Live Luggage
www.liveluggage.com, from £250.00
With a medley of cutting-edge ideas, Live Luggage provides a 21st century
travel solution. The main innovation is the long handle, which connects
at the bottom of the case instead of the top. This means the centre of
gravity – and about 85 percent of the weight – over the robust,
oversized wheels, making a fully packed case feel extremely light, even
when traversing vast concourses and ramps. Power assisted models are
also availabile: pancake motors built into the wheels can detect a step
or gradient, making even the largest airport a breeze. Various hard
cases are available, but for the flexible worker or trainer the Hybrid
and Sports models are perfect: a large main suitcase with two attachable
carry-on cases. The former offers a laptop bag and document case; the
latter comes with a tough rucksack and a spacious weekend bag.
Panasonic 3D Camcorder
www.panasonic.com/dvc, $1,399.95
The
Panasonic HDC-SDT750 is the worldÕs first consumer 3D camcorder.
Offering a high quality Leica Dicomar lens and a 12x optical zoom, it is
already at the high quality end of the affordable home recording
spectrum, filming in full 1080p high definition. But with the included
3D conversion lens attached, the image can be split into right-eye and
left-eye images (each 960×1080 pixels), recorded side by side. Features
include a time lapse recording feature to create beautiful 3D vignettes
of slow processes like sunsets or blossoming flowers; a 5.1 channel
audio recording system that uses five microphones to record detailed 3D
sound that can be played back in the correct position relative to the
listener, and a highly sensitive 3MOS system that records independent
light channels, producing images rich in colour, detail and gradation
with less noise when shooting in low lighting. Obviously users will need
a 3D television to play back the video, but the camera is packaged with
easy to use editing software.
Fujifilm Finepix 3D Camera
www.fujifilm.com/3d, £399.00
If
video isn’t your thing, Fujifilm’s second generation Finepix W3 point
and shoot camera can still bring your memories into the third dimension.
Fujifilm launched the world’s first 3D still camera just over a year
ago, and its second iteration is smaller, lighter and with a bigger and
better screen. This last improvement is immensely important: 3D requires
different composition from normal photography, and the new viewfinder
offers a better 3D preview of your shot with no need for glasses.
Because the Finepix W3 is essentially two cameras in one body, it can
capture two different photos at the same time by varying the zoom,
colour balance and sensitivity on each lens. Pictures can be viewed on
the display, an optional 8″ 3D digital photoframe, or by plugging into a
3D television. A unique printing process will soon be available to
produce 3D prints up to 9″x6″.
BMW M Bike
www.bmw-shop.com, £1,350.00
The
BMW M Bike is a stunning combination of state of the art technology and
exclusive design, offering off-road sensibilities with city-bike style.
Weighing in at a decidedly robust 13kg (unfortunately the elegant matt
anthracite paint-job disguises a standard – if sleek – aluminium frame),
it’s a colourful and sporty number, with bright rims and handles, and a
shiny red inlay on the high quality fizi:k branded saddle. Shimano SLX
gears offer 27 speeds, the disc brakes provide clean stops whatever the
weather, and the front suspension provides comfort to supplement the
leather saddle. Available as a limited edition from select BMW dealers
and online.
Porsche Design Knives
www.wengerna.com, from $210.00
Infinitely
more style-friendly than they are travel-friendly, these Porsche Design
knives are a far sexier option than your traditional, utilitarian
multi-tool. They are, however, still of a reputable quality, created by
Swiss Army Knife manufacturers Wenger, and come with all the standard
tools you’d expect: 2.5″ blade, bottle opener, scissors, nail file,
screwdriver, corkscrew, can opener and that other one you assume is for
getting stones out of horse hooves, probably. Available in sleek
Ruthenium (matte silver, pictured) and even sleeker black (for $265
more).
Pure Marshall Radio
www.pure.com, £119.99
Pure,
the brand leaders in DAB digital radios, have again teamed up with
Marshall, brand leaders in hard rock and noise induced hearing loss
through the ages, to make one more Spinal Tap joke. The Evoke-1S
Marshall combines the iconic style of the Marshall Amp stack with the
class-leading audio and features of the popular Evoke-1S portable radio.
Featuring black vinyl wrap, brass effect front and an authentic
Marshall badge, it offers both digital and FM radio, an auxiliary mp3
player input and a clear, auto-dimming OLED display with Intellitext and
textSCAN. Plenty of station presets enable quick access to all your
favourite stations and (naturally) the volume knob goes up to 11.
Olive 4 Special Edition
www.olive.us, £1,999
Olive
is the specialist in multi-room music systems, providing high quality
storage and wireless speaker bases. The Olive 4 combines the convenience
of digital music with the clarity of high-end audio. Simply insert a CD
into the server unit, press record, and in minutes the tracks will be
added to the music library, neatly tagged and categorised with the
correct information and artwork. The intuitive colour touchscreen lets
users browse tracks and create playlists quickly and easily, and the
ultra-quiet 1TB hard drive stores up to 3,000 CDs in lossless quality.
Up to 10 Olive 2 players can connect to the Olive 4 server for
simultaneous playback or different sounds in each room. The special
editions are wrapped in an elegant white enclosure, silk-screened with
two exclusive designs by award winning artist Karim Rashid.
3M Pro150 Pocket Projector
www.3m.com, £344.99
This
diminutive projector (less than 1″ thick, 2.4″ wide and 5.1″ long) is
the perfect travel companion for anybody who regularly gives
presentations or demands the big-screen film experience whatever the
location. It throws a bright (15 lumens) screen which can be focused
anywhere between 6 inches and 6 feet wide, and it can connect to pretty
much any video output for big screen viewing. It also comes with a 2GB
Micro SD card: enough space to store presentations, pictures and films.
The only negative is the speaker – perfectly capable for bings, bongs
and occasional sound clips in a boardroom, but tinny at best for movie
viewing. Happily a set of good speakers or headphones will solve this
via the projector’s audio out jack.
