The energy efficiency of an AC depends on two factors: Cooling capacity (in BTU) and Power consumption (in Watts)

The cooling capacity of one ton AC should be 12000 BTU, 1.5 ton AC 18000 BTU. Some companies rate their air conditioners as 1 ton but actually their cooling capacity is less than 12000 BTU. SO the BEE has brought into force star rating system so that the manufacturers cannot misguide the consumers

What to check befor buying air conditioner

While buying air conditioner check the following on the specifications: Cooling capacity in BTU, power consumed in Watts and star rating if available.

Star rating is based upon the EER of an AC. EER is cooling capacity divided by power consumed. To calculate EER in watts BTU needs to be converted into watts. 12000 BTU is equal to 3517 watts or 1BTU = 0.2937 Watts or one ton = 3517 watts

While it is important to choose an AC with higher star rating, it is equally important not to compromise on the cooling capacity, which is the primary function of an AC.

BEE air conditioner Star Ratings

The star rating parameters EER shall be obtained from following tables depending on the year of manufacturing/import/assembling of an air conditioner

Air conditioner Manufactured / Imported / Assembled From 07 January 2010 to 31 December 2011

Star Rating	Min	Max
1 Star *	2.30	2.49
2 Star **	2.50	2.69
3 Star ***	2.70	2.89
4 Star ****	2.90	3.09
5 Star *****	3.10	5

Air conditioner Manufactured / Imported / Assembled From 01 January 2012 to 31 December 2013

Star Rating	Min	Max
1 Star *	2.50	2.69
2 Star **	2.70	2.89
3 Star ***	2.90	3.09
4 Star ****	3.10	3.29
5 Star *****	3.30

Air conditioner Manufactured / Imported / Assembled From From 01 January 2014 to 31 December 2015

Star Rating	Min	Max
1 Star *	2.70	2.89
2 Star **	2.90	3.09
3 Star ***	3.10	3.29
4 Star ****	3.30	3.49
5 Star *****	3.50

The cooling of a room also depends on other factors other than ton like, insulation, number of windows, sunlight, heat producing appliances in the room like TV, computer etc.

A simple calculation is as follows

Multiply the length, breadth and height of the room (take units as feet). Then divide this by 1000 to get the ton capacity

Example if the room’s size is 10 feet by 10 feet by 10 feet

So 10 X 10 X 10 comes out to 1000, divide this by 1000 the answer comes to 1. So your as tonnage requirement is one ton.

Another example room size 12 feet by 12 feet by 9 feet. The multiplication comes out to be 1290. Dividing this by 1000 leads to 1.2. so tonnage requirement is 1.2 ton. If there is direct sunlight in the room and  /or the air conditioner is exposed to sun, or you stay on the top floor where roof heats up, go for 1.5 tom AC otherwise go for 1 ton AC as air conditioners are available in 0.75 ton. 1 ton and 2 ton and above capacity only

Air condition Ton requirement calculator / Chart for room
S no	Length*	Breadth*	Height*	Total L*B*H	Ton required
1	9	9	9	729	0.75
2	9	9	10	810	0.75
3	10	10	9	900	0.75-1
4	10	10	10	1000	1
5	11	11	9	1089	1
6	11	11	10	1210	1-1.5
7	12	12	9	1296	1-1.5
8	12	12	10	1440	1.5
9	13	13	10	1690	1.5
10	14	14	10	1960	1.5-2
11	15	15	10	2250	2

* In feet, one feet is equal to 12 inches or 30.48 centimeters, 0.32 meters

Living Rooms all around the world are shaking with fear of users actually taking swords and attacking their big screens thanks to a new hack for the Microsoft Kinect that allows gamers to play World of Warcraft without a keyboard.




It’s no secret that the Kinect is rapidly becoming the most hacked device since the Hackintosh, but students at the University of Southern California’s Institute for Creative Technologies have takent he next step in developing a software hack which enables gamers to use the motion device to immerse themselves even deeper into the online Mid-evil world.

The hack is called the “Flexible Action and Articulated Skeleton Toolkit, (FAAST) and it uses full-body motion control. Gamer can not only wield a sword or axe to take out a feisty orc, but they can also cast spells, making it nirvana for those who secretly love to dress up to play their favorite game. And it’s only a matter of time before someone figures out a way to use their light saber collection to battle someone online.


But with everyone creating bold new uses for the Kinect and porting it over to the PC, the sky is truly the limit for what can be done with this game changing device. And it makes the world of Minority Report that much closer, but in a bold and exciting way. Imagine editing video’s just with a snip of your fingers and a wave of your hand? Designing in CAD programs Tony Stark style. And getting rid of the keyboard forever?

The Spyder 3 Krypton is the world’s brightest handheld laser. How bright is it? I’m glad you asked, the Krypton is so powerful, its currently being checked out by Guinness World records. This little gizmo is actually capable of breaking through our atmosphere and into outer space. Which of course comes in handy for those of us trying to communicate with our extra terrestrial friends or wayward astronauts.

With a ridiculous range of 85 miles, the S3 Krypton is the first and only handheld laser that is visible from outer space. Imagine that, before its existence the only thing E.T. could see from up there was the Great Wall of China and the Staten Island Landfill. So go ahead, flash out “we are here” messages in Morse Code, and then make an alien friendly casserole.

Joking aside, viewing the light point of the Krypton laser will appear over 8,000 times brighter than looking directly at the sun. So if you choose not to fry your eyes out of your head, safety goggles are mandatory and no playing “mouse” with your beloved cat. The Spyder 3 comes with 9 operating modes, and a SmartSwitch password-type safety lock to prevent unauthorized evil-doers from trying to bring down jet planes and satellites.

Our friendly little Spyder 3 Krypton Laser provides up to 40 hours of runtime and sports an aircraft grade aluminum chassis, it comes bundled with the requisite safety goggles, a nylon holster and a rechargeable Sanyo battery and charger. Priced from around 400  - 1000 bucks you can get one (and an optional 99 dollar Lasersaber) at wickedlasers.com

Recently announced Sony NEX-F3 digital camera is one of those machinations, where it is capable of shooting professional looking photos despite housing its innards in a compact, pocket-sized chassis. This enables budding shutterbugs to explore the creative world of high-quality, interchangeable lens photography without breaking their back in the process.

The Sony NEX-F3 will come with a similar space-saving mirrorless design that can be found in other models within Sony’s E-mount family, in addition to featuring the more advanced, 16.1-effective megapixel Exmor APS HD CMOS sensor, which is actually identical in size to the sensors that can be found in traditional DSLR shooters, now how about htat? The large sensor is capable of drinking in more light whenever it wants to capture images, resulting in flawless, low-noise photographs and crisply detailed Full HD videos (60i/24p) if you so desire.

Not only that, photographers with a simple working knowledge of the system can also create images with beautiful defocus effects in a jiffy, where the subject will remain focused sharply against a smoothly blurred background. Want to capture self portraits? That is not a problem, as the NEX-F3 camera will also be able to let you capture decent looking self-portraits for once, thanks to a 180° Tiltable LCD display, which is a first of its kind where Sony’s E-mount camera line is concerned. All you need to do is hold the camera at arm’s length, flipp the LCD screen vertically, make the necessary adjustments via the on-screen preview image, and you are enroute to properly framing your self portraits.

The Sony NEX-F3 will play nice with the FDA-EV1S viewfinder accessory that is sold separately, and will also come with a high-quality, premium-feel grip for a more comfortable handling experience and can be juiced via either USB or a standard AC outlet. Prices start from around $600 onwards, whole those who want the bundle with a new SEL18200LE telezoom lens can pick one up for approximately $850.

There are many ways to skin a cat if you have the know-how, but how many ways are there for one to kill insects? Mosquitoes are always a huge nuisance for many of us, especially those of us who live in the tropics. Not only do these have a vicious bite, their bites leave you with the risk of catching some disease as well as an itching sensation which prove hard to soothe if you do not have the right ointment. While there is a fair amount of traditional methods to prevent mosquitoes from coming near you, technology, too, has a role to play in this situation.

Take Acase for example – their InaTrap insect killer is said to be one elegant solution in doing away with these pesky mosquitoes as well as other irritating insects around you in an eco-friendly way – and yet without requiring you to plant Venus flytraps strategically all over the place. Not only that, there is also no use of harsh chemicals, propane tanks or unsightly equipment to get rid of these pesky insects, but rather, the Inatrap is said to be able to easily prevent mosquitos from spreading diseases or creating itches and scratches on your skin.

The functional design of the InaTrap will lure mosquitoes in using a soft LED light as well as a photo-catalyst reaction which is said to produce low levels of CO2 in a warm atmosphere, hence fooling the mosquitoes into thinking that there is a human among them. When flying too close close to the Intrap’s vicinity, the mosquitoes and insects will end up trapped in a retainer cage thanks to a little help by the whisper-quiet and yet powerful fan.

Tom Hsieh, Sales and Marketing Manager of Acase, says, “Inatrap allows us to enjoy a weekend picnic, camping trips or even an evening in the living room without the need to worry about insects. You can eliminate mosquitos and other insects in a lot of ways, but only InaTrap will do it effectively, safely and in style.”

Specially designed to resemble an avant-garde porcelain sculpture, Inatrap does not weigh anything more than three pounds, and is ideal for a portable outdoor trip, or to remain indoors when dusk falls. Not only that, there is also an 8 hour built-in timer and an instant touch operation button that makes it a no-brainer to operate. Expect the Inatrap to retail for $64.95 each.

Source: http://www.coolest-gadgets.com/20120615/acase-shows-inatrap-insect-killer/#more-69549

Image source

Its principle is quite simple when you think about it (I wonder why no one thought of it sooner?) It is a well known fact amongst psychologists, that a person is incapable to continue talking if his words are played back to him with a delay of a fraction of a second.

Well, taking that into account, Japanese researches, Kazutaka Kurihara from the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology in Tskuba along with Koji Tsukada from Ochanomizu University, have come up with a simple device which consists of a microphone and a speaker, which, when pointed towards someone who you think won’t stop rambling, will record their words and play them back with a delay of 0.2 seconds.

Image source

Tests have shown that this ingenious device is quite effective: when aimed at a person, it causes them to stop talking, without causing any physical discomfort for the annoying speaker (unlike yourself, whose ears were being rampaged by the talking).

Are there any downsides?

Well… further tests have showed that the speech-jamming gun could easily shut up a person who was carrying out a “reading news aloud” task, but sadly, when it comes to spontaneous monologues, results were less impressive.

Thankfully, there is hope for all of you out there who are already thinking you should go out and buy it before that annoying aunt comes to visit. Apparently, the “tool” is more effective if the delay with which the words are repeated varies.

Ok, so apart from using it to win a never-ending conversation, what else is it good for?

Well, this amazing device can have multiple purposes, and since its inventors declared that they renounce all commercial rights, the options are limitless

1. Reduce stuttering

Tests have also shown that if used with subjects who have a speech problem causing them to stutter, the speech-jamming gun can help them be more aware of their phrases, reevaluate their own speech and eventually, stop stuttering all thanks to this simple invention.

2. Maintaining silence in a library

Remember what it’s like to go to the library in order to find a quiet environment to study for that really hard test you have coming up, but when you get there, there’s a bunch of people who mistook the library for a bar? Well have no fear, the “shut up gun” is here!

The new invention can be used to assure silence in a public library, but what would the “shh-ing” librarian do if her job is taken by a gun?

The world's first 802.11ac router, Buffalo's AirStation WZR-D1800H, being tested at CNET Labs.

(Credit: Dong Ngo/CNET)

Now that you can actually buy the first wireless networking products that use 802.11ac,Buffalo's router and media bridge, it's time you learned about the this new wireless standard. While the "ac" designation definitely does not mean "air conditioning," I can say for sure that 802.11ac is cool.

And by cool, I mean fast. That's the biggest difference about 802.11ac compared with previous wireless standards. But first let's see how similar it is.

802.11ac supplements 802.11n

Netgear's first 802.11ac router, the WiFi 6300, is set to be available for purchase this month.

(Credit: Dong Ngo/CNET)

802.11ac (aka 5G Wi-Fi) is the next step after 802.11n (aka N or Wireless-N, which is currently is the most popular Wi-Fi standard). It's backward-compatible with N, meaning that a 5G Wi-Fi router will support N clients and 5G Wi-Fi clients will also be able to connect to an N router. Wireless-N, in turn, is backward compatible with the rest of the wireless standards, including 802.11g, 802.11b, and 802.11a.

That means you can replace a router at home right now with a 5G Wi-Fi router and existing wireless devices, such as your laptop, iPad, iPhone, and so on, no matter how old, and they will still connect to your network the way they have always worked. To have the devices to work at the speed of 5G Wi-Fi, however, both the clients and the router need to support 5G Wi-Fi.

Clients like desktop and laptop computers will be able to upgrade to 5G Wi-Fi via add-in PCIe cards, Mini-PCI cards, or USB adapters. Later this year, mobile devices and computers with built-in 5G Wi-Fi support will be available.

Similar to Wireless-N, 802.11ac, for now, comes in three tiers, based on the number of streams. The more streams, the more bandwidth a device can handle. For example, Wireless-N has caps of 150Mbps with single-stream, 300Mbps with dual-stream, and 450Mbps with three-stream. 5G Wi-Fi connections are set to be about three times faster, starting with 450Mbps in single-stream, 900Mbps (dual-stream) and 1.3Gbps (three-stream). So technically, 5G Wi-Fi is the first wireless standard that breaks the gigabit barrier.

However, also similar to Wireless-N, via my preliminary testing with the Buffalo's AirStation WZR-D1800H wireless router (the review of which will be posted soon), the actual real-world speeds of 5G Wi-Fi vary depending on the environment and distance. Even in the optimal settings, they will be much lower than the ceiling speed. Still, in my trials, they have been consistently much faster than N.

Full Article on http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-57437317-1/5g-wi-fi-802.11ac-explained-its-cool/

Sony on Sunday confirmed to CNet that the entire line of Sony tablet devices in all regions will receive an over-the-air update which brings with it Android 4.0. The company says the new updates will be made available via over-the-air updates.


Sony had previously announced its plans to offer the Google Android 4.0 update but did not provide a timeline for those updates until Sunday afternoon.
Some Sony Tablets have already received the upgrade including the Sony Tablet S in the United States, however other tablets, specifically those located in Europe and Japan have been left with the older and less stable Google Android 3.2.1 system.



Some of the top updates for Google Android 4.0 include a panoramic camera mode, an updated gallery viewer with SD card access and browser enhancements among other bug fixes, security updates and other new features that users have generally found worth the update.


Google and Sony are hoping that the international roll-out for Google Android 4.0 will appease customers who have long complained that the fragmentation of Google Android has let to varying regional timetables for new product releases while other devices have skipped over Google Android upgrades all together. Apple in comparison is able to update any devices they choose at the same time, allowing iOS to more easily be adapted as upgrades become available on a worldwide basis. Apple up until this point has included all iPad versions in their upgrades including the original and now outdated iPad.
The exact updates for each tablet region are not known, Sony however will send a message to each users device when the time for an upgrade has arrived.

Alienware M18x

Screen Size : 18.4″ Glossy Display 1920×1080

Hard Disk: 250 GB

RAM: 2.5 GHz

Battery Time: 4 Hours

MSI GT783 625US

Screen Size: 17.3 inches

Processor: Core i7 2670QM

RAM: 16 GHz

Hard Disk: 750 GB

Weight: 3.9Kg with battery

Battery Time: 4.5 hours

Alienware M14x R3

Screen Size: 18.4 inches

RAM: 8 GB

Processor: Intel Core i7

Hard Disk: 1500 GB

Battery Time: 8 hours

Sony VAIO VPC-F236FM

Screen Size: 16.4 inches

Processor: 2.2GHz Intel Core i7-2670QM

RAM: 8 GB

Hard Disk: 750 GB

Battery Time:  4-5 hours

Asus G74SX-BBK8

Screen Size: 17.3 inches

Hard Disk: 500 GB

Processor: 2.2GHz Intel Core i7-2670QM

RAM: 8 GB

Battery Time: 3.5 hours

Toshiba Satellite P755-S5269

Screen Size: 15.6 inches

Hard Disk: 640 GB

RAM: 6GB

Processor: 2GHz Intel Core i7-2630QM

Battery Time: 5 hours

Asus N55SF-A1

Screen Size: 15.6 inches

Processor: 2GHz Intel Core i7-2630QM

Hard Disk: 750 GB

RAM: 8 GB

Battery Time: 4.5-5 hours

Dell XPS 15z

Screen Size: 15.6 inches

Processor: i5-2450M processor

Hard Disk: 1000GB

RAM: 8GB

Battery Time: 8 hours

Alienware M17X (Sandy Bridge)

Screen Size:17.3 inches

Hard Disk: 750 GB

Processor: 2.2GHz Intel Core i7-2720QM

RAM: 8 GB

Battery Time: 7 hours

Alienware M11xr3

Screen Size: 11 inches

Hard Disk: 500 GB

Processor: 1.4GHz Intel Core i5-2537M

RAM: 4 GB

Battery Time: 8.5 hours