Innholdsfortegnelse for Issue 15 i Gadget

Nvidia Shield K1 This tablet is designed with gaming in mind and has a Tegra processor, like the Nintendo Switch. It has a full-HD 1080p display and booming speakers, plus you can buy a gamepad for it separately, but it only supports Android mobile games. £170 | $200 | nvidia.co.uk Nintendo 3DS XL Despite the Switch being portable, Nintendo has made a point to call it a ‘home system’ and the company has no plans to discontinue the 3DS handheld. With a library of fantastic, critically-acclaimed games, it’s perfect for gaming on the go. £180 | $200 | Nintendo.com JXD S7800b If you’re more interested in classic Nintendo games than the latest releases, take a look at this quad-core handheld. Yes, its name is as catchy as a barcode, but…

Enjoy the sensation of soaring like an eagle when flying the Micro Drone 3.0. This small but mighty 14.5cm-diameter quadrocopter can fly in 45mph winds and flip 180 degrees upside down. While doing so, it can stream HD video straight back to your VR goggles, so you can feel like you’re really there. The Micro Drone 3.0 is an Indiegogodone-good, having raised over $3.5 million through crowdfunding and actually delivered a working gadget. The four-propeller drone now available to buy from John Lewis, Maplins and more for £150. Whether you’re a frequent flyer or new to the drone-flying craze, the Micro Drone 3.0 is highly adaptable. You can fly it with a Wi-Fi controller for longer range or use an app on your phone for intuitive touchscreen steering. You can…

01 Locate your router By placing your router in the most central position possible within your home, the signal has a better chance of reaching each room, helping to eliminate most dead spots. 02 Place it up high With the antenna pointing upwards, place the router about five feet high. Putting it on the floor will force some of the signals to shoot straight into the ground. 03 Avoid certain appliances Having a router too close to anything metal or anything which produces heat will slash the signal as will placing it near microwaves, baby monitors and cordless phones. 04 Get a booster You can increase the range of a Wi-Fi signal using a repeater. By taking the signal and amplifying and transmitting it, it should reach much further, making…

Magnetic Circuit This circuit is the engine of the speaker. It has been designed to ensure a high magnetic flux density, common in most high-end speakers Mass Anchor A conical anchor weight is placed at the back of the drive unit. Its primary use is to help ground the drive unit, and ensure a fluid piston-like movement Diffusion Stay Distortion will normally incur when the speaker enclosure is able to vibrate, but in the TD508MK3, a Diffusion Stay has been used to help the drive unit stay rigid Having an egg-shaped speaker may look strange, but there’s a very good reason why it has been implemented here. The round shape helps eliminate diffraction waves from being generated, which tend to slightly contort how sound is emitted from the primary drive…

“The price point is not to be sniffed at, but the Vive experience is like no other” Steaming ahead Being integrated into the biggest digital gaming platform in all of PC gaming is likely to be a huge boon for Vive in the long term – it makes it as close to being the ‘official’ PC VR solution as it’s possible to get, at least from a gaming perspective On the right track Of all the VR options right now, Vive has hands down the best tracking of both head and hands. You need a fair bit of space to enjoy it, though, and setup is such a chore that you won’t want to move it once it’s ready to play Complete control Vive’s price includes two fancy motion controllers…

Wider vision The Gear VR (2016) has widened its viewing angles from 96 to 101 degrees, bring it in line with the Rift. The tint of the lenses have also been darkened to reduce glare and reflections Built-in controls A new Oculus Home button above the touchpad offers faster navigation around the headset’s menu screens, but the touchpad itself is extremely basic limiting your interaction with VR experiences No lens fog The latest Gear VR has more room inside the headset and vents built into the side, so the lenses no longer fog as you breath, one of the biggest bugbears with the original What you need • Gear VR is only compatible with Samsung Galaxy smartphones, specifically: Galaxy Note 7, S7 Edge, S7, S6 Edge+, S6 Edge, S6 and…

OCULUS RIFT’S SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS: VIDEO CARD Nvidia GTX 970 / AMD R9 290 equivalent or greater CPU Intel i5-4590 equivalent or greater MEMORY 8GB+ RAM VIDEO OUTPUT Compatible HDMI 1.3 video output USB PORTS 3x USB 3.0 ports plus 1x USB 2.0 port OS Windows 7 SP1 64 bit or newer HTC’S VIVES REQUIREMENTS: GRAPHICS Nvidia GeForce GTX 1060 or AMD Radeon RX 480, equivalent or better. PROCESSOR Intel Core i5-4590 or AMD FX 8350, equivalent or better MEMORY 4 GB RAM or more VIDEO OUTPUT 1x HDMI 1.4 port, or DisplayPort 1.2 or newer USB 1x USB 2.0 port or newer OS Windows 7 SP1, Windows 8.1 or later, Windows 10…

1. SET UP YOUR COOKING SPACE Prepare the turkey how you like it, but ensure that it is completely dry for when it goes in the oil. Set up your pot and camping stove outside as far from you house. Make sure its on a flat surface, so it doesn’t topple over. To know roughly how much oil you should put in the pot place the turkey inside and fill it with water until the whole bird is covered. Once covered remove the turkey and mark the volume of water on the side of the vat. 2. TIME TO START COOKING Dry the pot and the turkey before actually cooking. Fill the pot with peanut oil up to the point you marked. Light your camp stove and wait for the…

Nintendo has given a first glimpse of its next-gen games machine, which works as both a high-end home console and a portable handheld. Previously codenamed NX, the Nintendo Switch looks like a tablet with modular controls. But it can also connect with your TV via a docking station, while the controllers can also be removed. Crucially, Nintendo says that the Switch will be able to run sophisticated games even in portable mode. For instance, the Switch’s announcement trailer showed Skyrim and NBA 2K being played on the go. In a year dominated by virtual reality headsets and incremental updates like the Xbox One S and PlayStation 4 Pro, the Nintendo Switch is a radical shift for gaming hardware. However, it’s also a huge gamble for the struggling gaming giant, following…

Scaled-down Kirobo The Kirobo went to space but the Mini just wants to sit in your car. It’s 10cm tall and diminutive enough to fit neatly in your car’s cupholders Your travelling companion At 183g the miniature robot is light enough to carry around the house or while you're walking, and it's smart enough to recognise places it has been to before Built-in camera A big part of the Kirobo Mini’s intelligence comes through what it can see: built-in cameras show it the world and can identify your emotions when you chat to it Robot battery life Battery life – the bane of many a gadget owner. Toyota says the Kirobo Mini takes about three hours to charge and can then talk for two-and-a-half hours Aw, isn’t it cute? Standing…

This November, should you be in possession of a fine face full of fuzz, there’s a good chance you’ll be shaving said moustache and beard clean off and regrowing a cover for your top lip in the name of charity. Movember is a brilliant cause, and one that’s rightly raising awareness of the threat of prostate cancer in men across the world, but if you’re going to smooth off your visage why not do it with the best techniques and some of the most rewarding grooming gadgets on the market? So we’ve gathered together ten of the best tips for grooming and sculpting your chosen collection of facial hair, with a few of the best tools to help you make those all-important snips and trims. We’ve also have a head-to-head…

“The average man can shave between 3,500 and 2,4000 times in their life” Foil vs. rotating blades The biggest difference is foil shavers lifts hairs out whilst rotary ones have spinning blades which cut hair. You can move rotary shavers around freely, but with foil shavers you must go in straight lines Oscillation of blades Foil shavers get their name from the metal that prevent the blades from touching the skin. The hair goes through the foil and is cut by the blades that oscillate back and forth due to the motor inside alternating as such The foils shaver There are typically three or four blades that lift hairs as opposed to cutting them. They have larger heads than rotary shavers but are more precise and give closer shaves Against…

Work in silence The ZenBook features a clever fan-less design, meaning that even at full gaming tilt, you’re greeting by a machine that shows no sign it’s being pushed to the max The operating system Love it or hate it, it’s running Windows 10. We’ve got our friend Cortana to give us a hand, and Continuum mode switches automatically between laptop and tablet mode Next-gen Wi-Fi What does 802.11ac Wi-Fi mean, exactly? Well, it’s very fast. Up to 867Mbps to be exact. It’s three-times faster than older generations and promises stronger, more stable signals 360-degree hinge That’s right, the ZenBook Flip can be view at any angle thanks to its precision-engineered multi-gear metal mechanism that’s been ‘torture-tested’ to survive 20,000 flips Two devices in one On one hand you’ve got…

With so many virtual reality options already on the market and more joining them at a staggering rate, those looking to lose themselves to a whole new way of experiencing games, apps and media are spoiled for choice. While the old adage ‘you get what you pay for’ can be applied here somewhat broadly, the best solution on paper might not always be the best for you – Vive’s room-scale VR experience is like nothing else, but it’s not a viable for anyone who doesn’t have the space to set it up, while at the other end of the scale, someone who has a top-end phone is likely to get a lot more out of low-end options like Google Cardboard and Gear VR. With all that in mind, we set…

TAKE BETTER TRAVEL SNAPS WITH THIS FOLD-UP DRONE Grab and go When you’re done with the Passport, you can just reach out and grab it out of the air (the propellers are fully enclosed to prevent cuts). This easy launch and retrieval system is deceptively simple thanks to the Passport’s powerful processor, sonar, downward-facing camera and other sensors Camera modes Using the free app for iPhone and Android, you can set the Passport to take close-up selfie shots so it will automatically follow your body and face, set it to orbit around a subject, and shoot 360-degree panoramic videos Ten-minute photo The Passport has a top speed of 17mph, but you might not want to rag it too hard as it only has a ten-minute battery life. Fortunately, the standard…

Large touchscreen The 8.4-inch SVGA colour LCD touchscreen had a resolution of 800 x 600 and it could be operated using a stylus Gamepad The Pepper Pad had a GameBoy-like D-pad, making it a cool handheld games console that could run retro emulators Built-in apps There were apps for email, radio and a remote control, taking advantage of an Intel PXA270 CPU and 256MB of RAM Control buttons The top lines of the split Qwerty keyboard contained the volume and screen brightness controls, as well functions for playing media Scroll wheel Just sitting above the right-side stereo speaker was the built-in scroll wheel, making it easy to read web pages Filling the gap between the PDA and the iPad, the Linux-based Pepper Pad may not have been pocket-friendly but it…

Cortana inside With the built-in microphones you can interact with Microsoft’s voice-controlled assistant, Cortana, by simply saying its name and then asking a question or giving a command The Surface Pen With no latency, the Surface Pen makes it as close to writing on paper as possible. It also has a button on the end which can be used to capture screenshots Giant touchscreen The 28 inch touchscreen display is only 11.5mm thick and has a resolution of 4500 x 3000, 192PPI, that’s more than a 4K display Work and play Whether your way of relaxing is watching a movie or playing video games, the Surface Studio is built for both work and play with a Nvidia GeForce GTX 965M graphics card Adjustable display Have the screen upright like a…

Next time you need to go somewhere, there’s no need to call for a taxi or even book one online. Just press the Concierge smart bell and it will instantly alert the nearest Uber that you’re looking for a ride. A light on top of the Concierge will even glow when the Uber pulls up outside your door. However, this isn’t all that Concierge can do. Like any good robot butler, the French startup behind Concierge says it will switch off your lights, turn down your heating, and lock the doors behind you – all with a single press of its button. To make this possible, Concierge is compatible with some of the biggest names in smart home tech, including Nest, Netatmo and Philips Hue. The Concierge also reacts to…

1 Make a list, check it twice Do research before 25 November arrives and make a shopping list. Know what you want and what the regular retail price is, so you know if you really are getting a good discount. Consider setting up an online wish list, as some sites may email you if items on your list go on sale. 2 Dress appropriately Black Friday is a marathon, not a sprint, so be prepared to be out of the house all day and in all kinds of weather. Wear flat, comfortable shoes and layers that you can bundle up when queuing in the cold and strip off in the scrum of the shop floor. 3 Line up early While camping out all night long is too extreme for us,…

Clicking a battery into place here and a camera into place there sounds appealing. It’s just like building with Lego, right? But the technology needs to be robust enough to withstand knocks, scrapes and everything else life throws at it. The most common ways of connecting modules to main components is with magnets, which were built into the Project Ara system along with a sliding mechanism, as well as in Acer’s Revo Build Series. These provide a reliable coupling, but smartwatch company Blocks turned to a more secure method to ensure your wearable doesn’t fall apart on your wrist. Omer El Fakir, one of the Founding Partners at Blocks, says: “The connector itself contains two elements; a mechanical linkage, with spring-loaded pogo pins with release buttons, and an electrical linkage,…

Hear us out on some of the best distraction-free active noise cancelling cans Sennheiser PXC550 These adaptive noise-cancelling headphones are wireless with Bluetooth and NFC connectivity options. They’re super light at 227g and can easily be folded and adjusted. £330 | $400 sennheiser.com Sony MDR-1000X The MDR-1000X are Bluetooth, wireless ANC headphones, and they are top of the range and the most premium noise-cancelling headphones to come from Sony yet. £330 | $400 sony.com BeoPlay H8 Allegedly the most advanced headphones ever made by BeoPlay are adorned in leather and memory foam. A touch interface on the side is sleek and handles volume, the ANC and phone calls. £400 | $500 beoplay.com Audio-Technica MSR7NC These wired headphones from Audio-Technica provide up to 38 hours of ANC listening time, with two…

“There’s been a lot of hype building up around the Oculus Rift” What you need • PC running a AMD Radeon R9 290 with an AMD FX 4350, or a GTX 960 and an i5-4590 • Oculus Rift Integrated Headphones • Oculus Rift sensor (bundled witgh headset) • Oculus Touch controllers (Xbox One gamepad and Oculus Remote bundled with headset) Tracking the Constellation In order to track your head, and the movement of your hands via the Oculus Touch controllers, the Rift uses a bespoke set of sensors known as the Constellation Asynchronous spacewarp In October 2016, Oculus announced the Rift would require lower systems requirements, using a new process that scales down the frame-rate to compensate for less powerful PCs Cinema in VR While it’s been designed with plenty…

“Google’s new device is set for great things” Safe and sound Strapping your phone into the mounting is quick and simple, plus it feels reassuringly secure. It syncs with the headset to engage the bespoke hub, allowing quick access to whatever media you’re looking to enjoy A bright future While limited in terms of both software and hardware right now, the brand power of Google means that it won’t be long before both see significant improvement Express yourself Daydream is available in three colours at launch – light grey, a darker slate grey and a deep crimson – so you get to pick the one that best fits your needs. We fully expect additional colours to be introduced down the line, too A softer touch The fabric exterior gives Daydream…

01 LED lights use 90 per cent less energy LED bulbs use solid-state technology to produce light by activating the flow of electrons through a semiconductor when an electric current is passed through it. This process emits very little heat, unlike traditional bulbs which converts just five per cent of electricity into visible light by heating the thin wire filament. 02 They can last for many years The solid-state nature of LED bulbs also means that they avoid the problems facing their rivals: they don’t burn out, they don’t oxidise and there’s no glass to break. That means they can go on working for tens of thousands of hours. Their brightness will eventually start decreasing over time, though. 03 You’ll get an instant light Energy-saving compact fluorescent bulbs save money…

Mobius ActionCam The Mobius ActionCam is a small, lightweight, fully configurable low cost HD video camera. It has a built-in stabiliser to keep your recordings motion free – perfect for done flights. £45 | $70 | mobius-actioncam.com ZMR250 This lightweight drone frame is constructed from reinforced carbon fiber and has garnered popularity as a great value frame for racing and beginner drones. £30 | $35 | tentech-rc.co.uk FrSky V8FR-II Receiver The V8FR-II Receiver boasts Advanced Continuous Channel Shifting Technology, which allows it to switch channels effortlessly to avoid signal conflicts and interruptions that happen in its transmission band. £15 | $25 | frsky-rc.com EMAX Multicopter Motor 1806 A highly-customisable motor with different mounting hardware to accommodate most frames. An embedded bearing system helps keeps the motor stable when travelling at…