Apple’s smartest Watch yet and the rest of the best tech for Christmas

The Apple Watch goes 24/7
When I reviewed the first Apple Watch for Technopolis TV in 2015, I liked it a lot, but it wasn’t really more than a delightful gimmick. Since then, it’s been through four versions, each one a significant improvement: it’s become waterproof; it can be used to make calls independent of an iPhone; and there have been ever-increasing health functions – all significant milestones on the journey towards this, the Apple Watch Series 5, the 2019 product I would most like to receive for Christmas.

Why so, when it’s closer to its predecessor than any past Apple Watch release? It’s because of one seemingly minor but, for me, gigantic improvement. The screen of the Apple Watch 5 is always on. No longer is it an enigmatic, featureless black oblong for 99 per cent of the time, only showing its face when you raise your wrist. Nope, this is finally the equal of a real watch.

It means you can tell the time by giving the watch a surreptitious glance, rather than making it very clear to whoever you are with that you feel time is ticking by. The standby face is, admittedly, a dimmed version of the brighter one you see on raising the watch, but it is still easily readable. And the battery life of the watch is perfectly fine – well over a day. Some of the new faces, especially the one Apple calls California, best seen in blue, are rather beautiful. And there are new features, including a compass, which I will find invaluable in New York where I lack the locals’ ability always to know which way is which.

An Apple Watch, then, that’s gone from novelty item to beautiful essential.
apple.com

An absolute banger of a portable home cinema
When it comes to projectors, unless you have a full-on home cinema the two features to look for are portability and the ability to project an image from really close to a wall. The idea of being able to turn any room or outdoor space into a temporary cinema is both enchanting and rather practical.

For the second time in a year, ViewSonic has come up with an absolute banger of a “short throw” machine. Its X10-4K pulls off the light-bending miracle in style, with built-in Harman Kardon speakers that deliver exceptional spatial sound. The X10 has a real luxury finish, with leather covering the carrying handle and many other parts. I know it’s not essential, but it makes it feel like this is tech its designers believe in.
viewsonic.com

Skwitch on the music 
I’m about as musical as a warthog, but I am still dazzled by Apple’s free GarageBand app, which turns your iPhone (or iPad) into an impressive touchscreen suite of instruments, with a recording studio on standby if, by chance, you create a decent composition.

However, GarageBand lacks the physicality of a real instrument. Edinburgh’s electronic instrument-maker Skoogmusic now has this big, squidgy – and impressively adaptable – button, Skwitch, to turn your iPhone into a universal instrument, with as much physicality as you could need. Skwitching is satisfying just as a physical sensation, and makes your phone something uncannily close to a “real” instrument.
skoogmusic.com

A true hybrid  acoustic/electric
Fender, founded by the eponymous Leo, who famously couldn’t play a note on the guitar, was one of the pioneering electric guitar brands. For its latest trick it has created the Telecaster Acoustasonic – the only purpose-designed hybrid electric/acoustic.

The US-built range includes specials made from exotic woods, but even the entry-level models sound exquisite. The thin-ish, hollowed-out Acoustasonic is an odd-looking machine, but, trust me, it sounds like the real deal in both configurations.
fender.com

The ultimate phone or key finder reaches perfection
It’s nearly six years since then-startup Tile launched its first object tracker for lost keys and the like. Attach a Tile as a key fob, trigger it by Bluetooth from your phone and its shrill bleeping should help you find it.

Since the first model, Tiles have evolved and evolved and, finally, I think, this range of ludicrously useful gadgets has been perfected. They come in all shapes and sizes, but are louder, work over a longer range and are more reliable than ever before.

My pick for a stocking filler? The super-thin Slim model, perfect for wallets or sticking to a phone or laptop. But special mention also to the newest, the Sticker, a button-sized, waterproof little thing with a 150ft range and three-year battery life.
thetileapp.com

An all-singing, dancing and streaming box of sound
Much as I love high-end one-box stereo systems, I still regard traditional setups, with two proper speakers, as the hifi gold standard. The problem is that it’s preferable to mix and match brands to create a good separates hifi, which inevitably looks a bit dog’s dinner-ish.

This sublime unit from Canada is the most desirable compromise I’ve come across. The NAD M10 BluOS needs a pair of basic, passive speakers, for which I’d choose those by ATC of Stroud, which I reviewed years ago. But so long as you don’t use a CD player or deck any more, this one elegant and compact box is all you need for really serious hifi. NAD, which has a high-end pedigree going back to 1972, calls its new baby a streaming amplifier, and that’s exactly what it is. It will stream from any of the existing services, but is best adapted to Tidal, which, for its “Masters” level, has adopted the British MQA protocol – the finest in town, for my money.

The M1 produces two 100-watt channels, shows the album artwork big and beautiful – and you can even have old-school VU sound-level meters appear on the display if you choose. It also comes with an easy adjustment system that tunes the sound rather miraculously to match your room.
nadelectronics.com

The reusable bacteria- and virus-killing water bottle
We’re glugging more water than ever before but hating plastic bottles for both environmental and (possible) health reasons. So stainless-steel flasks are very in. This rechargeable-battery electronic bottle, Larq, from San Francisco, does two things basic water bottles don’t. It keeps cold water cold for 24 hours, and hot drinks hot for 12. Fair enough. But Larq is also the first self-cleaning bottle. Using UV-C light, it claims to kill up to 99.9999 per cent of bacteria and 99.99 per cent of viruses.

Even in Adventure mode, Larq won’t magically turn brackish pond water into Evian – or destroy agri-chemicals in a stream, but give it clear river water in the wild and it promises to make it safe.
livelarq.com

The baby heart monitor in a sock
The first thing my son did when his new baby was born in August was to pair him with his phone, making him possibly one of the UK’s first Bluetooth babies. OK, he didn’t quite pair the baby. He paired with Owlet, a tiny washable sock that monitors an infant’s heart rate and blood oxygen using pulse oximetry tech. The idea is that parents will get an immediate phone alert should anything be amiss. Owlet is not an easy gadget to test, and I’m glad to say our test baby didn’t do anything to alert it, but the parents reported feeling much more relaxed with an Owlet-equipped infant snoozing in his crib. Owlet has been watching over babies in the US for a little longer than the rest of the world, and early UK buyers found the app lacked some features. But I am assured the UK app is now almost identical to the US version.
owletbabycare.co.uk

Sweet dreams and gentle waking
Light at British latitudes is in short supply at this time of year – we’re close to the delightful mid-December period when there are only seven or so hours of daylight in 24.

Online mattress-maker Casper has been branching into bedroom accessories – pillows, duvets, etc. But it has gone one step further with the delightful electronic bedside light, which can be programmed (yep, there’s a nap app) to fade gently as you fall asleep, then gradually come to life at your pre-determined wake-up time. The Glow has nice extra touches too. If you get up in the night, for whatever reason, you can wiggle it gently to come on with a minimal glimmer – low enough not to blast you and your partner with light, sufficient to see your way. Nice and thoughtful tech for the home.
casper.com

And the handbag said,“Let there be light”
This clever, large-ish pebble-sized shake-to‑wake handbag light could put an end to the several-times-a-day blind rummage manoeuvre. It shines for 10 seconds on activation and if you fail to find keys, purse, whatever, in that time, you can just give the bag a gentle shake to let there be light again. 
glow.co.uk

@thefuturecritic