Stuff UK

welcome

It’s the most wonderful time of the year. No, not that, the other one. The one where it’s T-shirt weather in the manor, you’ve dismissed the notion of wearing sunscreen in a foolhardy act of defiance, and there’s no way you can have too many ‘festival strength’ ciders. Scrumpy? No I’m not, leave me alone. When the drunken haze starts to lift and you awake looking like a cross between an anaesthetised Troll doll and a post-spray Donald Trump, take a moment to stop and smell the roses because, hayfever notwithstanding, Britain is in bloom. The colours of summer make this the perfect time to get to grips with a new camera. So we’ve pulled together the ultimate collection of snappers for every occasion, plus expert tips to up your photographic game.…

stuff uk

Advertising: Tandem Media 01233 228757 Richard Rowe (richard.rowe@ tandemmedia.co.uk) Ad Operations Manager Martin Williams Production: AT Graphics Team Leader Melanie Cooper Management Managing Director Phil Weeden Chief Executive Steve Wright Chairman Steve Annetts Finance Director Joyce Parker-Sarioglu Publishing Director Kevin McCormick Publishing Operations Manager Charlotte Whittaker Retail Distribution Managers Eleanor Brown, Steve Brown Audience Development Manager Andy Cotton Head of Events Kat Chappell Senior Print Production Manager Nicola Pollard Print Production Manager Georgina Harris Print Production Controller Alicia Stewart Subscription Marketing Manager Nick McIntosh • Volume 23 issue 8 • ISSN: 1364-963 • On sale 11 July 2019 • Audit Bureau of Circulations: 39,953 (Jan-Dec 2018) Seymour Distribution Ltd, 2 East Poultry Avenue, London, EC1A 9PT www.seymour.co.uk Tel: 020 7429 4000 PRINTING William Gibbons & Sons Ltd Making Stuff up Editor-in-Chief James Day Hot Stuff Editor Matt Tate Online Editor Natalya Paul Global Brand Director Guy Cocker Contributors Andrew Williams, Craig Grannell, Andrew Hayward, Sam Kieldsen, Tom Wiggins, Tom Morgan, Chris Rowlands, Rebecca April May, Matt Golowczynski, Simon Lucas, Leon Poultney, Basil Kronfli, Alan Wen, Jon Denton, Richard Purvis, Ross…

making stuff up

Editor-in-Chief James Day Hot Stuff Editor Matt Tate Online Editor Natalya Paul Global Brand Director Guy Cocker Contributors Andrew Williams, Craig Grannell, Andrew Hayward, Sam Kieldsen, Tom Wiggins, Tom Morgan, Chris Rowlands, Rebecca April May, Matt Golowczynski, Simon Lucas, Leon Poultney, Basil Kronfli, Alan Wen, Jon Denton, Richard Purvis, Ross Presly Contact us stuff@kelsey.co.uk UK subscription and back issue orderline: 01959 543747 Overseas subscription orderline: 0044 (0)1959 543747 Toll-free USA subscription orderline: 1-888-777-0275 UK customer service team: 01959 543747 Customer service email address: subs@kelsey.co.uk Customer service and subscription postal address: Stuff Customer Service Team, Kelsey Publishing Ltd, Cudham Tithe Barn, Berry’s Hill, Cudham, Kent TN16 3AG Subscriptions 13 issues of Stuff are published per annum UK annual subscription price: £64.87 (offer on p36) Europe annual subscription price: £78 USA & Canada annual subscription price: £78 Rest of world annual subscription price: £85 Find current subscription offers at…

our month

I BECAME A GOVERNMENT CAR GEEK How’d you like to hear all about methods of validation? Nobody? What about driverless cars? Ah, there we go. We’re a long way from truly autonomous vehicles, but state-funded initiatives like Move_UK are taking us ever closer. I went to Greenwich to see Bosch and Jaguar Land Rover’s fleet of vehicles – fitted with data-recording sensors and sent out to gather real-world data covering 120,000 miles. Now, back to those methods of validation… Natalya Paul, Online Editor I’VE BEEN RIDING AROUND IN THE MATRIX No, not the actual Matrix with Keanu, but the new lights-built-in helmet from Lumos. Its front light has been doubled in brightness from the previous version and the rear now boasts an LED matrix (hence the name) – the array can display multiple patterns…

these go down to eleven

20 PAGES OF THE BIGGEST STORIES FROM PLANET TECH When Spinal Tap’s Nigel Tufnel confidently demonstrated that his amp’s dials went up to 11 rather than the usual 10, it was in the mistaken belief that it meant he could play louder than anyone else. Like the guitar hero’s special Marshall, Bose’s new Noise Cancelling Headphones 700 also go to 11… but with these sleekly designed Bluetooth cans it’s all about how quiet they can make things. Each setting offers a different level of hubbub reduction, meaning you should be able to find one to suit pretty much every situation you can imagine. There’s a new four-microphone system for making calls without being drowned out by your fellow commuters, but it’s support for the company’s new augmented reality platform that sets…

read ’em and weep

Short of being framed for drug smuggling and getting banged up in a prison that makes Wormwood Scrubs look like the Hotel Metropole Monte-Carlo, nothing spoils a holiday like dropping your book in the pool. And just as you were getting to a good bit as well. A dip like that would be RIP for any paperback, but if you’re turning the virtual pages of Amazon’s latest Kindle Oasis, you can just fish it out and carry on reading thanks for its IPX8 waterproofing. In fact, you can leave it submersed in two metres of fresh water for up to 60 minutes before you have to retrieve it, although holding your breath down there for that long will make reading the 7in E Ink display trickier than is strictly necessary,…