My 'gadget guru' technology for TRE Talk Radio Europe March 2017

Here's a quick reminder of the technology I talked about in my March 2017 'gadget guru' chat on TRE Talk Radio Europe:

Alcatel A5 LED smartphone

Alcatel phones are produced by TCL, a Chinese company that now makes BlackBerry devices as well as everything from air conditioning units to TVs.

The phone that caught my eye is the Alcatel A5 LED, which was revealed at Mobile World Congress 2017. TCL is calling it the World’s First Interactive LED-covered Smartphone

Most smartphones have an LED at the top: a little light that changes colour when the battery runs down and flashes when you have a call or a message.

This phone has the back panel covered in LEDs. There are 35 of them that can be used for notifications. So you can have one kind of light show for incoming calls and perhaps a different one for messages, another one for alarms and another one for social media alerts.

But that’s not all. You can also have the lights moving when you play music, like a miniature night club.

And, yes, it’s a phone as well. It runs the Android operating system; there’s a 5.2-inch HD display, an 8 megapixel camera on the back and a 5 megapixel on the front with a flash, so you can take selfies in the dark.

Availability is expected from May, with an unconnected price of €199.

Gemini PDA

Some people - myself included - would be tempted to described the Psion 5MX of 1999 as the ultimate Personal Digital Assistant (PDA). It would just about fit in your pocket but had a 5½ inch screen, a QWERTY keyboard and ran for hours off a couple of AA batteries.

You had all your contacts and your diary on it - and could use it as a tiny computer for writing documents and running spreadsheets.

Jump forward almost 20 years to 2017 and we're presented with Gemini, which is likely to put a smile on the face of anyone who fondly remembers their Psion 5MX. For a start, one of the people involved in the project is Martin Riddiford, who was part of the design team for the Psion Series 5.

As with the old Psion 5MX, there’s a proper QWERTY keyboard and a standby time that’s measured in weeks, not hours. It’ll have a 5.7-inch colour screen – a touchscreen – and the option of built-in mobile connectivity, plus a choice between running the Android operating system or Linux.

It's currently being promoted on crowd-funding site Indiegogo; the company behind Gemini reckons it’ll have the first units delivered in November.

Final retail pricing is expected to be around $600 but there’s an opportunity for early backers to get one for around £350.

Coros Linx smart cycling helmet

This isn’t just a regular helmet but has high-tech safety features and a built-in hands-free kit as well.

The hands-free part uses Bluetooth wireless technology - but you don’t need to wear earphones. Bone-conducting speakers in the straps turn sounds into vibrations and send them directly to your inner ear. It means your ears aren’t obstructed, so you can still hear traffic and people’s voices.

The microphone for hands-free conversations is just inside the front of the helmet, which helps cut down on noise – and, of course, you can also use the helmet for having the sat-nav on your phone speak directions to you.

Because of all this connectivity, the helmet can even send an alert if you have an accident. There’s a sensor that can tell if you’ve fallen off: when that happens it’ll send a text message to your chosen contact.

It all connects to your phone via an app and there’s also a remote control that can be fitted to your handlebars. The helmet itself weighs 400g, so all this tech hasn’t added too much to the weight.

Pricing is £179.99.

Rocketbook Wave reusable notebook

This is, to all intents and purposes, a paper notebook. So you’ve got the freedom of writing or sketching or doodling as you would on any other piece of paper. But when you’ve finished, you can upload it to your phone. There’s a QR code at the bottom of each page – that’s one of those square barcodes – and when you point your phone's camera at it, the Rocketbook app on your phone takes a copy. You can have your notes saved automatically in Dropbox, or Evernote, or Google Docs or even email – whichever of those online services you prefer.

The book is designed to be used with the Pilot FriXion pen, which is erasable. If you make a mistake, you can flip the pen upside down and rub it out. What actually happens is that when the ink heats up to over 60°C, it becomes invisible.

Here's the unexpected bit. When you've finished your notebook and uploaded all your notes, you can put the whole thing in the microwave. Seriously. Give it a few minutes with a mug of water on top and all the ink will disappear.

You can do this for around five times before the paper stops working, so you could say it’s not an 80-page notebook you’re buying but the equivalent of 400 pages.

The price for the Rocketbook Wave Reusable Notebook is £32.99. And if you're not quite convinced, take a look at the forthcoming Rocketbook Everlast. That’s designed to wipe clean – literally – with a moist paper towel.