1. Google Nexus 7
We do think you’re ready for this jelly
Price: From $249
For a company at the heart of the fastest –
moving industry on the planet, Google has shown incredible patience in
releasing a table. Like a crafty python it’s lain in wait, allowing the
oblivious wildebeest of the Android herd to prototype and market – test the
most popular tablet from factors, price range and specs. And now it’s pounced,
launching a gleaming new version of Android – 4.1 Jelly Bean – in a 7in tablet
that trounces its rivals and with a price that doesn’t seem real: these days
$249 will just about cover a small tub of popcorn in a cinema. The idea of a
quad-core table with toys such as NFC that offers superb gaming and several
life times’ worth of books, movies and apps for that little beggars belief.
Google
Nexus 7
As hot as…
jelly beans under the grill
On the horizon Android slates heading
our way
Now: Asus transformer infinity
Scheduled to hit shelves this month, the latest
in Asus’ keyboard-tastic Transformer line has a quad-core Tegra 3 brain and
1920 x 1200 screen. It’ll ship with only Android 4.0 though
Soon: Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1
The Transformer Infinity is the
typing-tablet of choice, but if you’re an arty type, this 10in, stylus-toting
Note was made for drawing. It too will run Android 4.0 on a quad-core
cogitator.
Later: Samsung Galazy Note 2
The first 5.3in Note was released to cries
of ‘Samsung, you crazy’ (well, kind of), but after its runaway success, the prospect
of a Jelly Bean-toting sequel sounds tempting.
Way off: HTC ????
HTC’s Flyer may have crashed and burned,
but HTC has claimed its tablet division will rise from the flames. It’s also
said it’ll wait until HTC has something unique to offer the market – so don’t
hold your breath.
2. Vauzhall Adam
Smartphone-brained supermini
Price: From $ 17,105 (+ $ 466.5 for
touchscreen)
Vauzhall
Adam
Meet Adam. He’s cosmopolitan, stylish, and
intelligent. Sure, he may be a little dinky, but the urban environment fits him
like a glove. He may also have crazy ideas – an inside roof peppered with LED
‘stars’, for one – but he does have one bit of incredibly sensible design.
Instead of a bespoke Navitainment system that would have nothing on Android or
iOS, Adam’s 7in touch screen mirrors your own smartphone, making the most of
its multicore chip, 3G connection and nav software. Every time Google Maps in
updated, your in-car sat-nav is updated too – genius.
As hot as…
Morticia Addams wearing black on a warm day
3. Samsung EX2F
F/1.4? Right back aperture
Price: $ 669
Samsung
EX2F
When you seem someone you fancy, you pupils
dilate slightly. You can’t help it; it’s just your eyes drinking in the sight
of them (you say, smoothly). Samsung’s new 12MP snapper obviously has the hots
for someone, as its lens dilates to a max aperture of f/1.4 – great for
low-light snapping and seductive blurry backgrounds. Built-in Wi-Fi makes it
easy to backup snaps, or upload evidence of successful dates to Facebook, but
you shouldn’t try to get off with it. That’ll ruin the optics.
As hot as…
the testing rooms at Aperture Science
4. Onkyo TX-NR5010
The first 11.4 sound system
Price: $ 4,665
Onkyo
TX-NR5010
Readers write to us, asking how to get home
cinemas that deliver dazzling sound without giving their cable-hating other
halves cause to complain. Here’s how: tell them daily that you love them. Then
buy this AV receiver, which will upscale 1080p video to 4K and is the first
with DTS Neo: X tech, which can create 11.4 surround sounds from almost any
signal. Get nine speakers and four subs, plug it all in, and crank up the
sound. Yes, they’ll whinge as they trip over cables – but you won’t be able to
hear them
As hot as…
swimming 11.4k in a dry-suit full of mustard
5. Denon AH-NCW500
Pump up the Volvo-Ume
Price: $ 622
Denon
AH-NCW500
All too often when a gadget factures tries
to make products ‘retro’ they end up looking like Sputnik satellites with a
sideline in Panini-making. But Denon has crafted a pair of high-end,
noise-cancelling headphones that hark back to the true golden age of transport
– Dad’s car, c.1987. With a look that’s part BoomBox, part Volvo 340, these
40mm-driver, Bluetooth 3.0 babies are built for comfort, have a ‘control wheel’
on the side for playback, volume and talk control, and boast sound-deadening
tech to silence annoying aircraft noise – or annoying kids begging for a toilet
break. Now for some Phil Collins…
As hot as…
driving a Ford Capri with Jenny Agutter
