First impressions from this week’s Google hardware event, which revealed the Pixel 3, Pixel Slate and Google Home Hub October 10, 2018 At this week’s Google event, the search giant opened with a rather sheepish admission, following comprehensive leaks of its latest flagship Pixel phones. “We hope you agree that we’re better at making hardware than keeping secrets.” But while the physical aspects of the new Pixel 3 and Pixel 3 XL phones were already known about [...]
Meet the digital historians on a mission to preserve data for future generations October 5, 2018 Three years ago, a team of archaeologists working in northern Guatamala unearthed several stone panels dating back to the year 600AD. The hieroglyphics they contained were legible enough to provide fresh insight into Mayan culture and king-making traditions. By contrast, it’s doubtful a photo of your dog stored on a USB stick will exist in [...]
Gtech eScent ebike review, price, specs and details: The battery-assisted mountain bike that takes the effort out of off-road climbs October 5, 2018 Gtech, the British startup and renowned purveyor of cordless vacuum cleaners and garden trimmers, stormed into the ebike game a couple of years ago with a pair of no-frills cycles aimed at urban commuters. They were simple enough bikes: cheap, with fixed-gears, a zippy motor and a carbon belt rather than a chain. Suspension was [...]
Johnny English Strikes Again review: More than ever this half-arsed spy spoof feels lazily out of touch October 4, 2018 Here’s why Mr Bean is funny and Johnny English is not. The former character is comically inept, but morally pure. In the opening sequence, Mr. Bean literally descends to Earth in a beam of light, as though ejected from the Pantheon, or deposited by an intergalactic spaceship. A choir sings “ecce homo qui est faba”, [...]
Google Home Max review: The supersized version of Google’s smart speaker packs some real punch October 4, 2018 The supersized version of Google’s smart speaker, Google Home Max was launched in the US, Canada and Australia this time last year. Now finally available in the UK, the Home Max joins the regular Google Home and the doughnut-sized Mini in the company’s growing selection of Google Assistant-powered speakers. Whereas the others are Assistant-focused devices [...]
A popular haunt of Beatrix Potter, Storrs Hall is a beautiful Grade II listed hotel on the shores of Lake Windermere September 28, 2018 The Lake District is well known for its historic association with fine English literature, but gets a free pass for having also inspired some of the country’s worst poetry, such as Gotta Love Dem Daffodils by Adam Glick, who visited last year, and Somewhere Around Here Is My Heart I Guess by Pauline Marr, an [...]
Shadow of the Colossus review: An expert restoration of a breathtaking classic September 28, 2018 Shadow of the Colossus was a quiet epic, launched at a time when games were predominantly about things exploding loudly in your face. In this minimalist and melancholic saga, you ride your faithful horse across a vast wilderness to track down and slay 16 enormous stone giants. The world, desolate and littered with the [...]
Isle of Dogs review: More bark than bite, but Wes Anderson’s stop-motion adventure is adorable fun September 28, 2018 Wes Anderson’s latest film takes place in a hyper-stereotyped, near-future Japan, in which dogs have been cruelly banished to a trash island under the invented pretence that they’ve succumbed to a mix of highly infectious dog flu and “snout rot”. The director’s second stop-motion project (the Roald Dahl adaptation Fantastic Mr. Fox being the [...]
Brompton Electric review: The iconic folding bike gains a motor, but loses some portability along the way September 27, 2018 The Brompton is a magical object. The most popular bike in Britain, it appears to defy several laws of physics when it folds in on itself, collapsing like a neutron star into the size of something approaching a sugar cube. The compact format of a Brompton means it can go places other bicycles aren’t allowed, [...]
Exit the King: The National Theatre’s production of Ionesco’s absurdist drama wanders but the journey is worth it September 27, 2018 First performed in 1962, Exit The King is a tragic comedy about a clownish, centuries old despot who once held dominion over nature itself, but is forced to rapidly come to terms with his imminent death, his waning powers and his shrivelling kingdom. A great crack runs down the castle wall. Ministers are falling [...]
