7 Awesome Gadgets Coming Our Way

There’s some great tech and gadgets on the horizon, so we looked at some new reveals, work-in-progress ideas and Kickstarter projects, and there’s five notable devices that you should keep your eye on.

1. Sleek laptop chargers to ditch the weight

Those who travel and work a lot will see their bulky laptop charger as the bane of your life, but things are about to change. There are ultra light laptop chargers from FINsix and Zolt designed to replace the chunky, heavy brick charging box that came with your laptop. These chargers will lighten your load and make room for a few extra business plans.

2. A belt that adjusts automatically

Imagine a motorized belt that adjusts to your body when you sit down, or extends itself as your gut expands during a marathon rib-eating session. French company Emiota has realized the dream, but it doesn’t end there because Belty can also track your waistline and measure your activity. Alongside the tiny motors there’s an accelerometer and a gyroscope. It’s likely that Belty will carry a high price tag, but could be worth it for those who find they’re constantly running out of notches.

3. A techy way to ditch smoking

Need to quite smoking? A $100 (around R1,250) lighter should do the trick (and give you a pretty-neat gadget in the process). The Quitbit contains a heating coil and it will need charged around once a week. It automatically tracks every smoke you have and it can sync with your iPhone or Android to give you a series of graphs showing your smoking habits in minute detail. You can even set limits so that Quitbit will refuse to light you up.

4. This board does the work for you.

Commute to work in style on a ZBoard 2 electric skateboard. The ZBoard 2 is a motorized skateboard with a range of 16 miles that can get you to the office at speeds up to 20 MPH. Complete with a front headlight and rear taillight, the ZBoard 2 goes up hills and has a breaking system that is triggered by leaning back. The ZBoard 2 is currently available for pre-order through the ZBoard website starting at $899 (R11,260) and will be available later this year.

5. Never lose a number with this smart pen

Smart pens are set to be one of the new ‘things’ coming our way, and the Livescribe 3 is one of the most impressive on the market. The pen is able to capture the motion and movements when in use and translate it to your tablet or mobile phone via the app. The Livescribe 3 Smartpen retails for $149.95 (around R1,880) and is currently available on the company’s web store.

6. Scanning to the cloud just became that much easier

Using Wi-Fi technology and a simple touchscreen interface, NeatConnect sends files straight to Neat Cloud Service, email, and other destinations – including many popular cloud services. NeatConnect does not require a computer connection, has apps for both Android and iOS devices and is currently available for $499.95 (around R6,270) through the company’s website.

7. Say goodbye to your wallet

For those who travel frequently for work and have multiple credit cards — for business and personal use — the Wocket wallet holds just one card that you program with the credit card details you need for that transaction—say, a Mastercard or a Visa card. It costs R229 (around R2,880)