ENTERPRISE

New Gadgets For April 2013 (Part 3)

4/13/2013 4:57:19 PM

Xi3 piston

Price: S$1,000

Website: xi3.com

Xi3 piston

It is a really impressive piece of computer engineering. But it is not the Steam Box.

Is this Valve’s Steam Box? Is this, at last, the fabled console from the world’s most influential game developer? No. No, it isn’t. But… is it? After all, it’s a tiny gaming PC, barely larger than a coffee mug but packing a quad-core 3.2GHz CPU, 8GB RAM, an SSD and 384-core graphics that will handle 4K resolution gaming, all from a dinky 40W power supply. It is a really impressive piece of computer engineering. But it is not the Steam Box. OK? Now, let’s fire up steam on this thing!

Bester spigot

Dyson Airblade Tap

Price: $1,500

Price: dyson.com

Does your sink really need a motor that accelerates to 90,000rpm, expelling air in two wafer-thin, 430mph sheets?

Does your sink really need a motor that accelerates to 90,000rpm, expelling air in two wafer-thin, 430mph sheets?

Here at Stuff we always get over-excited by over-engineering: from rubidium-powered amplifiers to watches that will outlast time itself. Thus we’ve been left sweaty palmed by this, the world’s most advanced faucet. Does your sink really need a motor that accelerates to 90,000rpm, expelling air in two wafer-thin, 430mph sheets? One wash on this baby and we decided that yes, it does. The tap brushes water off your hands like a futuristic butler. We’ll take 12

Join the Qube

Asus Qube

Price: asus.com

Do not question the Qube. Do not ask how it arrived, or look at it too much.

Do not question the Qube. Do not ask how it arrived, or look at it too much.

Do not question the Qube. Do not ask how it arrived, or look at it too much. Simply attach its feeding tube – sorry, HDMI cable to your TV, and allow it to furnish you with all the delights of Google TV 3.0. Request a movie from Google Play or Netflix via its smart voice recognition tech, browse the web using its double-sided QWERTY controller, or try gaming using your Android device to control it. It promises not to assimilate you. Unless you’d like to be assimilated? No, no, of course. Not yet. Not yet.

Oh, what a lovely Plair

Plair

Price: $100

Website: plair.com

You can even stream the same video to multiple seals at once.

You can even stream the same video to multiple seals at once.

It’s been a little while since you bought your tiny robotic seal pet, and winter might not have been kind to it. That’s where this replacement fin comes in, if your Robo-seal is swimming in circles, just plug this in and off he goes. Wait, that’s not right at all. Plug Plair (not a seal) into a TV’s HDMI port and you can stream video to it from any phone, tablet or PC with Wi-Fi. You can even stream the same video to multiple seals at once. Wait. Plairs. We meant Plairs

Do it! Format me!

Kingston DataTraveler

Hyperx predator 1tb

Website: kingston.com

Rattlesnakes become agitated in your presence, but fear to strike.

Rattlesnakes become agitated in your presence, but fear to strike.

When it arrived in the post, you were reborn. No longer merely ‘Brian’, now people pay attention to you. Women peek at you over their sunglasses. Rattlesnakes become agitated in your presence, but fear to strike. You wrestle wolves in the darkness. You are HyperX Predator, wielder of the Terabyte. None of this fluffy ‘cloud’ storage for you: your data, your whole digital world, is in your pocket, and you can read it at 240MB a second. You are a data warrior.

The vast and the viewrious

Samsung S9000

Website: samsung.com

It should be easy to find, as it’s huge, but if you can’t see it then keep an ear out for its 120W 2.2 speakers.

It should be easy to find, as it’s huge, but if you can’t see it then keep an ear out for its 120W 2.2 speakers.

What’s that, you’re popping out to the shops? Do we want anything? Yes, actually. We would like you to buy us the world’s largest 4K TV. You know, the 85in, 3D-capable, quad-core, up-scaling, Smart TV-toting LED mega set so unashamedly behemoth that it has to be supported by an industrial-looking frame. It should be easy to find, as it’s huge, but if you can’t see it then keep an ear out for its 120W 2.2 speakers. Oh, and a pint of chocolate milk and a Twix.

Twenty’s plenty

Fujifilm X20

We keep it on a purple velvet cushion in our Top 10 Cupboard of Glory.

We keep it on a purple velvet cushion in our Top 10 Cupboard of Glory.

We love Fujifilm’s superb X10. We keep it on a purple velvet cushion in our Top 10 Cupboard of Glory. And its uncle, the X100, single-lensedly started the fad for cameras that are brilliant, modern, and look like your dad’s old cam. So the X20 comes from some pretty rich stock, and it looks as if it’ll do the family proud: it’s basically an upgraded X10, with a new 12MP sensor that promises better low-light performance, a new viewfinder, faster autofocus and RAW. All great, but what happens when they upgrade the X90? Do they just rerelease the X100?

Let’s get down to brass snaps

Pentax MX-1

Price: $600

But Pentax has sensibly given the MX-1 some: the top and bottom plates are made of good old hefty brass.

But Pentax has sensibly given the MX-1 some: the top and bottom plates are made of good old hefty brass.

You know the lovely feeling you get from holding a hammer? That’s heft. Sweet, delicious heft. The feeling that you’re holding something sturdy. It’s a factor gadget-makers, who tend to aim for lighter and smaller, often ignore. But Pentax has sensibly given the MX-1 some: the top and bottom plates are made of good old hefty brass. The rest of it is as futuristic as you’d like – an f/1.8, 28-112mm lens, 1080p video, a 12MP sensor and an articulated 3in display – but it’s the heft that’ll steady you.

Tune-ulonimbus

Teenage engineering od-11

Price: $800

Website: od-11.com

Some will say any wireless speaker can suck music from the cloud.

Some will say any wireless speaker can suck music from the cloud.

The world’s first cloud speaker’ is a tricky claim. Some will say any wireless speaker can suck music from the cloud. Some will say the Norse god Thor was first to speak to us from the clouds. From the land of Thor (Thorway*) comes a 26cm3 box to hammer the opposition: with a 100W amplifier and drivers that point upwards for immersive sound, it’s a cut above your average Bluetooth box. But it’s the ability to play straight from the cloud that has us excited. Details of available services are cloudy at the moment, but should brighten up this summer.

Bone to be audiophiled

Panasonic rp-btgs10 Bluetooth headphones

Price: panasonic.com

We’re not sure why, but there’s a direct correlation between how leaky a person’s headphones are and their taste in music.

We’re not sure why, but there’s a direct correlation between how leaky a person’s headphones are and their taste in music.

We’re not sure why, but there’s a direct correlation between how leaky a person’s headphones are and their taste in music. Proper cans equals respectable taste; if you can hear what they’re listening to three seats away, it’s rubbish. Pana’s cans use bone-conducting tech: you place them on your temples and they vibrate your inner ear, leaving your actual shell-like open to hear useful announcements or oncoming traffic. Best of all, others won’t hear a peep of your music. That means it’s excellent.

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