Technology Simplified

Smart lights are fast becoming mainstream, but nothing available out there today can light up an entire wall the way the Nanoleaf Canvas can. The company’s original set of light panels – christened Aurora at launch, but now simply called the Nanoleaf Light Panels – come close, but not quite.  With the ability to touch panels to change colors, or set up a ‘rhythm scene’ without needing a separate attachment, the Nanoleaf Canvas can turn any drab wall into a work of interactive, colorful art. Like the original Nanoleaf Light Panels, the Canvas is also a pricey investment for any smart home – yet after using the basic starter kit, we’re happy to admit we’re already considering splurging on an expansion pack to add more panels to our wall. And if you think the colors might be garish in any way, fear not. They’re mesmerizing, soothing, and you could stare at them for hours without tiring of them, even at 100% brightness. The Canvas can add personality to any space – large or small. ...

Robot vacuums perform two important tasks. First, they are adept at scurrying around the floor and cleaning up after you, and second they make amusing videos involving your pets trying to figure out what this metallic creature is that’s invading their personal space. Whichever way you look at it, robot vacuums are a great addition to any household, which is why the Roborock S5 should be your next choice if you’re looking for a handy little helper around your home. It may not be a brand that you’ll instantly recognize, but despite this the Roborock S5 has some fantastic features that puts it on par with brand-level devices with a much higher asking price. Pricing and availability The Roborock S5 is available exclusively on Amazon for $546.99, though you can find it on Souq.com for around AED 1,594. By comparison, the iRobot Roomba 980 with similar features sits in at $899, or AED 3,999 in most retail stores. That’s a lot to ask for a robot vacuum, which is why the Roborock S5 ins...

More and more people are opting to install air purifiers in their homes around Dubai. In a city that’s still predominantly surrounded by desert, it’s important to keep dust and other harmful particles away from your indoor space, and air purifiers offer a straightforward way to accomplish this. Of course, no two air purifiers are created equal – some only offer basic purification and require much more maintenance than they’re worth. Others, like the Dyson Pure Cool, offer a much more sophisticated approach to air quality, supported by some well-designed hardware and intelligent software. Price and availability The Dyson Pure Cool comes in two sizes, depending on your needs. The larger oval version is meant to stand on the floor or be kept discreetly in the corner, and retails for AED 2,518.95. The shorter, desktop-friendly model that we reviewed comes in at AED 2,308.95, and is perfect if you want a space-saving air purifier solution instead. Placement and setup The Dyson Pure Co...

Update: Looking to nab an Amazon Echo in the Black Friday sales? Head to our Amazon Black Friday 2018 page for all the latest deals. Otherwise, read on for our review of the Amazon Echo Plus (2nd gen) below... The 2nd gen Amazon Echo Plus is back with a new look – and some notable improvements under the hood. When the first Echo Plus first launched back in 2017, the premium smart speaker offered the same voice-activated Alexa smarts of other Echo devices, but with something approaching acceptable audio – and the smart capability to function as a hub for all sorts of other smart home gear. Here was a way to communicate between your Philips Hue light bulbs , your Nest security cameras , your WeMo light switches and the rest – all through the same voice-command interface you used to check the weather, do your shopping, and stream songs from Spotify or Amazon Music , without the need for individual hub hardware for each gadget. The new Echo Plus 2018 model still offers all of the ...

It’s less than a year since we reviewed the first iteration of Mekamon – a spider-like robot designed to battle others of its kind, or virtual enemies in augmented reality via a smartphone app. Think Pokémon in real life and you’re most of the way there. Mekamon V2 is available in white, black, and a fetching new grey camo pattern. The camo is exclusive to Apple Stores, but all robots are compatible with both Android and iOS. It’s also backward compatible, so V2 bots can battle their V1 counterparts without any trouble. Mekamon’s creator, UK-based Reach Robotics, says it intends to continue supporting its older models, so you don’t need to worry about your bot becoming obsolete when V3 struts into stores. Design The robot itself looks very similar to its predecessor, with four limbs (each with three joints), detachable armor plates, and a pair of removable ‘guns’ atop its torso. The main difference is the light within its head, which now glows different colors to indicate its mood...

STEM (science, technology, engineering and maths) toys are all the rage at the moment, and trailblazing educational toy company LittleBits knows this better than anyone. LittleBits believes Generation Z is “characterized by innovation and activism”, and has launched three new toys designed to empower kids.  We tried out one of these – the Space Rover Inventor Kit, which is inspired by the pioneering work of NASA (the other two are the Base Inventor Kit and Electronic Music Inventor Kit). Using the kit, kids can build their own working rover, using construction, circuitry and programming skills with guidance from the dedicated app. Although we’re definitely towards the higher end of the 8+ age range LittleBits is aiming the Space Rover Inventor Kit at, we had a blast putting it together, and we think kids will love it too.  Price and availability You can purchase the Space Rover Inventor Kit from the LittleBits website for $199.99 in the US – you can also get a further 10...

The Vax Blade 2 Max is the latest cordless vacuum from Vax, a UK manufacturer of cleaning products and white goods – and one of our top picks in our guide to the best cordless vacuums . It’s no overstatement to say that cordless vacuums are having their day. We’re finally at the point where cabled vacuums no longer have the edge over their cordless counterparts, which have gradually become sleeker, more powerful, and – crucially – more power-efficient than their tethered competition. It’s not all domestic bliss, though. You still have to do the cleaning, after all, and most cordless vacuums are still held back by limited battery life. The Vax Blade 2 Max is designed to give you the best of both worlds: offering the suction power and convenience of a high-end Dyson machine while sharply undercutting it on price. But in a market increasingly filled with cordless vacuums promising the end of cabled cleaning, does the Blade 2 Max make an impression? Price and availability The Vax Blad...

We might be living in the midst of the digital age, where you can switch on your lights with a voice command and keep tabs on your home from basically anywhere in the world, but when it comes to household cleaning, getting the best results often still require you to get your hands dirty and go elbow deep. Robot vacuums have offered to make that job easier for over a decade – with varying success – but by-and-large they have improved (or at least gotten a bit cheaper) over the last few years. The technology powering these newer robot vacuum cleaners is smarter and more efficient, and the best models can genuinely make easy work of keeping your floors clean, even if you’re not actually at home. While they still can’t compete with the likes of a good upright or canister vacuum cleaner – corded or otherwise – robovac manufacturers are trying to figure out ways to make the little droids powerful enough to pick up even heavier dust and dirt. To date, robot vacuums were best used on hard f...

The Roomba is all but a cultural touchstone now, an emblem of automation and a sort of next age for the home appliance. To think that this was built upon a thing that you still had to empty and clean out – every... single... time... iRobot has finally made that encumbrance a thing of the past with the Roomba i7+, a vastly improved version of its leading robot vacuum . Now, Roomba can start vacuuming your house with a brief utterance to your smart speaker, and it now even empties its dust bin into a larger, easily manageable dock that doubles as a trash can – automatically. This is the next logical step for Roomba, and at first glance (and touch), we’re very much here for it. Price and availability The Roomba i7+ is available for pre-order right now, and will start shipping on September 12 for $699 (about £530, AU$940) on its own or for $949 (about £715, AU$1,270) with the Clean Base Automatic Dirt Disposal dock included. For those keeping score, the current best robot vacuum from...