w o r l d ’ s b e s t d r o n E s p71
3 1 7 p r o du c t s t e s t e d & r a t e d
Apple Watch
10 ways it’ll change your life forever
The Gadget Magazine December 2014 / £4.99
the verdict
iPhone 6 Vs Galaxy Alpha Two must-have phones. Only one choice.
tV tech special
4k For Under £2k Dream screens that won’t break the bank
Small Size. Big Ambitions.
Buy the best compact system camera for you
Contents December 2014 / Issue 236
On the cover iPhone 6 vs Galaxy Alpha
54
It’s the fight we all wanted to see – Apple’s middleweight vs Samsung’s new all-metal challenger
Droning on
71
Grab your pilot wings and aim for the skies with four of the finest drones your money can buy
Compact clash
102
Want pro photography without the bulky kit bag? We go compact system
Screen warriors
105
Want a 4K-capable TV for under £2k? We seek out the best and put them to the test
Apple Watch Ten ways it will rock your wrist, and your world…
130 jumpsuit: Quiz Necklace: Pebble London top: Sorapol Leggings: Intimissimi
d ec e m b e r 2 0 1 4 T 3 7
Contents December 2014 / Issue 236
Editor’s letter
11
Opinion
Windows 10 – for the win
Insight by Mark Skilton
Radar Most Wanted
15
Review: Moto 360
Middle East vs Middle Ages police
24
Keep your tech going while you’re on the move with charging-ready luggage Suspending disbelief
26
Canyon unveils its bonkers road bike concept, with intelligent liquid suspension Thumb wars!
28
Four of the best smart rings – who will be the lord of the rings? Spend
Icon: Marc Newson
32
Review: LG 34UM95 21:9
Apple iPhone 6 vs Samsung Galaxy Alpha 54
Group test: compact system cameras 102
2014’s smartphone giants battle it out for the top spot. We tell you which premium handset deserves a place in your pocket
Small cameras with small price tags and big skills. Discover your perfect pocket pro
Take control of the skies
Ultra-high-definition TVs needn’t put you out of house and home – you can afford to jump on the next-gen home entertainment bandwagon
36
Bendy phones, essential stats, and goats... 38
Must-remember dates for your digital diary
71
Not all drones have bad intentions; here are four of the best remote-control fliers to own your local airspace with
Tech life Gadget of the month
78
Obsession: kit yourself out like a soldier
79
Military-spec tech that’ll help you unleash your inner Private Pyle 80
Test: posh toasters
81
Never burn another slice of bread, probably
The online shoot-’em-up franchise gets a serious lick of paint and a future slant
Upgrade: winter warmers 42
Music Films
44
Full-suspension meets full-electric with Lapierre’s supercharged mountain bike, plus conquer the great outdoors
44
Home
118 119 120 121 122 123 124 125 126 128
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87
Turn your pad into your local booze haunt
Apps, websites and ebooks
Toyota’s two-seater bike-esque i-Road, and the incredible tech inside Ford’s latest Focus
Journey through space with Star Walk 2
Smartphones Tablets Cameras Televisions Laptops Gaming Home audio Home entertainment Headphones Accessories
82
The superior, and now Blu-ray steelbook better The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 46
The guide
Stay warm, dry and look cool with our pick of the best coats for the cold season Pulse
Dark and soulful – that’s Kele’s Trick
114
77
The Essential: COD: Advanced Warfare 41
Scale Parisian rooftops in Assassin’s Creed: Unity, plus Far Cry 4 and more
105
Sweet speakers to pump your wireless sounds through
Don’t be a slave to robots, control them before they control you!
Play
Supertest: 4K TVs under £2K
Review: Nocs NS2 Air Monitors v2
Tech Dad
101
Super-wide, super-pricey, super-screen
Take explosive shots, but don’t drink ‘em
Cheap and cheerful (quality) tech
101
Features
How to...
Games
Review: Drift Stealth 2
Sleeker than a GoPro, but does it have what it takes to unsettle the top dog?
Stuff
Incoming
51
Finally… by The Secret Policeman
Off to a flying start with the RAF’s super-tough G-Shock timepiece
The Buzz
Motorola’s stunning smartwatch might be your next wrist companion
Truth by Duncan Bell
Fresh to the Cupertino floors, Newson brings with him his smartwatch knowhow 34
100
51
31
Record the entirety of TV, possibly, with Tivo’s MEGA – the ultimate set-top box
95
Stateside by Chris Smith
Need List
This month’s essential tech is wearable mad, featuring two GoPro-beaters, a smart tennis sensor and a French Bulldog
360 review: Samsung Note 4
America’s epic next-gen sporting venues 50 The tech giant everyone loves to hate
18
Rated
Another Sammy smartphone this month, this time it’s one for those with big hands...
HTC takes the selfie craze to a new level with the Desire Eye – it’s got big front pixels
Bags of power
49
Drive
90
On the cover
amanda @ sapphires Photographed by philip sowels styling by Dean Hau Hair and Make-up by Ami penfold retouching by gary stuckey model wears jumpsuiT: Quiz Necklace: Pebble London Bracelet: Pebble London
d ec e m b e r 2 0 1 4 T 3 9
Editor’s letter December 2014 / Issue 236
Good things are said to come in threes. I am a man of empirical nature possessing a healthy distrust for hex and wives’ tale. Yet even I checked the chicken bones when three monumentally good things appeared in a ten-day whammy: (1) As I write, hours from sending my first issue of this magazine to the printers, I’m mere weeks into a job that I’ve always hankered after. (2) A fortnight ago we played hosts at the T3 Awards, drenching the finest tech releases of the year in a Champagne-and-posh-dinner-swathed spotlight. (3) Five days ago I became a father. To misquote the venerable De La Soul, three is the magic number. It’s certainly magic for Sony. They hauled away three trophies at the T3 Awards. As well as the Gaming award and Gadget of the Year for the insurmountable PS4, the original PlayStation was announced as the inaugural T3 Hall of Fame inductee. Is it an obvious choice for a Hall of Fame entrant? Yes – but shouldn’t a legends award be obvious? Launching this prestigious showcase with anything other than PlayStation would be like the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame roster omitting Elvis. PlayStation was as
identifiable as a part of mid-90’s home style as La-Z-Boy chairs and yucca plants. 155 million living room carpets were strewn with controllers bearing four sacred symbols like Ankh hieroglyphics. I remember thinking of it as a ‘grown-up’ console, with one laser-focused purpose: pure, unadulterated gaming. Today I carry a single device that does a multitude of things. Some of those things it does very well indeed; some not so well. PlayStation did one thing brilliantly. There were consoles before, but when that perfect meld of style, substance and performance falls from the cast like it did for Sony in 1994, classics are made. This magazine’s not about future-gazing fantasy, concepts, rumour or scurrilous leak (nor is it about dwelling on the significance of a digit, but bear with me…). It’s about seeking out those products that strike perfection. The bits of kit that, like PlayStation, redefine an area of lifestyle tech to become the new standard against which its challengers will be held. Informed, entertaining discovery and opinion is what we’re about. I don’t know who, in three years’ time, we’ll be welcoming in to the Hall of Fame. I have no idea what this magazine’s Gadget of the Year 2017 will be. And I have absolutely no clue as to which clown-puke-coated YouTube presenter my toddler will watch on repeat and I shall want to stove-in with a shovel. These things are three years away – but I bet you all the money in my pocket that the process of getting to each of them is going to be a lot of fun in the making. Threes. Good things come in them. But waiting for them isn’t what this magazine is about. We bring you Tomorrow’s Technology Today – T3. Tom Dennis, editor Twitter: @tomdennis / Email:
[email protected]
{Contributors}
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As TechRadar.com’s Phones and Tablets editor, Gareth handles more handsets than Carphone Warehouse. He makes the call of the year between the Alpha and iPhone 6 on p54.
Few developments in Tech Land escape the attention of T3 stalwart, Rob. This month he turns his attention to Apple’s Watch, and speculates on how life changing it may be on p130.
If watching TV were a profession, James would be its Mr Bigshot. In fact, watching TV is James’ profession. So his opinions on the latest 4K TVs is well worth listening to. See p105.
Gareth Beavis
Rob temple
JAMes Rivington
To subscribe to T3, point your browser at myfavouritemagazines.co.uk, or flick to p43. The next T3 is on sale November 25 d ec e m b e r 2 0 1 4 T 3 1 1
Future, Quay House, The Ambury, Bath BA1 1UA Website: T3.com Tel: (+44) 01225 442244 Twitter: @t3dotcom Facebook: t3mag General email:
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{ ed i t o r i al }
{ P UB L IS H IN G }
Editor, Tom Dennis Editor, T3.com Mark Mayne Production Editor Sophie Spicer News & Reviews Editor Nick Odantzis
Group Editor-in-Chief Paul Newman Group Art Director Steve Gotobed Trade Marketing Manager Colin Hornby Production Manager Mark Constance Production Co-ordinator Roberta Lealand Image Manipulation and Repro James Wootton Creative Director Bob Abbott Editorial Director Jim Douglas Content and Marketing Director Nial Ferguson Chief Executive Officer Zillah Byng-Maddick
Senior Art Editor Matthew Kendall Art Editor Luke O’Neill iPad Art Editor Stuart Ratcliffe
{ ad v e r t i s i n g }
Lifestyle Technology Editor Duncan Bell Lifestyle Technology Writer Peter Dreyer Gaming Editor-at-large Nick Cowen US Reporter Chris Smith
Sales Director (Bath) Clare Dove Agency Director Stuart Staves Advertising Manager Sasha McGregor Account Director Andrew Tilbury
Contributors, Words Rob Temple, Derek Adams, James Rivington, Jeremy Laird, Gavin Stoker, Marc Flores, Mark Skilton, Francesca Peak, Sean Keach, Max Parker, Jim Hill, Simon Munk, Kane Fulton
{ c o n t e n t & p r o j ec t del i v e r y }
Contributors, Art, Photography and Styling Philip Sowels, Jesse Wild, Neil Godwin, Joseph Branston, Dave Caudery, Adam Gasson, Lee @ Pixeleyes Contributors, Illustration and Design Andrew Gibbs, Kitsch Nitsch, Mark Mitchell, Chris King, Hicham Kasabi
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T3 is also available digitally on iTunes for iPad and iPhone, Google Play for Android devices, Amazon App Store for Kindle Fire, Paper Garden for the Samsung Galaxy Tab S, Windows 8 and Zinio Printed in the UK by William Gibbons on behalf of Future UK Newsstand distributor: Seymour Distribution Ltd, 2 East Poultry Avenue, London, EC1A 9PT. Tel: 020 7429 4000 All submissions to T3 magazine are made on the basis of a licence to publish the submission in T3 magazine and its licensed editions worldwide. Any material submitted is sent at the owner’s risk and, although every care is taken, neither Future Publishing Limited nor its agents shall be liable for loss or damage. All contents © Future Publishing Ltd 2014. While we make every effort possible to ensure that everything we print in T3 is factually correct, we cannot be held responsible if factual errors occur. Please check any quoted prices and specifications with your supplier before purchase. If you would like to purchase the images featured in this publication, please visit www.futuremediastore.com or email
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Radar
{Also changing games}
A ‘green’ 4x4 and more top tech p18 Microsoft gets its mojo back p22 Bags that pack some power p24 Rings that, well, ring p28 The ultimate telly taper from TiVo p31 Marc Newson’s style file p32
E ssent i a l news f r om te c h ’ s f r ont l i ne
M OST WA N T E D
With front and back cameras that shoot simultaneously, you can capture both yourself and your surroundings
{HTC Desire Eye}
Selfie-obsessed
HTC plonks a ridiculously specced camera on the front of its Desire Eye smartphone and changes the way we take photos of ourselves forever d ec e m b e r 2 0 1 4 T 3 1 5
M OST WA N T E D
Take one look at Facebook, Twitter or Instagram and one thing becomes clear: we love taking photos of ourselves. It’s not hard to see why selfies have become the most common way to take snaps these days: they show that we’ve physically been somewhere, and front-facing cameras mean that we can line up shots to perfectly capture our noggins in any exotic locale we choose. HTC’s new phone, the Desire Eye, is a smartphone explicitly targeted at the vainest generation of all time. At first glance it may look like any run-of-the-mill handset, but your eye is immediately drawn to the freakishly large front-facing camera above the centre of the screen. Within it lurks a 13-megapixel sensor complete with a dual-LED flash and 1080p video recording, which is pretty much the same as the smartphone’s more conventional rear-facing snapper. As well as the super-specced shooter, the Desire Eye includes specialist selfie software. A Split Capture mode snaps forward and backward-facing pics at the same time so you can record your position in time and space. Face tracking will zoom in on the faces of up to four people, which is handy for conference calls, and voice selfie triggers the camera with phrases such as “cheese”, “smile” or “please acknowledge me because I’ve just spent a fortune on make-up”. It would be easy to dismiss the Desire Eye as a novelty smartphone for the narcissistic, but it’s actually pretty good in its own right. It packs a 5.2-inch 1080p display, a 2400mAh battery and an IPX7 rating, which makes it kind of waterproof. The processor, memory and wireless connectivity are identical to HTC’s top-of-the-line One (M8), which we recently named our Phone of the Year. In fact, the only thing that lets it down slightly is its plastic build, but its soft-touch finish does mean it feels a notch above your average polycarbonate smartphone. HTC is attempting to target the upper end of the budget smartphone market – think along the sub-£300 price tags of the Nexus 5 or the One Plus One. HTC appears to be going against the grain of Apple and Samsung’s new premium iPhone and Alpha handsets, but it’s likely prepping its One (M8) followup for release in spring of next year. The Desire Eye could become the musthave phone for the self-obsessed, or it could flop into the same realm of forgotten novelty products as HTC’s Facebook-specific First phone. Either way, there’s no denying that the ante for selfies has been upped, and we’re expecting future front-facing cameras from other manufacturers to follow suit. £TBC (exclusively at three), htc.com/uk, out early november
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{ D e ta i l s } 1 Rear view
The Desire Eye’s rear camera eschews the Ultrapixel technology found on the One (M8) in favour of a more conventional sensor. It boasts an f/2 28mm lens, which makes it easier to achieve pro effects. 2 The front line
Round the front you’ll find a f/2.2 22mm lens, which gives a wider angle of view so you can show a little more background and squeeze in more of your big-faced friends. 3 Slimmed down
At 8.5mm, the Desire Eye is almost a full millimetre slimmer than the One (M8), but still not quite as slim as the iPhone 6 (6.9mm) or Samsung Galaxy Alpha (6.7mm) – see p54. It weighs in at 154g, more than both Apple and Samsung’s handsets. 4 Sixth sense
Like the majority of HTC phones, the Desire Eye runs Android 4.4 with the Sense 6 UI over the top. Its specialist selfie camera features will be rolled out to other HTC phones in the near future, too.
WWW For more NEWS go to T3.COM
Radar
News blip Apple targets the fashion pack: the apple Watch will feature on the cover of Vogue China
{Speak}
Techradar’s Gareth Beavis says megapixels don’t matter
1
We’ve finally reached the point of too many megapixels. The Desire Eye has two 13MP snappers, meaning the camera on the front is finally as good as the one on the back. Awesome, right? We’ll all get great selfies! Well, sadly not. This isn’t about taking great pics, it’s a simple land grab to attract the selfieobsessed market that’s rippling throughout social media. In an attempt to impress with more megapixels, the actual output quality is diminished. We don’t need a higher megapixel count here.
2
The selfie is just a close-up photo of yourself at an event to prove you’re living life, so what we need is a better camera for that – one that’s got great low-light capabilities, for instance. The iPhone 6 (and the HTC One (M8)) are both better for selfies in darker scenes than the Eye thanks to more powerful sensors. I’m all for improved cameras, but forget about megapixels. Make them faster, brighter, wider... The Desire Eye is a good phone that doesn’t need to rely on an attention-grabbing spec. Let’s hope the rest of the competition doesn’t follow suit...
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{Focus}
Self life: more gadgets that can capture your best angle Olympus PEN Lite E-PL7
Nixie
Nokia Lumia 735
A classically-styled camera with a 21st-century twist – literally. The PEN Lite E-PL7’s screen flips down, so you can frame the perfect selfie, while a bundled flash captures you in the best possible light.
Designed expressly for selfies, this micro hovering camera straps to your wrist, but can also be set free, transforming into a quadcopter that takes aerial shots before returning to recharge.
Dubbed the “smartphone made for selfies” by Nokia, this Windows 8.1-powered phone has a 5MP front camera and wide lens. It’ll likely be overshadowed by HTC’s über sensor, but costs just £230.
d ec e m b e r 2 0 1 4 T 3 1 7
M o s t wa n t e d pa r t 2
Need list
{3}
Water and peace Kobo Aura H2O
The cool stuff we’d blow our cash on, if we had the cash to blow...
One of the things we miss most about reading paperbacks is being able to take them into the bath, dropping them in the water and being left with a useless pile of pulp. Kobo’s Aura H20 brings this experience into the 21st century, but thanks to its IP67 certification it won’t suffer should it be submerged. It can also be used in dusty environments, and thanks to its Carta E Ink touchscreen pages looks bright and natural in any light. Perfect for reading bedtime stories to dolphins.
{1}
Light, action, camera
Sony Action Cam Mini GoPro’s domination of the action cam market could be nearing an end thanks to this AZ1VR Action Cam Mini. It’s one of the smallest and lightest action cams, at just 63g, and its slimline design makes it ideal for low-key mounting to helmets. There’s no 4K – instead, you’ll have to make do with 1080p – though the Exmor R lens promises great results in low light. You also get Wi-Fi uploading and a stereo mic, and it’s splashproof too (waterproof shroud available). £279, sony.co.uk, out now
£140, kobo.com, out now
{2}
Car phone Blackberry P’9983
Blackberry’s current business plan appears to be abandoning the cheap smartphone market and making up for it by selling handfuls of overpriced handsets. Case in point: the P’9983. It’s co-designed by German fast car company Porsche, as it constantly reminds you with its unsubtle Porsche Design logo above the screen. There’s still a lot to love here, though, such as a 3.1-inch touchscreen, 64GB of storage and Blackberry’s secure BBM messenger and stillgreat physical keyboard. And we’re guessing that if you can afford to buy a Porsche, you can afford the phone to go with it. £2,000, uk.blackberry.com, out now
{4}
Electric avenue Peugeot Quartz Concept
There’s always been a bit of friction between experiencing the countryside in an off-road vehicle and the fact that they burn as much fossil fuel as a small power station. Peugeot’s Quartz gives wannabe-greenies a little less to worry about by marrying a 270HP conventional engine with two 114HP electric motors, the latter of which deliver 31 miles of driving powered by nothing but marvellous electro-juice. It’s merely a concept car, so it might never see light of day, but we just love the thought of churning up a national park with this petro-electro behemoth. £TBC, peugeot.com/en, out TBC
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Radar
News blip Staff at Edinburgh Airport trial Google Glass to help them deal with customer Enquiries
{7}
Soundbaa Libratone Diva
{5}
Hive mind Lazer Wasp
Lazer’s cycling helmet is said to be the most aerodynamic on the market, thanks to lots of wind tunnel testing and complex mathematical models. It also features an integrated visor, which can be moved to create a gap for airflow, so you don’t end up with sweaty bonce syndrome. Probably not one for cycling to the shops, but if you’re serious about victorious velodrome ventures it’s well worth considering.
Danish company Libratone’s already made a name for itself among audiophiles, and its Diva soundbar is sure to please all but the pickiest of lugholes. Rather than projecting sound forwards like traditional soundbars, it angles it upwards so the waves are about the same height as the content on your flatscreen. It’s also finished with an Italian wool speaker cover, which is said to have superior acoustic properties. Because everyone knows Italian sheep are so much cooler than other sheep. £649, libratone.com, out now
£300, lazersport.co.uk, out now
{8}
Wi-Fi Hi-Fi Harman Kardon Omni 10
Bluetooth is brill for cheap, portable wireless speakers, but it can lack audio clarity, and it’s prone to cutting out when you move around. These use Wi-Fi to transmit sounds, and the greater bandwidth means that audio can be delivered in far greater clarity – topping out at a 24-bit/96kHz resolution. As well as releasing the good-looking speakers, the company’s also come up with the Adapt, which bridges the gap between your smartphone and your Hi-Fi. From £180, harmankardon.co.uk, out TBC
{9} {6}
Like a Leica
Home screen
Fujifilm X100T
Logitech Harmony Ultimate Home
It may look like something your granny used, but Fujifilm’s latest compact snapper is packed with innovation and photographic loveliness. Its best feature is its Hybrid Viewfinder, which augments an old-school optical view with digital information, so you won’t end up with shots that look sharp on the viewfinder but blurry on your computer.
This remote can control your TV, games console and CD player. What’s new though is that it can also control home automation if you’ve got it set up with Nest, August, Peq and Lutron support, so you can raise blinds, set the temperature and dim the lights too. There’s also a smartphone app, which kinda negates the need for the remote...
£999, fujifilm.eu, out now
£TBC, myharmony.com, OUT TBC
{10}
Make a racquet Sony Smart Tennis Sensor
Tennis player analysis usually involves paying Boris Becker a five-figure fee to cast his thundering Teutonic opinion on your terrible form and limp-wristed racquet skills. Thankfully, then, Sony has removed the need for paying Baron von Slam by releasing its Smart Tennis Sensor, which cleverly plugs into a compatible racquet and records your swing speed, ball speed and topspin. Once you’ve finished your match you can view full analysis of your playing style on your smartphone. Ace. WWW For more NEWS go to T3.COM
d ec e m b e r 2 0 1 4 T 3 1 9
Radar
News blip Microsoft pips Sony to launch Xbox One in potentially lucrative China
{12}
Death Star disco
Om/One levitating speaker There isn’t enough levitating stuff, but Om/One fixes this ever so slightly with its floating orb-shaped speaker, which uses evil forces (OK, electromagnetism) to provide a clear sound unimpeded by inconvenient things like flat surfaces and gravity. The result is a battery-powered Bluetooth speaker that looks more suited to Darth Vader’s throne room than your living room, but one which is sure to start conversations and confuse the elderly. £122, omone.com/om-one, out February 2015
{11}
Non-heavy metal Industry/Ti Cycles Solid
Titanium is the ideal material for bikes, but it’s hard to work with, requiring an inert argon or helium environment for welding. So design consultancy Industry has teamed up with Ti Cycles to create Solid, which 3D prints the bits and bobs that are then welded together by a specialist. The result is a beautiful, brutalist bike with dynamo-powered GPS that looks like something Robocop would use to crack the hour on his days off. £TBC, industrypdx.com, out TBC
{13}
{15}
Contour Roam 3
HTC One (M8) for Windows
When in roam After a troubled couple of years, Contour is back with a bang. Its latest action camera sticks to the simple design and straightforward operation that made it a go-to if you didn’t want a GoPro, and there’s no change to its maximum 30fps 1080p video recording. It is, however, far more resilient, and able to survive a 30foot plunge underwater, without the need for bulky housing. For a pretty reasonable $199 you get an 8GB SD card and a couple of mounts, too. $199, contour.com, out now
Check M8
{14}
Alfred Hitchcocker spaniel GoPro Fetch Dog
GoPro’s latest mount allows you to fit its cameras to the back of your canine compadres, so you can record the world from their perspective. It makes sense, as pretty much everything a dog does is as exciting to them as an extreme sport. Expect YouTube to be deluged with firstperson – or first-poodle – vids of pooches dry humping inappropriate objects. £59.99, gopro.com, out now
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If the HTC One (M8) for Windows looks familiar, it’s because it’s pretty much identical to the T3 Award-winning HTC One (M8) for Android. The Taiwanese company could be onto a winner here, though – rather than encountering the huge costs of creating a whole new phone, it’s simply repurposed the Android-centric One (M8)’s design and technology and stuck Windows on it. We’re expecting Apple to go down the same route pretty soon… £357, htc.com/uk, out now
Radar
News blip Transport for London unveils designs for driverless Tube trains
N EWS
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2
The news at Windows 10 Microsoft has found its mojo again with
Windows 10. Wondering what you can expect from the new OS? Wonder no more...
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Where to start
Actual windows
Quartered screen
Task list
10 brings the much-missed Start menu back, and it’s not the compromise found in the Windows 8.1 update.
The new OS treats apps like desktop programs, with menu bars, taskbar icons and proper resizing.
You can have Word in one quarter, whatever you’re plagiarising in another, and still see movies and music.
Alt and tab lets you switch between open programs. The task view button lets touchscreen users do it too.
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Double desktops
Upwardly mobile
Flat as a pancake
Find files faster
Task view also adds the ability to create a more virtual desktop – one for business, one for pleasure.
Microsoft says Windows 10 will look just as good on your phone as it will on an 80-inch flatscreen.
8’s bolder, flatter design remains, but gradients make empty spaces look better on big screens.
You’ll now find recent files and oft-visited folders in File Explorer, so you can dive straight back in.
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WWW For more NEWS go tO T3.COM
Radar
trend
News blip GoPro unveils a cheaper, entry-level action cam called the HERO
Packing some power
Keep gadgets brimmed on your travels with this charging-ready luggage
Timbuk2 Power commute
North Face Surge II charged
Perfect for frequent travellers wanting to carry multiple gadgets at all times, the Power Commute has space for your 15-inch laptop, tablet and more. Another pocket houses the Joey T1 battery, which offers up to two full smartphone charges. It’s TSA-compliant, so you needn’t remove it when going through airport security, plus a handy access port on the side allows you to pass the charging cable through to the back tablet pocket without removing it.
North Face knows a thing or two about backpacks, but its latest – the Surge II charged backpack – takes things to another level. This 32-litre daypack has a small Joey T1 battery pack nestled inside that charges gadgets over USB, with enough capacity to fully charge a smartphone twice – not mind-blowing, but the battery’s small size keeps weight down. There’s also a variety of pockets for carrying phones, a tablet and a 17-inch laptop.
$100 (£61), timbuk2.com
£180, thenorthface.co.uk
Birksun Boost solar
Phorce Pro
Despite what you might think on first look, that big panel on the back of the Birksun Boost isn’t a built-in IPS screen for watching HD movies on your travels. Instead, it’s a solar panel that’s perfect for charging your gadgets as you go without having to worry about running out of precious juice. Just one hour of the big yellow thing in the sky provides 20% of charge for your smartphone, and the USB outlet means you can top up almost any device you’re carrying.
On the outside the Phorce Pro looks like a conventional laptop bag, but the lofty price tag hints that something else is going on. That something is an integrated 26,000 mAh battery, which can fully charge a laptop or revive a smartphone many times over, and its three USB ports enable you to charge all your gadgets at once. The really clever bit is that the battery can communicate with your iPhone or Android phone over Bluetooth, giving you the skinny on its charging status in the palm of your hand.
£100 (£61), birksun.com
€549 (£432) PC/€599 (£472) Mac, phorce.com
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WWW F o r m o r e NEWS g o t o T 3.C OM
i n n o vat i o n
K eeping you i n suspense Canyon’s concept cycle intelligently adjusts to the surface you’re riding on, resulting in a faster, more comfortable ride
The onboard unit
As well as controlling the bike’s suspension, the onboard computer tracks the bike, and your performance, via GPS, and even places emergency calls in the event of impact.
One of the biggest reasons for suspension never finding its way into road bikes is that you waste a lot of energy to the bicycle’s inherent sponginess. Add to this the comparative weight and heft of suspension units and you’re worlds away from the carbon fibre lightness of modern racers. With Projekt MRSC Connected, however, German company Canyon believes it’s finally integrated that all-important bounciness into a desirable road bike, thanks to a liberal application of cool tech. The suspension units use Magneto-Rheological fluid, which changes consistency when it’s exposed to a computer-controlled magnetic field. When you’re on a smooth road it’ll stiffen up, so none of your energy is lost, but hit a more rugged path and it loosens, resulting in a more comfortable ride and better handling. It may sound a bit pie-in-the-sky, but Canyon has a great track record in bike innovation – in 2005 it was the first company to create a road bike with hydraulic disc brakes. canyon.com, OUt tbc
The chainstays
A big problem with full-suspension bikes is that forces from pedalling can cause the frame to concertina slightly, resulting in ‘rider bob’. The MRSC solves this with anti-squat chainstays, which mean the bike only flexes where it really needs to.
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Radar
News blip Premier Inn’s new smart hotel will let you use an app to book, check in and settle down
The handlebars
Sensors built into the handlebars detect if the rider’s hands are on the hoods or the drops and adjust the bike for comfort or speed respectively. On the drops you’ll find a switch that can be used to lock out the suspension completely.
{extr a}
Fat-tyred bikes make the world go round
The suspension
Held in place by carbon leaf springs, suspension units on the front forks and seat tube instantly harden when exposed to a magnetic field. When at their floppiest, they provide up to 15mm of travel, which is enough, Canyon reckons, for 90% of riding conditions.
Sony’s electric bicycle takes completely the opposite design direction to Canyon’s, replacing subtle fine lines and precise aerodynamics with tractor tyres and chest-expandingly wide handlebars. There is a point to it, though – plug in one of Sony’s Xperia Z3 rugged smartphones and you can access video feeds from the fore-and-aft mounted 180° cameras, and play your tunes through speakers embedded in the handlebars. It’s only a concept at the moment, and it’s probably been created to promote Sony’s new handsets rather than as a serious venture into eco-friendly transportation, but Sony still deserves credit for building the single most obnoxious bike ever. sony.co.uk, OUt tbc
d ec e m b e r 2 0 1 4 T 3 2 7
Radar
News blip HTC Unveils the RE, A new Periscope-style Action Camera
news
Be a ring leader
Thumb wars! We compare four pieces of tech you can wrap around your finger NFC Ring
Smarty Ring
MOTA SmartRing
Ringly
Contains an NFC chip, like the one found in an Oyster card. This can be programmed to contain a small amount of data, which can in turn trigger real-world interactions such as opening an NFC-enabled door lock. It’s a beautifully simple idea, as it doesn’t rely on batteries or Bluetooth.
This may sound like something you’d find at a kids’ party, but it’s actually packed with tech – a clock, email notifications, phone tracking, a remote control and 24 hours of battery life via Qi charging. Sounds amazing, but we’re sceptical about how so much tech can be packed into such a tiny thing.
Essentially a touchscreen for your finger. Thanks to the scrolling display it can show snippets of text, such as emails, tweets and Facebook alerts. This one’s actually been seen in action at IFA in Berlin, but the prototype included a clunky external battery, and a flat screen rather than a curved one.
Looks like a normal ring, but illuminates a subtle notification LED embedded in its side and gently vibrates. Alerts from different apps trigger different colours and vibrations, so you’ll know if you’ve received a Tinder notification from Captain Hunk while you’re dining with Professor Boring.
£29.99, store.nfcring.com
$275, smartyring.com
From $60, mota.com
From $195, ringly.com
{extr a}
Don’t lose it, use it! Being killed or seriously injured are real concerns when you take part in extreme sports, but neither compare to the fire and brimstone wrath you’ll encounter should you lose your wedding ring. At the same time,
2 8 T 3 d ec e m b e r 2 0 1 4
not wearing your ring could attract some unwanted attention. QALO has a solution, with its (non-smart) ring, which has been designed specifically for extreme sports, as well as more strenuous professions
such as firefighting, the armed forces and being a bad-ass (but happily married) ninja. The ring is made from medical-grade silicone, so it’ll stretch with your digits and won’t rip your finger off should it get
caught on something. This isn’t the kind of thing you should present to the love of your life at the altar, but it is a disposable replacement for those times when you might misplace the real deal. $20, qaloring.com, out now
WWW F o r m o r e NEWS g o t o T 3.C OM
News blip Pioneer updates some stereos to support apple carplay
Radar
spend
MEGA drive
TiVo introduces MEGA, a telly taper that takes on the terabytes $5,000, custom.tivo.com/products, coming soon
What is it?
Do I need 24TB of space?
Isn’t it a bit industrial?
How do I access videos?
what’s the damage?
Put simply, it’s a huge TiVo with an epic 24TB of storage that’s spread across ten hot-swappable hard disk drives. The package also includes six tuners, free TiVo service until the end of time and, of course, a remote control.
Maybe. The switch to high-def and ultra-high-def media has resulted in a dramatic increase in the amount of space required to store TV shows and movies. This TiVo gives you 4,000 hours in HD, which could be filled surprisingly quickly.
Yeah, you’re not really going to be sliding this neatly under your fancy flatscreen telly. Instead it’s designed to be rack-mounted alongside your other computing or AV equipment. What do you mean you don’t have a rack unit?
TiVo has released an app so that you can watch recorded content on both smartphones and tablets. And with 26,000 hours – or three non-stop years – of standard definition content, you’ll need to be watching wherever you go.
TiVo’s set the price at $5,000, or about £3,000. It’s a lot to drop on what is essentially a glorified HDR, but as storage prices come down and ultra-HD content ramps up it could really come into its own in the next few years.
{J ust how m uch m edi a ca n you fit on 2 4TB?}
38 million eBooks 4.8 million three-minute pop songs 52,000 SD soap opera episodes 2,000 two-hour HD movies 20 hours of uncompressed 4K footage
W W W F or mo r e NEWS g o to T3.C OM
D EC E M B E R 2 0 1 4 T 3 3 1
Radar
icon
News blip Tesco launches the bigger, better and faster Hudl2
#9
M arc Newson watch this space
The retro-obsessed futurist and his journey from Australia to Apple It’s rare to find a designer who can turn his hand to just about anything, but Marc Newson is exactly that. After a turbulent childhood in Australia, he splashed onto the design scene with his Lockheed Lounge in 1986. Its choice of materials, biomorphic design and space-age looks soon became his trademark. From this auspicious start, Newson has come to apply his retrofuturist style to everything from aircraft and shoes to concept cars and pepper grinders. His recent appointment at Apple will bring interesting things to the Cupertino company, too, and his watch know-how is sure to be applied to its functional but fashionable wearables. Marc, we salute you – with our smartwatches on show.
{Speak}
Pentax K-01 2012 Marc applied his clean lines to this interchangeable lens camera, which is as attractive as the photos it takes. Heineken/Krups The Sub 2013 The Sub chills a speciallydesigned canister of lager to 2°C and pours the perfect pint. It looks like something from a Bond villain’s bar. Biomega MN 1999 This eye-catching bike joins the dots as simply as possible, with the main frame constructed from two
3 2 T 3 D EC E M B E R 2 0 1 4
superplastic aluminium halves epoxy glued together. Riva Aquariva 2010 Riva’s luxury yacht was a key part of 1960s Mediterranean glamour. Marc’s update retains the seductive lines and hydrodynamics of the classics, while adding playful neon colours. Qantas First-Class Lounges 2007 Qantas’ sumptuous firstclass lounges at Melbourne and Sydney airports embrace the golden age of flight,
with wood panelling and leather seats, while adding new tech such as plasma screens and games consoles. Embryo Chair 1988 The Embryo follows the design language of Marc’s legendary Lockheed Lounge, but comes with a far lower price tag and less ostentatious design. Ikepod Solaris 2008 Has a face on each side, so you can flip it over when you enter a different time zone, and back when you return.
While the name Marc Newson may be new to the general public and mainstream media, he is an established designer of singular talent. He rose to fame in the 80s, when he designed and made the Lockheed Lounge, a curvaceous chaise longue made from hand beaten aluminium panels riveted together over a fibreglass body. It was used by Madonna in the video for Rain, and later became the first contemporary design object to sell for over £1m at auction in 2009. Newson has designed concept cars for Ford, doorstops for Magis, furniture for Cappellini, T-shirts for G-Star RAW and now watches for Apple. Common to all these designs are a bold visual flair, expressive use of sculptural form and technical brilliance. His recent arrangement with Apple seems like a good fit for all parties.
WWW For more NEWS go tO T3.COM
photos: Lena Paaske (Biomega), Fabrice Gousset (Embryo), Olivier Pasqual (Ikepod)
Design Museum’s Alex Newson on Marc’s legacy
Radar
Under the radar
News blip Tesla CEO ELON MUSK promises a self-driving model for next year
Stuff
The kind of tech you’d find wrapped in black plastic on the top shelf at McColl’s. Not that we’d know...
Noke Padlock The contents of your pockets are slowly being moved over to your smartphone – first your credit cards, now your keys. Noke’s padlock is Bluetoothactivated, so you just need to be in the vicinity to unlock it with your iOS or Android device. $59.99, fuzdesigns.com, out February 2015 Doiy Fixie Pizza Cutter Offset the greasy calories in your pizza by pretending to be a tiny hipster riding this fixed-wheel bike across its molten cheese expanse. €17.95, doiydesign.com, out now Poppy 3D A 3D camera and 3D viewer in one, the Poppy uses mirrors to capture and reproduce stereoscopic images from an iPhone’s single lens and screen. It’s lo-fi, but clever. $59.95, poppy3d.com, out now
3 4 T 3 d ec e m b e r 2 0 1 4
Open Mix Smoothly mix between two phones with this tiny crossfader. Or completely mess up the beat matching, get the key wrong, and make everyone hate you forever. $60, myopenmix.com, out January 2015 Asics Fall 2014 Glow in the Dark Pack Asics has applied a lick of glow-in-thedark paint to the most important bits of its iconic trainers. so You’ll never lose them during a power cut, which is a bonus. £99, asics.co.uk, out now Zipbuds The average person spends a total of 17 years untangling their headphones. Well Probably... Zipbuds has found a neat solution by adding a funky zipper to the cords. Simple, but surprisingly effective. £25, zipbuds.com, out now
WWW For more NEWS go tO T3.COM
Email
[email protected] Tweet @t3dotcom Facebook /T3mag Letters T3, Future Publishing, Quay House, The Ambury, Bath BA1 1UA
M o s t wa n t e d pa r t 2
The buzz
Been in a news-free bubble? Fear not, here’s (almost) all you need to know...
What we’ve learned this month Everyone loves goats What started as a gag at the expense of increasingly-niche simulator games has become a franchise unto itself. Originally released on the PC, Goat Simulator is now available on Android and iOS, and it’s set to trot onto Xbox One too.
We did go to the moon Conspiracy theorists have long argued that the lighting in NASA’s photograph of Buzz Aldrin on the surface of the moon is all wrong, because he’s well-lit despite standing in the shadow of the moon lander. Graphics card company Nvidia has staged a virtual recreation of the shot, and proved that the lighting is actually spot on.
What happened next? From house hunting to microwave charging...
{ G am i ng }
{ C onn e c t i v i t y }
USB 3.1 is getting even better
Gullible is not in the dictionary
Then: Joseph Braybrook (above), an intern at the Ordnance Survey, recreated the entirety of the British Isles in the block-building game. Now: The map’s fidelity has been upgraded so players should now be able to find their own house on it.
Then: The new data transfer standard will effectively double the speed of USB 3.0, achieving a maximum throughput of 10GB/s. Now: The VESA has announced that USB 3.1 will be capable of carrying ultra-high-def video, potentially piping 4K content from your smartphone to your TV.
Then: A fake advert convinced iPhone owners that the iOS 7 update made their phones waterproof. It didn’t. Now: A fake advert convinced iPhone owners that the iOS 8 update meant they could charge their phones in a microwave. They couldn’t.
Thanks for your post, Will. Would a Gioteck headset impress you more? (Sent from our smartwatch.)
Your mails, tweets and posts Smartwatch or dumbwatch?
Bendy iPhones: flaw or feature? Don’t see the problem, people have been going on about curved and bendy phones for ages. Now they’re here.
Am I the only one who doesn’t see the point or the appeal of smartwatches? Honestly, who’s life is so hectic and their time so crucial that they require a £100+ smartwatch to negate the seconds it takes to get out their phone and check it? To me it seems as pointless as putting a camera with a wireless video feed in your oven so you can check how cooked your dinner is without actually having to open the door.
John Pickett, via Facebook
Will Jewson, via Facebook
Michael Leach-Flanagan, via Facebook
3 6 T 3 d ec e m b e r 2 0 1 4
{ M ob i l e s }
Minecraft is the new Google Maps
Look after your phone, it’s a piece of metal and glass. What do you expect if you sit on it for a number of hours.
Apple vs Android Who cares which one is better? It’s all personal preference anyway. However, it is funny to listen to people argue the toss. gplez91, via YouTube
Enjoy whatever phone and ecosystem you prefer, that’s my motto. I don’t see the point of all the immature pissing contests some people seem to enjoy. Loki Jotunn, via YouTube
Still undecided? Take your side on p54...
Glen Wratten, via Facebook
I suppose it had to happen sometime, with all phones getting narrower and narrower. This will cost Apple millions in recalls.
Send mail, win this
A Gioteck EX-06 Wired headset with excellent sound quality and removable mic boom. Foldable and fantastic. £34.99, gioteck.com
WWW F o r m o r e NEWS g o t O T 3.COM
Radar the month in numbers Can you digit? Yes you can!
PIN pain
Apple drop
34 per cent
of Brits hate having to remember PIN numbers and passwords. 53% of us hope that technology will save us time queuing *Paypal
Dramatic arts
33seconds
The very point at which Nirvana’s grunge anthem Smells Like Teen Spirit reaches its most dramatic level, according to Spotify music analyser Where is the Drama? If you’re a fan, you’ll know this already.
*Spotify
Oysterless
3 per cent
The amount Apple’s shares fell by as a result of Bendgate and the recent iOS 8 glitches – an amount equal to nearly $23 billion. *The Independent
Ello The new social network promises to be ad-free forever, so you can rest assured your posts and personal info won’t be mined by marketing companies.
7km
Ed Vaizey The minister for Culture and the Digital Economy is behind a new program to get 16 to 18-year-olds into the games, animation and visual effects industry.
The length of the North Sea isle of Juist, near Germany, where DHL is trialling an automated parcel delivery drone.
BT The UK telecommunications company has found a way to squeeze gigabit internet connections into copper cables, so superfast internet could finally reach rural areas.
*DHL
WembleyWide Web
Mega mark-ups
400 Mbps
The 4G internet speed mobile operator EE will demonstrate at London’s Wembley Stadium, with a wider launch tipped for 2016.
The cost of the raw components required to build iPhones.
*EE
Winning
iPhone 6 Plus iPhone 6 iPhone 5S
The t3 windex
What’s going up and down in Techsville?
Choo-choo woo-woo
Failing
1 million
Number of transactions that took place in the nine days following Transport for London’s introduction of contactless payments. *TfL
Cracking up
1iPhone in 3 users
have cracked their screens.
7%
of users carry on using them regardless *Square Trade
500
£149
£139
Facebook
£130 *teardown
kph
The top speed of Japan’s latest electric-powered, non-contact Maglev train. It begins at a reasonable 160kph, before accelerating to a speed faster than any train before it.
Web stats
The British Phonographic Industry
499
Ferrari 458 Spiders will be made, retailing at around £230,000 each.
*Gizmodo
*Honest John
Internet-connected devices on the planet
7.20 billion Human beings on the planet
The litigation-happy musical trade body has sent 100m take-down notices to Google for linking to dodgy download sites. The words ‘shooting’ and ‘messenger’ spring to mind.
Oculus Rift
Outnumbered
7.22 billion
Ello has seen an influx of users as a result of Facebook’s ‘real name’ policy, which has angered many transgender performers.
An executive at the VR company has dismissed OR as a niche product that won’t sell. Stop being a negative ninny and give us our virtual sharks already. *GSMA Intelligence
2
minutes
Air mail
d ec e m b e r 2 0 1 4 T 3 3 7
Radar
I N COMI N G
News blip Honeywell’s £229 voice-activated thermostat comes to the UK
what’s on your radar?
3 6 9
OnePlus One makes Two, Eve Online eclipses the competition, Fantastic Four reboots
Months away
Months away
Months away
Tech
tech
tech
OnePlus Two
fps1000
Windows Phone 10
We loved the idea of the OnePlus One phone, which matched powerful components with a £230 price tag. But, by god, it was huge. The OnePlus Two will reduce the size so you won’t have to invest in a small trailer to transport it.
This dedicated slow-motion camera can record at a ludicrous maximum of 18,500 frames per second. Slo-mo is usually hugely expensive, but the fps1000 will cost from just £299, plus whatever crockery you smash in front of it.
Launching alongside Microsoft’s latest desktop and tablet OS is its mobile version, which has steadily got better and better. Could the new version finally bring it in line with Android and iOS? We’ll find out when it launches next year.
FILM
FILM
FILM
Blackhat
Tomorrowland
Fantastic Four Reboot
Heat director Michael Mann turns his attention to cybercrime with this action thriller. Chris Hemsworth stars as an improbably good-looking computer genius hired by the US and Chinese authorities to hunt a slippery hacker.
Brad Bird made a name for himself with animated adventures The Iron Giant and The Incredibles. Now for Tomorrowland, which is based on the Disney ride, and sees George Clooney head to a transcendental place in time and space.
The success of The Avengers and X-Men films mean that studios are now hugely interested in ensemble comic book flicks. This reboot tells the tale of the titular foursome, helmed by Chronicle director Josh Trank.
GAME
GAME
GAME
Final Fantasy Type-0
Dead Island 2
Not to be confused with Fine Fancy: Typo, Final Fantasy Type-0 hit the PlayStation Portable in Japan in 2011. It’s proved to be such a success that it’s earned an HD remake and international release on the Xbox One and PlayStation 4.
Dead Island was a zombie shooter that took a pretty po-faced approach to the rising of the undead. Its sequel of the same name takes place on the west coast of America and adds Dead Rising-style comical zombie kills to the mix.
Crystal Dynamics upset about 50% of the world by announcing that Rise of the Tomb Raider would be Xbox-only. But Microsoft fanboys are in for a treat as the rebooted story of the world’s clumsiest action heroine continues.
EVENT
EVENT
EVENT
Glastonbury Festival
London Film Festival
Tickets for next year’s festival sold out in a record 26 minutes. It’s not hard to see why: it’s the world’s biggest greenfield festival, and rumoured headliners Fleetwood Mac and Queen could be the icing on this particular mud pie.
This festival is always a hotbed of cool new flicks, and recently it’s embraced mainstream Hollywood alongside more avant-garde offerings. 2015’s event ties in with the expected release date of a certain Mr Bond’s 24th cinematic adventure…
Eve Fanfest With its tales of epic space battles frequently hitting the headlines, Eve Online is one of the more interesting MMOs. The game’s festival ties in with a solar eclipse in developer CCP Games’ native Iceland. Possibly the biggest PR stunt ever.
Tomb Raider rises
{The highs a nd lows of t3’s coming month}
yeah!
Far Cry has kept us entertained with its sunny approach to single-handedly decimating the local population of far-flung countries. In the fourth instalment we’ll be able to slaughter gun-totin’ men from the back of an elephant.
Meh!
3 8 T 3 D EC E M B E R 2 0 1 4
The Christmas shopping season officially begins with Black Friday, which began in the US but is creeping into UK calendars. Great online, but avoid real stores or be trampled to death by someone after a £1 USB charger.
Love Lego? The analogue Minecraft company will be taking over London’s ExCel centre at the end of the month for BRICK 2014. Expect to see demonstrations, amazing models, and many, many tiny plastic bricks.
WWW For more NEWS go tO T3.COM
Play Edited by Nick Cowen
This month… Start a (French) revolution / See Kele’s dark side / Revisit a 40-year-old video nasty / Take a journey through space
Th e content for you r K IT
T H E E SS E N T IAL
Brutal, elegant, fast How Sledgehammer Games plans to revitalise Activision’s premier shooter by adding verticality to the multiplayer
G
len Schofield and Michael Condry are gaming’s perennial odd couple. Schofield is easy going, tall and built like a truck. Gondry is shorter, wirier, but his eyes and smile burn with a slight intensity. The pair trade jovial quips and have a tendency to finish one another’s sentences. It’s good that they get on. As the co-founders of Sledgehammer Games they’ve been tasked with reviving the Call Of Duty (COD) franchise’s fortunes with Call Of Duty: Advanced Warfare. Last year’s iteration, Call Of Duty: Ghosts marked a dip in sales for the franchise. There was no real cause for worry – it racked up $1bn worth of sales in the first 24 hours – but critically it was less well received than any other instalment in the last five years. Sledgehammer has to reverse the sliding trends in both sales and review scores, and as any developer that has presided over the series knows, COD brings with it huge expectations from its publisher, Activision, and its audience. D ec e m b e r 2 0 1 4 T 3 41
Play
GA M E S
There’s new movement and futuristic weaponry to satisfy die-hard fans
Fed up of solo play? Get some help from your friends
➜ “The game has a huge fanbase and we have a responsibility not just to innovate, but not to alienate,” says Condry. “We’re not about to change what makes COD the best in class – the speed, the framerate, the weapon balance, the controls – every core to COD that makes it one of the best FPS franchises,” he says. “You can’t just throw all that out in the name of innovation. But the fans were loud and clear after MW3 – they wanted a new experience, and that’s where the Exo comes in.” The Exo is the ‘exo-skeleton’, a hi-tech frame strapped to the body of each soldier in the game, which allows players to choose between cloaking powers, speed boosts and the ability to hover in mid-air. It also gives players a bigger and faster range of movement;
“the fans were loud and clear – they wanted a new experience”
Assassin’s Creed: Unity Experience the revolution like never before as Ubisoft dumps its North American setting and heads to France
T
he secret war between the Assassins and the Templars arrives in Paris on the eve of the French Revolution. The famed city of love has become a hive of conflict; fights spill out into the streets, the city guards arrest and kill insurgents and above it all, Assassins prowl the city’s rooftops in search of their prey. The open world of Assassin’s Creed: Unity is bigger than any other game of this franchise, packed to the rafters with activities and bursting at the seams with collectibles – and now players can tackle it with up to three friends in tow.
Stealth plays a bigger part in Unity than in previous Assassin’s Creed titles. This is due in part to the fact that the AI is tougher and combat is more difficult. In past games, players could spam defence moves and take out legions of foes. Now, when they’re surrounded, they’re advised to run. Second, most missions are openended; like the early Hitman games, players have myriad approaches to each target, ensuring that each play through of Unity is unique. Vive la différence! From £44.99, assassinscreed.ubi.com, Out Nov 14 on PS4, X1 and PC
{Focus}
they can power slide, sprint and even jetpack (or ‘boost-jump’) up to higher ground. Advanced Warfare also includes a new range of firearms, based on what the game’s advisors say weapons of the future may look and sound like. Players can choose from laser rifles, high-powered rocket launchers and oneshot-one-kill hand-cannons. Pull the trigger and the player feels like they’re firing a tank. “Finding a balance was important,” says Schofield. “But we looked at it and realistically weapons are gonna be far more powerful.” “We want to make you feel like a true tier-1 soldier of the future, a real badass soldier of tomorrow,” Condry adds. “So everything from the XO, to the new weapons, to the new movement has to be brutal, elegant and fast.” Advanced Warfare is as Condry describes it, and while it doesn’t reinvent the wheel for the franchise, it should certainly ensure that COD veterans will have to put in the hours if they hope to survive on its virtual battlefield. from £40, callofduty.com, Out Nov 4, x1, x360, PS3, PS4, PC
4 2 T 3 D ec e m b e r 2 0 1 4
Many of Unity ’s missions are designed with more than one player in mind, and while the game can be finished solo, some quests can be eye-wateringly difficult to play alone
{Best of the r est}
Exciting gameplay on every level
Far Cry 4
LittleBigPlanet 3
Sunset Overdrive
The Crew
PS4, PS3, X1, x360, PC
PS4, PS3
X1 only
PS4, X1, X360, PC
Ubisoft’s open world shooter trades tropical islands for the Himalayas. Play switches from visceral gunplay, to stealth, to tripped out dream states.
Sony’s creator-generated platform game introduces new adorable playmates with unique powers that increase the variety players can implement.
Mixes the style-based shooting of Bulletstorm with Crackdown’s freewheeling open world play and ties it all together with laugh-out-loud hilarity.
Four mates on a series of missions in a persistent world. The game’s map is gargantuan, on-road action is tight and customisation options border on fetishist.
From £38.49, far-cry.ubi.com, Out Nov 18
From £35, playstation.com, Out Nov 18
£44, insomniacgames.com, Out Oct 31
From £39.85, thecrew-game. ubi.com, Out Nov 11
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D ec e m b e r 2 0 1 4 T 3 4 3
F i l ms
M U S IC
Come back, it’s just a power tool...
Kele
Bloc Party’s front man keeps it electronic on his second solo joint
N
ow apparently so famous that, like Elvis, Bowie or Thatcher, he no longer requires two names, Kele Okereke goes in a more trip-hoppy direction on his follow-up to The Boxer. Some fans of Bloc Party found the retro dance beats of that album a bit much, so lord knows what they’ll make of Trick’s darker and more soulful vibe. Those looking for something satisfyingly messed up should head this way, however.
£11 CD, £8 MP3, out now
{Best of the r est}
Don’t worry, be happy… Half Man Half Biscuit
Urge for Offal The 80s indie heroes return! Song titles such as Old Age Killed my Teenage Bride suggest that age has not mellowed them significantly… £11 CD, OUT now
Slipknot
.5: The Gray Chapter Continuing this month’s rather less than jolly theme, the mask-wearing metallers crawl out of their crypts for two CDs of pulverising racket…
The Texas chainsaw massacre Forty years on, the original video nasty is now a deluxe, double Blu-ray steelbook nasty
T
his month’s other great ‘monster’ movie has some things in common with Godzilla (right). It holds back its monster till relatively late in the movie. There’s a fair bit of running around whilst screaming. OK, to be fair, that’s pretty much it. Dismissed as a sadistic waste of celluloid on its release, Tobe Hooper’s masterpiece is now seen as among the most influential movies ever made. Dubious 70s fashion aside, it never seems to date, with a leisurely opening sequence building an air of queasy menace, before an hour of non-stop chainsaw-related terror kicks off. The gothic set design, naturalistic camera work and the unremitting nature of the threat turn it into more a work of art than a mere slasher flick, while the fact that there’s actually almost no gore on show only serves to make it more effective.
{HD moment}
The film’s remastering is so good that it actually looks too clean. Ugly people and furniture made of bones don’t need such resolution!
£15 BD, out November 17
{Best of the r est}
Want blockbusters? We got ’em!
£13 2CD, £11 CD, £10 MP3, OUT now
Scott Walker + Sunn O)))
Soused Slipknot, however, are like Chas and Dave compared to avant garde troubadour Walker and doom rockers Sunn O))). Heaviest album ever...? £11 CD, Out now
Night of the Comet blu-ray
Four Though ironically these pop poppets – themselves allegedly going ‘edgier’ on this – have fans scarier than all of the above combined. Strange, but true.
This underrated, no-budget zombies-versus-liketotally-awesome-girls curio has so much going for it. It’s funny, eerie, outright scary in places, and also the most 80s film ever.
£11 CD, £9 MP3, out November 17
£24 BD, Out now
One Direction
4 4 T 3 d ec e m b e r 2 0 1 4
Transformers: Age of Extinction blu-ray, HD download
X-Men: Days of future past blu-ray, HD download
Imagine being in a spin drier with a load of sharpedged, metal toys for three hours. That’s what this film is like, but stupider.
A film that makes the not unreasonable point that prejudice and killing are bad, very spectacularly. Picard, Gandalf and Bobby Sands add actorly heft.
£14 BD, £18 3D BD, £14 DL out november 17
£15 BD, £10 DL, Out now
The Hobbit: The Desolation Of Smaug Extended Edition Blu-ray, HD Download
Did you think this was a bit short in its original release? Then just feel the width of this 186-minute cut. So longses, precious! £21 BD, £14 DL, out november 3
“You want your work to hit that sweet spot, like jaws, which I think is a masterpiece”
Godzilla speaks!
Or his director, Gareth Edwards, does anyway
T
he latest reboot of Godzilla stands alongside Pacific Rim as an intelligent monster movie, and a grade A exemplar of what you can do with CGI today. We interviewed director Gareth Edwards back in 2010 when he made Monsters. That looked pretty good and cost about £3.50, so imagine what he could achieve with a $160m budget. With a sequel already underway, and the 2014 original now available to pre-order, here he tells us how the money was spent. The look “We used classic anamorphic lenses on this film – the C Series. They’re very rare; if you look up their serial numbers, you can actually find out what they’ve been used on. They were in such demand; the second we finished they got shipped straight on to Star Wars Episode 7. “On my first film, Monsters, I did the effects myself on a laptop using Adobe After Effects. On Godzilla, most of the 3D was done using Autodesk’s Maya. To put this in perspective, if you rendered Godzilla on that laptop, it would take something like 450 years. “Another massive change was that in Monsters we used locations, then stripped in the FX afterwards – you don’t actually need green screen for that; all that really does is makes it quicker to cut around the actors. On Godzilla we built sets. Owen Paterson, our production designer, did The Matrix, and he said we built more sets for this than any film he’d ever worked on. We used green screen a bit, but we tried to be in ‘real’ places.” The sound “We got to use Dolby Atmos, which was new at the time. Instead of
Take the first right, Bryan, then turn left at the... MONSTER!
saying a sound is in this speaker or that speaker, it actually creates a 3D computer model of the room. When you mix the sound, you see it like objects flying round the room. So if a plane flies you ‘see’ the sound as a ball that flies across the cinema seats. The cinema or room can be in any shape or size, and have a different number of speakers, but the Atmos computer interpolates the sound data to suit that space. “The monster noises were done using scientific microphones that record in very high fidelity at very high speeds. It’s like doing slow-mo on a camera. The sound designer Erik Aadahl and his team recorded hundreds of really mundane and obscure sounds and slowed them down, and some of them were really phenomenal.” The effect “Sometimes I would just look around at what we were going through, and we’ve got 400 crew, helicopters, trucks, 200 soldiers... Sally Hawkins (who played Vivienne) would come up to me and say, “This is crazy!”, and I’d be like, “Welcome to my world.” “When you make a $160m film, you want it to be a success. On a small arthouse movie, if out of 100 people in the room only ten people like it, some people can say, “Screw you, this is what I’m making, deal with it.” Well, I’m not that kind of person. Even when I did Monsters, every time someone said on the internet that it was rubbish, it felt like a knife in the stomach. You want [your work] to hit that sweet spot, like Jaws, which I think is a masterpiece, and just happened to be the most popular film ever made at the time. There’s a fan base when you do a Godzilla movie. You’re trying to make a film for fans, but equally you’ve got to try and make a movie that £13 BD/£20 3D BD, £14 DL, will appeal to people who couldn’t care less.” out October 27 D ec e m b e r 2 0 1 4 T 3 4 5
A P P S & O NLINE
{Ios}
Apple’s little bundles of joy Hyperlapse from Instagram iOS 7.0+: iPad, iPhone, Touch
Create timelapses from your phone, thanks to Instagram’s clever image stabilisation tech, which compensates for your shaky hands. Free, hyperlapse.instagram.com
Sporty iOS 7.0+: iPad, iPhone, Touch
Find people to play sports with. Say where and when you’re playing, and other users nearby will be notified and can get in touch for a game. Free, sportyapp.com
Endomondo Life iOS 7.1+: iPhone 5S only
Something new from Endomondo, which uses the M8 co-processor and motion sensor in the iPhone 5S to monitor your daily activity. Free, endomondo.com
Tinker iOS 7.0+: iPad, iPhone, Touch
Set a goal and when you want to complete it, and Tinker gives you little circular timers for everything. Just tap to pause. Beautiful, minimalist design.
App of the month
S tar Walk 2
£0.99, leef.io
They Need to be Fed 3
The first Star Walk was a multi-award winner, so you can expect big things from its successor
F
or those who don’t know, Star Walk 2 is a stargazing tool that follows hot on the heels of the original Star Walk, which won an Apple Design Award and was voted one of the App Store’s finest in 2012. It uses the GPS and gyroscope in your smartphone and combines that with masses of astronomical data to give you a picture of the night sky above you. Just point your phone at the sky for a real-time astronomical map. Point your phone down, and Star Walk 2 will show you the sky in the opposite hemisphere. But go beyond the sky, and the app will take
iOS 5.0+: iPad, iPhone, Touch
Travel into seven new worlds, collect diamonds and feed yourself to the monster at the end. Bigger, better and smoother than the original.
you on a journey through space to show you everything from Earth to the farthest reaches of the known universe. And it does so with incredible beauty. The new version has 3D models of planetary nebulae, satellites, comets, asteroids and more – the first space exploration program to do so. Developer Vito has also added some nice polygraphic artwork to illustrate the constellations you find, and a suitably spacey soundtrack to accompany your journeys. Whether you’re a space nut or not, this is an essential download.
Like a Siri for the kitchen, SideChef gives you audible instructions and even pictures demonstrating each step of its 1,000+ recipes.
£1.99, vitotechnology.com, iOS & Android
Free, sidechef.com
£1.49, bitatebit.com
Google Slides iOS 7.0+: iPad, iPhone, Touch
You can use Slides to edit all your PowerPoint presentations, as well as creating your own and auto-saving them to Google Drive. Free, google.com/slides
SideChef iOS 6.0+: iPad, iPhone, Touch
{U pdate}
Hail no more. There’s an app for that! Addison Lee, Europe’s leading minicab company, is revamping its iOS and Android app this month, adding a whole load of new features as well as a design overhaul. The new app lets you track every car in Addison Lee’s 4,800-car fleet – much like the Uber app – to see what’s nearby,
4 6 T 3 d ec e m b e r 2 0 1 4
and is better than ever at locating common landmarks, restaurants, nightclubs and the like without needing an exact address. The update offers more for account holders too, with support for multiple accounts and instant payment via card, cash or even PayPal.
Three sites for the fashion conscious
thread.com
mrporter.com
wolfandbadger.com
For the lazy
For trend-spotters
For trend-setters
Takes the drudgery out of high-street shopping. Sign up and Thread will match you with a stylist who will recommend outfits. If you like anything, buy it from Thread and return anything you don’t like for free.
The mecca of luxury men’s fashion, Mr Porter should be stop numero uno for info on the latest trends. They have regular how-to guides, features on well-dressed personalities, and they’re great on social media too.
A platform for the UK’s up-and-coming design talent, Wolf & Badger has been championing smaller designers for years. Want something a bit more unique, or the next big thing? This is the place.
WWW For more NEWS go tO T3.COM
Play
{Android}
Google’s great and good
{W indows Phone}
Android in-depth
This is All Yours Android 4.0+
The latest album from Mercury Prize-winning indie rockers alt-J drops this month, along with an app that lets you stream the album for free. If only it was that simple... You can only stream the album from certain locations chosen by the band. Not a problem if you’re a Londoner – they’re everywhere – but if you live in Grimsby your nearest spot is in Hull. The app will at least notify you when you’re near a listening spot, and once you’re there you can read and leave messages for other fans. Neat. Free, blast-app.com
ALONE… Android 2.3.3+
Test your survival skills in space, from navigating caves to dodging comets. Bonus: the game prototype is hidden in the main game. £1.49, laserdog.co.uk
Modern Combat 5: Blackout Varies with device
Gameloft’s mobile shooter returns, with Battlefield-esque squad-onsquad combat. Pushes mobile graphics to jaw-dropping limits.
BB kings and queens
ProShot
bQuiet
Windows Phone 8+
Blackberry 10.0.0+
If you’re using a Nokia Lumia, it’ll have a quality snapper. ProShot makes the most of that, with adjustable shutter speed, white balance and self-timer.
Do you always nap around 3pm? Set times for your phone to be quiet and it’ll switch to silent automatically, and return to normal afterwards.
£1.99, riseupgames.com
£0.75, appworld.blackberry.com
OneStart
List Them All
Windows Phone 8+
Blackberry 10.0.0+
Choose from a kaleidoscope of designs for your Start screen, and customise tiles and backgrounds, all in native high resolution.
Organise your shopping lists and never come home without the milk again. You can even track your spending if you feel the need.
Free, windowsphone.com
£1.50, appworld.blackberry.com
Appy Weather
PaperPusher Scanner
Windows Phone 8+
Blackberry 10.0.0+
Customisable weekly weather forecasts for any region in simple language or charts. Complete with minute-to-minute rain predictions.
Scan photos and documents directly onto your phone. No need to perfectly align the image because it automatically corrects it for you.
£2.40, windowsphone.com
£1.50, appworld.blackberry.com
Songbox
Angry Birds Stella
Windows Phone 8+
Blackberry 10.0.0+
Record your favourite part of a song and share it around the world for others to see, or connect and listen to other people’s favourite clips.
Join Stella and her flock of friends as together they fight to protect their island from an evil princess and her pesky piggies.
Free, areon-development.de
Free, appworld.blackberry.com
6cret
PanoRIMio
Windows Phone 8+
Blackberry 10.0.0+
Rudy Huyn continues to create brilliant clients for popular Android/ iOS apps. Secret is the latest in line – share anything you like anonymously.
Gain access to tens of millions of Panoramio pictures from around the world and customise your own gallery.
Free, rudyhuyn.com
£1.50, appworld.blackberry.com
Run Rabbit Run
Cloudvert
Windows Phone 8+
Blackberry 10.0.0+
Adopt a rabbit to keep fit. Walk a minimum number of steps a day to buy it carrots or costumes, or earn lives to escape the foxes.
Convert any file into your desired format in the cloud. You get 25 conversion minutes with your free account, so it’s worth a dabble.
Free, windowsphone.com
£1.50, appworld.blackberry.com
Hyper Cell
Voice Cypher
Windows Phone 8+
Blackberry 10.0.0+
A minimalist but addictive 3D survival platformer. Evade laser beams and cannons to escape a psychedelic maze.
£4.99, gameloft.com
Games & ebooks: nick cowen. Music & Movies: Duncan Bell. apps: pete dreyer
{Bl ack ber ry}
Feeling the live tile love
Protect your calls and messages with government-grade security, with end-to-end encryption across different networks.
Free, danglingconcepts.com
Fragment
Free, appworld.blackberry.com
Android 4.0.3+
Transform photos into prismatic art. Choose from a collage of frames, shapes and patterns. Edits happen in real time, so you can play indefinitely.
Yes Please
Devil’s Playground
£1.20, fragmentapp.com
Amy Poehler
Simon Chambers
Amy Poehler serves up a tasty dish of funny personal anecdotes, detailing her experiences with sex, love, friendship and showbiz.
Former British Paratrooper Simon Chambers has worked as contractor in the private security sector with Blackwater in Iraq. What a way to earn a payday!
Zapper Android 2.3+
Waiting around for the bill is such a buzz kill, but Zapper lets you pay for your meal instantly – and it’ll work out split bills and such too. Free, zapper.com
Wakie
four ebooks to read
1 3 2 4
£7.74, out November 6
£2.88, out October 26
The Best in the World Chris Jericho
Invincible
Wakie’s like a personal alarm call. Except you’re not in a hotel – another Wakie user will call you at your desired time to halt your sleep.
Chris Jericho recalls the best three years of his career in the WWE. Expect tales of bodyslamming, corporate wrangling and tours with his vanity band.
This Guardian columnist recalls how Arsenal’s 2003/04 squad became the first in 100 years to go a whole season undefeated.
Free, wakie.com
£5.69, out November 20
£6.99, out October 23
Android 4.0+
Amy Lawrence
d ec e m b e r 2 0 1 4 T 3 47
Opinion
{This month}
Mark Skilton’s steamy Windows Chris Smith’s future stadia Duncan Bell’s Apple hate The Secret Policeman’s tech beat Edited by Duncan Bell
T ech ste e l f ro m t he an vil of t3’s co mm en t- mon gers
Mark Skilton
flatter than ever {Insight}
Win-win situation
new& improved
Illustration andrew gibbs
Microsoft messed up royally with Windows 8. Now, 30-year techconsultancy vet Mark tells us what Win 10 needs to do to turn it around
back to the start M
icrosoft’s hope that all the problems of Windows 8 will be forgotten about by missing out 9 and implementing a generation shift to 10 might be a tad optimistic, but the details they have revealed at least show they’re back on the right track. Let’s not beat about the bush: Windows 8 was a complete misfire. Microsoft treated desktops like they were tablets, and just ended up confusing the user. It swung too far to the tablet and left desktop users – the majority of its customers, despite what it might wish – out in the cold, like resizing tiles by touch, but it was clumsy when using a mouse. The way Microsoft mixed up the tiles for applications and newsfeeds was very difficult to customise for the user. The Charm bar was designed to allow you to change settings, but was just too complicated. These were basic user design mistakes; it was a compromise, as if designed by committee. Teenagers at school learn that design is based around the user experience. That is where it starts and Microsoft forgot that basic principle. Windows 8 was out of touch with its users. It needed to re-focus its creativity. Well the good news is, from what we have seen so far, I think Microsoft has re-focused D ec e m b e r 2 0 1 4 T 3 4 9
Chris Sm ith
➜ with Windows 10. It is not a radical new product, but it is a step in the right direction. The brand has recognised the need to get form and function in sync with its devices. Leading brands from Coca-Cola to Procter & Gamble have been using crowd innovation for some time, and it’s heartening to see Microsoft following suit, inviting users to help design Win 10 with its Insider Program. It’s a two-way street; as well as an infusion of more creative ideas, it gives the organisation free marketing because it brings its community on the product journey. It remains to be seen whether this is the start of building a community of developers for Microsoft, as Apple and Android have done. It’s got a lot of catching up to do; Microsoft Windows Phone Store will flog you any of its 170,686 apps, as of September this year, compared to the millions in the iOS App Store and Android’s Play. Buying Minecraft-maker Mojang may also fit into this strategy, as it will give Microsoft a huge user base they can work and engage with. It’s all connected in the digital world. The customer is a co-producer of the development cycle; part of the journey not separate – that is a big recognition by Microsoft.
Generation Z works across multiple devices. Windows 10 needs to speak to it Microsoft has to play to the strength it has in PCs, where it still has 92% of the market. The demise of the PC has been predicted by many, but the fact is that tablets don’t yet have the same usability features, nor the ergonomics of Office. In five years the tablet may have finetuned to address that, but for now, Microsoft has to leverage its desktop dominance and shift it into the mobile and tablet markets. Azure has done well in the cloud battle and with Xbox, Microsoft has the potential to create an ecosystem across all devices. It just needs to improve the usability of Windows across them. True, the one-size-fits-all approach of Windows 8 failed, but with Windows 10 it appears Microsoft’s CEO Satya Nadella and his team have gone back to improving the usability specific to each device. Generation Z works across multiple channels and devices. If Win 10 can match its renewed desktop usability across other platforms it will have a very strong future with them. If… Mark Skilton is professor of practice in the Information Systems & Management Group at Warwick Business School 5 0 T 3 D ec e m b e r 2 0 1 4
{State side}
Stadia, Less staid British sporting venues may be teching up, with Manchester City leading the way, but America is leagues ahead…
T
here’s been a bit of a backlash against the influx of consumer tech at sporting events recently. Manchester United have banned tablets, while PSV Eindhoven fans are protesting against in-stadium Wi-Fi. But across the pond, things are a little different. Honestly, you’d probably think there’d be little point offering fans free Wi-Fi to American sports patrons. How are they supposed to operate touchscreens, with a foam finger occupying one hand and a baseball bat-sized hotdog in the other? I jest not, by the way. ‘The Boomstick’ is a real food item served at Texas Rangers games. It’s two-feet long, weighs 3lbs, is covered in chilli and something a bit like what you in Britain would call ‘cheese’,
costs $26 and is awesome. USA! USA! USA! Anyway, I digress. The connected stadium experience is already much further along here than it is in Blighty – and its undeniably enhancing the fan experience rather than detracting from it. The first arena purpose-built to take care of your every wireless whim is the brand new home of the San Francisco 49ers, the Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California. This $1.3 billion sports hall has fibreoptic internet connectivity throughout, with an incredible 40Gbps capacity. There are 12,000 Wi-Fi access points for visitors, including 600 receivers placed under the seats, and 400 miles of web-related cabling. At a pre-season game, the network served up 2.1TB of data and at one point 20,000 people were connected simultaneously. Now, in the regular season, it’s standing up to the demands of 68,000-strong crowds. And if attendees have any problems, 60 ‘NiNerd’ tech professionals are on hand to assist with connectivity issues. Tech support at a goddamn ballgame! The Levi’s Stadium app, meanwhile, offers mobile ticketing and parking passes, with food and beverage orders delivered to your seat in a matter of minutes, so you’re not missing the game while waiting in line for another $10.25 craft beer. On-demand replays are available from multiple angles, too, alongside all of the latest stats in the Game Centre part of the app. You can even watch the game live on your device, while one of 1,700 Bluetooth beacons guide you to the ‘rest room’ with the shortest line. Oh, and if you end up spending too much time watching back touchdown replays, you can replenish your device’s life force at one of the stadium’s 200 charging stations. All in all, Silicon Valley’s home side is en route to perfect mobile integration, adding real value to the game day experience. In the process the 49ers are making us Brits look like – aha haha! – 1949ers. Ha. It’s easy to see why die-hard UK footy fans would bemoan iPad wankers at Old Trafford – or divs taking selfies or checking in on Facebook. It’s part of the difference between British and American sports. In a free-flowing game like ‘soccer’, messing with your phone means missing the game – and not supporting the team. That’s not the case in the more stop-start sports Yanks favour. You need something else to do in the regular breaks, and there are only so many times you can wistfully gawp at cheerleaders without getting busted. Chris is one of the few British permanent residents of Miami without liver spots
Du nca n b e l l
The secret police m an
Opinion
{Truth}
{ F i n a l ly }
OK, not everyone. But there is something weird and almost disturbing about the online outpourings against the tech giant
Are terror groups adapting hightech flying toys to use against us? Erm… the UK’s IT police will have to get back to you on that one
Everyone hates apple
E
very year, as the leaves begin to bruise russet, there comes a key time in the tech calendar. Everywhere there is an internet connection, people gather to say, “Well that was rubbish! You’ve been able to do that for years on Android! Crapple!” When Stephen Fry sat to write his review of the new iPhones for The Guardian, he kicked off the piece by saying how thickskinned he was around Apple haters. I immediately thought, “Well I certainly hope you are, mate,” skimmed the rest of it (“These new devices are effulgent in their frabjousness, the very picture of exquisiteness isn’t it, my dears?” and so on) and hopped straight to the comments. There, the liberal and humanitarian readers of our leading left-leaning paper proceeded to tear him a new one. It was like a ritual sacrifice, but with swearing and ad hominem abuse rather than big knives and men in cowls. While Apple certainly has its cheerleaders online, not least the small matter of every journalist currently alive and able to work a keyboard, they are outnumbered and outgunned Below The Line. And as with all things internet-y, the effect is often sinister. Now, I want to make it clear that disliking Apple’s products or corporate ethos is fine. Swearing and playground abuse are fine, if that’s your bag. It’s certainly mine. And clearly Apple and the users of its things are not persecuted minorities and I wouldn’t make light of real persecution by comparing it to people vigorously expressing their disliking of Apple. However, having said that, there is often something in the tone and quantity of the abuse that verges on hate speech. In particular, the way that Apple/Apple’s fans
Game of Drones
are portrayed simultaneously as weakminded and feeble and yet also somehow sinisterly in charge of everything. It’s creepy. And to be honest, when it’s not creepy, it’s pretty dull. “Crapple, iSheep, Android did it first, ooh, bendy” – fair points, all, I dare say, but I think we’ve got them now. There’s a very funny Louis CK routine where he takes apart people who complain about technology. Sample: “You hate Verizon? OK, start your own company! Put dustbin lids on roof-tops, connect them with string… See how you get on!” If you want an idea of how you may be coming over when you’re in online slagging mode, you should give it a look. Alternatively, I have another solution to this, and it’s one taken from the writings of a great poet-philosopher, Sir Ronan Keating: “You say it best when you say nothing at all.” The next time you feel the bile rising and the urge to share your dislike of Apple, or any other tech company, without a specific reason, just don’t. Trust me, we’ll get the message so much better that way, for the reason Sir Ronan said above, just then. Your not saying it will make it all the clearer. Duncan is T3’s Lifestyle 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
S
o there’s a detective typing away on the 15th floor of Scotland Yard. Maybe he’s tapping out code-red intel. Maybe he’s checking the latest spreads on Betfair. Either way, he looks round… To find a drone staring back at him. OK, it’s a remote-control plane with a camera duct-taped to it, rather than the kind of thing you’ll find on p71. But it still scares the bejesus out of him. The word on the street is that the terrorist action is now in the skies. Drones over police buildings. Drones over football matches. Drones over the existing American embassy and the new one currently being built in Vauxhall, just down the road from… oh, MI6. Cue a lot of worry that these ‘eyes in the skies’ could be about to start raining ebola down on football fans, or capture American embassy staff emailing nuclear launch codes to each other. Or something. Or, of course, they could be the result of ordinary members of the public filming absobloody-lutely everything. “We’ve captured everything there is to see at ground level,” they cry. “Now to the skies, lads!” The police service is, sad to say, not tech-savvy. It pays £60 per minute for its IT helpline, thanks to some PFI madness, so it’s not going to learn anything about tech without shelling out a lot of dosh. Two years ago, we installed a ‘state of the art’ computer system running on… Windows XP. Two weeks later, Microsoft discontinued support. Now, we’re upgrading, to… Windows 8! You see a pattern emerging here? So, hopefully terrorists aren’t planning to attack us with drones and/or toy planes with cameras duct-taped to them. Because if they are, you can expect the UK’s fuzz to be scrambling biplanes in response. Evening all. The Secret Policeman works for a major UK police service in a techy role D ec e m b e r 2 0 1 4 T 3 5 1
Apple’s gone bigger
iPhone 6
Shirt: Mango Skirt: Fashion Union Necklace: Pebble London Glasses: Oliver Peoples
5 4 T 3 D ec e m b e r 2 0 1 4
vs
Two premium phones…
Superphone showdown
Samsung’s got into metal
Galaxy Alpha
skirt: Baum Und Pferdgarten jumper: Quiz jacket: Topshop Necklace: Pyrrha Glasses: Oliver Peoples
But only one can be king... D ec e m b e r 2 0 1 4 T 3 5 5
Apple iPhone 6
vs Samsung Galaxy Alpha
Big screens are in. Metal bodies are desirable. Little wonder, then, that eternal smartphone foes Apple and Samsung have just released such curiously similar, large-displayed, pleasingly alloyed devices. In the American corner, the iPhone 6 ditches the four-inch-and-below screens that built Apple’s fortune for a gaping, 4.7-inch Retina HD display that bangs in more pixels and colours. Korea’s Samsung has been purveying larger screen girths for years, though, and it beat Apple to the punch by launching the Galaxy Alpha, its first metal-clad phone, with an identical screen size and resolution. This is a struggle as profound as that between good and evil or Tom And Jerry. Which is worthy of your premium pocket space? Read on… Words Gareth Beavis, Duncan Bell photogr aphy Philip Sowels st yling De an hau
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Desirability
Top: Fashion Union, Skirt: John Rocha, Shoes: Flying Wardrobe, Bracelet: Pyrrha
iPhone 6 Once, not so long ago, many floating voters would default to Apple’s devices thanks to their generally strong build quality, Jony Ive’s design flourishes and the better-stocked App Store. That changed with Samsung’s Galaxy line, as well as Sony’s Xperias and HTC’s Ones – these were truly premiumfeeling Android devices, but usually that bit cheaper than iPhones. At the same time, Google Play started filling up with apps of Apple-matching quality, again often at slightly lower prices. So iPhone 6 is where the fight-back begins. Borrowing design ideas from the iPad Air in terms of look and feel, it’s bigger yet thinner than the more industrial iPhone 5S. It undeniably looks rather beautiful, but the upsized screen is what really makes the 6 leap out. With battery life also improved despite the bigger display, it’s clear Apple has identified the problems with the 5S and made bold strides towards fixing them. In short: highly alluring. Oh, and it only bends if you bend it.
The verdict iPhone 6
Both blowers ooze class but, for us, the iPhone pips the Alpha in the desirability stakes. Clever design means Apple’s phone actually manages to feel thinner than Samsung’s, despite the opposite being true.
Whose build and aesthetics offer the greater promise of techy life-improvement?
sp e c
Pricing 16GB £539, 64GB £619, 128GB £699 Screen 4.7-inch, 326ppi LCD processors 1.4 GHz dualcore, 64-bit A8 with PowerVR GX6650 GPU + M8 motion-sensing co-processor RAM 1GB Storage 16GB, 64GB or 128GB Cameras 8-meg/1080p rear, 1.2-meg/720p front Quoted battery Up to 14 hours 3G calling OS iOS 8 Size/weight 138x67x6.9mm/129g
Superphone showdown
Pricing 32GB £549 Screen 4.7-inch, 312ppi HD Super Amoled Processors Exynos 5 octacore (quadcore 1.8GHz, quadcore 1.3GHz) with Mali-T628 MP 6 RAM 2GB Storage 32GB cameras 12-meg/4K rear, 2.1-meg/1080p front Quoted battery Up to 14 hours 3G calling OS Android 4.4.4 KitKat Size/weight 132x66x6.7mm/115g
Galaxy Alpha Like the iPhone 6, the Samsung Galaxy Alpha is a phone that the South Korean brand needed to make. The S5, though like the iPhone 5S a very strong seller, was met with a chorus of meh-ing, largely because once again it came with an all-plastic body – with a ‘sticking plaster’ effect inexplicably added to the back. Samsung obviously felt the burn, because it’s picked up its anvil and hammered out the Alpha – a phone with an altogether more premium finish. There’s no doubt that this feels light years ahead of its Galaxy predecessors, with the metal instantly adding a touch of class and solidity to the usual mix of high specs, stirring features and eye-catching Super AMOLED screen. And while the resolution of the latter is lower than the S5, improvements to the underlying technology mean many won’t really notice. In short, this is a great-looking phone with great features and a stack of apps awaiting it. In so many ways, it’s the spitting image of the iPhone 6…
Top: Fashion Union, trousers: John Rocha, Shoes: Flying Wardrobe, Bracelet: Pebble London
sp e c
The verdict Galaxy Alpha
Better battery
In terms of performance, these two phones are pretty closely matched, but the Alpha’s better battery life and more-powerful-on-paper processor give it the edge in this department.
Apple knew it had to do something about the iffy stamina of previous iPhones. It did, thanks to a more efficient operating system/ processor combo and larger battery pack.
Speed king The Alpha is really rather swift, whether you’re browsing, gaming or videoediting on the go. Thanks to clever power management it’s also got even better stamina than the iPhone too.
Performance
Who’s got the power? and who can go on all day and all of the night?
iPhone 6
Galaxy Alpha
The iPhone 6 has had a big upgrade to its CPU, with the A8 chip now providing more power but with less of an impact on battery. However, it’s only dualcore, and there’s just 1GB of RAM. The curious thing about iPhones is that despite hardware that isn’t bleeding-edge on paper, in terms of real-life use they still always really impress – it’s probably a function of Apple making both the hardware and the OS, so they’re more efficiently integrated. That’s the case with the 6, which usually doesn’t feel slower than its Galaxy rival, despite the spec sheet suggesting otherwise. The new processor also improves on the notoriously poor battery life of the iPhone 5S. Combined with the larger power pack, it means you won’t be putting your phone down fully charged only to pick it up again an hour later to find the battery bar suspiciously reduced.
…However, it’s hard to beat raw power and, with a blazing octacore Exynos CPU and 2GB of RAM, the Alpha has plenty of that – especially when it’s pushing the lean Android KitKat OS. As a result, scrolling is noticeably smoother on the Samsung Galaxy Alpha than on the iPhone, and we suspect it’ll remain future-proofed against envelope-pushing game devs for longer. And what about the idea of being able to dump the charger for a little bit longer? Despite having the same quoted battery life for talk time – though talking is low on the list of many smartphone users’ priorities – the Alpha goes slightly easier on the battery than the iPhone, even in heavy use. That’s testament to how cleverly the Alpha manages its eight cores, with those employed to shift polygons in graphically-demanding games powering down when you’re using the kitchen timer.
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Superphone showdown
Slimmed down This is Apple’s thinnestever phone, and it uses the same ceramic-like material as the iPad Air, making it a truly tactile treat. As noted before, it feels thinner than the Alpha, though it’s not.
The verdict iPhone 6
Metalled up The Galaxy Alpha now has a sturdier build than the S5, with a stylish metallic band around the edge. The removable plastic back is less plush, but does mean you can swop the battery if you wish.
The Alpha doesn’t sit in the hand as nicely as the iPhone, nor does it feel as pleasing. Samsung’s AMOLED screen is more ‘poppy’ than Apple’s LCD, but perhaps slightly less sharp.
Look and feel
LCD takes on AMOLED. Metal and plastic take on ‘ceramic’. Which device nails it?
iPhone 6
Galaxy Alpha
The most obvious change here is Apple’s embrace of larger screens. Out goes the fourinch Retina Display of the 5S and in comes a big 4.7 inches of Retina Display HD. As with the identically-sized Alpha, that’s HD as in 720p, rather than 1080p – what is this, 2008? – with a resolution of 1134x768 or 326ppi. While the screen looks dandy in isolation, with its icons seemingly floating just under the glass, put it next to a full-HD phone such as the HTC One (M8) and you will see a difference in sharpness – odd, given that Apple pretty much established screen resolution as a key selling point. On the other hand, our comparison is with the Alpha and in terms of resolution, colour and overall quality, this more or less matches that. Where it wins out, however, is in terms of feel – it’s just that bit more high-end.
When it comes to screen size, Samsung has made the opposite journey to Apple, eschewing the very large and enormous, respectively, displays on the Galaxy S5 and Note 3 for a 4.7-inch, 720p/312ppi package. The iPhone 6 screen is a little more high-res than the Alpha’s then, but the main differentiator is that Samsung uses Super AMOLED rather than LCD. As a result, blacks are really crisp and colours extremely vibrant – though you can adjust the colour tone to your own preference if you find them popping too much. As a handy side effect, AMOLED is kinder on the battery, too. Design-wise, the Galaxy Alpha is the most gorgeous phone Samsung has ever created, but it’s not in the same league as the Apple due to its plastic back – though, on the other hand, that probably does aid its mobile reception. D ec e m b e r 2 0 1 4 T 3 6 1
Camera
Key functionality all up in your face! Whose optics are optimum? Who is the instagram king?
iPhone 6 Fast focus Known among camera buffs as ‘phase detection’, Apple has, typically, rebranded its cam’s killer feature as Focus Pixels. It enables faster autofocus by working out how far away objects are rather than just working out the difference in light and dark. On video, it reduces the need to constantly jab at the screen when you or your subjects move.
The iPhone’s camera is the most popular in the world, if you go on social media uploads, and has come a long way from the fairly feeble offering on Apple’s first few handsets. Its success is largely a function of the simplicity with which it operates. The eight-meg sensor and f/2.2-aperture lens are much the same as on the iPhone 5S, but Focus Pixels (see left) lend more rapid focus for stills and video alike. It’s not perfect, as you’ll still need to tap the screen to encourage a focus on close-up objects, but it’s generally slick. Another handy upgrade is Auto HDR, which analyses scenes to decide if they’ll benefit from multiple exposures. The other big change is to the slow-mo option, which can now record at 240 frames per second, enabling you to capture really smooth video of people running, cats playing and things falling off things. We know what you like to shoot. The new f/2.2 aperture and HDR shooting on the 1.2-meg front cam means that’s pretty good too.
The verdict Galaxy Alpha
Well it’s more of a draw really, as in day-to-day shooting there’s so little to choose between the two cameras. But if you put a gun to our heads and made us choose, we’d plump for Samsung’s snapper.
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As good as the iPhone’s camera is, there are more megapixels behind the Alpha’s optics, and it’s arguably more adept overall. The 12-meg sensor yields excellent pics, with a real-time HDR option, and while you’ve got more settings to play with to help you get a better shot, you can just use it as a point-and-shoot and still get pretty strong results. The range of post-shot tweaks is really strong too. The iPhone 6’s Auto HDR mode is a nice touch, but Samsung bats that back with Real Time HDR, letting you see what the snap will look like, rather than having to guess at the improvements. The 4K video shooting available on the Alpha is largely wasted on its 720p screen, but if you have a means of playing it back at full resolution, it might sway you in this phone’s direction. Finally, though, the experience of viewing video and stills is largely similar on both phones, but with the Alpha’s Super AMOLED display everything pops and fizzes just that little bit more.
shirt: Fashion Union, Sunglasses: Linda Farrow Gallery
Galaxy Alpha
Innovation
Smartphones are all good these days; To stand out they need new features their rivals don’t have. Who’s on top here…?
Superphone Blockbusters! showdown
iPhone 6 Apple’s Pay is not the first NFC-based cash system, but it looks amazing in terms of its simplicity and potential. In the near future you’ll be able to weld a multitude of credit and debit cards to Apple’s Passbook, tap the phone at checkout, confirm with your fingerprint that it’s you, and be off with your lovely new carrots or flat white in no time. Apple Health looks more impressive than Alpha’s equivalent. Apple joins Samsung in offering a mostly accurate barometer to work out how many flights of stairs you’ve climbed – and whether or not rain is likely, of course – and adds the ability to sync with third-party devices to track how many calories you’ve munched/hours of deep sleep you’ve had. However, it’s a more hidden innovation that could prove the biggest. ‘Metal’ is the name Apple’s given the way its new CPU and GPU can work together to create new worlds, promising nothing less than “console-style games on iPhone”. If Tim Cook’s lot and their cabal of devs can pull this off, the sky’s the limit.
PayPal’s pal Register your fingerprint via the Alpha’s screen and tie it to your PayPal account. Et voilà: you may now purchase from eBay and a plethora of other outlets with your digit. It also allows for payments to actual people and, as PayPal diversifies, probably in actual shops, eventually. It is, in theory, compatible with any tap-to-pay system.
top: Gyunel, Sunglasses: Linda Farrow Gallery
Galaxy Alpha Android phones have been able to offer NFC payment systems for a while now, and the Alpha will let you securely pay for goods via PayPal and your fingerprint. It’s a move that’s only going to get more useful, as PayPal takes over the entire world of retail. However, like Apple Pay, this system needs a little longer to bed in, so why not check your heart rate while you’re waiting? Unlike on the iPhone 6 and Galaxy S, there’s no barometer, however. Gaming is a big deal on Android too and Samsung’s powerful processor makes the most of what’s out there. When Android L rolls around later in the year it’ll be further enhanced – the days of dedicated portable consoles really do look to be numbered now. Ultimately, as with the iPhone 6, there’s nothing truly innovative here, but the range of tweaks, upgrades and variations on offer is still highly impressive.
The verdict Draw Truly new features are thin on the ground – that’s the case across the smartphone world – but the Alpha and iPhone 6 both feel cutting-edge, with plenty of power and sensors for devs to exploit.
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Software
The pick of each Operating System’s new features and our verdict on which is best
iPhone 6: iOS 8 1. Swipe gestures
The larger size means having the back button in the top left is no longer so convenient. Solution: the ability to swipe back through screens by dragging your thumb from the left-hand side. In Safari, you can also go in the opposite direction through previously navigated web pages. While not all apps have yet incorporated the trick, it surely won’t be long before most do.
4. Keyboard upgrades
The keyboard on the iPhone 5S was cramped to say the least, but the new default option is much better, with clever word predictions and more accurate tapping. The real change, however, is the option of red-hot, new QWERTY action from the App Store, with the excellent Swiftkey and Fleksy no longer bound to the Android platforms. Damn You AutoCorrect will be even less funny as a result.
2. Metal
We’ve briefly alluded to this before; what it does is remove all the junk between the hardware and apps. This should mean that response time can be faster, graphics more impressive, but with the overall power drain reduced – efficiency has been a buzzword throughout the creation of iOS 8. This could also mean older devices eke a little more juice out of their arthritic and creaking batteries.
The verdict iPhone Android’s great, even if Samsung’s Touchwiz overlay doesn’t add much of use. It’s also more customisable and versatile than iOS… But it still just can’t quite match it for seamless smoothery.
3. Widgets
With iOS 8, Apple’s finally integrated the ability to do more than just control the Music app from the home screen, but without dropping its iconic grid of apps. Actually, not quite the home screen – you must pull the notifications zone down, from whence apps can be controlled without jumping in, to quickly bid on a Fender Telecaster while playing Guitar Hero, for instance.
Tarrif-ic!
hot buying options for alpha and iphone
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iPhone: Blow the budget ■ iPhone 6 128GB, £699 ■ 3 SIM-only, monthly all-you-can-eat package – unlimited data, unlimited minutes, unlimited texts, £25 per month Total over 24 months: £1,299
Alpha: Blow the budget ■ Galaxy Alpha 32GB, £515 (on Amazon) ■ 4GEE SIM-only, monthly package – 10GB data, unlimited minutes, unlimited texts, £30.99 per month Total over 24 months: £1,258.76
iPhone: Keep it cheap ■ iPhone 6 16GB, £539 ■ Giffgaff SIM-only, monthly package ■ 1GB data, 500 minutes, unlimited texts, £10 per month Total over 24 months: £779
Superphone showdown
Galaxy Alpha: KitKat 4.4 1. “OKay, Google…”
3. Hangouts
You’ve seen it plastered over billboards and the telly: the hip, new phrase that’s your instant portal into Google’s world of search. On the Alpha, even if your phone is just idly displaying the home screen you can say, “Okay, Google” and do anything from starting a timer to looking up a contact to Googling your own name. It’s a simple way of controlling your phone and unnervingly accurate.
Apple’s got iMessage, everyone else has Whatsapp, but why not try Google’s own messaging service? Choose it over Samsung’s own chat app as your default SMS inbox and you’ll be able to seamlessly jump between text messages and Google Chat missives, which have the benefit of being free and allowing you to send files and pictures. You can also start a video call from the same source.
2. Lock screen magic
Android 4.4 brought a nifty new feature: placing the cover art for whatever album or movie you’re hearing/seeing on the lock screen. On the Galaxy Alpha this looks great, and even if you’re playing music from Spotify you can see what you’re listening to with a gloriously overblown display – and scroll through/skip tracks too. The trick also works if you’re playing from phone to Chromecast.
Alpha: Keep it cheap ■ Galaxy Alpha 32GB, £515 (on Amazon) ■ Virgin SIM-only, monthly package – 1GB data, 250 minutes, unlimited texts, £10 per month Total over 24 months: £755
iPhone: on contract ■ iPhone 6 64GB up front on Vodafone 24-month contract, £79 ■ 2GB data, unlimited minutes, unlimited texts, £48.50 per month Total over 24 months: £1,243
Alpha: on contract ■ Galaxy Alpha 32GB up front on O2 24-month contract, £0 ■ 2GB data, unlimited minutes, unlimited texts, £38 per month Total over 24 months: £912
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tops: Andrew Majtenyi
4. Project Better
Project Butter was a UI spruce-up that came as part of Android Jellybean, designed to make sliding your digit across any phone running the OS a pleasurable experience. With KitKat and the Galaxy Alpha, things are even smoother, with every flicker and flutter of your digits rendered accurately through all your apps. After all, there’s nothing worse than a missed press, especially when gaming…
Final verdict Two great smartphones that sum up how thoroughly splendid tech can be. But if you’re only gonna buy one of ’em…
It’s an unenviable task, trying to decide between a top-end Samsung Galaxy phone and a new Apple iPhone. It’s harder than ever here because with the 6 and the Alpha, the brands have converged in terms of size, shape and looks. There can only be one winner, though, and for us that’s the iPhone 6. While Apple’s device might not be the best in many categories – especially when you’re talking raw megapixels and gigahertz – it is very strong in all areas. As such it’s a highly impressive package and also a more complete redesign than its Samsung rival, with a laser focus on the things that matter. The Alpha, though superb, is more a self-consciously premium ‘remix’ of the S5. Now granted, the 32GB Alpha’s RRP is only £10 more than the 16GB iPhone and it’s much cheaper if you’re buying on contract. But we think the iPhone 6 is worth the extra outlay. Confirmed Android fans may well disagree with our verdict, but that’s how we’re calling it. Until next time, then… 6 6 T 3 D ec e m b e r 2 0 1 4
Drone airforce
attack of
The drones When not dealing death to terrorists and/or wedding parties in the Middle East, drones also make fun toys! Waves of them are now cresting the horizon, controlled from your smartphone and committing all they survey to its video reel. So come fly with us, vicariously, with four of our current favourites… Words tom dennis, Duncan Bell , Pete Dreyer photogr aphy jesse wild
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Pa r r o t R o l l i n g S p i d e r
Packing in an ultrasonic and pressure sensor plus three-axis gyroscope and accelerometer, this is a smart and sturdy entrylevel quadcopter that can also scuttle up walls like a real spider, if they had wheels instead of legs. A vertical camera lets you grab 640x480 stills of your ceiling. £90, parrot.com
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Drones on film
Military-spec droids
Th e H o n o u r able wo man OLED
Bos to n Dy nam i cs Bi g D o g
The BBC’s prestige drama about politics and power in the Middle East bounced between being thoughtful and batshit insane. Never more so than in the final episode scene (spoiler!) in which the Brits used a drone – probably a Reaper, see p74 – to take out one guy armed with a handgun, in the middle of the desert. All that was missing was a climactic shot of a pair of smoking boots in a crater.
This AT-AT-style robo-hound can traverse any terrain at 4mph on four hydraulic legs that mirror the articulation of a real dog’s. Add a myriad of sensors and a gyroscope and BigDog’s harder to put down than an iPad covered in superglue. Why you should be scared: BigDog’s unarmed, but given he has a loaded weight of 260kg, you probably don’t want him bounding up to/over you.
Drone airforce
P a r r o t AR . D r o n e 2 . 0
The domestic drone daddy floats in a rather unearthly fashion, borne aloft on four rotors and controlled by your iOS or Android touchscreen, or the proper controls on your Nvidia Shield. All the while, a camera beams its 720p feed to your connected device to aid navigation – you can store the footage it shoots, and also capture stills. £233, parrot.com
Drones on film
Military-spec droids
Th e Bo u rn e leg acy
Taif u n - M UGV
The film that should have been called Bourne Again introduces its Matt Damon-replacing super-soldier by showing the good and bad sides of UAVs. First, a Predator drone delivers supplies to Jeremy Renner’s snowbound base. So that’s nice. Then it comes back again and attempts to blow him into tiny bits. However (spoilers!), he survives the attack and goes on to defeat the bad guys, after a number of fights and car chases.
Ivan Drago to BigDog’s Rocky, the “Typhoon M” is a remote-controlled tank. Its primary purpose is to guard and escort hordes of Russian nukes as they’re moved menacingly around the country, and for Vladimir Putin to ride whilst wearing no shirt. Why you should be scared: It’s armed with laser-targeted 7.62mm cannons, and plans are afoot to add artificial intelligence and full autonomy. What could possibly go wrong?
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DJI Phantom 2 Vision+
This alien craft delivers lasersharp video and stills. That’s courtesy of an f/2.8 lens and 14-meg CMOS sensor that shoots at up to 1080p, with control of ISO, exposure and white balance. A three-axis gimbal means the feed is super stable, even if you’ve just fallen off your stool on seeing the price of the thing. £915, dji.com
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Drones on film
Military-spec droids
Oblivi o n OLED
M Q -9 Re ape r OLED
Last year’s surprisingly good Tom Cruise sci-fi vehicle introduced these spherical predators. Their malevolent features included red camera eyes, à la The Terminator, laser scanners straight out of a 90s rave, and four big guns, for shooting things with. Despite all this and the ability to manoeuvre like a very fast, airborne salmon, they were (spoilers!) nonetheless unable to chase Cruise through a canyon without crashing. Phew.
Call of Duty aficionados will know all about this sleek hunter-killer. The first unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) designed for long endurance, it’s capable of both remote-controlled or autonomous surveillance and aerial strikes. The RAF now has ten Reapers in combat operation. Why you should be scared: Armaments can include anything from laser-guided 500lb bombs to Hellfire missiles.
Drone airforce
A Kickstarted drone project for outdoor pursuit-ists, this launches and tracks you via your iOS or Android thingy. It features a two-axis gimbal mount for a GoPro, making for steady footage even at a frankly worryingsounding maximum speed of 70kph – presumably enough to keep up with your mountain bike.
HE X O +
$949 pre-order, hexoplus.com
Drones on film
Military-spec droids
Te rm inato r 3
Li -J ian
These prowled the corridors of Cyberdyne Systems and were a clear forerunner of the Oblivion drones, except that they looked a bit like flying robot aardvarks, rather than spheres. Menacing John Connor and Arnold Schwarzenegger’s kindly – if slightly arthritic – T101 Terminator, they (spoilers!) were unable to prevent their escape, but it ultimately didn’t matter as WWIII broke out at the end of the film anyway.
A hunter-killer with stealth capabilities? As usual with the Chinese military, hard facts about Li-Jian – literal translation: ‘sharp sword’ – are thin on the ground, but various sources claim hypersonic speeds, with both air-to-air and air-to-ground attack capabilities. Why you should be scared: Are you serious? A Chinese jet-powered hunter-killer drone that’s invisible to radar? You’ll find us under the duvet.
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gadget gift guide your ultimate TECH wish-list from bargain buys to best in class
Sounding out
Hot stuff
Set phasers to clean
iphone plus vs note
Upgrade your audio with
Hot or not? We get Hands-
Pick a personal cleaner in
apple and samsung’s bigger
soundbars and soundplates
on with the Amazon Fire TV
our
Robot vacuum group test
handsets go head-to-head
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Edited by Pete Dreyer
M a n ua l
Your monthly existence enhancer
fe e h h li Tec t o f t e th g d Ga mon
This month...
HOW to
Tell if this bastard is lying to you, and perfect your plonk P78
Obsession
Guns! And other military mod cons P79
Tech dad
Ollie rolls out some programming fun p80
Test
Toasters burned P81
Upgr ade
How we love these coats of several colours P82
Pulse
Great kit for the great outdoors P83
Home
Tech to assist sleeping and boozing p87
Drive
Toyota takes the iRoad; Ford stays focused P90
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tech ops sit rep! 1/ Zulu Time With the press of an embossed red Z, the hands switch to GMT – the standard used by pilots – for a moment.
Time Flies
The Royal Air Force joins G-Shock to launch a wrist-borne offensive Keep watching the skies: tech timepiece baron G-Shock has again teamed up with the RAF to create the GPW-1000RAF. Inspired by the iconic Chinook helicopter, it’s built to weather the tough and varied conditions RAF pilots deal with every words Duncan Bell Photography neil godwin
day, from thousands of feet up to 200m under water – although presumably something’s gone quite badly wrong if they’ve ended up there. It’ll also resist up to 12 Gs and temperatures from a desert-storming 50ºC down to a chilly -20ºC. £850, g-shock.co.uk
2/ Hybrid GPS/Radio-Wave Ceptor Picks up time signals from atomic transmitters and GPS satellites to keep you accurate to the millisecond. 3/ anti-reflective coating This plus high-vis luminescent numbers makes for easy reading. 4/ resistant to electric shock, gravity, extreme temperature, vibration, water and impact.
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HOW TO HACK YO UR
LIFE WITH TE
CH
3
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Store and serve wine
Fer r et out a fibber
Body language expert Robert Phipps reveals the tell-tale signs…
Daniel Primack of wine storage experts EuroCave on how to perfect your plonk
Tool of the month
Husqvarna 356BTx Blower
This autumn essential packs 2.4Kw and 6,000rpm of power into a pack little heavier than your week’s food shopping. With the huge blowing power and 60mm-wide nozzle, it’ll make light work of leaves and plant debris in your garden, and noise reducing ‘cruise control’ should keep the neighbours happy too. £540, husqvarna.com
1/ Turn out the lights You don’t need to keep wine under screw cap lying down like wine under cork. All other bottles should be stored in a dark, 12°C storage environment. 2/ Score the perfect ten When it comes to white and rosé, the more complex and finer the wine the nearer to 10°C you should serve it, but it’s down to personal preference really.
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The Techquation Become the master of chores
3/ Stay cool Wine stored below 10°C is prevented from maturing and improving. Wine recovered from the Titanic was almost as fresh as the day it was bottled. 4/ Avoid UV UV light breaks down the wine, ruining the colour and taste. That includes sunlight, but also fluorescent tube lighting.
BrightNest Tackle household chores one by one with task scheduling and helpful tips. Free, Android and iOS, brightnest.com
5/ Use classy glass The glass you drink from affects wine’s flavour. Glasses should be thin and light, and curve inwards at the top.
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Take explosive shots Capture impressive fireworks photos with advice from the Jessops Academy Team
1/ Get some support A sturdy tripod is a must. 2/ Take multiple shots If your camera has manual controls, select its Burst mode before you shoot, then merge multiple shots later. 3/ Keep the shutter open Alternatively, select Bulb and place something across the lens as often as you like to create multiple exposures. 4/ Boost sensitivity Set your ISO – or film speed – to 100, so you’re able to capture the light from the fireworks in an instant.
1/ Look into their eyes Most people avoid your gaze when they tell a little lie, but if it’s a whopper they are more likely to look you straight in the eye.
GTech AirRam Cordless Vacuum Cleaner Nip around the house in seconds with this bagless, cordless little sucker. £199, gtechonline.co.uk
2/ See how they hand-le it If someone’s normally quite demonstrative, their movements are likely to decrease, and vice versa, as nervous energy kicks in. 3/ Look down The feet and legs are the furthest from our brain, so are the hardest body parts to control. They act completely unconsciously most of the time, particularly when stressed, and lying is stressful for most people.
iRobot Looj 330 Unclogs your guttering whilst you celebrate your efforts with a nice café Viennois. £250, irobot.co.uk
4/ Spot self-comfort Most people will comfort themselves either as they tell the lie or shortly afterwards: crossing their arms, rubbing one arm around the bicep or rubbing the back of the head or even the throat. 5/ Check out the mouth A dry mouth is a dead giveaway. Watch out for people licking their lips more often than normal, or biting their bottom lip, as if to stop the lie coming out.
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A free weekend Reward yourself with an afternoon of doing absolutely nothing. Yes!
Words francesca peak illustrations mark mitchell
Use the force
ioOn esE s ObOs G F... IN K ME TH
Bring out the big guns
BEC
#40 military mod cons
Military and police forces use seriously high-tech gear, from specs and scopes to ever-evolving weaponry. Kit yourself out with these high-spec accessories and make every outing a military manoeuvre
What you’ll need…
Slick shooters you can spend time drooling over (but, thankfully, not get your mitts on)
1/ Colt M4 Carbine Set to become the weapon of choice for most areas of the US Military, the M4 has a three-shot burst option to complement its semi-automatic mode. A mounted grenade launcher adds even more firepower. colt.com 2/ Beretta 92 series Iconic semi-automatic pistol, used as the sidearm of choice for a bevy of military forces worldwide, from the US Border Police to the Gendarmerie of Vatican City. beretta.com 3/ Heckler & Koch PSG1 H&K was tasked with creating a semi-automatic sniper that could hold a large magazine and match the competition for accuracy. The result? The PSG1. First used in 1972, it’s still around today. heckler-koch.com
f 1/ BlackHawk Strike Tactical Armour Lightweight protection with a 3D mesh interior for improved airflow. Non-slip HawkTex shoulder lining provides buttstock stability. From $720, bulletproofme.com 2/ Armasight Spark X Provides high-end visibility in the dankest of surroundings, plus Sam Fisher-esque styling. $1,049, armasight.com 3/ Oakley Industrial Frame M Based on the same tech that protects
Words max parker
Techlife
the eyes of SWAT officers, Oakley’s given these specs a stress-resistant frame and Plutonite lenses. £95, uk.oakley.com 4/ Alt-Berg Warrior Combat Boots M.O.Dspec, with a Cambrelle lining that keeps toes cool and dries quickly when wet. £159, altberg.co.uk 5/ US Optics SR-4C 1-4x Red Dot This sight offers 4x magnification and improved daylight visibility, all encased in anodised aluminium. $1,599, usoptics.com
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Three places to (legally) unleash your inner sniper Twickenham Rifle and Pistol club Home Office approved sports club focusing on the more Olympic side of shooting. twickenhamrpc.co.uk Bedfordshire County Rifle and Pistol Association indoor and outdoor ranges for clay-pigeon (or practical) shooting and target practice. bedfordgunclub.co.uk WMS Firearms training Firearms training aimed at hunters and target shooters. wmsfirearmstraining.com
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robotics made fun
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Master your ollies with Sphero’s smartphone-controlled automaton What’s cylindrical, spins on its axis, barrels along at 14mph, flips, spins and has the capacity to scare pets and destroy your home? Sphero’s new Ollie. This little robot relies on smartphone finger-swipe input to perform a preset circus of tricks – including the famous skateboard stunt from which it gets its name – but it can also be programmed using a series of simple code commands. In short, this funfilled automaton teaches kids the basics of robotics with instant gratification. Whoops, there goes the Ming! £80, gosphero.com/ollie
The tech The Sphero Ollie in finer detail…
1/ Spheroics Ollie comes with two knobbly tyres that help it to perform tight turns on rough terrain, but you can remove them and watch it drift around a smooth living room floor instead. 2/ Robosphere Ollie works alongside two different apps. The standard Ollie app uses swipe commands to make it steer or perform tricks, while MacroLab is all about programming. 3/ Sp(h)ecs Ollie connects via Bluetooth to any Android or iOS device – simply launch one of the apps and touch the phone or tablet to any part of its tough polycarbonate shell. A single USB charge provides up to 60 minutes of domestic bedlam.
Tech dad selects
I’ll only tell you once!
A pair of fun-filled, room-roaming alternatives
With years of gadget know-how, Tech Dad has the answers to all your familial conundrums
Dear Tech Dad, Is there a practical way to remind me when to reapply my son’s sun cream on holiday? JUDITH/HAMPSTEAD Romo Turn your iPhone into a robot that recognises faces and responds to movement. £130, firebox.com
Parrot MiniDrone Jumping Sumo This Mad Hatter of app-controlled toys careers along the floor and leaps onto table tops with consummate ease. £139.99, parrot.com/uk
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SunFriend monitors UVA and UVB rays so your lad gets just the right amount of valuable vitamin D without his skin turning a darker shade of pink. Simply pre-program his skin colour into the device and let the SunFriend keep track of the time. When a circle of LEDs illuminate, hit the bottle. £40, amazon.co.uk Dear Tech Dad, How can I keep in touch with my four-yearold while I’m working away from home? JAKE/CAMBRIDGE
Toymail uses wi-fi to relay messages and private voicemails sent from a dedicated app in your iOS or Android device to a walkietalkie-like toy. Great fun. £50, firebox.com Dear Tech Dad, My 16-year-old has expressed an interest in building his own gaming PC, and I’d like to join in. Any grand suggestion, oh wise one? TERRENCE/TRURO
YoYoTech’s website offers a tranche of high-powered, self-build gaming options from a very reasonable £319. Choose from the established Warbird series or the awardwinning RS platform, and then customise to your heart’s content. From £319, yoyotech.co.uk Words derek adams
Cool runnings, hot bread
Techlife
P osh toasters
Effortlessly chic yet built like brick shithouses, these aristocrats of the bread-heating world are the must-have kitchen accessories for winter 2014
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These toasters are too good for sliced white or that stuff that’s like white and yet a bit wholemeal at the same time. Let E5 Bakehouse show you more interesting, organic, artisan breads Rugbrøt A traditional Danish dark rye, made with walnut and linseeds and sweetened with Molasses. Moist and delicious! Miche A Delicious, 100% wholemeal sourdough bread that keeps incredibly well. Here At the bakehouse we divide it up and then sell it in quarters. Hackney Wild A classic pain de campagne style with a great shelf life. We make it with a mix of Organic unbleached white, stoneground wholemeal and organic rye flour.
Rowlett Rutland Regent This really feels built to last, and toasts with the kind of old-school efficiency that its looks suggest. Available in a range of colours, it’s a clear rival to the more classic Dualits (not the one here), for those who hanker for industrialtype toasting. £149, rowlettrutland.co.uk 3/5
KitchenAid two-slice Vintage looks, vintage toast. Keep-warm and reheat functionality is welcome and the push-button operation is preferable to the automatic descender on KitchenAid’s Artisan range. The price per slice is the highest on test, mind you. £89, kitchenaid.co.uk 3/5
Spelt loaf a dash of rye is added to a blend of wholemeal and white british spelt flour, which is Lower in gluten than wheat breads. Two days of wild fermentation ensures it has plenty of flavour and keeps well.
Pimp your Toaster Use your loaf and shop for these… Test Winner
Kenwood BM450 Quick-baking and reasonably attractive by bread-maker standards. £90, kenwood.co.uk
Graef TO100 German engineered with a brace of long slots, this caters for bread of any length, while a two-position pop-up action means any height works too. Girth? Not so much, but add very uniform, if slow, toasting and a bun warmer and we have a winner, just. £120, graef.co.uk 4/5 Words Duncan Bell
Dualit Architect four-slice The cheapest bread-browner on test – and it feels like it, which is odd for a Dualit. However big, versatile slots, uniform browning and user-switchable side panels in a variety of hues make this decent VFM by premiumappliance standards. £100, dualit.co.uk 3/5
Toastabag 500 Sandwich-shaped foil pouch lets you make toasties in your toaster without destroying it utterly. £6, lakeland.co.uk
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Fix t Look smar
Upgr ade your mac
Ditch the granorak and splash out on something cooler this winter 1/ Arc’teryx Veilance Patrol I.S. Arc’teryx gear treats the elements with total disdain on a regular basis, and the Veilance is no different, despite being rather more fashionable. The shell and hood are made of waterproof but breathable Gore-Tex, and there’s a detachable quilt layer underneath. £1,400, arcteryx.com 2/ North Face Fuse Uno This waterproof shell is packed with new tech. HyVent Alpha – essentially Gore-Tex on steroids – provides masses of breathability and tri-layer waterproof protection, and new FuseForm construction reduces the number of seams, holding fast against the elements and reducing weight. £300, thenorthface.co.uk 3/ Porsche Design Alpine Technical Known for fashionforward tailoring, Porsche’s latest technical effort is a design collab with sports giant Adidas. It’s easily packed away but substantial enough to ward off the inclement weather, and those comfy arm sleeves have natty thumb-holes too. £750, porsche-design.com
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4/ Paul Smith Waterproof Parka Less is apparently more for Paul Smith, who offers this ultralightweight single layer. A couple of equally waterproof zip pockets and a drawstring hem make it more functional than cheapo poncho/ bin bag alternatives, and isn’t that a tasty shade of orange? Lovely. £205, paulsmith.co.uk 5/ Mackintosh Dunoon Incredibly, Mackintosh only makes 25 coats per week – all handcrafted – at its factory in Cumbernauld, Scotland. The traditional but beautiful pocket-less Dunoon is a mix of bonded cotton and taped seams, with a handwoven wool vest inner. Classy. £875, mackintosh.com 6/ Moncler Patrice Moncler’s nylonblend jacket doggedly rebuffs wet weather with a drawstring hood and high neck. It’s fairly lightweight, and you’ll need to add extra layers underneath to keep you snug, but at least you’ll look good on top. The printed lining and camo trim is a nice touch too. £762, eng.moncler.com
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Keep it classy: Davek Solo umbrella If you prefer something more sartorial, Davek’s compact Solo umbrella has a rock-solid Windfibre frame, a 190-thread count canopy for maximum protection, and an automatic open/close button on the shaft. Just don’t leave it on the bus... £61, davekny.com
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words Pete Dreyer
Easy rider
electric dream Lapierre’s latest ‘leccy mountain
bike is packed with tech and torque
Techlife
An electric mountain bike, you say? Isn’t that cheating? Well, the Lapierre Overvolt FS 900 is designed by Nicolas Vouilloz, ten time world champion and living MTB legend, so if it’s good enough for him, it’s good enough for us. The brand new Bosch Performance crank motor peaks at 500W and 60Nm of torque, and has four assistance settings ranging from Turbo (275% assistance) to Eco (50% assistance). There’s a battery in tow too, that’ll get you as far as 110 miles in Eco mode off one charge, so it’s more than happy on the roads. But this beast is built to take on the mountains – check out its MTB credentials below. £3,500, lapierre-bikes.co.uk
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The tech that pimps your ride Make light work of any terrain, however hard you’re pedalling Lapierre’s full-suspension frame is decked out with Shimano’s elite performance XT drivetrain, including Shimano’s SLX 10 shifters, the XT Shadow Plus rear mech, and XT hydraulic disk brakes. it rolls on super-stiff Mavic double wall 650B rims with sealed bearings. Michelin’s Wild Grip’r tyres perform on all terrains. The bike has front and rear RockShox Revelation RL 140mm forks, and is designed to meld the benefits of faster, smoother 29-inch wheels with the manoeuvrability of a 26-inch rim.
Wanna ride your bicycle? Then kit yourself up for the ride of your life...
1/ Shimano M200 This top-of-the-line Enduro shoe offers plenty of impact protection, and cushioning too. £150, madison.co.uk
words Pete Dreyer photography Neil Godwin
2/ Lazer Oasiz Rollsys fitting makes for a snug fit, and the wing can be equipped with a light or GoPro mount. £100, lazersport.co.uk
3/ Bliss Arg Knee Pads Armourgel padding is flexible, but hardens on impact to absorb 80% of the energy. £75, blisscamp.com
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Be great outdoors Why rough it on your latest outdoor adventure? Kit yourself
out with this cutting-edge al fresco tech and live it up instead
hike
Bluetooth speakers Cos there ain’t no party like an outdoor party
1/ Eton Rugged Rukus Rugged, water-resistant and powered by a large solar panel on top, the Rukus really is a man for all seasons. £60, etoncorp.com
2/ JBL Charge 2 Passive radiators at each end of this speaker add some genuine bass to proceedings, and the internal 6,000mAh battery will charge your phone a couple of times when full. £130, jbl.com 3/ Marshall Stanmore Planning to make a bit more noise? The Stanmore is the loudest Bluetooth speaker we’ve ever tested, and it boasts classic Marshall styling too. £360, marshallheadphones.com
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Hike 1/ Suunto Ambit 3 The third Ambit watch is the first to be Bluetooth compatible, and packs in other features like route navigation, a 3D compass and 50 hours of battery life in GPS mode. A barometer, altimeter and compatibility with heart-rate monitors make this the most capable GPS watch we’ve ever seen. From £360, suunto.com 2/ Adidas Tycane Pro sunglasses These SPX-framed glasses have removable lenses, which range from a light contrast tint for overcast days in the valley through to cat 4 Space Lenses for high mountain ascents. You can have your lenses polarised, or not. £175, adidas.com
3/ Arc’Teryx Altra 50 The pear-shaped Altra removes heavy back panel layers and re-distributes weight for a comfy, body-hugging fit. The 50-litre capacity is a good size for a couple of days’ hiking, but it comes in all sizes, and high-grade ripstop nylon ensures it’ll survive a battering too. £180, arcteryx.com 4/ Swarovski EL 10x32 Swarovision Binoculars Swarovski’s optical technology uses field flattener lenses to eliminate distortion and give you a sharp, flat image at distances of well over 1km, perfect for watching birds, or keeping an eye on distant kids. There’s no news on a crystal-encrusted version yet... £1,430, swarovski.com
Words Pete dreyer
Have a wild weekend
Techlife
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Take a hike! Test out your gear on three of Britain’s favourite hiking routes
Helvellyn, Lake District It’s not the tallest peak in the Lakes, of course, but it’s probably the most exciting to climb. A gentle start eventually gives way to razor-sharp Striding Edge, and a bit of rock scrambling to the top. Coleridge and Wordsworth both lived nearby too, if you like a bit of history thrown in.
5/ Vasque Eriksson GTX Full-grain 2.2mm leather looks (and smells) great, and makes for brilliant waterproof protection. Naturally, though, your feet need to breathe, so there’s a Gore-Tex layer underneath too, as well as a comfy, supportive three-piece midsole and Vasque’s exclusive Vibram Summit sole. £135, vasque.com Camp 6/ Big Agnes Slater UL3+ At just under 4x2m, the Slater has an absolutely massive footprint, yet it only weighs 2.4kg packed. A large vestibule provides drying off space for kit, and mesh has been replaced by breathable nylon for extra warmth and privacy. £337, bigagnes.com
7/ Sierra Designs Backcountry Bed Zips begone! The open-entry system makes the Backcountry Bed really easy to get in and out of, and very versatile too – if you’re cold, the thermal quilt gives extra warmth and insulation, whilst hot sleepers can open up and kick out to cool off. £184, sierradesigns.com
9/ MSR Windboiler No time to waste? In a 12mph wind, MSR’s latest stove will boil half a litre of water in under three minutes, thanks to an enclosed design and the superefficient radial burner. Impressive stuff, and an awfully quick cup of tea in the morning, old chap. £110, cascadedesigns.com
8/ Brunton Hydrogen Reactor Now we’re talking, Scotty. Plug in the hydrogen core, and the reactor will combine said hydrogen with oxygen from the air to generate its own electricity, and power any USB device you want. Each hydrogen core is 4,500mAh, and can be recharged from water in stores. £130, brunton.com
10/ Therm-a-rest Treo Chair Weighing-in at just over a kilo, the Treo boasts exactly the sort of nifty design we love. The chair is a solid mix of aluminium and ripstop fabric, and the sturdy tripod legs also double as a case – pull them up and the chair folds down to the size of a big bottle of fizzy pop. £TBC, cascadedesigns.com
The West Highland Way, Scotland This 95-miler is gentle and picturesque, taking you from the suburbs of Glasgow through the forests of Loch Lomond, and up the Devil’s Staircase. Eventually you’ll end up at the base of Ben Nevis, if you’ve still got the energy for Scotland’s highest peak. Lizard Peninsula, Cornwall Widely regarded as home to some of the UK’s most spectacular and varied countryside, the Lizard Peninsula is a mix of caves and crannies, exotic subtropical plants and stunning Cornish coastline, as well as a fascinating collection of bronze-age burial mounds.
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Nap-o-matic
Snooze of the world A really excellent alarm clock connected to an effective but slightly dubious life tracker…
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First trailed at CES in January, the Withings Aura Smart Sleep System is now here. We’ve been living with it for a month and you can see our verdict belo– zzzzzzzz. Sorry, what? Oops, drifted off there. Using a rather incontinence pad-style sensor, Aura monitors your nocturnal movements, as it were, to deduce how well you’ve slept. It also features a Philips Wake-up Light-esque alarm in the shape of a ship’s bendy funnel. This lulls you to sleep with orangeyred lights, and wakes you in a less-than-usually-traumatic way with blue hues, at a point in your sleep cycle when you aren’t what doctors call “completely sparko”. £250, withings.co.uk
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Aura: the T3 verdict First up, we have two minor issues: why isn’t the sensor wireless? We don’t really want cables trailing out of our bed, thanks. Oh, and If it tells you you’re sleeping badly, what the hell are you meant to do about it? That aside, this is a fine product. It tracks sleep reliably and does really seem to aid both dozing off and waking up. The app also works seamlessly with Withings’ body and blood pressure monitors, and counts your steps via your mobile too.
Mor e internet of things things Heat, light and power: three key human necessities now controllable via your smartphone…
1/ Climote Yet another smart thermostat… but a stylish one, no? £299, climote.ie
Words Duncan Bell Photography Pixeleyes
2/ Elgato Avea Philips Hue rival gives colourful lighting options. £40, elgato.com
3/ Loxone Air Smart Socket Remote-control plug also tracks power use. £156 for three, loxone.com
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Storing and imbibing-related tech for the gentleman booze hound. Please enjoy responsibly… 1/ EuroCave Revelation Just look at the exquisite modernism of this apartment. This, clearly, is not the abode of a man who has drunk himself insane on Blue Nun. This is the home of a man who cherishes and savours the vintage wines swaddled in its soft-close drawers. These simulated cellars hold 74 to 200+ bottles, depending on model, with ideal temperature and humidity, constant ventilation, UV filtration and vibro-proofing. There’s also 360° lighting for when the time comes to actually drink something. From £2,400. Unit pictured £4,000, eurocave.co.uk 2/ JLWF152 and 153 by John Lewis Tighter budget and space? These seven-bottle coolers from JLP are like a London hipster: stylish, skinny, filled with booze. There’s only one temperature zone, but these are cheap, quiet (40dB) and energy-efficient. £269, johnlewis.com 3/ Coravin 1000 One for true connoisseurs, this allows you to pour glasses of wine without opening the bottle. Simply insert the Coravin’s Teflon-coated needle into and through the cork and draw off a glass. The needle then pumps in a puff of argon gas to prevent oxidisation and retracts. The cork ‘heals’ where the needle entered, like magic. £269, coravin.co.uk 4/ Corkcicle.Air A refreshingly low-tech approach to wine serving, you freeze this slightly grotesque-looking plastic ‘icicle’, then insert it into your bottle of wine to chill it. Next, pull off the top to pour through
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an aerating spout. The manufacturer is at pains to point out that yes, red wine does need cooling (to cellar temperature), and white wine does benefit from aeration. £14, corkcicle.com 5/ Wine Art If Coravin sounds a bit too much like warlockery to you, how about this more traditional machine for keeping wine fresh? It maintains a ‘perfect vacuum’ – a problem with pump-and-seal systems is users tend to apply either too much or too little – to keep your vino ‘just so’ for up to ten days. Its two compartments chill to either 16°C (red) or 8°C (white) at the prod of a button. £400, aroundwine.co.uk 6/ L’Atelier du Vin Hygro-Thermo Digital Station and Basetech Mini Speaking of optimum temperature, here are two ways to ensure just that, from cellar to glass. L’Atelier du Vin’s device monitors both the temperature and humidity around your stash. Basetech’s handy gizmo will tell you the temperature of anything you point it at, although there is a tolerance of +/-2ºC. £23, atelierduvin.com, £16, conrad-electronic.co.uk 7/ Root7 Vodka Zinger, Bar10der and Cocktail Master Alternatively, have a cocktail. These gizmos are, clockwise from top left, a mill for grinding fruit into vodka to create infusions; a tenin-one Swiss army knife of booze, and a range of specialist all-in-ones for mojitos, martinis and margaritas. Anything with an ‘m’, basically. £25, £30, £15, root7.com
Thash a luvvly room. Hic!
Techlife
How much for cor k age? Three ways to open a wine bottle that are ‘unusual’ (or ‘stupid’, if you prefer). Sure, a waiter’s friend is better, but it’s less fun…
1/ Bosch Ixo £30, Ixo Vino attachment £15, bosch.co.uk
2/ Menu Champagne Sabre by Karim Rashid £119, menudesignshop.com
3/ Metrokane Electric Rabbit $50, metrokane.com
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Take the i-Road Test out the future of urban transport by hitting the streets of
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Grenoble in Toyota’s electric contribution to the town’s urban transport concept – a motorcycle-cum-car made for two...
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Base price N/A (hire through Ha:mo) Top speed 28mph Engine Electric Gearbox Drive via hub motors in front wheels Power 2x 2Kw hub motors Carbon emissions Zero tailpipe emissions Range 30 miles Weight 300Kg Size (LxWxH) 2.35x0.85x1.45m Occupants Two (in tandem seating) Turning circle 3m
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ROUTE Master If you want to try the i-Road in Europe, you’ll have to go to Grenoble. Nestling in the foothills of the Alps, with its excellent public transport systems and strong record of high-tech research, this French city is the ideal test bed for Toyota’s Harmonious Mobility (Ha:mo) concept. Hop from tram to bus to i-Road as you cross town.
1/ Grenoble
Wheelie good fun
Toyota is big in hybrids, but hasn’t really bothered with pure electric vehicles – until now. The radical and tiny i-Road has certainly been worth the wait, and it’s not just a clever box of tricks; it’s just turned up in the French city of Grenoble as part of a clever urban mobility concept that attempts to weave small EVs into the wider public transport network. The first thing you’ll notice is the i-Road’s space efficiency. Although it can accommodate two occupants in tandem and has fully enclosed bodywork, it’s still only the same width as a scooter. Then there’s the unusual three-wheel layout; two wheels at the front and one at the back, with the steering operating the single rear wheel. Coolest of all – thanks to Active Lean technology, it tilts into bends like a motorcycle. The degree of lean depends on your speed and steering angle. On the road, the i-Road is easy to master – and a lot of fun. The controls are car-like, with a steering wheel rather than handlebars. At first, you’ll be swaying around all over the shop as you get used to the rear-wheel steering, although combined with the Active Lean, it all feels natural once you get used to it. Thanks to the i-Road’s bodywork, you don’t feel that vulnerable in traffic, although you’re a bit closer to the action in other respects –
Techlife
The tech Inside 1/ Active Lean The i-Road tilts into corners like a motorbike, which helps stability. Angles of lean can be quite extreme, but feel surprisingly natural. 2/ Rear-wheel steering The i-Road feels like nothing else to drive, but it’s also the key to its extreme manoeuvrability – it can almost turn within its own length. 3/ Car-like controls Radical as it is, the i-Road still needs to offer a familiar driving environment for the wide range of customers who will use it as part of Grenoble’s public transport set-up.
you’ll be swaying all over as you get used to the rearwheel steering road bumps can produce quite a jolt, and there’s a bit of whirring from the electric drivetrain, although it’s still pretty civilised. But the i-Road isn’t just a clever piece of kit – it’s also the centrepiece of a whole urban transport concept that’s being put to the test in Grenoble. Toyota calls it Ha:mo (Harmonious Mobility), the integration of shared electric vehicles into public transport systems. In Grenoble, it’s co-operating with local government, electricity company EDF and local car-sharing operation Cité lib to provide 27 charging locations that link with main transport connections. The 35 i-Roads used in the scheme operate like London’s ‘Boris bikes’, with an app that allows you to plan one-way journeys rather than having to drop the i-Road off where you started. At the moment, you can’t actually buy an i-Road, so if you want to have a go at driving this year’s hottest electric vehicle, you’ll have to head to Grenoble, where you can hire one for just a few Euros. Toyota.com
Words David wilkins
Thr ee to test drive
iRoad alternatives you could actually buy
1/ Renault Twizy Renault’s Twizy is the closest thing to an i-Road you can buy in the UK. Prices start at £6,895, but the battery has to be leased separately.
2/ Toyota COMS The i-Road’s steadier four-wheel EV sister is on sale to the public, but only in Japan. It’s also part of the Grenoble Ha:mo scheme.
3/ Volkswagen e-Up! The electric version of VW’s cute urban runabout is one of the most polished EVs. A steep £19,270 price is offset by low running costs.
renault.co.uk
toyota-body.co.jp
volkswagen.co.uk
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Ford stays focused The very best in automotive technology made available to the masses. Ford’s at it again...
The new, modest-looking Ford Focus packs everything from an eightinch touchscreen and hands-free roboparking to auto collision avoidance and active headlights – and all in a five-door family fun bus. OK, much of that kit is optional, and factor-in the £20k price tag of this high-spec Titanium model and we’re not talking motoring for the masses. But pick the base model and the right option packs and you’ll get more gadgets for your greenbacks with this car than almost any other. £20,795, ford.co.uk
For d Focus: What’s what?
1/ Look, no hands! In-car hands-free tech? No biggie. Actually, it is when it means no-hands parking. At a push of a button ultrasonic sensors and automated systems detect spaces and steer while the driver operates the pedals. This latest system supports end-on perpendicular and parallel parking. 2/ Listen up The latest Focus debuts SYNC 2, Ford’s fully updated multimedia rig. There’s a much improved high-def eight-inch screen, but the clever bit is the natural-language voice control. Just bark ‘I’m hungry’ and the car will offer up a list of local eateries from the navigation menu. 3/ Accident prevention It’s no accident that the Focus is one of the safest cars on the road, thanks to clever active technologies. Cross Traffic Alert helps you back out of parking slots without bumping into anyone, Active City Stop prevents in-town fender benders, and Active Braking reduces rear-end impacts out on the open road.
{Concept}
Citroën Divine DS
God’s alternative to the Volkswagen Golf
1/ No looking back The Divine DS has no rear window. Bonkers? Nope. The rear-view mirror is a digital display fed by cameras. 2/ Style statement Interior finish highlights include jewellery studded leather, pleated silk and a Swarovski Crystal fabric. 3/ Definitely a DS The plan for the DS luxury sub-brand is to drop the Citroën bit. The French car maker thinks this is what’s needed to take on the Germans in the competitive premium car market.
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Words Jeremy Laird
Now fully interactive on your iPad
Interactive pages • Full screen trailers Exclusive extra content Search for ‘Total Film’ in the App Store www.totalfilm.com/newsstand * Download two free issues with a no obligation subscription. Offer applies to new subscribers only. iPad is a trademark of Apple Inc., registered in the U.S. and other countries. App Store is a service mark of Apple Inc.
S weetstyled wrist goodness
2 head over to t3.com for an extended review
The Moto 360 smartwatch looks the biz, but is there meat on those pretty bones?
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With a stainless steel buckle and case, a scratch-resistant Gorilla Glass screen and a mirrored plastic back, Moto has thought a lot about the 360’s styling. 3
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Appy days
Juicy extras
Changing faces
Check Google Play for extra Android Wear-enabled apps – the usual suspects and some unexpected gems
Works with QI-compatible chargers – anything from standard pads to cushions and pebbles
Use Motorola Connect for even more customisability, like the ability to change colours on watch faces
{Focus}
{moto 360}
points of interest {specifications}
Screen 1.5”, Gorilla Glass 3 Resolution 320x290 Processor TI OMAP 3 Features Bluetooth 4.0, dual mics, vibration motor Battery/life 320mAh/ one day Software Android Wear Memory 4GB internal storage + 512MB RAM Sensors Pedometer, optical heart-rate sensor Water resistance IP 67
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Motorola can enjoy the limelight, for now...
{Size/weight}
Dimensions 46x11.5mm/49g (with leather strap)
Motorola has done a great job on the design of the Moto 360, and aside from the slightly confusing Google UI this is a premium product. Compared to the plethora of sport bands, which offer HR monitors and step counters for around £120, the Moto 360 also offers great value for those keen to test out a smartwatch experience in style. However, Apple will be a big upset for Motorola come January, as the Apple Watch is likely to deliver equal if not better design. That said, given the Android/Apple OS divide behind this wristy business, it’s unlikely that this choice is bothering much of the population.
Instead of a winder/crown there’s a lowprofile push-button. At 43mm across and 11mm deep, it’s not the biggest smartwatch out there, but it’s far from understated. The 1.5-inch LCD has a resolution of 320x290, which is fine at a normal viewing distance, but on closer inspection it’s not the best. Clearly having a higher-res screen would have had an effect on Moto’s claim of all-day battery life. While it’s easily possible to stay powered-up on an average day, Moto has anticipated night-time charging by adding a bedside clock-style function to the charger. The UI is a mash-up between Android Wear and Google Cards that can be brilliant, like when you’re using Google Maps and getting vibrate alerts when a direction change is required. It can be random too, however. Sadly, Motorola has built the 360 with a fouryear-old TI OMAP 3 chip (OMAP3630) inside, rather than the Snapdragon 400 that graces the Samsung and LG, so you do get some lag. The watch is surprisingly useful every day – wrist alerts are weirdly compelling, as is the fitness aspect. Google Wear is clearly still in its infancy, and Motorola’s open-source policy here has left the ball very much in Google’s court. Until the Apple Watch lands in early 2015, this is the smartwatch to beat. £199, moto360.motorola.com
Love Classic, stylish design. Useful alerts and synced media controls Hate Confusing UI. Dated, four-year-old chipset T3 Says The design king of smartwatches you can get your hands on right now
Words Mark Mayne photography Dave Caudery
Reviews r A T e d
LG 34UM95 21:9 £900, lg.com
Drift Stealth 2 £249, driftinnovation.com
The Drift Stealth 2 is the latest excitable upstart to enter the action-cam arena.
{Specifications} Video 1920x1080 at 30fps Screen 1.3” LCD Battery life 3 hours at 1080p Waterproof? Weather-resistant (waterproof case available) Wifi connectivity Yes Mobile app iPhone and Android Mounts Curved, flat, goggle Size/weight 80x42.6x27.4mm/97g
Far smaller, lighter and smarter than previous cams, it opts out of the resolution arms race, shooting at 1080p and 30 frames per second (fps). It’s by far and away the smallest, lightest camera the company has made. Though similar in size and weight to the GoPro HD Hero 3+, the Stealth 2 is long, low and sleek, rather than upright and ugly. It’s splashproof without a case, but not waterproof – the same as the GoPro. Where it outdoes its rival, however, is with its 1.3-inch LCD screen and a 300° rotatable lens. Mounts are tough and well-designed, as is the main unit. The only real concern is the rotating lens lip, which could get caught in a tumble. In good conditions, the camera produces stunning video. The decision to restrict field-of-view from the usual 170° to a mere 135° pays off – videos look noticeably less fisheyed at the edges. Colours are crisp, capturing detail and movement even in rattle-and-roll conditions. However, lowlight performance doesn’t match that of the GoPro, and the camera succumbs to chatter as wind noise increases. Yes, the Stealth 2 has downsized, and is lighter and smarter than before, but it still doesn’t quite manage to fell its biggest competitor. love Amazing video. Small and light. Great mounting hate Poor low-light performance. No 4K. Sound suffers at speed T3 says Given time, and with a few improvements, the Stealth 2 could become the top action cam on the market
Words Simon Munk and kane fulton
This screen goes by the mantra of ‘bigger is better’, with 34 inches and 3440x1440 pixels (21:9) respectively.
{Specifications} Screen 34” Aspect ratio 21:9 Resolution 3440x1440 Panel type IPS Response time 5ms Brightness 320 cd/m2 Connections 2x Thunderbolt 2, HDMI, DisplayPort, headphone out Audio 2x 7w speakers
In use it’s like having two 20-inch monitors sideby-side. It also has more vertical space than previous models, matching that you’d find on a 27-inch monitor while providing even more horizontal space at the sides. The working area really is huge. At 109ppi, it’s also sharp. The display is an IPS variety, with accurate colours and deep blacks. It’s got a very low input lag of 5ms, making it suitable for gamers, and the monitor will support 60Hz refresh rates over DisplayPort set to its native resolution. Spin the screen around and you’ll find a variety of connections, including two Thunderbolt ports. It’s the first non-Apple monitor to feature Thunderbolt 2, which supports the new Mac Pro, and this is a more modern and attractive offering than Apple’s ageing 27-inch Thunderbolt display. At £900, the price is a stumbling block. You can buy two 4K monitors for that price and place them side-by-side, but that’s missing the point. If you’re a multimedia editor, office worker, movie lover, or anybody who needs ample screen realestate, this is a seriously tempting proposition. love Beautiful picture. Great for gaming, movies and productivity. Mac Pro-friendly hate Quite pricey. Not as detailed as 4K alternatives T3 says Pricey, but beautiful to behold, this monitor could be all you need on a desktop
T3.COM has extended reviews of these products
d ec e m b e r 2 0 1 4 T 3 1 0 1
S mall cameras, b ig ambitions The best cSCs prove you don’t need a huge DSLR or massive budget to take pictures like the pros. and they’re stylish to boot...
02 dslr challenger
test winner
Photography’s holy grail has long been a bigger sensor in the smallest possible camera body, and delivering that is the purpose of the latest generation of compact system cameras – or CSCs. No longer do you need a back-breaking DSLR body and bag of lenses to take professional-looking pictures; these bodies and lenses will slip easily into a roomy coat pocket. But we’d wager they look so good you won’t want to hide them away this winter.
01 plucky new boy
01 plucky new boy
02 dslr challenger
£499 (with 12-45mm & 42.5-160mm kit), kodak.co.uk
£1,299 (with 18-55mm kit lens), fujifilm.eu/uk
Kodak Pixpro S-1 Kodak’s first-ever CSC looks sleek in minimalist white or serious black, and boasts a 16MP Four Thirds sensor, as found in competing Panasonic and Olympus models. This metal-bodied Wi-Fiequipped camera comes in a twin-lens kit, which includes a wide-angle 12-45mm and a 42.5160mm for added reach. Aspiring pros may miss a viewfinder, but
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the tilting three-inch, 920K-dot LCD enables creative framing. Battery life is impressive, and you can shoot raw files alongside JPEGs, plus full HD video. Stills are sharp and colour rich, while focus automatically adjusts in video mode. T3 Says Rivals are sexier, but this is a solid first attempt
03 stylish snapper
Fujifilm X-T1
The weather-resistant X-T1 is the standout model in Fuji’s retrostyled yet technologically innovative ‘X’ series. Improved AF, plus an 8fps capture speed and eye-level EVF (with a huge 2.36MP resolution) ensure its handling is as good as its looks. Sensor resolution sounds modest at 16.3MP, yet the larger APS-C chip matches the
size found in DSLRs proper. Combine this with a fixed focal length wide-aperture lens and you get sharp foreground detail and blown-out backgrounds, just like the pros. Dazzling effects also extend to the 1920x 1080p, 60fps video. T3 Says The XT-1 perfectly blends the classic with the new
Olympus OM-D E-M10 £659 (with 14-42mm kit lens), olympus.co.uk
The diminutive and ravishingly retro E-M10 has plentiful buttons and rangefinder-like dials that take a bit of getting to grips with – it’s feature packed and offers plenty of manual control. Once everything clicks, though, it’s comfortable and ergonomic to use, and the tilting touchscreen and eye-level EVF provide a best of both worlds approach to composition.
Incorporating a 16MP Four Thirds sensor, like the Kodak, this wins out due to the build quality and classic, solid design. If you don’t want to lug around a heavy DSLR and can’t afford a Fuji X-T1, the Olympus feels far from second best. T3 Says Offers best of both worlds – handling and performance
Words gavin stoker illustration kitsch Nitsch PhotographY joseph branston
Compact system cameras R A T E D 03 stylish snapper
05 flexible friend
04 beginner’s pal
05 flexible friend
04 Beginner’s pal
Sony A5100
£549 (with 16-50mm kit lens), sony.co.uk
At launch, the new A5100 laid claim to being the globe’s dinkiest interchangeable lens camera, yet it boasts a large APS-C sensor with a high 24.3MP resolution. A 180° selfie-enabling touchscreen and popup flash make this CSC a cinch to operate too. A small-ish camera can look front heavy when a lens is attached, so fortunately Sony has
included a retracting 16-50mm power zoom. Images are colourrich and detailed straight from the camera, and a plus for videographers is that the mechanically powered zoom ensures a jerk-free motion when filming – that’s tricky to do with a manual lens. T3 says Small, but can take on the big boys
WWW For more camera reviews go to T3.COm
Nikon 1 V3
£949 (with 10-30mm & 30-110mm kit), nikon.com
{the knowledge}
The V3 omits the angular looks of its predecessors, but also their eye-level viewfinders. At its heart is a one-inch sensor offering 18.4MPs – larger than the chips in pocket point-and-shoots, but smaller than most CSCs. There’s a tilting touchscreen as well as a hybrid autofocus system comprising a whopping 171 AF points, which ensures the camera is
CSCs offer a variety of sensor sizes. Here we’re referring to the actual surface area of the chip, not the amount of pixels. The general rule of thumb is that physically bigger is better. The biggest and therefore theoretically ‘best’ is a full-frame chip, so called because it’s a size match for an old frame of 35mm film. Next down the pecking order is the APS-C sensor favoured by Fuji and Sony here (and most DSLRs), followed by the Four Thirds chip in the Kodak and Olympus. Last but not least is the one-inch sensor in the Nikon 1 V3, which in part allows for a smaller body and lenses. All manufacturers would argue that they have each discovered the best compromise between body/sensor dimensions and lens proportions. And who are we to argue?
both fast and accurate, compactness aided by the 10-30mm kit zoom. As well as adding an accessory EVF, the V3 can be pimped to mini DSLR-type proportions with an additional grip, while a mount adapter enables use with regular Nikon DSLR lenses. T3 Says This is Nikon’s best ‘V’ camera to date
Sensor sensibility
d ec e m b e r 2 0 1 4 T 3 1 0 3
4k TVs r A T e d
G et 4K for under £2K When it comes to highdefinition TVs, four times as many pixels needn’t cost four times as much
Also known as Ultra HD, 4K televisions have exactly four times as many pixels as full-HD sets, and can therefore display four times as much detail on screen. But they can be pricey. Illustration luke o’neill
The difference the increase in pixels can make when watching movies, and in particular sport, should not be underestimated, however. It can appear almost as if you are looking through a window – the overall effect is utterly mesmerising, captivating and addictive. So if you’re in the market for a new television, you owe yourself to at least consider going 4K, and with the great options on the following pages all costing less than £2k, there are some great deals to be had. ➜
{Contenders}
Five 4k TVs lined up for your viewing pleasure
Sony kd49x8505 £1,399
Words James Rivington photography Adam Gasson
lg 55ub950V £1,785
philips 55Pus7809 £1,299
samsung UE48hu7500 £1,400
panasonic TX-50ax802 £1,799
d ec e m b e r 2 0 1 4 T 3 1 0 5
Sony KD49X8505 £1,399, sony.co.uk
2
{Specification}
3D Passive glasses Two tuner Freeview HD HDMI 2.0 Yes HEVC Yes Speakers 20W
1
3
4
{Dimensions}
height 66.4cm Width 109.4cm Depth 6.6cm Weight 18.1kg {Details} 1 performance
The 4K screen struggles with dark scenes, but upscales superbly 2 build
Build quality is good, but not great 3 sound
Built-in speakers are fairly weak 4 finish
The frame is very thin and a little flimsy
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A bargain telly box from the best in the business Sony is the undisputed king of 4K. It owns an entire movie studio in LA dedicated to filming 4K movies and TV shows, it manufactures the cameras that shoot the footage, it builds the projectors for displaying the movies in cinemas, and of course it also makes 4K televisions for watching Ultra HD in the home. 4K is at the heart of everything Sony does, and it shows – its 4K products have been consistently excellent. This X85 sits at the bottom of Sony’s 2014 4K line up, so it’s by no means the best the brand has to offer, but did you see that price? Just shy of 50 inches, this excellent-value 4K screen looks great with both native 4K and upscaled HD. Sony TVs are possibly the best upscalers in the business, using the firm’s 4K X-Reality Pro processor to not only supersize HD pictures, but also create extra detail that otherwise simply wouldn’t be there. The IPS panel inside does struggle a bit when it comes to contrast and moving pictures – dark scenes lose a bit of detail next to some of the more expensive TVs tested here, but the Triluminos screen tech does make bright scenes really vivid, with red colours being particularly eye-popping.
{accessorise} The other major drawback of this Sony is Chromecast This TV has a less that fast-moving pictures comprehensive roster tend to suffer from some of smart features than motion blur, a common some of the others, making Chromecast problem with similar TVs in a worthy addition. this class, which is shown up £30, google.com by fast-paced movies and sports, like football – but again, did you see the price? And unlike some of the other models on show here, it’s fully compatible with Netflix’s Ultra HD service and has built-in HDMI 2.0. If you’re going to spend upwards of a grand on a 50-inch HD TV, this set makes a strong case for going 4K instead. But the competition is stiff, as you’ll see here. Rivals challenge on both performance and price.
Love The truly bargainous price. Upscaled HD movies look better than they would on an HD TV. NFC makes device pairing quick and easy Hate Issues with contrast are exposed by dark scenes. Some motion blurring. Not that good looking T3 Says It’s not a perfect 4K, but for the money this Sony is still a good value option
4K TVs r A T e d
LG 55UB950V £1,785, lg.com/uk
2 {Specification}
3D Passive glasses Two tuner Freeview HD HDMI 2.0 Yes HEVC Yes Speakers 20W + 15W
1
IMAGE: REX
3
4
{Dimensions}
height 73.4cm Width 123.2cm Depth 6cm Weight 23.1kg {Details} 1 Performance
The 4K screen doesn’t like dark scenes 2 Build
Premium materials make the build quality excellent 3 sound
Built-in 2.1 speakers are designed by Harman Kardon 4 finish
Metal frame looks and feels luxurious
WWW For more TV reviews go to T3.COM
A great-looking TV for a great price, but not great for gamers Let’s face it, when it comes to Smart TV, no-one does it better than LG. For several years now it’s been the best in class for telly smarts, and this year’s models come with a secret new weapon – webOS. Yes, the super-popular operating system that once ran on mobile devices such as the Palm Pre and HP TouchPad is now owned by LG and powers the Korean brand’s 2014 TVs. It does an absolutely superb job, too, forming the basis for probably the most userfriendly television interface we’ve ever seen. It’s a pleasure to use. It’s off to a pretty good start, then, and combined with its attractive metallic design, it turns out the LG is beautiful both inside and out. It’s also reasonably priced (costing £1,785), future-proofed with HDMI 2.0 and HEVC decoding, and comes with a very cool ‘magic’ remote control. But the LG also has some problems that go some way, at least, to spoiling the party. The most serious of these is its below average native contrast performance. The panel inside this TV is not terribly adept at reproducing dark scenes, which can lead to some occasionally disappointing pictures.
{accessorise} The built-in local dimming system tries its hardest LG SoundPlate to cancel this out, but the LAB540 As good as this TV’s problem is built-in and speakers are, they aren’t as there’s not much that can good as LG’s excellent be done about it. soundbars – the SoundPlate has a built-in You will also find some Blu-ray player, it’s discrete fairly high input lag, which and sounds brilliant. makes this TV not terribly £400, lg.com/uk ideal for gaming, but in all other regards it really is fantastic. Colours in bright scenes pop spectacularly without ever looking overblown, and the TV handles motion superbly, which makes watching sport a very enjoyable experience. It’s so very nearly the perfect TV, then, so if you don’t game and don’t tend to watch moody movies with all the lights switched off, this is a great offering at a fair price.
Love The design really is amazing. The webOS user interface is slick and very easy to get the hang of Hate Contrast performance is disappointing. Input lag will cause problems for online gamers T3 Says A fantastic TV that’s slightly hobbled by poor contrast and input lag
➜ d ec e m b e r 2 0 1 4 T 3 1 07
r A T e d 4K TVs
Philips 55PUS7809 £1,299, philips.co.uk
2 {Specification}
3D Passive glasses Four tuner Freeview HD HDMI 2.0 No HEVC No Speakers 25W
3
IMAGE: REX
1
4
{Dimensions}
height 71cm Width 123.2cm Depth 35cm Weight 19.5kg
{Details} 1 performance
Handles motion very well 2 Build
The frame is solid and feels premium 3 sound
Stereo speakers on the bottom of the frame provide good audio 4 extras
Ambilight glows behind the TV to enhance your viewing experience
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A bargain 4K TV with enhanced viewing thrown in Priced at an almost barely-believable £1,299, this 55-inch 4K TV from Philips is quite a bit cheaper than many HD TVs of the same size. You wouldn’t spot the cheap price tag from looking at it though, because like most Philips products these days, the 7809 looks absolutely stunning up close. With thin, metallic edges and a slick stand it’s as good looking as any TV out there. It comes packing Philips’ unique Ambilight technology, too, which uses rear-mounted full-colour LEDs to illuminate the wall behind the TV. The idea is that this makes your screen seem even wider and the picture more immersed, matching its colours to the content on the screen in order to create a more seamless viewing experience. You can take Ambilight to the next level if you so wish, by pairing the TV with Philips’ Hue light bulbs. They will talk to each other over your wireless network, syncing up to expand the colour splash across the entire room. 4K pictures look truly stunning and the TV does a great job of upscaling HD content to the native Ultra HD resolution of the screen, so even when you’re not watching 4K content you’re still making use of that high-res panel.
{accessorise} It’s not perfect, though. Philips Media For a start it’s not natively Player UHD compatible with HEVC – the 880 technology used by Netflix This Philips TV doesn’t and other services for Ultra have built-in Netflix Ultra HD streams – but Philips will HD support, so this additional media would soon be offering a separate make a fantastic 4K media player to make companion purchase. £200, philips.co.uk up for that, and it’s part of the reason for the low price. The TV also lacks HDMI 2.0, which limits 4K pictures to 30 frames per second. That may be a problem for purists, but given that there isn’t currently any 4k 60fps content out there, it’s really not a huge issue. It may not be the ultimate home cinema TV, then, but at this price we would still recommend the Philips 55PUS7809 to anyone looking for a big 4K TV that doesn’t cost the Earth.
Love Excellent picture quality. Ambilight is really impressive. Superb looks Hate Blacks could be deeper. No onboard HEVC for decoding Netflix Ultra HD. No HDMI 2.0 T3 Says Not the best for AV enthusiasts, but for everyone else it’s a big-screen bargain
➜
r A T e d 4K TVs
Samsung UE48HU7500 £1,400, samsung.com/uk
2 {Specification}
3D Active glasses Four tuner Freeview HD and Freesat HD HDMI 2.0 Yes HEVC Yes Speakers 40W
3
IMAGE: REX
1
4
{Dimensions}
height 62.1cm Width 107.3cm Depth 3.6cm Weight 14kg
{Details} 1 performance
4K screen is a superb all-rounder 2 build
Heavy-duty stand looks great 3 sound
Sound is excellent from 40W speakers 4 finish
Premium design looks the part. It’s simple, but stylish
1 1 0 T 3 d ec e m b e r 2 0 1 4
Smaller, yes, but not too small for quality 4K viewing Measuring 48 inches from corner to corner, this TV is slightly smaller than the others on test here, but don’t let that put you off. It’s a very impressive Ultra HD TV that offers thrilling picture quality and future-proofing via built-in HEVC for Netflix 4K and HDMI 2.0 for high frame rate Ultra HD pictures. It’s not the best-looking Samsung TV we’ve ever seen, however, and while its ultrathin body will appeal to many, it does have a flimsy feel to it that the metal chassis on other TVs in this test simply don’t. The Smart TV side of things isn’t as impressive as it is on the LG. The interface is clunky and confusing by comparison, but it’s still a robust, feature-laden offering with all of the major UK catch-up TV apps included. Native 4K images, along with perfectly upscaled 1080p pictures, look utterly mesmerising and blow the ‘48-inches is too small for 4K’ argument out of the water. It so isn’t. That said, 4K certainly is more impressive on a larger screen, so it would be worth checking out some different sizes to see which suits you best. It’s worth giving that upscaling another mention, too, because it really does improve
{accessorise} HD pictures on screen, spinning them up superbly Samsung to the Ultra HD resolution. WMN450M This TV is so good it In fact, we’d go as far as deserves to be mounted to say that high-definition on your wall. You can buy images look better on this Samsung’s official wall-mounting kit for TV than they do on the vast an extra £60. majority of native HD TVs £60, samsung.com/uk we’ve tested, and that is no mean feat. Like the LG, this Samsung also includes a ‘smart remote’ alongside the standard remote control, which offers a quicker way around the TV’s menu system. It’s a bit fiddly to operate, but you do get used to it. And this being a Samsung product, there are of course more ‘smart’ features available to you if you choose to use them – voice control being just one example.
Love Upscaled HD looks brilliant. Contains all the features you need. Great value for money Hate Input lag will penalise online gamers. Flimsy design isn’t as premium as Samsung’s top-end TVs T3 Says This is a magnificent TV. The drawbacks are offset against the very agreeable price. Buy it
➜ WWW For more TV reviews go to T3.COM
Panasonic TX-50AX802 £1,799, panasonic.co.uk
2
{Specification}
3D Active glasses Two tuner Freesat HD HDMI 2.0 Yes HEVC Yes Speakers 18W
test winner
1
IMAGE: REX
3
4
{Dimensions}
height 67.3cm width 113.1cm depth 4.2cm Weight 24kg
{Details}
1 Performance
Stunning screen shows off dark scenes well 2 Build
Build quality is very solid 3 sound
Speakers are decent, but you might want a soundbar 4 Finish
Modern, minimal design is very attractive
1 1 2 T 3 d ec e m b e r 2 0 1 4
A killer quality/content combo makes this our must-buy The Panasonic’s 4K pictures are as good as any other TV in this test – it really is fantastic. Typically for the brand, deep blacks and a wide colour range combine to paint a picture of almost effortless clarity. Motion is handled superbly, and while plasma fans of old might scoff at the contrast on display here, to normal eyes it’s as good as anything out there. When it went on sale earlier this year, the AX802 was actually incompatible with Netflix’s Ultra HD streams, but a firmware update that went live at the end of September fixed that particular flaw, bringing it up to speed with the best of the rest in this test. That’s a critical feature for a serious 4K TV. On top of all this excellence, Panasonic has a potentially killer feature – the inclusion of the Freetime roll-back programme guide. Missed a show and forgot to record it? Just go into your EPG, scroll back in time and stream it from the relevant catch-up TV service without having to track it down in a separate app. It’s a system that combines perfectly with the TV’s built-in Freesat HD tuner and won’t be found on any other brand’s TVs for the time being. Of course, as well as Freetime catch-up, the Panasonic also offers all the expected
{accessorise} smart TV apps, from screen mirroring to Netflix and BBC Panasonic iPlayer. The pop-up camera DMP-BDT260 Make the most of this TV’s and microphone make it superb picture quality by easy to place Skype calls pairing it with a Blu-ray and you can even create player. Stick with Panasonic and you’ll only need personalised homescreens one remote. for every family member £88, panasonic.com/uk so that you can all pin your favourite apps and access your favourite content more quickly. If we had to call the Panasonic out on one flaw, we’d say that the TV doesn’t upscale from HD as competently as some of the others on test. But that doesn’t mean upscaled pictures don’t look great – they do, but don’t sparkle quite as much. It’s no biggie. We absolutely love this TV, and there’s no reason to suggest you wouldn’t feel the same.
Love Stunning looks. Superb picture quality and motion handling. Freetime roll-back TV guide Hate Upscaling not quite as spectacular as some of the others. The Bluetooth remote is fiddly T3 Says A terrific TV that will satisfy anyone after dazzling pictures and stunning looks
4K TVs r A T e d Spec Shot
Make and Model
Sony KD49X8505
LG 55UB950V
Philips 55PUS7809
Samsung UE48HU7500
Panasonic TX-50AX802
Price url
£1,399 sony.co.uk
£1,785 lg.com/uk
£1,299 philips.co.uk
£1,400 samsung.com/uk
£1,799 panasonic.co.uk
3D
Passive
Passive
Passive
Active
Active
glasses
Two
Two
Four
Four
Two
tuner
Freeview HD
Freeview HD
Freeview HD
Freeview HD and Freesat HD
Freesat HD
HDMI 2.0
Yes
Yes
No
Yes
Yes
HEVC
Yes
Yes
No
Yes
Yes
speakers
20W
20W + 15W
25W
40W
18W
love
The truly bargainous price. Upscaled HD movies look better than on HD TV. NFC makes device pairing easy
The design of this TV really is amazing. The webOS user interface is slick and very easy to get the hang of
Excellent picture quality. Ambilight is an impressive addition, and it looks superb too
Upscaled HD looks brilliant. Contains all the features you need. A great value for money TV
Stunning looks. Superb picture quality and motion handling. Freetime roll-back TV guide
hate
Issues with contrast are exposed by dark scenes. Some motion blurring. It’s not the best-looking TV around
Contrast performance is disappointing. Input lag will cause problems for online gamers
Blacks could be deeper. No onboard HEVC for decoding Netflix Ultra HD. No HDMI 2.0 for future-proofing
Input lag will penalise online gamers. Flimsy design isn’t as premium as Samsung’s top-end TVs
Upscaling not quite as spectacular as some of the others. The Bluetooth remote is fiddly
t3 says
It’s not a perfect 4K TV, but for the money this is still a good value option
A fantastic TV that’s slightly hobbled by poor contrast and input lag
By no means the ultimate 4K TV for AV enthusiasts, but a real big-screen bargain
This is a magnificent TV. The drawbacks are offset against the agreeable price. Buy it
An awesome TV that will satisfy anyone after dazzling pictures and stunning looks
need a connection of at least 15.6Mbps.
see you through at least the next five years.
5
8
rating
{Reasons}
Ten reasons to tune in to the Panasonic TX-50AX802
1
The 4K picture quality is utterly mesmerising.
2
The TV also upscales HD to Ultra HD very well, especially from Blu-ray.
Using the built-in USB connections you can play back downloaded movies or home videos.
3
6
4
7
Smart TV features and the Freetime roll-back service are great. Netflix Ultra HD streams like a dream, but you’ll
Active 3D looks brilliant – the extra pixels make 3D far more interesting. With both HEVC decoder and HDMI 2.0 ports it’ll
Picture quality from Freesat HD is a bit better than Freeview HD.
9
If you don’t have a separate PVR, you can record onto a USB stick.
10
It’s reasonably priced, ushering in a new era of affordable 4K.
{focus}
Money no object? Check out these budget-busting options Sony KD-65X9005B
With jaw-dropping picture quality and class-leading magnetic fluid speakers providing brilliant sound, this is a world-class TV. £3,350, sony.co.uk
Panasonic TX-65AX902B
Panasonic’s new flagship 4K TV analyses conditions in your living room and adjust settings accordingly! £4,000, panasonic.com/uk
WWW For more TV reviews go to T3.COM
Samsung UE65HU8500
LG 55EA9800
We had to feature at least one curved TV, and this Samsung is a real stunner, offering amazing picture and sound quality.
No 4K resolution, but this TV has an OLED screen (the best screen tech there is) for superior colour and contrast performance.
£4,000, samsung.com/uk
£2,500, lg.com/uk
{The Final word}
All for 4K?
4K is no longer an exciting technology reserved exclusively for the Oxford Cloth elite. As you can see from this impressive group there are plenty of really great 4K TVs out there costing as little as £1,400. We chose to test TVs from the most trusted brands for this round-up. Yes, there are plenty of 4K TVs available to buy from more obscure brands that cost much less, but we’d strongly advise not to gamble on a brand you’ve never even heard of when it comes to buying a TV, especially if you’re going 4K. They’re cheap for a reason, and there’s every chance you’ll end up disappointed. The Panasonic won out in this test, but really we’d be more than happy to have any of these TVs installed in the T3 living room. The Samsung in particular is unlucky to miss out on the top spot – there really isn’t much to choose between that and the Panasonic, so as is often the case, your decision will probably come down to price. Some advice for the more savvy shoppers among you: many of these TVs will be replaced with newer models in the new year, so if you can hold off buying until January you might find yourself picking up one of these beauties for an even more bargainous price.
d ec e m b e r 2 0 1 4 T 3 1 1 3
L ittle b oxes of d elight
1
2
Swedish simplicity meets wireless convenience in the new NOCS NS2 Air Monitors
AirPlay speakers have been losing ground to cheaper Bluetooth boxes, but NOCS looks set to win it back with its stylish NS2 Air Monitors v2. 3
{details} 1
2
3
Wireless options
Sound everywhere
Colour choices
Connect your music via Bluetooth, AirPlay or Spotify Connect. Phew
Got more NS2s? Stream music to them all at once with AirPlay’s multiple speaker setting – party!
Not happy with black or white? Then choose from green, orange, red...
{NOCS NS2 Air Monitors V2}
points of interest {specifications}
{Size/weight}
Power output: 80W peak power
Frequency response: 60Hz-22kHz +/-3dB Woofers: 3” Kevlar woofers
Tweeters: 3/4” silk dome
Signal-to-noise ratio: >85 dB
Crosstalk: <50 dB
Amplifier type: Class D
Dimensions 160x110x140mm/3kg
1 1 4 T 3 D EC E M B E R 2 0 1 4
{Focus}
Direct connection? Fair play, AirPlay While an obviously beneficial way to connect devices wirelessly, thanks to things like improved streaming sound quality, one of the biggest drawbacks about AirPlay is that devices need to be connected to a wireless network in order for them to communicate. Seems daft, and irksome, but thankfully Apple has seen the light – in iOS 8, AirPlaycompatible devices can connect directly to each other; essentially what Bluetooth does, then. This is a boon if, for example, you have friends visiting who want to quickly stream some music from their iPhone or iPad on your AirPlay sound system, and vice versa.
While the first NS2 monitors were Bluetooth only, version two comes with the advantages of AirPlay: stable wireless streaming from a Mac or iOS device over a bigger range without audio compression. Connection is simple thanks to the free NOCS app, or alternatively there’s Bluetooth with Apt-X for a decent wireless connection with non-Apple products. Spotify Connect enables you to connect your smartphone to the speakers over Wi-Fi and press play on your Spotify app, and provided you hold a ‘premium’ Spotify account the music keeps playing while you use your phone for other apps and calls. You can also control it from other devices running the app. The lack of audio compression in AirPlay is a good audio starting point, and between the soft dome tweeter and Kevlar woofer there’s plenty of subtle treble detail, mid-range expression and bass warmth. Basslines are tight and snappy and reach reasonably low, suiting beat-driven music. The tweeter is revealing without ever being splashy or shrill. Considering their size, these speakers have a lot to offer. They aren’t for filling large rooms with sound, but they can go pretty loud without distorting, and have a feature set that includes all of the key wireless technologies. €400, nocs.se
Love Rock-solid AirPlay streaming. Useful Spotify connection. Great design and build Hate No remote control. No optical input. No NFC T3 Says It doesn’t look like much speaker for your money, but these smart little boxes are the perfect blend of wireless convenience and great design
Words Jim Hill photography Neil Godwin
Specialist magazine of the year Digital Magazine Awards 2013
Try two free issues of our iPad edition today – search “Edge” in the App Store You will receive two free issues (the current issue and the next issue) when you start a no-obligation trial subscription. Available to new subscribers only. iPad is a trademark of Apple Inc, registered in the US and other countries. App Store is a service mark of Apple Inc.
TheGuide {the best of everything}
Smartphones p118 Tablets p119 Cameras p120 Televisions p121 Laptops p122 Gaming p123 Home audio p124 Home entertainment p125 Headphones p126 Accessories 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
dece m b e r 2 0 1 4 T 3 1 1 7
TheGuide
{The best of everything}
Tablets
{buying tips}
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
Apple iPad mini WITH RETINA from £319, apple.com/uk, tested january 2014
06
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
from £399, apple.com/uk, tested january 2014
kobo aura
The only e-reader to rival Amazon for device quality and book store size. £89, barnesandnoble.com
£110, whsmith.co.uk
os Android 4.4 processor 1.9GHz octacore SCREEN 10.3-inch, 2560x1600 STORAGE 16GB/32GB plus microSD
07
from £399, SONYMOBILE.COM, tested jULY 2014
specifications
specifications
os iOS 7 processor A7 SCREEN 9.7-inch, 2048x1536 STORAGE 16GB/32GB/64GB/128GB
os Android 4.4 processor 2.3GHz quadcore SCREEN 10.1-inch, 1920x1200 STORAGE 16GB/32GB
Samsung galaxy tab S 8.4
From £319, Samsung.com/uk, tested november 2014
08
NOKIA LUMIA 2520
£300, nokia.co.uk, tested january 2014
Love The most portable eight-incher tablet out there, with the best screen. Better than the iPad in some respects Hate Samsung’s interface is a bit bloated t3 says A wonderfully sculpted, ultra-portable package with an AMOLED screen to die for
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
os Android 4.4 processor 1.9GHz octacore SCREEN 8.4-inch, 2560x1600 STORAGE 16GB/32GB
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
specifications
09
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
05
SONY XPERIA Z2 TABLET
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
04
samsung galaxy tab s 10.3-inch specifications
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
03
4
From £499, samsung.com/uk, tested september 2014
os iOS 7 processor A7 SCREEN 7.9-inch, 2048x1536 STORAGE 16GB/32GB/64GB/128GB
aPPLE IPAD AIR
£59, amazon.co.uk
Love Ace screen. Octocore power. First tab fingerprint sensor Hate Sensor needs finessing. Android tablet apps still lacking t3 says Samsung’s best tablet: slimmer, slicker, sexier
specifications
02
amazon kindle
The cheaper, lighter Kindle with an improved screen is a nailed-on bargain.
A top-quality e-ink screen with added touch control and backlighting. Easy Facebook/Twitter sharing.
nook glowlight
01
3
lenovo yoga 10 hd+
£300, lenovo.com, tested november 2014
Love The screen boasts nicely vivid colours, perfect for movies and games. Battery life is jaw-droppingly good Hate Bulky grip. Awkward positioning of rear camera t3 says It’s big and chunky, but amazing battery life more than makes up for it
specifications
specifications
os Android 4.3 processor 1.5GHz quadcore SCREEN 7.2-inch, 1920x1200 STORAGE 16GB/32GB
os Android 4.4.2 processor 400CPU quadcore SCREEN 10.1-inch, 1920x1200 STORAGE 16GB/32GB
Apple iPad mini
from £249, apple.com/uk, tested january 2013
10
microsoft surface pro 3
from £649, microsoft.com, tested november 2014
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 Super, sharp screen. Runs full apps through Windows Hate Keyboard not included. Decidedly pricey. Windows 8 is less than optimum as a tablet OS t3 says A real tablet-laptop hybrid, this one is up for fun and work, although primarily the latter
os iOS 7 processor 1GHz dualcore SCREEN 7.9-inch, 1024x768 STORAGE 16GB
os Windows 8.1 Pro processor Intel core i3/i5/i7 SCREEN 12-inch, 2160x1440 STORAGE 64GB/128GB/256GB/512GB
specifications
specifications
available online @ t3.com the ultimate buyer’s guide
DECEMBER 2 0 1 4 T 3 1 1 9
Cameras
{buying tips}
Budget compact cameras
Canon EOS 700D
01
£579, canon.co.uk, tested october 2013
06
07
ry
4
samsung wb250f
nikon coolpix s02
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
samsung nx mini
£275, samsung.com/uk, tested september 2014
Sony Cyber-shot DSC-HX60V £319, sony.co.uk, tested september 2014
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
SENSOR 20.1-megapixel/1080p KIT LENS 18-55mm SCREEN 2.7-inch WEIGHT 492g
SENSOR 20.4-megapixel/1080p KIT LENS 24-720mm SCREEN 3-inch WEIGHT 272g
specifications
08
sony a5000
£349, sony.co.uk, tested june 2014
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
LOVE Retro-styled yet technologically innovative. Larger APS-C chip matches the size found in DSLRs proper HATE You could buy a decent SLR for the same price T3 says High-end CSC challenges Canon and Nikon DSLRs with smaller, mirrorless body and retro cool nt
2
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
£1,329, fujifilm.eu/uk
specifications
specifications
SENSOR 16.3-megapixel/1080p KIT LENS 18-135mm SCREEN 3-inch WEIGHT 440g
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
09
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
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
specifications
specifications
05
£93, sony.co.uk
SENSOR 20.5-megapixel/1080p KIT LENS 24-73mm SCREEN 3-inch WEIGHT 196g
Fujifilm X-T1
04
£94, canon.co.uk
specifications
specifications
New
16.2-meg CMOS, 8x zoom and easy 1080p shooting. Small, but well formed.
SENSOR 18.5-megapixel/1080p KIT LENS 18-55mm SCREEN 3-inch touchscreen WEIGHT 580g
£339, sony.co.uk, tested october 2013
e
sony cyber-shot dsc-wx60
Credit card-sized snapper with a 16-meg sensor, 8x zoom and Wi-Fi. Video is 720p rather than full-HD.
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
sony SLT-A58
03
3
canon ixus 140
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 specifications
02
1
samsung nx300
£380, samsung.com/uk, tested june 2013
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 housed in an attractive, compact package; a winner
10
sony rx100 II
£465, sony.CO.UK, tested march 2014
Love Rock-solid construction. Tilting LCD and hotshoe (a rarity on a compact). Carl Zeiss lens Hate Tiny buttons. No hand grip. 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 available online @ t3.com the ultimate buyer’s guide
1 2 0 T 3 DECEMBER 2 0 1 4
Televisions
{buying tips}
Top projectors in the spotlight 1
3
Optoma HD50
Sony vpl-hw55es
With razor-sharp 1080p, this big-screen bargain out-performs its price tag. Well worth a look.
Awesome full-HD projector for screen sizes up to 300 inches. Pricey, but worth it.
£999, optoma.co.uk
2 optoma hd30
Breathtaking 1080p with nuanced blacks and impressive 3D playback. £1,299, optoma.co.uk
01
lg 47LB730V
£799, lg.co.uk, tested summer 2014
06
07
Sony KDL-55W905A
£1,100, sony.co.uk, tested february 2014
Screen 65-inch, 3840x2160 connections Wi-Fi, Ethernet, 4x HDMI, 3x USB, Scart, component, CI Slot, NFC
Screen 55-inch, 1920x1080 connections 4x HDMI, Wi-Fi, 3x USB, Ethernet, NFC, Scart, component
Specifications
Samsung ue55HU8500
£2,465, samsung.com/uk, tested june 2014
08
Samsung UE48H6400
£3,499, samsung.com/uk, tested November 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 Stunning 4K and well upscaled HD. Lots of useful features and connectivity Hate Reflective screen. You need to dial down the processing t3 says Neither cheap nor curved, but this has the scale and resolution to really show you what 4K is all about
Screen 55-inch, 3840x2160 connections 4x HDMI, Wi-Fi, 3x USB, 2x composite, component, Ethernet
Screen 65-inch, 3840x2160 connections 4x HDMI, Wi-Fi, ethernet, component, 2x composite, 3x USB 2.0
sony kdl-50w829
£779, sony.co.uk, tested may 2014
Specifications
09
Philips 55PFS6609
£1,000, philips.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 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
Screen 50-inch, 1920x1080 connections 4x HDMI, Wi-Fi, Scart, 2x USB, digital optical, digital audio, Ethernet
Screen 55-inch, 1920x1080 connections Wi-Fi, Ethernet, 4x HDMI, 2x USB, Scart, component, CI Slot
Specifications
Specifications
05
£1,799, panasonic.co.uk, tested December 2014
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
04
Panasonic TX-50AX802
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 Specifications
03
£824, benq.co.uk
Screen 50-inch, 3840x2163 CONNECTIONS Wi-Fi, Ethernet, 4x HDMI, 3x USB, CI Slot, component/composite/ Scart (via adaptor)
Screen 47-inch, 1920x1080 connections Wi-Fi, Ethernet, 3x HDMI, 3x USB, Scart, component, CI Slot
£3,349, sony.co.uk, tested summer 2014
BenQ W1300
Dynamic images and 2,200 Lumens brightness make this a punchy choice for big-screen sports fans.
Specifications
Specifications
Sony kd-65x9005B
4
Love Great looks. Superb picture quality and motion handling Hate Upscaling not as spectacular as other budget 4K TVs t3 says An absolutely stunning TV that will satisfy anyone after dazzling pictures and stunning looks
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
02
£2,699, sony.co.uk
LG 55la740
£1,199, lg.com, 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 Specifications
Screen 55-inch, 1920x1080 connections 3x HDMI, Wi-Fi, Scart, 3x USB, digital optical, digital audio, Ethernet
10
Toshiba 47L7453
£800, toshiba.co.uk, tested summer 2014
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 This bargain telly packs picture quality, but fails at the finer details
Specifications
Screen 47-inch, 1920x1080 connections Wi-Fi, Ethernet, 4x HDMI, 2x USB, Scart, component, CI Slot, PC available online @ t3.com the ultimate buyer’s guide
d ec e m b e r 2 0 1 4 T 3 1 2 1
L aptops
{buying tips}
Desktop PCs of plenty 1 apple imac 21.5-inch
Optimum combo of style and spec. A 1.4GHz i5 and 500GB for under a grand. from £899, apple.com/uk
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
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
sony vaio duo 13
specifications
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 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
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
specifications
05
£217, acer.co.uk, tested march 2013
£915, sony.co.uk, tested december 2013
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
04
acer c7 chromebook
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
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
Windows 8 looks great on the 27-inch touchscreen, with an Apple-rivalling spec and Blu-ray drive thrown in. from £1,479, dell.co.uk
2
01
3
hp spectre xt
£850, hp.com/uk, tested march 2013
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
specifications
10
hp chromebook 11
£199, google.co.uk, tested april 2014
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
1 2 2 T 3 D EC E M B E R 2 0 1 4
TheGuide
{The best of everything}
Gaming
{Buying tips}
Gaming laptops with skills 1
01
Microsoft Xbox 360 250GB £189, xbox.co.uk, tested november 2011
06
£1,199, msi.com
2
4
CHillblast Helix
Toshiba Satellite P50t-B-10K
Unusually svelte for a games machine, this runs a bit hot, but performance is pretty scorching too.
A gaming portable not out of place in the office, though lacks oomph.
£1,250, chillblast.co.uk
£1,200, toshiba.co.uk
sony playstation vita
£146, uk.playstation.com, tested april 2014
SCREEN 5-inch, 960x544 LCD touchscreen CONNECTIVITY N Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 2.1, USB, SD, NFC BATTERY 4-6hrs
Sony PS3 super slim
£145, uk.playstation.com, tested January 2013
specifications
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
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
specifications
08
£350, uk.playstation.com, tested January 2014
Storage 32GB CONNECTIvity N Wi-Fi, 4x USB, HDMI, NFC Gamepad Touchcreen 6.2-inch, 854x480 Battery 3-5hrs
09
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
£85, NINTENDO.CO.UK, tested December 2013
specifications
STORAGE 500GB BLU-RAY/DVD Yes/Yes CONNECTIVITY 2x USB 3.0, N Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 2.1, HDMI, optical audio, ethernet
£349, xbox.com, tested January 2014
Nintendo 2DS
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
microsoft xbox one
£220, nintendo.co.uk, tested christmas 2012
specifications
SCREEN 4.88-inch 800x240 3D/4.18-inch 320x240 touchscreen CONNECTIVITY G Wi-Fi, 3.5mm audio BATTERY 4hrs
sony playstation 4
nintendo wii u
Love Genuinely innovative platform. Full HD graphics at last for Mario and co. Some very good, unique games from Nintendo Hate Pricey. Touchscreen an afterthought. Game options slim t3 says Nintendo again reinvented the way we play, yet unfortunately few developers fancy joining in the fun
specifications
05
£1,999, alienware.co.uk
STORAGE 4GB BLU-RAY/DVD No/Yes CONNECTIVITY HDMI, 5x USB, ethernet, N Wi-Fi, AV out
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
04
A slim and light laptop that punches well above its fighting weight.
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
03
MSI GS60 2PC Ghost
Heavy and built to win, this is a powerhouse. Nongamers need not apply.
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 specifications
02
3
Alienware 18
SCREEN 4-inch, 1136x640 touchscreen CONNECTIVITY N Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.0 BATTERY 8hrs (video), 40 hrs (audio)
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
STORAGE 500GB BLU-RAY/DVD Yes/Yes CONNECTIVITY 3x USB 3.0, N Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 2.1, HDMI, ethernet, optical audio
SCREEN 5-inch 1280x720 CONNECTIVITY N Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 3.0, GPS, HDMI, USB 2.0, MicroSD, 3.5mm BATTERY 5hrs
specifications
specifications
available online @ t3.com the ultimate buyer’s guide
D EC E M B E R 2 0 1 4 T 3 1 2 3
Home audio
{buying tips}
Portable speakers with punch 1 3 Jawbone Jambox and Jambox mini
Small, brightly hued, great audio, easy Bluetooth pairing. Winners, both. £90/£102, jawbone.com
2
Denon Cocoon stream £249, denon.co.uk, tested march 2014
06
Jabra Solemate
A top performer, whether serenading you gently or rocking the spot. £170, DENON.CO.UK
£73, jabra.com
power 4x 20W Connectivity Wi-Fi, auxiliary analogue, ethernet, AirPlay, 3.5mm out Size 300x180x120mm
Specifications
07
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
Specifications
power 100W Connectivity G Wi-Fi, 3.5mm input, USB audio/data inputs Size 467x150x154mm
08
Power 2x 65W connectivity Wi-Fi, USB, optical in, audio in, AirPlay, 3.5mm out Size 180x90x234mm
power 100W Connectivity Ethernet, phono in/out, 3.5mm in/out, optical out, subwoofer out Size 50x200x200mm
£450, philips.co.uk, tested january 2012
Specifications
09
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 set-up. 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
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
Specifications
NS2 Air Monitors v2
€400, nocs.se, tested December 2014
Love Rock-solid AirPlay streaming. Useful Spotify connection. Great design and build Hate No remote control. No optical input. No NFC t3 says These smart little boxes are the perfect blend of wireless convenience and great design Specifications ry
£699, PHILIPS.co.uk, tested FEBRUARY 2013
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
Philips Fidelio soundsphere
nt
Simple audio roomplayer Love Supreme sound quality when paired with suitably spendy speakers. Easy set-up 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
e
£249, monitoraudio.co.uk, tested November 2014
Love Can do both refined and raucous. Good stability by AirPlay standards. Reasonably priced Hate Set-up 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
Power 100W connectivity Wi-Fi, AirPlay, Bluetooth, RCA, 3.5mm Size 354x182x118mm
£178 without speakers, £313 with, DENON.CO.UK, tested february 2013
New
Monitor airstream s300
Specifications
Denon Ceol Piccolo
05
£399, bowers-wilkins.co.uk, tested february 2013
Power 4x 25W connectivity Wi-Fi, USB, AirPlay, DLNA, 3.5mm out Size 451x236x170mm
£250, cambridgeaudio.com, tested may 2013
04
bowers & wilkins a5
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
cambridge audio minx air 100
03
4
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 Specifications
02
£269, loewe.tv/uk
Trainer-like design won’t suit all tastes, but this sure is a loud, brash, room-filling speaker-cum-shoe.
Denon Envaya
01
loewe speaker 2go
Incredible sound quality with size-defying bass and top clarity. Pricey, though.
POWER 80W CONNECTIVITY AirPlay, NOCS app, Bluetooth with Apt-X SIZE 160x110x140mm
Specifications
10
pure jongo t4
£130, pure.com, tested march 2014
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
power 50W Connectivity Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, ethernet, 3.5mm in Size 305x146x165mm Available online @ t3.com the ultimate buyer’s guide
1 24 T 3 d ec e m b e r 2 0 1 4
TheGuide
{The best of everything}
Home entertainment
{content}
Top Autumn terrestrial to record 1 The Apprentice series 10
You either love it or hate it, or both – The Apprentice returns for a staggering tenth year. Tune in to find out who bags the business. out now, BBC
2 The Great fire
Set during the Great Fire of London in 1666, we get
01
Sky+ HD 2TB wi-fi
price varies, sky.com, tested christmas 2013
06
The Big Brother of foodie shows goes beyond UK shores for more culinary delights and disasters. Out now, C4
Panasonic DMP-BDT330 £145, PANASONIC.CO.UK, tested May 2014
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
specifications
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
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
Specifications
08
£130, humaxdigital.co.uk, tested april 2014
type Freeview HD hd channels 12 tuners 2 storage 500GB – 125hrs HD, 300hrs SD
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
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 specifications
power 2x 30W + 100W sub channels 2.1 connections 3x HDMI, Bluetooth, Optical, Coaxial, RCA, 3.5mm
£133, sony.co.UK, tested May 2014
specifications
type Satellite hd channels 11 tuners 1 storage None, compatible with USB drives
£159, uk.maxell.eu, tested january 2014
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
Maxell MXSP-SB3000
£199, youview.com, tested november 2014
specifications
Power 1,000W channels 5.1 connections 2x HDMI, Wi-Fi, 2x USB, optical, audio, composite, ethernet
Humax HB-1000S Freesat HD
YouView
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. No network file support t3 says This slimline silver TV-surfer is a great choice for non-subscription telly addicts
Specifications
05
Come dine with me abroad
type Satellite hd channels 67 tuners 2 storage 2TB/350hrs HD recording
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
04
3
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
03
Out now, ITV
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 specifications
02
a real-life re-telling of the catastrophic events surrounding this amazing historic event.
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 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
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
D EC E M B E R 2 0 1 4 T 3 1 2 5
Headphones
LINDY
01
pionEEr sE-MX9-T
£249, pionEEr.EU, tEstEd sUmmEr 2014
lovE Based on the acclaimed HDJ-2000 DJ cans. Suitably luxe looks and superior sound quality HAtE Could be comfier, if we’re griping. Pricey t3 sAys Grown-up, luxury headphones for serious clubbers and fans of dj-quality audio spEciFicAtions
impEdAncE 32 Ohms FrEQUEncy rAnGE 6-40,000Hz cord lEnGtH 1.2m
02
b&w p3
£169, bowErs-wilKins.co.UK, tEstEd sEptEmbEr 2012
lovE Compact and lightweight, but undeniably premium. Clear and deep audio.Any colour you want, as long as it’s black or white HAtE Head grippage could be overly firm for some t3 sAys Highly refined headphones with stunning sound quality. the sign of a true audio gent spEciFicAtions
impEdAncE 34 Ohms FrEQUEncy rAnGE 10-20,000Hz cord lEnGtH 1.2m
03
KEF M500
£249, KEF.com, tEstEd AUGUst 2013
lovE Detailed sound quality. Memory foam increases comfort and minimises sound leakage. Classic look HAtE Pricey. Occasional headband slippage t3 sAys Accomplished audio + high-end materials + restrained design = cans worthy of a £250 price tag spEciFicAtions
impEdAncE 32 Ohms FrEQUEncy rAnGE 20-20,000Hz cord lEnGtH 1.3m
04
MonsTEr isporT sTrivE
£59, monstErprodUcts.com, tEstEd jUly 2014
lovE Brilliant fit that holds tight during vigorous workouts. Sweat- and water-resistant, with a tangle-free cable HAtE More open sound (good for staying alert, though) t3 sAys stylish, sporty in-ears with an unmovable fit and great sound quality. designed for winners spEciFicAtions
impEdAncE Not quoted FrEQUEncy rAnGE Not quoted cord lEnGtH 1.2m
TM
05
philips FidElio s2
£84, pHilips.co.UK, tEstEd jAnUAry 2014
lovE Tight in-ear buds, impressive bass and superb sound isolation. Comfortable fit. Stylish design. Newly affordable HAtE After the price cut, we’re really struggling here… t3 sAys top styling, sound, comfort and price tag make these in-ears well worth splashing out on
spEciFicAtions
impEdAncE 22 Ohms FrEQUEncy rAnGE 15-24,000Hz cord lEnGtH 1.2m
TheGuide
{The besT of everyThing} {buying Tips}
Portable media-playing pals 1 3 Apple ipod Touch
A quality combo of music, apps and games. latest version is better than ever, and more colourful. From £159, ApplE.com/UK
2
Apple ipod NANo
new, larger 2.5-inch touchscreen. now only available as 16Gb model.
£129, ApplE.com/UK
06
AsTell ANd KerN AK100
Audiophile option for lossless lovers. sound impresses; price distresses. £557, Amp3.co.UK
4
soNy WAlKmAN NWZ-e474
clear audio and 36 hours playback. just 8Gb storage and a dated look, though. £85, sony.co.UK
sEnnhEisEr MoMEnTuM
£260, sEnnHEisEr.com, tEstEd octobEr 2013
lovE Great sound. Excellent build quality. Very comfortable indeed, with minimal sound leakage HAtE Monster carry case. Hefty size and price t3 sAys robust build, lightweight design and comfy earcups make these great for music lovers on the move spEciFicAtions
impEdAncE 18 Ohms FrEQUEncy rAnGE 16-22,000KHz cord lEnGtH 1.4m
07
TEd bAKEr rocKAll
£180, tEdbAKEr.com, tEstEd novEmbEr 2014
lovE Premium materials. Sturdy build. Well-rounded sound rather than being a bass-heavy boomer HAtE Not cheap. Plenty of competition in this price bracket t3 sAys An impressive headphones debut that proves cans can be stylish without sacrificing quality spEciFicAtions
impEdAncE 16 Ohms FrEQUEncy rAnGE 20-20,000Hz cord lEnGtH 1.2m
08
AKg K67
£65, soUndtEcH.co.UK, tEstEd sUmmEr 2014
lovE Approved by Tiësto, but cost less than entry to some club nights. Dance music is, unsurprisingly, realised well HAtE No in-line remote. Very snug fit t3 sAys club-quality sound for a reduced entrance fee. these over-ears are a quite ridiculous bargain spEciFicAtions
impEdAncE 32 Ohms FrEQUEncy rAnGE 18-24,000Hz cord lEnGtH 1.8m
09
b&w p7
£329, bowErs-wilKins.co.UK, tEstEd cHristmAs 2013
lovE Superb sound reproduction modelled on high-end hi-fi speakers. Comfortable, premium build HAtE Bit big for regular commuting t3 sAys b&w’s over-ears are luxurious in both sound and build quality, but a touch too pricey spEciFicAtions
impEdAncE 22 Ohms FrEQUEncy rAnGE 10Hz-20KHz cord lEnGtH 1.2m
10
bEATs sTudio wirElEss
£330, UK.bEAtsbydrE.com, tEstEd jUly 2014
lovE Beats’ most sophisticated design. Comfortable fit. Well-rounded sound quality. Good noise cancelling HAtE Pricey. Noise cancelling audible at low volumes t3 sAys the best beats yet, though the niggles make that price tag a bit hard to swallow spEciFicAtions
impEdAncE Not quoted FrEQUEncy rAnGE Not quoted cord lEnGtH Not applicable available online @ t3.com the ultimate buyer’s guide
Accessories
{buying tips}
Smartwatches worth a shufty 3
1 samsung gear live
pebble steel
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
lg g watch
samsung gear 2
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
01
TomTom Go 6000
£238, tomtom.com/uk, tested May 2014
google chromecast
06
£30, google.com/chromecast, tested june 2014
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
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
specifications
Screen 6 inches connectivity Bluetooth Size 169x105x20mm
02
tomtom multi-sport cardio £280, tomtom.com, tested july 2014
connectivity N Wi-Fi, HDMI, USB supports BBC iPlayer, Netflix, YouTube, Vevo, Rdio SIZEs 72x35x12mm/34g
Moto 360
07
£199, moto360.motorola.com
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 Classic, stylish design. Useful alerts and synced media controls. Motorola Connect for added customisability HATE Confusing UI. Dated, four-year-old chipset T3 SAYS The design king of smartwatches you can get your hands on right now ry
specifications
garmin vivofit
£100, garmin.com, tested june 2014
nt
SYNCING Bluetooth and ANT+ wATER RESISTANCE 50m BATTERY 8hrs SIZe 22x25x13.8mm/63g
03
New
08
specifications
SCREEN 1.5”, Gorilla Glass 3 SOFTWARE Android Wear BATTERY One day Size 46x11.5mm
nike fuelband se
£129, nike.com, tested june 2014
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
SYNCING Bluetooth and ANT+ wATER RESISTANCE 50m BATTERY 1 year SIZEs 120-175 mm (small), 152-210 mm (large)
SYNCING Bluetooth/USB WATER RESISTANCE Shower only BATTERY 3 days SIZEs 147mm (small) to 197mm (extra-large)
specifications
samsung gear fit
£180, samsung.com/uk, tested july 2014
09
astro a50 wireless system £250, astrogaming.co.uk, tested AUGUST 2014
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 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
SYNCING Bluetooth 4.0 WATER RESISTANCE Up to 1m BATTERY 5 days SIZE 23x57x12mm
frequency response 20Hz-20,000KHz connectivity 5.8GHz Wi-Fi, USB, optical cable
specifications
specifications
05
e
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 specifications
04
£299, samsung.com/uk
ROKU STREAMING STICK £50, ROKU.COM, tested AUGUST 2014
10
polar loop
£79.50, polar.com, tested june 2014
Love Simple set-up. 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
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
specifications
specifications
available online @ t3.com the ultimate buyer’s guide
1 2 8 T 3 d ec e m b e r 2 0 1 4
Shutdown
no.72
10 ways the Apple Watch will change your life 1/ You’ll develop a Popeye arm
7/ Dates will go better
Once attached to your wrist we estimate that you’ll lift your arm to your face somewhere in the region of 5,000 times a day, meaning one half of your body will develop the toned muscles of an Olympic rower. You’ll need to swap the watch regularly between wrists for an even distribution of muscular bulk, or simply wear a T-shirt that’s really tight on one side.
The Apple Watch will spell the end for iPhones sitting temptingly on restaurant tables, meaning you’ll have to do real-world things like talk to your date/partner, rather than spoil the night searching for that picture of the funny dog you once saw on holiday. A-ha! Found it! Oh, she’s gone...
8/ You’ll always be fit
2/ You’ll always be extremely clean
Thanks to Apple’s Health app, you will have a constant – annoyingly constant – reminder of just how little exercise you’re doing, which will force you off the sofa (is 200BPM in the normal range for sofa sitting?) to march around town while following Apple Maps to avoid any areas where a £1,000 wrist computer might attract unwanted attention – such as East Anglia, where you’d be burned for witchcraft.
Thanks to smartphones, showers are quick affairs these days, with all of us desperate to get back to our beloved boxes of fun as soon as possible, for fear of missing an unmissable Facebook update. With a waterresistant Apple Watch, however, you’ll now be able to read messages, watch videos and check Twitter while enjoying your daily wash, meaning you’ll spend about three hours every morning scrubbing your skin clean off without even realising.
9/ You’ll be glad you waited
“Oh, this? Yes, it’s an Apple Watch. What are you wearing? A Pebble? What does that do? Nothing? Shame.”
3/ You won’t sit on it
While your iPhone 6 gets forgotten about in your back pocket, slowly turning banana-shaped as you exert your whole weight on the poor, delicate thing, your stainless steel and aluminium Apple Watch will sit flat on your wrist, thereby avoiding another Bendgate. And if you go for the blinged-up 18-karat version and you somehow manage to bend it (gold can get quite bendy, after all) you can sell the precious metal at a scrap value that’s worth more than your car. Win-win.
1 3 0 T 3 d ec e m b e r 2 0 1 4
4/ Pub quizzes should be so much easier to cheat at
What was Eric Morcambe’s real name? Hmm… let me just check the time… “Psst, Siri, just a quick one. What was Eric Morcambe’s real name?” “LET ME CHECK THAT FOR YOU… HERE’S WHAT
I FOUND…” Oh, good, you’ve found a guide to Lancashire. Thanks, Siri.
5/ You’ll never concentrate ever again
Gone are the days when you’d risk a dressing down for playing with your iPhone in a meeting. With the Apple Watch you can now while away
the time playing with the digital crown, which once fiddled with instantly proves more addictive than Pringles. If questioned by the boss, simply say you’re adjusting your cufflinks (warning: check first that you’re wearing a shirt).
6/ You’ll be ever so careful
It’s hard enough trying to
keep an iPhone unscratched, even with a screen protector and a rubber case that would deflect bullets, should it need to. Now imagine if that iPhone wasn’t in your pocket but strapped to your arm instead. With the Apple Watch you’ll be walking as if your arms are made of uranium. One overzealous gesture near a brick wall and “boom”, life over...
10/ You’ll have an instant classic
We very much doubt this will happen, but if nobody but you happens to invest in an Apple Watch, you can simply put it in the back of the wardrobe, forget all about it, then bring it out in 40 years and show it to your grandkids. “Grandpa, what’s that?!” “Oh this? This is that smartwatch that Apple brought out back in 2015.” “What’s a smartwatch?” “They never really caught on...”
Wor ds ro b t e mpl e illustration Chri s K i ng @ Il lust r at io n w eb.co m
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