Best Gadgets

Sony Tablet P

It’s been a while since we saw a functional ‘folding’ device (apart from Nintendo’s 3DS) like Sony’s Tablet P. This clamshell tablet computer may fit snugly in your pocket, but open it up and the dual 5.5-inch TruBlack LCD screens—each in a 1024x480 resolution—behave like a bona-fide flat-screen tablet, although the angled screens make typing an easier prospect than the Tablet P’s peers. The dual-core processor handles apps and gaming (via the PlayStation™ Store) well, but speedy performance is not the aim here. And although the inside camera meets only VGA specs, the outer casing sports a 5-megapixel autofocus camera, giving stills and 720p video capture.

Sony VAIO E Series 14P

Have you ever wanted to shake a fist at your laptop to make it perform faster? Well, with the VAIO E Series 14P from Sony, you can. The latest in Sony’s well-known VAIO line, the 14P is a gesture-controlled laptop, with browser navigation and music playback all controllable with the wave of a hand. Under the hood the new 14P runs on an Intel Core i3 with 4GB of RAM, so responses to gestures are immediate—unlike standing in front of a Kinect and waving for two minutes while you try and select your user profile. Chances are this is only the beginning of interactive innovation for the VAIO line.

Google Glasses

Step aside, Agent 99. This is one sci-fi promise made good. Leading the charge for augmented-reality head-mounted display (HMD) technology, the Google-backed Project Glass initiative directs the technical power of the information giant into a simple and elegant pair of glasses.

Combining a microphone with a transparent video screen, Google Glasses offers users everything from navigation information—including location-specific updates thanks to built-in GPS—to day-to-day features such as messaging, appointment reminders, video calling and even user tracking to keep tabs on your friends (privacy implications pending). But only time will tell if the real-world applications for these specs reach beyond tracking down the best single-slice pizza in your vicinity.

Sony Xperia S

The first element you notice about the new Sony Xperia S is the large display. Aimed firmly at a rich media market, the 4.3-inch HD display is primed and ready for video capture and playback (there’s also a HDMI port), creative photography (at 12 megapixels) and gaming. The Android-powered OS brings you all the usual features you’d expect from a smartphone, with the bonus of Music Unlimited, Sony’s subscription music streaming service—pay a monthly fee and never buy music again.

TAG Heuer Racer

With a price tag of about $3500, this smartphone is likely the most expensive pairing of silicon and touchscreen you’re likely to see. Usually known for its performance watches, TAG Heuer’s Racer phone is an invention without parallel. The carbon fibre and titanium exterior appears to have been designed by Tony Stark, while the 3D interface lets you personalise to your heart’s content. Ironically, this expensive piece of tech is powered by Android—which is, as you know, free for the companies that use it. There are more expensive luxury phones on the market, but the Racer still commands attention.

TapCaps

While the advent of the touchscreen was a major innovation for portable electronic devices, the need to use bare skin to interact with your chosen device continues to be a thorn in the side of those who live in colder climes, or simply wear gloves for work or pleasure—like golfing. TapCaps aims to put an end to these problems. The self-adhesive ‘caps’ attach to the finger of any glove you care to adorn, to have you swiping and typing in no time, and won’t leave you fumbling with a stylus or with one cold hand.

The New iPad

Apple’s third-generation iPad—simply, the new iPad—is the undisputed king of tablet computers, not just the computing giant’s latest piece of eye candy. Powered by Apple’s quad-core A5X processor and iOS 5, this iPad may not be the fastest on the market, but it provides growth for more-demanding games and applications. The retina display is one facet making it a desirable piece of tech, with other improvements helping this tablet stand out from its predecessor. The 5-megapixel iSight camera not only takes stills, but also captures video in 1080p.

Tudor Pelagos

While it may look like a Q Branch special issue, the Tudor Pelagos is a dive watch with a difference. The deeper you dive, the more pressure is placed on your body; the Pelagos compensates by tightening its self-adjusting titanium bracelet the further down you go, and loosening as you return to the surface, ensuring the watch remains nice and firm on your wrist and doesn’t fall off, ending up at the bottom of the ocean.

WiFi Cufflinks

Ethan Hunt, eat your heart out. This pair of unassuming cufflinks conceals a WiFi transmitter in one link, and a 2GB flashdrive in the other—just the thing when you’re attending cocktail parties at the Russian embassy and need to do a little snooping. Finished in polished silver, they may not be the cheapest cufflinks you buy this year, but they’re certainly the most versatile.

Sennheiser MM 450-X Bluetooth headphones

Superb audio quality? Comfortable fit? Wireless connectivity? You must be talking about Sennheiser’s new MM 450-X headphones. Folding up to slip into any bag or (large) coat pocket, these wireless ‘travel’ headphones are the very embodiment of versatility. Connect to your Bluetooth-enabled mobile phone, tablet or laptop and enjoy wireless control of music streaming and voice calls (via a hidden mic), all wreathed in the sonic isolation of Sennheiser’s active noise-cancelling technology. Your next long journey just became a whole lot more enjoyable.