Table of contents for Issue 3 in Gadget

Trio of sensors Each ring contains three motion sensors – an accelerometer, gyroscope and magnetometer. The sensors work out the positions of your fingers Half hoops The five rings don’t fully circle the fingers. They are firmly clipped to the top of your digits instead, leaving the tips free from obstruction Connecting wires Wires connect the sensors to the main board that also contains a Bluetooth radio for sending the data to your computer or smartphone. It works with Windows, Android and iOS Sensitive sensor The main board on the back of the hand contains its own set of three sensors and is fixed with an adjustable strap that wraps around your palm Twiddling your thumbs There is no sensor for the thumb. Instead, Gest infers the movement of the…

01 Campanion With an adhesive plate, two mounts and a lens cap, this Campanion kit securely fixes your GoPro to your smartphone. £23 | $35 | campanion.me 02 E1 Camera The world’s smallest 4K ultra-high definition camera, the E1 has interchangeable lenses and captures 4,096 by 2,160 video. £460 | $700 | z-cam.com 03 Pakpod This sturdy and flexible adventure tripod weighs 450g – great for carrying around with you when you need a stable shot. £70 | $100 | pakpod.com 04 MOTA Wireless Charger for GoPro Being able to charge a GoPro without physically replacing the batteries lets you get on with filming. £92 | $140 | mota.com 05 SolidLUUV Designed to eliminate shaky video shots, this adaptable, flexible grip stabiliser has a three-axis gimbal and can also be…

Effort-free updates The same on-board computers that record the drone’s flights also receive wireless updates. Should new features become available, just connect to the Wi-Fi and you’re done Home sweet home Further to the beginner-friendly features we’ve already outlined, the drone also has an automated return home feature Built to evolve Every part of the drone is open to expansion – meaning you can use it as a base for other components as they become available. Handy in any emerging market! Optimised for GoPro 3DRobotics worked directly with GoPro to make sure you can stream anything the drone captures with the handy camera directly to your mobile Smarter photography You can set the drone to be a cable cam and follow a determined path, make it orbit an object or…

Remote buzzer The transmitter that comes with the drone has a switch you can hit to set off a buzzer – perfect for when you want to locate it in a pile of leaves Stabilised or Acro mode? You can choose to pilot the drone in either Acro or Stabilized mode – each with beginner, sport or freestyle variants, depending on how much control you want over the flight path On-board FPV camera Fitted with a cheaper camera than the competition, but with a wide-angle viewing lens and 300-meter range, it’s good enough for first-person racing Retractable protective shell The body of the drone can be stripped back to let you access the guts of the machine, useful if you want to install upgrades or carry out repairs Quite a…

Whether it’s the dreaded dadbod or a double chin that you’re sporting, most people have a part of their body they’d like to change. While there’s a myriad of guides and tutorials on how to achieve the perfect body, most of it requires repetitive, dull and overly boring workouts that will soon lose your interest. But never fear as we have a handy solution to help you dig out that chiselled torso you so badly crave – technology! Fitness technology is expanding at an alarming rate, so much so that it’s set to be a billion-pound industry by the end of 2016. There are hundreds of tracking devices, smart-enabled gadgets and a host of specialised sport equipment aimed at getting you off your feet, but offering a new take on…

Custom programmes The abs belt includes five bespoke programmes designed to cater to a variety of needs, from post-natal toning for new mothers to advanced courses for fitness enthusiasts EMS transmitters These are the things that do all the heavy lifting for you. They pulse electricity out through the gel pads and into your abs, telling your muscles to expand and contract Stretchy and adjustable waistband The least hi-tech part of the Slendertone belt is also one of the most important – the belt itself. It’s adjustable enough to cater for waists ranging from 27 to 47 inches Wear it consistently If you really want to see results then you’ll need to stick with the Slendertone. It’s recommended that you wear it at least five times a week for a…

Gadgets. Let’s face it, they’re great (you wouldn’t be turning the pages of this magazine if they weren’t). However, some of the best new tech can give your bankcard a serious workout and that’s the last thing you want to be doing. The fact of the matter is, investing in certain expensive gadgetry could actually leave you better off financially, especially if you take a long-term outlook (after all, that new coffee machine isn’t really going to pay for itself overnight). From electric vehicles to Bluetooth pens, the next few pages feature all manner of high-end tech that won’t just put a smile on your face every time you use it, but also make it a little easier on your wallet too. Oh, and they may also make your life…

GPU Based on Nvidia’s architecture, you can’t remove the GPU as it’s hardwired to the motherboard. This means that by the time you’d want to upgrade the other parts of your machine, the graphics card would be out of date. As such, it’s not recommended for hardcore gamers that want to play everything on ultra settings WIRELESS ADAPTER The .AC wireless adapter will be best paired with a router of the same type – otherwise you might find streaming data to the Steam Machine won’t be very well optimised or that you’ll have an intermittent connection. Always use an Ethernet port to obtain the most lossless results MEMORY The system can support up to 16GB RAM, but most games these days don’t exceed the need for more than about 6GB…

Dyson is late to the robot vacuum scene – Roombas have been dominating that dusty corner of the market for over a decade, right? That means Dyson has a lot of catching up to do. Of course, Dyson can bring its quality engineering to this robotically operated small arms race (and the 360 Eye is certainly a testament to that), but there are a few things that prevent Dyson from totally dethroning the little circular king of the living room. Firstly, the Eye is taller. That’s great for how much waste it can store, sure, but it won’t fit under your furniture (at least, not most of it). We love sending our Roomba on missions under our beds and coffee tables, but the Eye 360 can’t reach there. Then there’s…

To celebrate almost a century of audio engineering, Bang & Olufsen has created a speaker that looks like it comes from the future. The BeoLab 90 packs an absurd array of 18 custom-made drivers into its angular aluminium chassis, so that it’s able to pump out an insane 8,200 watt sound in all directions. However, if you fancy enjoying this state-of-the-art speaker for yourself, it’s going to cost you. The BeoLab 90 has an eye-watering £27,000/$40,000 price tag – and the Danish manufacturer is only selling them in a minimum of one pair bulk orders! However, while the BeoLab 90 may cost the same as the average UK salary, it makes up for it by producing the ultimate sound experience. As well as offering 360-degrees of banging sound, the smart…

So how do they block background noise? It moves in waves Sounds are essentially vibrations so the headphones can detect what ambient vibrations are being produced and cancel them out with the polar opposite vibration wave It blocks background noise Electronics within the earpiece create a noise-cancelling wave that runs 180 degrees out of phase with the ambient noise detected by the microphone It’s calculating The driver inside the headset computes exactly how to respond to ambient noise – there are basically thousands of tiny calculations going on at any one second within the headset They’re listening It has a noise-detecting microphone that can last up to 20 hours on a three-hour charge and detect ambient noise in a local field to the headset Passive cancellation All those technical machinations…

Always prepared Dashcam 35 measures your latitude, longitude and speed at all times to tag your videos, but this info also combines with GPS to let you know where you are. Optimum distance The FCWS will also only initially detect vehicles that are more than 40 metres away or closer than 5 metres. It won’t, however, detect pedestrians, motorcycles or large trucks and busses. Enabling safety For the FCWS to activate, you’ll need to be travelling in excess of 30mph, if you slow to a speed less than 20mph the feature will disable. Road awareness That 1080p camera isn’t just for recording the road, it also detects when you are not maintaining a safe distance between your vehicle and the one in front. Safety net Using GPS, it will determine…

The world’s most extensive AV suite A lot of people watch the Super Bowl (a lot) so broadcasters can’t afford any slip ups. Thankfully, Levi’s Stadium’s Sony-supplied AV set up is one of the world’s most advanced and comprehensive set ups. Featuring more than 2,200 LCD displays, it helps ensure that no detail is missed throughout the whole broadcast. Sony AV Suite A 9,500- square foot HD scoreboard The scoreboard in Levi’s Stadium stands at a mammoth 61 metres by 15 metres, (though that still only makes it the 25th largest in the world). It uses an innovative combination of traditional and transparent display technology, and displays with the help of over five million individual LEDs. Levi’s Stadium Scoreboard Surface tablets that offer coaching Since signing a $400 million deal…

Your brain is now connected When there is a strong link between your earpiece and the program, a light on the earpiece will glow blue Ground wire This must be attached to your earlobe to complete the connection. Without it, the signal won’t transmit to your computer or phone Brain signals The sensor fits into your ear canal and feeds Electroencephalography (EEG) signals from the brain directly into the earpiece Bluetooth switch Flick this switch to activate Bluetooth on the NeuroSync, then ensure the Bluetooth is activated on the corresponding device Jean Grey might not be the most memorable member of the X-Men, but she sure has the best super power. Telekinesis, the ability to manipulate things with your mind, has always been out of reach (pun intended) , but…

SHOULD YOU JOIN THE ANDROID REVOLUTION? Better choice A wider range of options, stunning displays and the best cameraphones. If you like a variety, then it has to be Android Customisation The Android OS is far more open-ended than iOS, so you can customise your screens as much as you like Expandable The majority of Android phones have an SD card slot to enable you to boost your phone’s memory by up to 64GB Syncing Without the Apple software, transferring music and photos with a PC isn’t as intuitive as with the iPhone Browse the store There are more apps on Google Play, but without Apple’s strict approval process, there’s also a lot of rubbish too Security issues Like Mac versus PC, the Android OS isn’t as secure as the…

1012% Potential annual savings on your heating bill with Nest 15% Possible savings on your electricity bill if you use the Nest to control your air conditioning (assuming you’re lucky enough to live somewhere where you need it!) 20% Potential savings on your heating bill annually if you maintain a constant temperature on your thermostat 89% Nest users were satisfied 66% Nest users who felt more comfortable after the thermostat was installed 34% People thought that the Nest was worth the full asking price – even if it provided no energy savings at all 22% Average number of homes in the US have two or more Nest thermostats installed £94 ($145) How much you could save per year with a Nest thermostat…

No contact Juvo’s sensor mat is placed under the mattress and uses fibre-optic technology to count your breathing, heartbeat and movements, accurate to two beats a minute Wired up There is no need to charge the sensor mat. It gains its power from the fibre-optic cable that connects it to the bedside unit Small size The bedside unit sends light winding around the sensor mat 100 times a second. It checks the light’s intensity when it returns to the unit, working out your heartbeat and breathing from it Given we sleep every night, you’d think we’d be pretty good at it, but the stats are eye-opening: more than half of us fail to get our head down for a good seven or eight hours and most of us suffer nightmare…

The only moving part Parrot boast that the only moving part of the Bebop 2is the propeller – basically meaning there’s less to go wrong with rest of it! Bigger isn’t always better Weighing in at a tiny 500 grams, the Bebop 2 is nimble, can skillfully fight wind currents and gives the pilot an incredible level of control Keep it in one piece All drone pilots inevitably crash their machines, that’s just a fact of life. Being a sealed unit though, at least there’s very little that can come apart when it does happen Making sure it’s safe Should a propeller come into contact with a wall (or a person) all four propellers will stop whirring simultaneously to make sure no-one gets hurt in unexpected crashes Getting a bird’s…

Quanum Nova If you’re on a budget and want the most bang for your buck, the Nova is a good shout. Packed with features and with a similar design to the DJI Phantom 2, it actually operates more like another of our featured products, the 3DRobotics Solo, but at just a fraction of the price. £200 | $300 | quanum-rc.com LaTrax Alias If you’re more interested in learning how to fly a drone manually versus learning the automated way, the LaTrax Alias is a good entry point. It’s cheap, small and has large rotors so learning trickier manoeuvres (like bank turns, pirouettes and so on) is easy enough for newcomers to drones. £70 | $110 | latrax.com Proto X This is one of the smallest drones on the market –…

Fence yourself off You can create a custom safety net around your drone, fencing your drone in a certain altitude and distance from you, protecting the machine and preventing you accidentally flying into unwanted areas Visual and ultrasonic positioning It can fly in places that lack a GPS signal by combining visual sensors with a radar-like ultrasonic sensor that enables flying close to the ground and position identification with ease Automatic handling While the interesting parts of the flight are left up to you, the DJI Phantom 3 will deal with the tough bits – stabilising, maintaining height and so on – so you can have fun Shoot from a distance Incredibly, the 4K camera has a range of just over three miles (or five kilometers). The images captured can…

“If we can fly it around a room inside without taking anyone’s eye out, you can too!” If reading about all these drones has got you in the mood to strap on your pilot goggles and take to the skies, we’ve got you covered. To celebrate the launch of the £440 Parrot Bebop 2, we’ve teamed up with our friends at Parrot and have two of these little flying machines to give away. The Bebop 2 is ideal for anyone that fancies themselves an aerial cinematographer and wants to capture their own unique films from the skies – in full HD as well! As well as having a 14 megapixel camera, the Bebop 2 is fitted wit all the latest sensors and has a much improved 25 minute battery life.…

Polar app As with a lot of gadgets, the Polar has Bluetooth to connect with a companion app on your smartphone One of the staple products of any budding fitness enthusiast is a trusted tracker. While they come in a variety of sizes, most are built for your wrist. The technology behind them has come on leaps and bounds in recent years. While beforehand you may have found that your tracker would only count your steps, a combination of accelerometer and rear-sound sensors means that these tiny devices can now lock on to your heart rate, the calories you’re burning and the distance you’ve travelled. Away from the wrist, chest trackers are another flourishing area and while they predominantly use the same tracking technology, it’s on a much, much bigger…

INSIDE THE SMART SHOE The all-weather shoe Nothing is worse than having soggy feet as you try and work out, so the outer plastic of the Li-Ning Smart Shoe is both water and sweat proof. Instead of absorbing liquid the reflective material instead repels it Prevent heel damage The Li-Ning Smart Shoe comes with a ProBarLoc, which sits at the bottom directly below the heel. Its curved build directly attaches itself to the heel, helping prevent any running injuries Look after your feet A thick layer of absorbent foam is included just before the sole. It acts as a shock absorber so that your feet won’t feel the after effects of running on concrete or other hard surfaces. The thick build also helps conceal the sensors from getting damaged Don’t…

“Sacrifice your food to the gods of the centrifuge” £119 | $200 sageappliances.co.uk Sage Nutri Juicer Compact Heston Blumenthal puts his name to this juicer that boasts retention of 70 per cent of the fruits’ nutrients in the process, through fast and furious juicing. £230 | $500 vitajuicer.com Novis Vita Juicer With its great retro style, this is a multitasking juicer that won’t look out of place even in the most stylish of tech kitchens. £100 | $100 boschkitchencenters.com Pulp Ejection XL Juicer by L’Equip This juicer is reasonably priced, but still good quality, meaning fresh, pulp-free juice is no longer a pipe dream and there’s no hefty price tag to boot. £380 | $430 omegajuicers.com Omega Model VSJ843 Low Speed Juicer Some things take time and good juice might…

Imagine where this magazine would be if William Caxton hadn’t introduced the time-saving printing press to England in 1476. And imagine the stench of your clothes if the electric washing machine hadn’t gone on sale in 1904. The fact is that nobody likes to graft, whether it’s writing tonnes by hand or wrestling with rags over a washboard and that is why humankind has long sought to come up with labour-saving devices that just so happen to save us lots of time. In this time-poor age of convenience, shaving off a few minutes here and there or saving entire hours has seldom been more important. We can now avoid a trip to the bank by conducting our financial affairs online and we can do the weekly shopping on a supermarket…

What’s that, Gadget reader? You don’t think you need assistance on the road? Look, you might indeed have the driving genius of The Stig crossed with the tenacity and awareness of Michael Schumacher, but that doesn’t count for jack when you come up against a road warrior that’s watched Fast and Furious one too many times and fancies themselves Vin Diesel behind the wheel. Admittedly, there isn’t a whole lot you can do to protect yourself from the terrible driving of others, that’s a sad fact of life, but there is a way to ensure you can make a successful claim on your insurance. Garmin’s Dashcam 35 is one of the most sophisticated ways to keep track of every one of your road trips; be it to get groceries or…

Clamp the camera No tools are necessary when it comes to setting up the BabyCam. The camera simply clamps around the front or backseat headrests and is easily adjustable before any ride Easy placement Garmin BabyCam is powered by two double-A batteries, so there’s no need to worry about wires cluttering up the car. First things first, attach your GPS navigation display to your Back seat driving You’ll now have an easy way to monitor what’s going on behind you. The camera can easily be angled if you want the view to stretch across all seats Wireless connection The BabyCam wirelessly pairs up with your compatible Garmin navigation display and all it takes is a button press to switch between GPS, monitor and night-vision modes Various companies have made it…

Removable pan The nonstick baking pan slides in and out, making the Pizzazz Plus a breeze to clean, as well as making storage a whole lot easier Energy efficient Because the design is tailored to specific food types, the Pizzazz Plus uses significantly less power to cook your pizza than a conventional oven Dual elements Both the top and bottom elements on the Pizzazz Plus can be separately controlled, meaning that you can tweak your pizza to your own specifications Rotating tray The bottom tray rotates to ensure that everything is evenly cooked, whether you’re preparing pizza, chicken wings or anything else you want to throw on the plates IX Go from zero to pizza in minutes Pizza is a staple of the Super Bowl party – it’s simple, it’s…

Want to shake, rather than stir? This cocktail shaker boasts that its brand has been here since prohibition – but it’s recently made one innovation for the modern day: dishwasher friendly. It sounds minute, but when you have bits of bashed mint leaf clinging to the inside of the shaker and you want to enjoy your drink, you’re going to want to clean it easily. Shaker 33 £26 | $40 | shaker33.com Bartending tools you didn’t know you needed It’s hard to tell which came first, the pun or the product. But who cares when you have a muddler, knife, reamer, stirrer, channel knife (for making rind strips), bottle opener, jigger, corkscrew, zester and strainer, all in one place? It may look like it could take out Vin Diesel with…

Emotiv EPOC The NeuroSync might not work amazingly well, but there are other products on the market that prove EEG and brainwave-transmitting technology really is a viable approach to wireless communication. The Emotiv EPOC is a five-channel wireless headset that records brainwaves and writes them as readable data. You can use this to track your focus, engagement or interest in any one activity or monitor the stress levels you pick up during certain tasks. You can also program the device to interpret basic commands – a programmable SDK that comes with the device will let you teach it to understand commands like opening or closing apps, or even opening doors. £265 | $400 | emotiv.com NeuroSky MindWave The most impressive thing about the MindWave is its price: for under $100…

Each leaf is a saving The leaf appears when you have a temperature setting that’s saving you energy. The Nest is clever enough to count up all the leafs you get over the course of the month and then add them to your Home Report It’s watching you This sensor window contains temperature, humidity, light and activity sensors – the activity sensors can tell if anyone’s in the house and then alter the settings accordingly Climate control See this number here? This indicates the current temperature in your home. Adjust the temperature and this gauge will rise or fall Target a toasty temperature This shows the temperature you want the heating to reach. The easiest way to set or adjust the temperature is through the Nest’s very own app There’s…

Mastering the magnetic tape Thanks to Betamax and Sony, vast improvements were made in how data could be stored on magnetic tape. Sony lead the development of the helical scan method for extracting data from tapes and came up with the now iconic design of the video cassette case Legal issues The story of Betamax versus VHS is incredibly contrived and complex, but the battle essentially came down to JVC (who owned the VHS technology) trying to prevent Sony from having a monopoly on the magnetic tape market – hence why VHS was never licensed out A shorter play One of the deciding factors for which format became the household name was in how long each tape could record for. Granted the Betamax offered a higher quality picture, but VHS…

Chat away When you interact with your friends, a video of them will appear on top of the main content. You can then share your photos, videos and other messages via social media Lots of devices You can hook up all kinds of devices to the Cast network including tablets, TVs and phones TV times Anyone can view a Cast stream on a phone or tablet, but friends will need their own Cast to watch on a TV. However, Cast won’t work with a satellite or cable feed The box Cast is packed with the latest tech including Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, ethernet, microUSB, HDMI and a mono-directional microphone Do you enjoy cool TV shows, but seethe with frustration because your friends need to watch them on catch up before you can…

Leisure drones are fun to use, but the vast majority of them suffer from one key flaw: the time they can spend in the air. The lighter, more consumer-friendly aircraft are very nimble and quick, but most of them can usually only push 12 minutes of air time before having to return to their hangar to recharge. We’re still in the early days of commercial drones and the upshot of that is we’re seeing different manufacturers excel in different areas. Parrot are heading up innovation when it comes to battery life – the newly launched Bebop 2 can stay in the air for 25 minutes. This may not sound like much, but its double the airtime of most midrange drones. If that isn’t impressive enough, the Bebop 2 can also…

A new kind of rotor guard It took Vantage Robotics over 100 prototypes and two years of research to figure out how to make a rotor guard with no wind drag, minimal weight and good protection – it paid off! A smarter battery The battery can learn how you fly and create a dynamic geofence that basically means you’ll never be able to fly it so far that you won’t be able to get the device back home It knows where you are The Snap can track you in three ways: it can use smart wire to follow you along a set path, improvise a route as it follows you or form an air tripod and track you as it remains still Pro-level camera tech Using a Sony Exmor IMX…

Keep its distance The drone can automatically fly up to 50 feet above the user’s head and remain 100 feet away at any time. It can also travel at an impressive 25mph Sealed waterproof shell With a body made of polycarbonate plastic and brushed aluminium finishes, the Lily is totally waterproof – so it can take accidental plunges in its stride High-end battery power The built-in lithium ion battery can provide you with 20 minutes of flight time – hopefully enough to capture your antics. It takes two hours to fully charge Separate tracking device The Lily manages to track you by picking up a signal transmitted from a tiny water-resistant tracking device that can be attached to anything Lily is definitely aimed at the more active parts of the…

The tip of the plane Your smartphone uses Bluetooth to send a signal to the front end of the PowerUp 3.0, where an ultra small motherboard fills the cockpit Charging the plane The PowerUp 3.0 comes with a USB cable and a rechargeable 1,000mAh lithium polymer power pack. Plug it into the USB port at the back of the motherboard to power up The carbon-fibre rod An AC current travels down the rod from the motherboard and powers the tiny motor at the tail of the plane. The rod is light, but very sturdy Control the speed The motor powers the propeller and makes the paper aeroplane fly. The speed at which the propeller rotates can be controlled by the throttle lever on the PowerUp app Change direction The app…

“You’ll improve your handicap in no time at all” Be more consistent The Zepp measures every part of your swing, no matter how long or short it is. It’s important to be consistent and not adjust your swing at first Where to improve? As well alerting you to problems, Zepp will also notify you of the areas that you excel in. Perhaps that extra hour of putting will come in useful ZEPP There are so many variables in a game of golf that mastering the sport is extraordinarily hard to do. The Zepp attaches to the rear of any golf glove and uses an included accelerometer to create a virtual track of your golf swing. By opening the app, users can view a three-dimensional analysis of their swing to see…

The gaming you're used to is running out of steam. Gone are the days of dedicated consoles that needed discs to play and gone are the days of crowding around the TV, tethered by wired controllers. The future is digital, wireless and a new gaming system is here to revolutionise your living room. The Steam Machine is a new console created by the popular online PC gaming store Steam. However, just as Google produces the Android operating system for phones manufactured by Samsung, Motorola and more, Valve haven’t made the console themselves and there isn’t just one of them. Instead gaming PC giants like Alienware, Syber and Zotac have produced their own consoles with different specification, but all running Valve's new SteamOS. Bringing the best of PC gaming to the…

Touchpads The flagship feature of the Steam Controller is its set of touchpads that are loaded with haptic feedback technology, these pads emulate the momentum of the old mice track balls, meaning you can drag your finger across it for slow, precise movement or flick it for quick and sharp navigation Analogue stick During the prototype stage, Valve experimented with dropping an analogue stick altogether in favour of those fancy touchpads, but it all felt too alien. So instead, you have an analogue stick that’s satisfyingly resistant and strong enough to weather hours and hours of use Back panels These two back panels are another foreign element of the controller when held up against other models – it does mean that more of the mouse or keyboard functionality from the…

Vaccums aren’t generally considered the most exciting gadget. But if you think of a 21st Century vacuum cleaner, one with all the bells and whistles, then you think of a Dyson, which is without a doubt an impressive gadget. When the technicolour tidying machines first burst into living rooms, they revolutionised the way we clean and they are continuing to innovate. Enter the V6 Absolute and Dyson’s rather late answer to the Roomba, the Dyson 360 Eye. Gradually Dyson has evolved through common sense, replacing wheels with balls for greater manoeuvrability, becoming even lighter and adding more cyclones to vacuums for more power. With an app-assisted robot cleaner and a handheld cordless vacuum, Dyson’s brand new line-up is teasing us with the future. The new 360 Eye knows where it’s…

15 cyclones The 15 cyclones are placed across two levels to generate a centrifugal force designed to spin all the dust collected out of the airflow Increased efficiency The engine of the motor is where the muscle comes from. It’s a 350-watt V6 motor with a digital pulse that operates at over 80 per cent efficiency Small, but mighty The entire motor is housed within a metal casing. The motor is powerful, but remains light enough and small enough to be used in a handheld vacuum Powered by a magnet The motor powers the fan that spins 110,000 times a minute, thanks to a neodymium magnet within the engine…

X/Y control pad This touch pad enables control of the notes with your non-playing hand. Moving your finger from corner to corner will add even more effects Octave switcher The Rise has only 25 keys or two octaves. To move up and down the registers, press the above keys. The switch over time is minimal, so it shouldn’t affect the sound Power button The Rise can be used like a normal controller – just hit this button and all gestures will be cancelled. Although doing that would take away most of the fun Touch faders These sliders control the sensitivity of the gestures. For example, if the middle fader is all the way down then it will take less effort to create a slide effect Silicon-based keys It might be…

Who’d have thought audacious rims are no longer the must have gadget for motorists? RAC reports that the use of dashcams has “more than doubled in the last year to 2.9 million” – with one motorist in four drivers believing a dashcam would improve their driving and 63 per cent of the 2,000 sampled thinking a dashcam would have helped them successfully resolve a case. Dashcams have been giant in the West for some time; documenting everything from aircraft crashes, very close calls, attempts at insurance fraud and police corruption. High quality recording Dashcam 35 will capture everything that happens from the moment your key hits the ignition to the moment you car is in an accident at WGA, 720p and 1080p resolutions Worry-free recording No need to be concerned…

For American football fans, the Super Bowl is the biggest event of the year. Four quarters of intense competition, incredible athleticism and sublime skills – it’s the perfect way to round off a gruelling season. This year is extra special too, with the NFL promising to pull out all the stops to mark the championship games’ fiftieth anniversary. The Super Bowl 50 is taking place at Levi’s Stadium in San Francisco and while a lucky few of you might be able to land a coveted ticket, chances are that you’ll be watching from the comfort of your settee at home. Never fear though, the Super Bowl party is a grand American tradition that you can even enjoy in the UK and could be one of the most entertaining events you’ll…

Liquid goes in To begin, a liquid (it could be a cocktail, soft drink or even soup) goes into the top of the carafe And breathe The gas can then be inhaled using a special glass straw. The cloud behaves like any other gas, but is denser than air Piezo what? This describes the presence of voltage (or electric potential) across the sides of a crystal when it is under stress (squeezing) Changing states The bubbling liquid changes state to a gas, forming the impressive gaseous cloud that makes Le Whaf so very exciting Good vibrations The particles in the crystals vibrate with electric energy on contact with liquid and these vibrations escalate until the liquid bubbles Piezoelectric crystals Sitting at the bottom of the carafe are piezoelectric crystals. The…

Sense4Baby The Apple Watch can only read one heartbeat by itself, but when paired with the Sense4Baby monitor, it can collate both and display them side by side in real time Heart rate sensors The Apple Watch uses green LED lights paired with light-sensitive photodiodes to detect the amount of blood flowing through your wrist at any given moment Contractions AirStrip gathers a host of other biometric data too. Doctors can now remotely see contraction information and provide necessary feedback quicker LED lights By flashing its LED lights hundreds of times per second, the Apple Watch can calculate the number of times the heart beats each minute WatchOS 2 Thanks to the Apple Watch’s sensors and watchOS 2 now enabling third-party apps, AirStrip can display the mother’s heartbeat The baby’s…

Pipes have an irritating habit of bursting at the most inconvenient moments, where you then find yourself frantically trying to get a plumber to sort out the rapidly rising tsunami that’s in your house. Sounds horrible doesn’t it? Well, modern technology can even help in these kinds of situations and this workshop aims to remove some of the stress by giving you tips to make sure it doesn’t get any worse, help you to find a trusted tradesperson and also suggest some devices that could potentially stop the problem before it really starts. The key thing is, be prepared! If you’re not, you’re sure to regret it when the water starts to rise. 01 Shut off the supply When it launches sometime in 2016, the Water Hero alarm (below) will…

01 First things first, check your heating’s compatibility It’s possible the Nest isn’t compatible with your heating. To check, remove the cover of your thermostat and note what wires you see. Go to nest.com/widget/compatibility to check. If they’re not right, speak to a professional heating installer about changing the system. 02 High voltage? Also if the thermostat is labelled 100, 120 or 240 volts then the Nest won’t work with your system. If you get all these things sorted though, you’re good to go. Switch off the power to your house (or just to the central heating system if you can) and remove the cover to your thermostat. 03 Top tip: take a photo A good tip here is to take a photo of the wires coming into the old…