Samsung Central Station (SyncMaster C23A750X)

The Samsung Central Station SyncMaster C23A750X ($449.9 list) is not your typical 23-inch monitor. In addition to the usual HDMI and VGA inputs, it offers docking station capabilities with multiple USB ports, a wired Ethernet port, and an audio output. Better yet, your laptop can connect wirelessly via a tiny USB dongle. You'll pay a premium for all this connectivity, however, and although the Central Station delivers good color and viewing angle performance, it has trouble accurately reproducing dark and light shades in the grayscale.

Design and Features
The Central Station uses a 23-inch TN+ panel with a 1,920-by-1,080 resolution and a non-reflective matte anti-glare coating. The screen is framed by thin (0.75-inch) piano black bezels with clear trim and sits in a razor-thin (0.70-inch) black cabinet. A SyncMaster logo is affixed to the upper left side bezel. You won't find any buttons or inputs on the panel cabinet; instead, everything is contained on the base. The panel is attached to a wide curved support arm with a dual hinge mechanism that provides height and tilt maneuverability, so you can adjust the screen for the most comfortable viewing position. The curved piano black base is 9.2-inches deep and sports the Samsung logo on its front edge.

Connectivity options abound. On the left side are two USB 3.0 ports, an HDMI video input, and an audio output jack for headphones or an external speaker system (the Central Station does not have embedded speakers). Over on the right side are two USB 2.0 ports, and the rear of the base holds VGA and Ethernet ports, a PC USB input, and the power jack. For viewing HD video and obtaining the best all-around picture quality, you'll want to connect to the monitor via the HDMI port, but you can also connect using the VGA port or one of the USB ports. What's more, you can use the USB 3.0 ports to charge your USB devices.

The monitor also comes with a small USB dongle for your laptop that allows you to wirelessly connect to the Central Station. With the dongle and drivers installed on your system all you have to do is walk within five feet of the monitor and the base will recognize the laptop and a connection is made. I managed to stay connected from up to ten feet away, but Samsung suggests a range of no more than five feet. You won't get the best video quality via wireless USB and there's a noticeable lag, but it's fine for everyday office tasks. As an added bonus you can connect to the internet wirelessly via the USB dongle as long as you have a wired connection to the base's Ethernet port. Lastly, the base can be used as a four port USB hub to connect to a variety of peripherals.

On top of the base are a series of touch sensitive buttons used to navigate the on-screen display, adjust volume and brightness, and select an input. The Menu button that takes you into the Picture settings menu where you can access the Samsung Magic presets, including Magic Angle, Magic Bright, and Magic Color. Magic Angle cranks up the brightness and contrast to accommodate five different viewing scenarios such as leaning back, standing, side mode, and group view. Activating any of these modes significantly changes the image quality for the worst. Viewing angles are actually pretty good without having to enable this feature, so I'd suggest leaving this feature off. Magic Bright changes the brightness for specific viewing apps including Standard, Game, Cinema, and Dynamic Contrast. The Standard mode offers the best overall image quality for everyday viewing and the Cinema mode works well in dim lighting. The Magic Color feature can be set to Full (enhanced skin tones), Intelligent (more vivid colors), Demo (split screen comparison), or you can turn it off. Other picture settings include brightness, contrast, sharpness, and tint. You can also tweak red, green, and blue color values, set tone and gamma levels, and adjust the HDMI black level to obtain darker blacks while using an HDMI signal. The Hub button that takes you into a separate menu system where you can enable/disable the wireless USB feature and view the connection status for the hub, including the USB, VGA, HDMI, and USB super charging ports. This screen also shows you the wireless ID for the Central Station.

In addition to a three year parts, labor, and backlight warranty, the Central Station comes with a driver/user guide CD, a PC to dock USB cable, and the wireless USB dongle.

Performance
As noted above the Central Station delivers good off-angle viewing without having to enable the Magic Angle feature. There's some slight color shifting when viewed from an extreme side angle, but the effect is minimal. The panel did a god job of displaying uniform colors on the DisplayMate Color Scales test and delivered sharp image detail and vibrant colors while playing the BBC's Planet Earth on Blu-ray. Small text from the Scaled Fonts test was well defined and completely legible. The monitor was unable to display every swatch from the 64-Step Grayscale test, however. The darkest shades of gray appeared black and the lightest shades of grays were whitewashed. As such, the Central Station is not well suited for professional-grade photo editing or any application where grayscale accuracy is vital.

As is usually the case with edge-lit LED backlighting there's minor backlight seepage along the top and side edges of the panel. Chances are you won't notice it during regular use, but it's apparent when the majority of the screen is displaying black.

The monitor's Eco Saving feature lets you reduce power consumption by 50 or 75 percent, but in doing so the screen image becomes way too dim. With Eco Saving disabled the monitor used 32-watts of power during my testing, which is twice the amount used by the 24-inch Lenovo LS2421p ($219.99 direct, 4 stars) (16-watts), but much less than the 24-inch HP LA2405wg ($379 direct, 3.5 stars) (41-watts). You mileage will vary depending on how many USB devices are hooked up and drawing power.

The Samsung Central Station SyncMaster C23A750X may cost more than the average 23-inch monitor, but that's because it functions as a docking station with a slew of connectivity options. Not only do you get solid color, text, and viewing angle performance from this versatile monitor but you can connect wirelessly to keep cable clutter to a minimum. Its grayscale performance and backlight issues notwithstanding, the Central Station is a good fit for mobile users seeking a quality HD display, a wireless docking station, and a USB hub all rolled in to one space-saving package.

COMPARISON TABLE
Compare the Samsung Central Station (SyncMaster C23A750X) with several other monitors side by side.

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Starbucks, Tata to open 50 Indian stores this year (AP)

MUMBAI, India ? Starbucks aims to open 50 outlets in India by year's end, through a 50-50 joint venture with Tata Global Beverages, the companies said Monday.

Tata Starbucks Ltd., as their venture is known, hopes to capitalize on the rising aspirations ? and fattening wallets ? of many Indians, who are eager to partake of the global latte life.

"What we are seeing is an evolution in lifestyles," said R.K. Krishnakumar, vice chairman of Tata Global Beverages. "In some ways the distinctions between the developed world and the developing world are blurring."

He said the partners would initially invest 4 billion rupees ($80 million), with the first outlet to open in Mumbai or New Delhi by September.

Long known as a nation of tea drinkers ? despite a rich tradition of coffee in the south ? India has embraced coffee house culture with a vengeance.

Last year, India had 1,600 cafes, up from just 700 in 2007, according to Technopak Advisors, which expects India's $170 million cafe market to grow 30 percent a year, adding up to 2,700 more outlets over the next five years.

"We're going to move as fast as possible in opening as many stores as we can so long as we are successful and so long as we are embraced by the Indian consumers," said John Culver, president of Starbucks China and Asia Pacific.

Unusually, the stores will be cobranded "Starbucks Coffee: A Tata Alliance."

The companies will also develop a tea for the Indian market under the Tata Tazo brand.

Last January, Starbucks signed an agreement with Tata Coffee, a unit of Tata Global Beverages, to source and roast coffee beans in India.

The alliance with Tata could help ease one of the main burdens for retailers in India: the high cost of real estate.

Krishnakumar said the joint venture would open outlets at properties owned by group companies, for example at the Taj chain of luxury hotels.

Culver said the company would also look at opening outlets in shopping malls, office parks, universities, airports and train stations.

The alliance will also help Tata Global Beverages expand its international footprint. All coffee beans for the cafes in India will be sourced from Tata Coffee, which also hopes to ramp up exports to regional Starbucks outlets, Krishnakumar said. He said other Tata Beverage brands, like Himalayan water, should also find their way into Starbucks outlets globally.

Culver said Starbucks did not consider trying to go it alone in India, despite the government's recent decision to allow foreign companies to operate single-brand retail outlets without a local partner. A storm of populist fury forced New Delhi to pull back a parallel proposal that would have allowed multi-brand retailers, like Wal-Mart, to open retail outlets with local partners.

"We never considered 51 percent," Culver said. "When we looked at the opportunity to enter India, understanding the complexities of the market and the uniqueness that is India, we wanted to find a local business partner."

Starbucks currently operates over 17,000 stores in 57 countries.

Its India venture will face competition from existing players like Cafe Coffee Day, which dominates the market.

Technopak founder Arvind Singhal said India's flourishing cafe culture has less to do with coffee than a social need for clean, safe gathering places for young and old alike, who often live in cramped quarters.

"India doesn't have too many places for people of any age to just go out," he said. "It's not about a coffee culture. It's a gathering place where people can sit and meet."

He added that Starbucks' entry, however much delayed, is likely to fan competition and speed the proliferation of coffee shops. It could also help boost flagging investor confidence in India. "It's almost like an endorsement that India's still a good story," he said.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/asia/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120130/ap_on_bi_ge/as_india_starbucks

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Cars circle central Moscow in anti-Putin protest (AP)

MOSCOW ? Thousands of cars flying white ribbons or balloons circled central Moscow on Sunday in a show of protest against Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin.

The cars ? ranging from luxury sedans and sporty convertibles to old, exhaust-spewing Soviet models ? jammed the inner lanes all along the 16-kilometer (nearly 10-mile) Garden Ring, which has as many as 16 lanes of traffic at its widest points.

More protesters stood along the side of the road waving white ribbons and flags as the vehicles passed, their horns blaring. White ribbons became an opposition symbol during protests that broke out after a fraud-tainted Dec. 4 parliamentary election won by Putin's party.

Tens of thousands turned out for two protest rallies last month to demand free and fair elections, and protest organizers are now preparing for a third big demonstration Feb. 4.

Putin is running in a March 4 presidential election to reclaim the post he held from 2000 to 2008. He is expected to win, but is under pressure to show he can win fairly.

Sunday's action was aimed at helping to build momentum for the protest movement and it provided another outlet for the creativity that has been a defining feature of the demonstrations.

While most drivers were content to tie white ribbons and balloons to their cars' antennas, sideview mirrors and door handles, some decorated their vehicles with original signs and banners.

Opposition leader Alexei Navalny said the traveling protest action was a "wonderful advertisement" for the Feb. 4 rally.

The protest movement has been driven by young professionals, cultural figures and other members of the urban middle class, many of them connected through online social networks.

Kremlin supporters have begun to try to counter their activism by organizing rallies by blue-collar workers in support of Putin and the stability he promises. The first rally was held Saturday in Yekaterinburg, the capital of an industrial region in the Ural Mountains east of Moscow.

Videos of the rally posted online showed one speaker, a member of Russia's parliament, trying to get the crowd of several thousand to shout "Ural, Russia, Putin!" The response was muted.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/russia/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120129/ap_on_re_eu/eu_russia_opposition

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