TECHNOLOGY
Three words that are likely to strike terror into the heart of even the most hardened entrepreneur: Christmas is coming. No matter how organised you are in your professional life, there’s something about the festive period that seems to secrete stress like a neurosis-inducing sap. ‘Tis the season for panic-buying turkeys and realising the crackers you’ve fished out of the cupboard for your ageing parents are those ever-so-unfunny erotic ones bought on a whim from Ann Summers years previously. Fortunately, we’re here to make at least one element of your Yule a little less stressful with our stuffed stocking of gifts and gadgets
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1 iPad Air
The history of Apple can best be summarised through the catalogue of iconic devices it has brought to market and, if this is the case, a new annal could be launched with the iPad Air. The tech giant’s approach to souping up its devices hasn’t changed much – its latest tablet is certainly skinnier, more mobile and comes with a battery life that would make the Duracell Bunny weep tears of defeat – but the iPad Air is perhaps the most definitive tablet the Cupertino firm has ever released. Solid, powerful and yet far from unwieldy to handle, it’s fair to say this may be the best £399 you could ever spend.
WORDS: JOSH RUSSELL
2 Google Nexus 5
Packing the latest version of Android, the much-discussed KitKat, and picking up some of the delightful aesthetic tweaks from the recent Nexus 7 reboot, the Nexus 5 shows Google isn’t scared to step up to the plate. Perhaps one of the most significant selling points is its 4.95in, 445ppi screen; considering its assumed arch-nemesis, the iPhone 5s, only musters 326ppi, this should alone be more than enough to win over the floating voters. But where the handset really slays the competition is its price: it retails at £300, nearly half the cost of the latest iPhone. It goes to show that a game-changing smartphone doesn’t necessarily have to come at a premium.
(H)The hot list.indd 1
3 The Carpenter Collection
5 dconstruct
4 Hövding
6 A Touch of Code
Living as we do in digitally permeated bubbles for the vast majority of our waking lives, sometimes at Elite Business we like our tech to be a little more honest and homespun. And it’s hard to find tech more unspoilt than Analog Watch Co.’s Carpenter Collection. A marriage of the finest leather and woods, these sylvan timepieces are as understated as they are beguiling, cutting back on extraneous complications to better display the natural beauty of the raw materials.
There’s a fair chance Hövding has already permeated your consciousness; whilst it has actually been on the market for several years, this ‘invisible bike helmet’ has really begun to pick up steam on social media of late. And it’s for good reason. This is easily the most significant redesign the humble bike helmet has ever seen. It jettisons uncomfortable polystyrene headgear for a true 21st century innovation, sleekly concealed within this unassuming neckwear. We won’t spoil how it works – instead we recommend that you track down Fredrik Gertten’s short documentary The Invisible Bike Helmet and fall in love with Hövding like we have.
Singling out just one of dconstruct’s products for praise seems a little reductive, particularly given how striking they are. Made from recycled material and ethically sourced organics and textiles, each of the Canadian jeweller’s items is created by hand and marries natural materials like banana fibre, seaweed and bamboo rings with reused, pre-consumer resin. For lovers of natural materials and a stripped-back elegance in their jewellery, you’d be hard-pressed to find a better gift.
One of art’s prime functions is to hold up a mirror to life and, given the fact that technology is very much the defininition of our times, it’s hardly surprising there are so many artists looking to explore the relationship between tech and experiential art. Knocking down all of the boundaries between art, architecture, tech and design, A Touch of Code: Interactive Installations and Experiences looks at the multitude of creatives hacking art wide open and brings together some of the most exciting examples of technological art into this striking coffee table book.
29/11/2013 21:52