The fact that gadgets make life easier is already a cliché. But nevertheless no one can deny the fact that they do. They’re wonderfully designed and seem to fit every lifestyle. A cool new gadget, thoroughly chosen will never pile up in some closet, but will underline your personality and will ease your life. Here are 10 cool new gadgets to call your own in 2014.
1. IKETTLE
This is probably the first wi-fi kettle ever. The iKettle is a giant leap in water boiling technology. Using the iKettles built in wi-fi, you can start boiling your kettle from anywhere in the house. With the iKettle app, you will save up to two days a year pre-boiling your kettle! Not only can it boil the water for you, but it will also notify you when it’s ready to pour, needs refilling and when it’s empty. A selection of different temperatures allows you to make your hot drink the way it should be, as not all beverages need extremely hot water. Green tea will finally get the water temperature it deserves. It reportedly costs about $150.
2. RUBIK’S CUBE SAFE
This is a gadget that would never raise a burglar’s suspicion. The only way it might get stolen somehow is if the person stealing it is a great Rubik’s cube fanatic. Finally some genius has designed a safe inside something that is so mind-bogglingly confusing and frustrating that the robbers would just give up and go home. The Rubik’s Cube Safe will not be an eye-catching piece for any thief as it looks just like your standard cube. Deep inside this 80’s icon is a hidden compartment for you to stash all the secret items or cash. Using a specific combination of twisting the pieces you can access your secret savings. It reportedly costs about $20.
3. GIZMODO ALL-SEEING AC UNIT
In Japan, Hitachi is introducing a new wall-mounted unit packed with cameras and sensors that’s able to redirect its chilly blasts towards people, parts of a room that are too warm, and even around obstacles. The X-series of AC units will rely on three separate cameras to operate at peak efficiency. A thermal camera will be able to spot the warmest and coldest spots in a room, a regular camera will be used to track the presence and location of people, and an infrared camera will look for obstacles that might obstruct airflow. The units, which range in price from around $2,200 to $3,600, are rather hard to get for the moment, as they’ve just been released in Japan only.
4. HOY FIORENZUOLA TRACK BIKE
Stamped with the approval by Sir Chris Hoy himself, the Fiorenzuola is a track bike for at any serious athlete at a price that won’t break the bank. Perfect for any rider on the road to the championships, the Fiorenzuola is the name of the Italian track where Sir Chris bagged his first senior World Cup medal. It costs about $1000.
5. PANONO
Throw the Panono up in the air and by the time it lands back in your hands it’ll have captured an impressive 360-degree photograph. If you don’t think that’s awesome then you don’t know awesome. The ball makes taking panoramic shots as simple as it should be. The price is about $ 700.
6. APPLE MacBook Air 2013
An incremental upgrade really, but the latest MacBook Air remains a pinnacle of laptop design. It’s not just a pretty face though – Intel’s Haswell processor comes as standard and you can have it specced out to run a 1.7GHz i7 processor along with 4GB RAM and a 256GB SSD. It costs roughly $1400.
7. CANON PowerShot G16
The compact camera features a DIGIC 6 processor for relatively lower shutter lag, and a new 12.1MP High Sensitivity CMOS sensor. It can shoot Full-HD (1080p) video at 60p. Canon claims that the high speed AF improves focus speed by shooting 12.2fps continuous shooting in full resolution and 5.7fps with AF.
The PowerShot G16 features a zoom range of 5x, with a focal range of 28mm-140mm and this is expandable to 10x using Canon’s new ZoomPlus feature. The company claims that the camera’s f/1.8 (W) – f/2.8/ (T) lens performs well in low light, for creating soft backgrounds with shallow depth-of-field. Absoultely marvelous.
8. SPHERO OLLIE
Sphero Ollie is an amazing new robot from the guys at Orbotix who brought us the equally amazing Sphero 2.0. This marvel of technology is a high speed RC device that you can control via a smart phone or tablet. Ollie can reach speeds up to 14mph and perform spins, drifts, flips and app-powered tricks. Drive Sphero Ollie straight off a ramp and he will be in no trouble at all when it comes to landing, all thanks to a strong and durable polycarbonate shell. Smart sensors within the device detect its rotation and direction enabling you to keep on driving as soon as it lands. The world is your playground as it can conquer any terrain you place it on. Grass, road, sand, you name it, he can handle it. Simply connect Sphero Ollie to your iOS, Android or Windows device and control over a 100 feet range.
9. Amazon KINDLE PAPERWHITE
Kindle Paperwhite features new display technology with improved built-in light; a 25% faster processor and new touch technology with 19% tighter touch grid for better sensitivity. The e-reader also boasts of some new features such as Kindle Page Flip in-line footnotes, Freetime and Vocabulary Builder. The e-reader now also offers Facebook and Twitter integration for sharing recommendations, highlighted sections and quotes. As per the company, the new e-reader offers higher contrast and better reflectivity for whiter whites and blacker blacks. The new Paperwhite weighs 206gm and offers battery backup of 8 weeks on a single charge.
10. STICK-N-FIND
Need to keep track of something? Check out these Stick-N-Find stickers. The stickers are only 0.16 inches (4.1mm) thick and can be stuck to just about any item. A downloadable app acts as radar, displaying all your devices within range. The app is available for iOS devices with Bluetooth 4.0 (iPhone 4s, iPhone 5, new iPad, New Touch, mini iPad). It also works on Android devices supporting Bluetooth Low Energy, running Android 4.1 and newer.
Leave a Reply