T3 December 2017

SHARP AQUOS 8K We know what you’re thinking. An 8K TV? Brilliant. Thanks, T3. But what about the rather sizeable elephant in the room: that your loyal fans have recently upgraded to a 4K TV – HDR too, no doubt – and we’re only just starting to see 4K HDR content coming to town. Understandably, Sharp’s announcement that it’s releasing such a panel – a 70-inch, world-first, boasting four times the resolution of your now could-be-redundant 4K TV – as early as spring 2018, might come as a shock. But, as ever, tech continues apace and it won’t be too long before we start to see 8K content in the wild. To ensure a good footing, Sharp has, at the same time, promised to put in the appropriate investment and build…

MATT BOLTON Editor When Matt declared, “See you next week, I’m going to Disneyland,” we thought it was a joke. But no, he went to Disneyland, and got to speak with the designers to find out how rides are made (p96). JO GULLIVER Senior Art Editor Jo’s been admiring the batch of low-cost 4K TVs in our State of the Art test (p86). She says she wants all three, but can’t come up with a reason why she needs 155 inches of television. ANDREW WESTBROOK Operations Editor Andy’s been following our look at techier ways of home-brewing beer versus the classic methods (p108), and wants to become the Willy Wonka of beer: reclusive and indulgent. SPENCER HART Product Editor, t3.com With Dan on iPhone duty, Spencer took a look at the Pixel 2 for us (p122). He…

I’m writing this in mid-November, but I’ve already heard Macca having his wonderful Christmas time over shop speaker systems, so I guess Christmas is officially well under way. It definitely is throughout this issue. You’ll find our big main Christmas (or any other catalyst you have for buying presents) gift guide starting on p47, but we’ve tailored lots of our usual articles for the season, so look out for the ‘Perfect for Christmas’ badge on stuff we think is ideal for giving to someone else or, if you’re anything like me, yourself this yuletide. Anyone who’s looking for a new hobby to while away the winter hours should especially take a look at our Man vs Tech feature this issue, where we pit one of the new beer home-brewing machines against the…

T3’s mission is to help you find the best products for every area of your tech lifestyle. From traditional gadget buys like phones and TVs to connected home security and sports sensors, if it can make your life better, we’re here to make sure you get the right one for you. The products we feature are chosen by our expert writers, with years of experience in their key areas. We wouldn’t recommend something we wouldn’t be happy to live with ourselves – the tat is filtered out long before we print a page. This goes for reviews too – you won’t find us wasting your time with products you don’t need to know about. More than that, our aim is to make sure you get the most out of the things you buy,…

1 SAMSUNG HMD ODYSSEY •$499 (£381), microsoft.com Do you fancy exploring Machu Picchu tonight? Or shall we transform your living room into a battleground to fend off a robot invasion? You can do both with the HMD Odyssey, a headmounted display running Windows 10 through an exciting virtual environment… Samsung’s new Mixed Reality headset is designed to blend the real world with the expanding digital plains, building upon the advances of Microsoft HoloLens. The newly launched HMD Odyssey joins a growing family of Windows MR headsets including the Dell Visor. One of the main draws is that Samsung’s headset offers movement tracking without the need for external sensors. Instead, built-in cameras and sensors track the matching motion controllers. The HMD Odyssey is the most expensive Windows MR headset, but it offers large dual AMOLED…

Machine learning is here. It might be in your phone right now, and soon it will be in your car. Toyota recently unveiled its new Concept-i series vehicles that use artificial intelligence to understand their drivers. The goal? To enable you and your Concept-i to become a smart driving tag-team on the road. It’s mind-blowing to think that as you’re considering taking the next turn, the car is thinking about (ie, learning) why your driving style and emotional state changes when you perform certain manoeuvres. AI will also be used to estimate individual driving preferences, and to gauge alertness and emotional wellbeing. Smartphones are getting the AI treatment too, with the likes of Apple, Huawei and Google producing handsets that have machine learning. The new A11 processor powering the iPhone X features…