Top tech to look forward to in 2014

2013 is done. It saw new consoles, dozens of new phones, tablets and TV released. But what is in store for next year? Here are the new bits of tech we're looking forward to in 2014. Please share yours in the comments.

Steam Machines

Andy Vandervell

Deputy Editor

I have all the laptops, phones and tablets I’m likely to need for the next two years: there’s very little interesting going on in those areas, and smartwatches have yet to capture my imagination. What has, however, are Valve’s Steam OS and Steam Machines.

I am, like many people my age, a lapsed PC gamer. Deep down I know it’s the best way to play and increasingly home to the most interesting indie titles courtesy of Steam itself, and Steam Machines feel like the natural next step and a much needed alternative vision for PC gaming.

Microsoft has neglected this part of the market for so long that, frankly, it deserves to get a bloody nose for doing so and I believe Valve is the company that could really do it. Give me £500 to £600 Steam Machine that plays most games decently at 1080p and I’ll be a happy man.

Oculus Rift

Mike Sawh

Reviews Editor
The Oculus Rift is one of the most exciting pieces of hardware I’ve had the pleasure to get my hands on this year and fingers crossed, 2014 will be the year I can actually buy one. The support from game developers has been incredible so far and now that Oculus VR has secured extra investment to make a consumer-ready version of the virtual reality headset well, a reality.

There are few things that could take my attention away from developments with the Xbox One and PS4 next year, but the Oculus Rift would be one of those things I’d happily put aside the console controller for.

Google Glass

Sam Loveridge

News Writer
Despite all the privacy issues surrounding Google Glass, I think it will be an interesting and continually developing device that will pave the way for the wearable tech for the future.

The latest update for Google Glass makes the wearable tech more useable than ever and its functionality will only increase as time goes on.

Although I might look a bit ridiculous if I ever get to wear Google Glass, I’d be interested to see how user friendly it is and how useful I’d find it for everyday life.

Adidas miCoach Smart Ball

Luke Johnson

News Editor

The World Cup is now just a matter of months away and finally football is entering the 21st century.

Although I’m not that fussed about watching games in 4K, or the impact goal-line technology will have, for me the Adidas miCoach Smart Ball is a game changer.

A sensor incorporating footie that can communicate with a dedicated smartphone app, the miCoach ball will help you improve your shots and free kicks. Offering speed, bend, spin and contact area metrics, the Smart Ball will give you visual trajectories and, with the app, offer coaching tips on how to get that extra curl or power.

What’s more, as we exclusively revealed earlier this year, the Smart Ball should be hitting retailers just days before the world’s football focus moves to Brazil.

Cheaper OLED TVs

Andrew Williams

Reviews and Features Editor

4K TVs are finally starting to get to prices that normal people can almost consider spending. You can get a 55-inch 4K TV for a few grand. However, OLED TVs are still heinously expensive for the most part, costing £10,000 for the top models.

But for me, OLED is the one TV type that will have me wanting to upgrade from my current plasma TV. As much as latest-generation LCD televisions are impressive in many respects, they will never reach the sort of black levels you get from top-end plasmas. OLED TVs offer even better black depth than plasma TVs.

If you’re only excited about 4K but not OLED, you’re getting it all wrong – especially if you like to watch movies with the lights out.

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Samsung develops 8GB RAM chip in time for Galaxy S5

Samsung has announced the development of an 8GB RAM chip for mobile devices, which could lead to its appearance in the Samsung Galaxy S5 in 2014.

The South Korean tech giant is calling the new chip "the industry’s first eight gigabit (Gb), low power double data rate 4 (LPDDR4), mobile DRAM."

Thanks to a super-small 20nm fabrication process, Samsung has managed to squeeze a full 1GB into a single die. This makes for the largest density in the DRAM component yet - hence the massive 8GB potential.

Having said that, smartphones exploiting this new standard will likely 'only' offer 4GB of RAM.

This new component has implications for performance as well as capacity. Samsung claims that it’s 50 percent faster than its previous solution, the LPDDR3 currently found in the likes of the Samsung Galaxy S4.

The LPDDR4 will also consume around 40 percent less power than the previous standard, which should do wonders for battery life. Far more likely, though, is that it will help power even higher resolution mobile displays, and battery life will remain at its current underwhelming level.

Before we get accused of cynicism, check out Samsung’s comments on the application of its new RAM standard:

"With the new chip, Samsung will focus on the premium mobile market including large screen UHD smartphones, tablets and ultra-slim notebooks that offer four times the resolution of full-HD."

It’s looking like 2014 could be the year of the first 4K smartphone - and it could well feature Samsung technology at its core.

Read More: What is 4K?

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Fitbit update for iOS removes the need for a Fitbit

Fitbit has update its iOS app with a brave new feature - one that removes the need to purchase a Fitbit wristband.

The likes of the Fitbit Flex are flexible wrist-mounted pedometers that records your movements in much the same way as the Nike Fuelband or the Jawbone Up. It typically costs around £80 to purchase, and links in with a free smartphone app to record your fitness routine.

However, with this latest Fitbit app update for iOS, you don’t need to buy that wristband element at all.

Don’t cancel that Fitbit purchase just yet, however. First you’ll need an Apple device that contains the latest A7 chip with its M7 coprocessor. So that’s the iPhone 5S, the iPad Air, or the iPad mini 2 Retina.

Although, if you ask us, going out jogging with a tablet is even weirder than taking photos with a tablet. Each to their own.

By utilising this motion-sensitive chip, your smart device can now replicate the basic functions of a dedicated Fitbit wristband. This 'MobileTrack’ feature tracks data like the number of steps you’ve taken, miles you’ve covered, and calories you’ve burned.

Naturally you won’t be getting the full fat (actually, it’s probably more semi-skimmed) Fitbit experience, but it’s a neat way to get you hooked on the Fitbit way of doing things. A full Fitbit purchase is the natural next step on the road to keeping those New Year’s resolutions.

Fitbit version 2.1 is available to download for free now from the iOS App Store.



Read more: Nike Fuelband review

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LG Pocket Photo 2 announced

Want to print average photos on the go? LG thinks that you do, judging by its announcement of the LG Pocket Photo 2.

The South Korean manufacturer will be showing the new gadget off at CES 2014 from January 7, but it’s decided to pre-empt the event and drum up a little interest with an official unveiling.

Coming in slightly thinner than the first LG Pocket Photo (what do you mean you’ve never heard of it?), the LG Pocket Photo 2 can nonetheless keep doing its thing for a little longer. This amounts to printing off 30 photos before its wee battery gives up the ghost.

The quality of those pictures has also been boosted, with a resolution of 600 DPI effectively doubling that of the original. Compatibility stretches to iOS, Android and Windows Phone 8 - each of which gets its own app - and you can pair your phone with the Pocket Photo 2 over NFC or good old fashioned Bluetooth.

In addition to the above, Android and iPhone users get the Pocket Photo 2 app that enables them to edit their photos prior to pocket printing. It’s possible to add QR codes, text, and even Instagram-like filters prior to printing.

The truly clever part of the LG Pocket Photo 2 is that it doesn’t require costly toner to run. Rather, its use of Zink technology means that there are colour-forming chemicals embedded in each specialised strip of paper. These are then activated as appropriate using heat.

There’s no news on pricing just yet, but the LG Pocket Photo 2 will hit South Korea in mid-January - just after being flaunted at the aforementioned CES show in Las Vegas.

Read More: What to look out for at CES 2014

Via: FoneArena

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Samsung releases world’s largest UHD TV

Samsung's 110-inch UHD TV

Samsung has finally launched its gargantuan 110-inch Ultra HD TV set almost a year after it was unveiled.

The giant 4K set was first revealed at CES 2013 at the beginning of January, but the company is making it available to buy for the first time today, December 30.

We’ve already seen a couple of exclusive 85-inch TVs launched for around the £23,000 price bracket, but Samsung’s latest effort dwarfs those examples at 110-inches. As Samsung points out in its Samsung Tomorrow blog, with a frame of 2.6m x 1.8m this TV is larger than a king-size bed.

As you might expect, Samsung isn’t targeting your average Joe looking for an upgrade to their home cinema experience. We suspect that most living rooms are incapable of containing such a monstrosity. Rather, Samsung claims to be aiming at major government agencies and other such organisations, which tend to make use of larger displays for video conferencing.

There’s no word on price for this whopper just yet, but we do know that Samsung’s 110-inch 4K TV is set to roll out in China, the Middle East, and the rather vague "other major countries" over the coming weeks.

This latest high-end offering from Samsung arrives just over a week ahead of the CES 2014 show in Las Vegas, when a whole new generation of UHD TV sets is expected to be revealed. We’d be surprised if any make as big an impression (literally speaking) as this 110-inch set, though.

Read More: What is 4K TV Ultra HD?

Via: Engadget

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BT Home Hub 5 Review

What is the BT Home Hub 5?

This is the fifth generation of BT’s Home Hub range of routers. It is arguably the biggest upgrade the line has seen to date as it combines 802.11ac wireless, upgraded Gigabit Ethernet ports and an integrated VDSL modem. For many years ISP-supplied routers have been famous for being awful. On paper the Home Hub 5 could be the product to change that.

BT Home Hub 5: Design

One of the most remarkable aspects of the Home Hub 5 is, on the surface, perhaps the least interesting: its design. The Home Hub 5 looks virtually identical to the Home Hub 4. It has the same upright format and slightly curved fascia, the same spring loaded legs, the same smart colour scheme and the same rigid build quality and compact dimensions.

It is the last of these points which really grabs out attention though. At 236 x 116 x 31mm and 290g the Home Hub 5 is the same size and weight as its predecessor, which makes it one of the smallest and lightest routers on the market yet it packs a lot of new stuff inside.

BT Home Hub 5: Features

While several features vie for our attention, we’re going to start with the integrated VDSL modem. Somehow BT has squeezed this into the Home Hub 5 without any size or weight penalty. Not only is this a remarkable feat of engineering (given the monstrous size of DSL routers like the Asus DSL N66U and Netgear D6300) but it also means BT Infinity customers finally have a neat, single box solution.

Up until now all Infinity customers were forced to have a separate bulky modem (that runs hot) and was wired into either the Home Hub 4 or a third-party router. The Home Hub 5 does away with this and runs cool and quiet.

In addition the Home Hub 5 also makes the leap to 802.11ac wireless. Unlike EE’s ac and VDSL equipped Bright Box 2, which has a 2x2 arrangement of antennas, BT has equipped the Home Hub 5 with full fat 3x3 MIMO antennas for both 802.11ac and 802.11n, which should give it an advantage at distance. The Home Hub 5 does have a 2x2 arrangement for 802.11n/g, but at these slower speeds that doesn’t really matter.

Another feather in the cap of the Home Hub 5 is its switch to 4x Gigabit Ethernet ports (1000Mbps). The Home Hub 4 has 3x Fast Ethernet (100Mbps) and 1x Gigabit Ethernet ports (as does the EE Bright Box 2) and this gives the Home Hub 5 parity with premium third-party routers and Virgin’s 802.11n new Super Hub. It also shows up the Sky Hub’s 4x Fast Ethernet ports and Sky’s ridiculous decision to stick with that for its new Sky Hub (review coming soon).

One area the Home Hub 5 could do better is the inclusion of just a single USB 2.0 socket, but otherwise it ticks all the right boxes with WPS and WPA/WPA2 security, BT’s bundled Family Protection (a better solution to protecting your children than the UK’s flawed porn filter), IPv6 support and a CD-less setup process.

BT Home Hub 5: Setup

BT is the first ISP we’ve seen to go the CD-less path (following in the footsteps of Linksys, Asus and D-Link) and the setup process is far better for it. Simply plug in your HH5, switch it on and connect to it either via WPS or using the password supplied on BT’s bundled information card that is stored on the back of the router. Upon connection your default browser will open a new web page (http://bthomehub.home/index.cgi) which begins the setup wizard.

One complaint we do have is BT by default sets up the Home Hub 5 with a single SSID. This is an infuriating practice as users have no way of knowing whether they are connecting to the fast 5GHz 802.11ac/n band or the slower 2.4GHz 802.11bgn band. These bands should always be clear to the user (most router makers use ‘2G’ and ‘5G’ endings to differentiate) and it requires digging into the ‘advanced settings’ section to change them.

Another quibble is the use of a pre-set password. Linksys and Asus are leading the way here with routers that have no password but make you pick one in the setup wizard. That makes far more sense to us, though BT's approach is consistent with previous Home Hub's.

Despite these points we have to say getting the Home Hub 5 up and running is very easy and even technophobes shouldn’t worry. The router’s user interface isn’t the most advanced we’ve seen and won’t give Linksys’ industry leading ‘Smart WiFi’ sleepless nights, but it is simple to navigate. BT also deserves credit for shipping the Home Hub 5 with a long 2m power cable, which gives a lot of flexibility when it comes to positioning the router. We’d like more router makers to follow this lead.

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Best 10 Tech Gadgets of 2013

Each year we celebrate the very best products in each category in our TrustedReviews awards. If you've not checked out this year's results, do so now.

However, this 'best of' round-up is a little different. We're going to look at the products that are important in another sense.

These gadgets mark a change, either for the market, or for the company making them. And some of them will be product remembered for years and years to come.

There are no real winners here, but if you want to know which products are the sign of things to come then you've come to the right place.

And if you think we've missed any, feel free to let us know (politely) in the comments.

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