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This article was first published in the August 2015 issue of WIRED magazine. Be the first to read WIRED's articles in print before they're posted online, and get your hands on loads of additional content by subscribing online
Welcome to our guide to living the WIRED life. Curated by the team, this is a showcase of everything awesome that's recently crossed our desks. Here we highlight the best in cutting-edge tech, including friction-free turntables and bionic bird drones.
Merlin 1
Enjoy vinyl via the high-quality "friction free" turntable or stream CD-quality audio via Bluetooth aptX through two 24-bit, 192kHz DACs and twin amps. Add in an analogue converter and rip everything. £1,300
Impossible Project Instant Lab Universal
This Polaroid-style camera and micro darkroom exposes images on your smartphone and develops prints. You can also apply traditional photo-trickery such as double-and over-exposures. £150
Reach79 Signal Boosting IPhone 6 Case
With a built-in micro-thin gold-plated antenna, Reach79 claims its case can double an iPhone 6's signal. Useful for boosting data speeds and killing 4G/LTE-coverage dead spots. From $60
Silent Circle Blackphone 2
Aiming to give us back our privacy, this smartphone has SilentOS -- a custom Android mod -- and apps that encrypt everything, prevent signals being tracked, and keep your sensitive info in a secure place.£tbc
Raumfeld multi-room
Raumfeld's lossless system is a real alternative to streaming leader SONOS. The German-designed range can be controlled by iOS and Android apps, and includes the Stereo M (left, right) and Stereo Cube (centre). From £149 to £899
Microsoft Hololens
Wearing this VR headset lets you visit a holographic world where apps are displayed as avatars in your home and are accessible via hand gestures. The ability to move and resize your TV to any wall gets WIRED's attention. $tbc
Apple folding plug
The rest of the world may look on in bewilderment, but Apple's eminently sensible and elegantly executed UK folding-pin USB adapter is a MoMa-worthy piece of engineering. Simple, practical, perfect. £25
Bionic Bird
The world's first bird-friendly drone looks and flies like its namesake. Charging is via a portable egg-shaped battery storing juice for ten refuels. This allows the smartphone-controlled bird to fly up to 100m or about ten minutes. €119
Pininfarina Cambiano Pen
Thanks to its hand-forged ethergraf tip, this ink-less pen never runs out. The metal alloy oxidises on contact with paper, but wears down so slowly that it will outlast us all. £99
Knomo Elektronista
Stitched from lightly tumbled soft, smooth, full-grain leather, this clutch is built for the tech savvy with pockets and slots for cabling, a large padded tablet slot and built-in 3000mAh battery. £249
Okki Nokki
If you've got stacks of pristine presses or a box of tatty classics, this record cleaner will have them all sounding better. Squirt on the cleaner, rub in with the brush, and let the vacuum arm suck your groove clean.£390
Samsung T1 Portable SSD
This chic and svelte external drive from Samsung is business card–sized, but offers up to 1TB of encrypted storage space. Ideal if you don't want to leave your life entirely in the cloud. From £121
Duncan Hellmers: Blub Uno
Fusing machined aluminium and bamboo with a nixie tube, the USB-powered Blub Uno displays time, date and temperature. A remote lets you choose transition options and backlight colour. From $349
Sony X9 TV
The wedge form of Sony's eight-million-pixel, 4K TV creates space for a set of larger front-facing magnetic fluid speakers that kick out higher-quality sound and also doubles as ballast, giving the X9 a lower centre of gravity. £3,199
Show off your 4K screen with Joyousness by Damien Hirst, a digital piece optimised for HD display. £8
XOO power belt
Designed in collaboration with British fashion house Casely-Hayford, the stylishly unobtrusive XOO belt contains six hidden layers of flexible lithium ceramic polymer battery, sandwiched between a full-grain leather outer. $149
Le Cord iPhone cable
Wrapped in knitted fabric for added durability, these fine textile cables are Apple certified. Available in 19 designs, such as Camo (shown), and luxurious options in woven leather with wooden connectors.From €30
Apple Watch
Hotly tipped to kickstart a wearable-tech revolution, Apple's slick timepiece comes in two sizes, 38mm and 44mm, and 38 designs. Discrete taps on your wrist let you know everything from directions to alerts. From £299
Nevo Smartwatch
The product of French designers and Swiss timekeepers, the Nevo has a stainless-steel case, sapphire glass and a choice of straps. There's also solar charging, activity tracking, plus an LED for phone alerts. £240
Withings Activité Pop
The Pop is a health-focused timepiece that brings much-needed class to smartwatches. Behind its elegant design and subtle clock there's a range of tracking smarts. £120
Pebble Time
The streamlined incarnation of Pebble's smartwatch comes with a snappy colour e-paper display. It also has a built-in water-resistant microphone, seven-day battery life and Jawbone and Misfit apps for active types. £tbc
Gramofon
Turning old stereos into Wi–Fi streaming systems, Gramofon is a discreet way to hear tunes usually shackled to your phone or laptop. It supports Spotify, naturally, with TIDAL also due to get on board this year. €59
MacBook in gold
At 13.1mm and 0.9kg, this lean machine is 24 per cent thinner than Apple's 11-inch MacBook Air and bursting with new ideas. The edge-to-edge keyboard has been completely re-engineered; the 12-inch retina screen packs in a mighty three million pixels; and a new "Force Touch" trackpad adds pressure-sensitive gestures and haptic feedback. And, despite its complete lack of ports, 100 per cent of the WIRED office wants one. From £1,049
Nonda Hub+
The single USB–C port on the MacBook has led to the creation of this Kickstarter–funded hub. With USB, Thunderbolt and SD support, plus a portable phone battery, it's an Apple essential. £tbc
Canon XC10
This DSLR-sized 4K camcorder boasts 3,840 x 2,160 res, 12MP stills, a fixed 10x optical zoom, image stabilisation and Wi-Fi. It's ideal for aspiring cinematographers and professionals on a budget. £1,599
Tiko 3D Printer
The TIKO is 3D printing re-engineered for the masses. There's a built-in accelerometer that provides auto-calibration, and cloud connectivity lets you print with 50-micron precision, even from a smartphone. $179
Simon Pegg's super-spy picks:
Recon Jet glasses
This ultra-sports version of Google Glass is described as a "wearable microcomputer and display". Weighing just 60g, the Jet has a dual-core processor, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.0, GPS and a POV HD camera.£580
Bushnell 1-x42 Legend Ultra HD Monocular
With 10x magnification, this high-powered monocularis ideal for spies, pirates and anyone else interested in seeing objects in crystal HD up close from far away. £199
Garmin GPSMAP 64s
This handheld GPS ensures you won't get lost. A 2.6-in sunlight-readable colour screen, 3.5GB memory, Bluetooth connectivity and a barometric altimeter and three-axis compass should be enough to keep you out of trouble. £280
Motorola T80 Extreme
The all-weather T80 walkie talkie has a range of 10km, is water-resistant, has a backlit LCD, eight channels and no call charges. Use it hands-free -- or when darkness descends, activate the torch.£76
GoPro HERO4
The daddy of action cams brings you 4K video at 30fps and 1080p at up to 120fps. There's also Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, a sturdy casing and mount, plus a lens with a 170° field of view. And yes, it does look practically identical to the HERO3+. £280
WIRED's awesome apps
SlackArchive every word of every message, document, spreadsheet or code your team creates in a neat searchable index. Free for personal use
CitymapperThis routing app covers taxis, bikes, public transport, walking, and (naturally) jet pack for 22 cities. Android, iOS free
DojoDojo selects places and events across London, then provides options, including Uber and Citymapper, to get you there. Android, iOS free
Velocity This restaurant-bill app lets you view orders, pay remotely, and easily split a tab among multiple accounts. Android, iOS free
Circa News Follow particular stories via a daily briefing update, plus a selection of curated editors' picks. Android, iOS free
Spotify running Serving playlists to match your speed, the idea here is to keep you moving. Nike+ integration is on its way. Android, iOS free
Product Hunt Product Huntis a reddit-style forum for the latest product developments the tech world is obsessing over. iOS free
VSCO Cam More subtle than Instagram's filters, VSCO offers emulations of photographic films, plus picture editing. Android, iOS free (plus iap)
This article was originally published by WIRED UK
