Indice dei contenuti per July 2017 in Stuff UK

It’s summer, and that can only mean one thing. No, not topless skinheads parading around your local park, but big sporting events on the telly. From the Champions League final to England and South Africa’s Test series and the British GP, much of this awesome TV will be screened in 4K. Stuck with an old-fashioned HD set? Then you’ve got two choices: ingratiate yourself with that work colleague who has more money than personality (you know the one), or fix your peepers on our ultimate 4K TV buyer’s guide. Whether you’ve got £500 or £5000 to spend, we’ve picked out the perfect new screen for you. Better yet, it’s not a World Cup year so you won’t spend all that money to watch England scale new heights of incompetence. I…

#23 WINDOWS 10 S Remember Windows RT? No? That’s probably because it was a terrible interface that blighted some Microsoft machines. Poking its nose in at the panes now, though, is its spiritual successor: Windows 10 S. And by poking we mean it’ll be installed as standard on the new Surface Laptop (see p29). Will be it be just as stinky as RT? Early signs suggest not. Windows 10 S is, in essence, a pared-back version of the full-fat Windows 10, designed to deliver Chromebook startup speeds and cloud storage reliance, alongside lockeddown security to keep baddies away from your Word manuscripts. To achieve that rapidity and reliability, the new OS makes a sacrifice familiar to RT users: only software from the Windows app store can be installed on devices…

DronePrix AR £free / iOS, Android There’s a future in them there drones. No, not assisted shopping, reconnaissance or food drops for flood victims. We’re talking about racing. In the sky. With mini flying machines. Grab DronePrix AR and you’ll be able to pilot your DJI Phantom 3, Phantom 4 or Mavic Pro through a sky-high virtual obstacle course, coveting points and a speedy time. It’s all about collecting coins and avoiding obstacles, while pushing your joystick finesse to the limit in the name of shaving seconds off your PB. And, once you’ve mastered the courses, you can go up against the world’s best and attempt to top the global leaderboards. But this is better than any video game, because in the sky everyone can see you win.…

• NEXT ISSUE August A summer of snappery On sale 06/07/17 HIGHLIGHTS: Aphex Twin Arab Strap Death Grips Thee Oh Sees Nina Kraviz Slowdive Flamingods TRANSFORMERS: THE LAST KNIGHT Some would say a fifth Transformers film is four too many. To those people, Michael Bay presumably yells “boom” before flinging dollars in the air. Enlisting Stanley Tucci and Mark Wahlberg to once again watch robots bash it out, this one’s all about humans versus Transformers. FIELD DAY 2017 This one-day festival, held in London’s Victoria Park, hosts the kind of indie randoms that’ll be the bands you’re banging on about for the rest of the year. Well, the month, perhaps. And that’s only if you can remember any of it after trawling through the craft beer and Jagermeister tents… THE…

FACTUAL Planet Earth II ▪ Ultra HD Blu-ray There’s no better way to experience 4K than a nature documentary. Trust us. From the bright pink flamingo bathing in a shimmering blue pool to a yellow jaguar lurking within the dense green jungle, there’s an abundance of colour within the animal kingdom. And it’s not just stunning visuals that are on offer here – David Attenborough’s narration will stir your emotions while also leaving you with more knowledge about the world we inhabit. The White Helmets ▪ Netflix Has watching the news given you the impression that all Syrians are refugees? The Syria Civil Defence, aka the White Helmets, are a group of volunteers who rush to the scene of any bombing in the country and scour the wreckage for survivors.…

LIGHTWEIGHT The solo mission Nemo GoGo Elite Offering many of the home comforts of a proper tent in a pack not much bigger than a traditional one-man bivvy bag, this single-skin design has one inflatable support beam that can be blown up in just 10 seconds from inside or out – which is handy if the weather turns on you. £430 / ultralightoutdoorgear.co.uk The adventurous one Mountain Hardwear Ghost UL 2 Tent . is double-walled beauty weighs less than 1kg but still has space for two, plus a porch (or vestibule if you’re American) with room for boots and bags. With fully taped seams and a completely waterproof flysheet, it’s ideal if you want a tent that’s easy to pitch and pack up every day. £400 / cotswoldoutdoor.com The no-nonsense…

Stuff, I plan on eating an industrial quantity of BBQ food this summer but I’ve heard my body might not take too kindly to regular servings of spare rib with a side of chicken kebab. How can I balance out my gluttony without doing something stupid and expensive, like signing up for a gym membership? 1 Download these apps • Streaks Workout Don’t have any gym equipment? That’s no excuse for not getting a sweat on. Streaks Workout is an app that makes it easy for you to train up every day by concentrating on simple exercises. Just choose how much time you want to dedicate to self-betterment and get cracking. £2.99 / iOS • Diets are for Idiots Of course they’re not, but yo-yoing between health fads isn’t smart…

▪ Ticker slicker The heart-rate tracking is generally accurate and responsive. Comparing them to a MyZone MZ-3 chest strap, heart readings were almost spot-on, if slightly less sensitive to small changes. ▪ Figure digger The Under Armour Record app is designed to work with these buds. It’s run of the mill in what it delivers, with workout modes for recording your activity, as well as heartrelated feedback. ▪ Dapper tapper Touch the back of the right earphone and it’ll announce your present pulse, which is useful when you’re mid-workout and much less hassle than having to pull out your smartphone. ▪ Fairer pairer Syncing is straightforward via Bluetooth, and the range is good – I was able to walk 30ft away from the paired phone without dropping audio. The inline…

Moto G5 Plus What’s the story? The Moto G has been our top sub-£200 phone for years now, and the excellent G5 keeps up that trend. And the Plus version? It offers a few improved specs and a very slightly larger screen, but it’s not immediately obvious that these upgrades are worth the price hike. Still, it’s over £200 cheaper than the Honor 8 Pro. And while the whole idea of getting a budget phone is that you have to make some spec sacrifices in order to save your money, this Moto still gives you cool additions such as 4K video shooting and TurboPower charging, which emphasise just how great a deal this smartphone is. Is it any good? In the smartphone world, ‘Plus’ usually means you get a 5.5in…

• TIPS & TRICKS • Holler “Hey Bixby!” at your S8 and its voice assistant can dictate texts, su est pubs and much more. • You can customise the S8’s screened e feeds for the weather, news and other notifications. • Hold down the S8’s ‘recents’ key and tap the multi-window button to open two apps at once. Samsung Galaxy S8 £689 / samsung.com You don’t need us to tell you that the Galaxy S8 is a bezel-less thing of wonder. Just look at it: glorious! And beneath that gorgeous facade lies an equally sumptuous blend of power and performance. With enough oomph to run any app you please, and a point-and-shoot camera to rival both the iPhone 7 Plus and the Google Pixel, this really is an astoundingly good…

• TIPS & TRICKS • You can confi€ure the Garmin’s swipeable data screens for the stats you want to see. • A click on the ri€ht button brin€s up a list of sports, from €olf to stand-up paddleboardin€. • The Vivoactive HR will last for around five days before clamourin€ for the clip-on USB char€er. Garmin Vivoactive HR £192 / garmin.com Garmin offers a bewildering array of fitness trackers and outdoorsy GPS watches, but the Vivoactive HR is the one you want. It’s packed to the gills with long-lasting, easy-to-use and rewarding fitness cleverness. That means it contains the daily step and sleep tracking that you can get in other bands costing under a ton, but also the optical heart-rate monitor, touchscreen display and smartphone notifications that you’d normally pay…

TURN A MOVIE INTO A LANGUAGE COURSE IN THE NEXT ISSUE OF Stuff GUIDE TO TRAVEL PHOTOGRAPHY XBOX PROJECT SCORPIO SONY A1 OLED ON SALE 6 JULY SUBSCRIBE ONLINE NOW… GET IT DELIVERED FOR FREE AND SAVE UP TO 53% ON THE COVER PRICE! Call 0344 848 8806 Subscribe now and get a free TP-Link RE200 Wi-Fi Range Extender! Full details on p100. Learning a new language can be tedious, but get your favourite films involved and you’ll soon be picking up the basics for fun: Get Caterpillar. Firstly, you’ll need to download Caterpillar (£free, caterpillarapp.tv) to your Mac or PC. The free version is fine, though it does limit you to only being able to use three minutes of each video. The premium version doesn’t have such limits but…

I HUNG OUT OF A HELICOPTER TO TEST SMARTPHONES …because bowls of fruit, late-night pub selfies and my back garden clearly weren’t a good enough test for today’s superphones, which have more camera smarts than your local branch of Jessops. Or at least that’s what Samsung wanted me to think, when they thrust a Galaxy S8 in my hand and a harness around my unmentionables, before whisking me 1200 feet into the air to lord it over all of Greater London. Tom Morgan, Reviews Editor I TURNED UP MY GUITAR WITH A KEYBOARD There are three great things about the SD30, an all-valve 30-Watt guitar amplifier from British indie maker Stone Deaf. Firstly, as you can see from the picture below, it’s got lots of pretty coloured lights on it.…

I feel like I’ve seen something like this before…? If you’re a fan of easy-rolling rubber, you’ll have seen that Bridgestone has been pursuing an air-free future for a few years now. It went airless with a low-profile car tyre concept back in 2013, but this is the first time it’s turned its attention towards pedal-pushers. That thing looks like quite a kerfuffle to fix, though. In theory, that’s not something you should ever need to worry about. See, the new wheel uses a system of blade-like spokes, with rims wrapped in slim rubber. It’s all lightweight, strong and, most importantly, immune to the effects of pesky thorns. So you’re unlikely to have your ride disrupted by a tedious tyre change. Couldn’t I just make my own out of bamboo…

Retro rainbow SPECTRUM NEXT Picture Dundee in 1982. Now imagine a wondrous machine being carted out of the gates of the town’s Timex factory: an 8-bit computer with a colour display and modest power. Clive Sinclair’s ZX Spectrum took Dundee (and everywhere else) by storm, and created a generation of programmers in the process. Now it’s back to change the world. Again. The Spectrum Next replicates the hardware of the original, but with faster memory, novel video modes and HDMI output. It’s compatible with most expansions for the ZX, and an open-source build means you’ll be able to code like Frankie’s on the radio again. from £99 / specnext.com Light saver COSMO CONNECTED “Help,” yelled the cyclist. “I’ve tumbled again!” Miles from anywhere, he cursed his decision not to back…

FOR MOODY MOVIES Moodelizer Your friend/grandad/hamster is about to do something amazing. Your iPhone’s ready to record. But what about the soundtrack? With Moodelizer, you select a loop and use the ‘viewfinder’ area as an X/Y pad to control the music’s variance and intensity, before exporting the lot and bathing in the genius of your pointing digit. The app could do with a video import option, but it beats just slapping a boring chart hit over your video uploads. Stuff says £free / iOS FOR PILFERY PUZZLES Card Thief We’ve seen stealth executed on mobile as a clockwork board game in Hitman GO; now Card Thief mashes the genre up with solitaire to create an equally unique turn-based puzzler. You dart about a 3x3 grid of dynamic cards, grabbing stealth…

• Lend a helping hand Pop the camera gimbal off the drone via a simple unlocking mechanism, insert it into the Grip’s handle and, just like that, you have a stabilised handheld camera, a little like a simplified DJI Osmo. • Hunting for switches Controls on the handle let you switch between video, photo, burst and timelapse modes, and stop and start recording. The gimbal mount can get in the way if you try to change other settings. • Steady as she goes There’s some ‘bob’ when you’re walking, but it’s not the nausea-inducing shaking you’d ordinarily get from a handheld action cam. It’s much better than just clutching your GoPro in your hand. • Riding with the king The Grip’s also compatible with GoPro’s mount system, so you can…

THE BASICS ▪ Use virtual desktops. If you’re using just one screen for work, split your apps across multiple desktop panels. Just click into Task View from the taskbar and then add and swap between desktops there, or use Windows + Ctrl + the left and right arrows to quickly move between them. ▪ Let the kids play. Got one or more little terrors? They’re bound to want to use your PC for games and edutainment apps, but you don’t want them running into objectionable sights and frights online. Just go to Settings > Accounts, and select ‘Family & other people’. You’ll be able to add an account for a child and choose to block adult content, limit screen time, and drop some money into their digital wallets. ?Avoid ill-timed…

Apple Watch Series 2 from £369 / apple.com The original Apple Watch was already the best smartwatch to date; now it’s found its focus. The Series 2 devices come with an array of upgrades – more power, a brighter screen – along with a greater emphasis on fitness functions without a phone in tow. Both GPS and waterproofing make this a far more compelling gadget for exercise obsessives. No alternative is as fast or as well made, or has the same quality and quantity of bespoke apps. Stuff says Apple’s small tweaks and renewed sports focus add up to make the Series 2 a watershed wearable Withings Steel HR £170 / within.s.com Combining style and functionality in a way few other smartwatches manage, the Steel HR is a fantastic all-round…

Should I up.rade? SONOS PLAYBASE You scoff at your friend Paul, who settles for his television’s standard audio. Why spend big on a 4K screen only to listen to scratchy sound? So when you bought the Sonos Playbar, you were quick to invite him over so he could witness a true home cinema setup. And when he protested that the £699 price was too steep, you simply pointed out that the Playbar can also link to your other Sonos speakers for multiroom magic. One argument that you failed to counter, however, was the one about the soundbar looking ridiculous hanging over the edge of your TV cabinet. You tried to drown out his voice with the blare of a blockbuster, but deep down you knew he was right. Base player…

• TIPS & TRICKS • For aperture-priority shots, set shutter speed to auto and turn the lens rin. to the desired f-number. • Pressin. the Q button will open a custom menu, .ivin. you quick access to loads of settin.s. • Tappin. an area on the 3in touchscreen will let you set the focus point or take an instant shot. Fujifilm X-T20 £799 / fujifilm.eu Coming with the same 24.3MP APS-C sensor and processor as the X-T2, plus a touchscreen (which its sibling lacks), the X-T20 will leave you with a lot more spare cash in your account. And for most people, the new model will deliver results that are just as good as its pricier big brother’s. With well laid-out controls, a huge viewfinder, excellent autofocus and access to…

1 Pocket Sense £free (IAPs) / Android One for the paranoid, Pocket Sense blares an alarm at (but sadly won’t zap) any scoundrel who attempts to pilfer your phone from your pocket, grab it from a table, or even unplug it during charging. 2 Riven £3.99 / Android Hottish on the heels of Myst, PC classic Riven finally shows up on Android. Again it’s remastered fare, and has you swiping about to explore before the puzzles make geysers burst from your ears. 3 Burly Men at Sea £4.99 / Apple TV The fantastical story of three fishermen with impressive beards makes it to Apple’s telly box. The oddball branching storyline and illustrated facial hair should be even more arresting in big-o-vision. 4 iRig Recorder 3 £free (IAPs) / Android, iOS…

What a nice little neon factory! It’s quite the looker, huh? We like to imagine a team of tiny workers flurrying around inside the microblasted titanium shell to keep the visible gears endlessly turning. Then the luminous green liquid, which they harvest from sea-floor squid with special ink, inches around the transparent ring like an ever-creeping reminder of their alien overlords. Or something of that sort anyway. That’s a bit… dystopian. Sorry, must be the fluorescent nanoparticles going to our heads. See, this is no ordinary glow-inthe- dark ticker. It relies on two tiny purple LEDs hidden beneath the six o’clock dome to brighten things up. When fired up, the bulbs excite nanoparticles in the hour liquid into action, illuminating the lurid juice and bathing all of the watch’s skeletal…

1 Mosevic Silver Birch Burnell Sunglasses Double denim is dead. Now it’s all about the triple. Accessorise with these Cornish sunglasses made from compressed jeans for the genuinely all-denim look. £99 / mosevic.com 2 Swatch SkinMesh Soon, surely, airlines will begin charging passengers by volume. At which point this featherweight, 5.4mm-thin Swatch will allow you to Google Translate for the phrase “Yes, Miss, I’ll have that doughnut.” £80 / shop.swatch.com 3 Lomo Simple Use Film Camera The problem with smartphone photography is you instantly see your holiday snaps. This camera uses replaceable 35mm film to postpone the nostalgic slideshow. £19.90 / shop.lomography.com 4 Gerber Center-Drive There is no finer joy than booking an Airbnb and reconfiguring the owners’ fixtures and fittings. This Gerber’s centrally mounted driver is handy for removing…

When you’re moshing away at the back of the bus, nothing beats the tinny sound of tiny smartphone speakers. You know, that treble-heavy noise that pours from the bottom of your mobile, crisply amplified by cupped hands. Thing is, as good as those dinky drilled holes are for letting noise out, they’re also mighty fine at letting water in. Enter Redux, a Cambridge-based firm with a penchant for making things buzzy. It’s figured out how to use your phone’s screen as a giant speaker – and seal it in the process. Dubbed ‘bending-wave’ technology, rather than relying on the rubbish micro-speakers of today’s mobiles it vibrates the entire glass display to generate audio waves. Like the Acoustic Surface tech found in Sony’s new A1 OLED TV, Redux’s system uses several…

• Badland Winged creatures flit about terrifying forests navigating all manner of deadly traps. In multiplayer, up to four people enter this battle for survival. You can explode yourself into a dozen clones, but that isn’t going to help if a single tiny opponent sneaks through the gauntlet from hell and you don’t. Stuff says £free (IAPs) / Android £2.99 / iOS • Mucho Party This nutty mini-game selection (five for free, 44 if you pay) has you duelling for glory in everything from tap-powered hurdles races to blasting massive asteroids with a tiny gun. And to cap things off, character heads are photos of whoever’s playing, gurning or grinning depending on how well things go for them. Stuff says from £free / Android, iOS • King of Opera If…

▪ Thumb a lift The rear buttons have been moved from the left to the right of the LCD screen. You can pretty much shoot one-handed now, rather than scrabbling around for the buttons you need. ▪ Joy decision While the rear LCD still hasn’t been upgraded with a touchscreen, there is a new focus lever joystick for tweaking your focus points without having to constantly dive into the menus. ▪ Dial another day The twin command dials, one at the front and one at the back, can perform double duty. Set the EV compensation dial to Command Dial and you can make changes with the front one instead. ▪ Light work Set the EV compensation dial to Auto and flip a switch in the menus, and the front command…

£128 / stuff.tv/UAHeartRate For many gym-goers, heart-rate tracking means a choice between a chest strap or a fitness tracker. Wrap a sensor around your midriff and you’ll get high accuracy, but also the bother of another thing to lug around. Opt for a wrist-wrapper and you get comfort and convenience, but at the cost of accuracy. What’s the answer? Well, if you’re Under Armour you enlist the help of audio experts JBL and build a set of Bluetooth headphones with a heart-rate monitor built in – a fine solution in theory, because the only wearable you have to worry about now is something you’d be wearing anyway to drown out the sound of other people grunting. Meet the JBL Under Armour Sport Wireless Heart Rate headphones. While the name might…

Apple iPad Mini 4 £419 / apple.com Don’t want a big-screen iPad? You can still pick up the Mini 4, with its 7.9in display. Just bear in mind its processor will be a tad slower, and you can now only buy the Mini with a whopping great 128GB of storage. Stuff says Apple iPad (2017) Price £339 / stuff.tv/iPad2017 What’s the story? . e new iPad is now just plain old ‘iPad’. But in contrast to the revolutionary original, this latest Apple tablet looks like a regression. It’s neither thinner than the Air 2 model it replaces, nor faster than an iPad Pro. While it’s easy to conclude this latest iteration doesn’t do anything new, one look at its price will change your tune. . is is the cheapest tablet…

from £730 / stuff.tv/CanonM6 ▪ The EOS M6 comes with many of the same attractions as last year’s M5, including a 24.2MP APS-C sensor, but ditches the viewfinder for a smaller body. The result might be Canon’s best compact system camera yet. ▪ Some CSCs aren’t very compact at all, but that’s not a criticism you could level at the M6. It’s genuinely pocketable when paired with a pancake lens – although we’re talking jacket rather than jeans. ▪ The metal body is clad in a textured rubbery material, and a small protruding grip on the right side gives your fingers something to wrap around – so the tininess of the camera doesn’t translate into trickiness when it comes to holding it up. There’s a solid, classy feel. ▪ The…

NETFLIX Orange is the New Black (S5) Prison is the perfect place for a drama: fantastically vibrant characters in a state of permanent tension, wearing terrible clothes and occasionally having a riot. It’s a lot like the Stuff office during press week. Orphan Black (S5) You’d think having your own clone would be a right lark – think of all the pranks you could play. But you don’t get five seasons of sci-fithriller out of pranks – and Orphan Black is likely to get darker than ever in this final run. GLOW (S1) Inspired by the Gorgeous Ladies Of Wrestling back in the ’80s, this Netflix series focuses on the humorous side of ‘angry cuddling’. With the hilarious Alison Brie on board, it might just be a powerbomb. AMAZON VIDEO…

Sky Q from £20 + £22/month / sky.com Sky Q works flawlessly and could change the way you watch TV – especially now 4K’s arrived. With Sky Movies’ huge range of films and Sky Sports’ frequent doses of football and F1 now all in stunning Ultra HD, there’s something for everyone to treat their eyes with. And 2TB of storage means you can record 350 hours’ worth of entertainment, so you’re unlikely to be sweating over which show needs deleting. Factor in its multiroom skills, and Sky Q is undoubtedly the best TV experience you can get. Stuff says You’ll have to cough up for a subscription, but this is the best box for watching both live and recorded shows Q Acoustics Media 4 £269 / qacoustics.co.uk This soundbar has…