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Christmas 2019 Product Reviews

Tom — Tue, 17 Dec 2019 20:13:37 +0000

It’s Christmas again, and here are few techy gifts you might consider for those who deserve them.

Crave Sex Toys

Ludicrous sex toys that look like rubber chickens and sound like chainsaws are a thing of the past unless you like that kind of thing of course! New companies like Crave are changing the market, making discreet, attractive and sleek toys that wouldn’t look out of place in an episode of Star Trek. Tech Trends tried out three models, the stunning Vesper necklace, the elegant Wink+ and the powerful Pocket Vibe. Any one of these would make a thrilling stocking filler for your partner or yourself and guarantee a stimulating holiday season.

Ludicrous sex toys that look like rubber chickens and sound like chainsaws are a thing of the past unless you like that kind of thing of course!
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Without doubt the most intriguing and quirky of these toys is the Vesper an unbelievably slim vibrator that doubles up as a necklace or possibly visa versa. The body, tip, and chain are made of 316 high polish stainless steel, with three finishes to choose from: Silver, 24k Gold, and Rose Gold.

To find more perfect gifts for you, check out Instas GearHungry

You can recharge the Vesper quickly with the supplied cable through any USB port. No batteries to mess with and a full charge gives you an impressive 40 minutes of pleasure
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Make it yours. Personalize your Vesper with a special message to yourself or a loved one. Sweet or naughty, your choice.

The Vesper’s 4 speeds and 2 modes (pulsing and constant) are whisper quiet for extreme discretion and you can recharge the Vesper quickly with the supplied cable through any USB port. No batteries to mess with and a full charge gives you an impressive 40 minutes of pleasure.

Almost as attractive is the sleek and minimal Wink+ Crafted from high-quality metals and body-safe silicone, the Wink+ looks a bit like a perfume bottle and claims to provide a much more intense vibration than traditional plastic or silicone vibrators. With an included USB charging cable it recharges quickly and lasts for an incredible 5 hours on the highest setting. Phew!

The Wink+ looks a bit like a perfume bottle and claims to provide a much more intense vibration than traditional plastic or silicone vibrators
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Wink+ brings an understated elegance to your bedroom. Designed for discretion, this compact vibe doesn’t need to hide in the sex toy drawer.

The Wink+ is very elegant and an optional silky smooth silicone cap provides an additional set of textures to explore. The stainless steel Wink+ is fully waterproof for play anytime and anywhere and easy cleaning.

Finally, for those who want to rock, Crave offer the Pocket Vibe a larger and more powerful toy that looks like it means business.

Strong and solid. The Pocket Vibe is designed for those who enjoy a more powerful and intense experience in a compact classic form.

Despite the promised extra oomph, the Pocket Vibe’s motor is still whisper-quiet, delivering deep, rumbly vibrations at the touch of a button with five settings: low, medium-one, medium-two, high, and wave. You also get three body-safe silicone tips for enhanced sensation options: (shown L-R below) ribbed, focused, and flutter!

Despite the promised extra oomph, the Pocket Vibe’s motor is still whisper-quiet, delivering deep, rumbly vibrations at the touch of a button with five settings
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All these toys are beautifully made from solid metal and are waterproof for easy cleaning. From the slinky Vesper up to the more extreme Pocket Vibe, Tech Trends had a very good time indeed and can recommend you pop a Crave vibe in your partner’s stocking this year.

Be sure to check the Crave website for any holiday deals here and prices (dependant on the finish, are below.

Vesper from $69
Wink + from $79
Pocket Vibe from $89

New TILE 2020 range

Tile call their range of nifty products “a family of finders” and they all do this very well, with a few caveats. You are probably familiar with Tile and how they work but for the uninitiated, I’ll recap as this information is pertinent to my review. Attach a tile ‘dongle’ in their various forms to an important object and use the app on a Bluetooth enabled smartphone to locate that device within BT range. Hmmm can you see my potential issue here?

Attach a tile ‘dongle’ in their various forms to an important object and use the app on a Bluetooth enabled smartphone to locate that device within BT range
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Tile gives everything the power of smart location, locating more than six million unique items every day. Leveraging its vast community that spans 195 countries, Tile’s cloud-based finding platform helps people find the things that matter to them most.

The brand new Tile 2020 range primarily adds range and battery life along with a few design tweaks such as replaceable batteries in the Pro version and a thinner Slim wallet tracker. Nothing to sniff at here, Tile reliably revamps their range each year. However, the new 2020 range includes a sticky-backed little button called the Sticker.

Our new Sticker has a 150 ft or 46m range. Slim and Mate each have a range of 200 ft or 61m. Pro features our longest range, coming in at twice the range of Mate and Slim, measuring 400 ft or 122 m. However, as with all wireless technologies, different environments impact the effective range of Bluetooth signals. If your Tile is out of Bluetooth range, you can check its last known location on the app. This information is automatically updated whenever anyone in the Tile community comes within Bluetooth range of your Tile.

The real news here is the Sticker, which although a little bulkier than might be hoped does indeed stick to any flat surface, even rough Metalic smartphone bodies as I can attest. It is small and versatile (no pun intended!) and opens up a world of possibilities for tracking your important objects that are not your keys or wallet. I love it.

If your Tile is out of Bluetooth range, you can check its last known location on the app. This information is automatically updated whenever anyone in the Tile community comes within Bluetooth range of your Tile
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Over the years we’ve seen our customers use Tile for a variety of items,” said CJ Prober, Tile CEO. “From wallets to remote controls, power tools to backpacks, our customers have shown us they want a Tile for everything. We’ve designed our new product line to empower the Tile community to find literally anything.

To caveat my only criticism, I’m not a Tile hater, I have used Tile for years and positively reviewed the system on Tech Trends, the system has also been super useful to me on several occasions but Bluetooth is not a very secure connection and I don’t and will not ever leave it on all the time. This is where the Tile system runs into an issue for me, much like the Sure Petcare Animo dog health tracker I reviewed in our recent Black Fridays reviews post if your BT ain’t on it don’t work and mine isn’t often on. Tile themselves sum this up perfectly on their website:

Bluetooth and GPS trackers differ in many ways. In general, GPS trackers maintain a constant connection via satellite and provide real-time tracking. Bluetooth trackers work within a shorter range and are dependent on a connection to a Bluetooth enabled device. Bluetooth trackers typically cost less, are lighter and use less power.

I agree, Bluetooth trackers are cheaper and Tile’s trackers reflect this. I think they are good value if you take into account the tech and online systems behind the devices themselves. I have no issue with the pricing and must emphasise that Tile doesn’t sit on their laurels, their devices are updated and upgraded every year and are always better value and more useful. I just think it’s time they upgraded from Bluetooth to GPS and made them more useful to more people more of the time.

I think they are good value if you take into account the tech and online systems behind the devices themselves
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However, Tile has made it easier to find items by consistently expanding the Bluetooth range and volume level of its hardware devices and within the limits of the technology they have also innovated by leveraging the community of users to benefit everyone. For those moments when an item is truly lost or left behind, the Tile Community steps in to help. Once an item is marked as lost, if any member of the Tile Community passes within Bluetooth range or spots the missing item, the owner is automatically notified with its location. Tile’s ever-expanding Community, comprised of all customers with the Tile app as well as access points, finds more than 90% of items marked as lost.

Our customers increasingly rely on Tile to find and keep track of all of their belongings,” said Prober. “Whether it’s their backpacks, their cameras, or their keys, the Tile community comes together to locate lost items. With more customers using our expanded hardware line-up, more partners adopting our technology, and more access points coming to market every day, we continue to deliver the most versatile and powerful finding platform.

Tile’s ever-expanding Community, comprised of all customers with the Tile app as well as access points, finds more than 90% of items marked as lost
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These are great devices for day to day items that are always nearby in your home or office, it is simply time that these Bluetooth only devices upgraded to a more comprehensive positioning system and function in a way that means they work for us whatever we are doing and wherever we are and more importantly whatever device and connection we are using. With Apple threatening to release it’s own Tag system soon Tile will need to advance their offering.

These are great devices for day to day items that are always nearby in your home or office
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Pricing and Availability
All four products are available on Tile.com and major retailers; including Amazon, John Lewis, Curry’s and Argos.

– Tile Sticker: Available in Black, starting from £34.99 for a 2-pack, £54.99 for a 4-pack
– Tile Slim: Available in Black for £24.99
– Tile Mate: Available in White, for £19.99
– Tile Pro: Available in Black and White, for £29.99

With gifting season around the corner, Tile has multi-packs available.

– Pro Combo: 2-Pack at £49.99 and 4-Pack at £89.99
– Mate: 4-Pack available at £59.99
– Tile Essentials: 2 Tile Stickers, 1 Tile Slim, 1 Tile Mate available for £64.99
– Tile Mate/Slim Combo: 2 Mates and 2 Slims, available for £69.99

Nextbase 322GW Dash Cam

The Nextbase 322GW Dash Cam is relatively inexpensive at $169.99 considering it is way more than just a dashboard camera. It claims to be the world’s first Dash Cam with Emergency SOS to ensure your journey is safer than ever before. It will alert the emergency services to your location in the event of the accident and send on crucial medical data to aid efficient treatment.

It claims to be the world’s first Dash Cam with Emergency SOS to ensure your journey is safer than ever before
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The MyNextbase Emergency SOS service is designed to alert the emergency services in situations where the user has been involved in an accident which renders them incapable of alerting the emergency services themselves

For me the most exciting feature of this new Series 2 dashcam is it’s Autosynch Bluetooth 4.2 low energy technology and Wi-Fi connectivity meaning your latest video files can easily be sent to your smartphone or tablet. This is huge. No more fiddling to remove tiny microSD cards and manually transferring the video files to a computer, it happens wirelessly. Also the 322GW automatically records two video files (High and Low resolution) so you can easily view the videos quickly whilst having the full high quality available to download if you need to zoom in on number plate detail.

The most exciting feature is it’s Autosynch Bluetooth 4.2 low energy technology and Wi-Fi connectivity meaning your latest video files can easily be sent to your smartphone or tablet. This is huge
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Then once on your phone, Nextbase claims it is quick and easy to edit and share your footage straight to your insurer using the MyNextbase Connect App on Android and iOS. The new Bluetooth Autosync feature also means that your dashcam is automatically connected to your phone when you enter the car, ready to use the Emergency SOS service (model 322GW and above) or Alexa or (422GW and above).

The new Bluetooth Autosync feature also means that your dashcam is automatically connected to your phone when you enter the car, ready to use the Emergency SOS service
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Another cool feature is Intelligent Parking Mode which records any bump or physical movement on the vehicle when left unattended. Intelligent Parking mode is an option that can be selected in the menu of every new Series 2 Dash Cam. As soon as you park and your ignition is turned off, the Dash Cam will automatically switch into “parking mode” by shutting down everything except the G Force sensor (accelerometer). The sensitivity of the G force sensor is then increased dramatically.

With only the G Force sensor active the power consumption is incredibly low, using the internal battery the dashcam to detect any knock or bump to your vehicle for over a week
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With only the G Force sensor active the power consumption is incredibly low, using the internal battery the dashcam can detect any knock or bump to your vehicle for over a week. If your car is bumped and the G Force sensor registers movement then the dashcam will automatically turn on, record for 3 minutes and then shut back down again. If you are unlucky enough to be hit twice in a row then the dashcam would automatically record again and capture both events.

The GPS is also a step up from other systems I have looked at. Nextbase Series 2 Dash Cams (322GW and up) use two satellites systems combined to give the most accurate and reliable GPS fix. They take data from both the American GPS satellite and the Russian (GLONAS) system to provide data that is very accurate indeed. On top of this, the new Nextbase Series 2 Dash Cams refresh at 10HZ. This means that every second the Dash Cam captures 10 data readings, ensuring that the trace shown on Google Maps is accurate and smooth.

By having such a high refresh rate the GPS system also captures very accurate speed and acceleration data, which is shown in MyNextbase Player and can be critical in the event of an incident
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By having such a high refresh rate the GPS system also captures very accurate speed and acceleration data, which is shown in MyNextbase Player and can be critical in the event of an incident. The 322GW is also compatible with the Nextbase Rear-View Camera Modules to add a second camera. Personalise your Dash Cam and choose one of 3 different rear camera views from Rear, Cabin or Rear Window view.

Features: 1080p HD resolution at 30 fps, 2.5” HD IPS touch screen, 140° viewing angle, 10Hz GPS Module, AutoSync, Bluetooth 4.2, Wi-Fi via MyNextbase Connect and PC/Mac software – MyNextbase Desktop Player

This is a very comprehensive system that has more than a few tricks up its sleeve plus is very reasonably priced. With each purchase, you get one free year’s subscription to the Emergency SOS service, subscribed to via their app, and after that, it is a paid service. Also with every Nextbase Series 2 Dashcam, you are given free MyNextbase Cloud Storage to allow you easily send files to your friends or insurance company. The cloud storage is fully secure, allowing you to access your footage anywhere in the world. Every video uploaded to the MyNextbase Cloud from your app can be hosted for free for a full 30 days before being deleted giving you plenty of time to share the video if necessary.

The MyNextbase Cloud Storage is fully secure, allowing you to access your footage anywhere in the world
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There are plenty more details of this system on the Nextbase website including the desktop video software that I didn’t get around to trying out. I was very impressed with the 322GW camera and all the supporting services and you can pick one up for $169.99 here.

Piper Computer Kit 2

It was way back in 2017 when I reviewed the first version of the Piper Computer Kit and my first impressions were very good. Now, in the tail end of 2019, we are presented with a new version 2, details here. It is an updated kit including a newer more powerful Raspberry Pi and a bigger and much-improved screen.

DIY LEARNING
Piper drives students to learn what is behind the screen. This educational, DIY experience ranges from building a wooden case, to connecting the hardware of a real working computer.

I handed testing duties off to my niece Roxy and nephew Logan, who immediately emptied the box onto the bed and got stuck in. Minor sibling friction aside they did a good job following the cool blueprints and got the Piper put together and running in about an hour.

The Piper Computer Kit provides an engineering blueprint enabling students to engage in a sensory experience that bridges visual and tactile learning
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FEATURES

25+ laser-etched wooden and acrylic pieces
50+ hardware pieces
20+ electronic components
9″ LCD display with HDMI cable
7800 mAh rechargeable battery
Integrated speaker
16GB MicroSD card
Raspberry Pi 3 Model BPhillips-head screwdriver
Wi-Fi Software Updates
8 square foot laminated blueprint
USB Mouse

VISUAL PROBLEM SOLVING
The Piper Computer Kit provides an engineering blueprint enabling students to engage in a sensory experience that bridges visual and tactile learning.

Learning through gameplay and storytelling is not a new idea, but by theming the entire kit around the massively popular Minecraft games Piper instantly gets kids on board
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With endorsement from Steve Wozniak and funding from Princeton University, Reach Capital, Jaan Tallinn and 500 Startups the Piper Computer Kit comes with an impressive pedigree to recommend it and the kit is ultra-slick looking, very tactile and approachable, with play-focused functionality and aesthetics. The Minecraft theme also makes it instantly attractive for kids of all ages.

STORYMODE
Learners explore the virtual world of the Raspberry Pi Edition of Minecraft and learn electronic concepts through engaging, interactive game levels. Discover new planets, make friends with intergalactic heroes, Pip and Piperbot, and inspire confidence in STEAM to make gaming a valuable and educational experience.

Learning through gameplay and storytelling is not a new idea, but by theming the entire kit around the massively popular Minecraft games Piper instantly gets kids on board, and the building principles of the gameplay work perfectly alongside the engineering, electronics and programming skills the kit introduces.

BUILT TO LAST
The Piper Computer Kit has been designed to be taken apart and put back together multiple times. Whether built, partially built, or disassembled, the purposefully engineered packaging makes storing the Piper Computer Kit incredibly simple.

Overall this is an excellent product if you use it and all the resources available long after the initial build is complete. $299 for the kit alone is a big investment but the Piper team are not exactly resting on their laurels, and they’re constantly expanding and evolving what it’s possible to do with the kit and through their Piper Code website they offer a wealth of ongoing and self-directed project ideas and inspiration.

$299 for the kit alone is a big investment but on the Piper Code website they offer a wealth of ongoing and self-directed project ideas and inspiration
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IMMERSIVE SOFTWARE PIPERCODE
PiperCode uses Blockly by Google, a drag & drop coding language that enables students to modify and change how their electronics work on the Raspberry Pi. PiperCode includes preloaded projects that allow students to code and program physical electronic games!

PiperCode uses Blockly by Google, a drag & drop coding language that enables students to modify and change how their electronics work on the Raspberry Pi
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Learners establish a basic foundation in coding with PiperCode. They will be able to easily transition from Blockly to advanced languages like Python
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INFINITE CREATIVE POSSIBILITIES
Go beyond the box and create your games. Students gain coding skills while having creative control over their own projects.
CODE PHYSICAL GAMES
PiperCode includes preloaded projects that allow students to code and program physical electronic games!
FULL CREATIVE CONTROL
PiperCode uses Blockly by Google, a drag & drop coding language that enables students to modify and change how their electronics work on the Raspberry Pi.
BASIC TO PYTHON PROGRAMMING
Learners establish a basic foundation in coding with PiperCode. They will be able to easily transition from Blockly to advanced languages like Python.
GAME PROJECTS THAT YOU CODE FROM START TO FINISH
Learn the basics of coding with over 7 fun physical electronic games you code yourself! Follow simple step by step tutorials!

Be sure to keep your Piper Computer updated when it’s connected to the Internet and to get full value out of the kit you must check out all the online resources available as the fun certainly doesn’t end when you complete the kit build, that’s just the start of your adventure.

Find out more and pick one up here and get $70 off with promo code PIPER70
You then only pay $229, now that is a bargain!

Harry Potter Wizarding World Gold Subscription

The new Wizarding World Gold subscription looks to be the perfect gift for the Potter Heads in your family this Christmas. Designed to give official fan club members a little extra, the annual Gold subscription includes a personalised Keys and Curios journal that interacts with the Wizarding World app to unlock further content, access to all the ebooks in the series on your digital devices plus many more exclusive benefits. Your Keys and Curios journal is filled with interactive secrets and surprises that come to life in magical ways with the Wizarding World app. Look out for the Enchanted Keys hidden within to unlock the magic.

The new Wizarding World Gold subscription looks to be the perfect gift for the Potter Heads in your family this Christmas
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Each and every Keys and Curios journal is totally unique and can be gifted so the journal will be personalised with the recipient’s name and Hogwarts House. There are Harry Potter and Fantastic Beasts surprises and more to discover each month and with the collectable pin, featuring the Enchanted Key emblem, your spelltastic loved one can wear their membership with pride wherever they go.

Delve even deeper into the magical universe you love with this spellbinding annual subscription. The ultimate gift for Harry Potter fans. Order Gold now for $74.99 (US) or £59.99 (UK) per year.

Each and every Keys and Curios journal is totally unique and can be gifted so the journal will be personalised with the recipient's name and Hogwarts House
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With the holidays in mind, the Wizarding World Gold Subscription can also be presented in a beautiful gift-box! Recipients are then directed to complete their Wizarding World Gold subscription online or in the free app
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With the holidays in mind, the Wizarding World Gold Subscription can also be presented in a beautiful gift-box (Gold in a Box) where recipients are directed how to complete their Wizarding World Gold subscription either online or in the free app.

The first stop on their adventure will start with the Sorting Ceremony to select their house before having the opportunity to order their personalised Keys and Curious journal. In addition to all of the free content already available in the Wizarding World app such as interactive quizzes, secret codes, and weekly fanzine, the Gold subscription will unlock:

Wizarding World Originals – Immerse yourself in our new video series, which is set to unravel the mysteries and uncover the secrets from all corners of the Wizarding World. Learn about the creative talent and craftspeople who bring you closer to the magic in The Workshop and discover our pick of behind-the-scenes content in From The Archive.
eBooks – Take the magic of J.K. Rowling wherever you go with all seven eBooks of the original Harry Potter stories, available on the Wizarding World app for the duration of your subscription.
Collectible pin badges – You’ll receive the first pin badge in your welcome gift. Plus, claim collectible pin badges from selected Wizarding World UK and US locations including Harry Potter and the Cursed Child theatres in London, New York & San Francisco, Warner Bros. Studio Tour London and Hollywood as well as at the iconic Harry Potter Shop at Platform 9 ¾ in King’s Cross Station, London.
Special events – Get access to Gold subscriber events throughout the year, such as the Wizarding World Christmas Party in the Great Hall at Warner Bros. Studio Tour London later this year.
Exclusive discounts – Enjoy discounts from the new Wizarding World.com shop, the Harry Potter Shop at Platform 9 ¾ in King’s Cross Station, London, The Wizarding World of Harry Potter Exclusive Vacation Package at Universal Orlando Resort, as well as Warner Bros. Studio Tour stores in both London and Hollywood.
Priority booking – Look forward to priority access to tickets for the most popular Wizarding World events and locations, including Harry Potter and the Cursed Child shows in London, New York, and San Francisco as well as Warner Bros. Studio Tour London – The Making of Harry Potter.
Early access – Unlock early access to limited-edition Wizarding World Gold merchandise ranges and curious collectibles – before they go on general release.
Plus, plenty of perks – including new quizzes and puzzles, chances to win once-in-a-lifetime experiences, and much, much more!

From the imagination of J.K. Rowling – Explore the grounds of Hogwarts as they were first imagined – from the Whomping Willow to the Great Lake – with a postcard of J.K. Rowling’s original Hogwarts sketch.

The Gold discounts and exclusive access features let you enjoy a range of discounts, including 20% off at the Wizarding World online shop, 10% off at the Platform 9¾ store at King’s Cross, 10% off at the Warner Bros. Studio Tour London – The Making of Harry Potter store and the Warner Bros. Studio Tour Hollywood store, 10% off at the MinaLima store in London and online and $50 off The Wizarding World of Harry Potter Exclusive Vacation Package at Universal Orlando Resort. Plus, get early access to limited-edition Wizarding World Gold merchandise ranges and curious collectables – before they go on general release.

The Gold discounts and exclusive access features let you enjoy a range of discounts
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The exclusive content also looks pretty cool. Discover behind-the-scenes content in ‘From The Archive’ and learn about the creative talent and craftspeople who bring the magic to life in the first instalment of the new Wizarding World Originals video series, ‘The Workshop’. There’s a whole host of curious content waiting to be explored, as well as new quizzes and puzzles, updated regularly.

With individual cover designs for each of the Hogwarts houses created by MinaLima – the designers behind the graphic style of the Harry Potter films – the Keys and Curios journal is your chance to own a piece of the Wizarding World.

Discover behind-the-scenes content in 'From The Archive' and learn about the creative talent and craftspeople who bring the magic to life
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Be sure to claim the collectable pin badges from selected Wizarding World UK and US locations, enjoy the chance to win once-in-a-lifetime experiences and look forward to more magical surprises to come.

It's hard to say that when all the benefits included are added up it is not a well designed and high-quality offering!
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A lot of comments from fans online are concerned that, no matter how cool, The Wizarding World Gold subscription is squeezing Harry Potter fans even harder for their devotion to the series but it is hard to say that when all the benefits included are added up it is not a well designed and high-quality offering.

Check out more info on the package here and the annual subscription sells for $74.99 (US) or £59.99 (UK) per year.

Roxi – Ultimate Music Entertainment System

The new ROXi music system is a compact, networked home music entertainment system that is quick to set up, easy to use and compatible with most TVs and external speakers. With 40 million songs available, spanning every decade and genre of music your family will never run out of musical inspiration and on traditional Karaoke nights you will have over 60,000 transcribed tracks to choose from or, unique to ROXi, you can Sing with the Stars, with your voice and theirs crooning together.

The new ROXi music system is a compact, networked home music entertainment system that is quick to set up, easy to use and compatible with most TVs and external speakers
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The nifty handheld controller and microphone features built in voice search to help you find specific songs, games and playlists or you can navigate the simple ROXi interface with good old buttons. The ROXi comes with hundreds of built-in playlists covering every possible mood or occasion from dinner parties to entertaining the kids and even workouts.

The ROXi comes with hundreds of built-in playlists covering every possible mood or occasion from dinner parties to entertaining the kids and even workouts
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It even comes with exclusive playlists put together for you by celebrities including Robbie Williams, Alesha Dixon and Sheryl Crow! An additional controller is available for an extra £19.95 when you buy your new ROXi system so you and your bestie can sing cacophonous duets.

The all new ROXi is a huge leap forward in home music entertanment with a brand-new TV interface that’s fun and easy to use, Smart Voice Technology, an expanded music catalogue with over 40 million songs, music games and ROXi’s unique Sing with the Stars feature. With ROXi you’ll be having so much fun together this Christmas! Rob Lewis – ROXi

Over 10,000 radio stations bring you the latest from the charts plus music from around the world while music trivia games will keep your knowledge fresh and are designed to suit all ages and tastes. If your tired brain needs a rest or you just want to focus on your yoga you can also access a range of curated therapeutic audio tracks in the ROXi Sound Machine.

If your tired brain needs a rest or you just want to focus on your yoga you can also access a range of curated therapeutic audio tracks in the ROXi Sound Machine
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Every ROXi unit comes with a one year Premium Music Pass after which you will need to renew your pass for about £52 for another year of music access. Compared to the other premium music streaming services out there this is a pretty good deal as long as you are happy to stream at home via the ROXi.

Compared to the other premium music streaming services out there this is a pretty good deal as long as you are happy to stream at home via the ROXi
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The device is attractively designed and the soft-touch Wii-style gesture controller allows both easy navigation and sing-along fun
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The device is attractively designed and the soft-touch Wii-style gesture controller allows both easy navigation and sing-along fun. For the menu, simply connect the hub to your TV via an HDMI cable, this cable can carry the audio too if you choose or you can connect to remote speakers via Bluetooth or a good old wired 3.5mm Aux jack output. Then just hook it up to you Wi-Fi or plug in a network cable and you are good to go. The on screen interface is simple and looks great, with the Smart Voice tech often proving the fastest way to get where you want to be.

Tear the kids away from their smart devices and TV screens and get the family together for a good old singalong this Christmas. Pick up a ROXi for a one time discounted price of £99.95 here (don’t forget to order an extra controller!) or for 5 monthly payments of £19.99.

Tom Atkinson is Reviews & Dep. Editor at Tech Trends. Follow him on Twitter @techtrends_tech

The post Christmas 2019 Product Reviews appeared first on Tech Trends.

Black Friday Product Reviews

Tom — Sun, 24 Nov 2019 05:00:50 +0000

Get stuck into our bumper Black Friday product reviews!

Oculus Quest

If there is one gadget to pick up this Black Friday it is the awesome Oculus Quest. I know this review of the Quest is very late to the party but we have taken our time and here are our thoughts. When we reviewed the Go back in June 2018 I summed by saying:

The lack of friction for the user feels so good after years of faffing and fiddling and popping phones in and out and trailing headphone cables around that it felt like real progress. The Oculus Go is not breaking any new technical ground but it cuts the cord and shows us the way forward.

This liberation from accessories and cables is still its most compelling feature and makes it truly portable just like the Go. The Quest, however, does break new ground and feels like a serious upgrade. It’s not just one simple thing, it’s a combination of advances in different areas that make this nifty stand-alone HMD our new go-to headset.

The Oculus Quest does break new ground and feels like a serious upgrade
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The 1,440x1,600-pixel LCD is a small but pleasing update and the Quest uses fixed foveated rendering to go easy on the Snapdragon 835
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The 1,440×1,600-pixel LCD is a small but pleasing update and the Quest uses fixed foveated rendering to go easy on the Snapdragon 835 while the grainy black and white Passthrough camera is a functional, if not glamorous, feature. It does feel like you are walking through a 1990’s video game but it is a useful and practical update from Oculus.

I feel the real game-changer is ‘Oculus Insight’, their take on inside-out tracking. This is the introduction of two Oculus Touch hand controllers that work with the Quest’s new on-board sensors to track and map the movement of the user and the space and objects around them.

The foundation of Oculus Insight’s inside-out tracking is simultaneous localization and mapping, or SLAM, which uses computer vision CV algorithms to essentially fuse incoming data from multiple sensors in order to fix the position of an object within a constantly updated digital map. (Source: Facebook)

You can dive deeper into the creation of this amazing technology here on Facebook’s Tech site but suffice to say that packing an advanced SLAM sytem into the Quest where is had to run off a mobile chip and a small low-power battery was no mean feat, but boy does it work!

The real game-changer is ‘Oculus Insight’, their take on inside-out tracking
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Overall, Oculus Insight just makes the whole proposition of playing and working in VR without, or at least with much fewer, perceptual artifacts like swimminess (the disorienting sensation you get when your physical and virtual positions and movements don’t line up) and judder (visual strobing and smearing between frames), a reality. Facebook acknowledge that there is a long way to go but this initial accomplishment is a huge part of what makes the Quest so comfortable to use for longer periods of time and makes it feel, well, just right.

Oculus Insight marks the first time that fully untethered six-degree-of-freedom (6DoF) headset and controller tracking has shipped in a consumer AR/VR device. Built from the ground up, the Insight stack leverages state-of-the-art computer vision (CV) systems and visual-inertial simultaneous localization and mapping, or SLAM. (Source: Facebook)

The Quest features externally mounted speakers, so you can listen in VR and still interact with sounds around you
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Like the Go, the Quest features externally mounted speakers, so you can listen in VR and still interact with sounds around you, in addition to two headphone jacks, one on either side of the headset, that let the user seal themselves off completely from the real world. It might have annoyed my colleagues but I stuck to using the speakers so I could keep chatting with them while in VR.

One drawback is that the app platform is not shared with the Go so you can’t get all the same apps, but Cnet has a good list of available games here. The Quest will be around for a while and with talk of the upcoming Oculus Link expanding its capabilities once tethered to a PC I’m sure that Oculus will be adding more ambitious apps and games as time passes and there are plenty there already to keep you busy. Having messed around with demos, video content, games and other VR whatnots I can say that the content is pretty good and will only get better.

At the moment the Quest is our recommended go-to HMD for consumer VR media or gaming and I'm betting it will remain our favorite cable-free VR experience for a good while yet
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Battery life was about 2 hours, sometimes a little more, which I think is fine for a device like this. The speed and fluidity of the VR interface was noticeably faster and smoother than the Go and browsing for content was easy and fun. The HMD felt generally more comfortable than the Go and the included glasses spacer really helped but did allow light to leach in around my nose, nothing that caused an issue, but worth noting.

At the moment the Quest is our recommended go-to HMD for consumer VR media or gaming and I’m betting it will remain our favorite cable-free VR experience for a good while yet. With Link technology and real-time hand tracking on the way in 2020 the Quest promises to become even more compelling.

Watch out for Black Friday deals but you can pick up a basic 64GB version here for $399

Animo Activity Tracker & Behavior Monitor for Dogs by Sure Petcare

I have three very active dogs so I was very keen to try the Animo from Sure Petcare. It’s basically supposed to be a Fitbit for dogs! I don’t really care how many calories they have burned but knowing that they get a good 1 hour plus of exercise a day reassures me about their health and, to be honest, mine as I get pretty much the same exercise as they do, following them around and picking up after.

Animo learns and interprets the unique activity and behavior patterns of your dog
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Animo learns and interprets the unique activity and behavior patterns of your dog. It’s with them 24 hours a day, giving you a greater understanding of their lives. Morning walks, sleeping under the table, barking at the postman; your dog’s days are action packed and now you get to know about it all.

I hooked up the Animos to my dogs’ collars, got the app hooked up via Bluetooth and we all went on with our daily routines. Now this is the main issue I have with tech like this. It is not designed for your daily ‘real-life’ routines and behaviour and I am sorry to say the Animo was a total disappointment. I refuse to adapt my life to the tech that is supposed to help me, other that checking the apps, considering the data they provide and maybe, just maybe changing the way I do something.

Animo uses an adaptive algorithm that learns, interprets and gives you facts that are specific to your dog. This changes throughout your dog’s life, so you can understand more about your pet as they get older.

The way we run our days and the way we exercise our dogs just didn’t fit the Animo way of doing things and as I say, not unreasonably, tech is supposed to work for us not the other way around, this meant that within a matter of days the app was out of synch with the collars and apart from annoying notifications on my phone that the collars had not synched with the app recently I got no valuable data out of the devices.

It is not up to me to synch a $90 device with an app so that it can tell me something! It should just work and synch when in range or whatever. We should not have to ‘help’ expensive technology help us. I was promised data on activity, calories, sleep, behaviour and rest, but the way we live resulted in little or no data of any use or interest.

Animo sends alerts if your dog begins to show significant changes in behavior including barking, scratching and shaking. You can also discover long term changes in your dog’s sleep, where a decrease in quality may be a sign of arthritis or other environmental factor which is disturbing your dog at night.

This was a classic example of a cunning and interesting gadget that promised a lot gave me nothing I needed because it didn’t ‘just work’. Approaching 2020 things need to start ‘just working’ for us, the days of allowances and working with new systems is gone. If it doesn’t work for you, bin it, which is what I did with the Animo. However, if you really want a lot of data on your pets, are a detail-obsessed, tech-savvy and data-hungry person with little or no work or life distractions this might work for you.

You can pick up an Animo here for $89.60 or here for £59.99

SureFeed Microchip Pet Feeder from Sure Petcare

Moving swiftly on to the next Sure Petcare product we are faced with the elaborate and very very niche SureFeed Microchip Pet Feeder Connect. Now there is a clear market for this in the older and tech-savvy pet owners who dote over cats with very specific diet control challenges, are often away from home for days at a time and have the cash to invest in an expensive system like this at £169.98 or $252.79.

The one problem here is that in my experience this kind of older pet obsessed person can often be found shouting and stabbing frustrated fingers at the wrong side of an iPad or failing miserably to send an email from a smartphone rather than mastering a networked, programmable, automated pet feeder after absorbing the 28 pages of instructions the Feeder Connect comes with. Anyway…

It’s the ideal feeding solution for overweight cats, cats with medical conditions that require close monitoring of feeding or multi-pet homes where one pet steals another pet’s food.

Basically the Pet Hub wirelessly connects to the Feeder and is itself hardwired to your router and connects with the app on your phone allowing you to monitor the feeding activity of your cat while controlling functions of the Feeder Connect. The Hub comes in the cute shape of a cat’s head with ears that light up to indicate network activity.

The Microchip Pet Feeder Connect links to the Sure Petcare app via the Hub, which is connected to your home router. Each Hub can connect up to ten devices, including our connected doors.

You get extensive control over food weight and eating times and can add multiple pets if necessary. RFID pet tags control access to the food and a multitude of setting claims to fend off thieving feline siblings while a fascinating Training Mode introduces skittish pets gradually to the robotic automatic movements of the device.

Receive notifications and view the frequency, duration and times that your pet feeds within the app. Learn your pet’s normal pattern of feeding behaviour to notice changes which could be an indication of illness.

If you need this device it looks to me that it does an exhaustively good job but the complexity of operation might turn some off or prove frustrating there is no question that this is a solution to a specific problem.

You can get your hands on the SureFeeder and Hub here for £169.98 and here for $252.79

Live Planet 360 VR Video Streaming Solution

Live Planet claims to be the ‘worlds first and only plug and play VR camera’ but to be fair they are more than that. They also offer a simple and flexible distribution platform called VR Studio where you can upload, publish and share your 4K 360 VR videos. Those videos don’t even have to be from their own cameras, you can use the platform to distribute 360 content from cameras by Samsung, Insta360, and Kandao among others.

As the name suggests Live Planet focuses on filming and streaming of live 360 content and both their camera and platforms are optimised for this. From in-camera or through VR Studio you can share or live stream 4K 360 video to other platforms including YouTube and Facebook Live or in stereoscopic 360 VR video directly to HMDs from Oculus, Samsung or Google. Tech Trends spoke to Fahad Manzur, Product Manager at Live Planet to find out more.

“Live streaming is the main focus at Live Planet. You can shoot and control the camera through a browser or our dedicated Android and iPhone apps through the cameras built in WiFi and if you are logged into your Live Planet Studio account just connect the camera to the internet via an ethernet cable and you can start streaming right away. You can stream to your Studio account or to YouTube or Facebook and even custom RTMPs.” he explained

The whole idea behind Live Planet is to create a great quality 360 video stream right out of the camera
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Now, I have shot and edited HD, 4K & 8K 360 video from Insta360 and GoPro cameras for distrubution on YouTube and edited still 360 files into interactive 360 experiences and was resigned to the tedium of stitching multiple numerically numbered video files from multiple different microSD cards into a final 360 video file then exporting it to Adobe for audio synch, micro-adjustments, stabilization and colour correction before sending it off to the next application for further work and frankly, life is too short. With this system all that processing is managed during the shoot via the Live Planet app and in camera during the filming, leaving you with the stream that you broadcast live or a single MP4 on a single microSD card for sharing or just backups. Yes, Live Planet really does make it that simple.

“The whole idea behind Live Planet is to create a great quality 360 video stream right out of the camera, you shoudn’t need to do much, or any, touch ups in post before sharing it online. We try to give content creators as simple as possible journey to shoot and share their 360 video. You can use the in app camera controls to set up the shot and adjust the colours before you start recording then the camera handles all the stitching and audio synching as it records, outputting a great quality live stream or an easy to use MP4 that just needs publishing.” continued Manzur

The Live Planet player is a pleasant YouTube-like experience
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The camera packs a lot of clever tech into a really small package. It comes safely packed in a small pelican case along with mains power connector and an ethernet cable for firmware updates and live streaming. This basic camera package now sells for $7,995 including 50GB of storage in your VR Studio online account. The camera can also run off a portable battery leaving you free to move around and record 360 footage pretty much anywhere you like. Live streaming in 4K however, requires a hard wired ethernet connection to a router due to the bandwidth requirements. This is not a deal killer but will require some advanced planning and coordination so your event venue has ready the equipment and connection you need.

“Our Goal is to create the first end to end VR ‘streaming’ system. We are focused on creating a user friendly experience that removes the need for third party solutions for shooting, stitching and sharing 360 VR content. For a YouTube or Twitch influencer who has an existing live stream audience Live Planet enables them to take that live stream experience to a brand new level and stream 360 VR video to their subscribers right on the same platform.” said Manzur

Live experiences are at the heart of the Live planet ecosystem so it is no surprise that live music performances have proved incredibly popular but the Studio platform supports everyone from musicians and podcasters to travel bloggers who want to share their experienes in a fresh new format. The Live Planet player is a pleasant YouTube-like experience. Click the image below to visit the player and watch KT Tunstall and others performing.

The launch of our VR Studio provides a place to upload, host and share your 360 content to all major VR headsets
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“We want to conect with influencers and artists who are interested in pushing the boudaries of live broadcasting to capture and hold an audiences attention in VR. The launch of our VR Studio provides a place to upload, host and share your 360 content to all major VR headsets and web platforms including publishing directly from your Studio account to YouTube. What’s exciting right now is people are innovating on all fronts in VR, the whole indusry is pushing forward really fast. Headsets have taken a giant leap forward, even in the past two years. It’s an exciting time. Manzur concluded

To sum up, the Live Planet system makes broadcasting your live event to the web in 4K 360 easier and cheaper than ever before. The company is also constantly evolving the product and I have heard that in-camera still photo capture and 6K recording are on the way soon so this is a platform that should stay relevant for a long while. It is a compelling option for venues and artists who want to ride the booming trend of 360 VR video.

Tom Atkinson is Reviews & Dep. Editor at Tech Trends. Follow him on Twitter @techtrends_tech

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