Weekly recap

Weekly Tech Recap - № 264 - PS5 preorder, Amazon Halo, Zephyr mouse, Jelly 2 and Mozilla VPN

By Laurent Gloaguen,

August 28, 2020.

Amazon Halo

Halo. © Amazon.

Amazon is getting into the health gadget market with a new physical activity tracking band, called Halo. Unlike most fitness bands, like the Fitbit or Garmin’s Vivosmart, the Halo doesn’t have a screen; it interfaces with a mobile application through a Bluetooth connection. If you want to know how many steps you’ve taken, you’ll have to check your phone. With its accelerometer, temperature sensor, heart rate monitor, two microphones, LED indicator light, and button to turn the microphones on or off, Halo records your physical activity, which the mobile app uses to give you challenges to improve your health habits. So far, nothing startlingly new; where the Halo service really differentiates itself is in two new features, called Body and Tone. The former uses your smartphone camera to capture a 3D scan of your body and then calculate your body fat, and the latter uses a microphone on the Halo Band to listen to the tone of your voice and report back on your emotional state throughout the day. Halo will come in a choice of three colours (black, light blue and pink) to start with, at a price of USD100. The subscription service, required for Halo’s more advanced features, will cost an extra USD4 per month.

⇨ The Verge, Dieter Bohn, “Amazon announces Halo, a fitness band and app that scans your body and voice.”

PlayStation 5 available for the chosen few

PlayStation 5. © Sony.

Sony has introduced a novel process to preorder its much anticipated PlayStation 5, though it has yet to reveal its price or release date. Starting today, hopeful buyers can go to Sony’s official preorder site to sign up, but only if they have a PlayStation Network ID. Sony has also emphasized that a very limited number of consoles will be available for preorder and that the final selection of the lucky buyers will be based on mysterious “previous interests” and no less intriguing “PlayStation activities”, without stating what these may be. To add insult to injury, Sony says that delivery will only be available to US addresses: “Any orders that contain a non-US based address will be cancelled.”

⇨ Ars Technica, Sam Machkovech, “Your PlayStation allegiance may determine whether you can preorder a PS5.”

One cool mouse

Zephyr. © Mindshunter.

If your office is overwarm, or if your gaming sessions send your heart rate soaring, you may experience sweaty palms. Mindshunter has a solution: the Zephyr, a mouse with a built-in fan that blows cool air directly onto your palm. A dedicated button on the underside of the Zephyr allows you to activate the fan at various speeds. And as it is marketed to players, it of course comes with RGB lighting and a 16,000-dpi sensor. As a bonus, all the perforations make it very light: just 68g. Available for preorder for USD89, with delivery scheduled for October.

⇨ The Verge, Sam Byford, “This gaming mouse has a built-in fan to cool sweaty palms.”

Jelly 2, a handheld that fits in the palm of your hand

Jelly 2, a Kisckstarter project that’s already amassed almost a million dollars, is a truly miniature 4G Android device: just 9.5x4.9x1.6cm, and 110g. It has a 3-inch, 480x854 pixel screen, and offers all of the features of a more typical phone. Battery life is decent and usability is not bad, according to testers; on the other hand, the 16MP camera isn’t great in low lighting conditions, it has no IP rating, and some applications just don’t work on such a small screen. While the Jelly 2 will probably never be your only phone, it can be a very nifty second phone, for example for athletes who don’t want to bring a brick on their marathon training sessions; and if it could get a decent IP rating, it would become their best training buddy. Pricing starts at USD129, with shipping slated for the end of the year. Of course, any crowdfunding project is inherently risky, but this team has already proved itself with a previous iteration of this phone.

⇨ Android Police, Ryne Hager, “Unihertz Jelly 2 review: Size matters.”

Mozilla VPN

Mozilla now has a VPN service for Windows, Android and iOS (and says that macOS and Linux support is coming!). Based on the most excellent WireGuard, Mozilla’s VPN targets a wide audience with a simple and easy configuration, and a low price tag: USD5 per month. It uses the Mullvad network of 280 servers spread around the world. Bandwidth is unlimited, and Mozilla promises that your network activity is not recorded (a legitimate concern with VPN networks). Each account includes connectivity for up to 5 different devices. This new service will appeal to those who regularly use public wifi networks, who don’t entirely trust their access providers, or who want to free themselves of irritating content geoblocking.

⇨ WireGuard, Jim Salter, “We test Mozilla’s new Wireguard-based $5/mo VPN service.”