st215

visit stack.com.au

SEPTEMBER LIFE TECH Technology has become an integral part of Australian lifestyles and continues to advance in leaps and bounds. From smartphones to smart homes, STACK keeps you up to date on the latest consumer tech in user-friendly terms, along with key points to consider before you buy. If you love tech, you’re in the right place.

STACK ’ s TECH tips

S martphone developers have made it nigh on impossible to ignore a request to update your phone in the form of continual prompts and red icon symbols. For many of us, it’s a case of ‘I’ll get to it later,’ but it’s important to jump on the update as quickly as possible. Most importantly, updates may include vital security patches to protect your devices. Software patches can also correct performance issues and annoying bugs, improving battery life or resolving connection issues. In short, don’t put off your smartphone updates – a minor inconvenience now can avoid a lot of trouble down the track.

Do you have a tech horror story? Has tech come back to ‘byte’ you hard? Have you accidentally sent a text to the wrong person or deleted your employer’s hard drive?Well, we want to hear about it. Send your terror byte to editor@stack.com.au A reader preferring to be known just as 'A' recalls her tech nightmare this month. A few years back, we’d just had friends over for lunch. They’re a lovely couple, but their two children are wild. We get so anxious before they arrive that my husband has to do breathing exercises. On this occasion, the kids (two boys) ripped the toilet roll holder off the wall in the downstairs toilet, chipped the kitchen bench, drew a Pokémon on our chaise lounge with Texta, and pulled up a length of beading in the hallway in two hours. Their parents barely said a word. When they left, we sat down to debrief, still in shock: “I can’t stand their children; parents should be ashamed; if we never saw them again, it would be too soon, etc.” I then pulled my phone out about ten minutes later and noticed I’d been sent a message from said family: “Thank you for letting us know what you REALLY think of our children. Perhaps next time, you should keep your phone out of your pocket. Have a nice life.” We haven’t spoken to them since.

1984

What was the hottest tech in…

When we think of the brick phone, one character generally springs to mind – Gordon Gekko on the beach in Wall Street (1987) with a Motorola DynaTAC 8000 clutched to his ear. The DynaTAC 8000 is synonymous with the ‘80s, preempting our ongoing reliance on mobile communications technology. The seeds of the phone design went back to the late 1960s, when engineer Martin Cooper tasked his team with developing the first mobile phone. By 1973, he had a working model and cannily demonstrated it to journalists by calling his competitor to let him subtly know that

the race was over. It would be another ten years before the phone was ready to ship commercially. The retail version launched in the US in early 1984 – it weighed

close to a kilogram, was 25cm high, and cost an incredible $AUD16,800 in today’s money. The phone held a maximum of 30 numbers, charging took ten hours, and the user would get around 30 minutes of talk time. Despite the lofty price point that put the phone out of reach of the rank and file, it soon became a status symbol for the wealthy, with thousands waiting in line for a unit. It

On The Radar

There’s a lot to consider when you buy a smartwatch. Will it play music remotely? Is the operating system compatible with your smartphone? Just what features will you need? In our October issue, we’ll have all the answers and all the latest smartwatches to help you make the right decision.

would be a further three years until Australia would make its first handheld mobile phone call. By that stage, the DynaTAC had been superseded, but the journey to the future of handheld communication had begun.

26 SEPTEMBER 2022

jbhifi.com.au