Apple MacBook Air 15-inch
Is this the most perfect all-round MacBook?
Price: From R31 000
https://www.istore.co.za/macbook-air-15-inch-m2
Apple announced a new 15-inch MacBook Air at the recent Apple Worldwide Developers Conference in June.
Many are calling this the most perfect all round MacBook. And they have reason to make this claim: the screen size is not too big and not too small, the form factor is slick and slim, and the battery life is very impressive! Apple describes it as “the world's thinnest 15-inch laptop”. The all-aluminium 15.3-inch liquid retina display MacBook is just 11.5mm thick and weighs 1.5kg. On top of this, Apple has added its latest M2 processor, which packs incredible performance and a battery life of 18 hours. Audiophiles will appreciate the six-speaker spatial audio system, which delivers great sound if you’re listening to music or watching a movie. The impressive 1 080p FaceTime HD camera combined with the processing power of the advanced image signal processor on M2 made even made me look great on video calls – that speaks volumes!
Apple Vision Pro
Apple’s era of spatial computing?
Price: $3 500
https://www.apple.com/apple-vision-pro/
The massive news from Apple’s conference in June was the announcement of the Apple Vision Pro. After much anticipation all these years, Apple has finally entered the virtual and augmented reality world with these intriguing-looking headsets. Apple has this knack of first checking out the scene of new technology, but once it enters the space, it is always with a bang!
While it is still early days, and the price point will be prohibitive for most people, Apple has shared its vision into this augmented world with a product that has fantastic video quality, great processing power and a battery life of two hours. And all you are using are your hands, eyes and voice to guide yourself in its immersive world.
Let’s be honest, many have tried, and many have failed in this new world of virtual and augmented reality. The question is, will the metaverse’s 3D-enabled digital space be part of our future? Well, Meta, formerly known as Facebook, seems to be betting big with its Oculus Quest headset. And don’t write off Microsoft with its HoloLens. The big tech kids are spending billions on the Metaverse and when you look at the forecasts for the next six years, this sector is expected to be a $700 billion industry.
Apple’s one distinct advantage is its ecosystem. It has music, movies, and productivity under one umbrella and that’s a perfect foundation in this new virtual world.
Glasses-free Asus Spatial Vision 3D
The future of displays?
Recently I visited Computex, one of the world’s largest computer and technology shows held in Taipei. Taiwan is at the forefront of technology innovation, and where many of the world’s top technology brands are born and based.
The 3D hype has come and gone, the game now is about virtual and augmented reality. But for a moment forget what you think and what you know about 3D display technology. I went in with an open mind to explore Asus’s Spatial Vision technology at Computex. The entire 3D experience has been revolutionised. Firstly, you don’t need to use any of those awkward 3D glasses, and the experience was pretty amazing.
Asus has patented lenticular-based autostereoscopic 3D technology to create three-dimensional images that you can perceive without the need for glasses. They use a microscopic layer of lenticular lenses that are embedded on the display. Then they use real-time eye-tracking technology that creates the 3D imaging. The best way to describe it is that technology tricks your eyes into the magic. The display has amazing contrast and low pixel transition times with a 120Hz refresh rate. As a result, the whole experience becomes seamless. You have to actually experience it to believe it.
Obviously gaming is going to be massive with this technology and I found myself immersed and dodging bullets. But business is going to be another big beneficiary of this new Spatial Vision. I got the opportunity to visualise a warehouse and could see where all the stock was sitting on the shelves. Imagine e-commerce or visualising a data centre. The applications are endless. Asus has already included these displays in some of its new top-of-the-range notebooks and monitors.
Ring Doorbell Plus
Throw out that old doorbell – time for a change!
Price: R3 500
https://za-en.ring.com/products/battery-doorbell-plus
You can do anything you set your mind to, and Jamie Siminoff is a great example.
Jamie founded a doorbell company in 2013 after looking for a way to answer his front door from his smartphone. The idea, like many other similar success stories including HP and Apple, was born in a garage.
The rest, as the say in the classics, is history. That company is called Ring and it was acquired in 2018 by Amazon for more than $1 billion.
Today Ring makes a range of smart home products from smart doorbells, cameras, and even alarm systems that can also be used by small businesses.
So how does it work? The installation is really simple. The rectangular battery-operated device is installed around the hallway up your door. After downloading the app and linking it to your phone you are ready to use it. It is that simple. It uses a high-resolution camera with a 150-degree field of view with smart sensors that can detect any movement and record video in HD. So, for example, if there is any movement at your front door you will get an alert. If someone rings the doorbell it will ring on your phone and once you answer it you can have a video conversation with the person on the other side. It also has Colour Night Vision technology that allows you to view anything at night in colour on your device.
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