Icon Devialet Mania

IT MIGHT BE THE SIZE OF A TEAPOT, BUT CRANKED IT’S AS LOUD AS A MOTORBIKE

DEVIALET MANIA

from £690 / devialet.com

Ever feel like you’re being watched? Either you’re paranoid or you’ve just bought one of Devialet’s new portable speakers. Despite looking like a robot’s eyeball, the Mania can’t see you; but pipe it some music over Bluetooth, Wi-Fi (including Spotify Connect) or AirPlay 2 and you’ll certainly be able to hear it: this thing might only be the size of a teapot, but with six drivers inside and a maximum volume of 95dB, when cranked to full it’s as loud as a motorbike engine – and that’s before you add it to an existing Devialet system for any multiroom shenanigans.

And you’re absolutely sure it can’t see? Positive. It can hear, though. Four microphones measure reflective surfaces around it and tweak the output of its full-range drivers to ensure they’re always delivering 360° stereo sound, whether the Mania is placed in the centre of a room, in a corner or against a wall. It can also tell when it’s been picked up and moved, so it’ll recalibrate when necessary. Devialet’s app lets you add Alexa control, but there’s a button that will mute the mics if you’d prefer a bit of privacy.

So why does it look like an eye? You’d have to ask the designers that, but Devialet is well known for making stuff that wouldn’t look out of place in a futuristic art gallery. Despite its woven fabric finish, the Mania doesn’t mind if you splash it with water, so you can use the built-in handle to take the party outside (although at 2.3kg you won’t want to lug it too far). The battery lasts up to 10hrs and is topped up via USB-C – but if you opt for the gold-embellished Opéra de Paris edition (£890), Devialet will chuck in the £69 conductive charging dock for nothing.

Plumbertime CASIO G-SHOCK DW5600SMB-4

Timeisn’tahugeconcernintheMushroomKingdom.Youneversee Mariolookathiswatchandrealiseheshould’vehadYoshiatthevet20 minutesago,orKingKoopasuddenlyscurryoffmid-battletopickup BowserJrfromschool.Butifyou’relatetomeetyourownPrincess PeachorLuigi,there’llbetrouble–soyou’dbeststrapononeofthese limited-editiontimekeepers.Shock-resistantandwaterproofdown to200m,it’llsurviveanencounterwithaCheepCheep,whiletheMario silhouettebuiltintothebacklightmeanshe’llappeartobejumpingthe greenshellwhenyouturniton.Andwithtwo-yearbatterylife,there mightevenbeanewMariogameoutbythetimeitdies. £129/g-shock.co.uk Nothing. What’s the matter with you? Well there’s no need to be like that. We just wanted to tell you about this new smart home standard that’s backed by tech’s big three: Apple, Google and Amazon. The idea is that it’ll put an end to having to read the small print every time you buy a new product to make sure it works with Alexa, Siri, Google Home or whichever other horse you’ve chosen to back in the smart home race. When you buy a new phone you don’t worry that it won’t be compatible with the Wi-Fi in your local coffee shop, so why should lights and thermostats be any different?

So how does it work? Matter enables different devices to communicate over Wi-Fi and Bluetooth Low Energy, which means their apps and cloud services can talk to each other too. It’s also open-source, so eventually you won’t need a different app to control each individual aspect of your smart home, or have to delve into the advanced settings to set up any kind of automation. It won’t realise its potential immediately, but existing devices can be made compatible with Matter via firmware updates, so it should start to have an impact sooner than you might think.

And who else is involved? Aside from the aforementioned big dogs, Samsung, Philips Hue, Ikea, iRobot, Nanoleaf and Meta (aka Facebook) are all on board, with over 100 companies part of the very serious-sounding Connectivity Standards Alliance that’s behind it. A whopping 190 products have already received certification or are in the queue for testing, and work has begun on supporting other product types such as security cameras and home appliances. Before long it could become as ubiquitous as Bluetooth, and we’ll all be wallowing in the connected homes of our dreams.

IfeeltheEarthgroove SONY LINKBUDS S EARTH BLUE

Wecanalldoourbittohelptheplanet,whetherit’srememberingto reuseplasticbags,leavingthecarathomemoreoften,orsacrificing yourselftoahungrypolarbear…butbuyingthenewEarthBlueversion ofSony’sLinkBudsSwillalsogetyouadapperpairofearphones asabonus.Madepartlyfromrecycledbottlestakenfromoffice watercoolers,theyhaveaneattie-dyelook,ANCthatadjuststoyour surroundings,supportforhi-resaudiothankstoSony’sLDACcodec, andaniftySpeak-to-Chatmodethatautomaticallypausesyour musicwhenyoustarttalkingtosomebody.Bestofall,they’llalsoallow youtoexplaintoyourworkcolleagueswherethewatercoolerwent. £119/sony.co.uk