Hot Stuff & Gadgets
Posted on 27. Aug, 2010 by Graham in Hot Stuff Gadget Review
BlackBerry Torch 9800
Torchbearer
Rtba (due late 2010)
BlackBerry has been rightly criticised for its browsers and its early attempts at touchscreen phones. But the little Canadian company that can, has quietly been working away at its new supermodel to resolve both of these issues. The Torch might be their most significant handset yet. It combines a touchscreen (with greater accuracy than either of the failed Storms) with a completely rebuilt operating system called BlackBerry 6 and a slide-out Qwerty keypad below the 3.2in/8cm touchscreen. It’s slick, it’s fast, it works and it’s awesome. The entire BlackBerry user experience is much improved, with a 5MP camera, built-in GPS and Wi-Fi thrown in. Can you say “iPhone killer”?
| Sony NEX-5 The world’s smallest lens-swapper from R7 500 Is it just us or is everything getting smaller? Back in the day Easter eggs were the size of a cat’s head, a Bar One was more like a brown brick than a chocolate bar, and don’t even get us started on Monster Munch. It seems the same is now happening to our cameras. The NEX-5 is Sony’s attempt at a slimmed down, Micro Four Thirds-style, interchangeable-lens snapper. It ditches the traditional SLR prism, but adopts a 14.2MP APS-C sensor, 3in/7.6cm LCD, 1080i video shooting and an awesome Sweep Panorama mode to create super-wide images. |
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| Nintendo 3DS 3D is in your hands Rtba (due 2011) If you had to put on a fake nose and a welder’s mask every time you wanted to play on your Xbox, you’d quickly find something else to do – something that didn’t require any dressing up. Ninty knows that wearing glasses to see 3D is off-putting, so its new multi-dimensional handheld doesn’t require any. Instead it uses a lenticular lens on its 3.5in/8.8cm top screen to make games jump out, plus two cameras on the back to take 3D pics. Throw in motion sensors and a catalogue of games that includes Mario Kart, DJ Hero and Metal Gear Solid and you’re holding the next gaming revolution. |
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| Xbox 360 Slim The next-gen console Xbox 4GB R2 400 (Kinect Bundle R3 700) You can’t get everything right first time. Microsoft learned that the hard way. With its lack of Wi-Fi, meagre hard drive and dreaded Red Ring of Death, the path of the Xbox 360 never has run smooth. But things have changed. The new Xbox has a slimmer look, built-in Wi-Fi, a quieter engine and 4GB of flash storage, with a 250GB also available. This is the Xbox 360 as it should have been from the start: capacious, quiet and connected. And considering it became the console of choice for hardcore gamers in its previous “flawed” form, this Kinect-ready console should have the PS3 petrified. |
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| MB&F HM4 Thunderbolt JETPACK-SHAPED TIME TRACKER R1 150 000 (import only) First, rename yourself Blizzard or Thumper, then slap on some Ray-Bans and say things like, “There’s a bogey on your six!” Only then will you be pilot-y enough to strap on the unashamedly aviation-influenced Thunderbolt watch. The size and shape are a result of a unique movement that the designers amusingly call the engine. It comprises 311 parts, has taken three years to design and looks not unlike a pair of jet turbofans, with the titanium case housing a standard dial on the right and a power reserve on the left. We feel the need… the need for shorter sleeves to show off our ridiculous watch. And a cap with gold braid. |
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If you’re still on the fence: grab your favorite earphones, head down to a Best Buy and ask to plug them into a Zune then an iPod and see which one sounds better to you, and which interface makes you smile more. Then you’ll know which is right for you.