With Christmas fast approaching, our thoughts are on gift lists! As a techie filled office here at K Sharp Ltd, we’ve started exploring the top gadgets for this year. Every year the market is flooded with “must have” gadgets and we have compiled a list of 10 that we think are pretty cool.
Samsung Gear IconX Cordfree Fitness - £199.00
At K Sharp, we have been looking at wearable tech for some time and the clear growth market is fitness related tech. The Gear IconX headphones are completely wire-free and also track your fitness – perfect for those New Year’s resolutions! Whilst a bit pricey, they can give you updates on speed, distance, heart rate, and calories burnt whilst also doing standard functions including playing music and answering phone calls. The in-ear voice guide is recorded by real humans and includes 15 languages, why not add learning a new language to your resolution list?!
Photo from www.samsung.com
Available to buy here.
Fitbit Ionic - £299.99
With Fitbit being in its tenth year, they have released a touchscreen Fitbit combined Smart Watch that not only monitors health stats and gives smart notifications such as text messages, it also has built in GPS and can store and play music - and of course has the functions of an ordinary watch! It can be used to make payments, give personalised workouts, and is even water resistant to allow swim tracking.
Available to buy here.
HTC VIVE Virtual Reality System - £599.00
Virtual Reality has been around for a while, but it is still a developing technology and being made more affordable (though still not cheap). The HTC VIVE allows the user a virtual experience of the future. The headset provides 360 degree viewing and claims to have “realistic movement and actions in the virtual world”. The user can play within a virtual boundless setting from the comfort of their sofa, or they can set a room-scale area to allow them to physically move around within the game. This really epitomises gaming of the future! More information and to buy, visit vive.com
Nest Thermostat - £279 with installation
K Sharp have been doing a lot of research around the development of smart technologies and one of first entry points is making your home "smarter". A Smart Home is one that has elements such as heating, lighting and electronic devices that can be controlled remotely e.g. preheating your oven as you leave work, so it is ready when you arrive home. The market is starting to flood with Smart Home devices and a popular brand in this area is Nest, who offer a range of products and it is this connectivity between devices that is at the heart of "smart". One product Nest offer is a Thermostat that can be controlled from your mobile phone. Once you have used the thermostat for a week it then remembers your preferences and will program itself. Using location services on your phone, it can even tell when you are away from home and adapt its setting to save energy. For more information, click here.
Samsung Family Hub Refrigerator - £3599.00
Another addition to the smart home that has been technologically possible for a while, but the connectivity through IoT makes it more relevant is the Smart Fridge. The Samsung Family Hub Refrigerator states it can “help you manage your groceries, connect with your family and entertain guests like never before”. The fridge has three built in cameras to allow the user to see the contents of their fridge to help them decide what to buy when out shopping. It has a touchscreen display unit which has the functionality of a tablet, allowing you to watch TV, write notes and use a whole host of apps. You can even digitally track the expiry dates of the food inside!
To see their full selection of Smart fridges, visit Samsung.
PowerVision PowerRay underwater drone - £1699.00
The state of the art drone has one difference to its rivals that flew off the shelves last Christmas; it has a 30m depth rating and is designed for use under water. It comes with built in Wi-Fi and LED lights and is wirelessly controlled using a remote controller providing real-time streaming.
To purchase, visit their website.
Mode Stream Bluetooth speaker shower head - £119
There are a number of cheap Bluetooth speakers that you can put in your shower and that are waterproof, but this product is a novel take on the need to have a good sing song in the shower to start your morning. The Mode Stream shower head contains a Bluetooth speaker allowing you to stream music through a smart device. The speaker is portable so can then be easily taken off the shower head and carried around with you as you finish getting yourself ready for the day. Available to purchase here.
If you’ve got an awesome gadget to share, comment and let us know! *prices correct at time of publishing **K Sharp Ltd were not endorsed in any way to post this blog. All views are our own.
