What this means for you and me is that Apple’s Mac OS and iWork software suite, which compete with Microsoft’s Excel, Word and other applications, will now be offered free to all users. Amazing. And they say that it’s simply because they want their users to have their latest software and has nothing to do with fear that their stock price is dropping or that rival tablets on the market like the Kindle Fire and the Google Nexus are chomping away at it’s market share. Right. Call me a cynic, but I think that when the iPhone 5 came out with that ridiculous new charging port, forcing iFans to buy adapters for all their expensive docking stations and accessories, Apple made it quite clear that it’s users’ needs are not top priority at the company. But like I said, I’m a cynic who is looking forward to burning in cynic hell.

Either way, it’s good news.

And there’s more, they also announced a new iPad called the iPad Air which is 20% thinner than it’s predecessor, has a 9.7-inch Retina Display and an A7 chip with 64-bit architecture and M7 motion coprocessor. Looks like a lightweight (500g or so) beast.

iFans, hit the streets and start telling everyone about how you can’t wait to get your hands on the new device.

Get it: Anywhere from R6000 – R10 000
From: www.zastore.co.za

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The Loop are completely portable while also capable of being wall mounted and although it’s a small thing, it’s important, they can play wirelessly without having to connect to a Wi-Fi network thanks to their “PlayDirect” technology.

The Loop are controllable remotely via your iDevice or Android and they’ll stream music from your radio service of choice.
Now sit back and enjoy.

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Enjoy

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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

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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.

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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.

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Now, thanks to Ekso Bionics, the disabled could soon be kicking us able-bodied fools in the bum the way they do in their heads.

Ekso Bionics have developed and put on sale (in hospitals and rehab centres for the moment) a fully-functional, battery-powered bionic exo-skeleton that powers the lower limbs of a disabled person.

The device clips onto the outside of the person’s body and movement happens when leaning forward and the machine takes a step. Motors on-board do the work.

Think of the possibilities and the diseases this device aids in: spinal cord injuries, MS, muscular dystrophy…

Epic!

ekso bionic suit: wearable robot allows paraplegics to walk from designboom on Vimeo.

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The headphones themselves feature custom vented ear cups and plush memory foam padding and they fold inwards to pack away neatly into a bag.

Fold them the other way, and they turn into powerful speakers that only start working once they’re pointed away from your ears.

They run on their own gas in the form of rechargeable li-ion batteries and come in white or black.

Get it: R2 200
From: https://www.flipsaudio.com/

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Bold words, but here’s why the Xperia Tablet Z rocks so damn hard.

First impression, it’s rugged and sturdy despite being thin and smooth. And besides feeling like it weighs less than an iPad (it does at 495g to the iPad’s hefty 652g), it’s also water-resistant (half an hour underwater) and dust-proof.

My test for weight and ease of use of a tablet is done while lying down in bed reading a book before passing out at night. The Xperia Tablet Z is the best electronic device I have ever read on during the night, and when the inevitable happens and it falls out of my hand ‘cos I’ve passed out, it survived the fall, scratch free.

The body is also incredibly easy to hold, rest on your lap or toss onto the couch next to you without worrying it’s going to slip in any of those situations.

It has a 10.1-inch HD display, runs Android Jellybean on a 1.5 GHz Qualcomm Quad Core processor and it has RAM of 2GB and a hard drive up to 16GB.

Obviously it’s made by Sony so you benefit from all the mother companies tech including entertainment the likes of which you’re used to from your Playstation and an 8.1MP camera with 16x digital zoom, HD video recording and a Exmor R for mobile image sensor.

One gripe that comes from using Windows 8 so regularly is the lack of life in Androids glass bevels. In W8 you simply swipe in from the left to see what apps you have open. On this, it’s a whole search and push of an onscreen button.

This is a big day for me. The most common question I get asked is: which tablet should I buy? For the first time I feel fully confident when not answering iPad or Galaxy. A truly great device.

Get it: R6 000
From: www.sonymobilesa.co.za/xperiaTabletZ/

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