October is here and with it comes a fresh new flood of daily gadget news – but what happens to the stuff we don’t have time to cover?
While we always have engaging stories about the biggest new products, there are always a few we can’t cover on our own, which is where this page comes in.
This is where you’ll find all the best gadget news you’ve missed elsewhere. And this month we start with a world first phone from Motorola…
Motorola Signature 27
When you think of Motorola’s signature phone, it’s impossible to picture anything other than the iconic Razr (perhaps used by David Beckham or Paris Hilton), but even if it’s only in name, the £27 (TBC) Signature looks like its most exciting new phone for ages.
In recent years, Moto has focused mainly on mid-range and budget blowers, but the Signature 27 is “the most advanced smartphone the company has ever created.” That’s partly because it’s one of the first to get Qualcomm’s new Snapdragon 8 Elite Extreme Gen 6 processor, which is what you’ll find in many new flagships over the next 12 months.
Almost all Moto’s phones have a recognizable look based around the camera module, which sits in the upper left corner, but the signature 27 dollars that trend. The snappers span the entire width of the phone, and while Motorola hasn’t revealed the specs of each lens yet, we do know there’s a 50MP main sensor and a 200MP periscope telephoto.
The latest Super Zoom Pro stretches all the way to 100x (as long as you’re happy it uses generative AI to fill in the gaps) and there’s optical image stabilization on board too.
There’s no pricing information yet for the Signature 27, although its predecessor started at £899 so don’t expect anything less than that. The new model certainly looks the part though. It combines aviation-grade aluminum and glass-ceramic so it certainly should feel as well.
It comes in two Pantone colours: Capulet Olive (pictured), with its smooth textile-inspired finish, and Coal Smoke, which has a ‘Tactical Weave’ effect that looks a bit like something you’d get in a posh car. Not even Golden Balls themselves would turn up their noses at that.
Polaroid Mod
You can use AI to concoct all sorts of weird and wonderful images these days. Want to look like you’re being terrorized by a giant ginger cat? ChatGPT or Midjourney can stop that in no time at all, but what if you’d rather not contribute to the general moronification of humanity, or make the planet warmer and less hospitable than it already is?
Polaroid’s latest instant camera ($170/£150) lets you create quirky pictures the old-fashioned way, with a dial around the lens that lets you choose from four different shooting modes.
Split Shot combines two shots side-by-side in one frame; Double exposure overlays them; Light painting is basically just long exposure; and Motion Freeze blurs the background but keeps your subject sharp.
It’s completely analog so there’s no screen, just a dial for brightness and a two-lens system (103mm main and 95mm for portraits) that uses infrared for autofocus.
You should be able to get about 120 shots out of it on a full battery (it charges via USB-C) and you’ll have to feed it Polaroid i-Type or 600 film before it generates images, but that’s a lot better than wasting a ton of water, right?
Casio G-Shock GBA-950-1A
To look at this unassuming G-Shock, you’d think its talents were limited to telling the time, but the GBA-950-1A ($165/£130) is actually a running watch in disguise.
Despite an analog dial, it’s compatible with Strava, so it tracks distance, pace and calories burned before pumping the numbers into any runner’s favorite app via Bluetooth.
If you leave it on your GPS GPS increases the accuracy but if the watch is calibrated for distance you don’t need to take your mobile with you every time.
If your lungs and legs don’t tell you how hard you’re trying, there’s a five-level intensity indicator that will confirm it, and because it uses a normal coin battery that lasts two years, you never have to worry about recharging.
Fujifilm Instax Pal 2
Considering it’s only about the size of a fun-sized Mars bar, you’d forgive the Instax Pal 2 ($170/£145) for not having many features, but with an optical viewfinder and a 1.3in LCD screen, this Lilliputian snapper is better equipped than some cameras many times its size.
It only shoots 10MP photos but you can switch to 1MP if you’re after a more early noughties vibe, plus there are four different size formats to choose from and 30 different effects you can add.
You can beam photos to your phone via Bluetooth in about 15 seconds, but if you want to do it faster, there’s even a pop-out USB-C connector. Just try not to eat it.
TDM Neo
All headphones are technically just small speakers, but TDM’s new cans take the idea to its logical conclusion. The TDM Neo ($249/£249) has 40mm drivers on both the inside and outside of the ear cups, so they hang on your head and you have a pair of noise-cancelling headphones, but if you decide the whole world should hear the latest episode of your favorite podcast, you can turn them into speaker mode and play for everyone.
There’s only five watts of power to play with, but you still have to be careful not to annoy your fellow anglers when you’re on the river. You get a long 200 hours out of the battery with them on your Bonce, or 16 hours if you play it loud.
