This week we’ve put together our very own Smart Home Week to celebrate the latest and greatest in the smart home sector and give you tips on how to get the most out of your gadgets.
We’ve also seen the arrival of some cool new Bluetooth speakers, the Surface Pro finally giving the iPad Pro a run for its money, and a few event date announcements from Prime Day to the Pixel 9 launch event.
So in case you missed it, here are the seven biggest tech news of the past seven days.
7. We held Smart Home Week 2024
We’ve launched our new Smart Home Week for 2024, bringing you all the hottest tips and tricks to set up and get the most out of your smart home. This includes a guide on how to set up and use Alexa sound detection and our thoughts on new products like this smart Bird Buddy bird feeder.
We’ve also asked the experts about how secure smart home security cameras really are, and we’ve called on both Google and Apple to step up their game with new hardware before Amazon gets even further ahead in the race to dominate the smart home market .
6. We reviewed the Surface Pro 11 – and called it the best Surface ever
We’ve already called the new Microsoft Surface Pro 11 the best surface ever, thanks to its “swift performance, excellent battery life, improved compatibility, and new AI-powered apps that will only get better with time.”
Starting at $999.99 / £1,049.99 / AU$1,899.99, this tablet isn’t just any tablet; it’s a bonafide Windows 11 machine with a 10-core Qualcomm Snapdragon X Plus chip, 2.8K LCD display, 16GB RAM and 256GB SSD – though you can upgrade to a 12-core Snapdragon X Elite, 16GB RAM and 512GB SSD model from £1,499 $.99 / £1,549 / AU$2,699.
This is the first proper competition the iPad Pro has ever had, and as we say in our review, “Apple should absolutely be scared.”
5. Prime Day 2024 dates revealed
After an accidental leak of Prime Day 2024 dates, Amazon has officially confirmed that Amazon Prime Day will take place on July 16-17 in the US and UK.
As part of the sale, Prime members can expect literally thousands of deals across a wide range of popular tech brands, including Sony, Samsung, Ninja, GHD, Fitbit, Oral-B, Bose and Shark to name a few. .
If you’re not already a Prime member (and haven’t signed up for Prime before), you can sign up for a 30-day free trial below to take advantage of the handful of early offers that have rolled out and be ready for the full version. sale when it launches in a few weeks.
4. Google and Samsung have set dates for their next phone launch events
Both Google and Samsung have announced dates for their other tech events, with Galaxy Unpacked landing earlier on July 10, 2024, with the event starting at 9am ET / 6am PT / 2pm BST.
We’re expecting the arrival of its new foldable phones, the Galaxy Z Fold 6 and Galaxy Z Flip 6, a successor of some kind to the Galaxy Watch 6 (and possibly the Galaxy Watch Ultra), and the highly anticipated Galaxy Ring.
Google’s announcement is more surprising because it’s scheduled to launch its Pixel phone on Tuesday, August 13, instead of October. We know this is also an event for the Pixel phone (rather than some other hardware) because the promo clip shows us a look at the Pixel 9 Pro and is titled “AI… meet IX” – IX being nine in Roman numerals.
3. Ultimate Ears and Beats gave us bombastic new speakers
As we head into the warmer summer months (at least here in the UK, where this writer is based), that means one thing: outdoor parties. Whether it’s at the beach, by the pool, in the garden or in the park, there’s nothing better than being outside, soaking up the rays and enjoying a barbecue. And if you want to entertain everyone with music, there are two new rivals on the scene.
The new Beats Pill has landed, and although it looks similar to the last generation model, its creators promise big things. It’s obviously louder, boasts IP67 dust and water resistance, has Bluetooth 5.3, supports USB-C for both audio pass-through and charging, and costs just $149.99 / £149.99 / AU$249.95.
Then there’s the new Everboom from Ultimate Ears. This 360-speaker can get really loud and still deliver solid audio performance with only some distortion at a maximum volume of 89 decibels. At a lower volume (which you’ll be listening to anyway) it sounds fantastic. Plus, it boasts IP67 dust and water resistance, and it floats, making it perfect for any gathering where it might take a dip.
2. Leaks showed us the character from the movie Superman
is it a bird is it a plane No! It’s a couple of new huge updates from James Gunn Superman film. The upcoming DC movie is currently filming on the streets of Cleveland, Ohio – and as many of us expected, there have been some major leaks as filming on DCU Chapter One continues apace.
And when we say big, we mean big. Not only did he make a new one Superman movie leak reveals a new look at the Man of Steel costume, but gave us the very first look at one of his fellow heroes in Mr. Terrific. A few days later, the same figure was seen meeting Clark’s best friend Ken va Superman movie video leak too. Hopefully some surprises are in store for the Kryptonian’s return to the big screen.
1. UploadVR Summer Showcase 2024 served up VR gaming goodness
Meta may not have hosted its Quest Gaming Showcase this year, but the UplaodVR 2024 Summer Showcase has introduced us to the games and apps headed for the best VR headsets in the coming months.
The hour-long event had a lot to show off, but some highlights for us included Lovesick – a punk-themed VR escape room, Pencil! – mixed reality drawing teacher and helper; and Cold VR – reverse Superhot where time speeds up as you slow down.