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A ROUND-UP OF THE LATEST NEWS IN THE DIGITAL WORLD

SONY’S WEARABLE AC

HOW we could have done with Sony’s latest crazy device last week when temperatures in the UK hit record highs.

The Reon Pocket, above, is a portable and very personal air conditioning device, which sits in a special pocket in a custom T-shirt.

It won’t be available until next spring, but will be useful all year round – it can warm you up as well as cool you down. It works using the “Peliter effect”, which is “the presence of heating or cooling at an electrified junction of two different conductors”, (so says Wikipedia).

Now, I don’t understand any of that, but I do understand Sony’s claim that the device can cool you down by up to 13ºC, or warm you up by 8ºC – which sounds mighty useful, especially in such a small and discreet package. The device is only available for order in Japan right now, but costs around £100.

SAMSUNG GALAXY UNPACKED

WE ALL know that the Galaxy Note 10 is on the way, and will be revealed at the Samsung Unpacked event next week.

You can sign up at the Samsung website to get the latest news on the device delivered to you as soon as it is announced. Bizarrely, in the US you can already reserve what it describes as “the next Galaxy”, and have it delivered to you on August 23. So at least we know the release date.

The invitation to the Unpacked event features nothing but a pen and a camera lens (pictured), giving nothing away about what the actual device might look like.

There are rumours of a refreshed design, and even of two different sizes of the Note 10 being offered – one with an even larger screen than the current version’s 6.3in. Samsung is also rumoured to be planning a 5G capable version of the device.

Of perhaps more interest is the expectation that Samsung might reveal more details about its plans to ship the postponed folding Galaxy Fold smartphone. Samsung said that a redesigned version will launch in “the coming weeks”, with most predicting a September release.

The hope is Samsung will firm up its plans at the event next week.

Samsung Unpacked will be held on Wednesday, August 7 in Brooklyn, starting at 9pm UK time. Visit Samsung.com for more details.