Tech & ToysShowstopper
Introducing an absolute beauty of a laptop from (surprise, surprise) Dell. Dell has been churning out durable, reliable laptops for years now and is perhaps the most trusted brand on the market. But this new XPS M2010 sets a new benchmark in quality. In seconds it can turn from a stylish and portable briefcase with leather-like back and lines like a fine sports car, into a complete entertainment centre. Its full-size keyboard with integrated touchpad and 10-key number pad offers all the perks of a desktop, yet the keyboard itself is detachable and wireless. This offers extreme convenience and stops your lap getting all hot and uncomfortable from having a heavy processor whirring away on it. Just pop the main bulk on a nearby surface and kick back in comfort.
The XPS M2010’s 20.1-inch whopper of a screen gives you high-definition viewing for a fantastic cinematic experience. High-def digital sound is backed by eight built-in speakers and a subwoofer. This all makes it a great option for gaming as well—especially if you want to play highly graphic software like PKR poker (well known for making lesser laptops weep like a baby). Available from £1,399.
Sun Worship
Summer’s here and that naff pair of cheap sunnies from the chemist are gathering dust in your glove compartment. It’s official: you’d rather let powerful UV rays ravage your retinae than be seen dead in such pathetically un-hip eyewear. It’s time to upgrade, and you could do a lot worse than investing around £100 in a pair of shades from Oakley’s polarized Half Jacket range.
Pictured is a perfect example, with a metallic black frame matched with three interchangeable lens sets, storage bag and protective case. Each polarised lens offers unbeatable clarity, impact resistance and UV protection.
Ready to be blinded by some science? Oakley’s polarization technology utilises a liquid infusion process to bond the polarizing filter at the molecular level. This eliminates haze and distortion found in conventional technologies giving Oakley the best polarized optics around. The company says that the Half Jacket is “the world’s first dual-spherical frame with fully interchangeable lenses. World-class athletes now consider this breakthrough in sport technology to be essential equipment in competition.”
Clear and Crisp
The new LG Edge 50PG6000 plasma screen television incorporates an array of the company’s patented and world-renowned technologies to help it stand out from all those inferior brands in the shop. TruMotion helps reduce blurring during fast-moving scenes by displaying 100 images per second—a standard television set offers only half of that. It carefully analyses the picture signal by using advanced algorithms to automatically calculate a new image frame between each original frame. This reduces the perceived response time and the phenomenon known as picture dragging or ‘smearing’, giving you life-like details even during rapid moment of action.
The Clear Voice feature alters the sound balance to emphasise human voices and reduce background noise. All input sources (RF/AV/Component/HDMI) as well as stereo and mono broadcast can be controlled by Clear Voice as well. And with the Invisible Speaker system, the speakers are embedded in strategic spots underneath and around the front bezel. This new speaker system provides a clean and fashionable design compared with traditional side- or bottom-speaker designs. Available from £900.
Little Gem
In the market for a smart new mobile? We’ve got just the thing. Following on from its sister phone that launched last year, the Nokia 8800 Sapphire Arte takes things a step further down the road of sophisticated cool with its tactile surface cloaked in leather cover with sapphire-coloured navigation key.
Tap it to display the time, turn it face down to mute an incoming ring tone and alarms—this a phone built with the user in mind, something Nokia has long been famed for. You feel that, with this model, Nokia have really done their research into what people actually want from their phone, which is genuinely useful features. Most of us don’t care about a lot of the fancy gimmicks—a phone that mutes when you turn it upside down is simply a handy thing to have. It’s the kind of thing that once you have it, you can’t even consider going back.
The Sapphire’s two-inch OLED QVGA display can support up to 16 million colours—useful considering it had a 3.2 megapixel camera with auto focus and 8x digital zoom—while its integrated music player supports mp3, WMA, MIDI and various other formats besides. A definite diamond in the rough. |
