Robot Guitar" Creates Big Interest And Big Controversy

They're calling it the biggest advance in the electronic guitar in 70 years. But some musicians are calling it something else - cheating. What's causing all these sour notes? The world's first "robot guitar," an instrument designed to tune itself to not only be on key but also to play almost impossible to set off-standard sounds that are highly distinctive.

It took 15 years of research for the music maker, from legendary Gibson Guitar, to reach the market. And next month, a limited edition version will be going on sale. For many would be axe-men, it's a big deal. It seems some of the world's most famous rock tunes used non-standard settings to achieve their famous effects, leaving frustrated amateurs stymied in their efforts to recreate them.

Songs like the Rolling Stones' "Honky Tonk Woman," Jimi Hendrix's classic "Voodoo Child," Led Zeppelin's "Going To California" and Joni Mitchell's "Circle Game" used the odd configurations, and all of them will be available instantly on the instrument.

"It will not make you a better guitar player but it will allow the average player to access some very sophisticated tunings," explains Gibson Guitar Chief Executive Henry Juszkiewicz. "Professional guitar players use a lot of different tuning and people who listen to the stars wonder why they can't reproduce the same sound themselves." Now they'll be able to, as well as perfectly retune the high tech wonder once they're done.

But the announcement has already created a backlash among some, who call it "lazy" and predict the fine art of guitar tuning by trained ears could be lost if the technology spreads.

None of which concerns Gibson in any real way. The company plans to sell just 4,000 of the blue silverburst models worldwide starting December 7th. The price for perfection: US$2,500. Can't get one then? A more general edition will be coming to a guitar store in January 2008. The company is betting its detractors will change their tune when they see and hear it. But then, that's exactly what it was built for in the first place.

Guitar gallery

philips dvd player offers ipod dock, 9-inch screen

Perfect for a kitchen countertop or any other place where you don’t need a big screen, Philips DCP951/37 Docking Entertainment System moves away from the clamshell case design to a flat, one-piece design that can stand up on its own. The player features a 9-inch diagonal LCD screen and built-in stereo speakers.

A handy iPod dock/charger pops out of the side of the player, keeping it out of harm’s way until you need it. In addition to playback from DVD or iPod, there’s a built-in SD/MMC card slot if you prefer to keep your media on memory cards. It supports a wide variety of playback formats including DVD, DVD+/-R and DVD+/-RW, (S)VCD, DivX & MPEG4 videos.

Since the player’s DNA comes from Philips portable DVD line, it’s also got a rechargeable battery, so you can take it on the road. You should get enough time to watch about 2.5 hours of video on a single charge.

The only real downside that I can see to this player is the displays less-than-stellar 640×220 resolution. For a 9-inch screen that’s pretty darned weak. As long as you can deal with the low display resolution, the DCP951 looks like a good fit for tight spaces and can perform double-duty as a portable.

You can find it over on Amazon for $199.99.

The world-renowned electronic giant brand, Sony Electronics, has proudly launched its new DMX-WL1 and DMX-DVD BRAVIA Link Modules. Combining all the latest features, both these newly launched products are expected to give their best performance.

“Now you can customize compatible flat-panel BRAVIA HDTV sets with great features without reconfiguring your entire home theater set up,” said Jeff Goldstein, vice president of marketing for Sony Electronics’ consumer television group. “Each link module conveniently integrates into the TV’s menu system for easy use while eliminating the need for another set top box, component, or remote control.”

Sony DMX-WL1 is a two-piece system that is capable of transmitting high definition video and BRAVIA TV compatible audio wirelessly. On the other hand, Sony DMX-DVD has been designed to bring the functionalities of a DVD player directly to the set.

The new Sony DMX-WL1 and DMX-DVD BRAVIA Link Modules are priced at $ 150 and $ 200 respectively.

Cool summer shopping - Part II

Kenstar Smart Cool-SD 0434:
Another new entrant in the market is Kenstar Smart Cool-SD 0434 that can effectively cool up to 538 sq/ft area; it has a water tank capacity of 30 litres. This air cooler is suitable for small homes as well as offices. The cooling vent right at the centre of the cooler has motorized louvers that helps to spread cool air throughout the room. This cooler is also inverter compatible. Price: Rs 6,000

AC.automatic stabilizing (RELAY TYPE)

Detailed Product Description

This unit ofhigh-precision and precision and fully automatic stabilizer is designed by adopting automatic regulating principles which are accepted internationally.Its pivotal parts and devices are all imported ones,and with features as high-precision stabilization,minimal output wave distortion ,small power consumption,and compact size and light weight.It can be widely applied in computer lab,experiment lab and factories,and it is ideal in providing stabilized voltage for high class electrical appliance.Meanwhile,it can provide 110V for imported electrical appliance.Compared with other AC stabilizer,this unit has a better performance price ratio.

Function and Features

1.wide range voltage regulater

2.Input voltage display,output voltage display

3.Delaty output time selectable

Specification of relay type stabilizer

1)Input voltage: 160-270V

2)Output voltage : 220V 10%

3)Phase :single-phase

4)Frequency: 50/60Hz

5) Ambient temperature: -5 ~ +40C

6) Ambient humidity: less than 90%

7) Temperature rise (input voltage 200V, output voltage 220v and at rated load):
less than 75°C

8) Insulation resistance: more than 3m at DC 500V

Uasage area: Computer,lighting equipments,TV equipments,medical equipments,communicating equipments,fridge & freezer,air condition,pabx,house electronics appliances etc.

stabilizer

About Us
We take this opportunity to introduce ourselves as "Nagar Electronics & Instruments Pvt. Ltd." which is a technology driven company with over two decades of experience in the field of Power Electronics items.

The company was founded as a proprietorship, manufacturing Precision Electronics Instruments during the year 1977 and later was incorporated in the year 1980 by Mr. Vinay Nagar, a technocrat, widely respected and an acknowledged pioneer in the industry. In 1980, the Company diversified into Power Control and Conditioning Equipment, commencing commercial production of Servo Motor Operated Automatic Line Voltage Corrector and Auto Variable Transformers. In the year 1993, the Company launched On Line UPS Systems, developed using totally indigenous technology. In no time the UPSs acquired a reputation for quality and reliability, a long-standing hallmark of NEI products and earned an overwhelming acceptance with users.

Anticipating and realizing the importance of continuous research and development efforts in an industry with an extremely high rate of Technology Obsolescence, the Company established a fully equipped research and development facility, and began working on the On Line Systems. The company is amongst the pioneers in the country to develop the adaptive pulse width Modulation Technology switching at high frequency carrier waves, using IGBT/Mosfets.

We are an integrated power conditioning solutions provider of long standing and an unfailing reputation for 'quality, reliability, integrity and customer satisfaction'. We take immense pride in the faith our customers have imposed in us for over 25 years and each member of the NEI family is strongly committed to doing his or her best to uphold the values that have made us worthy of such faith. By being guided by those values, we believe we deliver outstanding customer value. NEI always places the interest of our customers before our own and is engaged in a continuous pursuit for improvement, for we believe that satisfied customers enable us to achieve long-term profitability. In recognition of our singular customer focus, RVA of Holland has awarded us the prestigious ISO: 9001 quality certification.

NEI's value proposition is epitomized by the 'three rings of perceived value'; the product, support, and enhanced service. The goal is to serve our customer's needs for good quality power supply through suitably tailored solutions. NEI has a broad line of products to serve every need of a wide range of mission-critical applications, enabling reduced downtime, enhanced reliability, and hence higher efficiency. NEI has constantly endeavored to enhance the competitive position of our customers by providing solutions to improve the accuracy, reliability, and efficiency as also enable simultaneous reductions in costs of our customer's offerings, processes, and services. However, given the intensely competitive environment today characterized by high velocity change, competition has seen a paradigm shift. Today, competitive advantage does not come from continuing efficiency and productivity alone, but through constant innovation. NEI has the necessary competencies to support the innovation processes and minimize 'time to market' for our customers.

Our credentials speak for themselves. We have executed assignments for some of the most prestigious names across every sector of the industry such as Reliance Group of Companies, Tata Group of Companies, Sumitomo Industries, Motherson Group of Companies, Canon India Pvt. Ltd., Nestle India Ltd., Dabur India Ltd., Birla Group of Companies, Modi Group of Companies, ICICI Bank, IDBI Bank, Phillips India Ltd., Dominos Pizza, Pizza Hut, Benaton India to name just a few.

NEI's customer profile ranges across sectors such as Heavy Machinery Manufacturers, Consumer Durables Manufacturers, Office Automation Equipment Manufacturers, Medical and Diagnostic Equipment Manufacturers, Health Care Providers, Financial Services Sector, Telecom Service Providers, IT Services Providers, ITES Services Providers, Hospitality Industry, Pharmaceutical Companies, and the Government. We can proudly claim to have satisfied the widely varying needs for good quality power supply of our selective customer base.

Today, NEI is a dynamic and professionally managed company with a pyramidal corporate structure. The company has a base of over 30,000 combined product installations of Servo Stabilizer, Isolation Transformer and On Line UPS. The success of the Company is reflected in the large, varied and satisfied customer base, which reads like a virtual who's of Government Commerce Industry and Corporate both National and Trans-national.

Further consolidating its prominent position as a leading manufacturer of power conditioning equipment, the company has set up a manufacturing facility at the electronics hardware technology park in Gurgaon near Delhi. The plant incorporates contemporary production, quality control and management methodology. The factory also houses a fully equipped research and development facility where our engineers continuously endeavor to bring to our valued customer top-of-the-line, reliable and quality products besides providing customized power conditioning solutions. Considering the feedback from users, our engineers also strive to upgrade our existing product range.

NEI is also providing installation, servicing, and annual maintenance contract through its sister concern MIS Empower Electronic headquartered in Delhi. This company has official contract with Nagar Electronics for ten years for providing installation and maintenance under and outoff guarantee period and for the next ten years.

Our product mix includes Continuously Variable Auto Transformer (both single and three phase from 2 to 600 Amps.), Servo Motor Operated Automatic Line Voltage Correctors (both single and three phase, up to 1000 KVA), Isolation Transformers, Single Phase Mosfet Based Off-line I line Interactive UPS using PWM technology as well as Single Phase IGBT Based High Frequency On line UPS using PWM technology from 0.5 to 20 KVA in single/three phase.

We look forward to serving your power conditioning needs and solicit your enquiries in this regard. As a first step toward this end, we request you to kindly empanel us as a vendor for power conditioning solutions.

We would like an opportunity to do business with you. If you have any specific requirements, please do let us know. We assure you of complete satisfaction.

Thanking you and assuring you of our services at all times and hoping to do business with your esteemed organization.

Electric Guitar Parts Lessons

There are three main sections zoomed in the picture; the Headstock, the Neck, and the Body. The headstock holds the Tuner Posts around which the strings are wrapped and terminated. The Tuners are knobs that (or this, whichever) increase or decrease the tension on the string wrapped around the tuner posts (tuning the sound made by the strings). Note that some electric guitars may have different looking tuners, and some may even have three tuner keys on opposite sides. Even though they may look different, they work in the same manner. The Nut guides the strings to the tuner posts and maintains the height of the strings.

The length of the Neck depends on the scale of the guitar and the number of frets it has. The back of the neck could be "C" shaped, or "V" shaped (sideways < if you compare it to the letter C). The front of the neck is the Fingerboard or Fretboard, that contains the Frets embedded in notches along its surface. The Strings run down the neck over the frets. The height of the strings over the frets is called the Action; if the action is too high the strings are harder to press down, if the action is too low the strings may rattle against the frets muffling the notes. The neck usually has "dot" markers on the top and the side facing the player, showing the position of the 3rd, 5th, 7th, 9th, 12th (which has two dots), 15th, 17th, 19th, 21st, and 24th (which also has two dots) fret. Note that not all electric guitars have 24 frets. Those guitars that do have 24 frets will have smaller spacing between all the other frets, which is may make things a little difficult for large hands and fingers.

The body of the electric guitar (this instrument is used in every form of music, from Classical to Heavy Metal) has one, two or three Pickups under the strings. These electro-magnetic coils "pickup" the vibration from the strings and send it to the amp. There are two varieties of pickups, single-coil and humbucker (dual-coil), and electric guitars have different combinations of these pickups in the three possible positions - closest to the neck, in the middle, and furthest from the neck. A Pickup Selector Switch allows you to choose which pickup will be active, some models even allow you to select combinations of pickups for unique sounds. The strings terminate in the Bridge, some versions also have a Whammy Bar to create Tremolo effects (by rapidly pushing the bar in and out, changing the angle of the bridge). Volume and Tone control knobs are also present on the body, allowing you to make minor changes to your guitars sound without having to fiddle with the amp. A Cable Connector allows you to connect a cable from your electric guitar to your amplifier or effects pedal.