Simple enough tech: skin contact causes the shutter release on these lo-fi (but hi-tech) OLED mirrors and flashes. The point? To explore human emotional interactions in electronics. It’s a photobooth that works only with human input.
Great piece of art meets tech from Talia and Jonas Bohatsch
Laptop meets tablet meets tablet meets portability again. The race to become the world’s best laptop replacement continues, this time with MS pushing out their new Surface 2. This is one device I really love. Love the design, love the colors and the spec isn’t terrible either.
The Surface 2 and Surface Pro 2 tablet are upgrades of the previous devices, display, camera etc get a new fix. And more noticably, there’s a new take on their kickstand, dual angles, many viewing positions.
As mentioned they really intend for you to cash in your laptop and replace it outright with one of these so they’ve made sure the spec can stack up. A Core i5 processor, all the storage options with 4GB or 8GB of RAM and most importantly, up to 75% increased battery life.
Get it: Announced soon
From: www.microsoft.com
And it’s a new Episode
And we look at some new fresh shit
And we’re moving the series onto AlternaTV. So make sure to catch us there www.AlternaTV.tv
PEACE!
Cargo, a team of product designers living and working in Ireland (go figure) have designed a brewing pot, operable from your Smartphone.
You read that right: the BrewBot connects to a Smartphone via Bluetooth and allows the user to tweek, change or update their recipe from the comfort of their couch.
The device itself has temperature sensors, load sensors and other clever stuff to keep the user updated on how their batch is doing, how much longer it needs to ferment and when their brew will be ready. Makes 20-litres at a time.
Now I have a very good friend who likes to brew his own beer and I know what he’s going to say about this product: “its bullshit bru. It takes all the soul out of making beer. I’ll just do it myself, thanks”.
Granted, he is a functioning (barely) alcoholic, so what does he know. Bring on the future.
Help them: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/cargo/brewbot-the-smart-brewing-appliance
With tablets coming out of our ears before the Xmas shop, what have Samsung brought forth in their new offering?
To be frank, not much more than a reboot of the Galaxy Tab 2.0, which was a great device, and thus means this isn’t too shabby either.
The major change from 2 to 3 is the inclusion of a new dual-core 1.6GHz Intel processor running the latest Android upgrade, but aside from that, computer nerds are gonna bitch for days that Samsung haven’t done anything new.
But readers of AskSteve.co.za aren’t irritating computer nerds. We’re sophisticated normals who only care about the top 3. The top 3 changes, the top 3 reasons to buy, the top 3 reasons not to.
A new processor is one thing, but frankly it hasn’t made that much difference in the 3.0. The performance is sufficient albeit sketchy at times. There’s the occasional delay which shatters confidence in the devices performance, but it never gives up, so that’s a pro.
More important than processor speed is usability and by cutting down the weight on the 3.0 to 510g, Samsung have created a device that’s lank easy to hold whether you’re reading a book or watching a movie. As you know, this is the test I have for a good tab and the 3.0 passes easily.
The screen on the 3.0 is a 1,280 x 800 resolution, TFT LCD display. Those numbers make it bright, but not HD. And this is noticeable to those who care to look close enough. Icons pixelate fractionally, but again, unless you’re looking for it, you won’t see it.
Weapons on the 3.0 include a 3MP camera on the back and a smaller one on the front. This means it’s definitely not good enough to be your primary shooter and leaves me scratching my head wondering how they can put a 12MP camera on a Smartphone with ease, but a flagship tablet only gets a 3MP.
The past few months have seen Samsung come under fire for creating devices that focus too much on the features it has compared to its competitors and not enough on the experience it is giving the user. The iPhone for example gives as simple an experience to its users by relying on 3rd party apps and as few native, iOS proprietary apps as possible.
The Galaxy range on the other hand spends its entire marketing budget shoving its Samsung developed extras down the consumer’s throat. Things like videos that detect your eyes and apps that tell you if you’ve got flu take up most of your time, whether you want them to or not.
Perhaps Samsung has learnt from the past as they’ve only included a select few in the 3.0. Smart Stay and Smart Orientation only and pre-installed apps like ChatON, Game Hub, Group Play, Paper Artist, S Planner, S Voice, and WatchON are also present.
The last important feature we can’t ignore is battery life, and while the battery on the 3.0 isn’t what I’d call amazing, it lasts a full day no problem and for me that’s enough. It’s very seldom that you’re going to go more than one day without charging your battery at night. That’s the reality.
The verdict? Do you get it?
If you already have the 2.0, no, you don’t. Put your “early adopter” card away and spend your money on some new headphones. Or even better, save it.
If you’re in the market for a new tablet, the 3.0 is decent enough, but for a little extra, you could look at the mighty Xperia Z which is dust proof, water proof and as you’ll see here, one of my favourites.
Get it: R8 000 (10.1-inch)
From: www.dion.co.za
Something’s gotten into the folk at Volvo. They’re going to more extreme lengths to drive home their safety features, this time putting a truck in the paws of a 300g rodent.
Simple and effective.
The anticipation of the new instllment of Forza 5 is absolutely pulpable. It’s not often a new game gets a whole new console to launch itself on.
And Microsoft isn’t making life any easier with teaser videos like this one they made with Top Gear USA host Tanner Foust.
Playstation have announced a new gaming console, but it’s not at all what you would expect. The Playstation Vita TV connects to your TV and allows you to play Playstation games from your Vita or your PSP. Futre PS4 games hosted in the cloud will also be playable.
The hardware is no different to the current Vita and this gadget is as affordable as a prison haircut at only around $100 (expect around R2000).
So what’s the point? Content. This gadget competes pretty directly with the Apple TV as it’ll be able to stream and host a bunch of media services and playback content in HD.
Never have I been more convinced that they’re dishing out gadgets just so we’ll pay for downloads.
In June 2013, I told you all about a new phone being conceptualised called the Smarter Phone. If you don’t recall, check it here.
An important device that looks, functions and is a smartphone. Except, when it breaks (a bad drop, the camera goes fuzzy or a button kicks it) you simply strip the device open, buy a replacement part and carry on regardless.
Great concept, but now it’s real.
Dave Hakkens is a gadget designer who has started a campaign to tell the world’s manufacturers that there is a need for a phone like this.
It’s called PhoneBloks, and as the name suggests, it’s a phone made up of interchangeable blocks that you can pick and choose and place on your phonepad as you need it.
This video does a spectacular job of explaining how it works and what it is.
Dave Hakkens has lined up all the companies, done the R&D and layed the foundation. Now all he needs is our help to tell these companies that this is a device that has a demand and that it is worth them getting involved and making it.
There have been few devices I’ve wanted more to see developed, but PhoneBloks fills me with a warm, humanly feeling normally reserved for my mom’s cheesecake and newborn Golden Retriever puppies.
Here’s the call to action: get on your social media platform of choice and mention this device (#phonebloks). Spread the word, get your voice out there and let it be known that we want customisable smartphones.
Sick to death of hearing about watches that will talk to your gadgets? So am I, but at least here is one that’s actually going to be made and be available for purchase.
The Samsung Galaxy Gear watch is a voice operated apendage to your smart device, it weighs 73,8 grams (let’s not get started on how pretentious and unnecessary it is to list the weight of a watch) and has a 40mm color screen.
There’s nothing in this watch that you haven’t been teased with before. It’s got downloadable apps, a 1,9MP camera and it alerts you when you’ve received a call or a message on your phone.
The watch also has a built-in speaker for those times when your hands are occupied and you want to irritate people around you and be inaudible to the person you’re talking to because the receiver is too far away from your mouth. But, when you think about it, there is another, very frequent human activity that ties up your hands and places the watch (unobstructed) directly in line with your mouth. Ummm…driving. Hello!
Of course that will make our roads safer, and who wants that?
It’s coming in Black, Mocha Grey, Wild Orange, Oatmeal Beige, Rose Gold and Lime Green. All the colors of the hipster rainbow.
