IDEAS WE LIKE…
Our pick of this month’s best tech, like this cute, retro-looking instant camera.
….a robotic camera operator
This motorised phone stand will pair with your iPhone 12’s face-tracking to follow you around a room while you strut your stuff on TikTok (no? Us neither), film a YouTube video or make a Zoom call. It capitalises on the iPhone 12’s MagSafe tech, so you can just magnetically snap the phone into place and get going.
Belkin magnetic phone mount with face-tracking £44.99, belkin.com
…an interchangeable heartrate monitor
This fitness tracker is ready for anything, even if you’re not. The MZ-Switch measures your heart rate to understand how much effort you’re putting into your exercise. What makes it unique is that this tracker can slot into different straps to read your heart rate from your wrist, arm or chest. It’s waterproof too, so there are few activities it won’t track. In my case, that means it’ll be able to tell me precisely how much of a slob I am.
MyZone MZ-Switch
£139, myzone.org
…an all-in-one streaming headphone amp
If you want to put on a pair of headphones, dissolve into an armchair and forget the world for a couple of hours, this Naim streaming audio system might be the best way to do it. This new edition of the Uniti essentially squeezes all the hi-fi equipment you might need to produce high-fidelity audio into one small box (headphones not included). Inside there’s a digitalto-analogue (DAC) converter and a headphone amplifier, as well as a whole bunch of tech designed to optimise your music library for playback on your cans. It’s a self-contained system with hi-res streaming services like Qobuz and Tidal installed, alongside the likes of Spotify and Apple Music. You can also connect it to your smartphone or laptop, with or without wires.
Naim Uniti Atom Headphone Edition
£2,399, naimaudio.com
…super thin iMacs
11.5mm, that’s how thin Apple’s new iMac is. This slender frame is made possible by Apple’s new M1 chip. Previously, Apple put Intel tech at its core and connected it to various components to build its Macs. Now the company has channelled its work on smartphone and iPad chipsets to build a complete “system on a chip”. Like having a neatly tidied desk, building the computer’s processing units on one piece of architecture means the new iMacs are able work more efficiently and quickly than their predecessors. There’s also 4K Retina display onboard, with a six-speaker sound system squeezed in behind it. Plus, the iMac now has Touch ID so you can unlock your computer, log in and pay for shopping with your fingerprint.
Apple iMac 24-inch
From £1,249, apple.co.uk
…an affordable, easy-to-use instant camera
Generally speaking, we tend to look forwards here at Science Focus, but this retro, instant camera from Fujifilm is too cute to ignore. There are two modes and two buttons: one for selfies and one for normal shooting. A button beneath the lens pops the lens out so it can get up close and personal for selfies. There’s even a teeny tiny mirror embedded into the body so you can get a sense of what your framing in your shot. Then you just click the shutter button and wait 90 seconds for the AA-battery-powered printer to process your photo.
Fujifilm Instax Mini 40
£89, instax.com
…a modern hearing aid for a tech-savvy generation
Let’s face it, we give our ears a tough time. Loud concerts (remember those?), cotton buds, illnesses and even our own DNA works against our hearing health. It’s thought that 6.7 million people in the UK could benefit from a hearing aid, but only two million are wearing one. Signia hopes to change that. With Bluetooth connectivity, an accompanying mobile app, a rechargeable battery and a sleek earbud-style design, the Signia Active hearing aids bring assistive technology on-trend. Designed for those with mild to moderate hearing loss, the aids pack in intelligent software that boosts voices over background noise and come with a virtual assistant to boot. Signia Active
£999 for two, active.signia-hearing.co.uk