Author: Stephen Fenech

When it comes to recycling, not everyone is across the best ways of disposing their trash in the right way which is where a new device called Eugene comes in. It can tell you how to recycle before you put the item in the bin. Often people who are unsure of whether a product can be recycled will, more often than not, just put in the bin. But with Eugene you’ll never miss this opportunity. Users are encouraged to locate the device near your trashcan. It has a screen and a bar code reader so if you’re unsure of what…

Wireless earphones and the way we use them have been reinvented with the IQbuds which can stream your music in high quality but also enhance your ability to hear in noisy environments. The intelligent wireless earbuds offer assistive audio with so many uses rather than being a one-trick pony that just plays music. The IQbuds play your music and play it well but also offers a number of other options so you can shut out the world around you and hear what you want to hear. It also offers speech amplification so it can block out the noisy surrounding like…

A MacBook Pro has saved a man’s life during today’s shooting in the baggage claim area of the Fort Lauderdale airport where five people killed and eight other injured. In an interview with CNN, Stephen Frappier says his backpack containing his MacBook Pro laptop was hit by a stray bullet as he dived to the floor to take cover. “The backpack saved my life,” a shaken Frappier told CNN’s Anderson Cooper. “I felt something hit my back and I thought it was luggage (falling off the carousel) at that time. “It was only later when I went to the bathroom…

Two Blokes Talking Tech, Tech Guide editor Stephen Fenech and EFTM’s Trevor Long, are in Las Vegas for the Consumer Electronics Show and discuss what they discovered on Day One. On today’s show, the blokes talk about LG’s 4K UHD player and the highlights of the company’s CES booth and the revival of the BlackBerry with a brand new device. Also on the program, the controversial exercise bike for toddlers, Apple’s App Store record and the underwater drone that can make fishing a whole lot easier. You can listen to the show right here on the Tech Guide site using…

The wearable activity tracker just got a whole lot smaller with a device that can track your movement, sleep and even your heart rate and is small enough to fit on your finger. The Motiv Ring is surprisingly small (it’s just 8mm wide) and light and a lot less obtrusive than any other tracker on the market that’s worn around your wrist or attached to your clothing. And despite its small size, the Motiv Ring still manages to capture the same amount of data as the larger products. The device has a three-axis accelerometer and a tri-coloured LED indicator for…

Have you ever wished your dog could just tell you how it’s feeling? With the new Smart Dog Collar that becomes a lot easier because it can track your pooch’s behaviour and detect any changes. The device, which was introduced to the media at CES in Las Vegas, fits onto any dog collar and acts as a tracker that monitors its activities, sleep patterns and can pick up any mood variations. If something unusual is detected, the owner will receive an alert and suggestions on the best actions to take. The Smart Dog Collar has an onboard neural network that…

The BlackBerry is making a comeback. TCL has offered the first glimpse of the new BlackBerry Keyboard Smartphone at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. TCL, the large Chinese company that also owns thriving phone brand Alcatel, has entered a licensing agreement with BlackBerry that includes the brand and security software. The new BlackBerry device offers the same key strengths that made the brand a dominant force before the smartphone was reinvented by Apple’s iPhone – security, productivity and reliability. It has a full keyboard – the feature that made BlackBerry users hang on to their devices for as…

The Two Blokes Talking Tech, Tech Guide editor Stephen Fenech and Trevor Long, are live in Las Vegas for the Consumer Electronics Show and run their eye over the major announcements from Press Day. Press Day takes place the day before CES starting with LG at 8am followed by Hisense, Samsung and wraps up with Sony which is held at the company booth at the Las Vegas Convention Centre At each of these press conferences, the media gets a sneak peek at what they can look forward to seeing on the stands. LG wowed attendees with its Signature OLED W…

Sony will this year offer a Bravia OLED TV in its product line up and combine the impressive screen technology with its 4K HDR X1 Extreme processor to deliver a stunning picture and high quality sound. Unveiled at its press conference on the eve of the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, the Sony Bravia OLED A1E is designed to look like a picture frame with the bottom edge of the TV resting on the entertainment unit instead of being slightly elevated on a stand. On the audio side, Sony has also added some impressive features with the A1E also…

Samsung, still smarting from last year’s Note 7 debacle, came out on the front foot at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas with a new QLED TV and more connected home appliances. But right off the bat, the company addressed the elephant in the room and acknowledged the “challenges” of 2016. Samsung America President and Chief Operating Officer Tim Baxter kicked off the CES press conference by acknowledging the Note 7 issues and vowing to “understand what happened and make sure it doesn’t happen again”. The focus was immediately shifted back to the products where Samsung has a substantial…

The Hover Camera Passport is your personal selfie drone that’s safe and easy to fly and a great way of capturing those special moments of yourself on the go and on your travels. The drone, which was on show at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, weighs just 242g and 33cm long and is small enough to carry around with you so it’s on hand to take flight whenever you sense a photo op. It can capture 4K video and 13-megapixels stills and comes with two batteries for a combined total of about 20- minutes of flight time. Hover…

Hisense has continued its momentum in the TV market with some key announcements at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas including an update to its popular range of ULED TVs. The Hisense 4K ULED Series 9 is the company’s new flagship that will be available in sizes up to 85-inch. The latest Hisense ULED TV is three times brighter than OLED (organic light emitting diode) and has enhanced colour and contrast and superior black levels. The other features of ULED includes a wide colour gamut, Ultra Smooth Motion Rate and 4K upscaling. Also onboard is a redesigned Hisense smart…

The Two Blokes Talking Tech, Tech Guide editor Stephen Fenech and EFTM’s Trevor Long, are back for 2017 and coming to you live from the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. Stephen and Trevor will be recording a Two Blokes Talking Tech podcast every day from CES to keep you up to date with all of the product announcements from the show. Today’s show was recorded after CES Unveiled – a preview event ahead of the show proper that allows smaller exhibitors to show off their products to the media. It is where the next big product is usually introduced…

There’s plenty of smart refrigerators out there but how can you make your existing fridge smarter. Answer: With the Smarter FridgeCam that allows you to see what’s in your fridge at any time. The device attaches to the door of your fridge and uses a wide-angle lens to capture everything that’s inside. And not only can it send you the latest image whenever you want to check if you need milk or eggs, the Smarter FridgeCam can also get to know the products inside and remind you when you need to pick up some groceries. The app will even send…

LG has kicked off the 2017 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas in dazzling style with its latest OLED TV model that is so thin and light it can be mounted on the wall like wallpaper. The 77-inch LG OLED TV Signature W is just 2.57mm thick and can be placed directly on the wall using magnetic brackets and eliminating any gaps between the TV and the wall. LG also announced home assistant robots and an even smarter refrigerator at its press conference that kicks off the shows Media Day on the eve of the CES show proper. LG OLED…

Lenovo will release a smart speaker which, like Amazon’s Echo, is also your voice-activated assistant that can talk to so it can read you the news, play your music and give you a weather report before you go out. Unveiled at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, the Lenovo Smart Assistant is a cylindrical speaker which utilizes Amazon’s virtual assistant Alexa to power the smarts in device. There are already more than 65 per cent of people around the world already use voice recognition on their mobile devices and PC so the Lenovo Smart Assistant will fit in quite…

LG will unveil a new range of Super UHD LCD TVs with Nano Cell technology at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas which will offer lifelike images and brilliant colours. The company says its new panel technology will take LCD TV quality to an all-new level. The Super UHD LCD TVs – models SJ9500, SJ8500 and SJ8000 – offer Active HDR (high dynamic range) with Dolby Vision which can handle multiple HDR formats. This means customers can be assured they can access a wider range of high-quality HDR content. On the design side, the LG Super UHD LCD TVs…

The Tech Guide podcast is back for 2017 with Episode 230 with editor Stephen Fenech in Las Vegas for the Consumer Electronics Show to keep you updated and educated about the new products that will be unveiled. Also on the show, LG’s eye-catching and ear-catching audio products which include a levitating speaker and finding the right mobile plan to suit your needs. In the Tech Guide reviews, we check out the Optus Home Wireless Broadband, Oppo’s new 4K UHD Blu-ray Disc player and the Foxtel app just for kids. In the Tech Guide Help Desk we suggest ways you can…

2017 is almost here and naturally technology advances will be front and centre in the new year but what are the top technology trends that we will be seeing? It will be a brave new world in 2017 where the actual technology won’t be the focus but the way we use it. Improvements in the quality of our technology – picture quality, screen size, speed and processing power – will continue but the trends that will emerge will have more to do with how we put that tech to use. The new trends, products and services will be showcased at…

LG has revealed two new wearable wireless audio products ahead of next week’s Consumer Electronics Show that provide an all-new experience for listening and watching your favourite content on the go. The LG Tone Studio and Tone Free introduce a new level of wearable sound and will be among LG’s new products that will be on show at CES in Las Vegas. The Tone Studio (HBS-W120) is a personal wearable speaker system with four speakers – two full range speakers on top and two vibrating speakers on the bottom. These combine to create a personal surround sound experience while watching…