When not whizzing around on jet bikes and eating whole meals in pill form, the people of the future will think back. They will remember the terrible trials before the age of floating automotives, when the entire world was thrown into chaos by the deadly H1N1 virus. And some will wonder, just how mankind managed to stave off almost certain extinction in the face of the killer Bird Flu. But then, as the Google chip implanted in their heads starts to whir, they will remember a little-known Japanese company that legends had named, Sharp. They will remember its new range of air purifiers, ones that used rather scary sounding Plasmaclusters, to destroy 99.9 per cent of all airborne viruses, including the dreaded Bird Flu. And they will be thankful.
HTC’s ultra-strokeable HD2 arrives on our sunny shores next week, for a whopping US$900 (Dhs3,299). Running a skinned version of Windows Mobile 6.5 called Sense, it packs a glorious 4.3in capacitive touchscreen and a 5MP camera with a blinding flash. It has proximity sensors to prevent false touches on its gigantic screen, and if you have a 3G connection it can even pipe out Wi-Fi for all your internet-starved devices.
The N900, Nokia’s latest ‘mobile computer’ with Maemo software arrives next week for a wallet-busting US$815 (Dhs3,000). Its got a great 5MP camera, ultra-fast processor and 32GB in-built memory, but that’s not the point. This isn’t a phone people, it’s a shape shifting psychotic mobile computer. And here’s proof in the ad above.
Missed out on this month’s style pages? Don’t worry about it. We’re going to start pushing more cool kit and trendy clothing (because gadgets need to go somewhere) on the blog, starting with this bit of timepiece totty. This TAG Grand Carrera Chronograph watch has a stainless steel case with a titanium carbide coating, for a smooth black finish. There’s a black dial with a chronograph and tachymeter, a black alligator strap and it’s water resistant down to 100m. It’s a bit pricey, but can you really put a price on good taste? Yes, it costs US$6,900
Last month Stuff Towers was accosted by a gaggle of comically-annoying Gremlins. They wasted no time in crippling the blog, and our ability to post stories for you lovely readers. But have no fear, we have dealt with the perverted pests (with the old Gremlins 2 favourite: water and electricity) and have melted the buggers into piles of green gloop. So give us a second to mop and shampoo the carpets (melted Gremlin stains) and we can resume blogging.
The Volkswagen L1 concept is a breakthrough for fuel efficiency and roof-opening doors. Its carbon fibre reinforced body weighs just 124kg, and it has a maximum speed of 160kph. But the best bit, the L1 consumes just 1.5l of diesel per 100km. Again, it’s just a concept, and probably won’t see the bright light of a summer’s day, but we don’t care. How cool is that fighter pilot-esque seating inside?
Giving into our masculine desires, we’ve put up another photo of Megan Fox. But don’t worry, there’s a very important tech-angle attached. Following up from last year’s Esquire shoot, Megan’s signed up for another one. This time, she’ll be filmed using Red’s Epic camera at a 5K resolution (to put that in perspective, Full HD is just under 2k). There’s a standard definition preview, here.
And just in case you don’t recognize the luscious lovely in the trench coat above, we’ve included a bonus picture (she’s obviously just woken up in bed, or something…)
Sony has released details on its latest CyberShot line-up to hit the Middle East. Both pack the same ultra-slim smarts that we’ve come to expect from the pocketable camera line, but with a few interesting extras. The DSC-TX1 (in pink) and DSC-WX1 (in black) shoot 10.2MP stills, with a new sweep panorama mode (great for landscapes) and quirky named BIONZ imaging processor for clearer, crisper pictures at high ISO settings. The DSC-TX1 crams a Carl Zeiss Vario-Tessar lens beneath its slim frame and the DSC-WX1 has a 24mm wide-angle Sony G lens (with a wider aperture of F/2.4). Both are available early next week.
The new Mercedes SLS AMG is well worth a look if you’re anyway interested in fast cars (all warm-blooded males, then). Its got a 6.3-litre AMG V8 engine that produces 563bhp, goes 0-100km in just 3.7 seconds and has a top-speed of over 320kph. Add in some retro-styled looks and iconic gull-wing doors, and it’s one of the prettiest cars we’ve seen in a while. Now if we only had one for the daily commute to Stuff Towers…
The internets awash with info from Apple’s iPod event last night. The big news: iTunes 9 is available with a load of new features and a more polished look, there’s a new 64GB iPod touch and the newest iPod Nano 5G packs a camera with FM radio and video recording. Exciting stuff. You can read all about it in next month’s magazine, and until then, enjoy all the pretty colours!
Paddy Smith
Mike Priest
Thomas Shambler
Ben Thomas
