Author: Stephen Fenech

LG has taken its CordZero line of products in a new direction with the new A9 Ultimate handstick vacuum which now combines mopping and vacuuming in the same product. The A9 Ultimate CordZero handstick vacuum includes the Power Drive MOP Nozzle to handle any floor surface in your home. The unique rotating mop head attachment includes a small water tank and an electric water pump. It can direct water into the rotating head to effectively lift the dust and dirt from hard floor surfaces like floorboards and tiles. The exact level of dampness of the cleaning pads can be controlled…

Sony has introduced the WH-XB700 headphones, the latest product in its popular Extra Bass series which includes numerous improvements across the board. The new wireless Sony headphones offer an improved audio experience including vocal clarity and a more indulgent music quality. On the design side, the Sony headphones have sleek swivel ear cups that can also be folded flat to make them easier to carry around. The WH-XB700 offers up to 30 hours of listening on a single charge and also has a new quick charge function which can offer 90 minutes of power after just a 10 minute charge.…

Alcatel has launched a new Family Watch to  monitor andstay connected to their child but without the worry of burdening them with a smartphone at an early age. The Alcatel MOVETIME Family Watch 3G is available exclusively through Vodafone Australia allows children to call or message their parents or friends while providing accurate location tracking and geo-fencing features. Parents, through the TCL Move app, can view their child’s location and contact the device at any time. This allows parents to provide connectivity to their child so they can contact friends and family but without the need to buy them a…

A new property development in Sydney’s north shore by Metro Property Development will be the first in Australia to offer residents $0 electricity bills by integrating battery power into each of the homes. The Nines will be made up of nine dwellings that will each include 3.6kWp solar system featuring 360w 20 per cent efficiency panels and a 7.5kWh sonnenBatterie to store the power produced, according to Natural Solar, Australia’s largest solar and battery installer. This will completely power each of the three-storey three-bedroom homes which are selling from $2.626m. And with the $0 power bills, residents are expected to…

Get updated and educated about the latest consumer tech news and reviews with Episode 338 of the top-rating Tech Guide podcast, hosted by editor Stephen Fenech. On this week’s show, the 4G and 5G mobile broadband devices that will be keeping us connected in 2019, we share even more details about the Huawei Mate X foldable smartphone and Tesla will unveil a brand new electric car model next week. In the Tech Guide reviews, we take a look at the Samsung Galaxy S10+ smartphone, SanDisk has released the world’s fastest 1TB microSD card and the NRL and AFL seasons are…

If you do anything for 10 years you’re going to get really good at it. Case in point – the new Samsung Galaxy S10 – easily the best smartphone the electronics giant has produced. Years ago, Samsung was trying to match the wildly popular iPhone but today with the Galaxy S10 – it has come up with the device that has set a new standard for build quality and innovative features in a smart-looking package. There are improvements across the board – the screen, the camera, the AI and the design. Put them all together and you get one of…

Tesla CEO Elon Musk has announced the company will unveil its latest vehicle – the Model Y – on March 14 at an event at the company’s design studio in Los Angeles. Musk revealed the news on Twitter. The Model Y is an SUV that will be a smaller and cheaper version of the Model X just as the Model 3 is a more affordable version of the Model S. But it is understood the new Model Y will not include the falcon wing doors like the Model X. Musk also said the Model Y is 10 per cent larger…

Western Digital has unveiled the world’s fastest 1TB microSD card that can handle the most demanding photography needs and shooting in 4K resolution. The SanDisk 1TB Extreme UHS-I microSDXC card was introduced at last week’s Mobile World Congress in Barcelona., SanDisk, a division of Western Digital, has been an industry leader in the memory space offering both performance and higher capacities. The 1TB microSD card is designed for use with smartphones, drones and action cameras and can reach speeds of up to 160MB per second. That means users able to transfer files in nearly half the time than that of…

The 2019 NRL and AFL seasons are about to kick off the and for the first time you will be able to enjoy them in brilliant 4K on Foxtel’s Ultra HD channel. Matches will air live in 4K and with no ad breaks during play. Selected match ups in the NRL and AFL along with Super Rugby and women’s football will also be getting the 4K treatment. This comes after Foxtel’s successful 4K summer of sport which kicked off with the Supercars in Bathurst and continued with Australia’s first ever 4K cricket broadcasts. Foxtel will broadcast more than 40 NRL…

Two Blokes Talking Tech Episode 380, with Tech Guide editor Stephen Fenech and EFTM’s Trevor Long, is coming to you from Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. On this week’s show, the blokes chat about the Huawei Mate X foldable phone and how it stacks up to the against the Samsung Fold unveiled the previous week. Also on the agenda the camera phones that have upped their game including devices from Oppo and Nokia. The other big theme for the show was 5G and we talk about the 5G devices unveiled including the Samsung Galaxy S10 5G and the LG V50…

Samsung has launched a solid competitor for the Microsoft Surface with its new Galaxy Book 2 that’s packed with features and includes accessories like the S Pen and keyboard. The PC is always connected thanks to the included Gigabit LTE connectivity. The device has a 12-inch sAMOLED FHD+ with a resolution of 2160 x 1440. Galaxy Book 2 is a 2-in-1 which means it can be used as a tablet and as a laptop by attaching the included keyboard. Users can also write directly on the screen with the also included S Pen. The device is powered by a Qualcomm…

The winners of the global Shot on iPhone Challenge have just been announced with the 10 selected winners’ pictures being featured on billboards in selected cities. Unfortunately, no Australians made the list with the top 10 winners coming from countries including Singapore, Germany, Belarus, Israel and the US. The images capture a variety of scenes including cities, animals, reflections and the beauty of the ordinary. The winning shots came from a range of iPhone models from the iPhone XS Max to the iPhone 7. The international panel of judges for the Shot on iPhone Challenge included Pete Souza, Austin Mann,…

Tech Guide got to spend some more time using the stunning Huawei Mate X foldable phone at Mobile World Congress. After being one of the first publications to get our hands on the device, we spent our second session with the phone taking a deeper dive into the features and performance. The Mate X was even more impressive than the first time we saw it. That first time was the equivalent of seeing the iPhone for the first time in 2007. https://youtu.be/WTeYqUS2vXs Up close, you can see the device has been very well crafted. We had a chance to dive…

5G has been a hot topic at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona and there have now been several 5G handsets and a 5G mobile hub announced. But what exactly are the benefits of 5G and why will customers want it? There are several factors that will make 5G a compelling offering. The five main things are speed, capacity, low latency, connectivity and energy efficiency. SPEED The most obvious benefit of 5G is speed. Theoretically 5G could reach speeds of up to 20Gbps –  potentially 100 times faster than 4G LTE. This will enable users to access information faster than ever…

There’s still plenty of speed with 4G as Netgear has demonstrated with the new Nighthawk M2 mobile router which runs on Telstra’s 4GX LTE network which is capable of achieving speeds of up to 2Gbps. The Nighthawk M2 mobile router, which is already on sale through Telstra stores, can support up to 20 wi-fi devices simultaneously. It is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon X24 – the world’s first 2Gbps LTE modem which supports Category 20 LTE Advanced along 4X4 MIMO (multiple in, multiple out). The Netgear Nighthawk M2 mobile router has a premium finish and a colour touchscreen so users…

Episode 337 of the top-rating Tech Guide podcast hosted by editor Stephen Fenech is coming to you from Mobile Congress in Barcelona. We’ll take you through the major announcements from MWC including the Huawei Mate X folding smartphone which we were lucky enough to get our hands on. We also take a look at the Samsung Galaxy Fold which was unveiled at Unpacked in San Francisco last week, as well as other new devices launched at MWC from LG, Nokia and Alcatel. We also round up the Samsung S10 range of new devices, the Samsung S10 5G and Samsung’s new…

Nokia has raised the bar when it comes to mobile photography with the introduction of its new Nokia 9 PureView smartphone –  the world’s first to feature five rear cameras. Nokia also announced three other devices – the Nokia 4.2, the Nokia 3.2 and the Nokia 1 Plus. NOKIA 9 PUREVIEW The Nokia 9 PureView redefines all imaging technology and puts a serious photography tool in the hands of enthusiasts. The five cameras work together to capture a 60-megapixel image. It uses two lenses for accurate colour and three lenses  to provide the sharpness and detail with all five sensors…

LG has introduced two new devices at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona – the LG V50 ThinQ 5G device and the LG G8 ThinQ – which are designed to suit a broad range of users. The LG V50 ThinQ is LG’s first 5G smartphone and will be available first to Telstra customers in the first half of 2019. It’s also capable of supporting a second screen. The LG G8 ThinQ combines style and function with a sleek design and a number of innovative features. LG V50 THINQ The 5G device has a 6.4-inch QHD+ OLED FullVision Display which has a…

HTC has unveiled its new 5G Hub that will be offered to Australian customers through Telstra. It is a dedicated 5G mobile broadband hotspot that can be used at home, at work and on the move. Launched at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, the HTC 5G Hub will allow connected devices like laptops and tablets to take advantage of the faster 5G network speeds. The 5G Hub can be used as a high-speed hotspot for up to 20 devices at once and is fast enough to stream smooth 4K video and provide low latency online gaming. It’s even fast enough…

Telstra has confirmed it will be the first Australian mobile operator to offer 5G smartphones from Samsung, LG and Oppo in some exclusive first to market deals for its customers. Samsung, LG and Oppo have made exclusive device partnership arrangements with Telstra that will see the telco’s customers become the first to get 5G  devices in their hands in the first half of 2019. “Telstra is 5G-ready now.  When we began rolling out 5G technology across Australia back in August, we also started working closely with the major mobile brands and leading manufacturers of 5G handsets,” said Telstra CEO Andrew…