Author: Stephen Fenech

The new Bonelk USB-C 14-in-1 multi-port desktop hub can help you organise your home workspace and link external monitors and other peripherals and read memory cards so you can stay organised and efficient. Made from premium materials, the Bonelk USB-C 14 in one multi-port desktop hub has a stand that sits the unit upright to make it easier to organise your connections while keeping it within reach to read memory cards and access the USB ports. It’s useful for connecting an external monitor to your laptop or turning your desktop computer into a multiple monitor setup. There are two 4K…

You know a car has a lot of appeal when people stop you in the street and ask you about it. That’s exactly what happened to us while we were driving the Polestar 2 EV months ahead of its launch in Australia. Polestar is a Swedish electric performance brand, a sister company of Volvo, and it will be on Australian roads in early 2022. Tech Guide had the privilege of getting behind the wheel of the Polestar 2 and experiencing it for ourselves. https://youtu.be/ibffDGsN6tU And there was no shortage of interest from onlookers and from our neighbours who were attracted…

The quality of video entertainment is on the rise with next generation TVs, 4K projectors and gaming consoles running even more data between them so it’s important to find the right cable to support your system. For us it was the Stellar Fibre Optic HDMI 8K Ultra HD 48Gbps cable from Wireworld (available through Canohm in Australia) which was able to handle the sheer amount of data and speed to ensure the best quality end experience. All cables are NOT created equal and now with the push towards 8K resolutions and 120 frames per second, what’s required is a HDMI…

The NBN has discovered an emerging trend among Australian workers – hybrid holiday – where employees would consider combining time spent away with their family or friends while still staying on top of their work. According to the NBN Flexible Lifestyle Survey 2021, based on research conducted by YouGov and commissioned by the NBN, 75 per cent of respondents who can work remotely said they would consider staying up to date with their work while on holidays. NBN has coined the phrase “hybrid holiday” after the current trend of hybrid employment where workers are able to combine working in the…

It’s National Recycling Week and Officeworks is calling on customers to take the time to recycle their old gadgets as the level of e-waste we produce each year continues to grow. E-waste is one of the world’s fastest growing waste streams with Australia ranked fifth in the world for e-waste production at an average of 23kg per person – the equivalent of more than 120 iPhones. Officeworks has been running the free secure recycling programme called Bring It Back since 2015 so customers can drop off their old smartphones, printers and print cartridges, pens and batteries. The Bring It Back…

Australian homegrown consumer electronics brand Laser has released its SmartHome brand of easy-to-install and affordable smart home devices in Big W stores nationwide with products available from as little as $8. Laser’s SmartHome range is designed to be easy to connect and easy to use so you can be up and running in minutes. As the smart home products hit the shelves in Big W from tomorrow, Laser will also reduce the prices across this entire range by up to 20 per cent. The products include a smart doorbell for less than $100, a full HD camera for $39 and…

JBL has extended its TWS Wireless line-up with the release of the new JBL Wave 100TWS and JBL Wave 200TWS that offer JBL’s signature sound and integrated access to voice assistants. Each of their JBL earphones come with its own charging case and up to 20 hours of listening time. JBL WAVE 100TWS – $79.95 The small and lightweight earphones are ergonomically shaped to fit gently in your ears to provide hours of comfortable listening. On board is the renowned JBL Pure Bass sound – the same technology that can be heard at some of the most famous concert venues…

There always a lot happening in tech and one way to stay on top of it is with Episode 476 of the top-rating Tech Guide podcast, hosted by editor Stephen Fenech, so you can stay updated and educated. On this week’s show, NBN extends its fibre footprint yet again – is your suburb on the list, DJI launches its new Mavic 3 drone and Epson unveils its new EcoTank range of printers. In the Tech Guide reviews, we take a look at new MacBook Pro, we’ve played the new Call of Duty Vanguard game and we take a listen to…

You can kick off your Christmas shopping early from tonight when Click Frenzy, the popular online mega sale, will kick off with some impressive promotions and deals from some of the biggest brands across a range of categories. The 53-hour event kicks off at www.clickfrenzy.com.au and customers can find bargains across the board in tech, fashion, sport and leisure, home and living, toys and pets and auto and travel. There are more than 4000 deals from more than 500 premium Australian and global brands including Dyson, Bose, Under Armour, Lenovo, Dell, LG Electronics, De’Longhi and many more. “We’ve all collectively…

Arlo, the leading brand in smart home security, has unveiled the Arlo Go 2 4G wireless security camera which can monitor areas like construction sites and holiday homes where wi-fi is not readily available. The Arlo Go 2 4G will work with a 4G LTE data plan to ensure the camera is continuously connected for uninterrupted security. It has a weatherproof design and can be positioned anywhere to keep an eye on your boat, your caravan and other more remote locations. The Arlo Go 2 4G has a swappable rechargeable battery and can also connect directly to wi-fi if it…

You don’t have to wait until Christmas deals or Black Friday sales to get the best prices on the items. Gone are those days, and bargain hunters can now shop during the year with regular sales and promotions from the biggest retailers all through Australia. Click Frenzy is one such event. It is a 53-hour sale with thousands of deals curated from over 100 sellers. Click Frenzy is here, and we are dedicated to helping you find the best deals on the products you want. You’re at the right place if you are looking for the latest Click Frenzy deals.…

The NBN is pushing even further with its fibre upgrades across the network and has revealed the latest list of suburbs and towns where more than 200,000 homes and businesses will enjoy faster speeds thanks to this expansion. These upgrades will allow customers living and working in areas currently served by fibre to the node (FTTN) to become eligible for fibre to the premises (FTTP) upgrades on demand if they decide to order a retail plan from their provider based on the NBN Home Fast (up to 100Mbps download speeds) NBN Home Superfast (up to 250Mbps) or NBN Home Ultrafast…

Call of Duty Vanguard delivers exactly what fans of the franchise expect with an action-packed story, incredible first-person situations and locations and an excellent multiplayer mode. The game is set during World War II and looks and sounds amazing. We were really struck with the incredible photo realistic world and extraordinarily lifelike characters we were watching. This is without a doubt the most advanced Call of Duty game ever produced with incredible realism combined with excellent performances and jaw-dropping action sequences and challenges. It takes players to multiple locations and puts them right in the middle of some of the…

Sell me this pen! This week on The Best Movies You’ve Never Seen Podcast we’re watching The Wolf of Wall St starring Leonardo Di Caprio and directed by Martin Scorsese. It retells the true story of Wall St trader Jordan Belfort who lived a life of excess while “investing” his clients’ money in the stock market before getting the attention of the SEC and the FBI. Stephen and Trevor take you through the memorable scenes and take you behind the scenes, share some trivia, fun tidbits and things you might not know. You can listen to the show on the…

Two Blokes Talking Tech Episode 511 with Tech Guide editor Stephen Fenech and EFTM’s Trevor Long gives you the week’s biggest tech news and product reviews. On this week’s show, the TVs that rated highest in the Canstar Blue awards, 5G available now for your home or business through Telstra and on pre-paid plans with Optus, scams are on the rise with tech support scams topping the list, smartphone sales have slumped because of COVID-related chip shortages, Rode releases new AI Micro compact audio interface and Kobo Plus gives you unlimited access to e-books. You can listen to the show…

Leading drone manufacturer DJI has just released its latest drone – the Mavic 3 – a major improvement to the world’s most popular drone series to set a new level of possibilities for aerial photography. The new DJI Mavic 3 has been redesigned from front to back to maintain its spot as the world’s best and most popular drone. It has a new 4/3 CMOS Hasselblad camera and 28x hybrid zoom camera with a 24mm prime lens to shoot 20-megapixel still images in 12-bit RAW format and videos in 5.1K at 50fps and 4K at 120fps so you can shoot…

The new MacBook Pro has seen a vast improvement across the board with stunning performance, even better battery life, a rich and sharp display and all housed in a redesigned sleek chassis. Apple recently revealed its new M1 Pro and M1 Max system on a chip processor along with the new 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pros which take advantage of their performance and power. For this review, Tech Guide looked at the new 14-inch MacBook Pro running the M1 Pro chip with 16GB of unified memory and 512GB SSD storage. The first thing you’ll notice about the new MacBook Pro…

Epson, the number one ink tank printer vendor worldwide, has just unveiled the latest range of the popular EcoTank printers for the home office that come with enough ink to print thousands of pages. None of the new Epson printers use ink cartridges with the ink delivered from the onboard tanks which are filled with the included ink bottles when you set it up. The new Epson EcoTank printers also work with the Epson Smart Panel app (iOS and Android) which makes working and printing from home even easier and more efficient. It turns your mobile device into a complete…

Telstra has officially launched its 5G broadband for home and business which offers super-fast internet speeds to eligible premises within Telstra’s expanding 5G coverage. Telstra says customers can expect average download speeds of 378Mbps during the busy evening period between 7pm and 11pm. And Telstra is keeping it simple – there is one plan for home and businesses which costs $85 a month with 1TB of included data which is enough for 330 hours of Netflix streaming. Download speeds during testing ranged between 50Mbps and 600Mbps with upload speeds between 10Mbps and 90Mbps. Telstra will supply the modem/router which includes…

When it comes to consumer satisfaction about TVs, Samsung and Sony have been named as the joint winners of the Canstar Blue’s 2021 Award. More than 1,200 customers who bought a TV in the last two years were asked to rate them in a number of categories including picture quality, value for money, sound quality, ease of use, design and smart compatibility. The brands that were included in the Canstar ranking included Sony, Samsung, LG, Hisense, Panasonic, TCL, Bauhn, Kogan and JVC. Samsung was awarded a five-star rating for four out of the seven categories – overall satisfaction, picture quality,…