Cables That Never Tangle, Waterproof TVs And All The Miracle Tech You Need Right Now
The No Mess Cable
Cables aren’t the sexiest part of the tech world. There’s always been the promise and the dream of “no-tangle” cables that don’t rely on you being on the ball all of the time, and perhaps this Kickstarter for SuperCalla – Charging & Data Cables Redesigned could be that prayer answered. Contained within tubes intermittently dotted with rings of magnets this system means your cables can instantly be rolled and regimented, and never have excess cable floating around.
It’s already impressed so much that it’s earned $1.7 million on Kickstarter already.
The Terrace
How do you feel about leaving a 4K QLED TV with accompanying soundbar on your deck to get rained on? If you didn’t recoil at that idea then Samsung’s Terrace, which is rolling out in NZ later this year, could be the perfect outdoor entertainment buy to make this year. Available in 55-, 65- and 75-inch models, it has a brightness level of 2,000 nits which should make it viewable even with full sun on the screen. It also has anti-reflection and adaptive picture technology to reduce unwanted glare.
Harmonizing with the TV is the The Terrace Soundbar which can connect to the TV via bluetooth or wi-fi, and features distortion cancelling technology to give it optimal sound quality in an outdoor environment.
The big question is, how long will that IP55 rating hold out?
Note: An IP55 rated product is protected against dust ingress that could be harmful for the normal operation of the product but is not fully dust tight. It is protected against solid objects and water jets projected by a nozzle (6.3mm) from any directions.
No More Face Touching
During lockdown you may have realised exactly how hard it is to not touch your face, rub your eyes, or put your entire fist in your mouth. There’s an app to fix that as well as a matching peripheral. Introducing Immutouch, a wrist band that buzzes every time you try scratching your nose. Designed entirely to break your habit of touching your face (at least 23 times an hour on average apparently), a gravimeter in the Immutouch band uses a personalisable algorithm to track hand position and alert you instantly to any hazardous gestures. An accompanying Bluetooth powered app also gives you little graphs of how well you’re doing. If you don’t want all that stuff it also works just fine without pairing.
Your Best Bud
Talking about going cordless, the new JBL Tune220 tws true wireless in-ear headphones are a handy edition to your new cordless lifestyle. Coming in a snappy little charge case these little guys can give you up to 19 hours of playback time. They have a simple design with just one button on each bud to control track skipping and take calls. They’re light, and while the plastic doesn’t make them feel super premium, they’re more than sufficient for keeping them positioned in your head while jogging, etc. Setup was one of the simplest I’ve ever come across, working right out the box.
Cut The Cord
The G502 gaming mouse from Logitech has been a gamer favourite for years now, but now that there’s a wireless option with upgraded specs, there might be a reason to finally cut the chord. Doing side by side comparisons for latency compared to the wired models is harder than you might imagine. It’s LIGHTSPEED 2.4ghz connection makes it faster than some wired mice out there even. It uses a HERO 16K sensor with a 16,000 DPI range and up to 10x the power efficiency compared to previous generations. The only other worry is charging, right? Well, if you’re using Logitechs Powerplay Wireless charging system mouse pad then you’ll be charging constantly. Sure it doubles the price of your mouse setup but you really hate wires! Prices for the mouse start at $299 and the pad comes in at $279.90.
The Only Charger You Need
Belkin is the king of reliable solid chargers and peripherals. So while you’re busy upgrading your iPhone, why not get a three-in-one charger for your Apple Watch and Airpods while you’re at it! It comes with a 7.5W wireless charging pad for your iPhone, a magnetic charging module for your Apple Watch, and a 5W pad to wirelessly charge your AirPods. It works just fine through most phone cases up to 3mm thick.
In XS
At first blush, the concept of foldable phones that successfully bridge the phablet gap seemed a bit like a gimmick. But as I’ve found myself recently pushing for more and more functionality out of my phone, the idea doesn’t seem so bad. The HUAWEI Mate Xs is the second generation step up from the Mate X, mostly concentrating on making a more durable product with just a few spec tweaks. In terms of foldables, it doesn’t have much in the way of competition, but it still handily wins with a range of smart design decisions and a plastic screen which means you’re never going to need to worry about shattering this bad boy when you drop it. It has an 8” Foldable FullView Display with a Kirin 990 5G chipset. It has four cameras on it amounting to a 40 MP Supersensing Leica Quad Camera System. One handy trick it can pull off is show the person on the other end what they’re going to look like, since the folded screen is also facing them at the same time. It’s kept running by a 4,500 mAh large-capacity battery. If you were going to take the plunge on foldables, this is your best choice.
consumer.huawei.com/nz/phones/mate-x-s/
Gamify Your Gym Session
If you think you need just an extra little push to be faster, better, stronger, then the Blazepod might be for you. The Blazepod is a simple concept with a wide range of fitness applications, all of which include you slapping, stamping, and punching lights like a roided up cat.
You can set them up in a square to do short timed sprints, or clipped to a punching bag as markers that flash when you need to hit them, or in a row to hit while you’re planking. The associated Bluetooth app allows your progress to be tracked over time, and a surprising amount of easy programmability allows you to mold the Blazepods around any activity you could imagine. A standard kit of four starts at US$254.
The Dell XPS13 9300
I love my laptops. I upgrade every two years not because I need to, but just because I want to. Every upgrade makes my laptop faster, thinner and lighter. The Dell XPS has always been the overall king of laptops. I use the word overall because there might be the odd feature that another laptop has that is better, but all up you just can’t beat a Dell XPS.
My personal laptop at the moment is just under 1kg while the Dell is 1.3kg’s. 1.3kg’s is still very light for a laptop just not world record light. Other than that though, the Dell XPS destroys my laptop in every way.
The Dell is 2 cm’s narrower in width which is nuts. My laptop is high end, but the Dell makes it look like a joke. Dell does this with extremely small bezels around the screen and a keypad that goes right to the edge. The keyboard has nice wide keys with good depth and the very large trackpad is excellent. The Dell model I’m reviewing comes with a touch screen which I barely used so save some money and choose the normal display… and when I say normal display I mean the super bright fantastic screen that makes my laptop look like a laptop from the 90’s.
For day to day work use this laptop is super fast and has an excellent battery. But so does my current laptop which is why I installed the latest version of Tomb Raider that my laptop would have no chance of playing. The Dell, with it’s 10th gen Intel CPU ate it up so if you want a laptop for work and play, this is a great option. If you want a laptop that makes an Apple user envious, this is it too. If I had to be super picky, just like the Macbook Pro and Air, the laptop doesn’t have an HDMI port so you might need an adapter. This Dell is pushing the limits of what a laptop can be and yes, it’s quite expensive but if you use your laptop every day and can afford it, this is a no brainer.