Innholdsfortegnelse for April 2017 i Stuff UK

Weird gadgets are my favourite gadgets. Sure, there’s a big place in the world for Apple’s iPhones and Watches, but they’ll never compare to a 3D printing pen, a robot vacuum that can map out your living room or a speaker that talks back – the inventions that truly reach for the future, even if they do end up fumbling it and soiling themselves in the process. When it comes to weird gadgets, one company is more bonkers than the rest of tech combined: Nintendo. Now the maker of the Wii, the Virtual Boy and, erm, Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker is back with one of its most extraordinary creations yet. The Switch is a console that can supposedly do it all, allowing you to play the latest Zelda or Mario…

Vertu Constellation £tba / vertu.com • Underneath the leather… …it’s actually a well-specced phone. Its screen has the highest resolution of any Vertu device: WQHD, or 2560x1440, spread across a 5.5in display with crystal sapphire glass on top. That gives it an enviable pixel density of 534ppi – right up there with the best phones in the world. It runs on a Snapdragon 820 processor, which while not the absolute latest is still impressive, and has 4GB of RAM. There’s also a 12MP camera, 128GB of storage, dual SIM slots, a 3200mAh battery and fast charging. • But that’s not where the money lies… The OS is skinned Android, but the outside is skin of cow and lightweight anodised aluminium, while even the ‘ear pillow’ is hand-polished “for optimum acoustic…

#20 MEDIUM FORMAT Fuji surprised the camera crew last year when it teased a mirrorless medium format camera. As you saw on p13, the GFX 50S is now real. But camera fans might be puzzled as to why Fuji skipped full-frame, the oversized sensor of choice for the likes of Canon and Nikon. Apparently, the jump from the X-T2’s APS-C sensor (see p86) to a full-frame one just wouldn’t have been enough. The difference in sensor size is quite significant: a medium format sensor is 43.8x32.9mm, compared to 36x24mm for full-frame or the common APS-C sensor size of 23.6x15.6mm. The GFX 50S’s medium format sensor is rated at a whopping 51.4MP. For studio photographers, the added detail and enhanced flexibility with lighting are essential – and they don’t need to…

Sky’s multiroom telly system makes its old box look ancient, and if you can stomach the price (only a fool would get the non-4K 1TB version), it gives you an excuse to never leave the house again. But is it worth a lifetime of isolation? Well, it might be… 1 Get looky While the Virgin V6 looks like an old external hard drive, Sky’s 2TB Silver box is sleek, stylish and modern. That design flair even extends to the remote, which has a large trackpad where your thumb naturally rests. In truth it can sometimes be a little over-sensitive, but it makes navigating the slick new interface a breeze. 2 Tuner salad Sky Q ‘only’ allows you to record four channels while watching a fifth, although an update is coming…

So you’ve read all about it and now you want one. Obviously you want one. Well, it just so happens that we’ve got a Nintendo Switch to give away to one of our Mario-loving readers. HOW TO ENTER For the chance to get your paws on the gaming gadget of the moment, go to stuff.tv/win and answer this question: What are the removable controllers on either side of the Switch’s screen called? A JOY-CONS B HAPI-STICKS C TWIDL-PODS Terms & conditions: 1 Open to UK residents aged 18 or over. 2 Entries close 11.59pm, 13 April 2017. 3 Prizes are as stated. 4 Prizes are non-transferable. 5 Only one entry per person. For full terms and conditions see stuff.tv/win Promoter: Haymarket, 69 London Road, Twickenham TW1 3SP HURRY! COMPETITION CLOSES 13…

There’s good-looking tech… and then there’s this. The Mi Mix is a lust-bucket of a smartphone – and it’s all thanks to that incredible, almost bezel-free screen, which sits right up against three of its four edges. Seriously, the display appears to be floating in the air in front of you. That screen might be its real standout feature, but the rest of the Mi Mix is just as eye-catching. Xiaomi has gone for a ceramic design instead of metal or glass, with a mirror sheen that reflects light at almost every angle. It’s a world away from the metal finishes of most rivals. OK, so it’s also a massive fingerprint magnet, but it sure looks pretty for those first few minutes after you’ve given it a polish. So this…

£599 / apple.com GET THESE... 1 Give it wide eyes ExoLens Edge Wide What Zeiss doesn’t know about making lenses could fit on the back of a nanoSIM – but the ExoLens Edge Wide fits on the top of your iPhone. It covers the tiny lens that Apple gave it with a Zeiss Mutar 0.6x Asph T* wide-angle one. If that looks like some sort of alien code from outer space, the ExoLens probably isn’t for you; but the Zeiss glass means you’ll get far sharper detail across the whole frame, plus the wider angle means you can fit more into each shot. Fancy some telephoto or macro action? You can buy those to fit the mount too. £200 / exolens.com 2 Control your warm-ups Elgato Eve Thermo 3 Go…

£399 / oneplus.net GET THESE... 1 Dock up Kidigi Universal USB-C Desktop Charging Dock OK, so you can buy microUSB docks that’ll do roughly the same thing, but there’s something satisfying about a phone plinth that’ll take any USB-C-equipped device. Thankfully, this universal dock is more than just a pretty podium: it will charge and sync your smartphone simultaneously, making use of USB-C’s speedy data and power transfer rates. It’ll fit pretty much everything too, thanks to a height-adjustable connector. Really, though, it’s best for sticking on the desk to show off your shiny baby. £25 / mobilefun.co 2 Upsta e your buds Beyerdynamic Byron For thousands of years we’ve been championing SoundMagic’s E10 earphones as the go-to instant upgrade for your phone’s rubbish bundled buds. But recently our friends…

▪ Borderlands It might be eight years old now, but this is still one of the most fun shooters around. That’s especially true in co-op, where you can battle through the carnage with a friend. ▪ Tomb Raider Lara Croft is no longer a pixelly slab of meat in this 2013 reboot. She has an actual personality now, but seems to be too busy fighting bad people to do much tomb raiding. ▪ The Walking Dead Telltale’s interactive story is the best way to experience this zombie world. Be prepared to ‘get something in your eye’, as few characters will still be alive by the miserable end. ▪ Batman: Arkham City Most licensed games are pretty lame, but Batman has once again beaten the odds to a pulp by starring…

PUREVPN Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) are a good way to avoid leaking private data from your mobile device. PureVPN gives you 2GB of bandwidth for free, while Opera Free VPN (£free / Android, iOS) costs nothing but is limited for locations. from $9.95/month / purevpn.com LASTPASS You can use iCloud Keychain on iOS (Settings > iCloud) to securely keep passwords and payment details in iCloud. Alternatively, third-party products like LastPass will integrate with iOS and let you use logins in a browser that’s Touch ID-protected. £free / iOS FIGURE Fed up with fishing out your iPhone when a generic ringtone plays? Make your own instead. Figure is great for crafting catchy loops that can be pasted into GarageBand. Then you can add loops and share your work as a custom…

HOT 1 BUY Apple iPad Pro 9.7 from £549 / apple.com The iPad Pro 9.7 takes everything we loved about Apple’s original 12.9in Pro tablet, makes it a lot more portable, and then even adds in a few cool extras of its own. The True Tone display, for example – which changes intensity and colour balance automatically based on ambient conditions – is an absolute marvel, while the 12MP shooter is frankly overkill for those brave enough to use it out and about. It’s expensive, yes, but quality comes at a price. Stuff says Incredible power, superb features and flawless design: the iPad Pro 9.7 is pure tablet perfection Apple iPad Mini 4 from £379 / apple.com Just the right size for a great portable entertainment hub, while subtle display…

TIPS & TRICKS Who needs a Touch Bar? You can lo. into your Mac with your iPhone’s Touch ID usin. the MacID app. The universal clipboard lets you copy text on your iPhone and paste it directly to your Mac. 1 HOT BUY Apple MacBook Pro from £1449 (13in) / apple.com It can be easy to focus on what this entry-level version of the MacBook Pro doesn’t have: it’s missing the new Touch Bar for a start, and is down on ports and power compared to the next model up. But it’s also £300 cheaper, and has the same diminutive form and truly gorgeous screen. It also has the brilliant second-gen butterfly keyboard. In fact, you’re better off sparing your wallet and forgetting about the Touch Bar. It’s just not…

HOT BUY 1 PlayStation 4 Pro £350 / playstation.com As a gaming platform, PlayStation 4 is the best around – which makes the PS4 Pro the best of the best. Games optimised for the new console look stunning on a 4K HDR TV, and are substantially improved by the extra grunt inside this slightly bigger machine. If you’ve already splashed out for a 4K HDR screen and you enjoy video games at all, it’s well worth the upgrade. The missing 4K Blu-ray drive means it isn’t a perfect entertainment system, but streaming converts won’t care. Stuff says The system for console gamers who have a 4K TV and want the best gaming experience possible Xbox One S from £221 / xbox.com Microsoft dumps Kinect, the £400+ asking price and the…

I’VE BEEN GETTING LOST IN THE WOODS I’ve got a new cyclocross bike so I’ve been hunting for a GPS device that can do simple off-road maps, as well as being compatible with Strava so I can see how far behind Deputy Art Editor Ross I am. Enter the Suunto Spartan Sport. It’s a watch, so I can use it all the time. It’s also slightly confusing to use and laggy. But setting up routes is easy, while the big display and ‘breadcrumb’ tracking are great out in the wilds. Doesn’t make me faster than Ross, though. Chee-Chiu Lee, Brand Art Editor I OUT-PACED AN AMBULANCE Using technology, I should say, not speed. I do a bit of volunteering as a Community First Responder for London Ambulance, and sat-nav fiddling…

FINE ART FALLOUT You’ve been in a relationship with Bethesda since, what… 1994? When you met at the launch of The Elder Scrolls? Maybe you had a rocky patch recently when she flirted with mobile games, but things are looking rosy – Fallout Shelter is finally on Windows 10 and Xbox One, and Prey is due in May (see p27). So, uh, don’t you think it’s time you made a serious commitment? Like, with one of 13 limited-edition Fallout 4 fine art prints – from £69 at Cook & Becker (candb.com). You know what they say: if you like it, you should put a frame on it. NEWS FEED LOW LOADER This blue marvel is Gita, a luggage robot from scooter supergroup Piaggio. Load it up with 18kg of your…

RAYBABY from US$99 / rayiot.org Pretty sure I’ve seen that thing in an episode of Black Mirror. Not every gadget with a camera lens is an Orwellian menace, you know. In fact, Raybaby is quite the opposite: a proper do-gooder with its silicon heart in the right place. It’s a baby sleep monitor that tracks your little one’s breathing from afar in a very clever way – not with an impractical wearable or a SmartCot 3000, but with radar technology. Radar? Nothing says sweet dreams like military surveillance technology. Well, the Raybaby isn’t exactly a big, scary antenna. It’s a cute little cyclops that sits anywhere in your baby’s room, quietly measuring their breathing to a claimed accuracy of 98% thanks to ultrasound-like tech. And that’s just the start of…

1 Nikon Aculon T01 8x21 Warning: the colour of these tiny Nikons mean that, seen in profile against an azure sky, you’ll appear to be just cupping your hands on your eyes like pretend binoculars. £30 / europe-nikon.com 2 Canon 18x50 IS All Weather These are high-tech, high-price, image-stabilised superbinos, so please don’t zoom them around the office pretending they’re the Owlship from Watchmen. £1510 / canon.co.uk 3 Leica Ultravid 8x32 Edition Zagato Half-German, half-Italian, known to friends as ‘The Cat’, WLTM strong-handed sports spotter for trips to Ascot, Lord’s and Monaco. PS. I am literally one in a 1000. £2465 / uk.leica-camera.com 4 Kowa Genesis 22 8x22 At the 1964 Olympics, judges were given Kowa-made scopes for watching distant events. Apparently they spent the whole time looking at pretty…

Say it quietly: VR isn’t working. It’s too pricey, it’s a real scutter to set up and it’s exclusive. Your friends and family – even if they can see what you’re doing on a monitor – will soon tire of putting things under your feet for you to trip over and will wander off to find something more interactive to mess with. The solution, envisaged as soon as VR began its modern-day resurgence, is public VR arcades. But how? Tech trade shows are bespotted with complex 360° treadmills onto which headset-wearing models have been strapped, twisting and turning and earning their money by not wincing when the chafing is at its worst. It’s not ideal. New outfit Modal VR, though, has an intriguing solution. It uses real space, not treadmills,…

• LumaFusion Yes, we know that iMovie comes jammed into every iOS device for nothing, but what if your Hollywood aspirations are beyond what Apple’s app can provide? That’s when you reach for LumaFusion. It’s far from cheap, but offers a professional take on video editing, welding effects and clip manipulation tools from the excellent LumaFX to a capable and feature-packed multi-track video editor. It’s so efficient, it might even replace your desktop editor. Stuff says £28.99 / iOS • Infuse 5 Pro Digital downloads? Pah! Your ripped movie collection is safely stored on a huge hard drive. But transferring favourites to iOS is iTunes hell… until you get this app. Infuse 5 Pro streams (and, if necessary, converts) files on your network or cloud storage, adding cover art, and…

▪ Put your specs on The Mi Mix has a 16MP rear sensor with f/2.0 lens, phase-detection autofocus and electronic image stabilisation… yet picture quality is only so-so. Images can lack detail once you zoom in. ▪ Don’t wait app The app has a few options that you’d expect – such as HDR, panorama and a manual mode – but otherwise it’s basic. There are plenty of filters and fun effects, if you’re tickled by such features. ▪ Keep the noise down Noise reduction is really strong, and you can rescue your shots slightly by turning sharpness up to the highest setting. But there’s still not as much detail as you’ll get from an iPhone 7 Plus. ▪ Behave yourselfie Image quality from the front-facing camera is no better than…

▪ Follow you follow me Active Track mode keeps your subject in the main camera’s frame, following them automatically. The tech it uses to recognise objects has improved a lot since it first showed up. ▪ Carpet crawler Another new addition, Tripod mode drops the speed dramatically but ramps up the sensitivity on the controller. DJI reckons it’s ace for flying in small spaces, or for more cinematic shots. ▪ I can dance Terrain Follow mode lets the drone go up and down hills as it follows you. It should be great for hiking, downhill mountain biking and snow sports. And you can still pull off circle and spotlight tracking. ▪ Turn it on again In Sport mode, it’ll hit a pants-wetting 40mph at full tilt. The redesigned Intelligent Flight…

£130 / fitbit.com GET THESE... 1 Juice up NutriBullet RX Normally it’s only cars that get measured in horsepower, but this NutriBullet is so powerful it’s like having 2.3 nags trampling all over your fruit and veg (although without taking up as much space in the kitchen). But the RX isn’t some sort of power-hungry meathead – NutriBullet claims it spins at exactly the right speed for optimal fruit obliteration and nutrient extraction. It can also heat its contents, letting you make soups in just seven minutes. Well, there’s not a lot of point in counting your steps if you carry on eating like a lazy pig. £170 / highstreettv.com 2 Stay in the zone Jabra Elite Sport They might make you look like a secret service agent on his…

£1449 / apple.com GET THESE... 1 Back up your media Seagate Innov8 The first thing you need to know about Seagate’s Innov8 hard drive is that it has a stupid name. The second thing you need to know about Seagate’s Innov8 is that it’s powered by USB-C, so you don’t need to plug it into the mains when you want to use it. Handy. The third thing you need to know is that it’s only got that stupid name because the 8 refers to the number of terabytes stashed inside, which is way more than the 256GB you get on the basic MacBook Pro, so you can fill the Seagate with music, photos and videos to your heart’s content. £340 / seagate.com 2 Have a safe trip Gri n BreakSafe…

£170 / stuff.tv/SteelHR ▪ Withings’ ultra-slick Steel HR is an analogue smartwatch with decidedly digital innards. It takes everything we loved about the Activité Pop, sticks it in a stainless steel chassis and adds an LCD ‘complication’ for notifications… plus exercise tracking and pretty much everything else you’d hope to find in a wearable. ▪ This stylish timepiece is slimmer than just about every fully digital smartwatch out there, and small enough not to demand attention when it peeks out from beneath a shirt sleeve. ▪ It might be rocking a basic silicone strap out of the box, but quick-release pins mean you can swap it out for a different one easily enough. The 40mm-diameter watch (far right) takes 20mm bands, while the 36mm version takes 18mm ones. ▪ One…

1 HOT BUY BARGAIN BUY TIPS & TRICKS Worried about your battery life? You can customise the level indicator to show a precise percentage. The 3T’s Night Mode will gradually crank up the display’s orange warmth as the evening goes on. If you’re not a fan of the 3T’s simple Android interface, we recommend Nova Launcher. OnePlus 3T £399 / oneplus.net This phone is just like the OnePlus 3, aside from its higher price and a few little extras that don’t really change how it is to use – or, crucially, where it sits relative to its pricier rivals. In other words, it remains a bargain. If you could still get the original OnePlus 3, we’d advise you to save your £70 – but when the only genuine alternatives to…

TIPS & TRICKS Magic Zoom lets you magnify anything on the screen, and pause to screenshot if you see fit. You can connect your phone to the telly via LG’s TV Plus app with Magic Mobile Connection. 1 HOT BUY LG OLED55C6V £1799 / lg.com A truly stunning television. LG’s OLED panel can go blacker than most TVs and will dazzle your senses with its brightness; it offers sharply etched detail, excellent viewing angles and solid HD upscaling. It also boasts support for both HDR standards – HDR10 and Dolby Vision – so you’ll be able to watch compatible content from Amazon, Netflix and UHD Blu-rays regardless of which format wins out in the future. If you’ve got the money, this is the 4K TV to own. Stuff says Packed…

Should I up.rade? MACBOOK PRO Rob Leedham Editor You probably thought your future was sealed when you bought your current MacBook Pro. No matter how sleek and sexy the next model will be, you told yourself you’re going to stay faithful. You did drop over £1000 on it within the last two years, after all. And so, when you saw the new Pro, you quickly had to make a list in your head to dissuade yourself: Brexit prices… the Touch Bar’s a gimmick… where’s the SD card reader? Yes, it’s difficult to ignore those slender looks – and my word, does it feel good to touch – but it’s what inside that counts, you remind yourself. And the new Pro only has an i7 processor and up to 16GB of…

TIPS & TRICKS With iPhones and Android devices, you can control your Sonos speakers from your lock screen. The Sonos Play:5 uses a feature called Trueplay that tunes the sound to your room’s acoustics. HOT BUY 1 Sonos multiroom system from £169 / sonos.com If you want to pretend your favourite band are playing in your living room, there’s no better option than a Sonos wireless speaker. They look great, work with your smartphone and, most importantly, boom out your tunes with dazzling finesse – from the compact Play:1 (£169) to the flagship Play:5 (£429), a speaker redesigned from the ground up in 2016. Stuff says Infinite music in every room without the need for custom installers? Sign us up! NOW ADD THIS Spotify Premium Sick of playing your iTunes…

HOT 1 BUY HTC Vive £759 / vive.com The HTC Vive offers the most complete package of the current virtual reality headsets. While it will whet the appetite of gamers (see left), it offers much more than just blasting zombies. From interactive documentaries to helping you design your kitchen, this headset is a multi-talented piece of tech. The Vive will set you back a lot – for the headset itself, and also for the required supercomputer – but its room-tracking capabilities make this the most immersive VR experience so far. Stuff says It might be expensive, but the Vive provides the most engaging VR experience with its room-tracking magic Oculus Rift £499 / oculus.com The Oculus Rift offers a fun VR experience, but thanks to its lack of room tracking…

HOT BUY 1 TIPS & TRICKS For aperture-priority shots, set shutter speed to auto and turn that lens rin. to the desired f-number. The ISO and shutter dials can now be locked with a simple press of the middle button. The X-T2’s film simulation modes .ive your shots massive amounts of character. Fujifilm X-T2 £1399 / fujifilm.eu The X-T2 is an excellent lesson in how to upgrade an already great gadget. The X-T1 was itself a brilliant camera, so Fuji gave it superb video and autofocus skills to go with the already top weatherproof build. Sure, it’s pricey, but it’s also worth every penny. What you’re getting here is a camera that approaches the most desirable DSLRs for speed, and rivals pretty much any camera for image quality – so…

Spotify Running is a nice taster for pace-matched jogging music, but it has its limits. These free apps will help fill the gaps: 1 PaceCoach Spotify Running chooses songs to suit your running tempo, but what if you want those songs to change speed to match your steps per minute? PaceCoach (£free, iOS) does this with both Spotify and your locally stored playlists. It even cleverly maintains each song’s pitch, so they don’t go all Barry White when you’re struggling up a hill. 2 Weav Run While your own running songs are obviously the best, what with your ultra-refined tastes and all, not all of them will sound great when slowed down or sped up. Weav Run (£free, iOS) is an adaptive music app: its tunes have been custom-created for…

EDIFIER LUNA E £399.99 The Luna E is a THX-certified 2.1 speaker system that promises highquality, immersive audio. Two-way satellite speakers and a wireless subwoofer help create ground-shaking sound designed to take your gaming experiences to a new level of reality. www.edifier.com VICTORIAN WARS LAPTOP SLEEVE £44.90 Terry Fan’s Victorian Wars design looks amazing on a premium laptop sleeve, handstitched from thick neoprene to protect your laptop from scratches and falls. Caseable also allows you to create a sleeve with your own image on it. You’ve never seen your favourite heroes (and villains) looking like this before. www.caseable.com SOUND BLASTERX KRATOS S3 £69.99 The Sound BlasterX Kratos S3 is an entry-level gaming speaker system that doesn’t compromise on audio engineering. Its pair of powerful 2.75” satellites and 5.25” downfiring port-tube…

1 Troublemaker £9.99 / iOS With its minimal UI, the Troublemaker synth might not smack of a TB-303, but it kicks out similar sounds. You also get a 64-step sequencer, AU compatibility, and a slim chance it’ll lead to you joining The Prodigy. 2 Printed £1.99 / iOS Bored of Prisma? Sick of turning snaps into sort-of Van Goghs and Picassos? Then try Printed instead, and transform your photos so they resemble anything from vintage posters to ancient comic books. 3 Hater £free / iOS, Android A dating app for curmudgeons, Hater wants to match people on the basis of what they hate. Which sounds a bit too much like Tinder crossed with the comments from a YouTube video. 4 Peek Launcher £free / Android This launcher fills half the…

Quick on the draw that you did before LINE-US If you like to live your life the topsy-turvy way, then this curious doodle repeater will appeal to you. It certainly does to us. Rather than digitising your paper-drawn pictures – an act we’ve grown tired of – the Line-us robot re-scribbles what you’ve just drawn on a tablet screen. You can give it a pen, a pencil, or even a paintbrush; it claims no great accuracy with any of them. Nor does it even begin to answer the question about why you wouldn’t just draw on the paper yourself. Needless to say we love it, and it will now be the only way we communicate with our families. £99 / line-us.com Teeny little super cable uy JACK Life is loss.…

Guitars? Digital? Pah. Computers ruined music. Ah, you’re one of those types. But yes, you’re right. We’re sure acoustic guitarists were better off before – bashing into fixed microphones on stage, and trying to get their ideas down to cassette four-tracks that would randomly chew up tapes. Yes, the old ways were best… Point. So what do these new iRig things do, then? IK Multimedia’s iRig Acoustic Stage is a plectrum-shaped mic that you clip to an acoustic guitar’s soundhole. Its cable connects to a preamp, the size of a deck of cards, which lets you fiddle with EQ and volume. The preamp has USB audio out, for connecting to a computer or iOS device, and an aux input to blend in your existing pickup system. This all means you…

GHOST IN THE SHELL It’s a double-dip day down at the multiplex. Free Fire, a wisecracking warehouse shooter from High Rise director Ben Wheatley, looks scrungey and funny – read the review on p104. But geeks will swarm towards the live action version of Ghost in the Shell, with Scarlett Johansson. MASS EFFECT ANDROMEDA PS4, XBOX ONE, PC Jetpacks and romance seem to be the two main talking points about this new adventure, set far away (in both space and time) in a galaxy called Andromeda. Actually, Jetpacks & Romance would be a good name for a bar. Or possibly a prog rock album. NINTENDO SWITCH Most of the Stuff office were so busy hoo’ing and hah’ing about the Switch that we missed the preorder window altogether. Hopefully they’ll release…

Virgin’s lagged so far behind Sky in recent years that even Usain Bolt with a jetpack would have struggled to catch up. The new V6 box is supposed to close the gap, thanks to its 4K and HDR capabilities, but is it good enough to compete? 1 Space monster There’s no escaping it: the V6 box is a bland little thing. Still, it’s packed with tech – you get six tuners and 1TB of space in there. Plus, if you team it with a second V6 or an older TiVo box, you can record to, and play back from, either one. Sky Q can’t do that, and it effectively gives you double the storage and another three or six tuners to play with. 2 Search party The V6 is great…

IT TRIED VR FIRST ▪ NINTENDO VIRTUAL BOY 1995 Sure, the Virtual Boy didn’t exactly set the world alight, and it was more of a face-mounted monitor than a proper VR headset, but without it the whole concept could easily have been consigned to history. And it was at least halfw wearable. ▪ OCULUS RIFT HTC’s Vive might be our favourite VR headset, but it’s the Oculus Rift that was responsible for virtual reality’s resurrection. Unveiled on Kickstarter in 2012 but not released until last year, its potential was made clear when Facebook bought Oculus for US$2bn in 2014. The future of VR is bright, even if the first-gen is far too expensive. IT GAVE US MOTION CONTROLS ▪ NINTENDO WII 2006 ▪ HTC VIVE The Vive makes the Wii’s…

• Soulver A typical calculator is barely a step up from counting on your fingers. Soulver’s far better. Tap out sums using natural language, and the app intelligently extracts figures and tots up the totals. Complex calculations can be made easier using ‘answer tokens’, and can be saved and emailed. On Android? Check out the broadly similar CalcNote. Stuff says £3.99 / iOS • IFTTT IFTTT (If This Then That) is a kind of approachable plumbing for the web – you use or create applets that bring services together. Much of this is about automation, so you don’t have to bother doing things manually. For example, use your phone’s location to fire off a timer when you arrive at work, or post reminders to Slack channels. Stuff says £free /…

Apple iPhone 7 Plus £719 / stuff.tv/iPhone7Plus What is it? After three years, Apple’s phablet no longer looks like a standard iPhone blown up by a photocopier. Its dual camera sets it apart from its titchy counterpart, with proper zooming skills and the ability to take lovely snaps with blurred bokeh backgrounds. And it’ll happily suffer a day’s worth of prodding without begging for a recharge. The bigger the better? Stepping up from a standard iPhone 7? The Plus feels huge in comparison, but that 5.5in screen is a dream – especially when you’re trying to sneak in another episode of The OA on your Monday morning commute, or just scrolling through what everyone got up to at the weekend on Instagram. With Apple’s latest A10 chip installed, the 7…

With their 24-bit DAC, the M2Ls will ensure you can listen to your music in hi-res without extra faff.…

£150 / amazon.co.uk GET THESE... 1 Light up your home Hive Active Lights You can get your Echo to talk to a whole load of clever thermostats, but the one that offers the biggest range of gadgetry to go with it is Hive. With the Wi-Fi-connected thermostat installed you can start by telling the Echo to adjust your heating – and by adding tech to its ecosystem, such as these lights, you can build up an entirely automated home. The bulbs can be individually dimmed, scheduled and turned on and off, either from the Hive app or using Alexa. There’s also a bulb that can change colour, plus a switch that works almost exactly like the WeMo. £19 / hivehome.com 2 Modern-ify your hi-fi Arcam rPlay The stuffy world of…

READER IN NEED Lauren Turner Instagram’s No1 fan Stuff! I’m fed up of my phone telling me to make some more space before I can take a new photo. I’m the one in charge here and I’ll take as many selfies as I please. Seriously though, there’s got be a way to get around this without deleting a load of precious snaps every time I want to take a photo. THE EXPERT Rob Leedham Editor 1 Do a quick clean-up • Get shot of pre-installed guff Some apps you’ll download and use once. Others have been pre-installed on your phone for no good reason. Apple’s Stocks, we’re looking at you. Since iOS 10’s arrival you can get shot of these offenders, while on Android you’ve always been able to show…

THE BASICS ▪ Become a super-typer. Typing in iOS can be a pain, so try using shortcuts for common phrases. These will then automatically expand when you type them. In Settings go to General > Text Replacement, and add phrase/shortcut pairs. Try using a system for phrases, such as two commas after a memorable word. ▪ Master your widgets. Swipe right on your lock screen and you’ll find the widgets – handy little extensions that show live information. Scroll down and you’ll find an edit button for adding new ones. Some of our favourites are Shazam, Citymapper and Fantastical, but it’s always worth checking back for new ones. ▪ Say nighty-night. Using iPhones and iPads too close to sleepy-time can mess up your slumbers. Use Night Shift (in Settings >…

Towaga This tough, visually arresting game comes across like a twin-stick shooter, only someone’s glued your feet to the floor. You whizz your light beam around to capture creatures, lifting your finger to obliterate those you’ve already frozen. £2.89 / Android, iOS Human Resource Machine Made by the folks behind World of Goo, this programming game sees you help a worker drone transform inbox items into whatever the boss demands. It’s novel and intriguing, wrapped up in sharp satire and melancholy. £4.49 / Android, iOS Milkmaid of the Milky Way Set on a 1920s Norwegian . ord, this oddball game sees your character get wrapped up in an intergalactic feud. Point-and-click adventure fans will be in their element, with smart puzzles and entertaining exploration. £2.99 / iOS Yuri With its…

HOT BUY 1 BARGAIN BUY SoundMagic E10C £40 / soundmagicheadphones.com With the SoundMagic E10Cs you get fantastic sound for the money, plus a quality cable and plenty of ear-tips – and unlike the E10Ss, you don’t need to tell these buds whether you’re plugging into an (old) iPhone or an Android phone. There’s still nothing out there that can topple SoundMagic as the king of cheap headphones – but the E10Cs prove that it is still possible to improve on something good without hammering up the price at the same time. Stuff says A phenomenally good pair of in-ears for the price, and the remote now works with every phone Jabra Elite Sport £230 / jabra.co.uk Jabra knows how to do wireless in-ears. With a solid connection, great sound quality…

Marvel’s Iron Fist (S1) Meet the Marvel hero with irons for hands, ensuring no shirt is left creased in New York City. No, wait, he’s just a monk who can make his fists really hard by channelling his chi? Hmm, that’s great too, we suppose. Ultimate Beastmaster (S1) What do you get if you cross Takeshi’s Castle, Sylvester Stallone and the Olympics? Ultimate Beastmaster, of course. Stallone produces this sporty gameshow, featuring 108 pumped-up contestants from 10 countries. Hunt for the Wilderpeople We tried to sympathise with the kid – he’s been abandoned by his mother and passed around like a box of stale biscuits – but naming his dog Tupac was a step too far. Getting lost in the New Zealand bush serves him right. Interstellar What do you…

1 Sky Q from £15 + £22/month / sky.com Sky Q works flawlessly and could change the way you watch TV – especially now 4K’s arrived. With Sky Movies’ huge range of films and Sky Sports’ weekly dose of football now both in stunning Ultra HD, there’s something for everyone to treat their eyes with. And 2TB of storage means you can record 350 hours’ worth of entertainment, so you’re unlikely to be sweating over which show needs deleting. Factor in its multiroom skills, and Sky Q is undoubtedly the best TV experience you can get. Stuff says You’ll have to cough up for a subscription, but this is the best box for watching both live and recorded shows Q Acoustics Media 4 £329 / qacoustics.co.uk This soundbar has won…

TIPS & TRICKS Plonk that Pi camera you bought on a birdfeeder and you’ll be able edit your own Springwatch. The free, open-source Kodi will turn a Pi into a.media centre for watching your locally stored films and telly. Planning on turning your Pi into a SNES emulator? Legally, you must own the games to play them. HOT BUY 1 BARGAIN BUY Raspberry Pi 3 £33 / raspberrypi.org You don’t have to be big on coding to enjoy the Raspberry Pi. With some basic tweaking, you can turn this £33 tiny-puter into a very respectable desktop PC, retro gaming machine or media centre – and that’s just the start. The Pi 3 is also the perfect update to its predecessor: you get loads more power (about the same as a…

Own an iPad that doesn’t get much use? Give it a new lease of life as a Touch Bar-equipped second screen for your Mac: Start a Duet. To get your new setup working you’ll need to download Duet Display for both your iPad (£9.99, iOS) and your Mac (£free, duetdisplay.com). Handily, it works with all models of iPad running iOS 7.0 or over. Now hook the two devices together with a Lightning cable or 30-pin connector. Finishing Touch. If your Mac is running MacOS Sierra or above, Duet Display will show a virtual version of the MacBook Pro’s Touch Bar in any supported apps. Go to the Duet icon and choose ‘Touch Bar enabled’. FIND MORE HANDY 5-MINUTE HACKS AT STUFF.TV…