Gadget Issue 12

When was the last time you were truly wowed? Well, prepare your face to be stunned because this month’s issue is about to dazzle you. We have cars that fly, a wristband that shoots fireballs, a cinema screen that you wear on your face, speakers that only you can hear, and more! But here at Gadget, we get as much of a kick from knowing how mind-blowing tech ticks, so we’ve torn them apart to reveal their secrets. Prepare to be amazed from page 14. As well as taking tech apart, we like to show you how to get the most from your gadgets. This year will see the BBC’s Micro:bit computer used in schools for the first time, after they were sent out to a million UK students in March.…

Dan Hutchinson Editor In Chief Turtle Beach’s new Hypersound directional speakers, which are made out of glass, look great ( page 22 ). Drew Sleep Production Editor When I previewed the prototype Oculus I played EVE Valkyrie and had to be physically torn away from it. Stephen Williams Senior Art Editor I’m new to Gadget, so right now everything makes me go, ‘Wow’. In particular, I love the Helix lamp (page 77 ). Harriet Knight Designer Any of the robots coming out of Boston Dynamics makes my jaw drop with a mix of awe and fear.…

Lightweight materials To keep the AeroMobil as light as possible, the aircraft is built from advanced composite materials and a steel frame, weighing 450 kg or 992 lbs in total Rotax 912 engine The engine gets the plane to 90 mph so it can take off successfully, then can push it up to 124 mph while it’s in the air Adjustable wings The pilot can adjust the angle of the wings to make it more efficient at taking off, landing and gliding through the air Compact size Despite being able to, you know, fly, the AeroMobil 3.0 is still small enough to fit inside a normal parking space and is six metres long Emergency parachute If something goes wrong in the air, the car is fitted with a parachute that’ll allow it to drift slowly back down to the…

The Cronzy Pen has built-in scanner that works like a real-life eyedropper tool, enabling you to detect the exact shade of an object’s colour. However, Cronzy also claims it can synthesis these colours using ink cartridges built into the pen, so you can doodle in any of 16 million different shades! Colour scanners are nothing new in themselves, with Pantone’s handheld Capsure device able to accurately match over 11,000 shades against its famous colour chart. But it’s larger than a smartphone and retails for a hefty £495/$650. Cronzy, which is currently on Indiegogo, says its pen will be a conventional size and will retail for around $180 (about £140). “We want our pen to become the essential tool for every designer and digital artist, and to be found on the desk of…

Face contact foam A thin layer of interchangeable foam acts as a cushion between the headset and your head. It can be removed and reshaped to get the perfect fit Adjust for your eyes Also available in the Homido V1, you’re able to adjust the IPD (interpupillary distance) as it helps to improve the immersiveness of the VR experience Field of view The 100° field of view that the Homido V2 sports is comparable to many of the leading headsets currently on the market Improved compatibility A larger, thinner fixed space at the front of the headset means Homido will now work with bigger phones like the iPhone 6S Plus VR headsets tend to fall into one of two camps. There are those that are recognised household names, and those that provide a cheaper entry point into the…

30 free games Many games are included in the system itself – no cartridge swapping necessary. Nintendo has said it won’t be making any more available for future purchase Output upgrade One of the biggest and most obvious upgrades is the addition of an HDMI port, so you can play those 8-bit classics in high definition on your modern TV set Controller ports One authentic-looking NES controller is the box, and extra ones cost £8 extra; you can also use the NES Classic Mini controllers with your Wii U, if you want Saved data Another upgrade for the 21st century: each game has been fitted with support for multiple suspend points or ‘save states’, so you can walk away and resume games at will From Ghostbusters to Pokémon, nostalgia for the Eighties and Nineties is bigger than ever,…