Life & Technology – 2GB 11th October, 2014

As we get closer and closer to Christmas, there's no sign of product launches slowing down. Yesterday Lenovo announced four new devices set to land on Australian shores before the end of the month! These include the Yoga Tablet 2 Pro, a 13-inch tablet co-designed by Ashton Kutcher, with an inbuilt projector. For more information on this one and the others, click here.

 

I asked Nick Reynolds, Lenovo's Chief Marketing Officer for Mature Markets in the Asia Pacific, why customers should consider Lenovo's new devices, and he gave me three reasons. The first was that Lenovo are a tier one brand, the second was that they're doing some really cool things with bleeding edge technology, such as the projector tablet, and third was that Lenovo are a credible brand that provides a cool alternative to the big players in the consumer electronics space. I'm definitely looking forward to spending some more time with these new products!

 

And just as you thought the Apple news was over, there's more. Apple have sent out invitations for an event on October 16 where the company is expected to announced two iPads. The invite had a message attached, "It's been way too long", suggesting that Apple might be debuting something other than just new iPads.  We've spent a bit of time guessing what else Apple might announce – click here for our best bets. We'll be covering the announcement on CyberShack on October 17.

 

Optus have announced that they'll be bringing their 4G network to over 200 new regional and rural locations by April next year, with the aim of covering 90% of Australia. The network will be built using the 700Mhz and 2600Mhz frequencies, so it might be time to get a new phone if you're in regional Australia! 

 

Had a chat to Adam Hoffman, Monster's Product Area Manager for their cable division, about the importance of using good quality cables in your home entertainment setup. While a cheap HDMI cable could work just fine when it’s a short length, its possible to lose quality when you've got longer cables that aren't up to scratch.

 

As we touched on last week, Windows 10 was announced last week, and will run on almost any device you can imagine. Had a chat to Glenn Gregory, Harvey Norman's National Business Manager for Technology and Entertainment to find out the answer to one very important question: should I wait until Windows 10 is released before I upgrade? Glen's answer is no; the specification requirements for Windows 10 are almost identical to Windows 8.1, so any new device you now will run Windows 10 without issue.

 

LG's new monitor range will be available in stores from this coming week, and I've got to say, there's some pretty cool displays here. My favourite is 34UC97 – a 34-inch, curved, cinematic display! Let me just say this, it looks unreal in person.