Awesome Tech

“I am you right now, if I wanted to be.” Fusion writer Kevin Roose asked white hat hackers and computer security professionals to hack him. For common folk like us, the simplest of tricks – pretending to be someone or something else – is the one thing we should all look out for.

Sony has phased out the Xperia Z line, and the X Performance is its new flagship (the 4K screened Z5 Premium is still on sale). It has a Snapdragon 820 CPU, 3GB RAM, 5″ 1080p display, an all-metal body, a microSD slot and a 23MP rear camera with hybrid autofocus.

If you ever used a dial-up modem back in the day, you know it produces one of the world’s most annoying sounds. But slow those screeches down 700%, and you’ve got a relaxing soundtrack for a day at the spa lying face down on the massage table.

Fluid Browser is a web browser and file viewer for Macs. It floats on top of other application windows, making it perfect for research, viewing guides or background Netflixing. You can adjust its size and transparency, bookmark sites and open URLs from Chrome.

When it launches, this LEGO-like power strip will have a base cord, US and EU sockets, a USB port, a wireless charger and a home automation module. Future modules include a speaker, a Wi-Fi repeater, a power-line adaptor and a surge protector.

CAT’s new industrial-strength phone packs a built-in thermal imaging camera from FLIR. The Android Marshmallow phone has a 4.7″ display with wet finger and glove support, Gorilla Glass 4 protection, and is waterproof up to 16 feet for up to an hour. (Thanks Jeremy!)

Like GoTenna, Beartooth connects to your iOS or Android device via Bluetooth, allowing you to text, call and share your location with other Beartooth users within a 2mi radius without the need for a cellular connection. It also doubles as an external battery.

Nikon’s three-pronged attack on the premium compact camera niche. The DL series cameras have a 1″ 20.8MP CMOS sensor, hybrid autofocus, and 4K recording. The DL 18-50 has a wide angle lens, the DL 24-85 has a 1:1 macro mode, while the DL24-500 has a 21x zoom lens.

A prototype smartphone developed by Queen’s University’s Human Media Lab with a bendable OLED screen that not only looks cool, but uses the screen’s flexibility and haptic feedback to create new ways of interacting with content – like flipping through the pages of digital books.

The LG G5 has a Snapdragon 820 CPU, 4GB RAM, a microSD slot, 16MP 78º and 8MP 135º rear cameras and a modular battery compartment, which can be replaced with items such as a camera grip/extra battery and a Bang&Olufsen 32-bit DAC.

Casually Explained talks about the basics of a personal computer, particularly its fundamental hardware components. While he’s not into high-end speakers, liquid cooling or fancy cases, his power supply game is on point.

The MateBook has the iPad’s looks and the Surface Pro’s brains. This Windows 10 convertible has a 12″ 2560×1440 touchscreen, a dual-core Intel Core M CPU, up to 8GB RAM, up to 512GB SSD and a USB-C port. It has an optional slim-profile keyboard, stylus and dock.

The Galaxy S7 & S7 Edge both have a liquid-cooled quad-core CPU, 4GB RAM, a dual SIM slot that doubles as an SD card slot, a 2560×1440 AMOLED display (5.1″ for the S7, 5.5″ for the S7 Edge), a 12MP f1.7 rear camera and IP68 dust- and water-resistance.

One of the cooler toys to turn up at the 2016 New York Toy Fair, Tyco’s nw remote-controlled Terra Climber has pairs of grippy wheels that rotate on pivot points, which work along with a tail-like appendage, allowing it to climb stairs.

The ZappLight is a compact bug zapping lamp. It fits in most light bulb sockets and consumes only 10W of power. You can toggle between the white LEDs, the zapper or both of them turned on.

Canon continues to impress with their latest prosumer DSLR. The EOS 80D packs a 24.2mp APS-C sensor, 45-point autofocus, 100% viewfinder coverage, a flexible clear-view monitor, up to 7fps burst mode, 1080p/60 video, Wi-Fi and NFC support.

As technically awesome as the iPad Pro’s Pencil accessory is, Apple’s quest for minimalism omitted anything to store the $99 stylus in. 68º’s handmade wooden pencil case provides a cozy home for the Pencil, one spare nib, and its charging adapter. (Thanks Stephanie!)

A 7″ tablet designed to bring old vehicles up to speed with modern features found in newer cars, such as hands-free calling, music streaming, voice-activated navigation, a backup camera, collision warning, vehicle diagnostics and more.

Contrary to Redditor tytyvm’s experience, this isn’t the most amazing useless machine we’ve ever seen. But it’s quite witty and has a variety of sassy responses hidden in its tiny body.

Bookman’s rechargeable bicycle lights are visible both straight ahead and from the side, thanks to their curved design. Their silicone strap fits up to 40mm poles. The front light lasts up to 35 hours per charge while the rear light lasts up to 10 hours per charge.

We’ve been building The Awesomer on the Dell XPS 15 laptop, a true MacBook Pro killer. Our system packs a sharp and accurate 4K slim-bezel display, 6th-gen Intel Core i7 CPU, Nvidia GTX 960M graphics, Thunderbolt 3, 16GB RAM, a 512GB SSD, and is crazy fast for work or play.

Inspired by the ability for their cars to park themselves, Nissan Japan created an office chair with the same capability. Watch as the army of robotic chairs finds their way back to their homes in this clever promo video. Now can we see it with people in the chairs?

The Forerunner 235 is the ideal runner’s watch, with wrist-based heart rate tracking, GPS and GLONASS capabilities for accurate activity and distance tracking. Also offers smartphone notifications, customizable watch faces, and cloud-based history and stats tracking.