Big screens are great and all, but not everyone can wrap their hands around a phablet.
Sony thinks so as they squeezed top specs into a regular sized hero. Sony Xperia Z1 compact promises great things from its 4.3in screen, Snapdragon-powered performance, 20.7MP camera and battery-enhancing Stamina mode. It’s a little fatter 5in Xperia Z1 at 9.5mm but otherwise it’s a faithful imitation. The power button is halfway up the right-hand side, saving seconds spent hunting, and the Compact has the same waterproof rating – IP55 and IP58 – as the Z1, meaning it’s good to go for a rain run or plonking in up to 1m of water for up to half an hour.
The Tranquillity Pod lives up to its name, producing profound relaxation. It’s a pod that uses pleasant sound, gentle vibration, and soothing light to transport the body, mind, and spirit to a tranquil state of relaxation. Its clever design will also allow installation into any normal building, and the weight is safe for any normal floor. It is produced in superior high specification GRP material for long life and easy maintenance. The pod’s elliptical opening reveals a 76″-diam. ultra-suede-topped, memory foam cushion that covers an octagonal waterbed with two lofty ultra-suede pillows. It has a four-speaker sound system and the music can be played via an iPhone/iPod or Smartphone.
DJI has left observers in awe with its latest quad copter which comes with an anti-vibration camera and smart phone compatibility.
It allows its operator to view what the camera’s looking at even from an altitude of 300 feet in real time. Despite its technical superiority, it is easy to fly, continuing to hover even if you take your hands off. The built-in GPS ensures that it flies back and lands from where it took off in case you lose sight or move it out of its control range. With a 25 minutes flight per charge, it epitomizes excellence and brilliance.
Audi, left its competitors behind by introducing the first ever laser headlights in its Sport Quattro. Capable of lighting five football fields of darkness, the headlights look ravishing regardless of which angle they are viewed from. The large grille on the front looks set to breathe air while you race through the roads, the iconic lights at the back depict its cachet and eminence as the sides stoop down from top to bottom, leaving room for two seats in the rear. With technological prowess and Audi’s quintessential elegance, the car is set to generate interest from automobile enthusiast.
Who doesn’t love watching movies in an environment promising an exhilarating cinematic experience?
Visiting cinemas frequently has however become increasingly difficult in today’s fast moving lives. Sony has thus come up with its 4k Ultra Short Throw Projector with the ability to cast images up to 147 inches from a distance of 20. Designed like a piece of furniture, it can be placed near any wall, with enough space to accommodate its projection size. It boasts 3D capability and supports content from the internet and satellite. Given Sony’s technological expertise and focus on portability, who would go to the cinema when the cinema itself comes home?
Beta.ey is a desktop-sized solar charger device that draws energy from diffused sunlight.
Interestingly, it has a dual motion-tracking system for efficient harnessing as the sun traverses the sky, ensuring it absorbs more light energy. The mechanism works by filling the Broessel’sPalantir-esque globe with water so that it magnifies the sun’s rays by more than 10,000 times, making it possible to harvest energy from the moon, or the sun on a cloudy day. It looks amazing but the principle has been around for centuries and you can even DIY one of this at home. We hope most African countries need to invest in this technology fast.
Instead of replacing other means of transport it is more about moving hand-in-hand with them, like having a bike in the trunk of a car to provide sufficient range for local trips. Acton has come up with M Scooter, a crisply designed collapsible rider which has fold-down footrests and pop-up seats. Piloting is as easy as one would like. Both front and rear brakes are available and it also has a small five-segment LED display to show battery status. Acton says that a full recharge which takes four hours will make the battery last for 15 miles. Although, Acton will offer a fast charger separately which cuts the charging time in half.
Some work has been done to improve the degree of security. It is a portable model which is designed to be picked up and carried by the trunk of a car. But unfortunately it is heavy for a portable model. Acton says that it is less than 70lbs, but the shaft of the handlebars make it a tricky thing to lift. But it will be forgotten as soon as its performance is looked forward to. With a Top speed of 15mph, it is much faster for an electric scooter. Even a small twist of the throttle shoots the scooter forward this degree of immediacy takes time to get used to. Similar is the situation with the brakes. With these awesome specifications M Scooter cannot be expected at less than £1,092.
Lenovo has launched its 14″ Ultrabook, claiming to be the lightest in the world. Named ThinkPad X1 Carbon, the secret to its light-weight architecture are Lenovo’s top Material Engineers. The usage of carbon fibre in the Ultrabook’s frame construction, which is both lighter and stronger, was the key towards achieving a weight of 1.3Kg. Additional features such as its powerful Intel Haswell chipset, backed up with 8GB of RAM and SSD with 512GB storage compliments the performance of the Ultrabook. With a resolution of 2560 x 1440 it is one of the fewest which can produce a very sharp view. With features like on-board NFC, 4G LTE and Bluetooth 4.0, along with Adaptive Keyboard which is a row of touch-sensitive keys that change function depending on the active application, it gives enough usage time with its nine hour battery life. This lightweight delight is priced at £790.
Nikon recently unveiled their new D4S DSLR flagship camera. Nikon claims that the new D4S offers noteworthy advantages over the current Nikon D4 with its new and improved image processing engine and autofocus system. With its rugged exterior it’s clear the new D4S was built to work in extreme environments. As yet there is no release date or confirmation of price.
However Nikon did release details about the new Nikon D3300 – a more consumer-focused entry-level model that is expected to be available from February for £500. The D3300 is equipped with a 24.2MP sensor, 5fps continuous shooting, full HD movie capture and is a lightweight instrument weighing less than 415g.
If you were put off buying Sony’s prosumer camcorders because of their hefty prices then here’s some good news for you. Sony’s FDR-AX100 Handycam is their latest masterpiece, a snip at just £1681.
According to Sony this 4K camcorder is a more compact version – it is 46% smaller and 67% lighter. The AX100 is designed to capture 4K video (3,840 x 2,160) at 30 fps in the XAVC-S format. But it is also able to produce a second file with low resolution in MP4 format.
It also has slow-motion footage, with the full HD format and the ability to capture 1,920 x 1,080 video at 120 fps. Sony has introduced its newer concept of Balanced Optical Steady Shot (BOSS) system which reduces hand shake and thus ensures that the footage is as steady as possible. Still intrigued? Using Wi-Fi a smartphone or tablet acts as a remote control making file transfer painless with a small NFC tap on your smartphone.
Two other great products are the Premium Closer Voice and My Voice Cancel. The Premium Closer Voice makes a distant voice sound closer and My Voice Cancel gets rid of the shooter’s voice. One thing is sure; Sony wants its customers to enjoy big time!
Whole-house music streaming was another big draw at CES 2014. LG previewed two of its all-in-one speakers – the NP8740 and NP8540. Though similar to the Sonos’ Play: 5 and Play: 3, LG has added their own special touches.
Designed for indoor specifications, these portable speakers come with a “grab bar” at their rear. Compatibility with smartphones hasn’t been overlooked as provisions have been made for the for the speaker system to be controlled with a smartphone by an intuitive “drag-and-drop” app which controls each speaker independently.
These LG speakers will also support lossless music playback up to a maximum of 24 bit/192KHz. This is where LG came up trumps against Sonos who currently don’t have this feature. LG has a third model on the way too – the Bridge Box which is designed for systems with more than two speakers. In this capacity LG looks unbeatable at the moment.
The battle for the best luxury headphones has a new contender with the launch of the Nutz range of headphones led by their premium Nutz Pro over the ear device. At first glance the Nutz Pro is elegantly designed and fashionable. It comes in 13 different colours which along with your basic popular colours include a number of on-trend colours for the 2014 season; Placid Blue, Violet Tulip, Hemlock, Paloma, Sand, Cayenne, Celosia Orange, Radiant Orchard and Dazzling Blue. They come in two options – wireless or wired. It has a rich metallic feel that is enhanced by the soft leather. This is certainly one set of over the ear headphone that will turn heads. It’s difficult to ignore the quality of the materials used in designing the earpiece, drivers, plug and cable for the Nutz Pro. The attention to detail and vast colour options make this model standout from the crowd. The minimalistic, sleek design along with the extremely comfortable ear cups and noise isolation features make the Nutz Pro one of the best fashionable luxury headphones on the market.
Nutz Pro Headphones: Performance/Audio quality
The Nutz Pro impressed us with its sound quality although it does not have the best noise cancelling capacity. This device is fitted with dynamic drivers that produce sounds just as it was recorded by the artist. The frequency of sound is nicely equalised without emphasis on bass, mid or treble. Nutz Pro creates music experiences that will please the listener without compromising the frequency level. The closed design of the Nutz Pro enhances the bass. Other features include high power, high sensitivity, low impedance, a wide frequency range and large drivers. It is truly a beast when you crank up the volume and can see why it earned the name ‘nutz’.
Nutz Pro Headphones: Features/Accessories
Nutz Pro weighs 320g with a frequency range of 5 – 33,000Hz. It comes with a 3.5mm gold plated jack, an airplane jack, DJ cable and a colour coded extendable cord. It has a 40mm Nano fibre drivers and memory form ear pads for optimum acoustics and comfort. It also comes with an attractive steel flight case for storage.
Nutz Pro Headphones: Help/Support
The Nutz range powered has a very good support network. It comes with a two year warranty for all their headphones from material to product defects. For any type of help they have various ways for contact via phone, email or social media especially twitter.
Nutz Pro Headphones: Overview
At only £139 for the wired set and £179 for the wireless set the Nutz Pro wired are basically the highest quality headphones your money can buy at the moment. It’s professionally tuned with an impressive sound clarity which is loud and clear. These headphones are made with fashion-conscious people in mind hence the wide variety of colours options. On the downside the headphones are slightly heavy and lack online materials such as a downloadable product manuals. Overall it is a great headphone with character and distinctive style. We see a bright future for these Nutz Pro based on the sound quality and the fashion sense.
A selfie can get you in trouble but only if you are in a funeral. The increasing trend of people taking selfies (if you don’t know what a selfie is, search the dictionary, it is now an official English word) on their smart phones has not gone unnoticed by the camera makers.
Keeping this in mind, Panasonic has come up with the W850 selfie camcorder. It actually is a set of two camcorders, one in the front, and one in rear.
The W850 doesn’t allow you to alternate between the two cameras, largely missing the point. One area where the W850 actually beats other camcorders is the presence of four lens groups as opposed to the traditional two lens groups. These extra zoom groups enable 50x zoom. The slow motion video recording, without breaks, works great.
Camcorders are not the only offering of Panasonic this CES season. The company also unveiled the £399 compact camera TZ60. Sporting a 3-inch screen, this model doesn’t improve the picture quality over the present Panasonic TZ40 but it is more power efficient and offers a better zoom of 30x (over the 20x offered by TZ40). There is the minor benefit of some 16 odd extra filter effects. The auto focus is faster than before and the in-built GPS and Wi-Fi eliminate the necessity of a GPS dongle. Panasonic surely offered a couple of great improvements but it can’t be said to have met all the expectations!
Rarely does a company have something to offer to every consumer at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES), the annual gadget trade show held at Las Vegas, Nevada. From driverless cars to wearable gadgets, CES 2014 has a lot to offer on the innovation front. But not everyone would buy a driverless car in the near future. MakerBot, the Brooklyn, New York based company hit the nail by coming up with its range of 3D printers.
MakerBot Replicator Mini, priced at £839, clearly stole the show as it promises to elevate the use of 3D printing to another level. This device, dubbed as the “consumer 3D printer”, apart from one-touch 3D printing, also allows you to print via mobile devices. With Wi-Fi connectivity, the Mini enables you to monitor the products that you make; through a built-in camera and even share them on your favourite social networking site. MakerBot Mini starts shipping in spring this year.
The newest kid on the block, in the Replicator series, is armed with a larger build volume of 8*10*6 inches, a 100 micro resolution and faster build time. The all new MakerBot Replicator boasts of a wide range of connectivity options such as Wi-Fi, USB stick, and Ethernet. Important additions are a 3.5 inch on the screen, which allows you to change or refill the filament and print directly from it and a small camera which will help you in monitoring the status of the printing process. This one will ship in a few weeks’ time and is available at £1772.
An automated driving system is essentially a computerised system that assumes all real time functions that are required in order to drive a vehicle, without any input from a human driver or operator. There are two types of types of automation, conditional automation and full automation. Conditional automation is when the car is capable of driving itself, but not in all real life conditions. Full automation is when no human is required to be present in the vehicle.
BMW, at the CES 2014, took a leap forward in the field of autonomous vehicles. It introduced the computerized systems required for the car to steer, accelerate, and brake autonomously. The system was demonstrated on a wet corner. The stability systems were turned off, and the car was allowed to skid on the corner. As it started to slide, the system performed a counter steering maneuver, preventing the car from doing a 180. This was pretty impressive, even though the track was programmed into the car’s GPS system.
The new BMW i3 (electric) has an even better system, that allows for autonomous parallel parking. The car has ultrasonic sensors which scan to the right and left of the car to look for obstacles. Apparently the car can park comfortably in any space just 22 inches longer than the car itself. However, a well-defined curb was set up for the car to see, and the car may not perform so perfectly in real life situations.
These advances in the technology required to automate cars is pushing BMW ahead into 2014. With driverless and self-parking, the company gives competition to full automated vehicle systems, such as the Google Car.
At CES 2014 the top audio visual companies revealed their newest television models.
Samsung and LG stayed one step ahead of the pack by revealing the world’s first bendable TVs… and not that’s not a typo. Samsung’s version was an 85″ Ultra HD model that will be available later this year.
CNN International announced on Monday that it will launch a new program that will shed light on the entrepreneurial ideas of native Africans and it will reach across the African continent, try and recognise the entrepreneurs and focus on how they are attempting to convert their dreams into reality. This new series is supposed to air weekly and bi – monthly as a half hour special. A representative of CNN said that several SME entrepreneurs in various African countries would be followed by this programme to see how they are being able to convert their dreams into reality.
The programme will join ‘African Voices’, ‘Inside Africa’ and ‘CNN Marketplace Africa’ as another TV network’s output specifically planned to uplift the African continent by broadcasting the ideas which these entrepreneurs are so eager to convert into successful projects. Deborah Rayner, vice president and managing editor for Europe, Middle East & Africa (EMEA) at CNN International, said that CNN being the leading brand on the continent they are proud of finding innovative ways to project the African story to their international audiences. This new strand has been extremely looked upon and aiming in resonating both with African viewers and with viewers around the world. She also mentioned that Africa is an important region for them as a global network, and a strong stable of great programming had been joined by The African Start – Up.
CNN also said the programme will explore how the entrepreneurs are able to generate their ideas, raise their capital and distribute their products. The entrepreneurs also take viewers through their daily challenge, and motivate those with the vision and creativity to try something new
The Waka Waka Solar Charger or Waka Waka Power is a product inaugurated by the Waka Waka Foundation. This product is a multipurpose device with solar powered LED light and a charger which can be used for emergency purposes or for daily use. This pocket size ‘mini power station’ has a 23% efficiency guaranteeing solar panel which coverts solar energy into electrical energy through the Intivation SNBST Gen 3 power management circuit and stores it into a 2200mAh LiPo battery with 1000 cycles. It takes about eight hours of charging to fill up the battery storage if charged with solar energy.
This stored energy can either be used to charge any electronic gadget with a USB facility. One can also charge this device through the internet with the help of the Mini – USB facility via the Mini USB input present on the body of the device. To understand the progress in the charging of the device, there is a red LED light who frequency of flickering denotes the power of energy it is receiving , 4 green LED lights to denote 25, 50, 75 and 100 % of energy storage and another red LED to denote the transfer of charge to the electronic gadget.
There are a few drawbacks of the Waka Waka Power:
The extent of energy stored is dependent on the geographical and the seasonal conditions experienced by the owner of the device.
The instruction manual is a bit vague in explaining certain features.
Overall, this device seems to attract a lot of people and is certainly efficient with a life span of 5 – 7 years and its affordable cost of £48.35.
