Technically Speaking

Our monthly dissection of the best design-minded technology happenings the world over, from fair highlights to exhibition round-ups and product reviews.

Video games, discotheques and speaker systems make noise at London Design Festival

Train your VR goggles on London this September as a charge of tech-related activity buzzes through the capital during London Design Festival 2018. Future-seeking exhibitions with cultural bent fill big institutions like the V&A Museum and Somerset House, while a...

Lifestyle / 24 Aug 2018

Technically speaking: battle of the smart speakers

This time last year, we praised designers who put the ‘home’ back into ‘smart home’. Things escalated quickly. Over the last 12 months, tech designers have upped their AI game with a host of new releases, and as a result, it...

Lifestyle / 28 Apr 2018

Technically speaking: April 2018’s best technology launches

On top of the deluge of technology launches at Salone del Mobile this year, April has been showered in beautifully designed, functional gadgets. Here’s some of our favourites. Master & Dynamic cables Master & Dynamic has long touted the timeless nature...

Lifestyle / 6 Apr 2018

Technically speaking: beautifully designed smart gadgets for technophobes

Love it or hate it, beautifully designed gadgetry is booming. Tech titans like Apple, Yves Béhar and Google – which is making its Salone del Mobile debut with a much anticipated experiential installation this year – have become expert at packing terrifyingly...

Lifestyle / 18 Feb 2018

Technically speaking: meet the audio designers making visual impact in 2018

As portable speakers get smaller, headphones get beefier and radios get artificially intelligent, the burdens upon audio designers are becoming increasingly complex. They must balance visual aesthetic, connectivity and sound quality in ever more intricate ways. Its a delicate balancing act...

Lifestyle / 20 Jan 2017

Technically speaking: the latest fast-lane tech on the road to success

Improvements in travel technology are moving a mile a minute. 2017 has barely geared up, and we’ve already seen an influx of travel-related tech emerge at Las Vegas’ CES – from thumbnail-sized DataTraveler cards that hold enough movies to cover...

Lifestyle / 4 Dec 2016

Technically speaking: hi-tech products in old-school shells

This year, technology has been leaning more heavily than ever on an ultramodern aesthetic. The clean white lines of the Google home technology suite, and Dyson’s space-age Supersonic hairdryer spring to mind. As much as we like to indulge this...

Lifestyle / 1 Nov 2016

Technically speaking: how designers are putting the home back into home tech

Merchandising slogans like ’intelligent home’ and ’automated home’ have been banded around since the 1964 New York World’s Fair. In recent times, these have become increasingly difficult to decode. Despite the unprecedented potential of smart home technology, when faced with...