Gadgets & Gizmos
China Necessity
Are you tired of the smog yet? We certainly are. This air purifier could make that little bit of difference to your life. Blueair 203 is an easy air purifier to use, near to silent and efficient in getting rid of dust, pollen, smoke and other dirty particles. All you need to do is choose the right unit according to your room size and change the recyclable filter when requested (every four to six months). This high performance airpurifier is great in your bedroom as well as in small workspaces and is controllable by remote. What’s more, its modern, elegant design almost makes you want to have one in your living room.
Price RMB 3,590. Web: www.blueair.cn
App Of The Month: Poutsch
Want to make your voice heard? Ask a question on Poutsch and see what people answer. Poutsch is an opinion-gathering platform to safely collect and express points of view. This application lets users ask, answer and view questions along with providing details about the demographic data of respondents. You can also read opinions and view the data generated by a question. When you ask a question, you can choose the type of data you want to receive when people answer: binary answer, multiple answer, stars or slider. This social polling platform allows anyone to create a sample survey easily and makes participation fun and interactive, because no one wants to answer a survey on the phone or in the street nowadays. With Poutsch, you can answer the questions that interest you. You can also follow other users and share questions. As the tagline says, “Opinion Matters.”
Price: Free. Web: www.poutsch.com; www.itunes.com
The Smart Egg Tray
Every day, we hear about new inventions, some more useful than others. It is hard to know when eggs go bad. But what is a Sunday brunch without scrambled eggs? The Egg Minder is a quirky invention that will tell you how old your eggs are. Put up to fourteen eggs in your Smart Egg Tray and download the Wink app on your smartphone. Your Wi-Fi egg tray will tell Wink how many eggs you have in your fridge and how old they are. You get LED notifications when you are running low or if your eggs are getting old. Get with the times and have Internet in your fridge! This tray makes your food shopping that little bit easier.
Price: RMB 425. Web: www.quirky.com
Heat Up On The Go
In this cold weather, we don't blame anyone for carrying around a steaming vat of hot tea wherever they go, be it a taxi driver, a bar tender or a vendor in a local shop. Drinks do tend to lose their heat very rapidly though, so let us suggest something that is smaller and lighter than a microwave - this mini heating base. The heating pad by Gezi is the solution to heating up your favourite drinks wherever you are. It is simple to use, just one touch of a button and your drink is hot in a couple of seconds.
Price: RMB 19.90. Web: www.taobao.cn
Jammin’ Vibes
No matter what your age, sex or ethnicity, music is essential to our daily lives. There are so many models and brands of speakers on the market; however, the Big Jambox by Jawbone surely is unique. It is more than a speaker. Enjoy it with your music, movies, games and phone calls. Charge the speaker a couple of hours before using it for up to ten hours of power, depending on the model. Plus, it is Bluetooth enabled so you can change the music from your smartphone or computer at a distance. This powerful wireless speaker and speakerphone exists in more than 100 colours and is completely customisable inside and out. You will be surprised how loud the music can be!
Price: From RMB 1,499. Web: www.jawbone.com
Tablet Stand
Nowadays everyone owns a tablet, or at least we all know someone who owns one. However, there is not much choice when it comes to tablet stands. The original Spiderpodium Tablet is a tablet stand designed to fit virtually every tablet model. This tablet stand is extremely functional and superbly designed. You can bend it into any position or angle and it fits everywhere. The Spiderpodium Tablet is very light and has extremely flexible and bendable legs, which almost look real! You can use it at home, in your car, at the office and when traveling. It is the perfect solution for holding any tablet.
Price: RMB 250. Web: www.breffo.com
Light Up Your Life:
For those who spend countless hours in front of their computers, looking at a screen for consecutive hours is very tiring for the eyes. At least be good to yourself by lighting up your workspace. This tiny astronaut USB light plugs into your computer, or any USB port, to give you an extra bit of light. Flip the helmet to turn the light on and off. It is as small as 11” and adjustable, giving the impression your little space companion is drifting above your computer.
Price: RMB 121. Web: www.thinkgeek.com
Sharpen Up Your Credit Card
The first metal credit card shaped folding utility knife is now on sale! This handy pocketsized gadget transforms into an extremely sharp pocketknife. There are two childproof safety lock sliders to prevent accidental opening even when in card mode. Cardsharp4 is made from thick aluminium and stainless steel. It is so thin and ultra light that it can fit into your wallet. The body is 2mm thick and the blade is 65mm long. A heavy-duty tool, this pocketknife is suitable for almost all cutting tasks. Available in silver or matt black, ladies and gentlemen, this is the new generation of folding utility knives.
Price: RMB 560. Web: www. iainsinclair.com
