Best Hotware You Need To Know

Nexus 4: Best Smartphone

After selling out worldwide Smartphone in an hour on its release last November, the Nexus 4 seems to have become something of a rare beast.

POWERED UP: A flagship smartphone with all the bells and whistles at roughly half the asking price of its nearest competitor, is a milestone. It points to a future of high-functioning tech at increasingly low costs, and that's something we can all be happy about.

PLAYED LOW: Google has implied stock shortages of the device is the fault of LG, LG says Google underestimated demand, and meanwhile people still can't get hands on them. So, the greatest idea that never was? .........



OUYA: Best Kickstarted Console

Shipping "early 2013" means you could already have this hot little item in your hands. Like the Nexus 4, this Android based console really lowers the cost barrier for entry into the gaming market, not only for the unit itself, but also the free-to-try games it will deliver.

POWERED UP: Opening up OUYA to developers and modders, in conjunction with the low price, means a potentially large audience for indie developers to reach, and hopefully motivation to produce high-quality games.

PLAYED OUT: May not receive the development attention it deserves.


Pinel & Pinel Arcade PS Trunk: Best Luxury Gaing Setup You'll Never Afford

Almost the antithesis of the OUYA, once may wonder why this arcade "trunk" deserves a best of 2012 mention, especially considering its price which places it firmly in the "only if you won the lottery and bought everything else you could ever think of and still had money to burn" category.

POWERED UP: There's nothing actually wrong with enjoying fine craftsmanship, and that this exists shows that there is a market for quality gaming paraphernalia.

PLAYED OUT: Is it really possible to extract 90 thousand dollars of entertainment from this system? We don't think so.


Death Wish Coffee: Best Edible Product Most Likely To Kill You

How could we not support something that has our best interests at heart? True, our interests are maximising gaming time, but this coffee is also fair trade certified. The name also sounds suspiciously like a challenge.

POWERED UP: The "world's strongest coffee" contains 200% the caffeine of its brethren, which means you don't need to use myriad caffeinated mints and soaps in conjunction with the drink, just to get a kick.

PLAYED OUT: If you've got heart problems, you're probably going to want to stay well away.


Samsung ES9500: Best Display Technology

While it was thought this TV would see the light of day towards the end of 2012, that didn't eventuate. Nevertheless OLED is the display technology to keep your eye on in 2013 and beyond.

POWERED UP: OLED, simply put, has the potential to produce the best looking displays yet, with brilliant colour and black blacks. It also means thinner, lighter, more power-efficient displays, and games looking better than ever.

PLAYED OUT: There is more than one approach to OLED display tech, and each producer touts its own as the superior one. Of course it couldn't be straight forward. Sigh.