Author: Stephen Fenech

Leading drone brand DJI has unveiled the DJI Air 3 – the latest drone in the Air family that offers dual primary cameras to take your aerial photography to new heights. Onboard the DJI Air 3 is a wide-angle camera and a 3x medium telephoto camera which can produce 48-megapixel images and 4K HDR videos at 60fps. “The DJI Air 3 is the first drone of our Air Series which offers professional features like dual primary cameras and omnidirectional obstacle sensing and at the same time retaining its lightweight capabilities with a weight of just 720g for more freedom and…

Go to the top of the class with Episode 561 of the top-rating Tech Guide podcast hosted by Stephen Fenech so you can stay updated and educated about the latest consumer tech news and reviews. On this week’s show: are you paying for mobile data you’re not using – Circles Life can help you save money, Netflix’s password sharing crackdown has resulted in millions of new subscribers and why your future smartphone is going to look a lot different thanks to a new EU ruling. In the Tech Guide reviews we take a look at the new way to charge…

Sony has revealed its new WF-1000XM5 earphones which the company says delivers a new-level of sound quality and its best noise cancellation over an even wider bandwidth for the best performance in any environment. There are two proprietary processors in the earbuds that can cancel even more ambient sound than ever before plus dual feedback microphones and noise isolation eartips. All of that adds up to a noise cancelling quality for Sony like never before. On the audio side the Dynamic Driver X driver unit provides wide-frequency reproduction for deeper bass, crisp vocals and all the finer details. The diaphragm…

The range of HP Tank printers has been extended with the new sustainable Smart Tank portfolio that does away with costly ink cartridges and includes a healthy supply of inks that could last for years. The new HP Smart Tank printers, designed to meet the everyday needs of home users, includes 45 per cent post-consumer recycled materials. The ink jet printers of the past were expensive and would need to be replaced a few times per year. And because the print head is part of the cartridge, they can be quite expensive. It’s like getting a new engine for your…

LG has unveiled the Duobo – its first capsule coffee machine – to make it even easier to brew good coffee and with a futuristic design that looks out of this world. Introduced by LG Labs, Duobo includes a dual-capsule extraction system for two shot layered blending to give users a chance to create their own blends. On the design side, the LG Duobo looks like space capsule has just landed on your kitchen bench. It has three legs that look like landing gear supporting the capsule brewing compartment. In fact, LG chose July 20 as the launch date for…

This week we’re bringing you the 100th episode of The Best Movies You’ve Never Seen podcast. And this week we’re watching John Wick starring Keanu Reeves. We kicked off the podcast on August 13, 2021 with The Godfather. You can go back and listen to our entire back catalogue. John Wick tells the story of a man dragged back into his past – and we learn what a force he once was and will be again. Stephen watched the movie in the cinema and has rewatched not only this movie but all three sequels while Trevor is a John Wick…

Be sure to tune in to Episode 594 of the Two Blokes Talking Tech podcast with Tech Guide editor Stephen Fenech and EFTM’s Trevor Long as they dissect the biggest tech stories of the week and the latest product announcements. On this week’s show: we speculate about what Samsung will be revealing in Seoul next week and we discuss the growing foldable market including the new Moto Razr 40 Ultra. Also on the show is the new EU ruling that will change smartphones of the future and the Netflix password-sharing crackdown comes into effect. You can listen to the show…

Most Australians are paying for mobile data they are not using so Circles Life has launched a calculator to help Australians understand how much data they need and help them save big money. The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) says telco customers use an average of just 11GB of data per month. Yet the major telcos median plans offer around 35GB per month. Circles Life says one customer – 23 year-old Syroni Moore from Sydney – switched telcos to a plan that was more suitable to her data usage. As a result, she has managed to halve her phone…

The Netflix crackdown on password sharing outside your household appears to be paying off with the streaming giant adding almost six million new subscribers. This is Netflix’s largest and fastest growth since the COVID pandemic which saw more than 10 million new subscribers coming to the platform. The growth was for the April-June 2023 period according to its quarterly financial results. At the end of June, Netflix had 238.4 million subscribers. Netflix says it expects further growth throughout the year as more people are cut off from their previous household account and create their own account. Netflix announced earlier this…

Do you need to tidy up your desktop, get yourself organised and charge your smartphone and earbuds at the same time? Then what you need is the ALTI Wireless Charging Desk Mat from Journey. The desk mat (which is 68cm long and 37cm wide) has a magnetic edge on the left side so the charging pad (10cm x 37cm) can neatly attach itself. The mat itself is made of felt and vegan leather and users can choose which material they prefer being on top by simply flipping it over. It is a very generous size so it will cover most…

In the very near future your smartphone will have to have a replaceable battery thanks to the powerful and influential European Union. The EU will introduce the new law to make it easier to recycle batteries, make smartphones easier to repair and to reduce the amount of e-waste. The vote was approved by European Council and Parliament and will come into effect by 2027. This means that a customer will have to able to remove and replace the battery of the device easily and without tools. And this will apply to not just smartphones but also tablets and cameras. Companies…

Plug in and listen to Episode 560 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: we’re going to help you avoid being scammed – first up Optus has launched a new initiative with the banks and second, Norton releases a phishing dictionary to more easily identify scams. And it’s also World Emoji Day – we look at the latest emojis and how we’re using them. In the Tech Guide reviews, we take a look at the new…

Express mode for Apple Pay is now available and will make things easier for commuters in NSW using the rail, bus, ferry and light rail networks with easier contactless payments on iPhone and Apple Watch. iPhone and Apple Watch users who enable Express Mode can use their preferred debit or credit card with just a simple tap on the Opal terminals without even needing to wake or unlock their device. But the Opal Cards themselves are not supported at this time. Users also don’t have to authenticate with Face ID or Touch ID or their passcode or even open the…

Today is World Emoji Day and to mark the occasion Apple has released new emojis and Memojis for the iPhone that will be included with iOS 17. July 17 is World Emoji Day because that was the date displayed on the original calendar emoji on iPhones. Users who want the new emojis and Memojis right now can go ahead and download the iOS 17 public beta software. The new Memoji stickers include – Halo, Smirk and Peekaboo – which can now be stuck to messages, photos and documents and more. And these new Memojis can be used to create a…

The Sennheiser Profile USB Microphone is an out of the box solution for anyone who wants to get into the world of streaming or creating audio content like a podcast. It is a cardioid condenser microphone that’s available on its own with a tabletop stand ($239) or with a three-point boom arm ($349) so you can mount it on the edge of a desk and position it comfortably in front of you. For our review we received the version with the boom arm. The microphone connects via USB-C to a Mac, iPad, Windows PC and Android devices. Under the hood…

Optus has partnered with the Australian Financial Crimes Exchange (AFCX) and banks to launch a new service called Call Stop to protect customers from SMS scams. Scams are already costing Australians billions of dollars and this new initiative will weed out scammers and protect unsuspecting victims. Call Stop’s main focus is call back scams where customers receive an email or text message saying there’s an issue with their bank account and that unauthorised payments are being made. This scheme usually involves the person calling the bank or institution on the number provided. This number is actually a direct line to…

Your mission, if you choose to accept it…. This week on The Best Movies You’ve Never Seen podcast we’re watching Mission: Impossible – the first film in the franchise starring Tom Cruise. Mission: Impossible tells the story of a group of IMF agents – including Ethan Hunt (Cruise) – who must recover a top secret list of undercover agents but there is a mole at play that puts the whole operation in jeopardy. Stephen watched Mission: Impossible in the cinema and has been a fan ever since whie Trevor has seen the latest Mission: Impossible film in cinemas now but…

Jump in with the Two Blokes Talking Tech – Tech Guide editor Stephen Fenech and EFTM’s Trevor Long – for Episode 593 of the podcast that looks at the biggest tech news and product launches of the week. On this week’s show, Optus does a deal with SpaceX and Starlink, Apple launches the Beta Software Program so you can run iOS 17 and iPad OS 17 early, Threads hits more than 100 million users white Twitter tanks and Samsung releases a 98-inch TV in the battle of the big screens. You can listen to the show right here on Tech…

You can run the latest iOS 17 and iPadOS 17 software for iPhone and iPad right now by signing up to Apple’s Beta Software Program. iOS 17 and iPadOS 17 were announced at last month’s Worldwide Developer’s Conference with the official release to come in early September. But you don’t have to wait that long by joining Apple’s Beta Software Program. You can get early access and report any bugs to improve the quality and performance by sending anonymous diagnostic data to Apple. If you’re thinking of installing the new iOS 17 and the iPadOS 17 Public Betas on your…

Cyber safety leader Norton has released a dictionary of phishing attacks that can help people more easily identify fraudulent emails and text messages. The Norton Phictionary provides real life examples of scams and phishing attacks that have been responsible for two thirds of all cyber-attacks globally. New scams have become even harder to detect since cybercriminals started using AI and other new technologies. As a result they are claiming an alarming number of victims – before these scams become known to the wider community. The Norton Phictionary has been created to provide an educational approach to detecting phishing attacks and…