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FEBRUARY STACK 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

Do you have a tech horror story? Has tech come back to ‘byte’ you hard? Have you sent a text to the wrong person or deleted your employer’s hard drive by accident?Well, we want to hear about it. Send your terror byte to editor@stack.com.auThis month, Giorgio S recalls his tech nightmare. I n late September, I was the proud new owner of a Galaxy Watch5 Pro. It was an early Christmas present to myself as I was determined to start a health kick before the silly season started and loved the data I could get from a smartwatch to help track my progress. Having never been a fitness fanatic, the watch was driving me on and I was enjoying the challenge. It almost became a badge of honour to be seen out with it strapped on my wrist and I barely took it off. That was until a mid-November fishing trip with the boys. I was selling all the features to the lads, and the owner of the boat asked for a look. As I threw it to him, a wave gently rocked the boat. It was enough to mess up my aim, and the watch flew over his shoulder and plopped into Middle Harbour, never to be seen again. 1 Your number one priority is to back up your old phone.This may include photos, videos, important files, and passwords/logins.You can use iCloud for iPhones and Google Drive for Android phones. Alternatively, there is a range of third-party cloud storage options on offer.This can take some time, so do it before picking up the new one. 2 Delete, delete, delete. It’s imperative that you completely wipe your phone of all personal data. Most phones will have a factory reset option that will do the job for you. 3 Instead of leaving your old phone in a drawer, if it is still in good condition, consider trading it in for a new one or selling it; every bit counts. Three steps to take before your upgrade to a new phone.

2005

What was the hottest tech in…

In the early noughties, mobile phones, led by the Nokia 1100, had become affordable and adopted en masse worldwide. But these chunky heavy chocolate bar-shaped phones were about to undergo a design shake-up that would change the face of telecommunications. The lab boffins were hot at it across at Motorola, designing a pioneering 10mm thick mobile phone, intent on bringing a phone to market that would turn the competition on its head. Christened the Razr, Motorola’s slim yet wide phone exuded class. A clamshell design, sci-fi-inspired keyboard layout, and iconic chin bar (that housed the antennae) turned

heads from the off; this was a phone from the future. Initially pitched to

the high end of the market, its popularity was accelerated after a lucrative move to fill every A-list gift basket at the 2005 Oscars was executed. Customised celebrity models followed, driving consumer desire to fever pitch, making it the must-have fashionable electronic accessory, and when the price of the unit fell, sales increased exponentially. Motorola’s Razr revolutionised the mobile phone industry. It took a humble vanilla communication tool and turned it into a trend setting status symbol, an essential addition for any discerning progressive. Its legacy laid the foundation for the smartphones soon to follow.

“Hey, Google, play my favourite album!” “Hey Google, turn on the air-con!” “Hey, Google, set up movie night lighting!” There’s so much that you can do with a smart home, from simplifying chores to activating a holiday house security system from the office. Kickstarting a smart home can be as simple as buying a smart bulb. And, next month, we’ll show you how to build your own. On The Radar

38 FEBRUARY 2023

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