T3 Magazine - October 2014 UK

S PAC E P O R T B R I TA I N p 2 6

GALAXY ALPHA vs iPHONE 6 p15

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GADGETS YOU CAN’T LIVE WITHOUT

The Gadget Magazine October 2014 / £4.99

Best-in-class buys from commute to crash pad

RISE OF THE AFFORDAFONE

Killer mobiles with tiny price tags

UNWIRED FOR SOUND

Streaming speakers to bring the party

ALL HAIL THE HELIX

World’s thinnest gaming laptop

CONQUER THE ALPS

SUBZERO TECH TO SCALE MOUNTAINS

F1’S TECH SECRETS

SEBASTIAN VETTEL REVEALS ALL

Contents October 2014 / Issue 234

ON THE COVER 101 gadgets you can’t live without

52

Best-in-class tech buys for every part of your life, from entertainment den to culinary hub, smartphone to shed

Galaxy Alpha vs iPhone 6

15

Has Samsung’s new metal premo-phone pre-empted Apple’s upcoming flagship?

Rise of the affordafone

113

Smartphones needn’t cost the earth and cheap needn’t mean crapola. We test the very best in wallet-friendly handsets

Unwired for sound

110

The finest streaming audio solutions, from AirPlay pucks to Bluetooth balls

All hail the Helix

97

Chillblast’s gaming laptop slims down and powers up for the polygon-pushing fight

Unsocial climbing

77

Want to climb a mountain? Get subzero tech to conquer inhospitable peaks

Pedal to the Vettel

92

Formula 1 star Sebastian Vettel on his tech – and a rundown of how it’s conspired against him this season

MODEL WEARS: JUMPSUIT - WHISTLES, SHOES - TOPSHOP, NECKLACE - STYLIST’S ARCHIVE

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Contents October 2014 / Issue 234

Editor’s letter

11

OPINION Isis hacked my fridge! Silicon Valley: the new Hollywood

Most Wanted: Galaxy Alpha vs iPhone 6 15

Stateside by Chris Smith

Samsung’s metal-edged, smaller-framed smartphone is a corker – but how does it stack up next to Apple’s imminent arrivals?

Microsoft struggles to the Surface

Need list

Finally… by Paul Lamkin

20

The tech raising temperatures this month, from space-age watches to bulletproof cars 22

One’s a super-robot. The other shows videos on its face, but is somewhat cheaper Trend: Kip-assisting kit

Why Google wears it well

Review: Kodak PixPro S-1 49

Review: Amazon Fire Phone

52

28

Shutdown

31

Ten tech items you have to live without… because you’ll invariably lose all of them

32

TECH LIFE

34

Gadget of the month How to

Brew the perfect bubble tea; wear a kilt

Autumn’s impulse purchases preordained

Obsession: Alpine Climbing

Incoming

Essential kit for when you’re truly peaking

38

Must-remember dates for your digital diary

Tech Dad

130

Test: waffle makers

67 76 77 86 79

This is jam hot: T3’s verdict on the best irons 41

Upgrade: bike helmets

Inside the most expensive video game ever

Preserve your street cred and your brains

Games

Pulse

38

Forza Horizon 2 leads us into a fun hairpin 39

Smartphones Tablets Accessories Cameras Laptops Gaming Home audio Home entertainment Headphones Televisions

118 119 120 121 122 123 124 125 126 128

82

Google Glass for yachtsmen and hardcore kit for getting started in extreme sports Home

Films

The Cabinet of Dr Caligari takes on The Utter Bollocks of Pompeii and Transcendence

We were going to call this “Kompact Kitchen Kit” but then thought better of it. Also in your face this month: Braun’s new shaver

Apps, websites and ebooks

Drive

44

Scaled-down, lower-priced offerings from the major players in Phoneland are more “flagship lite” than Poundstretcher

80

Underworld celebrate two ravey decades 43

104

THE GUIDE

Omnipresent Skylanders back for more money

PLAY

Group test: Stream genies

Supertest: Affordable smartphones 113

Fifty Three’s Pencil puts the style in stylus

Stuff

36

92

The formerly unstoppable Formula 1 champion on tech, plus T3 on the tech fails that have made him slightly more stoppable

Stats, tech stories and your missive missiles

BioShock resurfaces on iOS, plus there’s sites for the indecisive… or are there?

102

Cut the wires with speakers and audio receivers for all budgets and preferences

The conceptual transatlantic duo who are shaping the present and future of tech

Music

Review: Nook Glowlight

A season in the life of Sebastian Vettel

A TV and speakers that cost more than some houses? Now that’s a home cinema

The Essential: Destiny

103

The retail giant’s US-only mobile makes it easier than ever to, er, buy things…

FEATURES 101 gadgets you can’t live without

102

The old-school imaging outfit is back with trendy compact system camera. Any cop?

26

Spend: Samsung’s UNI0559

The Buzz

Truth by Duncan Bell

102

“Ears on” with this luxury headphone debut

24

The Tegra K1-powered tablet puts extreme gaming power at your fingertips

Icon: Industrial Facility

Review: Ted Baker Rockall 49

97

Can a massive book archive and snazzy design make this e-reader a Kindle caner?

Why Newquay could kick off a space race Nvidia Shield rides again

48

Truly portable next-gen gameplay moves a step closer with this svelte power-laptop

Now, we’re not saying that if you don’t own every single one of these, your life will be meaningless. But is it worth taking the risk?

Sleep better with zzzz-monitoring tech Innovation: Spaceport Britain

360 review: Chillblast Helix

Insight by Lancope’s TK Keanini

RADAR

Asimo vs Jibo

RATED 47

Rolls-Royce’s oligarch mobile; Porsche’s ante-upping Spyder sits down beside ya

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ON THE COVER IOANNA @ FM PHOTOGRAPHED BY RICHARD GRASSIE STYLING BY DEAN HAU HAIR AND MAKEUP BY AIMEE ADAMS USING L’OREAL PARIS AND L’OREAL PROFESSIONNEL RETOUCHING BY SIMON WINDSOR MODEL WEARS: DRESS - ALL SAINTS, BOOTS - THE KOOPLES NECKLACE - & OTHER STORIES

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Editor’s letter October 2014 / Issue 234

At T3, we don’t tend to use the words “can’t live without” lightly. With more crowdfunded fag-packet ideas and “world-changing” technological claims being flung at us than ever before, it can pay to be cynical. But when something just works, a perfect marriage of style and substance that improves your day through the often lost art of simply doing a job well, there’s nothing like it. The smart thermostat that away from the “internet of things” PR bluster actually has your house-heating tendencies well and truly remembered; the media box in a sea of similar set-tops that features the connectivity your clan craves; the automatic pepper mill that gives cheffy types the perfect grind; the exercise bike that becomes a home-gym kickstarter rather than a spare-room relic. That’s what 101 Gadgets You Can’t Live Without is all about: a selection of truly best-in-class buys for all corners of your life, be they indoor or out, used regularly or just when required. No ‘Best 30 Smartphones’ this, or ‘100 Greatest Gadgets Ever’ that – this is an edit, a line in the sand, a fix for every problem and a single solution for

almost every product type right now – all of which we’d be more than happy to have nestled in our own homes. We also don’t go overboard on expense for the sake of it, either – hey, we’re treating the collective wallet as if it’s our own – so always weigh up whether any extra outlay will reap great enough rewards. This 19-page “ultimate guide to everything” special starts on p52. So that’s your one-stop tech buying bible sorted for autumn, now for some deeper delving into the details of better living through technology. We dig into streaming audio systems of all sizes (p104), sleep trackers for a better kip (p24), bijou kitchenette kit for those short on cooking space (p86) and the best cut-price-but-still-quality smartphones from the likes of Samsung, HTC et al (p113). If the Galaxy S5 and One M8 are superphones, this looks like the rise of the affordafones. And yes, I did just make that up – well, if “phablet” can catch on, so can anything. Speaking of mobiles, there’s also the imminent arrival of Apple’s latest, iOS 8-toting smartphone to anticipate. Samsung’s new Galaxy Alpha appears to be a warning shot across Cupertino’s bow, a more refined, premium and, most importantly, smaller take on the S5 that could cause iWaves. Brace yourself for a fresh phone battle on p15. We even find time to peer further ahead, expectantly, into the bright lights of tech progress. Be it Britain’s first spaceport (p26), Jaguar’s “ghost race” windscreens gamifying our drive home, or that eternal Most Wanted, the robot butler (p22), these are trends that have us truly excited. Whether any of these will be things we “can’t live without” come 2018, which is when a disproportionate number are set to land, you’ll have to wait and see… Matt Hill, Editor Twitter: @gethill / Email: [email protected]

{CONTRIBUTORS}

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Chief technology officer for online security specialist Lancope, and a former Cisco systems engineer, TK reckons the connected home is soon to become a hacker battleground. Head to P47 for a safety sermon.

Having styled interiors for Elle Decoration, House of Hackney and Missoni, Phoebe was the ideal choice to select the furniture and shape the sets of our better living through tech cover feature. P52.

Editor-in-chief of hot new tech website Wareable.com (see what they did there?), the T3 Awards judge and former MSN editor predicts a glorious future for Google’s Android Wear on P49.

TK KEANINI

PHOEBE ANNE HARRIS

PAUL LAMKIN

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{EDITOR IA L}

{PUBLISHING}

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{A DV ERTISING}

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{VIDEO}

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Radar

{ALSO CHANGING GAMES}

When two robots go to war p22 Deeper sleep through technology p24 Britain builds a spaceport p26 Nvidia Shield 2 powers your play p28 The £200,000 home cinema p31 Industrial Facility’s fine designs p32

ESSENTIAL NEWS FROM TECH’S FRONTLINE

M OST WA N T E D

Size does matter: the 4.7-inch Galaxy Alpha is here to help take on Apple’s allegedly imminent new L and XL mobiles

{SAMSUNG GALAXY ALPHA}

TWO SIZES TO RULE THEM ALL? Rumour has it the iPhone 6 will come in two screen widths – so Sammy gets in first with the new Alpha and S5 superphone tag team

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M OST WA N T E D

THE TECH WORLD USED TO BE ALL about making gadgets ever smaller and more discrete. Over the past year, though, the smartphone sands reversed, with the rise of both phablets and oversized 5-inch-plus superphone flagships leaving the iPhone fighting the lonely, but still very successful, smaller-screened fight. This dichotomy has now left every blower brand searching for that Goldilocks sweet spot that blends mucho screen real estate with necessary portability. There is, of course, another way: release two or more handsets at different size points and see which one sticks – and no company favours this approach more than Samsung. There are Sammy phone screens in pretty much every size you can imagine already. But while the new Galaxy S5 Mini (tested on p137) is clearly a scaled-down, budget edition of the S5, this upcoming Alpha is smaller yet boasts better specs, a premium metal finish and a high-end price. Could it be here to tackle the rumoured 4.7-inch and 5.5-inch iPhone 6 combo that Apple is expected to drop in September? Or vice versa? You may well think that, but we couldn’t possibly comment. Whatever the state of play, there’s no doubt that the Alpha, with aluminium edging replacing plastic on its 6.7mm, 114g chassis, is the most iPhone-homaging phone Samsung’s put out since litigation got real. There aren’t many similarities beyond the look, though. The screen is a 4.7-inch 720p Super AMOLED, with processing options of either a 2.5GHz quadcore or dual quadcores clocked at 1.8GHz and 1.3GHz. The fixed 2GB of RAM is perfectly adequate but not class-leading, while storage is stated to be a similarly straight 32GB – although Samsung’s said that before and unveiled a 16GB option. The Alpha lacks the S5’s water and dust protection, but is still festooned with sensors and trackers, from accelerometers to light sensors, fingerprint scanners to pulse readers. The rear, 12-megapixel camera features realtime HDR, panoramas and selective focus. It can also shoot 4K video at 30 frames per second, although you can’t make use of the generous pixel counts on that 320ppi screen. In terms of connectivity, you’re looking at super-fast, super-not-supported AC Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.0, NFC and category six LTE, meaning it’s capable of 300Mbps downloads. No UK network yet goes at anything like that speed but it’s good future-proofing. Which is, after all, what the Alpha is about. Whether it’s a pre-emptive strike against the iPhone 6, or just another shot at HTC and Nokia’s sprawling range of handsets, the Alpha is yet another top-tier option to ponder. £549 SIM-FREE, SAMSUNG.COM/UK, OUT SEPTEMBER

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{DETA ILS} 1. DOWNSIZE ME

Shrinking the 5.1-inch screen of the S5 down to a “tiny” 4.7 inches has meant a resolution drop from 1080p to 720p – but also a ppi fall from 432 to 320. 2. FEATURE RICH

Popular S5 tricks such as Ultra Power Saving Mode and Private Mode are on board, as is connectivity with the Gear Fit and Gear Live wearables. 3. COLOURS ABOUND

The Alpha is available in a range of obtuse colourways including “charcoal” black, “dazzling” white, “frosted” gold, “sleek” silver and “scuba” blue. 4. METAL GEAR SOLID

Plastic casing begone! Samsung has fitted the Galaxy Alpha with a curving aluminium frame that looks swish and hopefully won’t sully reception

Specification OS Android KitKat 4.4 SCREEN 4.7-inch, 720p, 320ppi PROCESSOR/RAM Quadcore 1.8GHz plus quadcore 1.3GHz/2GB REAR CAM 13-meg/4K FRONT CAM 2.1-meg/1080p STORAGE 32GB CONNECTIVITY AC Wi-Fi, 4G, NFC, Bluetooth 4.0, 3.5mm audio BATTERY 1,860mAh SIZE/WEIGHT 132x66x6.7mm/114g

WWW FOR MORE NEWS GO TO T3.COM

Radar

RUMOUR BLIP THE RUMOUR MILL SUGGESTS THAT HTC IS WORKING ON A “MAX”-SIZE VERSION OF THE ALREADY FAIRLY MAXED ONE M8, TOO

{RUMOURS}

A tale of two iPhone 6s Is Apple really set to break the habit of a lifetime and “go large” on its next smartphone? That’s what numerous rumours, online “leaks” and Wall Street Journal articles are suggesting. The new, multi-tiered line-up is said to add 4.7-inch and 5.5-inch iPhones to the 4-inch “classic” sizing.

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IPHONE 6 (4.7-INCH)

It is typically hard to second-guess Apple’s intentions and foolhardy to expect radical changes. The bigger screen will be its usual IPS LCD, rather than an AMOLED, with a resolution somewhere between 720p and 1080p to give Apple’s favoured 320+ ppi. The processor could get a bump to quadcore or it could just use a faster dualcore and continue to emphasise the 64-bit architecture. HealthKit, HomeKit and the iOS 8 upgrades will be the real USPs.

IPHONE 6 (5.5-INCH)

Now, an even larger iPhone 6 might conceivably protect its big, vulnerable, presumably-more-than-1080p (again, to provide 320+ ppi) screen with sapphire glass (or is that being stockpiled for the iWatch?). Could there be a 256GB option? Not unless Apple’s storage pricing policy changes – it’d have to charge about a grand for it on current rates. With all those acres of screen to gambol about in, this could be the poster boy for Pages, iMovie and other creative app upgrades.

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{SPEAK}

T3 news editor Jeff Parsons sizes up Apple and Samsung’s next moves It’s fair to say the last few iPhones have been a tad predictable on the eye. Slightly bumped specs and slightly smaller bezels have been the order of the day, with the likes of Touch ID and Siri adding innovation internally. Samsung, by contrast,

has been Gatling-gunning out new blowers with all sorts of features and form factors. Device after device arrives from South Korea with different screen sizes, styluses, heart-rate monitors, tin openers, you name it. It’s two vastly different approaches: one that tells you what you want rather

than asking, the other giving you so much choice it can’t maintain consistent quality. But Sammy ‘s scattergun approach certainly pays off in terms of overall sales: it’s now the leading global smartphone supplier, shipping 167 million of its many, many units in the last two quarters compared to

Apple’s 78.9 million of its more refined roster, according to IDC research from July. Profitability is another matter, of course. So there’s a big potential market for a larger iPhone, then, just as there was for a smaller iPad, despite Apple’s initial prevarication. It would seem to make more sense, in

fact, than persisting with the iPhone 5C, which is all but identical to the 5S physically and only a tad cheaper. With Apple’s “imperial phase”, where it could do no wrong, over, a size-mic shift in direction would be sensible. And if anyone can maintain quality control over multiple sizes, it’s Apple.

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M O S T WA N T E D PA R T 2

NEED LIST

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ORC-ESTRAL MANOEUVRES SteelSeries Siberia Elite World of Warcraft Edition

Tech with your name on it this month (not literally, that’s naff )

Melée sonically through Azeroth with bloodthirsty blood elves at your side – and slightly behind and to the left of you – with this 7.1 digital surround-sound headset. Ear cushions as black as the planet Draenor, whatever that is, soothe your battle woes while light-up rotating earcup controls, rune inscriptions, a built-in bendy mic and bespoke equalizer app ensure you’re the coolest mage at the LAN party. £180, STEELSERIES.CO.UK, OUT NOW

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COLOUR RUN

CATCH SOME CURVE Sony Bravia S90

Hey there, Billy Whizz, still chasing after a tracker from a more young, thrusting brand than TomTom, Garmin and their unexcitingly effective ilk? This bright range from the Austrian cross-platform running app firm runs the full gamut: steps, distance, calories burned, sleep cycles for optimum 40-winkage, and an alarm (what witchcraft is this?!). Waterproof to 100m and with a decent battery, we like the cut of its primary-coloured jib.

Shuffling fashionably late into the curved TV party, Sony joins AV playground pals Samsung and LG with this sweeping, LED-backlit, 4K googlebox, available in either 65-inch or 75-inch girths. It buffs standard HD up to the Ultra variety with its X-Reality Pro picture engine, while the Triluminos Display focuses on vivid colour. Sony’s also talked up the built-in 4.2-channel audio system, which uses independently angled speakers and a built-in subwoofer that take advantage of the screen’s curve and size to add audio immersion. There’s a couple of pairs of active 3D glasses chucked in the box plus a removable Skype cam for making video calls on a huge screen, like you’re Captain freakin’ Kirk. Prepare thy wallets…

£95, RUNTASTIC.COM, OUT NOW

£TBC, SONY.CO.UK, OUT TBC

Runtastic Orbit

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PROP ART Framed*

Glorying in a quite unfeasibly pretentious, Wallpaper*-imitating name, Framed* is mum’s favourite, the digital photo frame, given a purpose. Specifically: a way for you to show off your exquisite and cutting-edge taste. The slimline, gesture-controlled screens display artists’ digital works, both static and kinetic, which can be purchased direct on the screens via an online art store. The attractive full-HD IPS displays come in hand-crafted walnut frames and offer 16.7 million colours and a 180-degree viewing angle. Chain multiple screens for bonus décor points. FROM £297, FRM.FM, OUT FEBRUARY 2015

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Radar

NEWS BLIP THE INTERNET’S INFRASTRUCTURE TO BE UPGRADED AS FLOOD OF DEVICES CAUSES WORLDWIDE OUTAGES

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BAGS O’ TECH

Aspinal Mount Street Tech

{5}

QUEASY RIDER Vandeyk VDX

Want to get in on the rural two-wheel obstacle-course action of cyclocross? First, buy next month’s T3, where we’ll have the full lowdown. Then consider Vandeyk’s new cyclocross bike. Built for aesthete adrenaline junkies, the VDX was handbuilt from True Temper Platinum OX steel tubing in partnership with ex-pro biker Ken Bloomer. Beautiful as well as tough, it sports a spiffing “liquid paint” finish.

The high-end leather lovers at Aspinal have not yet found a product they couldn’t put a luxury twist on, and this time it’s the laptop sack. The London brand’s new Mount Street holdall not only carries your laptop, smartphone, tablet and fitness wearables in pristine comfort, it can also charge them via an integrated power pack and cable. The battery is removable for rejuicing and comes in small or large, four different finishes including black Saffiano calf leather, and can even be monogrammed too if that’s your, erm, bag. FROM £595, ASPINALOFLONDON.COM, OUT NOW

€3,450, VANDEYK.DE, OUT NOW

{6}

WALL GAMES Optoma GT1080

Two HDMI inputs, 2800 lumens of brightness, a 144Hz rapid refresh rate, 3D specs and angular styling – these are a few (well, six) of our favourite things. At least when it comes to gaming-specific projectors. Add 10W speakers and a short-throw lens that can splatter 100 inches of full-HD FIFA up your wall from just one metre away and we’re sold. £650, OPTOMA.CO.UK, OUT NOW

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DANCING ON THE CEILING LightFreq

There are plenty of smart bulbs fighting for your pocket change but few as cheap yet brainy as this, which is essentially a plug-in mobile disco. LightFreq has a built-in 5W loudspeaker and is controlled via app and Bluetooth. Snag a few of them and you can enable party mode, co-ordinating lights to flash and change colour – 16 million different hues at your fingertips, G – in time with your music. £33, LIGHTFREQ.COM, OUT FEBRUARY 2015

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GRIND DESIGNS Krups EA9010

This touchscreen-toting barista replacement can squirt out 17 different coffee choices, from Big Apple Americano to Sicilian doppio, from latté to flat white. Krups’ pricy machine may not appeal to bean counters, but it will grind them well and truly, with a 1.7-litre capacity and the options to save favourite brews in a personalised profile. Who needs sleep, right? £1,299, KRUPS.CO.UK, OUT NOW

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ALL THE PRESIDENT’S CARS Mercedes S600 Guard

Worried about extreme road rage? This modded Merc fit for a leader offers the best ballistic protection on the streets. The six-litre, twin turbo motor’s chassis is plated with protective steel, while the glass is splinterprotected and polycarbonate-coated. Meeting the top VR9 level of military certification, it withstands rifle fire and explosives, while a fresh-air system, all-leather interior and drinks holders keep you in comfort while under fire. £TBC, MERCEDES.COM, OUT 2015

WWW FOR MORE NEWS GO TO T3.COM

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Radar

NEWS BLIP SAMSUNG BUYS CONNECTED HOME PIONEER SMART THINGS FOR $200 MILLION

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ZOOM DADDY

Canon PowerShot SX520 HS Looking to photograph a D-list celeb from some bushes as they talk “business” with implausible “sheikhs”? You make us sick! But needs must, and this mighty capable lightweight camera boasts a 42x optical zoom and a high-sensitivity, back-lit, 16-meg CMOS sensor. DIGIC 4+ image processing gives futher buffage, while the new Creative Shot mode provides 46 special effects to keep your Instagram following green with envy and your photographic subjects sepia with pleasure. £299, CANON.CO.UK, OUT NOW

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DIVIDE AND CONQUER Philips Fidelio E5

An armed-up alternative to solitary sound bars, the wireless Fidelio E5 system offers hi-def sound to match your upmarket telly’s visuals. It may look like a 2.1 system but there’s a twist: the tower toppers are detachable, wireless and able to work as speakers in their own right, thereby delivering the magic of surround sound. Meanwhile, a 90W subwoofer provides some big bottom. £600, PHILIPS-SHOP.CO.UK, OUT NOW

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NEW SEASON, NEW MACS

SPACE TIME Omega Speedmaster

MacBook Pro with Retina display 2014

Autumn’s here, so time to don a new Mac. The look remains “classic” (ie: has not changed a jot) but this classy laptop’s spec has had a bump. So the 13-inch now ships with dualcore Intel i7 processors up to an overclocked 3.5GHz, while the 15-incher sports quadcore i7s up to 4GHz. The Retina display (2560x1600 on the 13-inch, 2880x1800 on the 15) is still standard and still looks very you. Mwah! 13-INCH FROM £999, 15-INCH FROM £1,549, APPLE.COM/UK

{14}

BLOWER ON A BUDGET Nokia Lumia 530

Two-headed tech beast Micronokiasoft is touting this Windows Phone 8.1 handset as the most affordable Lumia to date at just 70 quids. Despite the giveaway price, it one-ups its dualcore predecessor with a meatier 1.4GHz quadcore Snapdragon CPU. Admittedly, the 854x480 screen resolution, 512MB of RAM, 4GB of storage and five-meg camera are a bit piddly, but at that price you can just keep it in your bag for dead-battery emergencies. £70, MICROSOFT.COM, OUT NOW

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Paying stylistic homage to the Apollo 11 moon landing’s 45th anniversary, Omega has created this special edition of the model Buzz Aldrin rocked on the ultimate space rock. The Speedmaster is built from 1,969 pieces – see what they did? – encased in lightweight, “grade 2” titanium. The manually wound chronograph movement is water resistant to 50 metres and while the price may be a “small step” up from your current piece, it’s not what you’d call astronomical. £4,860, OMEGAWATCHES.COM, OUT NOW

Radar

NEWS

NEWS BLIP CONTROVERSIAL SOCIAL NETWORK ASK.FM BOUGHT BY TINDER OWNER IAC

{DETA ILS}

Asimo

(VERY UNFAIR) ROBOT WARS One super-advanced android slave

BORN 2000, Tokyo HEIGHT/WEIGHT 1.3m/48kg MOVABLE PARTS 57 CONNECTIVITY Wi-Fi BATTERY LIFE 40 minutes KEY FEATURES Shaking hands Opening doors Face and voice recognition Motion tracking Object orienteering Sign language Running at up to 3.7mph PRICE Not available to buy but cost £590,000 to develop

vs one you can actually buy. Fight!

Jibo BORN 2014, Boston HEIGHT/WEIGHT 0.28m/2.72kg MOVABLE PARTS 3 CONNECTIVITY Wi-Fi, Bluetooth BATTERY LIFE 30 minutes KEY FEATURES Voice and face recognition Taking photographs Playing videos Handling email, calendars and video calling PRICE £294

Asimo Honda’s in-house droid has gone through eight iterations since its 2000 launch – the 2006 one was rather fond of falling over hilariously (check YouTube). But this year’s more reliable, upgraded bot can now run at 9kph, dodge pedestrians and is now classed as “fully autonomous”, so long as you remember to charge him up. Honda’s robotics boffs have also taught Asimo to distinguish between voices, while its hands are dextrous enough to twist off bottle-caps and use sign language. Unfortunately it’s stuck playing robotic guinea pig for the foreseeable future so there’s no hope of having one in your house just yet, although that is the goal. ASIMO.HONDA.COM

Jibo For now, this little Pixar-ish cutie is the ultimate home robo-pal. The Indiegogo creation does everything from snapping selfies to teaching your kids by means of educational games and videos. He has a touchscreen for a face, two speakers for a voicebox, a 360-degree mic for ears and a camera with facial-recognition software for eyes. Movement is handled by a three-axis motor, and the idiosyncratic movement this gives Jibo imbues him with a lot personality. Move over, Lassie… MYJIBO.COM

{CONCEPT}

JAGUAR GAMIFIES DRIVING WITH GRAN TURISMO WINDSCREEN The move towards real life being just like a great big video game continues apace courtesy of Jaguar Land Rover. Its team has developed augmented reality tech that overlays info and graphics on to your windscreen in

2 2 T 3 O C TO B E R 2 0 1 4

real time, rather than a heads-up display. This “virtual windscreen” – that must have been a long meeting – was designed for track days but it could mean that one happy day, you’ll be able to see the name

of the driver who’s just cut you up on the M6. The entire window becomes a display showing speed stats, navigation info and hazard warnings. Most excitingly, Jaguar is also toying with a “ghost car”

overlay, racing-game style, so you can see where you were on your previous lap. The next logical step would be ghost rivals for you to race against with zero risk of crashing into them. JAGUARLANDROVER.COM

WWW F O R M O R E N EWS G O T O T 3.C O M

Radar

NEWS BLIP TOM HANKS’ NEW APP MAKES YOUR iOS KEYBOARD RESEMBLE A TYPEWRITER! THANKS TOM

TREND

REST ASSURED

Up the quality of your kip with a specialist sleep tracker Misfit Beddit

Hello Sense

Withings Aura

This surreptitious sleep sensor is attached to a thin plastic strip resting at chest level underneath your mattress. It’s sensitive enough to pick up heart rate, movement and snoring during the night, although it doesn’t sit there silently for half an hour then dig you violently in the ribs as a human partner would. An app collates the deets, before an alarm rouses you during a light sleep cycle to awake refreshed.

It may look like a luminous, Tom Baker-era Dr Who prop but this sleep-tracking orb has raised over $1 million on Kickstarter. Connecting via Bluetooth LE to a pillow-attached “Sleep Pill”, it monitors your movements during the night with humidity, temperature and proximity sensors. The app then hands you a “Sleep Score” each morning which, if bad, may cause you to lose sleep. Irony.

A complete snooze solution, if you will, this tracks temperature, noise and light pollution as you doze, while a slightly incontinence pad-style cloth sensor takes note of your heart rate and movement. Results are collated on an app so you can optimise your bed and wake times/buy a house somewhere more quiet/start taking heavy tranquilisers. It also emits a cool blue light to lull you to sleep and wakes you with a Tango sunrise.

$150 (£87), MISFIT.COM, OUT NOW

$129, HELLO.IS, OUT NOVEMBER

£TBC, WITHINGS.COM, OUT WINTER

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WWW F O R M O R E N EWS G O T O T 3.C O M

I N N O VAT I O N

BRITS IN SPACE! Cameron has stars in his eyes with the UK’s first commercial spaceport IT’S BEEN 40 YEARS SINCE BRITAIN HAS been able to launch spacecraft from its own soil. But before the decade is out, we could be visiting the stratosphere by way of Scotland if plans for the UK’s first commercial spaceport pan out – and the Scots are still part of the UK. Eight aerodromes around the British Isles have been shortlisted as potential candidates for Europe’s answer to Spaceport America, the

New Mexico desert dome home to Sir Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic. Of those, Scotland holds six, with England and Wales one apiece. Each will be assessed by the Department for Transport based on criteria developed by the Civil Aviation Authority. The goal? A fully functioning spaceport for European reusable space-plane tourism within four years. GOV.UK, OUT 2018

THE CARRIERS

It’s not just Virgin Galactic working to take you up into orbit. The similarly US-based XCOR Aerospace is already taking bookings for its Linux craft. A ticket will set you back you £56,000 and the first flights are planned tentatively for 2016. Here in the UK, though, the 1991-founded Bristol Spaceplanes is working hard on a single-person, single-crew spaceplane called the Ascender (pictured above). The firm has already received government funding and has successfully tested its engines in the US. Alas, there’s no operational date as of yet.

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THE LOCATION

Along with a 3,000-metre runway, the site has to fulfil a number of criteria, including being away from densely populated areas and segregated from standard commercial airspace. Meteorological conditions would need to be stable, while other aviation regulations such as noise, air quality and fuel storage need to be maintained. Because of all this, each of the eight possible options is located on the coast.

Radar

NEWS BLIP PLAYSTATION TV AVAILABLE ON BRITISH SHORES ON NOVEMBER 14

THE MONEY

You may be surprised to learn that the space industry already contributes £11.3 billion a year and 35,000 jobs to the UK economy, so the benefits of a home port could be considerable. Current estimates are that by the third year of operation, 150 paying customers a year will want to take commercial space flights, giving revenues of nearly £14 million based on current prices. While the lion’s share goes to the operator, the UK takes a fair chunk and, over time, ticket costs will decline as demand amps up. Throw in the ability to launch satellites – for a price – and there will be no business like space business. Though initial investment numbers remain sketchy, the government has signalled an initial target of ten per cent of the global space sector, thereby nearly quadrupling the value of the UK space industry to £40 billion per annum by 2030.

{FOCUS}

Spaceport Britain: the eight locations in line for lift-off Stornoway Airport RAF Lossiemouth

Kinloss Barracks SCOTLAND

RAF Leuchars

Glasgow Prestwick Airport Campbeltown Airport

Llanbedr Airport WALES

ENGLAND

Newquay Cornwall Airport

{EXTR A}

MEANWHILE , IN NEW MEXICO… The world’s first, and most famous, commercial astropad, Spaceport America, dominates an impressive 62,000 square metres of the Jornada del Muerto desert in New Mexico

with the runway alone stretching to 3,657 metres. The $212 million building, designed by architect Sir Norman Foster, opened in 2011 and currently has Virgin Galactic, UP Aerospace

and Elon Musk’s SpaceX on its books. Some 20 suborbital missions have launched successfully from the vertical launch pads there so far. Virgin is still testing its WhiteKnightTwo

horizontal take-off spaceplane in the Mojave Desert in California, but Branson says it will move over later this year when flights become a reality. $250,000 PER TICKET, SPACEPORTAMERICA.COM

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Radar

NEWS BLIP HIDEO KOJIMA AND GUILLERMO DEL TORO ARE MAKING SILENT HILL 5

NEWS

{FOCUS}

Why Nvidia’s not playing around SNAP HAPPY

The Shield Tablet’s front-facing five-megapixel camera captures your angst and concentration then overlays it on to your streaming Twitch cast. STYLUS ICON

The DirectStylus 2 ships with every Shield Tablet and is twice as responsive as the previous iteration, handing you super-accurate handwriting recognition and creative expression courtesy of Nvidia’s Dabbler painting app. COVER MODEL

The Shield Tablet is accessory central. The most essential is the optional cover, £25, which doubles as a Surface-style kickstand for controller-based gaming. PORT MANTEAU

Both USB and HDMI ports are on the side, letting the Shield Tablet plug into a TV and act as an Android console that blows Ouya out of the water. GAME CENTRAL

The Nvidia Shield Hub app takes you to a curated shop of optimised Android Tega games. The tablet itself comes pre-loaded with the PC and console hit Trine 2, which looks stunning.

AGENT OF SHIELD

Nvidia’s first tablet harnesses Tegra K1 power for gaming goodness BUILT UNASHAMEDLY FOR GAMERS, THIS 8-INCH 1080P tablet spin-off from Nvidia’s odd-but-ace Shield handheld shaves off the curio’s console joypad for a sleeker, more mass-market sell. Most importantly, though, it’s upped its innards, as the Android-fuelled Shield Tablet is the first to pack the chip firm’s Tegra K1 processor. This mobile powerhouse utilises 192 graphics cores squeezed on to quad-core architecture to hit a maximum clock speed of 2.3Ghz.

In gaming speak, that means the finest fluidity you’ll see on a tab and the ability to stream games from your desktop. There’s even Nvidia ShadowPlay, which lets you stream your gaming out on Twitch, too, while LTE functionality also means it isn’t limited to your Wi-Fi. There’s a choice of 16 or 32GB storage and the tab works wirelessly with Nvidia’s Xbox-like controller, if you yearn to go “full gamer”. FROM £240, CONTROLLER £50, NVIDIA.CO.UK, OUT NOW

{EXTR A}

JET’S iCONTROL IS AN IN-FLIGHT SPACE SAVER London design studio Priestmangoode reckons it’s sorted out cramped airline cabins once and for all – and the answer was in that fiddly overhead control panel. The new svelte, iPhone-alike PSU – or

2 8 T 3 O C TO B E R 2 0 1 4

“personal service unit” if you’re in the air racket, handing out fans, call buttons, fasten seat belt signs and oxygen masks – is now seat-specific, rather than feeding into a cabin-long, spacegobbling central system.

Embraer’s swanky new E2 body jet will be the first to benefit from this patent-pending redesign as there’s now overhead bin space for a full-size roll-on bag each. First-class seats are staggered for maximum

leg room and chair-backs shun screens for tablet holsters. Even the loos have had a tech revamp, featuring touchless fixtures and an acoustic curtain to drown out mile-high business. PRIESTMANGOODE.COM, OUT 2018

WWW F O R M O R E N EWS G O T O T 3.C O M

NEWS BLIP OCULUS VR ADDS MAC SUPPORT TO ITS RIFT VIRTUAL REALITY HEADSET

Radar

SPEND

THE HOUSE THAT HOME CINEMA BUILT High-end audio and luxe visuals make for a set-up that costs more than a new flat but fires on all cylinders SAMSUNG UN105S9 £70,000, SAMSUNG.COM, OUT NOW IN US, UK TBC MAGICO SPEAKERS £130,000, ABSOLUTESOUNDS.COM, OUT OCTOBER

{TELEVISION}

1

2

3

4

5

AHEAD OF THE CURVE

MY EYES!

IT’S TRICKY

LOTS TO WATCH

WHIM CITY

At 105 inches corner to corner, Sammy’s screen is the biggest bendy telly the market has yet seen.

This retina tingler flaunts 11 million pixels, a 5120x 2160 resolution and an odd aspect ratio of 21:9.

It has Ultra-HD upscaling, with intelligent pixel guesswork mapping out convincing faux 4K.

Smarts also include streaming apps and games, wireless connectivity, plus under-used 3D visuals.

The wallet-nuking price means you’re shelling out just short of £670 per diameter inch.

{SPEAKERS}

7

6

8

9

10

DESIGNER OUTFIT

CRYSTAL CLEAR

MIDDLEMAN

NO VIBES

HIP-HOPPING

Aluminium skeleton topology, acoustically optimised front plate, carbon-fibre panels. Mmm.

The bespoke diamondcoated beryllium dome tweeter keeps your highfrequency audio in check.

A 15cm squawker based on Magico’s potent Q7 speaker delivers ace mid-range tuneage.

Its curved cabinet casing is designed to minimise internal resonance – damping begone.

Three 25cm woofers with Nano-Tec cones ensure earth-rumbling beats from stereo and screen.

WWW FOR MORE NEWS GO TO T3.COM

O C TO B E R 2 0 1 4 T 3 3 1

Radar

ICON

NEWS BLIP APPLE TV’S REFRESHED, iOS 7-LIKE INTERFACE IS NOW IN BETA

#8

DESIGN DONS INDUSTRIAL FACILIT Y

Transatlantic duo with their tech fingers in many tasteful pies TIME AGAIN TO DON “INTERESTING” GLASSES AND SQUINT lovingly at those geniuses of the design world who toil to create beautiful products we covet and, in some cases, own. This month, we’re giving you two for the price of one with Industrial Facility. Londoner Sam Hecht and Californian Kim Colin founded the UK-based design studio back in 2002 and have gone on to work with the likes of Epson, Whirlpool and Muji. Their philosophy is to keep things simple and rooted in current conditions, thinking about exactly how their designs will actually be used by people. Not a novel approach, sure, but a very effective one – and in their case, it goes for everything from fine furniture to innovative tech.

{SPEAK}

Design Museum’s Alex Newson likes the Facilities

TECTONA ALUMI CHAIR 2013 THIS INNOVATIVELY STACKABLE ALUMINIUM SEATING IS FORMED USING AN EXTRUSION PROCESS. ITS DESIGN IS INSPIRED BY PUBLIC STAIRWAY HANDRAILS, WITH BIG LEGS DOUBLING AS ARM RESTS.

BRAND’S HANDMADE EXHIBITION, ADDING A TRANSLUCENT CAVITY THAT STORES THE COILED POWER CABLE. THE PLUG DOUBLES AS A LID, TOO, WHILE THE “ON” SWITCH IS HIDDEN INSIDE THE HANDLE.

HITACHI COMPRESSION TV 2009 STRIPPING OUT ALL THIS TELLY’S BULK LEAVES A BEZEL AND LITTLE ELSE. WIRES RUN DOWN ITS THIN LEGS, WHILE THE SCREEN ITSELF LEANS ON THE WALL LIKE A DRUNK.

MUJI TIMER LIGHT 2010 CRAFTED FROM UNBREAKABLE SILICONE, THIS LED NIGHT LIGHT WAS INFLUENCED BY JAPANESE PAPER LANTERNS, HIDES ITS CONTROLS IN THE BASE AND CAN BE SET TO DIM GRADUALLY.

WALLPAPER* DRYERHAIR 2010 THIS CLEVER HAIR BLOWER WAS DESIGNED FOR THE LIFESTYLE

YAMAHA CANTILEVER 2008 THIS IMPRESSIVELY MINIMALIST ELECTRIC PIANO PACKS A PUNCH,

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WITH ITS SLIDING TOP SURFACE HIDING THE KEYS – THE 89TH OF WHICH IS A REMOTE CONTROL. NAVA BOTTLE WATCH 2014 THIS UNIFORM WARES-ESQUE FACE USES THE CONVENIENT NUMBER OF 60 NODULES FOUND ON THE BOTTOM OF MOST BEER BOTTLES FOR TIMEKEEPING PURPOSES. EPSON VIEW PROJECTOR 2006 CROSS AN LCD PROJECTOR, DVD PLAYER AND GHETTOBLASTER AND YOU GET THE FINEST ALL-ROUND ENTERTAINER SINCE BRUCIE. THE CANNY DESIGN GIVES A NOD TO CLASSIC CINE PROJECTORS, TOO.

I love Industrial Facility products, as not only do they look good, they’re great to use. All the studio’s innovations are developed with the end user firmly in mind and with a deep understanding of human behaviour. Colour highlights are used sparingly to convey information but there’s no gimmicks – every element of the design is considered carefully. One of its most recent designs, the Bottle Watch for Nava, is a perfect example. The elegant design of the clock face is inspired by the bottom of a glass bottle. Industrial Facility’s prying eyes noticed that there are usually 60 evenly spaced dimples and ridges around a bottle’s underside. Of course, normally these prevent suction and stop the bottle sticking to a table, but on a watch they correspond to minutes perfectly.

WWW FOR MORE NEWS GO TO T3.COM

Email [email protected] Tweet @t3dotcom Facebook /T3mag Letters T3, Future Publishing, 2 Balcombe St, London, NW1 6NW

M O S T WA N T E D PA R T 2

THE BUZZ

“Now we’re going live to breaking tech news. You may find some scenes disturbing…”

WHAT WE’VE LEARNED THIS MONTH Google loves innovators IMAGE: REX FEATURES

The tech giant is awarding a £500,000 grant to the top four projects submitted to the Google Impact Challenge.

A video game a day is good for you (ish) Oxford boffs say kids who spend an hour a day gaming are socially better adjusted than joypad-less peers. Top three hours, however, and the effect begins to reverse itself – that won’t come as news to anyone who’s played CoD online.

Branding is important Californians told US comedian Jimmy Kimmel what they thought of his new iWatch: “Awesome!” It was a $20 Casio with an Apple logo stuck on.

WHAT HAPPENED NEXT? Then he said, and she said, and we were like…

{V IRTUA L R EA LITY}

{GA MING}

{FIGHTING}

Facebook sweet-talking Hollywood over Rift

Fishbowl denizen takes on Pokémon

Samsung vs Apple: the battle continues

Then: Facebook snaps up Oculus VR for $2bn in March, with Mark Zuckerberg gushing that the Rift is the “platform of tomorrow”. Now: Tipsters reckon Facebook’s CEO is wooing film studios like Disney and Warner Bros in secret to start working on virtualreality cinema experiences.

Then: A crowdsourced playthrough of Pokémon Red makes headlines on Twitch in March, with some 55 million views. Now: A fish has joined the Poké-fray. Each quadrant of its bowl corresponds to an in-game control view the onscreen results at twitch.tv/fishplayspokemon

Then: Samsung releases an advert branding iPhone users “wall huggers” and attacking the iPhone’s battery credentials. Now: Samsung’s latest ad takes a shot at the iPhone 6’s rumoured larger screen size, explaining that the Galaxy S5 has had one for months (see p15).

Porsche spice

personally, but I doubt that Apple will worry too much as they have their fans. STEVE BAXTER, VIA FACEBOOK

YOUR POSTS, TWEETS AND MAILS

I like Porsche, but the only people who can afford to drive its cars are illiterate football stars, B-list reality celebs, thieving bankers and old, fat people suffering a mid-life crisis.

Microsoft bins Android Nokia X

CHRIS DITCHBURN, VIA FACEBOOK

The URL on our AirWheel article in T3 232 (p67) was credited in error. Please visit theairwheel.com for all your AirWheeling needs. We also mistakenly listed a KitchenAid Artisan kettle as a Kenwood in T3 233 (p78). Sorry, we’d slap the subs if we had any left.

It’s a logical step. I mean, what’s the point in having a hugely customised OS which will never be on the latest upgrade or have Google services in as free-flowing manner as regular Android? Microsoft has excellent software but this was a bad idea.

Which one is 911 owner Tom Cruise then?

CHARLES JAYAN, VIA FACEBOOK

#firstworldproblems.

We agree, Charles. Windows Phone 8 is an under-appreciated gem and Amazon’s Fire Phone (p102) suggests that heavily proprietary versions of Android are not a great idea.

3 4 T 3 O C TO B E R 2 0 1 4

Ordered chaos I wish Facebook would put newsfeed in proper chronological order, like Twitter.

We very much like your unusually reasonable point of view, Steve. Have a Gioteck headset.

Corrections

JONATHAN BUCKNALL, VIA TWITTER

Tab S vs iPad: it’s a tie! It’s horses for courses: both are top machines. I like the Android platform

SEND MAIL, WIN THIS

A Gioteck EX-06 Wired headset with excellent sound quality and removable mic boom. Foldable and fantastic. £35, GIOTECK.COM

WWW F O R M O R E N EWS G O T O T 3.C O M

Radar THE MONTH IN NUMBERS Can you digit? Yes you can!

STATEMENTS ON TV NEWS NETWORKS FOUND TO BE TRUE OR “MOSTLY TRUE”

61 PER CENT 31 PER CENT 18 PER CENT

CNN

18,000

READY FOR SOME ACTION?

number of sacked employees at Microsoft. That’s 14 PER CENT of the company’s 127,000 workforce, with 12,500 of the affected jobs belong to former Nokia staff. The job cuts will cost Microsoft up to £935 MILLION in severance over the next 12 months. *MICROSOFT

NBC

GOTTA SEE ’EM ALL

FOX *PUNDITFACT

THE MOST-BINGED TV BOX SETS AND

SOCIALLY AWARE?

DOWNLOADS

THE WORLD’S LEADING NETWORKS SHARE THEIR

BREAKING BAD

35%

EMPLOYEE BREAKDOWNS

HOUSE OF CARDS

29%

Facebook

GAME OF THRONES

21%

THE WALKING DEAD

24%

MALE

69%

DOWNTON ABBEY

23%

FEMALE

31%

STAR TREK

20%

WHITE

57%

HOMELAND

19%

ASIAN

34%

MAD MEN

18%

HISPANIC

4%

DOCTOR WHO

18%

BLACK

2%

NCIS

18%

OTHER

3% *TIVO MEDIA RESEARCH/ALBERT FRIED

70%

FEMALE

30%

WHITE

59%

ASIAN

29%

HISPANIC

3%

BLACK

2%

OTHER

7%

GOPRO-STYLE ACTION CAMERAS SOLD IN 2013

9,000,000

PREDICTED SALES IN 2018 *FUTURESOURCE CONSULTING

The Bible Bibliotheca is designer Adam Greene’s bid to collate the Bible in something more like its original form. Kickstarter target: $37,000. Total so far: $1,440,345.

Michael Bay Despite an autocue failure at CES, Hollywood explosion expert Michael Bay’s latest Transformers has become the first movie of 2014 to gross $1 billion.

Xiaomi The Chinese smartphone maker trumped Samsung for handset sales on home soil in 2014’s second quarter, with Lenovo a close third. Apple who? The number of iPhone 6 models Apple is reported to have asked suppliers to manufacture before 2015 *WALL STREET JOURNAL

WINNING

THE T3 WINDEX What’s going up and down in Techsville?

BLUE HEAVEN

72%

of Brits are expected to own a wireless Bluetooth accessory by 2016

Twitter MALE

5,000,000

80 MILLION

JUST THE FACTS

*BLUETOOTH SPECIAL INTEREST GROUP

FAILING Michelle Phan The YouTube entrepreneur is being sued by Ultra Records for 50 cases of copyright infringement.

Career opportunities Shadow business secretary Chuka Umunna MP says youngsters are “locked out of the opportunities offered by the digital economy because of a lack of digital skills”. Er, really?

WELL WORN THE WEARABLE TECH

OnePlus

MOST DISCUSSED ONLINE

LET’S GET BOARD!

Pinterest MALE

60%

1. FITBIT

MONOPOLY ET AL HOLD

FEMALE

40%

2. GOOGLE GLASS

THEIR VALUE TWICE AS

WHITE

50%

3. NIKE FUELBAND

WELL AS VIDEO GAMES

ASIAN

42%

4. PEBBLE

HISPANIC

2%

5. SAMSUNG GEAR

BLACK

1%

6. GARMIN VIVOFIT

OTHER

5%

7. GOPRO 8. APPLE iWATCH

*FACEBOOK, TWITTER, PINTEREST

The firm behind the hard-to-snag One affordafone launched an ill-advised “Ladies first” competition, offering women the chance to buy it first by posting selfies for men to vote on.

Video game value drop rate 60% after six months Board game drop rate 35% over six months

*BRANDWATCH, JAN-JULY 2014 *PRICESPY.CO.UK

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Radar

UNDER THE RADAR

NEWS BLIP BRICKAPIC.COM WILL NOW RENDER YOUR PHOTOS AS LEGO MOSAICS

STUFF Yearn for a mouse that looks like the telepods from The Fly? Enter T3’s autumnal offbeat tech emporium…

COOLEST COOLER UPDATING THE COOL BOX WITH A “COOL” $8 MILLION (?!) CROWDFUNDING IN TOW, THIS ADDS SPEAKERS, CHARGING AND A BLENDER. $185, COOLESTKICKSTARTER.COM, OUT FEB 2015 TUNA KNOBS TABLET-TOTING D-JOCKEYS CAN USE PHYSICAL CONTROLS WITH THESE STICK-ON DIALS, WORKING WITH A SWATHE OF APPS SUCH AS KORG’S. $33 FOR THREE, TUNADJGEAR.COM, OUT NOV MAPLIN MOUSE THE ELECTRONICS RETAILER’S RESEARCH SAYS THIS PERIPHERAL DESIGN WILL REDUCE ARM STRESS. OUR RESEARCH SAYS IT WILL GARNER FUNNY LOOKS AND SNIGGERING. £50, MAPLIN.CO.UK, OUT NOW QWERKYWRITER CHANNEL DRUG-ADDLED BEAT POETS OF YORE WITH THIS MECHANICAL SETUP THAT’S REALLY A BLUETOOTH AND USB TABLET KEYBOARD. $309, QWERKYWRITER.COM, OUT AUGUST 2015 CREATIVE MUVO MINI THEIR SNUG SIZE BELIES THESE NFC AND BLUETOOTH SPEAKERS’ STRENGTH: IP66 WATER AND DUST RESISTANCE KEEPS ITS TWO MICRO DRIVERS PROTECTED EACH 10-HOUR CHARGE. £50, CREATIVE.COM, OUT NOW ZTYLUS ZIP-5S CASE AND RV-2 LENS THIS ROTATING LENS iPHONE CASE COMBO TURNS YOUR HANDSET INTO AN INSTA-MATTE, FISHEYE-PACKED PRO PERFORMER. SAMSUNG OPTIONS APLENTY, TOO. $100, ZTYLUS.COM, OUT NOW JAGERMEISTER FRIEND FINDER FESTIVAL SIDEKICK THAT USES RADIO FREQUENCIES TO TRACKS FOUR PALS ‘ LOCATIONS AND PUT A STOP TO AL FRESCO BOOZE-MARATHON SEPARATION. £TBC, JAGERMEISTER.CO.UK, TBC

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WWW FOR MORE NEWS GO TO T3.COM

Radar

NEWS BLIP SKY SPORTS AVAILABLE ON NOW TV FOR £10.99 A WEEK

INCOMING

WHAT’S ON YOUR RADAR?

You’ll HATE that you didn’t know these 12 things about the coming year…

3 6 9 Months away

Months away

Months away

TECH

TECH

TECH

Amazon Fire TV

Samsung Galaxy S6

Hexo+ Drone

The everything store has waltzed up to streaming a bit late, but is already a formidable footage-flinger. Soon its virginal set-top should set its sights on the UK, hooking us into content via a dedicated GPU and four Snapdragon cores.

While the Korean king’s last blower still feels hot, or at least lukewarm, off the production line, tech now moves at lightspeed. An upgrade will be with us by April next year. boasting shinier specs and, we hope, touting 4GB of RAM.

Pimp your #instas to the max with this upcoming HD extreme sports cam-drone. Capture antics from urban parkour to “dog running round garden” with a dangerous-sounding top speed of 45mph letting it keep pace with any action.

FILM

FILM

FILM

Big Eyes

Chappie

Entourage

It’s Tim Burton’s most unlikely film yet: a period courtroom biopic. Shy Margaret Keane is a great painter but husband Walter takes all the credit. Inglourious Basterds’ inimitable Christoph Waltz steals the legal limelight.

Sharlto “District 9” Copley, Hugh Jackman and Sigourney Weaver star in a tale of an adopted “child prodigy” who is actually a robot. Neill Blomkamp of Elysium fame directs, so expect cool tech and notoverly-subtle metaphors.

Film will eat itself as HBO taps into its self-referential movie-biz comedy as fodder for a full-length movie. Due next June starring Jeremy Piven and pals, it could be the best/worst spin-off since The Inbetweeners Movie (you decide which).

GAME

GAME

GAME

Halo: The Master Chief Collection

Ratchet & Clank

Star Wars Battlefront

The pickings sure won’t be “Spartans” (ahem) as developer 343 drops remastered Master Chiefs on the next-gen battlefield this autumn with Halo 1-4 updated, the Halo 5 beta and cross-title multiplayer.

Yet another gaming classic remade? Lombax and his robot sidekick fend off evil-doers again in this PS4 reboot, but the reimagined action platformer will also come in film form, with the Ratchet & Clank movie to debut on PlayStation Now.

Reboot number three aims to give a leg up to a little-known, cult franchise. Coming courtesy of EA’s DICE, the vet devs behind Battlefield, it’ll have you sticking it to the Empire in next-gen style. Bagsy we’re Admiral “It’s a trap!” Ackbar.

EVENT

EVENT

EVENT

London Short Film Festival

London Marathon

Google I/O 2015

Don your amusing rabbit costume and search for the ancient Greek inside yourself with this 26-mile sweat-fest across Laaaaahndan. With around 40,000 runners and Virgin Money backing, it’s UK running’s biggest day.

The big G’s annual dev orgy is usually a San Franciscan feast of software news. Expect APIs and Android Mars Bar (okay we made that up) in force next June – and, if 2014 was anything to go by, more wearables than your body can bear.

The capital’s 12th annual mini-flick fest has opened its doors to international entries for 2015. Hopefully the standard will be up to previously aired classics, such as urban fantasy Cool Unicorn Bruv, pictured.

{THE HIGHS A ND LOWS OF T3’S COMING MONTH}

YEAH!

This month is a festival of expos, or maybe an expo of festivals, as we chase the tech dragon into autumn. We kick off with IFA in Berlin from September 6-12, which is like CES in Las Vegas but with more sausage, beer and techno…

MEH!

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A Berlin tech bender is unikely to put us in the best of health for Tokyo Game Show the next week (hello random RPG we’ll never get to play!) But that will give us plenty of time to enjoy Japan’s uniquely advanced toilets…

Soothed and recovered and we’re back in Europe for the Eurogamer Expo the week after at London’s Earl’s Court. It’ll have everything we saw last week, but with fewer kids dressed up as Final Fantasy characters.

WWW FOR MORE NEWS GO TO T3.COM

EDITED BY NICK COWEN

This month… Forza’s second Horizon / Pompeii’s revival / Underworld’s anniversary / BioShock’s iOS comeback

Play TH E CONTENT FOR YOU R K IT

THE ESSENTIAL

THE HYPE HAS LANDED

Activision’s betting big with sci-fi epic Destiny, the most ambitious and expensive shooter ever made. But can it live up to a $500 million price tag? e’ve all pored over the dripfed screenshots, gasped at the half-a-billion-dollar development-cummarketing budget, rinsed the PlayStation 4 beta and tried not to smirk at Peter Dinklage’s worst-supportingdrone delivery. If you have even a passing interest in video games, you know that autumn belongs to Destiny, a hulking, Star Wars-esque space opera in shooter trousers from Halo creator Bungie that’s been touted, praised, promoted and demoed for the better part of two years ahead of release.

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The latest mammoth undertaking from Call of Duty publisher Activision, Destiny isn’t just a new game but a 10-year business plan that spans the planned life cycle of this new generation of consoles. Indeed, the breadth of its proclaimed scope is only matched by the scale of its ambition. Riffing off MMOs like publishing stablemate World of Warcraft and co-op plunderers a la Borderlands, it’s a “shared world” first-person shooter that funnels hundreds of players through an evolving narrative, with competitive O C TO B E R 2 0 1 4 T 3 41

Play

GAMES

“Speeder Bike? Never heard of it”

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and co-operative challenges both scripted in and emerging from gameplay. Indeed, Destiny has been built from the ground up to be a “social experience” and Activision Publishing CEO Eric Hirshberg reckons it’s this that’s the biggest draw. “Games have long had more in common with how people consume sports than movies,” Hirshberg tells T3. “They’re worlds that people have lasting relationships with. While that grew organically with Call Of Duty, we’re baking it in from day one with Destiny; this constant state of being connected with always-on progression. ” These are grand plans and the big, big boss, Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick, didn’t hide the publisher’s expectations for

“WE EXPECT DESTINY TO BE ACTIVISION’S NEXT BILLIONDOLLAR FRANCHISE”

Xxxx xxxx xx

FORZA HORIZON 2 The Xbox rave racer shifts from the US to Europe but keeps it high octane he scrappy, spunky younger sibling of Microsoft’s premier racer, Forza Horizon 2 continues the spin-off’s emphasis on ramshackle, rambunctious fun ahead of chin-stroking authenticity. While motor-obsessive developer Turn 10’s solo titles have been all about delivering the best track experience possible, 2012’s Horizon sidestep, with Playground Games riding shotgun, offered players the chance to drive a dream machine through a cornfield while listening to the Chemical Brothers. Forza Horizon 2 moves the Xbox car action from the American Midwest to

T

“I said no paps”

the sun-kissed road stretches of southern France and northern Italy. Players again take part in a variety of races ahead of a massive rave – the plausibly hippy-monikered Horizon Festival, with music curated by Rob da Bank – checking off a “Bucket List” of challenges across a full 24-hour day/night cycle with full, dynamic next-gen weather. Particularly committed petrolheads can even join virtual car meets to compare vehicles, tune set ups and invest in hastily considered paint jobs. But then Playground’s playground is a fine looking place to play. FROM £38, FORZAMOTORSPORT.NET, OUT OCTOBER 3 ON X1 AND X360

{FOCUS}

the game in an earnings call earlier this year, either, when he declared it the firm’s “next billion-dollar franchise”. This is high-stakes gaming. As while video games had appeared to leave every other entertainment industry in the dust a few years ago, blockbuster sales have slimped. Grand Theft Auto V aside, the previously bulletproof “triple A” franchises have been hit sharply by competition from free-to-play titles on PCs and smart devices. It’s a slump thrown into sharper relief by the ballooning costs of next-gen development. But while a large stack of betting slips now rest on Bungie’s shoulders, the Destiny beta showed the sci-fi veterans have got this. The presentation is slick but culty, the weapons familiar but otherworldy. The initial area to explore is a bit on the small side, with maps just on Earth, the Moon, Mars and Venus. But how the universe opens up, through scripted setpieces and the inevitable downloadable bolt-ons, will be fascinating to watch. FROM £40, DESTINYTHEGAME.COM, OUT SEPT 9 ON PS4, X1, PS3, X360

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The mirthsomely named Drivatar system from Forza 5 makes a return, uploading a virtual construct of every player’s driving foibles online to ensure that every race is against real-life skillsets

{BEST OF THE R EST}

Kick, punch, it’s all in the mind!

FIFA 15

Hyrule Warriors

Gauntlet

The Sims 4

ALL FORMATS

WII U

PC

PC

This annual footie update adds new signings and an overhauled spin system, while players now get all emo, pleading with refs and throwing hissy fits.

Nintendo plops a Dynasty Warriors net over Hyrule to reimagine Zelda as a hack ’n’ slash. A fun if repetitive mix of button bashing and herding.

Reboot of one of the most beloved dungeon crawlers of all time captures the spirit of the original. Up to four players control monster-slaying heroes.

The increasingly featurerich human tamagotchi game is the same as it ever was. Build up bipeds or ruin their lives in a fit of mistargeted pique.

£25, EASPORTS.COM/UK/FIFA, OUT SEPTEMBER 26

£35, NINTENDO.CO.UK, OUT SEPTEMBER 19

£TBC, ARROWHEADGAME STUDIOS.COM, OUT SEPT 3

£38, THESIMS.COM/THE-SIMS-4, OUT SEPTEMBER 5

FILMS

MUSIC

The rehearsals for 24: Carry On Rome were going well

UNDERWORLD

More proof that old-school electronica is the new “classic rock” verything about 1994’s Dubnobasswithmyheadman should be cringey by now, from its hippy title to Karl Hyde’s lyrics, which all go, “Barbecue porch Hemingway/My fish have made me brain-sad.” However, for us (old) guys of a certain (middle) age, the bassy, just-funky-enough, electronically gurgling production and lovably baggy melodies on this lavishly tooled reissue box invoke one thought: “Yes, dance music was better in the old days.”

E POMPEII

(Noah + Gladiator) x (Incredible stupidity + Awful acting) = This special-effects cackbuster! s preposterous as Darren Aronofsky’s Noah was, you couldn’t claim it wasn’t a serious-minded attempt to show how horrific a true, God-ordered apocalypse would be. This, on the other hand, is based on a verifiable, albeit smaller-scale, armageddon in which many lives were lost, yet it carries less emotional heft than Ouch, My Balls!, with Jim Carrey. Much of that is down to “star” Kit “John Snow” Harington, who looks like a man from a 1970s barbershop window and has the charisma of polystyrene. The terrible script and turgid pacing don’t help it any, either. Still, whenever very, very evil Kiefer Sutherland is up, eating the scenery, it’s goofily enjoyable. And obviously, once the fires start raining down, Pompeii brings the kind of massive, mindless fun that only seeing millions die horribly for our entertainment can bring. Talk about a guilty pleasure.

A

£54 5CD BOX, £11 MP3 (NO BONUS TRACKS), OUT OCTOBER 6

{HD MOMENT}

It would take a hard heart not to laugh uproariously as Pompeii is buried under four tonnes of red-hot CGI

£13 BLU-RAY, £14 HD DOWNLOAD, OUT NOW

{BEST OF THE R EST}

Goth, blues, rock, toss INTERPOL

Elpintor Despite all the Interpol soundalikes – Editors, White Lies, The Horrors et al – we all know which is the original and best. That’s right: Joy Division! £10 CD, £9 MP3, OUT NOW

JOHNNY WINTER

{BEST OF THE R EST}

A thrill-less thriller, unsettling horrors and sci-fi with no future

Step Back Comfortably the whitest man ever to play the blues, Johnny recently passed away; he’ll now be noodling in Heaven’s house band. RIP. £11 CD, £9 MP3, OUT NOW

THE SEEDS

The 2 Faces of January BLU-RAY, HD DOWNLOAD

WOLF CREEK 2 BLU-RAY, HD DOWNLOAD

Based on another Patricia Highsmith book, this may as well be called The Talented Mr Character Who Totally Isn’t Just Tom Ripley in a Different Hat. Well made, but lacks spark.

This Aussie horror sequel doesn’t get anywhere near the original for true, knife-in-the-spine nastiness. That’ll likely be a relief to many a viewer and it’s still effective.

£12 BD, £14 DL, OUT NOW

£11 BD, £10 DL, OUT NOW

DAS CABINET DES DOCTOR CALIGARI BLU-RAY

Transcendence

Singles 1965-1970 The original garage-rock kings also invented what a certain type of rock band should look like (The Horrors, again). Pure caustic, wired energy…

BLU-RAY, HD DOWNLOAD

£12 CD, OUT NOW

The German expressionist classic gets the re-release it deserves from the great Masters of Cinema label. For students of film history, it’s unmissable.

Like Matrix Revolutions but with crappier fights, this sci-fi wants to ask big questions. But as a poet once put it, nothing comes out when it moves its lips; just a bunch of gibberish.

£14 BD, OUT SEP 29

£13 BD, £14 DL, OUT NOW

ALT-J

This is all Yours …But should you favour something completely devoid of excitement, this bunch of arty, cardigan-wearing milquetoasts also have a record out. £11 CD, £9 MP3, OUT SEPTEMBER 22

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APPS & ONLINE

Derek was going to complain to the travel agent when he got home

{IOS}

Apple’s little bundles of joy Cinamatic IOS 7.1+: IPHONE, IPAD, TOUCH

Retro-snap peddler Hipstamatic’s latest lays on filters galore, this time over video clips like a sepia Vine. Go pro for more editing options, too. FREE, HIPSTAMATIC.COM/CINAMATIC

Actions for iPad IOS 5.1+: IPAD

Transforms your iPad into a remote controller for your Mac or Windows devices, overlaying the home screen with a Windows Phone-esque palette. FREE, GETACTIONSAPP.COM

Capo touch IOS 7.0+: IPAD

Give your electro-acoustic a break from Wonderwall with this clever music app, which imports your iTunes library and auto-detects chords as you listen. £2.99, SUPERMEGAULTRAGROOVY.COM

Civilisation Revolution 2 IOS 7.0+: IPHONE, IPAD, TOUCH

More an upgrade than a new game, but what an upgrade: a host of new units, technology and scenarios, as well as HD graphics for this high-end strategy.

App of the month

£10.49, 2K.COM

BIOSHOCK

FuseMe

Big Daddies take a bite out of Apple as a portable and premium-priced Rapture splash lands on iOS atching Ken Levine’s underwater shooter powered up on a tablet, Big Daddy running amok, is both exhilarating and hopelessly nostalgic. Such an iconic game on such a small form factor sure plucks at the tech heartstrings, yet ultimately you’re rebuying a seven-yearold game. Rapture makes a great holiday spot, one man’s quest for identity amid a dystopian ruin, but should you visit again? Well, publisher 2K has only ported the acclaimed shooter to Apple’s most powerful mobile platforms to guarantee necessary grunt power. That said, the iOS version is a

W

IOS 7.0+: IPAD, IPHONE, TOUCH

Swallows the best of all messaging apps – text, images, video, free oneto-one and group video calls – and spits it out in one attractive puddle.

noticeable downgrade on the Xbox 360 one, with lighting and atmosphere neutered. It still looks slick, mind, and the touchcontrolled virtual stick is well implemented in the main to get round Rapture (we wish there was a “Just Visiting” option to explore). As with most games made for “physical” controls, BioShock is hobbled as difficulty ramps up. The Eve/Adam upgrade tabs are tricky, while aligning aim and fire together on the screen’s right is awkward. Invest in a good Bluetooth joypad, though, and this is a wet and wild trip down Memory Lane.

FREE, FUSEME.ACISION.COM

Polymo IOS 7.0+: IPAD, IPHONE, TOUCH

An image gallery app to file among the greats. This organises your snaps with ease, with handy pre-tagging so your shots all end up in the right place. £1.49, POLYMO.CO

Monster Hunter Freedom Unite IOS 6.0: IPAD, IPHONE, TOUCH

A phenomenon in Japan, and finding a recent home on Nintendo systems, this teams you up with players around the world to take down epic monsters.

£10, 2K.COM, OUT NOW ON iOS (iPAD 4/iPHONE 5+)

£10.49, CAPCOM.COM

{U PDATE}

Shazam heads to Mac in song-spotting shake-up Ye spolier of pub-quiz music rounds, Shazam, is bringing its tunerecognising algorithm to Apple’s big-boy Mac computers. The new desktop app can flag up TV theme tunes, advert soundtracks and plenty else that pops out of your speakers. As per the mobile stalwart, it tells you

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exactly who’s singing, what they’re singing and what other songs they’ve tried singing. Unlike that app, it lets you create playlists to share and play till your heart’s content, so that motivational Lord of the Rings overture is ready when you need it. FREE, SHAZAM.COM

THREE SITES FOR THE INDECISIVE

Skyscanner.net HAVE A NICE TRIP

Want to go on holiday, but have no idea when, where or how? Skyscanner is practically a “random vacation generator”, giving destination suggestions, then finding the cheapest hotels and flights for you.

Drinkify.org

Agoodmovie towatch.com

BOOZING IT UP

HAVE A NICE NIGHT

Choosing a film to watch in the on-demand age can be one of life’s trickier decisions. This site is your video shop spotter, selecting films based on genre or your mood.

Put in your music choice and get a – frequently rather odd – drink recommendation. Up all night to Daft Punk? This suggests neat gin. Enjoy the music of Cradle of Filth? Try a blend of “blood and cough syrup”.

WWW FOR MORE NEWS GO TO T3.COM

Play

{ANDROID}

{W INDOWS PHONE}

{BL ACK BER RY}

Google’s great and good

Feeling the live tile love

BB kings and queens

Uber

DJ Scratch Electro

WINDOWS PHONE 8+

BLACKBERRY 10+

The world’s favourite – and Black Cabbies’ least favourite – taxi service brings driver ordering, car tracking and credit-card syncing to Microsoft fans.

Release your inner Grandmaster Flash, or more likely Dave Guetta, with this tune-making package packed with electro sound effects.

FREE, UBER.COM

£0.75, APPWORLD.BLACKBERRY.COM

Monect

Seecrypt

WINDOWS PHONE 8+

BLACKBERRY 10+

Control PCs remotely over a Wi-Fi or Bluetooth connection. Especially useful for playing video games from your sofa or scaring work colleagues.

NSA fearer? Make and receive only secure calls via Seecrypt’s protected servers. Instant messages are also encrypted, so your secrets are safe.

FREE, MONECT.COM

FREE, SEECRYPT.COM

Guardians of the Galaxy

BPainter Pro

WINDOWS PHONE 8+

BLACKBERRY 10+

As if Marvel’s new flick wasn’t already ace enough, this game tie-in happily shuns in-app purchases for a level-upladen actioner a la Castle Crashers.

A rare ad-less, Blackberry-native drawing app maximises your creative space, with sharing options letting you palm off your art on friends.

£1.49, MARVEL.COM

£1.50, APPWORLD.BLACKBERRY.COM

Android in-depth

Rawer

Money Manager

Jink

WINDOWS PHONE 8.1+

BLACKBERRY 10+

Make iffy mobile photo compression a thing of the past with this handy utility app that opens raw image files from email, SD card or the cloud.

Keep track of your high-flying expenses easily with this app’s colour-coded filing system, its budget ‘health’ status a good barometer.

FREE, WINDOWSPHONE.COM

£0.75, APPWORLD.BLACKBERRY.COM

Climatology

Car Racer

WINDOWS PHONE 8+

BLACKBERRY 10+

Personal Francis Wilson that dishes out current weather and climate info for anywhere on Earth, with real-time updates and fancy-dan styling.

Take in some retro revs with this homage to the classic top-down arcade racer. No frills, tidy and fast, it’s a real reaction tester.

FREE, RESEARCH.MICROSOFT.COM

£0.75, APPWORLD.BLACKBERRY.COM

Rival Knights

MoonCalc Pro

WINDOWS PHONE 8+

BLACKBERRY 10+

Get medieval on people’s asses in Gameloft’s Infinity Blade-does-jousting fight fest, with lance management and anonymous multiplayer in the armoury.

Telescopes at the ready: this simple but fiercely accurate app gives you the distance, illumination and coordinates of our natural satellite.

FREE, GAMELOFT.CO.UK

£1.50, APPWORLD.BLACKBERRY.COM

Lomogram+

Pic Tagger

WINDOWS PHONE 7.5+

BLACKBERRY 10+

A feast of photo editing options, retro and modern, lets you mix and match a fat wad of filters, borders and effects to over-style your snaps into oblivion.

Not just another gallery app, this image manager writes tags into the files so they move with the photo when transferred to another device.

FREE, LOMOGR.AM

£0.75, APPWORLD.BLACKBERRY.COM

ANDROID 4.0+

The simplest apps are often the best, doing one thing really well the medium’s main appeal, and this GPS-fuelled location sharer is just that. Choose which of your entourage gets to know your whereabouts, a la Apple’s Find My Friends, then use the app to meet up, or let your better half know you’re on your way home without texting at the wheel. The map monitors you all in real time, so you can see if anyone’s running late or ruining surprise birthday parties. It’s still in beta, bug fixes are coming thick and fast. FREE, JINKAPP.COM

Flavourit ANDROID 2.0.1+

Crams a shelfload of cookbooks on to your phone and lets you create a shareable recipe portfolio, complete with images and tags FREE, DOORFORTYFOUR.COM

Dreamstime

GAMES & EBOOKS: NICK COWEN. MUSIC & MOVIES: DUNCAN BELL. APPS: PETE DREYER, MATT HILL

ANDROID 2.2+

Make extra dosh by selling your idle Instagram snaps to a leading stock photo community. You get alerts when you make a sale, too. FREE, DREAMSTIME.COM

Fightback ANDROID 2.3.3+

Award-winning dev Ninja Theory merges ace visuals, simple controls and over 100 levels of fist-fighting in an enjoyable 2.5D beat-em-up.

More Fool Me

Bones Never Lie

FREE, CHILLINGO.COM

STEPHEN FRY

KATHY REICHS

The comedy maestro and tech geek lays his time in the 80s and 90s bare in this collection of diary entries, chronicling his rise to fame.

Excellently named ’tective Temperance Brenin finds herself the target of a killer who she failed to catch in the past. Body parts ensue.

£9.51, OUT SEPTEMBER 25

£6.99, OUT SEPTEMBER 11

This Changes Everything

The Establishment

Freesat

NAOMI KLEIN

ANDROID 4.0.3+

Plan your non-subscription viewing with a seven-day show planner and remote recording. You can turn your phone into a telly remote, too. Fancy!

Still think climate change won’t bother you overly? This lengthy lecture on how it will really affect Western economies may startle you.

Tousel-haired, fresh-faced Marxist Jones reveals that all is not fair about our political system, all before doing his paper round. What a great little guy!

FREE, FREESAT.CO.UK

£8.03, OUT SEPTEMBER 16

£6.99, OUT SEPTEMBER 4

Spinlister ANDROID 2.2+

Make spontaneous activity weekends a reality by renting a snowboard, bike or surfboard from enthusiasts nearby. Kit’s insured and, best of all, it’s free. FREE, SPINLISTER.COM

FOUR EBOOKS TO READ

1 3 2 4

OWEN JONES

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Opinion

{THIS MONTH}

TK Keanini’s home is compromised Chris Smith is on Tech Town’s casting couch Duncan Bell tells Microsoft to give up Paul Lamkin is Googling wearables Edited by Duncan Bell

TECH STE E L F RO M THE AN VIL OF T3’S COMMEN T-MON GERS

TK KEANINI

{INSIGHT}

ISIS HACKED MY FRIDGE! As the Jetson connected-home dream becomes a reality, security specialist Lancope’s tech chief warns of a ransomware revolution

“H

oney, nothing in the house seems to be working and I have this email here that says something about sending Bitcoin to turn everything back on…” Today, ransomware is becoming big business for cybercriminals. They target computers, smartphones and even online retailers with attacks that crash your machine or specific apps, preventing access to data or media with the threat of permanent disabling or deletion. To free your machine of choice, you need to pay up, usually via an untraceable virtual currency such as Bitcoin. This is possible, of course, because the web connects computers around the globe. Yet this growing network now includes gadgets in your home and on your body. With Samsung buying SmartThings and Apple’s HomeKit on the way to kickstart the “internet of things” again, it could soon be connecting just about everything to everything else. As a result I have bad news, and then really bad news. The bad news is that we live in a world with a growing number of hackers who want to target you. From criminal gangs to freelance black hats and even terror groups such as the notably web-savvy jihadist group ISIS, they want your data and your money. «

ILLUSTRATION ANDREW GIBBS

O C TO B E R 2 0 1 4 T 3 47

CHRIS SMITH

« And the really bad news? They now have an ever growing pool of targets to compromise. Ransomware means you could wake up tomorrow to find your home alarm and car are offline while your heating is running at maximum heat in summer, until you pay the hacker to make it all work again. Your life stops until then. The 2014 Consumer Electronic Show was both exciting and horrifying to me, as gadget after gadget had some web-enabled feature, put in place by companies that don’t understand the ongoing battle for internet security. Never before will you have so much of your personal info online. If attackers are targeting you, they now have a multitude of access vectors to explore. If they’re using you as a resource to target another, your home devices could even become part of a state- or terrorist-sponsored denial of service attack on a targeted country or company. The problem is that securing a system is about being able to adapt constantly to changing threats and we have a hard enough time updating all the apps on our PCs and smartphones. Add 30 more devices from 20 different vendors and you see the problem. Consumers don’t yet know to ask for these security features, so the vendors are not going

THESE NEW DEVICES COMING ONLINE ALL BRING NEW VULNERABILITIES to prioritise them. Security standards will be put in place, but they move too slowly when compared to the speed at which hackers innovate. I don’t think consumer electronic vendors will have the incentive to invest in a secure software development practice. When dealing with the security of the internet of things, we are talking about the security of the Web at large. These new devices coming online all bring new vulnerabilities – you must understand the total cost of ownership here. A device that is compromised will require your attention and the ability to update. So first and foremost, understand how your vendors deliver updates – ideally be in an automated fashion. You need to do your part and hope that everyone else does theirs. Because even if you don’t want a web-connected thermostat, security system or kettle, an insecure system on the Web is everyone’s problem. TK Keanini is CTO at Lancope, which provides flow-based solutions for network security, performance and application monitoring 4 8 T 3 O C TO B E R 2 0 1 4

{STATE SIDE}

THE NEW HOLLYWOOD Casting couches, overdoses, bad behaviour, power suits and lawsuits… Not Tinseltown, just an average day in Silicon Valley ilicon Valley, spiritual home of the global tech industry, is a solid sixhour drive away from Hollywood, California. Just lately, though, it seems the metaphorical distance between those two super-affluent cities is shrinking. Tech Town residents have created their own exclusive, money- and power-fuelled Garden of Eden, and guess what? They’re singing from the original Hollywood score when it comes to certain personal habits. Consider the following… Google executive Forrest Hayes died in November last year on his luxury yacht. It emerged recently he’d received a hot dose of heroin from a high-class lady of the night, who security cameras showed finishing her glass of wine and stepping over his dead body on

S

her way out. Manslaughter charges have been brought. Does that sound like an end for a high-powered, 51-year-old dotcom millionaire with a wife and four kids? It’s far more like the wayward movie star or film producer of old Hollywood legend (and occasional contemporary reality). Soon after this story broke, an executive at a major Silicon Valley player was sued for sexual harassment after allegedly coercing favours from a subordinate with, as the victim tells it, classic casting couch manipulation. The complainant claims she was forced to have “oral and digital sex” (okay, not quite classic casting couch). The executive has dismissed the allegations and, in true Hollywood style, counter-sued for defamation. It’s sordid and sad, but I just can’t… stop… reading about it. How about Whitney Wolfe, the cofounder and former VP of marketing at Tinder? She claims she was called a “whore” in front of the CEO, allegedly by her exboyfriend, CMO and fellow co-founder Justin Mateen. According to the suit, her requests for help from CEO Sean Rad were ignored – if that’s true, I’d suggest she swipes left on the pair of ’em. While it’s, of course, not unheard of to see distastefully misogynistic behaviour towards women, for female execs to be belittled and marginalised in a rich, white, male-dominated environment is pretty much page one of the Hollywood rulebook. Silicon Valley seems to have a pretty big problem with women and minorities, too. Recent Bloomberg figures show that just 30 per cent of employees at Apple, Facebook, Google and Twitter are women. Numbers of black and Hispanic employees are also proportionately very low. Indeed, a recent NPR report highlighted that it’s really only non-profits that are making a concerted effor to give minorities their big break. Of course, as with Hollywood, none of this seems to reduce Silicon Valley’s allure. Aspiring movie stars have waited tables for those they seek to emulate for decades, regardless of how they treat them; now the trend is moving to the Valley, with wannabe tech stars working at fast-food restaurants, hoping to serve a hungry Larry Page a burger as they await a chance to show their worth to the hottest new startups. So when you thumb your next shiny smartphone, picture an African-American woman paying the rent with a job at Taco Bell, churning out Doritos Los Tacos for tech frat boys, in the hope that one day she’ll get to shine. It’s both what makes the US great and what makes it grate. Chris wasn’t born in the USA, but he loves it

D U NCA N B E L L

PAUL LAMKIN

Opinion

{TRUTH}

{ F I N A L LY }

SURFACE TENSION

WEAR’S THE PROBLEM?

Microsoft’s woes can be summed up in its powerful but unloved line of tablets. They’re the “anti-iPad” – particularly in sales…

So Google wants to know your innermost thoughts and track your every move? Wareable.com’s editor in chief is just fine with that

icrosoft has done many fine things over the years. It’s made computers omnipresent in homes and offices, it gave us Xbox and Halo, it developed Windows XP, made, er, some quite nice mouses and, um, there was that advert where Jerry Seinfeld and Bill Gates journeyed to a universe beyond awkwardness… and now I’m dry. Windows Phone 8 aside – and that’s hardly been all roses – you have to say the company has struggled to get with it in the modern era. It’s like your dad trying to twerk; its thinking is foggy and confused. It can’t remember where it left its pipe and what are those damn kids doing on its lawn, with their “tablets”? Why, they don’t even come with a stylus; how will anyone stock-take in a warehouse with this kind of new-fangled nonsense? Indeed, Microsoft’s issues are summed up by the Surface. There’s nowt wrong with the specs, but the way they’re marketed is just, well, rubbish. The first one should have been presented to punters specifically as the anti-iPad, a bit like Samsung did with its Note range. “It runs Windows 8. It’s powerful. It’s got a keyboard… You can do proper work on it.” In fact, Microsoft sort of did that, but then it all got muddied, to the point where the message was this: “It runs Windows 8… Except on the versions that don’t. It’s powerful… apart from the versions that aren’t. It’s got a keyboard… But you don’t need one and it’s not very good anyway. You can do proper work on it… But hey, it’s fun, too!” To make these compelling points superclear they then made an advert for it with a bunch of hipster douches dancing with joy at, er… being able to do their accounts more easily, or something, on this powerful device (as long as it was the powerful one).

M

The first Surface – surprise surprise – was not a huge success. It did “solidly” though, and could have been a platform for a much better follow-up. One big criticism of Surface 1.0 was the less powerful, Windows 8 RT version, which combined all the fun of Windows 8 with all the processing power and pro features of an early iPad. So how did the Big M, as nobody calls it, address this for v2.0? That’s right: it kept making them, but just stopped mentioning they used RT in their names. Genius! The underlying problem, of course, was that with Windows 8, Microsoft had designed a version of its OS for touchscreen use, because that was the hip and groovy thing to do, without thinking, “Now why would our users want touchscreen control and how could we make it work for them?” The result was billion-dollar losses and a change in CEO, but if Microsoft continues with its “Millennium Edition” thought process – multiple versions of its OS, gearing everything for power users rather than casual consumers, change for the sake of change – it could eventually have consequences that are terminal rather than merely embarrassing. Duncan is T3’s managing editor

{G E T I N VO LV E D}

HAVE YOUR SAY… To read more of our views on tech, the web, life and more, head to T3.com/opinion. You want to add your voice to the debate? Look no further than: Facebook.com/t3mag or Twitter.com/t3dotcom

ndroid Wear is here, and it’s much more than a humble operating system for smartwatches. It is, in fact, another step towards Google’s masterplan of a world run on algorithms. With wearables, everything you say, see, hear, taste or touch could potentially be available to Google, as could the data from inside your body, thanks to their plethora of medical sensors. Sound scary? It shouldn’t. We’ll all be as happy as Larry (and Sergy) in Google’s brave new world. Imagine this: you’re woken up at the perfect time based on an algorithm combining factors from the weather to your hormone levels. You step into a shower already flowing with water set at the optimum temperature. Downstairs, your breakfast has been prepared by your Android droid – Google acquired eight robot specialist companies in 2013, as well as spending around $500 million on British AI firm DeepMind. No bacon today, though: biometric readings show your body fat percentage running high and fibre low, so it’s porridge all the way. A Google car drives you to work, where the morning meeting is monitored by your Google Glass so your Chrome PC has all the required apps and documents for the day’s work ready by the time you’re back at your desk. When you get home, you’re greeted with the perfect snack and the TV will be ready to go with the show or movie that ideally suits your mood. The algorithm knows all. So there’s no need to be scared, just because you’re putting your life in the hands of an ecosystem that knows more about you than you do yourself. Unhappiness and even illness could become relics of the past on Google Earth. And the only price you have to pay for that is spontaneity. Ready to wear? Paul is editor in chief of Wareable.com

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IN ASSOCIATION WITH

THE FINALISTS HAVE BEEN ANNOUNCED. IT’S TIME TO VOTE FOR THE TECH YOU LOVE…

Have your say, share socially, and you could win an iPad Air 5 0 T 3 O C TO B E R 2 0 1 4

THE AWARDS

THE SHORTLIST The biggest tech awards of the year are back. We need your vote to sort the best from the rest GADGET OF THE YEAR HTC One (M8) Microsoft Xbox One Sony PlayStation 4 TomTom Runner Cardio Apple iPad Mini with Retina display Apple iPhone 5S Apple MacBook Pro with Retina display GoPro HERO3+ Black Edition Samsung Galaxy S5 Google Nexus 7 PHONE OF THE YEAR HTC One (M8) Apple iPhone 5S Samsung Galaxy S5 Sony Xperia Z2 LG G3 OnePlus One THE GAMING AWARD Sony PlayStation 4 Microsoft Xbox One Razer Blade Oculus Rift Apple iPad Mini with Retina display Alienware 18 LAPTOP OR TABLET OF THE YEAR Apple MacBook Pro with Retina display Apple iPad Air Dell Venue 11 Pro Lenovo Yoga 2 Pro Apple iPad Mini with Retina display Sony Xperia Z2 Tablet TV OF THE YEAR Samsung HU8500 Sony Bravia X9005B Sony Bravia W829 Loewe Connect ID 46 LG LB730V Panasonic Viera WT600 CAR OF THE YEAR McLaren P1 Tesla Model S Porsche 918 Spyder BMW i3 Ford Focus Audi TT

BRAND OF THE YEAR Apple Google Sony HTC Netflix Samsung CAMERA OF THE YEAR Canon 700D GoPro Hero 3+ Black Edition Nikon Df Sony RX100 II Panasonic Lumix DMC GH4 Olympus Stylus SH-1 FITNESS WEARABLE OF THE YEAR Garmin Vivofit Nike Fuelband SE Monster iSport Strive TomTom Runner Cardio Jawbone UP24 Garmin Forerunner 620 THE DESIGN INNOVATION AWARD Razer Project Christine Apple Mac Pro Gravity Sony Project Morpheus Valve Steam Controller Audi Virtual Cockpit THE SOUND AWARD Sonos Play:1 Pure Jongo T6 Denon Cocoon Stream Cambridge Audio Minx Xi Loewe Speaker 2Go Orbitsound airSound Base SB60

THE ENTERTAINMENT AWARD Netflix Amazon Prime Instant Video YouView Sony PlayStation Network Sky+ HD Spotify THE TECHLIFE HOME AWARD Dyson DC59 Animal Philips Hue Sage by Heston Blumenthal The Dual Boiler The Peloton Bike Oral-B Pro Smart Series Braun Cooltec HEADPHONES OF THE YEAR Philips Fidelio S2 Bose Quiet Comfort 20i Sennheiser Momentum On-Ear Denon AH-D340 B&W P7 Shure SE425 TECH PERSONALITY OF THE YEAR Will.I.Am Rachel Riley Rory Cellan-Jones Richard Ayoade Spencer Kelly Jason Bradbury

All votes will be entered for the chance to win an iPad Air. Share the T3 Awards love with your social followers and you might scoop another prize, too…

T3.COM/ AWARDS O C TO B E R 2 0 1 4 T 3 5 1

101 gadgets you can’t live without IN SEARCH OF BEST-IN-CLASS BUYS TO UPGRADE EVERY CORNER OF YOUR TECH LIFE, FROM SMARTPHONE TO SHED, TV TO TABLET? WELCOME TO T3’S ULTIMATE GUIDE TO EVERYTHING WORDS JIM HILL , FRANCESCA PEAK , CHRIS SMITH, JOE SVETLIK PHOTOGR APHY RICHARD GRASSIE ST YLING DE AN HAU SE T DESIGN PHOEBE ANNE HARRIS

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TA B L E T

SAMSUNG GAL A X Y TABLE T S 8 . 4 An Android slate that can bring the pain to the iPad, at last. The Mini-esque size and build make it a joy to handle and a cinch to transport, while an octocore processer and 3GB RAM ensure smooth running. The 2560x1600-resolution screen is an AMOLED cherry on top. £ 3 1 9, SA M S U N G . C O M / U K

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THE ESSENTIALS

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Living Room 06

B L U - R AY P L AY E R

CAMBRID GE AUDIO A ZUR 752BD

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TELEVISION

SAMSUNG UE 5 5HU8 5 0 0

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STREAMING B OX

ROKU 3 HD

The graceful curve of this 55-inch LED TV is guaranteed to draw admiring eyes, while the stunning Ultra HD screen will have them popping out on stalks. With Netflix built in and already streaming 4K content, it’ll put you among the first to enjoy the next revolution in television.

It’s just the size of a hockey puck, but guarantees considerably more excitement. The Roku 3 beckons TV and games into your lounge, both free and on-demand, at an agreeable price. It has over 1,000 channels in up to Full HD quality and motion control for some Wii-like wafting.

£ 2 , 7 0 0 , SA M S U N G . C O M / U K

£9 9, RO K U . C O M

By upscaling video to 4K and upsampling music to, er, nicer music, this deck is thoroughly futureproof. It’s also a truly universal deck, spinning everything from 3D Blu-ray discs to SACDs. Fast loading times means less champing at the bit while awaiting your movie of choice’s menu screen. Though you will still need to sit through seven hours of trailers and “Copyright theft is worse than murder!” adverts, alas. £ 8 0 0 , CA M B R I D G E AU D I O. C O M

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AV R E C E I V E R

LIGHT BULB

These smart lights aren’t tied to anything so olde worlde as a light switch, or even a single colour; the Hue range of bulbs, lamps and strips can summon millions of shades and, well, hues, with control via your mobile or the Tap – a switch that uses energy from your finger.

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S O U N D BA R

SONOS PL AYBAR

S TA R T E R PAC K £ 1 8 0 ,

As well as being a corking virtual-surround soundbar for home cinema, this sleek slab also ties into Sonos’s famed multi-room audio system. Setup is a breeze: just run a cable to your TV and connect to all your sources and music streams via your router and the handy range of apps.

P H I L I P S . C O. U K

£599, SONOS.CO.UK

SONY PL AYSTATION 4 The UK’s fastest-selling console ever is an emerging pleasure pantry of 1080p gaming, pumping out 5.1 sound in time to your exploits. You can Twitch stream direct from the controller, while a PS+ sub (from £5.49 a month) hands access to tonnes of top games. There’s also oodles of non-gaming larks, with on-demand movies, music, catch-up TV, photo-viewing in 4K, and video chat. £ 3 4 9 , U K . P L AYS TAT I O N . C O M

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P R OJ EC T O R

This hulking powerhouse of a receiver can stir up a 7.1 whirlwind, but also does justice to subtle surround soundtracks. It’s fluent in the latest Dolby and DTS codecs, and even upscales video to 4K while juggling seven HDMI inputs. It’s a heavyweight in every sense.

Even the greatest tellies get size envy when faced with a device that can spray an entire wall with moving Full-HD splendour. This Optoma is compact and the right side of a grand, but its DarkChip3 and 1600-lumen lamp can wow a crowd with HD and 3D images up to 300 inches in girth. Your flatscreen just got pee-shy…

£ 2 , 2 0 0 , A R CA M . C O. U K

£9 9 9 , O P T O M A . C O. U K

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S P E A K E RS

KEF R SERIES

PHILIPS HUE

GAMES CONSOLE

OP TOMA HD30

ARCAM FMJ AVR4 5 0

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S E T-T O P B OX

SK Y+ HD 2 TB WI-FI

Whether you want a stereo pair or a full-on 7.1 speaker battery complete with subwoofer, the R Series delivers a performance as polished as its lacquered cabinets. It’s all thanks to an evolution of Kef’s ingenious Uni-Q driver array, which places the tweeter in the centre of the mid-range driver. F R O M £ 5 0 0 , SYS T E M S F R O M £ 2 , 8 0 0 ,

Murdoch’s ubiquitous tellybox has long offered more HD and 3D programming than anyone else, with a 2TB hard drive to record it all for watching at some point. Now, the Wi-Fi edition rounds up BBC iPlayer, YouTube et al. Simply convert your couch into a toilet and have yourself fed through a tube and you need never stand up again.

R 7 0 0 P I C T U R E D £ 2 , 0 0 0 , K E F. C O M

£ 4 9 + S U B S C R I P T I O N , S K Y. C O M

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PREVIOUS SPREAD: SHE WEARS: TOP - ALL SAINTS, SKIRT - ALL SAINTS, BOOTS - & OTHER STORIES SHE WEARS: DRESS - ALL SAINTS, SHOES - COS, NECKLACE - TOPSHOP FURNISHINGS: LEFT: ‘CLEO’ TALL NARROW BOOKCASE, £150, HABITAT (HABITAT.CO.UK). RIGHT: ‘MAGNA’ NARROW SHELVING UNIT, £395, HABITAT (HABITAT.CO.UK). MARBLE TEARDROP ORNAMENT, £8, JOHN LEWIS (JOHNLEWIS.COM). ‘FLAP’ ANALOGUE WALL CLOCK, £60, HABITAT (HABITAT.CO.UK). ‘GOMITOLO’ CANDLES, FROM £200, MISSONI HOME (MISSONIHOME.COM). GEO WIRE BOWL BY BEN DE LISI, £18, DEBENHAMS (DEBENHAMS.COM). PLANTS, FROM £1.99, AND PLANT POTS, FROM £3.49, NORTH ONE GARDEN CENTRE (N1GARDENCENTRE.CO.UK).

5 4 T 3 O C TO B E R 2 0 1 4

FURNISHINGS: ‘MAGNA’ NARROW SHELVING UNIT, £395, HABITAT (HABITAT.CO.UK). ‘MR & MRS’ GINGER DIFFUSER, £31, OCCA-HOME (OCCA-HOME.COM.UK). PANTRY GLASS JARS, FROM £18, THE WHITE COMPANY (THEWHITECOMPANY.COM). ‘DANIELA’ CHAIR, FROM £2,634, MISSONI HOME (MISSONIHOME.IT). ‘TYPE 75’ MAXI PENDANT, £175, ANGLEPOISE (ANGLEPOISE.COM). PLANTS, FROM £25, AND PLANT POTS, FROM £3.49, NORTH ONE GARDEN CENTRE (N1GARDENCENTRE.CO.UK).

THE ESSENTIALS

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10

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Commute 12

S M A R T WAT C H

PEBBLE STEEL The original smartwatch, and still the best. The Steel adds a tang of hardware class to the original Kickstartered cleverness, its stainless steel strap more swish than plastic. The ultra-readable e-ink display and array of winning apps, from news alerts to media controls, remain at its heart. What time is it? Time to get a Pebble. $ 2 4 9, G E T P E B B L E . C O M

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THE ESSENTIALS

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L APTOP

APPLE MACBO OK PRO RE TINA 1 5 -INCH The pixels of this “Retina” display are so densely packed that our puny, human eyes see only razor-sharp lines on its 15.4-inch screen. That makes this laptop perfect for creative types running Final Cut Pro but is also good news for gamers and anyone who reads a lot of text. With Intel Core i7 processors up to four cores and 3.7GHz, there shall be no slouching in the Pro Retina household. £1 , 599, STORE . APPLE .COM/UK

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car bodywork, with details on the dial and bezel recalling a classic dashboard. It’s a modern take on the Tissot PR 516 watch from the 1960s, and blends classic and modern chic effortlessly. £9 4 0 , T I S S O T. C H

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SMARTPHONE

HTC ONE M 8

£4 80, HTC.COM

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THUMB DRIVE

IRONKE Y PERSONAL 8 GB With encryption developed for the Department of Homeland Security and a rugged case that exceeds military standards, this impenetrable drive will keep your data safe from jihadi hackers/nosey colleagues. £ 7 0 , A M A ZO N . C O . U K

A contender for phone of the year, this quadcore blower’s classy aluminium build surpasses the iPhone 5S for design nous, its dual-lens camera steals the show and the five-inch screen leaves it looking a bit inadequate.

L A P T O P BAG

KNOMO FALMOUTH

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FOLD -UP BIKE

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P OW E R C H A R G E R

MONSTER P OWERCARD It’s disappointing when your smartphone becomes a lifeless mirror at the beginning of a commute. That’s why a power source that fits in your wallet, providing around five extra hours, is worth its weight in polymer. £35, MONSTERPRODUCTS.COM

AIRNIMAL RHINO

This London brand continues to wave the “stylish geek” flag, with a laptop satchel cut from olive cotton canvas and leather with military precision and vintage style. The Falmouth cushions your precious in orange-pocketed luxury and is ideal for urban cyclists and regular foot soldiers.

With tough BMX wheels, this collapsible commuter steed bounces over potholes that might swallow a Brompton or, indeed, a person. But why stop there? Swap slicks for knobbles and simply keep pedaling through hill and dale, using all eight gears.

Need the internet on the move? Huawei you go! Time to connect up to five devices for 4G-speed browsing and streaming. It’s plug and play, with no software required, and will give ten hours of connectivity per charge.

£ 1 1 9, K N O M O BAG S . C O M

£ 1 , 8 9 9, A I R N I M A L . E U

£ 1 0 0 , H UAW E I D E V I C E . C O . U K

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WAT C H

TISSOT PRS 516 E X TREME AUTOMATIC If you think this looks a bit racy, you’d be right – it’s modelled on motor

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DONGLE

HUAWEI E 5 89

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IN-EAR HEADPHONES

SENNHEISER IE 6 0 Putting the kibosh on background noise up to 20dB, these dish out truly excellent audio quality. Perfect for rail commuters, runners and those cyclists who prefer not to hear the sound of taxi drivers shouting obscenities at them. £140, SENNHEISER.CO.UK

SHE WEARS: TOP - TIGER OF SWEDEN, SKIRT - ALL SAINTS, BOOTS - MM6, BRACELET - & OTHER STORIES, NECKLACE - STYLIST’S ARCHIVE FURNISHINGS: FLAP’ ANALOGUE WALL CLOCK, £60, HABITAT (HABITAT.CO.UK). ‘KILO’ CONSOLE TABLE, £95, HABITAT (HABITAT.CO.UK). PLANTS, FROM £9.49, AND PLANT POTS, FROM £3.49, NORTH ONE GARDEN CENTRE (N1GARDENCENTRE.CO.UK).

O C TO B E R 2 0 1 4 T 3 5 7

The Den

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THE ESSENTIALS

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HEADPHONES

AKG K8 1 2

GAMING DESKTOP

ALIENWARE AUROR A

Built for recording studios, these pro cans, once paired with a suitable amp, deliver incredibly detailed sound. An all-metal cardanic hinge makes them as robust a pair as you’ll find but they’re comfy, too: the flexible headband is adjustable but can be locked when you find the perfect size for your bonce. And despite the heavyweight sound, clever design means you barely feel them.

This is one big rig. If you really want to take down anonymous frag rivals the world over, you need overclocked Intel Core i7, Extreme Edition processors with up to six cores, a Nvidia GeForce Titan Z graphics card and 16GB RAM. There’s also 7.1-channel Dolby sound and a choice of hard or solid state drives to store your collection. It’s about the size of a fridge, but arguably more essential.

£ 1 , 0 0 0 , U K . A KG . C O M

£ 9 9 9 T O £ 3 , 0 0 0 +, A L I E N WA R E . C O . U K

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VR HEADSET

OCULUS RIF T DK 2

S T E R EO S P E A K E RS

BOWERS & WILKINS 6 8 5

Latency: improved. Motion blur and judder: all but eliminated. Development community: burgeoning. Future funding: underwritten by Facebook. The virtual reality revolution can be on your face today.

From Britain’s top speaker purveyor, these outdo boxes twice their price. As well as tweeter tech from the classic CM10, the 685s have bass drivers stiffened with aluminium, so you can literally “pump up the jam”, sans distortion.

$ 3 5 0 , O C U L U SV R . C O M

£ 5 0 0 , B OW E RS -W I L K I N S . C O . U K

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B L U E T O O T H R EC E I V E R

CRYSTAL ACOUSTICS BLUDAC

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A I R P L AY A M P

MONITOR AUDIO AIRSTRE AM A 10 0

Is there any audio protocol this streaming box can’t handle? NFC! Bluetooth! Apt-X (okay, that’s a sub-division of Bluetooth but go with it)! Freeing music from mobiles is effortless as puck.

This resembles a magazine from an AK47 but its “little friend” is actually AirPlay, for your iOS and multiroom iTunes listening pleasure. Sound quality and connection stability are great.

£ 6 0 , C RYS TA L AU D I OV I D E O. C O M

£ 4 0 0 , M O N I T O R AU D I O. C O. U K

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AMPLIFIER

MAR ANT Z PM 6 0 05

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T U R N TA B L E

PRO -JECT ESSENTIAL II

With optical and coaxial inputs and a built-in DAC that supports 24-bit/192kHz hi-def audio, this is a digital audiophile’s delight at a penny-pincher’s price. Marantz’s hard-won know-how means the audio is suitably swish.

Getting in on vinyl’s resurgence needn’t cost you a fortune. This minimalist classic boasts a quiet-running synchronous motor with silicon belt, coupled with a low-resonance MDF platter. Looks The Part, sounds The Bomb.

£300, MARANTZ .CO.UK

£ 2 0 0 , P R OJ E C T-AU D I O . C O M

Kitchen SHE WEARS: DRESS - COS, JEWELLERY - STYLIST’S ARCHIVE FURNISHINGS: FROM LEFT: ‘ABI’ WOODEN BOARD, £25, HABITAT (HABITAT.CO.UK). PESTLE AND MORTAR BY JOHN ROCHA, £25, DEBENHAMS (DEBENHAMS.COM). ‘LUDO’ SHELVES, £350, HABITAT (HABITAT.CO.UK). ‘DARLA’ BOWL BY LENE BJERRE, £31, OCCA-HOME (OCCA-HOME.CO.UK). PANTRY GLASS JAR, £18, THE WHITE COMPANY (THEWHITECOMPANY.COM). ‘MILLY’ LARGE PEPPER MILL, £35, HABITAT (HABITAT.CO.UK).

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BREADMAKER

PANASONIC SD -2 5 0 0W XC Bit of a bread head? The 10 baking settings on this churn out any dough-based snack you care to think of, while a jam and compote mode gives you something to spread on them. Best in class. £ 1 2 0 , PA N A S O N I C . C O. U K

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KETTLE

KITCHENAID ARTISAN This US firm’s last kettle was good but oddly squat and a bit retro. This is more like it, keeping the quality, reassuring expensiveness and 50-100°C temperature range (different teas, different heats) but with a sleek, modern finish. £ 1 2 9, K I T C H E N A I D. C O. U K

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•CITRUS JUICER

BU GAT TI J UICER Those with a taste for the design forward are drawn to Bugatti’s outside-the-box designs, but there’s technical skill here, too. Whirling at 95rpm, this makes light work of any oranges, limes or lemons you introduce to it. £ 1 5 0 , CA S A B U G AT T I . C O M

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FOOD PROCESSOR

DUALIT XL 1 5 0 0 The heart of your chef’s nest is this quality processor with countless attachments, from a julienne blade to a dedicated dough mixer. The 1,500W motor makes light work of most, even if you fill the huge 3.25-litre bowl to the brim. £ 2 5 9, D UA L I T. C O M

34

BLENDER

MAGIMIX LE BLENDER Sturdy, stylish and French, this crushes ice into smoothies and blends red-hot, thick soups. Despite speeds of up to 1,500rpm it stays quiet, so you won’t wake everyone up when on another shameful late-night pesto binge. £ 1 6 2 , M AG I M IX . U K . C O M

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THE ESSENTIALS

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COFFEE GRINDER

HG ONE Perhaps the most beautiful piece of coffee-related equipment out there, this boasts slightly larger-thanstandard 83mm conical burrs, grinding beans by hand in 30 seconds to release more flavour and prevent bitterness.

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$9 4 6 , H G - O N E . C O M

36

T OA S T E R

ROWLE T T RUTL AND REGENT Add a touch of the 1940s to your kitchen with this award-winning bread browner, equipped with an energyefficient slot selector. Despite looking like it’s come out of a Lancaster bomber, it makes perfect toast every time.

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£ 1 8 3 , R OW L E T T R U T L A N D. C O. U K

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COFFEE MAKER

SAGE BY HESTON BLUMENTHAL THE OR ACLE

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You can tweak multiple settings on this but it’s designed chiefly to be set up – a trained engineer actually comes round and fits it for you – and left. All you do is keep the bean hopper topped up and it chucks out artisan coffee-shop-grade results over and over again. Bonus ball: the steam generator is the best we’ve ever seen on a bean-to-cup. £ 1 , 5 9 9, SAG E A P P L I A N C E S . C O. U K

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S TA N D M IX E R

KENWO OD CHEF SENSE Over 60 years in the making, this intelligent blender pretty much thinks for you, detecting the amount of food you’ve piled in the bowl and adjusting speed to suit, so your egg whites will never be over-whisked. The bowl has an extra-wide chute for spill-free ingredient alongside classic Kenwood looks. £ 5 0 0 , K E N WO O DWO R L D. C O M

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39

NON- CITRUS JUICER

KUVINGS WHOLE SLOW J UICER Slow juicing ensures you get more liquid and less pulp, giving you a smoother drink, and also makes operation dead quiet. It’s able to extract liquid nutrition out of everything from soft fruit to the stringy and intestinally challenging likes of kale. £ 300, UK JUICERS.COM

Kitchen

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THE ESSENTIALS

44

CLEAN-UP

DYSON D C5 8 ANIMAL

M E A S U R I N G S CA L E S

SALTER HESTON BLUMENTHAL PRECISION SCALES

The top of this looks like the distributor cap on a sports car and is home to a turbo-charger whine that speaks of awesome suckage. Previous Dyson handhelds had pitiful battery life, but the lithium-ion has been re-engineered to last a full 20 minutes on full blast. The special head for removing animal hair gives such powerful suction it nearly rips your carpets from the very floor.

As you’d expect, this slimline scale is suitably accurate when measuring everyday ingredients such as flour up to 10kg. Its genius, however, resides in the smaller pad, which gives 0.1g precision for microgastronomy or, er, drug deals, while Aquatronic tech means it’s as at home measuring liquids as solids.

£ 2 3 0 , DYS O N . C O. U K

£ 5 0 , U K . SA LT E R H O U S E WA R E S . C O M

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D I S H WA S H E R

AEG PRO CLE AN X XL

OV E N

MIELE DGC6 5 0 0 XL STE AM COMBINATION

An impressive 15 place settings let you customise the layout of your wash completely, with cushioning grips for glassware. It’s so quiet you may forget it’s on, but that’s okay: “Time Beam” projects the time remaining on your lino.

Idiot-proof thanks to presets but also wildly versatile for non-idiots, this bakes, roasts, grills and/or steams food to perfection. An integrated meat probe makes a bad roast impossible.

£800, AEG.CO.UK

£3, 149, MIELE .CO.UK

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WA S H I N G M AC H I N E

SAMSUNG W W9 0 0 0

46

•CHEF’S KNIFE

Z WILLING PRO

White goods get clever with this app-controlled, touchscreen-laden machine. More practically, it’s also very efficient, washing a 2kg load in about 15 minutes and giving laundry results worthy of Mother.

This stylish shiv has ergonomic handles that match the weight of blades wrought from highcarbon steel, frozen to -70ºC before shaping and hardening for superb corrosion resistance. Sharp, beautiful and a pleasure to cut spuds with.

£1 ,700, SAMSUNG.COM

FROM £69, ZWILLING.COM

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FRIDGE

HITACHI R-S70 0 GPRU2

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PEPPER MILL

COLE & MASON WIMBLED ON

Go big and go home: this 589-litre monster includes an ice dispenser, temperature and lighting control via a glass touchscreen, and an A++ energy rating, with a holiday mode to cut power guzzling further while you’re away.

Peppercorns: your days are numbered. A ceramic mechanism starts grinding as soon as you turn this elegant but violent mill upside down. Bonus tech points for the blue LEDs, too.

£ 1 , 4 0 0 , H I TAC H I . E U

£35, COLEANDMASON.COM

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FURNISHINGS: CLEO’ TALL NARROW BOOKCASE, £150, HABITAT (HABITAT.CO.UK). CACTI, FROM £1.99, NORTH ONE GARDEN CENTRE (N1GARDENCENTRE.CO.UK).

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Home Essentials 48

S E C U R I T Y CA M E R A

iCONTROL PIPER When circumstances force you to leave the safety of your home, this is your eyes and ears on the ground. Far from just a webcam, this sophisticated, ARM processor-packing multi-sensor also tracks temperature, light, humidity and motion from an app on your mobile. € 1 4 9, G E T P I P E R . C O M

49

BA BY M O N I T O R

D -LINK E YEON BABY Rather like the above but for little ones, this keeps an almost literal eyeball on your child, monitoring motion, sound and temperature. Should they awake, you might get away with triggering a pre-loaded lullaby. £110, DLINK.COM/UK

50

WA K E- U P L I G H T

PHILIPS HF 3 520 An alarm clock that rouses your subconscious from slumber with an array of coloured LEDs to simulate sunrise. Soft light diffuses through a thick layer of plastic until bright enough to convince you it’s time to

stir accompanied by your choice of natural sounds. There’s also an FM radio, should you prefer the soothing tones of Nick “Grimmy” Grimshaw. £ 1 3 0 , P H I L I P S . C O. U K

51

T H E R M O S TAT

NEST This poster boy for the connected home helps you save money on heating and gives dads everywhere the chance to over-obsess about the temperature in different rooms. The app-controlled thermostat learns when you wake, while motion sensors know when everyone’s out, so it can light the boiler and dial the heat down when necessary.

53

ROUTER

NE TGE AR R70 0 0 NIGHTHAWK

THE ESSENTIALS

54

P OW E R L I N E

TP-LINK WPA4226KIT

A true online portal with stable AC and N Wi-Fi plus Beamforming+ tech to focus the signal on devices within its field of influence.

Plug-in middleman that turns your electric wiring into ethernet cables and boosts your Wi-Fi in one fell swoop. Truly life-changing for the lax of internet.

£169, NETGEAR.CO.UK

£25, TP-LINK.COM

£ 1 7 9, N E S T. C O M

52

FA N

DYSON AM 0 8 Sir James and co love to reinvent familiar products without their downsides – some of which you probably never even thought existed. So this has no thrashing blades, makes minimal noise, uses very little power and also happens to look very sexy indeed. It’s a big fan – and so are we. £ 3 0 0 , DYS O N . C O. U K

55

IRON

TEFAL GV89 6 0 PRO E XPRESS

56

NAS DRIVE

SYNOLOGY DISKSTATION DS 4 1 4

The dons of fabric flattening serve up a steam generator that smooths everything from cotton jeans to silk ties without the risk of nasty scorch marks.

With a whopping storage capacity of 24TB and incredible versatility, this is the media hub your home network deserves.

£ 2 7 9, T E FA L . C O. U K

£ 3 7 5 , SY N O L O GY. C O M

57

SECOND T V

LG 4 2LB70 0V Smart tellies packed with features, from on-demand TV to Skype, are great… until you have to wade through menus to find them. All hail LG’s webOS interface, then, which makes surfing smart features fun, with striking visuals to match. £600, LG.COM/UK

52

O C TO B E R 2 0 1 4 T 3 6 5

Bathroom

58

THE ESSENTIALS

62

S H OW E R

HANSGROHE R AINMAKER

WAT E R P R O O F R A D I O

LE XON T YKHO R ADIO

The only thing more more refreshing than a powerful shower blast on the bonce is three of them simultaneously, as on this triple-jetted slab of aqua artillery. The Rainmaker injects air into the H2O for larger, luxuriant droplets, so it feels better on your skin while using less of it. The perfect morning kickstart, it even comes with optional lighting, for the particularly bling.

The stylish but impressively practical silicone casing makes this tiny but powerful and AM/FM number the perfect accompaniment to shower-based wassailing. The clever design doesn’t end there, either: the antenna is also the radio-frequency knob, while its range of bright colours means it’s easy to find even when you’re blinded by shampoo. A modern classic, no less.

FROM £4 ,692 , HANSGROHE .CO.UK

£ 4 9 , L E XO N - D E S I G N . C O M

59

TOOTHBRUSH

OR AL-B SMARTSERIES 9 0 0 0 BLUE TO OTH

M A N UA L R A ZO R

GILLE T TE FUSION PRO GLIDE ST YLER

Gamify your gums and change your life – or your teeth, at least. This removes twice the grub of a manual brush and tracks your strokes via an app, improving your plaque pummelling.

The best wet blade shave you can get, with a built-in trimmer and edger heads to sculpt what’s left. An impressive feat of engineering and a one-stop portable shop for facial foliage.

£230, ORALB.CO.UK

£14 , GILLETTE .COM

60

E L EC T R I C T R I M M E R

WAHL DELUXE GROOMING STATION

64

E L EC T R I C R A ZO R

PHILIPS SERIES 9 0 0 0 SENSOTOU CH

From the brand that every barber uses comes this beast, with blades for face- and body-wide shaving and trimming. It’ll mow through pubes for 60 minutes per charge.

More of a sensitive sort? Three sizes and shapes of blade give you a more protected shave. The Aquatec system keeps you free of irritation and a trimmer handles taches.

£ 3 3 , WA H L S T O R E . C O . U K

£ 3 0 0 , P H I L I P S . C O. U K

61

WAT E R- R E S I S TA N T S P E A K E R

BR AVEN 8 5 5 S

6 6 T 3 O C TO B E R 2 0 1 4

63

65

B O DY M O N I T O R S CA L E S

FITBIT ARIA

This attractively industrial speaker is perfect for any situation where water could come between you and your tunes. Boasting 20 hours’ battery life for rocking it wet, its audio is superior to most water-shunning fare.

Your weight, and even your BMI, aren’t actually accurate health indicators. That’s where this comes in, measuring and tracking your body fat as well, syncing info to an app where it joins data from other Fitbit gizmos.

£ 2 8 0 , B R AV E N . E U

£ 1 0 0 , F I T B I T. C O M

Gym 71

66

72

S P O R T S WAT C H

GARMIN FORERUNNER 620 With rock-solid GPS, heart-rate monitoring and even VO2 Max estimation, this is your strap-on personal trainer, letting you set and analyse fitness targets accurately and easily. £ 3 6 0 , G A R M I N . C O M

67

COMPRESSION GEAR

K YMIR A APPAREL

73

The fashion-forward wearz from this Brit fitties capture your body heat and feed it back to you, like a non-evil version of the robots in The Matrix. Combined with compression tech, it aids recovery time whether podgy or pro. F R O M £ 2 5 , K Y M I R A S P O R T. C O M

68

H E A R T R AT E M O N I T O R

P O L AR H7 A fitness essential for serious workers-out, this syncs with the super-smart Polar Beat app (and most other popular training apps, from Endomondo to Adidas miCoach), giving cardiac data more accurately than any smartwatch. £65, POLAR.COM

69

TREADMILL

TECHN O GYM J O G FORMA A gym-grade, 18kph running machine with an advanced impact-reduction system and – naturellement – a custom iPad mount for controlling and tracking your runs. You need never pound no suburban pavement again. £ 4 , 7 5 0 , T E C H N O GY M . C O M

70

GOLF DRIVER

CALL AWAY BIG BERTHA ALPHA The most iconic club on the fairway. This latest incarnation lets you control even more settings, from centre of gravity to loft, while the sweet spot is bigger than ever. Which is very big. £ 3 5 0 , U K . CA L L AWAYG O L F. C O M

6 8 T 3 O C TO B E R 2 0 1 4

SHE WEARS: TOP - THE KOOPLES SPORT, LEGGINGS - FALKE FURNISHINGS: ‘JESSIE’ NARROW LEANING BOOKCASE, £65, HABITAT (HABITAT.CO.UK). CACTI, FROM £1.99, NORTH ONE GARDEN CENTRE (N1GARDENCENTRE.CO.UK)

THE ESSENTIALS

71

FITNESS EARPHONES

MONSTER iSP ORT STRIVE What do you need from sport headphones? Durability? Sweat and water resistance? A microphone for taking calls? How about a grip that’ll keep it in your ears even while performing somersaults? Well, let us introduce you to your next pair. Did we forget to mention they sound great, too? £60, MONSTERPRODUCTS.COM

72

BLOOD -PRESSURE IMONITOR

HOMEDICS SALTER MIBODY More of a wellness device than strictly fitness, this could literally save your life if you’ve not checked your blood pressure for a few years. This diminutive, watch-like unit syncs up to the MiBody iOS app and body monitor scales via Bluetooth, self inflates and helps you work towards health targets. £ 6 0 , M I B O DY. C O . U K

73

F O O T BA L L B O O T S

NIKE MERCURIAL SUPERFLY 74

Knitted, high-top footy boots, eh? Gee, thanks for making those fashionable, Cristiano. However, before bemoaning footballers’ soft centres, that three-knit weave reduces the space between ball and foot for control more FIFA than five-a-side. £ 2 4 0 , S T O R E . N I K E . C O M /G B

74

EXERCISE BIKE

WAT TBIKE PRO 75

Wattbike? This one, of course! The best and most accurate indoor cycle machines around are calibrated for speed, distance, time, heart rate and power output, giving feedback on your pedalling to help correct bad habits. £ 2 , 2 5 0 , WAT T B I K E . C O M

75

RUNNING SHOES

ADIDAS ADIZERO ADIOS BO OST 2 We could all use a little energy return when out running – it’d certainly make a change from the energy lost when placing one foot in front of the other. Well, these lightweight trainers offer a comfy landing but also provide gazelle-like spring on the way back up. £ 1 1 0 , A D I DA S . C O. U K

O C TO B E R 2 0 1 4 T 3 6 9

Outdoor Living

76

80

R OA D B I K E

CANNONDALE SUPERSIX E VO SR AM RED

C O M PAC T CA M E R A

CANON IXUS 1 4 0

With a BallisTec carbon frame with low weight and incredible stiffness, this certified road warrior is as responsive and as light as they come. Definitely one for those who like to gobble up steep inclines on toast, it doesn’t sacrifice elegance for contemporary rideability. If it’s good enough for king of the sprinters Peter Sagan, it’s good enough for you. Almost too good, in fact…

This affordable, tiny yet perfectly formed, Wi-Fi-enabled compact camera mocks your smartphone’s snapper mercilessly thanks to an 8x optical zoom, impressive 16-megapixel sensor, 32 scene modes and Canon’s assuredly impressive and speedy image processing. Throw in pristine 720p HD movies at the click of a button and you have the perfect pocketable sharp shooter.

£ 3 , 7 9 9 , CA N N O N DA L E . C O M

£ 1 5 9 , CA N O N . C O . U K

77

BLUETOOTH HEADPHONES

BE ATS STUDIO WIRELESS

JAC K E T

NORTH FACE FUSE UNO

Give cabling the kiss off with these noisecancelling Bluetooth headphones, which retain the premium, bass-bumping sound and quality design that convinced Tim Cook to write Dr Dre a cheque for $3 billion.

When is it impossible for water to seep through seams? When there are no seams. This is made from a single piece of custom HyVent Alpha waterproof fabric and will cause exasperation to precipitation.

£ 3 3 0 , U K . B E AT S BY D R E . C O M

£ 3 4 0 , T H E N O R T H FAC E . C O . U K

78

TORCH

E AGTAC MX 2 5 L 3C

82

HANDHELD CONSOLE

NINTENDO 2DS

This compact, powerful beam machine – its 3,500 lumens are only slightly less bright than the Sun – offers a neat twisty-head design that enables four brightness settings, while a strobe mode helps you relive your rave days.

Chuck Mario, Zelda and all of the Poké-dudes into your travel bag with this gaming portable. It’s cheap, durably designed for careless kids and also can access the 3DS’s library of classics sans 3D (which is often for the best).

£ 1 2 3 , E AG L E TAC . C O M

£80, NINTENDO.CO.UK

79

TENT

CASCADE DESIGNS CARBON REFLE X 2

7 0 T 3 O C TO B E R 2 0 1 4

81

83

T R AV E L S P E A K E R

JAWBONE JAMBOX

If you’d rather enjoy your adventure than endure it, this two-manner has carbon-fibre poles to reduce the weight, but hits the sweet spot between easy carrying and durability.

Still our favourite ultra-compact wireless speaker, Yves Béhar’s stylish box offers Bluetooth streaming from any device, up to ten hours of battery life and a built-in mic for conference calls, if you have to check in.

£ 3 0 0 , CA S CA D E D E S I G N S . C O M

£ 1 2 9, E U S T O R E . JAW BO N E . C O M

THE ESSENTIALS

84

88

B U G GY

BU GABO O BEE 3

SUNGLASSES

MAUI JIM PILOT

Kid-carrying tech needs are important, too, so don’t feel too guilty about going all-in on this season’s hottest new pram. Designed for the urban parent, it’s lightweight and easy to carry, with a unique extendable seat that means junior is actually covered from birth all the way through to toddlerdom. It collapses into a convenient-to-carry buggy, too, saving your ailing back muscles.

These PolarizedPlus 2 lenses render real life as if it’s been enhanced in Photoshop, with colours appearing uncommonly vivid, while, impressively, 99.9% of glare and 100% of UV light are eliminated. Designed to protect against wind and sun on tropical holidays and urban streets, said lenses are here encased in a classic stainless steel, semi-rimless, Aviator-style frame.

£TBC, BUGABOO.COM

£ 2 1 4 , M AU I J I M . C O M

85

R U C KS AC K

OSPRE Y VARIANT 37

89

D S L R CA M E R A

NIKON D8 10

If you’re planning, say, a frozen waterfall climb, Variant 37 is your new bezzie mate. It’s got ice tool holsters, ski loops, wand pockets and about 34 more indispensible, adventureenhancing features to get up in your Grylls.

The highest image quality Nikon has ever offered, with added dust and weather sealing, an ultra-wide ISO (64-12800), 51-point autofocus and 1200 images from a single charge. Impressive doesn’t begin to cover it.

£120, OSPREYEUROPE .COM

£ 2 , 7 0 0 B O DY O N LY, N I KO N . C O . U K

86

AC T I O N CA M

90

C O M PAC T SYS T E M CA M E R A

GO PRO HERO 3+ BL ACK

OLYMPUS ST YLUS SH-1

How do you make the rough-and-tumble video camera of choice any better? Well, now it’s 20% smaller, with 30% better battery, 4x faster Wi-Fi, 33% sharper images, 4K video at up to 48fps and a new wide-angle mode. Yes, that should do it.

This versatile snapper blends a 24x zoom, Wi-Fi syncing to iOS and Android, 1080p video and the rather sexual design ethos of the popular Pen series. With plenty of lens choices and a compact size, it’s the best of both worlds.

£359, GOPRO.COM

F R O M £ 3 2 9 , G E T O LY M P U S . C O M

87

HANDHELD GPS

GARMIN OREGON 60 0T Really want to rely on your phone battery to find your way in the wilderness? Thought not. The 600T’s double power source gives peace of mind, with preloaded maps readable under direct sunlight on its three-inch touchscreen.

91

HIKING BOOTS

SALOMON QUEST 4D GT X If you don’t fancy these hi-tech, lightweight, supportive, protective, debris-proof and cushioned boots you can go take a hike… Just not a very comfortable one. £ 1 5 5 , SA L O M O N . C O M / U K

£379, GARMIN.COM

O C TO B E R 2 0 1 4 T 3 7 1

Shed

95

96

95 92

PRESSURE

93

M U LT I T O O L

94

3D PRINTER

MAKERBOT REPLICATOR MINI STRIMMER

This Rambo worrier’s induction motor will blast even the most stubborn bits of dirt and is easy to switch between accessories. The nine-metre cable gives you plenty of room to work, too.

Cutting, sanding, engraving: this puppy does it all. Thanks to the EZ Twist Nose cap you can easily swap add-ons, with no need for a wrench. The ergonomic handle won’t leave you with “wanker’s claw” either.

This strimmer is cordless, with a telescopic handle for harder-to-reach turf. The super-efficient 14.4V motor gives up to 30 minutes of cutting and edging per charge, while the plastic blades give a better trim than poly-cord.

The name in 3D printing, and this is one of Makerbot’s simplest machines to use, with one-touch operation making it faster and easier than ever to unleash small plastic effigies of the Eiffel Tower on the world. It’s as compact as it is ingenious, too – just bung it in the shed and set CAD to “make”.

£270, NILFISK .CO.UK

£ 4 0 , D I Y. C O M

£ 7 0 , GT E C H O N L I N E . C O . U K

£ 1 , 1 9 8 , M A K E R B O T. C O M

I WA S H E R

NILFISK E 1 4 0. 3-9 X-TR A

7 2 T 3 O C TO B E R 2 0 1 4

DREMEL 3 0 0 0 SERIES

GTECH ST05

96

BA R B EC U E

HALO CO OLTOU CH A marvel of meatcharring engineering. On the inside, it retains more heat, sustaining cooking temperatures for longer and making it cheaper to run. On the outside, however, temperatures only get up to about 37°C, compared to up to 180ºC on a normal BBQ, meaning it’s much safer. It also looks as cool as it, er, is. £ 49 5 , H A L O P R O D U C T. C O M

99

THE ESSENTIALS

100

97

98

101

FURNISHINGS: ‘JESSIE’ NARROW LEANING BOOKCASE, £65, HABITAT (HABITAT.CO.UK). PLANTS, FROM £25, AND PLANT POTS, FROM £3.49, NORTH ONE GARDEN CENTRE (N1GARDENCENTRE.CO.UK)

97

HEDGE ITRIMMER

BL ACK AND DECKER 36V LI-ION 2 .0AH

98

L AW N M OW E R

HONDA MIIMO

99

SCREWDRIVER

BOSCH IXO IV

£ 1 2 5 , B L AC K A N D

Once you’ve tried a robot mower, there’s no going back to a push-around. The blades on this distant nephew of ASIMO are shatterproof, so no need to worry if you left a rake/folding chair/burntout car in your garden. It’s programmable – you can choose random, directional, or mixed modes to suit your lawn style – and will even charge itself. Helpful chap.

Good as cordless drills can be for driving screws, they can’t get into the tight areas that this little pozidrive phaser can. A built-in torch means you’ll always see what you’re screwing, while large, light-up arrows make it clear what direction you’re going. It also, slightly bizarrely, has corkscrew and peppermill attachments if you want to tool up when entertaining.

DECKER.CO.UK

£ 2 , 2 3 5 , H O N DA . C O . U K

£40, BOSCH-HOME .CO.UK

E-drive tech and a 55cm blade give this enough grunt to saw straight through the toughest and biggest topiary arrays. The bale handle gives you bags of control, but please don’t get carried away and start challenging your neighbour to duels with it.

100

DRILLS

HITACHI DV 1 8 DSFL /J C, DE WALT D CD 9 9 5 M2

101

S AW

TS 5 0 0I STIHL CUTQUIK

£ 1 0 0 , H I TAC H I . C O . U K

Leave Leatherface seething with jealousy with the first outdoor power tool with an electronically controlled fuel-injection system. Lightweight and well balanced, it offers low emissions and optimal torque throughout its RPM range. It’s also quite handy for greeting Jehovah’s Witnesses with. Bare japes.

£ 3 2 0 , D E WA LT. C O M

£ 6 8 0 , S T I H L U SA . C O M

Every man needs a drill to define them. Both of these offer plenty of controllable torque and durability, 18-volt power and easy stowability. All you need to decide is the size of your wallet, and which bright colour you like most.

O C TO B E R 2 0 1 4 T 3 7 3

THE PET TECH EMPORIUM TRACKERS, FEEDERS

N E X T M O N T H O N

S A L E

3 0 - 0 9 - 1 4

AND FINERY FOR FIDO

FRAMESTORE UNCOVERED OSCAR WINNERS GIVE US A FILM-TECH TOUR

TABLET TIME THE BEST SLATES TO SATE YOUR TASTES

WEARABLES WHO LET THE TECH OUT? EVERYONE. FROM DESIGNER GOOGLE GLASS TO iOS 8’S CONNECTED KITS, AUTUMN IS WHERE THE ‘INTERNET OF THINGS’ GETS ON TRACK

Edited by Pete Dreyer

M A N UA L

FE E H H LI TEC T OF T E G H GAD M ONT

YOUR MONTHLY EXISTENCE ENHANCER

This month...

HOW TO MAX OUT YOUR WI-FI; WEAR A KILT; MAKE BUBBLE TEA P84

OBSESSION MOUNTAINEERING KIT FOR THE UNSOCIAL CLIMBER P85

TECH DAD IT’S A TRAP! SKYLANDERS SNARE YOUR KIDS P86

TEST BATTER UP! WE DECLARE A WAFFLE IRON WAR P87

UPGR ADE CYCLING SKID LIDS WITH STYLE P88

PULSE AFTERGUARD SAILING HUD; EXTREME NEW PURSUITS P89

HOME BRAUN SHAVERS AND BIJOU KITCHENS P94

DRIVE ROLLS-ROYCE WRAITH; SPYDER HYBRID P95

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ALTERNATIVE STYLI 1/ WACOM BAMBOO STYLUS SOLO – ELEGANT AND BEAUTIFULLY BALANCED, THE WACOM FEATURES A 5MM RUBBER NIB THAT IS EASILY SWITCHED WITH A REPLACEMENT. £25, WACOM.COM

STYLUS COUNCIL FiftyThree’s Pencil turns into far more when you add an iPad

2/ LYNKTEC TRUGLIDE PRO PRECISION – THE 5MM NIB IS MADE FROM A MASS OF CONDUCTIVE FIBRES, MAKING IT INCREDIBLY SMOOTH, £15, LYNKTEC.COM

Tablet artists in need of more precision than sticky fingers allow are fairly well serviced, but FiftyThree’s Pencil stylus is an unusually elegant addition. Its true skills shine when Bluetoothed to the US design firm’s freemium iPad art app, Paper. Running for up to a

3/ ADONIT JOT TOUCH – PACKED WITH FEATURES INCLUDING PALM REJECTION TECH AND A FINE POINT 3MM TIP WITH 2048 LEVELS OF SENSITIVITY. £70, ADONIT.NET

PHOTOGRAPHY NEIL GODWIN

month off a 90-minute USB charge, the tapered tip can draw or erase at any angle and even pull off pressure-sensitive shading, with the app’s palmrejection tech on hand to avert any fat-handed errors. £50 graphite, £65 walnut, fiftythree.com/pencil

O C TO B E R 2 0 1 4 T 3 7 5

HOW TO HACK YO UR

LIFE WITH TE

CH

3

TOOL OF THE MONTH

W EA R A KILT 1

BECOME A WI-FI WIZAR D

Get yout tech tips out for the plaids, with Brian Wilson MBE, director of the Scottish Tartans Authority. Yes, that’s a thing

RYOBI RLT 1830H13 This hybrid strimmer will give your garden a haircut both while plugged into the mains and cordlessly via an 18V battery. The two-inone blade switches from trimming to edging with nary a twist of the handle, making you a true (Monty) Don of the greensward. £150, ryobidirect.com

Beef up your home network through these MacGyver-like means

1/ Make your internet electric By routing the connection through your mains supply, you can easily transfer it around the house with minimal signal degradation. Devolo’s dLAN 650 triple+ is the fastest on the market right now (£120, devolo.com) 2/ Build your own wireless bridge Get any old router, download the DD-WRT firmware, connect it to your main router and you’ve just given your Wi-Fi a helping hand. 3/ Invest in a wireless extender Good for black holes at the back of the house, these extend your signal, but reduce strength. 4/ Practice gadget feng shui Make sure your router is well away from microwaves, cordless phones and fish tanks.

4

THE TECHQUATION Record pro-grade podcasts

Samson Tech G-Track USB mic condenses audio effectively, with a 19mm diaphragm to pick up every last word. £85, samsontech.com

2

MAKE YOUR OWN BUBBLE TEA Kibria Khan from Bubbleology helps you get the Taiwanese buzz tipple at home

Mackie 802-VLZ4 Mixer Versatile way to remove the need for everyone to speak at the exact same volume. £160, polaraudio.co.uk

1/ Empty tapioca pearls into a sieve Use around 40g per serving and shake off any debris. Bring a pot of water to boil (900ml for every 100g), pour in your tapioca, and stir. 2/ As soon as the tapioca starts to float… Turn down the heat and continue to simmer for 40 minutes, stirring to prevent sticking. 3/ Tapioca soft and chewy? Good, they’re done – turn off the heat, cover the pot and leave to stew for another half an hour. Add a little simple sugar syrup to sweeten the pearls once they’ve cooled. 4/ Ready for service For the traditional Taiwanese experience, add your pearls to a cup of hot jasmine or assam tea, with milk. Alternatively, use a cocktail shaker with ice to create a surreal but tastily textured cold drink.

76 T 3 O C TO B E R 2 0 1 4

1/ Don’t wear it on your waist – the waistband of a kilt should actually come up to the bottom of your rib cage. If it’s arranged lower than that, your kilt turns into a skirt. 2/ Always wear a sporran – this is the purse that sits around your crotch. Again, watch the height, though, as the top should be one or two inches below your navel for best effect. 3/ Order is everything – assuming you’re reasonably formal, the dressing order is long stockings first, shoes then shirt. Once you’ve added the kilt, slide your hands up underneath it and pull the shirt down all round. 4/ Choose hose that match your kilt tones – white long stockings are a sartorial abomination and should be left to pipe bands and those who don’t know any better. If someone tells you otherwise, ignore them; match yours with consideration. 5/ Beware the “gents’ room” – make sure the back of your kilt isn’t rucked up under the waistband of your underwear. Great entertainment for everyone else is no good for your image. 6/ Commando rules? Wear whatever is most comfortable for you. The “You’re not a real Scot if you don’t” stuff is nonsense.

Audacity Easy, cross-platform sound recording and editing software that’s perfect for beginners. Free, audacity.sourceforge.net

You are Pod God. Gervais, eat your heart out.

WORDS FRANCESCA PEAK ILLUSTRATIONS MARK MITCHELL

Life lessions, training sessions

IOON ESE S OBOS G F... IN K ME TH

TECHlife

SCHMOOZE ANY MOUNTAIN

BEC

#38 ALPINE CLIMBING You don’t have to be Reinhold Messner to have a mountain-packed experience of a lifetime. Recreate Sly Stallone’s Cliffhanger, but with less death and terrorism, with our essential tech and tips

WHAT YOU’LL NEED…

IFMGA-approved mountaineering guide James Thacker’s peak-pounding tips

1/ Do your homework The Alps have many different objectives and various types of climbing. Conditions vary a lot, so be sure to check local sources. 2/ Acclimatise Give yourself time to get used to the altitude. Go steady and ensure that you stay hydrated. 3/ Light is right Shun heavy waterproofs and consider lighter fabrics like Gore-Tex Paclite and Active Shell. 4/ Take a good camera. You will definitely want to record this. Get one that copes with low and high light conditions. 5/ Go “full beam” A headtorch is a must, but one with a decent beam will keep you on your chosen route. 6/ Be prepared for emergencies iPhone and Android apps such as echo112 will help you call for assistance if you’re in trouble. jamesthacker-mountaineering.co.uk

f 1/ Asolo Eiger GV These pro boots will accomodate all crampons, with integrated gaiters saving weight. £500, asolo.com 2/ Edelrid Beast Lite crampons Made of alloy and steel to be crazy light, these 12-point footprongs are still suitably rock-proof. £154, edelrid.de 3/ Adidas Eyewear Elevation Climacool Versatile sunnies that are no shame in the bar when

WORDS MARK MAYNE

stripped down, but with the foam pads and strap attached become full-on sci-fi glacier goggles. £150, adidas.com 4/ Black Diamond Fusion ice tool Stab your way to the top, with ergo grips for leashless moves. £199 each, eu.black diamondequipment.com 5/ Petzl Lazer Speed Light Weighing half a standard ice screw, these steel-toothed alloys screw hold fast and screw in faster. £60, petzl.com

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T3’S QUICK-CLIMB CHECKLIST BEST BIVVY TECH TO TRAVEL LIGHT BLACK DIAMOND ION TOUCH-OPERATED, 12-LUMEN HEAD TORCH TO HELP SETUP CAMP. £25, EU.BLACKDIAMONDEQUIPMENT.COM PHD MINIM 400 SLEEPING BAG DOWN-PACKED, M1 MICROFIBRE TRAVELLING DUVET FOR SUBZERO SHUTEYE. £273, PHDESIGNS.CO.UK ALPKIT HUNKA BIVVY BAG TENTS ARE TOO MUCH HASSLE. THIS LIGHT BUT STURDY WATERPROOF OUTER CASING FOR YOU AND YOUR MINIM 400 WILL DO. £30, ALPKIT.COM PRIMUS ETA STOVE THERE ARE LIGHTER STOVES, SURE, BUT THE FLUX RINGS MAKE THIS SUPER-EFFICIENT. £100, PRIMUS.EU

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Skylanders Trap Team’s new pleasure portal turns villains into heroes Call of Duty purveyor Activision kickstarted gaming’s real-toys-come-to-virtual-life trend and now takes further strides towards acquiring all of the world’s pocket money with Skylanders Trap Team. As a grown-up, you probably shouldn’t bother yourself too much with the plot, but suffice to say the embarassingly fun platform actioner has a load of new characters (that’s Food Fight up top) and now enables pint-sized acolytes to teleport baddies from the digital world into the physical, then send them back into the game to perform as goodies. So that’s nice. £50, skylanders.com/uk

THE TECH The Skylanders Trap Team in detail 1/ Creature feature The Starter Pack comes with a battery-powered “Traptanium” portal (which supercedes the old Portal of Power), two crystal-shaped traps and two new figurines, Snap Shot and our friend Food Fight. Other Trap Master models will be available for, needless to say, additional outlay. 2/ Sounding off The new Traptanium portal (far right) is again where you sync models to the game, but its most palpable party piece is the built-in speaker, which reproduces the sound of your captured character’s voice when placed on the plinth. 3/ Game on! It’s available for PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, Xbox One, 3DS, Wii, Wii U and, shortly, iOS and Android.

TECH DAD SELECTS

I’LL ONLY TELL YOU ONCE!

A brace of figurine-based alternatives

With decades of gadgeteering wisdom, Tech Dad has the answers to all your parental dilemmas

Disney Infinity Skylanders-esque models-meet-gaming japery. From £52, disney.co.uk, on PC and most consoles

Playmobil Take Along Soccer Match Foldable Subbuteo-style footy for toddlers. £50, playmobil.co.uk

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Dear Tech Dad, My 12-month-old son still hasn’t started walking. Is there a procedure or even some kind of gizmo to help him find his feet?

animal-shaped silicone covers and no ham-fisted malarkey will ruin your shiny Retina screen. £30, store.griffintechnology.co.uk

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Dear Tech Dad, Is there any practical way to warm up baby wipes so my son doesn’t flinch every time I tend to his nether regions?

If you can’t wait until he starts sauntering around naturally, you can speed things up by using the Nini Walker, a light, two-wheel push-along. £80, gadgetbaby.co.uk Dear Tech Dad, My four-year-old daughter’s besotted with my iPad Mini. Are there any decent protection sleeves on the market? LOUIS/LEWES

Deck out your tablet with one of Griffin’s

SANDY/ST IVES

The mains-powered Prince Lionheart Ultimate Wipes Warmer uses an evaporation and condensation process to keep wipes warm and moist, while its EPA-approved anti-microbial additive prevents the arrival of mildew-related unpleasantness. £30, amazon.co.uk WORDS DEREK ADAMS

Game toys, sweet life

TECHlife

WAFFLE MAKERS Embrace batter and make like our American and Belgian cousins with a tasty, and resoundingly non-healthy, snack. Be it brekkie with bacon, brunch with fruit, dessert with syrup, or all three at once, which iron should you pump?

Cuisinart WAF1U Waffle Maker Quick to heat up, these deep-dish plates produce waffles with some serious pockets in less time than it takes to brew a cuppa. Cheap, not to mention compact, but it’s a bit light on features compared to others. £60, cuisinart.co.uk 4/5

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Dualit Waffle Iron This somewhat imposing machine takes just eight minutes to heat up and makes thin, crispy waffs, perfect for stacking. It’s the quietest, but the plate’s tiny indentations are a pain to clean and it’s hella pricey. £239, dualit.com 3/5

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Duck & Waffle executive chef Daniel Doherty takes us on a journey to the perfect dimpled calorie-fest 1/ GET THE BATTER RIGHT THIS IS THE MOST IMPORTANT BIT. YOUR MIX SHOULD BE THICK, WITH THE CONSISTENCY OF RUNNY MASH. MAKE SURE YOUR IRON IS HOT AND CLEAN. 2/ NAIL THE RIGHT INGREDIENTS WE USE A BATTER BASED ON FLOUR, BUTTERMILK, BUTTER, BAKING POWDER, BAKING SODA, EGGS AND SUGAR, BUT YOU CAN PLAY AROUND WITH DIFFERENT FLOURS FOR GLUTEN-FREE WAFFLES. 3/ USE THEM AS A TEXTURE VEHICLE WAFFLES ARE GREAT WITH ROASTED FRUITS, COMPOTES OR JUST A FRESH BANANA OFFSET BY CHANTILLY CREAM, YOGHURT OR ICE CREAM. 4/ START OFF SWEET… WHILE WAFFLES’ WARM, CRISP AND FLUFFY QUALITIES MAKE THEM PERFECT FOR PRETTY MUCH ANY INGREDIENT, THEIR NATURAL HINT OF SUGAR MAKES SWEET THE MOST OBVIOUS OPTION. 5/ …THEN EMBRACE THE SAVOURY OUR ‘DUCK AND WAFFLE’ SIGNATURE DISH IS A REAL FAVOURITE. BACON AND EGGS. SMOKED FISH OR GRAVLAX ARE ALSO ALL REALLY TASTY ADDITIONS.

SPACE SAVERS No room in the kitchen for another appliance? Try these instead TEST WINNER

Nordic Ware stovetop Belgian waffle maker Quick-bake, old-school option. £70, selfridges.com

Andrew James Belgian Waffle Maker Producing four decent-sized brekky snacks, this especially wallet-friendly maker is ideal for hungry families. Sure, it takes up a sizeable chunk of worktop for its troubles, but it turns out fine results at speed. £39, andrewjamesworldwide.com 4/5 WORDS FRANCESCA PEAK

Sage by Heston Blumenthal Smart Waffle With six presets for different waffles and 12 browning settings, this is an iron for the modern age and well worth the outlay. A countdown on the easy-to-read screen primes you for when your next fluffy treat is ready, too. £170, sageappliances.co.uk 5/5

Lékué waffle moulds Dishwasher-safe, space efficient – just forget the iron entirely and put these in the oven for a few minutes. £25, lekue.co.uk

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HEAD CANDY Slick bike lids to nab yellow jerseys and prevent ‘red head’ 1/ Kask Infinity Aero Developed alongside the until-recentlyrather-successful Team Sky, this aerodynamic number has adjustable vents and a leather chin strap to minimise rubbing. The inner padding is removable and washable, and an additional polycarbonate layer amps up the protection. £220, kask.it 2/ Catlike Whisper Wasn’t that a Geroge Michael song? No. In fact, this self-proclaimed “piece of art” has been used by Olympic athletes. It’s engineered to both distribute impact energy and resemble cheese, and its soft padding moulds itself pleasingly to your head shape. £100, i-ride.co.uk 3/ Bell Muni Made for the city, this super-bright helm has a back strap and visor perch for mounting a light, and a tag fit system to fit your head width and length precisely. As any urban cyclist knows, a snug skid lid can be the only thing between you and a visit from Captain Head Trauma. £50, bellhelmets.com

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4/ Torch Apparel T1 A white and red light on the front and back respectively makes you clear and visible at all hours of the day, with a rechargeable battery that lasts up to 12 hours. A two-way adjustment system ensures a snug fit. £85, torchapparel.eu 5/ Mavic Notch Trail riders rejoice, this is a crash hat made specifically for the rugged outdoors. Dense padding gives protection and a secure fit, and it’s got full coverage across your skull and a removable visor for sunny days out. In this bright yellow, your mates aren’t going to lose you in a hurry, either. £80, mavic.co.uk 6/ Bern Watts Unlimited Successor to the popular “Baker”, this skate-inspired lid has won accolades for safety and style. Available in an array of kit-matching colourways, it packs a reassuring “sink fit” for total head coverage, EPS foam to protect from blunt force, and a visor for, well, the sun. £50, bernunlimited.com

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SHINY HAPPY CYCLISTS THREE LIGHTS TO KEEP YOU SEEN BLAZE UK-BUILT INNOVATION USES A HANDLEBAR LASER TO PROJECT A BIKE IMAGE ON THE ROAD AHEAD AS WARNING. £125, BLAZE.CC REVOLIGHTS TURN WHEELS INTO BLURS OF ARTY LIGHT FOR IMPROVED SIDE-ON VISIBILITY. £249, PEDAL-PEDAL.CO.UK CATEYE ORBIT THIS HANDY LED BEAMER EMITS 360-DEGREE LIGHT. £20, CATEYE.COM

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Skid lids, sail HUDs

NEW WAVE VISIONS Afterguard is a HUD that sinks you in sailing data up to your eyeballs

TECHlife

Sailing is a sport of very fine margins, and anything that can get you accurate info in an instant is worth its weight in golden brine (texture like sun). So splice our mainbrace if Afterguard isn’t the finest bit of nautical tech we’ve seen. It pulls data direct from a boat’s instruments through a Central Communications Unit and splashes it wirelessly on a modified, GPS-packing Recon Instruments’ Jet headset, handing six hours of crucial stats to your peripheral vision as you focus on lanyards and booms. It won’t survive a dunk in the drink, but is water-resistant enough to handle spray. You’ll be like an ocean-going Terminator. From £1,126, afterguard.co

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HUDS UP! AFTERGUARD FOUNDER ALEX MORET GIVE US A LESSON IN MASTERING HIS HIGH-SEAS GOOGLE GLASS “THE INITIAL SEQUENCE IS DESIGNED TO GET YOU THE PERFECT START. IT SHOWS BOAT SPEED, DISTANCE TO THE LINE AND A COUNTDOWN TIMER ON HOW THE BOAT IS TRACKING TO THERE, IT FREES UP THE CREW TO CONCENTRATE SOLELY ON BUILDING SPEED. “VIRTUAL TACTICIAN THEN REMOVES THE GUESSWORK ASSOCIATED WITH MAKING A MARK OR CLEARING A BOAT. YOU CAN LOOK AT ANOTHER VESSEL AND GAUGE INSTANTLY WHETHER THEY ARE AHEAD OF OR BEHIND YOU, AS WELL AS SEEING KEY STATISTICS ON HOW WELL YOUR OWN BOAT IS PERFORMING.”

STYLE SAIL Scrub your poop decks then dress yourself appropriately for an ocean jaunt with this season’s must-buy, weather-repelling apparel

1/ Musto MPX offshore race smock Three-layer Gore-Tex and a fleece-lined hood face down even the worst climate unpleasantness. £500, musto.com

WORDS PETE DREYER PHOTOGRAPHY PIXELEYES

2/ Gill KB1 Racer trousers These stylish racing salopettes are super-stretchy and adjustable, with pockets galore. £215, gillmarine.com

3/ Dubarry Shamrock boots Treated leather keeps your feet dry, while rubber soles absorb shocks. £220, dubarryboots.com

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LAND, SEA OR SKY? If the weekly squash sessions are leaving you bored, maybe it’s time for a more extreme hobby

MOUNTAIN BOARDING

PADDLE BOARDING

LAND: MOUNTAIN BOARDING 1/ EXPERT KIT PICK: MBS Pro 100 “This board is the bomb!” exclaims Matt Brind, World Freestyle Mountainboard champion and five times UK title holder. “The deck is nice and stiff to give you extra on your pop-over jumps and help with hard landings. The bindings are super-comfy, too, while the trucks are the best you can find in terms of weight and strength. “The tyre tread is perfectly judged, with minimal contact area when straight lining giving a great top speed, but good grip when you want to turn hard.” £354, mbs.com

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2/ TSG Evo helmet A snug-fitting half-shell is exactly what you’re after if you’re hurtling down mountains on a bit of wood. The Evo won’t hamper your vision but it’s still shaped around the front, back and sides, providing good noggin protection via a hard outer and impact foam within. £35, ridetsg.com 3/ Hillbilly Protective Shorts Tumbles are pretty much inevitable when you’re mountainboarding, and with your hips, butt and coccyx covered, Hillbilly has padding in all the right places. The shorts themselves are made from stretchy, breathable mesh so they’ll stay firmly in the right places but won’t leave you overly sweaty. £45, atbshop.co.uk

SEA: STAND-UP PADDLE BOARDING 4/ Connelly Blade One thing it’s hard to paddle board without is a board. This plank has an overhauled shape, with the Blade’s sharp lines combining with a lightweight, expanded-polystyrene base and fibreglass coating to cut through waves and white-water apace. The deck is recessed slightly for a low centre of gravity, making it a great way for casual paddlers to learn, too. £825, connellysup.com 5/ Isurus I-Elite 434 Made of best-in-the-business Yamamoto neoprene, Isurus wetsuits are engineered for incredible warmth,

which is good news, given the UK’s less-than-tropical climate. Special windproof panels on the back, shoulders and hood absorb and retain solar heat, while the compressive inner lining combines with the neoprene to both insulate your body and increase your blood flow, pushing warm blood out to your extremities, so as they don’t fall off. Handy. £307, surfisurus.com 6/ Chinook Carbon The entire blade and shaft of this paddle are wrought from carbon fibre, which, combined with the teardrop shape, gives the best mix of stiffness, weight and strength, while a highly ergonomic handle adds comfort. Not only that, this is also a fully fledged

WORDS PETE DREYER

BASE JUMPING

A little extreme

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TIGHTS! CAMERA! ACTION!

Extreme videography tips from Nate Lee, production artist and filmmaker in residence at GoPro 1/ SPIN A YARN THE MOST COMPELLING SPORTS VIDEOS ARE THOSE THAT INCLUDE STORIES. THE ACTION IS IMPORTANT BUT IT SHOULD BE THE CRESCENDO, NOT THE MAIN BODY. WIDE ANGLE LOCATION SHOTS ARE A GREAT START, PLUS FOOTAGE OF THE PEOPLE THAT YOU’RE WITH, YOUR PREPARATION AND JOURNEY ALL ADDS TO THE TALE. 2/ LET THE MUSIC TAKE CONTROL BEAT-DRIVEN TUNES ARE GREAT FOR SHORT-FORM EDITING, THE RHYTHM OF THE MUSIC GIVES YOU A GREAT GUIDE TO EDIT AND SYNC YOUR VIDEO TO. DON’T NEGLECT ANY PART OF YOUR SOUND; BAD AUDIO REALLY DETRACTS FROM YOUR VIDEO AS A WHOLE.

smart oar, which can stretch from 183cm all the way out to 224cm, which is one hell of a party trick. £160, chinooksailing.com 7/ EXPERT KIT PICK: Dakine Big Wave Leash “This leash has kept me safe more than once and stopped my board washing up on to the rocks,” says Chuck Patterson, multi-sport pro and leading figure in the stand-up paddleboard world. “It has no stretch and never breaks, which is massively important. If you’re surfing big waves, they’re going to drag you under sooner or later, so you’ll want a solid leash to help you back to the surface.” £26, eu.dakine.com

SKY: BASE JUMPING 8/ EXPERT KIT PICK: Bushnell Scout 1000 Range Finder “The most important element in BASE jumping is safety and the thing I use the most when I’m out jumping is my range finder,” says Matthias Giraud, aka “Super Frenchie”, ski BASE-jump and wingsuit pioneer. “It’s pocket-sized and light, sp perfect for checking the exact heights of cliffs before jumping – which, honestly, is really, really useful to know!” £170, bushnell.eu 9/ Intrudair Freefly DBC Jumpsuit Designed for high-speed flying, the Freefly is mainly elastic and polycotton to cut down on any flapping and drag in

the air – even the zips are windproof. Pointy bits such as elbows and knees are reinforced with toughened nylon and cordura. Intrudair will, of course, build you a suit bespoke to your sizing, as well as proffering a veritable rainbow of colour options. €350, intrudair.hu 10/ Cookie G3 helmet A rock-solid thermoplastic shell makes the G3 close to indestructible, but the V-Mech locking system is the real star of the show here, securing the visor during your jump but still maintaining a full field of view. Designed to maximise your senses while jumping and comes in numerous colours, too, so you can even match it to your suit. £285, flycookie.com

3/ GO FOR A HEAD SHOT FOR ACTION SPORTS, YOUR HELMET CAM IS SUPER IMPORTANT AS IT ADDS FIRST-PERSON POINT OF VIEW TO THE FOOTAGE THAT YOU SHOOT, WHICH PUTS THE VIEWER RIGHT AT THE HEART OF THE ACTION. IT’S THE “MONEY ANGLE”. 4/ BUT MIX UP YOUR ANGLES… MOUNTAIN BOARDING USE A HANDHELD MOUNT LIKE THE GOPRO THREE-WAY, OR AN ADHESIVE MOUNT TO PUT A CAMERA UNDER YOUR BOARD. PADDLE BOARDING MOUNT A CAM TO THE FRONT OF YOUR BOARD AND FACE IT BACK AT YOU. DON’T FORGET YOUR ADHESIVE FLOATY PACKS EITHER. BASE-JUMPING TRY A HELMET CAM FACING BACKWARDS TO SHOW YOU FALLING AWAY, OR A CHEST-MOUNTED CAM LOOKING BACK UP AT YOU TO VARY THE VIEWING EXPERIENCE.

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Hair we go

WATER WAY TO SHAVE Outside it’s raining but inside it’s wet? Braun keeps you stubble free, whatever the venue

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Electric razors that sing in the shower aren’t exactly new, but Braun’s WaterFlex ups the comfort levels, built specifically for use with gel or foam. The blades and foil are waterproof to 5m, their thin but strong dragonfly design delivering the closeness and gentleness that today’s modern, sensitive male demands. What’s that? You’re a big, knuckle-dragging, macho ass hat? Well, fear not, you can also use the WaterFlex dry, as God and nature intended a man to shave, then rub Marmite on your face to make it hurt more. Either way, you’re never far from stubbleless: it hands out 45 minutes of depilation and recharges in an hour. £130, braun.co.uk

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KNOW THY BEARD! SHAVE REGULARLY? YOU HAVE UP TO 26,000 STUBBLE HAIRS TO TACKLE EVERY MORNING. STAT GEEK, TOO? THERE’S 900 ON YOUR UPPER LIP, 2,000 ON YOUR CHIN, 5,000 ON EACH CHEEK AND A WHOPPING 7,000 ON THE NECK. NO, YOU’RE NOT IMAGINING IT: SKIN ON THE NECK IS THINNER THAN CHEEKS AND HAIR TENDS TO GROW IN MORE DIRECTIONS. BEARDS GROWS AT AN AVERAGE RATE OF 9MM A MONTH. A STRAND OF BEARD HAIR CAN HOLD UP TO 20KG OF WEIGHT.

TO SHAVE AND TO HOLD Waterproof facial shrubbery removers from the other three big names in electric razorage

1/ Philips Click and Style Showerproof with stubble head. £100, philips.co.uk

WORDS DUNCAN BELL PHOTOGRAPHY PIXELEYES

2/ Panasonic ES-LV95 Wet ’n’ dry, five-blade, self-cleaning. £210, panasonic.co.uk

3/ Remington XF8700 So good, Victor Kiam bought the company. £150, remington.com

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BIJOU BONANZA Space-poor urbanite with a love of fine gastro-tech? Fear not, this kitchenette kit cooks up a storm 1/ Aga City 60 Contemporary A standard Aga is the size of a large horse with its legs hacked off, so this, at a kitchen-standardissue 60cm wide, is frankly tiddly. Its twin ovens take up to an hour to heat and its dualpurpose hotplate up to 11 minutes, so say goodbye to your hurried, urban existence and embrace more rural time-keeping. £4,995, agaliving.com 2/ Sage by Heston Blumenthal compact glass kettle Little to add to the product name, here. One-litre capacity. Boils water. Looks nice. £70, sageappliances.co.uk 3/ Denon Envaya DSB200 Class up your kitchen/diner area with this apt-X Bluetooth speaker with NFC pairing and pop-out stand. Great audio for its size, whether you prefer (Dover) soul music or rock and (sausage) roll. Sorry, that was shit. £170, denon.co.uk 4/ Krups coffee grinder and Graef electric espresso maker You don’t need a hulking bastard of a machine like the Oracle on p68. Quality coffee-style drinks can be yours with minimum footprint thanks to Krups’ grindhouse classic and Graef’s electric twist on a stove-top coffee pot. As it makes espresso, you’ll only need small cups, too. Grinder £20, krups.co.uk, espresso maker £75, divertimenti.co.uk 5/ Beko CFF6873G Another one that’s more about very clever use of space rather than being “small” per se, the genius of this is in the

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Wu Tang-like mystical “third chamber” around its midriff. At a flick of a switch, it can go from fridge to freezer, to chiller to wine cooler. Despite a whacking 270-litre capacity – almost enough to hold former T3 production editor Clare Sartin’s weekly booze shop – its footprint is a very manageable 65x60cm. £649, beko.co.uk 6/ L’Equip Omni Now this, obviously, is a single auger masticating juicer. As such it’s quiet and makes a fine fist of extracting nutritious fluid from a wide range of fruit and veg. It’s also small, light and easy to pack away to the back of the cupboard, ready to be resurrected each January for a detox. £179, ukjuicers.com 7/ Polyscience Discovery Sous Vide Normally, vac-pack-’n’water-bath machines range in size from “sixslice toaster” to “larger than actual oven”. This little gem, however, is about the size of a very long smartphone, and turns any pan into a slow-cookin’ microgastronomist’s pal. Next stop on the flavour train: Mouth-watering Poultry Parkway, leading to Perfect Steak New Town. Mm-mmm. £250, sousvidetools.com 8/ Philips PerfectCare Aqua Silence Chop, purée and whisk your way to culinary bliss with this small but perfectly formed blender set. Earlier this year, Monica out of Masterchef, no less, did us a middlingly good smoothie and a really splendid pesto using this very device – kudos. £80, dualit.com

Sonic space

TECHlife

ALL THE SM ALL THINGS Save space without stinting on design cleverness, courtesy of double-ended spatulae, six-in-one measuring spoons and multiple condiment mills…

1/ Salter Heston Blumenthal Precision adjustable measuring spoons £13 and dual-ended spatulas £15, uk.salterhousewares.com

2/ Joseph Joseph Y Grinder £17, josephjoseph.com

3/ Boffi Minikitchen by Joe Columbo £POA, boffi.com

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There’s high-end, and then there’s Rolls-Royce. Yet with power to burn, a trunkload of tech and an unexpectedly joyous drive, the new Wraith turbo-tank is much too good to leave driving to your chauffeur

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BASE PRICE £229,945 TOP SPEED 15MPH 0-62MPH 4.6SECONDS ENGINE 6,592CC 12-CYLINDER, TURBO GEARBOX 8-SPEED AUTOMATIC POWER 624BHP TORQUE 590LB/FT FUEL CONSUMPTION 21.2MPG CARBON EMISSIONS 327G/KM WEIGHT 2,360KG

ROUTE MASTER Looking for a location to put one of the world’s finest luxury coupés through its paces? Try the Millbrook Proving Ground in Bedfordshire for size. This industry test facility serves up everything from an alpine route to a two-mile bowl for highspeed strafing runs, not to mention a handling circuit and skid pan.

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Rolls-Royce Wraith

Rolls-Royces aren’t like other automobiles. They’re ultra-luxury products, resplendent with heritage and prestige; built like tanks, but lined with fine woods and leathers. That said, when BMW took over the Brit firm’s reins in the late ’90s, Rollers had begun to develop a rep as chintzy lash-ups. It’s ironic but true: the Germans have re-established the UK’s most famous car company as a marque to reckon with, and the new Rolls-Royce Wraith coupé is a masterpiece, with all the detailing and craftsmanship you expect from the brand. If you didn’t know it was something special on sight, swinging open the rear-hinged coach door certainly removes any doubt. First, though, the Wraith’s fastback styling is a ballsy move. Awkward initially, with familiarity a unique elegance emerges. If the styling is new and challenging, there’s real reassurance in the usual Rolls accoutrements. That means an outrageous 624bhp from the twin-turbo V12 at one end of the scale and custom Canadel wood panelling at the other. But what’s most impressive is the fusion of traditional luxury with cutting-edge tech. Make no mistake. The Wraith is not settling for any dusty old satnav spring clean. The centre console’s wheel controller gives you

TECHlife

THE TECH INSIDE 1/ Vision precision A heads-up display sits above the windscreen. Look a little higher and you’ll spot the 1,340 roof-set fibre optics that form the optional “star-field” headliner. 2/ Majestic multimedia Continuing the whole “world’s finest “ theme, BMW’s iDrive takes care of the multimedia. In The Wraith it’s tweaked with touchpad control. 3/ Predictive gears The navigation system warns of traffic problems and also helpfully informs the gearbox of what’s ahead, so it can prep for bends and inclines.

THIS LUXURY PANZER REACHES 60MPH IN JUST 4.4 SECONDS access to what is essentially a re-skinned version of BMW’s iDrive infotainment system, which is a jolly good thing as it happens to be about as good as in-car multimedia gets. State-of-the-art mapping, comprehensive media playback support and outstanding connectivity are all real boons. The drive, meanwhile, is almost too good. So refined, so composed, it’s all too easy to forget about the monumental mechanical effort required to fling this luxury Panzer to 60mph in just 4.4 seconds. The Wraith’s engineers have cleverly given this coupé a notably more dynamic gait than the saloon models in the Rolls-Royce range, which can feel more like epic land yachts than cars. Fuel efficiency? Well, if you have to ask, you can’t afford it, but you might argue that an official extra-urban figure not far off 30mpg (we asked) is impressive in the circumstances. With any Rolls-Royce, though, regardless of the allure, it’s hard to see past the price. At least with the Wraith you don’t have to make excuses, to play off the luxuries of knee-deep carpets against dated engineering. It’s the pick of the Rolls range for those who actually drive. £229,945, ROLLS-ROYCEMOTORCARS.COM, OUT NOW

WORDS JEREMY LAIRD

THR EE TO TEST DRIVE Kerb your enthusiasm

1/ Audi A4 Ultra Cutting emissions while keeping performance is the name of the car biz’s game. Enter this 109g/ km respin of Audi’s A4, which still does 140mph.

2/ BMW X4 A fusion of SUV, sporty estate and maybe a little hot hatch: that’s what punters say they want, and there’s no denying this ticks all boxes.

3/ Lexus NX300h F Sport A bit of hybrid magic applied to a premium SUV. Impressive stuff, if you can see past that dominating grille.

£28,620, AUDI.CO.UK

£36,595, BMW.CO.UK

£36,995, LEXUS.CO.UK

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SPYDER BYTES Porsche hybrid “hypercar” goes like the wind, yet farts out little in the way of fumes

Once upon a time we just had simple ol’ supercars. But now we need a new level of hyperbole, so we enter the age of the hypercar and a corking example is this hybrid Porsche 918 Spyder. It flaunts mindbending performance stats, sinuous, sci-fi styling and a price to make you cough, yet guffs out fewer emissions than many family runarounds. It also has the latest on-board tech, naturliche, with touchscreen controls, LCD displays and a kick-ass stereo. From £620,000, porsche.com/uk

918 Spyder: the specs 1/ Hair-raising hybrid The key to the Porsche’s incredible performance is its innovative hybrid drive system. It harnesses the power of a snarling 4.6-litre V8 engine then adds the shove of two electric motors, resulting in a top speed of 211mph and an official 0-62mph sprint time of 2.8 seconds; so about 2.5 seconds for 0-60. It could beat a Volkswagen Golf GTi in a drag race using battery power alone. 2/ Touchable fun The car’s extensive functionality is controlled from a beautiful touchscreen display in the dash. You can tether your smartphone via Bluetooth, play tunes through the excellent Burmester audio system and access a range of apps on the MirrorLink platform. 3/ A rare beast As the name, and price tag, suggests, just 918 of these Spyders will ever be manufactured. Higher purchase agreement in place, hoss?

{CONCEPT}

BMW ROADSTER Like the i8, but on two wheels

1/ Brutal styling Fuses the aggression of modern streetfighters and nakeds with added retro café racer appeal. 2/ Petrifying performance The 1200cc twin-cylinder boxer engine produces 125bhp and powers a superlight aluminium frame. 3/ High-tech hotness Innovative LED light banks up top, a lightweight tubular space frame and a digital speedo all say “hi”. bmw-motorrad.co.uk

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WORDS LEON POULTNEY

A SEASON IN THE TECH LIFE OF

SEBASTIAN VETTEL

The once-unbeatable champ hasn’t had it all his own way in 2014. We talk car tech with Red Bull-Renault’s racer – then look at how it’s let him down…

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THE TECH’S GONE AWRY

Far more than good handling, F1 success is made or broken by technology – as Seb’s discovered regularly 9 2 T 3 O C TO B E R 2 0 1 4 9 2 T 3 O C TO B E R 2 0 1 4

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Aero package

Gearbox

Turbo

Vettel’s championship-winning cars have always trumped the competition in terms of downforce. But Red Bull’s F1 design guru Adrian Newey and his team have yet to find a way round this season’s FIA aerodynamic regulations, depriving the 27-year-old of the Velcrolike levels of grip that took him to four back-to-back titles from 2010 to 2013.

Vettel was forced out of the Q3 session in Spain back in May after a gearbox failure, relegating him to 10th on the grid and then to 15th thanks to the subsequent penalty for replacing said gearbox. Despite that, Seb managed to record the fastest lap of the race and finished fourth, though still behind Red Bull stablemate Daniel Ricciardo.

After getting off to a good start in Monaco – a Grand Prix where Vettel has always been very successful – Seb’s turbo inexplicably failed. With his car now woefully underpowered, he dropped from third position to 20th before being forced to retire, the first time he has failed to finish the iconic Monte Carlo circuit since 2009.

F1 TECH SECRETS

Q&A: THE MAN INSIDE THE MOTOR

T3 If you could add one piece of tech to your car this season, what would it be? SB Maybe air conditioning – sometimes it gets very hot. But we have so much in the car, I would actually take tech out; things that manage the systems in the background, where you are not in charge. The main thing I’d lose, though, is the [ERS] batteries. They have a big effect on how the car and brakes feel. There’s a lot involved in trying to be as efficient as you can charging them, using them again and so on. Without them, driving is more natural. T3 Does modern safety tech allow you to be more aggressive without consequences? SB It’s a fine line. If you look back 40 years, it

4

was a given that 20 per cent of the drivers that started the season were probably not part of the next season. You don’t want to go back to that but it has obviously lost some excitement. That element of danger is why I think people like watching F1 – they see people do what they can’t do. T3 Although another reason F1 is progressing safety tech is because it’s intended for use in road cars eventually. SB Yeah, but you can’t compare what we have now in Formula 1 to a car on the road, we are so far ahead. What we do with the system is brutal. But it helps you learn a lot about the cars, the strengths and the weaknesses, and then, sure, that translates eventually to the road-car market. T3 Do you keep an eye on Formula E at all? SB No… I already want to take the batteries out of my own car! I don’t want to say it’s all bad, but to me it’s more about the driving and how the traditional F1 car is supposed to make noise and attract people in that way. T3 Which media has done a good job of putting F1’s exhilaration on screen? SB Well, I saw Rush this year. You know that

5

I N TE RV I EW P ET E D R EY ER

the manoeuvres and stuff are a bit Hollywood but it’s difficult to get that across. There was a movie in the 60s called Grand Prix [directed by John Frankenheimer] that was very raw. It’s old and obviously you can’t compare with nowadays, but in terms of how it’s cut and how rough the sport can be, it’s a good portrayal. T3 What would you do be if not a driver? SB It was always clear I would make money through racing. But if I didn’t drive, I’d have gone into mechanical engineering. From there you can choose a lot of things I’m interested in. T3 What tech do you use out of the car? SB My phone, just like everyone nowadays. I like to just switch off and listen to music. I don’t have that much stuff, I’m not really a serious TV watcher; at home I watch a movie in the evenings to switch off but not when I’m travelling. T3 We kind of assumed you’d have a huge, “This is my thee-ater!” cinema room. SB I think I have a 60-inch TV. A few years ago, that was a big deal, but now not so much. Sebastian Vettel is global ambassador for the Braun male power grooming range, launching the new WaterFlex shaver. For info visit braun.com/uk

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ERS

Software

Electronics

Tyres

Problems with the Energy Recovery System (ERS) have plagued Vettel ever since the second day of testing back in Jerez in Spain. Specifically, the team has had serious trouble keeping the ERS cool, which has cost its drivers valuable grid positions, notably in Monaco where the car failed entirely in the first qualifying session.

After an engine software issue during the formation laps shunted him down to 12th in Australia back in March, Vettel reported an engine problem before the race had begun. He quickly dropped to 17th, suffering a huge loss of power and was forced to retire, with the software that balances the engine and battery load seemingly to blame.

When Vettel lost drive on lap two of the Austrian Grand Prix in June, Red Bull initially blamed an engine failure, prompting team principal Christian Horner to criticise Renault furiously. As it turned out, it was actually an electronics fault but, either way, it meant our man was again forced to retire, as he did back in Spain.

This year’s engine carries a lot more horsepower and torque than in the past, and Vettel’s Pirellis have struggled to cope, breaking down quicker than the team’s race strategies have planned for. This has only been amplified by the lack of downforce, with the rubber skidding more against the tarmac, causing them to disintegrate faster.

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Edited by Libby Plummer

RATED THE LATEST TECH FROM THE T3 TEST LAB

Thin when you’re winning THE CHILLBLAST HELIX IS 2014’S SLEEKEST GAMING LAPTOP, WITH PLENTY OF POWER-UPS FOR NOT MANY CREDITS

{RATINGS}

{ALSO REVIEWED THIS MONTH}

LEGENDARY

LEADERBOARD

CAMPAIGN

Kodak Pixpro S-1 p102 Ted Baker Rockall p102 Amazon Fire Phone p103 Nook Glowlight p103 Streaming audio supertest p104 Affordable flagship phones p107

N00B

OFFLINE

WORDS DAVE JAMES PHOTOGRAPHY NEIL GODWIN

O C TO B E R 2 0 1 4 T 3 97

The PC is the ultimate games machine in terms of both choice and price, yet many still turn to consoles in fear of a hulking great industrial tank cluttering up their desktop. Chillblast has devised another way, its new Helix delivering cracking gaming performance in a far smaller form. Let us introduce you to the world of the gaming ultrabook. Ah yes, the “ultrabook”, a term and benchmark spec pioneered as a marketing move by heavyweight chipsmith Intel against Apple’s ever-popular Air line, whose sales haven’t been quite what the firm’s hardwareforging chums would have wished. Yet their proliferation has driven down the weight and scale of today’s laptops immeasurably. So for the past few years we’ve all been able to have all the PowerPoint and workaday prowess we could ever want in a machine that we barely notice in our suitably stylish laptop bags – and, importantly, without having to shell out pots of cash, too. Yet video games have been forgotten in this rush for the small {SPECIFICATION} and cheap. With the PC’s dual function of work and PROCESSOR/RAM play one of its main selling 2.5GHz quadcore Intel Core i7/8GB points, the division of the GRAPHICS market has left gamers Nvidia GeForce GTX 870M in a high-powered ghetto, STORAGE 120GB SSD, 1TB SSHD stuck with chunky, decalSCREEN splattered beasts. Trying 17.3-inch, 1920x1080, 16:9 to squeeze proper desktop CONNECTIVITY AC Wi-Fi, 4x USB 3, gaming performance out HDMI with HDCP, of a laptop seems to be the 3.5mm audio out, mic in, sort of challenge thermal Base TX ethernet, SD card CAMERA 1080p engineers either live for or BATTERY go all A Beautiful Mind over. 60WH smart lithium-ion You see, the graphics processing unit (GPU), unlike the humble CPU {DIMENSIONS} processor, hasn’t really had the icy spectre of powerefficiency hanging over the heads of its architects. As such, the general idea has been to throw as many transistors as possible into the package and to hell with the amount of power they crave to get gaming properly. This also means they tend to generate a huge amount of heat as HEIGHT 22mm wasted energy, too. WIDTH 419mm But that’s all changing. DEPTH 287mm WEIGHT 2.66kg Nvidia’s Kepler graphics architecture is reducing both heat and power draw

9 8 T 3 O C TO B E R 2 0 1 4

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WWW FOR MORE REVIEWS GO TO T3.COM

360° R A T E D

{DETAILS} 1 JOYFUL NOISE

The speakers on the Helix are rather impressive, giving a decent depth to the audio and going loud without getting shrill 2 TAPPITY-TAP

The backlit keyboard isn’t bad for gaming, but the edge of the recess by the space bar is likely to give your thumb concern 3 SWIPE UP

Touchpads are awful on most laptops, but this machine is as responsive as you could wish 4 QUESTION OF PORTS

With HDMI, twin DisplayPort connections and a complement of USB 3.0s, this is a well-connected notebook

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by creating powerful GPUs that don’t need a tame nuclear reactor to operate. Because of this, Chillblast has been able to create the Helix, a powerful gaming laptop that’s genuinely slim. Well, as slim as anyone can when you’ve got a 17-inch, full-HD widescreen display in tow, In fact, at just 22mm deep, it’s thinner than Apple’s slinky new 13-inch MacBook Pro. The trade-off, as you’d expect, is weight, and the Helix is more than half a kilo heavier than the 15-inch MacBook. Yet at 2.66kg it’s not exactly a bloater in laptop terms, especially when compared with the sort of shoulder-dislocating gaming beasts that dominate the Alienware or Gigabyte rosters. We would typically have thrown MSI into the mix there as most of its gaming laptops are pretty chunky, too, but this is where provenance is important. MSI doesn’t just make and flog its own machines, it also sells chassis designs to other firms to rework and rebrand as their own laptops. As such the Chillblast Helix is actually sporting the same slimline chassis as MSI’s own GS70 Stealth series, no doubt to the chagrin of MSI’s marketing bods, but it’s good news for us. As noted, the star of the show in gaming terms is that powerful Nvidia GTX 870M GPU. It may be based on relatively aging architecture but it’s able to hit impressive frame rates without melting a hole in the laptop’s chassis. Alongside it is one of Intel’s latest Core i7 CPUs, the i7-4710MQ, a bona fide quadcore processor with added “Hyperthreading” tech, which takes advantage of a full eight threads of processing power. With a nominal clock speed of 2.5GHz, it’s no slouch, but it can push that up dynamically to 3.3GHz when it really needs to shift gears. Holding up the rear of that silicon SWAT team is a healthy 8GB of DDR3 memory. A 120GB Samsung 840 EVO solid state drive handles system booting and quick-actioned apps, while a 1TB hybrid SSHD stores your burgeoning game archive. Having an SSD as a boot drive makes the Helix feel impressively responsive, up and running in a matter of seconds. The hybrid system also means you will get better speeds out of the data drive than on a plain ol’ solo spinning platter. All of this makes the Chillblast Helix one of the fastest gaming laptops we’ve ever tested, running the latest games in native 1080p resolution on the laptop’s crisp and clear panel without ever having to knock down many of the graphics settings. That Nvidia graphics card at its heart also means you get the added bonus of GeForce Experience, allowing for easy updating of the GPU’s settings plus optimisation for certain titles. Despite sleek lines and gaming power «

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R A T E D 360° {KILLER ACCESSORIES}

WHERE DOES HE GET THOSE WONDERFUL TOYS?

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Even though the Helix’s touchpad is a responsive one, such things are just not made for gaming – try playing Battlefield with it and you’ll be quickly offed. This, however, will guarantee a high kill rate, so long as you’re right-handed.

These wireless cans may be a touch pricey, but sound is best-in-class and the stowaway mic is handy for trash-talking foes. They have great battery life and come with a spare, too, plus a charging station that’s also an amp and receiver.

You have been warned: the Helix runs hot. For the sake of your groin, we suggest this notebook cooler to supplement the internal fans. As you’re largely tied to the mains by the Helix’s short battery life, the hit to its sleek lines is bearable.

£50, SHOGUNBROS.COM

£220, STEELSERIES.COM

£25, COOLERMASTER.COM

SHOGUN BROS BALLISTA MK1

STEELSERIES H WIRELESS

COOLER MASTER NOTEPAL U3

Chillblast’s Helix is dressed to impress

{THE RIVALS}

HIGH GAMING STAKES, LOW-ISH PRICES

« aplenty, the Helix’s price isn’t overtly painful, either, compared to Razer’s similarly sleek efforts. However, its graphical prowess does come at a couple of costs. The first is battery life, as you’d expect, with the Helix needing to be near a plug socket if you want to do any serious gaming, although we got nearly

DESPITE SLEEK LINES AND GAMING POWER APLENTY, THE PRICE IS NOT OVERTLY PAINFUL four out of it streaming Netflix. The second is the amount of heat it chucks out when truly taxed. It means the chassis is packed with cooling fans to drive the hot air out, with operation rather loud when the GPU is red-lined. The underside of the machine still gets pretty hot anyway – we’d suggest you invest in a laptop tray or, y’know, a desk – so God knows what’d it’d be like without the fans. Still, if you want “proper” gaming from a box that looks like a “proper” laptop, that’s the state of play right now. For us, it’s one that’s worth the aural trauma – if nothing else, it gives you the excuse to crank the volume up on the Helix’s excellent speakers. Game on.

LOVE Excellent gaming prowess. Sleek, ultrabook-like aesthetic. Very responsive. Decent price HATE Loud, hissing cooling fans. And despite that, this still puts out a fair amount of heat. Battery so-so T3 SAYS A great-looking and performing gaming laptop that packs a lot of power into not a lot

1 0 0 T 3 O C TO B E R 2 0 1 4

CHILLBLAST HELIX

MSI GS70 STEALTH PRO

ASUS ROG G550JK

PRICE/URL

FROM £1,250 CHILLBLAST.COM

FROM £1,500 UK.MSI.COM

FROM £900 ASUS.COM

PROCESSOR

The i7 at the heart of the Helix This uses the same upgraded A notebook that uses a is one of the quickest mobile i7 processor as the Helix to slightly slower i7 CPU but CPUs of this generation just as impressive effect you’d be pushed to notice

GRAPHICS

The GTX 870M is a great balance of price and performance

The almost identical MSI uses the very same GPU as the Helix

The price trade-off here is that Asus has used the cheaper, Maxwell-powered GTX 850M

STORAGE

A fast Samsung 840 EVO 120GB SSD works in hybrid tandem with a 1TB HDD

The Stealth Pro comes with a pair of 128GB SSDs in RAID as well as a 1TB HDD

Given the sub-£1,000 price tag we’re not surprised to see this with just the 1TB HDD

MEMORY

8GB. Anything over in a …But MSI has used 16GB. It gaming machine should really makes little difference now be considered overkill… but could aid futureproofing

12GB of DDR3 memory is an unusual choice, with a set of 4GB and 8GB sticks

SCREEN

The 17-inch screen is full-HD and suitably crisp

The 17-inch panel is, again, much the same as the Helix

The 15.6-inch screen is sharp but smaller than its rivals

BUILD

A super-svelte chassis makes this highly desirable

MSI helped design the Helix so the similarities continue

Tasty enough and, at 28mm deep, offers better cooling

T3 VERDICT

A sleek gaming machine, only slightly spoiled by issues with heat and noise

A Helix handed more RAM and storage and, inevitably, more heft on the price tag

An alluring price, with not an unbearable number of corners cut to achieve it

{THE FINAL WORD}

LIBBY PLUMMER, REVIEWS EDITOR

Power and portability is what you want from a laptop but until recently gaming models have focused mainly on the former. The Chillblast Helix uses next-gen tech to push the envelope further, resulting in a genuinely slim machine that we really rather like. The next step is to reduce the heat output still further, but for now this is state of the art and surprisingly affordable.

WWW FOR MORE REVIEWS GO TO T3.COM

KODAK PIXPRO S-1 £349 (WITH A SINGLE LENS), KODAKCAMERA.JKILTD.COM

TED BAKER ROCKALL £180, TEDBAKER.COM/UK

Moving from tailoring to tech seems to suit Brit firm Ted Baker, with debut cans that feel luxurious and well-made, and pack audio that matches their aesthetics and price.

{SPECIFICATIONS} FREQUENCY RANGE 20-20kHz IMPEDANCE 16 Ohms CORD LENGTH 1.2m SIZE/WEIGHT 190x160x70mm/279g

The former imaging leviathan is back, after years in the wilderness, with a compact system camera. But is it a revival worth celebrating?

{SPECIFICATIONS} SENSOR 16-meg, 4/3-inch CMOS sensor VIDEO 1920x1080 at 30fps KIT LENS 12-45mm (tested with 42.5-160mm) SCREEN 3-inch, 920K-dot tilting LCD ISO RANGE 200-12800 BATTERY LIFE 410 shots SIZE/WEIGHT 116x68x236mm/290g (body only)

The Rockalls are not just attractive but well engineered, too, with adjustable ear cups made of brushed stainless steel and a faux-leather headband that feels as plush as it can without involving a cow. The sturdy build will also take a few knocks. The flat cable is impressively hard to tangle, with basic volume controls and a mic part of the way down so they can be used as a handsfree kit for Apple devices if you like. When not in use, they fold up into a sleek, handy little case. The audio is similarly tasteful, sounding clean and not too heavy on the bass. As a more refined alternative to Beats By Dr Dre, which is clearly the premium lifestyle bent these cans aim for, they’re an engaging proposition, They do feel a bit heavy but all that padding means they’re still comfy. There’s the obligatory range of colours, too, though these are more posh than primary. There’s brushed champagne gold for glamour seekers, although the brushed silver with tan (above) is a bit more “Spitfire pilot”. While the Rockalls can’t quite match the superior mobile sounds of a KEF, Philips or B&W, discerning looks and strong audio makes them a package worth your consideration.

This 16-megapixel device is actually Kodak’s first-ever CSC hybrid, utilising the Micro Four Thirds format developed by Panasonic and Olympus to add lens options to a more bag-friendly chassis. Still images are sharp, with the very modern ability to apply multiple effects filters if you so wish. While picture results may not match a proper pro-level DSLR, which would require an altogether heftier investment in bigger lenses and sensors, Kodak is certainly heading in the right direction with this keen amateur ensemble. Video is strong in colour fidelity and overall sharpness of image, producing realistic results. Colours on the the Pixpro S-1 are refreshingly natural by default rather than over-saturated, maintaining detail into the corners of the frame even when shooting at 12mm setting. The three-inch LCD screen is decent, with visibility clear both indoors and out. It lacks touch control but has a particularly handy tilt mechanism, Add a dedicated Wi-Fi mode into the mix and it’s a strong second wind from Kodak.

LOVE Premium materials. Sturdy build. Well-rounded sound HATE Not the cheapest T3 SAYS An impressive headphones debut that proves cans can be stylish without sacrificing quality

LOVE Good price. Solid build. Strong battery life. Handy, tilting LCD. Vintage brand goodwill points HATE Not cheap. Some iffy colour options. T3 SAYS An assured first step into compact system cams from a brand it’s good to have back



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WORDS JOE SVETLIK AND GAVIN STOKER

Reviews R A T E D

NOOK GLOWLIGHT £89, NOOK.COM/GB

AMAZON FIRE PHONE $649, AMAZON.COM

The retail superfirm’s US-only mission to grab a slice of the telecoms market is more than a tad disappointing.

{SPECIFICATIONS} OS Fire OS 3.5 PROCESSOR/RAM Quadcore 2.2GHz/2GB SCREEN 4.7-inch, 1280x720, 315ppi CONNECTIVITY 4G, N Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 3.0, NFC, 3.5mm audio SIZE/WEIGHT 139x67x8.9mm/160g QUOTED BATTERY LIFE 22 hours talk time, 11 hours video playback

Amazon’s first Fire phone runs on its own Fire OS version of Android, familiar from the Kindle Fire tablets. The hero feature is Firefly, which… enables you to buy stuff from Amazon more easily. Thanks, guys. Money-grabbing aside, it’s clever: point your camera at a product for insta buy-it-now links. It can also recognize music, movies and TV shows, Shazam-style. The spec’s fine for a upper-mid-priced phone, although far from flagship quality – 4.7-inch, 720p screen, okay 13-megapixel camera, 2.2GHz Snapdragon quadcore processor with Adreno 330 GPU. The battery gives over a day of general use, which is above average nowadays. But you will spend half of that time trying to find things in the horribly unintuitive interface. With no menu or back button, common actions are done via gestures, which is a pain to pick up and annoying even once picked up. If you’re familiar with Amazon’s other devices you may feel at home, but the absence of Google Play, having to flip through endless apps to get the one you want, and the pointlessness of the Fire’s other innovation – Dynamic Perspective, which gives the screen a 3D effect you’ll turn off straight away – mean this really lacks spark.

LOVE Easy Amazon shopping. Decent battery life HATE Poor interface. Expensive for what you get. One big advert T3 SAYS A potentially decent mobile spoiled by its "USPs"

WORDS MARC FLORES AND LIBBY PLUMMER

“Kindle” is now shorthand for “e-reader” to most punters, but this makes a decent fist at challenging that.

{SPECIFICATIONS} OS Android OS 2.1 STORAGE 4GB, up to 2,000 books CONNECTIVITY Wi-Fi (802.11 b/g/n) SCREEN E Ink Pearl touchscreen, 16-level grayscale BATTERY Up to 8 weeks SIZE/WEIGHT 165x127x10.7mm/175g

Barnes & Noble’s cool, white, redesigned Nook leaves Amazon’s slab looking rather dated, its friendly rounded edges, large bezel and silky finish making it really comfy to hold. It’s designed to be used without a protective case and can come out of several weeks’ buffeting in a bag without a scratch. The e-ink Pearl touchscreen with 16-level grayscale has the highest resolution found on a Nook to date, with text clear and enough grunt inside to refresh pages instantly. The anti-glare film means it’s at home in sunlight, while the built-in backlight, although not quite as evenly illuminated as the Kindle Paperwhite, helps with night-time reading. The basic interface has been tweaked slightly, but is as simple as before. The Barnes & Noble ebook store offers over three million titles, slightly more than Amazon’s Kindle store. There’s no 3G version, though, so you’ll need to stock up on Wi-Fi. With decent battery life, great looks, a strong library and a good price, the Nook is the only genuine alternative to the Kindle. However, there are slips, and Amazon is a difficult beast to topple. LOVE Cool design, Light and comfy to hold, Great book selection HATE No 3G. Backlight could be more even T3 SAYS A strong device and the first e-reader we’ve seen that could worry the Kindopoly

T3.COM HAS EXTENDED REVIEWS OF ALL THESE…

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Stream, baby, stream GET YOUR HOME MUSIC NETWORK SORTED WITH CHEAP WI-FI SLABS AND SPENDY SPHERICAL ALL-IN-ONES FOR ALL ROOMS AND RACK RATES

There are now a multitude of ways to get your tunes out from your mobile, PC or NAS drive and into your home’s cavernous spaces. Bluetooth connectivity offers simplicity, AirPlay adds sophistication and multi-room capabilities, or there are proprietary systems for audiophiles. You can have dongles for your stereo, streaming amps for your speakers, or an all-in-one. What’s your dream streamer?

03 THE AUDIO BANANA

01 THE BLUETOOTH PUCK

01 THE BLUETOOTH PUCK

02 THE AIRPLAY SQUARE

£90, ARCAM.CO.UK

£59, CRYSTALAUDIOVIDEO.COM

ARCAM MINI BLINK 123 Bluetooth is supported by all mobile and most desktop devices and sounds good, especially if using the apt-X variant. It’s pretty stable, too. This Arcam apt-X dongle provides an easy way to get quality sound from your tech to your existing hi-fi, then, and must be the cheapest thing it’s ever put out – and the least battleship coloured/sized, too. We

1 0 4 T 3 O C TO B E R 2 0 1 4

don’t think Sir Jony Ive’s going to be looking to his laurels as far as the design goes but it’s sonically impressive, giving a notable boost to Bluetooth audio compared to cheaper dongles. No digital out seems a bit stingy, mind. T3 SAYS Nifty, easy Bluetooth audio that’s worth the 90 notes

02 THE AIRPLAY SQUARE

CRYSTAL AUDIO WIDAC Apple’s AirPlay has perhaps not been quite the success it hoped, as expensive speakers and issues with compatibility and stability have pushed punters towards Bluetooth instead. This cheap AirPlay dongle longs to right that ancient wrong. It’s easy to set up, and if your router likes it, you can get very good musical results – we tried it with both a solid,

speakers-and-amp combo (£300 the pair) and a frankly excessive Geneva XL (£1,200) and it more than held its own. However, if your router doesn’t like it, and two of ours didn’t, it just doesn’t work, which makes recommending it hard. T3 SAYS Good sound, good value, but woeful connection stability

03 THE AUDIO BANANA

MONITOR AUDIO AIRSTREAM S300 £250, MONITORAUDIO.CO.UK

Another old UK dog learning new digital tricks, Monitor here serves up a splendid AirPlay speaker. The curved S300 can be pretty refined for a 250-quid dock if you set it up “properly” – it fires out tones to determine its position in the room and decide sound settings – or pleasingly raucous and boomboxy if you cheat

by having it self-calibrate while right in the middle of a room. Wireless setup is a pain in the ass, but once done the audio is pretty killer (for the price) and stability good (for AirPlay). Nice box. T3 SAYS A lot of AirPlay bang for your buck, this is a winner

WORDS DUNCAN BELL PHOTOGRAPHY JAMES LOOKER ILLUSTRATION PIOTR TARKA

Music streaming R A T E D

05 THE BIG, HEAVY PAIR OF SHINY BALLS

04 THE MULTI-ROOM LOZENGE

04 THE MULTI-ROOM LOZENGE

SIMPLE AUDIO ROOMPLAYER WITH AMP £699, SIMPLEAUDIO.COM

Taking on Sonos’s Connect: Amp is Simple Audio’s own proprietory, multiroom streamer and amp – just add speakers. It supports 24-bit audio, but lacks a few of Sonos’s features, most notably wireless connectivity. That’s right, you must plug this in via ethernet/powerline AV. Setup is easy and

audio great, so long as it’s paired with decent speakers. A non-wireless system that comes in at a grand plus per room with speakers is clearly not to all tastes, but damn this is fine. T3 SAYS Non-wireless, audiophile multi-room: niche-y but nice

WWW FOR MORE AUDIO REVIEWS GO TO T3.COM, OR HEAD TO P125

05 THE BIG, HEAVY PAIR OF SHINY BALLS

ELIPSON PLANET LW WITH AUDIO BRIDGE £1,399, ELIPSON.COM

This well spherical mini-system comprises a brace of wireless, magnificent-looking and sounding, studio-quality active speakers… and a shonky plastic bridge that adds a few inputs to the Planet LW’s core Bluetooth connection. As ever with good ol’ Bluetooth, pairing is easy and stable so long as you

don’t stray far away. The LW sounds fabulous, even if there is a lack of really honking bass. The price is ludicrous, but that’s to be expected when you straddle “lifestyle” and “audiophile” like a big-balled colossus. T3 SAYS Seriously desirable, wildly pricey

{ACCESSORISE}

POWERLINE AV

The actual plugs may employ design tropes generally left behind with the Soviet Union’s demise, but powerline AV ethernet is a godsend for AirPlay and systems like Sonos and Simple Audio. Our favourite is on p64, but here are two more. ZYXEL PLA4225, £41, ZYXEL.COM NETGEAR XAVB5601 PLUGTHROUGH, £55, NETGEAR.CO.UK

O C TO B E R 2 0 1 4 T 3 1 0 5

Smartphones R A T E D

Talk is cheap… AS IS TEXTING, BROWSING AND STREAMING WITH THESE WALLETFRIENDLY FLAGSHIP HANDSETS. SAY HELLO TO THE AFFORDAFONE

Top-flight smartphones have long been expensive company to keep, with cut-price alternatives cutting too many corners and features to be truly attractive. ILLUSTRATION LUKE O’NEILL

Yet a perfect storm of cheap but classy devices from Google and Motorola, not to mention Chinese brands such as OnePlus and Huawei slashing costs to gain a foothold in the Western market, means we’re now getting flagship-quality blowers re-engineered with a more attractively mid-priced bill. All the phones tested here have 4G, good-to-excellent screens and suitably nippy processors. Only question is, which is the sensible caller’s ultimate mobile? «

{CONTENDERS}

Five handsets fighting for change

HUAWEI ASCEND G6, £250

WORDS DAVID PHELAN PHOTOGRAPHY PHILIP SOWELS

SONY XPERIA T3, £300

NOKIA LUMIA 635, £130

HTC ONE MINI 2, £380

SAMSUNG GALAXY S5 MINI, £389

O C TO B E R 2 0 1 4 T 3 107

HUAWEI ASCEND G6 £250, HUAWEI.COM

{SPECIFICATION}

1

OS Android 4.3 Jelly Bean SCREEN 4.5-inch, 540x960, 245ppi PROCESSOR/RAM Quadcore 1.2GHz/1GB STORAGE 8GB plus microSD REAR CAMERA 8-meg, 720p FRONT CAMERA 5-meg, 720p QUOTED BATTERY LIFE 14 hours 30 minutes talk time

3

2

4

{DIMENSIONS}

HEIGHT 130mm WIDTH 65mm DEPTH 7.5mm WEIGHT 115g {DETAILS} 1 LENS

A decent 8MP on rear, 5MP “selfie” cam up front 2 SCREEN

Lacks the resolution of some affordable 3 BUILD

So-so quality that’s the least 4 CONTROLS

Huawei’s curious version of Android is an acquired taste

1 0 8 T 3 O C TO B E R 2 0 1 4

Easy on the pocket but difficult on the eyes Chinese manufacturer Huawei scored highly with the striking-looking, super-slim Ascend P6 last year. It was well-priced, too, but held back by its significant lack of 4G. The G6 sorts that, although you can get a 3G-only model for £40 less if faster data isn’t a priority. The P6’s design is echoed here, with a metallic band framing three sides of the handset and a rounded end that curves to the back at the bottom (so don’t try standing it on its end). Build quality is only average, which is typical of the price range, but it’s solid enough and doesn’t creak when flexed. Turn the phone on and the second cost saving is visible: the screen is lower resolution than most of the others on test. As with the build, it’s not particularly awful, but sit it alongside an HTC and the difference is evident immediately, the text lacking sharpness and video playback less punchy. In the camera stakes, it fares better. A phone for selfie fans, the five-megapixel front cam takes suitably hi-res shots of your mug. If you are excessively vain or ropey of face, you can turn to Beauty mode, which casually defocuses the camera and bleaches out images for insta-flattering results.

{ACCESSORISE} Away from frivalities, Huawei’s take on Android Jawbone Era If you must wear a is rather curious, with ugly Bluetooth headset, you icons littering the screen may as well wear the best. in the absence of a central This is tiny and fits the ear perfectly, while audio is apps folder. The third home strong, with sophisticated screen has Tools and Google noise cancellation. Some Apps folders, while the main neat finishes, too. £80, JAWBONE.COM window is dominated by a big “Me” widget with select contacts, weather and other info. It’s not bad but if you’re an Android aficionado, it takes some getting used to. It’s the case with the G6 as a whole. As slim as an iPhone 5S and with a fast processor on paper, it’s alas rather sluggish in practice and, in terms of wow factor, about as far from an Apple handset as we can imagine. But for 250 notes, it’s still not to be sniffed at.

LOVE Front camera handy for selfie addicts. Design is light and attractive. Fast 4G HATE Screen resolution is average. Sometimes unresponsive touchscreen T3 SAYS Never more than competent, but far from unnattractive for the budget price

Smartphones R A T E D

SONY XPERIA T3 £300, SONYMOBILE.COM

{SPECIFICATION}

3

OS Android 4.4.2 KitKat SCREEN 5.3-inch, 720x1280, 277ppi PROCESSOR/RAM Quadcore 1.4 GHz/1GB STORAGE 8GB plus microSD card REAR CAMERA 8-meg, 1080P FRONT CAMERA 1.1-meg, 720P QUOTED BATTERY LIFE 21 hours 46 mins talk time

1 4

2

{DIMENSIONS}

HEIGHT 151mm WIDTH 77mm DEPTH 7mm WEIGHT 148g {DETAILS} 1 SCREEN

Better than the Nokia and Huawei, but at this size more pixels would count 2 CONTROLS

Sony’s version of Android is elegant and useful 3 LENS

The camera is fine, with great software 4 BUILD

Stainless steel frame let down by plastic back

A classy affair with interesting features – like its namesake This is a much swankier handset than most in its price range thanks to a stainless steel frame and big, 5.3-inch screen. Resolution is a fairly small step up from the Huawei at 720p but it looks much better, thanks to know-how from Sony’s TV division, with subtle Android icons and understated background colours all adding to the effect. At this kind of display width you would ideally want a 1080p resolution, but clearly 300 quid doesn’t quite buy that many pixels. It’s a shame as it detracts from what is a smart looking smartphone. Sony has stuck to its use of purple as the colour for those bored with black or white handsets – although these are still available, traditionalists – and the matte finish is classy. The T3 also continues the trend of lowerpriced phones matching highly engineered flagships for sveltness. Thinner than a copy of the magazine from which, perhaps, its name was inspired, it’s just 7mm from front to back. While the Huawei is a lot lighter, the T3 feels great in the hand, although that sizeable screen means small mitts may struggle. Recent Sony Z phones have boasted waterproofing, but while this phone dips into

WWW FOR MORE CAMERA REVIEWS GO TO T3.COM

{ACCESSORISE} the same design language, it’s not suitable for dunking. Sony It’s solid, though, and a SmartBand sealed unit, unlike many SWR10 This light fitness tracker mid-range handsets. uses multiple sensors to The T3 also lacks the track your every move. The high-end snapper of the attendant Lifelog app on your T3 hands you the data Xperia Z2, but this eightin a slick interface. megger is still decent, with £80, SONY.CO.UK plenty of special effects and software features such as sweep panorama and portrait retouching. A dedicated side button for shooting is a neat extra; the option to add animated dinosaurs or leprechauns to your photos and videos perhaps less so. The quadcore processor here isn’t as blazingly fast as you’d find on an Xperia flagship, but it ticks things along nicely and is up to most jobs – much like the phone itself.

LOVE Thinner than most affordable smarties. Stylish interface. Runs smoothly. Decent camera HATE Lower 720p resolution is noticeable at this display size. Not waterproof. Oversized T3 SAYS A neat, efficient phone that makes up in style what it lacks in substance

« O C TO B E R 2 0 1 4 T 3 1 0 9

R A T E D Smartphones

NOKIA LUMIA 635 £130, NOKIA.CO.UK

3 {SPECIFICATION}

OS Windows Phone 8.1 SCREEN 4.5-inch, 480x854, 218ppi PROCESSOR/RAM Quadcore 1.2GHz/512MB STORAGE 8GB plus microSD REAR CAMERA 5-meg, 1080p FRONT CAMERA None QUOTED BATTERY LIFE 14 hours talk time

4

1

2

{DIMENSIONS}

HEIGHT 130mm WIDTH 67mm DEPTH 9.2mm WEIGHT 134g

{DETAILS} 1 SCREEN

The lo-res display is helped by Clear Black tech 2 CONTROLS

Windows OS is enjoyably different from Android 3 CAMERA

Only one cam here, but it’s got strong features 4 BUILD

The bold, functional design makes for a very tactile phone indeed

1 1 0 T 3 O C TO B E R 2 0 1 4

Buy this cheap offering and you’ll be exceedingly cheerful Now this is how you make a well-constructed budget mobile. The Lumia 635 feels positively sumptuous in the hand and looks much more expensive than its impulse-purchase price. Admittedly, it’s a Windows Phone handset, which means far fewer apps than on Android or iOS, but at 250,000 and counting, there isn’t exactly an app famine and most regularly used services and networks are represented. The most obvious concession is the lo-res display. The funny thing is, it doesn’t actually look too bad, with the Clear Black display tech meaning it’s easy to read outdoors; it’s certainly as good as the much pricier Huawei. Don’t be put off by the limited RAM on board, either, as it’s more than enough to keep Windows Phone 8.1 zooming along. While the snapper may only be five-meg and there isn’t even a flash, it’s still fun to use and gives strong results, with a great selection of software. Selfie addicts look away now, though: there’s no front-facing camera. What is present and correct is Here Drive+, the excellent satnav app, with maps for scores of countries that you download in advance, so you don’t have to use your data allowance to get around overseas. Other features

{ACCESSORISE} include a killer, Swiftkey-like Nokia MD-12 keyboard on which you can This suitably colourful slide your finger from one Bluetooth and NFC letter to the next with speedy compatible speaker is small but powerful with big text and email results. sound. The rechargeable The phone’s glossbattery gives you up to backed build punches 15 hours of playback. £40, NOKIA.CO.UK well above its weight, with nobody using colour quite as boldly as Nokia; Apple had clearly been watching with the 5C. Even the Lumia 635’s software is colourcoordinated, though it’s easy to change if you prefer something less contrived. Compared to some of the phones in this company, the 635 may seem underpowered, but its slick looks, neat features and strong performance ensure it holds its own. For £130, it’s little short of miraculous.

LOVE Punchy design. Great build. Funky colours. Strong Windows 8.1 OS. Decent camera. So cheap HATE Lowest-res display on test (though it doesn’t look bad). Windows Phone lacks apps T3 SAYS A stunningly designed phone with great software, this punches well above its weight

«

SEE GAMES DIFFERENTLY

ORIGINAL REPORTING

GAME CULTURE

HUMOUR

WWW.KOTAKU.CO.UK @Kotaku_UK

Facebook.com/KotakuUK

Smartphones R A T E D

HTC ONE MINI 2 £380, HTC.COM

{SPECIFICATION}

3

OS Android 4.4.2 KitKat SCREEN 4.5-inch, 720x1280, 326ppi PROCESSOR/RAM Quadcore 1.2GHz/1GB STORAGE 16GB plus microSD card REAR CAMERA 13-meg, 1080p FRONT CAMERA 5-meg, 1080p QUOTED BATTERY LIFE 16.2 hours talk time

4

1

2

{DIMENSIONS}

HEIGHT 137mm WIDTH 65mm DEPTH 10.6mm WEIGHT 137g

{DETAILS} 1 SCREEN

The best on test alongside the Samsung. Very tasty 2 CONTROLS

HTC’s elegant version of Android is pleasing to use 3 LENS

The One Mini 2 has a very powerful camera 4 BUILD

The best-built phone on test: solid, handsome and effortlessly chic

HTC holds up the luxury end of the “budget” market Recent handsets from the Taiwanese mobile types have been undeniably gorgeous, metalclad machines. But premium styling costs, at least when at full size. If you don’t have enormous hands, or the wallet to match, you can now benefit from this scaled-down Mini. Don’t be put off by the name, which sounds like a football score, or the fact that it’s really not that mini, this is a splendidly built phone with a beautiful design inside and out. The plastic edging that made the first One Mini look low-rent has been minimised and, as with the bigger One M8, HTC has contrived a phone with an all-metal back that doesn’t struggle to get signals in and out. There are some notable reductions compared with the flagship, mind. The ground-breaking dual-lens camera and sensor with its “fewer but better” pixels are gone. Still, they’re replaced with an effective 13-meg sensor and f/2.8 aperture, while HTC has kept the Zoe function, which lets you stitch together and soundtrack short videos. The 1080p of the bigger phone is reduced here to 720p, but at this screen size that’s the same 326ppi resolution as an iPhone 5S. It looks glorious, with even the tiniest print

{ACCESSORISE} clearly legible. HTC also has a stylish and attractive HTC Fetch Keyring that bleeps should version of Android on you walk more than 15 offer with smart icons and metres from your phone. Blinkfeed, the company’s Since your keys attach to it, too, you shouldn’t custom-curated social misplace those, either. magazine-cum-newsfeed. £35, HTC.COM Want to show off video to a friend? It sounds the part thanks to the Boomsound speakers’ beefy audio. But while performance is generally good, the processor can be sluggish. Battery life isn’t its greatest attribute, either, though to be fair it’s no worse than many premium blowers that boast the same feature set. Pushing affordable’s upper ceiling, this is the priciest phone here but is blessed with premium styling at a fraction of the cost.

LOVE High-end metal design. Excellent display. Great interface. Powerful camera. All round premium HATE Battery life could be better. The processor, while generally good, can lag. Priciest on test T3 SAYS Sublimely designed, HTC’s head-turner just about qualifies as “affordable”

« O C TO B E R 2 0 1 4 T 3 1 1 3

SAMSUNG GALAXY S5 MINI £389, SAMSUNG.COM/UK

{SPECIFICATION}

3 TEST WINNER

OS Android 4.4.2 KitKat SCREEN 4.5-inch, 720x1280, 326ppi PROCESSOR/RAM Quadcore 1.4GHz/1.5GB STORAGE 16GB plus microSD card REAR CAMERA 8-meg/1080p FRONT CAMERA 2.1-meg/1080p QUOTED BATTERY LIFE 10 hours talk time

4

1

2

{DIMENSIONS}

HEIGHT 63mm DEPTH 42mm WIDTH 109mm WEIGHT 271g

{DETAILS} 1 SCREEN

Bright and detailed, it’s a match for the HTC even if it lacks its 1080p brilliance 2 CONTROLS

Improved menu and clever use of screen real estate 3 CAMERA

The eight-meg effort is fine but not a patch on the S5’s 4 BUILD

Very comfy in the hand and water-resistant, too

1 1 4 T 3 O C TO B E R 2 0 1 4

Even better than HTC’s effort, this Mini is big smartphone news The name’s a dead giveaway, but this Samsung effort takes many of the high points of the larger Galaxy S5 and wraps them in a smaller package. Sure, there’s no 1080p screen here, but the 720p resolution looks great, and just as vivid and colourful as on its big brother. The lower pixel count is noticeable but not problematic, and the same pixel-per-inch count as the iPhone 5S and HTC One Mini 2. The rear camera is downgraded from the 16-meg sensor on the S5 to an eight-meg number. It’s easy to use and better than the Huawei, but no match for HTC’s sharp snapper. Where this phone is really better than its bigger brother is the charging socket. We know, it doesn’t sound much, but when you make a phone water resistant, you have to clad the sockets. The flap on the S5’s microUSB port can prove to be irritating, so it’s great to report that the S5 Mini manages to protect the socket sans flap. And unlike the HTC One Mini 2, this blower also includes the infra-red blaster of the larger model, so TV remote capabilities are go. But the real bonus with the S5 Mini is the in-hand feel. The dialed-down size is comfy for all, with the perforated, faux-leather back a better fit and less tacky on the reduced chassis.

{ACCESSORISE} Having a smaller handset doesn’t mean you have to JustMobile sacrifice the S5’s standout Gum++ Beef up the phone’s so-so features, either. The S5 Mini battery life with this has a fingerprint sensor in pocketable but powerful the home button and a heart battery. It works with any phone and lasts ages. Just rate sensor next to the flash don’t forget your S5 Mini’s on the back for security and charging cable… £60, JUST-MOBILE.COM fitness kicks. Apple’s Touch ID is slicker but for a lowerpriced handset to pack such innovations is unheard of. On the downside, the smaller frame also scales down the battery, meaning it tires quickly. You’ll need to recharge nightly, though the S5’s many energy-saving protocols are on board, too. Overall, though, the S5 Mini succeeds because at its core it’s a more widely usable version of the S5 flagship, cutting impressively few corners in the shrinking process.

LOVE Packed with cutting-edge sensors and features. Good screen and camera. Water-resistant. HATE Average battery life. Plastic build not as high end as the HTC T3 SAYS Almost as good as the full-size S5, for considerably less dosh. You can’t argue with that

Smartphones R A T E D SPEC SHOT

HUAWEI ASCEND G6

SONY XPERIA T3

NOKIA LUMIA 635

HTC ONE MINI 2

SAMSUNG GALAXY S5 MINI

PRICE, URL

£250, HUAWEI.COM

£300, SONYMOBILE.COM

£130, NOKIA.CO.UK

£380, HTC.COM/UK

£389, SAMSUNG.COM/UK

OS

Android 4.3 Jelly Bean

Android 4.4.2 KitKat

Windows Phone 8.1

OS Android 4.4.2 KitKat

Android 4.4.2 KitKat

SCREEN

4.5-inch, 540x960, 245ppi

5.3-inch, 720x1280, 277ppi

4.5-inch 480x854, 218ppi

4.5-inch, 720x1280, 326ppi

4.5-inch, 720x1280, 326ppi

PROCESSOR/RAM

Quadcore 1.2GHz/1GB

Quadcore 1.4 GHz/1GB

Quadcore 1.2GHz/512MB

Quadcore 1.2GHz/1GB

Quadcore 1.4GHz/1.5GB

STORAGE

8GB plus microSD

8GB plus microSD card

8GB plus microSD

16GB plus microSD card

16GB plus microSD card

REAR CAMERA

8-meg, 720p

8-meg, 1080P

5-meg, 1080p

13-meg, 1080p

8-meg/1080p

FRONT CAMERA

5-meg, 720p

1.1-meg, 720P

None

5-meg, 1080p

2.1-meg/1080p

QUOTED BATTERY LIFE

14 hours 30 minutes talk time

21 hours 46 mins talk time

14 hours talk time

16.2 hours talk time

10 hours talk time

DIMENSIONS

130x65x7.5mm/115g

151x77x7mm/148g

130x67x9.2/134g

137x65x10.6mm/137g

63x42x109mm/271g

LOVE

Front camera is handy for selfie addicts. Design is light and attractive. Fast 4G

Thinner than most cheap smarties. Runs smoothly thanks to its quadcore chip. Decent camera

Punchy design with neat feel, great build and funky colours. Strong Windows 8.1 OS. Decent camera

High-end design with metal back. Excellent display. Generally premium feel

Packed with cutting-edge sensors and features. Good screen and camera. Water-resistant

HATE

Screen resolution is average. The touchscreen is unresponsive at times

The display isn’t bad but at this size 1080p would make a big difference

Lowest-res display on test. Windows Phone doesn’t have enough apps

Battery won’t get you through a long day. The processor can lag

Average battery life. Some will think the plastic build means it’s not “high end”

T3 SAYS

Never more than competent but not unnattractive at the budget price

A neat, efficient phone that’s well worth the asking price, and better than the Huawei

A tasty looking phone with great software, this punches well above its weight

Sublimely designed, the HTC is a head-turner that just qualifies as “affordable”

Almost as good as the fullsize S5, for considerably less dosh. What’s not to like?

RATING

{REASONS}

Why the Samsung Galaxy S5 Mini owns the affordafones

1

It’s a great size – no finger-stretching like on the full-size S5, yet a solid feel in the hand.

2

It’s water- and dustresistant – even though there’s no cover on the socket, you needn’t worry if it gets wet.

3

The fingerprint sensor – it not as smooth as on the iPhone, but it works

well and is a good security benefit.

4

The IR blaster – unlike other shrunken handsets, this one retains its big brother’s TV control capabilities.

5

Samsung’s health suite – all features are on board here, offering compatibility with the firm’s plentiful supply of fitness gadgets.

6

The heart-rate monitor – sits on the back like a secret Doc. There’s a pedometer built in, too.

7

Strong camera – not quite the stand-out on the HTC One Mini 2 but it holds it own.

8

Sharp screen – the 720p display is enough to impress on this size of screen.

{FOCUS}

How low can you go? Phones for even less… NOKIA LUMIA 630

HTC DESIRE 610

SONY XPERIA M2

This lacks the 4G connectivity of the 635 but is otherwise identical. If you don’t need fast data speeds this is decent.

A lot of 4G phone for the money, with a 4.7-inch screen. The quadcore chip isn’t the fastest, but at this price who’s complaining?

A 4G phone with decent 8MP camera and a big screen – 4.8 inches, though not high resolution. Oh, and this ain’t waterproof either.

Save money by switching to a four-inch display and no 4G. Also included: a fivemeg cam and 4GB storage.

£100, NOKIA.CO.UK

£50, HTC.COM/UK

£100, SONY.CO.UK

£90, SAMSUNG.COM/UK/HOME

WWW FOR MORE CAMERA REVIEWS GO TO T3.COM

SAMSUNG GALAXY ACE STYLE

{THE FINAL WORD}

INEXPENSIVE PHONE FOR SIR? Pinching pennies when it comes to upgrading your mobile no longer means going for a budget blower with a cheapo design and embarrassingly dated spec list thanks to the latest generation of sub-prime handsets. The mini version of Samsung’s S5 takes the crown here thanks to its solid feature line-up in a handset that’s also more manageable than its gigantic sibling. HTC’s “flagship lite” also puts in a strong performance and, while it’s not exactly cheap, sports a less frightening price tag than the full-fat HTC One M8. Beyond the big boys, if you’re willing to take on the relatively sparsely stocked Windows Phone app store, the Lumia 635 is superb for what it costs. The screen is lower res than its rivals but still looks pretty good, while the design is slick and the camera solid. We’d like to tell you that the T3 is the best phone that money can buy. Sadly, that’s not really the case but Sony’s phone is a good deal compared to rivals of the same price and the razor-thin design impresses. Huawei’s effort feels a little more average than the others on test with a lacklustre build and sluggish operation, but if you’ve got a strict budget of £250, even this is worth a second look. Consider all bases covered.

O C TO B E R 2 0 1 4 T 3 1 1 5

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Looking for new gear? Get the best advice at musicradar.com Thousands of gear reviews and killer video demos

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TheGuide {THE BEST OF EVERYTHING}

Smartphones p118 Tablets p119 Accessories p120 Cameras p121 Laptops p122 Gaming p123 Home entertainment p124 Home audio p125 Headphones p126 Televisions p128

Top tens THE place to start researching your next gadget-buying jaunt. For an even more up-to-the-minute snapshot of our latest wish lists, check out t3.com/best-gadgets. Scores The products featured in The Guide are reassessed regularly against what’s new, hip and happening. As a result, we will re-rate older products to reflect the current market. Prices We scour the web for the best prices we can find at trusted retailers. Even so, check the most up-to-date deals before getting out your Solo, Access or Diner’s Club card. AVAILABLE ONLINE @ T3.COM THE ULTIMATE BUYER’S GUIDE

O C TO B E R 2 0 1 4 T 3 1 1 7

{BUYING TIPS}

Smartphones

Phablets that punch their weight 3

1

SAMSUNG GALAXY NOTE 3

An array of clever, stylusfocused extras give this 5.7-incher the edge. £430, SAMSUNG.COM/UK

2

SAMSUNG GALAXY S5

£464, SAMSUNG.COM/UK, TESTED JULY 2014

NOKIA 1520

A stellar 6.4-inch screen, a mighty fine camera and impressive slimness. £310, SONYMOBILE.COM

£340, NOKIA.CO.UK

SONY XPERIA Z1 COMPACT

06

FROM £345, SONYMOBILE.COM, TESTED APRIL 2014

LOVE Premium waterproof design, just like its big brother. Brilliant 4.3-inch display. Powerful processor HATE Lack of Android 4.4. Sony’s own interface feels dated T3 SAYS The scaled-down version of the Xperia Z1 loses very little of the original’s appeal

SPECIFICATIONS

SPECIFICATIONS

PROCESSOR 2.5GHz quadcore SCREEN 5.1-inch, 1920x1080 CAMERA 16-megapixel/4K STORAGE 16GB or 32GB

PROCESSOR 2.2GHz quadcore SCREEN 4.3-inch, 1280x720 CAMERA 20.7-meg/1080p STORAGE 16GB, microSD

£507, HTC.COM/UK, TESTED JUNE 2014

HTC ONE MINI 2

07

£380, HTC.COM/UK, TESTED OCTOBER 2014

LOVE High-end metal design. Excellent display. Strong camera. Generally premium feel for under 400 quid HATE Battery won’t last a long day. Processor can lag T3 SAYS Sublimely designed, the HTC is a head-turner that also qualifies as affordable

LOVE Stunning metallic build. Great camera upgrades. Quadcore processor runs like a dream. Inspired Dot Matrix case HATE Fewer flashy headline features T3 SAYS The most stylish Android. Lacks headline features of others, but what’s there works and looks top RY

SPECIFICATIONS

APPLE iPHONE 5S

FROM £549, APPLE.COM/UK, TESTED DECEMBER 2013

RY

NT E

05

SPECIFICATIONS

PROCESSOR 1.2GHz quadcore SCREEN 4.5-inch, 1280x720 CAMERA 13-meg/1080p STORAGE 16GB plus microSD

SONY XPERIA Z2

08

£483, SONYMOBILE.COM, TESTED JULY 2014

LOVE Big display with brilliant image quality. Powerful processor. Excellent camera. Waterproof HATE Too little built-in storage. Sony’s interface needs work T3 SAYS A full-featured and rugged Android smartphone. Not quite as slick as some of its rivals, though

SPECIFICATIONS

SPECIFICATIONS

PROCESSOR A7 SCREEN 4-inch, 1136x640 CAMERA 8-meg/1080p STORAGE 16GB, 32GB or 64GB

PROCESSOR 2.3GHz quadcore SCREEN 5.2-inch, 1920x1080 CAMERA 20-meg/4K STORAGE 16GB

£389, SAMSUNG.COM/UK, TESTED OCTOBER 2014

NEW

NEW

E

LOVE Powerful processor. Slick iOS 7. Looks premium (even in gold). Fingerprint security. One of the best phone cams around HATE Pricing on higher-storage models is crazy T3 SAYS The innovations here really wow, but it can’t hold back an attack from its newest Android rival

SAMSUNG GALAXY S5 MINI

04

NT

PROCESSOR 2.3GHz quadcore SCREEN 5-inch, 1920x1080 CAMERA 4-ultrapixel/1080p STORAGE 16GB

03

4

LOVE Updated interface. Incredibly bright screen. Plethora of innovative features and excellent battery-saving mode HATE Sensors are great, but the accuracy isn’t there yet T3 SAYS The S5 throws everything at its bid for Android supremacy and it just about pays off

HTC ONE M8

02

£325, LG.COM/UK

Hulking yet sexy slab carries the Windows Phone flag in its enlarged fist. Fast, apart from the camera.

SONY XPERIA Z ULTRA

01

LG G FLEX

A slightly curved variant on the phablet theme, with six inches of screen girth.

LG G3

09

£479, LG.COM/UK, TESTED SUMMER 2014

LOVE Array of sensors and features. Water resistant. Appealing screen at a more manageable size than S5 big bro HATE Average battery. Full-size S5 has a better spec T3 SAYS Almost as good as the full-size S5, for considerably less dosh. You can’t argue with that

LOVE Remarkable hi-res display. Laser-focused camera. Slick new re-skinning of Android KitKat HATE Very big. Plasticky cover. Rear controls still a divider T3 SAYS The G3 is bigger, with added lasers and an imcredibly sharp screen, but it’s no Android champ

SPECIFICATIONS

SPECIFICATIONS

PROCESSOR 1.4GHz quadcore SCREEN 4.7-inch, 1280x720 CAMERA 8-meg/1080p STORAGE 16GB plus microSD

PROCESSOR 2.46GHz quadcore SCREEN 5.5-inch, 1440x2560 CAMERA 13-meg/4K STORAGE 16GB

GOOGLE NEXUS 5

FROM £299, GOOGLE.CO.UK, TESTED JANUARY 2014

NOKIA LUMIA 635

10

£130, NOKIA.CO.UK, TESTED OCTOBER 2014

LOVE Incredible 1080p display. Android KitKat operating system. Staggeringly affordable price tag HATE Average camera. No 64GB option T3 SAYS The best ever Nexus phone is a top Android blower, offering a heck of a lot for not much dosh

LOVE Punchy design with neat feel, great build and funky colours. Strong Windows 8.1 OS. Decent camera, too HATE Low-res display, although it actually doesn’t look bad T3 SAYS Great design with ace software, this is a massive bargain and punches well above its weight NT

PROCESSOR 2.3GHz quadcore SCREEN 4.95-inch, 1920x1080 CAMERA 8-meg/1080p STORAGE 16GB or 32GB

RY

SPECIFICATIONS NEW

E

SPECIFICATIONS

PROCESSOR 1.2GHz quadcore SCREEN 4.5-inch, 854x480 CAMERA 5-meg/1080p STORAGE 8GB plus microSD AVAILABLE ONLINE @ T3.COM THE ULTIMATE BUYER’S GUIDE

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{THE BEST OF EVERYTHING} {BUYING TIPS}

Tablets

E-readers deserving attention 1

AMAZON KINDLE PAPERWHITE

The best e-reader screen around, now backlit for late-night edification. FROM £109, AMAZON.CO.UK

2

02

03

04

05

APPLE IPAD MINI WITH RETINA FROM £319, APPLE.COM/UK, TESTED JANUARY 2014

06

AMAZON KINDLE

The cheaper, lighter Kindle with an improved screen is a nailed-on bargain. £59, AMAZON.CO.UK

4

KOBO AURA

The only e-reader to rival Amazon for device quality and book store size.

A top-quality e-ink screen with added touch control and backlighting. Easy Facebook/Twitter sharing.

£89, BARNESANDNOBLE.COM

£110, WHSMITH.CO.UK

NOOK GLOWLIGHT

01

3

SONY XPERIA Z2 TABLET

FROM £399, SONYMOBILE.COM, TESTED JULY 2014

LOVE Retina screen. Speedy and sleek. More LTE bands and 128GB option. Best app store going. Perfect size for everyday use HATE Touch ID would have been nice, but not essential T3 SAYS Apple’s smallest iPad is still its best, for us, now with specs that match the larger iPad Air

LOVE Slim, waterproof build with newly rounded edges. Fantastic screen. Great battery life, extended by Stamina Mode HATE Lots of bloatware. Sizeable bezel around screen T3 SAYS In the category of best ten-inch Android slate, Sony’s Xperia Z2 Tablet is king

SPECIFICATIONS

SPECIFICATIONS

OS iOS 7 PROCESSOR A7 SCREEN 7.9-inch, 2048x1536 STORAGE 16GB/32GB/64GB/128GB

OS Android 4.4 PROCESSOR 2.3GHz quadcore SCREEN 10.1-inch, 1920x1200 STORAGE 16GB/32GB

APPLE IPAD AIR

FROM £399, APPLE.COM/UK, TESTED JANUARY 2014

07

NOKIA LUMIA 2520

£300, NOKIA.CO.UK, TESTED JANUARY 2014

LOVE Stunning design. Blazing performance from the new A7 processor. Incredibly thin and lightweight HATE No fingerprint sensor. Camera remains unchanged T3 SAYS That big Retina screen. Those sleek, slimline looks. This is Apple’s best full-sized iPad yet

LOVE Tactile, attractive design. Speedy performance. Nokia’s own-brand apps add to Windows 8.1 HATE Runs watered-down version of Windows 8.1 T3 SAYS This is not the most powerful Windows tablet on the market, but it is the nicest to use

SPECIFICATIONS

SPECIFICATIONS

OS iOS7 PROCESSOR A7 SCREEN 9.7-inch, 2048x1536 STORAGE 16GB/32GB/64GB/128GB

OS Windows 8.1 PROCESSOR 2.2GHz quadcore SCREEN 10.1-inch, 1920x1080 STORAGE 32GB

GOOGLE NEXUS 7

FROM £199, GOOGLE.CO.UK, TESTED NOVEMBER 2013

08

AMAZON KINDLE FIRE HDX

FROM £199, AMAZON.CO.UK, TESTED JANUARY 2014

LOVE Beautiful, high-res screen. Processing power boosted to 1.5GHz. Lightweight, compact build. Very affordable HATE Lack of tablet-optimised apps T3 SAYS The hardware is excellent, but there are too few tablet-specific Android apps to topple Apple yet

LOVE Simple operating system. Seven-inch display has very high pixel density for crisp images. Mayday is on hand to help HATE Only approved apps (not many). No rear camera T3 SAYS Amazon’s closed-system tablet is smarter than ever, but still incredibly simple. A good family all-rounder

SPECIFICATIONS

SPECIFICATIONS

OS Android 4.3 PROCESSOR 1.5GHz quadcore SCREEN 7.2-inch, 1920x1200 STORAGE 16GB/32GB

OS Android 4.0, by Amazon PROCESSOR 2.2GHz quadcore SCREEN 7-inch, 1920x1200 STORAGE 16GB/32GB/64GB

APPLE IPAD MINI

FROM £249, APPLE.COM/UK, TESTED JANUARY 2013

09

APPLE IPAD 2

FROM £329, APPLE.COM/UK, TESTED CHRISTMAS 2011

LOVE The pocket-friendly, 7.9-inch screen with ultra-slim bezel looks fantastic and works great. 4G LTE. Very good value now HATE No Retina Display. Now only in 16GB version T3 SAYS Apple’s first miniature tablet can still turn heads, but it’s been beaten on specs of late

LOVE Decent battery, power and graphical oomph for its slightly reduced price, with apps galore available. Thin, too HATE Rear camera is poor. Surpassed by powerful alternatives T3 SAYS Still hanging in there and still appealing, this is now the cheapest way to get a full-sized iPad

SPECIFICATIONS

SPECIFICATIONS

OS iOS 7 PROCESSOR 1GHz dualcore SCREEN 7.9-inch, 1024x768 STORAGE 16GB

OS iOS 7 PROCESSOR 1GHz dualcore SCREEN 9.7-inch, 1024x768 STORAGE 16GB/32GB/64GB

SAMSUNG GALAXY TAB S 10.3-INCH

10

AMAZON KINDLE HDX 8.9

FROM £329, AMAZON.CO.UK, TESTED APRIL 2014

LOVE Ace screen. Octocore power. First tab fingerprint sensor HATE Sensor needs finessing. Android tablets apps still lacking T3 SAYS Samsung’s best tablet: slimmer, slicker, sexier

LOVE Larger, but still incredibly sharp screen. Quadcore processor and Amazon’s skinned Android fly. 4G option HATE Limited app selection as ever T3 SAYS It’s big, nippy and incredibly simple to use, although not quite as portable as its smaller sibling

SPECIFICATIONS

SPECIFICATIONS

OS Android 4.4 PROCESSOR 1.9GHz octacore SCREEN 10.3-inch, 2560x1600 STORAGE 16GB/32GB, microSD

OS Android 4.0, customised by Amazon PROCESSOR 2.2GHz quadcore SCREEN 8.9-inch, 2560x1600 STORAGE 16/32/64GB

FROM £499, SAMSUNG.COM/UK, TESTED SEPTEMBER 2014

AVAILABLE ONLINE @ T3.COM THE ULTIMATE BUYER’S GUIDE

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{BUYING TIPS}

Accessories

Smartwatches worth a shufty 1

3

A colourful super-AMOLED screen, built in heart-rate monitor and Android Wear running the whole show.

Same e-ink screen, with a new metal design and a massive selection of open-source apps.

£168, SAMSUNG.COM/UK

$249 (£150), GETPEBBLE.COM

2

4

Another superior Android Wear watch, but one that’s bulkier and less bright.

The most feature-packed smartwatch you can buy, but not quite the best.

£159, LG.COM/UK

£299, SAMSUNG.COM/UK

SAMSUNG GEAR LIVE

LG G WATCH

01

TOMTOM GO 6000

£238, TOMTOM.COM/UK, TESTED MAY 2014

06

LOVE Clean, quick interface. HD traffic info, with no additional charges for service or data connectivity throughout Europe HATE Speed cam tips-offs cost £20 per year. Pricey T3 SAYS Slightly better than the Garmin satnav, for our money. Breathes new life into bespoke mapping tech

03

04

05

£280, TOMTOM.COM, TESTED JULY 2014

GOOGLE CHROMECAST

£30, GOOGLE.COM/CHROMECAST, TESTED JUNE 2014

SPECIFICATIONS

SCREEN 6 inches CONNECTIVITY Bluetooth SIZE 169x105x20mm

TOMTOM MULTI-SPORT CARDIO

SAMSUNG GEAR 2

LOVE Easy to get smart video on TV. Supported services play in HD. Accesses not-so-supported sites, too HATE Limited official app selection at present T3 SAYS This dongle instantly makes almost any TV web-enabled and costs just thirty quid

SPECIFICATIONS

02

PEBBLE STEEL

CONNECTIVITY N Wi-Fi, HDMI, USB SUPPORTS BBC iPlayer, Netflix, YouTube, Vevo, Rdio SIZES 72x35x12mm/34g

07

NIKE FUELBAND SE

£129, NIKE.COM, TESTED JUNE 2014

LOVE Built-in heart monitor with trustworthy results. Simple interface. Accurate data for most sporting disciplines HATE Can’t track pulse in the pool. No Android app T3 SAYS One for serious sporty types, this offers the most comprehensive fitness data around

LOVE The best-looking band around. Strong motivational pairing of Win the Hour and the in-app social competitiveness HATE Not for swimming. Not for Android T3 SAYS The most social band on test, the Fuelband SE is a great motivational tool, if not the most accurate tracker

SPECIFICATIONS

SPECIFICATIONS

SYNCING Bluetooth and ANT+ WATER RESISTANCE 50m BATTERY 8 hours SIZE 22x25x13.8mm/63g

SYNCING Bluetooth/USB WATER RESISTANCE Shower only BATTERY 3 days SIZES 147mm (small) to 197mm (extra-large)

GARMIN VIVOFIT

£100, GARMIN.COM, TESTED JUNE 2014

08

ASTRO A50 WIRELESS SYSTEM £250, ASTROGAMING.CO.UK, TESTED AUGUST 2014

LOVE Simple, sporty design. Will survive the swimming pool and pairs with heart-rate monitor. One-year battery life HATE No automatic syncing. Garmin Connect app’s not the best T3 SAYS Sporty and practical, with a marathon battery. Not the best-looking, but it’s still our top pick

LOVE Dolby 7.1 sound with almost no interference. Compatible with all PCs and consoles (Xbox One requires adapter) HATE No detachable microphone. A little heavy T3 SAYS A solid gaming headset for any breed of gamer looking to free themselves of wires

SPECIFICATIONS

SPECIFICATIONS

SYNCING Bluetooth and ANT+ WATER RESISTANCE 50m BATTERY 1 year SIZES 120-175 mm (small), 152-210 mm (large)

FREQUENCY RESPONSE 20Hz - 20,000 KHz CONNECTIVITY 5.8GHz Wi-Fi, USB, optical cable

SAMSUNG GEAR FIT

£180, SAMSUNG.COM/UK, TESTED JULY 2014

09

GARMIN NÜVI 3598 LMT-D

£280, GARMIN.COM/UK, TESTED OCTOBER 2013

LOVE Smartwatch and fitness tracking features combined. That curved AMOLED screen. Heart-rate tracking HATE Limited compatibility and accuracy T3 SAYS Great-looking smartwatch with built-in fitness features. A thoroughly modern timepiece

LOVE Real-time traffic updates without a data connection (uses your car’s DAB radio). Free map updates for life HATE It’s accurate, but also a tad costly T3 SAYS Expensive, but reliable, attractive and smart. Have you reached your satnav destination of choice?

SPECIFICATIONS

SPECIFICATIONS

SYNCING Bluetooth 4.0 WATER RESISTANCE Up to 1m BATTERY 5 days SIZE 23x57x12mm

SCREEN 5 inches CONNECTIVITY Bluetooth SIZE 138x77x13mm

ROKU STREAMING STICK £50, ROKU.COM, TESTED AUGUST 2014

10

POLAR LOOP

£79.50, POLAR.COM, TESTED JUNE 2014

LOVE Simple setup. Great app selection, including some games. Reliable HD streaming HATE No viewing unofficial weblinks. No Amazon Prime Instant T3 SAYS A huge selection of apps and a proper remote give Roku the slight edge in the streaming game

LOVE Pairs with heart-rate chest strap for accurate data. Can be worn for swimming. Impressive battery life, rapid charging HATE Cheap feeling design T3 SAYS Comprehensive fitness tracker for under £100. If you can compromise on build, it’s a bit of a bargain

SPECIFICATIONS

SPECIFICATIONS

CONNECTIVITY N Wi-Fi dual-band CONTENT iPlayer, NowTV, YouTube, Spotify and more DIMENSIONS 11x27x79mm/18g

SYNCING Bluetooth/USB WATER RESISTANCE 20m BATTERY 6 days SIZE Custom fit from 145-240mm AVAILABLE ONLINE @ T3.COM THE ULTIMATE BUYER’S GUIDE

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Cameras

Budget compact cameras 1

3

Credit card-sized snapper with a 16-meg sensor, 8x zoom and Wi-Fi. Video is 720p rather than full-HD.

16.2-meg CMOS, 8x zoom and easy 1080p shooting. Small, but well formed.

£94, CANON.CO.UK

£93, SONY.CO.UK

2

4

Heftier than the Canon, but with 1080p video and an 18x zoom, we see why.

No fripperies, but does the basics well, with a 13.2-meg CMOS and 1080p video.

£110, SAMSUNG.COM/UK

£90, NIKON.CO.UK

CANON IXUS 140

SAMSUNG WB250F

01

02

03

04

05

CANON EOS 700D

£579, CANON.CO.UK, TESTED OCTOBER 2013

06

SONY CYBER-SHOT DSC-WX60

NIKON COOLPIX S02

SONY CYBER-SHOT DSC-HX60V £319, SONY.CO.UK, TESTED SEPTEMBER 2014

LOVE APS-C CMOS sensor delivers cracking images. Jack-of-all-trades zoom kit lens. Touchscreen LCD HATE Relatively bulky and pricey T3 SAYS An excellent beginner’s DSLR that takes semi-pro shots with reliable quality

LOVE Extensive zoom. Richly detailed images. Rock solid but still pocket-sized build HATE Slightly limited aperture T3 SAYS Richly detailed pictures from a small but perfectly formed compact camera

SPECIFICATIONS

SPECIFICATIONS

SENSOR 18.5-megapixel/1080p KIT LENS 18-55mm SCREEN 3-inch touchscreen WEIGHT 580g

SENSOR 20.4-megapixel/1080p KIT LENS 24-720mm SCREEN 3-inch WEIGHT 272g

SONY SLT-A58

£339, SONY.CO.UK, TESTED OCTOBER 2013

07

SONY A5000

£349, SONY.CO.UK, TESTED JUNE 2014

LOVE Great value for money. Translucent mirror allows you to film video in a flash. Decent lens choice HATE Smaller LCD screen, but a fairly bulky look T3 SAYS Sony’s not-a-DSLR is feature-packed with great performance and a low price

LOVE Compact size. Tilting screen. High-resolution APS-C sensor. Wi-Fi connectivity and selfie-ready tilting screen HATE No hotshoe. No touchscreen T3 SAYS A great upgrade if you crave better shots than your smartphone or compact can handle

SPECIFICATIONS

SPECIFICATIONS

SENSOR 20.1-megapixel/1080p KIT LENS 18-55mm SCREEN 2.7-inch WEIGHT 492g

SENSOR 20.1-megapixel/1080p KIT LENS 16-50mm SCREEN 3-inch WEIGHT 269g

OLYMPUS STYLUS SH-1

£350, OLYMPUS.CO.UK, TESTED SEPTEMBER 2014

08

NIKON COOLPIX S9700

£250, NIKON.CO.UK, TESTED SEPTEMBER 2014

LOVE Well-crafted design. Handles like a much pricier Olympus Pen interchangeable lens cam HATE Zoom range could be better T3 SAYS Classic looks and modern features. The most premium of premium compacts

LOVE Big lens on a compact body. OLED screen at the rear. Reasonably priced for a big zooming compact HATE No grip. Small buttons are tough to control T3 SAYS The compact camera that delivers a big zoom at an affordable price

SPECIFICATIONS

SPECIFICATIONS

SENSOR 16-megapixel/1080p LENS 25-600mm SCREEN 3-inch touchscreen WEIGHT 271g

SENSOR 16-megapixel/1080p KIT LENS 25-750mm SCREEN 3-inch WEIGHT 232g

SAMSUNG NX300

£380, SAMSUNG.COM/UK, TESTED JUNE 2013

09

SONY RX100 II

£465, SONY.CO.UK, TESTED MARCH 2014

LOVE DSLR-quality photos. Tiltable AMOLED touchscreen. Manual controls aplenty. Built-in Wi-Fi HATE No viewfinder or built-in flash T3 SAYS Cutting-edge camera features in an attractive, compact package; a winner

LOVE Rock solid construction. Tilting LCD and hotshoe (a rarity on a compact). Carl Zeiss lens HATE Tiny buttons. No handgrip. Expensive for a compact T3 SAYS An A-grade combination of optics and features crammed cleverly into a pocket snapper

SPECIFICATIONS

SPECIFICATIONS

SENSOR 21.6-megapixel/1080p KIT LENS 18-55mm SCREEN 3.31-inch touchscreen WEIGHT 284g

SENSOR 20.2-megapixel/1080p LENS 28-200mm in 35mm terms SCREEN 3-inch WEIGHT 281g

SAMSUNG NX MINI

£275, SAMSUNG.COM/UK, TESTED SEPTEMBER 2014

10

PANASONIC LUMIX DMC-GX7 £675, PANASONIC.CO.UK, TESTED DECEMBER 2013

LOVE Point-and-shoot size, but with the added bonus of interchangeable lenses HATE Bundled with a fixed zoom lens. CMOS not APS-C T3 SAYS Affordable and compact, with plenty of potential for lens upgrades

LOVE Great, hi-res viewfinder and tiltable screen. Takes excellent photos and HD video. Reliable Wi-Fi for instant sharing HATE On the premium end of “mid-priced” T3 SAYS Panasonic’s best CSC yet performs to a very high level, then ticks connectivity boxes just to show off

SPECIFICATIONS

SPECIFICATIONS

SENSOR 20.5-megapixel/1080p KIT LENS 24-73mm SCREEN 3-inch WEIGHT 196g

SENSOR 16-megapixel/1080p KIT LENS 14-42mm SCREEN 3-inch WEIGHT 490g AVAILABLE ONLINE @ T3.COM THE ULTIMATE BUYER’S GUIDE

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{BUYING TIPS}

Laptops

Desktop PCs of plenty 1

3

Optimum combo of style and spec. A 1.4GHz i5 and 500GB for under a grand.

Windows 8 looks great on the 27-inch touchscreen, with an Apple-rivalling spec and Blu-ray drive thrown in.

APPLE iMAC 21.5-INCH

FROM £899, APPLE.COM/UK

FROM £1,479, DELL.CO.UK

2

SONY VAIO TAP 20

A touchscreen Windows 8 all-in-one whose screen detaches to become a hulking, 20-inch tablet. £1,000, SONY.CO.UK

01

APPLE MACBOOK AIR

FROM £749, APPLE.COM/UK, TESTED SEPTEMBER 2013

06

LOVE Slimline looks, great battery life, cheaper than last year’s model, comes in 11- and 13-inch sizes. Now with Mavericks OS HATE No Retina Display T3 SAYS The world’s best, ultra-portable laptop SCREEN 11.6-inch, 1366x768/13.3-inch, 1440x900 PROCESSOR/RAM Core i5 1.3GHz/4GB STORAGE 128GB or 256GB SSD QUOTED BATTERY 9hrs

DELL XPS 15

£1,249, DELL.CO.UK, TESTED OCTOBER 2012

07

04

05

ACER C7 CHROMEBOOK £217, ACER.CO.UK, TESTED MARCH 2013

SONY VAIO DUO 13

£915, SONY.CO.UK, TESTED DECEMBER 2013

LOVE Slimline Windows 8 laptop/tablet hybrid. Stylishly designed. Fantastic touchscreen. Battery lasts all day HATE Lack of storage for that crazy price tag T3 SAYS Got money to burn on an overpriced Windows 8 hybrid? You could do a lot worse than this SPECIFICATIONS

SCREEN 15.3-inch, 1920x1080 PROCESSOR/RAM Core i7 2.1GHz/8GB STORAGE 1TB HDD QUOTED BATTERY 8hrs

£328, DELL.CO.UK, TESTED SEPTEMBER

£759, TOSHIBA.CO.UK

SCREEN 11.6-inch, 1366x768 PROCESSOR/RAM 1.1GHz Intel dualcore/2GB STORAGE 320GB HDD QUOTED BATTERY 3hrs

SPECIFICATIONS

DELL VENUE 11 PRO

TOSHIBA LX830-11D

Solid all-in-one that moonlights as a Freeview recorder and DVD player.

SPECIFICATIONS

LOVE Amazing screen. Excellent build quality. Top performer thanks to powerful processor and graphics card. Good VFM HATE Weighty. No solid state drive T3 SAYS An incredibly powerful laptop for the price and still gives most MacBooks a run for their money

03

4

LOVE Incredible price tag. Decent screen and acceptable processor. 100GB of cloud storage HATE Chrome OS lacks support. Requires web connection T3 SAYS The sheer cheapness makes this a very good second machine, or one for undemanding users

SPECIFICATIONS

02

DELL XPS ONE 27

SCREEN 13.3-inch, 1920x1080 PROCESSOR/RAM 1.6GHz i5/4GB STORAGE 128GB SSD QUOTED BATTERY 10hrs

08

LENOVO YOGA PRO 2

£1,000, LENOVO.CO.UK, TESTED SEPTEMBER 2014

LOVE Capable and powerful when used as a tablet, laptop or makeshift desktop PC. Very smart functionality HATE Keyboard and desktop dock cost extra T3 SAYS Surprisingly powerful and much more than just a Windows 8 tablet if you stump up for all the add-ons

LOVE Incredibly sharp quad-HD screen. Bends and twists to become a tablet or laptop HATE For this price you could get a tablet and a laptop T3 SAYS An incredibly versatile, but also exceedingly pricey, portable computing option

SPECIFICATIONS

SPECIFICATIONS

SCREEN 10.8-inch, 1920x1080 PROCESSOR/RAM 2.4GHz quadcore/2GB STORAGE 64GB SSD BATTERY Not quoted

SCREEN 13.1-inch, 3200x1800 PROCESSOR/RAM 1.6GHz Core i5/4GB STORAGE 256GB HDD BATTERY Not quoted

APPLE MACBOOK PRO 13-INCH £1,249, APPLE.COM/UK, TESTED JANUARY 2014

09

TOSHIBA CHROMEBOOK CB30-102 £230, TOSHIBA.CO.UK, TESTED SEPTEMBER 2014

LOVE New Retina Display is stunning. Thinner and lighter. More storage space packed inside, too HATE Can get hot. Battery life’s not brilliant. No physical drives T3 SAYS If you’re after power, Apple’s new Pro laptop is lighter, better and cheaper than ever

LOVE Bargain price tag (although pricier than the HP, below), slimline looks and a surprisingly decent battery life HATE Limited power and storage. Reliance on web T3 SAYS Can’t compete on specs with most laptops, but is very portable and pretty affordable

SPECIFICATIONS

SPECIFICATIONS

SCREEN 13-inch, 2560x1600 PROCESSOR/RAM Core i5 2.4GHz/8GB STORAGE 256GB SSD QUOTED BATTERY 9hrs

SCREEN 13.3-inch, 1366x768 PROCESSOR/RAM 1.4GHz dualcore/2GB STORAGE 16GB SSD QUOTED BATTERY 9hrs

HP SPECTRE XT

£850, HP.COM/UK, TESTED MARCH 2013

10

HP CHROMEBOOK 11

£199, GOOGLE.CO.UK, TESTED APRIL 2014

LOVE Attractive and sturdy all-metal design. Seriously thin and portable. Great battery life. Beats Audio. Reasonably priced HATE Tricky touchpad. Screen could be better T3 SAYS The smartest ultrabook – what it lacks in power it makes up for in style and portability

LOVE Elegant styling. Very light, yet sturdy. Reduced spec is still up to most day-to-day tasks HATE Reliance on a web connection T3 SAYS It’s no power player, but this budget, web-dependent laptop is a steal for the spec

SPECIFICATIONS

SPECIFICATIONS

SCREEN 13.3-inch, 1366x768 PROCESSOR/RAM Core i5 1.7GHz/4GB STORAGE 128GB SSD QUOTED BATTERY 7.5hrs

SCREEN 11.6-inch, 1366x768 PROCESSOR/RAM 1.7GHz dualcore/2GB STORAGE 16GB SSD QUOTED BATTERY 6hrs AVAILABLE ONLINE @ T3.COM THE ULTIMATE BUYER’S GUIDE

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Gaming

Gaming laptops with skills 1

3

Heavy and built to win, this is a powerhouse. Nongamers need not apply.

A slim and light laptop that punches well above its fighting weight.

£1,999, ALIENWARE.CO.UK

£1,199, MSI.COM

2

4

ALIENWARE 18

CHILLBLAST DEFIANT 15-INCH

No looker, but with the ability to outpace pricier laptops, this is a contender. £980, CHILLBLAST.CO.UK

01

02

03

04

05

MICROSOFT XBOX 360 250GB £189, XBOX.CO.UK, TESTED NOVEMBER 2011

06

MSI GS60 2PC GHOST

TOSHIBA SATELLITE P50T-B-10K

A gaming portable not out of place in the office, though lacks oomph. £1,200, TOSHIBA.CO.UK

SONY PLAYSTATION VITA

£146, UK.PLAYSTATION.COM, TESTED APRIL 2014

LOVE Affordable but powerful games machine. Feast of big series like Gears of War and indie gems. Sky support. Ace online service HATE No Blu-ray. About 97 in gadget years. Ad-laden interface T3 SAYS A slick and powerful games and media machine. Outgunned but hanging on with a quality back catalogue

LOVE New model is lighter and thinner with more storage. Improved battery. Good games. Remote Play with PS4 HATE No more OLED screen. Less premium. T3 SAYS Great portable game console is made slightly more enticing. Coupled with PS+ service, it’s a real player

SPECIFICATIONS

SPECIFICATIONS

STORAGE 4GB BLU-RAY/DVD No/Yes CONNECTIVITY HDMI, 5x USB, ethernet, N Wi-Fi, AV out

SCREEN 5-inch, 960x544 LCD touchscreen CONNECTIVITY N Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 2.1, USB, SD, NFC BATTERY 4-6 hours

SONY PS3 SUPER SLIM

£145, UK.PLAYSTATION.COM, TESTED JANUARY 2013

07

APPLE IPOD TOUCH

FROM £199, APPLE.COM/UK, TESTED CHRISTMAS 2012

LOVE A Blu-ray player and media server that’s 3D-ready and supports the Move controller (£24). Oh, and you can play games on it, too, with some very good exclusives like Last of Us HATE Horrid plasticky quality to latest model T3 SAYS A top gaming option if you can bear the new build

LOVE Beautifully designed and now packing iOS 7. Bigger, bolder Retina Display. A5 processor. Tonnes of cheap games HATE Pricey. Lacks physical controls. Closed system T3 SAYS A modern portable that’s spawned a new gen of gamers who don’t consider themselves gamers

SPECIFICATIONS

SPECIFICATIONS

STORAGE 12GB BLU-RAY/DVD Yes/Yes CONNECTIVITY HDMI, 2x USB, ethernet, G Wi-Fi, AV out

SCREEN 4-inch, 1136x640 touchscreen CONNECTIVITY N Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.0 BATTERY 8hrs (video), 40 hrs (audio)

NINTENDO 3DS XL

£150, NINTENDO.CO.UK, TESTED OCTOBER 2012

08

NINTENDO WII U

£220, NINTENDO.CO.UK, TESTED CHRISTMAS 2012

LOVE Bigger screens look great. Ergonomic curved design. Boosted battery life. Increasingly impressive game selection HATE Looks a bit cheap. No AC adaptor. 3D is a gimmick T3 SAYS Look past the kiddie graphics and you’ll find an ace handheld with the best game line-up of last year

LOVE Genuinely innovative platform. Full-HD graphics at last for Mario and co. Some very good, unique games from Nintendo HATE Pricey. Touch screen an afterthought. Game options slim T3 SAYS Nintendo again reinvented the way we play, yet unfortunately few developers fancy joining in the fun

SPECIFICATIONS

SPECIFICATIONS

SCREEN 4.88-inch 800x240 3D/4.18-inch 320x240 touch CONNECTIVITY G Wi-Fi, 3.5mm audio BATTERY 4 hours

STORAGE 32GB CONNECTIVITY N Wi-Fi, 4x USB, HDMI, NFC GAMEPAD Touchcreen 6.2-inch, 854x480 BATTERY 3-5 hours

SONY PLAYSTATION 4

£350, UK.PLAYSTATION.COM, TESTED JANUARY 2014

09

NINTENDO 2DS

£85, NINTENDO.CO.UK, TESTED DECEMBER 2013

LOVE Most powerful next-gen console. Ergonomic new controller. Stylish design. Remote Play with PS Vita is ace. Decent price HATE Light on games and media. Interface basic. Camera extra T3 SAYS Very powerful and stylishly built. The PS4’s potential is there, even if it’s light on must-buy games

LOVE Nintendo’s vast catalogue of AAA-quality games, now available for you at a very special price. Kid-friendly build HATE Possibly the ugliest gaming gadget ever T3 SAYS If you’re a gamer or parent who doesn’t own a DS platform, this is a very smart purchase

SPECIFICATIONS

SPECIFICATIONS

STORAGE 500GB BLU-RAY/DVD Yes/Yes CONNECTIVITY 2x USB 3.0, N Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 2.1, HDMI, optical audio, ethernet

SCREEN 4-inch, 1136x640 touchscreen CONNECTIVITY N Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.0 BATTERY 8hrs (video), 40 hrs (audio)

MICROSOFT XBOX ONE

£349, XBOX.COM, TESTED JANUARY 2014

10

NVIDIA SHIELD

£257, NVIDIA.COM, TESTED NOVEMBER 2013

LOVE Powerful spec. Vastly improved functionality. Gameplay sharing easy. Now available without Kinect. Price cut-a-roo HATE Brutish design. Lack of games. Fiddly interface T3 SAYS Completely outguns the Xbox 360 in power and the potential is there, but lagging behind the PS4 still

LOVE Excellent screen and Tegra 4-powered graphics. Streams high-end PC games to a portable device HATE Bulky design. Technical restrictions. Kerr-azy UK pricing T3 SAYS Real graphical punch, even if bulk, price tag and a lack of game support dampen spirits somewhat

SPECIFICATIONS

SPECIFICATIONS

STORAGE 500GB BLU-RAY/DVD Yes/Yes CONNECTIVITY 3x USB 3.0, N Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 2.1, HDMI, ethernet, optical

SCREEN 5-inch 1280x720 CONNECTIVITY N Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 3.0, GPS, HDMI, USB 2.0, MicroSD, 3.5mm BATTERY 5 hours AVAILABLE ONLINE @ T3.COM THE ULTIMATE BUYER’S GUIDE

O C TO B E R 2 0 1 4 T 3 1 2 3

Home entertainment

{CONTENT}

Box sets to imbibe this month 1

BLACK SAILS

Arrrrrr! This be a pirate series! Arrr! Produced by Michael Bay, it be! A right load of would-be-gritty nonsense it be, too! Arrrrr!

02

03

04

PRICE VARIES, SKY.COM, TESTED CHRISTMAS 2013

06

HOMELAND

2

£23 SD, £30 HD, OUT NOW

PANASONIC DMP-BDT330 £145, PANASONIC.CO.UK, TESTED MAY 2014

LOVE Seamless Wi-Fi integration. Rapidly expanding on-demand content. Excellent all-round performance HATE ONLY Still only two tuners to Virgin Media’s three T3 SAYS Our Entertainment Gadget of the Year is also the best PVR set-top choice, now with added Wi-Fi

LOVE Vibrant colours and striking detail. 4K upscaling on hand for proper encouragement to buy a 4K telly, too HATE Rather convoluted interface T3 SAYS Future-proof Blu-ray player with cracking image quality, 4K upscaling and decent smart TV trimmings

SPECIFICATIONS

SPECIFICATIONS

TYPE Satellite HD CHANNELS 67 TUNERS 2 STORAGE 2TB/350hrs HD recording

CONNECTIONS Wi-Fi, ethernet, 2x HDMI, optical digital out, 2x USB, SD card, ethernet SIZE 430x183x41mm

VIRGIN MEDIA TIVO

PRICE VARIES, VIRGINMEDIA.COM, TESTED JUNE 2014

07

ONKYO TX-NR515

£300, UK.ONKYO.COM, TESTED APRIL 2013

LOVE Triple tuner recording. Excellent image quality. Extensive on-demand content that’s easy to search. Built-in Netflix HATE The user interface is long overdue a revamp T3 SAYS Now with a massive selection of catch-up and on-demand services, TiVo’s upped its game

LOVE Bombastic, 130W-per-channel oomph. Slick interface. Eight HDMI inputs. Can upscale images to 4K resolution HATE No AirPlay, unlike some rival receivers T3 SAYS A polished multichannel AV receiver with all the modern trimmings, at an affordable price

SPECIFICATIONS

SPECIFICATIONS

TYPE Cable HD CHANNELS 56 TUNERS 3 STORAGE 1TB/100hrs HD recording

POWER 130W per channel CONNECTIONS 8x HDMI, 2x USB, 5x composite, 4x digital audio, 5x analogue audio. Wi-Fi via dongle

SONY BDV-N590

£273, SONY.CO.UK, TESTED DECEMBER 2012

08

YOUVIEW HUMAX DTR-T1000 £240, YOUVIEW.COM, TESTED NOVEMBER 2012

LOVE Five satellite speakers and a sub. Net-connected 3D Blu-ray player with great performance. Groovy price HATE Satellites are a touch on the small side T3 SAYS A full 5.1 cinema system and Blu-ray deck for less than £300? That’s a bargain in anyone’s book

LOVE Retrospective EPG mixes catch-up and live telly. Excellent image quality and ease of use. All the big UK channels on board HATE No integrated Wi-Fi. Noisy running. Pricey T3 SAYS Making this much content available without a subscription is a winner, though lack of Wi-Fi frustrates

SPECIFICATIONS

SPECIFICATIONS

POWER 1,000W CHANNELS 5.1 CONNECTIONS 2x HDMI, Wi-Fi, 2x USB, optical, audio, composite, ethernet

TYPE Freeview HD HD CHANNELS 5 TUNERS 2 STORAGE 500GB/125hrs HD recording

HUMAX HB-1000S FREESAT HD £130, HUMAXDIGITAL.CO.UK, TESTED APRIL 2014

09

LOVE Easy-to-use Freetime platform. Blends catch-up and live TV. Integrated on-demand services. Cheap and sub-free HATE No built-in storage. Only a single tuner T3 SAYS Inexpensive and slick way to get your satellite telly fix without a subscription

£159, UK.MAXELL.EU, TESTED JANUARY 2014

£133, SONY.CO.UK, TESTED MAY 2014

SPECIFICATIONS

TYPE Satellite HD CHANNELS 11 TUNERS 1 STORAGE None, compatible with USB drives

MAXELL MXSP-SB3000

SONY BDP-S5100

LOVE Appealing and compact design. Vivid Blu-ray images and smooth upscaling from DVD. Useful apps and features HATE Just one HDMI. Iffy 2D-to-3D conversion T3 SAYS “Distinctive” design houses high-class Blu-rayness. Striking 3D visuals and cinematic sound guaranteed

SPECIFICATIONS

05

3

Series three is headslappingly implausible throughout, but then that’s why you love it. And Claire Danes does so much acting.

SONS OF ANARCHY

SKY+ HD 2TB WI-FI

£23 SD, £30 HD, OUT NOW

£15 SD, £20 HD, OUT NOW

Series six of the bikers-onacid “classic”, and here’s a one-sentence summation,

01

courtesy of an Amazon review: “Tig then snaps and drowns the man in a bathtub filled with urine.”

CONNECTIONS Wi-Fi, ethernet, HDMI, 2x USB, coaxial digital audio out SIZE 360x199x43mm

10

SAMSUNG BD-F7500

£149, SAMSUNG.COM/UK, TESTED MAY 2014

LOVE Robust and well-balanced sound from a good-looking soundbar. Meaty 100W wireless sub HATE No Dolby Digital decoder T3 SAYS Maxell’s first soundbar is a corker, delivering on performance and value for money

LOVE Set-top packed with apps providing catch-up TV services. Comprehensive connectivity. Speedy menus. 4K upscaling HATE Occasional video noise and judder T3 SAYS The actual Blu-ray playback is good rather than great, but the apps and additional features rock

SPECIFICATIONS

SPECIFICATIONS

POWER 2x 30W + 100W sub CHANNELS 2.1 CONNECTIONS 3x HDMI, Bluetooth, Optical, Coaxial, RCA, 3.5mm

CONNECTIONS Wi-Fi, ethernet, 2x HDMI, USB, optical digital audio out, analogue audio out SIZE 430x201x46mm AVAILABLE ONLINE @ T3.COM THE ULTIMATE BUYER’S GUIDE

1 24 T 3 O C TO B E R 2 0 1 4

TheGuide

{THE BEST OF EVERYTHING}

Home audio

{BUYING TIPS}

Portable speakers with punch 1

3

Small, brightly hued, great audio, easy Bluetooth pairing. Winners, both.

Trainer-like design won’t suit all tastes but this sure is a loud, brash, room-filling speaker-cum-shoe.

£90, £102, JAWBONE.COM

£73, JABRA.COM

2

4

Incredible sound quality with size-defying bass and top clarity. Pricey, though.

A 3D speaker that pushes the bass to the fore. Ideal for rave dads on the Costa.

£269, LOEWE.TV/UK

£60, DAMSONAUDIO.COM

JAWBONE JAMBOX AND JAMBOX MINI

LOEWE SPEAKER 2GO

01

02

DENON COCOON STREAM £249, DENON.CO.UK, TESTED MARCH 2014

£399, BOWERS-WILKINS.CO.UK, TESTED FEBRUARY 2013

LOVE AirPlay-enabled streaming speaker that also plays nicely with NAS storage and DLNA for Android devices via smart app HATE Jelly bean-style design not to all tastes T3 SAYS A crowd-pleasing streaming speaker that, sonically speaking, punches well above its price point

LOVE Unfussy design and highly impressive sound. New app makes iTunes syncing easy HATE Bass wobbles at higher volumes T3 SAYS Elegant audio executed excellently, the A5 is the little black dress of speakers

SPECIFICATIONS

SPECIFICATIONS

POWER 4x 25W CONNECTIVITY Wi-Fi, USB, AirPlay, DLNA, 3.5mm out SIZE 451x236x170mm

POWER 4x 20W CONNECTIVITY Wi-Fi, auxiliary analogue, ethernet, AirPlay, 3.5mm out SIZE 300x180x120mm

CAMBRIDGE AUDIO MINX AIR 100 £250, CAMBRIDGEAUDIO.COM, TESTED MAY 2013

MONITOR AIRSTREAM S300

07

£249, MONITORAUDIO.CO.UK, TESTED OCTOBER 2014

LOVE Can do both refined an raucous. Good stability by AirPlay standards. Reasonably priced. HATE Setup is a pain. Banana shape won’t please everyone T3 SAYS A curvaceous beatbox that, thanks to AirPlay, can also be used to build a cheap multi-room system RY

SPECIFICATIONS

DENON CEOL PICCOLO

£178 WITHOUT SPEAKERS, £313 WITH, DENON.CO.UK, TESTED FEBRUARY 2013

NT

POWER 100W CONNECTIVITY Wi-Fi, AirPlay, Bluetooth, RCA, 3.5mm SIZE 354x182x118mm

NEW

E

£699, SIMPLEAUDIO.COM, TESTED FEBRUARY 2013

05

RY

NT

POWER 2x 65W CONNECTIVITY Wi-Fi, USB, optical in, audio in, AirPlay, 3.5mm out SIZE 180x90x234mm

£450, PHILIPS.CO.UK, TESTED JANUARY 2012

POWER 100W CONNECTIVITY G Wi-Fi, 3.5mm input, USB audio/data inputs SIZE 467x150x154mm

LOVE Supreme sound quality when paired with suitably spendy speakers. Easy setup and reliable streaming at up to 24 bits HATE No wireless connection. More pricey than Sonos T3 SAYS Fine lozenges of multi-room audiophile delight, though price and features put them in a niche category

SPECIFICATIONS

PHILIPS FIDELIO SOUNDSPHERE

SPECIFICATIONS

SIMPLE AUDIO ROOMPLAYER

08

LOVE The original all-in-one Ceol has ditched the CD player but kept AirPlay, an iPod dock, 24-bit support and web radio HATE Slightly dull looks T3 SAYS Multi-format mini marvel at a decent price

04

DAMSON OYSTER

BOWERS & WILKINS A5

06

LOVE Powerful, detailed sound quality. AirPlay and Bluetooth connectivity. Rugged, sleek design. Handy web radio buttons HATE Multi-room is less straightforward than on Sonos T3 SAYS Sounds great and packs more features than any other wireless speaker systems on the market

03

JABRA SOLEMATE

NEW

09

E

SPECIFICATIONS

POWER 100W CONNECTIVITY ethernet, phono in/out, 3.5mm in/out, optical out, subwoofer out SIZE 50x200x200mm

PHILIPS AW9000

£368, PHILIPS.CO.UK, TESTED FEBRUARY 2013

LOVE Powerful and articulate 100W sound, a classy design and a strong wireless connection for AirPlay streaming. Add the free Fidelio app and you get internet radio, too HATE No LCD display means awkward setup. Not cheap T3 SAYS Quality speakers with added AirPlay? Love ’em

LOVE Six high-class drivers deliver outstanding sound quality. Wood veneer speakers look classy HATE DLNA set-up needs to be made simpler T3 SAYS Buxom chunks of wireless sonic bliss. A fine alternative to the one-box streaming norm

SPECIFICATIONS

SPECIFICATIONS

POWER 2x 50W CONNECTIVITY Line in, AirPlay SIZE 265x410mm

POWER 100W CONNECTIVITY N Wi-Fi, analogue, digital coaxial, digital optical, 3.5mm in SIZE 300x210x350mm

SONOS PLAY:5

£349 EACH, SONOS.COM, TESTED MARCH 2010

10

PURE JONGO T4

£130, PURE.COM, TESTED MARCH 2014

LOVE Superb, multi-room sound. Spotify and Last.FM support. Control it all using the recently upgraded app HATE Go properly multi-room and the costs pile up T3 SAYS A simple, effective but pricey way to pump well-rounded audio into every room

LOVE Multi-room wireless streaming on a relative budget. Link two and you can achieve proper stereo sound, too HATE Connectivity can be glitchy T3 SAYS The slightly more affordable way to play digital DJ for the whole house, with good results

SPECIFICATIONS

SPECIFICATIONS

POWER N/A CONNECTIVITY Wireless, ethernet (Sonos proprietary streaming), line in SIZE 217x365x123mm

POWER 50W CONNECTIVITY Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, ethernet, 3.5mm in SIZE 305x146x165mm AVAILABLE ONLINE @ T3.COM THE ULTIMATE BUYER’S GUIDE

O C TO B E R 2 0 1 4 T 3 1 2 5

 



    

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Televisions

{BUYING TIPS}

Top projectors in the spotlight 1

3

Breathtaking 1080p with nuanced blacks and impressive 3D playback. Very good value for money.

Dynamic images and 2,200 Lumens brightness make this a punchy choice for big-screen sports fans.

£1,299, OPTOMA.CO.UK

£824, BENQ.CO.UK

2

4

Awesome full-HD projector for screen sizes up to 300 inches. Pricey, but worth it.

A single-chip DLP projector that’s sharp and vibrant for business and pleasure.

£2,699, SONY.CO.UK

£949, VIVITEK.EU

OPTOMA HD30

SONY VPL-HW55ES

01

02

03

04

05

LG 47LB730V

£799, LG.CO.UK, TESTED SUMMER 2014

06

BENQ W1300

VIVITEK H1185HD

SONY KDL-55W905A

£1,100, SONY.CO.UK, TESTED FEBRUARY 2014

LOVE WebOS interface delivers on-demand and catch-up how we want it. Colour-rich images. Price is very right HATE Lack of true blacks. Not 4K. You’ll need a soundbar T3 SAYS This is how you make a web TV. LG’s WebOS promises to reinvent how you watch

LOVE Excellent picture performance. Distinctive design. Well connected. Top file support HATE Limited catch-up TV. Single tuner T3 SAYS A great-looking screen with outstanding image quality and few flashy extras

SPECIFICATIONS

SPECIFICATIONS

SCREEN 47-inch, 1920x1080 CONNECTIONS Wi-Fi, Ethernet, 3x HDMI, 3x USB, Scart, component, CI Slot

SCREEN 55-inch, 1920x1080 CONNECTIONS 4x HDMI, Wi-Fi, 3x USB, Ethernet, NFC, Scart, component

SONY KD-65X9005B

£3,349, SONY.CO.UK, TESTED SUMMER 2014

07

SAMSUNG UE48H6400

£599, SAMSUNG.COM/UK, TESTED SUMMER 2014

LOVE Ultra-HD screen and excellent upscaling. Compatible with Netflix 4K streaming. Striking wedge design HATE Missing some basic catch-up services. Very expensive T3 SAYS The ultimate TV upgrade for 2014, but one for early adopters with deep pockets only

LOVE Crisp, vibrant HD image quality. Fine motion handling. Good web TV selection on hand. Affordable HATE Limited black levels. 3D suffers from crosstalk T3 SAYS The definition of a solid mid-range telly: does everything very well, but never wows

SPECIFICATIONS

SPECIFICATIONS

SCREEN 65-inch, 3840x2160 CONNECTIONS Wi-Fi, Ethernet, 4x HDMI, 3x USB, Scart, component, CI Slot, NFC

SCREEN 48-inch, 1920x1080 CONNECTIONS Wi-Fi, 4x HDMI, Ethernet, 3x USB, Scart, component, CI Slot, Bluetooth remote

SAMSUNG UE55HU8500

£2,465, SAMSUNG.COM/UK, TESTED JUNE 2014

08

PHILIPS 55PFS6609

£1,000, PHILIPS.CO.UK, TESTED SUMMER 2014

LOVE Slightly curved screen for a more absorbing picture. Excellent 4K image quality. Ready for 4K Netflix HATE Curved footprint won’t suit every space T3 SAYS Futuristic looking and future-proof, this is the curvy 4K TV that can

LOVE Ambilight mood lighting. Solid HD image clarity. Decent selection of catch-up and on-demand services HATE Charmless Smart TV portal. Active 3D has issues T3 SAYS An attractive and solid performer, but you can get a slightly better telly for less dosh

SPECIFICATIONS

SPECIFICATIONS

SCREEN 55-inch, 3840x2160 CONNECTIONS 4x HDMI, Wi-Fi, 3x USB, 2x composite, component, Ethernet

SCREEN 55-inch, 1920x1080 CONNECTIONS Wi-Fi, Ethernet, 4x HDMI, 2xUSB, Scart, component, CI Slot

SONY KDL-50W829

£779, SONY.CO.UK, TESTED MAY 2014

09

TOSHIBA 47L7453

£800, TOSHIBA.CO.UK, TESTED SUMMER 2014

LOVE Superb HD image quality. Fabulous motion handling. Top discovery engine for online content HATE Limited catch-up – no ITV Player or 40D T3 SAYS Polished 1080p pictures and smarter features, all for a very reasonable price

LOVE Dramatic, contrast-heavy image. Polished Cloud TV portal. Powerful audio performance. Almost budget price HATE Passive 3D and motion handling have faults T3 SAYS The cheapest telly on test packs picture quality, but fails at the finer details

SPECIFICATIONS

SPECIFICATIONS

SCREEN 50-inch, 1920x1080 CONNECTIONS 4x HDMI, Wi-Fi, Scart, 2x USB, digital optical, digital audio, Ethernet

SCREEN 47-inch, 1920x1080 CONNECTIONS Wi-Fi, Ethernet, 4x HDMI, 2x USB, Scart, component, CI Slot, PC

LG 55LA740

£1,199, LG.COM, TESTED FEBRUARY 2014

10

PANASONIC VIERA TX-55DT65 £1,299, PANASONIC.CO.UK, TESTED FEBRUARY 2014

LOVE Strong on-demand and catch-up offering. Strong high-def performance. Top value for money HATE Slightly muted blacks. Only one tuner T3 SAYS A brilliant balance between killer tech, abundant content and affordability

LOVE Customisable smart TV interface. Twin tuners for viewing and use as a PVR. Looks highly stylish HATE Lacklustre blacks. Limited catch-up TV selection T3 SAYS On-demand TV organised the way you want it. Now we just need more content…

SPECIFICATIONS

SPECIFICATIONS

SCREEN 55-inch, 1920x1080 CONNECTIONS 3x HDMI, Wi-Fi, Scart, 3x USB, digital optical, digital audio, Ethernet

SCREEN 55-inch, 1920x1080 CONNECTIONS 3x HDMI, Wi-Fi, 3x USB, digital optical/audio, Ethernet, component via adaptor AVAILABLE ONLINE @ T3.COM THE ULTIMATE BUYER’S GUIDE

1 2 8 T 3 O C TO B E R 2 0 1 4

SHUTDOWN

NO.70

The 10 tech things… you learn to live without 1/ Controllers

Which means adding an arbitrary number or symbol to the end and then forgetting it immediately forever. Of course, rather than click on the most frustrating option in all of Internetland – “Forgotten your password again have you, hmm?” – you decide to never use the service ever again. Sorry, bank.

In this connected age, everything’s supposed to just sync and stream seamlessly, isn’t it? So why do we still need a remote to switch the telly to AV1, the PlayStation’s DualShock to turn on your console and a Sky zapper to record a film on Channel 4? And we haven’t seen the Apple TV’s chewing gum-sized control for weeks… Right! Up come the sofa cushions for the sixth time today. No wonder Dad looks so smug that he keeps all these things in a little drawer. Of course, a universal controller could sort this all out… if it wasn’t the least fashionable gadget in the whole of tech.

8/ Earbuds When pulled lazily from your pocket, your in-ear headphones navigate loose change and keys to finally pop from your jeans with one earbud missing. The little box of spares they came with has long since tumbled into the abyss, hand in hand with all your cufflinks and drill bits. Right… new pair of headphones it is, then.

2/ Your good sunglasses

9/ Warranties

If your sunnies have a designer label and cost more than a day’s pay, they’ll either be left in a pub, train or hotel room within a year of purchase, if not ripped apart by a toddler. Conversely, that £5 pair of “Ray-Bam Wayfairers” you bought from a Corfu market stall will be buried with you.

3/ SIM tools As soon as you open the box of your new iPhone 6, remember to grab the little SIM card remover and chuck it on the carpet, where it will vanish instantly into another realm. It’s going to happen anyway, so you may as well be in control of your own destiny. Phones should really come with a paper clip or safety pin, as that’s what everyone actually uses.

4/ Batteries No matter how many times you buy a fresh

1 3 0 T 3 O C TO B E R 2 0 1 4

supply of AAs, as soon as you actually need a couple, every packet in the house is empty. Even if you live alone. But you won’t throw the packet out, though, no no no: you’ll need that for putting the used batteries in.

5/ Trimmer brush Every time you buy a new shaving contraption you make a promise to

yourself to always keep the little vial of oil, the plastic cover and little cleaning brush together. You even buy a stylish little toilet bag to put everything in, too. But like a magic trick, zip up that stylish little bag, immediately unzip and… Abracadabra! The plastic cover is now for a different shaver and the brush has gone. The oil’s still there, but you don’t know what it’s for anyway.

6/ Very important software One day you’ll go to open a familiar and exceedingly crucial application on your laptop. Could be Microsoft Word, could be Garageband. You’ll scan the dock, shortcuts or “Recently Used” lists quickly a couple of times, then again slowly about five times. But it won’t be there. It won’t be

anywhere. Sodding Calculator, Stickies and Clock will still be present and correct, though, mocking you silently from their rarely touched little squares.

7/ Passwords The same old collection of letters and digits you’ve used all your life is suddenly not strong enough for a new service.

You happen upon this Important Paper every day for two years among files you actually need. Then your TV/blender/ Bluetooth toothbrush conks out and it’s gone, leaving you searching the Pile of Important Papers in your study in despair, screaming, “It was here! I’ve seen it here!” before accusing your partner of throwing it away. Could your warranty really have folded itself up into a paper aeroplane and made a bid for freedom? You will never know.

10/ Travel adaptors The granddaddy of all lost things. It’s estimated that in every household in Britain you’re always within one foot of a travel adaptor but, as with suitcase padlocks, you’ll never ever actually see one outside of an airport terminal. Ever.

WO R DS RO B T E M PL E I L LUSTR ATI O N CHRI S K I NG @ I L LUST R AT IO N W EB.C O M

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