Spotlight: Drool-worthy gadgets for enthusiasts this week

Greenopia
This smart gardening kit is for today's generation -the person that often has too much on hisher plate. It consists of a smart pot that works in conjunction with a free app (iOSAndroid) over your home WiFi network.The pot has to be connected to a power outlet, has a built-in light sensor, moisture sensor and comes with a built-in water tank. The app has to be configured with the kind of plant you are growing so that it automatically notifies you regarding sunlight and moisture levels in the pot. It even tells you when the plants need to be watered and can then remotely water them using the water stored in the water tank. There is built-in diagnostic system -take a picture of your plant, it will scan and identify the bug affecting your plant and check with the community on ways to get rid of it. You can pre-ordered Greeonpia from http:thegreenopia.com for US$80.



Fujifilm X-T10

The X-T10 is Fujifilm's latest interchangeable lens camera with a magnesium alloy body in a retro look. It features a 16 MP APS-C CMOS sensor with phase detection autofocus, an EXR image Processor, 77 auto focus points and 8fps continuous shooting speed. There is a 3-inch tilting OLED display protected by tempered glass, an electronic viewfinder, built-in flash, microHDMI port and WiFi (remote control via smartphone). Available June onwards, it is priced at US$799 (bodyonly) and US$899 (16-50mm lens).



Panasonic Lumix DMC-G7

Lumix DMC-G7 is Panasonic's new mirrorless micro four thirds camera with support for 4k video recording. It features a 16MP CMOS sensor, the Venus engine image processor, 49 focus points, 7 fps burst shooting, a contrast AF focus system and 116,000 second shutter speed. There is an articulating 3-inch OLED touchscreen, an electronic viewfinder, built-in flash, built-in WiFi, microHDMI, microphone port and a dedicated dial to switch between various modes. Other features include faceeye detection autofocus, an ultra wide panorama function, silent mode, a level gauge, time lapse and stop motion modes. The camera will be available from June in international markets for US$800 (14-42mm kit lens) or US$1,100 (14-140mm kit lens).



Phree Stylus

The company calls Phree the 'world's first, unrestricted, high resolution, write-virtually-anywhere mobile input device'. What this essentially means is that this stylus will let you write or draw on any surface. Connect it to any device with Bluetooth and it will convert and sync whatever you writedraw to compatible apps (OneNote, EverNote, Office etc.). The stylus has a built in microphone, accelerometer, rechargeable battery, right click mouse button, headphone jack, speaker and OLED display. It not only works as a stylus but also as a wireless mouse and a Bluetooth headset. The touchscreen can be used to switch between various modes (highlighter, pen, colours) as well as to read incoming text messages and even place a voice call.



You can order one on Kickstarter for US$168.

Sharp Aquos Crystal 2

but continues with the same 1280 x 720 pixels resolution.

As you can see in the photo, the screen has really tiny bezels, making the phone stand out from the usual crop of devices. A new addition is a sensor on the side of the phone that detects touches and it's called Grip Magic. The phone is waterproof, dust proof and has dual cameras (8MP rear, 2MP front). It weighs 154 grams, runs Android 5.0 on a 1.2Ghz quad core Snapdragon 400 processor with 2GB RAM, 16GB storage and a 2,030mAh battery. There are no details regarding the price, but the phone is expected to be available sometime in July 2015.



Fove

This is the latest offering in virtual reality headsets. What makes it stand out are the built-in eye-tracking sensors around the 5.8-inch display (2560 x 1440 pixels). The eye sensors allow you to interact with the environment by just moving your eyes (instead of your head) and this tweak delivers a faster response, improved depth of field experience as well as better gaming performance with FPS games. It weighs about 400 grams and will have a USB 3.0 port, DisplayPort and 3.5mm audio jack. In addition to all this, the company is also claiming that the headset's ability to use eye tracking will allow the connected computer to adjust rendering resources for optimum display. You can pledge US$349 on Kickstarter to be amongst the first one to get a Fove once it starts shipping in May 2016.