Author: Stephen Fenech

Google Max – the biggest and loudest Google Home speaker – has been launched in Australia with a room-filling sound and a layer of intelligence to easily control the music with your voice. It will go on sale in Australia on August 9 through JB Hi-Fi, Harvey Norman, The Good Guys, David Jones, Officeworks and the Google Store. It will be priced at $549. Google Max has been designed to offer premium sound. In fact, it is 20 times louder than Google Home. And thanks to its 4.5-inch high-excursion woofers it can deliver some seriously powerful bass. It is powered…

There is a new way to get around town – it’s the Segway Drift W1. These are lightweight electric skates which offer a whole new type of personal transportation. Over the years Segway has produced a number of products that offer new types of mobility and now it has come up with a pair of electric shoes that can achieve speeds of up to 12km/h. The Segway Drift W1, available now for pre-order, features a large wheel on the base of each skate. Riders simply stand on each of the skates and shift their way forward or backwards to get…

Step inside the NRL Bunker and hear about the technology behind it and the people who run it in Episode 310 of the top-rating Tech Guide podcast, hosted by editor Stephen Fenech. On this week’s show we take a tour of the NRL Bunker, talk about the amazing technology that powers the command centre and chat to the people that make it work for every NRL match. Also on the show, Samsung has unveiled new soundbars and our appetite for streaming video on demand services like Netflix and Stan is growing. In the Tech Guide reviews, we take a look…

Wireless charging is becoming even more common for smartphones, including Apple’s and Samsung’s latest devices, and Belkin has responded with two new wireless charging solutions. The Boost Up Wireless Charging Stand 10W and Boost Up Bold Wireless Charging Pad 10W was showcased at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas back in January and they are now available in stores. With 10W output, the Belkin provide optimal charging for the iPhone X, iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus, Samsung, LG, Sony and other Qi- enabled devices. Both products are available in black or white. BELKIN BOOST UP BOLD WIRELESS CHARGING STAND…

Alcatel has a regular habit of showing just how much value it offers with its smartphones. The latest example is the Alcatel 1C which has a 5.34-inch 18:9 screen which is priced at less than $100. And were not talking about a cheap and nasty looking product. The Alcatel 1C has a premium look and feel that customers would think costs hundreds of dollars more when they get their hands on it. Which makes the fact that it only costs $89 even more astounding. There are iPhone and Samsung cases that cost more than that. The Alcatel 1C, available in…

The NRL Bunker plays an essential part in every rugby league match. It is the place where the line-ball calls are decided so it is important for officials to have the latest technology at their fingertips. Tech Guide was given a behind the scenes tour of the NRL Bunker and the complex hardware and software and also met the operators who make it all work quickly and efficiently. The idea of the NRL Bunker was conceived in 2012 after a controversial final series which included a contentious decision which ended the North Queensland Cowboys in their semi-final against the Manly…

We are living in the world where everything revolves around the digital space. Basically, everything that we do now requires us to deal with the digital sphere, including even paying for our bills. In the workplace, many tasks are now accomplished using a computer, which is an essential tool that allows us handle different types of assignments. This reason alone is enough to understand that it is crucial to at least possess the basic IT knowledge and skills to enable us perform comfortably some of our everyday activities. Employers nowadays prefer to hire people who have basic IT knowledge. Furthermore,…

Tune in to Episode 353 of the popular Two Blokes Talking Tech podcast with Tech Guide editor Stephen Fenech and EFTM’s Trevor Long as they go through the week’s biggest stories and products. On this week’s show, Telstra and Vodafone unveil new plans that can preserve your data and get rid of excess data charges while an ACCAN report slams the telcos for poor customer service. Samsung has come up with an unbreakable display, Apple issues a bug fix for its latest MacBook Pro, new “sextortion” email scam and Hisense’s newest flagship TV. In the minute reviews, we talk about…

There are already a number of streaming devices on the market but the NVIDIA Shield offers a few extras you won’t find on other products specially if you’re as much into gaming as streaming the latest TV shows and movie. Running the Android operating system, NVIDIA Shield offers everything you’d expect including Netflix and Stan streaming services. The unit is surprisingly small – slightly larger than a smartphone and comes with a small controller and (if you pay a little more) an impressive gaming controller. But NVIDIA’s DNA is also evident here so you can also play Android games in…

Samsung has announced its latest soundbars – the N950 and N850 – which have been engineered in the company’s LA-based audio labs to deliver remarkable cinematic sound. The N950 provides 7.1.4 surround sound with Dolby Atmos while the N850 produces 5.1.2 channels. The new Samsung soundbars are designed to offer high performance as well as simplicity so customers can easily enhance their viewing experience. Each of the soundbars produce room-filling audio with impressive directional surround sound. The N950 also has Dolby Atmos which makes the sound appear to come from above and all directions. Also included are two rears with…

It’s a painful (and expensive) reality for smartphone users – cracked screens after an accidental drop but Samsung has come up with an OLED display that’s unbreakable. Samsung Display announced its unbreakable smartphone panel has just been certified by Underwriters Laboratories. The OLED panel is flexible with an unbreakable substrate and has an overlay window which is securely adhered to it. Existing screens attach a window made of glass which often break on impact when dropped. “The fortified plastic window is especially suitable for portable electronic devices not only because of its unbreakable characteristics, but also because of its lightweight,…

Rakuten Kobo has launched its latest digital e-reader – the Kobo Clara HD – which includes its latest 6-inch high-definition display and backlighting system so you can read anywhere and anytime. Kobo Clara HD’s 6-inch display has a high resolution with 300ppi (pixels per inch) to offer a crisp paper-like experience like reading a real book. The electronic ink screen offers a wide viewing angle with zero reflection even if you are reading in bright sunlight. It’s also easier on the eyes when compared to backlit LCD screens found in smartphones and tablets. The on-board ComfortLight Pro makes it possible…

Apple has fixed a bug with its latest and fastest MacBook Pro laptop which, in some usage scenarios, was not performing to the level of the previous model much to the disappointment of customers who were considering cancelling their pre-orders. The issue first came to light when YouTuber Dave Lee shared a video showing the new top-of-the-line 15-inch MacBook Pro, with the six-core Intel Core i9 processor, was 10 per cent slower in the rendering of a five minute 5K video than the previous generation 15 inch MacBook Pro with a Core i7 processor. This unintentional throttling was the result…

Vodafone as outlined its new range of simpler plans which now include the Vodafone Pass which can provide content streaming without the risk of going over your data allowance. The Vodafone Pass is available across four categories – chat, social, music and video and are priced at between $5 and $15 per month. The idea of these passes is to provide a safety net for customers so they don’t pay for excess data usage streaming the content they love. For this flat rate, Vodafone customers have unmetered streaming when they have one of these passes. But the speed of that…

Tune in to Episode 309 of the top rating Tech Guide podcast, hosted by editor Stephen Fenech, so you can stay updated and educated about the latest consumer tech news and reviews. On this week’s show, telco customer service a major fail according to a new report, the new housing development where residents create and share their power and an Australian is among the winners in the iPhone Photography Awards. In the Tech Guide interview we chat with Dr Joanne Orlando, a leading expert when it comes to children and technology, about how parents can keep their kids safe online.…

Telstra has unveiled a new range of flexible mobile plans which have finally done away with excess data charges as a part of its restructuring strategy and to improve customer loyalty. The new consumer plans for smartphones and tablets focus on simplicity and will give customers the option of removing excess data charges with the new system called Peace of Mind Data. So rather than paying for the amount of excess data you use, Peace of Mind Data comes into play to help customers get to the end of the month for a flat $10 fee. Technically, this is an…

Once you see the Panasonic OLED TVs – you can’t unsee them. The quality is so high, the colours so rich and the blacks so deep, anything else near them pales in comparison. It’s now wonder Hollywood uses these same Panasonic OLED screens to determine the best quality for its films. And Panasonic is bringing that standard to our homes with the Hollywood Cinema Experience (HCX) – a 4K processor that delivers superior picture quality. Tech Guide took a closer look at the flagship Panasonic OLED TVs – the FZ1000U and the FZ950U. The only difference here is the addition…

JBL has launched a new range of Bluetooth speakers to suit a wide range of users and price points – the Go 2, the Clip 3 and the Xtreme 2 – and they all share JBL’s high definition sound quality. These new JBL speakers also offer long battery life, waterproof durability and ease of portability as well as being controllable through your mobile device. “Our Bluetooth range of speakers keep getting better and better, all for the same price,” says Marcus Fry, Brand Activation Director of ANZ at Harman. “Fashion colours, durability, portability and JBL sound make this new range the perfect…

Hisense has unveiled its latest flagship ULED – the U9D – in Moscow this week which features breakthrough technology including a dynamic backlight that can be divided into 5376 zones. This means the U9D will be the most partitioned and refined TV ever produced which, combined with the company’s proprietary ULED technology, will aim to set a new standard in the market. The multizone dynamic backlight control is the result of six years of research which produced the Hiview LED technology which can upgrade image brightness, improve contrast and gradation level, enhance the dark details and response time simultaneously. With…

One of the challenges for photographers and videographers in the field is backing up their memory cards but the new WD My Passport Wireless SSD has come to the rescue. The My Passport Wireless SSD is an all-in-one device that has a built in SD card reader so users can upload their photos and videos into the portable drive’s memory on the go. You can even connect an external card reader and the drive will still ingest all the content from any of the cards it supports. The device is square and is 13.5 cm on each side so it’s…