO 1600 retain a good amount of
detail. As with any camera, you’ll get the best
results at lower ISO settings, but the Stylus 1
impresses through 1600. Noise is more
aggressive at ISO 3200; that detail is lost due to
the in-camera noise reduction. If you prefer a
slightly grainier image with more detail, noise
reduction can be set to low or disabled entirely via
the camera menu. You can also opt to shoot in Raw;
images contain an impressive amount of detail in that
format through ISO 3200, but look considerably worse
above that.
Video is recorded at up to 1080p30 quality in
QuickTime format. Video quality is very good; footage
is crisp and detailed, and the camera refocuses quickly
as the scene changes. But the sound of the lens zooming
in and out while recording is audible on the soundtrack.
There’s no microphone input, so you may want to look
elsewhere if video is a primary concern. The Panasonic
FZ200 is a better camera for recording video; it shoots
at up to 1080p60 in AVCHD format and includes
FAR, FAR AWAY
This telephoto
accessory snaps on
to the lens cover to
let you capture more
distant objects even
though you can’t
swap out the lens.
support for an external microphone. The Stylus 1 does have a micro HDMI
output to connect to an HDTV, as well as a standard hot shoe and a proprietary
USB port. An external battery charger is included; the Stylus 1 uses the same
battery as the PEN E-PL5 and E-PM2. The usual SD card slot is there, as is
support for SDHC and SDXC cards.
The Olympus Stylus 1 has a long list of pros: a long zoom lens with an f/2.8
aperture, a relatively large image sensor for a camera of its class, surprisingly
good image quality through ISO 1600, a sharp touch-screen display, an
excellent EVF, Wi-Fi, and a solid control layout. The lens does show a bit more
chromatic aberration than we’d like, but in most case the JPEG engine can
remove it, and Raw shooters can handle all but the worst cases with ease in
Lightroom. The FZ200 still wins out for video (and costs $100 less), and though
the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-RX10 is bigger and nearly twice the price of the Stylus
1, its 1-inch image sensor and Zeiss 24-200mm f/2.8 lens are both top-notch.
For now, however, the Stylus 1 is our favorite bridge-style superzoom camera.
JIM FISHER
PC MAGAZINE DIGITAL EDITION
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S
ony is ratcheting up the camera phone wars
with the Android-powered Xperia Z1s. Available
exclusively on T-Mobile, the Xperia Z1s is a
waterproof smartphone with a 5-inch 1080p display,
just like its predecessor, the Xperia Z. The Z1s has an
upgraded camera with fun lens effects, a much larger
battery, and a faster processor. The camera still isn’t as
good as it needs to be, and there are some other minor
issues, but the Z1s is an excellent choice if you want a
speedy phone for multimedia or gaming that you can
get wet.
Sony Xperia Z1s
(T-Mobile)
$528
L L L L m
A Better Camera Improves
Sony’s Waterproof Phone
CONSUMER ELECTRONICS
REVIEWS
DESIGN, DISPLAY, AND CONNECTIVITY
The Xperia Z1s measures 5.74 by 2.79 by 0.31 inches
(HWD) and weighs 5.71 ounces, which makes it
noticeably larger and heavier than the 5.1-ounce Xperia
Z. It’s still quite attractive, though. The handset has
glass front and back panels, with an IP58-rated
waterproof coating that also supports fnger tracking
underwater, and a smoked silver and black plastic band
wrapped around the edges. A covered charger port and
microSD memory card slot are on the left side, along
with a center-mounted docking port. The bottom edge
houses the speakerphone and mic behind a long
rectangular grille. On the right there’s a covered SIM
card slot, a circular silver power button, a volume
rocker, and a camera shutter button; the 3.5mm
headphone jack is on the top edge.
The 5-inch, 1080p Triluminos display looks sharp at a
very tight 441ppi, but not particularly vivid or bright.
There’s a prominent bezel at the top and bottom, with a
much thinner one on either side of the display; this
explains why the phone is unusually tall given the
display size. Typing on the on-screen keyboard is easy
in portrait mode.
The Xperia Z1s supports LTE and HSPA+ 42. Its LTE
modem is Category 4, so it handles the maximum
SCREEN CLEAN
The Xperia Z1s’ 5-inch
display is sharp, but
lacks in brightness
and colors that pop.
Sony Xperia Z1s
(T-Mobile)
PROS Fast. Sleek
styling. Waterproof.
Extra-large battery.
Fun camera apps.
CONS Poor call
quality. Display isn’t
particularly vivid. A
bit large, heavy.
Uneven camera
performance.
speeds of T-Mobile’s upcoming 20+20 LTE network. You also get
802.11a/b/g/n/ac Wi-Fi on the 2.4GHz and 5GHz bands, NFC, and Bluetooth
4.0. In a series of speed tests, the Xperia Z1s averaged 12 to 14Mbps down and 7
to 15Mbps up in Midtown Manhattan on T-Mobile’s rapidly expanding 4G LTE
network. The Xperia Z1s also works as a wireless hotspot with the appropriate
data plan.
CALL QUALITY AND RECEPTION
Voice quality was mixed; we were hoping for an improvement over the Xperia
Z1’s inferior call quality, but we didn’t get it. Through the earpiece, callers
sounded trebly and a bit harsh. There’s plenty of gain available, but it’s not
pleasant to listen to. Transmissions through the microphone had the opposite
problem: They sounded muffed and indistinct, and the Xperia Z1s’s mic let
through plenty of Manhattan street noise. An iPhone 5s on T-Mobile sounded
much better in all cases; it suppressed background street noise, and my voice
was clear, crisp, and still warm-sounding in both directions. The Xperia Z1s also
supports Wi-Fi calling.
Calls sounded fne through a Jawbone Era Bluetooth headset. Voice dialing
worked well enough over Bluetooth using Google’s built-in voice dialer. The
Bluetooth stack is buggy, though; sometimes it took a minute or more to pair
with the Jawbone Era, and once it froze up for a minute while searching for
nearby devices. The speakerphone sounded clear and distinct, but should go
louder than it does. The oversized 3,000mAh battery should be good for extra-
long battery life.
PERFECT PAIR
Wireless NFC
technology lets you
pair the Xperia Z1s
with more than 100
other products,
such as your HDTV.
INTERFACE, APPS, AND MULTIMEDIA
Under the hood are a 2.2GHz quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 processor
with an Adreno 330 GPU and 2GB RAM. The Xperia Z1s runs Android 4.3 Jelly
Bean, and a KitKat upgrade is in the works, but there’s no confrmed release
date. Benchmark scores were excellent across the board; as you’d expect, the
Xperia Z1s is as fast as the Galaxy Note 3 and any top-end Android tablet.
You get fve home screens to customize and swipe between. Everything looks
and feels smooth. Sony includes its own Walkman, Movies, and Album apps,
along with PlayStation and PlayStation Mobile for accessing your online PSN
profle, messages, and notifcations. Sony is promising a number of “second
screen” PlayStation apps, and you can play PlayStation Mobile games with a
wireless DualShock 3 controller. You also get MobiSystems Offce Suite, which
reads and edits Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint documents, and Sony
Select, which froze on startup. There’s also a lot of T-Mobile bloatware, which
unfortunately cannot be removed.
There’s 32GB of internal storage, with 25.1GB free for your apps and media.
The microSD card slot works with cards up to 64GB in capacity. Music tracks
sounded clear and full through Plantronics BackBeat Go stereo Bluetooth
headphones, and the Xperia Z1s also played FLAC, OGG, and AAC fles. Full-
screen movies looked sharp, if not exceptionally vivid, at resolutions up to
1080p, and the phone played all the usual formats including DivX and Xvid.
You can also display content wirelessly on a Sony Bravia HDTV.
CAMERA AND CONCLUSIONS
The 20.7-megapixel autofocus f/2.0 camera features a 27mm focal length,
image stabilization, and an HDR mode. It goes up to ISO 6400. The Z1s’ sensor
is larger than the Xperia Z’s and collects more light, and it can also do lossless
zoom up to 3x in a 5MP mode. There’s also a 2MP front-facing camera for
selfes and video chats.
Sony includes fve apps dedicated to the camera: Info-eye, which scans books,
wine bottles, and other objects, and searches the Web for information about
them; AR (Augmented Reality) Effect, which adds costumes, glasses, fowers, or
even dinosaurs to your photos; Background Defocus, which lets you adjust the
depth of feld for your photos; Social Live, which broadcasts live video on
Facebook; and Timeshift Burst, which grabs a series of 60 shots in rapid
succession and lets you pick the best one.
We’ve tested some 13- and 16MP camera phones in the past, including the
one on the Xperia Z, and they haven’t quite measured up to their ratings in
image quality. Sadly, that’s still true here. The Xperia Z1s takes fne pictures,
and they border on very good outdoors. But contrast is relatively poor, and fesh
tones can come out looking jaundiced indoors. And though Sony says the faster
processor helps with autofocus speed, the Xperia Z1s still takes longer to focus
and fre than the iPhone 5s—that and the Lumia 1020 are still superior cameras.
Recorded 1080p videos played smoothly at 30 frames per second from both
cameras, though you can’t tap to focus the way you can with photos. Image
stabilization was superb; I saw very little shaking in the
various videos I recorded with the Xperia Z1s. And you
can shoot photos and videos underwater, though the
sound will obviously be muffed.
The Xperia Z1s is still surpassed by the thinner and
lighter (if less rugged) Samsung Galaxy S4, which also
has a more vivid AMOLED display and its genuinely
useful TouchWiz UI layer and apps; the iPhone 5 has
the best app selection and a clearly better camera; and
the Motorola Moto X’s form factor falls nicely between
those of the iPhone 5s and Xperia Z1s. Even so, the Z1s
is a very good smartphone, and the only one on
T-Mobile to fuse a waterproof design with top-end
hardware. If that combination speaks to you, you can
buy it with confdence.
JAMIE LENDINO
PC MAGAZINE DIGITAL EDITION
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The Xperia
Z1s is still
surpassed by
the thinner
and lighter (if
less rugged)
Samsung
Galaxy S4.
Double
Telepresence
Robot
$2,499
L L L L m
Put A New Face On
Telecommuting: Your Own
CONSUMER ELECTRONICS
REVIEWS
EDITORS’
CHOICE
Telecommuting is on the rise, and
its potential benefts have been well
documented. But although you can
call, email, and IM to your heart’s
content, there are few substitutes
for person-to-person face time. Video
conferencing goes part of the way, but it’s
still diffcult to have someone on the other
end setting up everything for you and even
more diffcult to get everyone to come to you
on your schedule. Double Robotics thinks it
has a solution—the Double Telepresence
Robot: your very own remote-controlled
robot (part iPad, part Segway) that lets you
be in the offce without ever having to step
foot in the offce. Its blend of futuristic
thinking and delightful simplicity makes it a
joy to use. More importantly, it promises to
combine the fexibility of telecommuting
with the benefts of personal face time. This
charmingly quirky robotic solution is not
without limitations, but it earns our Editors’
Choice endorsement.
DESIGN AND SETUP
There are two wheels at either end of the
Double’s cylindrical base, with a single metal
tube extending upward and terminating in a
plastic iPad cradle. When off, the Double
uses retractable stands at the front and back
to keep upright, but once turned on, the robot is self-
balancing, much like a Segway. A single LED on the
front indicates charging or pairing status. Around back
are a power port for use with the included AC adapter
and one button for powering the device on or off or
triggering pairing.
The Double doesn’t come with an iPad, but it works
with everything from the iPad 2 through the iPad Air.
There’s an included wide-angle conversion lens to help
widen your feld of view using the iPad’s built-in front-
facing camera. A clever mirror around back lets you use
the rear-facing camera to look down at the Double’s
base, which proved really useful for avoiding obstacles.
Setup will be dead simple for anyone who’s used a
Bluetooth accessory with their iPad. The Double comes
in pairing mode out of the box, but you can press the
button around back three times to get it back into
pairing mode. Then go into the iPad’s Bluetooth
settings page and select the Double. Make sure your
MIRROR, MIRROR
Need to look down
while using the
Double Telepresence
Robot? A mirror on
the back lets you do
so easily.
Double
Telepresence
Robot
PROS Easy to set up,
control. Office
presence without
traveling to the office.
Facilitates better
interaction with
coworkers.
CONS Dependent on
strong wireless
connection. Audio,
video quality limited
by the iPad you use.
iPad is connected to the Internet, and then go ahead
and download the free Double iOS app. From there
you’ll have to make a free account and sign in.
To use the Double, you’ll actually need one iPad and
either another iOS device (iPod touches, iPhones, and
iPads are all supported) or a computer with the
Chrome browser and special Double extension
installed. This second device serves as the “driver” for
the Double, controlling movement and transmitting
audio and video from remote locations.
IN THE OFFICE
I paired our Double with a fourth-generation iPad,
letting both charge fully overnight, and tested them
the next day while working remotely from my
apartment. The Double won’t let you move around
when either it or the paired iPad is plugged in, which
is a thoughtful measure. But that also means you’ll
need someone on-site to unplug both and fre up the
app. You also can’t wake the connected iPad remotely
from sleep—placing a call from the driver iPad will
display an on-screen notifcation on the connected
iPad, but someone will have to be there to answer the
incoming call. The Double app keeps the iPad awake
when open, so you’ll only have to do this once. To
minimize battery drain, the app dims the iPad’s
display when idle.
From there, you can use virtual on-screen buttons
to direct your Double forward and back, or swivel it
clockwise and counterclockwise. You can also adjust
the height of your Double to either “standing” or
“sitting” positions; the former maxes out at 60 inches,
and the latter bottoms out at 47 inches.
There’s a bit of a learning curve for navigation, and
it’s complicated by some connection latency and
occasional inconsistencies with button response. For
example, sometimes tapping the forward or back
button would inch the Double along, and other times
it would zoom the view one or two feet in either direction. Some complexity in
the controls is understandable considering the robot’s self-balancing act, but it
can take some getting used to.
On the driver iPad or PC, you’ll see what the Double sees and a small box in
the corner shows what’s displayed on the Double. Most times that’ll just be your
face, but you can change it to show the rear-facing camera’s view.
The Double itself doesn’t have any built-in speakers, so you’re limited by the
iPad’s anemic mono speaker. Video quality is also dependent on your iPad
model, as well as the strength of your Internet connection. I found both audio
and video quality to be suffcient for quick one-on-one chats, but you should be
ready to deal with some heavy compression artifacts and audio dropouts. I also
tested the iPad in a larger meeting setting, and found it pretty diffcult to hear
people farther than about 10 feet away. When multiple people spoke at once, it
was even more diffcult.
Double relies on the iPad’s wireless Internet connection, which can be either
Wi-Fi or cellular. I used a Wi-Fi–only iPad on our corporate network that spans
our entire offce, but saw a few signal dropouts, each of which caused my
Double to become stranded. In each case, it was easy enough to ask for some
in-offce assistance, but if your offce is pretty expansive or your network
coverage is spotty, it could get a bit annoying.
In most cases, you won’t need to be connected on a video call all day, and in
my tests, which involved fve separate video calls ranging from 10 to 30
minutes, the Double and iPad both lasted a full 8 hours. If you expect to use the
Double for extensive periods of time, your mileage may vary. Thankfully, you
can monitor the battery life of both the robot and iPad using the driver device.
CONCLUSIONS
I work remotely on occasion, and I have to admit that I thoroughly enjoyed my
time as a robot. I’m not entirely sure if having an in-offce Double really
improved my workfow. But my own work commitments and intra-team
communication aren’t necessarily indicative of the norm. The biggest issues lie
with Double’s dependence on the iPad, rather than anything inherently wrong
with the robot or concept itself. Even as such, it’s pretty easy to work around the
limitations. The Double can be an invaluable resource for the right company
and the right workers—especially those who put a premium on fexible work
arrangements and in-person face time.
EUGENE KIM
PC MAGAZINE DIGITAL EDITION
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FEBRUARY 2014
The Double
can be an
invaluable
resource for
the right
company and
the right
workers.
W
ith the LockState LS-500I RemoteLock Wi-Fi Door Lock you’ll
never have to worry about whether you remembered to lock up
before you left for the day. This electronic push button deadbolt
lock connects via Wi-Fi and can be controlled from a remote PC as well as
smart devices. Not only can you lock and unlock your door remotely, you can
monitor the lock’s activity, create individual user codes with specifc entry
rights, and receive alerts when the door is locked and unlocked. The LS-500I
isn’t cheap and you’ll have to pay a small annual subscription fee, but it’s ideal
for scheduling and tracking access into and out of your home or offce.
LockState
LS-500I
RemoteLock
Wi-Fi Door Lock
$249.95
L L L L m
Lock And Unlock Your Doors
From Anywhere
CONSUMER ELECTRONICS
REVIEWS
DESIGN AND INSTALLATION
The LS-500I looks like a typical push button deadbolt
lock. The exterior casing sports a ten-button rubberized
number pad, a LockState programming/enter button,
and a keyed cylinder. The lock comes with a deadbolt
mechanism, two keys, a user manual, a Wi-Fi quick
start provisioning guide, a template for drilling holes,
and assorted screws and mounting hardware. The lock
can be ordered with a Polished Brass, Satin Nickel, or
Venetian Bronze fnish.
The interior casing contains a Wi-Fi radio for
connecting to your wireless network and a lever used to
manually lock or unlock the door. The lock is powered
by four AA batteries (not included) that are hidden
behind a removable plastic cover.
Installing the LS-500I took less than 15 minutes,
following the included instructions, and connecting the
lock to my wireless network was a snap. I used my
laptop to search for and connect to the lock’s Wi-Fi
radio (you can use your smartphone as well), after
which I was prompted to enter the lock’s Wi-Fi key.
Next, I opened a browser and entered 10.10.1.1 in the
LockState
LS-500I
RemoteLock
Wi-Fi Door Lock
PROS Easy to install.
Email and SMS
notifications.
Supports Web, iOS,
Android apps.
CONS Pricey. Mobile
apps have limited
functionality.
Requires a small
monthly subscription.
RAVE OF
THE LOCK
The LockState
LS-500I lets you
lock your door the
old-fashioned
way—or leap into
the 21st century
and do it with
Wi-Fi.
URL bar, which initiated a search for nearby wireless networks. I chose my
SSID, entered my password, and received a message that I was done. After
reconnecting my laptop to my network I went to www.lockstateconnect.com to
create an account, name the lock, and register it as a connected device. The lock
showed up immediately and was ready to go.
When creating an account you are prompted to supply information (such as
the address and a house name) for each property using LS-500I locks. You also
have to choose a subscription plan; LockState charges a small fee to help defray
the costs of the cloud service used to push notifcations and alerts. A Basic
subscription costs $0.99 per month (billed annually) and provides basic lock/
unlock controls and scheduling abilities via the Web portal. If you want text and
email notifcations it’ll cost you $1.98 per month (billed annually) for the
Premium plan.
APP AND PERFORMANCE
The LS-500I can be programmed using the keypad, but it’s much easier to do
from the LockState Connect Web-based dashboard. The dashboard isn’t very
fashy but is easy to navigate and can be used to control other LockState Wi-Fi
devices, including thermostats, power plugs, cameras, and motion sensors. A
panel on the left side of the page displays the local weather conditions, and in
the upper-right corner is the date and time.
Under the Locks tab is a list of installed locks by name. Next to each lock is a
battery gauge, a Wi-Fi signal meter, and the lock’s status (locked or unlocked).
Here you can add new locks and edit settings (such as
lock name, master programming code, and Wi-Fi
update intervals). You can also create, disable, and
delete User and Guest access codes and grant specifc
scheduled rights. Guest codes can be assigned exact
start and end times and dates, providing a not-so-subtle
way to let your guests know they’ve overstayed their
welcome. Both user and guest access codes can be set
up to trigger an email or text message notifcation when
that code is used to open or close the lock. Codes can
contain between four and ten digits, and are used to
unlock the lock only (only the programming code can be
used to grant access and manage locks).
The LS-500I keeps a log of everything, including
programming changes, access code creation (and
deletion), and access history. The access history log tells
you the name of the user, the date and time of the event,
the type of event (locked or unlocked), and if the
attempt was successful.
You can lock and unlock the LS-500I using the free
iOS and Android apps, but you can’t create access codes
or schedules, nor can you view the lock’s access history,
battery life, and settings. In fact, the app looks more like
an afterthought than a control mechanism. According to
a LockState spokesman, an update that will add many
The LS-500I
keeps a log of
everything,
including
programming
changes, access
code creation
(and deletion),
and access
history.
ANY PRODUCT,
ANYWHERE
Though it’s not
visually stunning,
the LockState
Web dashboard
gives you complete
control over all the
company’s devices
that you currently
have installed in
your home and
hooked up to your
network.
of the above-mentioned features is in the works and
should be ready in a few months.
Once programmed, the LS-500I performed without a
hitch. User and guest access codes worked fawlessly, as
did timed schedules. I received text and email messages
each time a user engaged the lock and used the history
feature to make sure the door was locked afterwards. As
a parent, receiving a text that my child has arrived
home as planned justifes the LS-500I’s lofty price.
CONCLUSION
The LockState LS-500I RemoteLock Wi-Fi Door Lock is
more than just a push button door lock. It uses your
wireless network to let you know who is entering your
home or offce and keeps a historical log of each
opening and closing. Parents and business owners alike
will appreciate the text and email alert feature as well.
Granted, the LS-500I doesn’t offer the kind of hands-
free access you get with the Kwikset Kevo, and its
mobile apps aren’t as polished, but it does a better job
of logging door activity and gives you much more
control over who can enter your dwelling.
JOHN R. DELANEY
PC MAGAZINE DIGITAL EDITION
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FEBRUARY 2014
Receiving a
text that my
child has
arrived home
as planned
justifies the
LS-500I’s
lofty price.
EDITORS’
CHOICE
There’s no ignoring it: The
new Apple Mac Pro is
stunning. But its distinctive
look isn’t the only thing about
it that’s different. The system
is also a powerhouse in an astonishingly
compact chassis, with a design that
embraces innovations in manufacturing
and cooling, and embodies concepts
that may very well shape the future of
the desktop PC.
DESIGN AND FEATURES
The new Mac Pro is an all-aluminum
cylinder measuring 9.9 inches tall and
6.6 inches in diameter, and weighing
10.93 pounds. Though it appears to be
burnished black in photos, Apple calls
its color “Space Grey”—almost a cross
between obsidian and polished chrome.
The chassis is formed whole from a
single billet of aluminum, shaped
through several advanced
manufacturing processes to have just
the right shape, feel, and fnish. The
milled edges of the top and the window
for port access are not simply cut into
the metal once; they are then cut and
polished, for edges that are smooth to
the touch. The lock that keeps the cover
Apple Mac Pro
$6,799
L L L L H
The Best Desktop
Workstation Ever?
HARDWARE
REVIEWS
in place is almost invisible but smooth to operate.
It’s a futuristic look indeed; from the frst unveiling to
the subsequent ads and private briefngs, Apple has
pushed the idea that this is the design of the future.
Central to this sleek rethinking are two new concepts.
The frst is Apple’s new Unifed Thermal Core, which
leverages both materials and design for cooling hot
components. The Mac Pro’s internal components are
mounted onto a triangular aluminum frame that serves
as the primary heat sink for the processor and graphics,
with heat-dissipating vanes further enhancing cooling.
Sitting on top of the whole thing is an exhaust fan,
which pulls air up from intakes on the bottom of the
case and pumps it out through the top.
The second concept is one of peripherals
over upgrades. Apple’s new paradigm does
away with the easily accessible drive bays and
swappable graphics cards of previous models
in favor of an external, modular approach.
About all you can upgrade are the RAM in the
four DIMM slots and the PCIe-based fash
storage. Anything else you want to add must
be done via the rear ports: four USB 3.0, six
Thunderbolt 2.0 (each offering up to 20GBps
of throughput, for connecting up to three 4K
displays or six regular Thunderbolt displays,
external storage, and more), two Gigabit
Ethernet, HDMI, and headphone and audio
line out jacks. The rear panel containing these
ports lights up for easy visibility.
Finally, the Mac Pro has the latest wireless
connectivity options, with Bluetooth 4.0 and
802.11ac Wi-Fi, the new faster connectivity
standard set to eventually replace 802.11n.
This helps further futureproof the Mac Pro,
assuming the CPU and GPUs don’t ever need
an upgrade until you’re ready to replace the
whole system and hand it down.
Apple Mac Pro
PROS Dramatic
design departure.
Powerful processing,
video performance.
Supports multiple
simultaneous 4K
video streams. Lots of
external expansion
options.
CONS Expensive. No
internal access to
processor, graphics
cards. Relatively short
warranty.
CONFIGURATIONS
Every confguration of the new Mac Pro comes outftted with a single Intel Xeon
E5 workstation-class processor, designed to offer plenty of raw processing
power with minimal latency and maximum throughput, along with two AMD
FirePro graphics cards. Unlike consumer graphics cards, which are optimized
for gaming and multimedia, professional GPUs are designed to offer powerful
and reliable processing for media editing and creation programs, engineering
tools (such as CAD), and to drive multiple displays for enhanced productivity.
The entry-level Mac Pro ($2,999) comes with a quad-core Intel Xeon E5
processor and 12GB of RAM, two FirePro D300 graphics cards (each with 2GB
of dedicated memory), and 128GB of local fash storage. At the other end of the
spectrum, a Mac Pro kitted out with the best of everything rings up at $9,566: a
12-core Intel Xeon E5 CPU, 64GB of RAM, two AMD FirePro D700 GPUs, and
1TB of fash memory.
Our $6,799 review unit fell somewhere in between, with a 3GHz eight-core
Intel Xeon E5-1680 v2 processor, 32GB of RAM, 1TB of fash storage, and two
AMD FirePro D700 GPUs (with 6GB of dedicated memory each).
Apple covers the Mac Pro with a one-year warranty, and offers 90-days of free
telephone support. Though this is the standard for Apple products, it falls far
short of industry norms, with other workstations from HP and Dell being
covered by three-year warranties. AppleCare+, Apple’s extended warranty
service, will extend that warranty and technical support up to three years from
the initial purchase date for $249.
SOFTWARE
The Mac Pro comes preinstalled with OS X Mavericks, which includes all of the
same iLife (iPhoto, iMovie, GarageBand) and iWork (Pages, Numbers, Keynote)
software that comes with a new consumer-level Mac. This is basic business
software that you would need to purchase separately for a new Windows
workstation, but Apple now includes it for free with every new Mac. Also free is
the latest version of Final Cut Pro for taking advantage of the Mac Pro’s 4K
video capabilities with features such as the simultaneous editing of multiple
video angles, or the option of viewing footage in full 4K on one display while
editing said footage on another.
PERFORMANCE
Peel back the slick marketing and fancy design, and you’ll fnd that the Mac Pro
is still a potent work machine, built to offer the sort of performance that
professionals need. In CineBench, the Mac Pro scored 13.54—the best score
we’ve seen among single-CPU workstations. It easily outpaced the Dell
Precision T3610 (7.44) and HP Z420 (7.21), but fell behind the Lenovo
ThinkStation D30 (25.31), which uses two eight-core Xeon processors.
The Mac Pro also made short work of multimedia benchmark tests, fnishing
Handbrake in 29 seconds and cranking through Photoshop in 3 minutes 3
seconds. The Photoshop performance isn’t shabby, but it is more toward the
middle of the pack than expected—the Lenovo ThinkStation
D30 edged ahead (2:55), and the Dell Precision T3610 fell just
behind (3:16).
With its two graphics cards, the Mac Pro also offered solid
performance in our Heaven 3D gaming test. Set to 1,366-by-
768 resolution, the Mac Pro pumped out 113 frames per
second (fps), ahead of Dell’s and HP’s workstations (which
scored 67fps and 40fps, respectively). The Nvidia-equipped
iMac came closer, with 108fps, and the dual-GPU gaming-
oriented systems pulled further ahead, with Maingear’s GTX
Titan–loaded F131 Super Stock leading with 288fps. Even
when I increased the resolution to 1,920 by 1,080 and
cranked up all the detail settings, the Mac Pro still held its
own, its 41fps result putting it ahead of every workstation,
but again falling behind the high-end gaming rigs.
To push the Mac Pro a little harder than our regular testing does, I ran our
Heaven benchmark test again, this time ramping up as far past our regular
settings, with full 4K resolution (3,840 by 2,160, the maximum resolution
offered on the Asus PQ321 monitor), and detail settings maxed out. The frame
rates dropped to 10fps, but even during this test the Mac Pro was virtually
silent. The portable hard drive I plugged into the back made more discernible
noise than the system itself did. Although the Mac Pro didn’t get louder, it did
get warmer, with its exterior reaching 96° F, and air from the top exhaust
hitting 106°.
CONCLUSION
Beneath the blank, inscrutable surface of the Mac Pro, there’s a lot going on,
from the potent processor and graphics hardware to the completely new
approach to hardware expansion. The Mac Pro is expensive, its one-year
warranty and 90-day tech support terms are lackluster, and the lack of internal
expansion will force many professionals to change how they approach their
work. But the Mac Pro offers some of the most exciting updates to desktop
design we’ve seen, and backs it up with powerful professional-grade
performance. The system is our new Editors’ Choice for single-processor
workstations, and one of the best high-end desktops we’ve seen in years.
BRIAN WESTOVER
PC MAGAZINE DIGITAL EDITION
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FEBURARY 2014
The Mac Pro
offers some
of the most
exciting
updates
to desktop
design we’ve
seen.
EDITORS’
CHOICE
Professional users will pay a premium for certain features such as a
sharper-than-normal screen or workstation-class graphics. The HP
ZBook 14 has these features, packed within a highly mobile design
that’s thinner and lighter than we’ve yet seen on a system of this type.
Add in performance, battery life, and a terrifc display, and you have
an Editors’ Choice–winning professional-grade mobile workstation.
DESIGN AND FEATURES
The ZBook 14 looks very much like a 14-inch ultrabook, and that’s the point. It
measures about 0.83 by 13.5 by 9.5 inches (HWD) and weighs 3.88 pounds, so
it will blend in with other business ultrabooks rather than stand out like
previous chunkier mobile workstations we’ve seen. It’s also much lighter than
full-size business desktop replacement laptops such as the Dell Latitude E6540.
HP ZBook 14
$2,399
L L L L H
For Pros Who Need Power,
The ZBook Is Tops
HARDWARE
REVIEWS
Metal is the fnish of choice on the ZBook 14’s top lid
and keyboard deck, but the bottom lid is polycarbonate.
This is one of the ZBook 14’s strengths: The light,
removable lid provides tool-less access to the internal
components, primarily the system’s hard drive bay,
memory slots, and slots for accessories such as the
optional WWAN/4G mobile broadband module, which
is the only way to get GPS functionality. (Dual-band
802.11a/b/g/n Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 4.0 come
standard.) You can also remove the system’s 50Wh
battery, a feature that you won’t fnd in most ultrabooks
but that’s important if you regularly compute far away
from a power outlet or car charger.
The system’s components include an Intel Core i7-
4600U processor, 16GB of DDR3L memory (maxed
out), a 256GB SATA SSD (240GB usable), and an AMD
FirePro M4100 GPU. The system uses AMD Switchable
Graphics technology, so it can operate on the
processor’s HD Graphics 4400 integrated GPU when
you don’t need discrete-level performance.
One of the ZBook 14’s greatest strengths is its screen.
It’s a 14-inch 1,920-by-1,080 display, though some
competitors (such as the Retina display–
equipped 15-inch Apple MacBook Pro and
Toshiba Kirabook) feature higher-resolution
screens. Though the ZBook 14 is limited to
1080p, it trounces the other systems by
offering a matte-fnish antiglare screen.
Users who need to perform scientifc
tasks, do edits, and create content full
time may prefer the larger, more
pixel-dense screens for their day-to-
day work, but everyone else will be
fne with HP’s choice here.
HP ZBook 14
PROS Portable
workstation power.
Weighs less than 4
pounds. Easy access
to swappable
components. Brilliant
antiglare screen. Dual
pointing devices.
Removable battery.
CONS Touch screen
does not come
standard. GPS
requires optional
WWAN module.
STELLAR SCREEN
The ZBook 14’s display
offers both 1080p
resolution and a
matte-finish antiglare
coating that makes it
easier for you to get
work done anywhere.
The ZBook 14 has ample external ports as well: four
USB 3.0 (one is a stay-awake charging port), a full-sized
DisplayPort, Ethernet (vital for business users), VGA,
Kensington lock, SmartCard and SD card slots, and a
docking port like those you’ll see on other HP EliteBook
laptops. DisplayPort enables multiple monitors
regardless, but the optional dock lets the ZBook 14
support up to fve external displays.
The ZBook 14’s comfortable backlit chiclet-style
keyboard has a multitouch touchpad and a pointing
stick, each with its own set of physical mouse buttons
(though you can also use tap-to-click on the touchpad).
There’s no numeric keypad, however—if you need one,
look at larger laptops, such as HP’s ZBook 15 or the
Asus Zenbook VX51VZ-XB71.
Our review unit came with Windows 7 Professional
preinstalled, and includes discs for installing Windows
8 Pro. Because Windows 8 presently has few business
adherents, it’s not a huge deal that there’s no touch
screen, though you can confgure your ZBook 14 with
one (something you can’t do with the ZBook 15). The
ZBook 14 comes with a three-year parts and
labor warranty.
PERFORMANCE
The ZBook 14 is, as you’d expect, quite
capable of creating multimedia
projects, but its best attribute is that
it is ISV certifed and can work fne
as a supervisor’s machine in the
feld. The 13-inch Apple MacBook
Pro was a smidge faster than the
ZBook 14 on Photoshop CS6 (4
minutes 27 seconds versus 6:28) and
Handbrake (1:09 versus 1:11), most
likely due to the MacBook’s slightly faster-
clocked processor and speedier PCIe-based
fash storage.
Though the
ZBook 14 is
limited to
1080p, it
trounces the
other systems
by offering a
matte-finish
antiglare
screen.
On 3D tasks, the ZBook 14 is closer to its peers. Its performance is on par with
that of the Dell Precision M4700 with its 2GB Nvidia Quadro K2000M GPU on
the 3DMark 11 test and our two game tests. True gaming cards, such as the
Nvidia GeForce GT 765M you’ll fnd in the Digital Storm Veloce, give the best
performance on 3D games and game tests, but the ZBook 14 is certainly capable
of displaying 3D CAD designs in real time as well as working in entertainment
development and testing.
One of the ZBook 14’s main strengths is its battery life. It lasted 6 hours 28
minutes on our battery rundown test, matching the larger Dell Precision M4700
to the minute. The ZBook 14’s big brother, the ZBook 15, only lasted 3:48.
If you’re looking for a nicely priced, full–Windows 7 mobile workstation and
value portability, the HP ZBook 14 should be at the top of your list. It has the
clear and glare-free studio-ready display that you’d expect from a professional
workstation, combined with an ultrabook’s portability and battery life. IT
serviceability is a big plus, especially if you have time-sensitive users who need
to get back to work right now. Any director, manager, or vice president in the
entertainment or engineering industries will be quite happy with the ZBook 14,
especially if they travel.
JOEL SANTO DOMINGO
PC MAGAZINE DIGITAL EDITION
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T
he Afnia H479 Desktop 3D Printer has just
about everything a beginner would want from a
3D printer. It’s relatively easy to set up and
use, prints out objects of good quality, and has simple
software and clear documentation. According to Afnia,
the H479 is intended for educators (the printers are
Afinia H479
Desktop 3D
Printer
$1,599
L L L H m
This Worry-Free Printer
Is A Solid 3D Starter Kit
HARDWARE
REVIEWS
installed in grade schools, middle schools, high
schools, and universities), engineers (for in-house
prototyping), and creative types (jewelry, robots,
drones, cartoon characters). It’s worth considering by
tech-savvy consumers, though it’s somewhat expensive
for that role and for the features it provides.
DESIGN AND SETUP
This red, open-framed printer measures 13.8 by 9.6 by
10.2 inches (HWD), and weighs just under 11 pounds. It
can print at any of three resolutions, from 0.15mm to
0.4mm. Its build area is just over 5 inches cubed, as
compared with 10 by 9 by 9 inches for the Type A
Machines Series 1, 4.7 inches cubed for the UP! mini,
5.5 inches for the 3D Systems Cube 3D Printer, and 6
inches for the Solidoodle 2 Pro.
The printer’s assembly and setup are simple. You
attach a spool holder to the printer’s side and
place a spool of plastic flament in it (the H479
comes with a 1.5-pound spool of ABS plastic),
thread the flament from the spool through a
guide at the top of the printer and into the
extruder assembly, and clip a piece of FR-4
board—a perforated, square sheet of
epoxy laminate—into place with four
small provided clips.
The FR-4 board’s network
of tiny holes serves an
important role: to hold the
molten (and quickly
solidifying) plastic that’s
squeezed into them as the
frst layers of a print job are
extruded, and prevent the
corners of the object from
peeling up (a common issue
when printing with ABS
plastic), likely pulling the
Afinia H479
Desktop 3D
Printer
PROS Easy setup,
operation. Quiet.
Good software
provided on disc.
Clear, thorough user
manual. Comes with
spool of ABS plastic.
Ample tool kit. Can
print PC-free once a
job is loaded.
CONS Small build
area. Relatively
expensive for its
capabilities. Won’t
print without adding
supports. Can be
difficult to remove
objects.
rest of the job off the platform eventually and ruining it.
Three FR-4 boards come with the printer. The manual indicates that you can
also use blue masking tape as a print surface. Doing so will avoid one problem I
encountered when printing with the perforated boards, which I’ll describe later
in the review, although objects may not adhere as well to the tape.
The software, which comes on a provided disc, can be installed on either a
Mac or Windows machine; I used a laptop running Windows 7, and the
installation was problem-free. When you connect the printer to the computer
via USB cable, the computer will recognize it and install it automatically.
The Afnia software is a single program that seamlessly performs all necessary
functions, from initializing the printer to setting the extruder height and making
sure the corners of the print bed are even to feeding flament into the extruder
to fxing fle problems to printing. (There isn’t a separate step for “slicing” an
object into layers for printing, as there is with most 3D printers.) When you
open an object fle to print, a 3D representation of it will appear on screen. You
can rescale an object, or set its location on the print bed before printing.
Before you can start printing you need to set the initial gap between extruder
nozzle and print bed. You can adjust it in increments of 0.1mm to narrow the
gap until the extruder head is barely above the platform (the suggested gap is
0.2mm). Then you press Set Nozzle Height, and it will lock the setting. You can
reset it if need be.
If you need help at any point during the setup process, the user manual,
which comes in printed form but is also accessible in PDF format from the
Afnia website, is thorough and easy to read.
THE H479 IN ACTION
After you’ve opened an object fle to print, you choose Print from the fle menu,
and then click Print from the dialog box. After about fve minutes, when the
SPOOLS IN
One spool of ABS
plastic is included
for use with the
Afinia H479
Desktop 3D Printer,
though it also works
with PLA plastic.
extruder is hot enough, printing will
commence. Once it has, you can
disconnect the printer from your
computer, as the job is loaded in
internal memory. Apart from
beeping at the start and fnish of a
print job, the H479 made very little
noise, a welcome change from some
of the 3D printers I’ve tested.
One thing to note is that the printer will
add supports—vertical pylons of plastic—to an object,
whether you like it or not. They can be helpful in
preventing overhung areas from drooping, but for the
most part are unnecessary. The best you can do is to
adjust the settings so they only appear when an
overhang is within 10 degrees of horizontal. They can
sometimes be tricky to remove, and can leave a rough
residue that usually has to be sanded or otherwise
smoothed away.
The H479 printed out our suite of test objects with no
misprints. Overall print quality was good, with generally
solid detail and smooth (where intended) surfaces.
There were some artifacts and roughness from the
supports, including some localized discoloration. Even
at “fast” resolution, print quality was decent and should
be suffcient for use by the teachers and designers for
whom the printer is intended.
Removal of printed objects from the perforated board
on which they’re printed proved to be diffcult. The
plastic at the base of the object flls up the perforations
and adheres to them. Fortunately, the printer comes
with a good toolkit, including but not limited to gloves,
a spatula-like “shovel,” an X-Acto knife, pliers, and
wrenches. In theory, with a bit of coaxing, you should be
able to slide the spatula between the object’s base and
the perforated board, and sometimes I was able to do it
(with a good amount of fexing of the board) and
gradually lever the object away from the base.
PRINT-READY
A minimum of
controls, just a few
buttons on the front
and back, and solid
documentation
make the H479 a
good 3D printer for
those who don’t
want to worry about
having to learn how
to use a 3D printer.
But the perforations were still full of the little plugs of
plastic—and they must be removed for the board to be
ready for another print job. I ultimately got them out
mostly using a thumbtack, but it was a tedious and
time-consuming task. With three boards (and you can
order more from Afnia), you have some fexibility, but
you still have to keep them clear of stray plastic.
I tried widening the gap between the extruder nozzle
and the board before printing in hopes that less plastic
would fll the perforations, but the issue persisted.
The H479 can print with either ABS or PLA plastic
flament, though Afnia only sells ABS. It comes in two
grades: Premium ($44.99 for a 1.5-pound roll), which is
designed for the H479 and melts at 260° C, and Value
Line ($31.99 for a 1.5-pound roll), which melts at a
lower temperature and can be used across a range of
printers. The downside of ABS is that it can emit a
sometimes-strong odor, and that it’s mildly toxic—some
people have reported headaches after being exposed to
its fumes, and its particles can build up in the lungs.
Once it’s cooled, though, ABS is safe enough; it’s the
plastic from which Lego pieces are made.
CONCLUSION
The Afnia H479 Desktop 3D Printer has a lot going for
it as a model intended for teachers and professionals.
It’s easy to set up, the software is a cinch to install and
use, and the printing process was fairly problem free. It
can’t match the Editors’ Choice Type A Machines Series
1 in bang for the buck, as it has a much smaller build
platform, but it scores points for its easy setup, good
software and documentation, and ease of printing.
Prying printed objects off the perforated board that
Afnia supplies proved to be a hassle, but you may (as I
did) have somewhat better luck by using the blue tape
that the company suggests as an alternative.
TONY HOFFMAN
PC MAGAZINE DIGITAL EDITION
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EDITORS’
CHOICE
FileMaker has been making database creation
intuitive and hassle-free for years, and that
tradition continues in its most recent version.
FileMaker Pro 13 introduces more than 50
new features into the ecosystem, tightening
security and letting you create incredibly Web-friendly
design apps. There’s less concern than you might expect
about supporting platforms such as Android and
Windows Phone, although the ease with which you can
create apps that run in a Web browser bypasses many
compatibility issues.
FileMaker Pro 13
$329 (1-4 licenses)
L L L L H
Landmark Database
Software Still Sets Records
SOFTWARE
REVIEWS
GETTING STARTED
Experienced users can dive right in and create a new
database or use one of the many database templates.
These “starter solutions” are predesigned database apps
that include apps for event management, product
cataloging, time billing, and more. You can use the
solutions “right out the box,” or customize them for
your business or personal needs.
One caveat that may apply to longtime users: Those
currently using FileMaker databases should be aware
that FileMaker 13 only works with databases created
under FileMaker 12 and 13. Older databases in the FP7
format can be converted to version 13 and then opened
in the latest version.
In addition to creating a “from scratch” database app
or using a template, you can also create a new, empty
database and import data from a number of other fle
formats including TXT, CSV, and XLS,
as well as from XML and ODBC
data sources.
FileMaker Pro 13
PROS Lots of new
features. Offers tools
for creating beautiful
custom apps. New
AES-256 encryption.
Create apps to run in
Web browser.
CONS Confusing
online, built-in help
resources. No
Android, Windows
Phone support. AES-
256 encryption not
available in Pro
version.
NEW FEATURES
Though few signifcant changes have been made to FileMaker’s basic
functionality since the release of version 12, there are plenty of new features to
aid you in database creation and design.
Styles are attributes such as color, font size, and so on that you apply to
database components such as felds, buttons, and backgrounds. Custom themes
and styles can be saved and then applied across multiple layouts and databases.
Because the tech world continues to go mobile, the team at FileMaker has
provided new ways to make apps more friendly for mobile devices, especially
those that use touch screens. For example, you can now add features that are
common in mobile device apps, such as popover buttons that can provide users
with additional information or instructions when they click into a feld. To
enhance the mobile UI experience, you can also add objects such as slide and
tab control buttons. And thanks to in-the-box scripts and conditional
formatting, you don’t need to know how to program to add them.
Securing data is a foremost concern when creating any software. FileMaker 13
now has AES 256-bit encryption to secure FileMaker data whether it resides on
a desktop, server, or iOS device. Unfortunately, you will need to move to
FileMaker Pro 13 Advanced to enable encryption.
Four templates have been redesigned since version 12: Contacts, Assets,
Content Management, and Invoices. Assets, for example, has a fresh,
streamlined look, and is designed to include many images of an item—
extending the capability of placing images into Container felds.
All of FileMaker’s Templates, including the updated ones, now support the
inclusion of scannable bar code felds. Creating a bar code feld that will take
DATABASES FOR
ANY DEVICE
With the world
growing increasingly
mobile, FileMaker has
adapted its classic
model. Version 13 of
the software lets you
create apps for a
wide variety of
devices, though a
lack of support may
mar your Android or
Windows Phone
experience.
information by scanning a bar code with a camera is not
immediately intuitive. FileMaker’s copious help
database can explain this—and practically everything
else—but the procedure is somewhat involved.
OTHER MAJOR UPDATES
A key feature in this latest version of FileMaker is
WebDirect, which lets customers run their apps directly
in a Web browser without requiring Web development
skills. The only caveat: You need to have FileMaker
Server 13 deployed to take advantage of it.
Another useful update is the inclusion of iOS
keyboards. You can specify in your apps which type of
keyboard should be used to enter data, including URL,
Phone, Numeric 10-key, and more.
STUMBLES
Although the FileMaker software works on a variety of
current major platforms (Mac OS X 10.7 and up, as well
as Windows 7 and Windows 8), because the company is
an Apple subsidiary the application itself is almost too
WEBDIRECT
The new WebDirect
feature lets you run
created apps in a
Web browser rather
than as a separate
app (though you’ll
need FileMaker
Server 13).
iOS- and Mac-oriented. Android and
Widows Phone platforms come across as
being afterthoughts. FileMaker reps told
me that plans to expand mobile support
are on the roadmap, however.
In my testing, I also found a lack of
structured help to specifc questions, even
though there is an abundance of help links
and data. I had to email FileMaker to learn
the steps needed when I wanted to create
the scannable bar code feld. Of course, my
questions were answered expediently so I
could easily fnish my testing, but I do
wonder if customers would have the same
experience seeking answers. There is a lot
to learn and do in FileMaker, and being
able to fnd the information you need
(without necessarily perusing a forum of
other users) is a must.
SIMPLY THE BEST
FileMaker reigns supreme when it comes to
building beautiful, custom apps for non-
programmers. The commitment to detail and
aesthetics is apparent in using the software and I
actually fnd it an enjoyable platform on which to
create an app. It well deserves our Editors’ Choice
award for business software and database apps.
SAMARA LYNN
PC MAGAZINE DIGITAL EDITION
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AN APPLE A DAY
Rich support for iOS
devices, including a
variety of keyboards,
is prevalent through
all of FileMaker Pro 13.
EDITORS’
CHOICE
DxO makes the standard camera sensor
testing software, so it’s no surprise that DxO
Optics Pro is indeed one of the most
impressive pieces of photo software out there.
It tops off improved organization features and
program stability with unmatched image processing:
DxO claims the new, unique Prime feature gives you a
full extra stop of exposure with no increase in noise
level. Even without that, however, Optics Pro can do
wonders for your digital photos—particularly if you
shoot in Raw mode.
DxO Optics Pro 9
$99
L L L L m
Superb Photo Editing At A
Sub-Lightroom Price
SOFTWARE
REVIEWS
INSTALLATION AND OPERATION
Optics Pro 9 is available as a fully functional 31-day
trial, with both Mac and PC versions. (After the trial
period, a DxO watermark appears on photos processed
with the software.) There are two editions: Standard,
for most consumer point-and-shoots and D-SLRs, and
Elite, for pro-level full-frame cameras.
There are only two modes in Optics Pro: Organize and
Customize. Organize mode doesn’t have a full workfow
function—there’s no importing from media, though you
could simply open images from a card shown in the
Organize folder tree. You do get star ratings, but no
“picks” or color codes for organizing your photos, and
forget about geo-tag maps and face detection. If those
things are important to you, you’re better off using DxO
Optics Pro as a plug-in for Lightroom or Aperture. The
program does let you organize by Projects, in which
you bring together photos you want to work with as a
group from various sources.
Customize mode is where you do all of your editing
and tuning. You have access to tools such as cropping,
forcing parallel lines, and a neutral color picker, as well
as methods for reducing moiré, vignetting, and
chromatic aberration, though there are no simple
image rotation buttons (you can rotate via a right-click
menu or keyboard shortcut). There’s also no history
panel, for undoing back to a particular edit, or
reverting back to the image’s original state. The
program does make good use of keyboard shortcuts,
however, and I like how the mouse wheel zooms you in
and out.
Adobe’s Lightroom 5 offers more fexibility with
multiple modes for things such as sharing, printing,
and books. But one major DxO feature is that each
time you open a folder containing images, the program
detects the camera and lens used for those photos and
prompts you to download a module for that
combination so Optics Pro can optimize the image. As a
DxO Optics Pro 9
PROS Best-in-class
noise reduction.
Excellent
autocorrection. Clear
interface. Direct
export to Flickr,
Facebook, other
photo apps.
Automatic chromatic
aberration removal.
CONS No local editing
tools. Few workflow
tools. Using highest
noise-reduction
setting takes several
minutes for large
images.
result, autocorrection is far better than you see in most photo software, and is
often all you need to signifcantly improve a picture, though there are plenty of
available presets for tweaking still further and adjusting contrast, color,
lighting, exposure compensation, and more.
The interface is somewhat customizable: You can adjust the interface border
color from the default dark gray to anywhere from full white to full black. The
full-screen view is less satisfying than Lightroom’s, as DxO always keeps the
control bar on screen, though you can detach the image browser for full viewing
on a second screen.
DXO PRIME
Version 9 of DxO adds a hallmark feature called Probabilistic Raw Image
Enhancement, or Prime, a noise-reduction tool that the company claims will
add an extra stop of exposure to digital photos shot in Raw. This means you can
shoot in low light or at faster speeds and still retain sharpness and detail.
Prime lets the program take as long as it needs to analyze and correct digital
noise. Most noise correction just compares nearby pixels to determine which
are noise, but DxO examines a much larger area to make this determination,
which should remove more noise while leaving more detail. When you choose
Prime noise reduction, you won’t be able to see its effect on the full image view,
just on a small 150-by-150-pixel area. Even viewing that preview takes a few
seconds, and the only way to apply Prime to the whole image is to export it,
which can take several minutes.
Though Prime removed more noise (particularly in eye whites shot in low
light at high ISO) and preserved more detail than Lightroom, I noticed too
much smoothing on the Auto setting. Fortunately, you can tune the amount of
correction with the Luminance slider, and even dig into Chrominance, Low
Frequency, and Dead Pixel corrections.
One important point to make about DxO Optics Pro is that it offers nothing in
the way of local corrections—no dodge and burn, no selective blur, no
retouching, not even red-eye correction. For those things, a more complete tool
such as Lightroom is warranted. But for sports, nature, or night-event
photographers who need to shoot at a high ISO, Prime could be a godsend in
getting less noisy images to their clients.
OUTPUT AND SHARING
Once you’ve perfected your image, Optics Pro lets you output it to another
photo editor or to sites such as Facebook and Flickr, save it to your hard drive,
or print it out. The Facebook exporter lets you choose a target album, but not
privacy level or tagging. The Flickr export has nice control, letting you choose
an album, add keyword tags, or set privacy, and it pulls in your previously used
tags and albums to pick from. One online sharing capability that’s lacking is via
email: Lightroom lets you quickly send out any image onscreen via a right-click.
NOISES OFF
Prime, one of DxO
Optics Pro 9’s
flagship features,
reduces the noise
of photos shot in
Raw by adding an
extra stop of
exposure. In our
tests, it worked
better than a
similar feature in
Lightroom.
Although it
won’t turn a
bad photo into
a good one,
Optics Pro can
make a good
photo great.
Optics Pro includes utilitarian printing capabilities, in
which you can choose a grid size for multiple images,
apply sharpening, and add a caption in the font style of
your choice. But for more layout options (including
savable custom layouts) and soft proofng (which lets
you see colors in the photo not supported by the
printer), look to Lightroom.
IF YOU WANT TO BE AN OPTICS PRO, DXO
DxO Optics Pro 9 is hardly the last word in workfow,
but it can give you an edge for better images not
available in other full-capability photo applications.
Even without its new and unique Prime noise reduction
feature, DxO’s lens and camera calibrated corrections
automatically achieve results that can be hard to
accomplish in other software. Professional
photographers will want Optics Pro at least as a tool in
their photo software toolbox for the edge it can provide.
Although it won’t turn a bad photo into a good one,
Optics Pro can make a good photo great. That’s enough
to earn it our Editors’ Choice award.
MICHAEL MUCHMORE
PC MAGAZINE DIGITAL EDITION
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M
ovie love is so much more dramatic than real-life love, and that’s what we love
about it. It takes feelings we have that are vast and powerful but often quiet
and internal, and blows them up to dramatic scenes and emotional
outpourings. Our digital love lives are even more muted, but as deeply felt, and increasingly
they occupy and influence our relationships. Whether love is played out on the scale of a
movie screen or your smartphone screen, the formula is still the same.
BY CHANDRA STEELE
5
STAGES OF
ONLINE LOVE
FEATURES
MEET CUTE
Even when you meet a love interest in the most
idealized and adorable of ways, it’s difficult to
replicate the flawlessly lit and whirlwind “meet
cute” of a rom-com. In the world of online dating,
an app like Tinder is the substitute for kismet. If it
doesn’t lessen your love for the right person, it
does make for a less lively story. But meeting
digitally can still be sweet.
Denis Lafargue and Elizabeth Wisdom met over
a photo of Crater Lake that Wisdom posted on
Instagram in 2012. “Let’s go move in on the island,”
Lafargue commented, leading to the two
communicating regularly and meeting that
October when Wisdom flew from Texas to New
Orleans. Nine months later, Lafargue popped the
question—and Wisdom accepted.
A Hefe-filtered sunset may not be the same as
a real one, but it can be just as romantic.
Hi.
FIRST DATE
There can be something delicious about butterflies in the stomach when they’re over
a first date. The kind of jitters that are not so welcome are those of performance
anxiety. We’re not talking about the performance of amorous activities here, but
about the possibility that your getting-to-know-you chitchat comes under scrutiny
by an audience far beyond your date.
Tweet-by-tweet transcripts of first dates have been written by casual coffee-shop
observers and even half of dating duos themselves. Comedian Tim Young went to
write at a Starbucks in Baltimore and ended up with comedy gold... from the table
next to him. A couple was on a first date that started out with thumb wrestling and
ended with the guy being upset that his date didn’t pay for his coffee. Maybe avoid
cafés altogether on a first date—cartoonist Joel Watson walked into a Dallas
Starbucks and came out with a 30-tweet-long transcript of a couple’s disastrous
first date that included the line, “You said you don’t see this as a date.”
Should things go (seemingly) well on your first date, there’s the waiting to hear
about a second one. Unlike in the movies, this occurs in agonizing real time. You’re
not brushing your teeth, walking your dog, and grabbing a cup of coffee in a montage
of five minutes before a phone rings. And when you do finally get a text, you can
spend a long time on interpreting the punctuation alone.
Katie Heaney, an editor at BuzzFeed, dissects the meaning of the messages for her
friends in the series “Reading Between the Texts” on The Hairpin. For those who need
a friend like Heaney available to them 24/7, there’s He Texted (hetexted.com), a site
and app that crowdsource texting-related dating conundrums.
EARLY STAGES
You’ve made it past a few dates and you’re
entering that golden time of a new relationship.
(Cue the montage.) You’re so happy to be done
with the game-playing of dating around, but
gamification could just have begun.
Some of the romance is gone from romance
when you can forget about strolling through a
neighborhood to find a new place to have dinner.
What if your date judges you for not having mapped
out all the top-rated Yelp spots nearby? And your
friends might be just as quick to judge your date if
they see from your Foursquare check-in that you’re at
a place they consider subpar.
Of course, your friends aren’t the only ones who can
track your day minute by minute. One of the sweetest
parts of sharing your life with someone is that they’re
the person you tell the little details of your day: that
you went for a walk in the park on your way to work,
the frustrations with a project, what you had for
lunch. Now anyone who follows you on social media
has seen the tweets, Facebook posts, and Instagram
shots that trailed you all day, and that bit of intimacy
between you and your partner is now public.
BREAKUP
Unlike intrepid film lovers, in real life breakups are
frequently permanent. Should your relationship fall
apart, it might haunt you—but so will social media.
Your ex won’t just be in your thoughts and dreams but
also in your news stream. Following them on social
media can hamper your emotional recovery, according
to a study from the U.K.’s Brunel University. Although
participants in the study had fewer negative feelings
about their ex, they had more trouble moving on than
did those who unfriended them on Facebook.
Separating yourself from your former flame
throughout social media can be trickier than the few
words it may have taken to do so in real life. And forget
about those awful times when you come across their
posts about their new partner because a friend of
yours commented on them. But there are ways to
avoid heartache on social media. (See the next page.)
Avoid
Your
Ex On
Social
Media
Although there are
all sorts of rom-com–
prescribed ways to
avoid running into your
ex in real life, steering
clear of them on social
media requires more
finesse and is in many
ways more necessary.
A study out of the
U.K.’s Brunel University
found that emotional
recovery from a
breakup can be
severely stunted from
just remaining
Facebook friends. You
might not want to face
the unpleasantness
that goes along with
unfriending and
unfollowing your ex, but
you also don’t want
your heart to plummet
when you see them
Instagram dreamy
dinners for two or the
day when you see their
relationship status
change. So what can
you do?
FACEBOOK
Facebook is pretty much the worst when it comes to
breakups. You share friends and photos with your ex
and see their status updates not just when they’re
posted but when friends comment on them. You can no
longer hide people in your news feed, but there are
other options. If you use Chrome you can install the
Eternal Sunshine plugin to prevent a person’s status
updates from appearing in your news feed and remove
the person from your chat list. You can avoid having to
sort through your profile to erase your ex by using
KillSwitch (killswitchapp.com), an app that removes
everything tagged with their name from your profile.
KillSwitch can save everything in a folder on Facebook
just in case you get back together.
TWITTER
Former lovebirds can’t be silenced on Twitter itself
unless you unfollow or block them. Use an app like
TweetDeck and you can just mute them, though. Once
you have TweetDeck running, go to the gear icon, select
Settings, then locate the Mute tab, select User, type in
the username of the account, and click Mute.
FOURSQUARE
If you no longer want to follow in your ex’s every
Foursquare footstep, wondering if that check-in is
going to lead to a hookup, just go to your friends list
and select Turn Notifications Off next to their name.
SNAPCHAT
Sending Snapchats to your ex is a definite no-no, but
you might receive some just because they decide to
blast their friends list. You can block them so that you
don’t appear on their list by going to their name,
tapping the gear icon, and clicking Block. You can
always undo the action yourself later on, which you
can’t do if you select Delete.
INSTAGRAM
We’re sorry to say that in the way Instagram preserves
fleeting moments, it does the same with your ex.
Unfollowing them is the only way not to be subject to
their snaps.

REUNION
Being reminded every time you read your
Facebook news stream of the one (or two or
three) who got away can be unbearable. But
such sites have made it easier than ever to
stay in touch, and perhaps even rekindle a
flame, when not that long ago it wasn’t that
difficult for someone who used to be the most
important person in your life to vanish forever.
For as much pain as it can cause, the Internet
has also been the Cupid responsible for many
reunited loves.
Laine Thompson and Lucas Blum met in
high school in Freeport, Illinois, in 1989, but
had trouble maintaining their relationship
when Thompson moved to southern
California, according to the Huffington Post.
They married—and divorced—other people,
but never forgot about each other, and
eventually reconnected on Facebook in 2011.
They met up in Freeport once again, and
sparks flew once again—and today the two
are married.
It was 1978 when Gay Cioffi and Mark
Obenhaus embarked on a three-week fling
in Southampton, bonding while trailing
journalist and screenwriter Nora Ephron.
They lost touch and went on to other
marriages and families, but after Ephron’s
death in 2012 the separated Cioffi was
encouraged by her niece to look up Obenhaus
on Facebook and send him a friend request.
She did, and in a scenario that fits neatly
within the Ephron oeuvre, the two got
together and realized they could no longer live
apart. They married last August.
Romance may no longer be as simple as it
once was, or as slick as a romantic comedy.
But sometimes, even when powered by
ebooks instead of storybooks, there can still
be happy endings.
PC MAGAZINE DIGITAL EDITION
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FEBRUARY 2014
For as much
pain as it can
cause, the
Internet has
also been
the Cupid
responsible
for many
reunited
loves.
FEATURES
FINDING
LOVE
ONLINE
I
f you’re in a relationship, you’ve probably had Valentine’s Day dinner reservations
booked since before New Year’s Eve. If you’re not, you’ve likely been taunted by the
heart-shaped boxes of chocolates in almost every store window on a daily basis.
Remember, though, you’re not the only one without a date for February 14.
If you haven’t looked for love online, it’s time to consider it. With hundreds of dating
websites out there, some paid and some free, picking the right place to start can be
daunting. Our list of the most popular sites will hopefully help you find your match.
BY MEREDITH POPOLO AND ERIC GRIFFITH
MAINSTREAM DATING SITES
For those looking to cast their net
wide in the dating pool, the best bet is
to dive into one of the many
mainstream online dating sites. New
users should migrate to free sites,
such as OkCupid or PlentyOfFish,
before committing to a paid account.
OkCupid.com grants non-paying
users search and messaging with other
non-paying users. Paying “A-List”
users, however, earn extras like ad-
free browsing and advanced fltering
options. The site matches users with a
patent-pending method based on
answers to often cheeky user-
generated questions. OkCupid also
features apps for iOS and Android.
(The service is now owned by IAC,
which also owns Match.com.)
The Canadian-based dating site PlentyOfFish
(pof.com) has a user base that blows the
competition out of the water, claiming 40 million
registered “fsh.” Users baited by sheer numbers
might be able to overlook its primitive interface. If
you’re mobile, POF also offers iOS and
Android apps as well.
More devoted (or desperate) daters
should be willing to pay for online services,
applying the philosophy that subscription-
based sites will flter out spammers and
attract other serious daters. Match.com is
typically the frst site that comes to mind for
online daters testing the waters. It boasts
more than 96 million registered users, but
keep in mind that the number is generally
infated as the number of paid subscribers
with privileges to connect with other users is
signifcantly lower (about 2.8 million as of
December 2012, according to IAC’s annual report).
ON THE OPEN SEA
Mobile apps, like
this one from
PlentyOfFish, let
you take your search
for love anywhere.
Match.com has a free option, but it’s limited. Better to give
the full service a whirl during a free trial period; after that it
costs $34.99 per month ($19.99 per month for three months
or $16.99 per month for six months). It gives users a lot of
freedom over their profles. Match.com also launched a new
service called Stir in 2012, which holds singles events—about
400 a month in 80 markets. And of course, it features
mobile apps for iOS and Android, so you can check your
winks and matches while on the go.
Marketing itself to more marriage-minded daters,
eHarmony.com, on the other hand, is much more
structured, offering guided communication. It begins with a
lengthy 400-question survey that takes about 45 minutes to
complete. The questionnaire is designed to identify
dimensions of compatibility—on eHarmony, you don’t fnd
your match, they fnd one for you. The service also comes
with a serious price tag; subscriptions start at $59.95 per
month, but get lower the longer you stay (or pay for a full
year at $251.40-that’s $20.95 a month). The company’s
newest effort is eH+, a $5,000-per-year option to get an
actual counselor to pick your matches by hand.
In addition, eHarmony has a full suite of mobile apps for
smartphones plus a special version for iPad.
Match.com
has a free
option, but
it’s limited.
Better to
give the full
service a
whirl during
a free trial
period.
(Unlike most other sites, eHarmony has a bit of a
checkered past with the gay community, not catering to
same-sex couples until it was sued into doing so. It
launched a sister-site, CompatiblePartners.com, to
make up for it, but further discrimination lawsuits have
led to a melding of eHarmony and Compatible Partner
subscriptions.)
Sometimes you don’t want to go one-on-one with a
date. In this, the day and age of the “hook-up date,”
those looking for love occasionally like to travel in
packs. That’s where a site like Grouper (joingrouper.
com) comes in, with its “mission to end loneliness.” You
sign up with Facebook and Grouper matches you with
someone, but then you grab two wingmen (or
wingwomen) and the two groups of three hang out.
Grouper even picks the venue for the meeting, and
suggests you prepay for the drinks so everyone has even
more incentive to show up. Nothing is disclosed before
the meeting, so it’s almost like actually going to a bar
randomly. Almost.
GO IN A GROUP
Don’t want to date
on-on-one? Grouper
lets you go out in
groups of six, which
makes dates safer
and lower-pressure.
Other big sites that you might fnd around the world
that have a big user base but not quite the reputation to
go with them: Badoo.com (202 million users but lots of
spam), Zoosk.com (25 million users, but expect it to tie
you up your social networking), and LavaLife.com
(which dates back to 1983!).
RELIGIOUS DATING SITES
Whether it’s due to personal beliefs, cultural
convenience, or traditional parents, some people prefer
to date others of the same religion and many dating
services cater to that choice. JDate.com, a popular site
for those seeking a Jewish mate. About half of its
members live in the United States. The site, which won a
Webby in 2006 for social networking, organizes travel
adventures and local events for its users. Although
members don’t have to be Jewish to join, non-Jews are
asked to indicate whether or not they would be willing to
convert religions.
JDate’s parent company, Spark Networks, also
operates ChristianMingle.com for Christians and
LDSSingles.com for Latter-day Saints (not to mention
BlackSingles.com for African-Americans and
SilverSingles.com for those over 50.)
Muslima.com connects Muslims from all over the
world looking for love. The homepage advertises the
opportunity to meet “thousands of Muslim singles.”
GO BIG OR GO
HOME (ALONE)
Big sites, such
as Badoo.com,
make it easier
to connect with
people, but may
introduce new
problems that
can interfere with
your search for
romance.
HAVE FAITH
JDate is one of a
number of sites
catering exclusively
to specific religions;
its handy mobile
app is shown below.
LIFESTYLE DATING SITES
Much in the way that someone may want to date another of
the same religion, someone may want to date a potential
partner close in age, with a similar relationship history, or
even with mutually understood intentions. Well, in the online
dating world, there are sites for almost every walk of life.
The fastest growing demographic in online dating is singles
55 and older, according to Internet tracking frm Experian
Hitwise. (Singles ages 45 to 54 come in second.) Rather than
hitting bars flled with frat boys, these “more mature” daters
are focking to sites like SeniorPeopleMeet.com and
SilverSingles.com, which keep setup and communication
simple for those who fnd the Internet intimidating.
Sometimes, though, those seniors seek someone younger.
With more than two million members, CougarLife.com and
its associated app help women over 35 fnd younger men.
“Our website makes it easier for them to narrow down their
prey while they are on the prowl,” the site says. At the
opposite end of the spectrum is SugarSugar.com, “where
romance meets fnance.” There, Sugar Babies in search of
some funding can fnd a Sugar Daddy to keep them happy,
though the terms of the arrangements are often blurry.
As if dating isn’t hard enough, try raising kids at the same
time. Owned by the same company as SeniorPeopleMeet,
SingleParentMeet.com hooks up single parents, who often
In the
online
dating
world,
there are
sites for
almost
every walk
of life.
share similar priorities and attitudes when it comes to
dating. Similarly, WidowsOrWidowers.com connects those
who have lost a spouse and helps them build new
romances and friendships.
NICHE DATING SITES
Sometimes merely a common concern for the environment
(GreenSingles.com), a shared passion for moustaches
(StachePassions.com), or a mutual hatred for Ron Paul
(DemocratSingles.com) is enough to spark romance.
Hundreds of sites accommodate such niche markets.
DATING IN
GOOD TASTE
Looking for a
partner who shares
your musical
tastes? Tastebuds.
fm can hook you up.
It’s one of a large
selection of dating
sites aimed for
those with special
interests.
Tastebuds.fm, for example, pairs those who listen to the
same music. “Meatless meet market” VeggieConnection.
com matches those who eat (or eschew) the same foods.
Those who fall hard for geeks might have luck on
BrainiacDating.com. Pet lovers no longer have to choose
between their dogs and their dates if they fnd an equally
enthusiastic owner on MustLovePets.com. Trekkies may
even meet others with whom they can live long and
prosper on TrekPassions.com. If you love to ride horses
(EquestrianCupid.com) or motorcycles (BikerKiss.com),
you can fnd someone else who does, too.
The list goes on and on—Google your passion and the
word “dating” to fnd one that fts.
MOBILE DATING APPS
As we’ve noted, many of the above sites have their own apps that let
you access accounts on a smartphone or tablet. But there’s an entire
ecosystem of mobile apps that are just that: an app alone, bent on
connecting you with a match who may be perfect not just because
of compatibility, but also based on all-important proximity. Here’s
a quick look at apps to consider downloading so you can meet that
special someone, be it for a night or for a lifetime.
Tinder (iOS and Android)
A free app that connects you with other Tinder app users nearby. You like
them, and if they like you back, the app handles the introduction. What
happens next is probably fire. (Get it?)
MOBILE DATING APPS
As we’ve noted, many of the above sites have their own apps that let
you access accounts on a smartphone or tablet. But there’s an entire
ecosystem of mobile apps that are just that: an app alone, bent on
connecting you with a match who may be perfect not just because
of compatibility, but also based on all-important proximity. Here’s
a quick look at apps to consider downloading so you can meet that
special someone, be it for a night or for a lifetime.
HowAboutWe Dating (iOS and Android)
This app actually guarantees you’ll get a date. You describe your dream
night out, view other date ideas, and you’ll soon meet the people whose
mutual date ideas are liked. Upgrade to a paid membership ($8.33 per
month) to send and receive messages.
MOBILE DATING APPS
As we’ve noted, many of the above sites have their own apps that let
you access accounts on a smartphone or tablet. But there’s an entire
ecosystem of mobile apps that are just that: an app alone, bent on
connecting you with a match who may be perfect not just because
of compatibility, but also based on all-important proximity. Here’s
a quick look at apps to consider downloading so you can meet that
special someone, be it for a night or for a lifetime.
AYI—Are You Interested? (iOS and Android)
Supposedly 68 million people have installed this app, so if even a fraction
are using it, your chances of meeting and chatting with someone are
pretty good. Browse photos and interests of local singles to connect with
someone, or let the service behind the app match you up.
MOBILE DATING APPS
As we’ve noted, many of the above sites have their own apps that let
you access accounts on a smartphone or tablet. But there’s an entire
ecosystem of mobile apps that are just that: an app alone, bent on
connecting you with a match who may be perfect not just because
of compatibility, but also based on all-important proximity. Here’s
a quick look at apps to consider downloading so you can meet that
special someone, be it for a night or for a lifetime.
Tingle (iOS)
Tingle knows that it is just a dating app for iPhone users, but it wants to
be so much more: It wants to be a community. Albeit a community of hot
young people meeting up when they’re attracted to each other. You know
you’re found attractive when you get a “wink.”
MOBILE DATING APPS
As we’ve noted, many of the above sites have their own apps that let
you access accounts on a smartphone or tablet. But there’s an entire
ecosystem of mobile apps that are just that: an app alone, bent on
connecting you with a match who may be perfect not just because
of compatibility, but also based on all-important proximity. Here’s
a quick look at apps to consider downloading so you can meet that
special someone, be it for a night or for a lifetime.
Down (iOS and Android)
You probably can guess that an app formerly called “Bang with Friends” is
all about. The gist: Make a list of your sexy friends that you’re interested in
on the app. If they do the same and you’re on the list, you see each other
and then... let nature take its course.
MOBILE DATING APPS
As we’ve noted, many of the above sites have their own apps that let
you access accounts on a smartphone or tablet. But there’s an entire
ecosystem of mobile apps that are just that: an app alone, bent on
connecting you with a match who may be perfect not just because
of compatibility, but also based on all-important proximity. Here’s
a quick look at apps to consider downloading so you can meet that
special someone, be it for a night or for a lifetime.
Grindr (iOS, BlackBerry, and Android)
Gaydar is unreliable so this geosocial networking app helps six million gay,
bisexual, and bi-curious men meet across the globe.
MOBILE DATING APPS
As we’ve noted, many of the above sites have their own apps that let
you access accounts on a smartphone or tablet. But there’s an entire
ecosystem of mobile apps that are just that: an app alone, bent on
connecting you with a match who may be perfect not just because
of compatibility, but also based on all-important proximity. Here’s
a quick look at apps to consider downloading so you can meet that
special someone, be it for a night or for a lifetime.
Blendr (iOS and Android)
Think of this as the straight Grindr, with 180 million users around the world.
That number is so high because this is the app version of Badoo.com.
Still, Blendr has been an Apple featured favorite on iPhone, for its location
awareness that lets you find and flirt with people nearby.
MOBILE DATING APPS
As we’ve noted, many of the above sites have their own apps that let
you access accounts on a smartphone or tablet. But there’s an entire
ecosystem of mobile apps that are just that: an app alone, bent on
connecting you with a match who may be perfect not just because
of compatibility, but also based on all-important proximity. Here’s
a quick look at apps to consider downloading so you can meet that
special someone, be it for a night or for a lifetime.
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Bad Date Rescue (iOS)
eHarmony is all about hooking you up with someone, right? In this case,
it’s giving iPhone users an out with an app that can fake a phone call,
complete with excuses to leave your date at the table before it gets worse.
FEATURES
69DIGITAL
DATING TIPS
O
nline dating once held such stigma that only your therapist and closest, least
judgmental friends knew about your digital escapades—but it doesn’t anymore.
The Pew Research Center’s Internet Project confirmed in October that online
daters are increasingly finding lasting love on the Web. So if you’re dreading another
Valentine’s Day alone, with a half-eaten box of chocolates melting onto the When Harry Met
Sally... DVD case—already stained with tears and specks of Ben & Jerry’s—maybe this is the
year to give online dating a chance. Whether you’re just dipping your toe into the deep end
of digital love, or are wont to listen to Taylor Swift while skimming user profiles, our tips will
help you do everything from compose a winning profile to keep your financial life intact to
find your perfect match. BY STEPHANIE MLOT
SMART
BEGINNINGS
1. Do some research, ask family
and friends, and choose a
reputable dating site.
2. Compare costs among various
dating sites. Some offer free
membership, others require a
monthly or annual fee.
3. Understand what you’re
looking for before signing up.
Do you want a fling or a long-
term relationship?
4. Create a Google Voice or
Skype phone number and
separate email address
exclusively for online dating.
5. Restrict your Facebook,
Twitter, and other social media
profiles to friends-only.
6. Set up a P.O. box address
exclusively for online dating.
7. Download or update your
computer’s antivirus software.
8. Use a unique password for
each site. And research the
company’s password history,
in an attempt to avoid another
eHarmony-like hack.
9. If available, carefully read the
site’s FAQ or safety tips.
10. Try to convince a friend to
sign up as well, for protection
and commiseration.
11. Study martial arts three
times a week for about eight to
ten years.
TAKE IT SLOW
12. Use your Web browser’s
Incognito mode, if it has
one. (If it doesn’t,
download a browser that
supports private surfing.)
13. Set up a dummy account
on free sites so you can look
at someone’s profile
without arousing suspicion.
14. Remain anonymous at
first, until you feel
comfortable with the online
dating process.
15. Once you’ve found your
footing, make sure your
profile is not private, so
other users can see that
you’ve looked at their
profile.
16. Do not share your
location beyond a state or
large city (New York,
Boston, Chicago, etc.).
17. Use the website’s rating
or “liking” system to keep
track of promising users
and to show your interest.
18. Use caution when
accessing your online
profile from a public
computer.
19. Avoid using automatic
logins, even on your home
computer.
20. Remember: Women
subtract 10-20 pounds and
men add 2 inches—to what,
you’ll find out.
FIRST
IMPRESSIONS
21. Be honest. You don’t
want to generate false
expectations before
meeting someone.
22. Remember that you’re
making a first impression—
be your best possible self.
23. Remain consistent
among different dating
sites, but don’t copy and
paste your spiel across
them. Cater your wording
to the site you’re using.
24. Stand out from the
crowd with specific, unique
profile details.
25. Include no fewer than
three photos—the more the
better. Do not post selfies,
but throw in a full-body
(and fully clothed) shot.
It’s scientifically proven!
26. Be classy while showing
some skin in your photos.
27. Do not post photos of
family or friends (especially
without permission). You
don’t want to distract
potential dates.
28. Refresh your profile
with new pictures and life
changes as they occur.
Don’t dwell on your high
school trip to Paris when
you visited Barcelona two
months ago.
CALM YOUR
JITTERS
29. If available, use the dating
site’s instant messaging and email
features instead of handing out
your personal addresses.
30. Beware of unexpected email
attachments, especially those sent
to a personal account (such as
Gmail, Hotmail, and Yahoo).
31. Remain on a first-name basis as
long as possible, but learn his or
her full name before the first date.
32. Search for your date on Google
and Facebook to get a feel for his
or her personality and history.
33. Compare his or her dating
profile to what you find on LinkedIn
and other social media sites.
34. Do not be shy about ordering a
background check on someone
before meeting.
35. Keep work and personal details
separate. Tell your date what you
do, but don’t reveal your office
address or gossip about coworkers.
36. Initially keep social media
postings (such as status updates
and photos) about potential mates
to a minimum. If you tend to
overshare, try to be vague about
your activities and partner.
37. Remember that sarcasm does
not breach written text.
38. Pay attention to what you read
in someone’s profile, and ask
questions based on their interests.
LOOK WHO’S
COMING TO DINNER
39. Meet in person after about the
fourth email—not too quickly, but not
so drawn out that you become bored
with each other.
40. Always meet in public, whether
it’s the first or eighth date.
41. Share a profile picture of your date
with family and friends, or, if possible,
discreetly snap a photo to share in
case of emergency.
42. Take your own transportation.
Do not be dependent on your date
to drive you.
SAFETY FIRST
43. Use a condom.
44. Block and immediately report
verbally and/or physically abusive
users.
45. Never provide bank account
information or agree to lend someone
money.
46. Be cautious if someone claims to
live locally but is currently out of the
country.
47. Completely cut off communi-
cations if you feel uncomfortable.
HONEYMOON’S OVER
48. Never break up electronically.
Always dump someone in person, or in
a phone conversation, if necessary.
49. If you’re feeling jaded or burned
out by online dating, take a break.
Jump back in after a month or two in
the real world.
GENERAL
DATING DOS
50. Proofread your profile and
every email. It could take just one
embarrassing spelling error to
turn off the perfect mate.
51. Keep expectations low. Online
sparks do not always mean real-
life fireworks.
52. Avoid talking about your
financial status, exes, or baby-
crazy mindset until at least date
number six.
53. If you’ve hit a dry spell, refresh
your account settings—change
the distance you’re willing to
travel, update photos, and rethink
your position on pets or a future
family—to find new matches.
54. Expand your horizons: Do not
dismiss someone just because
you don’t immediately jibe with
their personality, hobbies,
location, etc.
55. Be adventurous and date
outside of your “usual type.”
56. Play the field; don’t pin all your
hopes on just one potential online
match.
57. Grow thick skin. Do not be
offended by rejection.
58. Treat e-dating opportunities
and relationships like any others:
Just because you met online
doesn’t mean you shouldn’t
respect each other.
59. Be persistent, but not overly
stalker-y. Remember: You get out
of this what you put in it.
GENERAL
DATING DON’TS
60. Don’t assume online dating
is just for losers who can’t meet
people on their own.
61. Don’t treat online dating like
speed dating. Slow down and
get to know someone.
62. Don’t use text-speak in your
profile or messages. Write in full,
grammatically correct
sentences.
63. Don’t get too cozy too
quickly on social media with a
date’s family or friends.
64. Don’t swap Snapchat
usernames (or racy photos) too
quickly.
65. Don’t visit online dating
sites while drunk or otherwise
not fully in control of your
faculties.
66. Don’t over-text or use email
as a substitute for going on
actual dates.
67. Don’t be afraid to ask for
clarification about a comment
in their profile or an email
correspondence. Better to
understand their intentions now
than regret something later.
68. Don’t get discouraged if you
don’t immediately find Mr. or
Miss Right.
69. Don’t assume that you will
meet your future spouse. Just
enjoy meeting new people and
going on dates.
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Digital
Lif
e
GET
ORGANIZED
Scan Your Old Photos
SHOPPING
10 Ways To Do
Valentine’s Day
Digitally
APPSCOUT
Our Favorite Apps
For February
S
hoeboxes full of old photos may hold your family’s history and
memories, but they’re diffcult to preserve, share, organize, and back
up. Digitized photos are much safer than physical ones because you can
easily reorganize them, back them up, and create multiple copies, and they’re
certainly easier to share—but digitizing print photos takes a good amount of
time and effort. Break down the task and apply a few simple tricks, however,
and the process will be much easier and quicker. Here are some tips for
scanning and editing your old photos.
Scan Your Old Photos
If you have boxes of old photos that you’d like to
digitize, here’s how to manage the project and do
it right—so your memories will last a lifetime.
BY JILL DUFFY
GET ORGANIZED
DIGITAL LIFE
BREAK DOWN THE PROJECT
Take inventory of the photos you want to scan. If you
have more than a few dozen, you’ll want to divide the
project into sessions. Decide which photos you want
scanned frst (maybe you have a deadline for a party
project), and then separate the photos into piles that
you’ll work through.
You can scan one image at a time, or multiple images
by laying them onto the scanner bed with about a
quarter-inch space separating them. If you scan
multiple images at once, you’ll have to crop them later
into individual fles.
Remember the
first time
you scan in
photos will be
the worst,
slowest
experience,
and that it will
get better.
KEEP TECHNICAL NOTES
As you start your scanning, keep detailed notes about the settings and tricks
that work for you so you can improve the process as you go.
The most diffcult part of this whole project is mastering the software that
comes with your scanner, which varies depending on what kind of equipment
you have and which operating system your computer is running. Remember the
frst time you scan in photos will be the worst, slowest experience, and that it
will get better.
If long periods of time go by when you don’t scan photos, you’ll likely forget
what you did that fnally made everything come out to your liking the last time.
If you stick to a daily scanning schedule, say, scanning ten images every day
until the project is done, you’ll probably feel like a master by day three and
won’t need notes.
USE A SCANNER, NOT YOUR SMARTPHONE
For quickly sharing old print photos, maybe you snap an image with your
smartphone and post it to Facebook. That’s fne in a pinch, but it’s not the way
to get good quality photos that you can save for life and use in other projects.
You really need a scanner.
If you don’t already have a multifunction printer (MFP), I would recommend
investing a few hundred bucks in one because you’ll probably use it. You can
keep costs down by buying only a scanner, but I think most households would
use the other functions of an MFP anyway, so one is worth owning.
CLEAN THE SCANNER BED
Wipe off your scanner bed with a clean, dry cloth. If it has smudges, start with a
slightly damp cloth and use it to clean the glass only. If that doesn’t work, put
the smallest amount of white vinegar onto the cloth, and try wiping it again. Let
it dry completely before putting anything on it. Then, wipe the scanner every so
often with a dry cloth between scanning sessions to keep it clean.
GENTLY WIPE PHOTOS
Although most touch-up work can be done later in an editing program, you
should gently wipe dust off of old photos before scanning them. Use a dust-free
lens-wiping cloth, like the kind that comes with eyeglasses. Don’t use paper
towels or tissues, as they can deposit particles on your images. And defnitely
don’t use water or any cleaning fuids.
4 5
DON’T FLATTEN CREASES
If your photos have physical creases, don’t try to iron
them out, as doing so will only cause more damage to
the images. Gently lay the creased photo fat and scan it
as best as you can. You can edit out the creases later, or
send the physical photos to a service that can do it for
you if you’re not adept at photo editing. (More on that
in a moment.)
SCAN MOSTLY IN COLOR
You’ll want to scan most photos in color, not black and
white or gray scale. Sepia photos need the full color
setting enabled on your scanning program. Black-and-
white images will be fne with the color setting, too,
unless they have been damaged by something topical,
such as ink or tape. In those kinds of instances, a
grayscale scan may actually make it easier to edit the
images and remove the marks later.
RESOLUTION AND FILE FORMAT
The resolution and fle format you choose will depend
on what you plan to do with the photos. If you’re not
sure, go higher rather than lower.
Scanning at 600dpi to TIFF is ideal for creating
archives. You can save space by scaling down to 300dpi
and your images will still look sharp, but that resolution
might not be suffcient if you intend to enlarge your
photos later, say to make a photo wall calendar or print
them on a large canvas.
If you’re only sharing your photos online, 200dpi
JPEGs are best, but I wouldn’t recommend scanning in
photos at that quality. What if you decide later that you
want to use your images for another project? You’d have
to scan them all over again at a higher resolution. On
the other hand, once photos are scanned in at a decent
resolution, downsampling them (decreasing the
resolution and saving a new copy of the lower-quality
image, probably as a JPEG) is easy enough.
NEED A
SCANNER?
If you don’t have a
scanner or MFP, here are
our recommendations.
Portable Scanner
Flip-Pal
$149.99
The Flip-Pal mobile
scanner offers an
innovative design with
PC-free scanning, a 4-by-6
flatbed, and a removable
lid so you can easily scan
things too large to
otherwise fit.
Home Scanner
Epson Perfection V550
$199.99
One of the most
impressive scanners you
can find for the price, the
Epson Perfection V550
delivers fast, high-quality
scans and plenty of useful
built-in editing features.


Multifunction Printer
Canon Pixma MG8220
$299.99
The Canon Pixma MG8220
is both a high-end wireless
MFP and a photo lab, as
capable of printing photos
from 35mm slides and
film, PictBridge Cameras,
USB keys, and memory
cards as it is scanning
physical photos.
CROPPING AND STRAIGHTENING
If you do no other editing on your photos, be sure to crop and straighten
them! Cropping and straightening are the two things you will most
likely need to fx on photos that are scanned manually, and both
processes are among the easiest you can perform.
ADJUSTING FOR COLOR, RED EYE, AND CREASES;
AND ADDITIONAL EDITING
To edit your photos further to adjust color, hide ugly marks, remove red-eye,
and so forth, use an image editing program, such as Adobe Photoshop. Free
alternatives, such as Photo Gallery for Windows and iPhoto for Mac, don’t have
huge tool sets for editing, but they have the basics and will work just fne for
anyone who either doesn’t have Photoshop or doesn’t know it inside and out.
Editing out physical creases on photos takes extreme skill and care. If you
know your way around Photoshop, try the clone stamp tool. If you don’t, get
help. You can always make an initial scanned copy of your creased photos for
safekeeping and then send them to a service, such as DigMyPics, ScanCafe, or
ScanMyPhotos, to scan and touch them up for you. Prices for these services add
up fast, however, so the more you’re able to do yourself, the better it will be on
your wallet.
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W
hatever the status of your relationship, your length of commitment
as a couple, or your fnancial situation, you’re likely feeling the
pressure to give your signifcant other the “right” gift for
Valentine’s Day. Flowers, cards, and candy may have cut it in years past, but
the Internet has drastically increased expectations of creativity and originality.
So instead of opting for avoidance or settling with outdated gifts, you can
elevate your standards—and perhaps your relationship—by fnding gifts you’re
actually excited to give. This year the best way to give a sure-to-be-loved
Valentine’s Day gift is to explore romantically themed websites and apps that
help you give the things your partner will love—and keep you out of doghouse.
10 Ways To Do Valentine’s
Day Digitally
Shopping sites, apps, and box-of the month clubs provide
modern-day ways to find and give Valentine’s Day gifts
your significant other is sure to love. BY KARA KAMENEC
SHOPPING
DIGITAL LIFE
Red Envelope
A staple for birthdays, holidays and other celebrations, RedEnvelope.com is devoted to
providing classically themed gifts for every occasion. The 15-year-old company offers a
full range of gifts that come delivered in large red signature boxes. Many on-site gifts
have heartwarming background stories, which are printed and shipped along with the
gift to make for an exceptionally genuine gifting experience. Different monogram and
personalization options are available for a variety of gifts on Red Envelope, and all gifts
come with a personal gift card enclosed in—what else?—a red envelope.
GiftTree
If you’re looking for something more traditional but with a tasteful spin, check out
GiftTree.com. The site features a full selection of romantic gift baskets, bouquets,
balloons, and more. Most gifts have monogramming and other personalization options
availabl,e and earliest delivery dates are clearly noted beside every item. You can sort by
best sellers and price, and further refine your selection by dragging a price slider.
GiftTree makes it easy to find, buy, and ship more elegant versions of traditional
romantic gifts such as a personalized wine crate or classic bouquet of red roses.
FindGift
FindGift.com is a curated collection of the best gifts from around the Web. From the
Valentine’s Day gift section you can browse options by recipient (Boyfriend, Girlfriend,
Husband, Wife, and Friend), then further sort results by Price Range, Category, and Gift
Type (Unusual, Trendy, Humorous, and so on). Each gift page provides a picture, price,
description, seller, options for saving and sharing the gift, and a More Details button
that directs you off-site to the actual product page. Although you do not purchase
directly from FindGift.com, the site is an excellent resource for discovering products and
creating gift lists.
Bond
Digitally handwritten letters aren’t a thing of the future—they’re already here. Gift site,
app, and love letter–transcribing company Bond (BondGifts.com) transforms romantic
text from digital to handwritten with cutting-edge technology. Text can be submitted
from a desktop computer or iPhone using the Bond iOS App. Notes are written on paper
with calligraphy-type handwriting using a ballpoint pen and prior to mailing are sealed
with a wax stamp. Pricing for notes starts at $5, including mailing costs, for up to 225
characters. The specialty gift site also features midrange-priced specialty gifts sorted
by price and organized by category, such as The Professional, Downtown, and Finds
Under $50.
Giftly
As the modern alterative to a gift card or daily deal voucher, Giftly.com is the foremost
way to give intrinsically customizable gifts without limiting the recipient to a specific
place, item, or service. With Giftly, you essentially give money toward a gift with a
suggestion of what the recipient might like. To make it more specific you can select
either the service or product to give, or the venue at which to redeem the gift. If you
choose to suggest an item or service, you can select from more than 15 categories such
as Hipster, Clothes for Him, or Get Fresh, and find second-level categories as detailed as
Tattoo, Bling, Mani-Pedi, and more. Gifts can be digitally sent via email or text, mailed to
yourself or the recipient via USPS, or downloaded for print as a PDF.
SnapFish
When it comes to personalizing virtually any object with photographs, look no further
than SnapFish.com. The photo service specializes in custom gifts such as photo
calendars and cards, and its website features more than 100 customizable photo gifts
and free, easy-to-use editing tools. Upload photos from a scanner or mobile phone, or
have a friend send a photo that you can you can share in private group rooms. For
Valentine’s Day, choose from more than 600 customizable holiday-themed cards or
create photo gifts of all shapes and sizes ranging from sterling silver necklaces to pillows
and stuffed animals.
BoldLoft
The couples-focused BoldLoft.com features a unique collection of specialty gift lines
crafted to suit any romantic gift occasion. BoldLoft products come in sets of two,
featuring a male and female stick figure couple, and are organized in different series
such as Boy Meets Girl, Love a Lot, Giggly & Wiggly, Love Element, F.A.M.I.L.Y, Bundles of
Love, and Love Zodiac. Users shop products by Series; Gift Ideas, such as Gift for Him,
Gifts for Her, and Long Distance; and Categories, such as body pillowcases and couple
T-shirts. Gifts are further associated with romantic product brands such as You’re
Irresistible, Love Has No Distance, My Heart Beats for You, and Love You Madly.
HowAboutWe... For Couples
HowAboutWe... For Couples (couples.howaboutwe.com) is a unique romantic website
that functions as an “Offline Dating Site” for singles and a collection of date experiences
for couples to purchase. Although you don’t have to be a member to join, dates are
available to members at discounts of up to 75 percent. Each date is displayed similar to
a daily deal product and has a set expiration date. Deal pages feature customized
description sections, as well as agenda details such as time, address, and map, and
buying details including retail price, deal price, and the option to book the date. In the
DateBook browse available dates sorted by Newest, Most Popular, and Last Chance. For
Valentine’s Day, you can book an individual date, or give gift membership packages
consisting of three-, six-, or 12-month subscriptions. HowAboutWe... Dates is currently
available in Chicago, New York, San Francisco, and Seattle.
Romantic Gift of the Month Clubs
For the perfect way to show you really do see a future with your significant other,
explore gifting romantically themed box-of-the-month-club subscription gifts.
SpicySubscriptions (thefantasybox.com) offers three subscription tiers, each delivering
one box per month. Déjàmor (dejamor.com) has a standard gift-a-month subscription
service delivering two boxes each month: one for him and one for her. Unbound
(unboundbox.com) delivers a couples box every three months with single-use and
sample products designed with the goal of “helping you try something new.” BlushBox
(blushbox.com) is a female-specific gift-of-the-season club that delivers four annual
boxes that combine the sensual and sultry with the fashionable, and contain beauty
products, bedroom accessories, and intimates to make women feel sexy.
Couples Apps
Give the gift of constant connectivity by setting up and gifting a couples app. These
made-for-two social apps essentially construct a personal app and digital space for you
and your significant other. Some of the most popular apps for couples include Couple
(couple.me), Simply Us (simplyus.com), Avocado (avocado.io), and the Korea-
originated Between (between.us). These apps let you privately share messages,
pictures, calendars, lists, and more. Some have unique additional features that help you
connect with your loved one like never before. Couple has a Thumbkiss feature; Avocado
lets you digitally send hugs and kisses. Nowadays one of the best ways to show you
want to share your life with someone else may be to create a private digital space
exclusively for just the two of you.
PC MAGAZINE DIGITAL EDITION
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Our Favorite Apps
iPad Android Multi-platform Android, iOS
APPSCOUT
DIGITAL LIFE
EarthViewer
l l l l h
EDITORS’
CHOICE
EarthViewer is an informative and fun way to learn about our planet’s “deep
history.” Geared to science teachers and students, it covers 4.5 billion years of
geological and atmospheric information. Cool animations let you watch the
continents drift on a virtual globe. The app shows changes to the planet’s
temperature, oxygen, and carbon dioxide levels, the length of the day, and the
Sun’s luminosity, from the earliest eons through modern times. Anyone with an
interest in the Earth sciences has no reason not to download EarthViewer.
Free
Our Favorite Apps
iPad Android Multi-platform Android, iOS
APPSCOUT
DIGITAL LIFE
IP Network Calculator
l l l l m
Whether you’re a networking expert in need of every bit of information about a network or
you’re just learning the craft, IP Network Calculator can help. It lets you determine IP
addresses, subnets, and lots of other information, all from your Android device. Easily
customizable, with the capability to copy and paste information in a number of formats, IP
Network Calculator has only one drawback at present: It works only with IPv4 networks,
though IPv6 support is reportedly coming soon.
Free
Our Favorite Apps
iPad Android Multi-platform Android, iOS
APPSCOUT
DIGITAL LIFE
Mint
l l l l h
EDITORS’
CHOICE
If you don’t have a Mint.com account, you’re missing out on the best personal
finance tool on the market. Mint tracks your spending, lets you set up budgets in
different categories, and helps you plan your financial future. The mobile app lets
you keep tabs on your cash when you’re on the go, putting data for all your
financial account balances and transactions in one place. Mint takes time and
patience to fully customize, and some features are available only on the Web, but
there’s no better way to keep an eye on your money.
Free
Our Favorite Apps
iPad Android Multi-platform Android, iOS
APPSCOUT
DIGITAL LIFE
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Ridiculous Fishing
l l l l h
EDITORS’
CHOICE
Load your gun—it’s time to go fishing. This game starts off innocently enough: You
lower your fishhook over the side of a small, retro-pixelated boat and try to snag as
many of the best fish as you can. But once your hook is out of the water again, the
fish are flung into the air and you must tap the screen furiously to shoot them with
the firearm of your choice, blasting them to the clouds, moon, and eventually the
stars. (Trust us, it makes sense when you play.) Loaded with fun visual and
musical style, Ridiculous Fishing both lives up to its name and delivers serious, addictive fun.
$2.99
T
o me it was always a forgone conclusion
that so-called net neutrality would not last
for very long. Like a Valentine’s Day idea
of romance, it’s unrealistic.
Besides being a vague idea, net neutrality would
only beneft the bandwidth-hog sites such as
Netfix and others that offer movie downloading
and streaming.
Now an appeals court has ruled that the whole
net neutrality idea is bogus and threw it out.
According to The Wall Street Journal, this “raises
the prospect that bandwidth-hungry websites like
Netfix Inc. might have to pay tolls to ensure
quality service.”
They got the story right, but the concept of
“tolls” paid by Netfix is highly unlikely for at least
two good reasons.
The idea of net neutrality was simple: All sites
big and small were to be treated equally by the
transport companies. Once upon a time there were
thousands of little independent ISPs that would
have been defned as transport companies. Now it
has boiled down to a handful of monster
companies such as Verizon, AT&T, and Comcast,
plus a few small fry found in local markets.
The thinking goes that these big companies in
particular are looking for ways to make extra
profts. Most of them sell TV services over the
same wires they use to provide Internet service. So
why would any of them want Netfix on their
systems stealing their business? These folks think
that Netfix should pay a tax if it wants to compete
this way.
The Romance
Of Net
Neutrality Is
Over
JOHN C. DVORAK
LAST WORD
Thus Netfix gets throttled in such a way that the
only way you will be able to see a Netfix movie is
via the old-fashioned download-and-play
mechanism—which means waiting and waiting.
Netfix and the other services bank on streaming
on demand. That’s what people want and use. Why
should any of the big cable companies put up with
this? Netfix is going to have to pony up some
dough to allow this in the future, right?
Yes, but only if these companies have the guts to
risk racketeering charges for extortion.
That’s where things get dicey. And that’s the
direction I’d take this debate: racketeering.
As far as I can tell, this sort of thing—selective
throttling resolved by a “fee”—seems to be in
violation of the Racketeer Infuenced and Corrupt
Organizations Act (RICO) if these companies
persist in gouging Netfix or any of the other
streaming operations.
This is pretty obviously not going to happen,
because Netfix, Amazon, and others have huge
coffers and teams of lawyers to make the transport
companies miserable, if not subject to racketeering
laws. Thus it won’t happen that way.
Instead, these companies will be going after the
end user so it would be impossible to be indicted
for anything. It works differently and you should
expect it. End users will have to pay extra for the
special Quality of Service (QOS) services that will
allow for high-bandwidth streaming. It will start at
$10 per month more than you’re already paying,
then shoot up to some ridiculous fee for 4K
streaming support.
It is so obvious that this is where the gouge will
be targeted: the customers. There will be no direct
throttling of Netfix streaming; instead, all
streaming will be treated differently when it is
observed appearing at the various nodes. I would
Companies will
be going after
the end user
so it would be
impossible to
be indicted
for anything.
suspect that this will apply to YouTube and
podcasts too.
Yes, they will still kind of work, but not when it
is a two-hour movie. You’ll need the special QOS
package for $10 more a month.
There are various ways of making this work for
the big providers. I look at my data plan from
T-Mobile. It’s one of the cheapie programs and the
data is technically unlimited, but once it goes past
a certain usage ceiling it switches the connection
from 4G to 3G.
I can see a similar tactic happening at the ISP
level. I can watch a Netfix movie once a month
before I hit the limit and the movie becomes
unwatchable unless I pay a fee. All while The Wall
Street Journal and others worry that poor Netfix
will have to pay a fee, which never happens.
It always falls to the public to pay the fee and not
by paying more to Netfix, which is what would
happen if Netfix had to pay a toll. No, the fee will
be taken from the customer and go straight to the
ISPs, cutting out the middleman. You watch.
[email protected]
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This is where
the gouge will
be targeted:
the customers.
There will
be no direct
throttling
of Netflix
streaming.
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF, PC MAGAZINE NETWORK Dan Costa
CREATIVE DIRECTOR, ZIFF DAVIS Cynthia Passanante
MANAGING EDITOR, DIGITAL EDITIONS Matthew Murray
SENIOR DESIGNER Jackie Smith
SENIOR PRODUCER Mark Lamorgese
NEWS & FEATURES
EXECUTIVE EDITOR Chloe Albanesius
FEATURES EDITOR Eric Griffith
SENIOR FEATURES WRITER Chandra Steele
REPORTERS Stephanie Mlot, Angela Moscaritolo, Damon Poeter
PC LABS
EXECUTIVE EDITOR, REVIEWS Wendy Sheehan Donnell
MANAGING EDITORS Sean Carroll (software, security, Internet, business, networking),
Laarni Almendrala Ragaza (hardware)
LEAD ANALYSTS Jamie Lendino (consumer electronics), Samara Lynn (networking),
Michael Muchmore (software), Neil J. Rubenking (security), Joel Santo Domingo (desktops, laptops),
Sascha Segan (mobile), M. David Stone (printers, scanners)
SENIOR ANALYST, DIGITAL CAMERAS Jim Fisher
ANALYSTS Jill Duffy (software, Internet, networking), Will Greenwald (consumer electronics),
Tony Hoffman (printers, scanners), Eugene Kim (mobile), Brian Westover (hardware),
Jeff Wilson (software, Internet, networking)
JUNIOR ANALYSTS Patrick Austin (consumer electronics), Max Eddy (software, Internet, networking)
INVENTORY CONTROL COORDINATOR Nicole Graham
ART, MEDIA & PRODUCTION
SENIOR PROJECT MANAGER Yun-San Tsai
PRODUCERS Gina Latessa, Whitney Reynolds
COMMERCE PRODUCER Arielle Rochette
DESIGNER James Jacobsen
STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER Eddie Schneckloth
VIDEO PRODUCER Chris Snyder
CONTRIBUTING EDITORS
Tim Bajarin, John R. Delaney, John C. Dvorak, Tim Gideon, Bill Howard, Edward Mendelson,
Meredith Popolo, Fahmida Y. Rashid
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EDITORIAL
MASTHEAD
CORPORATE
MASTHEAD
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ZIFF DAVIS INC.
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GENERAL COUNSEL Stephen Hicks
VICE PRESIDENTS Frank Bilich (Sales, PCMag Digital Group), Jason Haddad (sales
development), Diane Malanowski (human resources), Archie Rosenblum (technology),
Jason Steele (commerce)
THE INDEPENDENT GUIDE PC Magazine is the Independent Guide to Technology. Our mission is
to test and review computer- and Internet-related products and services and report fairly and objectively on the
results. Our editors do not invest in firms whose products or services we review, nor do we accept travel tickets or
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HOW TO CONTACT EDITORS We welcome comments from readers. Send your comments to [email protected]
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