Are you still euphoric about your new smartphone or tablet in
2015? Then there is a huge chance that you missed the train. A couple of months
ago, I wrote about how smartphones had gotten boring, and while the newest set
of flagship devices (to be specific, the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus and the Samsung
Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge) tickle my fancy a bit, we aren’t back to the times when
we were up all night literally waiting for one leak or the other about a new
device or a new feature. We are also seeing less and less differentiators
across OEMs and platforms as the days pass.
If you are one of those “showy” people that like to make
statements with the kind of tech you’re carrying, smartphones and tablets might
be out the door for you. However, if you are looking for something else to make
statements with, these are the new must haves that are guaranteed to earn you
some stripes in that department and more importantly, they are actually useful:
Smartwatch
Whether you like to admit it or not, smartwatches are
definitely not going anywhere soon. I have always been excited at the prospects
of smartwatches, maybe not for the same reasons as everyone else, but from the
get go, they tickled my fancy.
I wouldn’t say the current range of smartwatches available
tick all the boxes, still, having had one strapped to my wrist for a few
months, I can say without a doubt that they are more useful than gimmick. On
the few occasions when I take a break from wearing one, I keep expecting my
regular watch to buzz with one notification or the other, or tell me how much
of my fitness goals I’ve achieved or maybe even show me directions while
driving, without necessarily having to take my eyes of the road.
I still have some misgivings about smartwatches as they are
today, (I should write a review soon), but I’ll be the first to admit that they
are a lot better than I expected…a lot cooler too!
Wireless audio dock
This one had been right under my nose for a while, I have
been rocking a Bose Soundlink Bluetooth Speaker III, but it wasn’t till I was
trying out Ad’s JB soundbar speaker that it occurred to me how mainstream they
had become. Let’s face it; while devices like the BlackBerry Passport and the
HTC One have decent sound outputs, they are still a far cry from the kind of
quality, that’s good enough to “turn up” to. Then consider also that laptops
and tablets which have somehow become the de facto means of consuming videos
also aren’t packing so much in the type of “oomph” in the volume department to
take your entertainment to the next level. Wireless speakers are in, because
they are portable, mostly offer great quality sound and solve the problem of
continuing the playlist that’s playing in the car, inside your house…saving you
all that time you spend sitting in the parked car waiting for a not-so-cool
song to play before getting out.
Did I mention that most of them are rechargeable? Take that
NEPA/PHCN/DISCO.
Health/fitness tracker
On your daily commute to work, I am pretty sure you have
noticed the number of people taking walks or running, with no one hot on their
heels. Fitness is now such a huge deal in these parts that there is a startup
built around fitness now. If smartwatches aren’t your thing (and even if they
are), a fitness tracker might be something that tickles your fancy. After all,
what’s the point of all the “fitfaming” if you don’t have your stats and data
to make noise about track your progress? Fitness trackers may not look as cool
or offer the functionality of smartwatches, but they are more accurate at what
they do. Plus having to explain the concept of a running band, for example
makes for a great conversation starter.
Drones
Growing up, some of us got to play with remote control
planes/choppers which were loads of fun, even though in retrospect, most of
them had really wonky controls and weren’t intuitive. For the rest of us who
weren’t ajebutter, at the very least, we got to play with paper planes and
kites. The need to control something in flight has always been a strong desire
for most.
With drones now commercially available and cheap ones in
particular being churned out of China on the daily, that desire is one that can
finally be fed. What’s cooler, they aren’t just toys any more. With cameras,
smooth controls and the ability to hover in the same spot, their use now
extends way beyond their value as toys.
Kindle
Not a lot of people like reading, but everyone likes someone
who is well read (asides the I-Too-Knows), so reading is definitely a “new”
cool. In many regards, these days, meeting someone who reads extensively is
almost like meeting a real-life ninja – we know they exist, and they’ll have
cool tricks to show us, but don’t come across them very often.
You know what’s not so cool though? A stack of paperbacks
(well, except they are in a shelve as part of the decor). E-Ink readers and
Kindles in particular are functional and really cool to look at. They serve
that cool, serious, studious look without looking like you’re from a ’80s TV
show.
Asides smartphones and tablets, these are other things you
should be checking out. We will have a bunch of reviews in some of those
categories up shortly, before then though, did we miss any? Let us know!
