This week, we organized our own Smart Home Week to celebrate the latest and greatest technology in the smart home sector and give you tips on how to use your devices more effectively.
We also saw the arrival of some great new Bluetooth speakers, a Surface Pro that finally gives the iPad Pro a run for its money, and several event date announcements from Prime Day to the Pixel 9 launch event .
So, in case you missed it, here are the seven biggest tech news stories from the past seven days.
7. We organized Smart Home Week 2024
We’ve launched our new Smart Home Week 2024, where we’ve brought you all the hottest tips and tricks to set up and get the most out of your smart home. This includes guides on how to set up and use Alexa voice detection and our thoughts on new products like this Bird Buddy smart bird feeder.
We’ve also asked experts for insight into how safe smart home security cameras are, and challenged Google and Apple to hit the ground running with new devices before Amazon pulls even further back in the race to dominate the smart home market.
6. We reviewed the Surface Pro 11 – and called it the best Surface ever
Thanks to “great performance, great battery life, improved compatibility, and new AI-powered apps that will only get better with time,” we’ve already called the new Microsoft Surface Pro 11 the best Surface ever.
Starting at $999.99 / £1,049.99 / AU$1,899.99 this tablet isn’t just a tablet; it’s a well-powered Windows 11 OS machine with a 10-core Qualcomm Snapdragon X Plus chip, 2.8K LCD display, 16GB of RAM and a 256GB SSD – although you can upgrade to a model with a 12-core Snapdragon X Elite chip, 16GB RAM and 512GB SSD starting at $1,499.99 / £1,549 / AU$2,699.
This is the first proper competition the iPad Pro has ever had, and as we say in our review, “Apple should absolutely be worried.”
5. Prime Day 2024 dates revealed
After accidentally revealing the dates for Prime Day 2024, Amazon has officially confirmed that Amazon Prime Day will be held on July 16 – 17 in the US and UK.
As part of the sale, Prime members can expect to see literally thousands of deals on a wide range of popular tech brands, including Sony, Samsung, Ninja, GHD, Fitbit, Oral-B, Bose and Shark, for to mention only a few.
If you’re not already a Prime member (and haven’t previously subscribed to Prime), you can sign up for a free 30-day trial below to take advantage of a handful of the early bird deals that have popped up and get ready to complete Sold when it goes live in a few weeks.
4. Google and Samsung set dates for their upcoming phone launch events
Both Google and Samsung announced the dates of their upcoming tech events, with Galaxy Unpacked landing the earliest on July 10, 2024, with an event starting at 9am ET / 6am PT / 2pm BST.
We expect to see the arrival of its new foldable phones, the Galaxy Z Fold 6 and Galaxy Z Flip 6, a successor to the Galaxy Watch 6 of sorts (perhaps even a Galaxy Watch Ultra), and the highly anticipated Galaxy Ring.
Google’s announcement is more surprising since instead of October, the Pixel phone launch event is scheduled for Tuesday, August 13. We know it’s also a Pixel phone event (rather than some other device) as a promotional clip gives us a look at the Pixel 9 Pro, and is titled “AI… meet IX” – IX is nine in Roman numerals .
3. Ultimate Ears and Beats gave us bombastic new speakers
As we move into the warmer summer months (at least here in the UK, where this writer is based), that means one thing: outdoor parties. Whether it’s at the beach, in the pool, in the garden or in a park, there’s nothing better than being outside soaking up the rays and enjoying a BBQ. And if you want to keep everyone entertained with music, there are two new contenders on the scene.
The new Beats pill landed, and while it looks similar to the last generation model, its makers promise big things. It’s apparently louder, boasts IP67 dust and water resistance, has Bluetooth 5.3, supports USB-C for both audio pass-through and charging, and costs just $149.99 / £149.99 / 249, AU$95.
Then there’s Ultimate Ears’ new Everboom. This 360 speaker can be really loud and still delivers a solid audio performance with only some distortion at its maximum volume of 89 decibels. At a more moderate volume (where you’re going to hear anyway), it sounds fantastic. Plus, it boasts IP67 dust and water resistance, and it floats, making it perfect for any gathering where it can be submerged.
2. Leaks showed us an awesome Superman movie character
Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No! There are some big new updates on James Gunn Superman film. The next DC movie is currently filming on the streets of Cleveland, Ohio – and, as many of us expected, some major leaks have surfaced as filming on the DCU Chapter One movie continues apace.
And when we say big, we mean big. Not only did he make a new one Superman The film’s leak reveals a new look at the Man of Steel’s costume, but gave us our first look at one of his other heroes in “Mr. Terrific.” A few days later, the same character was seen meeting up with Clark’s best friend Ken in a Superman video stream of the movie, too. Let’s hope OTHER USEFUL surprises are in store for the Kryptonian’s return to the big screen.
1. UploadVR Summer Expo 2024 served up VR gaming goodness
Meta may not have held its Quest Gaming Summer Showcase this year, but the 2024 UplaodVR Summer Showcase introduced us to games and apps geared toward the best VR headsets in the coming months.
The hour-long event had a lot to show, but some highlights for us included Lovesick – a VR punk themed escape room, Pencil! – mixed reality drawing teacher and assistive tool; AND Cool VR – a reverse Superhot where time speeds up when you slow down.