T3 Agenda brings you snippets of tech news in an easily digestible format - here's the very best from June 2016 and check out the latest gadgets and tech in the latest edition of T3 Agenda!
30 June
We round out this rather rainy excuse for a month with some hot pockets of tech news that are bound to warm your cockles. First up with have the new wireless headphones from Bang & Olufsen's B&O Play range. The new H5's have plenty to offer including the ability to adapt to the noise of your surroundings (this means they'll block out exterior noise if it builds up too high, say on public transport, and return to normal when things quieten down). This also means the H5 earphones will also power down when you're not using them.
They're also magnetic, so when you're not using them and they do power down, the earbuds will snap together making them far easier to store or wrap away. They're also made from premium rubberized materials and a protected fabric cable so no sweat, dirt or moisture will soil them or get into the electronics.
On, and did we mention they're wireless? Considering the new iPhone is heavily rumoured to be dropping the traditional headphone jack, the B&O Play H5 earphones could be an ideal new accessory. You can pick a pair up today for £199 direct from B&O Play.
Sportswear pro Under Armour is preparing to launch its snazzy fitness tracking system here in the UK. The UA HealthBox uses a state-of-the-art UA Band, UA Scale and UA Heart Rate monitor, which all managed by the UA Record app. This connected health system enables you to track your performance and your weight with simplicity and ease.
It's also popular with plenty of Under Armour affiliated sporty celebs and athletes including pro boxer Anthony Joshua (during his recent fight week), Andy Murray and Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson. If that manages to raise your eyebrow, head on over to UA.com where you can pick up the UA HealthBox for £399.
TomTom has just announced two new sat navs that use your smartphone to enhance their navigational features. For a start, the The TomTom VIA 52 and 62 double as a hands-free Bluetooth kit for your smartphone, while also offering real-time traffic updates and speed camera alerts. By pairing with your smartphone, the idea is you can jump in the car and the VIA 52 and VIA 62 identify your dog and bone and get all your tailored features and addresses ready for use.
The TomTom VIA 52 comes with a decent 5-inch screen and can be ordered today with retail prices starting at only £139.99. The VIA 62 will be out in July, although there's no word yet on a price (expect it to be ever so slightly dearer).
29 June
Looking for a home entertainment and communications package that doesn't bind your soul to a year or more long contract? Well, Sky has the solution you've always hankered for as it launches a new contract-less package under its NOW TV brand - yes, that's calls, broadband and TV all without the need to commit to a long term deal.
The NOW TV Combo, which will be available from next month, will include a NOW TV Smart Box, combining a wide range of live and on demand TV with up to 35 pay TV and over 60 free-to-air TV channels as well as a calls and broadband service that suits your needs. For broadband you can select from Brilliant Broadband (speeds up to 17Mbps), Fab Fibre (speeds up to 38Mbps) or Super Fibre (speeds up to 76Mbps) and for calls you can choose from a Pay as You Use setup or opt for Weekends and Evenings or Anytime Calls.
The idea here is to give new customers the chance to build and select the package that suits them, all without a contract. Price plans start from £9.99 a month, but keep in mind you'll still need to pay for line rental as well. There's also a £40 setup fee (this increases to £50 if you opt for Unlimited Fab Fibre Broadband or Unlimited Super Fibre Broadband).
Elsewhere, Wester Digital also has a world first to shout about as it launches world's fastest 256GB microSD card. Announced today at MWC Shanghai, the new suite of 255 gigabyte microSD cards are all about offering swift and painless data tranfers and storage. The new cards include the new 256GB SanDisk Extreme microSDXC UHS-I card which is the fastest card in its class and the 256GB SanDisk Ultra microSDXC UHS-I card, which is the first card to be optimised for mainstream consumers.
The 256GB SanDisk Ultra microSDXC UHS-I card, known as the Premium Edition, will be available worldwide from August with a price tag of £129.99. The 256GB SanDisk Extreme microSDXC UHS-I card will be out in Q4 2016 retailing at £169.99.
Finally, audio specialist Pure is looking to help coax DAB users into upgrading to the improved realm of DAB+. Some users may be using DAB radios that are already DAB+ ready so you'll just need to autotune it to reap all the benefits. Pure is also offering a free upgrade for anyone with an eligible existing Pure DAB or £50 off a brand new one if you don't have a DAB radio but want to get in on the action. DAB+ offers plenty of extra station, including the exclusive Magic Chilled and Jazz FM, so upgrading is well worth the consideration.
28 June
Panasonic has just launched the latest edition to its rugged Toughpad range, the FZ-G1. This 10.1-inch tablet comes pre-installed with Windows 10 Pro and sports a 6th Generation Intel® Core™ i5-6300U vPro™ processor and a built-in Intel® HD Graphics 520 GPU for improved graphical performance. The battery life has now grown to 14 hours, which can be extended to 28 hours with the larger battery option.
Panasonic has included with Intel® Dual Band Wireless-AC 8260 WLAN and Version 4.1 Class 1 Bluetooth® as well as an 8MP rear camera if you need to take any pics while on the move. Available from next month, the Panasonic FZ-G1 Mk4 will retail at £1,700 + tax. For more information, check out the official Panasonic site.
The innovative garden accessory the XHose is back, with the extendable hose now sporting a tougher material for better strength and longevity. As before, the XHose can extend up to three times its length and its kink-free, lightweight design makes it perfect for storing away in your garage or shed without taking up too much space. You can pick up the new and improved XHose from High Street TV today for £19.99.
Amazon has just announced a new feature that will make flipping through digital pages on your Kindle even easier - the Page Flip. The new software utility is all about giving readers more control of their reading experience including save your place while scanning through a book, zooming out to to see the entire publication and the ability to mark and reference difference pages, images and highlights. The feature will be rolled out today via a free update so the next time you log into your Kindle, Page Flip will be ready to go.
Kitchen appliance specialist Dualit has just announced three new colour palettes which will be applied to many of its colourful electrical products. The new palettes - Serendipity Accents, Clean & Calm and Warm & Timeless - will add another funky edge to the 1950s-inspired look of Dualit's kettle and toaster range and can all be ordered from all major electrical stockists and from Dualit direct online.
27 June
Frederique Constant releases most stylish, expensive step counter ever with the Horological Smartwatch with Worldtimer. Hand-crafed to give it a pure analogue look, this sleek watch eschews a now traditional digital display in favour of showing information on its watchface hands. It's an interesting take on the analogue/digital mashup and helps the device retain a sense of old values you don't often find in smartwatches released in 2016.
The Horological Smartwatch is built with the MMT-285 setup, and is powered by Fullpower's end-to-end MotionX technology platform, with a battery life that will keep your it running for two and a half years before a new battery is needed. The timepiece, unveiled at Basel 2016, is available now for £1,120 via WatchShop.com - the site has a one month exclusivity deal with Frederique Constant for the Horological Smartwatch so if you want one today that's the only stop for you.
Security and camera specialist Y-Cam Solutions has just launched a new take on home security - the Wi-Fi HD Evo Camera. This powerful little gizmo isn't just your usual run of the mill camera either - for a start it comes with a mic so you can check a live feed with HD video and sound sent straight to your smartphone or iPad. You can also set up motion zones to detect movement in any area you choose to point it - as as the ability to watch recorded videos on-demand.
Since this Wi-Fi camera is powered by the cloud, you can store all your videos on the cloud free of charge and access them whenever you want. These recordings are securely protected, so if you need to access them for whatever reason, you can be sure you're captured footage is ready for viewing. And with the easy to use Y-Cam app, all that connectivity is right there on your device of choice. The Y-Cam Wi-Fi HD Evo Camera is available from 29 June (this Wednesday) for £129.99 from the official Y-Cam online store.
24 June
AudioLab has just announced the latest addition to its M-DAC family of audio products - the M-ONE amplifier. All wrapped up in one diminutive box, the M-ONE adds high-performance pre/power amp circuitry, a range of connectivity options including aptX Bluetooth to deliver a treasure trove of audio options whatever your musical needs.
And while other amps require a separate power amp to drive a pair of speakers, the M-ONE offers high quality stereo power amplification, plus preamp facilities for analogue sources as well as digital - not bad for a DAC amp this small. The Audiolab M-ONE is available from August in black or silver for £799.95.
Kitchen appliance specialist Tefal has just unveiled its new Maison Breakfast range - a selection of brightly coloured stainless steel kettles and toasters that match retro looks to modern technology. The range is the product of a partnership between Tefal and acclaimed design studio seymourpowell, with the aim to hark back to the clean aesthetics of the 1950s.
"A British talent for blending old with new is at the heart of the range," says Dick Powell, founder of seymourpowell. "We British love eclectic design, so Maison's design and its colours sit comfortably in our kitchens and create a direction that marries familiar cues with tones of modern life." The Maison Breakfast toaster and kettle both cost £49.99 each and are available now.
Leica Camera has today announced that its Leica M à la carte camera customisation service has been expanded and improved with the addition of the Leica M Monochrom, bringing the vast array of bespoke options to this special digital rangefinder model. So the black and white sensor-toting Leica M Monochrom can now be ordered with tons of extra bits and bobs, including a black chrome or black paint body.
Oh, and customers can also select the camera body in a rather fetching silver chrome finish. For more info and access to the online configurator, head over to the official website.
23 June
Looking for sizable storage? Drobo, has today announced the Drobo 5D Turbo (5Dt). Built using Drobo's patented BeyondRAID technology, ity offers Thunderbolt 2 and USB 3.0 and can also connect to 4K Thunderbolt connected displays for instant access to hi-res photos and footage.
Want more? Of course you do. Drobo has also confirmed the Drobo 5D Turbo will have Thunderbolt 2 and USB 3.0 cables and DroboCare for three years at no additional charge. The Drobo 5D Turbo is available now for $899 (that's just over £600).
A lot of MegaDrive adoring retro fans suddenly got very excited last year when one of the original co-creators of funky isometric platformer Toejam & Earl announced he was working on a sequel. After hitting its Kickstarter goal and raising over $500,000, Greg Johnson and his indie studio HumaNature Studios announced Toejam & Earl: Back in the Groove would be hitting PC, with the possibility of console releases too. Thankfully, today Johnson has confirmed the game is coming to consoles, but can't confirm which ones just yet.
Unless a specific reveal event is put together, we wouldn't be surprised to see this announced at the GamesCom expo in August. PS4 and Xbox One seem like a shoe in considering how big their install bases are, but we think it would work great on Wii U with the power of the gamepad and its screen.
And finally, Sky has unveiled a special kid-friendly remote to go with the launch of its new Kids Month Pass. Forming part of its NOW TV setup, the Kids Month Pass gives the little ones access to six kids channels with tons of on-demand content curated from Nickelodeon, Nick Jr, NickToons, Cartoon Network, Boomerang, Cartoonito, CBeebies, CBBC, and Milkshake. You can get one of these passes, and the cute and easy-to-use remote today with a monthly contract of £2.99.
22 June
If you're looking to add a little colour to your summer running routes (at least after all this rain stops falling, that is), then the new bright shades of Saucony Run Pops will get your temperature rising. Available in a striking orange, blue, yellow or red (and in both men's and women's styles) this limited edition range of lightweight running shoes are a must for those who like to stand out while they're whizzing past/gasping for air. They're available from 1 July via Runner's Need.
The Wand Company has unveiled something every Trekkie, diehard or casual, will want to add to their Starfleet collection - the Star Trek: Original Series Bluetooth Communicator. Looking like an actual prop from TOS, this brilliant little device pairs with your mobile phone and enables you to make and receive calls via Bluetooth. It's also packed with sound clips from the Kirk and Spock era so it's basically a Star Trek fan's dream come true. We love it. It came out today, and is available to buy for £119.95 from Firebox. Just in time for the 50th anniversary!
Finally, Western Digital Corporation has just launched the WD Pro Series range: the My Passport® Wireless Pro Wi-Fi mobile storage and My Cloud® Pro Series network attached storage (NAS) devices. Designed with creatives in mind, the devices work in tandem with the My Cloud app to help you store and stream media content quickly and easily. Both are also compatible with the Plex Media Server and My Cloud OS 3 software, making them perfect for photographers, graphic designers and more.
The range of devices are available from Western Digital's online store, with the My Passport Wireless Pro Wi-Fi mobile storage ranging from £18
- Don't forget to check out the latest gadgets and tech in the latest edition of T3 Agenda!
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