All The Gadgets You Need For A Post-Lockdown World
Jabra has gone out of its way to make a hardy solution that hasn’t sacrificed comfort. With an IP57 rating, the wireless Jabra Elite Active 75t is waterproof enough to handle most things you’d throw its way. They’re so sure that they offer a two year warranty if it DOES bite the bullet to dust or sweat. Its form fitting snug nature can only be put down to the thousands of ears they scanned and put through an algorithmic simulator to develop the most comfortable shape ever.
You can get a respectable 7.5 hours of continuous use, or up to 28 hours if you use it in conjunction with its charging case. It has noise isolation for when you want to get into the zone as well as a HearThrough option if you’re working with your spotter.
Finally, to top things off it comes with four microphones, to make sure any calls you take come out crystal clear.
Jabra.co.nz RRP$379
Respect the Specs
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2oUDxQFbLgY&feature=emb_title
Get ready for a dump of numbers because Sony has given us a full breakdown of the specs of what it’s aiming to jam inside the PS5 coming out at the end of the year.
It’s taken them 10 years but the consoles will finally be packing custom 825GB SSD’s. For anyone who’s made the switch from HDD to SSD on PC, you’ll know the night and day difference already. For contrast, what took a PS4 to load in 20 seconds the PS5 will be able to manage twice in 0.27 seconds. SSD-wise the PS5 will be somewhat future proofed, using standard NVMe SSD slots, meaning you should be able to upgrade it later on if you need to, as long as your replacement can go at least 5.5GB/s.
It’ll run a custom GPU based on AMD’s RDNA 2 architecture clocked at 2.23GHz and be backed up by an eight-core AMD Zen 2 CPU clocked at 3.5GHz. All this will be topped off by a tidy 16GB of GDDR6 RAM.
Sony.com, Release date expected to be end of 2020
WTF is Quibi
Quibi did a celebrity tease a while ago that left me more annoyed than titillated, but now we finally know. It’s yet another streaming service, but this time JUST for phones. It has 50+ shows that are shot with mobile in mind. That means they’re split into bite-sized chunks and are filmed in ways that make them friendly for monsters who like to watch everything in portrait mode. A good mobile experience wouldn’t be worth anything without an offline mode, and fortunately Quibi delivers the goods there as well.
They currently offer a 90 day free trial for anyone on the fence about the concept.
Online streaming is a crowded market these days… Best of luck.
Your Key To Influencer
For the casual creative who wants to ramp up their Instagram or start vlogging for views, the Sony alpha 6100 is an all-rounded fam cam that ticks all the boxes. Priced at a very fair $1149 for the body, this 24.2MP APS-C mirrorless camera has two significant features responsible for its claim-to-fame.
The ultra powerful autofocus system is fool-proof and does all of the work for you. As long as you’ve got your subject on the screen, it ensures crisp, good-looking photos with no photography training required. It offers 425 phase detection and 425 contrast detection AF points – which basically means that most of the image frame, 84 percent of it to be a little more accurate, is covered. The focusing speed is at the world’s fastest, 0.02 seconds, which makes this cam superior at subject tracking.
What’s really impressive with this latest piece from Sony is its new autofocus systems, Real-Time Tracking and Real-Time Eye AF, that harnesses the power of artificial intelligence. This is the main selling point of this entry-level camera. The AI subject recognition locks into fast-moving subjects or even eyes to track it real-time. Whether you’re photographing a surfer in action or chasing your puppy, each shot from a long burst will be in focus. The continuous shooting speed is 11 frames per second so you can never miss that mid-air shot. And if you don’t like what the camera’s focusing on, you can set it up with the intuitive touch-screen LCD panel. It’s an exceptional and affordable tool for amateur creatives as it will be quite difficult to take, for lack of a better word, a ‘bad’ picture.
When it comes to video, the A6100 captures 4K 3840×2160 pixel video at up to 30fps or HD 1080pixel at up to 120fps. There are no limits to the recording lengths.
The 16-50mm lens is the perfect zoom lens for video. Lightweight, slim and compact at 29.9mm, the lens is noise-free while zooming and even in low light.
In conclusion, the A6100 is the best entry-level camera on the market right now. Compared to its competitor’s models, the auto-focus systems, albeit great, can not beat Sony’s level or price. You can’t really ask anything more from a camera.
You’re No Rookie
With all the lockdown stuff recently, it’s put me in mind about home workout gear. I love overdesigned stuff, so reinventing the skipping rope is right up my alley. The Rookie has a row of 23 LEDs in it that, as you skip, lights your progress right in front of you, giving you something to strive for and keep you going. Data it can beam includes jump count, calories burned, interval training data and more. No smart device would be complete without its own app and Bluetooth connection, and with two hours of charge, you can get 45 hours of use out of it. To be quite frank, you could use it as a skipping rope for even longer if you really wanted! Less high tech features include adjustable length. To be honest, I didn’t think I’d be able to write about a skipping rope for so long.
Spot X
You know how exciting your life is by what sort of tracking devices you have. If you have a Tile for finding your keys you aren’t going far. If you have a Spot X for other people to find YOU then we’re talking. With 10 days of battery life the Spot X could literally save your life. With the press of a button it can send your exact GPS coordinates to rescue services. In 2019 29 emergency teams were scrambled due to the Spot X.
All it needs is a clear view, the only time it gets patchy is if it’s at the bottom of a deep canyon, in a cave, in an abyss, or in very dense woods.
You know, places you usually get in trouble in.
The Power Of The Egg Compels You
PowerEgg X is one of those drones that is about form as much as it is about function. Packed down, it looks like a robotic egg. Packed out, it’s a fully functioning drone with all the bells and whistles you’d expect from an AI powered drone. Facial recognition for tracking the most important person in the room (you), 3-axis Gimbal and a 4k, 60fps UHD camera. Unfortunately it’s still hitting that upper limit of 30 minutes of flight time, but that’s fine when it can double as a regular AI Camera. In this mode, it’s grounded with a tripod, and can do all its regular tracking functions to help you get the shots of yourself that would normally take up another human being’s time. Although if that’s something you DO want to do, without the wings or tripod it can totally act as a regular hand held video camera, with intelligent antishake to boot!
Life On The Rocean
Successfully funded by Indiegogo here’s a product that’s actually made it to market. The Rocean One is a good looking water purifier that takes the water from your tap and filters, carbonates, and flavours your water, any way you like it. It’s bulky, but it makes up for it by its sheer versatility. The environmentally friendly filters last about a year and filters out 99% VOCs, Lead, Asbestos, Cysts, Mercury, Chorine, and 75+ other key contaminants.
Instead of a reservoir or something similar, the Rocean One can be hooked directly to your taps.
It comes with voice controls and an AI that can learn your personal preferences, because as creatures of habit we could use all the help we can get. Everything is tweakable, including how fizzy you want your drink to be.
